Chapter 39 (Patreon)

I popped back into the Clocktower, specifically the ‘library’ where I had disappeared from earlier, it seems like Rin and Artoria had cleared out. It wasn’t all surprising I seemed to have lost track of time and a few hours had already passed.

[Why did you challenge that Servant with purely swordsmanship?] I heard Ddraig ask me.

“I wanted to test myself.” I looked down at Mirage still in my hands. “If I am going to do something, I’m not going to half-ass it. I needed to see where I stood relative to someone who reached the peak…. unfortunately, he was so far away I couldn’t even do that properly. It just went to show how much I have to learn.”

[Interesting, I’ve never had a wielder become a master with the blade before. I can see the truth in the samurai’s words, you don’t have any experience, you were mostly relying on your memories to know ‘how’ to attack and such.]

“Yeah, he treated me like a child flailing around a pointy stick. I’ve just been forcing my way through every issue either through superior magical prowess or just pure throughput power.” I wasn’t one to shy away from my own faults or failures.

[Magic and Sword, each one takes a lifetime to truly master, yet you are intent of using them both?]

“Well, I have a long life ahead of me.” It was a strange thought to the ’18-yearold’ me, the fact that I was ‘atleast’ going to live 10,000 years if nothing happened.

Whats that saying…..a journey of a thousands miles begins with one step?

May as well start now, I have nothing but time on my side.

[So where are you going from here?]

“The Servant gave me an idea to pursue, while Grandfather can’t train me, he can help me find someone who can, its just going to be a bit tricky even for us.” My lips curled upword. “Tell, me, have you ever heard of the Immortal Witch of Dun Scaith?”

[Well, you don’t aim small. This is good though, my wielder should have this much courage.]

Yeah, one doesn’t posses the title of ‘God Slayer’ without good reason.

Thoughts for later, though, for now I found myself the ‘guest room’ in the old man’s building and collapsed onto the bed.

****

You know, I generally do enjoy cooking, it’s a bit calming. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not what someone would call an expert chief nor am I someone content to cook his every meal, but the times I do pick up the spatula, I do enjoy it.

The sound of eggs sizzling was refreshing, and the smells were wafting throughout the ‘house’. I’ll need to get some other supplies at some point to keep with me, maybe some mobile cooking equipment? And rice, I haven’t had a good eastern breakfast in a long while. In general, I need to stock up on modern-day amenities.

“You made breakfast?” I noticed Rin walk out of her little area, flanked by Saber.

“Yeah, figured it would be a decent apology for disappearing so long last night.” I did feel a little bad about getting caught up in my own things.

“Who cares about your smelly apology, I want my Noble Phantasms!” Rin huffed, sitting down.

“Rin is cranky in the morning.” Artoria said lightly, sitting down next to her.

“Well, if someone didn’t wake me up at this ungodly hour, I wouldn’t be cranky.”

“It is past eight, my knights would have been up and training hours ago.”

Rin just grumbled something ineligible and began digging in to the food I set on the table.

“I did pick up a couple Noble Phantasms last night.” I commented Idly, finishing up everything and joining them at the table. I’m sure she was waiting for this anyways.

“show me!” Rin sprang up, clearly awake now.

“Fine, fine.” I waved my hand letting the spear set on the table.

She stood up, grabbing hold of it, bringing it up for inspection. Even Artoria eyed it with obvious interest.

“It even has a presence to it.” The King of Knights marveled. “I would have thought it might have dimmed after being lost in the human world for so long without an owner, but the power still radiates.”

That would be a fair assumption, an ownerless Noble Phantasm isn’t exactly something one can determine due to the absolute scarcity. Who knows if the Noble Phantasm would even exist in a few more years? Their nature makes them rather finicky and its impossible to actually test such a thing.

Rin reluctantly handed it over to Artoria for further inspection. “Good spear.” She balanced and weighed it before setting it back down gently.

“And this one is mine.” Rin looked over to me expectantly.

“Yup, all yours.”

She made a small noise of approval, practically hugging the thing.  “What about yours?” She looked back to me once the immediate love of her new weapon wore off.

I pulled out my new sword, showing it around the table.

Artoria unconsciously reeled back. “Dangerous.” She said quietly.

Similar reaction to Ddraig, amusing. But yeah even I could feel the effects and I wasn’t as ‘dragony’ as they were.

“Ascalon.” I said with a bit of pride in my voice. “Wielded by Saint George to slay a dragon, it has impressive Anti-Dragon properties.”

“No fair.” Rin pouted.

“Well, you could have none right now.” I just shrugged. If it weren’t for our relationship I would have said nothing and just excavated them by myself. I don’t wield a spear regularly, but it’s not like I would pass up a Noble Phantasm.

“It is a good sword, I was taken back by its first appearance. I would be reluctant to face its wielder in battle.” Artoria gave her honest appraisal.

“Impressive.” A new voice joined the discussion as Zelretch walked in. “And I see you made breakfast for everyone, thank you.” He calm voice was quite a bit different than our first meeting. There was no looming ‘pressure’ it was gentle as if he was trying not to break anything around him.

“It does bring up a question though.” The Old Man said, pulling up his own seat and getting himself a plate. “Does it not feel uncomfortable with that dragon in your soul?”

I sucked in a cold breath while Rin and Artoria snapped their heads towards me. “I really can’t hind anything from you, can I?”

“Hoho, did you expect any different?” He smiled widely. “I had some time to take a peek at world you were born in, it was quite interesting.” He rubbed his beard. “It has given me quite a few ideas and I have a clue as to how we accomplished such a daring experiment.”

“Did you simulate it fully?”

“No, there were some variables that started to appear a few years down the time-line that you would be born to that made some things ‘foggy’. More research would be required.”

Well, I did have a pretty good idea of what would happen, so it means that he would succeed at some point.

“Whats this about a dragon in your soul?” Rin wasn’t one to mince words when she didn’t have to.

[Busted.] Ddraig finally spoke up. [Let me talk to them.]

Fine, whatever. I summoned the boosted gear and got a few reactions around the room.

“I would love to poke at that.” Zelretch smirked, letting out a whistle. “One doesn’t come across an Artifact crafted by the Biblical God every day.”

“What!?” Rin stood up.

“I am in agreement with Rin, if you wouldn’t mind explaining.” Artoria looked just as interested.

“Fine, you both are already dragged into this.” It’s not like I wanted to hide it from them anyways. If it were someone else in another situation I would play my cards close, but they already are in the thick of it due to Zelretch.

“[The God of the Bible crafted Artifacts to give to humanity, among them is this Gauntlet, The Boosted Gear. They’re known as Sacred Gears and they usually house the soul of a powerful entity for the wielder to draw upon.]”

“Hello.” Zelretch said happily.

“[Hello to you too, you are a very interesting human.]”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been complimented by a Dragon before. What a strange day this is turning out to be.” Zelretch chuckled.

“So they exist in the same vein as Noble Phantasms?” Artoria hazard a guess.

“Eh, they’re a bit different, but you can consider them similar if it helps.” Honestly I could write a thesis on the differences, but was there a point in getting into that right now?

“God, as in the Christian God, that was made by him?” Rin looked at me in astonishment.

“[Indeed, when my and my rival battled, the nearby armies of Heaven and Hell fell between our claws and fangs. It was after we nearly wiped out both armies on that bloody battlefield that your God came down and finished us off, sealing us within his prisons.]”

“Why do you keep overturning my world view?” Rin sat back down, exasperated.

Artoria ignored her and opened her mouth. “Is there a reason I feel….a familiarity with you?” She was clearly asking towards Ddraig.

“[You have the Core of my alternate.]”

“My core?” She lightly placed her hand on her chest. “You…..are the red dragon…” She whispered.

“[I am Y Ddraig Goch, the Red Dragon Emperor, Rival to Albion the White Dragon Emperor. We are destined to forever battle until one is the victor. Even now our wielders fight each other through the eras.]”

“I….” Artoria didn’t seem quite sure how to respond.

“[If a human was to use my Core, I was happy that it turned out to be you. I have some knowledge based on the kid’s memories. You did well to bring glory unto my legacy.]”

His words were surprisingly warm. I think he truly meant that, maybe Albion’s tomb really hit him harder than I thought?

“Thank you, noble Dragon.” Artoria bowed her head politely.

“[Ah I like you, if the brat dies, see about grabbing me from him.]”

“Go away you stupid dragon.” I heard his laughing even as I dismissed the gauntlet. “By the way, Old Man, I have an idea about something and I need your help.”

“Oh? What could you need my help with?” Zelretch looked a me, a small smile on his face.

“I want to go to the Land of Shadows.” I didn’t mince words, better to just get straight to the point.

There was a small clinging sound as Zelretch set his silverware down. “I don’t think I need to remind you of what that entails?”

“I’m aware of the difficulties.” I nodded.

“Isn’t that where the teacher of Cu Chulainn lives?” Rin chimed in.

“Yup, the teacher of the Lancer you fought in the war. She is a master at Spearmanship and Runecraft. She is perhaps the best teacher I could ask for considering my circumstances.” No doubt she is proficient in all forms of combat, even if she hasn’t mastered a Sword she can teach me to use a weapon well enough. Same for other forms of Magecraft, she could probably teach me how to battle with what I already know. “The only issue is getting there.”

“The Land of Shadows, does such a place still exist with the advent of Humanities era?” Artoria asked.

“Yes.” Zelretch answered simply. “It is one of the few places that is technically still attached to the world that Mystery still holds dominance.”

“Then why do you need help getting there, shouldn’t you be able to use the Kaleidoscope?” Rin turned to me and asked.

“Yes and no….its a bit hard to explain.” I tapped my finger against my chin for a moment. “The Land of Shadows no longer exists on the Time Axis and holds just the smallest connection to what we consider the ‘world’ still. There are no physical entrances remaining, but it still exists without having been forced to the Reverse Side.”

“Think of it like a fly, buzzing around everywhere. While we can technically ‘catch’ it via the Kaleidoscope, it is infinitely harder than merely stepping over to another world that can be calculated precisely.” Zelretch added. “The materials to construct the required ‘gateway’ to connect to the Land of shadows aren’t going to be the easiest to obtain I have some with me but…..”

“I have quite a few materials I gained from that world I visited; it should fill in several holes your missing.” I cut him off, mentally going over the metals and other stuff I still had in my ring.

Rin actually took out a paper and pen and was writing a few notes. I didn’t begrudge her, if I were still learning the Kaleidoscope from scratch, I would hoard every scrap of knowledge that came up. “Why a gateway?”

“Because the ‘position’ of the realm is erratic, using this ‘gateway’ we can isolate it unto something resembling coherence. It won’t be perfect, but it will be enough to find our way there and back. Otherwise, we’re basically blind jumping….and I already did that once by mistake. I do not recommend doing it intentionally.” I explained.

“The most important piece we would still be missing, something powerful enough to Anchor the Gate that could hold it in place. This isn’t some mundane portal we’re trying to to establish here. The Land of Shadows contains its own rules and laws, Mystery dictates how it operates, we need something that can ‘work’ with such concepts.” Zelretch also added in more info.

“Well…” I scratched my head, wincing and pulling out one of my other trump cards. “I do have this.” I presented the Staff of Magnus.

“That would do it.” Zelretch responded, not missing a beat, completely ignoring the sudden torrent of power that washed over the room.