Chapter 1072: Spring______
[No more painful sounds…but my arms are still gone. Hey, I can say the word again.]
Despite being just a protokaijin, Spring___ was still a kaijin.
If barely.
He could’ve become a full fledged kaijin if he had chosen a [Core] quicker or earlier in his life, but alas, that wasn’t possible at the moment.
When Gao Dau sliced off his arms, the devastation from that attack combined with that horrible buzzing from earlier had scrambled Spring____ so badly that he “lost” all of the possible [Cores] he could’ve chosen from. Which was painfully ironic because becoming a full-blown kaijin would’ve really helped with the recovery process.
Regardless, he was still able to connect themselves to the [Library of Nowhere] to acquire information. Which was what he doing to make up for his damaged thinking abilities.
Granted, just because he could now use most of his brain again, didn’t meant he was okay. After all, his existence was still incredibly injured to the point where half of his “name” was now missing.
[Spring…Spring…nope, still can’t remember what the fuck the missing part of me was called and I can’t even pull up records from the library about it, great…]
What Spring Brawler was going through wasn’t exactly amnesia, but it was similar to it.
Spring____ could remember everything from his creation up to this point where he was laying on the ground, defeated and broken, but he couldn’t remember how he did everything.
It was like his mind, or whatever kaijin had, had edited out parts of his memory like a heavily censored movie being broadcasted on television.
[And now I’m wandering over to the ringmaster’s memories of his old world, great…]
The one thing is that he could still remember details about everyone else.
Nepherage, Hurricroak, Frosttusk, Razorstella, Screamira and all the other kaijin, he could remember in perfect detail on what they could do and the cores they had installed.
And he couldn’t help but to feel…[Envy].
[No… that’s not right. Admiration, maybe?]
If Spring_____ could ask Blazejudicator at this time their thoughts on [Envy] and [Admiration], they would tell them that the former was simply the latter in excess, with [Kindness] somehow being [Admiration] in lacking.
[It’s a wonder how Blazejudicator can have such esoteric information stuffed into his head like that…huh…wonder.]
As Spring____ continued to lay there, staring up at the cavern ceiling of Undertow, he began to realize something.
The reason why he didn’t want to become a full-on kaijin earlier.
[Wonder…what a lovely feeling. I didn’t want to let it go.]
It was a strangely silly wish but an understandable one as well, given Spring Brawler’s relative youth in comparison to the other kaijin.
But when one is young and naive, practically every little thing, every tiny phenomenon can fill someone with a sense of [Wonder], because it’s new and strange.
The sight of rain falling for the first time is mysterious yet comforting.
The sound of crickets chirping in the dead of night can be considered a beautiful symphony to first time listeners.
Even the sight of marching ants, taking apart pieces of fruit with them make for an interesting sight for most youngsters.
But over time, as one grows older and become more jaded to the world, this sense of wonder has a tendency to…disappear.
The sight of rain can fill one with dread, as they worry about their clothes getting wet and their shoes getting muddy.
The sound of crickets can be annoying for someone trying to sleep because they have work in the early morning.
And the sight of ants were just a reminder that pests were attracted to dirty domiciles and dead carcasses.
And this loss of wonder is not just limited to natural phenomenon, but to the things humans create and discover as a part of the development of human society.
Stories can only surprise their audience once, before it fades from memory or become so common that nobody cares about them anymore.
Feats of strength, engineering and leadership can be impressive for a time, but they can become forgotten and meaningless as society moves ever forward.
Only so many groundbreaking discoveries can be made, before they’re all discovered, and every single mystery can one be solved once.
Folklore and traditions can dazzle younger minds and cause their imaginations to soar, but older fellows have tendency to scoff at such things as being pointless in day to day living.
The ability to feel [Wonder] fades over time, and that is inevitably for most mortals.
And that was something that Spring_____ was afraid of losing.
His sense of [Wonder].
[Huh…how did I get to that point?]
When Spring Brawler initially denied himself his original [Core], he had legitimately wanted to see what else the world had in store for him before committing.
He had, at the time, just carried on a rather heavy conversation with an old man regretting multiple choices in his life. Afraid of falling for these Sam trappings, Spring____ wanted to make sure he could evolve without regrets of his own.
In his pursuit for the perfect [Core], Spring______ ended up reading a lot of books in the [Library of Nowhere, namely autobiographies of famous authors, leaders and other influential figures.
He figured that if just talking to an old man discuss his life was enough to inspire a possible path, perhaps the written word would work better?
[Yeah…that was a bad idea.]
Evidently, while Spring_____ did get the inspiration he was looking for, he also developed a great fear turned [Desire].
Book after book, these old fellows discussed their greatest achievements in the same vein as their most heartfelt regrets and their jaded views of the world that developed once they reached this age.
It was a collective experience from reading all of these books that a [Desire] to never change or grow developed in Spring____, but now that he was knocked to the ground and horribly injured…that [Desire] went away.
Near death experiences had a tendency to radically change one’s view of life, and protokaijin were no different. Especially when one’s soul is suddenly missing pieces of itself.
[I don’t want to lose my ability to feel Wonder…but maybe…I can inspire it in others, like how I’ve been?]
As this thought of trying to inspire [Wonder] popped into his head, memories of the other kaijin popped into his head one after the other.
He felt [Wonder] at the sight of Nepherage’s heroic movements.
[Wonder] over Frosttusk’s toughness and cool demeanor.
[Wonder] at Hurricroak’s freedom and singing abilities.
And [Wonder] at Razorstella’s graceful dances.
As these memories played, the jade green [Core of Envy] that Springe______ that he had lost had appeared in his mind again, looking broken in several places.
However, as he began to embrace the desire related to [Wonder], the core began to change.
The broken jade core began to fill itself with something new, adding a few touches of purple, yellow, reds and blues until finally completing itself and giving off an entirely different vibe.
An entirely different name no less.
At least, that’s what the semi-delerious voice in Springer____’s head told him.
{Notice: [Core of Envy] has become [Core of Envious Wonder]. Do you wish to accept this as your final core?}
Seeing this new core before him, Springerd___ felt that this was what he was meant to carry inside of himself.
Not [Strength].
Not [Wisdom].
Not [Reconnection].
But [Wonder].
After all, an acrobat already instilled wonder by the way they moved across the air.
[But I don’t have my arms anymore, so I guess I can’t be an acrobat anymore,] Springerde____ thought to himself. [I’m going to miss having sleeves…huh…no sleeves.]
As this thought danced across his head, Springerder___ remembered one of the stories he read were about magicians, modern tricksters who kept wonder alive through fears of “magic”.
Truly, they were tests of engineering and careful timing…but magic all the same.
Once this idea locked in, Springerderm___ knew what he wanted.
[I accept this as my final core.]
{Confirmed.}
Sensing his acceptance, the core in his vision began to spin rapidly, as all sorts of new information began to flow in. As for his body, it began to glow and restructure itself.
…
{Establishing framework for trickery, acrobatics and illusions…}
{Establishing affinity…confirmed. Main type: Caligos. Subtype: Illusion}
{Attempting to suffuse body with new attributes…success. Subject’s body has been damaged prior to suffusion, beginning repairs…success.}
{Collecting necessary mantras, exercises and sutras to round out the formula…success!}
{Formula information has been fully established.}
{New formula: [Magician’s Wonder Spring] has been established}.
“Oh…so this is what I’ve been missing out. The follies of youth indeed!”
…
As the light show came to an end, the kaijin formerly known as Spring Brawler finally got to his feet, looking noticeably different.
Gone was the visage of a clown, with poofy pants, large metal shoes and harlequin make-up.
In their place, was a sleek green body, the springs relocating into his head and neck, and a neat little tail like that of a rattlesnake. Completing the look, a purple top hat and cloak had manifested.
“I look like a gentleman…makes sense, I guess. Look out world, Springerdermain is here!”
