Persona 3: Echoes

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April/16/09
After School
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Well...practice sounds good. Mitsuru would probably appreciate it if you made an effort to get better at fighting.
Better get moving, you probably should arrive as soon as possible.
​

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April/16/09
Afternoon
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"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Ornstein" Mitsuru said as you took off your helmet and sat on the bench.

"I know, I know. I won't see any improvements immediately" you scratch the back of your head "It's still depressing to know I'm so bad at this..."

"Considering that you're just a beginner, you are doing well" she encourages you "You actually decided to parry your opponent's blows"

"That seemed like common sense to me" you argue "But I only managed to pull it off once, and when I did, I just couldn't get ready to lunge fast enough"

"Patience" she says "It might be frustrating at first, but your labor will pay off in time"

She's completely right. Complaining won't exactly help either.

You'll do your best.
​

[You got a little better at fighting!]​

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April/16/09
Afternoon
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You feel somewhat sore, but it's the good kind of soreness that you can only get from exercising the way that one should exercise: not too little and not too much. Mitsuru's pretty good at pep talk, huh?

You let out a yawn as you get off the train. You think of what you should do now, but you can't think of anything in particular. Grabbing a bite sounds good, but what else should you do?

As you arrive at the strip mall and think of getting something at Wild Duck Burger, you manage to spot a small shop out of the corner of your eye.

Bookworms.
Judging from the piles of books outside, you think it's a used book store.

Hey, there's an idea: you're going to finish Mangekyo soon, so why not buy some other books?

You enter the shop and see an old man with a pipe and glasses. He turns to face you

"...Welcome" he says slowly yet enthusiastically "What would you like today, we have fresh horse mackerel...!"

You tilt your head at the non sequitur. After a second of processing it, you freeze and shudder at the mention of the dreaded fish.

You hear a sigh from behind a pile of books. An old woman steps out into the open, holding a particularly large book.

"...Sorry, as you can see, we don't sell fish here" she speaks resignedly "My...are you alright? You look very pale"

"Uh...yes" you shake your head "It's just that I remembered that one time I ate one and got so sick you had to go to the hospital for weeks"

It was delicious, sure, but you're never eating one again.
Fear the Aji.

"Oh! Sorry about that, sonny!" the old man apologizes.

"No, it's OK" you reply and start browsing through their selection.
After a bit, you manage to spot plenty of interesting things to read.

First, there's a small book on how to to better organize things. You may be trying to clean up, but it's an uphill battle, you can't keep it up forever.

Then, there's a book called "The Mysteries The Lesser Key of Solomon: Ars Goetia". Just by passing through a couple pages you can tell it's bad. Really bad. Still, you might find something among all the chaff. Not to mention that some more info on the Ars Goetia might help you understand Furcas' history a bit better.

There's also a small book compiling several issues of a teen magazine. A quick skim through the contents proved that it was interesting enough and it should help you kill time.

Another interesting thing you found was a translated version of Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea". Some people have said it's just a Moby Dick rip-off, but you somehow doubt that. The best way to find out would be to read it.

Finally, there's an anthology of short stories written by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. According to the preface, he was a writer from the Taishō Period and is now known as the "Father of the Japanese short story". He's the person who the Akutagawa Prize is named after, isn't he?

You can buy all of them, but you should probably just get three. You should finish some of them before getting more.
The first book, you're buying. No question, but what about the other two?

-[] "The Mysteries The Lesser Key of Solomon: Ars Goetia" (Chance to raise Academics. Gain insight on Furcas)
-[] Teen Magazine Compilation (Raises Charm)
-[] "The Old Man and the Sea" (Raises Courage)
-[] Akutagawa Anthology (Raises Academics)​