A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

Chapter 359: Chapter 325

"Do you have everything you require?"

"Yes, Mom." I rolled my eyes.

Scathach pinched me in response. "If you think me a mother, perhaps sharing my bed isn't something you're uncomfortable with?"

"You forget that he has relations with his Grandmother." Artoria chimed in.

"Fufu, that's right. My Student is a deviant, I'm sure this would only further embolden him." Scathach continued to tease.

"You make it sound like I need an excuse." My arms found her waist and I pulled her in.

"This is true as well. This Scathach already allows your advances." She leaned forward and I claimed her lips happily.

Alright, maybe I was feeling a little emboldened. Not to mention I was feeling much better now, so I would take advantage of the situation, especially since she was teasing me.. I reached back, pulling the waistband of her pants back and peaked over her shoulder once the kiss broke.

I was curious to see what she was wearing. "Purple lacy panties, very nice."

"Brat." She playfully pinched me again.

I gave her ass a nice squeeze. I couldn't just let it go after getting a good view like that. Not that she minded in the slightest. She was similar to Artoria in this regard, she didn't mind me doing stuff like this, but she didn't like public displays.

Speaking of.

I turned to Artoria who was patiently waiting next to us. That bright smile of hers always warms my heart when I see it.

She was enveloped in my arms without a second thought. My petite little King of Knights was always so adorable.

"You will keep Avalon once more." She looked up at me. "And I will hear no argument to the contrary."

"Yes ma'am."

"Good." She smiled beautifully again. "I will await your return."

"I won't be long." I reassured her. "Maybe a couple weeks at most."

"Do not rush if you are not required to. I have matters that can preoccupy my time for now. And you can reach me through the Phone whenever you desire."

Yeah, she was right. Better to do things properly than to try and rush through them.

I gave her a light kiss on the lips before breaking the hug. "I guess this is goodbye for now."

"Are you not forgetting something, Student of mine?" Scathach interjected. "I wish to hear you say it to her."

"I-it is not necessary." Artoria turned a little red.

"Oh...you told her." I felt a tiny bit embarrassed.

"Fufu, the two of you are very cute. Say it, for my pleasure then." Scathach chuckled.

I leaned forward, kissing Artoria on the cheek. "I love you."

"I love you as well." Artoria responded softly.

While I was glad that there wasn't any jealousy to be had, the giggling of hers was making me a little flustered.

I quickly grabbed Mirage with the set coordinate, I opened a portal and stepped through.

[***]

I took a step onto the ground.

Whenever I visited a 'new' world, I always took a moment to take in the atmosphere. More than just getting my visual bearings, I let the world baptize me with its own special laws and unique circumstances.

I was prepared, but even so, I felt my footing almost stumble before catching myself. That isn't to say something pressured me, but that It felt like I had been wearing weights on my legs for so long that I suddenly took them off and needed to reorient myself.

Bringing my arm up to my face, I waved it a few times infront of myself, getting used to this new sensation.

There wasn't any more 'difficulty' or 'ease' in my movements, but the difference was something I would need to get used to.

Because what I felt was certainly not the Mana I was used to.

"Reishi...?" I spoke the word I had recently learned.

Gramps barely had any information on this world, but there were some things I did learn.

Reishi, the main component of souls and all spiritual matter. Different from the equivalent that I'm used to back home. That being of course, Spiritrons, the spirit particles that make up the soul.

Both claim to be the make up of one's soul, yet both are correct. Souls are souls, but they can differ slightly depending on the world that one is born to.

Just how a Human Soul can be different than say a Youkai Soul, yet both are Souls. The Souls here are just a tad more unique than what I'm used to.

While not a complete one to one ratio, Reishi can be another name for 'Mana' here.

Though, the odd thing was that I could still feel Mana in the air. So perhaps that wasn't even accurate either. I was just trying to draw parallels with my own knowledge to better start researching this stuff but that may throw me off if I rely too much on it.

Well, still going on that symbolism. If Reishi is basically this 'spiritual matter' equivalent to Mana. Then obviously there is a term for the 'Reishi' that each person possesses. Gramps had it written down too, he called it 'Reiryoku'. The basic term meaning 'Spiritual Power'.

It is amusing that there are similar terms for similar corresponding energies even if they exist on a slightly different spectrum.

Fascinating.

This Energy, I couldn't immediately absorb it like I could Mana.

I would have to experiment with it because I felt like I could take it in with some effort or some work around.

Though, to do that, I would need to set up a proper workshop. And unfortunately, I didn't have an identity in this world, nor did I have the correct' currency'. Yes, I had Yen, millions of it, enough that I would be set for life if I retired and lived like a normal human. However, I had a personal rule not to introduce the currency of one world to another, even if it matched.

That was just asking for trouble and it would be a headache to deal with if I got discovered.

I tapped my finger against my arm as I looked out across this city.

It was a little smaller than Fuyuki and Kuoh that I was used to in a Japanese town. I was on a hill at the far end of the town, but I could make out buildings that did dwarf the standard houses that seemed to line the distance

How strange.

Why was this place of all locations in the world, the one with the highest concentration of Reishi.

I couldn't pick out anything special about it at a glance. Not that I expected to be able to peer into any secrets, but it was just odd that something so plain and ordinary could hold that title.

Oh well, it'll make things easier if I can just do some research in peace and get familiar with this Energy Source and proceed from there.

However, I do need to settle the matter of finding a place to stay.

I suppose I could take the same route I did in Remnant....without the whole incident to go along with it.

[***]

I swiveled on my new chair.

It was pretty comfortable.

I liked this chair.

And I could look out the window to see pretty far down the street. Even with only the moon illuminating the sky, it was some pretty good scenery.

"What a nice office." I admired, swinging around to look at my guests.

Well, guests were sort of a misnomer.

Technically, I was the guest.

But it was just semantics.

Two guys were sitting down on their knees, not even daring to look up at me. Their faces were a little swollen, but that was merely a side effect of them being a bit stupid.

It was pretty good luck to find these people so quickly. I honestly didn't know if a small town like this had a 'criminal' underbelly.

"So...." I put my elbows up on my new desk. "Shall we get down to business?"

"W-what do you want?" The 'boss' trembled a little.

Hmm, I want a lot of things. Oddly enough, many of them involve Salem sitting on my face. But that's neither here nor there. "I could use some Identification." I started off with something easy. "Can you nice gentleman help me with that?"

".....my subordinate has an uncle who can do that sort of thing." The 'boss' that was the previous owner of this chair answered my question.

"Alright, bring him here." I clapped my hands happily.

"He's already here." The boss said, turning to look at the figure of a map half through the nearby wall, body limp as he hung there.

The walls here were pretty much cardboard if I were to be honest.

"Ah, the idiot who pulled a gun on me." That's unfortunate. "Can you contact his uncle if I offer a lot of money?"

He blinked and nodded.

"Good." I smiled happily and pretended to reach into my jack and took out some gold, setting it on the table. "This should be enough to pay for it."

Using actual 'money' may be a no-go, but Gold is easy to pass around without much fuss.

"You can keep the extra after settling everything for me." Some incentive to get it done without issue. "Out of curiosity....what are your names?" I hadn't even asked.

To be fair, I sort of just strolled right in and they got a little upset at that. I may have had to beat up everyone inside the building.

"Everyone calls me Scar, Boss!" The previous boss was already on his feet, bowing his head respectfully.

And credit where it was due, he had already pocketed the gold in one swift motion.

Though, being called 'boss' made me feel a little depressed knowing how many of my subordinates I had already failed. I knew he had no way of knowing that it annoyed me, so he wouldn't get a beating.

"Is that because of that little scar next to your eye?" I asked.

"No it's because of the scar on his ass –" The guy sitting down next to him received a quick kick in the face by 'Scar'.

"Don't listen to him." Scar coughed awkwardly.

"What....do you all actually do here?" I was morbidly curious. I know that Crime can't be prevented, there's always going to be those elements everywhere. But....this was such a small town, what the hell was worth forming a gang here for? "I didn't expect a Yakuza group to exist in a small place like this."

The guy who had been kicked a moment ago sat back up. You know, he had an oddly majestic looking pompadour.

"We're not Yakuza..." He said.

"Wait, what?" I looked around.

'Scar' Scratched his head awkwardly. "His dad owns the nearby hospital." Pointing to pompadour.

"And his owns a bunch of real estate."

I looked at them both for a moment before slowly face palming. "You're a bunch of second generations roleplaying Yakuza?"

".....I wouldn't say 'Roleplaying'...."

"What about the idiot who pulled a gun on me?"

"His Grandfather is the head of the police here. He swiped it out of his dad's safe and he was showing it off...." Scar replied a little embarrassed. "...It doesn't have any bullets...."

I opened my mouth and closed it again, opting to sigh instead. "Can you still get me an ID and stuff?"

"Yeah, that's easy!" He nodded enthusiastically.

"Great." I breathed out with a little bit of exasperation. Now I felt bad for beating them up. "...you said your dad works in real estate. I'm looking for a secluded property, got any for sale?"

'Scar' perked up. "My dad owns some abandoned buildings at the edge of town. He was going to knock them down a few years ago, but something happened and he hasn't touched them."

While I'm happy that I got my immediate concerns settled....this is not how I was expecting this evening to go.

"Alright, I'll go check it out. Give me the directions, and we'll settle on payment later. I'll also leave my information here so you can get started on my identification. Do a good job and I'll give you a bonus."

Whatever, I guess them 'playing' as Yakuza was better than them being Yakuza.

"I'll get right on it, boss!" He saluted.

"Right....you do that."

[***]

Well, I could see why this place was abandoned.

The air was cold, I could feel it in my soul. It didn't affect me negatively, but it was more so that my soul could feel the cold air that permeated this area.

Something was definitely strange here. If a normal human felt this, I could imagine their fight of flight instincts kicking in and they'd want to stay away.

The only answer is why.

Dozens of people probably died here. It vaguely felt familiar to the time I was with Jeanne and we were investigating that conglomeration of resentment.

Less intense, but still noticeable.

Definitely not a human that caused this kind of phenomena.

Curious.

Should I try to make my presence known? It might make whatever caused this come after me too. But then again, I'm not proficient in this 'power' that exists here, it may not be interested if I start flexing my Magic.

What if I stimulate the surrounding Mana? Would that stimulate the Reishi in the air as well? Would that attract the cause of this mess?

It was an interesting thought because walking through what seemed like a construction sight was giving me nothing.

There were a few buildings that looked to be ready for demolition, but it was clear they've been sitting here for a long ass time.

Some others that were barely standing.

And a couple that looked half destroyed but not by any industrial means. Like something plowed into them and they collapsed.

I walked up to a walk and drew a Rune on it. I went to the other side of this little area and drew on another wall. I continued a few more times until I created a small area that was surrounded by these few runes.

Not really a spell in name, but.....it should has a visible reaction to the ambient Magical Energy which in turn should also have an effect on the Reishi that exists here.

I snapped my fingers, actualizing them.

The Runes lit up and I intentionally made the Mana in the air a bit chaotic.

I'm basically doing the equivalent of shaking a bottle of soda, trying to get a reaction out of anything nearby.

This would probably take a little while, so I sat down and waited. In the meantime, I used this opportunity to try and take in some of this Reishi that existed.

My Magical Circuits were flared up fully, trying to capture this ambient power. However, it's like there was a hole in my 'net' when I tried to grab hold. I could get just the tiniest bit, but it wasn't really responsive like the Mana in the air.

"This is going to take some experimentation and effort." I grumbled in realization. My existence wasn't tailored to absorbing it like the people here naturally were.

However.....My Demonic Energy, meager as it is, has been very beneficial for merging together different branches of Magecraft and powers. Things that would have had difficulty coming together coherently had been combined because my Demonic Energy had been acting as a sort of metaphysical lubricant so they didn't grind to a halt.

Perhaps –

'ROOOOAAARRRR'

My eyes snapped open from my idle muse.

It wasn't a normal roar that woke me from my thoughts. It reverberated across the Spiritual Power that hung in the air, and my soul felt it from a distance away.

A little ways down, a building collapsed as a large figure burst out of the dark corridors. It looked like a strange mix between a lizard and a horse. But the most notable feature was the white mask on its face as it stared right at me.

"A Grimm?" I whispered in confusion before realization dawned on me.

No, it was different. The information on this world that gramps told me. There were Spiritual beings known as 'Shinigami' that supposedly protected the balance of souls or something inane like that. But on the opposite side there were evil spirits called 'Hollows' that sought to devour souls and get stronger.

The two sides were enemies for obvious reasons.

So, this was a Hollow.

Just its presence felt.....filthy.

I had to resist the urge to grab Dawnbreaker and purge it from the world.

It stomped across the ground, leaving huge footprints in the ground as it continued to usher that earth shaking roar and charged at me. Its massive jaw opened up revealing lines of sharp teeth, clearly wanting to devour me.

"You'll do nicely." I nodded, flicking my hand, producing a few Talismans between my fingers. "Let's start experiment number one." I threw them out as it approached. They shot off in four directions. "Four Elements Sealing Formation." I activated the spell. They interlinked and locked down the large creature.

Ethereal chains shot out of each Talisman, wraparound around its body. Its large maw was snapped shut. And chains flew around, binding up its large reptilian-like legs. Its momentum was carried forward even after its stride was obstructed. It fell to the ground, sliding forward until it was only a few feet in front of me.

It struggled, trying to break through my spell, but my Magecraft held onto it tightly.

"First experiment is a success." I muttered, happy that my Magecraft still had the desirable effect on the thing.

Now, I just need to take it to –

I stopped, my head snapped to the side, noticing some quick movements.

Two yellow eyes greeting me, shining under the cover of shadows.

Slowly, it stepped out into the moonlight, and I could get a better look at it.

"Well, hello there little kitty." I stared into eyes that held much more intelligence than a cat should.

[***]

A certain black cat notices something strange and investigates :>

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