9 Chapter 8: Reality Marble

A great flash of a blue light covered the battlefield. Sounds of faint cracking rang throughout as sparks of magic ran across the exhausted body of a young boy.

A miracle had just occurred. But it was beyond any normal miracle this world has or will ever experience. The creation of something that was never meant for this world. An anomaly that defied every convention and law which governed the world it had taken place in.

Projection magecraft, otherwise known as gradation air. The process of converting the user's imagination into a tangible product in reality. A projection of their mind into the real world.

Such magic was never supposed to exist in this world. Its entire premise was inconceivable with the conventions of the energy known as mind. And yet, here it was, a miracle of miracles. One that defied both probability and logic.

Brought about by an infinite number of coincidences, fueled by the will of a boy who didn't want to have any more regrets, the grit of a boy determined to never return turn back on the path he chose, and set into play by forces unknown to all.

Regardless of the speculation of its origin, the aftermath of its conception is clear for all to see. The boy who took on a perilous quest with all the odds stacked against him, emerging victorious with this miracle in hand, his adventure continuing unabated.

Bell, equipped with the sword born from his imagination, stabbed the goblin leader square in the head. The monster had been felled completely, particles of gray dust emanating from its corpse, only being held together due to the fact its magic stone had yet to be tampered with.

Bell for his part remained unmoving. Suffering from the consequences of mind zero. Though he remained unmoving, activity continued to occur throughout his body. His luminous white hair slowly began to lose its luster. His eyes returned back to normal from their outburst of mystical energy. Sparks of blue rang out throughout his body, with the circuits imprinted on them glowing as if they were breathing. Finally, the sword in Bell's hand was wrapped in a mist of blue energy, struggling to maintain its form as reality sought to undo its creation.

The scene was enchanting. It was a fight that was meaningless on the grand scale of the world. It would never be heralded nor told to future generations, but to Bell...it was everything. The fulfillment of his wish to never run away, to constantly persist through hardship to attain his goal...It was the wish he made in reflection of his past life stuck in a solitary cage...it was a wish made to honor the mother he never got to know...it was a wish made for the first family he ever had.

To Bell, by all means and definitions, it was an adventure like none before.

...

..

.

The two goblins slowly but surely woke up from their swift knockout by Bell. They winced in immense pain as they struggled to stand up, but as soon as they did, the sight they saw shocked them greatly.

Their leader which they had so feared laid dead before their prey, slain with a sword reminiscent of what their leader used.

They were filled with immense dread and fear, thinking that perhaps they were next, but as the seconds passed with no motion from the boy, they became greatly confused.

However, even with the little intelligence they had, they were able to understand what was happening. The boy was unconscious. Motionless. Unable to fight. Unable to resist.

At this realization, the two wore malicious grins. This was their chance. To kill the prey that had given them so much suffering. To be rid of their servitude to their now-dead leader.

They no longer cared about the pain felt in their bodies. The ecstasy of murder took over their instincts, as they began to slowly walk towards the boy, claws just itching to tear away at his flesh.

But just as their prey was within reach, an all too familiar feeling washed over them both. A feeling of fear. A feeling of oppression. The presence of the strong.

"You goblins have a lot of gall to even consider harming my grandson"

"KRI?!-"

But before the two could even react, their surroundings had immediately changed.

The sky seemed closer and the world had begun to spin. A peculiar feeling of having been burnt. Eventually, their consciousness crumbled to dust.

They had been blown away so forcefully, their cadavers were now free-falling from a great height before eventually turning into ashen gray dust. No piece of their existence had remained, even their meager magic stones were destroyed to nothingness.

In place of where the now two dead goblins once stood was an old man. Wearing a worn shirt along with some overalls, his hair gracefully blew along with the wind.

He never showed it much to others. But his true physique began to show through his clothes. Muscles that were forged through an endless amount of time, pain, and effort. It exuded a divine strength and grandeur as if his body were sculpted by a master artisan.

A faint but noticeable aura surrounded his body. Warping the air around him, as if the world was prostrating before him in fear of his might. Light sparks of lightning crackled from his body, a result of his immense arcanum overloading the seal placed upon him.

A god whom the rains and wind do not dare to question, who called unto his service the world's lightning and thunder, and most important to him, grandfather of the youth that laid before his eyes.

"Bell..."

The furious rage of the god immediately mellowed at the sight of this grandson.

'Mind zero...so he has awakened his potential'

Zeus made a number of conclusions with one look from his grandson.

He was able to confirm that he was still alive. He needed to be treated immediately, but it wasn't to the point where he could die at any moment.

He identified all his injuries, most superficial scratches with one major wound. It was nothing his stash of superb health potions couldn't treat.

He discerned a possible poison through his sense of smell. It was a crude concoction. It would debilitate one's ability to fight, but it would take much longer to prove to be fatal in isolation.

What captured Zeus' attention the most was the bizarre magical energy being emitted from his grandson.

'How peculiar. Mind arranged not as a mass of energy but as a series of circuits throughout the body...That alone would be cause for surprise...but that sword...'

The sword that Zeus saw gave off a mystical appearance. It was as if the sword was fighting against the world itself to continue existing.

As Zeus slowly approached Bell whilst keeping his eyes on the sword. The sword eventually faded away, turning into nothing more but blue particles that turned into nothingness. Zeus was surprised when it had happened but quickly forgot about it, as he caught his grandson from falling now that his support has disappeared.

'He had definitely seen better days'

Bell's current condition was the worse Zeus had ever seen his grandson in.

'I always knew you were fated to challenge great heights. I'm happy you were able to make it...but at the same time, sad that you have'

Zeus knew since the death of his mother that Bell would have a turbulent future for him. He was joyful that his grandson had such immense talent and promise.

It would allow him to reach any destination he would set his sights on. It would allow him to reach his personal paradise on the horizon. But Zeus knew better than anybody that such a path could only be completed with immense pain and suffering.

He only wished for the boy to live a life of happiness. Surrounded with love and care. A life where the evils of the world could not taint his beloved grandson. But the world isn't so generous as to give a kind life to a boy with such irregular circumstances.

Zeus held the boy in his hands.

"He's still small enough to easily be cradled in my arms...so small and fragile...yet a heavy burden he carries..."

Zeus couldn't so selfishly decide his grandson's future himself. He'll simply support Bell wherever he chooses to take his life.

Even if it takes him to the ends of the world. Even if it pits him against the greatest evil this world can offer.

"I will always be with you Bell. I promise"

And so the god and child set forth to return to the life they had made for themselves in the quaint rural village. Choosing to continue holding on to hope, no matter what manner of despair may come their way.

...

..

.

In a world beyond the awareness of even the gods.

A crystallized representation of one's true existence. The materialization of one's inner world. A reality marble.

Within the confines of a reality marble lies Bell's consciousness, resting from the immense strain he had undergone in his fight against the goblin variant.

In the past, Bell's reality marble had once been made inaccessible to him by a wall of swirling white dust. Produced as a representation of his inner turmoil and refusal to accept his place in the world, its violent winds ripped the reality marble apart, turning it into an indistinguishable mess of a mental landscape.

But now that he has come to accept his new life in this new world, the reality marble slowly but surely put itself back together, as the winds that once tore it apart eventually ceased to be. Once it had repaired itself, it simply needed a catalyst for it to truly activate, one it had received in Bell's determination to survive.

The reality marble, now firmly establishing a link between itself and Bell, can now begin working in earnest for his benefit.

'...ugh...what happened?...'

Bell slowly but surely roused himself from his slumber. He felt like he had undergone the most stress he had ever felt in his life.

'it's like the day after I cried in grandpa's arms in the library...I feel extremely light...like every pain in my body is no more...'

A soothing sensation spread throughout his body constantly. It was as if he was where he truly belonged. In a place made solely for himself.

Bell tried falling asleep once more, but a gentle wind brushed against his face, draining him of any drowsiness he might've felt.

'Wind? Did I sleep outside with Medea again?...'

Rubbing his eyes and taking a light yawn, Bell prepared to open his eyes, but the sight before him left him speechless.

"...huh?-"

( image )

A world he had never seen before sprawled out before his eyes.

An infinite blue sky that seemed to stretch into the vast expanse of space.

An endless field of white sand. Seemingly not harboring even a speck of impurity, lest it ruins the pure white landscape.

And most eye-catching of all, a great black sphere that hung over the sky. Carrying bands of light with a radiance that rivaled that of the sun.

To others, this sphere of infinite darkness and light would bring an overwhelming sense of futility. No matter the power, influence, or ability an individual might possess, it will all fall before the sheer magnitude and grandeur this sphere radiated.

But to Bell, the sphere gave him a sense of belonging. As if he were staring into the eyes of a person he has always known, and they were staring back at him.

He was enraptured. But stray memories began to awaken in the recesses of his mind.

"It looks...oddly familiar..."

It took him a while to figure out where these feelings came from, but eventually, Bell recollected memories and images of a certain yellow demon that wanted to bring about humanity's extinction.

"Ars Almadel Salomonis?!-"

Ars Almadel Salomonis, the noble phantasm of the once grand caster Solomon and beast of calamity Goetia. Capable of wiping the entire population of the Earth in one attack, and almost responsible for completely erasing pan-human history.

But although the sphere was identical to the fearsome anti-humanity noble phantasm, Bell had a feeling in his gut that its functions were not the same.

"What the hell is this place?..."

Bell couldn't make heads or tails of the nature of this landscape. But although he was late to realize, his concern switched to another thing entirely.

"How did I end up here and how do I go back to the village?!"

Bell's memories eventually came back once the surprise at his surrounding had eventually worn off. His reincarnation, his life in the village, and most importantly, his memories of his fight with the goblin leader.

"Don't tell me...IS THIS THE AFTERLIFE?!-"

Bell had immediately assumed the worst had come to pass, unaware that he had defeated the goblin leader while unconscious and secured by his grandfather shortly after.

"I had only just begun to enjoy my new life..."

Bell was on the verge of tears. Wanting to mourn the loss of his second life, but before he could do so, a burst of light blue flames came out from the ground in front of him.

The event shocked Bell, taking a step back in surprise and caution. The flame continued to spew forth, but it eventually settled down as a silhouette slowly began to emerge.

"...a sword?"

The flames dissipated, leaving only a sword in its place.

"That sword... it's familiar"

Bell tried approaching the sword, but before he could do so, numerous bursts of light blue flames began erupting all around him.

Each burst of flame eventually dissipated and left behind a sword that seemed oddly familiar to Bell.

The bands of light surrounding the great black sphere began to radiate even brighter than before.

The winds of the landscape turned from a light breeze into a howling gust.

The world around him began to sprawl in activity, like a child finally learning to walk on its own two feet, until eventually what lay before Bell's eyes was a field of infinite blades.

"This...This is!-"

But before he could call out the world's true name, his vision darkened as he was slowly brought back to reality.

...

..

.

"Wait!-"

Bell suddenly opened his eyes. His breathing was erratic, sweat dripped down his face, and his arm extended forward toward the ceiling.

"T-this is..."

What he saw wasn't that vast expanse he was greeted with before, but the rustic house he knew very well.

"My room..."

Bell was inside his room. Resting on his bed. Awakened from the dream he had just been in.

"That can't have been just the dream...the feelings I felt...that longing...as that place was made only for me..."

Bell laid the arm he had extended out on his face, reflecting on what he had just experienced.

He was sure of it, that place was real, and if it was...

"So I did have a cheat. Pretty shit of it to only appear after I almost died...but given how reality marbles are tied to a person's mental state...I guess it's my fault it only appeared now"

"But still...Unlimited Blade Works...that's my ability?"

Though Bell was ecstatic at learning his ability, he immediately realized the drawbacks that came with it.

'Not only do I need an immense amount of magical power to even use it in the first place, but I also need a great amount of knowledge regarding the making and using of various weapon types'

It's a skill with a high learning curve and cost of activation...but if Bell is able to put in enough effort...

'It will become a magic that will allow me to go beyond all limits'

'UBW was a skill only limited by the user's mana capacity and imagination. It's the natural counter to the vast volume of weapons in Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon. It allowed Shirou to project Heracles' Nine Lives and even used it to defeat him. Emiya Alter was able to repurpose it into a bullet that can kill any opponent from the inside. And Muramasa coalesced the entirety of UBW into a single blade that was capable of cutting intangible concepts like Karma.'

'Emiya's potential was always held back by the constraints his natural body was capable of bearing and the amount of Mana at his disposal. But the excelia of Danmachi can bring about great increases in the natural capabilities of an adventurer, so if I'm able to utilize both...'

Bell began to give off a determined look coupled with a wide smile.

'I'll be more than strong enough to handle whatever comes in the future'

Just as Bell found a new resolve to train even harder, he noticed some movement beside him in his bed.

"Huh?"

Before he was allowed to have any more time to think. A beautiful young girl popped up beside him from the bed covers.

"Hm?... What time is it?"

A young girl with enchanting purple stared back at Bell, a girl he was very familiar with, except for one key difference.

A pair of twitching elf ears.

( image )

"M-Medea?"

"Yes?..."

Medea rubbed her eyes as she responded to whoever called out to her. Obviously still drowsy from her waking.

'First Ars Almadel Salomonis, second Unlimited Blade Works, and now...the infamous witch of the Argonauts!?-'

Bell had realized he had a lot of things to think about and the potential consequences of such possibilities.

Authors note:

If anyone forgets what I said in the synopsis of this fanfic.

I don't plan on changing the canon events of Danmachi, only include some characters that come from Fate.

They won't affect the general direction of the story and though they will obviously differ in backstory, they will retain their personalities.

And I don't plan on introducing modern magecraft as a power system to this fic. Simply a version of UBW and its associated abilities that have been adapted to work with the systems used in Danmachi (e.g. mind, excelia, and weapon enchantments like Durandal)