บท 2554: 62
Starting my chant, I spoke loudly as I raised my hands into the air. The words left my mouth as the ground shuddered, and I felt the mana leaving my soul in a wave.
The primal words flew from my lips as the candle flickered and the water thrashed around. The wind bellowed, and the soil inched towards Remilia as she looked around, still confident despite the disruption happening around her.
The circles glowed as the outer one mixed with blood and dust seemed to strain as even more mana pooled into the inner rings. The energy seeped down into the floors and the walls, and for a split second, I could feel a massive presence's gaze settle on me.
However, it soon vanished, and I returned to the ritual, fortunately not messing anything up in the short time the being had looked at me. I could tell the end of the ritual was approaching as the four representations of the elementals had vanished, and the circles slowly merged into the largest one on the edge of the room.
Continuing my chant, I grit my teeth as I am forced to pull more deeply on my magic circuits, and the pain flares up in my chest. It was clear that I hadn't done a very good job translating the ritual out of the Nasuverse, which was only compounded by making edits to make it work with this room.
Normally the world would be doing the heavy lifting. Due to it not being truly alive like it was back in the Nasuverse and me only using the bare minimum required to count as connecting to the land, I was forced to shoulder the vast majority of the mana cost.
Slowing down my words, I felt the last of the ritual slowly petter out as the final circle vanished, and I stumbled against the wall. Patchouli promptly flew inside and started looking over Remilia, who was looking around the room and her hands in wonder.
Taking ragged gasps, I slumped further down and rested my parasol on my lap as I rested my head against the wall and closed my eyes.
Taking slow breaths, I felt the pain in my chest settle down as the magic circuits started to settle down from me stressing them by pulling forth more magic than I really should have.
I opened my eyes when I felt a brush of wind blow past me and saw that Remilia was gone from the throne room, leaving behind a frustrated Patchouli and Sakuya walking up to me.
"Lady Remilia has requested that I escort you to the dining room," The silver-haired maid said as I staggered to my feet and followed after her.
Almost a minute later, we arrived at the dining room, and I slumped down in a chair as Sakuya walked off and returned moments later with a cup of water that I gratefully gulped down.
A few moments later, another large gust of wind blew past me, revealing Remilia, who, in complete opposition to her normal, mostly refined, and elegant persona, was grinning so wide that it almost split her face in two.
Darting towards me, she wrapped her arms around my stomach and pulled me out of the chair. She then spun around, giggling as she squeezed tight.
As I felt my ribs creaking, I frantically slapped her arm, causing her to release me, allowing my body to drop to the floor before I floated back to my feet.
"I felt it!" She shouted no less happy, "The sun on my skin, and I didn't burn; I can go for a swim!" She continued, her eyes darting around as if she was cataloging everything she could now do.
Gripping my hand in a flurry of motion, she pulled me off my feet and at a speed that was closer to teleportation than physical movement, we arrived in front of a solid steel door.
Catching myself, I grit my teeth in pain as the Flames of Agnoy snapped my damaged arm back in place. "One moment," I said to the restless vampire as she pushed open the thick doors.
"Come on," she whined. "You're doing that ritual for Flandre; she can finally go out in the day!" It was clear that she was exuberant, and while it was nice to see somebody so happy, I did have to rain on her parade.
"I'm afraid I'm going to need a few hours," I said, resulting in her stopping her frantic movement and looking up at me in confusion. "I burned all of my mana on that ritual as well as straining my magic circuits, so I need rest so I don't damage anything or die,"
Her face twitched in irritation, but she was smart enough to know that if I died due to trying to push me ahead of what was safe, her sister would never be able to walk in the sun.
I also needed to make contact with that being that had peered at me while I was casting; it felt remarkably similar to the dragon that resided in the barrier, and I almost failed due to it looking at me, so I needed to at least ensure it wouldn't actively attempt to stop me.
"I'll be back in a few hours, but I'm going to head out and take a nap," I said, turning around and swinging my parasol onto my shoulder when I heard Remilia clear her voice from behind me.
"Well, you could always stay here for your nap, we have plenty of rooms, and I do need to give you your payment." She said in a voice that clearly wanted me to stay here so that I could get working as soon as I woke up.
To be honest, I didn't care and just wanted to sleep soon, so I turned back to face her and nodded, resulting in her bringing up as she called out her maid's name.
Time shuttered to a stop once again, and I sighed before waiting for Sakuya to arrive. Around a minute later, as the Grimoire grew, she rounded the corner, and time restarted.
"Aidan will be staying here for a bit; show him to a room and ensure he is not disturbed," Remilia ordered, to which Sakuya nodded and started walking off me, following in her wake.
We soon arrived in a location that had many more fairies than I had seen throughout the manor, and unlike the few I had met before, these were all clad in maid dresses and cleaning in a manner that, while sloppy, was cleaning the hall.
Sakuya then pulled open a door showing me a small but cozy room with a bed, dresser, and end table. Walking in, I turned to thank the silver-haired maid.
"Thank you, I'm going to be taking a nap, so I'll likely be sleeping for a few hours," I said. She bowed and closed the door with a soft click; dismissing my robes and parasol, I climbed into the bed and sighed, relaxing into the very soft bed.
Casting my gaze at the ceiling of the room, I switched on my mage sight. I looked past the manor's heavy magical aura, past the dense concentration of magic in the air, and towards the barrier that surrounded the entire land of fantasy.
I could feel a headache growing, but I pushed past the incredibly dense, almost solid wall of mana that formed the barrier and looked inside it, witnessing the same massive dragon carcass I had seen earlier.
Unlikely earlier, I saw its body shift slightly and witnessed the barrier twitching before I retracted my sight. Dismissing my magesight, I groaned as I lay back in bed, rubbing my brow as a headache started to spring up.
That was a poor idea, and it didn't even do all that much as it seemed I would need to go to the Reimu's shrine to communicate with the dragon. Even if it was mostly dead, it was at least somewhat able to communicate and peer around Gensoyko. However, it seemed like it was only looking at me because of the new ritual I performed. It wouldn't be a problem in the future.
Closing my eyes, I relaxed and soon was swept away into sleep. Unfortunately, I was woken up when I slowly blinked and saw an open door in front of me and a blank white space behind me.
Slowly standing up, I felt a bit strange when I noticed that I was clad in my robes and parasol, even though I had dismissed them when I went to bed.
Walking forward, I saw a girl who seemed to be a little under ten sitting on her bed as a black figure writhed under the bed, tears staining her cheeks as she flinched away every time the being attempted to claw up the side of the bed to reach her.
Frowning, I strode forward and, in a quick moment, sent a single Eldritch Blast at the being under the bed, holding back so as not to blow up the bed.
The being vanished as the blast of eldritch magic hit it, and the girl looked up at me, her eyes growing wide as she threw herself off the bed, grabbed me around the neck, and tightened into a hug.
I instinctively dropped my parasol and settled my hands under her to prevent her from falling and pulling me down with her. Clearing my voice, I spoke softly to her, "Hello, what is your name?"
Looking up at me, she grinned, tears still staining her cheeks but much happier than she had been moments ago, "It worked!" She cheered her hand, releasing from my neck as she danced around on the ground, her nightdressed flapping about as she smiled.
"What worked?" I asked as she slowly started to settle down before turning to me, "The dream lady said to wish for you to arrive, and you would; I'm not having a nightmare anymore!" She cheered before running and climbing back under her covers.
"Goodnight, dream man!" She said, waving to me before rolling over; despite her statement, tremors still ran up and down her body as she shook with pent-up energy; I could even feel a warmth pooling in my chest.
I smiled as the dream broke apart, and in between one blink and the next, I was in the city streets of a massive old city. Looking around, I could tell, despite the empty streets, this was Vienna, the city I had visited to see my extended family.
I then saw the Santa hatted figure of Doremy sitting on a bench while munching on a bratwurst. As she caught my gaze, she gave waved me over.
Sitting next to her, I placed the tip of my parasol between my feet and waited for her to finish her meal, I doubted she needed to eat, but that was no reason to be rude.
"Well then," Doremy said, swallowing the last bite of the steaming sausage, "You got your first worshipper; it shouldn't take that long to get some more, at least in her neighborhood."
"I see," I said calmly, even as inside I was screaming, I had only wanted the passive faith from a good dream here and there, but it seemed that I would be getting the complete godly package.
Doremy giggled as she looked at my face and threw an arm around my shoulder before ruffling my hair, "You'll do fine," she drawled before continuing as she had been before, "Anyway, if you want to speed it up; you'll have to give her a blessing or two with that faith you've gathered,"
My hand reached towards my chest, and I could feel the few drops of warmth that had started pooling when the little girl thanked me. "This is faith?" I asked hoarsely as I dipped a metaphorical hand into it.
It was incredibly heavy like it could hold up the sky, but at the same time, I could tell that so long as I moved it down the paths my domains held, I could do almost anything.
"Yup," the Baku chirped while poking my chest, "The most valuable thing in the universe and what makes the Earth go round,"
I then felt the Grimoire pulse and grow as I stumbled, feeling for the faintest moments a sense of deja vu as my vision blurred for a moment and peering at Doremy, I saw something with too many eyes that caused me to blink a few times before my vision settled back on the smug Santa hat wearing Baku had I come to know.
Looking at my pale face, she hummed and leaned forward, looking up at me as she moved her fingers around slightly, and the realms around us warped slightly.
"You seem to be noticing something; I've altered the Dreamworld so that you shouldn't have any issues," She said, her smile fading for a moment as a small expression of concern overtook her face, but when I blinked, it was back to her normal smile.
Holding up a finger, I almost wanted to approach what she had just said, but I decided to move back toward the topic of godhood.
"So you're telling me I'm a god now?" I asked. I didn't know how faith worked, but there was something strange and terrifying about the little drops in my chest. I had messed around with it before in the form of my collecter, but that would take around a whole day to gather the amount I received from helping a single child with her nightmare.
"You already were a god," Doremy said, floating forward to poke me in the chest, "I just stirred up a few of the more gullible to reach out to you; give it a few days you'll be a full-fledged dream god, and once that happens I'll be expecting you to hold up your end of the deal."
"I see," I said, still grappling with the idea that I would have followers soon, I had been granted godhood by the Grimoire, but it was just another of the incredible abilities it gave me. However, this one had the potential to shake the foundation of the world in a much more passive way than my other skills.
I could crack the Earth with the Dawnbreaker or make nature follow the whims of a single person with a ritual, but this one was developing a religion that, while slow to start, could spread and have massive dominoes.
"How will I answer their calls if I can only receive them while sleeping?" I asked if I wanted to help and bless them, but I also was busy and didn't want to spend my sleeping hours helping people all the time.
"Once you are officially the god of dreams, you can spend a bit of faith to break off small chunks of yourself; they can deal with worshippers instead of you. Of course, they only have as much energy as the faith you put inside them, so be careful," She explained before clapping her hands, "Anyway, you're waking up now, so good luck, and I'll see you in a few days."
I then felt the world around me melt away into the pink dream stuff that Doremy used, and for a moment, I saw dozens of eyes and tendrils creeping out of the ruler of the Dreamworld's body before I woke up.
Sitting up, I looked around while scratching my chest; it felt strange to sleep while wearing a shirt, as for at least five or six years, I had not.
Throwing my legs over the side of the bed, I resumed my robes and parasol while taking a deep breath luxuriating in the absence of the soul-deep ache I had felt when straining my magic circuits.
I also enjoyed the specks of faith floating around my chest, it felt almost like a heater, and its mere presence bolstered my confidence.
Smiling, I walked outside the small room; I had been resting in, absently noting that it was approaching late afternoon, which meant that if I were going to perform the ritual for Flandre, I would be unable to talk to the village people until late tomorrow or the day after given I was going to be training with Yuuka and having another fight with Tenshi.
Following the path I had been led to arrive at the room, I soon emerged in the dining room, where I saw Remilia and Flandre playing chess while munching on what looked like red velvet cupcakes.
Upon seeing me walk in, Flandre spun around her wrought iron wings, almost smacking into Remilia and knocking over a few species. It was clear that she was playing chess to indulge Remilia, given the state of the board and how her species were spread out almost randomly while her sisters were played out commonly.
Flandre grinned widely with glee in her red eyes as she sprung to her feet, "Hello, are you here to play!" She asked loudly with exuberance in her voice, causing Remilia to sigh softly and tug on Flandre's sleeve before explaining.
"Aidan will be performing a ritual that will allow you to walk in the sun and water," Remilia said, somewhat nervous, but it was clear that no matter what concerns she held, she was willing to push them aside to assist Flandre.
The other vampire froze, her strange iron and crystal wings stopping behind her as she turned to face her sister. "Really?" She asked softly and in a tone so different from the happy, childlike manner I had always heard her talking in since meeting her.
"Yes," Remilia said in reply, standing up as well, her hands twitching as she clasped them behind her back while both Flandre and her started at each other an undercurrent of tension filled the room as the Grimoire grew.
Stepping forward, I smiled and approached the table that Remilia and Flandre were standing at. "So, where would you like for me to perform the ritual?" I asked, breaking the growing tension between the two as they turned to look at me.
"I suppose the basement," Flandre said in a flat tone that had Remilia wincing as she strode off, the crystal's on her wings clinking.
Following behind her, Flandre and I left Remilia behind as we walked toward yet another part of the manor I had not seen. While I knew that the mansion's interior had been messed with, the magic layered on it was still astounding.
I couldn't spot a single spell anchoring the magic in place, which meant somebody was keeping the entire mansion twisted like a pretzel through their own skill and mental focus. While they likely had tools and other foci to ease the strain, it was still awe-inspiring.
We then arrived at a locked iron door that Flandre threw open with nary an effort despite the fact when it slammed into the wall, the entire hallway shuddered.
Following her down the stairs, it was clear to see that this part was much less traveled as dust coated the walls and only flickering dim electrical light showed the path down the hallway.
We soon arrived at another massive thick iron door that Flandre opened with only a hint more effort than the one at the entrance to the basement.
Stepping inside, I realized a depressing sight; the room was clearly a bedroom with a large bed, a dresser, dozens of small toys, and other things that made a bedroom look like a home.
However, there was a prevailing feeling that something was off, and it didn't click until Flandre hopped on the bed, and I spotted something broken made of wood under the bed.
While Flandre didn't mind living down here, there was a small part of her that resented being in the basement while her sister lived above in a lavish room.
"Well, I just need the ingredients, and we can get started," I said, ignoring the prevailing mood causing Flandre to brighten up as she brushed aside the bad thoughts.
"Alright, what do you need?" She asked, hopping off the bed and striding up to me as time slammed to a halt, and I sighed again.
It seemed that Sakuya was being sent after us, and I was proven correct as after a few minutes, the silver-haired maid stepped through the open iron door carrying the supplies for the ritual.
Setting them, she gave me a bow despite my seemingly frozen state and walked away, the clicking of her heels fading away as time restarted with a click.
Flandre frowned as she saw the items piled on the floor before shaking her head and stepping back, "Anything else?" She asked, looking over the four ingredients almost skeptically.
"Nope," I replied cheerfully as I started setting up the ritual. It was almost identical to the one I performed on Remilia, with a few minor alterations to fit the smaller room I was performing in.
Soon enough, I had the seven circles made from blood and dust, with Flandre standing in the middle. Stepping outside the room, I took a deep breath, not happy about the pain I would be feeling soon, but the soothing warmth of the faith in my chest caused me to relax slightly.
Holding out my hands, I started to chant under the gaze of Flandre, who seemed to have shaken herself out of the funk she had fallen into for a few minutes and was twitching, causing her wings to move around a create a slight tinkling sound.
My chant continued as mana was pulled from me with a torrent that had me almost stumbling, and I once again felt the gaze of the dragon that lay inside the barrier, seemingly a long ingrained response that persisted after death.
The candle's flame grew as air blew inside the room, causing Flandre's skirt to flap as she twitched and kept a close eye on the splashing water. However, as I pulled deeper and started to touch my magic circuits, I felt a fleck of faith travel up my hand and into the ritual.
That tiny spark exploded, and a torrent of mana surged into the ritual, forcing me to franticly grasp hold of the fragile formation and wrangle the newly created mana into the pattern I was following.
Continuing one, I didn't have to pull on my magic critics, and the ritual concluded shortly after with me much less tired and only forced to lean on my parasol somewhat.
Much like her sister before her, Flandre looked over her hands, walked over to the wall, and gently laid a hand on it. However, unlike her sister, her eyes traveled across the room and down her body as if searching for something.
Then I took a few steps back as a familiar feeling overtook me, and Flandre held out her hand as if something was resting in it. This felt like the brief moment before I died when Flandre and the heat that Destruction's mere presence brought.
That had unfortunate implications on her powers, but considering that the mansion was standing and people weren't dying regularly meant, she had control of her power, and I could push off any questions.
Walking slowly out of the room, she spoke to me calmly in a manner unlike the childish exuberance or deadly flat tone I had seen her talk in before, "Do you mind coming outside with me?"
Nodding, I followed after her seeing the tiny twitches in her body as she forced herself to walk and not run through the halls to get outside faster.
The Grimoire grew as we finally left the manor and into the midafternoon sun. Flandre hesitated on the doorstep before taking a cautious step into the light.
She flinched as the light covered her body; however, there was no burning or even a slight tinge of her skin. A smile crept across her face. She spun around, and the sun played across her face without burning her.
Laughter bubbled from her lips as she pushed off the ground and hung in the air, a simple, joyful smile on her face, all anger and negative thoughts forgotten in the face of warm sunlight on her face.
Hering faint footsteps, I turned to my side and saw Remilia standing beside me, a nostalgic smile on her face as she watched Flandre dance in the sun.
"Thank you," she rasped, clearly doing her best to keep her course, "If you ever need anything, and I mean absolutely anything, let me know, and I'll see what I can do," She promised, not accepting pushback. So I gave her a nod and watched as she joined her sister, floating up to her in the afternoon light.
Feeling a faint burn behind my eyes, I smiled at the happy sight and started walking toward the gate. I could retrieve my payment the next time I stopped by; there was no need to interpret the sister's enjoyment to discuss payment.
I was, however, stopped by a time, slowing to a halt with a clicking sound. Standing still, I saw Sakuya approaching with an envelope in her hand; time resumed as she handed the thick envelope to me, and checking inside, I saw a large sum of money that I tucked away.
"I know the mistress may have already said this, but thank you, sincerely," Sakuya said, and for a moment, I was not looking at the perfect time to stop maid Sakuya, but the person who had been with Remilia for years, possibly Centrius and deeply appreciated what I, had done.
Giving her a wry smile, I replied, "No problem, just doing my job," then I nodded politely and to my leave, saying goodbye to the gate guard as well, which for once was wide awake and peering through the steel gate at the two small vampires frolicking in the sunlight.
Striding off, I made my way past the lake covered with mist and towards the Human Village. Distorting space to speed up my journey, I arrived quickly and landed in front of the gate, startling both of the guards.
Their hands tightened on the guns as they both looked at me casually; I mentally frowned but pushed it off as startlingly as I walked forward.
"Good afternoon," I said, giving them a polite nod, "I am looking to purchase some property in the village. Who should I talk to arrange that," I continued, causing both of them to exchange looks before the one on the right spoke.
"For youkai business, you would want to speak with Miss Kamishirasawa; you can find her near the school on the outskirts of town to the right. But no funny business, understood?"
"Understood," I said before walking past them and towards where he said the school was. Despite the village's large size, I was able to weave in between people, and with my keen sight, I spotted what I presumed to be the school based on the students leaving. Continuing on my way towards it, I ignored the preachers talking about the sun, the merchants attempting to hawk their wares, and, in one case, a young teen who attempted to shoulder-check me but backed down when I gave him a look.
Raising an eyebrow, I spotted three figures I hadn't anticipated residing inside the village. Rumia, Wriggle, and Crino were floating out of the school under the watchful gaze of a woman wearing a bizarre hat; it was a blue box decorated with a red ribbon at the top along with silver lace on the side. The end result looked somewhat like a small house.
Waiting a few minutes for the kids and youkai to disperse, noting that while Kamishirasawa treated both mostly equally, the parents seemed eager to retrieve the children away from the youkai but more as a precaution and less true fear.
Walking towards the woman, my eyes took in her form and made a note of the strange silver hair highlighted with blue; I didn't know if that was merely a factor of this world given that Sakuya had silver hair but given that the other humans had normal hair suggested that this teacher might have non-human ancestry.
"Hello, Miss Kamishirasawa," I said, stumbling over the name and butchering the end of it, causing the woman to giggle slightly, her eyes dancing with mirth. It was clear that other people had this issue before.
"Please call me Keine. I understand my last name can be cumbersome," She said in a polite voice that belayed a hint of something more and caused me to take a closer look at her.
Looking slightly closer, I could tell that my dominance of the moon held heavy power over her, which only reinforced my idea that she had non-human ancestors, but given most people's cation towards youkai, I decided against bringing it up.
"What can I do to help you," She said not noticing or uncaring of my closer look at her nature, "I am looking to purchase property in the village for a project of mine," I said, resting the tip of my parasol on the ground and letting my hands relax on its handle.
"What project is that?" She asked, slightly more wary now but still willing to hear me out. "I am looking to build a shrine; you see, I'm a new god here," I replied, resulting in Keine nodding in understanding before frowning slightly.
"I'm afraid you can't buy property inside the village as we have an agreement to not sell to youkai, gods, or other nonhumans to prevent any from gaining an edge over others." I frowned as while that made sense; it was still irritating.
However, before I could reply, she continued. "However, you would be allowed to build your shrine on the outskirts so long as it is not intrusive and you follow the laws, no robbery, no coercing worshippers, and so on."
"Thank you," I said, nodding in agreement, "Where should I mark, and how much will it cost," I continued as the Grimoire grew, causing me to wince slightly as dozens of new scraps of knowledge and tricks entered my head along with a neat trick to prevent your average joe from breaking into my home.
"Let me retrieve one of the council members, and we can find a suitable location," She said, smiling gently as she gestured for me to follow her into the depths of the Human Village, and with a similar smile, I did.
Powers Gained
Mind's Eye
Your affinity to Secret Histories manifests through your sight, allowing you to see in low light conditions and through supernatural illusions.
Specialties (Nomad's Desert Life)
Surviving in the Desert Lands is a struggle. You gain an ability to conserve water, ride camels and a plethora of common desert survival knowledge with a small boost to being able to go longer without water in hot climates. But the best thing is... you've learned how to create a cultural Taboo like what was once around the Desert Pyramid. Small children and their dares would be far too scared to ever cross your word, the common grave robber or thief would hesitate to tread within the boundaries of land the taboo is set on, but hardened souls with a purpose won't falter so easily. In other words it will keep the laymen off a property you own, but not the settings villains, big bads, or cronies sent by a villain to burn your house down. The rest? They'll think wherever you've set this is cursed. Surely keeping hapless common folk away from a set plot of land of yours where they could hurt themselves (or annoy you) is worth something right?
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