Disclaimer I do not own Log Horizon, Harry Potter or anything else I may reference
Kingdark: "Because if it isn't" What you're going to make you're self a batch of cupcakes dance up and down for random reason put on a tutu and dance the Macarena seriously if you're going to threaten someone you kind of have to say what you're going to do otherwise it loses its impact.
Magic and Elder Tale
Chapter 14
18th May 2027
Yamato
Gathering ingredients for potions was not as easy as a person might first think again this was something that was generally considered easy thanks to modern cinema where a person just found some roots and then threw them into a bowl and hey presto potion made. One of the first problems with this was that they never got the right ingredients to make the potions second they just yanked an ingredient straight out of the ground instead of carefully examining it for defects. While it was true that the quality of potions could change from person to person depending on who was making it the quality of the materials being used also effected how good the potion was which was why it cost so much for a professional potion to be made as they used the best ingredient properly.
Second was the case of maintain the ingredients again as show when a person just yanks the ingredient and stuffs it in his pocket now this was all wrong as once could seriously damage the material by bending it squeezing it or accidently slicing it. The upkeep and care of such materials was just as important as the slow and steady turning and boiling the potions themselves again because with one mistake in the ingredient it could have calamitous effects. It was for this reason alongside a great many others why muggle's would never be capable of mass producing potions on an industrial scale.
Muggle's for all their speed and efficiency could never do potions first it involved a certain set of ingredients generally roots and herbs for very basic potions but when one got to the far more useful potions then one was adding in parts of dead animals. Owlets wing was common as was frog legs, lizard eyes and rat tails each potion also took time and detail with people having to constantly keep an eye on what was happening rather than just trusting technology. That did not mean that muggle's were bad it was just that they had more of an inclination for speed with such vast and large markets not to mention all the copy right laws that existed. He had once heard it explained that it was similar to the second world war battleships of the United States and Japan, the U.S had vast recourses and could churn out ships incredibly quickly and at a cheaper price to contest this the Japanese had to build their ships to the highest possible quality with the technology they had Quality vs. Quantity as it was said.
It was yet another culture shock for people raised in the muggle born world as they had come from a society that if they needed something they went to a shop and bought in something which contrasted the do it yourself culture of the magical world. That was another difference between the muggle and magical worlds muggle's were dominated by large powerful corporations where as wizards generally had more family and small businesses but then again no matter how hard they tried muggle business's would not be able to mass produce magical artefacts. These things were handmade and had time and care put into them but such a thing was easily done when the population of the magical world was so low.
Muggle's had hit a total of eight billion people in the world the United Kingdom alone had seventy five million people but the magical British isles had only just recovered from the last wizarding was with a total population of three thousand wizards and witches if one added in the other races than you may hit five thousand at most. This was one of the major points about the magical world there was far less of them and as such never had to worry about over population in fact it was more often than not the opposite which was why potions was made.
Again that was another change between the two worlds when one though about advancement in a scientific fields they would think that scientists would do such a thing or large scale companies which had the capital. However in the magical world most advancement came from random people some who didn't even had degrees or masteries in the field an example would be Fleamont Potter grandmother to Harry Potter who created the Sleekeazy potion which effected hair making it smoother and straighter.
Now one might think how this retained to the current situation well the answer was simple Nat was currently moving through the forest carefully examining every single plant he came across alongside bark and mushrooms as well as leaves. Most things could be used in potions but one needed to know how and when as such Nat was very carefully looking at a sakura tree the same material used in his wand. Currently there was a belt around his waist that like the potion belts of old had multiple small vials fitted snugly between leather straps this one was one he kept on him at most times after receiving it as a present from his potions professor Horace Slughorn who told him to keep it on him at all times just in case.
He liked the man sure he had his eccentricities such as his ability to collect people but in his own words which had been proven correct he could always see talent which was why the man had been drawn to the young prodigal Ravenclaw. Sulghorn was even more impressed with him when he was able to learn at such a quick pace and had shown a desperate plead with him to become his apprentice and help advance the world of potions unfortunately for the old man Nat had taken the role that the last three greats had taken before him. And that was to combat it was uncanny as he heard people whisper behind his back every time a great new wizard came around their path was often one of violence choosing duelling or combat for a while before taking political ground.
People had once thought that Harry Potter would be the next great wizard they were disappointed though when he didn't as for Hermione Granger she may have been smart but she never had that natural ability. It turned out in an interview that the witch had photographic memory essentially giving the witch an advantage in her school years making her book smart instead of advancing the fields of magic something which he had done. Like the past three greats Nat had created more spells and had pushed the boundaries of magic his most notable work was getting magic to work with technology but he had also contributed in other ways such as creating a gel that could repair wands to a far higher quality so long as it was constantly used.
The second creation had heavily involved the use of potions which was why he knew how to find the best materials to be used such as the piece of wood he was staring at. Gently pressing his head against the timber he knocked the wood hearing and feeling the vibrations after wards he bent down and allowed his magic to flow out of his body and into the ground analysing the roots that buried deep into the ground with a nod he knew that this was a good tree to get some materials from.
Taking out his wand from its holster on his wrist he pointed it at the bark of the tree and silently casting the cutting curse moving the wand slowly whilst also concentrating on exactly how much of the wood he wanted to get. Sakura trees were a major part of cultural Japan or at least he had gathered from amine anyway they were also used in multiple Japanese potions as an ingredient to strengthen a potions use by amplifying the potions effects. As the precise cut around the bark came to an end he used magic to gently pry the bark away from the wood it was connected to before shrinking it and placing it into a test tube on his belt. The bark was only the first part he needed as such he turned his attention to one of the trees branches and onto the pink flowers which sat upon them blowing beautifully as a gentle wind passed them by. Like with the bark of the tree a cutting curse was used to separate the flower from its branch before gently lowering it with a levitation charm and into another test tube which now was labelled Sakura flower. The last part to harvest from the tree was the roots this one was different to the other parts as they were not immediately visible instead being underground to suck the nutrients out of the soil and allow the tree to grow in size. Now a gardener may have used a shovel or towel to get rid of the dirt but he was not am muggle no he was a wizard and as such used wizard methods which in this case was causing the ground to split gently going downwards before finding the root but again magic was used to slice the roots from their hold of the tree before being levitated and put into a glass test tube. Last but not least were the seeds of the trees whilst ingredients were good the fresher they were the better quality they typically had even after being hit with a preservation charm and a freshness charm.
Looking around him Nat noticed that there was a decent amount of biodiversity in the local forest not a lot but enough to get the materials required for some basic potions even if they did take some time to find and gather. Yet again he was thankful for the point me spell as it gave him the rough direction of where he needed to go but he still had a large collection of ingredients to gather and not all of them would be pleasant to gain.
This was definitely a reason why muggle's would never be able to replicate potions after all people were inherently suspicious of the food they ate questioning everything they ate he could only imagine the pandemonium there would be when they discovered that things like rats were part of their medicine. And as for children well the current "all medicine must taste good" craze was still going so there no chance that parents would give them something so foul and disgusting even if it meant that the bones in a person could be re-grown or scars made to disappear. It was bloody ridiculous in his opinion as well as somewhat hilarious to see muggle born students struggle to survive this society as no longer were their whims catered to and they actually had to do decent work.
Results in certain lessons were proving to be quite the telling story as it appeared that more students did not know how to cook, write to a decent standard, do manual labour things such as herbology hell he even remembered one set of muggle raised first years couldn't get to class as the doors didn't automatically open or even have a map. Truly it was a pitiful and yet hilarious thing to watch as the muggle raised students seemed to struggle without any technology moaning all day about how they could just look the information up online and then copy and paste information.
The most somewhat hilarious thing was the apparent "Forceful coercion of the technology hogging bastard" one year ago. He chuckled at that and twirled his wand in his fingers whilst looking at his wand happily his mind going through the events. Oh he loved his wand it had never once let him down and continued to work for him loyally and in return he looked great care for it treating it as if it was his own flesh and blood nurturing it and ensuring it never once got damaged.
One of the reasons he was so careful with the Sakura tree was because of his wand whilst the tree wasn't inherently magical like the one his wand had been made of his wand could still detect a somewhat feeling of family with them and as such did not wish to hurt the trees too badly. Wands were an incredibly topic one that in time he would have like to know more about well that and a lot of other things but he had to concentrate on ingredient gathering for now.
Casting a point me spell gave him the direction of his next set of targets and these were not of the usual plant type but instead of the animal type he had already noticed the holes for the animals. Rabbits or hares he wasn't sure which the two animals looked similar enough the same thing with crocodiles and alligators suffice to say they were abundant in this area so much so that he had been forced to cast an excrement repelling spell which had worked far more times than he would care to count so far today. Walking up to the hole he pointed his wand at it before thinking of the hairy creatures or what looked similar enough to them suffice to say the spell worked as soon enough the hairy little blighters came shooting out of their holes surprised at the situation before being turned small and put into test tubes though these one had been enlarge on the inside with carrots and water.
Still this was not even a twentieth of the amount of items he wanted to get he had at least a whole day of ingredient gathering and an infinite amount of test tubes that would allow him to do so. His next set of ingredients would be more animals he never took any wildlife classes to know what specifically grew where or even any care for magical creature's classes but the one thing he did know was that there would more than likely be a large set of creatures to gather.
"This business is going to require a lot of people" He spoke to himself again a usual past time of his as he found it easier to think when one added sound and as for why he didn't have his headphones' in blasting away music at full volume. Well the answer was simple such an action would be stupid to commit he was no longer in the safe modern world instead he was now in a game world where monster lurked behind every corner waiting to kill you. Naturally limiting one of your senses in such an environment was not advisable as even with his ability to use magic as a sort of radar he would like to be able to hear anything which may sneak past him there was also the fact that nature generally sounded quite beautiful with things like bird song or the rustle of the wind.
No listening to music on a constant basis was for when you were in a safe location where one was not at risk of injury or even when one had to be generally alert of their surroundings especially in combat the amount of idiots who he had seen tried to duel him with headphones in his ears was laughable.
Now that he had a rabbit or hare whatever the thing was he now had to concentrate on getting other items thanks to the use of yet another point me spell he was able to get his next animal that he would capture and more than likely kill later on. Killing animals wasn't something that he exactly enjoyed but he had been raised by his father on potion ingredient gathering and as such had been shown how to kill animals and insects. Again while he didn't enjoy the action he understood the reason for it nature was both kind and cruel and had laws that must be obeyed by animals well except sentient ones with humans and especially muggle's who disrespected every single law there was. It was why there was such rampant population one which couldn't be controlled as it is, yet alone have room to grow.
After all no other animal had caused the mass extinction of so many different species even magical's weren't the exception if it wasn't for the tireless work of Newt Scamander then there would be quite a few creatures which would have gone extinct. In truth he knew that there was a mass extinction event coming he didn't know how or when but it would have to happen soon humans had become so rampant there was no way to control them or the amount of damage they had created. He could only hope that when the time came his magical blood would keep him safe and immune it was why a group that had been formed by informative wizards had been created. The job of this organisation with no name as they were yet to create one was to preserve everything on the planet that could be from books to animals to food and drink, culture, science it was a massive preservation effort so that if anything went wrong humanity and by extension magical's could be rebuilt.
Magical blood had been called by the few muggle scientists that knew about the magical world a miracle after all it was immune to the many muggle diseases and problems had such as Aids, Cancer, and a great many other things. They had even roped in a few magical's to donate blood and have it used in a transfusion or studied and then used on muggle's not that it worked. Much to the annoyance of the scientist they had discovered there was not a single bit of difference between them and magical humans when it came to DNA causing a massive blow in the scientist's dreams of giving the world magical blood and therefore in turn cures all of mankind's problems. However this had been the expected result on the magical's side magic was not something one had in their DNA it was something that ran down their blood. Magical's after all had been studying their own kind for thousands of years trying to understand where it came from and had no luck other than the fact they had magical cores something that humans did not have there was no difference that could be exploited.
What the muggle's had forgotten though was that wizards and witches were still vulnerable to disease such as dragon pox a far moiré deadly version of the infamous chicken pox so much so that injections were never given as just the injection could kill a magical. The death rate from dragon pox was high it was also highly contagious and could decimate populations as well as linger in an area for a quite some time even after the original outbreak had been fioniohsed. It was one of the reasons why the feindfrye charm had become more popular over the years and some even said it was why it was created so it could destroy the disease easier and with less chance of infection. According to old history book that had survived dragon pox could linger in an area for centuries and was why more often than not for a great amount of time that if a person got dragon pox they were killed with their family and anybody they may have spent some time with. It was truly the dark days and again another reason for magical's to despise Christianity and the other religions and they had destroyed the information they once had for a cure it was one of many things lost when the empire fell with nothing left to hold the peace and keep the light of civilization burning brightly.
After climbing up the tree thanks to some careful use of magic all the while thinking, more in-depth about the world Nat was finally able to come across thing he desired and that was a bird well more specifically a night time bird. This bird was an owl specifically a barn owl he didn't know how to describe an owl as it was just a bird that was bigger than other birds that flew at night but he didn't need to instead he just looked at the hole inside of a tree. He was upset at the next set of actions he had to take personally he loved owls they were magnificent creatures of wisdom and intelligence the barn owl after all was his Patronus but if he wanted to make potions than there was quite a few creatures he would need to find and kill the owl being just one in a list. As of currently the owls were resting quietly snuggling into their mother still young from just hatching a quick summoning charm was used to snatch one of the babies from its mother whilst a calming spell was shot back at the mother to ensure it kept sleeping undisturbed. Before the baby owl could cry out in shock it was hit with a sleeping charm before being placed in an expanded test tube that had a number of things that young owls would need. Still he couldn't help but feel guilty over taking such a young majestic bird away from its mother as such he used magic to expand the whole of the tree whilst also summoning some luxuries that he had once seen owl handlers give to their owls for either living generally or as treats. After that he carved a set of runes inside the tree the burrow would be safe for eternity and would never be threatened the tree would also be undetectable to anything that the birds didn't want using a set of intention charms lastly he pointed his wand at the floor and summoned up a set of mice when the birds woke up they would now have something to munch on with that done he descended to the floor on the hunt for more ingredients no matter what form they may come from as the day progressed he collected a great many deal of plants and animals.
It had been a long day so far having collected a great many deal of ingredients and fighting off a few animals such as bees when he went after their honey he used a set of spells that would placate them calmly after all bees whilst they could ting you were an insect he liked. As for the Japanese hornets that had tried to attack the bees well he had fun drowning them in water before finding the nest and then drowning that in water without mercy he may now have the powers and abilities thanks to this game but Japanese hornets were fucking monstrosities of nature and as such deserved to die.
As he made his way through the forest he started to hear what sounded like musical notes since he wasn't a musician or the topic didn't even interest him he couldn't tell what they were other than they were high and sounded like they came from a piano. Being the ever curious person that he was he flowed the music but his wand drawn for all he knew this could be a quest designed to trap players and then kill them.
After silently making his way through the forest to a clearing he was finally able to see where the music was coming from the sight he saw was not one would usually expect because sitting in the middle of the clearing was a piano. However the person who was playing the piano was a child a young girl in fact with pale skin chestnut hair coloured hair which was in a bit of a mess that complimented her light blue eyes for her age he would estimate that the girl was around eight. For the clothing though well it seemed that she came from wealth as the colours of a bright green dress were not a common colour and she was also wearing a small necklace as for why on earth she was playing a piano in the middle of the forest by herself. Nat knew he was no master or even had much experience of the everyday person when it came to things but the current sight in front of him was not normal in fact it was very much the opposite of normal and as such had piqued his curiosity.
His first action was not to take any rather just watch again he was concerned that this current scene may be a trap a ploy to get him to walk into a clearing with little cover where the girl would than turn into a giant monster. Whilst the idea sounded absurd in truth this was something he could very much see muggle's implementing into a game with either take on the fantasy medieval genre even if more likely than not it was wrong. Because of this he just stayed still taking in the sound of the piano as it played during the dark sky with the bright white starts shining down all in all it would make a beautiful picture. Using his magic to work as a radar again he sent pulses outwards scanning the area seeing if it could detect anything like a bear clamp or some time for fire spell which was more often than not used in such trap spells due to its high destructive capability.
The pulses came back with nothing no traps no runes no indication that magic was being used instead it was just exactly what he saw a young girl playing the piano in the middle of a monster infested forest all by herself. Since his detection spells had located no danger he decided to risk his safety by slowly walking out of his hiding place dispelling the charms he had placed around himself.
The girl didn't seem to recognise him at first glance but Nat knew better the child had in fact recognised him but was instead concentrating on the music that she was playing he fingers delicately moving from each key to another one with practised grace that had obviously been drilled into her at a young age. He didn't speak at first he was rather enjoying the song that the girl was playing it had a more classical sound to it that very much sounded like the type of fantasy music that one would expect to hear in films or imagine in books. Eventually as all things did the music came to an end and the girl looked up from her piano and up at him he noticed that her eyes briefly looked at his sword obviously trying to identify if he was a threat or not.
"You don't look like one of daddy's guards who are you are you here to bring me back home" Instantly that drew his suspicions besides being suspicious earlier he now knew that the girl was not in fact a monster who was trying to attack him instead as the scene was she was just a little girl. Curious he used magic to delve into the girls mind confused at why she would be left in such a place and with no one to protect her soon enough he got his answer.
Memories
The memories of the girl were ones of confusion and of pain her initial ones were just of her father looking down upon her upset and angry whilst also reminiscing over something, as time went on her father was distant but the girl still loved him but it was obvious the man had no care for the girl he recognised the look in the man's eyes he had given it to people before himself a particular Japanese duelling champion came to mind. It turned out as the memories showed that the girl's mother had been killed during childbirth and had destroyed the fathers love constantly seeing his daughter as the thing he lost which was why he was so distant but also why he could not bear to look at her as she was nothing more than a reminder. The girl herself was trained on how to be a lady such things as how to behave how to act was what appropriate and what was not whilst also being informed that she would one day be married to a lord and have his children carrying on the families name. Still as time went on the father showed his dislike even more refusing to interact with her besides when it was absolutely needed than like one would imagine the man remarried as it was his duty to his family and house. Suffice to say with her new stepmother the child never saw her father after that yet she was still kept even if she was no longer able to dine with her family the only thing she was left with was the piano. And then came the recent memories the girl had been summoned by her father and then she saw her new half brother suffice to say what happened next was obvious she was taken deep into the heart of the forest with her father alongside a piano and told to wait there for his return a return which would never happen. And as such she played the piano happily waiting until her father returned as he said he would when in truth the piano was just a way of him hoping to draw attention to the girl so she would be devoured alive by animals of the forest.
End of Memories
He looked at the girl his hand resting on the hilt of his sword he was left with a conundrum there was no way he could look after the girl he was busy and he knew no one here who could look after her that left only a few solutions. The first was to bringer her back to her father which would more than likely end up in the girl's death in a different manner such as being thrown down a well or accidentally burned alive. The second and third options were similar enough in that they would end the same with them being her either killed the girl to end her suffering or just leave her where she was and finish the plan that her father had for her demise. And then there was the fourth option he could take her with him to the lord of Eastal there was a giant castle mentioned in the books of around three hours from Akihabara apparently that was where the lords and nobles gathered in this land if he was to bring her there than perhaps she would be adopted it was a long shot but the best hope she had for survival.
The girl looked up at him brightly tears starting to form in her eyes as he didn't answer immediately deciding that he would not put up with crying he bent down to he looked at the girl at eye level and then spoke calmly to her.
"No but I will take you somewhere safe" He tried to put on an earnest face thankfully it seemed to work as the child accepted his offered hand and as such allowing him to pick her up before using magic to shrink her piano before giving it to the girl in her hand who promptly looked at it in wonder. Hugging the object close to her chest the girl soon snuggled up into his arm before falling asleep undoubtedly she hadn't been fed since breakfast and was more than likely hungry but she had drifted off as such he decided to leave the food for now and just use the pint me spell combined with the trail spell to give him the path to the castle where he wished to travel to.
"How do I keep getting myself into these scenarios I swear if this continues I'll be just like potter when he was a kid except unlike him in physically stuck in another fucking world?" His usual tendency of speaking to himself once again came forth as he flowed the trail that his spell had given him all the while holding onto the young girl ensuring that she didn't lose her grip and fall down to the floor. As for the current trail he was on well it was taking him through the forest in a straight direction more than likely to a road so it would speed up the current travel thanks to flatter ground instead of the bumpy area he was in right now.
Whilst he pressed forward ignoring the sounds of howls and creatures chasing down one another for a midnight snack he carried the girl with ease as he had applied a featherweight charm to her making the process of carrying another human being unbelievably easier. In fact now that he thought about it the kid was a sleep and even if she was now lighter if a fight did break out the child would get in the way potentially getting herself killed in the process. To deal with this problem he carefully pried her fingers of his body before transfiguring a nearby tree into a teddy bear and then enchanting it to act as a hot water bottle this did the trick as the child latched straight onto the bear not once showing any indication that she may wake up. With the new girl wrapping around another item that left him with the other part of his current task and that was to shrink the sleeping girl before placing her in his pocket where he had created a bed and appropriate furniture for her all the while ensuring nothing would be tossed around in the stress of movement.
Truthfully he was more concerned with the other adventurers right now then he was with the girl before he had even left he heard the tales of groups of people hanging in the areas just outside Akihabara killing off low level players just to satiate their boredom. It was why he de decided to suddenly change the route of his trail spell no longer did it lead him to the nearest road to complete his journey instead it pointed directly to the castle that he had heard described in the books. His concerns on being attacked and ambushed were not unfounded because as he progressed he started to hear talking as well as the slight twang of a bow string being loosed most likely after an arrow had been used on something.
Ducking quickly behind a tree for cover he once again found himself summoning a pair of binoculars enabling him to look further beyond then his own enhanced sight directly into a gathering of people all of whom were armed and more than likely knew how to use their weapon. Whilst the group did not have any names out he was able to tell by the way they dressed that they were melee fighters but when it came to war one always had to be concerned about the enemy you could not see and in this new world that was once a game that meant players who were used to playing stealthily. Normally this would not be a problem but it appeared that these people knew the game well as they were ambushing a road a road which his new trail spell cut through on its way to the castles location
Thanks to the distance he had a couple of plans one was the typical Gryffindor plan by rushing head first into danger fighting the whole group and more than likely dying in the event another plan was to cross the forest now or just do a series of quick apparition jumps to bypass them. However his current plan was more beneficial in the long run but it also placed him in more danger as such by extension the girl he was currently carrying with him however so long as he worked perfectly there would not be a problem.
Again as he had a new regular tendency of doing ever since he arrived in this world he found himself casting spells to keep himself hidden in many different ways most by sight and by sound as those were the largest things that could screw up his current plans if something went wrong. Sneaking forward like a tiger hunting its prey he approached forwards slowly ensuring that he kept to the cover of trees giving his charms a far higher efficiency rate soon enough he reached the outskirts of the little camp the group having just cast a fire for them to gather around and converse with one another.
As the group began to close in together talking about their catch of the day specifically how they had killed two children earlier who had gone hunting with their guild as they wanted to obtain more experience potions. It was obvious for the wizard to tell that they had killed the child adventurers not that they had a chance since they started boasting about their level ninety status and as such how nobody that wasn't their level would be able to defeat them apart from some cocky group of three who had smashed them all on their own. Unknown to them as they talked about how their plan worked was a wizard who was taking in the details getting the last few pieces of information before he dealt with this rabble.
The assassins were first despite standing guard in the tree tops scouting for anyone else to shakedown they were not particularly aware of anybody attempting to sneak up on the group not that it woi7uld have done much good seeing as they had no real chance against someone like Nat. All it took was a careful silent apparition and then a listening charm around the general area before the first assassin could even notice anything had happened he had not only been disarmed but he was stripped of all his possessions and the gagged before being hung down by his ankle thanks to rope and then knocked out with a stunning charm. The other lookouts soon found themselves in the exact same position with no idea what had happened suffice to say stage one of the plan was complete.
"Ughh what's taking them so long?" The voice of the leader of this current player killing guild went through the forest as the members of their guild had not yet returned from scout duty angry at this he turned to another member of the group and issued orders. "Find them they could be sacking some pipsqueaks and refused to tell us" The easily angered mind of the leader was something to exploit as he alongside the rest of the guild put away their crappy tasting food in hopes of something with some actual flavour hell to them even the usual potions tasted better than the food that could be found in this world.
Watching from his position high up in the tree above where their main group had once been Nat summoned a gust of wind to blow out the fire that had been burning giving the player killers both heat and light for them to use.
"Stupid wind Carabast stay here and get another fire going" The person known as Carbast did what he was told bending down pointing he magic staff at the fire however because he had walked slowly to the fire in annoyance the others had already left. Before he could even say the worlds to cast the spell he suddenly felt a jolt in his hands all of a sudden the staff that he carried zipped up into the trees above him so shocked at such an action he didn't turn around and therefore missed the red spell that smashed into his back before he to met the fate of his companions.
Meanwhile unaware of what had happened to his fellow guild member Smash continued going forward his weapons drawn held out in front of him although not in a proper position rather in what the guy thought was the proper position to holds his sword thanks to the brainwashing of Hollywood. Because of this concentration on looking cool he was not paying attention to his surroundings which was a major problem when a player who had been standing right next to him just flew into the sky with nothing falling to the ground.
"Who's there?" His tone was one of a person try8ing to show a brave front but Nat could tell that he was scared thanks to his camouflage and spells they would never detect him and even if they did it would be too late. Smash growled at the lack of response unknown to him was that he had been trapped inside an area where sound and sight would be useless although he did not know that yet instead he was just left there ho wallow in his ever growing fear that had been spouted thanks to some charms that had been cast by the person they were trying to find.
Hiding behind a tree Nat saw that one of the mage characters was obviously starting to crack under the circumstance raising his staff ready to cast a light spell but before he could his staff was yanked violently out of his hands. Looking down at his hands where his once mighty weapon had rested he had no time to react as he was suddenly dragged to the floor with great force thanks to the moonlight he was able to see that some vines had taken a hold of his legs and were now dragging him. Whilst the mage was dragged he discovered much to his horror that he made no noise as his screams were silent even as his nails dug deeply into the soil a look of pure terror was etched on his face as he was given a great pull and his grip on the earth was gone sending him into the sky still being held by the tentacle like vines before promptly being dragged back into the shadows at rapid speed.
The other members of the group weren't much better off one started calling to other members before he felt the ground give way bena5th him and a sudden flash of fire burning the entire side of his face and clothes giving him what would have been a permanent scar back in the real world however he was simply knocked unconscious. With him mow being in a state that he couldn't defend himself the player killer would wake up hours later with a burned body and completely naked all of his equipment being stolen in the middle of the night. The rest of the scene carried out like one would expect in a horror movie with each member being picked off one by one those who were grouped together soon found themselves forcefully separated as a stone hit them sending them teleporting many kilometres in the sky before crashing down crushing all of their bones into a fine paste but thanks to their extremely high level they remained alive even if that did mean in agonising pain unable to move with the only possible way to solve the problem being death.
With all the members bar its leader defeated and strung up that left Nat one last person to deal with and end this program of player killing in a scheme that would be both fast and brutal. Like he had done with the others he never left the protection of his stealth as doing so would be a rather stupid action that could cost him later on if things went badly because of this the leader of the player killer guild would never stand a chance.
Never once did he lower the barriers around the man so he could have some kind of dramatic entry where he would appear with glowing purple eyes no he was taught to fight unfair and to cheat essentially. It was one of the many reasons besides his skill that ha had climbed the duelling championship world so quickly because he was not afraid to fight using underhanded tactics after all so long as he wasn't breaking the rules it didn't matter if he fought in a cruel and vicious way refusing to fight the enemy with honour. No he fought to win and that meant when it came to a fight being the nastiest bastard there was and he was going to put that into practise now these bastards would have attacked him should they have found him and now he would give people relief.
He hated it Smash hated his current scenario whoever was attacking them was good not a single sound sight or smell of their attacker had been taken in fact whoever was targeting his little group was so good that he had managed to stop each member from yelling out to one another for help. And he utterly despised it he had only been here in this game for a small amount of time but already he had gotten use to his new body whether it was the physical feelings such as enhanced strength and speed or the fact that he was in a place that he had once considered fantasy whatever it was he did know but he enjoyed being here. They even had a pretty good thing going on already they had stolen the items of quite a few players to help fund their cause sure they had gotten their asses handed to them by that group led by an enchanter of all things but they were still powerful and not ones to mess with. But whatever was attacking them was like an animal and an incredibly dangerous one at that there was not one mark of where this person had been not a single thing that could point him to where he needed to either attack or run away and hide waiting for this monster to turn around and go.
With fear obvious in his eyes he decided to retreat back to where they had been camped perhaps that area was still safe after all their attacker would more than likely avoid it since they would be at large risk. No matter how hard he thought this Smash could not help but get chills down his spine as he headed back in the general direction of the camp hoping that when he arrived somebody would be there to greet him and have his back where with their combined forces they could defeat whatever was attacking them.
Not that it would have done any good but the adventurer wasn't able to notice as the roots of the tree creped across the ground slowly towards him like a wolf to its prey and like a predator did the vines shot forward suddenly grabbing the man by ankles holding him upside down. Reacting quickly the man went to slash at the roots but before he could his weapons was forced through his hand and onto the floor then all he would remember when he woke up was a red light hitting him dead on in the face knocking him out cold.
Idly looking through the massive amount of new items he had gained Nat checked to see if there was anything worth of any value although he was expecting that if there wasn't than the current thieves were very bad at their job. Alongside the high level equipment he had gained of the players themselves there was also a large amount of gold potions ingredients a lot of stuff.
"Well that was worth the hassle" He spoke to himself calmly as he started to think how much he could sell this stuff for, most of it was too high level for him and even if it wasn't he was not giving up what he had already brought with him from the real world for some fantasy crap.
Still the current objective was completed the old player killer guild was now hanging upside down naked from trees he had not killed them therefore if anything happened after he left well it wasn't his fault after all he couldn't control how the world worked. His current concern was getting the girl he had rescued to the castle where she could be looked after by somebody more appropriate if he was honest he didn't see much good happening to her this was the medieval era and it was incredibly different to the common romanticised view that a great deal of the English speaking world had of it.
This girl was an orphan and whilst he was the daughter of a lord and therefore by extension someone of both power and wealth she had lost any claim she might have had to the throne with the birth of her step brother. And if history was any example in the years to come the step brother may kill of his older half sibling to ensure that his rule was secure and could not be challenged by anyone whether it was the girl herself or any children she may have in the future. No if the girl was to survive she would more than likely be taken as a concubine a mistress to some other lord or another it may be considered harsh but it was better than the other actions she could be treated with. Muggle's would have probably taken on the duty of raising her themselves he on the other hand was not someone who could do such a thing first he was young he turned fifteen in a month but that was still too young to be fathering a child. Second he had far more pressing concerns the secrets of how he and the others had got here had to be discovered if he wished for any hope of returning to his beloved island home then he would have to search for answers and unfortunately he was not given the luck of having some psychotic game designer telling him that he had to complete the game.
"Bloody SAO getting peoples interpretations on how to escape such a scenario completely and utterly wrong" Honestly he liked the anime there was no way he would say that if was the best thing ever but he enjoyed it and unlike others who had to have an in-depth analysis of every type of leisure activity he would simply do something because he enjoyed it. Anime was no exception of course though he was no anime nerd or otaku as it was called but he had watched a few and was planning on watching a few more but he had no intention of making some YouTube channel and doing it no if he watched an anime he would decided whether or not he liked it without thinking too deep about the subject. And seriously what was with the bloody sub vs. dub war it was ridiculous a person should be allowed to watch the anime language in their preferred language honestly he preferred dub and that was because of a few reasons one was because he preferred hearing stuff in his native tongue another reason was because he would rather not spend the majority of his time reading what he was being said as it prevented from focusing on what was actually happening and another reason was because he was often busy even with his new found freedom and one cannot multi task when one has to read everything going on. SAO was just one of the few anime liked there were quite a few and he generally couldn't watch western TV not because it was bad but because it was generally limited and it was only in anime that you could find such bizarre concepts being created that reminded him he was hoping to begin watching Girls und Panzer when he got home well before he had been sucked into a different universe which was once a video game.
Unfortunately for him and probably quite a few other people here there was no anime well that may not actually be true if this was a post apocalyptic version of Earth than there may be anime disks scattered across houses but it wouldn't do him any good since they would not play on his laptop due to the region thing. And as much as he would adore the idea of going anime searching in a post apocalyptic Japan he sort of had to build himself a power base that he could use to enable his adventures across the world as they would more than likely be expensive. It was one of the reasons he was transporting the girl to the castle with any luck he could get a reward which would help his path of economic success in this land but that didn't mean had would just hand her in to her crazed lunatic of a father no he would help the girl out like his sister had helped him out all those years ago after what had happened.
That made his mind turn to his sister Kate was by far his most beloved person to him it wouldn't have mattered if they were related to not she was his beloved big sister who had seen him through all the hardships of his childhood. He loved her dearly he could still remember the first time they had met when she had taken his toy wand and ran off with it and the amazement she had shown when he cast his first piece of magic. That girl had always been there for him the one person he could always trust and turn to the person who had never forgotten his birthday even when his father would and when he stayed round at her house when his father was abroad would read him stories.
Flashback
Nat pulled himself along the walls as he made his way through the corridors of the arena his wand was resting in its case and as for him well he was exhausted a blood was running down his cheek and his left arm was broken. For his clothing well that was pretty torn to as he progressed his limp was made notable as he hissed in pain every time he moved as for his right hand well that was clutching a golden trophy tightly of which inside was a bag of coins. Soon enough he saw the end of the corridor to a changing room letting his weight continue the rest of the journey he seemed to collapse onto the door pushing it open. As he felt his balance disappear he went to grab his wand and correct himself but he felt a pair of arms catch him looking up he saw the face of his sister smiling down at him before hugging hi tightly cradling his face into her chest.
Slowly she helped him move forward towards one of the stools before lowing him down softly again he hissed in pain from here he took his next set of actions slowly. First was the diagnosis charm informing him of what had been damaged and just how badly thankfully nothing seemed to bad despite the hell he had gone through nothing that would require an actual medi witch in fact he could handle it all himself.
Pointing his wand at the various parts of his body he began to cast the spells that were needed to recover his body he may be young but he was experienced enough to know that all duellists learned a set of medical spells after all they were generally a necessity to heal yourself in the middle of combat when you couldn't have a person do it for you.
"Nat" He looked up the ache in his body still prevalent but he was able to fight it and look in to the eyes of his sister and gave a tired smile at what he saw. Her eyes showed obvious pride having watched him just finish his fight against the other duellist. Before he could really respond he felt a massive weight on his chest he didn't have to look to see what it was he already knew that his sister was hugging him tightly having placed her head on his shoulder and ensuring that he had done the same to her holding him close to her. "You had me so worried I thought you was going to die" Even in his pain addled state he could feel a warm liquid running down his back he obviously knew it was tears but the fact that she was crying about his personal health well it was new for anybody to show that much affection towards him.
"Kate I'm fine give me a few days of rest and I'll be able to fight again no problems" Pushing herself back Kate stared at her younger half brother a stern look on her face trying to intimidate her younger and beloved sibling unfortunately he had just fought a vicious duel and was therefore not frightened in the least by her actions rather taking an easy smile as well as trying to pull off a not impressed look with her.
"Oh no you don't you've just won the world junior duelling championship at age twelve you need more than a few days rest you need several months rest and to concentrate on school" Nat gave her a deadpan look not amused by what the teenager had just told him.
"I'm on the fast track program I'm pretty sure I can handle myself and I've passed all my tests with flying colours and was in the middle of the holidays I have to focus more on my duelling skills than school". This time it was Kate's turn to look unimpressed with him.
"And what's wrong with your school you should be more concerned with your education" As if to emphasise her point she placed her hands on her waist whilst she talked hoping that this method of communication had a higher chance of getting through to her younger yet far more talented brother.
"Seriously well first there's all the nosy blood Ravenclaw's who keep trying to steal my work and theory's then there's the bloody Gryffindor's who keep getting me to teach them how to duel since in their words and I quote. "Since you're such a talented Ravenclaw then it's your duty to teach us lions on how to fight in the future so we can defeat those evil dark slimy Slytherin bastards". And that's not including the fucking Slytherin who keep trying to buy favour from me I don't know how many times iv e told them to fuck off I'm not kidding they keep trying to get me to sign a contact so I can learn some exotic spells all of which have either a very powerful price tag in money or my knowledge of magic they're like fucking blood hounds. The Hufflepuffs are the only okay ones but as the hat says there the house of mediocrity the place where the others are sent and what the fuck is a finder I can't figure out what the bloody badgers mean by that is it some kind of internal joke argghhhhhh" Moving his head up he was met with the laughter of his sister this went on for several minutes as she continued to laugh for no real reason he was tempted to read her mind but he was not at that moment yet as his father was currently only teaching him how to protect his mind from attacks. "All right what's so funny?" Wiping a tear from her eye Kate looked amused at her little brother.
"Nothing it's just the case that your school life is so exciting and hilarious compared to mine I mean all I get is the occasional person who pulls out a seat from underneath someone but you people have full on prank wars and discuss the political future of your world it's so much more interesting than what we have" Nat looked at her slightly annoyed.
"Interesting it can be fucking terrifying if you make a mistake at school and piss of the wrong person than you might never get a job in the future I personally have to worry about what my relations are with the other houses to ensure I don't damage my father's house and name. At the mention of the word father Kate looked down after realising what had been said he reached out for her arm with his grasping it softly. "Kate remember you always have me no matter what happens I will always be there for you and that reminds me" Taking out the pouch of money from inside the cup he juggled it for a while making sure that his siblings eyes were locked onto the object. "You can have this you're going to need it after all". Instantly the eyes of his sister widened a face of shock and surprise evident.
"Nat I couldn't" you just got the hell beaten out of you to win this there's no way I could take it" Nat smiled at his sister who concerned face was touching but he also knew the situation she was facing especially after what had happened when that bitch came round.
"Kate I love you completely and utterly you're my big sister and I will take care of you and no matter how much you complain or moan I will protect my big sister like you did for me when I was younger" Kates face began to tear up as she heard that and reacted in the only way she could think of she pulled him tightly completely forgetting about the fact that he had just been involved in a massive painful duel and was aching all over.
"Nat I love you too little brother" Nat rolled his eyes behind her back at how happy she sounded but he perfectly understood why she was like this he honestly didn't know what would he would have done in her situation he was a duellist and future politician as well as the heir to a family fortune and small business he wasn't like her who had come from a normal background.
"Of course you will have to wait until I can exchange it for real money until then why don't I take you out for dinner my treat" The tears that were once staining his sisters cheek stopped flowing all of a sudden as she heard the mention of free food.
"Food where?"
"Paris you'll have to do the speaking I can't speak French after all" The girl simply smiled and licker her lips at the idea of her brother treating her to free food yet alone her favourite type of food.
"Okay we'll just have to go back to mine and pick up a dress and some make up" Nat took his time to smirk this time.
"I already have that covered with a simple use of magic despite being in pain and nearly exhausted his sibling found her clothes swapped round as well as her hair and makeup done.
"I love magic" Looking at her brother she saw that he had also made himself look more presentable wearing a suit and tie with his injuries now hidden behind a series of glamour charm all though there was no real threat to his body since he had healed any injuries was now only left with the aches.
"Shall we go" With a broad smile Kat grabbed his hand and in a moment the two vanished from the changing rooms and appeared in Paris leaving the tournament buildings and as such the evils people known as journalists.
End of Flashback
He smiled at the memory of that event it was only two years ago but he remembered it vividly he loved his sister and he couldn't help but wonder how she was doing he just seriously hoped she didn't blame his disappearance on her.
After hours of walking through the forest and then eventually onto a path Nat found himself gazing at the castle which stood tall and mighty like it was a giant upside down icicle or a pillar f ice which soared into the sky. The actual castle was made of stone and due to its colour stood out in contrast to the icy light blue of the cold substance but the construction of the castle was indeed impressive or it would have been considered impressive it had not been generated inside a person's computer and was built by hand instead. According to the book he had read this place was called the palace of eternal ice and was rather a place where people gathered to talk about their situations in the kingdom of Eastal almost like the U.N if it actually achieved something.
The stone work of the castle was lit up by torches and excessive amount it would seem but that was not important at the moment no, what was important was getting the girl he was currently carrying on his back inside the castle where she could then be dropped off and left for some new people to look after. He considered apparating into the castle but he had a feeling he would instantly be called an enemy and be attacked no instead it was better if he just walked through the front gates and spoke to the guards there and if that didn't work well a little confundus charm was no big deal it wasn't like he would be using the unforgivable's.
Walking slowly and ensuring that he could be seen whilst carrying the grill in his hands the guards reacted exactly how he thought they would rushing up to him almost drawing their weapons to try and threaten him not that it would do much good if he wished to kill them than these men stood no chance. The screams of people in terror were easy to recognise and for all the magnificence of a giant castle built on an ice cube that would do them little good when fire hotter than the sun smashed into it.
"Halt who are you" The guards rushed up to the mysterious looking adventurer how could they tell well first was the mysterious clothing that he was wearing than there was also the strange sword that hung around his chest it didn't look recognisable at all with its curved shape like a katana but with a protected hand guard that one might see on cheap low level rapiers.
"My name is Nat and I've brought back this girl here she said she was a noble that had been left in the forest I don't know why though" That was a lie he knew exactly why the girl had been left alone in that forest he had seen it in her memories after all it was just a case of he gave any hint that he could read a person's mind than the current discussions would go haywire and he would in turn have a fight on his hands something he would much rather avoid as it was less annoying then having to knockout an entire garrison unconscious. The guards didn't know whether to believe them and as such decided to walk around him looking all over the girl's body to see if he was telling the truth on the matter or if he was just lying and using some peasant girl.
"He's not lying let him through" The other guards tuned to one of their members obviously wanting to see what the guardsman had saw gathering around they were able to locate what the one guardsman had found.
"Is that a nobility necklace" Rolling his eyes unseen by the guards the men checking out both him and the girls finally recognised that he was indeed carrying the body a of a young noble daughter and as such allowed him passage to enter the castle. What he did find carless however was the fact that none of the men even asked for his weapons to be handed in now that could be down to previous bad meeting with adventures or they believed that they could handle any threat either way it was reckless and stupid then again it was what the muggle's had more than likely programmed into their character. Well he would have to wait until he could think about the current ethical questions about these people for later he had a more pressing concern well it wasn't pressing he had no idea how long it would take for his plans to fruit but it would take time and capital. Either way his mind focused on the current task he continued to march forward his goal known and he would complete it.
18th May 2027
Yamato
"So chief what do we do" Shiroe looked up from his position of reading a book as he looked at the mountain in front of them they had spent the last two days travelling back to the Depths of palm in the same method they had used to arrive which was by Griffon but now they faced a conundrum. Nyanta looked up from his current open fire and looked at the ground where a certain young girl slept.
"Well we have three options as I see it over under or around. Over we can't do as we'll be too concerned with little Miss Serara to fly correctly which will probably cause us to plummet to our deaths". Responding in his ever suave voice the cat man gave his opinion on how to precede with the current affairs in reply Shiroe pushed up his glasses whilst humming as he thought of which path was best to choose.
"We can't really go in we saw what happened when we went in there and we were level ninety if we include Serara then shell more than likely get killed not to mention that the bridge is out." This time it was for the large framed Naotsugu to speak. Again that was another important point for Shiroe to think about the journey through the Depths of palm had been treacherous for them alone but as kind as the young girl was Serara would just be a hindrance in any battle scenario they may come across.
"I'm surprised that you can even come up with a logical argument instead of using that thick head of yours to tell my lord to charge the enemy" Naotsugu glared at the younger member of the group well by her appearance she was young.
"Hey I have a brain and unlike you I don't have to worry about my flat chest"
Bang
All of a sudden the once member of the infamous tea party was sent flying into the air almost like a rocket even giving a small glimmer of light before he fell back to earth once again.
"My lord may I send this pervert into space" This time the tank of the group wasn't able to respond as he had more pressing concerns with being launched so far into the sky.
"Oh I think I'm going to throw up" As such due to a sudden bout of motion sickness Naotsugu acted almost like a rocket but instead of spraying light and gunpowder he was instead spraying the contents of his stomach all over the local area.
"Now that is nasty" All the members of the current group who were not moving at crazy speeds after being hit hard in the gut thanks to an assassin rushed behind cover with Nyanta picking up Serara and taking her with him sparing her the horror of having a grown man vomit on her.
"I guess it's decided then we'll go around the depths of palm it will add an extra week on but we can use that time to raise Serara's level a bit". The others nodded at this before Naotsugu plummeted back to earth again leaving a crater kicking up dirt and gravel agreeing with the plan seemingly having heard the conversation.
"Is that it Shiroe" The villain in glasses frowned.
"No I was talking to Marielle apparently there was a fire it burnt an inn to the ground and collapsed a skyscraper on some kids apparently there were people of the land." The other showed shocked expressions at that.
"My lord what happened to the fire?"
"It's been put out apparently by the same person who reactivated the transport gate" Akatsuki nodded happy with the response her lord had given her.
"Hmm seems we have a mystery on her hands Shiroe" The man nodded at their swashbuckler's words.
"Either way we'll discover more when we get back"
Well that's chapter 14 done I realise this chapter probably seems like filler but I have no real idea for the plot I just make shit up as I go along then again this chapter and the next set does have an actual point.