AN: A bit of body horror ahead.
"Ruptura."
The small animated slime in front of me burst open as its insides ruptured, showering its surroundings with translucent flesh that oozed out water.
Ruptura was an advanced-level wind spell designed to excite the air inside a person's lung to such a degree that it'll cause minor tissue damage. Typically, this spell isn't lethal, the most it can do is collapse the lung. Even if it does kill it's usually due to the exciting air popping a tuberculosis granuloma, turning latent tuberculosis into active tuberculosis.
This wasn't the case with me.
The Sorcery Trait of the Barthomeloi's magic crest is 'Almighty'. In other words, my spells are like a bomb; extremely powerful but there's no precision. Subsequently, it turned a spell that's usually nonlethal into one where I can scramble the insides of an unprotected lung.
The ruptured translucent flesh of the slime quickly evaporated away as a cloud of water elemental energy. All that remained of the slime was a few droplets of... something.
I stared at the droplets.
I don't recall there being elemental slimes ever existing in ancient Britain.
Rather, I most certainly don't recall there ever being a slime creature within the Index of Phantasmal Creatures. Nor has the Department of Zoology ever recorded a slime phantasmal creature beyond those made by magus as Familiars.
The Department of Zoology is run by the Gaiuslink family, who historically listens so much to the Barthomelois that they're like puppets. Despite my family's fall from grace, I still retain major influence over Lord Gaiuslink, so I don't think he would hide it from me if there existed a phantasmal slime.
I reached into my coat and took out a pair of metal tweezers the length of my hand. Clasping onto the extremely viscous slime remains, I brought it up to the sun and stared at it.
"What are you looking at?" Paimon asked, but I was too deeply engrossed in this thing to notice.
A single casting of Structural Analysis told me this was a 'slime condensate', raw elemental energy in physical form; it's very similar to Ether Clumps.
Ether Clumps are formed from the failed materialization of Ether, the Fifth Great Element, through combination with one of the other elements.
Fascinating. During my study at the Clock Tower, I learned that Ether did not exist during the Age of Gods, so how...?
A daring idea crossed my mind, causing me to activate Thought Acceleration and Memory Partition in order to quickly comprehend this.
It is possible that Ether did exist in the far past— the evidence is clearly in front of me— but since the environment is hostile, it always failed to materialize and become Ether Clumps. Due to the mana-rich environment and Ether Clumps being an excellent conductor of magical energy, the Ether Clumps started absorbing ambient mana and eventually, through some unknown-soon-to-be-researched phenomenon, gained a magical element and a primitive form of intelligence analogous to stupid bacteria evolving into complex animals.
That's the hypothesis at least. More testing is required. For example, if that's all it requires, then this thing should be spawning all over the world during the Age of Gods, yet only in ancient Britain do I find these creatures.
There's something special about the British Isles.
The irony is not lost on me that I'm using the scientific method to research magecraft.
"It's fascinating. This..." I was about to go on a tangent as if talking to a fellow magus before stopping myself. This is Paimon, and from what little time I've spent with her, the fairy's more likely to ask if she could eat it rather than trying to know how it works.
Paimon looked confused as she hovered beside me, remarking, "how is that interesting? It's just slime condensate, they're everywhere! And they are very tasty."
"Tasty...?"
I was walking with Paimon down the beach before reaching a coastal inlet that was flanked by two tall cliff faces. Off in the distance, I could spot the waterfall that was responsible for the faint sounds of rushing water I heard previously.
A dirt road leading away from the beach showed that civilization was near. As I walked to the start of that dirt road, this slime appeared out of the tides.
I was content with observing it before the thing approached too close for comfort. Especially with the Age of Gods, you never know what damage a seemingly innocent creature might bring.
"Yeah, they taste super delicious!" Paimon hovered closer to the condensate.
Before I could do anything, the fairy opened her mouth wide and ate the slime condensate right out of the tweezers.
My lips thinned into a line at the action. Such disrespect. While outwardly I appear extremely calm, inwardly I was becoming more and more annoyed at Paimon.
Before that feeling of annoyance could fester anymore, I connected this act with the cost of me attaining a free guide to ancient Britain. Truly, there is nothing free in this world. Although it is interesting how fairies apparently find Ether Clumps delicious.
Could I use Ether Clumps as leverage against a fairy?
I was about to sterilize the tweezers before realizing bits of Paimon's saliva were on them.
I then raised the tweezers to stare at the wetness that clung to its frames.
Opportunity presents itself. I doubt it would go nicely with Paimon if I try to study it directly, such indirect ways like these are the only option left.
Using my free hand, I reached into my coat and took out a glass test tube with a rubber stopper filling up the mouth. A one-handed uncorking of the test tube later, I inserted the metal tweezer into the glass container before pushing the rubber stopper back into the mouth. I doubt Paimon even know what had just happened as I stored the test tube back in my coat's pockets.
Despite not seeing the hovering fairy, I could feel her stare at the back of my head at the apparently indecipherable actions I'm taking.
"Let's go," I said while continuing down the dirt road. Beyond being flanked by two cliff faces, there were also giant boulders jutting out of the ground that have grass growing on top of them.
"Huh? Oh, alright."
Paimon then quickly overtook me, guiding me as I followed behind her.
We walked until the sky turned orange, and the sun was just a few degrees off the horizon. Seeing how the dirt path ended with a cliff at least six meters tall, I proposed that we set up camp here. From the campsite, I could still see the long stretch of beach where we originated from.
Paimon wanted to continue before a rumbling from her stomach ceased all opposition from the fairy. Guiltily, Paimon looked over at me to see if I have any food, "do you have anything to eat?"
As a perfectionist, it is simply elementary to always carry non-perishable food with you at all times.
Thus, I wordlessly reached into my pocket and took out a small vacuum-sealed pack of beef jerky. The concept of vacuum sealing already existed in the magical world, so introducing a more accessible technology-based alternative didn't encounter too much friction.
Giving it to Paimon, the fairy seems to struggle to get the food out. Ah, that's right, fairies of over two millennias ago wouldn't have any knowledge of plastic packs...
"Give it to me," my authoritative tone left no argument as Paimon happily gave up the pack. Imagining an urge to kill, my body quickly heated up.
I held with one hand tightly to the center of the package, and with the other, tightly onto the top section, and pulled.
It took a little bit of effort, but the beef jerky was now accessible.
Offering the meat to Paimon again, she took in a deep breath of the smell coming from the now-opened package, "wow! It smells... not like anything I've ever seen! It's a good smell!"
Paimon quickly reached into the package and started chewing on the jerky, "it's... hard! A bit too hard but it's very savory, I like it!"
Using the gauntlet mystic code on my right hand, I was able to quickly dig a small ditch for the fire. While a normal aristocrat might find such acts demeaning or beneath them and demand someone else to do it, I just find such acts strangely nostalgic. Even decades later, I could still vividly remember the joy and relief I felt when I managed to start a fire in the deep countryside of Britain when I was running away from assassins.
I then hiked across the uneven terrain to one of the nearby trees. Staring at it, the tree's thickness is relatively thin, probably no more than two decades old.
I raised my right hand, imagined an urge to kill, draw the raised arm back, and punched— all in the span of two seconds.
*CRACK*
A thundering crack echoed off the cliff walls as that single Reinforced punch gouged out a large section of the tree's trunk.
*CR—CR—CRE—CREEEEEK—CRACK*
The tree quickly fell, crashing into the earth and causing clouds of dirt to be kicked up. Off in the distance, I heard the sounds of birds flapping away.
I would've used the vacuum blade, but that crack should scare away any animals and other potential intruders.
"What was that!?" I heard Paimon's worried voice as she quickly came over to the source of the loud noise, only to find me standing over a fallen tree.
I looked over at her with a dismissive gaze, "it's nothing to worry about."
"Lorelei! Please don't scare Paimon again! Paimon thought that a monster was approaching!"
"...Very well, I'll warn you next time. The firewood would be ready in a bit."
I figured I should be at least somewhat accommodating to my fairy guide. Looking up, a quarter of the sky was now showing the dark blueness that heralded the beginning of the night.
Returning my focus back to the tree, I then grabbed onto the trunk of the tree using my gauntlet, the tips of my fingers down to the bottom of my palm covering only a third of the trunk's perimeter. Holding onto that tightly, I pushed my hand down the length of the trunk, de-barking it.
"What are you doing? I thought you were collecting firewood." Paimon's face cringed at the sound of the de-barking.
My hand paused as I'm halfway down the trunk, "Collecting barks. I would rather not start a raging wildfire with a spell."
Beyond starting a campfire, there are plenty of things you can do with barks with just modern magecraft, especially in areas of Witchcraft and Pharmaceuticals. Just imagine what kind of things could I do with the barks of a tree coming from the Age of Gods.
However, that's for the future. For now, I'll need to use these barks to sustain a fire to pass the night.
Stuffing a large handful of these broken barks into a zip-lock bag and returning it to the Imaginary Numbers pocket, I then proceeded to debranch the tree by pulling and breaking the tree branches.
Once a few dozen had been collected, I strode back to base camp, with Paimon following closely behind having finished all of the jerkies.
"Do you have any more?" She asked as I started to build the base of the fire, holding out the now empty pack.
"Hold on, this should be more than filling."
I then took out a wrapped pack of pemmican.
Pemmican is a mixture of dried meat, beef fat, and dried berries. It's a super survival food that originated from Native American culture, and was popularized during the European fur trade because of how, if properly preserved, it can be safe to eat for upwards of three decades. This made it an excellent choice for the frontiers.
Historically, the pemmican is made from bison meat, but the pemmican in my hands right now is made from beef.
"What is that?" Paimon had a disgusted look on her face.
I'm not surprised Paimon finds it unappetizing, when the Director first introduced me to pemmican as a viable way to feed myself in an Ancestor's territory, I thought the thing looked like a turd.
The fairy let out a gasp as I bit into the pemmican and started chewing on it.
Greasy, salty, with a hint of sweetness coming from the dried berries, and still good to eat. Not healthy at all, so I usually only eat my source of pemmican during an emergency.
I broke off a chunk of the pemmican block and offered it to Paimon, who had a queasy look on her face.
"No thank you, Paimon's good."
Three bites later, I'm already feeling full. With how much protein and fat are in the pemmican, a few bites are more than filling.
Half of the sky above is already showing a shade of dark blue. The shadows lengthened as though trying to consume everything.
Pilling up the bark as kindling inside the hole I dug earlier, I placed my left hand above it and imagined an urge to kill. Magical energy immediately flooded my body—
"Uri."
—The kindling was all set alight, the flame consuming every part of the pile from the inside out, not a single bit was spared. Quickly, before the fire could burn itself out, I threw branches into the open flames
Uri, the weakest fire spell within the Barthomeloi magic crest. Most mages who cast it use it to light cigarettes or cause minor first-degree burns.
The darkening of the world as night descends came alongside the quiet silence. Paimon sat down next to the fire and merely watched as I set up three layers of extremely strong Bounded Field nearby.
Being in the Age of Gods, I don't exactly know just how much of their protection ability has been amplified. Further testing will be required.
"By the way, Lorelei where's your Vision?"
"Vision?" I paused as I was putting on the finishing touches for the Bounded Field. I don't recall having learned any 'Visions' other than mystic eyes.
"Yeah, your Vision. Usually, most Vision-holders have their Vision strapped to their body, so where is yours?"
"I don't have a Vision. That was magecraft."
"Magecraft? That's not just another word for Vision?"
Since she's an amnesic fairy whose been sent to accompany me by an unknown god, I decided to explain to her what magecraft is after throwing in some additional branches into the campfire, "magecraft: artificial reenactment of Mystery. To bring out what is possible through science with supernatural means."
"Uh..."
To emphasize my point, I raised my hand towards a distant tree some 13 meters away and pointed my left index finger at it.
Since my magic circuits never closed, I don't need to pull my mental trigger.
"Lignum Secare."
I then moved my wrist sideways—
*Crack*
—and the tree fell as though my finger was a knife that had cut through the trunk of the tree.
Paimon's jaw dropped at how casually I severed the trunk of that tree.
"That is magecraft. I artificially recreated the phenomenon of a tree being cut down."
"Uh-huh..." Paimon became speechless. As a fairy, you'd think she'll be Familiar with magecraft but then again, it's entirely possible for a God to have made her and only given her specific memories for the sole purpose of being my guide.
"Well, Visions are gifts bestowed by the Gods upon mortals they see as worthy."
Instantly, my interest peaked. There's barely any information within the Clock Tower about pre-Roman Britain, so any information concerning potential long-lost pagan rituals, gods, and magecrafts is welcomed.
"They allow Vision-holders to control one of the Seven Elements, Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, Hydro, Pyro, and Cryo, with a single God controlling one of the Seven Elements."
How peculiar, some of those seven elements have been categorized by Paracelsus. Perhaps since this is the past, elements like Anemo and Electro haven't combined yet? Especially since lightning spells fall under Wind Magecraft.
"And well, that's all I remember about Visions."
"When you say control, you meant something like..." Paimon doesn't know what Psychic abilities are, "... a Pyro Vision holder being able to create fire from nothing?"
Paimon nodded her head, and I fell into deep thought once more.
Very fascinating. So these Visions within pre-Roman Britain serve as some kind of portable Divine Authority given to mortals the Gods deemed worthy?
Divine Authorities are what the Clock Tower calls the power of a God; it is their domain, where specific events happen simply by the will of the Authority wielder. For example, if the Norse God of Lightning, Thor, were to simply will it, a lightning storm would occur out of the blue irrespective of how the day may have been clear.
"And you've never heard of magecraft before?" I asked after I took out a small booklet and wrote down the things Paimon told me.
The fairy nodded, "Mhmm, Visions are the only way to do the things that you appear to be able to do."
I looked over the notes I wrote: 7 Gods existed within pre-Roman Britain, these Gods give out Visions that appear to be portable Divine Authorities, and these Vision-holders seemingly have the ability to exercise these Authorities.
Seeing as how there were no records of anything related to Visions during the Roman Conquest of Britain, I inferred that as the Age of Gods come to a close, it's possible these portable Divine Authorities are either taken back by their respective Gods in an attempt to hold onto as much power as possible like grizzle bears storing up fat for the winter, or they merely became depowered.
More research is required. If possible, I'd like to examine a Vision personally.
Paimon then yawned, saying, "well, it's late, I'm going to sleep."
I've never seen a Fey sleep before— or any real fairies— so I was curious as to how they sleep.
I watched as Paimon disappeared in a shower of constellations. Phased out of existence, the only evidence of the fairy ever being next to me was by the fading particles of light connected to each other via lines that give the impression of a constellation of stars.
"..." I stared at the spot where Paimon had disappeared in. So that's how a Fey sleeps? They... disappear? Become invisible?
Reactively, I touched the space that Paimon had occupied before disappearing, only to touch air.
They did disappear.
Such a casual display of extreme spatial manipulation, for the purpose of sleeping. I was a bit stumped as my eyes stared blankly at the place where Paimon had existed a few seconds ago. I guess anything from the Age of Gods is built differently.
Although, a sense of excitement filled my heart as I couldn't help but smile. I too will be able to so casually control the fabric of spacetime like a weaver handling the fabric of a cloth soon.
I've been given a rare opportunity. I... a strange compulsion caused my jaw to stretch as far it can go, air came through the opening as I yawned.
I felt my eyelid become incredibly heavy, my limbs, and my entire body felt like they weigh heavier than a truck.
That reminds me, it has been 9 hours since my last nap. The Uberman sleep cycle calls for six 20-minute naps every 4 hours, I'm way overdue for a power nap. I stared blankly at the fire, a mental fog clouded my mind and prevented me from doing much thinking.
Moments later, both of my hands reached up and behind my head, taking out the hair tie and undoing the ponytail. Sophistication left me like water evaporating off of a pan during summer, with my hair down my head, I no longer look like someone in control of their situation, instead, I look like an individual fresh out of college with no clue about the wider world.
I felt vulnerable like this, but I was so tired I couldn't care any less. My mind then justified this temporary vulnerability by saying how I'll wake up in less than an hour. I am a rather light sleeper.
I closed my eyes and fell asleep not a moment after.
It was the triggering of my outermost Bounded Field of detection that woke me.
I've set up three layers of Bounded Field. The outermost is that of detection and it has a radius of 300-meters. The middle one is that of aversion. With a radius of 100-meters, this Bounded Field causes any sapient things to enter it to feel immense dread like it was entering into somewhere they shouldn't. The final and innermost layer is the Bounded Field of protection, a literal forcefield 30-meters across that can effortlessly deflect away depleted uranium rounds from a tank.
Usually, the outermost Bounded Field wouldn't alert me of small creatures like birds or insects since there are easily close to a million such small critters within a 0.28 square kilometer area, however, I instructed the Bounded Field to alert me should it detect bipedal humanoids.
The humans during the Age of Gods were said to be much stronger than modern humans. Eventually, I'd like to test this hypothesis and see just how much stronger ancient humans are.
Quietly, I got up, making not a single sound. The campfire was still crackling away, so with a single casual swing of my arms, it was extinguished.
Taking out one of the hair ties, the loop shifted and transformed into a hummingbird. A temporary Familiar for the purpose of spying.
Seeing through the eyes of the bird Familiar, I heard the minor humming of its wings as it started the climb up above the twin cliffside.
Soaring through the skies at speeds quick enough to cause visible bruises if it impacted against a human, the bird Familiar rendezvous with the intruder and—
It's not a human.
The most striking thing about the humanoid was that it had a large mane like that of a lion and was wearing a white mask with horns on top. It looked like a caveman but with dark skin, two rabbit-like ears, three toes, and five fingers. It was carrying a torch as it strode about on top of one of the nearby cliffs.
So it's a goblin then? Goblins are common in English, Scottish, and Irish folklore. Typically they are seen as evil or mischievous spirits who either kill or play pranks on humans. It appears the record of goblins possessing green skin is false.
I set the Familiar to secretly follow the goblin as I return to my physical body. A hint of vertigo hit me like a snowball as I quickly acclimated from suddenly flying to a stationary position.
The first time I returned I almost puked from the disorientation.
Taking out an enchanted comb with very fine teeth, I brushed my hair with no wasted movements. In just 8 strokes, any knots of hair or bits of dirt within the entirety of my hair were brushed off by the superfine comb.
A Barthomeloi must always look perfect. They must appear elite and untouchable, with not a single part of themselves out of place.
With one hand grouping up my hair and the other scooping up those, my mouth held onto the remaining hair ties as I got to work redoing the ponytail.
Believe it or not, there's an art to binding one's hair. It took me close to two weeks for me to practice the perfect form for it to become muscle memory.
Thus, I easily recreated my ponytail with not a single hair out of place.
My posture shifted, and my head held high once more. No longer do I look like someone out of their depth; I now looked dignified, like a true aristocrat.
Using Reinforcement on my legs, I leaped up to the tip of the six-meter-tall cliff with a single jump. I found the flowing waterfall in the distance.
Sensing the Familiar is now close to a third of a mile away, I decided to not use flight magecraft. That spell is very taxing, and it only becomes more efficient the longer I use it.
With another leap, my gauntlet hand dug into the side of another 13-meter-tall cliff face as I started climbing. I wasn't even sweating when I reached the top.
The Familiar was still a couple of hundred meters away on top of another cliff.
Looking up at the half-hundred-meter-tall cliff, I don't recall Britain ever being this mountainous. If it was South America or Tibet I'd understand, but wow these are some sharp cliffs.
It took around two minutes for me the reach the top and see a small clearing within the tall foliage that crowned the small cliff. Overlooking this small cliff was another even taller cliff that seems to reach into the skies themselves.
That must be Starsnatch's Cliff.
Returning my attention back to the clearing, I found a small group of three goblins patrolling around the area. One of the three carried a crossbow of all things.
So they aren't like cavemen. They must have some degree of civilizational hierarchy going on, with higher goblins delegating tasks to lower goblins.
These must be the lower grunts of goblin society.
Fascinating. Should I go for indirect study or direct study? An indirect study would grant me anonymity, allowing me to potentially be on friendly terms with these goblins should communication be possible.
On the other hand, if I do go for direct study...
Due to Barthomeloi's crest having the Sorcery Trait of Almighty, I can't perform delicate magecrafts like spiritual surgery. I am a bomb, a hammer, and you don't use a hammer to cut open a patient and expect them to survive.
At the same time, I do have more than one try. My lips pursed, direct study it is.
Reaching into my pocket, I took out a long, hollow wooden tube decorated with feathers from exotic birds. A blowgun mystic code.
It was a gift from the chieftain of a tribe deep in the Amazon Rainforest. A Dead Apostle was seeking to clear out a section of the Amazon for their own use, so they started slaughtering whole tribes until I came crashing in like a meteor and murdered all the bloodsuckers in a single night.
In the morning, as the Rainforest burned behind me, one of the elder chieftains approached cautiously with several hunters. They laid down the blowgun on the ground no less than five meters away, spoke in an unknown language, and groveled.
Possessed by a spirit through the use of Shamanism, a school of magecraft viable only in places like the Amazon, the darts coming out of this tube will always travel in a straight line, never deviating from the effect of wind.
Quiet, easily concealable, and deadly: it would've been the perfect assassination weapon if the range and speed could be a bit better.
Loading a dart coated in paralysis poison, I stalked the goblins from behind a tree. My movements were graceful as I steadily approached them.
Standing behind a tree, I peeked over the trunks and spotted the three goblins.
Taking in a deep breath, I carefully aimed the blowgun at the furthest goblin away and blew into it.
A gap of 20-meters was crossed in less than a second. The poisoned dart punched through the mane of the goblin and delivered its poison.
The other two goblins were instantly on alert when the target fell to the grass. The one with the crossbow stood on a rocky outcrop while the other one held a torch, the former started surveying the edge of the forest closest to the fallen goblin and the latter went to investigate its compatriot.
Just as planned.
Loading in another dart, I shot down the crossbow goblin. The last standing goblin must've somehow seen me, evident by how it started wildly swinging the torch in its hand as it charged toward me.
The goblin didn't even reach the halfway point before a dart stabbed into its chest. Not wanting to start a wildfire, I blitzed forward and grabbed the torch before it could touch the grassy ground underneath the goblin.
Darkness followed the absolute silence after I blew out the torch. The only light that existed was that coming from the Moon above.
Before I could study them, I first elected a Bounded Field so that I won't be disturbed. Next, I imagined an urge to kill and cast "Lux."
Immediately, several bulbs of ghostly light coalesced around me, lighting up the forest clearing as though it was late morning. With the Bounded Field in place, no one should notice how this clearing was shining like a lighthouse.
I then took out a booklet and pen, jars of preservatives, a bottle of transparent rubbing alcohol, a container filled with several scalpels, tweezers, measuring tape, and a pair of plastic medical gloves.
All sterile of course, I always made sure to clean them after use.
With a single 'come here' gesture, one of the ghostly lights neared as I flipped the goblin that wielded the torch onto its back.
Being this close, I was able to see how closely the physiology resembled a chimpanzee with how muscular they are. Thus, the first thing I did was to get a measurement of how tall the goblin was.
"Goblin #1, height: 155.9 centimeters." I wrote in the booklet. Next, I murmured out a wind spell to telekinetically lift the goblin, finding its weight to be: "56 kilograms. Goblin #1 is highly fit if compared to a human. Further testing of strength and speed will be required."
Stripping them of any clothing, I discovered that this was a male specimen. "Goblins reproduce sexually. They appear to possess gonochorism, or where there are two sexes. A female subject is required for further validation of this theory."
Taking off the mask, I discovered that they possessed eerily human-like features. Maybe this goblin is a subspecies of the homo sapien sapiens? Perhaps an ancient mage created these chimeras from a mixture of a lion (the mane) and human parts?
Grabbing the bottle of cleaning alcohol and uncorking it, my nose was instantly assaulted by the smell. Cringing slightly was the only response I gave before I got ahold of a pair of tweezers with a cotton ball held between the tips.
Thoroughly dunking the cotton ball in the alcohol and rubbing it all over the goblin's chest and stomach, I started on the next step of a live dissection: cutting them open.
Using a long scalpel, I drew a long line of several at the center from the bottom of its ribcage all the way down to its pelvis. Since this is a dissection, I proceeded to rip open the skin and fat lining which holds the organs to find that the goblins indeed possess an almost exact replica of a human's inside.
Fascinating.
A large amount of red blood started pooling around the inside of the goblin. It appears I nicked the stomach and the intestines.
I could hear the minuscule beating of this goblin's heart slowing down. Using the scalpel, I then opened up the stomach to find a mixture of what appeared to be half-digested fruits and leaves.
Having a suspicion, I pried open the goblin's mouth and found there is a mixture of molar and incisor teeth.
So they're omnivores. It seems goblins aren't spirits, at least not the ones in Britain.
And it seems this goblin's heart stopped beating. Cutting the two ends, I scooped out the small and large intestines. They're squishier than a human's, and from a glance, I estimate them to be at least 5 meters long.
Doing some quick math comparing an adult human and this goblin's length, I found that the ratio between height and intestine length is almost the same. Fascinating, it really does seem like these goblins are a perversion of the human form.
Next, I reached in and took out the liver. The dark red mass was oozing with blood, as expected since it's the organ that purifies the scarlet liquid. I then forced the organ through the mouth of one of the jars of preservatives.
The liver, as the organ that cleans the blood, has many uses in flesh crafting and necromancy. I plan on testing these organs and seeing what I could do with them after I've set up a new workshop.
For the first time coming to this world, a droplet of sweat dripped down my forehead. After the liver, I harvested the heart, the brain, and the eyes of the goblin; the only really important organs for now since I don't have a proper workshop set up.
Given more jars, I'd like to preserve the whole body for study.
Moving on to the next goblin, I repeated the previous process and then tried to harvest its soul. The effort failed when the spiritual mass simply shattered beyond recognition and passed on instead of coming into the prepared container.
Sometimes, I really would've liked it if my spells were just a little bit weaker.
With only the body remaining, I made several incisions around the thing's penis and bladder, carefully not to damage the organs as I remove and store them. Historically, animal bladders and penises were used for medicinal purposes, just imagine the things I could do with this phantasmal beast's organs in Alchemy.
For the final goblin, I tried to harvest its soul again but just like last time, it shattered. Seeing as how this was a female, I harvested and preserved its breast, ovaries, throat, and tongue.
In the future, I'd like to see if I could potentially create my own versions of goblins.
After everything is done, the jars and tools were all stuffed away safely in the Imaginary Numbers pocket, I dispersed the ghostly lights and saw that the night sky was a shade brighter. I looked around me at the bloody scene, three opened bodies that'll probably attract scavengers and other carrion feeders.
Not a single drop of blood stained my clothing.
I balled up the pair of plastic gloves and "Uri"
*WOOSH*
The gloves were burned away with not even ashes remaining.
"Uri. Uri. Uri."
All of the bodies and their fluids were removed from the world with controlled burning. The only that proved these goblins had existed once was the patches of burnt grass.
Only one and a half hours have passed between my waking up and cleaning the evidence.
I pushed in my glasses with my head held up high. Elegant, clean, and perfect. Just as it should be. Walking away as though I hadn't just performed multiple dissections which would cause my past self to be queasy, I jumped off the cliff.
Using magecraft, instead of falling and becoming a red spot on the ground, I drifted and glided to the campsite, Paimon was still nowhere to be seen.
I don't feel any bit tired since I had just taken a long power nap less than two hours ago, so I entertained myself by planning for what was next.
At least that's what I'd like to have done, but I really don't have any information about pre-Roman Britain.
But that could easily change.
An idea appeared in my mind when the hummingbird Familiar returned to my hands and shifted back into a hair tie.
Using some of my extra hair ties, a vulture Familiar was now standing on my arms. Throwing the thing into the air, the vulture took flight and started scouring the area. Looking through its eyes, I could see the titanic cliffs which flank the valley I'm in. Further west, or in the direction where the sun had fallen, I found a large lake with an island in the center. What's interesting about that island is that there's a statue on it.
Looking at the statue, I couldn't help but feel intimidated, as though that statue was angry at me for some reason.
The person depicted in the statue is most likely one of the Seven Gods of ancient Britain.
This scouting continued until sunrise. I found numerous of those goblin camps littered all over the place. Interestingly, within some of those campsites appeared to be a larger version of those goblins, wielding either giant axes or wooden shields. Are they hobgoblins?
So many questions.
Feeling a new presence appear next to me, I used Memory Partition to create multiple rooms for my mind, allowing me to both chats with the newly woken Paimon and observe the surrounding cliffs and forest.
The fairy stretched as she hovered two feet off the ground, "that was a good sleep! Lorelei, how was yours?"
"Mine was well, there were no disturbances." I lie with my face completely still. How to lie convincingly was one of the first skills I learned under the tutorage of the Director.
Paimon's stomach then rumbled. She looked at me guiltily, "do you have any more food?"
In response, I wordlessly took out a pack of beef jerky. Paimon excitedly accepted it, this time opening the pack without my help.
As she ate, the fairy looked up at the cliff which we were camping beside. Swallowing the first batch of jerkies, Paimon continued, "well the path ends here. Lorelei, can you climb up this cliff? This is the shortest path to Mondstadt."
"Mondstadt?"
"Yeah! It's the largest settlement within the Land of the Anemo Archon."
Mondstadt literally means 'Moon City' in German. I want to ask why is German in ancient Britain, but I guess it's possible some things are lost in translation. I mean, this is a Fey speaking modern English.
"Hey Paimon, can you understand me?" I spoke this time in Esperanto.
"Yeah, Paimon totally can. Is something the matter?" Paimon replied in modern English.
I see, so the medium (language) used doesn't matter, Paimon understands the content just as well.
Fascinating, I wonder if Paimon could decode hidden meanings within words. I guess I'll need to be more careful around her.
"Nothing," I threw the plastic packages that contained the jerkies that Paimon ate into the fire pit.
Ignoring Paimon's inquisitive gaze, I murmured out a quick Earth spell from the Barthomeloi magic crest that buried our extinguished firepit and plastic garbage under a pile of dirt. That pile of dirt then flattened itself as blades of grass reclaimed the barren surface.
No one would ever suspect that two travelers had stopped by here to camp, as all traces disappeared from the face of the world.
After that was done, I started climbing the cliff we had rested under. Once I reached the top, I found Paimon already there.
Well, it does make sense since she could fly.
Looking down the new dirt road, I saw that it was flanked by two rocky outcrops that similarly have grass and trees growing on them. Further down the road, I spotted the tall waterfall I saw last night.
The first day's travel was relatively uneventful. The vulture Familiar didn't spot any humans, only more encampment of those masked goblins. The uneventfulness continued until I passed by the lake that the waterfall was pouring into and found a tree possessing strange, never-seen-before fruits growing on top of them.
These fruits looked like pears. They aren't green, they're a gradient of red on the bottom that slowly turns yellow the more one moves up the fruit to its stem.
"Oh, that's a Sunsettia! They're super sweet and super delicious."
Paimon called out while I just stared at the fruit, having pulled it into my hands with magecraft.
The fairy then recoiled as I ripped the fruit in two, its juice seeping through the cracks like the whites of an egg, and covered my hands. The inside was extremely juicy as though it were an orange while the skin had the texture and appearance of an apple. The seeds were small and spread all around the sides of the fruit with seemingly no pattern.
I've never seen this type of fruit before. Even within the deepest depth of the Barthomeloi Estate's botanic garden where certain plants from the Age of Heroes were still cultivated, I have never seen anything even remotely resembling this fruit.
It's... quite possible that Sunsettia is some kind of magical fruit that went extinct with the Age of Gods. That would explain how there were no records of its existence within the modern world.
More research is required.
I took small bites out of this fruit, not caring at all how it could be poisonous.
"Hrmm."
The fruit's taste is a bit too sour for me, but since Paimon clearly likes the fruit, a way to earn some of her gratitude opened up in front of me.
Thus I offered the remaining uneaten chunks to Paimon, who promptly scarfed up the fruit in several bites.
I then took out a handkerchief and wiped away the juices on my hand. Paimon hummed in joy at the same time from the apparent enjoyment of the fruit.
So fairies enjoy fruits as something akin to snacks?
Dragon.
My observation of the fairy was cut short when my vulture Familiar spotted what appears to be a blue gods-be-damned dragon in the far distance, barely visible but seemingly approaching my location.
AN: I try and scale Genshin's world correctly.
If it isn't obvious, Lorelei is not a good guy. She would get along almost swimmingly with Dottore and would agree with his human experimentation if it's done in small quantities.
