A/N : Hi guys welcome back to the second chapter of The Magnificent World of Magecraft. First of all, I would like to thank you for you readers who likes and following my story event though it was only still in the first chapter, it gives me the motivation to continue writing. Thoughts, honestly I'm not really that confident with this chapter because I was having a hard time writing it, but I hope it would be decent enough to read.
Chapter 2 : The Confrontation part 1.
There's a saying within the society of magi that "A magus walks with the death."
And those words are not just a mere warnings because there is a deep meaning in those words.
As a magus your life will always be in constant danger at all times and you may lose your life in unexpected ways.
Be it the result of an accident from a failed experiment or in an act of murder.
There were various ways a magus could lose his life. And as a genuine magus, Luvia was aware of that.
Because Luvia herself nearly lost her life in a recent assassination attempt.
Despite that, Luvia was still living her daily life as a magus from the Clock Tower as usual, although she was a little more alert than she usually was.
Currently Luvia is in a class in the Modern Magecraft Theory department to take lessons that will be delivered by Lord El-Melloi II.
She fiddles around with her pen as she thought of recent events while waiting for Lord El-Melloi II to arrive for class.
The investigation of the assassination attempt is going slow; it has been nearly three days since the incident and no new lead has been found.
Mostly because Acid-based mysteries are a surprisingly broad spectrum of studies where very different compounds may lead to the same results but with different after-effects. Two of the suspects have Water-based mysteries that could melt the reinforced floor of the sparing hall but one had the result of softening the affected land and the other had the effect of leaving a puddle of acid that could afflict chemical burns.
However, neither went as deep as the ones that were inflicted onto the floor during the attack and none evaporated upon impact so that lead was void. Both despite having grudges against the Edelfelts admitted that they did not set up the attack and were proven innocent after intensive background checks. This leads to a third-party or someone hiring them as no known magus fits the profile.
'…This is problematic. At this rate, who knows when will the next attack be?' As excellent as a fighter and magus Luvia is; she is still human and will eventually let her guard down and that is where her assassin will strike again.
The pen in her hand creaks as she clenches them into fists; she refuses to live in fear like prey being hunted by a predator. It would be an insult to the Edelfelt name and her pride as a fighter.
To solve this mystery, it requires the assassin to appear again to capture him for direct interrogation and it will be up to her to take care of this problem.
"Uhm!"
A throat-clearing sound beside her catches her attention. She glances to the left; inwardly annoyed that someone interrupted her thoughts. A young man in his early twenties with curly ginger hair and green eyes enters her view.
"Greetings, Luvia, you seem to be irritated today. Can I have a penny for your thoughts?" He greeted, his voice elegant and inviting.
Luvia mentally rolled her eyes, she would do it physically but she had an appearance to keep up.
"Hello there, Edmond. Well, I'm sure you've heard of the incident at the sparing hall earlier this week." She replied forcing herself to relax as she puts on a fake smile.
"Ah, my condolences, I'm glad that you came out safe. The world would have lost another of its beauty if not for the 'Blooming Shield'." He praised even though to Luvia it sounded nothing but hollow.
'Blooming Shield, huh. Shero, you really knows how to show off.' Luvia thought with a small smile.
Rumours have spread like wildfire across the students of the Clocktower. The mysterious shield wielder that appeared to save two helpless maidens whom some say is the bodyguard of hers while others say he was someone looking out for favours. A cheesy name for sure but Clocktower students are rather theatric; something that was born from being raised with magecraft.
With all these rumours, she would be insulted to be called 'helpless' but she can't help to be smitten by the view of Shirou's back and those beautiful pink petals blocking her from harm.
"You see, I have a request for you Luvia." Edmond's voice snaps her back into reality.
"I would like to be your bodyguard." He states proudly. Luvia almost snorts at that; Edmond may be a good mage but she wouldn't entrust him with her safety much less her life. He is known for his schemes to get favour by taking advantage of the situation. Of course, he's not an outlier among the Magi but he is rather notorious for it.
"Oh? Why is that so?" She decided to humour him anyways, she might get some information.
"You see, I heard from a friend that the investigation to your assassination attempt is going slow and he might strike again. So I propose that I may be your bodyguard until the investigation ends."
"I'll assure you that this will be a productive relationship." He winked.
Luvia was about to retort, but an idea struck her.
"Hmm…thanks for the suggestion, Edmond. I'll consider your proposal." She smiled a little bit more genuine this time.
"I'll wait for your response then." With a smug look, he nods and moves back into his own sit, thinking that he has convinced her.
Soon after, Waver Velvet and his students came in with quite the commotion, something about bad luck.
But Luvia paid them no mind; planning her next move.
After all, why bother with Edmond when someone else has proved himself capable of saving her.
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For a long time Shirou had dedicated himself to become a person who could be of use to others.
Since he was saved by Kiritsugu and knew his adoptive father's dream of becoming a hero. Shirou is also inspired to follow in his father's footsteps as a hero of justice who can save everyone.
However, he knows that the path to becoming a hero of justice is not easy and power become an indispensable factor for him in becoming a hero.
That was the reason why Shirou decided to become a magus and learn magecraft in the first place.
At first, he only studied magecraft so he could use it to help others and he had absolutely no interest in using his powers for himself or trying to become a true magus.
However, after he decided to give up his dream to become a hero of justice and get himself involved deeper into the world of magecraft. He now became more interested in studying magecraft more deeply and strives to become a true magus like his master/girl friend, Rin Tohsaka.
However, his chances of becoming a true magus like Rin and other magus in general were extremely low. This was due to him being unable to cast magic spells related to the five basic elements (at least not directly).
Even so, there are still ways that he can also become a true magus even with his limited abilities.
As mentioned earlier, as a magus Shirou is quite talented in the field of manufacturing. And knowing this, then there is a chance for him to become an excellent Alchemist.
In addition, he also has a pretty decent fighting ability. Shirou has excellent archery skills and a pretty good swordman technique. And with his ability to create weapons from nothingness he could become a great Enforcer and a force to be reckoned with.
That was why apart from taking the General Fundamental class, Shirou also took the Alchemy class as well as the self-defense class. Because honing his skills in manufacturing and training his physical strength was the only way for him to improve his abilities as a magus worthy of being in the Clock Tower.
"As I have explained before, transmutation is the action of changing or the state of being changed into another form. The process involves a change in the nucleus of an atom. When the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom changes, the identity of that atom changes as it is turned into another element."
At this time, Shirou was taking an Alchemy class taught by a magus from Scotland named Zachary Ainstworth, a lecturer from the Mineralogy Department. He didn't know much about this magus other than his identity as an Alchemist skilled in the use displacement magecraft called Flash Air.
He also doesn't really know the true ability of that magecraft, but he heard from his classmates that Flash Air is some kind of magecraft that involves substituting something for something else. Some kind of Time and Space magecraft derived from Alchemy.
Anyway, enough with the discussion about the lecturer, in today's Alchemy class they are learning about Transmutation. And like the lecturer just said, it is an action of changing or the state of being changed into another form.
"Many magus who specializes in this field usually use this ability to do something like transforming base metals into noble metals and manipulating the configuration of metals. Like this..."
Zachary then took something from under his desk that looks something like an iron ingot. He then chanels his magical energy into the ingot and seconds later the iron ingot transform into a solid gold bar.
"As you can see, by altering the atoms and molecules of the iron ingot, you can turn it into this gold bar. This is the basic example of what transmutation can do."
The young magus who witnessed Zachary Ainstworth's demonstration were amazed. Shirou himself was also interested and thought that this ability was really very useful.
However, as the lecturer said earlier. What they had just witnessed was only the basic ability of what transmutation could do.
'I wonder what other things can be done with this transmutation magecraft?' Shirou asked himself curiously and he wanted to know what the true power of this transmutation magic was. And he also wondered if he could use this magic for making weapons.
He's able to create weapons out of nothingness with Tracing.
He can also create weapons from raw materials in a instant with Reinforcement and Alteration.
So, he should be able to create weapons using Transmutation as well, somehow.
"Excuse me sir!" A student sitting behind Shirou, called out to the lecturer while raising his hand.
"Yes, Mister Maxwell. Is there something you would like to ask?" Zachary said while gesturing for Maxwell to say what he wanted to ask.
"Yes sir. I'd like to know whether transmutation magecraft can only be used on metals or other objects besides metal as well?" Maxwell said while voicing his question.
"That's a good question Mister Maxwell." Zachary said to Maxwell. "Well, to answer your question, transmutation is indeed can be used on other objects besides metal. In fact, you can actually use transmutation on anyform objects whether they're solid, liquid, or gas, as long as there's atoms and molecules that you can change. Like this for example."
Zachary then took a small bottle from his jacket pocket. He opened the bottle cap and poured a fragrant liquid from the bottle into a small container in front of him.
After feeling that he had poured enough liquid, Zachary closed the small bottle and put it back in his coat. Then he dipped his finger a little into the container and...
"Atharraich." He cast his magic activation spell and then he used his transmutation magic into the liquid.
Not long after, the liquid in the small container began to bubble like boiling water and gradually the liquid began to thicken, the color of the liquid which was brown in color also turned dark green and gave off a pungent odor.
"As you can see, apart from solid objects, transmutation magecraft can also be used on liquids like the perfume I just poured into this container and you can turn them into other types of liquid like plain water or corrosive slime like this." Zachary said while pouring the slime liquid that was in the container he was holding onto the surface of his desk. And in an instant, the slime liquid dissolved the surface of the wooden table and made a hole in the surface of the table.
The young magus who saw the demonstration became more and more amazed and interested to immediately master this transmutation magecraft and start experimenting with it.
Meanwhile, although Shirou was just as interested as the other young magus in mastering and experimenting with this particular magecraft. At the same time Shirou realizes that the slime that Zachary created by transmuting his perfume, has a similar acidity to the acid used by the assassin in the assassination attempt on Luvia and Rin that occurred three days ago.
This made Shirou curious and assumed, 'Is the very assassin who tried to kill Rin and Luvia-san an Alchemist?'
There was a high possibility that the perpetrator of the attempted assassination was an Alchemist, but he couldn't conclude this with certainty just based on an assumption that was still unclear.
He needed solid evidence before he could conclude anything.
But, then again, why is he even bother thinking about this matter anyway?
This assassination attempted case is not his problem. The assassin's target is not Rin nor him. So, that means he have nothing to worry about.
He admitted that he did feels sorry for Luvia because she hasil to deal with this ordeals. However, he have no right to intervere with her business since he has no relationship whatsoever with the girl except for being a fellow classmate in the Mineralogy Departement.
Rin had also told him that in the case of a feud between magus, the wisest thing to do is not to get involve. She said that it would be dangerous if he ever tried to get himself involve in other magi families' business since it would only lead you and those who are close to you to an endless trouble.
And she was right.
However, it would be a different matter entirely if Luvia decided to ask for Rin or his help directly. Because their assintance would be considered as a favor instead of meddling.
"And of course, transmutation magecraft can also be used on gaseous compounds because even though gases don't have a shape that can be seen or touched directly, they are still made up of a wide variety of molecules and atoms. It's just that their quantity is far less than that of solids and liquids matter."
"However, trying to transmute gaseous compounds is much more difficult than solids or liquids. The atomic quality of gaseous compounds is more fragile. Therefore, many magicians, even great Alchemists, prefer to avoid trying to transmute gas compounds. However, if you manage to transmute the gaseous compounds correctly, then you can create a wide variety of new gaseous compounds that scientists of this era have not even discovered yet." Zachary said as he ended his explanation.
"Does that answer your question Mr Maxwell?" Zachary said to the young magus who asked him.
"Yes sir, thank you very much sir." Maxwell said thanking the lecturer for answering his question.
Zachary nodded before turning around to face the blackboard and start writing some words on it with a white chalk.
"Well, if no one else would like to ask a question, then let's continue with our study."
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When he was young, Waver is often called a "spoiled brat" who is the very embodiment of a "narcissist that does not doubt he's a genius.". He's used to be a coward and a short-tempered person that constantly complains about things without taking any action.
However, after meeting Iskandar, the King of Conqueror, in the fourth holy grail war and formed a bond with him. Waver's attitude drastically changed and now he has become more compose, braver, and wiser.
After becoming Lord El-Melloi II he became one of the most respected magus in the Clock Tower. His persistent effort lead to him being a famous professor in the Clock Tower. He even earnerd several nicknames such as "Great Big Ben London Star", "Professor Charisma", and "Master V". He has been even named "the number one man female students would like to sleep with", among others. Though, he cares little about his reputation, and he would rather focus on his own success as a magus.
As a magus, Waver's skills are hopelessly average, but he's able to cover his shortcomings with his intelligence. He possesses the power of observation and insight that gives him remarkable talent as a researcher.
The power of observation and insight that he possesses managed to make him a skilled detective. He has taken many cases regarding issues that involving the used of magecraft and he manage to solved every each cases that given to him.
Despite all of his succes though, Waver is not an ambitious person, and he does not like to become personally involved with his students. But despite that, he is still carrying out his duties as a teacher. So, when he found out that someone wanted to assasinate one of his students, he couldn't stay still and decided to take matters into his own hands.
Currently Waver is in his office reviewing some of the files on his desk. The files contain the identities of every magus in the Clock Tower who has the ability to manipulate liquids.
Among them were two magus who had similar criteria to the assassins who tried to kill Luviagelita Edelfelt and Rin Tohsaka three days ago.
The two magus are Katherine Rodrigues and Jonathan Za Barrel. They were both magus from the Department of Botany, the Faculty that studied witchcraft and Pharmacy.
According to the documents that Waver has read, Katherine and Jonathan have a harmony of elements in the form of wind and water, they both have the same ability to manipulate liquids, and they also know how to make dangerous acidic liquids using Alchemy.
Initially the two of them were suspected of being the main suspects of the attempted murder that was carried out on Rin and Luvia three days ago. However, after being examined by the investigation team, they were found not guilty because even though they both had almost the same criteria as the killer, there were two things that were quite different between the two magus and the assasin.
First, even though they can manipulate liquids and create acidic liquids, they still can't fully master their abilities and they don't even know how to freeze liquids using magic like the assasin did, this is because Katherine and Jonathan are still students and not a veteran magus. And secondly, they don't have the flower tattoos the assasin has.
However, from the start Waver had known that Katherine and Jonathan were not suspects in the attempted murder case that occurred three days ago. Even though they and their family hated the Edelfelt family, they weren't that vengeful to the point they dared to try to kill Luvia who was the current head of the Edelfelt family.
After all, almost all the magus who joined the clock tower didn't have tattoos on their bodies except for a few individuals. Therefore Waver could easily recognize the identity of the killer after seeing the flower-patterned tattoo drawn by Shirou Emiya which turned out belongs to the assasin.
Once upon a time, when Waver was still young and just joined the Clock Tower, there was a magus from the Clock Tower who had a tattoo with the same motif as that of the assasin. He was a very talented veteran magus and he also mastered more than one branch of Thaumaturgy. However, his greatest talent lies in his ability in the field of Alchemy.
His mastery over Alchemy granted him the ability to create various kinds of absurd things.
This particular magus has a bizzare personality almost as bizzare as Zelretch is but...in a really bad way.
That magus, apart from being a talented magus, he is also an Alchemist and Professor who is quite well known and respected by the magi in the Clock Tower because of his extraordinary talent in the field of Alchemy.
He earned the nickname "Ultimate Genius" Because compared to other research magus, he was the one who got more new discoveries from every research he did.
Like any other genuine magus, he was very dedicated to his research. Though, unlike most magus he has no interest of finding a way to reach Akasha. Instead, he's more interested in the creation of Chimera and he eventually became obsessed about it.
However, in the last research he conducted, there was a certain accident that ultimately makes him labeled with a sealing designation. This was because in his last experiment, he deliberately created an incident that almost made the secret of the existence of magic that had been guarded by the Mage's Association exposed to the public.
Being labeled with a sealing designation is the worst things that could happened to a magus. Because once you received a sealing designation you will never find peace in yourself life ever again since you will be hunted by numerous Enforcers and Bounty Hunters from all over the world until either you got killed or captured.
And of course, just like any other magus who got branded with a Sealing Designation, he ran away from the Clock Tower to hide his existence.
It took months of searching for the Clock Tower to finally locate the stray magus' trails and once his whereabout has been found out, the Clock Tower sent their best Enforcers and several mercenaries to apprehand the stray magus.
Well, that was the mission actually. However, due to a certain dire situation, the magus was killed by one of the mercenaries.
They failed to capture the magus alive, but at the very least they managed to bring back his magic crest and all of the records of his previous researches.
So, in conclusion the once famous and respected magus has been dead for a long time now.
"Well, at least that was what written in the report." Waver commented before lighting up his cigar.
"What are you talking about, teacher?" Asked a certain hooded girl who stood next to Waver's desk.
The name of that hooded girl is Gray. She is a young British girl with green eyes and grayish hair. She has a striking resemblance with Saber to which Waver believes Gray to be a distant descendant of King Arthur. Her face brings unpleasant memories of the Fourth Holy Grail War for Waver so he tells her to wear a hood to hide her face.
Gray is Waver's apprentice and also his personal assistant, he met her when he rescued her from the village where she was born, who saw her as a vessel rather than a person.
Ever since then, Gray has become very loyal to him.
"Nothing in particular lady. I'm just remembering about a very well-known magus that I know when I was young." Waver replied as he takes a whif of his cigar.
"A well-known magus? Who was it, teacher?" Gray asked curiously, wondering who this famous magus might be.
"His name was Aleister Crowley, a very talented magus and an excellent Alchemist, and he was respected by most magus in the Clock Tower including by the 'Queen' herself." Waver said as he grabs another file from his desk. "Well, he used to be one at the very least."
"What happened to him, teacher?" Waver's apprentice asked him once again out of pure curiousity. From the way her teacher spoke, it sounded like something bad has happened to this Aleister Crowley guy.
"Long story short, there was an accident in his last research that caused the entire population of a small village to turn into a herd of Chimera monsters. As a result, Aleister was branded with the Sealing Designation and a few months later he was killed in the process to capture him." Waver said while telling his students a shortened version of Aleister Crowley's fate. He also gives Gray a photo of Aleister Crowley so that she can take a look at what the magus looks like.
"This is Aleister Crowley, teacher?" Gray asked her teacher who then only responded by nodding his head before taking another whif of his cigar.
Gray then looked at the photo of Aleister Crowley and she had to admit that Aleister Crowley was quite a dashing and handsome Englishman.
In the photo, Aleister is seen with shoulder-length silver hair and golden yellow eyes. He also has a beauty mark under his left eye. In addition, Gray also saw that Aleister had a tattoo with a flower motif on his hand.
"This tattoo, looks exactly like the picture you have, teacher." Gray said while showing the tattoo on Aleister's arm from the photo.
"Yeah..." Waver nodded his head before taking the photo back from his apprentice's hand. "I know."
"Aleister has the same tattoo as the killer who tried to kill Edelfelt and Tohsaka three days ago, and because of this I initially thought that Aleister was somehow still alive and he wanted revenge against Luviagelita." Waver said while explaining what was on his mind.
"Revenge on Luvia-san? What did Luvia-san do to Aleister-san that made him hold a grudge against her, teacher?" asked Gray curiously.
"Oh, looks like I forgot to tell you who actually killed Aleister Crowley, Gray. So, during the mission to apprehend Aleister, one of the mercenaries working for the Edelfelt family accidentally killed him by shooting an ether bullet right to his heart." Waver said while explaining what caused Aleister Crowley to be killed. "Well...at least that's what report says."
Gray narrowed his eyes slightly suspiciously when he detected a sense of uncertainty from his teacher's tone. "Why do you sound so unsure, teacher?"
"Gray, I've already told you that all the mission reports submitted to the Clock Tower by Enforcers or mercenaries assigned a mission to capture magi who have been branded with Sealing Designation are not entirely true right?" Waver asked his apprentice who responded by nodding her head. "Similarly with the report on Aleister Crowley's capture mission, I felt a few things off when I read the report file earlier. And as expected, it seems that there are some things that were hidden from the mercenaries or Enforcers who wrote the report." Waver ended his explanation before taking another whiff of his cigar.
"So you think there is a possibility that Aleister Crowley-san is still alive and he is the assasin who almost killed Tohsaka-san and Luvia-san three days ago?" Gray asked her teacher, feeling unsure about his words.
"Well, there is a possibility that he is actually still alive and is planning to kill Luvia with a vengeful motive. However, there's also another posibility where the assasin who tried to murder Edelfelt and Tohsaka was someone else entirely who just so happened had the same tattoo as Aleister's." Waver stated with strong certainty in his voice as he took another whiff of his cigar.
"In that case, how can we find out the true identity of the assassin, teacher?"
Hearing the question from his young apprentice, Waver sighed while pinching his nose. "It won't be easy."
"For now we don't know anything about the assassin. All we know is that he has the same tattoo as Aleister Crowley's. At this point, the only way I can think of to reveal the identity of the assassin is by capturing him. However, it won't be easy either because we don't know where he's hiding and we also don't know when he'll be back in action." Waver said as he took another sip of his cigar to calm his mind. "So, for now all we can do is look for more information while waiting for the assassin to come out of hiding and get back into action. I'm sure he won't quit like that just because he failed to kill Edelfelt previously."
After saying this, Waver stood up from his seat and stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray. "Come on Gray, time for us to go." Waver said to his apprentice.
"Eh? Where are we going, teacher?" Gray asked curiously to her teacher as they exited the El-Melloi's office.
"We're going to go find Edelfelt. I'd like to request some files from him such as a list of clients or targets who have dealt with the Edelfelt family to make it easier for us to solve this case."
BOOOM!
Right after Waver answered his student's question, suddenly there was a loud explosion.
"What was that?!" Gray exclaimed in surprised.
"An explosion, and it looks like it's coming from the yard. Come on Gray, let's check what's really going on!"
"Yes teachers!"
With that, Waver and Gray rushed to the courtyard to check what was going on there.
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"Where the hell is he? Why hasn't he come yet?" A certain drill-haired aristocrat grumbled in annoyance while rapidly tapping her foot on the ground.
Luvia lost her temper more and more as time went on.
This afternoon, he had told Shirou to meet him in the courtyard after he finished taking his General Fundamentals class. And the study period in the General Fundamentals class should have ended for today twenty minutes ago.
So, why did Shirou still not come until now?
"I wonder what's holding him up?" Luvia muttered in her mind curiously.
"Ah! Luvia-san, sorry I'm late."
Hearing a voice that sounded familiar to her ears, Luvia's mood increased when she saw a tall, red-haired youth who was none other than Shirou, walking towards her.
"Why Shero! I'm glad that you finally-" Luvia suddenly paused her greetings to Shirou when she glanced next to him and saw that her archrival had also come with him, and instantly Luvia's mood turned sour again. "...came."
"Wow...I'm really glad that you came along as well, Miss Tohsaka." Luvia greeted the black-haired magus with a flat tone and a cynical look.
"I feel the same, Edelfelt." Rin also replied to Luvia's greeting with an equally cynical look.
Shirou who senses animosity between the two ladies can only smiles awkwardly while sweat dropping for a second before fully turning his attention to Rin's direct counterpart.
"Well, Luvia-san, you said that you wanted to meet me. Is there something that would you like to talk about?" Shirou asked the current head of the Edelfelt family in a formal way, much to Luvia slight dissapointment.
"Ara Shero~, didn't I tell you so many times that you don't have to be so formal with me. Just call me Luvia is fine, Shero." The head of the Edelfelt family speaks to the red-haired magus in a flirtatious way while holding hand, much to Rin's chargin.
"Hey! Hands off! How many times do I have to tell you not to get all chummy with my apprentice, Edelfelt!" Rin yelled angrily at her direct counterpart for flirting with her boyfriend again as she roughly slaps Luvia hands away from Shirou's own hand.
"Ara, Miss Tohsaka..., we are in the same department, and also neighbors in the same apartment. I don't see what's wrong with interacting with him." Luvia stated in a relaxed tone while rubbing her hand which was slightly sore after being slapped by Rin.
"Everything about you is wrong!" Rin retorted in a sarcastic tone, and in an instant the animosity between the two ladies increase exponentially.
Before anything could happen, Shirou immediately steps in and act as the peace maker to reduce the tension between his girlfriend and his classmate. "Calm down Tohsaka, remember we came here to hear what Luvia-san wants to talk about and not to make trouble." Shirou said as he tried to calmed his girlfriend.
After hearing Shirou's reminder, Rin then took a deep breath, filling her lungs with oxygen before exhaling it out in an attempt to calm herself down.
After feeling herself starting to calm down, Rin then said, "Actually I didn't want to see you at all. However, since he said that you had something important to talk about, I finally decided to come over to listen to him. But, if you called us here just to flirt with him and annoy me, then we will leave."
Hearing Rin's threat, Luvia sighed and raised her hands in surrender.
"Okay, fine, I won't mess around anymore." Luvia said in a resigned tone mostly aimed at Rin. "This time I'm serious." Luvia said, continuing her words.
"Okay, so what exactly do you want to talk about, Edelfelt?" Rin asked Luvia with her hands on her hips.
"Hmm, actually I wanted to talk about this only with Shero, but if you also want to know, then fine, I'll tell you too." Luvia said while shrugging her shoulders in an uncaring manner.
"I'll cut to the chase then. Shero!" Luvia turns her attention to Shirou as she called him.
"Yes?" Shirou replied simply, turning his sights towards Rin's blue counterpart.
"I'd like to hire you as my temporary body guard." Luvia finally told Shirou what she wanted to say. And he would be lying if he said that he wasn't surprised by what Luvia asked him.
"What?"
"WHAT!"
Hearing Luvia ask him to be his temporary guard was a bit of a shock to Shirou even though this wasn't the first time Luvia had asked him. However, usually she wasn't serious when she asked him for it because usually she did it just to irritate Rin. However, this time she sounded quite serious.
On the other hand, Rin is seriously livid after hearing what her rival had requested to her apprentice/boyfriend. "Oh, for goodness sake, just how many times do I have to tell you this, Edelfelt! Shirou is not going to be anyone elses bodyguard. He's mine and mine alone!"
Rin practically shouted that at Luvia out of frustration. She had told the curly blonde haired magus so many times Shirou is not going to be anyone elses bodyguard except for her, and she never once listened.
"What? Why are you staring at me like that?" Rin asked Luvia who was staring at her in surprise after hearing her sudden outburst. Especially at the last part.
Meanwhile, Shirou simply look away while blushing...heavily. He can't believe that she would be the one to exposed their intimate relationship event though she's also the one who wants to keep it a secret.
"Nothing, I just never thought that you actually had such feelings for your apprentice." Luvia stated bluntly which caused Rin to turn red as red as her blouse when she realized what she basically just said on her previous outburst.
It's so embarrasing.
"So...are you and Shero are...in a relationship?" Luvia asked the current head of the Tohsaka family, and for some strange reason she sounded hesistant when she asked that question.
Rin is a well-known tsundere. So, usually when it comes to answering something embarrasing like exposing the romantical relationship that she had with her apprentice, she usually would said something to deny it.
Well, at least that was what her teenage-self would do.
Rin genuinely loved Shirou so much. He was the one who stood by her side and support her in her moments of weakness. He was the one who consoled her and helped her to move on when she was griefing over Sakura's dead.
It was all thanks to him that she could return her old life again, although she admitted that she have changed a little after that incident.
She didn't mind if her relationship with Shirou became known to the magi in the Clock Tower. After all, what's to be ashamed of by having a kind and wonderful partner like Shirou.
"Y-yeah, why? are you jealous because you still don't have a suitor yet, despite all of those assets that you have?" Rin said smugly at the curly blonde haired magus who was utterly shocked at the jab that's directed at her.
If she said that she was livid, that would be an understatement because Luvia is absolutely furious at Rin right now for poking at a very sensitive subject to her.
"Hohoho, how incredibly funny Miss Tohsaka! It really makes me want to give you a big crushing hug!" Luvia stated with her eyes twitching and her face grew tight.
"Then, by all right, please come here so that I can reach and tug that disgustingly drilled bleached hair of yours, Miss 'I can't find a lover because of her dumb fake wrestling'!"
"Can we all calm down? I thought we came here to talk." Shirou tried to call but was promptly and swiftly ignored...
"You have gone too far! Rin Tohsaka!"
"Bring it! Luviagelita Endelfet!"
And just like that, the two young women lunge at each other, the intent to hurt and humiliate one another was clear. Both of their magic circuits flare up to reinforced their limbs to go beyond super-human capabilities.
The two crashed and…!
And just fell on the ground, their limbs flailed around pathetically as the two tried to hit, tear and rip each other apart.
Meanwhile, Shirou simply sighed as he watched the fight dissolved into a mess of curses, hisses and flailing. His voice is completely unheard by both of them.
Inside the mess of tangle limbs and insults, Rin heard Shirou's resigned sigh. She knew that whenever he did something like that, it meant that something was about to screw her over, but at the moment she found herself incapable of caring as she tried punch the blonde left breast repeatedly and as hard as she could.
"Why does this always happen to me?" Shirou said while letting out a resign sigh. one of the most annoying things he had faced since joining the Clock Tower was nothing but trying to prevent these two women from attacking each other, and that was no easy task. Sometimes, every time he tried to stop their fight, he was also hit by several heavy blows from them which left him with quite serious injuries.
That was why he usually didn't want to get involved in their fights, but if he wasn't the one who had to stop their fights, then who will?
"Guess I have no other choice." Shirou muttered in a resigned tone as he prepared himself to get some beating from Luvia and Rin as he steps in to stop their brawl.
"Okay, that's enough both of you! You guys need to stop before-!" Shirou suddenly stopped talking when his nose caught the familiar scent of a chemical liquid. If he's not mistaken, he had smelled this scent during the attempted assassination process that happened to Rin and Luvia three days ago, which means...
"The Edelfelt can still mess around even though her life is currently in danger? So she really is an idiot."
"!"
Shirou widened his eyes in surprise when he suddenly heard a man's voice, he turned his gaze towards the source of the voice and he came face to face with the robed figure he saw three days ago.
And yes, the cloaked figure was none other than the assassin who almost killed Rin and Luvia before.
"Y-you are..."
"Well, well...if this isn't the young magus who have twarted my attempt to kill the current head of the Edelfelt family?" The robed figure said in an arrogant manner.
Shirou became alert after hearing the robed figure's words and prepared himself for a fight. He mentally prepare all of the weapons that he might need to fight this assasin in his minds like loading a bullet into the gun's chamber.
Meanwhile, Rin and Luvia who suddenly heard a man's voice that didn't sound like Shirou's voice, immediately stopped their fight and they saw Shirou was face to face with someone wearing a hooded robe that covered all parts of his body so they couldn't see who is the figure behind the hood. And for some reason Shirou looked so tense as he stared at the hooded figure. Whatever the reason, this made them become suspicious of the hooded figure.
"Shirou, who is that?" Rin asked while cleaning her clothes from the dust that had stuck to it from fighting with Luvia. She stares warily at the hooded figure as she do that.
"Stand back, Rin! He's the very same guy who almost killed you and Luvia-san three days ago!" Shirou warned his girlfriend which makes her and her blue counterpart become shocked at the revealation.
"WHAT?!"
Both Rin and Luvia exclaimed in surprise after being told by Shirou that the hooded guy in front of them were the assasin that almost took their lives three days ago.
The assasination attempt was already a shocking experience for the two them, but knowing that the assasin hasn't given up on his mission is quite worrying, especially for Luvia since she's apparently the assassin's main target.
He knew he should be worried about the existence of the assassin who was currently standing right in front of them because the assassin must have come here to try to kill him again because last time he failed to do his job. But even so, Luvia didn't feel so scared even though she knew her life was currently in danger.
Was it because she wasn't alone right now?
Or simply because she had Shero on her side right now who will definitely protect her from harm?
She wasn't sure which one is correct, but hopefully it was the later.
"What are you doing here?" Frowning at the hooded figure, Shirou then warily asked the assasin why he came to the clock tower again. He had his guard up, ready to jump at the assasin in case he tried to do anything funny.
"Isn't it obvious? I came back to finish what I failed to do three days ago." The assasin said easily, he had a smile right under his hood while shrugging his shoulders.
"You mean-"
"Yes, I'm here for that Edelfelt's life!" The assasin stated which caused Luvia to flinched slightly when the assasin pointing his finger at her.
"I- I see, so you came back to kill me huh, Misteri Assasin?" Luvia commented as she flicks her hair to the back, trying to muster as much confident as she could to make herself not look weak in front of the assasin. "However, I must say that you are indeed bold enough to confront me directly like this instead of trying to kill me using a sneak attack like you did three days ago."
The assasin shrugs his shoulder off at Luvia comment, "I was, but, after noticing the guy who had foiled my surprise attack three days ago is still by your side, I realized that the same trick would definitely not work. So, I decide to confront you directly instead."
"Oh, I see." Luvia said curtly, crossing her arms under her breast. "I didn't know that for an assassin, you have a certain level of chivalry."
"Not really. I'm just someone who knows when I have to take matters directly, that's all." The assasin replied in nonchalant tone.
"Oh, really?" Luvia asked sceptically, but she didn't comment further regarding the assasin's statement about himself and instead she decides to jump right to the point. "So, what now? Are you going start attacking me now? Do you think it's a wise idea to have a fight inside the Clock Tower area where many magus would come and swarm this place when they heard even one loud sound? Do you think you could get away once that happened?" Luvia asked, putting logics in her questions as she tried to play a mind game against the assasin. However, instead of faltering, the assasin simply snorts at Luvia's attempt.
"You think I'm stupid, Edelfelt? Of course I already knew about it. That's why I came here prepared." After saying his statement, the assassin then snapped his fingers, and suddenly their surroundings changed.
"Huh?!"
"What the hell?!"
"What's going on?!"
Luvia, Rin, and Shirou felt confused and astonished when they looked around their surroundings suddenly changed. The three of them who were previously inside the Clock Tower's court yard, are now in an unknown location location that looked like the ruins of a village that had been wiped out.
"What is this place?" Rin muttered as she internally wondering where they are right now. She didn't feel familiar with this place because she had never been to this location before, and neither did Shirou.
However, it seemed that Luvia knew about this place. "This place is..."
"I'm sure you know about this place Miss Edelfelt. After all, you are the one responsible for the destruction of this village."
After hearing the assassin's statement, Rin and Shirou spontaneously turned their attention towards Luvia who also turned her gaze towards the assassin at the same time.
"I did?"
""She did?!""
The three of them exclaimed in unison at the same time, but in different feelings. Rin and Shirou out of shock, while Luvia out of confusion.
"Yes, you did Miss Edelfelt!" The assasin replied with a slight growl in his voice. "You and your hired hands razed this village when you came to capture a magus who had been hunted by the Clock Tower for a long time. And I'm sure I don't need to tell you the name of the magus since you already know about his identity."
Luvia stared passively at the assasin as she tried to remember the events that has happened in this village during that time, and it didn't take her that long for her to finally remember it.
"Yes, I remember this place and the events that happened at that time. And I think I know who you are, Mister Assassin."
Hearing Luvia's words, the assassin smirked sinisterly, while Shirou and Rin felt even more confused because they both didn't understand what really happened between Luvia and the assassin because based on their conversation there seemed to be history between the two of them.
"Good! Now that you have remember, I guess that means we don't have to talk anymore." The assasin said before taking off his hood to reveal his face towards the three young magus for them to see.
The assassin turned out to be a middle-aged man who was in his late forties, he had long silver hair and piercing red eyes.
"So, it was you after all, Aleister Crowley. I thought my men had killed you four years ago." Luvia said with a grim tone, her eyes narrowed at the assasin who's now dubbed as Aleister Crowley.
"Hmph! You think a mere ether bullet could kill me, Edelfelt? Just so you know, I've become something more than a mere magus by the time your men and those Enforcers found me in this village!" Aleister stated with a hint of pride in his tone as he speaks the last sentence.
"Something more? Are you saying you have turned yourself into a dead apostle?" It wasn't Luvia who asked that question just now. It was Rin.
"Dead Apostle? No, it's not that, Miss Tohsaka. But, it is something similar though." Aleister answered Rin's question in a cryptic way.
"Why are you being so cryptic, Aleister? Can't you just tell us already?" Luvia said as she starting to feel impatient.
"And where would be the fun in that? Besides, why should I tell you when you're about to die anyway?" Aleister said mockingly at the head of the Edelfelt family.
"How confident of you, Mister Crowley. Shall we put that confendence to the test?"
"Why not?"
After saying that, both Luvia and Aleister activate their magic circuits and begin raising their power. And from the looks of it, they are about to kill each other soon enough.
However...
"Wait! What about us?" Rin suddenly piped in, drawing Aleister's attention towards her. "Me and my apprentice here has nothing to do with all this. Are you really going to kill us as well?"
Aleister chuckled after hearing Rin's question, "That was a dumb question, Miss Tohsaka. Of course I'm going the both of you as well. Although it's true that I don't have any problem with you or your apprentice, but you two are eyewitnesses here. I can't afford to have any looses end, you see."
After hearing Aleister's responds, Rin could only sighed wearily while Shirou narrowed his eyes at Aleister. It was clear to them now that they won't be able to get out of this mess without a fight.
"Well, I guess that's it then. Looks like we have no choice but to join in the fight, Rin." Shirou commented with a sigh while mentally he begin searching through his Reality Marble for a weapon that he can use in this fight.
"I know that already, Shirou. Still, I can't believe I got dragged into her mess." Rin complained lowly while pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Fine! I'll help you you this time, so you better compensate us for this later, Edelfelt!"
"Evidently." Luvia replied curtly. But, that answer was enough for Rin.
"Good. Let's get this over with then. Anfang!" Rin spoke the incantation to activate her magecraft while picturing herself getting stabbed in the chest with a dagger in her mind.
"Trace On!" Shirou did the same thing as Rin did, he activates his twenty seven magic circuits by picturing a gun's firing hammer in his mind.
"Oh, so you guys decided to fight, huh?" Aleister commented with interest after seeing the three young magus decided to fight together against him. He smirked excitedly as a sense of fighting spirit rose in his chest. "Then be my guest and LET ME TO ENTERTAIN YOU!"
With that declaration Aleister then uses his magecraft to create a giant green sphere that floats in the air in front of him.
Judging from the strong chemical scent that Shirou smells, he recognizes that giant sphere as a highly corrosive liquid.
Aleister then used his magecraft again to alter the shape of the sphere and gradually the sphere begini changing shape and transformed into a ten meter tall monster. The monster has a bull-shaped head and a stocky human body along with a tail.
That monster is none other than a Minotaur, a famous monster from the Greek mythology.
"What! He can create a freaking monster?!" Rin exclaimed in shock. She didn't expect that this magus could create a monster with his magecraft.
"Why are you so surprised, Miss Tohsaka? Of course I can create monsters with my magecraft, I'm an Alchemist after all." Aleister replied nonchalantly in prideful tone at Rin who's still stared at him in disbelief.
"But still, to create a ten meter monster to help you in battle against three greenhorn like us, don't you think you're being unfair, Crowley-san?" Shirou commented dryly while staring at the giant slime-Minatour as he mentally begin forming a plan to take down the giant.
"Unfair? What are you talking about? It is you who are being unfair because the three of you decided to gang up on me. Three against one, that's just not fair at all. So, what's wrong with me having a companion to help me in this fight?" Aleister replied to Shirou's comment casually even though the redhead knew that wasn't the real reason why he had created the gelatinous monster.
Aleister then waited a few seconds to see if anyone had any more comments from the three of them. However, looking at the three young magus didn't utter another word at all. Aleister decided that there was nothing to talk about between them anymore.
"Alright, looks like there's nothing to talk about anymore. Then, LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!" Aleister exclaimed in a style that seemed eccentric for a veteran magus like him.
"Minatour!" Aleister gave his command to the gelatinous giant.
The monster let out a deafening roar after receiving its command before delivering its giant fist towards the three young magus whom quickly reinforced their limbs and scatter to avoid the Minatour's fist strike.
Shirou stared in wonder after succesfully evading the minatour's attack that could've easily turn him into a pancake if that hits him. He couldn't believe that for an artificial monster that's created from liquid compounds, its attack was quite solid.
'Well, looks like it won't be easy.' Shirou commented mentally before tracing two magical European swords in his hands and charging towards the giant gelatinous minatour.
To be continued.
A/N : Whew...finally the second chapter is done. I must say that writing a story based on your own imagination is not as easy as I thought, I even have to rewrite this chapter for like ten times to achieve the plot that I desired. But even so, I'm not entirely confident with this chapter, but I hope its satisfying enough to read. Please leave me some reviews and let me know what you guys think.
Signed,
STAR MARSHALL.