Circumstances 3

The next few hours were anything but boring.

Learning of the odd fact that there were upside down sky islands, tigers that made their home in the clouds, and about the fact that at random legions of undead could just spawn due to curses left by the deceased was quite interesting.

The Beyond was truly limitless in its possibilities, but after scouring through more and more information Erwin found a start to something that would change everything.

The Beyond gave birth to many bizarre things, and one of those things was materials.

Metal that conducted water, 'however the hell that worked', wood that would regenerate upon coming into contact with heat, leaves that could make gravity reverse in certain hours in the day, and liquids that were stronger than steel upon impact with magic, but were still liquids with physical contact.

Erwin was a Magical Crafter, and so was his canon Erwin's Father, so the books on the many materials were abundant: too much to read in one sitting for sure.

So Erwin would have to learn more about the truly absurd abilities of the materials in the word of Albion and what they had to offer. It could be said that Erwin was no genius, and trying to learn physics, thermodynamics, and other topics from scratch was nigh impossible unless he had the time.

Which after finding a calendar, was a definite no.

He had one month till the academy starts, and in that one month Erwin would need to learn the mechanics of his class, a semblance of combat awareness, skill in any type of weapon available, and a way to improve his physical body quickly.

Therein lies the problem, because despite this world being filled with mana, it would be very difficult to make his twig-like body usable. He would need some years to get the inner workings of his class, as even the main cast in Love and Artifacts would discover new things about their classes as they went on, but then again none of their classes were simple.

Especially Hal's, the Mc. His class was the [Legendary] -Beast Blade- class which allowed him to wield weapons that gained the ability of the rune beast they sucked the blood of, which then allowed Hal to half morph into said rune beast. He had a sword that had sucked the blood of the dragon, and as a result he could form scales on the blade, invoke absurdly hot fire to coat it, and emit the pressure of the dragon as if it were still alive and present. Finally, as if that was not already helpful enough, while wielding the blade he could half morph into the dragon; gain wings, sick claws, enhanced sight, and a lot of other OPness that came with being an Mc.

His path to power was straight forward, having the artifacts he gained from the inheritance of the ranker suck the blood of powerful Rune Beasts.

Magical Crafter was a class that was not [Rare] nor [Common], but [Uncommon], which made it something a good amount of the support people manifest.

Although not everyone would pursue the class they gained because it would only be useful if they wanted to be an adventurer or a knight in the Orders of Humanity.

Erwin would have no choice if he wanted power, so he would need to hire a tutor to teach him the ins and outs, but it also risked his identity. He was sure that canon Erwin had a tutor that had previously taught him, so having another was going to be a red flag if anyone noticed.

'No, it could work, I just need to play it right.'

He could hire a tutor and say it's to go over his abilities before the academy, and then bullshit his way from there. There was also the fact that he would not need to act unless the tutor knew how he was previously, and hopefully with a little prying he could convince whoever to hire a stranger.

Now, he needed to find Charles.

"Yes young master, I felt your need for me?"

Erwin practically launched out of his seat, swirling around to see the smiling old man patiently standing still.

"You- um you scared me Charles." Erwin realized was talking normally so he hung his head and avoided eye contact. "Give me a proper warning next time…"

Charles raised a brow, "Ah, I thought you would be used to my [Distress Sense] Sigil by now, but I assume you were truly studying hard."

The butler took a long look at the many books sprawled on the table, "going over materials I see, do you need me to buy any that catch your interest?"

Erwin calmed his beating hard, getting up and once again acting like a shy kid who just met his crush accidentally in the hallway, "Ah um, yes Charles, I was thinking about trying to create some new things."

Charles smiled, "So you are putting your weather controller on hold, though I don't blame you, it was quite a monumental task."

'A weather controller, the purple staff canon Erwin always carried around?'

It explained how he had been very useful to Hal's harem as they trekked through the Beyond, and the idea definitely caught Erwin's interest for something he would look at later.

"Ahem, for now yes, but I would also like to hire a tutor." Erwin sent his hail mary, making sure not to say 'another' just in case this was his first time.

"Another one, was your aunt not good enough?" Charles asked as he began to tidy up the many books, putting bookmarks on each page to make sure Erwin could come back for them later.

Erwin sat down and nodded slowly, "Yes, to go over everything before the Academy term starts, though… if you don't mind Charles, could it be someone the family doesn't know?"

The butler scoffed, "Of course not, we cannot trust anybody, your uncle Ray would be-"

"Please Charles…" Erwin was praying that everything he was doing was still in character, but if he was too paranoid to speak it would be much more obvious.

He just needed to say enough to get his point across.

"I want a fresh perspective, one that would help me see crafting differently. Like weapon artifacts instead of utility ones."

Charles narrowed his eyes, "What about your fear of blades young master? If you are doing this to look stronger than do not to waste your time, your aunt who works at the academy will be there to make sure you do not have to worry."

'Shit, a relative at the academy, do I need to try a different one? No, if I did then they might send a bodyguard. Apparently they trust my aunt enough to look over me, but if I were to go to the Second best academy King's Sword, then maybe I will be watched carefully. Damn it. There was also the fact of my future knowledge of Queen's Spear, which would allow me a small advantage in the coming future. It would get rid of my advantage if I went anywhere else.'

"No, the dream I had last night changed my view Charles, I cannot be weak forever."

Another risky toss, but thankfully Charles caught it without issue.

"If you truly want to, then I will not stop you young master Everett, but one scream from your workshop or anything too rough and I will intervene immediately." The butler gave Erwin a slight glare. "Is that understood?"

Erwin let a few moments of silence take reign before he spoke, "Of course, now I am a bit tired so I will return to my room."

Charles nodded slowly, continuing to clean everything on the table while not looking back at Erwin.

The same Erwin who now was paranoid of the fact that Charles could teleport to him when needed, something that would be a pain to deal with if all he had to do was think of needing the butler and he would appear.

Not wanting to show his pensive look, Erwin made his way out of the library, following the console tables with folded corners back to his room, as he had left them so he could find the way back.

It took upwards of twenty minutes, but finally Erwin stepped into his overly fancy room and shut the door.

The silence was suffocating, and without any plans or actions to immediately do, Erwin was confronted by the severity of his life now.

His Father who had passed, the funeral he had missed because of 'work', his mother who was losing her sense of self everyday to dementia who did not show mercy, and the lingering pain of how he and Cassandra ended up.

'Will I really never see anyone again? Sophia, mom, Cassandra, Jordan?'

He was alone, the people he had spent the majority of his life with were in another world, perhaps mourning or not even aware of the fact that the Zach they knew was no more.

However, as Erwin sat on the side of the bed and looked down at his perfectly smooth arms and unblemished hands, he fought all the emotions down to the back of his mind.

If he let such heavy things weigh him down, then his survivability would tank not long after. He could mope, think about how he would live a completely different life than the one he was just living, or he could do the best he could and keep looking forward.

However, he would dearly miss his white husky Fenrir, the lovable dog an always shining light in the darkness of reality.

'I swear to whichever God is up there, if you let Sophia dye his hair pink, I will find you.'

Sophia.

Was this technically her fault? Did she somehow play a role in Erwin's sudden departure from Earth?

'No way, I have known her for fifteen years, if she had the power to transmigrate me, she would have done so or told me'

Too many questions, too many variables to find the right ones to even ask. There was no easy cut way to find if any of his speculations were even the right route of thinking, so once again Erwin was left with nothing.

"Keep moving forward."

A whisper that gave Erwin the strength to stand up, take a glance at the open window to see the exotic view, and drop down to the floor to start doing pushups.

He was behind, vey much so as if what manhwa showed was correct, right now Hal was being trained by a woman who previously held the class -Beast Blade-. He would be fighting in the Fogmist Forest in the province of Urna, training day in and day out before he would travel to the academy to learn the ins and outs of adventuring so he could take revenge on the family that threw him away.

His Sigils were already at the edge of [Common] tier, and his class traits would carry him well past that.

Erwin needed to work hard, as barely after a measly twenty push ups he collapsed to the carpet and could feel the burn in his arms. Then, with any leftover strength he could muster, he got up and began to do bodyweight squats.

'A step in a mile, don't give up.'

Erwin only stopped after he could barley move, crawling into his massive bed and simmering under the gentle glow of the chandelier above. He did everything in his power to not let his thoughts run wild, a focus he had never felt before as he made sure to cement every thing he knew about Love and artifacts into his head.

Over and over again he reviewed everything, and in due time the sheer boredom of the task let him fall asleep, unaware of Charles who stood by his bed.

"Young master, that nightmare has surely changed you, I do not even remember the last time you wanted something so badly that did not involve your mother." The old man smiled thinking about the blonde woman who was the most beautiful and graceful one he had ever met. "I see her death is finally affecting you more, I will do my best to help guide you to the future you seek."

Charles smiled before he dissolved into thin air, the action not going unnoticed as Erwin opened his eyes for but a second before closing them, a visible frown on his face as he started to let sleep finally embrace him.