Jinn's Lamp hung from my belt as I walked into Zelretch's home.
The change in universe was felt immediately, it didn't hit me as hard anymore, but the change was impossible to ignore in that split moment of aligning yourself with the world-line.
"Home sweet home." I looked around, eyes landing on the other occupant.
"Will?" Artoria leaned around the corner, head poking out from the kitchen, before stepping over.
I didn't wait as I moved towards her and claimed her lips. The muffled noise of surprise didn't last, she returned my affections almost immediately, her arms finding themselves wrapping around my neck. My own made their way down to her hips, I hesitated to explore any further and just decided to enjoy her taste for a few moments longer.
"Ahem." Someone very vocally cleared their throat behind us.
Artoria very quickly broke off the kiss, turning to face the newcomers, her cheeks flushed a deep red. "Lord Zelretch." She managed to squeak out.
"Hey Gramps." I opted to wrap my arms around her, chin resting on her shoulder.
"Am I interrupted something." He asked with a twinkle of amusement in his eye.
"Yes." I replied without any shame.
"Get a room." Rin gagged aright behind him.
"If you insist! ~"
"Will!" Artoria made another noise of embarrassment.
I could only chuckle, giving her another kiss on the cheek. It was too fun to tease Artoria.
"Regardless, your timing is impeccable." Zelretch stated, taking a seat on the nearby sofa. "Come, I'm curious of your time spent on that world." He gestured to the seats as Rin also took one.
"It was fun." I plopped down in a seat, Artoria sliding in next to me. 'Well, I'm a bit tired, but it was a good experience. I also gained some nice stuff." I waived my hand, the Sword of Destruction hovered nearby.
"New sword?" Zelretch looked intrigued as he leaned in to get a better look.
Artoria inspected it as well. "It doesn't appear to have seen much use in combat, I would assume it to be a decorative piece at first glance…..if it did not have such a large presence to it."
"Divine in creation." I said plainly.
"Oh, so there were divine beings in that world." Zelretch muttered to himself. "I had a theory, but no evidence to back it up."
"Yeah, they apparently left the world for a long time."
"What do you mean, 'left the world'?" Rin Asked. "Like did they leave the dimension, world-line, or did they leave the planet and go somewhere else in the universe?"
I blinked for a moment. "You know, that's a good question." I rubbed my chin. "I hadn't actually given it much thought since they left the place in a pretty bad state." I sighed thinking about how the people there didn't even know what was going on. "The planet isn't going to last much longer, it's already showing signs of being on its last leg." I withdrew a few dust Crystals floated one over to each of them.
"Ah." Zelretch didn't react outwardly, but I suppose he had a similar reaction to me. "This composition is interesting though, it's weaker than I would suspect something like this to be."
"Yeah, but it makes up for that in quantity." I put a container of dust crystals on the table infront of us. "Easily accessible, can buy it at pretty much any store since it makes up the basis of their technology."
"Is this crystallized Mana." Rin looked at hers inquisitively. "I thought this was something exceedingly rare."
"Yeah, it's more prominent when certain planets are reaching the end of their lives. The 'Life Blood' of the world beings to essentially clot." I gave a very brief explanation. "It's being mined from the ground like we drill for oil."
"I feel as if I can absorb this much easier than obtaining magical energy from a Jewel." Artoria commented.
"Huh." I tilted my head, mulling that over. "I hadn't actually thought of that. It's more 'pure' so it would be easier for you to assimilate."
Artoria smiled lightly. "I do have a question going back to your sword." She gestured at it still floating there. "It's giving me a strange feeling."
"Oh, I almost forgot." I snapped my fingers. "Old man, I managed to get my Bloodline power out using the sword as a catalyst."
"Oh?" He perked up.
"Yeah, it was actually called the 'Relic of Destruction' before I…..acquired it. It held similar concepts so I was able to finagle a means to do so."
"Bloodline." Artoria asked.
"Does it have to do with you being a half-devil?" Rin looked at me. "And it's still strange to think about, you're so…"
"Human?" I finished for her with a small smile.
"I didn't mean anything by it…" She said defensively.
"I take it as a compliment." I assured her. "But, to answer yours and Artoria's question. I'm descended from the Bael house, one of Solomon's 72 pillars. I 'inherited' something called the Power of Destruction from my Bael line. Exactly as the name implies, it destroys things on a conceptual level." I reached out, grabbing the sword. I channeled my Aura to ignite my Power of Destruction, letting it coat the blade. "I'm still learning to control it properly, it's not something that likes to be contained." I dismissed it with a focused thought.
"Fascinating." Zelretch looked intrigued. "We must do some research on this later."
"Oh definitely. But perhaps when I have a better handle on it. I don't' even want to use it in spars right now, incase the worse happens."
"Understandable." Zelretch nodded. "I noticed you also acquired Aura." He grinned.
"Was getting to that." I replied, allowing my Aura to flare up, the iridescent colors that mimicked the application of the Kaleidoscope shimmered around me.
"I read the notes Zelretch had on that." Rin walked over, poking the 'barrier' around me. "This is supposed to be easy to awaken, right?"
"Kinda, it requires me to touch your soul with my own, to ignite that part that's able to manifest outwardly. To do so requires some specific circumstance, an Aria that resonates with my own soul to act as a conduit. I'm still figuring it out, there was not much material on it available in the public when I went shopping."
"What benefits are there to this 'Aura'?" Artoria looked at me with interest.
"Force multiplier on physical capabilities. The people who awaken Aura can be considered super-human. I would say….it's less than a Full Reinforcement, but it's absurdly easy to utilize at a basic level. Not to mention it provides an innate healing faction, while not amazing, is still noticeable. Also, when someone awakens their Aura, they also gain ability, an outward expression of their person called a 'Semblance'. I haven't figured mine out yet, but there are some interesting ones I've come across. A kid who had a 'Danger Sense' that allowed him to react to my attacks was perhaps the more intriguing."
The data I gathered did help fill in many gaps since most books I read seemed to be intentionally vague about the subject.
"You're not able to awaken this Aura yet?" Rin asked.
"Don't worry I'm, not forgetting about you. I did bring a bunch of books back and intended to figure it out. Worst case, I know some people back on Remnant that can hook you up with a quick trip."
"And there no side effects?" Zelretch inquired.
"Not that I had tested for. Granted, I mostly checked for the obvious things over a short time period, but my Magecraft was unaffected, and my circuits actually activated with a slighter ease and without much of the usual burning."
"What an interesting interaction, I assume you documented everything?"
"Of course." I rolled my eyes, producing the notebook I used. I tossed it on the table for him to peruse later. "Oh, I also discovered that Magic exists there, though not in the capacity that we're used to. Apparently the 'original' humanity that could utilize it like in our Age of Gods was wiped out and only a handful of users remain, pretty much none of which were male."
"Why were there no Male Magi?" Rin asked.
"No idea." I shrugged. "I only pieced together a few things after meeting with an immortal witch there." I decided not to delve into the time I spent with Salem. "I did also acquire some interesting things other than magical applicable stuff." I withdrew a jar of Syrup and took out my scroll. "Their technology was interesting as well; they were able to measure people's 'Aura' down to a 'number' and track how much someone had based on percentage at any given time. Also, I found this sap in a place called the 'Forever Fall' Forest, was a beautiful place."
"Did you acquire the stuff I asked for?" Zelretch eyed the jar, but turned back towards me.
"Yeah, I got most of your samples, and some other neat things. Like the Acorns for the trees that produce this." I gestured towards the jar.
"Well done." Zelretch gave me a nod of appreciation.
Artoria inspected the jar of sap, I gave her a nudge, a go ahead to try it. She dabbed her finger into it before bringing it to her mouth. "It is delicious." She muttered, eyeing it dangerously.
I was very tempted to take her lips again, they seemed even more invited as she licked them after enjoying the sweet treat.
Pushing those thoughts away for now, I piled up some books I acquired for later reading. It was probably better they get a more in-depth info dump themselves than my brief explanations.
"And now." I clapped my hands, gaining the attention of everyone. "I brought someone back with me." I took the Lamp off my belt, holding it up. "Jinn, why don't you come out and meet everyone." I gave it a little tap.
The blue smoke bellowed out, the Genie-girl floated down onto the ground. They all looked at her in mixes of surprise and interest, but there was one thing that threw me off.
"Why are you wearing clothes?" She was wearing rather stunning blue dress that matched her complexion quite well.
Everyone turned to look at me.
"Um….that came out wrong?" I said sheepishly.
"Oh my, if my master wishes me to present myself in a state of undress…..I will have to accept." Jinn barely held back the amusement in her voice.
"Schweinorg, I gave you one job." Rin deadpanned.
"Oh, do I have yet another granddaughter?" Zelretch ginned happily.
"Will." Artoria looked at me, a very thin smile on her face. "Explain, please."
"Um, she always popped out naked from her lamp, it caught me by surprise…." I offered.
Jinn just giggled and I think Artoria realized I was being taken in for a jest. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Jinn looked ecstatic to see all the new faces.
"The pleasure is most definitely ours." Zelretch stood up, walking towards the Genie. "I am Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg." He offered a hand to Jinn who accepted it heartily. "I am this boy's Grandfather. He's a bit wet behind the ears, I hope you take care of him in the future."
"I am Jinn, Spirit for the Relic of Knowledge." She gestured to her lamp still in my hand. "Every century I can answer three questions not pertaining to the future, there are currently no questions available remaining." She introduced herself.
"Amazing." Zelretch admired her. If it were anyone else, perhaps I would be upset about the 'ogling' something that was mine, but I knew for a fact that he was interested in her makeup, not her appearance.
Artoria spoke up next. "Greetings Jinn, I am Artoria Pendragon, please refer to me as Saber in public. I am Wilhelm's girlfriend and Servant to Rin."
"So many new and interesting things here." She looked at Artoria in wonder. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Artoria, I'm sure we'll get along great in the future." She smiled mirthfully, giving me a wink.
"I'm Rin Tohsaka, Zelretch's apprentice." Rin's introduction was blunt, but she wasn't impolite.
"Apprentice, in what?" Jinn tilt her head.
"He's teaching me his Magic." Rin said with a small bit of pride in her voice.
Jinn's eyes lit up. "So magic is widely available here?"
"Eh, sorta." I interjected. "Don't worry, we'll get you caught up in no time." I assured my cute genie.
"Wonderful, I wish to hear more about you as well, Miss Jinn." Zelretch finally broke from his deep thoughts. "And the adventures my Grandson got up to over in your world."
Jinn paused for a moment, eyeing me, then looking down at her hands. "I think, I am less restricted than I was before."
"Really? Perhaps some kind of limitation that was imposed based on the world you were on? The gods that created you clearly did not foresee you being whisked away to another universe….some kind of loophole in your 'programming'?" Fascinating, we'll need to test this out later.
The corners of Jinn's lips curled up as she faced Zelretch. "I would love to tell you all about Wilhelm's adventure in Remnant." The tone in which she said that made me hesitate.
"There's no need to talk about everything, it's a rather bor – "
"Oh, wonderful. Why don't you regale us with tales from your home?" Zelretch looked at me, mirroring the look Jinn had. He clearly knew something, that shit eating grin was mine and I recognized it immediately.
Well....fuck.
"I would be delighted~" Jinn replied.
***
MC is back home, and will be heading to Skyrim in a few chapters after settling a few more things.
A wild Meridia finally appeared in my latest chapter, if you want to read it along with 5 chapters ahead, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone.