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[NSFW] - The Wandbearer (ASOIAF SI)

"What are you doing?" came the voice of a young girl as I winced once more.
"Getting dressed." I responded, briefly wondering how a three year old could sound so bossy. I winced putting on a clean shirt over the bandages that Ser Willem helped bind before going to sleep.
"You are hurt!" she exclaimed making me snort. If it hadn't already, any questions I would have had regarding Magic in this world would have been quashed after a five minute conversation with my sister. In the books I had read, she was a thirteen year old, capable of speaking multiple languages and enacting her interpretation of Alexander the Conqueror in Slaver's Bay after hatching three dragons. Three year old Dany may have been bossy given how Ser Willem or the servants treated but she was observant and way too smart for her age.
"A lesson, dear sister, a strong armor does not make the person wearing it indestructible, only harder to kill." I said with a soft smile.
"I will heal, and it will be forgotten. Nothing for you to worry about." I hastily added, to make sure she would not worry, only to be proven how naive such a wish was with her next question.
"What happened?" asked Dany, her head doing a tilt that I knew she picked up from watching me. I made a mental note to not spend too much in the minds of animals, as I knew to be the source of where I got that reaction.
"A Bad Man tried to stab me, but failed." I explained, knowing that she would keep asking unless I told her something. If I had to be honest, lying to her was not something I was comfortable with and she would need to face the fact that people may want us dead. There was nothing wrong with returning the favor to those who tried to see us dead at the least.
"He failed and won't be able to do it again, so you do not have to worry about it, sweet sister." I explained, seeing Dany frown at that.
Finding a deflection the wisest course of action, I spoke "Now, I am starving, so come along and we can break our fast. What should we eat?"
"Pancakes!" exclaimed Dany, once more making me question the decisions of my past. Introducing some food from my old life was just a way to make
I slowly made it down the stairs of the House we were staying, wincing as I did not have any painkillers and the numbness I had from last night had long since faded, leaving only pain behind.
Growing or fixing bones was beyond me for now, not that I would be willing to experiment on myself. `And the only spell I could think of may or may not have a chance of vanishing my bones instead.` I mused as we entered the Dining Room, where Ser Willem was sitting, nursing what looked to be ale.
"Ser Willem, good morning." I spoke, throwing away any stuffy tradition regarding greetings. This man was closer to a father than my biological one... granted, a rock was a better father than Aerys the Mad, but I digress.
"Prince Viserys, Princess." greeted Ser Willem, frowning as he saw the way I looked, knowing that I consciously broke protocol that he had been trying to teach me for the last three years.
"The First Sword dropped by to ask questions." said Ser Willem still frowning "Something about an altercation in the streets last night."
"Any trouble?" I asked, as I took a bite of the bacon.
"None." said Ser Willem "He was however curious how someone from Qarth made it to Braavos and who may have paid for them."
"Did he have any guesses?" I asked, curious as to what someone more knowledgeable about most powers in the world would think.
"He talked of some Spice Guild of Qarth if the target was a merchant, so I asked him of any group of Hedge-Wizards from there, he mentioned Warlocks of Qarth." he stated his eyes looking at my belt, that still had my wand attached to the sheathe I had made for it.
"Guild of Spicers may not be it, but Warlocks... that is an interesting theory." I deflected, mentally beating myself as I had ignored where Sorrowful Men came from. "I suppose it is possible that they are interested. I should see what precautions we can take. They should not be able to do much while we are in Braavos however." I explained. The presence of the Faceless Men would probably discourage the Warlocks from taking action... given that both cities had their own Cults of Assassins.
"Good." said Ser Willem, throwing me a small bag "No work in the yard today, let your rib recover."
"If you say so." I said, opening the pouch and taking a sniff. "What is this?"
"Willow bark." he said "chew on it and the swelling and throbbing should lessen. Don't look too surprised, my prince, I am a knight and I have cracked or broken my fair share of ribs in Tourneys."
"Broke more in other men, I would bet." I said with a smile. I was not sure what sort of a pain-killer I could take that did not lead to my mind weakening but medieval equivalent of aspirin was not one that I would consider.
"You have no idea..." began the old knight, as he started talking about the Tourneys, which got Dany's attention given how she had stopped stuffing her face with her pancakes.
Once the food was eaten and Dany went out to play, I turned to the knight.
"The Warlocks?" I asked, curious as to what he was considering.
"What do you know of them?" asked Ser Willem, leaning back.
"Rhaegar had books from the time of Unlikely." I explained, trying to make my knowledge more palatable than the actual source of it. "And Pycelle once told me that they supposedly prevented Valyria from taking over Qarth. He also said, their power waned as Magic left the world after Dragons died."
"But we know that magic did not die with dragons." countered Ser Willem looking at me with a knowing look.
"That has been what the Maesters want everyone to believe." I stated. I was still not sure of the real core reasoning for the Maester's obsession with denying magic. As I still did not know the real reason for how the Maester's behaved, I could only theorize. If they worked to uncover knowledge, they were too traditionalist to achieve progress. If they wished to protect people, they were leaving humanity vulnerable to Magical sources, denying the threat of Others and all other actions they took. "Possibly because they do not have the ability to control magic and magic users." I mused, before forcing myself to go through that rabbit hole again. I had no solid proof that Maesters were acting against my family other than speculation, so making plans for their demise was useless for now.
"What do you think we should do?" asked Ser Willem, feeling like a parent who was asking a child what their thoughts were.
"I never met him, but mother talked of Maester Aemon Targaryen who once wrote to her, saying to arm ourselves with knowledge." I stated, before continuing "We do not know enough to act. If it is Tywin, we do not have a way to pay him back. If it is the Warlocks, their reasons are unknown to us. Attacking blindly is to open ourselves to a counterattack."
I could not personally attack Tywin, he had too many man and I was not going to blindly charge into Westerlands without an army and possibly a fully grown dragon. While I could send an Assassin after him, paying for one was not really in my current budget. I thought of sending a Thrall that I skin-changed and get the job done myself but that would not be feasible either. My skinchanging was strong, enough to possess humans when they were not aware of it and it left me without control of my body. Weakening my flesh with months long coma and risking death was not worth the effort, considering that such an action would mean months of journey over seas to get a shot at one of the most protected people in existence.
"Good... you are learning." said Ser Willem with a proud smile, as he seemed to have liked my cautious nature. "What would you have me do, your grace?"
"I dislike being called king." I countered "I am a Prince of Blood, not even Robert could deny it. I shall be a king when I sit upon a Throne."
"And wear a golden crown?" countered Ser Willem with a smirk.
`Crown for a king.` the thick accented voice called out, causing me to grit my teeth, as I pushed my mind out of the memories of a possible future.
"Not of gold... but a crown all the same." I countered, still adamant about it. I wound not seek a Golden Crown, if I could help it. Silver would do, just as well as Bronze and Iron or even better Valyrian Steel, though tracking the Conqueror's Crown would take a while still.
"The question still remains." deflected Ser Willem, probably seeing the pain in my face at the words. The Master at Arms probably considered the talk of a crown too painful for me after my mother's death. Memories of Rhaella that remained from old Viserys were too painful for me to properly process still. The fact that she had crowned me with her own silver crown was a reminder of what I was left with. I I could understand how the old knight came to that conclusion.
I took a breath, thinking of what I would need to do. We needed answers but looking for them may prove trouble. My right hand rested on my ribs, where the knife had struck, a direct path to my heart from the back. An idea started to form within my mind.
"What have you done to the body?" I asked, my eyes focused once more.
---
The servants dropped a large barrel by the entrance of my Workshop.
It was more like a section of the basement of the House we stayed in. It was not used due to the small number of people who actually lived in the House with the Red Door. Whereas Ser Willem preferred large men to act as servants, to discourage anyone from trying to attack us, I knew the true nature of such people. We would find ourselves in the streets once the Old Man died if those servants had their way.
Knowing the future and what may happen was tricky to manage. For example, I had foreseen the assassination attempt in the flames and I was not certain if trying to prevent it would lead to something worse. All the stories I heard of Prophecies told me that such an act was unwise and would lead to greater disasters.
So I prepared, using my knowledge and study of magic. Making fabric stronger than it ought to be was a tricky project. I knew it was possible, as there were such spells from other works of fiction and this world had at least one story about some Ironborn with possibly magic tattoos with the nickname of Steelskin. The more obvious example from another Magic System that I could recall was Reinforcement from Nasuverse... a way to fill the gaps between atoms with magical energy to increase the strength of materials.
The main challenge had been to make it a sustained Enchantment... which my current spells could not reach the level of. Now, I had an ingredient that may ensure that the enchantment would last longer.
I took out my wand and reached out through the door of the basement, feeling what I was looking for.
I had modified the room to have a bar to block the door. Using my magic to place it, locking the room from the inside in a way that would not allow anyone from snooping in. It was a simple mechanism but it worked and all I needed to do was levitate the wooden bar.
The approach to Levitation was similar in principle to my Cutting Curse and Shield Spells, creating solid air to have physical impact with the world. Sure, I would not try it on myself for now, but the method was just too useful for me to not work out. In theory, it was not even out of context for this world, though it was much more subtle than the displays of Mental Magics.
I had the opportunity to see what an Aeromancer actually did, as the man wearing the attire of monks put on shows near the Isle of Gods. They were rare this side of Essos from what I was able to learn from whispers, and I only knew of Asshai-by-the-Shadow to have Aeromancers. Granted, most assumed that what they were doing was simply moving in a way that was controlled by how the wind flowed, instead of their movements controlling the wind but to those who have felt Magic, they were taking control of the winds as they moved, making it into a show for money. The two monks seemed to be in a state of trance during the process, effectively becoming Airbenders in practice and had abilities to control the weather in a different way than Stormsingers or dozen other groups of practitioners of magic.
The warm air started blowing from the tip of the wand, moving through the gap the door to the back, solidifying as it came in contact with the wooden bar blocking the door.
"Wingardium Leviosa." I whispered with a smirk, as the warm air held together by magic lifted the wooden block out of the way. For all I knew, the words did not matter, so long as they provided me with a concept to focus onto. I could have thrown an `Alohomora` instead, though that was still a work in progress as using the wand and solidified air to pick a lock was tricky and required too much finesse for me at the moment.
The entire incantation trick had two benefit as far as I could tell. It was both a form of mental equivalent of a muscle-memory and self-hypnosis to speed up my spell-casting as well as being a simple show of smoke and mirrors to prevent someone I did not want from learning magic from what I was doing.
In a pinch, my magic may respond faster if I used the same incantation through-out my life, a few seconds that I could gain from what amounted to muscle memory may proved the difference between life and death.
Granted, the actual reason I used incantations was because I could and it made me feel like I was in an equally dangerous but more civilized work of fictional world instead of this one, but I also had to consider the consequence of what would happen when my powers became more commonly known. If people thought I needed to speak some words of power when I would be taken prisoner for some reason, they would gag me and leave me be if they were stupid and drug me to the gills if they were truly smart. Given the average intelligence of Westerosi nobility, most would go with the first approach and I give me the opportunity to mount an escape. Granted, I was much more likely to be killed on the spot but, even Robert would want to make it a public spectacle if he got his hands on me... giving me the time to escape and annoy him as a result.
The sound of a clacking of wood on stone led to a full grin, as I unlocked the door with the key and went inside.
The Workshop was rather barren for all I cared. There was a chest in one corner and a desk in the other. Small cages were upon the desk, containing rats for me to experiment with. A few barrens of water in case of a fire and a sand bag that was hanging over the rafters in case of wildfire.
A flick of my wand had the fire from the lamp in my hand jump through the candle wicks in the room, before returning to the lamb itself. A simple trick that involved reaching out to the fire and bringing it under control. While my wand could not make any fire from scratch, it still acted as a bridge for me to control any flames, though the candle trick was one of the few things I could do for now.
Another flick of my wand had the barrel containing the body roll into the room, ending in one of the empty corners as I dropped the tunic I wore the day before onto the desk and headed towards the chest. Opening it and removing the false bottom under the junk within it. There sat a dark leather bound journal that I had to ordered from a bookbinder, my Grimoire in all but name.
It contained information written in a language foreign to this world, as I did not want to write it in English, which was the basically of Westerosi Common in this world. The book contained records of every use of Magic or speculated instances of someone using Magic in as much detail as I could recall as well as numerous theories and experiments that I was yet to conduct.
The page I opened had a simple title, "Shadowbinding", before giving a sigh and re-reading it for the thousandth time just to make sure.
[hr][/hr]
AN: A bit plot development and some old/new method of Magic in the form of Aeromancy. George has nothing on Aeromancers and the wiki only says that they control air. Given that Melisandre could control the winds somehow, it made sense to have them do some sort of subtle Airbending from Avatar. The lack of Martial Arts based Magic Sects not developing, especially in the Eastern regions like Yi-Ti that were inspired by Asia made no sense if west had the concept of Knighthood and Chivalry, so this is my head-canon about Aeromancers.View This ThreadUnread Watched Threads
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CHAPTER 16
I started to think that Kensei didn't like me very much.
I know, a shocking thought that should not be possible since I was a super nice guy that everybody liked so there should be no reason for anyone to dislike me, or even give me a reason to think that they disliked me.
But I had a very good reason to think such a sacrilegious thing.
A very good reason that was coming far too close to my face again!
Ever since the shit I had pulled with the mask, which I wanted to look at how it looked soon if possible, Kensei had been trying to beat the crap out of me. I had managed to dodge most of his punches and the one that I hadn't managed to dodge felt like they almost cracked my bones.
Which was far better than the poor rock that had received his punch when I had dodged. Poor rock-kun did nothing to deserve being destroyed so brutally.
And I definitely did not deserve having all those punches aimed at me damn it!
So, as a good American, I decided that dodging punches were enough and that it was time to punch back!
Instead of running away, I flew forward as I let Kensei's punch go past by my cheek and punched him in his surprised face! Sending him down to the ground!
That punch had felt quite a bit more powerful than it should have been though. Guess putting on the mask really did help.
Those were my thoughts as Kensei came at me with his own mask on and this time I could NOT dodge his fist as it met my face in vengeance and broke my hollow mask as I flew away due to the impact of the hit.
And then I was falling to the ground with an impress velocity as Kensei had appeared above me and slammed his locked hands on my back.
I could feel his smug even with his hockey like hollow mask on his face.
I could also feel many, many bruises forming as I finally impacted the ground and… that was it. I might have been conscious but I wasn't getting up from that hit without at least using Ransōtengai or through gravity manipulation, one option that was far too much for a spar and the other a trump card I did not want to reveal yet.
"Give." I said as I relaxed on the ground and looked up at the fake sky they had over the ceiling. Wonder how much time it took to make it.
"Now, you'll be explaining how you used that mask." Kenseid said gruffly as he came down to the ground and let his mask dissipate into spirit particles.
"What do you mean?" I asked as I decided to play dumb. "You explained it to me and I did it. You are a truly awesome teacher Kensei sensei!" I said and would have saluted him if I wasn't in so much pain.
"Don't screw with me. We needed to fight and suppress our inner hollows in order to call upon the masks and even then they can't stay on for a long time. How did you use a mask without going through the special training of our that is needed to suppress your hollow?"
Admittedly, he was asking some reasonable questions. What I had done was pretty much challenging his view of reality after all. So it was given that he might be a bit upset.
"Please wait." A voice said as I turned towards it and saw Hachi and Lisa walking towards me along with…
"Tatsuki, is that you?" I had a half time recognizing the tomboy girl. Her skin was red and slightly scaly, she had small horns, a tail, catlike yellow eyes and claws. Not to mention a bigger chest and ass.
She also looked like she had been chewed out by a stampede, many bruises over her body and a black eye.
"Yup." The now dragon girl said with a wince before she started to turn back into the normal schoolgirl I knew her as before my eyes. Unfortunately her new assets left her along with the transformation while her bruises had no intention to do the same.
"I got my powers." She said with a smile and i had to smile back.
"That you have. Damn I am great." I nodded with a smile. Which wasn't well received by the real schoolgirl in the training ground.
"YOU are great?!" She yelled out and I was pretty sure that the only reason she wasn't attacking me was because of her bruises.
"Well of course, I am the one who gave you powers in the first place after all." I said with a nod at my sagely wisdom. I truly was great.
Before Tatsuki could decide that her bruises were worth taking a shot at me, we were both enveloped by orange barriers, courtesy of Hachi.
"Please do not fight, Cain-san and Tatsuki-san." the round man said as he clapped his hands and i could feel my wounds start to heal inside the barrier.
"Though Kensei does have a point. Tell us about how you got the mask kid." Lisa said as she planted a hand on her hip and cocked it to the side. Gosh I loved sailor uniforms of Japan.
"Well, I got it today." I said before…
"Bullshit." I was rudely interrupted.
"I did get it today after YOU explained how it works." I said, getting a little bit irritated.
"That still doesn't make sense." Lisa said as she adjusted her glasses.
"In order to get our masks, we fought against our inner hollows, and during that battle our bodies were in a state of hollowfication where we attacked anything within our sight. If it wasn't for the others keeping the hollowfied bodies busy, we might have ended up causing some nasty ruckus." The fake schoolgirl explained.
"I think I know why." I said and I actually did have an idea.
"If I'm not wrong, your Zanpakuto have spirits that are extension of your souls, am I right?" I asked and got three nods in affirmative.
"In other words your powers turn your powers into sentient beings that are part of you. So when you get hollow powers, your nature as a Shinigami create 'inner hollows' that have sway over you power." I explained and saw that Hachi was in thought while Lisa and Kensei seemed kind of lost but still seemed to be following my words.
"I am not a Shinigami and my powers don't have sentience. So my hollow powers are just simple energy. No personality behind them to take over me." I ended my explanation.
"Makes sense." Someone else said from behind me, it was Shinji who had his cat like grin on his face.
"I can't claim to be an expert in such things but I did spent quite some time around Hikifune-san and Kisuke. What you said sound like some sort of explanation they might come up with." The unspoken leader of the Visoreds said.
"Not that it matters much, we just need to train you enough that you guys don't get taken out by chumps and I believe we can do that." Shinji said and his cheshire grin widened even further.View This ThreadUnread Watched Threads
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Made a minor edit for last chapter to say that Steven is a Count.
===
I feel like I'm forgetting something.
"I'm not sure if you remember, Lord Hero, but you rescued my daughter, Stefania Kite." The Noble, Steven said. Steven. Kinda mundane for a noble, or am I imaging it?
Behind Steven, I could see Frillite gently, kindly...shove a high health potion down Lorian's throat.
Wait, what?
"A while ago she was kidnapped by a group of bandits. I was so terrified when I heard the news." Steven continue.
Then Frillite took out a knife. Oh no.
"And I should have known it was a plot by Count Fullger to make me sell him my newly discovered Mythril mine." Steven looked anguished.
And started shaving Lorian's head. Oh yeah!
"That my beautiful daughter could be caught in the crossfire. It's a miracle that you rescued her when you did. Those vile monsters never got the chance to touch a hair on her head. I truly thank you, Hero Cloud."
"So that's what I forgot." I said under my breath as I tried to hold back on laughing and smiling.
"Thus, I wish to reward you back something that could even begin to repay the debt I owe you...Hmm?" Steven paused as he saw the look on my face, then looked back to see what had my attention.
Steven suddenly developed a bad cough, and looked away. No, Steven, you're not hiding anything, I can see your shoulder's shaking.
I let out a shaky breath, before laughing a little then regaining my composure.
And now there was a Bald Hero Prince, that Frillite unceremoniously dropped, and went about...to do whatever Super OP Chaddette Heroes did in their spare time.
I cleared my throat to get the noble's attention.
"Count Kite--"
"Please use my first name, Lord Hero. I can't accept the distance between us being wide, given the favor you've shown me." Steven said with a grateful smile.
I paused and actually paid attention to the man. He seemed like a good guy, he genuinely was grateful to me for saving his daughter, but there's that bit of politics there, of him trying to make a more solid connection to me, given my apparent rise in ability, and thus likely, future fortune.
"Count Steven," I said politely, making sure to add his title, so I don't give off the impression of fully working with him, just that your relation is good enough. "I feel that this conversation should take place in a more private location."
[hr][/hr]
Mythril.
A fantasy metal that is light, more durable than steel, and is very good at channeling magic.
It might be even be what Excalibur was made of, or something of equal quality. Not sure thought, it was just my speculation, since I never studied Artoria's sword in detail. I did get stabbed by it a few times in Fuyuki, but that didn't really give me time to study the weapon. Or when I was cut in half. Or when my head was bashed in. Or...
Okay, I need to stop thinking about Saber Alter and BlackCalibur. Or that one loop where I fucked up so bad Heracles ended up with Excalibur Morgan. I shuddered at the memory.
Back to the Mythril, there was a chunk on the table in front of me. As in a solid block, the size of an adult human.
"Please accept this, Hero Cloud. It is but a small piece of my gratitude for bring back my child to me." Steven said with a hand over his heart, his servants by the door, and outside as well. "And if there is anything within my power you wish for, I would grant it for you." He said with a hopeful look.
Why is he looking at me like that? ...Is he hoping I ask for his daughter's hand? Holy shit dude, you pounce on a political gain fast.
But yeah, no. I'm not tying myself down as I still have stuff to do in this world, and it's probably a bad idea to marry someone from the Empire. Well, maybe later, but not now where my power base is weak. Although Count Steven can be the start of that...
No, no. This would be too much to deal with too fast.
Looking at this situation, detached from it a bit, Steven feels obligated, and probably is also obligated by Noblesse Oblige and reputation to pay me back for saving his daughter in a timely fashion. The free favor on top of that--the "wish" he's offering--is just so things are square between us, and no more debts can be called upon.
Having a noble indebted to me might be a good idea, as it can be a powerful bargaining chip. However if I don't cash in on that favor for too long, and then ask for something big later on, that would only sour things between us, and Steven might feel bitter about the whole thing afterwards.
Cashing in on that favor quickly would be better in the long run, rather than hold onto it indefinitely for some hypothetical rainy day.
Let's start with--and I deeply regret having to do this--not taking the giant chuck of Mythril right in front of me. I'll have to negotiate it down to...half would be fair, right?
"Count Steven, truly I'm thankful, but this is too much. I can't just accept so much of your good fortune, just because I did the right thing." I said back.
"This isn't too much at all," Steven shook his head, and then looked bashful. "In fact it feels too little. My wife forced me to lower the amount I originally planned to gift you, to only this." He said pointing at the 'little' amount of Mythril.
...Mythril is suppose to be rare, right? Even a newly discovered vein wouldn't have that much...right?
"This?" I said, while showing my disbelief. "Is too little?"
"The vein I discovered is very rich." He said with confidence.
"...Should you be telling me this?" I asked feel incredulous. "I mean, regardless what's known about me, what if I'm secretly an unscrupulous and greedy person?"
"I choose to believe in the Hero Cloud. You have never shown a bad side to yourself before, and now that you attained power, you have not abused it by asking for unreasonable things from the Hero Lorian when you had the chance." He said back with sincere earnestness.
"What if I was more focused on humiliating Lorian, rather than evil acts?" I argued back.
"You yourself didn't focus on humiliating him after the duel was over. You completely forgot, did you?" He said with a small amused smile. I coughed to the side. "That shows you don't really care about inflicting pain on others. That still speaks well of your character."
"You are...seriously putting in a lot of faith in me, when you don't know me that well." I said back.
"Maybe, but I choose to believe in the Hero Cloud I see before me, whose trying to argue for me to lessen the gift I wish to reward him with." He said with so much sincerity it hurt. It's like when you meet that cinnamon bun character with too much wholesome light shining off of them. "And I still wish to be of aid to you, so that this debt is repaid."
...Fuck. This guy is one of those 'too good for this world' type of characters.
I silently cast a Structural Analysis spell on him. Very lightly and to just know his general physique.
He had a good enough size to lean on the 'Winner' side of things.
Yes, I know this is creepy, but how else was I suppose to check if this guy is in danger of getting NTR'd and a shit ton of bad stuff happen to him, just from interacting with me once.
Still, this doesn't mean things will stay good for him for long, since he is interacting with me, and wants to give me a fucking block of Mythril for free. With a favor on top.
Gis is a Rogue Hero type, right? It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility if he has some kind of spy network of his own, or trained assassins.
I looked at the Mythril block and thought of designed on what I can forge it into. I walked up to the ore, put a hand on it and ran Structural Analysis, while using Memory Partitions to calculate how many items I can make from this, what how much would be left over.
Turns out a lot. Both make items, and what would be left over.
My mind went back to that large map of the continent, and the large desert where the Orc Tribes lived. It wasn't something I planned to tackle right away, but if I have enough Mythril, then...
"First buyer's rights." I finally said, as I turned to a surprised but intrigued Count. "You still haven't finish mining the first batch, correct, my lord?"
"Ah, yes!" He actually looked pleased.
"Then other than taxes for the Emperor, I'd like to the right to be the first to buy the ore from you, for only this first batch." I said. "That is my wish, if you would accept."
"Of course! But why only this one time? I wouldn't mind..." He began to say before I raised a hand to stop him.
"Your lordship, please. This is already too much. I don't need more, anything else would be just greedy on my part." I said firmly. "However I do have some conditions first."
"Very well," he nodded with a serious look. Finally, he's looking like he's expecting the other shoe dropping.
"One, I will pay full price for the ore I buy. No, I will not accept any discount, and please don't sell it at a lower price, to be generous to me."
"I..." Steven looked at me with wide eyes, before chuckling to himself. "Very well. My wife would probably have my hide if I did that." He said. "You said 'conditions', so what else do you wish to add?"
"Two, a third of this ore," the one in the room. "Will be returned to you in the form of defensive Magic Artifacts for you and your family, along with golems to act as a guardians and maybe communication device if you so wish."
"I, what?" He blinked in surprise.
"I have my duties that would take me across the continent, Count. Even if you associate with me, I can not be here to protect you, and you'll likely gain enemies from it. At the very least, I would like to give you more tools to help you protect yourself and your loved ones."
"Heh," Steven chuckled. "You're really bad at negotiating, Hero Cloud."
"Really? Really?" I gave him a look that screamed 'Hello Pot, I'm Kettle'. He just laughed out loud in response.
"Very well, I'll gladly accept such harsh conditions, but one should expect such when dealing with Heroes." Steven said with a smile.
I snorted while finishing up the design for the items in my mind.
"It's you, your wife and daughter, correct?"
"Ah, correct."
"Then I'll make three artifacts in the form of...would bracelets be socially acceptable as something to always have on?" I asked.
"A ring would work better for me, but yes." Steven said back.
I just gave him a long look. He stared back confused. I took a deep breath and let it out.
"Ignoring that. Okay, that works." Ring equipment is standard for Adventurers anyways, so it probably works for nobles too. "Then two bracelets, one ring and three golem, is it fine if it looks like an eagle."
"Yes, that would not be a problem."
"The artifacts would be something to protect you from any harm, magical, physical or otherwise, and warn you of danger, such as poison. However," I said to him in a strong tone, to stress my next point. "Their function isn't to help you fight, but run away to safety. They are meant to be a last resort to escape from danger."
"Very well, I understand. I assume the golems would be a first defense then?" He asked.
"Quite. I'll make sure the ones made for your wife and daughter take the form of something inconspicuous like birds, or--" I began to explain.
"Oh, no. Please make the one for my wife a giant hawk. She'll get a kick out of it." He smiled widely and chuckled.
I chuckled too. "Very well, an eagle, a hawk, and a bird that can transform into a hawk."
"They'd be able to transform?" He asked with wide eyes.
"Well, they do need to be dangerous. Now, I'm gonna need a few large sheets of paper to get started with the transmutation magic formulas, and to write them a few times, to check that everything works out from the get go." I explained.
Let's see, for me I'll make a bow and spear to farm Monster Cores. A better sword, and a ring to access and search the Bird Network without having to experience the whole thing to find what I want.
"Err, wait, you're going to do this now?" Steven asked with wide-eyes.
"No time like the present. Besides I'm leaving today. If I'm here tomorrow, I might get summoned to the Imperial Palace to entertain someone important or something."
===
AN: Finally leave to Prona next chapter.
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Gusfes, Azazyel0714 replied to a thread you are watching at Questionable Questing.
[NSFW] - A Hollow in DC.

As me and the teenager members of the future Young Justice members just chilled watching some TV Batman's prior words about who I could even spare with seemed to bite me in the ass as the teenagers seemed to take his words as a sort of challenge that only Superboy was my match.
"I'm tell you man. If you can't touch me, all the strength in the world is worthless!" Kid Flash said smugly.
I couldn't help but chuckle as I responded using his first name as he said that, saying Kid Flash was a mouthful if we weren't on the field as it were. "Yeah, and should I smush you to the ground with my spiritual pressure then you can't even crawl away." I sniped back.
"Oh, that's its newbie! You and me on the mats now!" Wally said cockily as he pulled down his visor past his eyes making me groan at his competitive teenage nature.
"Wally, I don't even want to fight you... But honestly such a thing would probably be for the best so you guys can get a feeling for my abilities." But then as I stood up stoically my carefully leashed spiritual pressure was unfurled vibrating the air making everyone keel over basically besides Superboy who had a strong enough physique to resist it and Aqualad whose magic experience had inured him to such things as excessively powerful magic.
"Wally this is my spiritual strength at being halfway let completely loose. If we were to fight at my level of strength it would be like you fighting someone going at half speed. If I used merely opened the valves to my full power, you could literally die with the way you and Robin have keeled over to the ground." I said pulling back my spiritual pressure and collapsing back into the couch I was previously sitting it as I sighed.
"I don't mind fighting purely in a physical match with Superboy but I have no interest in being punched around by you going at super speeds and being unable to retaliated due to you collapsing in a heap should I flex my powers." I finished making Kid Flash huff before nodding in understanding.
"However,... Tomorrow if you have free time. I would love to race you." I offered knowing it was right up his alley and frankly what kid that read comics wouldn't want to race a speedster with their own powers?
Kid Flash hearing me offering an olive branch met my grin with his own cocky smile as he clapped his hands in excitement. "Ha. In the case I welcome your challenge. We shall duel at dawn then!"
Me and the other guys once we smoothed over our meeting one another began to make some conversation with one another although Superboy was frankly a bit of a downer as he just came out of Cadmus and was still salty about how his gene donor Superman seemingly didn't want anything to do with him.
Literally the definition of daddy issues with this one.
"Well seeing as we are all probably tired how about we all get some rest as we got Red Tornado coming to be our chaperone and with him being a super robot I imagine he will probably keep us on a tight leash." I called out as Superboy and Kid Flash were nodding off and they just yawned in agreement with Wally having to wipe some gunk out of his eyes as he waved me off.
"Yeah Yeah. He is probably right g'night Robin and the rest of you guys I am going to hit the hay." Wally said as he walked at a normal speed towards the room he claimed.
Seeing Wally heading off I likewise stretched as I got up and said my goodbyes as I likeness headed off to my room with a large two liter of iced tea to keep me hydrated through the night much to the confusion of Superboy when he asked why I took the whole jug with me.
"Dear sweet summer child, one day you will understand the sheer convenience of having drinks beside your bed and not needing to run across half a house just to drink a cup of water." I consoled giving the clone a pat on his shoulder as I passed his bewildered form.
"But that's tea not water?" He muttered scratching his head in confusion as I closed my door cutting his antics off from my view as I collapsed into bed with the jug filled with iced tea placed onto my chest to cool me down.
"It's too warm in here." I muttered sighing as I recalled a little-known fact about hell. Where the wasn't lava directly exposed to the air or just below the surface it was unsurprisingly cold as Hell as there was no sun or greenhouse gases keeping in the heat. If anything, there was a tiny band of a sort of light on the horizon that supposedly Lucifer brought to Hell to remind the human souls that reached Hell that no matter how long they waited they would never see the light of day again or something equally edgy.
So, I was kind of missing the cold of Hell and honestly, I was the same in my previous life where I loved the winter and hated the hot summers, I had to endure just sweating to death in my eighty-degree apartment.
'Maybe I will keep one of those freeze rays' villains use to keep my room cold.' I thought as I slowly drifted off into sleep.
-
I was once again awoken by the room's intercom buzzing to life but instead of Batman's voice waking me up, it was his protégé Robin speaking through the comms. "Everyone wake up I made English style breakfast!"
'Ugh... Of course, a kid raised by Alfred Penny-Worth would make a heavy English style breakfast first thing in the morning.' I mentally grumbled as I got myself quickly cleaned up before leaving my room and heading towards the kitchen.
Then low and behold arrayed on the large kitchen dining table was a plate for each of us with the standard English fare consisting of bacon, sausage links, fired tomato slices, fried eggs, and lastly a couple pieces of well buttered toast.
"Thank you for the breakfast, Robin." I said thankful for the meal as I got myself a cup of watermelon juice to go with my food from the fridge.
"Woah we can get watermelon juice with breakfast. Screw orange juice then," Wally said happily as he chugged his glass of orange juice before he comically shuddered at its strong flavor and then used his super speed to pour himself some watermelon juice as we all dug into our food.
After we finished eating and putting the dishes into the dishwasher, we then met up at the mission area and low and behold Batman was there with Red Arrow or Speedy whatever his name was, the guy who was Green Arrows apprentice/side kick.
"We have a mission for you all." Batman spoke with Speedy huffing and standing beside Batman as he spoke to us all. "Speedy has a mission in Shanghai that's of high importance. The villain known as Brick that is a member of Green Arrows gallery of villains has restarted his gun trade but instead of here in America where we can freely shut down his operations, he now is running his operations in Shanghai which is a political mess to say the least."
Batman then cleared his throat before he continued to debrief. "So keeping to your role as black ops units your mission is to as quietly as possible subdue Brick that way the Shanghai police can sweep up his gang as the police cannot handle a low tier superhuman without activating military units that will just send him running to the hills."
Finally he turned to Speedy and as he was telling us how Speedy was going to lead our group as he was the one with all the intel having tracked down Brick himself, I noticed something and remembered something very pressing.
"Batman important question!" I called out cutting him off and making him frown before nodding to me. "I am not at all judging as Superboy has proven to be pretty chill with him being a clone and all, but Speedy cannot see or hear me at all with how he is a clone is he new or something?"
The whole room froze as my words registered to them and Batman's hands firmly balled into a fist as Speedy just cocked his head and looked around in confusion at how everyone was looking at him so oddly.
"What's up guys? What's wrong?" Speedy asked obviously off put at how dead silent the room went.
But Batman didn't respond and instead just growled in my direction and spat out. "Explain your proof other than him not being able to perceive you.
Honestly, I didn't have any real proof, but I had a good analogy that could work. "Just as a son carries a wisp of their mother's soul from being birthed by them. So does Superboy and Speedy carry the same weak wisp of connection to being born in the same manner. Plus, he is a teenager and from the pure size of his souls despite his hero work that would push it a Hero's soul, it's nowhere near the purity, strength, and size of a normal soul for a late teenager."
Batman stilled and before anyone could react, he pivoted, and his elbow crashed into the back of Speedy's head making him collapse into a dead faint within Batman's arms. "The mission will be taken care of by League personnel! Mount Justice is hereby under lockdown, and no one is to enter, or leave am I understood Robin." He said with steel to his tone as he hoisted Speedy up and walked towards the teleporter.
"Yes sir!" Robin called understanding how the League has clearly been infiltrated but it was clear that even though they were worried for their friend they still felt a bit bummed that the mission was cancelled.
I got a hefty commission for my upgrades fic so I am posting the chapters on my Kofi and Patreon now as I let go of my DC/Bleach story advanced chapter
Hey if you like this and want daily uploads and to read early chapters please drop a tip in my Ko-Fi https://ko-fi.com/azazyel22926 or https://www.patreon.com/Azazyel and your precious energy stones, it keeps me working on it.
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Gusfes, Azazyel0714 replied to a thread you are watching at Questionable Questing.
[NSFW] - A Hollow in DC.

Carrying the limp form of the clone of Speedy, Batman couldn't help but wonder if any of the major League heroes were already compromised.
Worse was the haunting thought that even he himself could simply be a clone going through the motions, unknowing that for all the suffering he had gone through to keep Gotham, and even the rest of the world safe. The real Bruce Wayne. The real Batman was merely on ice or even dead to allow the clone of him go around unimpeded.
"Batman and Red Arrow to Watchtower." The teleporter said as he stepped through the field of light into the central area of the space station that was the heart of the Justice Leagues operations.
But as Batman walked through into the heart of the Justice League he was obviously seen by his fellow compatriots with Green Arrow and the Flash quickly walking over from where they were eating lunch. "Woah Bats what happened with Speedy?" Green Arrow asked obviously concerned for his past protege that had recently been having friction between the two of them.
Batman couldn't help but grunting in frustration at not being able to avoid questions until he had a chance to get Martian Manhunter to check the clones mind before he was hounded by the very teacher of Speedy/Red Arrow.
"Speedy has been named a clone similar to Superboy by the new hero named Lorde who the Flash brought in yesterday." Instead of allowing Arrow to go on a rant about how his protégé couldn't possible being a clone and such Batman pushed the still unconscious form of Speedy into Green Arrows arms making the archer grunt at the weight.
"Lorde has the ability to discern souls and his evidence in how Speedy's soul came from Cadmus in carrying the same birth signature along with the simple size of an immature soul was enough for me to justify having his mind checked by Manhunter... Will you comply?" Batman asked quietly as he saw how Green Arrows jaw flexed as he ruminated over his thoughts before the man firmly nodded.
"Yeah, let me just go put this... Speedy under some anesthetics so he won't wake up for a while and allow Manhunter to get into his mind easier." Green Arrow said defeatedly but just beneath the feelings of loss for his protégé was a boiling rage that Batman knew he would need to keep an eye out for.
As that was the same drive that sent Oliver Queen/Green Arrow onto the path of a vigilante that saw a number of his city's worst criminals dead or crippled when he first started out.
As Green Arrow took away the clone of Speedy the Flash sighed and spoke what Batman himself was deeply fearing. "Man, now even I have to be afraid of Wally being a damned clone... If they can clone a Kryptonian who is to say they can't give some clones super speed?"
"He will be extensively questioned..." Batman swore before he turned to the Flash and continued to speak. "I need you to take care of the mission that they were supposed to take care of, with that clone. I am going to Cadmus with some backup to get answers... And we won't stop our investigation because of some corrupt lackey pushing us away." Batman growled as he pushed in some buttons on his wrist mounted computer.
He had messaged Superman and Wonder Woman to meet at the Watchtower for an emergency meeting.
-
"Batman what did you need?" Wonder Woman asked as she came into the meeting room last and saw the other two men speaking to one another in hushed tones.
"Diana there is bad news." Superman spoke and grimaced as he quickly explained what had happened as Batman was working on a laptop attached to his wrist computer.
"Vile! To repeatedly step into the domains of gods and take the place of women to bring life into the world under the behest of espionage is just wrong." Wonder Woman cursed as she slapped the metal meeting room table in front of her in outrage.
Superman could only wordlessly nod to Diana's outrage as he himself was facing the discomfort of the cloning knowledge as he himself had a clone running around.
"Batman what will we do then? Cadmus is technically a government facility we cannot just uproot the whole thing as that would get the US government on our backs." Superman asked hitting the crux of the issue.
Batman finally pushed his laptop away from him as he folded his arms over his chest to look at his two compatriots as he spoke. "I see two paths before us at this time. We simply pretend not to know their actions and allow Speedy to go free after we have him scanned by Martian Manhunter while he is awake, calling Lorde's evidence a fabrication and nothing was wrong with Speedy, to allow Speedy to go free so we can attempt to find out who is his handler."
Batman then went silent for a moment as he ordered his thoughts about the other plan until Diana prodded him to continue. "And the other plan?"
"The other plan is to ascertain that he is indeed a clone and once proven have Martian Manhunter, your lasso, and even have other magical means used upon the clone to gather all information on who created him..." Left unsaid was how such harsh questioning would likely prove dangerous to the clone itself.
"I don't like it... I really don't like it, but we cannot allow whoever is doing this to keep at their antics. They must be stopped lest they attempt to create an army of Doomsday clones or some other abomination in an attempt to take over the world or some other maniacal plot." Superman spat as despite his die-hard stance on not killing he has had to do so on many occasions, such as to that very mentioned Doomsday who was conceptually immortal and would return just as Solomon Grundy had his own version of immortality.
Diana nodded as she spoke. "You have my support in this as well. We need to make an example of this situation as Clarks point of extremely dangerous entities being cloned and lost control of, would be devastating if it's not in one of the League's major hitters' cities who can quickly take control of the situation."
As hard as the League works, the world was a dangerous place with some towns simply being wiped off the map every year as some egotistical high school student or wanna be genius would mess with things better left untouched, like magic or esoteric sciences like the formula that could give someone the speed force.
Batman then stood up with his two compatriots meeting his actions. "Then its agreed. We will get all the information we can out of the clone and then use the information to launch an alpha strike before whoever is Red Arrow's handler will realize and destroy the evidence."
The founding trio of the Justice League then walked out of the meeting room with grim purpose following their strides as they went to the medical center to question the clone.
I got a hefty commission for my upgrades fic so I am posting the chapters on my Kofi and Patreon now as I let go of my DC/Bleach story advanced chapter
Hey if you like this and want daily uploads and to read early chapters please drop a tip in my Ko-Fi https://ko-fi.com/azazyel22926 or https://www.patreon.com/Azazyel and your precious energy stones, it keeps me working on it.
My commission rate is 10$ per thousand words.
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