I appear with a flash of light and a pulse of magic. A small red-haired girl with silver eyes is practically vibrating with excitement in front of me as I clamp down on my magical power.
"ANDY!" The girl beams.
"Ruby." I greet with a sole nod.
"You're not sick!" The girl grins.
"I didn't eat this morning." I lazily admit with a small cringe. "I'm still not having a very good time."
My eyes briefly flicker to the white haired man standing nearby with a cane.
The cane is what draws my attention the most, the magic it contains is easily ten or even twenty times my full capacity.
I idly note the sheer experience resting within his tired eyes.
"..."
"You're older than you look." I mutter.
He gives me a weak tired smile. "Yes..."
"Huh?" Ruby tilts her head.
"Is it closer to hundreds or thousands?"
"Thousands..." The man's lips thin.
"I see..." I mutter. "Cursed by gods?"
"You could say that."
I rub my face, a groan leaving my lips. "Do you kill everyone around you uncontrollably if you so much as think a non-nihilistic and depressive thought about life?"
"I- What?" That breaks his calm, a confused look rests on his face.
"Oh good." I breathe a sigh of relief. "You got lucky. It's not that bitch's curse of contradiction."
"Curse of... contradiction?" The man echoes.
"I've explained it a lot recently so I'll keep it brief. A man tries to revive his brother. God of life and death doesn't like that. Curses him with immortality for 'disturbing the balance of life and death'. Man proceeds to become the greatest dark wizard in the world because the curse kills everything around him if he values life. Plants. Animals. People. And then he proceeds to make the world's most powerful and dark artifacts the world has ever seen all in an attempt to kill himself."
"So. I've heard you want me to return magic to all of Remnant." I proceed easily, gazing over the aged man. "But. A devil never does anything for free. For me returning that small section and giving Ruby her book she has to assist me in designing a mechashift weapon in the future... it was mostly a freebee as those two things are in no way equal in value."
"So. What can you offer me?"
"I am prepared to unlock your aura." He answers.
"I'm going to stop you right there. Bad idea." I raise a hand. "Well... actually... for you..."
I tap my chin. "Unlocking someone's aura drains your own, temporarily, correct? I think I remember Ruby saying that."
"It does..."
"Could you... die if it drains too much?" I ask. "That's the reason I haven't asked Ruby or her Uncle to unlock my aura even if it seems like such a simple power-up. My soul... is frankly... powerful. Far more than a normal devil's. And that's not even considering if lifespan equates a more powerful soul... on average a devil lives for ten thousand years... so, I'm unsure if that means that a devil would have one hundred times the aura of a normal person or not."
"Then you need to consider the fact that my soul is in no way a normal devil soul. I have a sacred gear. A magical artifact created by a god which is bound to my soul."
"That... could pose an issue. I do not know what 'Awakening' your soul could do for such a thing." I can see Ozpin nod slowly in acceptance, he closes his eyes for a moment, seemingly thinking. "However."
A faint smile appears on his lips. "I am the origin of Aura-
"WHAT?!" Ruby shrieks.
"-the power all huntsmen and huntress use to this day is derived from my power... my greatest creation to safeguard humanity and faunus-kind. I recall precisely how I managed to awaken it in not only myself but others. I will offer you every single one of my notes on Aura so you can achieve it by yourself... and if you can't... I will sacrifice this life to awaken your aura. But. It is too early for me to die yet. There is still much I need to do and it will take time to return to a place of political importance."
"Return- OH! You have reincarnation immortality. That must be a pain."
The man's lips thin, the corners turning downwards briefly. "Yes..."
"Hrn... a little low." I mutter under my breath. "Do you have any magical artifacts? Or enchanting methods? Returning magic to the entire world is quite a project. It's not something I can just snap my fingers and do."
"Oh, of course. This is just a starting payment." The man easily agrees. "I expected you to reawaken magic in sections like you did in the forest."
"Knowledge on Aura may be large enough for one section." I admit. "My general plan is to follow the ley-lines along, cutting them off at the other ends and creating a massive box that cycles power much like that one in the forest... the issue with that, however is... well... this is an island. My ecriture would need to go through the ocean... twice, even."
I let out a quiet 'tsk.' Do you have a map? It'd be helpful if I could use my archive map to plot a general area.
"Oh, of course." The man brings out a thin device that splits down the middle with a glass screen. He taps briefly on it before a screen is projected in the air above it. "This. Is remnant."
"..."
"You have two continents that look like dragons?" I blink twice.
"Well... the beings who created this world... did so in their own image." The man hums.
"I see..." I murmur raising a hand. "Copy."
The magic circle that appears in front of my hand fizzles and glitches. "Ah. Right. The reason I'm even here. We should probably continue at the leyline so my magic functions properly. I also need to take a look at it briefly as... it's not exactly... supposed to be cut off from the surrounding leylines. If there was more magic in this world you'd likely have a calamity on your hands... I'm talking super volcano at least."
Two devil wings sprout from my back. "I will meet you there."
[Split]
I glance up, seeing the white haired man walking forwards, tapping the ground with his cane as Ruby skips alongside him.
I look over the archive map beside me. It took some effort but I believe the map of remnant is correct. Which helped me plot my next course of action.
"ANDYYYY!" Ruby cheers. "We're here!"
"Ah good- Oh... and I just realized that I haven't actually introduced myself. How rude of me." I blink twice. "I am Andrew Graves, Devil Bishop and S-Class Wizard of the Mage's Guild, Fairy Tail."
"Ah, it appears that I have not as well. I am Professor Ozpin, headmaster of the illustrious Huntsmen Academy, Beacon."
"Impressive" I note. "Now. I have checked over my runic barrier here... while hilariously outdated for my current capabilities. We are standing on top of a future disaster. Magic is slowly but surely building up... Ruby, you won't have to worry about it unless you find some way to extend your lifespan. You'll be old and gone centuries before it becomes an issue. But. Provided I do not fix what I've done to the leylines in this place in the next thousand years. It will eventually reach a critical level... of which I can only theorize the consequences of. Mutated animals and plants, tectonic events, or even like I said, potentially a volcano could sprout on the island."
"I see..." The white haired man whispers. "Do you believe you could solve the magic issue for the entire planet in that time?"
"Oh. Of course. But you should be aware that once I start linking other leylines together we may have a little less time. Not that much considering the much larger surface area we'd be working with, however I predict a margin of error of about... five hundred years? Four hundred? Roughly in that ballpark."
"I still believe that the return of magic could only be a benefit to humanity and faunus kind." Ozpin sighs. "Grimm... benefited far less from magic than humanity ever did. There were a few, I'll admit, that could manipulate magical energy. However those were personally crafted by the god of darkness... and they had more substance than the ones we fight in the modern day..."
"To be honest... there is no benefit to slaying grimm." He wearily continues. "it is a waste of both life, dust, resources, time, and stamina... there is no point to hunting them down if they are not close to the last bastions of life. At least the ones that could manipulate magic in some form left behind extremely potent magic crystals when slain. Akin to dust, but far more stable."
"Now, I need your advice. I have used divination to find the vague location of nearby leyline convergences. Like I said I plan to create what's basically a box."
I turn, showing Ruby and the old man my archive window. "Our options are... sparce... you can have ocean, ocean, and more ocean, or what you've labeled as right in the middle of that city of yours."
"That does appear to be the only option, yes." He confirms. "There could be issues with the visibility of these runes here if they are needed for the entire perimeter of the area you wish to seal away."
"They are, but I can make them invisible if needed. I just left them visible here because I'd imagine Ruby would like it-"
"I DO!" She cheers.
"But I could very easily make it invisible." I finish.
"Do you think it would be possible to extend the area over the entire city of Vale? Or would it merely be confined to roughly the maritime district? At least until you could bind more of these 'leylines'?"
"Vale appears to be... a truly massive city... in fact, it alone is probably equal to the entire country of Fiore where I live. Even gaining magic within a twentieth of the city would undoubtably be an incredible boon." I gesture to my map. "To get the entire city I'd likely need to get several other leylines, branching out from these directions."
A low 'Tsk' leaves my lips. "This is going to be a pain. If you want me to get all of Vale, I might be able to just circle the entire city with ecriture and go through unclogging each leyline I trapped within afterwards."
I nod slowly. "That'll probably be easier. But. I'll want a little more payment."
"Where is the most powerful leylines on the planet. Thirty rolls." More dots begin appearing on the map beside me.
The dots seem to more or less be grouped around two points, one on the Asian dragon continent, another on the winged dragon continent. "These locations mean anything to you?"
"The light and dark god... did... have pools in roughly those locations." Ozpin answers after a moment.
"Ah. Of course the gods would place themselves on the most potent magical hotspots. How typical." I mutter under my breath." I drag my finger along the map. "Anyways, This is roughly the area I could do. However. This is like... a twentieth of the planet. I'll be wanting a little bit more than just your notes."
"Oh, of course... in fact... I believe that I have something that will interest you quite a bit." He agrees. "You see... a long time ago, just before the gods left this world... they revived me and gave me a mission... I was to unite all of humanity. I was to make the world in complete harmony... they gave me four powerful relics, each with unique powers and abilities. A sword, a staff, a crown. And a lamp. They told me that when I gather these four relics together... they will return and judge humanity one final time."
"Ah. You want me to take one so that never happens." I hum.
"Yes." He confirms. "When the dark god crippled magic... he also slayed every single human life on this planet... I do not know what happened after, or what made them do so- as I was dead during that time- but when I was returned to these lands Humanity had recovered... then there was the existence of the Faunus as well."
"Humanity does not need gods who use them like toys. They do not need 'judgement'. I can already see what they mean by 'harmony'. Either they seek to rob humanity of its free will... creating slaves who know nothing but worshiping the ground they walk... or human nature will prevail. One century of peace and harmony is effortlessly undone... There will always be greed, always be lust, envy or wrath, and it is my fear that if they return, they will use this as an excuse to destroy this world."
"Believe me. You don't need to justify to me why you don't want two celestial dickheads to return after they did THIS to the world seemingly during a temper tantrum. I'll take one of your artifacts in exchange for my work... and the notes. That's more than a fair trade. I will probably need to message someone to summon me later, though..."
With a wave of my hand I summon an archive window, smiling as I can now see both Rias and Natsuki within my contacts. "Let's see here... I wonder-"
I drag my finger across the screen.
*PING*
"Huh?" Ruby gasps as she conjures a wall of flower petals beside herself.
"Andrew Graves has added 'Rias Gremory' and 'Natsuki' to Chat Group: 'Magic'."
"You can ADD PEOPLE?!" The redhaired girl shrieks.
"The two people I added where a part of this before. I basically just moved them from other chat groups to this one."
I tap out of a little something.
Andrew: "The contract is going to take a while. Don't summon me back tonight, I'll message you when I'm ready."
I close the windows and clap my hands together. "Alright. Let me get to work, then. This is going to take some t- wait is that a grimm?"
My gaze suddenly snaps to the side as I can see a bipedal wolf prowl through the woods.
"One moment, Mr Ozpin. My thirst for knowledge and talent as a shadow mage demands I examine that really fast."
I blur forwards, passing through the line of ecriture. I clamp down on my magic as I reach the Beowolf I think Ruby has called them. I grab it, break its arms and legs with small blasts of demonic power, then rush back towards the box.
It snarls and thrashes around as I slam it down. "This is... the work of a god, Seriously?"
I look to Ozpin.
He simply nods. "Older grimm are far more impressive. These are fairly weak, however."
"I see." I mutter as with a wave of my hand an iron band clamps down around its jaws, keeping them sealed shut.
Archive springs to my hand. "Scan."
A loading bar appears above the limbless shadow monster as I turn back to Ozpin.
"The reason I was curious if a god actually made those is because, well, frankly I can do similar with shadow magic... though Ruby has said that these are 'creatures of shadow'."
"You can do... similar? Really?" Ozpin blinks.
"It's honestly not that hard. I researched a material from another world called 'Solar Veil' which is a type of silk which as shadows woven into the gaps of it to create a perfect sheet that allows no light through. Further research and previous experience has allowed me to learn to create a 'maker magic' out of this type of silk. In which using 'dynamic maker magic' I can create... basically sack puppets filled with animated shadow that function in a similar way. Shadows even leak out of them when they're cut like from that creature's severed arms."
I gesture to the grimm. "The only thing I will note is that this 'Grimm' seems far more stable than my Veil-make creations. It's not dead yet. But with a solar veil creature, a large enough puncture wound or cut would simply cause all of the animating shadows to leak out of it, which in turn loses the veil's magic storage and causes it to disappear."
"Allow me to demonstrate. Veil Make: Soldier."
A soldier of orange and black cloth appears behind me before saluting. "This is what I can make with veil make."
"COOL!" Ruby gasps, looking up from where she had been poking the beowolf with a stick. "Wait... cloth doesn't sound like it'd be very good for killing things... like... a cloth sword wouldn't hurt!"
"And you'd be correct, Ruby, which is why when I do use this, I do this... Iron Make: Sword."
A simple broadsword appears from a magic circle. I catch it and toss it towards the knight who catches the blade effortlessly and resumes saluting.
"YOU CAN MAKE WEAPONS LIKE LE FAY?!"
"That's just an Iron sword, Ruby." I sigh. "Not even steel. But more durable than Iron due to being made of magic."
"Can I have a katana?! Ooh! What about a spear! A scythe?! Nunchucks?! NUNCHUCKS BUT THEY'RE KNIVES?!"
"Hold that thought. You." I gesture to the shadow. "Run outside the barrier really fast."
The knight does as it is told, rushing forwards across the line of runes- its chest swells like it is a balloon being filled with air, its torso pops open and wisps of darkness spew outwards in all directions, rapidly dissipating.
"Hn."
"It appears your unguarded magic is causing you issues here as well." Ozpin observes. "The fact that you can create things similar to grimm is... intriguing... yet not all that surprising. In fact, some huntsmen have semblances that can summon grimm-like beings to do their bidding. The Schnee Family of Atlas and their Hereditary semblance."
"Hereditary sembl-" I cut myself off and take a deep breath. "No. I will look into that later. If I keep getting distracted by every single shiny new thing I can find in this world I'll never get anything done."
The loading bar over the grimm is filled and a chime echoes out.
I swing my hands out, creating a large screen in front of me.
Ozpin seems to peer at it in interest, looking over the assorted formulae and data my scanning spell collected.
"Huh. Well..." I mutter as I close it, turning back to the man. "According to that, Grimm are indeed eerily similar to my veil-makes with one sole difference. Instead of shadow woven into cloth... Grimm are shadow woven into flesh and bone... kind of obvious in hindsight, actually. But. Overall? Unimpressive."
"Now. Since my curiosity is sated. Allow me to begin."
[Split]
I lay in the grass as I can hear a set of footsteps approaching.
I glance to the side to see the headmaster. "Yo. I'm fucking exhausted."
There's a wry smile on his lips. "I see."
He looks... better... more at ease.
"I've finished the perimeter." I announce. "Now all that remains is unclogging leyline crossings inside."
"Even if you don't, I can feel a distinct change to the world." The man notes. "Rest first. You can deal with the others later."
"I think I actually have a method to deal with it now... but... ah... one moment, is your little phone thing connected to the internet back in Vale?"
"I- yes? My scroll is connected to the Cross Continental Transmit System." The man slowly confirms.
"So, like... you'd get an alert if a disaster happened over there, right?"
His face grows serious. "I... do not like where this is going."
"I can see into the future with divination magic. I plan to announce my intentions, 'do it', then check with you to see what happens. If Vale is hit with an earthquake, I won't continue with the action."
"You- you can see the future that clearly?!"
"It takes literally all of my magic to do even ten minutes... and that's in MY world. I'm not going to try more than say... two minutes here. Besides, nothing bad should happen, all of my divining has said that this has an outcome somewhere between good and neutral."
"I see..." The man's lips thin, his gaze straying across me.
"I plan to rip this land up, find the leylines and send a surge of magical energy down the lines like lighting a gunpowder trail."
"Alright." The man blinks twice.
Magic pools in my hands and I close my eyes, flashes of memories assail my mind... not as intense as when I did it before, but with my relatively poor control in this world I still lose about fifty percent of my magical energy to activate the effect.
I lift the earth underfoot, using my demonic energy to raise it into the sky, I float downwards into the pit... my third origin surges outwards and I feel as if I can do absolutely anything.
All of the magical energy I would ever have is at my fingertips as I hold a hand out and let out a small pulse that travels along the still connected leylines.
I float outwards, landing on the earth in front of Ozpin as I allow the floating island of earth to return to the ground behind me. "So?"
His scroll seems to buzz, his face grows pale for a moment before it flattens, "Is that it?"
"Pardon?" I ask.
"It just triggered a tier-two earthquake... that's barely enough to rattle dishes."
His eyes remain focused on the scroll as I begin to use my divination to search through the leylines.
"Huh... well, I appear to have decreased the time until the magical disaster... you have probably seven hundred years now. But other than that? Nothing."
Ozpin opens his mouth to say something, but the vision ends.
I let out a gasp as I sort through the knowledge.
"Alright. Would you be fine with a 'tier two' earthquake and me lowering the time to that magical disaster to about seven hundred years?"
"A tier two? That's it?" The man's eyebrows raise. "That's barely enough to rattle dishes."
"That's it." I confirm. "I checked myself. There was nothing beyond the little shudder. No aftershocks, no tidal waves. Just a few seconds of rumbling- hold on..."
"What is it?" The man quickly questions.
"I... used divination in my precognition... and I remember the results..." I whisper. "Holy shit! Are you telling me I decide to do absolutely RIDICULOUS bullshit questions in the next thirty seconds, look at the results after it no doubt sucks so much magic that I'd be near death and just decide not to do it and REMEMBER the results?! I need to test this- holy shit this is revolutionary."
"Mr. Graves." The headmaster coughs.
"Hah?" I turn to him. "Sorry. I'm a little sleep deprived."
"A tier two earthquake and a slightly shortened countdown is a reasonable price for having this all done today." The old man smiles weakly. "After this, you will get what we had agreed upon and you may return to rest."
"Alright." I shrug as I raise a hand, the earth behind me shudders before rising upwards under the control of my demonic energy.
I take a deep breath as my energy surges I hold out my hands, linking to the leylines.
I allowed a controlled burst of the purifying ethernano-based magic to spew through the clogged veins of the earth, dust crystals glow and seem to evaporate into pure magic that seeps into the soil with a low rumble.
I close my eyes as I can feel my magic growing distant, following along the outline I had marked and flowing inwards.
The magic swirls like a massive whirlpool as it connects in the center.
The moment my magic reaches its destination I cut the power, letting out a low breath.
My hands briefly shake from taking on the full might of my third origin, my magical container is completely full, as is my demonic magic.
I float out and allow the earth to fall, summoning an archive screen as I check over what I previously scanned.
Ozpin gazes down at his phone. "A tier two... just as you had said..."
"And that'll be... roughly seven to eight hundred years." I nod slowly. "Alright. That's done."
"Yes, thank you for your work. I will certainly call upon you in the future to finish the rest of remnant... but for now? This is enough. I will test the waters and see what is now capable... I will contact you through Ruby."
"Oh." He reaches for a book under his arm. "Over the past twenty four hours I had taken the time to write down the method I used to create Aura from magic... and this..."
He reaches to a ring on his finger then with a small pulse of magic it expands, revealing itself to be a large golden crown with red jewels. "Is the relic of choice."
"The relic of choice?" I echo.
"Yes... when worn, this crown shows you a choice you will be forced to make in the future."
"A choice?" I echo. "What qualifies as a choice?"
"I used this relic once before... a long... long... time ago." His eyes grow distant. "It showed me standing above men and women alike... my wife at my side... I was given a choice... proclaim myself as a god, as I had abilities far beyond what they could comprehend... or choose to live among the people..."
"..."
"it just shows you a choice." I deadpan.
"Yes... it shows you one sole choice you will be forced to make in the future... and it will only show that vision until said choice comes to pass."
"..."
"Now, I'm not one to stick my nose up at a free heads up for a choice I'll have to make, but this sounds kind of like a sub-par uncontrolled vaguely shitty version of the magic I can already do... I assume it can see much further in the future."
"Oh, yes. My vision didn't take place for another one hundred years. I was in another body as well."
I look to the crown, look to the old man who is holding a mug of- hot chocolate?
I look back to the crown.
"Ah well. In for a penny."
I place the crown atop my head and suddenly... I'm elsewhere.
I appear to be standing in this very forest. Before me is a girl I am quite familiar with, her eyes burning with excitement. She appears a bit older than when I last saw her a day ago. "Andy! Please Please! PLEASE let me join your peerage! I'll even take being a pawn! I just want magic! I want to see the worlds! I want to visit Le Fay in person! I want to see what sort of weapons other places have! Plus..."
There's a small flush to her face. "I... don't want you to be sad in the future after I grow old and die..."
I open my mouth to reply
Suddenly I'm back in the present.
I take off the crown. "What the fuck?"
"Jarring, is it not?"
I cup my head and tilt my head. "More... confusing... it didn't seem that far in the future, but it did give me some interesting information... where the hell do I get my own set of evil pieces?"
"Ah. It doesn't matter. How does- oh! There we go." The crown shrinks as I place it around my wrist, becoming a comfortable bracelet. "I believe I should return home now, Mr. Ozpin. You have been a quite nice host... I will return in the future to fix the rest of your magic issue... but first? A nap."