Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than the OCs I create.
Souta's Briefcase
- Souta -
"So, what did you think? Pretty cool, right?" 'I say', nudging my dad with my elbow.
We've just finished checking out the various biomes in the briefcase, and it's safe to say my dad was blown away by the sheer size of it all; he's still trying to pick up his jaw even now.
"Honestly, son, I have no words. How they've managed to fit a pocket dimension inside such a small object is beyond me. If any of the other factions knew about this, then it would be one of the most sought-out items; to be able to have a moving faction anywhere on demand with actual biomes and space to make use of is a terrifying thought. Please just don't let anyone know about it." He says, rubbing my head while smiling.
"Really, I didn't think it would bring that much attention to it if they knew about it?" Batting his hand away from my hair, I ask genuinely shocked that the briefcase would cause that much of an issue.
"Sorry, I should really get around to teaching you more about the other factions. What you need to understand is while every faction seems to put up with each other, they are also trying to show off who has the most power, so anything they can get their hands on that gives them a leg up on the others, they will take it, and the briefcase gives them the power to have one man carry an army and resources with them."
Seeing how serious he is about it, I nod while telling him not to worry and that I'll make sure no one finds out.
"So, what are your plans now? Are you headed straight for a new world, or are you planning to stay home for a while?"
Tapping my feet on the floor, I began thinking about what I wanted to do next.
"Hmm, for now I'm staying at home; as short as the previous trip was, it still felt like a lot, if you get me, so I'm going to make some mystic fruits as well as stock the shop with some of the magic books I brought back with me once I've made some copies, plus I'll get to practise some of the magic as well, which will prepare me for the next journey."
"I'll probably drop a message and let Yasaka know that I'm back. I need to speak with her about getting some space to grow the seeds I picked up; if we can get a steady flow of magical plants growing, it will be a huge help in the future for making potions."
"Anyway, that can all be dealt with later. Have you had any issues since eating the fruit?"
To be honest, I hadn't wanted him to eat the clay fruit; I was planning to give him the woods-woods fruit when I got around to making one, and I wouldn't have minded not striking a deal with Yasaka early on, but to show I wasn't lying, he went and ate one anyway, probably to try and get the best deal out of her for me.
"Honestly, it's amazing I've been pushing my daily exercise way past the point I would usually stop and I'm seeing muscles I never knew existed plus I've grown a few inches taller, I've also been practicing with molding clay into various shapes but I think my favorite thing is clay golem you honestly can't tell if they are any different from a normal person, they're not sentient but they follow the orders I send to them, it's like because I know the process of making food they follow the process I know and will make it exactly like I do even if I'm not in the room with them."
Looking at him more closely, he is definitely taller, and his arms have muscles that weren't there before.
"That's great. I was worried you wouldn't like fruit at all, and your changes are likely due to you getting a new physique from the fruit; you'll probably notice weights getting lighter a lot quicker than usual and your body being able to take hits more easily than before, not that normal physical attacks would work on a logia anyway."
"There was nothing for you to be worried about, I made the choice not you and even if I didn't end up liking it then it was still my choice to make, you didn't force me to eat it." He says, smiling gently.
"Now, what do you say about leaving all this talk behind us and instead ordering some pizza and watching the Galaxy Wars trilogy?"
"I say, what are you waiting for? The pizza won't order itself," shouting as I rush to the exit of the briefcase.
Laughing out loud, he follows me to the exit.
[Split]
Kyoto – Dreamleaf Trader
After putting the last book in its designated space, I sat back down in my very comfy office chair. Over the last couple of days, I've just been making mystic fruits with what I collected and had all the magical books copied to be sold.
For now, I've left out the DADA and magical creature books since there are some creatures that don't exist here, so I'll need to edit the books before I can put them up for sale.
The potions books I've also left out since I don't plan on selling them; I want to set up my own potion lab so I can begin making and selling potions in the store.
I really need to look for people I can trust to hire because in the long run, I'm going to be split in every direction trying to make it all on my own.
As for the mystic fruits, the ones I ended up making in the end are.
[Purify-Purify Fruit]
2x [Unicorn-Unicorn Fruit]
In base form, the user has increased base strength and senses; they can produce a soothing aura capable of calming others. In animal form, they can become a unicorn, giving them immunity to dark-aligned spells and curses and allowing them to shed their horns to be used for purification. And like all Zoan fruits, the hybrid form tends to be the strongest, allowing for a human form with animalistic features as well as powers from their animal form.
Fruit Type: Magical Zoan
Fruit used: Banana
Weakness: If the user was to commit purposeful evil, they would receive a curse in proportion to that evil.
The unicorn fruit was fascinating; you were not allowed to be evil with this fruit; otherwise, you would end up suffering in return. It was basically a kiss-curse fruit, the kiss being immunity to dark spells and curses in return for being good.
3x [Niffler-Niffler Fruit]
In base form, the user has increased base strength and senses; they can form a magical pouch on their belly to store any non-living items. In animal form, they can become a niffler about the size of the user, making them extremely fast and proficient at sensing treasures.
Fruit Type: Magical Zoan
Fruit used: Peach
Weakness: The user has a heightened need to collect and hoard shiny objects.
6x [Fairy-Fairy Fruit]
In base form, the user has increased base strength and senses; they can produce fairy dust, granting various magical effects such as minor healing, flight, and minor durability. In animal form, they can become a fairy shrinking to a third of the user's size, granting them fairy wings and the ability to produce even more dust with slightly increased effectiveness.
Fruit Type: Magical Zoan
Fruit used: Apple
Weakness: The user takes an increased amount of damage from iron in animal and hybrid form.
The fairy fruit was quite interesting from the looks of it; the fairy dust it primarily supports, and from what I know, it's the first fruit that shrinks the user in animal form. Usually, zoan fruits keep the user at the same size or bigger.
4x [Mooncalf-Mooncalf Fruit]
In base form, the user has increased base strength and senses; they can increase the growth rate of plants using any type of bodily fluid. In animal form, they can become Mooncalves, granting them a larger field of vision and an increase in plant growth during the night and 2x effectiveness during the full moon. The user can also use moonlight to create illusions.
Fruit Type: Magical Zoan
Fruit used: Grapes
Weakness: The user is slightly more sluggish during the day.
6x [Hippogriff-Hippogriff Fruit]
In base form, the user has increased base strength and senses; they can turn their nails into extremely sharp talons. In animal form, they can become Hippogriffs, granting them the ability to fly and fire sharp feathers from their wings.
Fruit Type: Magical Zoan
Fruit used: Orange
Weakness: The user won't be able to fire feathers or fly if their wings are trapped.
They were all the fruits I was able to make in the past couple of days, I never got around to making anything more unique just mainly zoan type fruits as well as using up the last of the purify extracts.
What I did notice was the fruits made by creatures from the Harry Potter world were marked as magical zoan, it's probably just a classification of the fruit to be honest but I won't know if it's different until someone eats one.
I have one of each fruit in the store with me today sealed inside the desk I'm sitting at, which is warded from theft with an alarm system in place as well. Dad really made the anti-theft part of the ward as malicious as possible; if anyone tries to forcibly take from the desk, they are met with a poison of his own making, and in his words, 'they would rather wish they died on the spot.'
I also had a pc installed here mainly to browse the internet when I'm bored or to check out what's going down with the supernatural on the devilnet which is honestly not a lot, it's people insulting others while hiding behind their usernames or people arguing who is more beautiful Archangel Gabriel or Serafall Leviathan.
Though I did see one username that I had an inkling of who it might be, they had the name OneEyedPeeper and were talking about how he'd rather have an armful of both and lots of sweating emojis.
I suppose no matter what platform is being used, the internet will always remain the same.
*cla-cling*
Sitting up, I look towards the door to see a blonde-haired girl walk into the store.
"Welcome, I'm Souta, and this is my store. How may I help you?" I say, putting on my best merchantlike smile.
"Hello there, I saw a post online about this store selling unique magic books and wondered if I could check them out." She says with a kind smile and in a gentle manner.
"Sure, can do miss..."
"Oh, sorry, nice to meet you I'm Lavinia." She says, giving me a peace sign and winking.
"No problem; if you check the bookshelf on the left side, you can browse through them there, though I'd recommend starting with the books on the left of the shelf, as they are the beginner books in each subject."
Thanking me she quickly wonders over to the bookshelf leaving me at the desk, Lavinia I feel like I've heard that name before, but it doesn't really ring a bell I mean it has been a very long time since I read anything about this world so some things are bound to slip away with time.
I can imagine most of the books on that shelf will start to sell out when people learn about them and if casting is possible, though I suppose the divination books won't really see much love unless people are truly into that sort of magic or have the gift of sight.
But transfiguration and charms will be the best sellers, maybe even DADA once I get that shelved.
After a few minutes of checking through the bookshelves, I see her head back towards me.
"Excuse me, I don't think the books you have are correct; there isn't anything about calculations for the spells. I think a devil might have tricked you with those books." She said, looking sorry for me.
"Ah not to worry, the books are perfectly fine. I can demonstrate it if you would like, just pick a charm spell out of the first book and I will cast it for you." I say, nodding and smiling towards the book.
Tilting her head slightly, she thinks about what spell to get me to cast.
"Then can you show me the levitating spell please."
"Sure, just put the book on the desk, and I'll levitate that for you."
After she places the book on the desk, I flick my wrist, and my wand appears in my hand from the holster, giving it a swish and flick as I say, "Wingardium Leviosa." The spell immediately latches onto the book, and I begin levitating it in front of Lavinia, who gasps in shock at the book actually floating.
"See, you don't have to worry; the books are the real deal. It's just a completely different magic system than you're used to."
"Wha- bu- how?"
"How has no one ever heard of a completely different magical system before? This could change how everyone uses magic. How does it work?" She says as her eyes seem to sparkle towards the books.
"The books were given to me to do whatever I wanted with, so I thought, why not put them in the shop and let others learn from them as well? As for how the magic works, well, you need a focus; for me it's my wand. I'm not sure if a staff would work, but it may do if you follow the correct wand movements, or it could require a completely new movement with a staff.
Next, other than the focus, you need the intent to cast the spell you want, a verbal command and wand movements, as I previously said. What differs with this magic, though, is it uses only your internal magic, unlike what magicians usually do."
"So now that you know how this magic works, would you like to purchase some books?"
Before I could even blink, she was in my face, grabbing both my hands while speaking so fast that I would've believed it if someone told me she ate as much sugar as she could before coming into the store, and it's only just now kicked in.
"This is amazing. I will definitely buy the books; do you sell wands? Are you actually part of a super-secret mage society? How much are the books? Is this a cover so you can recruit me into the mage society?"
"Great, no, no, you can purchase them for 21000 yen each or trade in goods that catch my fancy, and no again. Seriously, are there actually secret mage societies out there?" I say, just as quickly mirroring her.
This girl is scary I got caught up in her energy without even realising it, looking down I noticed both of my hands are in between her cleavage being held in place by her hands.
"Sorry, could I have my hands back?" I say fighting off a blush.
Either not caring or not even realising what she was doing, she lets go.
"Oh, right, sorry, I was super-duper excited about the magic books. As for secret magical societies, hmmm, I don't know; they wouldn't be so secret otherwise, silly."
Eye twitching, I hold back a retort about her being the one to bring it up.
"Right anyway, will you be being paying with money, items or if you have any books magicians use to learn their type of magic, I will trade every book you have for 2 or 3 of mine depending on how many you can provide since my magic is new and unknown?"
After some back and forth over the trade, we came to an agreement in the end: for 18 books from me, I got 9 books on magical theory, various types of elemental magic and warding, 2 connecting orbs that allow people to talk and see each other, a magic wand with 1 reusable ice needle spell and 189000 yen.
"Thank you for your purchase, I will get some new stock in the future so keep an eye out for any posts from me or feel free to stop by sometime."
"Thank you very much, Mr Magical Shopkeeper. I'll definitely come back again; I'll bring my friends next time – you'll love them." She says, waving as she walks away, already lost in her own thoughts.
Before she leaves, I do a quick check of her ideal fruits.
[Lavinia Reni's Ideal Mystic Fruits]
Zoan: Dog-Dog Fruit Model: Arctic Fox
Logia: Ice-Ice Fruit
Paramecia: Cloud-Cloud Fruit
I'm honestly surprised, a lot of the offered fruits are related to ice for some reason with these 3 being what she would be in sync with the most, the cloud fruit makes sense she did seem to space out quite a lot, but her personality was far from cold so there must be another reason for the offered fruits.
Oh well, maybe I'll find out more in the future; for now I'll let Dad know about my first successful sale. The deal with Yasaka obviously doesn't count; dad practically did all the work for me.
[Split]
Kyoto City Centre
- Souta -
Since the day after I returned, I've been speaking with Yasaka and sometimes Kunou, just simple conversations really about what we like, dislike etc. But today we decided to set up a day out at the city centre since Yasaka wanted to take Kunou out because she's been cooped up in the palace learning to be a proper heiress.
Apparently a young kitsune can be very mischievous if they're stuck doing boring stuff at home, but only minor things like pranks on the servants, so to blow off some steam, she decided on a day out.
"Big brother Souta"
Turning around after hearing my name get shouted, I am met with a kitsune missile to the waist.
"Oof, hello to you too, Kunou. Are you excited for today?"
"Yes, I'm going to eat, play and buy everything that I can." She says, pumping her fists in the air.
"Really daughter o'mine you rush away leaving your poor mother behind the moment you see Souta, I feel betrayed by my own daughter." Said Yasaka as she turns up, dabbing a cloth over some fake tears and only for Kunou to blow a raspberry in return.
Getting a good look at Yasaka I would be openly gaping if I had any less control over myself; she was, in one word, stunning. Both she and Kunou decided to wear a casual one-piece dress today; Kunou's was pastel pink with darker cherry blossoms at the bottom of the dress, whereas Yasaka wore a pure white dress with a straw sun hat.
"Oh my, if you keep staring that hard, I might think you can see behind my dress." she says smirking at me.
Blushing I stammer out "S-sorry, you just look incredibly beautiful."
With a dusting of pink in her cheeks and a chittering laugh, she says, "Very forward too, but thank you for the compliment."
Feeling a tug on my arm, I turn to see a pouting Kunou.
"You look very beautiful as well Kunou, I love your dress it matches perfectly with the floating cherry blossoms."
From a pout to a blooming smile, she nods while saying, "It's great, right? I picked it myself."
"You've definitely got a fashion sense." I say, getting another beaming smile from her and a giggle.
Pulling my arm to follow her as she shouts about getting food first, we all head to the cafe that caught Kunou's eye.
After a day of joy and laughter we are finally heading back home, being the gentleman that I am I decided to walk them home even if Yasaka is many times stronger than I am, on my back is Kunou snoring away from knackering herself with all of today's excitement.
"Thank you for today. She's been quite restless at home, and she doesn't really have many friends. A lot of the children her age can be quite intimidated by her status as the heiress, with their parents telling them to be proper in front of her, so she's had trouble really connecting, but seeing her smiling so much today is all I could ask for." Yasaka says smiling gently.
"No problem. I'm glad she had so much fun, and I had a great time today as well. I'm more than happy to do this again in the future, so don't be afraid to ask." I smile back.
"I'll be sure to remember; Kunou will no doubt love to do it again."
Getting to the entrance, Yasaka takes Kunou into her arms, which gets a small shift from her until she settles back down.
"Be safe getting home now and let me know when you do or I'll send a tengu search party thinking you've gone missing." She jokes with a small laugh, at least I think she is.
"Will do. If you need me, feel free to drop a message or a phone call. I'll be here for another week or 2 before going on another small trip."
"The same to you too. I was going to send the message tomorrow, but before you go, I'll just say it now; the greenhouse you wanted has been prepared, and the staff have been carefully selected. Whatever you decide to grow in there will be handled by them, and not a word will be said about it." She says with a more serious tone this time.
"That's great; just send me the location, and I'll stop by to get everything set up."
After saying goodbye and a small wave I headed back home for the night.
[Split]
Grauzauberer – Chairman's office
- Mephisto Pheles -
Sitting behind the desk in a room that screams wealth and power of a man at the top of his own faction is Mephisto Pheles, he has gelled slick back hair parted unintentionally by the two colours of his own hair a perfect match to his heterochromia, the left side being blue and the right side red.
"So, you said this young man cast the spell you asked of him with no issues whatsoever?"
"Yes sir, when he cast it there was no effect to the magic of the world that I could feel, so when he said that it used only his internal magic I believe he was telling the truth."
When Lavinia told me she had something important to discuss, I was not expecting an entirely new branch of magic that was oh so similar to a devil's. Looking at Lavinia, I still marvel at how far she has come from the broken young girl I had picked up all those years ago; humans are truly an amazing species. With a push and some willpower, they will climb as high as they can to reach the peak. I really do love teaching them.
"Have you attempted to cast any of the spells yourself?"
"No, he used a wand and wasn't sure if a staff would have the same movements as a wand, so rather risking any backlash I was going to ask if you could have a wand crafted for me before I started trying to learn anything."
Smart; I would have been disappointed had she attempted it with the staff already. Who knows what incorrect spellcasting will do with an unknown magic?
Getting up out of the seat, I head over to a cupboard holding a variety of crafted goods that I have made over the years, all merely minor works to put the knowledge I had learnt to the test.
Grabbing an old wand one that was my attempt at making a fully neutral wand capable of being used as a focus by any and all who would use it, while it did work it was much weaker than a wand crafted to suit the person instead, not that anyone uses a wand these days not ever since people started putting a reusable spell in a wand or they prefer using a staff instead.
Walking back over to Lavinia, I handed her the wand.
"Use this wand; I will craft a proper wand for you at a later date, but for now this will have to make do, now try casting the lumos charm it seems relatively simple just imagine a light source switching on as you follow the steps carefully."
Doing as asked she follows the instructions step by step.
"Lumos." As she casts the spell, the tip of the wand glows with enough power to light up a small area in the dark.
Unable to help myself, a wide grin splits across my face. How very fascinating! Oh, how it would have been to see the looks on the faces of Faust and Merlin, for them to see the magic they had attempted so many times to replicate being used in front of my very eyes.
While not what they had wanted, Merlin did manage to make the current magical system after much trial and error, but with the caveat of requiring numerous calculations before being able to cast a spell, limiting the number of people capable of being a magician, but this changes everything.
History is being made, and once again humans are the ones bringing change.
"Nox."
Hearing Lavinia, I bring my attention back to her.
"Lavinia, begin learning as much as you can about this new magic system and make sure to get the contact information from that young man; if he gets any new books relating to this magic, let me know straight away. Also, I will contact you once I have the materials for a wand so you can choose the core and wood that suits you best."
"I will do sir, yes sir, thank you sir" she salutes and scuttles away out of the door repeatedly casting lumos and nox on her way out.
Shaking my head with a gentle laugh, I take my seat again, grabbing a blank page. I begin planning to hire some wand makers and create lesson plans for a new subject in the coming future.
"Now let's see how far humans can take this magic. What heights will they reach now?" I say with some excitement to no one in particular.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for all the support; I enjoyed writing Mephisto this chapter, to me, I see him as a devil who loves human innovation of anything related to magic, so if he sees a brand-new magical system, you know he's going to get invested and maybe even create some of his own spells.
Please let me know how you feel about the information on the devil fruits. Do you prefer me writing about what they can do or would you rather just see the name of the fruit instead. I try to not make it complete word vomit that's why you'll see after the first fruit mentioned the rest just say what they do, the hybrid form will always be the same, so I cut that from the description as well.
And finally, I have also rolled the next world, and we will have a lot of extracts coming up, particularly zoan and logia, maybe even a few paramecia and some new companions to add to the journey, have fun guessing the world.