I know you're in there.
Ryo's thoughts echoed in his head as he walked down the street like a loser-
PLease stop writing about me in third person, you make it sound like I'm not even there, isn't it rude to speak about someone as if they're not even there, IN THEIR PRESENCE? And such a basic insult like loser? Is your creativity receding like your hairline? Come on, Author Lady, do better.
You've got a lot of sass for someone who's an emotionless little bitch.
Thanks Author Lady, I try.
Shut up before I punt you into the sun, and replace you with another MC.
Hmm, fine. You are the author, someone who can erase my ass if I disobey you. It's probably good to not anger you.
Then what was the shitshow before?
Come on, Author Lady, I was just trying to help you be more likable to the audience by correcting your manners. No one likes a bitch, and you were being one. Don't punt me for the one thing I actually had good intentions for.
Well... Fine. Just don't interrupt me while going forward, the plot can't just be us going back and forth, you know?
Understood.
Sometimes, I think it's a mistake giving you self-awareness... But, oh well, it is what it is. Just don't be overly rude to the readers. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Also understood.
Anyway, the floor is yours, Ryo. Explain this world to them and tell them about yourself, like you were going to. Ignore me, ok?
Alright. Hello there, reader. My name is Ryo Kamito, as the author may have already mentioned, I'm emotionless.
Ryo walks up to a pond and stares at his reflection, completely ignoring the fact that his bitch ass was going to be late to school.
Oh that?
Ryo freezes time so he can monologue to himself in his head, like a psychopath.
Technically, I'd qualify more as a sociopath, due to my lack of empathy but whatever. So Reader, here's what you need to know about me. As a child, I was orphaned at the age of 7. You may think that due to my emotionlessness, I wasn't particularly affected by my parents' deaths. That's a misconception. You see, brains here work a little differently. There's emotions caused by others, and then there's emotions caused by family. These emotions are caused by hormones, and each emotion is caused by different hormones, depending on whether it's caused by others or family (also including people you have a famillial bond to, like a particularly close best friend). The hormone for emotions caused by family is called inkaceptdyne, and the hormones for emotions caused by others is called ceptylyne. I'm emotionless as I have inherited genes that control my body to have glands which produce a rival hormone called proceptylyne, which binds to the receptors that are for ceptylyne. These genes are most active from birth to the age of 25, after that, they stop being in effect. Proceptylyne induces just indifference and logical thinking in the brain. However, they don't block the receptors for inkaceptdyne, so while I'm unable to feel emotions in the presence of others, I can still feel emotions in the presence of family. So I did mourn for my parents. However, as I have no family anymore, I am effectively emotionless till the age of 25.
Stop lying to them, you have other family! Otherwise, all those hours I spent on creating backstories for your family would go to waste!
Ryo, still hellbent on looking at his reflection in the pond, gives up on gatekeeping the fact he had other family.
Fine. I do have other family, I have a whole clan in fact, all of whom I share spiritual connections to. I would consider contacting them, but my more logical side prevents me from doing it. First of all, I can sense them, and they're all powerful, why haven't they tried to contact me themselves? Second of all, I know that from reviewing my dad's memories, he fell out with the clan, so they clearly weren't all so great. Third of all, what if the clan held a grudge and is going to hurt me on sight? I can't even use my Isorotomatai on them to hurt them, as whenever I think of the mere thought of hurting them, I break down crying. While I could use my Isorotomatai to remove my attachment to them, it's so deeply embedded in my psyche that I would only do it if push came to shove. I prefer to not mess with things that are so deeply embedded in my psyche, it's bound to cause problems. That's why, to avoid a scenario like the one I just mentioned, I keep a low profile.
Ryo watches as a fish swims up to him, it was a big fish, in a small pond.
Right. You probably don't know what an Isorotomatai is. To understand it, you must first know about Essence. Essence, in it's rawest form, is just magic that adapts to the body and soul of it's host, going so far as to embed itself in the genetic material of it's host. That's why some people inherit more Essence than others, it's in their genetics. The deeper the Essence is set in your genetic material, the better you can control it both consciously and subconsciously. Now, Essence adapts to your body and soul and that's how Isorotomatai, or Essence Gifts, are made. Your Isorotomatai is based off who you are as a person, and your soul. Every person is different so your Isorotomatai will manifest in different ways. Say, two people had the personality of being two-faced, one person's Isorotomatai might be having two faces, they can equip either one based on which person they're talking to, and the other's Isorotomatai might be that they have a friendly and loving aura to everyone despite what they may actually think of them. It's very rare for two people to have the same Isorotomatai. Isorotomatai are how you can mold, control and put your Essence to use in the most efficient way. With enough training and understanding of your Essence, you can learn to mold it in other ways that may be beneficialto you. And we all know that people change and grow, they won't still be the same person they were at 16, when they're 36. Their Essence grows and changes with them, that's where secondary and tertiary Isorotomatai come into play. As you change as a person, you become less proficient at using the Isorotomatai you had before the change. Your main Isorotomatai might activate a lot more passively and not use that much Essence but your tertiary Isorotomatai would probably be needed to activate consciously and use up a lot more Essence. The older your Isorotomatai is from your current one, the more effort and Essence you have to put into using it. Sometimes, you can have abilities outside of your Isorotomatai. Those are called kamikomatai. They mean 'God's gift', they are usually powerful abilties, granted by Gods to people who have served them well. There are also kamikokatai, meaning 'God's curse', they're given to people who have pissed Gods off REALLY BAD, and who the God, in question, really wants to torture. I've yet to encounter a person with a Kamikomatai, or a Kamikokatai, and I really do not wish to. It would ruin my goal of keeping a low profile.
The fish swims around, proud in it's home, having no idea there are grander things than it's pond or itself. Ryo looks at the fish with emotionlessness.
You're probably wondering what my Isorotomatai is, so I'll tell you. My Isorotomatai is manipulating the mind and anything that the brain controls, this type of manipulation also includes creation of the things I manipulate. I can manipulate the mind, body and soul as here, the mind and soul are the same thing, the mind is essentially a projection of the soul, so by that logic, I can manipulate mind, body and soul. It was also this logic that lead me to discovering another way to wield my Isorotomatai. You see, I manipulate what the brain controls, the brain controls the body, the body is made up of atoms, so theoretically, the brain controls atoms and I manipulate what the brain controls so I manipulate atoms. I tested this line of thinking out, and I can manipulate atoms and anything that the atoms are made up of, but manipulating atoms seems like the more effective thing to do. In this world, we don't just have regular atoms, we also have plot atoms. Plot atoms make up how a story goes, I could just manipulate the plot atoms of this story to make it so everyone is an delusional amnesiac who tries to gang up on an innocent granny, but I wouldn't. Mainly because the author would murder me.
I really would, Ryo. I really would.
Said by the lady herself. Anyway, I CAN manipulate regular atoms but it's more beneficial to manipulate plot atoms. You may think that I'm probably going to take over the world, but I won't. Mainly because i'm trying to run away from my clan and keep a low profile, world domination would definitely get me on their radar. Also using the high-end moves of my repertoire will release lots of Essence, which will alert the clan of my whereabouts since we can sense each other's Essence through the spiritual connection. Also, if I use too much Essence, it'll get the rest of my Essence to start to act up and mutate, which leaves my Essence in an unstable state. If my Essence's unstable, my body, as the host, would also be affected by it. Long story short, I'll be bedridden for a few days. I could just remove the mutations from my Essence, but it'd take time and energy which my lazy ass wouldn't want to give up. However, it is pleasant to stay in bed for a few days and be unmoving and conserve as much energy as possible. You don't get the chance to stay still in such a fast-moving place like 1920s Ikamatei. I live alone and go to school, on a scholarship. My house is paid for by some government official i manipulated to give me his money. I still need a source of income as if I drop out of school, that'll cause suspicion. I can always become a isokofo, which I go to school for. Isokofo are people who act as both millitary personnel and as police. It's a well respected career, also extremely well-paid. What's better is that we work in squads. so it's easy to blend in and avoid publicity. I have the perfect 8 people to hide me. Hinata Suzuki. Sasuke Hashimoto. Yuzuki Takayama. Taro Yamazaki. Iyori Fujiwara. Fujisuke Ikehara. Kanji Ritsumitu. Naomi Zukeyama. I'll put them all into a squad together and watch as they take up the publicity I don't want.
Ryo unfreezes time by making the atoms move again as he starts walking to school.
But, of course, I'll have to lure them in first.