Daily Life with Three Systems: Chapter 24

I slip into a desert town, a frown on my lips, a tan hooded cloak is pulled around my body, keeping the harsh sun and occasional blast of sand from pelting my body. 

Every now and then I slip into an alley to check my map. 

This... is certainly Alverez. Guards patrol the streets, banners showing a greenish crown-like symbol on it hangs from street poles, a massive castle looms in the distance. 

Well, I wouldn't exactly say that the guards... patrol... the town. 

It's more just their presence. 

They are... around... 

It's making my tracking fairly difficult as I am unsure if they'd appreciate some random mage casting spells in town. 

Regardless, I am getting closer. 

If I'm right, Fornax the furnace should be within... that shop there. 

I walk forwards with purpose, opening the door and gazing around the seedy looking shop as a bell overhead rings. 

"Ah welcome! Welcome friend! What may I get for you today?" 

"I'm looking for some celestial spirit keys if you got any." I begin as I come to a stop at the countertop. 

"Ah, you are in luck, friend, my bazar has it all as long as you have enough Zemi!" He proclaims. 

Zemi? 

Shit. 

Right. 

Jewel is Fiore's currency. 

I do have gold, though. 

"Do you accept gold?" I question laying a large hunk of gold from one of Everlue's statues on the countertop. 

"Pure gold? Hm... Very well. I can make an exception for you, valued customer. I will be right back!" 

The door behind me jingles as the man disappears into the back room. 

My eyes briefly stray to the door, an older man is stood there, hands on a staff, his hair is greying from a light blonde, his eyes sweep across the store, seemingly hanging on me for a brief moment before returning to the items on sale. 

Eventually the shopkeep returns, in his hands are several little cushioned boxes, each with a key inside. Four copper, two silver. 

"Here are your keys valued customer!" He reaches out for the gold, but I quickly place my hand atop the hunk of metal, a frown on my lips. 

"Is... this some sort of joke? These keys are fake." 

"Fake?! I would never sell a fake!" The man declares. "That is slander! I should have the guards throw you away for even suggesting that my products are counterfeit!" 

"These don't produce any magical aura at all." I continue, crossing my arms.  "Let me get this straight... you are trying to sell a celestial spirit wizard... fake keys? Don't you think that I could... oh, I don't know... try to actually use them? Right here? Right now? Say for instance..." 

I swipe one of the keys from the box, causing the man to let out a squawk. "Open! Gate of the Shield, Scutum." 

Nothing happens as I place the key back into the box. "So... are you going to continue to try and scam me... or are you going to actually get me the celestial spirit key that I know you have here. These are two well made for simple fakes. They look too accurate. So. That can only mean that you more than likely have the actual keys here to base the fakes off of. Of course you also made the mistake of making these out of normal metals. The silver key is just silver plated but the copper one is copper all the way through. But that's just it. Copper and silver. Not Celestial Copper and Celestial Silver. There's a notable difference." 

"Now. I have come a long way for just one specific key." I lift one of the silver keys looking over it briefly, on the handle is a little anvil. "This one specifically. If you could go and grab me the actual key before I get even more irritated that would be greaaaaat." 

His eyes flick from me to the door, then to the gold. "GUARDS THIS MAN IS TRYING TO STEAL FROM ME!" 

"Oh my goooooood." I groan into my hands as the man continues to shout. "Are we doing this? Really?" 

The door jingles slightly as I watch a trio of heavily armored figures stomp into the room, a smaller cloaked figure peering around them from the doorway. 

"T-This man is stealing my gold!" The shopkeep sputters, pointing towards the golden metal in my hand. 

My magic bubbles and rolls beneath the surface of my skin, my eyebrow twitches, hand slowly clenching. 

Some of the magical trinkets and items along the shelves and walls begin to lightly vibrate and shake. streams of barely visible power seem to radiate off me, the sounds of distant beasts screeching and roaring filling the store as the power seems to coil and form into vague reptilian head-shaped flickers of power.

the dragons within my takeover roar within the sheer irritation I am feeling.

I suddenly exhale, the pressure I was exuding abruptly vanishing. "Fine." 

"I believe that is enough." An older voice speaks, my eyes stray to the old man who was towards the back of the shop. 

The three Alverez soldiers turn to the man, I can see their eyes widen slightly from within their helmets. 

"Lord spriggan!" They bow, quickly kneeling on the floor. 

I turn, a frown on my lips as I look over the man in front of me- 

Oh... 

That's... 

That's August... 

Oh fuck. 

My eyes flick to the ceiling. 

Wood. Some shingles atop that. I could break through that in Skrill form if I needed to. The issue is... 

He'd copy pretty much everything I cast at him... 

Well. 

Caster magic. Not holder magic so I should probably refrain from using any spells at all on him. 

Wait. Can he even copy takeover? Takeover magic's power comes from the creatures you capture. Not the magic itself. At worst, he may be able to copy the core spell with no captured dragons but be able to mimic the spells that each transformation gives me, just not the physical boost. Best case? It does nothing. 

"I apologize for what you have had to deal with in our city." The man speaks, a sigh leaving his lips. "This man is tarnishing the good Alverez name, selling counterfeits and crude copies of magical items. Take him away." 

I blink twice. 

"W-Wait a second-" the man sputters. "This- This just happens to be a misunderstanding." 

I step aside as the three men walk forwards and grab the shopkeep, dragging him outside. 

"..." 

You know, when I woke up today... I really didn't expect this is how it would go... 

"So... has like... the Alverez army seized his goods or..." My eyes slowly stray to the Spriggan... the strongest Spriggan. 

Which is ridiculous because another one is a dragon and he's merely human. 

"Cause I still need Fornax the Furnance." I finish lamely. 

"Yes. We have seized his goods." The man nods once. "We had gotten reports of someone within this market selling counterfeit goods and I decided to come take a look personally as I had some things that I needed to buy." 

"I see... so... how much do I owe you for the keys?" 

"That gold would be more than enough for the keys... but I'm afraid that I have no idea where they are." 

My eyes follow the short figure cloaked eventually walking over and standing beside the man. 

Bran...dish? No. She's still in Fiore... it could be that blonde godslayer. Or one of the other spriggans. 

"I can handle that." I mutter as I turn. "Virgo." 

Pomph 

The maid appears with a puff of pink smoke. "Yes master! I'll find the keys." 

She swiftly disappears into the back room. 

"You... have one of the twelve zodiac." 

"I do." I confirm with a sole nod.  

"May I ask... why exactly you are seeking out Fornax the Furnace in particular?" The older man mutters, eyes flicking back to the little cloaked figure at his side. Two almost glowing pink eyes boring into me from within the darkness. I think it's a girl. I can't really tell honestly. 

"I'm something of a hobbyist. I find things I'm bad at. Magics that should theoretically be possible. And I try my best to make them reality. This year it's enchanting. But I don't just... half ass things. I give everything my best... which is why I collected the key that can make magical alloys. Frankly, I'm a researcher first, mage second. I want to see what sort of affinities Celestial metal has. What I can create with alloys." 

"I see... thank you for answering my question." 

"I found them, Master!" Virgo returns with a fistful of keys. "I also found... quite a few counterfeit keys. I left them behind." 

"I see. Keep those safe for me, alright? I'll make contracts when we make it back." 

"Yes!" She nods and with another puff she vanishes, taking the keys with her. 

"Thank you for your assistance... I've gathered everything that I need." 

"Hm..." The man hums. "May I get your name?" 

My eyes flick back to the small figure who takes off her hood. She has black hair tied up into a pony tail, calculating purplish pink eyes, pale skin and-  

shit. 

SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT 

"My name is nobody." I weakly announce as I step outside. 

The second I step outside, two devil wings sprout from my back and rapidly carry me skywards. 

They suddenly shift into dragon wings as I climb through the clouds, then with a boom of lightning I am sent hurtling across the planet. Miles are covered in nearly an instant as I try to get as far away from Alverez as I can. 

[Split] 

My boots thud on the dirt as I land outside my home, head in my hands. 

It's the middle of the night now. 

As it turns out, my trip didn't take as long as I assumed, actually. 

I managed to cross three countries to retrieve three keys in about twelve hours... with only about thirty minutes of that being actual travel time. 

Wow Divination and Skrills are overpowered. 

I step into my home. A weary breath leaving my lips. 

I walk over and flop into that comfy chair I got recently from a quest reward and close my eyes. 

'fuuuuuuck.' 

I look to my archive window a frown on my lips. 

It's like... three am. The others will be getting up relatively shortly. 

Alright. 

So. 

That girl. 

Shit. 

I mean, like, I always assumed the possibility... but like... 

Ashley Graves. 

That was fucking ASHLEY GRAVES. 

You know, the Ley Ley in 'Andy and Ley Ley'. 

The sadistic, bitchy, manipulative, demon worshiping, cannibalistic, murderous, brother fucking bitch. 

Probably some other stuff as well. I'm not sure. I never played the game, just fapped to the porn. 

Soooo anyways I'm kind of freaking the fuck out. Mainly because I don't want to DEAL with a manipulative yandere bitch who seeks to murder all of my friends and seeks to destroy all of my friendships with ANYONE of the other gender because 'I should only be friends with her'. 

I place my face in my hands, a muffled 'MHHHHHH' scream quietly echoing out. 

A long sigh leaves my lips as I quietly whisper. "Haaah. Don't worry. Stop worrying, Andy, you won't have to deal with that psycho bitch." 

At least until Alverez attacks Fiore in about twenty years. 

So. 

Not my fucking problem. 

I'll probably have kids by then looking at how my life is developing. 

That's kind of depressing. 

Mental note. Spend one of my 'get a magic book' quest rewards on sex magic so I can get that infertility spell. 

At least that way if fucking ley ley shows up, I won't inadvertently get some inbred baby if she decides to molest me. 

Of course, it could be possible that she isn't like her game persona. 

Or she could even be a reincarnate like me... 

Oh god what if she's a reincarnate like me?! 

With a poof, Virgo appears. 

"You look worried... would you like some hot chocolate, Master? Oh! And here are all the keys!" 

A truly massive number of keys are sat on the table beside me. Like- eighteen of them. 

Most copper, some silver. 

With a wave of my hand I de-summon her, calling the golden key to my hand. "Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo." 

She reappears, this time using my own magic instead of her own. 

She pouts at me as I reply. "Some hot chocolate sounds lovely, Virgo, and thank you for holding onto these keys for a couple of minutes." 

"It is my duty to assist you in any way I can, Master." She proclaims as she turns and walks into the kitchen. "Be it cooking, cleaning, or helping you collect things.  Though I truly wish you wouldn't keep sending me back and re-summoning me. It's quite... disorientating." 

"Sorry. I just don't want you to get hurt though using your own magic." 

"You think I'd die merely from summoning myself?" The woman huffs, giving me an amused smile.  

"Doesn't... it take up your magical energy? Your very being to, well, be here?" 

"You make it sound far more dramatic than it is." The woman sighs. "Yes, being in this world could kill me, yet... hm... I would equate it to being awake. Being awake for weeks at a time would kill you too, no? Being in this world through my own power is possible, yes, and will make me tired, perhaps, but... it's only truly dangerous if I stay out for weeks. Months. Years." 

"O-Oh?" I mutter. "Is that so?" 

"Yes. So please allow me to spoil you sometimes, Master." The woman huffs. "I'm a golden spirit. I have more than enough magical energy to stay in the human world for days at a time whenever I want. If it gives you any peace of mind, I have been forced to stay in the real world once before to take care of one of my previous masters when they fell ill. One week is nothing, two weeks is irritating, three strings and a month is when it begins to hurt me... mildly... I'm not stupid master. I'll de-summon myself if I start to feel unwell." 

"Alright..." I sigh. "I just don't want you to be hurt because of me, Virgo." 

"Yes. You're a kind master. Which is why I care for you so much." The spirit warmly smiles. "Now, you plan to create magic items, right?" 

Ah! Right. Magical items. 

I had given what I want to make some thought. 

At least... before my flight back. 

The Magical Chessmen of Ultham Urre from Dungeons and Dragons. 

"I did have an idea for what I wanted... they're based on a chess set from a game back home. The basic premise is that each piece could turn you into a 'hero', with each set having different 'heroes' in question, such as one of the sets allowing you to be low-level thieves for pawns, fighters for the knights, clerics for the bishops, a higher level fighter for the king and a high level mage for the queen." 

"What do the rooks do?" The spirit questions. 

"Oh, those become full-sized castle towers when you speak a certain word." 

"I plan to do something similar to the pieces, but for mages in general. Imparting something simple into the pawns, such as my Bolt magic. As for other magics? I'm... unsure. I'd like for it to be thematic, but then I'd be forced to learn physical magics for the knights, Light Ecriture could work for the bishops... though, if I want to make the second set of pieces I'd also need to learn Dark Ecriture for the mirrored bishops. That was already on my to-do list, though so it's not like that'd be a waste of time." 

"My main issue is... how I'm going to do this." I admit with a small hum. "I've got a basic concept, Stockpile Magic. Takeover Magic. But I can't even fathom how the pieces fit together." 

"I'd also like to collect some dragon bones some time in the future... so we'll likely need to burrow under Crocus sometime." 

"You can always count on me, Master!" The spirit beams as she walks over with a steaming mug of hot chocolate, placing it on the little coffee table beside all the keys. 

"Thank you, Virgo." I warmly smile. "Oh... and I did get a book on household magics a while back, if you'd like to look at it." 

"Household... magics?" She echoes. 

I pull a copy of the book from my requip space and hand it over. 

She opens it, eyes skimming the glossary. "I know these... in fact, I invented the dusting spell on page thirty seven. But... oh? A spell for re-corking wine and preventing oxidation? Oooh! There's actually a fair number here that I don't know! Thank you for this gift, Master!" 

"You're welcome, Virgo. Thank you for serving me." 

The pink haired maid seems content to sit in a nearby chair and read as I quietly look over all of the keys. 

'Well... there are quite a few of them, huh.' 

[Split] 

Well now. 

I finished contracting the spirits... 

That took about five hours. 

Sheesh. 

The main issue was that a large majority of the spirits were nonverbal and it took some time to hash out their contracts with yes and no questions. 

So... let's go over the new additions to my power. 

Felis the Cat? The cat version of Canis Minor, I've got two keys and the ability to summon a 'Tabby' and a pretty standard yellow one. It reminds me of a cat I had in my last life. Ah. Damn. What was his name? 

I need to decide on a name for them because, well, frankly both are 'Felis' but the thing with pet summons is that the summoner traditionally gives them a name that they respond to. 

Also, apparently most pet summons can change their gender and tend to do so depending on the names given. That's... neat... that's pretty much the only ability they have aside from intellect greater than an average animal. 

After those two? Got a Kanis Minor which was a Corgi- NOT a little snowman freak like whatever Plue was. 

I'm thankful it's a corgi. I doubt that I could stand a little rat dog like a chihuahua. 

After that, I got a miniature pony. 

Yes. 

Really. 

A third pet summon. Probably my least interesting one as horses don't really... get very interesting in their differences. It's a black Shetland pony. That's all I can really say about it. 

Thankfully the celestial spirits ACTUALLY become kind of useful after that- I suppose the horse MIGHT be able to kick something so it goes over the dog and cat- but anyways I've got Volans the Flying Fish which was one of those Archerfish with feathered wings instead of pectoral fins. 

It can fly and spit water. That's... about it... well, that's a little disingenuous, actually. 

Realistically it spits water with the force of a pressure washer which is kind of useful. I might also need their help to find that one key Virgo wants me to find that fell into the ocean. 

I got Pixis the compass, which is a legitimate golden compass. Not that weird bird thing from the anime. 

But it can point me in the direction of any 'widely known' thing. Say for instance 'North' or 'The Capital City of Fiore' but not 'That Dark Guild's Secret lair' unless, of course, said dark guild had a truly MASSIVE number of members. 

I'm unsure what it counts as widely known. I'll have to test that a little. 

Then I got Hippocampus the seahorse. 

Horse front half, shark back half. That's all I can really say about it. Crux the Cross. From the anime. From what he told me his ability is basically a celestial spirit google search and he can give me a lot of information on the goings-on of spirits such as 'is this spirit currently being wielded by anyone' or something like that. Though he did mention he can't just tell me who owns the keys. I'd imagine he'd be able to give me far more accurate information that Virgo, though. 

Then I got Lyra the Lyre... from the anime... and I can only summon her on the first Tuesday of every second month because she's 'booked'. 

Turns out she's among one of the only copper celestial spirits where one entity exists. Like for instance my pet summons. There's THOUSANDS of separate felis the cats. But the numerous Lyra the Lyre keys, each and every one ONLY summons her. Which makes her arguably the strongest copper celestial spirit. 

The only issue is that she is kind of only good for music. 

Music that can affect emotions a little bit, sure, causing people to cry and stuff, but that's about it. 

Rosa the Rose is just a cute little flower girl. She can supposedly make incredible flower arrangements. I may let her go wild if we have to cater a wedding or some sort of festival. 

And now... for my favorites. 

Vulpecula the little fox... 

It's Senko. 

LITERALLY SENKO. 

Like- little blonde fox girl. She's adorable and also kind of smug and prideful proclaiming herself among the 'strongest' copper spirits. 

She's got some basic blue fire magic as well which she calls 'fox fire'. 

I wonder if Koneko could teach her Senjutsu... 

Huh. 

Anyways the final copper key is good ol Ara the Altar. 

It's a massive workstation... and thus, by default, my favorite copper spirit. Sorry Senko. 

They have everything I might POSSIBLY need for some more basic crafts such as calligraphy, sewing, lapidary- which is the process of jewel cutting- leatherworking, literally ANYTHING. 

Except anything to do with metalworking. 

Virgo was running as a translator and the spirit- and I quote- 'didn't want to step on Fornax's hammer'. 

They were quite happy to find out that I ALSO had Fornax's key. 

Seemingly they can combine and work together better? 

According to Virgo the two spirits are also dating. 

Which... 

Uh... 

Cool... 

I guess. 

Anyways onto silver keys. 

I've got Fornax, a sentient blacksmithing forge that comes equipped with an anvil- on the end of a long bar of metal which it can bend and move around like an arm- and a numerous small hammers. 

I genuinely can't WAIT to get to work with them and Ara 

After Fornax there's Solarium who is a massive golden sundial which is the size of the entire room- Virgo told me to go outside to summon them so I didn't crush all my furniture. 

Next is Canis Major and... uh... You ever see a chihuahua the size of a horse? 

Yeah. It's basically that. 

Bootes was an old man with a large staff, supposedly he can summon sheep to attack his enemies. 

I also have Cancer Minor, which is a crab the size of a minivan. And finally Scutum the Shield who is a floating bedazzled hoplite shield which can do... floaty shield stuff... 

Of the eighteen keys I have gained... only five of them can ACTUALLY speak to me. That kind of sucks. 

Maybe I could get some sort of telepathy magic? Oh well. I'll think about it later. 

My eyes slowly stray to the girls milling about the room. 

"Welp." I announce, rising to my feet and gaining the attention of everyone. "I've been up for almost thirty hours... I'm going to go pass out." 

"If you were so tired you could have come slept with us!" Rias pouts. 

"Can't talk right now. Sleep deprivation." I groan out, stumbling across the room. "Oh. By the way. I saw who I can only assume to be my little sister today. That's a very bad thing. Goodbye." 

"Wait... what?" I hear Rias' voice echo out as I begin to close the door. 

"Andy you can't just say shit like that and leave the room-Click" 

"Ahhh... Peaceful slumber time." I crumple on the bed, curling up under the blankets. 

"..." 

I sit up, raise a hand, and lower the temperature of the room, then lay back down with a content smile on my face.