A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

Chapter 169: Chapter 161

"This should be good...right about here." I made a mark on the ground, and I surveyed the area. In the distance I could see the Yggdemillennia Castle, and it was an impressive sight. Not the greatest, nor the most visually magnificent, but it definitely invoked a feeling of foreboding just by gazing upon it. If I wanted a castle myself, it would be one I took inspiration from.

Oh well.

I dug a little bit on the marked spot after mentally calculating the distance from the other spots. Without a second thought, I dropped a Dust Bomb inside.

This was one of the Fire-Dust Variety. My inner pyromaniac was quite interested to see how this one turned out. I of course trusted in Jinn's genius to know this would be quite a stunning sight to behold.

"What is that?" Mordred looked over my shoulder, gazing down at the Dust Bomb. She'd been watching me doing this at several locations now.

I turned, giving her a look of confusion. "Did.....you not listen to my explanation? Like we spent an hour or so just going over the plan and working out everything important."

"I got bored after you started rambling about annoying shit." She waved her hand flippantly. "Sounded too much like that flowery bastard for me to keep caring."

I face palmed, dragging my hand down my face in exasperation. "I'm planting magical bombs right outside the territory of the Black Faction." It wasn't hard to gauge the distance of their Bounded Fields. They kind of forwent subtlety for more power in that regard. And navigating everything else they threw up around the forests surrounding the castle wasn't little difficult.

"Won't do much against a Servant." She yawned, still looking board.

"Well, they aren't normal bombs." I rolled my eyes, hiding the spot I dug up and making sure it was set properly. I actually found the perfect little spell back in Skyrim. A remote detonation spell that will trigger the mechanism. Jinn was the one who showed me it, actually.

"You'd be more of a disappointment if they were." She replied.

"I have the distinct feeling you're going to be difficult while we're working together." I sighed.

"Hang on, let me pretend to care." She cleared her throat. "Oh gee, what do these 'magical bombs' do?" She said flatly.

Huh.....I like her snark. What a sharp contrast she is from Artoria even though they look so much alike.

"I would say I'm not going to stoop to your level, but I don't think it's possible to go that low." I gestured to the top of her head and where she compared to me.

"Height joke, scathing." She didn't seem fazed. "Mordred is short; I haven't heard that one a billion times from the other knights already."

"Huh...I guess once the initial shock wore off, you aren't acting like a...." I tapped my chin.

"Like a what?"

My lips curled up. "A berserker."

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck you." I replied without a second thought.

"...."

"....."

"Fucking fine." She threw up her hands. "Tell me about your stupid bombs."

And this is my life now. The things I'm willing to do for Artoria. "They contain a concentrated Elemental reaction, the closest to each pure concept that could be acquired within short notice. Then they went through a second refining process to turn them into proper bombs." It was a decent enough explanation.

"....That's kinda cool." She muttered.

"You understood what I said?" I was a bit surprised, while it was somewhat dumbed down, I thought she would say something snarky again. I didn't think she would parse my words properly.

"I'm not an idiot." She scowled. "I did pick up some shit from my Mother. Instead of explosions, it's going to be elemental effects. This one is red, does that mean it's going to shoot out fire or somethin?"

I perked up a little bit. "Yeah, it comes from crystallized Mana that took the form of the elements. This one in particular is Fire, so it should erupt into a sort of Firestorm when actualized."

She actually started to grin. "That's fucking metal."

"I threw an ice one at the Priest-Master I met the other day, it –" I gestured with my hands. "Blew up into this big-jutted icicle conglomeration."

"You at least get'em?" She asked.

"Ugh, probably not. Made another Servant appear though. She kind of flipped when it exploded in his face, so there's that." I grinned. "Oh, that reminds me. If you see Rider of Red – Green hair, uses a spear, and wears a scarf, call him Siegfried."

"Why? Didn't you say that was Achilles?"

"Oh, he tried to stab me while doing this nonchalant 'nothing personal' attitude. Pissed me off so I intentionally started calling him the wrong name. He's the really cock sure sort, so calling him Siegfried really got under his skin."

She let out a snort, trying to hide the smile that was forming on her face. "Wait." She paused, some kind of realization dawned on her. "You actually fought a Servant?"

"Did you think I left multiple Servants for my Saber to deal with?" I gave her a cheeky smile.

She scowled, but otherwise didn't react to my 'Saber' comment. "Pfft, yeah right. I'd be surprised if you didn't wet yourself when Rider raised his spear towards you."

"I've taken shots at literal gods, like Rider would scare me." I rolled my eyes. "Actually, it's how I got Artoria to go on a date with me the first time."

"What?" Her eyes snapped up, listening intently at this point.

I took out my phone, looking at the time. We were making good progress, I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a small chat. I did kind of want to maybe find some common ground with Mordred. "We fought and I offered a wager for the fight. If I won, then I was going to take her out on a date." Well, it was more complicated than that, but I didn't want to air Artoria's issues in public like this.

"Bullshit you defeated my father in a duel!" She grit her teeth, a visible anger overcoming her.

"Pfft, no I didn't." I laughed. "She kicked my ass." Still a fond memory. But I was also a lot weaker back then. "She accepted anyways."

{Master, we've completed the work you requested, and we are returning now.} Raikou's voice sounded over the mental link.

Mordred also went stiff ever so slightly, as if she too received a message.

"Kairi tell you he's on the way back?"

Mordred grunted in confirmation. "Don't understand why I had to stay here." She kicked a nearby rock.

"Wait, we're you really not paying attention?" I looked at her incredulously and she didn't otherwise react. I let out a long sigh. "I thought you were just fucking with me." I rubbed my temples. "If you had been paying attention." I made sure to be verbose about it. "You would have heard that Your master and I did not have a way to keep in contact with one another at such distances while on the move."

My Servant goes with him, his with mine, so we can communicate.

Not only that...while we finalized an 'alliance', but there is also no doubt in my mind that Kairi is still a true Magus. He most definitely gave Mordred orders to take my head the moment it looked like I would try and betray them. And it would be no surprise for me if he prepared other contingencies, it was just the smart thing to do.

The weight and promise of my name aside, he would be an idiot to just blindly trust me that much.

I felt a twitch over the other mental link, the one I shared with Sir Wiggles. I briefly noted how it was strange they didn't overlap, and I made a small promise to investigate it later.

But otherwise, Sir Wiggles came shooting through the forest at blinding speed.

"The fuck is that!?" Mordred already had her sword in her hand, ready for fight, only for my familiar to dart out of the brush and into my hands. "...what?" She started at the greatest rabbit ever in pure confusion.

"I went over this." I let out another long sigh. "I said my familiar would be running around the North Eastern side of the castle, closest to the town. He was running interference, taking out familiars and triggering the furthest magical detections away from us."

Good job, Sir Wiggles. I made sure to send it over the link as well. I think he return a sort of happiness at my praise.

He's getting stronger, I'm happy to have picked him up. I slipped the Ring of the Khajiit onto his horn before he left, it really did wonders for his speed and stealthiness.

"That's your familiar?" She looked at me with a strange expression.

"Behold!" I held Sir Wiggles up into the air. "Sir Wigglesbottom Fluffytail Octavius Benedict III, Crown Prince of Emerald Kingdom. Duke of Carrot Island, General of the Northern Armies, The Lightning Born!" I introduced. "Or just Sir Wiggles for short."

"That's fucking stupid."

"Well then, I guess you don't want to hold him."

"....."

"...."

"Bastard." She scowled deeper before turning her head away and holding her arms out. Sir Wiggles took that as a que to leap towards her from my grasp.

Haha, works every time.

"I'm curious about something." I found a nearby rock and leaned against it, earning her attention, atleast to some degree. She was happily stroking Sir Wiggle's fur. "Your master was kind of 'uncaring' when we negotiated price for the alliance."

"What about it?"

"I don't know..." I scratched my head. "You sure that's what he wants?" The way he went about it, just felt like he was going through the motions.

"How the hell am I supposed to know what he wants? I aint a Magus, I don't care about all that crap about bloodlines." She spat out. "Besides, the hell you care for?"

I shrugged. "I guess it really isn't any of my business, I just can't help but meddle sometimes." I ran a hand through my hair, looking up at Mordred. "I take care of my people."

"Whatever." She didn't seem to care about what I was saying so I dropped it.

If her Master wanted something else, an actual wish, I would see what I could do after the war was over.

I turned my head, seeing the outline of Raikou coming into view as she materialized onto the physical aspect of the world.

"Master~" Raikou ran to me, quickly scooping me up into a hug. "I'm back, did you miss Momma?"

Well, I think both Mordred and Kairi were used to her eccentrics now. Speaking off....

"Welcome back." I gave her a smile before turning my attention towards Kairi who appeared not far away. "How'd it go?"

"No issues." The Older Magus took out a cigarette and immediately lit it. "That 'Invisibility Potion' you gave me worked great. Curious where you got it." He commented.

Hah, he probably kept some of it to research later. Good luck!

"I have my sources." I grinned, changing the subject. "Time to move onto the next part." I motioned towards Sir Wiggles who hopped onto the ground.

"Finally, I was getting tired of all this cloak and dagger shit." Mordred stretched her arms. "I can actually get some action now."

Yup, it was about time to let loose.

***

Fighting starting up again soon. Sir Wiggles was properly introduced and Mordred opens up a little bit.

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