Chapter 11 – Transformation Effect

Rai appeared in his empty room with Ossa behind him. His transformation was fully released now, and he returned to his androgynous appearance, and his height shrunk back to around 165cm, leaving only the red ribbon he created earlier.

However, that didn't erase the excited smile and confused expression he had on his face.

"Hahaha… What was that?! I can't seem to control my desire." He laughed stiffly as he looked at the spirit floating near him who likely had the explanation. His expression became serious. "Tell me, Ossa. Does the transformation have a hidden effect?"

[Calm down, will you? As I said before, you were overflowing with desire, leading you to be honest with yourself. That… was your hidden desire running amok.]

"That was my desire?" Rai muttered, holding his chin in thought. "I see. I took myself as a calm person in every situation, but… The transformation brought out my real desire and enhanced it due to the relation to my negative emotion fueling my Magicule, no?"

[Correct!] Ossa exclaimed.

[It was as you've guessed. And the negative emotion that fueled your Dark Magicule is your desire against Magical Girls. That's why your latent Dark Magicule is large and potent! I just found out earlier after observing your transformation.]

'Hmm… That does seem like me.' Rai thought, complementing what just happened.

"But it won't happen again, no?" He asked, raising his head. "That would really be troublesome if I need to fight seriously."

[Don't worry. That happened to everyone's first transformation. The next one will be normal, and you can control your desire better. Though I doubt you will stop doing something like that to the Magical Girls.]

"True."

Rai nodded at Ossa's words. That was actually reasonable. No one would be able to control their first transformation if all of them felt like that. He was just unlucky enough to be forcefully transformed in the middle of his first mission on his first day in the evil organization.

Though at that moment, something within him flared up, filling him with excitement he had never had in life before. That was actually fun, and Rai definitely liked doing that.

"And so…"

He sat on his bed, the one on the right near the entrance, and looked at the floating Ossa. The ribbon was put safely in the drawer beside his bed.

"Where are the other minions? And what did you mean that we were done earlier."

[Ah, that mission was your debut. Our goal was finished as long as you were recorded in their database. The thing about attacking Guardian School is all a lie. Though some minions and Sweet Devil did attack a school as diversion.]

Ossa replied in a calm manner, but Rai narrowed his eyes at the spirit's words.

"It's to make sure they know me as part of Extity, so I can't run, huh? You're not as naïve as I had thought."

[Obviously. I am the leader of this evil organization.] The spirit proudly exclaimed. [And, for your first question, the other minions are now resting in a recovery pod. Most of them were injured in their fight against the Guardians, including your partner, Ami. They will recover tonight, probably.]

"Is that so?"

Rai lay down on his bed, uninterested in the object anymore. More than that, he felt rather tired from the earlier fight.

"I have nothing to do for a month besides training, then. Let me sleep for a sec."

[Yup~ You deserve some rest, alright.]

The spirit floated away, letting the young minion have a rest. From what he felt, Rai's Magicule had almost depleted because he didn't know how to maintain his transformation and used his Weapon Create rashly.

'At least he can hold on until Sweet Devil takes that thing because he drank that liquid Magicule. He has such an interesting ability. The future will be fun~.'

Ossa thought as he clapped its rat paws, turning the light off as he floated out of the room.

***

*Pitter-patter*

*Splash*

"Hmm… What was that sound?"

Rai mumbled as he opened his eyes, raising his body. He looked around the bright room while rubbing his eyes, trying to find the source of the sound.

Before sleeping, he swore Ossa turned off the room's light. For someone who had just opened his eyes, the light from above made him squint.

The fact that the light was now turned on meant the other occupant of the room, Ami, had already returned. But she was nowhere in his sight even though there was no hiding place in the room.

After surveying the room, he noticed the bathroom door was slightly open, and the sound came from there.

*Splash*

"Hum~ Hmm hnn~"

A soft humming sound followed a splash of water.

*Growl*

And the sound of a stomach growling followed suit.

'What is this feeling of hunger?' Rai wondered, holding his stomach.

Usually, Rai wouldn't be curious or hungry over something like this.

But the incident of his transformation earlier made him a bit sluggish and not thinking right. He had the urge to barge into the bathroom and just attack Ami, who was inside, and extracting her Magicule flashed in his mind.

What could happen, he wondered. His body was even weaker than before. And his thoughts were jumbled.

It wasn't just because he just woke up. No, it was something more.

'Ah! My Magicule.'

He realized it and immediately opened his System Watch to check his status. And his hunch was correct.

---

Magicule: 1017/15005

---

His Magicule was almost depleted. It had recovered slightly because he was asleep, but his previous transformation ate more Magicule than he thought. And he was carving some Magicule to replenish his missing one.

And he somehow smelt something delicious, the smell of roasted coffee beans, behind that slightly open bathroom door.

"No."

Rai muttered, shook his head, stood up from his bed, and walked out of the room. His relationship with Ami was that of a partner. If he barged into the bathroom just like that, he would definitely upset her, and she wouldn't trust him anymore.

So he left to cool his head. This feeling of hunger must be because of his ability 'Devour' carved some Magicule to replenish what his body missed. He had read that some abilities had side-effects, especially stronger ones.

"So this feeling of hunger is the side-effect of my ability? This is a bit… troublesome but still manageable."

For now, he needed to find Ossa to ask for some explanation and how to handle this hunger. After leaving the room, away from Ami, it became a bit tame, but he still felt the hunger, and his body was still sluggish.

Walking through the long corridor, Rai held his stomach until he finally reached the dead-end. Only a door with a big sign 'Ossa Chamber' hung above stood at the end of it. That was his destination.

[Rest well.]

"Sure, Leader~ Thanks for the promotion~"

As Rai walked closer, the door suddenly opened with a zap.

Emerging from it was a beautiful girl with long pink hair tied in a high twin-tail and petite figure with Ossa trailing behind her. She wore the tight minion bodysuit, emphasizing her body's curve, underneath a pink jacket.

Once again, Rai's hunger strike returned, and he breathed heavily.

"Ossa…"

With his last strength, he called out to the spirit and gained both of their attention before dropping to the floor. His body became hot, and he could only think of replenishing his Magicule.

[Oh, this is a problem.]

Ossa exclaimed as he flew toward Rai. The spirit's eyes glowed eerily as he landed in front of him.

[What are you doing here, young man? Why didn't you extract your partner's Magicule? I even promoted her to be a Captain faster than the others in order to awaken her Magicule for you.]

'As expected, that's the reason behind the smell.' Rai thought, understanding the reason behind his sudden hunger.

He wanted to shout at the spirit for doing something unnecessary, but he had no strength left.

So he only answered quietly.

"She… took a shower…"

The hunger became worse as the roasted bean's smell tickled his nose. This time, the source came from the beautiful girl standing before him with a curious expression and cute smile.

[Then, it can't be helped.] Ossa sighed and floated again, turning around to face the girl. [We can't let him suffer, so help him. It's your first job as a Captain, Miss Clown.]

"Oooh! First mission as a Captain!" The girl, who was apparently Miss Clown without a mask, cheered loudly. "Leave it to me, Leader~! What should I do?"

[It's simple.]

Rai could only watch as Ossa grinned widely.

[Just let him touch you and extract your Magicule.]