《Type Moon: Broken Fate》
Chapter 1. The Beginning of a new Legend
It''s ok. Take a deep breath. C''mon Alex, you can do this, you''ve done it a hundred times before for God''s sake!
Apparently my Charisma must''ve been ranked E- because my little pep talks to myself did absolute jackshit to help psych myself up for what was to come. I was in a dark stone room, the fact that said room was located deep underground and absolutely reeked of the metallic tang of metal did little to help my nerves. I stared at the only object within the place, a small almost deceivingly innocent glowing crystal glass sitting on a wooden table. A chalice. It was beautiful really, more a work of art than anything as mundane as a cup to drink out of.
Looking at it was like staring a viper in the eyes.
It didn''t help that there was an ominously glowing magic circle beneath it. I took a deep breath before reaching into my pockets, my finger swiftly finding its prize within moments as I pulled out the pocket knife I always carried around with me. London wasn''t safe after all, especially in the Moonlit world.
Of course, it wouldn''t do jackshit to any Magus who held ill intent, to say the least of my chances against anything else that went bump in the night, but it did make me feel better. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves before closing my eyes, my left hand held directly over the cup before I quickly used the knife as if a ritualistic blade and slit my own wrist.
Even when I braced myself for it, I couldn''t hold back the sharp hiss of pain as my blood pooled down my hand and into the cup. Blood oozed out nonstop, yet the cup never seemed to get any fuller even as the minutes ticked by. It was only when I started to feel woozy that I stopped to use some of my Od to heal the cut.
Nothing, as refined as, say, an actual healing spell, but simply the transfer of my lifeforce to a wounded area was enough to jumpstart the healing process.
Magic was great even if learning it was a pain in my ass. And head. And arms. And- actually everywhere. It felt worst than being hit by a truck, quite literally as I''ve been in my fair share of accidents.
I imagine it would feel similar to being set on fire and getting kicked in the balls, except all your internal organs were made of ballsacks in this instance.
A sudden knock on the door broke me out of my misery as the door opened and allowed a blinding light to shone within the room. I cracked open one eye to see the hunched over form of Mr. Erikson. The "Kind" old man whose helping me pay for my tuition to the Clock Tower.
The man''s a devil in disguise I swear, making me pay him back in hard labor, and plenty of blood, sweat, and tears. Also quite literally in the instance of the former. Mages'' body fluids were great containers of magical energy after all. The soulless bastard that he was.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Oh? Done so soon, Alex? Well, no matter, good work today. Make sure to come back tomorrow! Oh, and do make sure to get plenty of Vitamin K in your diet now, would ya? Your blood has been a little thin."
In absolutely no mood to deal with my boss any longer, I gave a listless wave as I shuffled towards my dorm in the school. At least the accommodations were good. Room and board fully paid for, and I got to pick my own schedule. Heck, even during college at MIT didn''t get me as much freedom as I did here. Now if only I could figure out a way to use magic without feeling as if I was going to die every time.
How the fuck did Shiro manage to withstand this every day? Especially since it would feel even worst for him since he was literally cannibalizing his nerves?! How were the other kids around me doing it! God, mages in Nasu-verse were too fucking hardcore. Why couldn''t I have gotten sent to Harry Potter or some shit instead?
I just had to be stuck in the one universe where everyone was Voldemort mixed with Orochimaru, didn''t I?
How does one avoid dying?
Well, that sounded simple enough right?
Avoid getting sick, avoid getting murdered, avoid natural disasters and areas of hazards! Simple, no?
Haha, maybe back in his old world, but here in Nasu-verse in 19 fucking 20? Ww2 was around the goddamn corner, Science wasn''t all that advanced yet medical or otherwise, and not all magical creatures were extinct nor in the reverse side of the world yet.
This meant that "Hell yeah, my magic is gonna be stronger and easier to advance without the decline of mystery" and "Oh shit Magic is going to be stronger."
He wasn''t too savvy with type moon but... THE MAIN CHARACTERS WEREN''T GOING TO BE BORN FOR ALMOST ANOTHER FUCKING CENTURY!
What was the point of future knowledge if chances are it''s all going to become irrelevant before I get to use them?!
So yeah, Holy Grail and badass servants aside, my priorities were to survive until I could get enter the 4th or 5th holy grail war... Wait, shit, fuck.
Didn''t it get corrupted during the.. 3rd.. War..? I''m pretty sure Counter Force would shut down the thing asap if it actually threatened humanity, but that puts a little wrench into my whole "Get immortality, fuck bitches, get money" plan...
Well, that''s something to consider for the future.
My entire class schedule revolved around ways to keep me alive and well. Healing Magic, Foundations of Magic, Alchemy, Botany, Spiritual Evocations, Mineralogy, Creation, Zoology, and Necromancy.
If it had to do with making something, I was taking it. Even if Necromancy was absolutely disgusting and looked down upon in most societies. At least with the looming war I wouldn''t have to worry about acquiring corpses... Finders Keepers, amirite? Haha oh God this was going to be terrible.
I was already the equivalent of a "muggle-born" so might as well go full Tom Riddle, right? What better way to stay alive than being able to fix yourself from anything, and making servants to fight for you? I don''t believe my degree in physical sciences will lose out to these technophobic assholes! I''ll use the best of both worlds, after all, "Any science advanced enough is indistinguishable from magic!" Time to Doctor Doom it up in here.
I''m gonna make a Goddamn Gundam if it''s the last thing I do.
Chapter 2. Class is in Session Pt 1.
"Magecraft or Thaumaturgy, is the artificial reenactment of Mystery, which is ordinarily possible only by inhuman beings.
It is the ability to bring about what is possible through science with supernatural means; although the process is considered a miracle, the result is not. The limits of Magecraft have changed with time, as science evolved and Magic from the past became possible through science.
There exists no impossibility for modern Magecraft within the rules of the world and limits of human intellect; there are limitations, however, where it only appears that something is possible. Because Magecraft acts as the reenactment of preexisting phenomena, it is impossible to use it to create new Mysteries; even with an infinite amount of research, there exists a "wall" preventing human wisdom from doing so in the current era. The realm past this "wall" is known as Magic."
Mystery involves human belief and metaphysical "weight" and "concepts".
Which means that it could most definitely be sexist apparently. Brooms enchanted to fly do exist, but they don''t they to work too well with males apparently, which is complete bullshit. Alex could only sigh in regret every time he saw his real-life "Nimbus 2000" collecting dust in his room. Now if only he could somehow Disney it up and have it clean his room for him on its own.
It was a bit disappointing that Magecraft only amounted to basically using a shortcut to what science could do. Oh, sure, he could learn how to shoot a fireball or an equivalent of a mana bullet after studying for weeks, months, maybe even years to make it worth a damn at the expense of lots of time, effort, and lots and lots of agonizing pain... Or he could buy a fucking gun or a grenade.
"What that you say Professor Briggins? Mundane weapons don''t work well against magical beings and monsters? Well if I run into one I''d be fucking dead anyway!"
Which is why besides healing magic he was immensely grateful that most of his other studies were spent mostly reading books, going to lectures, and observation. Dissecting Chimeras and fresh corpses were pretty gross but surprisingly interesting.
He even managed to make some Mystic Codes!
Well, ok, any half-decent Magus would probably be too ashamed of them to ever call them proper Mystic Codes, but he was proud of his work!
So what if one of them was quite literally just a wooden stick? A wand was a wand!
A Magus had a body that was naturally suffused with magical energy, it was why poor and desperate ones like himself could sell their blood which was rich in the stuff. Basically his entire body was like a gathering of crafting materials from an RPG and he didn''t hesitate to take advantage of the fact. He might or might not have broken off a branch at the oldest tree he could find at the local park, only a few decades old sadly, and soaked it in a tube of his blood and special herbs he got from his class as if he was trying to ferment it. Three whole months he continued to supply it with fresh blood and pumped every single scrape of his Od into it every waking moments. Sometimes he would strain himself so much that he''d pass out in his room, only to wake up and repeat the process all over again. It was an ugly little thing...
But hell, a wand was a wand.
So what if it was slightly crooked? It wasn''t too shabby for a novice at woodworking, was it? He thought it gave the thing character. No, he was not delusional. Not at all.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Appearances didn''t matter much, the only thing that did was that it helped amplify his magical powers by a whopping 3 times! Not much considering his circuits were of such low quantity even if they were slightly above average in quality. Fucking Rin and her bullshit 100x amp sword. Not everyone had money to burn using goddamn Jewels and diamonds as crafting ingredients, damnit! This wasn''t Minecraft and he was absolutely salty about all the pay2win Magus families.
His issues with the unfairness of life besides, his shitty brownish red wand was only a means to an end, as he used the boost he got from the wand to help him in his true project. There, sitting in front of him, was the culmination of months upon months of work.
The Gk-01, full name God killer Mark 1, was ready for action. It came in two "modes", one was travel size in the form of a black and white and obscenely powerful semi-automatic dessert eagle, and the other was full-blown artillery "Blow it and everything that fucking moves the hell up". By attaching extra parts to it, it could quickly become a sniper rifle or a mounted cannon within moments. The rapid-fire of a machine gun and the sheer penetrating power, accuracy, and range of a sniper rifle. It was, without a doubt... Ok excluding the maniacs at Atlas''s Black Barrel, the strongest fucking gun on the goddamn planet.
Designs a century ahead of anything currently in the world, magically crafted and reinforced, bathed in his magic powers 24/7 none stop for the past half a year. He was confident he should shoot a hole through two or three tanks and hit somebody five miles away with this baby. Its bullets were the size of a half-dollar in diameter, made of a mix of mundane metals into steel alloy that was super-condensed as much as he could manage with his noob Alchemy skills.
Wind Resistance Nullification, Light Suppression, and Noise Suppression. A bastardization of Runes, Alchemy, and Enchantment that I somehow managed to cobble together across the barrel. It looked like chicken scratch and a kid''s drawing, but it proved effective nonetheless. Three was the max he could plaster on it without the entire thing falling apart, or worse blowing up, and while large for what they were, the bullets didn''t offer nearly enough surface area for him to work with.
The entire thing weighed 200 lb in Sniper Mode and a third of that in as a handgun. He had to learn Reinforcement to increase his physical strength just to carry the thing around when it wasn''t sealed in its case which was enchanted to reduce weight. He really needed to work on learning recoil suppression or something because the kickback sent him to the hospital for a month with broken bones and fractures all across his arm and shoulders when he was caught off guard.
Well that, or he learns enough biology to safely modify himself without turning into a grotesque monster like Zouken.
Of course, in hindsight, maybe it was a good thing that he was vastly limited by his resources, or else he would''ve definitely tried to make something even stronger. He just hadn''t figured out the kinks of amplifying pure kinetic energy yet. So far he had plans to see about imbuing the projectiles with air to increase their speed and possibly make it invisible like Artoria''s Invisible Air... But he had no fucking idea how that thing worked besides "Air''s is invisible, so just transfer that concept to a tangible thing". Pretty impossible even by a mage''s definition as far as he knew.
He also wanted to make a railgun.
He quickly figured out why Mages all had special "workshops" when the last prototype blew up suddenly and he had to remove shrapnel of steel out of his beds for a week. He still occasionally found one or two in his ass every now and then, thank god for safety procedures and helmets.
If only he could learn Tracing, sadly he was a novice at Projection at best. Useful, but he needed to learn to make the items last more than half an hour if he wanted to make anything of worth.
He wasn''t looking for Unlimited Blades Work, he just wanted to stop spending all his money on materials damnit! Why is everything so expensive?!
Oh right... He had just the luck to be reborn right as the stock markets crashed.... Only 7 more years until the Third Holy Grail War and World War 2.
Alex made a mental note to work on getting some protection for himself. Maybe he should start interacting with his peers? It''s not like they were all sociopathic homicidal monsters... Right? He held back a groan knowing he very much needed the connections to survive the coming years.
Chapter 3. Class is in Session Pt 2.
Alex decided that he hated pretty much every single person in the Clock Tower.
The gathering of Magus was very Game of Thrones-esque, and he didn''t enjoy all the cloak and daggers, the alliances and political agendas everyone had.
Everyone had an agenda. Everyone. Even the teachers were seeking ways to improve their standing and Magecraft, and true to the themes of pompous assholes who called themselves Lords, the people of the Clock Tower had a class system that was very much discriminate against newcomers and foreigners.
Of which he had the fortune to be classified as both, the latter if only because of his interest in using a magical Foundation of mostly Eastern origins. Foundations were the "programs" in which one''s Magecraft would function, and considering the fact it would weaken or strengthen depending on where one was? He had every intention to move there for the 4-5th Holy Grail, he needed every advantage he could get.
It did make it a pain trying to learn it in England of all places, especially since the organization didn''t have the friendliest of relations with the East meant that he was sorely lacking in terms of teachers and learning materials, but he wasn''t a traditional Magus anyways and he was already bastardizing Science with Magic, so why not East and West?
Heck, maybe he''ll just make his own Foundation?
"Lol, maybe I''ll even start my own cult, just without the kool-aid?"
Welp, that proved it... It has been over a year and Alexander still had exactly zero friends. It wasn''t his fault! He didn''t know what to do.
How do people hang out in 1932?!
There''s no T.V! The radio sucked! He hated watching sports, so listening to it from a shitty speaker sucked even more!
No games, no manga, no computers, only depressing newspapers. What was there to do? Take a walk around? He''d rather not step in shit thank you very much, people had disgusting hygiene in this era.
He didn''t like drinking, food choices were limited since cultural mingling wasn''t much of a thing yet, and everyone was more interested in doing their research holed up in their workshop, or stealing info from you!
There was no goodwill, the best you could get was amiable indifference or a give and take relationship. Hard to try and be friends with someone you weren''t sure wasn''t going to kill you and cut you open to steal the secrets of magic from your body...
He glanced up from his cup of hot chocolate as he senses the presence of another Mage enter the little cafe he was in. It was right next to the headquarters of the Mage Association so he didn''t need to worry about his safety. That and the fact he clearly recognized the energy signature of the other, he did go through all the troubles of setting up this meeting in the first place after all.
"Akane. Thank you for coming, please, sit. Would you like anything to drink?"
Alexander passed over the menu. The man only took a brief glance before waving over a waitress and ordered a cup of Black tea.
Akane Aozaki, the current 4th family head to the Aozaki family. Bright crimson hair fitting for his namesake and dark brown eyes, the 34-year-old mage didn''t look a day over his late teens. He watched as the other man took off his coat and hung it over the back of his chair, practically gliding within his seat with his finger clasped in front of his face as he stared at Alex. Watching him silently, observing his every tick and manner, studying him as if a puzzle.
Those piercing eyes were judging him and he dearly wished that he wasn''t found wanting.
After all, this was the father of Touko and Aoko Aozaki within a few decades. One a genius of unparalleled talent within the field of puppetry that she warranted a Sealing Designation and the other the inheritor of the Fifth Magic. Strangely enough, despite owning one of the greatest spiritual lands within Japan and their well-aged lineage they were not well renown, and yet they arguably will come to produce two of the greatest Mages of their time. This was without mentioning their grandfather, the Mage Infinitely close to Magic himself who discovered the path to the root that Aoko would get.
All the better for Alex to make his bid before they become an unreachable powerhouse. He''ll do his best to cling to their legs and get a lift.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"So, Mr. Black, is there any reason in particular that you decided to meet me outside of classes?"
"I''ll be blunt then, Mr. Aozaki. Please listen to my proposal until the end. I''m a first-generation Magus, which means by default to the most of the Mage Association that I''m barely worth more than dirt. My hopes? My Dreams? Any future contribution I could have to society? Niche. After all, what hopes could one lone man have to add to research that has been ongoing for centuries? What avenues of thoughts could he stumble upon that they haven''t already trodden a thousand times?"
The younger boy couldn''t help the laugh that tore its way out of his throat. Akane didn''t say anything, he only calmly added a bit of sugar to his cup, stirring once or twice, before sipping without a hint of emotion on his face.
"I.. Am hopelessly out of my depths, but I want to change that. I don''t want to be a footnote in history, nor do I want my only legacy to be anecdotes of "He happened to bang the right chick" or "the great great great grandfather of-". No,I want to be great, and I can''t do that by myself. I was hoping that the Aozaki family would help me started on my journey, that you would help me acquire an apprenticeship with your father. No for free, of course. I have already prepared a contract and signed my name, it would only need your father''s approval and your own signature."
Alex pulled out an almost innocent sheet of paper and slid it across the table. For all his incredible self-control, Akane couldn''t help but let his poker face crack the slightest bit upon laying his eyes upon the white sheet.
In crimson ink that was no doubt penned in the other''s blood judging by the bandages, he could see peeking out from the other''s sleeve and the smell of iron in the air. This was a cursed contract. A Geis. No, not just any Geis he realized as he touched the parchment. Vellum, a smooth parchment made from the skin of a calf. It was a Self Geis Scroll. One of the worst of curse, unbreakable by any known means. Something that bound not just the body, but one''s magic crests and the soul itself. Attempt to break the terms would be worst than suicide to any Magus, they would effectively end their entire family lineage.
The Aozaki head could tell the young man''s determination just from the fact that he had the gall to use such a method to get him to hear him out. How bothersome. The redhead carefully lifted it up to his face and read the neatly written terms. Once, twice, three times over. This was something far too dire for him to be careless.
Over half an hour passed as Alex watched the other man''s rotate from plastering his eyes to the scroll, to putting it down and drinking his coffee while rubbing the bridge of his nose. The young Mage had spent good money on getting half a dozen lawyers to look over the terms. Well, not really, he just used some Memory Manipulation and weak Compulsions on them to make them do it for free and forget ever meeting him.
It summarized a couple of points.
1. He would by no means share what he has learned from them without their permission.
2. He would not disclose their student-teacher status or make use of the Aozaki family name without permission.
3. He would not wander around without supervision within the residence of the Aozaki family.
4. He would not attempt to harm any member of the Aozaki family unless in self-defense and vice versa whether direct or indirect.
5. The Aozaki family gets dibs on if he decided to sell any of his research and at a discounted price, and if he makes any magical patents then they would get 18% of the cut, and in return, they shall do their best to teach him anything that wasn''t part of the family secret.
6. They would provide him with some protection, politically and otherwise.
7. They would not share his information without permission.
8. They would allow him residence on their spiritual lands.
9. He could make use of their resources and connections within the established limits. He really liked this part, access to some rare stuff and discounted magical resources and goods? Hell yes!
10. He would pay a hefty sum of money every year as tuition fees. He made sure that the amount was clearly written as 2,000$ which in 1930 was more than what most made in a year. A house cost 6,000~ and as long as the payments were made to an account kept by the Mage''s Association then he would still be considered a student. If he was late on any payment then he would be charged a 5 % interest rate. Failure to comply with 10 payments shall result in forfeited of material possessions or locked up and getting his blood drained until he paid it all off.
11. In the event, both parties agree, or the death of the other, the apprenticeship shall be suspended along with the need for payment.
There was a bunch of other shit to ensure that neither of them could harm the others, quite literally even if they wanted too. The most full-proof contract that would leave even Mephistopheles weeping. It was especially annoying to add a bunch of clauses to prevent Clone/time travel/alternate universe counterparts from fucking it all up.
A Mage must always be prepared for all continuities was Alex''s moto. One could never be too safe when dealing with Magus kind, after all, the backstabbing lot.
It was the entire reason something as absolute as a Geis was made in the first place.
The Aozaki family had literally nothing to lose besides possibly some time and effort, and if he turned out to be a success than they''d reap the benefits. It was a win-win situation for everyone, especially considering the state of the economy after the stock market crash not so long ago.
After what seemed like hours, Akane excused himself to the bathroom to call his father using the magical equivalent of a cellphone before he came back with a smile that seemed to cause all of Alex''s tension away.
He''d be starting his Apprenticeship in four months. Fuck yeah!
... He needed to get a lot of money. Fuck.
... Alex couldn''t give any more blood to the association for money without being passing out between classes, nor did he feel like jerking off for a creepy old man for money. Semen was a great source of mana and life energy apparently, but still. It was the principle of the matter!