Hello, this is my first time writing a fanfiction. If you notice any errors, please feel free to give me constructive feedback. English is not my first language, so if you notice any mistakes, please mention them in the comment section at the end of the chapter. Let's begin the story!
Word Count: 3280 Words
Note: Just a reminder that I've changed the Guild Auxiliary chapter. I've made some changes to it. I've removed a couple of NPCs and added a few.
Due to my college work, I was unable to upload the chapter.
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Three Month Later
Cath Palug watched as the being, who introduced himself as The Fool, struck Demi-God Wolf with the arrow shot by a mysterious White Being floating among the clouds.
The Divine Totem Wolf had been slain.
It wasn't as surprising for it that the Wolf had lost to The Fool. It was an outcome it had predicted. It was inevitable, the wolf stood no chance against The Fool.
It watched as the body of the Totem Wolf disappeared inside a dark violet-coloured portal. It was not something it would get used to. According to what it had seen, it was something akin to a storage space or a pocket dimension of The Fool. Where time was frozen and He could store anything of his choice inside it.
Though for a second, it might have been an illusion. Cath Palug thought that for a second there, it had seen The Fool smile. It was a genuine smile, one that would not suit a being of his calibre.
It turned around to once again take a good look, to find him with the same expressionless face. Forgetting it be a mistake on its part, Cath Palug threw the thought to the back of its mind.
Cath Palug jumped down from the rock it had sat on to spectate the whole Battle. It had not expected The Fool to kill the Totem Wolf. It turned towards the man walking towards them, the reason for their fight against the Wolf.
The Man had stumbled upon their cave, while he was out searching for herbs. He was a man with a great interest in Magic and alchemy. Upon learning the fact that Vishanti, an avatar of The Fool that he introduced himself with was a Magic Caster. The Man was on his knees begging to learn magic.
He had been coming to the cave daily, ever since his rejection. He had been adamant about learning magic.
Cath Palug reminiscenced the persistence of the Man named Yaro, to keep up with his effort to request The Fool to teach him magic. It had been cautious at first for the Fool could kill Yaro for his annoying attitude.
Yet it was surprising to find The Fool did not lash out at him. Even the human nobles, who were of very little standing to The Fool. Who couldn't ever hope of comparing themselves to him would not have tolerated it with their bottomless pride.
"Thank You so much for saving my life, Master Vishanti."
Bruce and Cath Palug stood facing Yaro as he took a knee and bowed down Thanking the Fool for killing Totem Wolf.
"There is no need for you to be bowing down. The Wolf had been pestering us for some time now. I had been delaying it for long enough now."
Bruce talked as he moved towards Cath Palug and picked him up. He started petting him as he turned towards Yaro again.
"The wolf had been chasing my companion here for some time now. I had to take care of it someday. Still, to worship monsters. People are desperate in this monster-infested world."
"It is as you said Master Vishanti. Would you please teach me magic now? The world is dangerous, I wish to survive. No, it's not just that. What I wish to say is, magic is something that I desire. I wish to acquire this power. I wish to explore and take that power for myself."
Cath Palug had seen the persistence the Man had shown. It was surprised by his answer. It was a bit different than what it had thought. It raised its head to look at The Fool, only to see him smirk.
Following his line of sight, it saw Yaro and his fanatic look. He was trembling, begging to be taught magic. Ready to sell his soul full for magic. Now, that he had seen the fight. Where The Fool, in his Vishanti form, had taken down what he considered God with magic. He was lovestruck by the Magic of The Fool.
It dawned on it, as it thought through all the incidents that had led them here. Yaro, despite his craze for magic, hadn't shown up at the cave for three days straight. Worried by his absence they had come down to the village. Where they found him ready to be sacrificed to their God.
'Was it all an act or did he play it out this way to get here.'
"I'll teach you magic, but sadly, that's all I can do. Sadly, you don't have the skills nor ability to use magic."
"But.."
Cath Palug grew confused over his statement. Despite the petting, though it was enjoying the feeling. It was still listening to their conversation with focus.
"I'll teach you magic. I won't destroy your dream to learn magic. I'll just say this once, despite your aptitude. There are ways of learning and using magic in this world for even those without talent or ability. But to find the way to do that will be up to you. Rather than teaching, I'll only help guide you. The rest is up to you.", 'Moreover, even if you asked. It's not like I can teach you anything. My prowess is from the game, and the power systems of Yggdrasil and Nasuverse are very different. This should be good enough to score some good points with Cath Palug. Our time together has been joyful. Being alone in the cave for six months was very taxing. Especially without the internet and my other gadgets.
So, his addition to my abode was very my appreciated. Just watching another being laze around with me and accompany me in these tiring, ancient, boring times. Anyway, with this guy, there is another member to our abode, but I don't think it would be the same as Cath Palug. I enjoy alone time, but humans are social animals.
Despite my point of view being different, it is proving to be difficult to stay true to my thoughts in these technology-forsaken ancient times with no luxury to live.
As for him, the play with words should hold on. Despite the clashing opinions his dedication towards learning magic is interesting and admirable.'
"I won't disappoint you, Master. I'll surely find a way."
'How interesting. I just hope for you to entertain me to the best of your abilities.'
---
One Year Later
"So the land we live on is like a ball?"
"Yes, Yaru."
"So, if we were to travel continuously, we would return to the point someday."
"Yes"
Bruce closed the book he had been holding as he turned towards Yaru. Yaru was busy drawing magic circles in a book that Vishanti had given him. Yaru stopped scribbling as he turned to Vishanti or The Fool as he looked at his Master.
"I'll try it someday Master. I will travel through the whole planet."
"That's something to look forward to.", Bruce turned to Optimus Avatar as he got up from his chair. Throwing the back inside his inventory, he moved to the research lab he had set up in his cave. Leaving Yaru alone with Cath Palug in the living space of the cave. Bruce had thought of using Fortress using the spell Fortress. Since it had a time limit he wasn't in the mood to move his stuff every time it disappeared.
He had set up the Fortress inside the cave by digging in a lot deeper. Making space inside for the Fortress.
He had been using it for sleeping.
'A lot of time has passed since I came here. I am not even sure of my location now. Whether I am still in Stay Night or FGO at the moment. I have Cath Palug with Yaru staying in this cave with me.
Yaru is busy studying magic on his own. All I did was give a grimoire and talk some nonsense.
Well, my understanding of Magic isn't that high. With my skills, lore and class carrying me in World Destroyer creation. It has been a series of unconscious actions stacking up to build it.
But it's not like I have been fully reliant on them. I have been studying those unconscious actions and building upon them. Improvising with knowledge from Nasuverse.
Still, Yaru is a genius at figuring out a lot of stuff, which took me a month to figure out only in a week.'
Seeing the back of The Fool walking away, Yaru sighed. His progress with magic study was substantial. Yet he was nowhere near finding a clue to his problem.
Yaru sighed as he closed the book and stood up. Placing the book on his study. He got outside the cave thinking of his situation. Yaru ran down the hill as he entered the adjacent mountain. Unlike the mountain where their cave was, the one he was climbing was occupying less area and was narrow to the top with a giant tree at the top.
It had been a favourite spot of his. Even before he met The Fool, whose identity he got to know after a month of meeting him.
Yaru climbed the tree and sat on the top getting a top view of the whole forest.
He shivered thinking back to the Worms he saw back in The Fool's eye when he first transformed. He was out of breath, it hadn't even been a second before he was faced with such a sight.
'Thousands of worms and eyes staring at me. I had to control myself from fainting. Those eyes were boring a hole through me. It didn't help that I was trembling in front of him. It was my luck that he didn't speak about it.'
Unbeknownst to him, Bruce had assumed his trembling to be related to him missing his home and his friends.
Yaru sighed as got back to thinking of a solution to his precarious problem. 'I need a catalyst that can awaken. pr better way to put it is to pump mana into me. If only I could get hold of a magic item that is powerful enough to destroy my body. It's a risky endeavour but one that I have to walk upon.
I have to trust the magic circle that I have created.'
Yaru inspected the circle he had created once again and checked for any errors.
'From the book of Necromancy and the one from Body Transformation. I just hope that I succeed in rebuilding my body. I did show my magic circle to The Fool, and according to him, it would turn me into a creature similar to a demon or devil. Though I am not sure of what they are. Since it was an amalgamation of many species that The Fool knew of, he named this magic spell The Asura Project.
Though I have yet to mention him about using it on me. But knowing him, he must have already known about it.'
"Anyway, what is an Asura?"
Yaru had spoken a bit earlier as he sensed the oddness in his surroundings. Despite not being able to sense Mana, he had grown accustomed to sensing it whenever there was an influx of Mana.
So, he, who was without any skill with mana, was able to sense it, 'The Mana outburst was very strong.'
Yaru turned around to check the source to find it to be the very mountain where The Fool resided.
He calmed down knowing it was The Fool who was responsible for it. He stood up, thinking of going back to check the cause of the outburst.
Sooner had he stood up in his spot, a huge pillar of fire from far of the sky descended upon the Mountain with the cave.
Yaru was rooted in his spot, as the flame evaporated the whole mountain and everything in its path. He fell down the tree trying to handle the aftermath of the Fire showdown. Trying hard to think of the source when it clicked. It dawned on him as he thought of the earlier outburst and reaction of the strong to the source.
"A huge pillar of Flame raining down continuously till it burned down everything in its path. A Dragon's Breath."
---
In the Fortress
Bruce was busy adding another line of runes to the apple when he turned around to see Cath Palug walk into the lab. Cath Palug jumped up and sat on the table observing him draw the runes on the apple.
With the last of the Rune placed on it, he turned around to face Cath Palug not before turning in his base form. 'I can't keep calling him by his old name Cath Palug. Though I am not good at naming and my naming sense is very bad.'
Bruce sighed as he thought of various names he could call him by. Cath Palug wondered as it looked back at the Man staring closely at him. Wondering the cause for the stare.
From the corner of its eye, it looked at the Fruit, a fruit with the power to destroy the whole planet sitting idle on this Man's table.
'Huh! Since I am The Fool and there is also World patiently waiting in the Guild. Calling him also by one of the Tarot Cards is an interesting idea.'
Cath Palug wandered back to the Magic Circle the Human was creating and the words of The Fool to him. Now that it is thought back, The Fool had been working on this apple for a very long time. It was even before it met him or the human. There was no way the Fool would have envisioned the whole event play out as he had thought.
It shivered as realization took in, for all the events to take place adhering to the Fool's wishes could only mean one thing. He has the power to see through and manipulate Fate.
Now it was worried for the silence of The Fool, worried about the future of the World. Off the chance the human fails to control the apple, the whole world would be destroyed and if he does do it. He would have the power of the Star. He would himself turn into a Star with prowess rivalling or even surpassing that of the Sun.
Worried for the future, Cath Palug turned to once again face The Fool. Only to hear him utter something so out of place. Even more so since it's been so long since their meeting.
"It's about time I give you a name. From henceforth you will be called The Tower."
'Well, you did get thrown out of the tower, disturbing your sleep. There is no other Tarot Card more relatable to you.'
Giving Cath Palug a name, Bruce picked up Tower in his arms petting it.
It confounded Cath Palug, or now Tower, to the origin of the name. But before it could contemplate the decision of the Fool, it felt a pulse of mana from the fruit.
The pulse kept on increasing, showing no sign of it ever stopping. It worried The Tower, wondering about the Fate of the World.
It was then that out of nowhere, Tower sensed danger. But it was surprising to find the source of danger to be not the fruit but from somewhere in the sky. In the next moment, raging flames invaded their fortress, melting everything within.
---
Afraid of its demise, Tower was happy to have remained unhurt during the Pillar of Flame engulfing the whole mountain.
When it did open its eyes, it was surprised to have survived the attack. It looked around to see itself still in The Fool's arm, locked inside his coat. The tower wormed outside to get a view of the outside.
It could see the blue sky dyed in red, about the after-effects of the Dragon's Breath. The whole mountain had disappeared including the fortress.
They were both covered in a spherical shield made of runes and many incomprehensible characters floating and revolving around the shield.
Tower looked up to see The Fool's reaction to this whole debacle. He had an expressionless face and a monocle adorning his right eye.
It wasn't sure when the monocle came but it surprised to see The Fool's expression transition. There was a smirk on his face.
Shocked by his reaction, it followed his line of sight to spot a Giant dragon-like Being looking down on them.
---
Bruce stood still watching The Dragon like being looking down at them. Smile tugged his lips as he watched the Dragon hover above them.
He was very lucky to turn into his base form with the suit and not remain in his Golem Avatar.
With the suit protecting him and the now Tower, he used the super-tier spell Embrace of Yggdrasil with a cash shop item to cut short the casting time in case it affected his unprotected part.
Still, he was happy to find his Shield standing after the attack.
'Typhon it says. So, the Dragon hovering above me is supposed to be the Progenitor of Dragon's and Gaia's youngest child. Interestingly it is being classified as World Enemy by the Ravens of Knowledge.'
The smile turned into a smirk as he realized the implications. Despite Typhon being hostile to him, he was confounded by the reason. The only one he could think of was the apple. Still, the apple had survived the attack, and he could still sense it.
But what mattered to him was the information he got from The Ravens of Knowledge.
The Ravens of Knowledge not only told him the information of the foes he would face. He was cornered here to face the enemy. He knew it instinctually of his fate.
No amount of running could help him put this Dragon away from himself. Resigning himself to his fate and also quelling his rage for the Dragon's action of destroying his lodging and nearly destroying the World Destroyer and the world with it.
Despite the odds, there was a silver lining in all this for Bruce. He was able to confirm one of the most important things from The Ravens of Knowledge. One that would decide the course of the Battle.
'Typhon is still within the limits of what The Ravens of Knowledge can look into. He is possibly stronger than Fafnir and even World Devourer, for that matter, but unlike my past Game Avatar. I'm not completely helpless now.'
Bruce placing the Tower down, flew towards The Dragon Progenitor. Typhon, seeing its enemy heading towards it, continued with its onslaught. Bruce dodging every attack heading his way, teleported above Typhon.
{Spell, Reality Slash}
Tanking on the attack, Typhon roared at the Heavens, at the World. And so the dance between Typhon, The Dragon Progenitor, and The Fool commenced.
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**The End**
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