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Words Count: 5510
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p a tr e on . com (/) LiamThePoor
I was wrong… About what you asked? Both the outcome of my negotiation with the Martial Artists and the basis of my Magecraft. First, the Martial Artists were more desperate than I had thought, Sasaki Toujou didn't even try to change the terms, he had merely come to shake hands on it and sign the Geas. There were no fuss, no nothing, which was a nice change compared to my daily life, but I couldn't help feeling it was sort of anti-climatic. I meant, I had come to our meeting point– Ahnenerbe preparing for Hell and returned with my first real basic Martial books, given to me as an act of good-will.
They weren't of amazing quality, sure. Still, they were leagues above what Satou had… Written in ways that could be easily understood by even small children, it didn't take me long to assimilate the knowledge inside. Presumably, this was what they had been using for generations to teach their younger members. I had found that by isolating Ki from Mana to a single section of the body, I could utilize the Inner-Energy in a restrictive manner. It was basically useless. It couldn't strengthen my body in any significant capacity, not like [Reinforcement] would, but it was very malleable. If Mana was thick soup you would have to actually use efforts to move, Ki was like water you could gently nudge.
Whereas Mana had a fixed pool, Ki– As it was the metaphysical embodiment of Life Force and physical prowess, could potentially grow forever and would slowly enter a state of decline as the stem cells aged. The rate of decline was negligible at first, but started to increase exponentially when we entered our late 60's and early 70's, where our bodies and cells could no longer handle the strain, and Ki was expelled in constant streams through the meridians in the body. Once their Ki reserves were completely depleted, their bodies would naturally expire.
Of course, these weren't just the results of my own observations, but also the accumulated knowledge pertaining the Energy within the books I was given. As for why Mana and Ki reacted so violently to each other? I had my own theory: Mana was alien. Yes, there was Od, but even that was alien in nature as it was actually given to early Ages humans by Gaia through the process of evolution. Ki… It was different. It had no tie to the [Planet's Consciousness] and had existed since the beginning of Dawn, long before humans had evolved to become as we were now.
Which was why technically, all humans were capable of becoming Martial Artists. As for whether they could excel? It would depend on their talents.
Back to Mana and Ki. In medical terms, Ki was the white blood cells of your body and Mana was considered the harmful viral infection. If you knew anything about your immune system, then you would know about 7 times out of 10, it's the over-reaction of your body that killed you and not the disease itself. In fact, that's the main concern in transplanting organs, the real issue sometimes wasn't finding a suitable donor, but whether the body would react positively to the changes or not. Thus, in order to fuse the two Energies, you would have to do the nigh impossible and make it so Mana could no longer be considered an invader.
Which was easier said than done. Especially since Mana was harmful. Perhaps not in small dosage, but there had been documented cases where Mages died due to over-usage or intake of Mana. Still, I believed I was capable of it. Thanks to the Game, I could shrug off nearly all injuries as long as it didn't kill me instantly and I wasn't in combat. First, I'd have to try mixing the two in tiny portions, which did leave me with five fingers less than I had– 'Nothing a good night of sleep can't fix.' Unfortunately, that was all I had managed to do at the moment. Until my Ki had grown accustomed to Mana, I'd have to leave things as they were.
Thus, I turned my focus from Martial Arts to Magecraft. Had to say, I had the worst case of tunnel vision when it came to developing Spells. Frankly, I was trying to run when I hadn't even begun to walk. I could have made gargantuan progress had I just relied on my Shard, instead of trying to do everything by myself. By nature, reverse-engineering a Skill of [Future Calculation] magnitude wasn't plausible for my tiny, human brain. The only reason why the Shard could do such impossible task– Conceiving and calculating trillions of timelines were due to its nature, which was a quantum computer the size of planets.
How could I, Gamer or not, manage the same? It's no wonder I had failed… All I had to do was let the Shard do the heavy loads, connecting different timelines and possibilities, while I handled the easier, more feasible ones such as: Create phantoms that would replicate whatever my alternate-selves were doing. Seriously, lots of thanks to Gil herself for giving me the advices I needed, despite seemingly unaware of the Game itself. Even Rin hadn't realized why I was stumped at that bottleneck. It's almost funny how some random sentences could help out so much.
Naturally, there were complications that arose. While the Skill [Time Phantoms] had been created, their attacks were not even a fraction of my own. They were fast for sure, but having practically no mass, the swings of their swords had no weight behind them… Another issue was if I used the Shard as the base, later generations of my lineage would not be able to replicate most, if not all of my Spells.
In other stories, this was the part where the protagonist– A Gamer would spam their Skills indefinitely until it transformed from something useless to helpful. Sadly, that's just not how my Game operated. In order to Level a Skill, I had to have explicit knowledge of its inner-workings, then performed it successfully at least once so the Game could properly register my advancements. It was quite bothersome to be honest. Although, I supposed just creating the Skill [Time Phantoms] was worthy celebrating already. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day, and failures were the pillars of success.
I just had to be diligent and things would work themselves out. 'Huh, never thought there would come a day when XXXX XXX actually wants to work diligently.' In all fairness though, it's Magic… Sure, it did include a ton of calculations and exhausting experiments, but which girl and boy hadn't dreamt of studying such a wonderful subject? I knew I had, and now I had been given an actual chance to do so, there was no way I'd slack off when greatness was well-within my grasp... Besides, I didn't want to be mediocre in the only thing I had ever taken an interest in.
Regrettably, I could see staying cooped up in my Workshop was no longer working. I needed a breath of fresh air, a coffee and… I sniffed myself, recoiling back as I took in the smell. A bath was unquestionably first and foremost on my to-do list. Shit, I didn't even know what time it was. How long had I locked myself in the Workshop anyways? I glanced the clock, confused as to how it was still five in the afternoon. Pretty sure that had passed hours ago, unless… "Jesus, what day is it?" I instinctually reached for the non-existent smartphone in my pocket, only to realize how stupid it was.
The Modern Age had really spoilt our generation, didn't it?
Thankfully, my room was right beside my Workshop. It quickly left for the shower, yawning incessantly the entire way there. As it turned out, my skin was coated in several layers of dead tissue, which was disgusting. Pretty sure scrubbing those off reduced a few pounds from my total weight. I sincerely wished that was simply an exaggeration, but it's not. Damn, I hadn't been this dirty since forever. Done with my shower, I looked into the mirror to find an unrecognizable mess staring back at me, green eyes circled by dark, black bruises thanks to lack of sleep.
Shoulders-length hair that had gone from messy to unbelievably tangled. Worse yet, was the deathly, unhealthy pale skin and even paler, crusted dry lips. I looked like a zombie… Not the recent ones who had been just been turned, but the ones who had spent years wasting away in their rotting carcasses. I sighed, fishing out a scissor from the cabinets. I had wanted to keep the child's– The actual Leo's aesthetic as a tribute, but this long hair was just getting in the way now. With a cut, what's once shoulders-length was sliced almost in half, leaving me with a side-parted, curly cut that wouldn't have taken nearly as much effort to maintain.
"Sorry–" I gazed into his– My own eyes, whispering an apology I had kept in my chest for the longest time. "I'm not you, I can never be… But I will try to live life to the fullest, so you can rest easy." It felt horrible, like I wasn't just simply throwing away the memories of a kid whose life I had stolen, but I was also tossing away parts of myself. Still, it was a necessity. After having stayed in this World for months, I could not deny my desire to live my own life anymore. Whereas before, I had done so out of an unreasonable need to pay back my debt to him, to see what he could have been, had I not taken his place.
Now… Well, I had made friends. I had actually accomplished something, something I doubted the real Leo could have done and I wanted it to myself and me alone. Was it selfish? Perhaps. But with my current state, I couldn't muster up the effort to care. This, this was my achievement and no one else's. "Goodbye, Leonis." Maybe it was my vision playing a trick on me, but the steams slowly covering my reflection felt like a final farewell. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel relief at that, like a giant weight had been taken off my chest. It was satisfying in ways I couldn't put to words.
…
"You are finally out." Gil, head held up by her fist, lazily spoke as she flipped to a different page of her book. Huh? The Golden Queen read to pass time, who woulda' thought? "How long was I holed up in my Workshop?" She looked up, summoning a glass of wine from the [Gate Of Babylon], replying in an even tone. "Four days." WHAT? "Yes, you've cooped up in your… Workshop for four days, Leonis." She spat out the words like it was distastefully offensive on her tongue. "I even thought you had died in that criminally small room." She peered at me. "Though, you clearly have not."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Gil." I replied sarcastically, massaging my head in a futile attempt at alleviating the growing headache. "Did anyone come to find me? Rin, or the Martial Artists maybe?"
"The girl did come to visit you, but you had locked yourself up during that time. As for the monkeys–" She must be talking about the Martial Artists, which was rude. I didn't have the greatest impression of them, but I could respect the sheer dedication they had put in their crafts. Apparently, the Golden Queen did not share the same appreciation if her tone was anything to go by. "I noticed a few of them snooping about the perimeters, but I didn't want to waste my time with those filths." That's harsh… They didn't smell, nor look that bad when I met them. Maybe it's the underlings? The group I encountered did seem high-profile…
"Well, I'm bored. I'm really fucking bored. I've hit a dead-end in my research, and the TV only has news and some cheesy shows on. So–" I threw Gil a grin, knowing full-well she must have been feeling the same boredom as I. "Wanna go out for a bit? On me, of course." Gil's half-lidded eyes grew slightly larger as she smirked. "Are you, what's the word? Ah yes, are you asking me out, Leonis? That's quite brave of you…" Her words might appear angry, but I had lived with Gil long enough to detect the slight cues and hints to her mood in her movements.
She wasn't disinterested. If anything, I'd say she had been waiting for this even. "Well, lead the way then Leonis." I bowed exaggeratedly. "Follow this lowly servant, milady. I promise, you shall experience naught but the best in town!" I already had things planned out. While Fuyuki was still a mess, there was a cinema at the center of town with air-conditioning… Yeah, it might not seem like much, but having air-conditionings in a theater was a revolutionary idea for 1994 Japan. Also, if I wasn't wrong, several of the classics came out at this time. I did see advertisements for 'Interview with the Vampire' and 'Beverly Hills Cop III'.
Not to mention, 'Rocky III' was on a re-run for Japan, and everybody liked the Rocky franchise. "Let's set sail, milady!" I swung my hand up excitedly, the other tipping my imaginary fedora as I heard Gil's chuckles turn into full-blown cackles. "Again, lead the way, my dependable servant." So the Golden Queen could have fun like a normal person? That's new, I had almost thought all she could derive joy from was the sufferings of her enemies, the subjugations of her inferiors. Apparently, I was wrong… Again.
Oh-well, there were worse things to be mistaken about.
…
We took a cab to the theater. Hopefully these childhood years would pass fast, I was dying to get my hands on a motorcycle. Taking cabs was fine, it's not too bad by any means, especially with Japan's strict laws of conduct and customer service, their cabs were all spotlessly clean, the one we took even had a light lavender scent, which was really relaxing. Still, none of it could compare to the feelings of winds hitting against your skin, running along your hair when you got the rare chance to take off your helmet. That, that was something I could not put into words…
There was a reason it's my favorite activity when I was in low spirits. Sadly, with this stature, I wouldn't be able to ride one for at least a few more years. Even if I could bypass the height requirement somehow, I doubted I could go one mile without being stopped by the cops.
At least the film was decent. 'Interview with the Vampire' was one of the very first movies to touch upon topics of homosexuality and what it meant to be humans. Now, I couldn't exactly relate to the former, what I could relate to was how a life without meaning, actions without consequences and a story that seemingly had no end in sight could turn someone into a monster real fast. No need to look anywhere far, we had one right in Fuyuki… After all, at one point in time, Matou Zouken was naught but a man hopelessly in love with the Einzbern's former head– Justeaze.
A man whose long life had transformed into a pile of rotting insects, alive only thanks to the sacrifices of his many descendants. I couldn't help but wonder if the same thing would ever happen to me, that perhaps I too would slowly lose grasp on my Humanity the longer I lived. Hopefully that wouldn't be the case, and if it did happen, I'd have Rin, Gil, and anyone else I may have made friends with to pull me back from the depth… "So, how was the movie? You like it?"
The Golden Queen did appear engrossed in the film last I checked, though probably not for the same reason I did. More like, she felt amusement in the characters' sufferings, I even caught her laughing at Claudia's tantrum during the second and third Arc. I didn't see what was funny about the whole thing, being stuck in the form of a child forever seemed horrifying to me, but to each their own, I supposed. "It was entertaining… Without most of the hardships that life has to offer, I see humans' imaginations have grown quite a bit.
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Though the very idea of romanticizing bloodthirsty monsters is a rather unfamiliar concept to me–" She paused to take a sip of her soda. "It feels moronic to glorify such beings." She's not wrong. Apostles as a whole were monstrous, powerful and extremely dangerous. Their thought patterns had been altered by the change so much that our humanistic qualities and values were simply alien to them. Don't get me wrong, some of these vampiric creatures were unimaginably charismatic, but it couldn't hide what they truly were underneath. It must have been hard for Gil to comprehend.
During Gil's reign, her subjects had been afraid to even venture into the forests nearby for fear of stumbling upon the things that went bump in the night, and now here she was, thousands of years into the future only to find Hollywood had made these creatures into rabbits-munching, tragic characters– Must have been one Hell of a change for her. Still, if this was enough to surprise her, I couldn't wait to show her Twilight and the craze that followed, her expression would definitely be immensely amusing…
"The mundane and monotony of everyday life do get tiresome–" I shrugged. "I think it's less about the creatures and more about the exciting adventures they represent? That's my thoughts on the matter anyways, I'm sure there are plenty of people who actually get off on having their blood sucked." Gil looked down, fingers held to her lips, for a moment, I thought I had upset her somehow, but then she let out chuckles that quickly turned to pearly laughs. I had never noticed how pleasing her voice could be. Don't get me wrong, there was still trace of ridicule in her tone, but it felt… More somehow.
As per usual, I shook off my quickened heartbeats like I had done many, many times before. 'I must be nervous.' Yeah, that must be it, there could no other reason. "I suppose you are right. So, where do we go next? Surely this isn't the end our… Date? I'd sorely disappointed if this is all you can offer, Leonis." I winked playfully. "Of course not, your Majesty. Now, I'm aware you are not exactly a coffee-person, but I can assure you, their coffees are the best in town, possibly the world." Next destination: Ahnenerbe.
…
"Hmmm? You brought a girl with you? She's older too!" Hibiki chirped happily as she took our orders: A sweetened American expresso for me and a cappuccino for Gil. On the side, Chikagi glared balefully at me, mumbling something about 'playboy' and 'young'. I swore, I had not brought any girl to this place, not even Rin. Yes, I planned to at some point, but I hadn't had the time to bring Rin with me yet, the Hell was she talking about? "Don't pay her any mind, Chikagi is just angry because she almost failed our exam last week." Chikagi and Rin were surprisingly different to each other.
Although both had twin-tails, both were tsundere, Chikagi… Well, I wouldn't say she was stupid, but she had lots of troubles when it came to anything even remotely scholarly. In all fairness, I wasn't much different from her. Frankly, had my curiosity and ambitions not outweighed my laziness, I wouldn't have bothered to learn Magecraft at all. Mundane people might think it's just a process of manipulating metaphysical Energies, but real Magecraft was a lot harder, to a point that even [Reinforcement]– Arguably one of, if not the simplest Spell ever had enough written materials to outclass twelve years of History lessons.
No, I wasn't joking. There were five books in my Workshop pertaining the usage, effects and theory regarding the Spell, it's ridiculous… "One espresso, one cappuccino coming right up! Are you sure you don't want desserts? George just re-invented the water cake, it's delicious!" Wait, what? Who the fuck ate water cake? Was that even a thing? I meant, I trusted in George's ability to bake, but water cakes were going a bit too far in my opinion.
As though reading my mind, Hibiki continued. "It's something made during the Great Depression, it's cheap, easy to make and really, really tasty if you know how to cook it right." She paused at my skeptical expression, adding. "You can try if you want, first one on the House." – "Very well, bring us one of these 'water cakes'." That wasn't me by the way, it was Gil. Gods knew what she was trying to do, I wouldn't be caught dead eating whatever the Hell that abomination was. "C'mon, Leonis. It might not sound appealing, but being open to try new things is a necessary requirement for a great ruler."
"Well, it's a good thing I'm not a ruler then." There was no mirror nearby, but I doubted I was making a pleasant expression. "You should aspire to be one. Greatness can be found within many things, but Kingship is the easier path to find it…"
We both settled in our booth. "Are you kidding? Although I admit, humans as individuals can be smart, but as a whole, we are pretty stupid. To be King or even a politician is to have to deal with all that stupidity… There is no way I will ever aspire to be a ruler. I'm already busy enough with my research and everything else as it is." Gilgamesh hummed to herself, listening attentively. "Besides, why become a ruler when I have the entire Multiverse to explore?" Was it ambitious of me to think that far? Yes, yes it was. But I thought it was the nature progression of me as a person.
There would come a day when this Universe had nothing left to offer me, and I could stay in one planet, one Universe, but with the potential to grow stronger than anyone, to live forever, I felt like it would be a waste to be contained within one version of Earth. Gil seemed surprised at that. "You wish to travel to different timelines?" I shook my head. "I wish to travel to different Universes. There are endless possibilities lying just outside our perception, I wish to explore it. Perhaps I'd come to a timeline where I never met you that night.
Perhaps, I'd come to another where Heroic Spirits don't exist, or one where the very foundation of Magecraft is completely alien to whatever we have in this version of reality. A dimension where Gods still walk the Earth, or ones with Dragons, Fairies, Humans and everything else live together in harmony…" It was saliva-inducing just thinking about it. There were so many realities I wish to visit, so many characters, previously fictional to me that I could now have an actual conversation with. I could barely contain my excitement and it showed as I spoke. "That's… A worthy goal to have."
"REALLY?" I shouted, clamping a hand over my mouth when I saw a few clients turn to look curiously at us. "You are not going to ridicule me or something?" That, that did anger Gil as she narrowed her eyes at me. "What kind of Queen do you think I am?"
Seeing my silence, Gilgamesh threw one leg over the other as she kept going. "While unconventional, I can certainly appreciate the goal you have set for yourself. It's not a bad dream to have, not at all." That was uplifting for sure, knowing the Golden Queen who had laughed in so others' dreams, sometimes even straight up told them that their ambitions were born of naivety would support what I was sure looked kind of dumb from outsider's perspective. "I see… Thank you, that means a lot to me."
"Don't get too emotional, Leonis. While it is a worthy goal to have, you have a long and dangerous path ahead if you wanted it to be anything more than a pipedream." She set her elbows on the table, eyes peering into mine. "I will watch your improvements closely, do not disappoint, Leonis." I nodded as our orders came. The coffees were fine, but the cake Gil had asked for didn't look too appealing, it was without any frosting or glaze, just an ordinary pile with powdered sugar sprinkled on top.
"That doesn't look good… Are you sure you want to eat that? I can have it removed for you." – "I'm sure, let's see how desserts have evolved since my time." The cake, as it turned out, was unexpectedly delicious, and Gil was a very nice conversationalist if you could manage to look through the layer of arrogance on top. I'd say this outing was a grand success! We ended the day with each of us going back to our room, which was good, since I could feel exhaustion setting in already.
But, just as I was about to go for a quick nap, the doorbell rang. It should be the Martial Artists, I did promise to deliver them the faux Mystic Codes I had made while waiting for them to contact me back. I was a few days late thanks to my research, but it shouldn't be too bad, I could always cite personal reasons if they asked. I gingerly strutted through the Church with three large boxes in my arms, Kotomine had disappeared to Gods-knew where and Gil should be having her beauty sleep. 'Seriously, can't they wait for tomorrow? It's almost eight already…'
I swung the door open, irritation visible on my face, only to find no Martial Artists, only a wild Rin who looked worse for wear. "Rin…?" Her eyes were surrounded with dark circles, sclera reddened with veins and face pale as she took in my appearance. "Leo!" She yelled, pulling me in a bones-crushing hug. I returned her hug, flinching slightly as I felt her nails dig into my skin. "Idiot, where have you been?! I come everyday to find you, but Kirei always said you were busy!" I patted her back. "I was immersed in my research, I hadn't even realized how long I was inside my Workshop until the fourth day had passed…"
I tightened my hug, whispering in her ear as I took in the light scent of her shampooed hair. "Sorry for worrying you." With how she often acted, I had almost forgotten Rin was a child as well– A child who had lost both her parents to the Fourth Grail War and her sister to the Matou, forbid to even communicate with the plum-haired girl due to the terms of the contract her late father had with Zouken. She was alone, and would have been fine as she was had she never met me. But with me in the picture, Rin had grown to rely more and more on me emotionally.
It's why I liked to tease her, I had found it helped to distract the tsundere from her more negative thoughts. "Don't do that again." Rin's response, while muffled by my shoulder, was clearly audible to my ears. "I won't, scout's honor." I put up my hand jokingly, which seemed to lighten up the mood as Rin giggled into my shirt. "You have never been a scout, Leo. And with how you are, I doubt you will be one anytime soon." I shrugged at that, an infuriating smirk plastered on my face. "Are you sure? I can always bribe the judges, ya' know?
Besides, I have it on good authority that I'm a rather charming young man." I gestured at her. Finally Rin, noticing how long our hug had been, pushed me away, her face bright red with embarrassment as she bit back. "You– You!" She stuttered, it was incredibly adorable in person. "I– Don't get ahead of yourself, I'm not worried about you at all! I'm just here to ask about my… Uhmm… About that lady who came to get you! Gilgamesh, that's right, I'm here to ask about her!" Oh-shit, I thought she had forgotten, clearly not it seemed.
I sighed, exhaustion seeping into my tone as I signaled for her to enter. "Well, what do you want to know?" This was going to be a long night…
.
.
.
Within a dark room, the higher-ups of Ragnarok had gathered to discuss the new information regarding their mutual enemy– The Kiyoshi organization. There weren't many of them, since Ragnarok had merely been established for a few months, still, they had had great success at grabbing and assimilating the weaker powers in Japan. It was all thanks to their leader, a Magus whose face only two people in the room had gotten to see. While curious, the Captains knew not to snoop around his or her identity, seeing as the previous Captains to do so had been dealt with rather… Violently.
Homes burnt down, families murdered in cold-blood, even the pets weren't spared if their spies were to be trusted.
"Speak, No.3." A distorted voice escaped the speaker, raspy and emotionless. Of course, the Captains all had names, which their leader had never bothered to learn or remember, choosing to call them by numbers. It was humiliating, but everyone in the room was far too used with humiliation, having been cannon-fodders for their former organizations before. Number 3 was a man in his forties, face covered in horrifying scars, most of which should have killed him, yet here he was, handling the spy-network for Ragnarok. "Just last night, our mole– Danzo has informed me of a new addition to Kiyoshi's rooster.
Apparently, they have managed to gain the aid of a hedge Mage… Although they did pay a steep price for him, it seems Sasaki and his brother– Akio believe the child would make for a great business partner." Silence took over the room. Their only advantage over other organizations had been their superior equipment and number, if Kiyoshi had gotten their hands on another Magus, it wouldn't long for the balance of power to tip over to their side, the Captains understood this fact clearly.
None of them could be said to be talented in Martial Arts, none of them were even half as powerful as the younger members of Kiyoshi– Which was an ancient powerhouse within Japan. They had only come this far by attacking smaller factions and taking the remaining rabbles into their midst… In fact, they couldn't even be considered as a proper faction, seeing as their members were nothing more than a ragtag group who had betrayed their former organizations. Kiyoshi was the first ever big fish they had set sight on, the one that was supposed to bring their name to a higher stage.
If they failed this, their reputation would never recover in the Martial World. "A hedge Mage, you say? I see… Do you have any information on this Magus?" No. 3 nodded, continuing his report. "According to Danzo, the child–" And wasn't that surprise, the fact that this Magus was but a mere child whose pubic hair likely had even done growing. "– Has managed to defeat the Apostle who has– had taken residence in Kyoto. Along with the help of a Glascheit, they not only killed him, but also burned down his temporary home and destroyed all traces of his research."
"That fool Regul is dead? That's new, I suppose I've neglected to update my information in the Moonlit World for some time, I'll have to rectify this soon... Continue, No. 3." No. 3 scanned the room, scratching his greyed hair as he tried to remember more on the subject. He wasn't old enough to forget something he had just heard hours ago, but there truly wasn't much Danzo had told him about the young Magus other than the most basics. "I'm afraid that's all he has informed me so far, Eli-sama."
"Very well, grill him for more information, I will check my side of things to see if we have anything we can use against this Magus. Now, do any of you have something to add?" No one said anything, knowing that if their leader didn't like what came out of their mouths next, there was areal chance he or she might send horde of grunts enhanced with Magecraft to kill them. "Good, the rest of you continue to put pressure on Kiyoshi, as for you No. 3, have people sent to intercept the shipments, we will take their weapons to add to our own." The voice paused, letting the orders sink in. "Is that understood?"
"""YES!"""