Golden Ascension- Fate (Patreon)

Chapter 9


"Gems? What do you mean exactly?" For a second he pretended to know jack shit about what she was talking about. However, Rin picked on it and she started to get embarrassed. As in…she concluded that he knows that she IS a Magus.


It's hard to defend against the fact that there is another girl in this city who identified herself as Magus. It CAN'T be a coincidence. No matter how much she wanted it to happen.


"This…I wonder if you can…work with gems? Since…you… know…"


"You know what? You have to be specific, Rin."  He does love to call her by her first name as she would flinch from time to time. By Japanese standards, they would be 'very close friends' if they called each other by their first names.


"...Fine! Fine! Geez!" She rolled her eyes as she got even more embarrassed. 


"Your Alchemy! Do you work with gems?" She finally got the cat out of her back. 


"Oh that, you should have been more precise with your words, but yes, luxury metals, including gems, are something I can make for quite a bit of time now." 


For a second she got confused about how he worded it but she brushed it aside since she is more interested to see it working.


"...Can you show me?" She asked, almost begging him to show it to her! This is it! Rin wants to see this in person! At this moment she is at 99.99% once she sees this it will be 100%!


She trusts Kaleidoscope, but physical evidence is needed! The Twin tails girl wants to see gems appear before her!


"...I suppose."


As he said that he closed his notebook and flipped to the back. He then opened the last page and ripped it out. Then Marcus channelled his mana into the book and the missing page re-grew and it looked like nothing happened in the first place.


Then with a ripped page, he crumbled it into a ball. It started to glow in his fist. Once he revealed to Rin again it was no longer a paper but a diamond. In its most iconic rhombus shape.


He handed it to her as her hand was slightly shaking, she ruthlessly inspected it like an expert in gems. 


Eventually, a massive, almost twisted smile appeared on her face.


"This is… Incredible… You made this from paper! Do you know how much money you could get!?"


Once again Marcus ripped the same page out, it re-grew, and then he made that paper into a small stack of 50 euro notes. 


And handed it over to Rin again.


"Your materialistic understanding is based upon society. Sadly I exist outside of it." 


Hearing that she swiftly got out of her greed-induced trance.


"Yes, I understand that sorry. My family's Magecraft is Jewelcraft. So…seeing you just making this high-quality diamond made my greed manifest." She said while scratching the back of her head.


"Understandable, so what's next? You know that I can make diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and even some mix and between. Something which you most likely have never seen before." He said that with a smile, a smile quite devilish. 


This made her get spooked! The black-haired girl quickly and ruthlessly fought down her greed. She realised that this is a trap of some sort!


"...We could think of something? You provide gems and I will make some spell-based gems for you?" Did she say that while trying to think how to…look useful in this?


Though the way she looked was quite cute as the girl looked like the ground was hot and she needed to constantly move around and fiddle.


"Isn't it almost like sharing your family Magecraft?" He thought about this for a bit. 


'Oh…this is a good time… Yes, I can use her. But this would mean I will have to show her my workshop. But this is not bad. I know her much better than I know Sion. And I can always station a Servant to look after her when she is in the Workshop.' 


Thinking about this made Marcus realise that she can have her more than just be eye candy.


"...I know…but this is a great opportunity to pass!" 


"It can see that. So I have an idea. You won't need to share your Jewelcraft with me. Instead, I will use you as cover for my work." 


"...As a cover? I don't understand?" Rin asked back with some confusion.


"It's very simple, at this moment I can work on things because I have a cover that I am fixing my broken down car. However, I have been doing that for years. It can't last forever, besides I will look incompetent if I spend hours upon hours and nothing happens. It would even get suspicious. 


This is where you come in. My parents will be happy that I am spending time with you, you will get your gems and I will get my working hours." 


She slowly nodded when she heard that, this sounds good…but these were gems they were talking about! It feels wrong… Almost like he is buying her off! 


"...Don't you think it's too much? At least… Make me do something? I mean I can cover for you but… Gems are luxury items that cost a lot of money… I know it doesn't mean anything…but it feels wrong to abuse it."


Not that she doesn't want it! DAMN IT! Now she sounds like a weak girl!


"Heh? Is it? Getting Self-consciousness aren't we? Fine, I suppose we can make it so that you will be making lunch for me. Every.Single. Day, on weekdays." Marcus said with a slight smirk. 


This made Rin casually nod. This doesn't sound bad, it sounds quite good actually, she can continue to work towards the end goal from this.


"...So…one question… I might cover for you…but how will this work?" She asked him after realising how she didn't know what to do. 


"That's simple, you will be with me so that my parents would believe that we ARE spending that time together. The more authenticity the better."


This made her nod once more, but then her eyes widened.


Does this mean she will enter his workshop!?


"Wait! Hold a second! Does this mean you will take me to your workshop!?" She asked with an excited tone. This was huge for her! This will be the first time she will see someone else's workshop!


And not just anyone Workshop but the guy who is from the looks of it extremely good at Alchemy!


One side of her just wants to see a mountain of gems or some sort of pile of luxury metal she never saw in her life before!


Truly her imagination went wild for a short while before she calmed down internally.


"Yes, I will. However…"


As he said that two blonde girls manifested next to Marcus. Taking both of his sides.


This was his Lancer and Caster. 


"You are not allowed to tell anything about what you see in my Workshop, I might as well add some space for you there since you will be spending a lot of time with me from now on."


Understanding the threat well enough as well as having chilly thoughts that she is getting into something she can't escape Rin could only nod at him.


'I wanted this but what is this feeling of dread?'


"This is my Caster and Lancer, my Rider is in my Workshop as we speak." 


Rin once more slowly nodded at him as she took in the titles of his Servants. Though the thing was she never sensed anything like this from Mana's perspective.


The Mana she is feeling from Lancer was almost unnaturally…superior while Caster gave a feeling of nature. 


This made her believe that these Servants are not normal from Servants perspective as well!


"I guess I won't be learning their true names yet." Rin sadly said that. As she had a natural curiosity toward these two Servants.


"Master is taking things slowly Rin Tohsaka, but I am sure we will tell our names one day." The Blonde Caster said with a friendly smile.


While Lancer was keeping her poker face on. All the time. Rin's first impression is that she has a stoic personality.


"As my Caster said, one day I will tell you what they are. For now, we will be sticking with the Servant's classification."


The twin tail girl raised her hands in defeat. She surrendered, honestly, she is happy that they reached this stage in just three days. But at the same time, she is feeling quite a bit of dread and excitement boiled into one.


"It's fine, I accept whatever you propose," Rin said with bittersweet happiness. She still wanders about what she is getting herself into. 


"Good. Then let's do the induction today." Marcus got up from his seat as he said that. Rin slowly nodded. She was excited to see his Workshop.


A few minutes later the pair walked out of his room. 


"Mom, dad we are going for a walk."


The answer only came back a few moments later 


"...Sure, don't take too long. It's already getting dark." Roland said with a sleepy tone. It appears he has fallen asleep while watching TV…


"Your stuff is far too filling, what did you even put into the food?" Rin asked softly as she realised that most likely the whole house was taking an afternoon nap! Except for him!


"Prepared it to perfection."


The girl deadpanned when she heard that!


"If you don't want to say it—-"


"No, I mean Food making is alchemy too. Every individual part is prepared meticulously to be at peak condition. It is like eating food directly prepared from a farm. I made sure all the products were restored to their perfect state, to every atom." 


The black-haired girl's mouth slightly opened. Isn't he taking this to a stupidly extreme level?


"As I said, I was cooking to impress." 


"...You don't say…"


~~~~~~Rin Tohsaka~~~~~~ 


Marcus took her outside, to pretend that they are going somewhere outside, and for that, he made her dress up properly to go outside into snowy and chilly afternoon weather.


He motioned her to follow her as they walked towards the garage, which made her internally smirk! So it was the Garage!


However, they passed the main entrance to the garage, and instead, they went behind it!


Now Rin has enormous urgency to turn around and forget about this place and walk away!


To combat that Marcus took her hand and channelled some of his mana into her.


This made the urgency she was feeling disappear. 


"Caster has placed strong intent-based spells around this corner." He explained to her as he pulled her into the gap between the fence and the garage. 


It was a neat little place as on another side of the fence was a garage as well. What was so good about such an entrance to the workshop is that no one can see it!


The angle was just that good!


As Marcus walked into the gap the ground reacted and revealed grey stairs. Rin could not tell what kind of material this was built from. That was her first thought. She is mentally getting ready to see a lot of materials she had never seen before.


The moment they descended the moment Rin noticed one thing about the room she was in… it was smooth… Like it was carved from a single thing.


This includes the lighting in the walls as well… 


'Did he fuse them? Or he just did it like this from the very beginning!?'


"This is the lobby or changing room. Whatever you wanna call it, or even a good place to rest. I am planning to add a TV to that wall later on." He said while pointing at an empty wall. Opposite this was a comfortable-looking couch. So it was a planned setup. 


"To your right is my mountaineering training room."


"Excuse me? Did you just say Mountaineering?" 


Rin needed him to repeat it for her as she might mishear him!


"Yes, it's where I am training." He nodded at her while saying that.


"...Can we see it?" Rin asked with a gulp, does he have a mountaineering wall!? Inside his workshop!? That's amazing! The only thing she has in her Workshop is a small training and exercise area! But if this guy has a whole mountaineering thing in his workshop…


Then she will be sold for the second time! That's right! Such a Workshop with such a training area is a paradise for someone who practises martial arts! They are part of her family Magecraft.


"Sure, since I am pretty sure you will join me." He said that with a certain tone.


"Oh? Is it obvious that I exercise?" She asked with genuine curiosity.


"One can tell when they meet another person who is diligently training." He said that with a shrug, it was not completely true as Marcus simply remembers that Rin is good at hand-to-hand combat.


"...Is it?"


"Alchemy, biological Alchemy is when you alter your very flesh, to do that one needs to study excessively the very body." He explained to the black-haired girl as they were walking through the corridor and toward the training area.


"...You can do that?" 


"To some extent." He is not going to tell her that he has mastered the most difficult form of Alchemy to her, not yet. 


Rin didn't ask more on this as he wasn't telling the whole truth, 'to some extent' could mean many things.


Eventually, the pair exited the corridor, and Rin's first reaction was to take a step back as she saw the edge was very close! 


She then walked a few steps forwards and looked down, it was quite a long trip down!


"...How deep is this?" She asked him with some fearfulness. She ain't afraid of heights but, she was caught by surprise

by such a swift trip down.


"120 metres. I started this at 40 but continued to add more depth to it as it was getting easy to scale as my body was getting older." 


Once more Rin for a bit frowned, his choice of words is strange. He is using my body instead of getting older, in general. And she has studied his language for a bit. She isn't confusing the terms. This means this means something…


'Like his body and he is two different things…'


"I see… What about protections if you fail or slip? I don't see any sort of cables…" The girl asked as she noticed that there is no protection to speak off.


"The floor and the wall in front of us are special. It absorbs any sort of kinetic energy emitted from the body, disallowing the body to sustain any sort of damage. 


And I am pretty sure you have mastered Reinforcement. Such a fall should not be dangerous to you." 


For a second she deadpanned at him.


"I might have Mastered Reinforcement but 120 metres fall is not something Reinforcement can mitigate."


To put her doubts aside, Marcus simply did a leap of faith, to his memory it was from some sort of stealth game with Assassins. His memory is vague on that but he does remember two things from this franchise, the hidden blade and the leap of faith.


"W-Wait!"


Rin exclaimed with wide eyes as she saw him falling on his back.


…


…


…


Then he landed! 


She expected some sort of crash, even if the floor absorbs Kinetic energy it shouldn't be able to negate damage itself!


However, nothing happened as Marcus simply stood up and stretched himself.


"AS YOU CAN SEE NOTHING HAS HAPPENED! THE ONLY THING I AM FEELING IS THAT I NEED TO STRETCH FROM ALL THE STIFFNESS!" 


He said quite loudly as he did a few stretches. 


"OKAY! I GET IT! IT'S GOOD!" 


After saying that loudly she then said softly to herself. 


"Show off! Scaring the daylights out of me!" She said that with a small frown. 


A few seconds later he landed next to her, he just jumped back on but there were strange ripples around him. He indeed used Reinforcement to jump back on, but what about the floor? Doesn't it absorb any sort of force? 


"As you can see it's perfectly safe to use for training." 


Rin simply nodded at him but then decided.


"Is it only mountaineering? You don't want to add more means to exercise?" She asked him curiously after noticing that there is nothing else there!


"Hmm… Never considered adding more things as Mountaineering covers most of it. But, if this is what you want we can think of something." Marcus said with a thoughtful look. He then motioned for her to come with him.


"Let's continue with the induction."


A few moments later the pair were back in the lobby room. He then took her to the room north of the training room. It was the kitchen and dining area. 


'This is nice… However, I don't understand anything! How to use this kitchen!?' 


Rin was confused and freaked out! She understood that this was not a normal kitchen! Nope, everything was smooth and it looked like it was coming from some sort of future. The only thing she can understand is the cooker and fridge. The rest are just… things that don't make sense to her. 


"This is a kitchen powered by mana. I have a microwave, oven, Matter converter, and Matter altering. If you buy things from outside you can use a cleanser, this removes all the chemicals used to grow meat, fruits, or vegetables."


"Hold it! What do you mean from 'outside'!?" The girl asked for clarification, she wants to be on the same page here!


"Exactly as I say." 


As he said that he walked over to the Matter convertor. Marcus created a ball of energy and put it in a box like a thing. He then pressed a few things and the box slightly glowed, then he pulled out an apple from the Matter Converter.


"See? Do you want Beef? Pork or Chicken? This can make it for you."


Rin's mouth slightly opened when she saw this being done without any sort of input from him! Nope! It was a thing that he created!


Those two are two completely different things! 


"Including the base vegetables and fruits. However, I will be adding more things to the database later on as I have been gathering data for an update." 


"...Impressive so you have means to self-sustain from the outside world…" Honestly, Rin realised that with such a thing one could just lock himself up in a workshop and just continue to work without interference!


"Yes, I have everything needed to live in the workshop from the shower to several means of cleaning clothes."


"Oh…this is just fascinating!" 


Marcus could only smile when he saw the giddiness in the girl's voice.


"Yes, well let's go to the main workshop." 


She nodded at him as the pair left the kitchen and took the doors to the left. From the kitchen ones.


Rin's first reaction was… What is with those pairs of tables!?


As well as a wall full of tools! However, it was quite barren. To barren for a workshop, something was off about this…


Or at least there is something that she doesn't understand.


"Those tables?"


"My main workshop area is that table at most West Northern point, and that table towards Northern point is my Homunculi working table." 


"...You have Homunculi!? I thought Einzbern is the one with those!"


Rin asked him, she can't see him using them if they are bad, he doesn't look like someone who would use half-baked products, which means his Homunculi are top tier! 


"Einzbern… Where did I hear that family?" Instead of answering Marcus was thinking where did he hear this family name?


"They are famous Alchemists from Germany, they are famous for having a user of Third True Magic in the past. Ever since then, they have been trying to regain this lost art." The girl gave him some info on this family; she didn't tell him the connection her family has with this family. Not yet. 


"Oh, I see… Now I remember, they have that famous Justeaze model. Which used to use the Third True Magic." Marcus said that while snapping his fingers as he remembered it.


"... I think? I am not an expert in Homunculi art." The twin tailed girl shrugged her shoulders, the only thing she knew was that these Homunculi have red eyes and white hair. Albino human-look alike.


"Yes, well it's good to be reminded that this family does exist." He had a certain smile that was hinting at something.


Rin for a second felt a chill pass through her very being, that smile he had on his face. He is planning something. Something for the Einzbern family.


'Not that I care much about them. They have been in my family's path to get the grail for more than 200 years.'


"Right, anyway… The doors at the south lead to the testing range. I have been reinforcing the walls, with an array of different styles of materials, they absorb kinetic and volatile mana and feed it to my mana storage pools. So you don't need to worry if you unleash your gems at full force over there."


Marcus pointed at the doors at the south wall of the main workshop area.


"Then the doors just north from the Homunculi table are to the ritual room." 


Rin slowly nodded as she looked around, however, her eyes went to the East and she could see another corridor… 


"...And what is over there?"


"A secret~ I might show you what it is one day." 


He said with a teasing smirk. Though she didn't mind that. Even if he teased her. Seeing this much is enough for her. 


Though she didn't see the marvellous technomancy downstairs where the true heart of his creations lies. What she was seeing was nothing more than the main lobby of his house as they would say.


"What do you think?" 


To his question, she had a thoughtful look. It is obvious to her that she did not see everything. They didn't take those stairs to go to the floor below in the lobby/restroom, and she didn't see the corridor at the end of the Workshop she didn't see either.


He didn't show everything to her yet.


"...Very barren for a Magus." She bluntly said that with a huff.


"Indeed, I like it smooth and placed in an orderly fashion Rin." 


As he said that he walked over and took his seat in one of his favourite chairs. His hand brushed the table and it came to life.


"So, it's hidden?"


"Exactly. This is a workshop of an engineer, not Magus, first and foremost. I design things and then they are built for me. If I feel…like I want to do it myself I would do it." 


As he said that he placed the notebook he had with him, on the holographic scanner, and yes he took it with him,


A few moments later the scanner scanned the pages Marcus wanted to be scanned. After it was done he pulled the notebook away and the Computer processed the image for him.


Once it was done the holograph came to life and showed him the flooring he was designing. 


"This is…"


"What I drew while you were asleep." He said that while starting to explain to her what this is.


"This here is the floor made from independent segments which can rise upwards depending on what is needed. They can light up to provide lighting if needed. Same time some extra functions will be installed into these to assist in helping to build large objects." Marcus explained to her as he made some of the squares raise upwards to show what it looks like. They look similar to pillars. 


"...I see… so are you going to put them here?" Rin asked him while she looked around, she could see that the floor was already smooth, so was he going to remove it?


"Nope, this floor here is connected with one of the production facilities." 


To prove that he pressed a few things on the computer and in a few seconds not far from Rin's location the floor turned liquid and a pedestal rose from the ground.


On the pedestal, there is a bowl full of gems slightly bigger than two fingers, each!


Rin wobbly walked over and looked at it with wide eyes! This was absurd! 


Her brain tried to come up with explanations for this! The one thing which she came up with is that this workshop… This place is fully automated to make things with alchemy!


'It's…like he… Industrialised Alchemy!' 


And this alone is strange! Because Magus doesn't do such things! It simply doesn't make sense to her! He didn't study alchemy to reach the root of all creation, to reach the place where magic originates!


"...You…you are not a regular Magus aren't you? Your path is opposite to what Magus is trying to achieve." Rin said that while inspecting the gems. 


Her eyes were nearly gleaming with glee, the amount of jewels she was seeing was enough for her to try out a few new things she was thinking about and save time and money for at least a few weeks!


And he did that with a few presses on that glass screen!


"Oh? And how am I not a regular 'Magus'?" He asked her while looking at the computer screen, he is imputing new flooring design in his growing database.


"You have industrialised Alchemy to such a level that I don't even understand! Aren't Magi supposed to seek the root? The root of all magic?" Rin explained what she meant. 


Marcus slightly laughed when he heard her question which made her somewhat embarrassed. Though the girl wants to know if she is right about her understanding of him.


"Let me ask you this. A regular Magi family has from 3 to 4 members. Though if we consider which of these the researchers of their family is the family head and from time to time the wife or husband, while the child is the student until the head passes away. This is the most likely model isn't it?" 


Rin slowly thought about this, the way he put it made her think for a bit. The best example she knows and is exposed to is her family.


"Yes, I can't say about other families but this is how my one works." The twin tails girl said with a nod.


"...I see… Now what you said can be considered an extremely small size research group. No, more like a team. Only good for small-scale magic and rituals. However, what I am doing is an institution or a factory. With countless workers doing what they are told. Now let me ask you this. Which is better?" 


By the half of his explanation, Rin had realised look and was looking at him as if he discovered secrets to her life or in her case magic. 


"...You…You…are cheating!" Rin exclaimed while stomping her foot.


"Pfff-hahaha" Marcus started seriously laughing seeing her complain.


After calming down and embarrassing the girl more, the Alchemist continued to speak.


"Life is not fair in the first place, why would I care about my means to reach the apex of magic?"


"Magic? We call that Magecraft because we use science to produce it."


"Yeah, that." 


"There are only two people who can use magic. The Kaleidoscope and Magic Blue." She exclaimed with more huff, she still didn't let it down. She was pissed at the same time she was over the moon about this idea.


Marcus is simply cheating and doing very well at it!


"Good for them, I suppose." He said with a not caring shrug.


"Anyway, It's getting late, let me take you back to your home." He said while getting back up from his seat.


"I can do it myself, I am quite good at hand-to-hand combat." 


"Good for you, but I don't truly care. Now, Let's go." 


Rin deflated when she heard that. But in the end, she accepted. 


'I guess he doesn't care how independent I am…'


For a second the black-haired girl thought about this, and realised that he does come from a traditional family so… she was just going to roll with this.


~~~~~~Later~~~~~~ 


Marcus decided to quickly get the flooring done and dusted, so he decided to spend the night doing just that, flooring designing for the drydocks.


He accepted the fact that this stuff is quite good in places with gravity and where you build spaceships of large size. 


However, he doubts it will be needed for later when he returns to space.


When he returned to the workshop, he proceeded to order another batch of Homunculi, the current 224 is not enough. With work constantly piling up, he needs more labour, having extra labour is never a bad thing.


Once that was done he swiftly went to work on improving the Legio-OS, it took him many years to work on building a functioning M.A.I. however this time it was much quicker as he had already been there before, meaning he knows the road he needs to walk. 


Apart from that he did start to work on what Rin has asked. To improve the Training room and build it into a proper Gym. 


This request was incredibly easy to do, however, he needed to improve its accessibility. As there is no way to reach the bottom without jumping down or scaling it down.


For that, he went over and made stairs. It took him some time but he did it by the time it was Monday morning.


~~~~~~With Rin, Saturday Evening~~~~~~ 


Rin once again decided to be naughty and before Marcus left home she kissed him on the cheek again. This time his reaction was much tamer. 


Which made her slightly freaked out! This time it was almost like he was expecting! And that made her somewhat feel like she needs to improve her game to the next level!


Once she was in her flat she started to think. How to progress from here. 


But, without any sort of inspiration, she was clueless about what to do next. All the regular books she had read are saying to her that she is doing good. But they don't have an explanation of how to make an Alchemist pay extra attention to her with competition being other Magi girls! 


This is why she needed distraction and inspiration!


After changing her clothes into much more comfortable sleeping wear, the girl proceeded to check what she packed from home, checking all the books, family journals, and the rest…


Eventually, her eyes stumbled on the two cards. The Archer and the Lancer!


"Oh! These! I completely forgot about them!" Rin exclaimed as she took them and inspected them closer. 


Kaleidoscope breathly explained to her that these two cards hold the power of two beings that have extremely close compatibility with her. 


In other words, it's her assistance against Sion who has the closest hobbies with Marcus. 


And after that history class…she saw in person how close those two can be. 


So without wasting time she brought the Archer card close to her chest, she felt how seriously naturally this power was to her. It was like she was adding more of her power to herself!


That moment the card glowed and entered her body, the moment her eyes turned red, and a black and gold crown appeared on her head, her clothes replaced by a white chest and gold chest pieces a long black glove appeared on her left hand. Followed by a long stocking on her right leg. While her special place was covered by a black bikini. Which was covered in gold, as well as an array of gold accessories.


While her clothes may have changed, she didn't notice or care about it, as what was more important to her is an array of powers she could feel AND a boost to her mana reserves!


"This is…"


Rin inspected herself for a bit, however, she could feel a presence in her mind as well. It was…


"Hehe… Finally, you decided to check my power!"


It was her voice, but it was more… easy going… More haughty and… Something else she can put her finger on.


"...What are you?"


"Now that's not nice! How can you not know me!?" 


That voice sounded offended before her mind was bombarded by images of old places, palaces, pyramids, not THE pyramids but the pyramids found in Mesopotamia…


Or at least what is her mind telling her. Eventually, she saw some carving that showed her…


"...Ishtar…"


"Hehehe, so you DO know me. Good, very good, it appears I am not THAT forgotten!"


"...How can I have the power of a Goddess?" Rin asked herself as she ended up walking through her flat, she had high heels made from some sort of gold, however, they are extremely comfortable… 


Though she ended up in the bathroom and inspected herself. There was a thin blush on her cheeks when she saw her clothes. But at the same time, she felt no sort of… Deep embarrassment, like she doesn't truly care about the state she is dressed in.


"Because we are VERY compatible with your personality, my power can smoothly merge with you via that card. However, you are nowhere near as powerful as a real Goddess. But it should be enough for you in this place." Ishtar said that as if it was done and dusted.


"I see, but this is not what I need. I don't need raw power."


"Oh?"


That moment Ishtar scanned all her memories, it was a strange feeling for the girl as she saw imagines of her life pass through like it was a montage of some sort.


"I see… So that's how it is… What a wonderful man you found Rin! I am so proud of you! Don't worry, as Goddess of Sex, I will help you have him all over you!" 


At that moment Rin blushed like a tomato! Realising what kind of Goddess Ishtar is! She has the Goddess of Sex in her head!?


"I-Isn't too early for such things!? We only met three days ago!" The girl-turned Pseudo-Servant said with a slightly stuttering voice.


"Please, what are you talking about? Do you want him as a husband? Right? He looks like good material, even I would take him as one! It's just that good!" Ishtar said that with a slightly lewd and greedy tone. She was thinking all about those gems, he could provide for her and all those wide shoulders and muscular hands! If the Goddess had her body she would be pretty much drooling all over by this point.


"Yes, I do! But I don't want to give him a bad image! I have stiff competition!" 


Her words made the Goddess Inside her head hum for a bit. 


"I see your point, this is a different kind of war. And as Goddess of War, it's still my domain, same with love! And from knowledge of these things, I can see that he does have a special interest in you. He is still weary of Sion, but not towards you. 


Capitalise on that and attack! Just grab him and kiss him hard and then push him against the wall and tell him that you want to be his girlfriend before you take him to the bathroom—"


"HOLD IT!"


"And then start undressing him—"


"ENOUGH! JUST NO!"


"You are no fun… You do have some of my powers, Manifestation of Beauty B should make him more interested in your body. So, this would make him accept your request to be his Girlfriend."


Rin crossed her arms and shorted at such an underhanded method. However she does see the perks of this, but it's a quick solution with long-term issues.


"No, it would only make him more pissed off at me! Maybe work at first but then he would realise something and I would end up at his mercy." 


As she said that the Tohsaka Heiress grasped the sheer volume of what Marcus can do with his Workshop. 


If he can cast Boundary Fields this size and maintain them effortlessly it would mean he would figure out that she used some sort of Magic from Age of Gods.


"Listen! We need patience and a long-term solution! Me jumping on him like this would only make me lose my value! And we want him as a husband, not some sort of short-term fling you are so famous for!" 


"...Fine…fine… as I said… You can still use those powers to make him want you more. 


I was known as the most beautiful Goddess of my time. You have that power, a lesser version but it's still there." 


"Yes, but I won't be going to school in this merged form," Rin pointed out as she stopped looking at herself in the mirrors. She indeed looks more…perfect with Ishtar's power, but she can't walk like this into school!


"You CAN change your clothes and use some of the Magecraft to change the eye colour. Nothing is stopping you from that." Ishtar said with a huff. She doesn't like the idea that Rin is not even considering using this form to seduce him!


"Foolish to consider that. Did you forget that we are in his territory? Can you feel a pair of eyes on you as we speak?" Rin said with an annoyed sigh. She can't believe how carefree this Goddess is. 


"Now that you mentioned that… I DO sense someone IS watching us."


"Exactly! I might reveal myself as a Magus to him, but my mana signature changed. The moment he sensed that he sent one of his Servants to watch me." The girl said with another huff.


She then realised that her signature is similar to one of Marcus Servants. Making her deduct that one of those Servants has a divine connection of some sort. Making her realise that he is even more dangerous than she originally thought.


And she already considers him quite high on the danger scale.


"...I see…so he is much more suspicious than I thought. So sad, I thought you could just overwhelm him with our beauty."


Ishtar said with a disappointed sight. Which made Rin roll her eyes internally. This Goddess is far too used to getting whatever she wants without any effort.


"Anyway, I am removing the card." 


"Sure, don't mind me."


For a second there was an ominous feeling in Rin's heart, but she did undue the fusion. This made her change immediately. 


Her clothes and eyes returned to their previous looks.


*Sigh* 


"Peace and Quiet! Finally!" 


"So mean! What did I do to make you say that!?" 


Ishtar with justified anger exclaimed loudly in Rin's head!


"No way!? Why are you still in my head!?"


"And why not? Your situation is unique, to say the least. Of all the possible futures I saw, yours is the most interesting so just hitched a ride in the card. So now we are best friends for life!"


"N-No way!" Rin for a second panicked! She has a Goddess in her head for a life!?


"Listen, I am not freeloading! You can use my memories, my godly magic! As one of the strongest Gods in Ancient Mesopotamia, my power is unrivalled!


You might as well use my powers to get his attention as well, it's not every day one can use Goddess power in study. Isn't it what you humans do nowadays anyway?"


*Resigned Sigh* 


"...Fine…just shut it!"


Rin just collapsed into the bed and looked at the ceiling of her room.


"..."


'This is just great, one lucky event followed by one stupidly bad one! Why can't I just be left alone? Someone always has to mess it up for me!'


The girl frowned for a bit before she looked at the Archer card and put it aside, she then looked at the Lancer class.


'Another Goddess?'


"Indeed, my other half…  She is not as cool or powerful as I am but she could be useful."


Ishtar explained with a casual neglecting voice.


"...Ereshkigal…huh…Underworld powers… I wonder if I can improve my Gems with those birdcages."


"Hey! My powers are better! Don't you dare think along these lines!"


"Please… your powers are good at dishing out the damage, I can see how I can improve my Gandr and release accumulated mana but Ereshkigal is opposite to you, so she is good at storing energy."


"Fine…she might be better at being a battery than I am." The Goddess of Venus said with a childish pout. 


"Are you… pouting?"


"I am not!"


"Oh yes, you are! I can't believe it!"


"HMPH!!! I AM NOT TALKING WITH YOU ANYMORE!"


Rin just snorted with amusement before bringing the Lancer card closer to her chest. If Ereshkigal is opposite to Ishtar then she can get along with her better than this childish Goddess.


"I am not!"


And so the card fused with Rin and that moment her hair turned blonde, her eyes turned Red once more, and her clothes turned into black dresses. Just like Ishtar, her colouring is gold and black. But unlike Ishtar Archer's clothes, in this one black is dominant while gold is secondary. 


And just like with Ishtar, Rin sensed another presence in her mind.


"So you finally used my card." The other Rin's voice was opposite to Ishtar, more serious, less confident, and… dutiful?


All of the things which are not Ishtar…


"So you finally joined us!" Ishtar smugly exclaimed.


"...Are you already here? Of course, you are…" Ereshkigal said with a resigned tone.


"Hey! what's with that tone!"


"You said that you won't be talking anymore. From the looks of it, Ereshkigal can help me more, unlike you." Rin already started to form a slightly biassed view of this Airhead Goddess.


"HMPH! My ideas are good!"


"For the short term? I suppose, but I am sure Ereshkigal can help me more." Rin was much more certain that the Underworld Goddess is a better choice for long-term planning.


"Let me check…" Once again Rin's life memories flashed through her mind, a few moments later the Goddess hummed.


"Very fascinating… If he was around in our times I would take that extra mile to get him to my domain… F-F-For safekeeping that is!" 


Rin just rolled her eyes after feeling that embarrassment mixed with longing. The girl can sense how both Goddesses have that itch to get Marcus' attention.


Thankfully both are just that consciousness in her mind. Because people like Marcus would have a bad ending when Goddesses like Ishtar or Ereshkigal get close to them.


She knows her stories after all.


"HMPH! Not true! Someone like Marcus is something I would have treated nicely!"


"Are you?" The Goddess of the Underworld chipped in.


At that moment Ereshkigal showed images of a few souls who ended up in her domain after having 'fun' with Ishtar.


"Hey! Those are my early days! Okay!? I am more reasonable now!"


Rin had an extremely doubtful look after feeling how uncertain Ishtar herself!


"One thousand years here or there, I doubt it changes much for you." 


The Goddess of Venus just reeled back for a bit. Sensing that, Ereshkigal decided to continue the previous theme of conversation.


"I am not that good at the whole Romance thing. Not my domain, but from my understanding, he already has some sort of interest in you as he is more open with you than this Sion girl. 


From what I saw you should continue your abrupt dates, it helps to build up, and by doing that you can capitalise on his attention. Attention is the key…"


Rin slowly nodded. She can get behind that. And she will have quite a bit of time since she is his excuse to be in the workshop for long hours.


"Sounds dull… but I can get behind the whole getting attention thing."


Ishtar chipped in from the side. Making the girl groan for a bit.


"Best course of action I heard so far. Let me see how I look in this."


As Rin said that she got up from the bed and walked over to the mirror in the bathroom.


Her eyes slightly widened as she saw herself in blonde! It was…strange! 


Very strange! Plus the whole gold and black get-up were much more to her style revealing very little but still quite cute.


Though that skull on the neck is a little bit too much!


"Hehehe, I guess so? I am still the Goddess of the Underworld."


"No offence intended to Goddess Ereshkigal, I do like your dress more than Ishtar."


"Hey! I used to not dress at all! Beauty is divine! So dressing as it is already showing that I am learning okay!?"


"Now you're just desperate." Rin's words slammed more than a hammer would do as the Goddess of Venus deflated and just retreated to the back of her mind.


Leaving only her and Ereshkigal.


"Anyway, I think I will do some studying, this power is impressive but I do need to sort this out." 


"Sure thing, I can help, I am good at this." 


The Girl turned Pseudo Servant slightly smiled hearing that, now this is good! She got someone who can help with this.


*Sniff*


A voice in the back of her head sounded like it was about to cry, but Rin just ignored it.


As the girl was preparing to list things she will research she completely forgot that a blonde Servant with red eyes is watching her from some distance away.


Thrud appeared on the water tower which has a direct view to one of Rin's windows, this is a perfect spot to watch a girl who just revealed her mana to have the taint of TWO divine beings! 


'This is strange, she can change her looks, and those looks represent a Goddess of some sort? Master should know about this!'


~~~~~~Monday Morning~~~~~~ 


As Marcus left his house he saw Rin was already waiting for him, he sensed her before, and now that she has shown her Mana for the Alchemist to sense, it's extremely easy for him to track her.


"You do know that it's faster for you to go to school if you go directly there." He said with a raised eyebrow.


"I thought you would need some company in the morning." She said with a smile.


Marcus slowly nodded at her. It's weird for him to sense mana coming from her, especially…as diverse as hers… Death, Bloodshed…Lust? War and much more… She is a beacon of… weirdness.


"Since you think I want company, should I start calling you Goddess Rin now?" He asked with a 'smirk'. 


*Groan* 


"I doubt I could hide this from you."


"Hide it? You can if you want, I am not demanding anything from you." 


Rin's eyes slightly widened when she heard that! She just got herself in a trap! She could feel a paradigm shift in Marcus when he said that!


'Damn my stupid Tohsaka luck!'


"N-No it's fine! I don't mind, I can tell you!" The girl internally hushed her two new companions. They were starting to get annoying, acting like the ship was sinking and they were the only ones left!


"I was given two cards with two sets of powers, an Archer card which holds Goddess Ishtar, and a Lancer card which holds Goddess Ereshkigal," Rin exclaimed with a little bit of panicked tone. 


"..."


Marcus didn't say anything, instead he just nodded at her. He  

already knows, he had a guess, and a little bit of recalling made him connect the dots. However, he doesn't care about the details, what he cares about is that she was trying blatantly not to tell him when she is in his Town with his Boundary fields scanning for any sort of threats and magical creature infestations.


"...I didn't want to hide! I promise! I just didn't know how to say that or approach it!" 


"It's fine, just let's leave this at that."


For the rest of the way, Rin internally mumbled about her shitty luck, about stubborn males, about the annoying lustful Goddess who wants to do things after seeing him in person, about the annoying waste of time…


But mostly about her Tohsaka luck… 


~~~ 


'Is this really happening to me? The rebound for getting you two? Now I have to sit with her!?' Rin exclaimed angrily as she saw who was her deskmate. 


It's Sion! Why is she sitting here!? Can she just hypnotise that guy and sit with Marcus!? 


On the other hand, she is wondering how long he will be annoyed with her!


"I don't know how Luck works… But it shouldn't be like this." Ereshkigal said with not so certain tone.


Ishtar simply didn't say anything, she was still recovering from a previous verbal assault from Rin for being the cause of Marcus' annoyance.


Though she did sit down and didn't pay attention to her, However, Sion did, her eyes were on the black-haired twin tails.


Just like Marcus, Sion is quite sensitive to Mana, so she noticed that something was off with Rin. Something happened to her over the weekend.


"What the hell Tohsaka… You reek of such diverse mana!" Sion could not control herself and exclaimed with disbelief.


For one Rin should be a regular Magus why she has this…strange mana?


"Hey! I take offence to that!" The Black haired girl said with narrowed eyes.


"Yes, well I can sense it very well, but someone like Marcus who is connected to that Boundary Field could tell something has happened miles away," Sion explained as she noticed that her target was paying less attention to Rin!


"I Get it. I noticed that."


'I guess he is now suspicious of her. Did Tohsaka lose all her progress after revealing her mana? But there is more, is there? How curious.' 


The purple-haired girl internally smirked. It appears she can now proceed with her advances. 


'However, at the same time, I could deliver a good blow at Tohsaka as well.' 


Sion decided to tell Rin about Marcus' possible connection to ending the current society. That should spook the classic Magus out. After all, they have to be cautious not to die and lose their family crest, all that research done by several generations.


"Good, however, there is something I want to tell you as well." 


Rin looked at her, she could see Sion was somewhat genuine about this.


"Is it important?"


"Very." The purple head didn't beat around the bush. 


"Fine."


~~~ 


Marcus gazed at the pair sitting in front of him, they were quite civil with each other, which is amusing to watch. However, his gaze went to the side. He could sense the pair of Magi girls are about to enter his class.


'This confirms it. And why did I think that they wouldn't do it? I guess after all these years I still have a thing called 'Hope'...' 


The Alchemist had hopes that these two won't be invading his daily life but they are damn doing it!


Moments later the doors opened and the Homeroom teacher groaned loudly, the same with 90% of the class. Another Transfer student!?


The Vice-Principal brought in TWO people! No wonder there was a brand-new table in the homeroom! This was what everyone was thinking except for Marcus and the pair of girls sitting in the front.


The Alchemist's first thoughts were that this was a combo of Gold and Silver, The shorter blonde girl was the incarnation of the devil. That was his first thought; she had an angelic cute look but it had a Sadist underneath it.


And the other one, the white-silver-haired one… He saw this one before…


'The timeline of that mobile game? Hmmm…Marie…Marie? Olga? With an absurdly unique surname…'


He thought about it, and his first thoughts were that she is a tsundere rich lady, who is hiding her anxious insecurities.


'I guess I found my new source of teasing…'


That was Marcus first thought as he observed these newcomers.


"Why don't you two introduce yourself?"


The Homeroom teacher who looks resigned to her fate to experience this weirdness just decided to roll with this.


There is no point to question anymore…she doubts she will get proper answers to this anyway.


"I will start first." The blonde took a step forward and did a slight high-class lady bow.


"My name is Reines El-Melloi Archisorte." The blonde introduced herself with a cute smile. Making some of the guys get interested but foremost they all thought one thing!


She is old money!


After her, it was the white-haired one who had a taught front, she tried to look haughty. 


"And I am Olga Marie Animusphere."


There were curious looks, is there someone with such a surname!?


"Good now we have prepared an extra table for you two so go sit there."


However, it turns out to be quite something else as the pair will be sitting next to Marcus. More like Reines smugly ended up sitting next to him. There was a gap between them but still, she ended up sitting next to him. Enough to talk with him without much bother.


In the end, it looked like he was surrounded by females from old money. And that just freaked out his classmates! Why the hell are all of them here!?


This is just weird! While the guy in question, for a bit, zoned out and thought how weird this got. He never thought he would end up like this. 


He did pretty much everything she did in his past life. However, there was one mistake he made and that was that he rushed.


Revealing himself to be such great talent at such an age. If he revealed himself as supreme talent at 30 or 40… Then it would be much harder for the rest to pull this method. 


Yes… This is all on him. 


'Huh…haste makes waste…and I am drowning in it…'


There was a self-mocking smile on his face. Well, he is just going to need to live with this.