NOVEL NEXT 13 – Of Molten Red [3]
In the novel, after one of her Monster hunts, Artoria fell into a manhole. There, she found a secret passageway in the sewers system by complete dumb luck. After that, she came across an Artifact that enabled her to see her enemies’ future movements.
Basically, it was a cheat-like item for fights.
And the fact that she found it by chance wasn’t the worst part.
She just had to sprout some bullshit about how it would be unfair for her future opponents or whatever and then proceeded to destroy the Artifact.
I knew that it was supposed to show the readers how righteous she was, but seriously? Her, the person that was blessed by every single fucking Gods and Goddesses there were, talking about unfairness? What bullshit! And yet, she always got blessed by her Goddess every time she was about to die. How was that less unfair than this!?
‘Right, calm down, I just need to get the item before her and everything will be fine.’
And with that thought, I climbed down the manhole of the town that Artoria’s orphanage was in. Yep, a totally all-powerful Artifact just casually lying in an unassuming town. Very great.
I walked along the sewers’ walls and found a torch. A torch inside of the sewers system illuminated by normal light bulbs. Definitely not suspicious at all.
I pulled on the torch. Almost instantly, the wall behind it rumbled before sliding over to reveal a hidden passageway.
There was a chest in the passageway. I opened the chest and found a pair of glasses.
“Eyes of Chronzeit…” I muttered as I picked up the glasses.
This right here was a Mythic-ranked Artifact. With this, I—
[Notifications detected. Would you like to view them now?]
“Eh? Status?” I looked around the sewers. After detecting no one, I assented to the message. “Yes.”
[{Pocket Watch of Fate} detected a large quantity of Time mana]
“Eh?”
[Absorbing…]
“WAIT! STOP—”
.
.
.
.
I…blacked out.
Waking up with a groan, I immediately inspected the Artifact. It was…broken in half.
“No, no, NO, NO! WHAT THE FUCK!?”
T-This… It was all THAT GODDAMN WATCH’S FAULT! I roughly took out the bastard from my pocket and tried to throw it in the sewer. However—
[Pocket Watch of Fate is bound to you]
“DAMMIT!”
I couldn’t even get rid of this thing!
After calming down a bit, I brought the Watch closer to my face and inspected it. “You’d better give me something good in exchange for this!”
The Pocket Watch was now at 05:40.
‘So…I guess something happens when it reaches 12?’
I was wrong, very wrong. As soon as I finished that thought, a translucent blue screen appeared in front of me.
[Notifications detected. Would you like to view them now?]
“Might as well.”
[Your Unique Time magic has been forcibly awakened due to the intervention of {Pocket Watch of Fate}]
[{Eyes of Chronzeit}’s power has been partly assimilated into your Unique Time magic]
[Due to your fused Affinity: {Space-Time}, your Unique Space magic has also been awakened]
“Unique Time magic? Space, too?”
Okay, I might have been too harsh on the little Pocket Watch.
“Alright, let’s test it out.”
I closed my eyes in concentration.
Draw the ambience Mana in,
Convert it into Time mana with the Mana in my body,
Release the Time mana,
And wield it!
Intuitively, I opened my eyes and saw hundreds upon millions of pale red sprites resembling me all over the sewer.
Before my brain could fry from the information overload, I dispersed the Time mana and heaved a heavy sigh.
“W-What was that?”
But thanks to Status, I soon knew what they were.
[Activated {Foresight}]
[{Foresight}
See every possible future movement that you will make in the next 10 seconds]
“So that’s what they were…”
It was definitely…interesting. However, it was useless if it could only do that.
“You absorbed a Mythic-ranked Artifact, dammit!” I screamed into the watch. “At least tell me there’s something more!”
No answer.
I sighed. Of course, this inanimate Watch couldn’t do anything. Stuffing it back into my pocket, I generated Time mana again. This time, I strictly limited the Mana flow and only saw the most probable futures.
“Okay, this is definitely much more manageable.”
Instinctively, I commanded Time mana to converge into one of the sprites. And, also instinctively, I knew what to say to activate the second part of the Spell.
“[Nortia]”
I, who was leaning against the stone wall, was teleported right above the sewage without any warning.
“SHIT!”
I definitely didn’t want to be drenched in the filthy water! Quickly focusing my Time mana on another Sprite, I shouted.
“[Nortia]!”
[Spell on cooldown]
“YOU LITTLE SHIT—
.
.
.
.
“Haaah…nothing better than a shower to clean myself of that…water.”
I shuddered as I thought about that moment half an hour ago.
Right now, I was in an inn, relaxing in a bath. Since I wasn’t staying here and only wanted to use the showers and bathtubs, I only had to pay twenty Lumens.
Anyways, time to think back about my new Time spell.
“It erases the ‘action’ of me walking out of the passageway. The only thing left was the ‘result’ of me getting drenched in shit-water.”
Let’s say, for example, that there was a finish line a good distance away from me. Normally, it would take me ten seconds to cover that distance.
However, if I converged my Time mana into the sprite that was at that finish line, I’d find myself standing in that sprite’s place the next instant.
And to an outside observer, not even a second had passed since I activated my Magic, and I was already at the finish line.
“Yeah…this is a glorified [Teleportation]. Or [Blink] since its activation speed is fast.”
Well, all it meant was that my Space magic was most likely not going to be [Teleportation] or [Blink], so I could expect something really cool and different.
“I’m in a hot bath, and I’m all alone. This is the perfect place to test things out.”
Stretching my arms, I closed my eyes and generated Space mana. Focusing the Mana on my fingertip, I intuitively muttered,
"[Dimensional Cutter]"
A rift in space the size of two human heads appeared right before me. This might be stupid, but I immediately reached my hand into it.
“T-This is…!”
A glorified [Storage] spell.
Okay, let’s calm down and think about it rationally. The spell was named [Dimensional Cutter] so I guessed that this was only one of the Dimensions I could open a Rift to.
In the novel, there were only a few realms. The Spirit realm, Heaven, the Mortal realm, the Void realm, and the Storage realm in which every item stored by [Storage] would go to.
Unfortunately for me, the Storage realm was just that—storage. I couldn’t access other people’s items, which was a bummer.
‘Well, at least my Storage is big enough. It can fit three adult Wyverns, I think.’
Okay, now that I’d figured out my Space spell, it was time for my other Affinities.
“Let’s start with Blood.”
I brought my hand close to my mouth and bit it until it bled.
“Fuck, I probably shouldn’t do it in the bath, huh? The water’s now all red and shit.”
Oh well, it was too late now. Time for experimenting.
I tried moving the blood. And it moved.
I tried to harden the blood. And it hardened with an almost crystalline texture. I willed it into the shape of a dagger, and it worked.
I threw the blood onto the floor and tried to harden it. Although it took much more effort, I could still do it.
“Interesting, I wonder if I can lay traps with my own blood…”
That aside, it was time to move onto Wind.
“Well, I don’t know what I’d expected, but it certainly isn’t this.”
Since my Wind affinity was only Common, the most I could do was make a slight gust of wind. Though, it was pretty amusing to see a mini-vortex on my left hand.
I raised my right hand—the bloodied one, and made another vortex… It was much bigger and more violent than the other one.
“...What?”
I came up with a hypothesis. In order to prove it, I created a gust of Wind on the floor. Of course, it was nothing more than a light breeze.
Then, I created another on my blood on the floor. This time, the Wind was so powerful that it almost knocked my bathtub over.
“O-Okay, my blood can enhance my Spells. This is huge!”
I had to physically and mentally hold myself back from testing my Lightning affinity out. It was a bad idea to use it in a bathtub full of water after all…
.
.
.
.
After getting out of the bathtub and drying my hair, I put on my now-cleaned and dried clothes and rented a room since I realized that it was almost midnight.
It was lucky that I didn’t use any Lightning magic, since apart from it being a very bad idea to use while submerged in water, I was actually running out of Mana.
Anyways, after a good sleep, I woke up and tested my Lightning abilities. Violent electricity crackled in my hand. Even the lamp that was beside my bed was flickering.
Not wanting to pay any compensation, I quickly shut off my Magic, returning the lamp to its normal state.
“Just a sliver of Mana and my Lightning magic is already this strong… As expected of me.”
And, with that, I knew what I was going to do next.
“Since my Lightning magic is strong, it’d only make sense that I improve it even further.”
Time to visit the Sanctuary…
.
.
.
.
“—So yeah, I won’t be home for about three more days.”
-”Ast, are you sure you’re okay?”
Hearing Petra’s voice from the phone, I looked around the train compartment I was in. Yep, almost no one—just an old man and a few workers killing time with their phones. It was pretty early in the morning. Not to mention, people rarely travelled long distances, so trains were more often than not empty.
“Yeah, I’m going to be fine.”
-”...Okay. Just, stay safe.”
“You know I will.”
-”...You won’t.”
“Correct.” I grinned. Although Petra couldn’t see my face, I was sure that she knew that I was grinning right now. “Seriously, I’m going to be fine. Whatever I’m doing, it’s not going to be worse than the war.”
-”That’s not a very good reassurance.”
“You’d have to make do with that. Now, bye.”
-”Please, Ast, just don’t put yourself in danger recklessly.”
“‘Kay.”
Then, I hung up the phone.
Just in time, the train reached my stop: Leiast Mountain Range.
Since I’d Awakened, climbing the mountain wasn’t really anything special. Once I reached a depression, I sat down on the ground and recalled that one scene from the novel.
“Let’s see, Artoria was wounded right around here.”
I stabbed my own hand with a knife.
“After that, she stood up and walked straight forward.”
I did exactly that.
“A spin. Another spin, and another spin…”
It was getting pretty dizzy.
“Turn left, turn left again, and then turn right.”
I followed the instructions in the novel for a few minutes before finally, I reached the final part.
“And last, walk straight forward.”
I opened my eyes again. Before me wasn’t the mountain range anymore. Instead, it was a massive white building supported by gigantic pillars. It both figuratively and literally shined with Holy mana.
“Finally,” I muttered. “The Sanctuary of Divinity.”
The place dedicated to every Gods and Goddesses there were in this world. In the novel, Artoria would come here and finalize her Convenant with Goddess Lumaria.
Since it was the closest place in the Mortal realm to Heaven, it was considered the holiest place on the continent. If its existence was known, the nearby Theocracies would have no qualms invading the Empire.
Well, I wouldn’t be sprouting words about it to just anyone, and I didn’t need to worry about Artoria running her mouth either since the Goddess specifically warned her and her harem not to say a word of this to anyone.
I guessed that she wanted to avoid internal conflict between the countries when the threat of Void was still very prominent. Not that she would succeed though, since there would be multiple great wars in the future.
Leaving the problem of solving wars and making peace for Artoria to handle, I entered the Sanctuary. As soon as I walked through the entrance, I could see the door leading to the Statue of Lumaria. I had nothing to do with her so I quickly ignored it. However, one glance was enough for me to see how uselessly overdecorated it was, especially compared to the other Gods’ rooms.
‘Prentious prick.’
I wasn’t scared of Lumaria smiting me for insulting her since one, Gods and Goddesses couldn’t read minds, and two, she wouldn’t waste her Divinity on something like this.
“Let’s see…I guess this is the section of Lightning Gods?”
It was uhh…more mundane than I’d thought. Anyways, I walked through the Halls of the Lightning Gods, trying to find Zeus’ Statue.
Yes, that Zeus. I didn’t know why, but a God in Marcela’s world was also here. Not that I was complaining about it, though.
As I was half way through the Hall of the Lightning Gods, a loud voice boomed.
|A MORTAL TRUDGING THE SACRED HALLS OF THE LIGHTNING GODS!?|
Despite the potentially threatening word, the voice sounded more excited than angry.
Soon, the owner of the voice revealed herself with a flash of red Lightning. She looked no older than twenty, wearing an impressive gray gown that complimented her long ashen hair. Her molten-red eyes stared straight at me with excitement really fucking apparent.
|FINALLY! IT’S BEEN SO LONG!|
“Can you keep it down?” I frowned. “It feels like my eardrums are going to burst.”
Yeah, I was sure that she wouldn’t recklessly spend her Divinity to interfere with the Mortal realm for something as insignificant as this.
|O-Oh!” The woman covered her mouth. |S-Sorry! I was just too excited! It’s been what, a few hundred years since any Mortal has come here to the Lightning Gods?|
She stuttered and spoke in a high-pitched voice, which was very unbefitting of a Divine being.
“So, who are you?”
The woman looked at me weirdly, absolutely shocked.
|W-What? You don’t know who I am?|
“No.”
|Has everyone forgotten about my achievements already? I swear, it’s only been a few thousand years since I’ve slain the Void Wyrm…|
She then cleared her throat and spoke with a dignified voice. Each of her minute movements oozed with gracefulness.
|My name is Lyra. I’ve taken on my God’s old name—Myrsky. So, you can call me Lyra Myrsky.|
“Uhh… Okay?”
|I have several subordinates, one of which is Vega. I’m sure you know her, she’s a sweet girl.|
“Vega as in, like, the star?”
|That’s right! She’s one of the brightest stars!| Then, she continued babbling on and on.
‘This…doesn’t it feel like a sales pitch?’
“Okay, that’s quite enough information about your underlings,” I interrupted her. “Tell me what God you serve.”
After all, since she’d mentioned her God’s old name, surely, she was a Celestial.
|Ah, straight to the point, I see. I’m starting to like you,| she chuckled. |Let me introduce myself again. I’m Lyra Myrsky, a Celestial Great General serving under the God of Storms—Vihar.|
I widened my eyes in surprise. Not at the fact that she was a Celestial Great General—beings that were closest to achieving Godhood themselves, but that—
“Never heard of him.”
|W-What?| Her face contorted. The dignity and gracefulness from before were nowhere to be seen.
“Your God, I’ve never heard of him.”
That was the truth. Neither Marcela nor I had heard of any God named that.
Instead of getting enraged, the Celesial had a look of sadness and regret.
‘Well, much as I’d like to hear her sob story…’
…I couldn’t leave Zeus waiting.
Waving her goodbye, I started walking down the Hall.
|Wait! Where are you going?|
“Uh, to try my chance with Zeus?”
|What’s so good about that bastard that every Mortal wants to form a Covenant with his underlings?!| She pouted.
‘Did I just see a fucking Celestial pout?’
You learn something new every day.
I ignored her after that and continued to walk.
|Y-You won’t be able to meet Zeus! A-At the very best, he’d just send one of his Celestials to you!|
She was telling the truth. I knew that a God would never respond to my call, but forming a Covenant with someone under Zeus was exactly my goal.
Lyra was starting to get more and more desperate. She started sweating all over and acting like a con-man. It was almost as if she had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be a Celestial Great General.
|P-Please reconsider! L-Look, I can shoot Lightnings AND make cool Tornadoes!| She floated in front of me; a molten-red Lightning bolt formed on her hand, and a small yet violent Tornado on the other. |Zeus can’t do anything like this!|
She continued to get more desperate, even to the point of prostrating on the ground and begging me. As I made my way right in front of Zeus’ Statue, she bit her lips and pulled out her trump card.
|W-Wait! I-I will umm… make a V-graded Covenant with you!|
I grinned and immediately spun arround. Grabbing her hand, I shook it with vigor.
“Deal!”