After returning to the Major General's Villa from his tour of Takerth Academy, Magnus went straight to bed. He had a lot on his mind: his enrollment at the academy, the potential looming threat of an unknown storyline, and the sparring matches he'd witnessed.
I still have a long way to go if I want to survive in this world without worry. Until then, going home is just a pipe dream. But it's not entirely hopeless; as long as I have the Command Console, I'm pretty confident I won't hit a dead end as long as I use my head. Speaking of which, I should talk to Celia tomorrow about the experiments I want to do. Since I can't leave the villa myself, having her fetch what I need is the next best thing. I just hope this city has a blacksmith; otherwise, this whole idea is going to be dead on arrival.
As he thought this, Magnus began to drift off to sleep. He didn't sleep for very long, as he was more mentally tired than physically.
When he woke up, he saw the sun had just barely peeked over the city's many buildings and walls, and it was still extremely early. Peeking his head outside his door and glancing up and down the hall, it didn't seem like the maids or Celia were up yet.
Looks like I have some time to draw up a few designs first.
After taking a quick bath, Magnus quickly changed into different clothes and got to work. Moving to the desk in his room, he grabbed a piece of paper and placed the ink quill next to it.
But the moment he attempted to start drawing, Magnus ended up dripping tons of ink onto the paper.
"Shit!" he cursed, trying to wipe the ink up, but it only started to smear, spreading across the paper even more. Within seconds, the small splurge turned into a giant blob of ink, ruining the paper.
"Okay, note to self, ink quills are not like pens." After a few more failed attempts, Magnus finally got the hang of using a quill to draw with.
"Alright, how about this? Oh, and an X here with a few circles..." He spoke to himself as he stared down at the papers in front of him and began to draw like there was no tomorrow.
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After waking up, Celia made her way to Magnus's room, feeling a bit nervous. She fidgeted slightly as she walked, struggling to maintain her professional demeanor amidst her excitement.
This is embarrassing. He's younger than me, yet I'm acting like I'm meeting my crush for the first time. But I can't help it; he said I'd be assisting him in magic experiments—real magic! It's like a dream come true...
The fact that Magnus hadn't specified what they'd be doing sent her imagination into overdrive. Finally, she reached his door and took a deep breath to calm herself.
As she raised her hand to knock, a sudden cry from inside made her pause.
"Yes, this is the one, my masterpiece, my pièce de résistance!" Confused by the outburst, she knocked again and announced herself.
"Um, sir—I mean, Magnus, may I come in?" She heard papers rustling and Magnus calling out.
"Oh, Celia, is that you? Come in; I have something to show you." With his permission, Celia opened the door and entered, immediately noticing the floor littered with paper, ink, and drawings.
"Sorry about the mess. There were no pencils, so I had to use entire sheets." She turned to Magnus, who was also covered in ink, from his hands to his clothes and even his hair.
"What exactly is going on here?" she asked. Magnus held up a piece of paper, the only one not on the floor, and explained.
"I was drawing up designs. I'm no artist, but since this is related to our experiment, I wanted it to look cool."
Celia's eyes lit up as she examined the drawings. One was a coin-like object with a cross pattern and a hole in the center. Arrows pointed to the second drawing, a simple metal ball that seemed to fit into the coin's hole, completing the design.
"Is this some kind of magic circle?" she asked, lacking much knowledge about magic. Magnus gave her a half-hearted nod, indicating she was partially correct.
"You can think of it that way. It's more of a focus aid for me. I need both objects for the experiment. Does this city have a blacksmith capable of making these?"
Celia, still a bit confused, took a closer look at the design. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded and replied.
"Well... I know someone who can make something like this. He's probably not that busy around this time of year, so he should be available. But because the design is so detailed, it might take a while." Hearing that, Magnus felt relieved but also showed a look of surprise.
"What?" Celia noticed his expression and couldn't help but ask.
"Well, I'm just surprised you know a blacksmith. I never see you leave the villa, and apart from that one maid who's always with you, you don't seem like the type to have a lot of friends."
Celia paused for a moment. Did she really give off the vibe that she had no friends? She wasn't anti-social or anything. Seeing that Celia wasn't responding, Magnus quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway! I don't mind waiting; we're not in a hurry, as long as it's true to the design. Right now, I'm not allowed to leave this villa without permission, so could you place the order for me? Or would the Head Maid see that as a problem?"
Celia shook her head and replied, "It should be fine since it's part of my duties as your personal maid, but I'll need to report it to her." As Celia explained what she would need to do, Mangus suddenly realized something.
"Crap, I nearly forgot I don't have any money!" He was completely broke in this world; he didn't even have a job. He had almost forgotten about that since he had been living the good life in the Major General's Villa.
"Hmm, oh, don't worry about that. I was given some money in case you ever wanted to buy something, by order of the Major General." This was news to Magnus; the Major General had given him money? Since when, and why?
I mean, I knew he valued me, but not to the extent he would give me an allowance.
He didn't know if he should be happy or more cautious.
Well, whatever, for now, I'll gladly take his money if he's just giving it away. I'll just have to remember to pay him back in the future.
And just like that, things started moving along. Besides the drawings, Celia asked for a few more details about what exactly he wanted to be made, the type of metal he wanted it to be made out of, etc.
Magnus didn't know anything about blacksmithing, so he just told her a few essential characteristics and sent her on her way, and after getting the okay from the Head Maid, Celia headed out into the city.
With that out of the way, all Magnus really needed to do was wait. There was no use in practicing what he was trying to do when he didn't have the most important pieces on hand.
Well, she did say it was going to take a while. In the meantime, let's see if I can push my [Self Body Puppetry] routine a little further. My stamina has gotten a bit better, so I should be able to last longer.
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Despite its golden appearance from afar, even during the morning hours, Arlcliff City still harbored its fair share of dark alleys.
However, one particular alley stood out, its shadows darker than usual, stretching out unnaturally, swallowing any sliver of light that dared to creep into such a confined space. From within this eerie darkness, a deep growl emerged, bone-chilling enough to trigger every alarm in a living being's mind.
The alley's shadows began to twist and contort, rising and transforming from their usual flatness into a three-dimensional form. A pair of piercing dark orange eyes appeared from the mass of shadows, and as the darkness continued to shape-shift, it formed into a hound, its fur seemingly blending into the surrounding gloom.
Raising its nose, the hound appeared to search the air for something, not a scent, but something beyond the comprehension of both humans and beasts.
After a brief pause, the hound stopped sniffing and abruptly bared its teeth, emitting a low growl before sinking into the ground as smoothly as a pebble would in a pond.
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"Really, that soon? I thought it would take longer." Celia had returned in the middle of Magnus doing his exercises with good news. The blacksmith she had gone to said they would be done by tomorrow evening.
Considering a 'while' in business days basically meant a month back on Earth, he was perfectly fine with that.
"Well…" Celia seemed like she was going to say something, but decided against it. Although Magnus had noticed it, he decided not to press into it.
"In that case, we can start the experiment the day after tomorrow. Oh, also, do you think you could get us notebooks for that day as well? I want to make sure I don't forget anything. I've been doing a lot in my head, and it would be nice to get it down on paper."
More importantly, although Magnus could understand the language of humans in this world, that didn't mean he could write in their language. Although it was an inconvenience, it meant that anything he wrote would be safe from prying eyes.
Well, as long as there isn't some kind of weird translation magic or something like that in this world… I hope that wasn't a flag.
After talking with Celia about a few other things, Magnus finished up his exercises and spent the rest of the day lounging around. As the day passed from morning to noon to evening and eventually night, all seemed peaceful at the Major General's Villa.
After all, it was right next to the garrison, and with so many guards nearby, no one would dare cause trouble, let alone sneak in. However, under the cover of night, who could have expected the shadows to move as if they were alive?
Having no definite form, a patch of shadow moved swiftly across the ground, sticking to corners, cracks, and crevices. Even as the guards patrolled the streets with lanterns in hand, no one noticed them.
Within a matter of minutes, the seemingly alive shadow slipped under the gate leading to the Major General's Villa, out of sight of anyone nearby. There was a low snarl as the shadows morphed once again, and rising from it was the hound that seemed to blend with the darkness of night that surrounded it.
Raising its nose, it sniffed at the air before its eyes locked onto the window of a certain floor. Returning to the shadows, the hound moved silently.
Encroaching across the grounds of the villa, it made its way towards its target, slithering up the walls and through the cracks of the window like a serpent. Inside the room, there was complete silence beside the soft breathing of another living creature.
It was none other than Magnus, sleeping without a care in the world. He didn't notice a thing as the shadow crept up his bed and flowed across his covers.
Within a matter of seconds, the hound appeared once again, not making a sound as it loomed over Magnus's defenseless body, its rustic orange eye staring at him intently. The words of its mistress echoed through its mind as its thoughts focused themselves.
Devour… Retrieve…
And with that thought, it seemed to begin to funnel itself, as if being squeezed through an invisible gap. It sunk into Magnus's mind until it vanished entirely. At the same time, within Magnus's mind, where originally there was nothing, suddenly a dream sparked into being.
"Hmm?" Magnus didn't need to open his eyes to know something was off. One moment he was nowhere, and the next, he was here.
"Where the hell am I?" He looked around, feeling a strange sense of familiarity with his surroundings. He was sure he had seen this place before. As he took a step forward, Magnus noticed his body felt surprisingly light.
"Wait a second..." Magnus took another step, and with a light hop, he turned around and effortlessly rose more than a foot off the ground. As he spun around in the void, he caught sight of the vast, dark expanse of space, stars tracing the shapes of nebulas, and far in the distance, Earth shone like a beautiful blue jewel.
"Welp, that confirms it; either the magical herb tea Celia made me before bed got me high as hell, or... I'm dreaming." He was definitely leaning towards the latter, considering he was talking to himself in the vacuum of space while standing on the moon. Also, the fact that he couldn't keep any of his thoughts to himself was a feeling he was familiar with. It had happened before in dreams where he was strangely lucid.
Still, what he hadn't expected was to receive a reply to his words.
"Correct..." The deep, low voice seemed to come from everywhere, enveloping the moon, the stars, and the entire dream space he was in.
Within seconds, Earth began to collapse in on itself as if becoming a black hole, slowly swallowed by darkness. In just a few moments, Earth had vanished, replaced by a writhing black mass.
"Well, that's fucking terrifying..." Magnus tried to joke to himself, but he was genuinely scared.
This dream felt more real and lucid than any he'd ever had. He could feel his heartbeat quickening, the pounding in his ear, and even goosebumps forming on his arm. He knew it was a dream; he was speaking and breathing in space, for goodness' sake. But that didn't make his fear any less real.
Suddenly, the darkness that had replaced Earth began to move. Like a geyser, it shot toward the moon, and for a moment, Magnus felt like his perception had failed him.
The shadow that seemed to have engulfed Earth appeared to shrink as it approached him, and within seconds, it had reached the moon.
It splashed against the moon's surface like water against glass before reforming and morphing into its true form, a soul-piercing-eyed hound. Instinctively, Magnus took a step back, and the hound advanced.
"This is by far the most horrifying nightmare I've ever had." He said to himself, yet once again, he heard the hound's voice.
"The nightmare has yet to begin..." Following those words, Magnus watched as darkness shot from the hound's body, spreading across space, and coating everything in its path. One by one, stars disappeared into the inky black. Clusters of stars and distant galaxies vanished, losing their shine. And as they did, Magnus's mind became cloudy.
His thoughts seemed obscured, and his memories surfaced before vanishing.
"Dammit... what the hell is going on? This feels way too strange to be a normal dream..." As he faltered, Magnus suddenly remembered his earlier words.
"Wait a second. A dream?" He repeated back to himself as the hound continued to engulf not only Magnus's dream but also his memories. It saw things it had never seen before. A world that felt foreign compared to its own, people who looked and dressed so much differently than ones it had encountered so far, and machines that seemed to be capable of mimicking the effects of magic.
But its feast on these dreams and memories was abruptly cut short. It had never experienced this before; it was as if its darkness had hit a wall, unable to advance further into its prey's consciousness.
"What is this...?" Confusion echoed through the hound's voice and mind; its instinct was to devour, yet it couldn't. It met resistance that it couldn't overcome, no matter how much strength it exerted.
"Well, judging by the fact that whatever you just did messed up my head for a bit, I'm going to assume this is not an ordinary dream, and you're not some representation of one of my many mental issues."
The hound's gaze shifted to Magnus, who now stood calmly, a large black screen floating before him.
Without any wasted effort, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers, and suddenly, without any strength to resist, the hound's darkness was forced back. As if a cloudy sky were being cleared, the many stars, galaxies, and other celestial objects returned in all their glory.
"In any case, you picked the wrong person's mind to fuck around with."