Daily Life with Three Systems: Chapter 27

"T-Thank you for coming out on a mission with me, Andrew." Natsuki quietly whispers as the train car rattles underneath us. 

"You don't have to thank me." I wave off with a smile. "I really should have gone outside more often." 

"B-But uh... don't you need to make stuff?" She meekly worries. 

"Oh. I wouldn't worry. I've got eight months left." I shrug. "That stylus I was working on got me halfway to my goal in and of itself. When I finish my five rings I'll probably have more than enough for what I need. Besides. I felt Like I've been neglecting my friendships with you all just thinking day and night about making magical items... in fact, I feel like I've been quite selfish." 

"N-No! If you make magic items... you can... sell... them? Then get us all potentially a better place to live." She replies. 

"Well, sure. But that's meaningless if you all begin to feel like I don't care about you." I answer. "So. What mission are we going on today, Natsuki?" 

"U-Um..." She touches her fingers together. "We're going to chase down some bandits who stole a family heirloom." 

"Alright." I smile, folding my arms behind my head. "I'll follow your lead, then." 

[Split] 

We step off the train, a reserved smile on my lips as I follow after the short pink-haired girl who seems to be reading over the job again. 

"So..." She begins after a moment. "We need to go find a... Kali Lannister who lives in this town." 

It takes about thirty minutes, but we eventually find who we're looking for. 

Natsuki knocks on the door of a small home, the windows are boarded up, the walls are cracked. It looks a little unlivable. 

"Hello?" She calls out. "We're wizards from Fairy Tail, here for your job request." 

The sound of several deadbolts are heard on the other side of the door being slammed open, after a genuinely uncomfortable amount of time- and at least seven deadbolts- the door cracks open revealing at least two chain bolts. 

This person is fucking crazy. 

That? Or is terrified of being robbed again. 

Either or. 

"H-Hello? Wizards? How can I be sure if you're telling the truth?" A woman's voice echoes out. 

I roll back my sleeve and point to the guild mark. 

"Oh... OH!" The voice gasps. 

Thud 

The door closes and I can hear some more locks being undone. 

It creaks open a moment later showing a slightly disheveled woman, her hair frazzled, dark circles sit under her eyes. 

"W-What do you need to know?" The woman sputters out. 

"We need to know what the object we're looking for looks like." Natsuki quietly begins. "We'd also appreciate it if you can tell us anything about the bandits who took it from you." 

"OH! U-Uhm... it's a golden necklace... shaped like a book... it ah, has a secret compartment that slides out to reveal a family photo... I... don't really care about the necklace, I mean... it's nice... I just want the photo back." 

"Is that enough to go on?" Natsuki turns her head to look at me. 

"Let's see." I shrug as with a wave of my hand an Archive window comes to the forefront. "Kali Lannister's family photo... ten rolls." 

Numerous dots appear on the map as I lean forwards and cup my chin. "Hm... that's a tight grouping. Almost on the exact same spot even when zoomed in as far as it can go." 

If I were to look at this on the ground, there's probably only... one or two feet of distance between the two dots farthest apart. 

I did use the divination dragon's bone dice for that, though. 

Natsuki peers at the screen. "That's... pretty far away." 

"It looks like they left the area. How long has it been since they robbed you?" 

"Two weeks." The woman meekly replies.  

"Looks like they're heading for the border, then." I mutter under my breath. "Traveling on foot." 

I nod slowly. "We should be back if not later today then early tomorrow, Miss Lannister." 

"T-Thank you." And with that, she shuts the door. I can hear the locks beginning to re-engage. 

"So. Shall we?" I turn to my companion causing her to nod once. 

"How do you want to do this, want to take a train to a closer town or do you want to fly?" 

"Let's... fly!" The girl smiles brightly. 

We turn and make our way out of town, then long wings extend from our backs as we take off. 

"You enjoy flying, huh?" 

"YES! It's just so... so freeing! Looking down at the world from above. It's just... I can't really explain it." She replies. 

"Well, it'll be a pretty long flight." I call out, wings stretching. "At least three hours. Four if we take our time." 

"Okay!" Natsuki chirps. 

"So. How's your magic treating you, Natsuki? I admit I'm kind of curious, do you use your cooking magic in combat or do you rely on basic demon magic like... fireballs... lightning and stuff." 

"Oh! Uh... well," she scratches the back of her head. "I'm kind of getting into making use of my baking magic for combat scenarios... though, it's kind of more preparation as of now... like your ofuda. If I use magic on a job it's typically the classic 'wind blade' or 'ice spike'." 

With a flash, she pulls out a piece of tied up wax paper. "I have this! It's a recipe I've been working on recently. it's not like... showy and explosive, but this dollop of icing here should double my speed and strength for about a second after I eat it!" 

"D-Double?!" 

"Yeah!" She smiles brightly. 

"You're telling me that baking a cake gives you a literal kaioken times two?" 

"F-For a second!" She protests. "It's... really not that cool." 

"It's like- THE COOLEST!" I call out. "How?! How does baking give you such big increases?!" 

"W-Well... I kind of started off really small... y-you remember, right? Making food taste better... making it make you more full... those were the extremely basic spells. I eventually figured out how to make food that mildly improves strength by like... two or three percent for a few hours... but then I got thinking, 'what if I shorten how long it lasts' and, w-well... I halved the duration and found that the strength it gives it improved. N-not by like... double... but by a fairly noticeable amount... then I kept halving the duration until I got it to where it is now." 

"Doesn't suddenly going twice as fast kind of hurt though?" I mutter. "Like... well... Kaioken?" 

"Oh! Yes. It does. That's why I have to limit how much I eat at any point in time. The more I eat the more powerful the effect." 

"And a blob of icing the size of a gumball is a times-two boost?" 

"For a second!" The girl quickly adds in. "For anything larger I tend to extend the duration instead of allowing the general boost to remain the same- because it'd probably blow me up- so, a cupcake for twenty, a single-layered cake, about eight minutes." 

She shyly touches her fingers together. "But, ah, well, when I use my power on sugary foods like this I tend to have a bit of a sugar crash if I eat too much." 

"Can you even eat an entire cake in a reasonably amount of time?" 

"Koneko could!" The girl protests. "It's just... my magic isn't as effective on other people. A times two boost for me could be like... a twenty-five percent increase for Koneko. Oh. And that's not to mention that it's a static boost. Even if it did empower her the full amount, it wouldn't be that noticeable for her because she's so much stronger than me." 

"I think you're selling yourself short here, Natsuki. You turned baking into an effective weapon. That's seriously impressive." I call out. 

"T-Thanks..." 

[Split] 

I duck under the swing of a sword a small smile on my lips, arms folded behind my back. "This is a little more than just 'some' bandits." 

"I-I know!" Natsuki calls out, tossing a dollop of frosting into her mouth.  

She lands a crushing right hook on the guy she was fighting. Apparently she had begun sparring with Koneko. 

I pity her. 

Just like how I pity myself when that cat finally decides she had enough waiting and decides to have her way with me. 

My pelvis is going to be powder. 

A blast of magical energy shoots from the tip of a nearby staff, causing me to take a quick step backwards. 

I swat it upwards with a small grin before it can cause any issue for Natsuki who- holy shit she just broke that guy's arm! Hardcore! 

I step forwards, yanking the staff from the mage's hand, I observe it briefly, a small smirk on my lips. 

"Give up and I won't have Natsuki break your arms." I threaten as I point the staff skywards. 

BZEEEEEW 

A much larger bolt of magic spews from the tip, flying through the sky and detonating up in the air with a crackle. 

I look down at the staff. "Damn. You live like this? The mana efficiency in this is utterly atrocious." 

I take a single step forwards, arm waving backwards, a flicker of iron crackling through the air to deflect the slash of a flaming sword. 

Not true iron maker magic, more so just a vestige of the power. What I could casually display without entering the stance or calling out my attack. 

Undisputably weaker... but I didn't need much strength to do that. 

"I mean, really." I continue ranting to the mage. "I could have made something more than twice the size if I had just cast the spell myself. Wait. You don't know how to use caster magic at all, do you?!" 

I point forwards. "Bang." 

All the Ethernano that has been expelled this combat is collected into a bead at the tip of my finger, transformed into wind then shot forwards. 

He is knocked back, my attack destabilizing before it hit him. 

I didn't add any spin to that so instead of like getting shot with a bullet, it's more getting smacked with a beanbag shot from a shotgun. 

Regardless it still takes him off his feet. 

The staff, cloaked in magic thuds against the forehead of the man who attacked me with a sword. 

I made sure to blunt the blow- as to not crack his skull open or damage the staff- as, regardless of how shit this staff is, it is still a very hard almost rock-like material at the end of a long stick that extends my reach. 

It's basically a fragile mace. 

Oooh that's an idea. 

Threads rapidly weave themselves into a certain item... 

A sock. 

I proceed to generate numerous small iron coins and drop them into the sock. Enough to give it some real weight. 

It's no sock filled with pennies, but it's a decent substitute. 

"Andy... you should take them more seriously." Natsuki calls out. "Underestimating them is how one of us gets hurt." 

"I'll take them seriously when they take this crime thing seriously!" I call out. "I mean, really. Twenty bandits. Mage support. They've clearly got experience. But the thing is, even with all the money they likely have made before they spent none of it on improving their ability to do crime! I mean, really! What did they spend all that money on? Booze? Women? It's sad!" 

"H-Hey!" The bandit mage I stole the staff from growls from the floor. "I-I bought that staff for one hundred thousand jewel!" 

"One- one hundred THOUSAND?!" I boom. "Gods above. You were utterly robbed! This is like, ten to fifteen thousand jewel worth or work at most! I could make better, and I don't even know how to ENCHANT staffs. That's how bad this is! They could have used a wood that's more accepting of enchantment like mahogany or Silverwood, but instead they used basic oak, which is fine, I guess, if it had been from an older tree and all but this doesn't seem like it's the- hold on... I can actually see a seam here where they seem to have attached two different pieces of oak together." 

My sock filled with nickels slams into one of the bandits who tried to attack my open back as I continue my monologue. He goes down with a shout, clutching his shoulder. 

"In fact... I think this staff was broken in the past... and the Lacrima is murky and slightly asymmetrical. Jeez. Now that I look closer, you couldn't pay me to take this. I'm actually surprised it didn't blow up from me putting that much magical energy into it." 

With each observation, the wizard on their knees in front of me seems to sulk more and more. 

"See?" I point to the part in the wood where the grains change slightly. It's quite subtle. "When you're looking for a staff you'll want one where the grain doesn't shift like this. As for the lacrima head, you'll either want one with straight flat sides like a cut gem or a perfect circle or oval. Nothing in between. You'll also need to look at how clear the lacrima is and how few imperfections it has." 

The man is almost weeping. 

"Andy... uh... you should really stop taunting that guy." Natsuki weakly points out, holding one of the bandits by the throat. Other arm drawn back like she's about to slug him in the face. She drops him... with her fist... the man being added to the others who are all crumpled across this forest clearing. 

"I'm not taunting." I reply. "I'm teaching. There's a difference."  

With a wave of my hand, threads spread throughout the clearing, all of the bandits have been taken down.  

A large majority by Natsuki, the rest through me smacking people with socks filled with iron pennies and other highly disrespectful attacks. 

"Anyways, let's get all these guys to the nearest Rune Knight headquarters." I decide, coils of rope gathering up all the bandits and tying them up. 

"Iron Make: Cage." I call out as a large jail appears, large crossed bars connecting two large flat surfaces. 

My ropes lift abruptly and deposit the battered bandits into the cage. 

With a wave of my hand I create an archive window and quickly tap through it, going to my 'saved images'. 

I hop, landing atop the cage, the screen following behind me as I hold my offhand out. 

Cloth begins to spew from the magic circle that appears in front of my fingertips. 

I wave through pictures, pulling one up. 

A photo of the guild board I took before I left. 

It was quite easy to turn my recording spells into ones that took a picture and saved it. 

I made this quite recently when a took a two-day break after making the Ecriture Stylus of mine. 

I scan through the jobs. 

'bandits... bandits... bandits... huh. It looks like there's no jobs these idiots could be a part of.' 

Natsuki lands atop the cage, looking at the ropes I am making flow down and through the bars. 

Cloth slowly pools underfoot and begins to lift me upwards. 

Two massive wings spread out in both directions,  

With a flap the cage is slightly lifted off the ground, I look to Natsuki with a grin. "Next stop! The nearest Rune Knight headquarters." 

[Split] 

We walk out of the rune knight outpost, a satisfied smile on Natsuki's face. 

We had left the stolen goods with the rune knights to sort out. Mainly because I don't really have the time to track down each and every person that those bandits stole a silver fork from. 

This way it's out of our hands. 

No longer our responsibility. 

Sure, the items will likely never see their owners again, but eh. That's on the rune knights. 

I look to Natsuki. "So, shall we return to that woman?" 

"Sure." She smiles. 

"And after that?" I ponder. 

 "Go... home?" She weakly mutters. "or... would you like to... go somewhere else?" 

"I kind of just wanted to hang out with you today." I shrug. 

A faint dusting of red crosses her face as she looks away. 

"U-Uh... we could go and grab something to eat... maybe?" She mutters. 

[Split] 

I polish a ring, looking over it with a small hum. 

It's fairly simple all things considered. But even then, it took about a week to carve. Three if you include the time it took to figure out the ecriture and HOW I wanted to carve it. 

The white and blue of heavenstone, with a bunch of orange colored symbols etched into its surface. 

Sunstone. 

This is just a fairly basic 'light bolt' ring. 

With Light Ecriture I've managed to put a kind of 'homing' effect on the summoned attacks. 

Or. 

Well. 

That's what the Ecriture is SUPPOSED to do. I haven't exactly tested it yet. 

I'm very pleased with my foresight to carve hardening Ecriture onto the tip of my stylus. 

If this ring turns out VASTLY more powerful than it should, I really should look into making a second stylus with the first... and then a third with that one and a fourth with the third. 

Nah. 

I doubt magic works like some sort of skyrim cheat. 

If it does? Fuck it, we ball.  

But if what I know about magic is correct, me using the stylus just lets me create the ecritures with less magic, which would, in turn, make them stronger I suppose as I could put more magic into them, but there's almost certainly a level in which the Ecriture might just explode because of how much magic I put into it. 

I'm positive that this isn't at that level yet, but it is something to keep in mind, I suppose. 

It has been an absolute godscend as I can soften the metal to the point where carving runes into it doesn't take that long. 

Now... 

To test this. 

The basic idea of the ring is two modes. A 'charged shot' mode and a 'rapid fire' mode. 

The prior takes all the magical energy you put into the ring and spits out a single Light Bolt with every bit of said magic in it, the latter shoots numerous bolts of a certain strength until it runs out of the magical energy you put in it. 

I gaze towards an iron pillar, the ground is slightly torn, some trees lightly cracked, some stones mildly melted. 

This is my testing ground. 

I slip the ring over my index finger and clench my fist. 

"Lightbolts!" I point forwards, a white magic circle appears in front of me, a dozen white blasts of energy sprout from the circle in a mild fanning pattern before they all arc inwards and strike the pillar, creating numerous clanging sounds. 

"Hmm... what if I look over here?" 

"Lightbolts!" 

I take my eyes off the target and fire again, still pointing at it. 

The sound of bolt hitting metal once more reaches my ears. 

'huh... how does this... target?" 

I point upwards. "Lightbolts!" 

A few moments later a proverbial rain of light descends on the pillar, striking all over it. 

Interesting... is this more of an 'intent based' sort of thing? 

I want it to hit the pillar, so it seeks the pillar? 

Fascinating. 

Could I bring this to the logical extreme and create something like Fairy Law? 

That's... quite far away. 

I point to the pillar again. "Lightbolt." 

This time, a much larger ball of light appears, it's mildly slower, but it seems to hold far greater weight. 

It flies forwards, striking the pillar and with a bang, shards of iron explode outwards, peppering the far side of the clearing. 

"Not bad." I whisper. "Not bad at all." 

If I put a percent of my mana into this ring I'd probably create like... anywhere from forty to fifty light bolts. That's quite a lot honestly. I made the 'standard' bolt quite powerful. 

If I had cast even a single one of that strength back when I first learned Bolt Magic I might have spent well over ten percent of my magic. 

A lot has changed since then, after all. 

Mainly the second origin. 

Now I suppose it's time for the moment of truth! 

Create a homing Light Bolt ring: {+30 Points} 

"HAH!" 

That's my sharpshooter essence! 

Now everything to come after this is just a bonus! 

With a bright grin I pick the reward in question, I cross my arms, offering a small nod. 

Nooooow. Of the rewards... what do I want most? 

My eyes skim the list, a small perturbed frown appearing on my lips. 

Chat Group. The fifty random magic books. The ten crafting profession books. Base modifications. 

I nod slowly, crossing my arms. 

I've got four more rings to make after this- 

SHIT. 

Idea! 

But I need five rings for it... 

What if I make use of that one Chinese concept to craft a ring-magic spell? 

Wood feeds fire. Fire creates earth. Earth houses metals. Metals purify water. Water promotes plant growth. 

Now. 

I don't know where they get off on saying 'fire creates earth' and 'metals purify water', but whatever you do you, ancient Chinese philosophical concepts. 

I fold my hands in front of my face. "I'm going to have to go out and collect more dragon bone... aren't I?" 

At the very least, dragon bone from dragons that have affinities for the elements I seek. 

A long, weary sigh leaves my lips as I practically wilt. 

Well, let's go get my new essence first and foremost. 

[Split] 

I look down at the small unassuming box, then slowly open it. 

It's as if I am struck by a large weight that settles into my chest. 

I stagger back, take a deep breath and then exhale. 

I don't... really feel that different? 

I take a coin out of my requip space and casually flip it end over and in my hand. 

Some mild agility maybe? Hand-eye coordination? 

I toss the coin into the air and summon a second. 

As the first flips through the air I strike it with the second. 

"Huh..." I mutter under my breath, watching the two coins clatter to the floor. 

I couldn't do that before. 

At least not that easily. 

It did increase my accuracy, then. 

Oh well, I suppose I can stop worrying about this until it grows into the 'Soul of the Universe'. 

[Split] 

FWOOOOOOSH 

The heat abruptly cuts out. Sweat clings to my body, pants leaving my mouth. 

Wow. I can't wait for a day when I'll be able to do this without stressing my body to hell and back. 

Inside the forge sits twelve rings. 

They float from the forge as I look over them they're all swelteringly hot. 

I float them above a large cylindrical container of oil. 

With a flick of fornax's hammer he taps them downwards, the twelve rings falling into the magical oil with bursts of rainbow flame. 

His massive Thor-like hammer comes down and rests over the top to prevent the magical flames from spewing everywhere. 

After a short period of time, the hammer is raised and I reach out with my thaumaturgy. 

My magic goes throughout the oil, connecting with the twelve rings and with a small yank I pull them from the liquid. 

The rings float in the air as Virgo raises a hand and the clinging oil drops down into the container below. 

I nod at the twelve greenish rings, a small smile on my lips. 

With these? I've finished the five elemental rings. 

With each batch... I decided to make a little extra. 

Cause frankly having a few extra wouldn't be bad, per say. 

It's a hassle to make them, after all. 

They'll be useful if I need some basic attribute rings. 

It took me about two weeks to make them all. Most of that time spent making ofuda, of course. 

Now I just need to carve them all! 

[Split] 

I look over five floating magic circles a frown on my lips. 

Six weeks. 

That's how long I've been messing with magic to try and figure out a spell. 

I've only got half a year left to perfect this... 

In that time I've made elemental bolt magic rings for each of the elemental rings I've made. More or less copying the work of my other one. 

It was a lot simpler to do thanks to me not having to make a homing enchantment from the ground up. 

So I have a bolt ring of fire, earth, metal, water, and plant. 

The issue is, the second one I made was worth twenty-five points. Then twenty, fifteen, ten, and finally five for the last one. 

They almost got me another one hundred but it's clear that copying the work of my light bolt ring isn't going to cut it. 

The main issue I'm having is... 

Converting the magic of one into another. 

"..." 

"Ask Makarov?" I ponder aloud. "Fuck it. I'm out of ideas. Plus I kind of want to show off my rings!"