21

The forge, while taking longer, was still relatively simple to enchant. By the time I had finished, it was approaching midnight.

Standing up and cracking my back, I plodded towards the bed where Kominu was sleeping. Tossing off my shirt, I slid next to her and closed my eyes.

My dreams were a swirling menagerie of strange phantasms, but soon it was over. Waking up, I saw the spot next to me was empty.

Blinking, I shuffled the covers off before swinging my legs out. Peering, I saw Komainu through the Grimoire humming under her breath.

Padding over, I ruffled her hair and plopped down beside her, speaking as she turned another page. "I plan on going out today. Do you mind watching Lisa?"

Turning to face me, she frowned but nodded as she stood up and started getting out of her pajamas and dressed. As I tossed on a shirt, I continued to speak.

"I'll be grabbing some money, so if you need to buy anything, don't hesitate."

Striding out, I quickly, through a combination of teleporting and walking, arrived at an ATM. This one was pretty close to my lab, and so it was chained to the pole.

That, however, did not stop me from simply Psychic Abilities - Cyberkinesis to gain access to several recent accounts and promptly siphon several thousand dollars.

They would probably notice, but the owners couldn't do anything, and I doubted the PRT could even get involved.

Using the same method as how I got here, I arrived back at my lab as Komainu was tidying the bed,

Handing her the cash, I spoke as I gave her a brief pat on the head. "Take a few of me in case you need to buy something. Also, don't forget to have a good day."

Giving me a hug, she gestured for two of the pre-Worm me to follow as she left.

My next goal would be to find a way off Earth Bet. I know it's possible I got here through the NeverNever I just needed to find a proper way to access it.

I doubted the Dresden Files method would work as I had no access to that kind of magic. The best chance would most likely be a powerful Formalcraft ritual.

As I sat down and let ideas tumble through my head, I finally landed on an idea. I could craft something that would connect to my soul to act as a navigator.

Using that and Oni Lee's power, I could feasibly get myself into the NeverNever. As I was connecting the ideas, it seemed like it might work. That should hopefully let me get home.

Standing up, I stretched before starting to walk towards the entrance. I needed to find Oni Lee, another teleporter would work, but he was local and did not piss off the heroes.

As I approached the door, I hesitated in front of the doorknob, I could hear sirens, and they were close. I doubted it was the cops as they typically did not answer calls in the Docks.

Cracking the door open, I saw a few vans and motorbikes pull up outside my Bounded Field. They were flashing the Green lights of the PRT.

Armsmaster swung a leg off his bike and approached the Field with a halberd and a small device. He pointed the device at the field before talking to a couple of the agents.

Looking around, I spotted Miss Militia as well as Dauntless. Miss Militia was holding a green and black gun while looking around, eyes hard.

Dauntless was floating in the sky as a ball of light, presumably to cut off my escape route. This was bad; darting over to the batteries, I started to send them into Castle Brunestud.

"Come out with your hands up! This is the PRT!" I heard a voice boom as I was finishing up. Tucking the Grimoire under my arm, I started to think of how I would flee when I heard a crashing sound.

Whirling around, I saw a halberd slam into the door before it was removed and the door kicked down. I doubted teleporting away would work as Armsmaster seemed to have some way to track my magecraft.

Armsmaster charged in halberd rasied infront of him, barking out a command. "Put your hands on the ground!"

Taking a few steps back, I conjured half a dozen swords and flung them at him. He knocked aside most of them in a fantastic display of marital skill before continuing forward.

Pulling on my Soul Pen, I transformed into a kaleidoscope of colors. Hefting Liam's staff, I prepared an Eldritch Blast but was forced to dodge out of the way as a salvo of bullets sailed towards me.

I couldn't just use my most potent abilities as I didn't have the batteries backing me up. I still had D-ranked agility, which let me dodge his first blow.

Eye of the Mind (True) let me dance around his attacks while summoning blades to assist me. I was still on the back foot because all the Skills couldn't help me because I had no skill in melee fights.

As I conjured a wall of swords to buy me a moment, I glanced at my minions. They had blown down the wall and were fighting with the PRT agents.

Unfortunately, they were mere replicas, so while Cu-lite and the angels were doing well, Dauntless, combined with the agents, were able to hem them in, preventing them from helping me.

As I jumped back, I felt towards my circuits and felt them start to reach just under half. Pulling on my Soul Pen, I sent an Eldritch Blast rocketing towards Miss Militia.

As she dove out of the way, I felt my Grimore's power blossom before stumbling as the truth hit me. My Origin bloomed in my mind, and it was Fantasy.

I could deny it as a swallow could deny it was a bird; it was an inescapable part of me and would shape me now that it was awake.

I was drawn back to reality as I felt my left arm disappear. Pushing off, I darted to the left as Armsmaster swung again.

Downing a Healing Potion, I conjured a different sword, Caladbolg II. Sending it soaring towards Armsmaster, I teleported back, gasping as my magic circuits started to sputter.

Attempting to slam Caladbolg II aside, Armsater paid the price as it spun past his halberd and into his sternum. I had not enhanced it to A ranked, so it didn't explode.

Slamming through the wall, I pulled on my Soul Pen and cast Dimeson Door, casuing a purple and blue shroud to encircle me as I appeared on a rooftop 500 feet away.

Dismissing my Magical Girl form, I ducked into an alleyway before strolling out as an average person. I didn't know if Armsmaster had survived, but I didn't want to be in town if he didn't.

I needed to find a new location to settle before I attempted the NeverNever move. Step one was to grab Komainu. Sighning, I started to walk.

As I was walking, I pondered over my new power. It was simple Origin, a single word that summed up the totality of a person's being.

Mine was Fantasy, impossible or improbable things that were dreamed up. I knew that knowing your origin would change you.

There was a person with the Origin of Consumption, and it fucked him over. From what little I knew, it changed his body, and he gained new instincts.

I didn't want to know how Fantasy would change me. This whole new world was amazing and terrifying and like something out of my wildest dream, but fantasy had to be tempered with reality.

Around an hour later, I was in front of the apartment and fully charged up. Pushing the door open, I saw Lisa and Komainu on the couch watching the news.

The headline said New Parahuman responsible for kidnapping engaged. Lisa waited for a moment before speaking clearly against her better judgment.

"What the hell happened!?"

Raising my hands in an attempt to placate her, I closed the door behind me. "They attacked me, and I defended myself."

Placing her head in her hands, she let out a muffled scream before looking back up at me; cutting her off, I spoke.

"I just need your help with one thing, and we'll be out of your hair."

This only enhanced the urgency; if the PRT knew about me, then so did Cauldron, and I did not want to be near any of them if I wasn't absolutely sure I could kill them all in a fight.

Gritting her teeth, Lisa spoke. "What do you need my help for?"

"I need to find Oni Lee."

Blinking slowly, she spoke slowly, her voice raising in bafflement. "You want me to track down the serial suicide bomber!?"

Giving a single nod in affirmative, she slumped back on her couch boneless. Staring up at me, she started to speak again.

"Alright, I'll need some clue though I can't pull facts out of thin air."

Flopping on the couch next to her, I started tapping my chin. I needed to find some way to get a lock on Oni Lee.

I knew that he was a person who served in a gang before Lung came and killed all who wouldn't submit.

His power also killed him every time he teleported and made him an imperfect clone, slowly causing personality death.

The issue was that I had nothing that I could link to him, not even a name. It was practically impossible without using mundane means, and even that was hard because he was Oni Lee and nothing else.

As I was sitting, that word struck me, impossible, was it genuinely impossible, or was I just a bit too narrow-minded? After all, if he were Oni Lee, wouldn't that work?

I would first need to sort out all the people in Castle Brunestud before I could find Oni Lee. Nodding to Lisa, I dropped into the Castle.

Inside was strangely peaceful; the people were all on the ground, unmoving. Freezing, I looked at the spirit before shouting at it.

"What the hell! I needed them; you know that I have shit reserves."

Waving its hand, it jumped down from the small light post that showed the end of the walkway and the start of the driveway.

"You know they wouldn't have served well in the NeverNever. The Shards only extend to Earth. Besides their humans, so fuck 'em!"

Grinding my teeth, I walked over to the bodies and peered around using my Arcanum; it couldn't see souls directly, but all souls extruded mana, which would let me see if the soul had moved on or not.

Seeing an utter lack of mana, I whirled around to the spirit. Striding towards it, I spoke while poking it in the chest.

"I want you to dispose of these bodies, and going forwards, do not touch anything I put in here unless I tell you. Is that understood?"

Giving a lazy grin, it nodded, and I left Castle Brunestud still fuming. I needed a new method to gain energy, and all the acceptable, easy targets had just been killed.

Looking at Lisa, I sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder. She scooted a smidge away as I spoke to her.

"Lisa, can I borrow your help for a moment? I just need you to stand still for a bit."

Nodding hesitantly but with a tinge of curiosity, I, with Komainu's help, moved the furniture out of the way and drew a circle using my magic and Dust.

As Lisa stood there and I started to chant the familiar chant to link her Shard with my gem, my Grimoire's power grew. As it settled down, I felt new information grow in the back of my mind.

It was how to build contraptions that could harvest Dust from water. Anything from a small hand-powered crank to megastructures that could siphon entire oceans dry.

That would be very useful in allowing me to create materials for Master Craftsman. However, I pushed that to the side and gestured for Lisa to sit down.

Holding out the compass, I started to chant a new chant. This chant was similar but different and would hopefully locate Oni Lee.

"Ich werde den Oni suchen und finden. Der von Macht und Drachen deformierte Mann. Glatt und leer wird er gefunden werden."

This chant was much calmer than many of my others. It ended with silence as opposed to a ringing cry, and with a slight creak, the compass needle shifted towards the boardwalk.

"Bingo," I whispered as it held perfectly still, pointing towards my ticket off Bet.

Powers Gained

Origin

It's not really possible to determine the value of a human life or one individual's character with a single word...at least, most of the time. Still, every life in this world has a single defining word for them - a compulsion and an instinct that their actions move in harmony with.You also possess such an Origin, such as 'Taboo' or 'Nostalgia', which guides your actions towards it. Any actions you follow that line up with your Origin, particularly Magecraft, will enjoy a noticeable boost in competence as you work in tune with your own nature in this world.

Aquapulvistics

Where there is water, there is Dust. You know how to sift a sizable amount of Dust from any flowing water source. The larger the source, the more you can extract. Useless in Winter, but that's years away, right? Even after you leave Auriga, you still manage to find Dust in water across the multiverse. Nifty, huh?