thomasdarkrose
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Fabricator v2 - Chapter 8
🕑 Added 2023-06-29 15:01:38 +0000 UTCJunichiro lay in his bed staring at the ceiling of his shed. Azazel had left a few minutes ago and he wanted to get to sleep. He was having a bit of trouble with that though. Thanks to Azazel he'd had adrenaline dumped into his system repeatedly, which left him exhausted. Simultaneously, he was also rather excited due to the conclusion of their encounter.
It didn't take any effort, really, for Azazel to agree to help him out with housing, equipment, and supplies in exchange for some knowledge and access to his creations with a stipulation on custom creations when he had the necessary skill. Frankly, none of that was really all the a difficult for Junichiro and were things he'd likely do anyway. The exception being some of his creation methods. Though he honestly expected those to get out at some point. If he was going to interact with the supernatural, a requirement of his Artificing, then it was likely at least some of his secrets would get out.
Luckily, mana infusion and folding were rather minor secrets he didn't mind parting with easily.
Azazel had agreed to find him a large enough plot of land with a house somewhere in Japan and provide it to him for free. Suspicious. Junichiro expected it to be packed to the brim with surveillance magic. He'd have to make something to find and disable as much of it as he could. Perhaps and Anti-Magic bomb. He'd decide when he saw the location. Azazel also had another stipulation that Junichiro hadn't liked agreeing to, a liaison.
For obvious reasons Azazel couldn't be his only contact with the Grigori. He was the Governor General and a rather busy man. So, someone else of his choosing would become Junichiro's point of contact. Reasonable, but still unwelcome having yet another fallen angel knowing about him personally. Though he had Azazel's word that no one else would know his identity and he would have the liaison sworn to secrecy. Junichiro fully expected Azazel would betray that trust if it suited his larger goals.
After that, Junichiro had given up all but one million of his yen to purchase the most common and easily available magical metal. Azazel had refused to tell him what it was. The dude had been smirking the entire time as if it was some sort of private joke, bastard.
Still, everything was looking good and soon Junichiro would have a real home, something he hadn't had in almost five years. Even better, Azazel didn't attach stupid stipulations like him having to attend school! He couldn't even begin to imagine how boring it would have been to waste time sitting in classes that had literally zero use to him. He already had a decent college level education thanks to the, somewhat blurry, memories of his previous life. He also had 'real world experience' thanks to those memories and knew that a vast majority of what was learned in school was useless in the real world. He'd never once used trigonometry...
Granted, since human magic was seemingly math based, that might change. But! That's what reference materials and goddamn calculators and computers were for! It was still the early two thousands here but the internet was alive and thriving! He'd be abusing that to his advantage as much as he could. He knew he wasn't the smartest, or most creative, person to ever live so he'd be abusing the internet communities for ideas on what to make, in the future.
With that thought, he finally managed to drift off to sleep.
-----Line Break-----
Junichiro stared at Azazel with the most flat, deadpan, dry, and still annoyed expression he could possibly manage. It had been a little over a week since Azazel's initial visit. In that time, Junichiro had let the people at the weekend open market know he was moving, but he intended to come for one final week after his move to provide his new information so he could keep business open as much as possible. He had a reputation for excellence and wanted people to be able to pass his information on to others who might be interested.
Azazel, on the other hand, had a little smirk on his face and was just radiating smug satisfaction. He'd arrived at the junkyard with another fallen angel in tow, one Junichiro recognized, though he couldn't remember her name for the life if him. There were several fallen angels that stood out in his mind, Azazel, obviously, Barakiel, Akeno's father, and Raynare. Honestly, the fallen didn't make a huge impression on him.
As for Raynare, he only remembered her because she was the one to kill Issei originally, and because for a tier one trash mob bad guy, she did some serious damage to Issei. Oh, not physical damage, she was a total weakling, no it was the emotional devastation she left in her wake that kind of impressed him. The other three fallen from that part of the story only registered in his memory as big-boob-window fallen, fedora fallen, and gothic lolita fallen.
That last one was the one standing next to Azazel and who would be his point of contact with the Grigori. Junichiro hadn't cared, at first, because he knew that even with his current items he could probably destroy the petite fallen with relative ease. Two winged fallen were fodder just like low class devils were. No, what had him staring at a smug Azazel while an annoyed gothic lolita fumed next to him was his reasoning.
The gothic lolita was Mittelt, a two winged fallen angel with what could generously be called a 'petite' body. Realistically, she looked like someone Chris Hanson would use to ambush a predator. It didn't help that she styled her blonde hair into twin tails and had rather innocent looking bright blue eyes. As stated she wore Gothic lolita attire, which consisted of a black dress with white frills, a large black bow on the front, and a green jewel embedded on the collar, white thigh-high socks held up with a garter belt, and black shoes. She also wore a large black bow on top of her hair.
“Seriously old man?”
Azazel's smug just grew, “Yup. I chose Milly here as your liaison because no one would look twice at two little kids meeting up.”
That comment just annoyed Junichiro even further while simultaneously pissing Mittelt off even more. Worse, she was glaring at Junichiro as if it was his fault that Azazel was treating her like a child! He had nothing to do with it! Azazel looked at Mittelt while gesturing to Junichiro, “Milly, this is Junichiro. You'll be his point of contact with the rest of the Grigori and work with him to get the things he needs and collect the things he makes for us. As I explained before, you will tell no one of Junichiro, his location, or anything else about him.”
Junichiro could tell Azazel was just putting on a show for him by reiterating instructions he'd already given his minion. It was also the first time Azazel had called him anything other than 'kid.' Azazel hadn't even bothered asking for his name until just before he'd left the night they met. Junichiro couldn't be expected to remember good manners when he'd been scared out of his gourd most of that night.
For her part, Mittelt just rolled her eyes before glaring at Azazel, “Yes, yes, I know. Can we just get this over with? I do have better things to do than pander to some little kid with delusions of grandeur.”
Junichiro's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, “No need to insult me shorty! This wasn't my idea!”
Mittelt glared daggers at him over the comment on her height. Still, she started it! A part of him knew that she wasn't really mad at him, it obviously wasn't his fault Azazel had tasked her with this job. But it wasn't like she could do more than be a little mouthy toward Azazel. He was the head honcho of her organization and infinitely more powerful than her. She had no choice in the matter and was just taking out her frustration on the only target available, Junichiro.
Azazel hid a grin at their interaction while waving his hands in a placating manner, “Now now kids, calm down. We should all get along right?”
Both Junichiro and Mittelt just silently glared at Azazel as it was clearly entirely his fault. Their impotent glares just made the smug Azazel was giving off even thicker. He lowered his hands and looked around Junichiro's junkyard then at the bags and boxes set around the young man, “That everything you want to bring?”
Junichiro looked at his containers of supplies, then at the sheds containing most of his larger equipment like his forge, smelter, belt grinder, and other things, “As long as you've got replacements ready for all the stuff I've left in the sheds, then yeah. Otherwise I'm going to want all the other stuff.”
Azazel just smirked and was practically surrounded in a cloud of smug at this point, “I've got it covered kid, I'm sure you'll be rather happy with what I managed to procure for you.”
As Azazel finished speaking, a massive magical circle appeared under all three of them and all of Junichiro's boxes. With a muted flash of light they left the junkyard and arrived at a brand new location. Azazel gestured dramatically at the building they'd arrived in front of, “Welcome to your new home kid!”
Junichiro couldn't help it when his jaw fell open in surprise. They were standing in front of what could only be described as a traditional mansion. A stereotypical anime-style paper door having big ass square mansion with a clay tile roof.
“WHAT THE HELL?!”
Smug permeated the air as Azazel gave Junichiro a smile, “Well, I wanted a nice place for you and you said you needed some space for your work. So, I just picked up another building here in Kuoh to go with my growing collection. This place was perfect! So, I snatched it up, I even got an amazing deal on it since the last owner died with no relatives and no mortgage. Essentially, the city owner it and didn't care what it sold for.”
Junichiro hadn't paid any attention to anything after hearing that they were in Kuoh. WHY THE FUCK WERE THEY IN KUOH?!
“WHY THE FUCK ARE WE IN KUOH?! Isn't this fucking devil territory?!”
Azazel looked at Junichiro with a somewhat impressed countenance, “My my, you are rather well informed. Though your information is a few years out of date. Kuoh was, at one point, devil territory. However, the last devil in charge was murdered and since they no devils have laid claim to it. Since it was previously devil territory, I already owned several properties within the city. Keep your enemies close and all that. So, picking up another one here for a steal wouldn't raise any eyebrows among the Grigori. Besides, it's been quite a few years since the last devil overseer and there's been no sign of another one coming. So, it's perfectly safe for you here.”
Junichiro groaned in annoyance, but at least that gave him some indication as to where he was in the canon timeline, that is pre-canon. There was a gap between when that Belial woman was murdered for finding out about the King pieces and Rias taking over the territory with Sona. He had no idea how long it would be before they showed up and that annoyed the hell out of him.
Azazel smiled brightly, “Come on, I'll give you a tour. You can leave your stuff there, we're already well inside the grounds.” He gestured down the driveway they were standing in, “The road is about a hundred meters that way.”
Junichiro blinked incredulously as he looked down the driveway, “Three hundred meters?! How big is the property?!”
Azazel shrugged uncaring, “I dunno, big enough? I think one of the sides was a full kilometer?” He shrugged again and turned back to the house, “It doesn't matter. Point is you're well insulated from your neighbors. You might as well be alone out in the middle of the forest here. Now come on!” He made his way toward the main entrance, “I want to show you everything I got for you!”
Clearly Azazel was excited to show off the things he'd pulled together for Junichiro. To Junichiro it seemed pretty obvious that Azazel still desired to recruit him and was using this chance to show off. He didn't mind, but there was no way he would be joining the Grigori. In all honesty, he really wanted to join Rias's peerage. Cliche as it might be there was one huge draw to doing so. Not anything to do with actually becoming a devil. Rather, it was Rias herself that was the draw. He couldn't think of a single other woman in all of DxD who would make a better girlfriend and eventual wife and he'd fight anyone who disagreed!
That didn't mean there weren't other amazing women within the world of DxD. You couldn't walk down the street without seeing a bombshell of some sort. So, realistically, beauty meant very little, practically nothing, among the supernatural. It all came down to personality and Rias's personality was just tops. She was an adorable nerd who came to Japan just because she loved manga and anime, a real otaku girl. She would probably love what he was capable of. She was also extremely loyal to her friends and family. Once you had her love, in any form, you likely had it for life.
So yeah, he wanted to join her peerage, save her from Riser, and see if they could have a future together. He also felt that saving her from Riser would be his responsibility. He fully intended to steal the Boosted Gear from Issei at the first opportunity and without Issei, she would be completely and utterly crushed by Riser with no chance to get out without massive repercussions to her and her family. So, yeah, he definitely needed to save her from that.
As he thought about that, he realized being here in Kuoh was a good thing. He could meet Rias and join her peerage a lot sooner. If he could get his hands on a Sword Birth before then, he could reincarnate as a Knight like Kiba, giving Rias a matched set, and then gain Boosted Gear while using his Essence of the Blank. Grayfiya might be the strongest Queen, but he'd be the strongest Knight! It would also give him a couple of years to train as a devil as well. All good things, in his opinion.
His musing was cut off as they entered the house. Unsurprisingly, Azazel hadn't seemed to spare a single yen with the place. It was in perfect condition and already fully furnished. As they walked through the house Azazel pointed at doors explaining what they were. Though he never stopped walking so that Junichiro could examine the rooms. He didn't stop at all until they came to the central courtyard. In an anime this is where they'd be a massive pound full of koi fish. Maybe a little island in the middle of the pond with a gazebo on it, stuff like that.
Well, there was a small pond, however it was not in the center but rather off in a corner. The center contained a large building with massive exhaust fans and large windows all around it. Inside the structure Junichiro could see tons of machinery. Several forges, both gas and coal, an array of belt sanders, large smelters, huge work tables, and a wall practically covered in tools of all kinds.
Needless to say, Junichiro had to wipe at his chin to clean off the drool. As they got closer he could even seen a forge designed to match those from antiquity. It was almost overwhelming to see how many things he had to work with now. There was even a massive collection of chemistry equipment! It was like everything he had before had been cranked up to eleven.
Azazel's smug returned with a vengeance as he spotted Junichiro staring. He led the two smaller beings into the room. As Junichiro looked around in awe and Mittelt looked around bored, Azazel walked over to a pile of metal ingots and collected one. He brought it over to Junichiro and held it out toward him, “Tell me what you think of this.”
Pulled out of his revere, Junichiro accepted the ingot and looked it over. It had some heft to it and a silvery exterior. Though as he moved it he saw a bit of blue being reflected off of the metal. After his cursory examination, he started channeling mana through it. This was his method of determining the properties, potency, and other qualities of the materials he worked with. He didn't even really do it consciously, rather it was a simple must when working with anything new.
“Huh. Feels like steel but it also has a fair bit of mana already impregnated into it. It could handle more, but it's not a bad starting piece.” He looked up at Azazel, “What's it called?”
Azazel grinned, “Not bad. What you're holding is named, originally enough, Mana Steel. It's the most common magical metal in the world since its derived from the imaginatively named Mana Iron. Just iron that's been exposed to a massive amount of mana and absorbed some permanently. It's mined, purified, and processed into steel. It had enough raw mana in it that anything made from it automatically qualifies as a magical item. Obviously not a strong item without some help, but still technically magical.”
Junichiro nodded in acceptance. The Mana Steel contained more mana than anything he'd made so far using his two techniques. He couldn't help smiling as he imagined how much stronger the Mana Steel would get once he applied his own techniques to it. Before he could get too far down the rabbit hole, Azazel pulled his attention back, “All the money you gave me was spent on procuring these ingots for you.”
Azazel gestured to the table where a mere three more ingots sat. Four ingots cost him ten million yen! Over six months of steady work, expensive custom orders, and tons of effort, had netted him just four ingots, FOUR! He couldn't even begin to imagine how much higher tier stuff would cost him! On the flip side, anything he made with the ingots would, by necessity if nothing else, be ungodly expensive! Given the size of the ingots, he could probably make several smaller items from each one, if he was careful he could probably make half a kitchen knife set with each ingot. Not that he would waste them on that!
On the bright side, it looked as if Azazel had hooked him up with plenty of other metals to work with, all nicely labeled in a rather large storage area. Azazel had clearly left the Mana Steel out to show it off to him. Once he inspected everything in his new workshop, he turned to face Azazel, “This is perfect. Thank you.”
Azazel waved the comment off, “No need to thank me. I'll be sure to make you pay me back in full, with interest!”
Given the wicked smile Azazel was sporting, Junichiro had no doubts about how serious Azazel was about that. As they left the workshop, Azazel dug into one of his pockets and pulled out an older model flip phone and held it out to Junichiro, “This has both Milly and my contact information stored within it. Though I only expect you to contact me with emergencies, I'm a busy man you know!”
The scoff from Mittelt went ignored on as he plowed on, “For day-to-day stuff you will contact Milly here.” He looked between the two with a grin, “I'll head out now. Milly has the paperwork for all of your stuff. Oh! I also had a bank account set up in your name, so you don't have to hide millions of yen in your mattress. I think that's everything for now...” He shrugged when he couldn't remember anything else, “I'll leave you two to it!”
With that, Azazel vanished with the flash of a magic circle. Junichiro looked over at Mittelt as she stared back impassively but clearly unimpressed with her new assignment. She huffed out a sigh and walked past him toward where Azazel indicated the living room was, “Come on, let's get this over with.”
Junichiro followed Mittelt and couldn't help wondering when she could leave so he could run back into the workshop and get to work on that Mana Steel! He couldn't wait to see what it was like to work with. Yes, the future was definitely looking bright!
…
Shit! Did he just jinx himself?!
-----Line Break-----
AN
Bet no one saw that coming! I chose Mittelt as the contact purely for the giggles. She looks 13, Junichiro is 13, it's entirely for the reasons Azazel stated he did it, cause it's funny.
Also, what do you think of the first magical metal? SUPER impressive right? Kidding, kidding. But it is an important stepping stone in Junichiro's journey.
As always, I look forward to seeing what you all have to say about the chapter. Thanks for reading!
Comments
greatGUARDIAN100
He gestured down the driveway they were standing in, “The road is about a hundred meters that way.” Junichiro blinked incredulously as he looked down the driveway, “Three hundred meters?! How big is the property?!” 100 turning into 300 in the above section. Thanks for the chapter! Feels like his home had to either be somewhere significant to the original plot or out in the middle of nowhere but then you'd lack character interaction. Kuoh is perfect!
Cody S.
It wasn't so much about the money, though that was important, as it was about the six months of effort to make and sell items that went into earning that money. Then poof! All gone for just a small number of magical ingots. It was more of a "this is the difference" kind of thing. Money is less likely to play a role in the future when it comes to items of real value and rarity. I just can't imagine someone with a scale from Ddraig's original body would be willing to exchange such an item for something as mundane as cash/gold/jewels, you know? High tier materials will end up being through barter. As for Mittelt, anything is possible because I, honest to god, didn't plan to use her. She's also got like ZERO background information so I can essentially do whatever I want with her. Which is nice!
King hand axe
Another really enjoyable chapter, I have a hard time predicting the twists which is great. Knew Azazel would be smug but also a decent guy, but never saw Mittelt coming tho. Maybe a future enchanted amulet for her to make her looks/feel older?, or even a alchemy potion to help her age?. Glad to see he's taken a big step forward with the tools and equipment, I was once told by an amazing wood crafter that "a poor craftsmen blames his tools but Master craftsmen can" always stuck with me about how once you reach the high levels its the tools that can make all the difference. Looking forward to seeing what he can come up with now. Still like the idea of him joining Rias, love the thought of him providing kick ass Armour/weapons for them. I like the use of money as a measurement to how rare/expensive something is but also caution against getting trapped in a scale however it doesn't seem likely with how well you've done so far.
Cody S.
Yeah, I pounded this chapter out in about 2 hours so it might be a bit rougher than usual. As for Mittelt, I was wondering what Fallen Angel to use, thinking I'd just make an OC. But then I saw her on the wiki and was like 'She had like, 2 lines in the anime and was just a name in the manga, why don't I use her? Also, the fact she'd look the same age as shota Juni is just funny!" And there it was, one liaison. And definitely pre-canon, Rias will show up in... about a year and a half, give or take. I don't plan to stretch the pre-canon chapters out too much, but I am having a ton more fun with the world building for this version of Juni, so it might take a bit before he caves in Riser's skull. I also don't want to make him so OP that Kokobiel is a curb stomp, so I got a balancing act to do here. FUN! (not sarcasm)
Dave
Great chapter as usual. I was surprised at seeing Mittelt as the liaison. The fact that it is pre cannon was a good move, lots of time for him to grow and improve. I don’t have any problem with him joining Rias, I feel that with him there you can quite easily change things up. Also, I assume he is going to interact with other pantheons, is that only going to be for materials or would you go more in-depth and explore said pantheons. I had noticed only a couple of sentences which could get reworked, just a missing word and such, just to make it smooth reading.
