Interlude 6 Artoria POV
I walked the stone steps up to the library. It was still an odd thought, to have so much magical knowledge freely available.
I was not a Magus, nor would I ever describe myself as one, yet I could still appreciate the atmosphere this College created. There were many things reminiscent of the Clock Tower, yet this place felt much more alive even if it only had a fraction of the people walking the halls.
There were no blatant political schemes woven into every conversation, no attempts at subterfuge when someone walks around the wrong corner. While I would not say every person I've met here to be pleasing, they are leagues above the average Magus back home.
It was a pleasant experience.
Mayhaps, a small part of me considered learning a little bit of magic if this was what I had to look forward too. Such thoughts quickly died down, Merlin's lessons still haunt me to this day. I often thought about him, about the others in the past. I wonder, would they approve of how I now live my life? No crown upon my head, no gilded throne to elevate myself above the common folk. I simply was another person in the crowd.
But, I felt a happiness I could only vaguely recall from my childhood. Mayhaps It was not merely 'happiness' it was that I felt content, that I enjoyed my life and was free from those harsh burdens.
My duty to Rin still remained, yet I was almost free to do what I wished, to pursue any whimsy that came to the forefront of my mind. Well, most of my time was spent with Rin, she is my closest friend and some I trust absolutely. The Wizard Marshal has also been very welcoming and I feel comfortable in his presence. Not to mention I have recently made a new friend in Izanami, something I had never expected I would ever utter.
I couldn't help but furrow my brow when I recalled that I had yet to tell Wilhelm of my time with Izzy when he was away. Lord Zelretch being kind enough to allow me to visit her. She had been teaching me about all the wonderous technology of their era, something we would be discovering in a few decades.
Then, there is Wilhelm.
I could still feel my cheeks heat up and my heart beat a little faster when his face appears in my mind. That night we spent together, feeling of his gentle touch on my skin. The way he looked at me so hungrily still sends shudders down my spine. I do not know if I would have been able to resist him had he tried to be more assertive. But he never crossed the lines I did not wish to just yet, and this warmness in my chest still persists from that night.
The way he can just turn me into a stuttering foolish girl with but a few words. Yet, I look forward to it all the same.
Was this what Kay always spoke of, was this love?
I shook my head, dismissing the thought and doing my best to rid my cheeks of this pink tint. Pushing the nearby door open, I was welcomed with rows upon rows of bookshelves, filled to the brim and overflowing onto the tables and ground. Stacks and stacks books in every direction.
My eyes only wandered a moment before finding the target of my search. The very distinct blue colored skin of the women I was looking for.
"Artoria." Jinn happily greeted me, setting down several books in her hands.
"Hello, Jinn." I replied courteously. I was still unwholly sure of how to treat this woman. With Meridia, we had somewhat found a common ground to work from, but Jinn I still did not know much about. "How are you?"
She gave a big smile. "I'm doing great!" She lightly landed on her feet, having been floating slightly above the ground this whole time. I briefly admired her shoes and wondered where she acquired them. "How about you, what brings you up to my library?" Jinn took a seat at a nearby table, gesturing for me to join her.
I obliged, sliding onto the wooden chair. "I was running an errand for Rin and I wished to perhaps trade some words with you." I answered simply.
"Did I do something you don't like?" She looked at me, head tilt in confusion.
"No!" I quickly dissuaded her of that notion. Maybe I came off a little bit aggressive? "I merely wished, to speak with you." I held back a sigh, I was never proficient at this kind of lackadaisical conversation.
"This was a long time coming I guess. You wanted to know where I stand with regards to our shared interest?" She gave me a knowing smile, and I refrained from showing any bashfulness.
"It was a thought on my mind." I admitted. "I had a conversation with Meridia before, we were able to talk about how to handle being in a relationship with the same person. It was an…..interesting experience."
"Oh, the goddess, huh?" Jinn seemed interested at the notion. "What's she like?"
I mulled that over. I did not spend a long while in her presence, but I did not find anything about her particularly distasteful. "She was as one would expect a goddess to be." I had not met many divine spirits, but Merlin did give me teachings on them, and how to approach a conversation with one if I had ever been unlucky enough to garner their attention. But I doubt he ever foresaw this situation...unless he had and was laughing himself silly right now. "She was surprisingly polite." I noted. Not as an insult, but a being of her stature, I would assume she possessed a certain arrogance to her. "She was willing to speak to me as an equal in this regard."
While blunt with her questions and own wants, she did not come off as mean. I was merely attributing that to her 'personality'. Though, it was amusing to see her give similar reactions to me when Wilhelm teased her.
"Hmm…I wonder if I'll get the chance to meet her. Such an enigma, these foreign 'gods' how much they must know." Jinn seemed enthused by the idea.
"I would assume she will appear before you at some point. The only reason she departed so quickly before was that Wilhelm had some immediate business to attend to and she wished to watch over him." I gave her a brief explanation of what occurred.
"Watch over him, or make sure no more sisters are added to our little group?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Sisters…." I whispered to myself, earning a small giggle from Jinn. It was….an appropriate term, considering I was now apart of a harem. Another thought I never believed I would have in my life. But, once again, I find myself not opposed to the arrangement. "Unfortunately, I fear that will be an endeavor destined to fail."
"Don't I know it." Jinn giggled again. "He did tell me all about the women in his life, or supposedly he did. I wonder, did he leave out any little details~?"
"Meridia, Scathach, You and Me." I stared off for a moment, thinking it through. "It is likely another will end up in this grouping before long. Has he mentioned his daughter yet?"
"Oh yes, he would not stop talking about his cute little fox." Jinn smiled pleasantly. "I assume you are referring to her mother?"
"Mmm, Yasaka. She is a very…..attractive women." I said plainly.
"Big on both ends?" Jinn gestured to her chest, but I could assume her intent.
"That is not inaccurate." I held back a small laugh at her response. "Yasaka is a very voluptuous woman."
"Well, he doesn't seem to be the type to be led around purely by a big chest or a big rear." Jinn didn't seem worried.
"W-well….he seems content with me." I said quietly.
"Oh, sweetie." Jinn looked at me with a strange mix of pity and sympathy. "You know damn well he wants you just as much as any of us."
"Yes…..he has made that abundantly clear." I refuse to believe my cheeks were red once again.
"Oh my~" Jinn cooed. "Sounds like someone had a little fun. Should I ask about his size?" She gave a lascivious smile.
"We did not go that far…." I muttered, regaining my steady façade.
"What a shame." She sighed.
"But...I did see him in his under cloth" I added lightly. "I may have noticed a certain part of him pushing against the fabric."
"Ohoh." Jinn let out a small laugh. "How did it look?"
"I did not know they could be that large."
"Well, maybe I have something to look forward to." Her voice full of anticipation. "If he ever accepts my advances."
"Your advances…?" I questioned her. "Have you tried to….?"
"Did he not tell you what I proposed to him when we first met?" She asked, earning a headshake from me. "I told him I would be his, with everything that entails. I expected much more than a few gropes on my rear from someone his age. Practically threw myself at him a few times and barely a response, started to make me question my appeal."
"Truly?" I looked at her in surprise. I have very strong feelings towards Wilhelm, but I would not have ever been bold enough to suggest such a thing when we first met. "Do you not regret such actions?"
"Regret? I don't think I would ever regret that decision I made, even if I lived each day chained to his bed." She let out a sigh. "I never even contemplated my existence beyond what I was 'designed' for until he came along and I glimpsed at what laid beyond my little corner of reality." She gestured to the surroundings. "Look where we are. So much knowledge, so many things I simply don't know, all available for me at my leisure. If I dropped dead right at this moment, It would be with a smile on my face." She looked content, truly at peace and a happiness in her eyes that I found envious. "I gave him my body, and if this keeps going on, I think my heart will belong to him eventually as well. And I can't say I don't feel something when he so blatantly calls me 'his'." She pushed her cheeks up with a bashful smile.
I see, that does give a lot of context to this woman that I had not understood. I can't fault her on her choices and reasoning, and she seems genuinely happy with how her existence turned out. She looked to be thriving here, and from what I understand, she had certain restrictions lifted from being away from Remnant. I was glad she found her happiness so easily.
"But, I think I'm rambling, something I seem to enjoy doing now." She gave a wistful smile. "I don't think you came here to hear about all of that. What did you need?"
"I did intend to come and share some word with you….but I did have another matter that required me to come to the library."
"You are so cute, I can see how Wilhelm fell for you~" She chuckled. "What do you need, Artoria?"
I mumbled under my breath, reaching into my bag and taking out a sheet of paper. "Rin asked me to find these books if you possess them here."
She reached over, reading from the parchment. "That's easy." She waived her hand and books flew out from all over the library, landing on the table. "This should be all of them, except I changed the 'Introduction to Alchemic Practices' to 'A Beginner's Guide to Alchemy'. The latter has a more thorough explanation on the basics, the former assumes you are familiar with the basic concept and considering where we came from…."
"I see, thank you very much, Jinn." I gave my heartfelt thanks.
"Oh, think nothing of it. I enjoyed talking with you, I hope we can do it again sometime." She beamed, and I recalled that such a thing was very uncommon for her. I made a mental note to also come to her more in the future.
"I would like that very much, mayhaps along with Rin we can have one of those 'girl nights out' she speaks of."
Jinn blinked, a big smile growing on her face. "That sounds very enjoyable, do you think Rin would bring her Artifact with her as well?"
"Artifact?" I questioned, before realization dawned on me. "I had forgotten about Ruby, I think Rin can be convinced to let her out for a bit."
Yes, I believe Ruby and Jinn would get along well.
***
I walked out of the main hall, the Arcanaeum as it is called. The cold air greeted me immediately, but the spells woven over the school made them bearable to the mundane person walking around the courtyard. The amount of magic this college had in every corner, it would never cease to amaze me.
Instead of light fixtures or candles, there were magic spells that lit up the area, Candlelight spell, I believe it's called. A glowing orb of light that floated in a spot. Not to mention the spells that prevented people from jumping off the balconies, that kept the temperature moderate, and a plethora of other uses that I hadn't bothered to investigate.
There was no doubt in my mind that this building was filled with defensive and offensive measures woven into the very foundation.
One thing that grabbed my attention over all of that was the large statue of a hooded silhouette standing before a font of mana – or magicka as they called it here. It was palpable to the point there was a pillar of it that rose to the sky, visible without any auxiliary means.
"What do mean 'add more fire', that doesn't make sense! What concepts are added to the actualization of the spell, am I supposed to focus on the combustion, or is the chemical makeup of fire more important?" I turned to see Rin arguing with a….cat person. No, that wasn't correct, and I felt a bit embarrassed for even thinking of this person in such a way. His species was called 'khajiit'.
"J'zargo, doesn't understand what you speak of. To make fire spell better, just add more fire." I did not know what I had walked into, but he demonstrated by throwing an impressive fireball into the air, letting it explode high above.
"That doesn't make any sense! How does adding fire make the fire 'better'?" Rin looked like she was going to pull her hair out.
"J'zargo thinks you should practice the basics again."
Rin audible twitched at his comment, I can only assume this conversation had been going back and forth for awhile now.
"Alright, J'zargo, I believe your teasing has gone on long enough. Miss Tohsoka may show you what 'adding more fire, to the fire' will actually do if you push her any more." Once again, I was surprised at the sudden appearance of the Archmage, merely stepping into the courtyard from another place.
Rin looked at him in a bit of shock and confusion then back to this J'zargo. "You what?" She narrowed her eyes.
The Khajiit let out a small laugh. "J'zargo apologizes. It is tradition to haze new student, J'zargo finally had his own turn after being teased when he first entered. "J'zargo will answer your question truthfull. Miss Tohsaka is focusing too much on final result of the spell. J'zargo thinks you should focus more on the initial casting."
"Initial casting?" Rin muttered. "You mean the structure I used to formulate the spell was flawed?" Rin seemed to be lost in her own world again for a moment. "Got it!" She waved her hand and shot a fireball up into the sky, mirroring the Khajiit's own as it exploded.
"Well done, Miss Tohsaka." The Archmage praised.
"You!" Rin turned around, pointing at the Khajiit. "You were teasing me by telling me the truth. 'Add more fire'" she scoffed. "I wasn't using enough magical energy aligned with the fire element, opting for something more neutral, since I was more used to that."
"J'Zargo does not know what you speak of." He smiled wistfully.
"I'm watching you, kitty cat." She pursed her lips, earning another small chuckle from J'Zargo.
"J'Zargo looks forward to learning with you. J'Zargo is envious of your talent. It took J'zargo a month to learn that spell, and Miss Tohsaka learned it in a few hours. J'zargo hopes that he will be able to learn the secrets of your success."
"Wait, are you telling me you want to steal my 'secrets' right to my face?" Rin looked at him oddly.
"J'Zargo does not steal. J'Zargo will watch, learn, and acquire by skill."
Rin didn't seem to know how to process that information. I think she was too used to all the subetfuge and backstabbing in the clock tower. Someone blatantly saying they were going to try and learn from her success was probably something entirely new to her.
"You know what? Alright." She tossed her hair back. "Let see if you can keep up."
"J'Zargo has taken that as a challenge, he hopes you will be prepared for J'Zargo is also a genius."
Rin let out a genuine laugh.
The Archmage cleared his throat, grabbing their attention. "I am sorry to interrupt, but I have your documents ready and the supplies you requested, J'Zargo." The Archmage held out a satchel to the Khajiit.
"Oh, J'Zargo is excited, he will depart tomorrow morning and return in a weeks time with a successful mission."
"I have no doubt." The Archmage nodded with a small smile as they all watched the young Khajiit hastily make for the common rooms.
"Lucky." Rin muttered under her breath as I approached them. "Saber?"
"I'm back, Rin. I have the books you requested, Jinn was a big help." I gave her a smile. "And greetings, Archmage."
"Miss Pendragon." He nodded back. "Yes, Jinn has been a wonderful addition to the staff. Why, Urag actually praised her when we had a meeting earlier. Never once have I ever had that old Orc say anything nice like that about another person in my life." The Archmage chuckled. "But I digress, I did not appear here to talk about Miss Jinn's wonderful performance." He produced a piece of parchment in his hand and with what looked like a necklace. "I have heard you were looking for a Job to take but none of them caught your interest?"
Rin blinked for a moment, hesitantly taking the document, giving it a once over. "A field research job?"
"Indeed." The Archmage nodded. "It was actually Wilhelm who brought this little trinket back, or rather, he unearthed it in a rather explosive manner."
"Are you being literal?"
"Very." The Archmage deadpanned.
"That sounds like him." Rin snorted. "So what do you need done?"
"Well, this Amulet apparently comes in three parts from what we could dig up in a few tomes. Supposedly it should be fairly powerful when put back together."
"And you want us to go get the pieces and bring them back to you?" Rin asked.
"Oh, well, I don't care too much for the Amulet itself, I was more interested in the ancient knowledge found in accompany of this thing."
Again, Rin seemed a bit flabbergasted. "You don't care about this supposedly 'powerful Amulet'?"
"Well, my interest is piqued, I wouldn't mind taking a look at it." He admitted. "But I have no desire to make it mine, if that's what you're asking. If you take the job, there will be no payment In monetary value, but the Amulet would be yours to keep, along with what wealth you can dig up during your trip. All I ask for is things of historic value to be given to the College."
Rin's jaw hung open for several moments before she regained her wits. "Okay." She said bluntly, still shocked at what she was hearing.
"Wonderful." The Archmage clapped his hands, producing a few other items, a book and a staff. "Wilhelm also 'dug' this staff up in his little adventure. While it would technically belong to him I don't think he would care that I'm giving it to you."
"You're giving this to me as well?" Rin couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Do you not want it? It's a fairly good staff, I think my personal one is only a little bit better." He mused.
"No! I'll take it." Rin happily grabbed it, earning a laugh from him.
"It should more or less double the output of your offensive spells." He revealed.
Definitely a boon to receive. I understood why Wilhelm had such a high opinion of this mage. If there were more people like this back home, mayhaps the world would have been a much better place.
"Does it have a name?"
"The texts only referred to it as the 'Staff of Jyrik Gauldurson' feel free to rename it as you wish. The previous owner was not what one would call a 'role model'." He chuckled, disappearing back from wherever he came from.
"Rin, do you wish to take this job?" I asked her.
"Well, I kinda already did. But, yeah, I wanna do this. Think about all the good stuff we can find! Money, magical items, this Amulet!" She shook it in her hand for added effect.
"You remember what we spoke about? What enemies lay beneath the tombs that litter this land? Undead, magic creatures of all kinds, Giant Spiders." I emphasized that last one for added effect.
She visibly shuddered. "We need to prepare." She stated, earning a small smile from me. It's good she was excited, but I did not wish for her to get ahead of herself.
"Potions are a must." She muttered and I agreed whole heartedly. The potions here were quite phenomenal. "You have food covered."
"H-hunger is the enemy." I looked away, hearing a snort from her.
"What else do you think? Maybe pick up a dagger or something. Some leather armor maybe? The College might have some mystic codes available for purchase, I still have a lot of gold left over that Wilhelm gave me. I should probably get started on a few dozen gems I have stored, get them ready for spells."
"It seems like you have thought this through." I nodded, pleased with her foresight this time. It was as Wilhelm spoke before, she wanted to rush off, perhaps some blind notion of 'proving herself' but she was willing to slow down in this instance. "Let us make a list of things we could possibly need while adventuring into the wilderness and delving into tombs. Then we shall acquire everything needed and set out."
"Yes! Finally going on a real adventure." Rin pumped her fists in the air, her excitement very contagious.
***
Just an interlude from Artoria's POV of whats going on with them, and an adventure they will go on. So, finally wrote my first bit of smut, Meridia and Wilhelm finally do the horizontal Tango, very vanilla sex, but it was their first time. Should be a bit lewder in the future. Well, jury is still out on if it's badly written or not, i'm half falling alseep over here so anythings possible. Worse case i rewrite it when i have a fresh mind to me.
Anyways, if you want to read 6 chapters ahead, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone