Chapter 143

"Steady….." I held my hands out as Jinn carefully placed a chunk of Ice Dust on a table, right ontop of several overlaid Talismans, which also sat on top a spell circle. "Begin Thaumaturgical Resonance."

"Beginning in 3…." She placed her hands on the table, the spell circle began to light up. "2…..1" A visible phenomenon overtook the room, shifting the colors around us.

"Dust appears to be holding steady." I noted, a stopwatch clicked in my hand. "Clocked in at 30 seconds, Dust starts to begin showing signs of instability. Change is gradual, but visible to the naked eye. "

"Begin second step or abort?" Jinn asked.

"There are enough shields around the room, may as well attempt even if all parameters aren't perfect." I quickly took out a notebook and jotted some thoughts down.

There was a small crack that formed on the surface, a light shining out.

"Crystalline structure is failing, magical energy is beginning to leak out, it's only a matter of seconds until a reaction occurs."

Or, it's going to explode in a few moments.

I made a hand sign, actualizing the talismans underneath. They stiffened and surrounded the Dust Crystal, wrapping it up tight and sealing it shut. "Time is 57 seconds, estimated a minute for complete failure."

"The timing is going to be tight."

Yes, I'm sure you know all about tightness at this point. But I kept my horny thoughts to myself for the moment, as it was important to focus. "We have about three breaths worth of time to figure out how to do this." I set the pocket watch down, putting my palms on the table. "Cancel the ritual." I waved my hand.

Jinn pulled away, magical energy stopped flowing and the area began returning to normal. "Three seconds to capture the magical reaction. The concept of Ice right at the start of an 'explosion' where it would be in its purest state and sealing it to further enhance its properties. The most obvious thing to do would be just to carve runes on it and chuck at someone, but that is highly inefficient, especially If I'm going to be up against servants or other mages.

I walked over to another table, notes scribbled all around and began looking over them again. Dust was the purer form of elemental magical energy I've ever seen. Well, I suppose the Crystallized Mana from my home world would be purer, but it was infinitely more rare. If I could somehow discharge ice from a spell and capture that, it would still be magnitudes less viable than the stuff from Remnant. It was the nature of Dust. It was 'untouched' more or less, it wasn't intertwined with any other 'magical source' other than the world's breath.

"This would be much harder if I didn't have such an amazing assistant." I smiled at her.

"Focus, you silly man." She giggled. "We can flirt later."

"I'll hold you to that." I looked back at my notes, letting out a sigh. "All the pieces are here….it's just, getting them to fit." I groaned.

"This is only the fifteenth try; we haven't even gotten this far before."

"I'm not getting discouraged." I reassured her. "Just slightly frustrated, like it's looking at me right in the face and I'm missing it."

"I'm never heard of anything doing something like this before, so my knowledge is limited." Jinn propped her chin up on the table , looking at me. "Dust wasn't widely available until –" She paused with a groan.

"Still can't reveal Remnant's secrets?"

"Yes, it is very annoying" She pouted.

"Based on what I know, Dust became prominent once Magic disappeared from the world." I stated.

"Yup, that's right." She easy replied, basically confirming my thought.

"So, Logically, experiments containing both magic and dust are practically nonexistent, especially with what we're attempting." I began thinking out loud. "But there are some things we can pull on, some general experiments, I'm sure of it."

"Is it so different from the normal application of Dust? How people utilize almost like spellcasting, or in average combat situations." Jinn pointed out. "Why not use the powder form?" She grinned

"Powder form….." I pursed my lips. "It's much more solvent for obvious reasons. But it's also much less explosive. Not to mention its nature is changed somewhat, it's much less pure and would be hard to get the kind of outcome we want." That's not to say that it isn't extremely dangerous by itself, but Powdered Dust and Crystallized Dust aren't just a different in physical state.

There are distinct differences, like comparing a stick of dynamite and a hand grenade. They both blow up, but under slightly different circumstances.

"You're thinking of using the Powder dust as the primary source." She corrected. "But it doesn't need to be."

My eyes widened. "Oh, oh! That is brilliant." I practically skipped over and scooped her up in my arms. "You are absolutely brilliant! Using Powder Dust to act as a stop-gap, an Inhibitor." Powdered dust wouldn't become volatile like Crystalline Dust in the same situation, it would be used to siphon off some excess energy, while still maintaining the overall reaction.

It's not as simple as just throwing Powdered dust at the problem, it's still a volatile substance when combined with magical energy. But if used correctly, we can slightly offset the build up to allow a smoother process

"I have some thoughts." She looked up from between my arms. "If you don't mind, I could get started on them while you deal with your other issues?"

"You're the best." I couldn't help but smile.

She grinned. "And don't you forget it." She leaned up and placed a kiss on my lips. "Now, you have other things you need to do. As much as I enjoy researching together, you need to spend your time productively." She pat my chest.

"Do you have everything you need?"

"I have more than enough resources to finish this project." She assured me.

"What about –"

"And the defenses in this place are strong enough to handle issues, even if I couldn't handle them myself." She cut me off. "I will also be sure to note everything and create a copy for grandfather to peruse when all is said and done."

"I see you thought of everything." I pursed my lips. "And 'Grandfather'?"

"Is it wrong for me to call Zelretch that?" She asked.

"I guess it isn't." I brought her in for another hug. "You are my woman, after all. That makes you his granddaughter." I'm sure he also enjoys it, actually, I know he enjoys having many grandchildren. "I should connect the house over by him so we can visit more easily."

"I would like that." She said quietly. "But you have many things on your plate at the moment. I'm sure he won't mind you waiting a little longer." She pulled away. "Shoo shoo, get out of my workshop." She playfully kicked me out.

"Alright, alright." I held my hands up in surrender. "I'll get started on my daily training with Artoria."

"Tell her, if she's heading to town soon to get some more ingredients from the list I gave her last time, she know's what I'm talking about."

"Will do." I waivered her goodbye as I finally left, sealing the room up as I left to not disturb her working.

****

I slid across the ground, the earth and tundra being charred in my wake as arcs of lightning flew off in random directions. It coiled around my body, enveloping my sword and crackling with each movement.

As Artoria swung her sword and met my own, more of the lightning was discharged at each blow. It was if I had a permanent lightning cloak over my weapon, each blow affixed with my new affinity.

Blades locked, I looked up at her my left hand come up, finger pointing at her. "Lightning Bolt." I cast the most basic of basic spells for the element.

She jerked her body, turning away, letting the large bolt of lightning discharge harmlessly into the distance. The way her feet pivoted, regaining her footing with ease and following up her strike all combined into the dodging motion, it caught me slightly off guard, only reminding me how far above me her true skill was.

My hand, palm extended, moved through the air, forming a string of Runes.

"Strike Air: Hammer of the Wind King." Artoria swung her invisible sword at me, the activation of her Noble Phantasm, albeit her weakest one.

The Invisible Air around her sword burst out at the edge, blowing apart my spells and knocking me back. I felt the impact, my Aura mitigating a large amount of the force as I tumbled along the ground, quickly scrambling to my feet.

Without a second thought, Mirage flashed out, sending several Birds at her. The new extension of my elemental nature had imbued them also with the element, an unforeseen, but not unwelcomed, side effects.

Her invisible sword blasted out behind her, propelling her up and over my Sword Phantoms, blade falling down on my head.

Even with my own blocking it, the ground beneath me formed cracks in every direction and stray rubble was kicked up and blow away. We continued to trade blows, though there was never a true killing attack coming from either side, merely a spar on our ends.

"Haaah!" She shouted, spinning on her feet and putting all her weight behind an overhead slash, making me almost buckle under the suddenness. If this was me from before the land of shadows, I would have probably crumpled under the weight and broke several bones, but I only shuddered slightly.

I gathered my Aura, manipulating it around my palm and pushed it against the side of her chest plate, the action surprised her enough that she hesitated for a moment. My Aura pushed out, bursting at the contact point and making her take several steps back from the force.

"That was a surprise." She commented, rubbing the spot where I hit her. "I felt that, even through my armor."

"I've been practicing my Aura." I grinned. "Didn't look like It did any damage though."

"Mayhaps it just requires further refinement?" She offered.

"It's possible." I breathed out, putting Mirage away. "But these spars have been a great help."

"The speed at which you improve is astonishing." She stated. "You have a much better handle on your Lightning now and it has been barely two weeks since we've started training. You have also improved on your use of Aura, without me noticing." She furrowed her brow.

"Well, I wanted to surprise you." I chuckled, walking over to a tree nearby, I slumped down against the trunk, enjoying the cool shade.

Artoria gave a smile, walking towards me. Her armor dismissed with a burst of light, leaving just her blue dress she wore in addition to it. She took a spot next to me, leaning in with a content look on her face. "It was indeed a surprise. I feel that Aura has much potential, I have thoughts about seeing the natives use it on Remnant if Rin will be acquiring it in the future."

I took out a bottle of water from my ring, taking a long drink. "It's too bad Jinn's a bit limited on what she can reveal with regards to Remnant stuff, otherwise she'd be the perfect teacher." I handed the bottle over to her. "The last time I tried to get her advice on Aura, she could only huff and give me annoyed looks when I did something wrong." I couldn't help but laugh.

It's been roughly two weeks since we've started this training regime. I was working on research and preparing for my time in the Holy Grail War, barely having time to keep up with other matters. I only saw Thorum once in this period, he had been understanding when I told him I was caught up in some training stuff.

He himself was rather busy, running around with Serana. I hadn't seen them initiate anything I would call romantic gestures in that small time frame, but there were still some smiles exchanged between them. No idea what's going on, but I'm not going to stick my nose in it beyond my duties as his friend. Which obviously involve teasing in revenge.

Artoria finished off the battle of water, playing with it between her fingers. "How much longer until you intend to leave?"

"Few days, probably." I didn't hide my intentions from her. "I feel…..confidant."

"I see." She replied, closing her eyes, head leaning on my shoulder. "Would you mayhaps…..attend to the market with me? I require a few supplies Rin asked me to fetch."

"I would love to go with you." I gently placed my arm around her. "When do you want to go?" This made things easier, Jinn needed some stuff too.

"In a little bit." She smiled brightly. "Rin requested some time to gather everyone so we could finally deal with the Elder Scroll."

"Oh, right." I blinked in remembrance. "Honestly, I was so caught up in my own stuff, I forgot about that." I couldn't help but scratch my cheek. "Whenever I had Free time, Rin seemed busy and vice versa. Or when Meridia couldn't get pulled away…"

"I had spoken to Meridia a day prior, she said she could make time, we merely had to call out to her." Artoria replied.

Huh, that really make things easier. The Elder Scroll really did fall to the wayside, something I seemingly keep doing because I get distracted with other important matters. Perhaps I should start making lists to keep track of things? I know that even in my past life, I wasn't exactly scatterbrained, but my whimsy took me all over the place when something wasn't actively hanging over my head.

"I do want to see this Elder Scroll in action, it would be a nice break from everything else." I looked up, watching the sun peak through the leaves and branches of the tree. "Want to go do that now or wait?"

"I would like to enjoy this for a little while longer." She said quietly.

Well, I also wouldn't mind sitting here awhile longer.

***

A small time skip for training purposes and getting ready to head out soon.

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