Chapter Four "New Mage"
"Rin, you should be grateful that Garrick Ollivander didn't die," Shirou glared at Rin.
"Hey, how was I supposed to know that what I said would trigger a heart attack? Besides I unblocked the blocked blood vessel that caused his heart attack so I deserve some slack." Rin grumbled as she led Shirou through King's Cross Station.
"Since Garrick is still alive and you helped cure his heart attack I will let this go," Shirou sighed as he followed Rin.
Shirou took out the newly made wand that Garrick Ollivander had made for him. It was a simple wand of black and white. He was reminded of Yin and Yang every time he saw his wand. Well that seemed kind of obvious since his wand was made out Kanshou and Bakuya, which represented Yin and Yang. Yet it was very different from other wands which were normally made out of some sort of wood. That wasn't the only thing unusual aspect about his wand. His wand possessed an otherworldly aura that made it seem vastly different from other wands. Anyone could feel the power it contained compared to its peer.
"I feel very strange carrying a Mystic Code. The only Mystic Code I readily carried on my person was my battle clothes, the Red Plain Mystic Code. Anything else I needed was either temporary tools that I discarded after use or created through Tracing." Shirou remarked.
"You need to fix that habit of yours. The terminology of Mystic Code is only used by mages. You will give your identity as a mage away if a wizard or witch was to hear you." Rin chided Shirou. "I am kind of jealous of you. You basically have a wand made out of a Noble Phantasm…"
"Pfft…" Shirou laughed. "You could easily get your hands on a wand made out of a Noble Phantasm. As an Edelfelt in this life, money is not something you are short on. Getting your hands on fragments or a complete Noble Phantasm is simple for you. If you don't want to use money you can always count on me to provide you with one."
"I was only remarking on fortunate you are," Rin grumbled. "Of course, I could get a wand made out of a Noble Phantasm but I am not you, who relies greatly on Noble Phantasms to fight. I prefer to use gem-based mystic codes."
A shiver ran down his spine. Shirou unconsciously stared at the jewelry that Rin openly wore and the hidden gems on her body. While none of her gems possessed the quality to rival the most famous Noble Phantasms, they could rival lesser or average Noble Phantasm with ease if Rin was willingly to sacrifice them for a short explosive burst of power.
"How could I forget," Shirou muttered.
"Here we are," said Rin as she stopped and pointed at a pillar. "We have arrived at the entrance of Platform 9 ¾."
Not too far away from Shirou spotted a group of wizards and witches. He knew this because of their style of clothing This group of red-haired people that were likely family given their physical similarities.
"Now, what's the platform number?" The mother of the red-haired family asked with a smile.
"Nine and three-quarters!" A small girl piped in. "Mom, can't I go...?"
"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."
What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Shirou watched as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms. The older boy slowly walked into what was a stone pillar and vanished.
"Fred, you're next," said the plump woman.
"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother. Can't you tell I'm George?"
"Sorry, George, dear."
"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went to vanish like his older brother.
The third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier and disappeared.
Shirou continued to watch until the mother and daughter left the hidden entrance of Platform 9 ¾.
"Ha, I didn't expect to see the famous Weasley family here at out all things," said Rin in amazement.
"Are they famous?" Shirou asked.
"Well it depends from your perspective. If you are a mage the Weasleys are famous and to wizardkind they are infamous." Rin replied. In response, Shirou gave her a questioning look. "Much of the Weasley's fame comes from the family head, Arthur Weasley. The Weasley Patrarich is actively involved in the mage and muggle world. He is famous for being amongst the most wealth and influential figure in both the muggle and mage world. There is also his tendency to live a simple lifestyle despite his wealth that makes him famous."
"I presume this Arthur Weasley has an infamous reputation because wizardkind don't look kindly upon mages and muggles." Shirou concluded.
"That's right," Rin nodded her head. "Well we have wasted enough time here. Let's go before we miss the train."
Rin was the first to walk through the hidden entrance. He soon followed behind. Shirou saw a platform and a train. The scarlet steam engine with a sign overhead said, "Hogwarts Express, eleven O'clock." Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.
Shirou looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. He also noticed that there were a number of other similar archways, which were likely other entrances to the hidden platform. Taking special care, Shirou mentally noted them in case he had to ever use them without Rin to guide him in the future.
The reincarnated boy turned to see if there was available seating in the train. The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Shirou walked down the platform in search of an empty seat. He got onto the nearest train carriage and began walking around, looking for any empty compartments. By the time he found an empty compartment and sat down was when the train began to move.
"One tradition I wished that had gotten rid of was the Hogwarts Express. Now I am going to have to wait several hours." Rin sighed as she entered the train compartment and sat down. "I am already starting to miss the super-convenient teleportation system used at Clocktower…"
"Did you say, 'super-convenient teleportation system used at Clocktower,' right?!" A brushy, brown haired girl shouted in a very excited and curious tone as she opened the door into the compartment.
"I did," Rin nodded her head. "Who are you and why did that phrase make you so curious and excited that you rudely entered this compartment and shouted at us?"
"I am Hermione Granger." The girl introduced herself. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself." She blushed in embarrassment. "What you said is a secret code phrase used by a really mysterious group in an online game I play."
"Oh," Rin hummed in a very intrigued tone and she seemed to forget all about the girl's rudeness. "My name is Rin Edelfelt. A pleasure to meet you." She greeted as she sat up and bowed. "My friend besides me is Shirou Emiya." Shirou bowed after Rin's introduction. "This online game you refer to. Does that happen to be called the Clocktower Online?"
"Clocktower Online? Is that what a game is really called? I am amazed the Association hasn't sued the gaming company for using the name of their headquarters in such an offensive manner." Shirou inquired with passing curiosity.
"Well… It's the Clocktower that runs and develop the game… It was a project initiated at the order of Zelretch." Rin replied in an awkward tone.
"Zelretch?! You cannot mean Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg?! The owner of Clocktower Gaming, which runs and develops Clocktower Online?!" Hermione screamed like a fangirl hearing about their idol.
Shirou was left dazed. It was not the sound that affected him. Far from it. Only something like a bomb exploding beside him could he be left dazed by sound. What he was hearing from Hermione about Zelretch was why he was left dazed. Zelretch was the very last person he would expect from being involved with a videogame.
"Interesting… You are a witch no doubt, yet you don't seem to know Clocktower Online is an online stimulator used to train mages in a safe environment and collect data. Hermione, you must be a Muggleborn Witch, correct?" Rin asked and looked at Hermione as if she was trying to peer into the girl's soul.
"Yes," Hermione nodded furiously and her voice started to become high-pitched. "The conspiracy theories are true! The Clocktower Online is actually run by the occult and trying to recruit new blood!" Hermione shouted excitingly as she started to jump up and down.
"Calm down, Hermione." Shirou commanded using the charisma and authority that he had honed. The girl seemed to calm down a lot after hearing Shirou. He turned his attention to Rin. "I kind of get the gist, but can you explain everything to me clearly."
"The Clocktower Online game, or known by most mages as the Stimulator, was a project of grand-scale launched by Zelretch. It was originally designed for educational and training purposes. Later it started to expand in scope and purpose. One aspect of the Stimulator, which Hermione talked about, is the Gaming Recruitment Initiative." Rin explained to Shirou.
"I take it that this the Association trying to use soft power to influence the minds of children, teens and young adults with a videogame being a cover. The gamers will think the 'magic' and related topics presented in a videogame is all fiction and when it is revealed later that everything that they had learned in the videogame is real, they will less likely fear it as they had been unconsciously come to understand it." Shirou said as he predicted what the Mages Associations' plans would be.
"Yea. Your guess is spot on." Rin nodded. "Hiding the existence of magic is starting to become more difficult as science and technology continues to progress. Eventually, there will be a slip and magic will no longer a secret. If that is to happen we are looking at likely a global civil strife and wars at the anger and disbelief something akin to global conspiracy has hidden from them for centuries. So, Gaming Recruiting Initiative is one of many plans to prepare the general public for the eventual reveal and soften the revelation that magic is real."
Hermione, who was listening Shirou and Rin talk to each other, could not believe what she was hearing. What she heard was straight out of the conspiracy theories. All the passion and excitement she had about hearing about her favorite game and superstar quickly seemed like a thing of the past. Her head started to hit when she started to understand everything that had been said to horrible results. She was smart for her age, but she was still a child at the cusp of her teenage years.
"Sorry about that," said Rin as she recalled she was not alone with Shirou. "There were several things my friend didn't know so I was explaining to him. I wasn't ignoring you on purpose."
"We shouldn't have had this discussion here," Shirou sighed as he saw Hermione's expression as if her innocent and naivety of a young teen had been shattered. "You have already taken the first steps down the rabbit hole. Do you still want to know more or want to forget what you just heard?"
"I…" Hermione stammered as she became confused in her decision-making.
"It might be too early, but Hermione what you had just heard is something that you would have bound to learn eventually later in several months or years," said Rin in soothing tone. "I promise you that the mage world is incredibly more exciting and broader than the wizardkind world that you are entering as a Hogwarts student despite how overwhelming and dark it might seem."
"It's not just an exciting and broader world waiting you," said Shirou with a warm smile. "Since you played this 'Clocktower Online,' you can be considered a recruitable budding talent. I will give you some basic information that every mage knows. There are two transnational organizations that you should know of. They are the Mage's Association and the Holy Church. These two organizations are the superpowers of mage world. They decide the rules and their influence can be felt everywhere."
"The Holy Church?!" Hermione repeated in fearful tone as she recalled what she was, a witch.
"The witch hunts of the past cannot happen again. That would literally trigger a global war between the Mage's Association and Holy Church. One of the founding purposes of the Mage's Association was to protect the lives, wealth and influence of mages." Shirou explained.
"Thank god… That is good to hear." Hermione sighed in relief. "The Holy Church refers to which of the major branches of Christianity does that name refer too?"
"The Holy Church represents all interpretation of the Biblical God; Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It unifies the resources and influence under one centralized organization." Rin added.
Hermione's eyes widened in disbelief at the notion of such a monstrous organization. The sheer amount of resources and influence made her head turn. Her mind started to have some questions. She wanted to learn the history of the Holy Church as it seemed like a very interesting topic.
"The Mage's Association is very similar to the Holy Church. It's just instead of representing few major groups, it represents the interests of all mages around the world," said Rin. "There are plenty of other powerful organizations around the world but you don't need to know them for now."
"Okay," Hermione nodded. "I have been wondering and have been making some guesses, but what are the differences between mages and wizardkind? I never knew another group of magic-users existed and mages never appeared in any of the books that I have read."
"Well…" Rin paused for a moment. "Besides finding mages in children's tales and wizardkind fiction as the villain, you could be hardpressed to find any factual information regarding mages. Mages have until very recently never had a good reputation… and were akin to mad scientist that were willingly to do anything and everything in the pursuit of magic. It was so bad that mages were nearly on the same level as the Nazis… by the wizardkind…"
"What?" Hermione asked as she unconsciously backed away from Shirou and Rin.
"When did our reputation change?" Shirou asked as he knew the infamous reputation of mages that Rin was talking about as it seemed the same from his previous life.
"The reputation that you're thinking changed…" Rin said as she read Shirou's mind. She Suddenly realized that Hermione was still around and that Rin didn't want her to hear what next was said to Shirou. It was not just our reputations that changed. The way moral and ethical standards of mages have also changed. This started when Zelretch stopped peering and travelling into the multiverse to focus more on this world. Zelretch started purging the Mage's Association.
Shirou shivered. An angry Zelretch was not a laughing matter. If nothing short of the most powerful Divine Spirits, Types or planetary consciousness acted nothing could stop Zelretch. Only a nuclear arsenal could rival Zelretch's power. Shirou could imagine how blood and violent Zelretch's purge would have been if people resisted him.
What would have caused Zelretch to purge the Mage's Association? Shirou couldn't help but ask.
This world is facing a calamity of gigantic proportions. The nature of the threat escapes Zelretch's ability. He only knows that humanity might become extinct, and if it somehow manages to survive it would be too weakened to fight back against the Phantasmal Species and Divine Spirits thirsting for revenge for banishing them to the Reverse Side of the World. Rin replied.
So Zelretch is eliminating the internal strife that would no doubt sap away at the Associations manpower and resources if the calamity was to befall. The "reforming of morals and ethics of mages" was to make our image and reputation better so diplomacy with other groups like the Holy Church stance against mages more amicable and increasing the chances of diplomatic deals. Shirou stated his interpretations of Zelretch's intention.
You are right, Rin nodded. There is so much Zelretch could do. Human nature never changes. What Zelretch did was change the laws and made a show of force to demonstrate that he was willingly to carry out the laws he introduced.
"Argh…" Hermione spoke up, causing Shirou and Rin to snap out of their telepathically conversation. "Do you two of you need more time?"
"No," said Shirou and Rin.
"Is there some more basics I should know about mages?" Hermione asked curiously.
"There is plenty, but I have something like a book I want to give you." said Rin as she searched her pockets and withdraw a small syringe. "Inside this will be nanomachines that every mage uses."
Hermione looked at Rin really conflicted. She was starting to trust Rin, but she wasn't at the point that Hermione was willingly to put her lives in Rin's hands. The idea of injecting nanomachines into his body also unnerved her. She had read/watched enough Sci-Fi books/films to have some idea what nanomachine should be capable of.
"Trust me, Hermione." Rin stared at Hermione with a comforting smile. "The nanomachines come from a trusted source. It comes from Zelretch himself."
"Zelretch!" Hermione shouted in excitement. "This really belonged to Zelretch?!"
"You can see for yourself," said Rin as she materialized a small holographic projector and threw it on the ground. "He should be appearing right about… now!"
The holographic image that appeared made Hermione cheer. She recognized the appearance of her idol anyway. Hermione squealed in excitement and she eagerly waited to hear the man talk.
"Oh, interesting," said Zelretch as he curiously inspected Hermione. "You must be Hermione Jean Granger."
"Yes, that is me!" Hermione squealed. "It is an honor to meet you, Sir Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg!"
"This is my apprentice, Rin Edelfelt," said Zelretch as he pointed at Rin. "The nanomachines that my apprentice wants to inject you comes from myself."
"I would be honored to be injected by nanomachines given by you, sir!" Hermione shouted as she looked at the syringe in Rin's hands with glowing eyes.
"I would be happy to talk to you, Miss Granger, but alas I am pressed for time." Zelretch sighed. "I hope we can talk another time."
"It is an honor to even get to talk to you this long!" Hermione shouted like a crazy fangirl. "Please have a good day!"
Zelretch made a warm smile as he looked at Hermione before his holographic image disappeared.
"Here we go then," said Rin as she placed the syringe against Hermione's neck. "This might feel weird, but you get used to it quickly."
A barely noticeable pain prickled Hermione's neck. She quickly felt that something foreign connecting to her mind. Hermione began to feel the world in another light that she had been completely unaware off.
"Wow…" Hermione said in an overwhelmed tone as she felt tired with the influx of information that she had never encountered before.
"Imagine closing your eyes or tuning out." Rin advised.
"That really helped out," said Hermione and she felt a great burden being taken off her following Rin's advice. "I felt like an entirely new world was opened to me. Doors I would have never known about being."
"You have entered the mage world. You just experienced your first time in Spirit Hacking." Rin said in welcoming tone.
"Spirit Hacking?" Hermione repeated the unfamiliar word.
"Spirit Hacking is a relatively new field of magic compared to the other arcane disciplines that have a history dating back centuries and the oldest magic been founded at the dawn of human civilization. Zelretch was the one to discover and pioneer Spirit Hacking." Shirou explained.
"Imagine your brain becoming a literal computer. Spirit Hacking is capable of doing whatever a computer is capable of." Rin said with a smile. "Oh, I forget to mention. Welcome to the ranks of mages."
"You mean, Spirit Hackers." Shirou corrected Rin. "Spirit Hackers are the newest breed of mages and just about all mages in our generation and then one before us are. Only the mages that are two generations and older are Spirit Hackers a minority or non-existent."
"Oh, thanks for the clarifications." Hermione smiled gratefully. "I was wondering… What is the origin for the name, Spirit Hacker?"
"Spirit Hacking literally involves infusing part of your soul in the electronics that you interface with. And the reason it isn't Soul Hacking is because the atoms of the soul is called Spiritron." Rin explained.
"Don't get too excited to try out your newfound ability of Spirit Hacking," said Shirou as he saw Hermione's curiosity of Spirit Hacking. "Hogwarts will not have anything to practice your Spirit Hacking on. Wizardkind don't use electronics in general and their magic tends to kill anything that uses electrical signals."
Hermione looked at the ground in a downcast manner when she heard Rin. She had been so eager to practice Spirit Hacking.
"I have plenty of mage tech with me. So, you can practice Spirit Hacking with my stuff." Rin quickly spoke up to cheer Hermione. Hermione beamed as a response. "I hate to say this but don't try to use Spirit Hacking or tell anyone that you're a mage. Mages are not welcomed by wizardkind. We are often discriminated against and at best barely tolerated. So, I suggest you keep your identity as a mage a secret."
"Why…?" Hermione wanted to ask, but she was interrupted.
"Hermione it is something that you will not understand at your age." Shirou interrupted in a wise tone.
"I am the same age as you!" Hermione shouted as she glared at Shirou.
"Physically," Shirou smiled wryly. "Mentally Rin and I are more like adults considering our experiences…"
"That is an understatement…" Rin snorted and soon started to laugh. She started to calm down when she saw Hermione's confused look. "Just trust us, Hermione. It is for your own good." Hermione bore doubting look. "Zelretch would say the same."
"Really?!" Hermione repeated as her eyes lit up in excitement at the idea that Zelretch would say the same thing.
"Really." Rin nodded. "If you don't believe me I can connect you to him if you want."
"I trust you," said Hermione in a convinced tone as Rin had some believable backing as Zelretch's apprentice. "I am still unfamiliar with Spirit Hacking so I cannot access the database inside the injected nanomachines. These are the questions about mages…"
"We have arrived at Hogwarts!" A voice sounded over the train intercom. "Please don't forget to check your belongings that you have everything before disembarking. I hope you had an enjoyable time on the Hogwarts Express."
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