thomasdarkrose
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Fabricator v2 - Chapter 23
🕑 Added 2023-08-30 19:18:58 +0000 UTCJunichiro hadn't a clue where in Britain he actually was. World geography hadn't been something he needed to know in his last life. Combined with his lack of schooling in his current life? It left him rather inept at knowing here he might be. For all he knew, he was in Scotland somewhere... Maybe?
Whatever.
His exact location wasn't important, what was important was that he'd been slowly circling in the air for the last hour as he slowly closed in on the location of Excalibur's Scabbard. Once the circles he was flying were tight enough, he gently landed the ATV on the road in the middle of a random suburb. He activated the notice-me-not field around the vehicle before dropping the invisibility. The pair looked around at the quiet neighborhood before Mittelt's eyes turned to look at Junichiro. Her face showed such a dry deadpan look that he was shocked the green yards in front of the houses didn't start drying up, “Really?”
He winced slightly at the flat, almost dead, tone she used, “One of the most powerful relics ever made. A relic said to be made by Fae nearly treading in the realms of the gods and Alchemy so powerful no mortal has ever come close to recreating even a portion of it... Is in the middle of some random British suburb?”
Junichiro winced again and looked around, hoping the Scabbard would just pop out or something before he replied. Sadly, the only thing to come out was a housewife that started watering the rose bushes in front of her home. He cleared his throat before he looked at Mittelt, “Well... the Scabbard was lost what... twelve, maybe thirteen hundred years ago?”
Mittelt gave a stiff nod of acknowledgment before he continued, “Well there you go! A lot can change in so much time! For all we know this is where the lake that the actual Lady of the Lake was at... or something. Maybe an ancient battlefield where the three races clashed?”
“If you're just fucking with me and that compass doesn't actually do anything, now would be the best time to tell me. Otherwise, if you waste more of my time your punishment will... be... legendary.”
The first thought to flash through Junichiro's mind was, 'at least she can't punish me by refusing sex or making me sleep on the couch.'
Something must have shown on his face or living as a woman for thousands of years had honed Mittelt's 'women's intuition' to unprecedented levels, because she punched his shoulder. Hard.
Rubbing his shoulder with a grimace, Junichiro decided to get a move on and hopped out of the ATV after collecting the compass from its cradle in the dashboard. He looked in the direction it was pointing and began walking. He and Mittelt kept up the notice-me-not effects of their bracelets as they walked through random yards until they found themselves standing in front of a house with a large number four on it after circling it multiple times. Junichiro glanced down the street and saw they were on one named Privet Drive. That seemed familiar for some reason.
Ignoring the familiarity for the time being, Junichiro reached out with his senses looking for any kind of magic in the air. Feeling nothing, he lifted his left hand and held it out with his palm pointed toward the sky. A complex magic circle sprang to life as he cast the most basic barrier that almost all supernatural races and factions had a version of. The spell caused a dome to appear over the house that would be invisible to anyone that wasn't in on the supernatural secret. The dome would cause anyone that came near it to either circle around it without noticing, or to remember they needed to be somewhere else. Anyone inside the barrier once it went up, would quickly leave. It was the same spell they all used when confrontations or meetings happened to ensure privacy and that the secret didn't get out.
The pair of them waited a few minutes to see if anyone would leave the house. When no one did, they made their way toward the door. It was a simple task to magically open the locks and let themselves inside. Neither cared about the interior of the two story home and instead focused on following the needle of the compass. It led them toward the stairs and after a little walking around, they arrived at the cupboard under the stairs. Just a foot inside the cupboard the needle of the compass began to spin in circles meaning the Scabbard was directly below where they were standing.
“Well, we know it's below us, but I don't feel comfortable just destroying some random persons home to dig a big hole into the ground.” Junichiro looked back the way they came, “We'll go into the sewer system and dig down from there. That'd be easy enough to fix when we come back out.”
Mittelt let out a groan as her shoulders slumped, “I hate the sewers. Sure they are one of mankind's greatest achievements and an unbelievable step up from just throwing their own waste in the street, but the smell! Ugh!”
“Oh come on, you think I didn't prepare for things like that?”
Mittelt looked over to him while perking up. He smiled and led her back to the ATV, “I thought some areas might be dangerous with things like poison gas hanging around or that we might have to explore a volcano somewhere and deal with carbon dioxide and other deadly toxins in the air.”
He opened the trapdoor trunk of the ATV and hopped inside. Mittelt waited, rather impatiently, outside for a little bit until he returned holding what looked like an old fashioned wooden clothesline pin. Not the type with springs, but rather the type that just slipped on. She gave him a flat stare as he held one out to her and used the other one to pinch his nose shut, “Seriously? A clothespin? Could you be any more cliché?”
Junichiro pouted playfully, “Oh come one! It's a classic!”
Mittelt just snorted and shook her head, “Idiot.”
She ignored his protests and exaggerated pout to look over the small piece of wood in her hand. Like a lot of the things he made, it had some runes carved into it and she could feel some form of magic contained within it, “Alright, how does it work?”
Junichiro sighed and plucked the pin off of his nose, “Technically, all you have to do it wear it on your clothing somewhere and it will generate a globe of fresh air around your head for as long as you wear it. It even works underwater. If we happen to come across a magic free zone, just feed your own magical power into it to keep it running.”
Mittelt slipped the clothespin onto her outfit and smirked at Junichiro, “Let's go.”
Junichiro nodded and adjusted the other item he'd collected while inside the ATV, a newer version of his utility belt. This one contained just as many pouches and pockets but also had many more slots where the handles of a variety of wands could be seen sticking out. He had no idea what they were looking for or were walking into so he prepared as much as he could, and that was a lot.
Mittelt was actually the one to pluck the lid off the sewer entrance down the street. As emasculating as it might be, Mittelt was still physically stronger than Junichiro and handled the heavy iron lid like it was a plastic Frisbee. She gestured to the hole while speaking in a playful tone, “Ladies first.”
Junichiro snorted at her while rolling his eyes, “Cheeky midget.”
He hopped into the hole and fell a few feet before landing in the cramped area below the street. He moved a little out of the way and a few moments later Mittelt joined him. Though she took her time and replaced the cover so no accidents would happen. Thanks to the clothespins neither of them smelled anything but fresh air.
Junichiro lit up the dark using simple store bought glow sticks. Not every problem needed a magical solution. Glow sticks were cheap, abundant, and lasted long enough. However, digging toward their goal did require a magical solution, unless they wanted to bring in lots of heavy machinery. To that end, Junichiro plucked a wand out of one of his many pockets and pointed it at the wall of the sewer tunnel. With a flex of power, the wand glowed and the reinforced concrete vanished leaving a hole two meters in diameter and ten meters deep. A simple digging spell.
He plucked a second wand from his belt and used it on the small tunnel that he'd made to reinforce it. The last thing he wanted was for it to all collapse on top of them. With a wand in each hand and Mittelt directing, he began tunneling down at an angle leaving a trail of glow sticks to light the path. It didn't take more than a few minutes for them to arrive at a spot where the compass began spinning in circles once more.
From there it was easy enough to dig directly down. Mittelt had wings and could fly. Junichiro had enchanted boots and could fly. So it wasn't an issue for them to dig directly down ten meters at a time while slowly floating down themselves. As they flew down, Mittelt couldn't help looking at Junichiro's boots, more specifically at the little white wings that had sprouted from the heel area, “You know, if Hermes ever see's those boots in action he'll come after you for copyright infringement, right?”
Junichiro looked up behind himself at his girlfriend, “Seriously?”
Mittelt nodded, “Oh yeah. Ask the Nike sneaker company. When they first came out they weren't using their well known swoosh mark, they used an image of wings to represent Hermes. He did notapprove, at the time, so he actually sued them. They ended up dropping the wings for the now famous swoosh.” She giggled, “Now that Nike is so well known and a worldwide brand? I've heard if he even hears the word 'Nike' he becomes inconsolable. All those people wearing something associated with him? Even if they weren't true believers he would still get at least a little bit of power from the faith people put in the brand, if nothing else.”
Junichiro just shook his head while chuckling at the story. It was little tidbits like that that made him feel more connected to the wider world and more specifically to Mittelt. It was only shortly after the story that they broke through and arrived inside of a massive cavern. The pair floated in the air and couldn't see a thing in the pure darkness of the area they were in, “We're nearly a kilometer down.”
Mittelt and the tunnel they dug were the only things he could see thanks to the glow stick Mittelt held. She looked around with a frown, “I have no idea what this place is. I know there were some battles underground in special areas of interest, especially in the Underworld, but I can't think of any that happened on Earth.”
Junichiro grunted and put his wands away, they weren't needed at the moment. From a different pouch he produced a glass sphere the size of a bowling ball. Mittelt tried not to think about how weird it was that the pouches stretched open that much or could store such massive things. She understood space expansion was a thing, trying to understand how it worked hurt her brain. Junichiro fed some Magical Power into the glass ball and threw it into the air.
The ball came to a stop and began glowing softly, though the light it was putting out slowly increased in intensity. Just because he had glow sticks didn't mean he hadn't made something that could produce more light for a larger area. Glow sticks were perfect for the tunneling on the way here, but wouldn't do shit for such an open space. The glow maintained it slow growth in intensity to prevent the light from hurting either his own or Mittelt's eyes.
With the glass globe providing light, the pair slowly floated down toward the bottom of the cave they found themselves inside of. The globe followed and illuminated the area around them while still growing brighter. Sadly, that didn't mean much until they came closer to the ground. The first thing either noticed as the floor of the cave was illuminated was the small glitters of dust covered gold coins. Their landing, even as gentle as it was, sent up a small cloud of dust and revealed more treasure just scattered about.
Junichiro looked up at where they'd come from and hummed, “At least a hundred meters between us and the entrance we made. Combine that with the ramp and vertical shaft... a kilometer and a half below street level? Somewhere around there.”
He looked to Mittelt as she bent over to pick up a gold coin. She whistled a little, the sound echoing around them, “This is a roman coin. It's at least twenty-five hundred years old, probably older. I'm not an expert on that kind of thing. I just remember using coins like this about that long ago.”
Junichiro stroked his chin as the light continued to build and reveal more of the massive open space. He could see the shadows of stalactites and stalagmites here and there. The glitter of treasure was also becoming more prominent as the distance they could see improved. He looked back to Mittelt, “Dragon hoard?”
Mittelt froze at his question, then groaned while nodding her head, “Seems likely. If it is though, it's either abandoned, or the dragon is dead. There's only a few places where dragons can live in safety and the Earth isn't one of them. I believe most dragons live under the protection of the Meteor Dragon in the underworld. I can never remember his actual name. There's also a few young ones of the smaller breeds in the Familiar Forest. But any dragon old enough to collect Roman gold coins? Dead or lives in the Underworld.”
Junichiro nodded in understanding. He knew who she meant when talking about the 'Meteor Dragon.' It was the huge bipedal one that was in... Sirzech's? At least he thought it was Sirzech's peerage. Either way, it was the huge purple one that trained Issei for a while, if he wasn't completely mistaken. They continued to poke and prod at the various coins, gems, and odd bits of rusted metal that likely used to be non-magical weapons or armor while the light continued to grow brighter and spread. As the light grew brighter it flew up higher to keep from blinding the pair with its brightness.
Eventually it was bright enough for the pair to see the entire interior of the cave they found themselves inside of. It was massive, easily a couple of kilometers wide, another kilometer long, and they had no idea exactly how deep as the floor seemed to sink down in the direction the treasure led. Almost like a pool filled with gold, jewels, and other items. The amount of wealth within the cave was ungodly, they'd found raw diamonds the size of their heads!
In addition to all the mundane treasure, Junichiro's magical senses had felt a number of magical treasures buried within all the gold. None of them felt strong enough to be Excalibur's Scabbard though. As the light finally filled the last of the cave, they got the biggest surprise at the very end of the cave on top of the deepest part of the treasure pit.
Junichiro picked up one of the multitudes of the item and held it up to inspect while asking Mittelt, “Is this what I think it is?”
Mittelt carefully ran her fingertips over the item and slowly nodded, “I think so.”
The pair of them were closely examining a dragon scale of rather large proportions. It was the size of Junichiro's torso and only one of hundreds laying around the cave. All of them were stark white, but several of them had blue accents making for a color combination that was very familiar to the pair.
“You think this was one of his caves?”
Mittelt shrugged her shoulders, “Maybe. He is an English dragon, after all.”
Junichiro nodded and slowly lowered the scale to look at the collection of them laying around, “Albion's scales.”
Mittelt nodded, “Yes, but they have to be ancient, from before he earned the title of a Heavenly Dragon. They're too small to be from when he was at the peak of his power.” She shuddered a bit, “I remember what he looked like before he and Ddraig were sealed. Unless every last one of these scales came from the smallest parts of his body, like the tip of his tail or his fingers, he had to have shed them when younger.”
Junichiro nodded in understanding. Despite their size, for a dragon of Albion's scale, they were tiny. He slowly smiled until he almost looked manic, “Even so, so many of them for me to work with! I've only been able to get small amounts of scales from young dragons. Even if these are three thousand years, or more, old, they will still make amazing things!”
They would too. He'd checked them with his Artificer abilities and couldn't believe the properties they contained. The only way they could be any more amazing is if they still contained Albion's ability to Divide the power of his enemies. Despite not having that ability within them, they would still make amazingly powerful weapons, items, and armor. He could picture and unbelievable amount of things he could make with them, “These alone make the trip here worthwhile.”
He tilted his head a bit, “The time line doesn't make much sense though.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well. The roman coins suggest that this place is at least something like twenty-five hundred years old right?”
At her nod he continued, “The scabbard for Excalibur only went missing some twelve to thirteen hundred years ago, right?”
Another nod, “So... if this was Albion's place, then his last visit would have been about twelve to thirteen hundred years ago. When was he sealed?”
Mittelt thought for a bit before answering, “About that long ago. I'm not sure of exactly when. But within a couple hundred years of the scabbard's disappearance. Though that does bring up the question, why has no wielder of Divine Dividing ever been told of the scabbard's location?”
They both frowned at that with Junichiro picking up the thread, “The scabbard would have had to be one of the last things to stored in here, so it should, logically, be on top of the pile right? Yet...” He closed his eyes and focused, “I can't sense anything with the level of strength I would assume the scabbard has.”
The pair of them looked at the compass in Mittelts hand and followed it until it was once more spinning in a circle. Junichiro pulled out a wand and began using it to lift sections of gold coins out of the way. Telekinesis was one of the most useful magical abilities, by far, “I can feel something magical down this way, but it's really not all that strong feeling.”
Eventually he lifted out a large chest that the compass pointed directly at and followed as it moved through the air, “Huh.”
After setting it down, Junichiro examined the large chest, at least two meters on every side and a meter tall with a very thick lock keeping it sealed, “Well that's interesting. Both the chest itself and the lock feel magical. Recognize anything Mittelt?”
After the, still, petite fallen shook her head, Junichiro pulled out another wand and began to cast diagnostic spells on the chest and lock. Only a fool would just immediately try to open it up. The diagnostics came back as rather simple magics. The chest was enchanted to hide whatever was inside of it while the lock was only enchanted so it couldn't be picked or broken. Both enchantments were quite old, around a thousand years each. So, if Excalibur's Scabbard was inside, which it should be, then it was placed inside and locked there about a thousand years ago. That's maybe two to three hundred years after it was first stolen from Arthur.
“Well, that might explain why Albion never mentioned the scabbard to his wielders. He might not have known he had it. This chest probably hasn't been opened since it was sealed around a thousand years ago, give or take a century, and the chest blocks anything trying to get out of it. I can only locate the magic on the chest and lock with nothing else registering.”
After his explanation, Junichiro pulled out another wand and began casting at the lock. It was a simple, if someone tedious, process to disenchant the lock. Due to its age the locks enchantments were already drastically weakened and only needed a little more work to be completely disenchanted. After that, removing the lock would be easy. And indeed it was, after just a few minutes of work the lock poped open and was removed.
Junichiro flipped open the top of the chest and gasped along with Mittelt as a truly monstrous amount of holy power suddenly flooded out and crashed into them. It was almost a physical force as it washed over the pair of them bathing them in its pure radiance. If the holy energy had been a physical thing they would have both been blown to the other side of the cave.
It took a minute for the pair of them to catch their breath and become accustomed to the sheer power radiating from within the chest. They both goggled at the contents of the simple looking box. Sitting on top was the item Junichiro had come for, the Scabbard, but it wasn't the only item contained within the chest. There were a plethora of items within the chest, all that he could see glittered as if brand new. Yet he had no eyes for them, he was focused solely on the scabbard.
To all appearances, it was a rather simple looking thing, if extremely well made. It looked to be made of gold with blue and white enamel patterns flowing around it. The pair stared at it for a good few minutes, just marveling at its beauty. Eventually, though, Junichiro finally reached into the chest and gently picked up the Scabbard.
The moment he touched it, he felt it connect to his magical core, binding itself to him. They both stared as the scabbard gave off a gentle golden glow in his hands. Remembering the powers of the Excalibur Fragments, Junichiro sends his desire to the Scabbard and watches in joy as it changes shape and becomes a wrist watch strapped around his left wrist.
Mittelt stares at the watch now adorning Junichiro's wrist with a combination of incredulity, amazement, and fear, “We. Are. So. Fucked.”
-----Line Break-----
AN
Okay, super quick.
1) No, Harry Potter is not a legit thing in this fanfic, I just read a bit of an HP fanfic and felt like throwing that little cameo in there for the hell of it.
2) Since I can't find any legit images of Excalibur's Scabbard for DxD, I decided it looks like the one from the FATE series if you want to know what it looks like.
Hope you all liked this chapter!
Comments
Cody S.
Oh yeah, hiding it is NOT something he would have any issues with. Even his home is protected from 'leaking' auras and stuff, hiding the Scabbard is easy. Once his artificing skill is enough, he could make a 3D GPS that points out exactly where what he wants is within any of the realms of DxD. He wants to steal Mjolnir? Blinking dot showing exactly where it is in the Norse Pantheons little dimension. All compressed down to watch size and acting like a hologram. heh.
King hand axe
If the runes on the chest hide the power given off the scabbard, then with his artificing skill he should be able to either hide it permanently even while using it OR hide it till he has his next ability and the Boosted gear and therefor strong enough to defend himself by having it and those abilities. Once his artificing skill is height enough, can he not make the compass like a wrist compass that sits beneath a watch. I wonder what he's going to do with all the gold and how he's going to calm her down. Looking forward to more chapters
SilverWolf
Another chapter please.
SilverWolf
Thanks for the chapter. I like mittelt’s saying that (we are fucked), my question is in what way?
