(Titus's POV)
The anticipation built up as my wait came to an end, signaling the commencement of yet another dreamshift.
"I'm genuinely thrilled now. If this one's about Ruler or some extra class, it has to revolve around Jeanne d'Arc," I pondered in my office, eager to encounter the legendary waifu of the Nasuverse and perhaps, well, make a move for the saint to become my wife.
Suddenly, a new message popped up.
[Merlin: Actually, it's going to be different.]
"Oh, hey, Merlin. It's been a while since I heard from you," I greeted my online friend from Avalon.
Merlin, whom I initially thought was the male version, turned out to be a female, and I guessed I was in the prototype universe. We had a couple of conversations, but lately, she seemed to be avoiding me.
"So, what's this about this time? Do you know something?" I inquired, suspecting that my next dreamshift was related to her.
[Merlin: Yes. This time, your current target will be in the 5th century British Isles.]
My eyes widened. "You mean a direct connection with Arthurian Legends?!"
I couldn't contain my excitement. Finally, I would be meeting my ideal waifu, Saber the baeber, Artoria Pendragon. Kya! I was so excited!
[Merlin: Oh dear, you're really into gender bends, huh? Anyway, I'll contact you before your actual dreamshift. Bye.]
She seemed a bit down. Anyway, as soon as the screen cut off, another holographic screen appeared.
[The main mission is triggered.]
[Main Mission: A fairy's dream to save her home.
Destination: 410 AD British Isles (Primary/Imaginary Dreamshift)
Quest: Help the offspring of the Avalon to be the 'Sole Ruler' of the Britain.
Attempts: 1
Restriction: Unable to use Moon Cell
Rewards: EXPs, Abilities and MAJOR skills, Memory Fragment, ???
Failure: Extermination of the system.]
"So, it's about the Arthurian legends..."
It was a tad perplexing, but Vivian was the only figure that came to mind. Or perhaps...
Regardless, there was scarce information about the legend in this world, but it didn't concern me much. I did wonder, though, whether this dreamshift would be primary or imaginary.
[It means that if you are to change the history, completely different from the actual, it will be Imaginary Dreamshift. If you do not change the whole history, it will be considered as Primary Dreamshift and you will see some changes in your current timeline.]
So, that's what this is about. It means I could alter anything I want without the fear of changing history? Neat!
Anyway, I resolved to prepare for this expedition.
---
"Fairies, huh... Not gonna sugarcoat it, but this time, you'll be dealing with one annoying race, pupil."
I found myself in Scathach's apartment to discuss my next dreamshift. Her mood soured as soon as she heard about fairies.
"Even though I also have some fairy blood, fairies are the most annoying bunch you'll ever encounter," Medb (head) added, nestled in my arms. She, too, seemed bothered.
To be honest, I agreed with them. Having played the 6th Lostbelt before dying, I knew how messed up their mentality was.
According to Scathach, Medb, and my experience from Lostbelt 6, fairies are childish in nature. They need humans to exist, happily doing anything asked by humans, even going so far as to kill other fairies or humans. They could be your best friend one moment, and ruthless murderers the next, just like unpredictable children.
Although they forged Excalibur to fend off Sefar, they still carried their childish nature. It seemed they weren't far from the scums in Lostbelt 6.
"So, what do you want to discuss?" Scathach inquired, and I nodded.
"I want to learn about their magic, especially how their curses work."
Another reason Scathach despised fairies was because they were more vexing than deities. Kill them, and they'd curse you; evade them, and they'd cling to you for life. The only recourse for a human was to pray to escape their clutches or flee the isles.
That's why I sought to understand fairy curses.
Scathach widened her eyes, instantly grasping my implication.
"I really dislike how you'll be handling this dreamshift, but I'll teach you the basics," Scathach said, initiating an explanation about the world of fairies and curses.
---
I was back in my office, making some adjustments to my system.
---
[[Status]]
Name: Titus Dusklock
Age: 19
Race: Human, Dragon
Elements: Light (Special), Fire
Level: 67
...
Parameters:
STR: 234
MAG: 844
END: 221
AGI: 130
LUC: 1510
Additional SPs: 40
…
HP: 1465
MP: 3448
…
Passive Skills: (Imperial Manager A), (Saint's Golden Rule A), (Presence Concealment B), (Charmer C), (Amaterasu: 5 tails EX+), (Emperor of War EX), (Dragon Slayer B), (Avenger C)
Active Skills: (Force Control A), (Imperial Privilege A), (Odin's Eye EX), (Undying Hero A+++), (Mad Enhancement C), (Skill Transferor C), (Key to The Land of Shadows -)
...
Magecrafts:
[Illusionary Arts: Rank C]
[Creation Runes EX]
[Miscellaneous spells]
LCs: 1,809,200
---
[Summon Servants:
Prime: Nero Claudius (Saber), Tamamo-no-Mae (Caster), Cu Chulainn (Lancer), Kama (Assassin)
Others: Boudica (Rider), Jack the Ripper (Assassin), Aoife (Caster), Connla (Saber), Medb (Head only), Siegfried (Saber), Kriemhild (Berserker), Shirou Emiya (Archer)]
---
That was my status. A new bar appeared, stating my race, including human and dragon. This explained why my strength and endurance stats were exceptionally high. Kama and a bunch of other servants were also in the pool, making my roster quite extensive.
"Let's see the new skill," I muttered and observed the latest addition.
[Passive Skill (Warrior Creation B). You acquired this from Scathach through Skill Copier card.]
Another reason to visit Scathach was to obtain this skill. I initially wanted to meet Merlin and get her skill (Hero Creation), but entering Avalon wasn't as simple as it sounded.
Regardless, I decided to upgrade this skill.
[Warrior Creation has been Ranked to Rank A+++ for 50,150 LCs]
[You have used 'Skill Enhance' card]
[Congratulations! Warrior Creation A+++ has been turned into Ruler Maker A+]
[Ruler Maker A+
Effect: You are now one of the greatest king makers of this world. Even if a person holds the slightest quality of a leader, you can make them a full-fledged king of a country. Caution: As to what kind of leader you want to make is not in your hands.]
Receiving this skill, I felt a surge of information flowing into my mind. From teaching to mentoring, I could now make kings! It was a perfect skill for my next mission. Although I could spend more LCs to upgrade it to Rank EX, the current rank was sufficient.
Yet, I had another skill I wanted to raise to EX rank.
[Upgrade Imperial Privilege to Rank EX for 1.5 million LCs?]
"What the heck?! Why so many?!"
I would be sacrificing a whole stack of LCs!
[Imperial Privilege is a rare skill, and upgrading it to Rank EX breaks the norm, so 1.5 million is the minimum cost for such an upgrade.]
It made sense. I wouldn't need any other skill with this. The only drawback was the cooldown, but with Tamamo's skill, that wasn't a significant concern.
"For... greater good... ugh!" I somehow managed to press the YES button.
[Congratulations! You have successfully raised the Rank to EX!]
[Imperial Privilege EX
Effect: Acquire any existing skill up to Rank A+++, of which you have knowledge or not, for 30 minutes.
Cooldown: 4 hours
Cost: 50~1000 MP]
"This looks great," I smiled. It was now the epitome of brokenness in skills. The cost might be higher, but the cooldown was reduced. Plus, with my current MP, I could acquire multiple skills in a day.
However, I didn't even dare to glance at the LCs section. I might be the richest person on the planet but still poor in LCs. Anyway, I also wanted to distribute my SPs and pondered where I should allocate them.
Just as I contemplated, a pair of hands wrapped around my neck from behind.
"Hm, hm~! What is my scummy master looking at?" Kama whispered, her soft cheek brushing against mine.
"Making some adjustments to my parameters. Wondering if I should increase agility," I murmured, considering boosting my speed.
"Hmm. Then how about increasing magic instead, since you are a magic type Pokémon? My Noble Phantasms take quite a chunk of mana to activate. And for your information, Command Spells won't work for it," Kama added, providing new information.
"You're coming with me?" I inquired.
"Of course. I wanted a change from just this building, which doesn't even need cleaning," Kama glared at me before licking her lips. "Don't tell me you're scared of betrayal? Though it would be quite amusing to see you suffer."
"I think it's a good idea. I'll get to see your abilities too," I nodded, recognizing the usefulness of her Noble Phantasm. "Go to sleep."
"Oh my~! So, my master is interested in that kind of play. Even if I hate you, you still have complete control over my body so it can't be helped," Kama mused, resting her head on my lap. "Make sure to use protection," she quipped before closing her eyes.
I shook my head, heeding Kama's advice, and shifted my focus to my parameters. She had a point; being more of a caster, increasing agility wasn't exactly necessary. I could always use Rune magecraft to outrun even the speed of sound, rendering it somewhat useless. Strengthening my Strength and Endurance was also unnecessary, given that my dragon blood already fulfilled those roles. Instead, I opted to channel all my points into Magic.
[You have allocated all points to Magic.]
---
[[Status]]
Name: Titus Dusklock
Age: 19
Race: Human, Dragon
Elements: Light (Special), Fire
Level: 67
...
Parameters:
STR: 234
MAG: 1564
END: 221
AGI: 130
LUC: 1510
Additional SPs: 0
…
HP: 1825
MP: 6148
…
Passive Skills: (Imperial Manager A), (Saint's Golden Rule A), (Presence Concealment B), (Charmer C), (Amaterasu: 5 tails EX+), (Emperor of War EX), (Dragon Slayer B), (Avenger C), (Ruler Maker A+)
Active Skills: (Force Control A), (Imperial Privilege EX), (Odin's Eye EX), (Undying Hero A+++), (Mad Enhancement C), (Skill Transferor C), (Key to The Land of Shadows -)
...
Magecrafts:
[Illusionary Arts: Rank C]
[Creation Runes EX]
[Miscellaneous spells]
LCs: 259,050
---
"It's okay, Titus. You'll get more LCs..." I tried to console myself after the significant loss of LCs.
Anyway, now that everything was prepared, I was ready to dreamshift. Medb was in my inventory because she had to be there for me to take her into my dreamshift.
But before starting, I called Merlin.
"Any advice for me, Merlin?"
[Merlin: Hmm... Since you'll be dealing with me, I want to reveal a secret to you.]
"What is it?"
[Merlin: I'm always in an illusionary state, meaning my actual body's position is always different. Use a distortion spell and then kick me in the balls. I won't be able to cast spells in that state.]
"Wow..." I just nodded. "But you're not exactly Merlin, are you?"
[Merlin: HOW DID YOU!!]
I chuckled and explained, "At first glance, I could tell you're not a man but a girl. I thought you were some alternate version of male Merlin. But after talking with you more, I realized you're not even Merlin."
There were many differences between her and the Merlin I remembered from the game. For one, Merlin would never involve himself until the situation was dire. Him contracting me early was unusual. Additionally, Merlin wasn't human and didn't understand the human heart. She, on the other hand, supported me like a close friend.
"But don't worry, I believe whoever you are, you're on my side."
Both Scathach and Yae Miko assured me she was on my side, so I didn't need to be on guard.
[Merlin?: ...Thanks, Titus... See you after the dreamshift.]
"Yeah, see you later."
I then reopened my system, pressed the INITIATE button, and a clock materialized with an anti-clock function. Darkness then enveloped me.
===
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