thomasdarkrose
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Fabricator: Chapter 18
🕑 Added 2023-02-27 01:10:59 +0000 UTCAfter he finished laughing about accidentally making himself stronger with every breath he took, Junichiro decided that he needed to get to work on his next magical gem. He was down to eleven after giving the telekinesis one to Kiba. Not that he lost anything by doing so, his Psionics gem replaced that one long ago. That didn't matter though. What did matter is he had an uneven number and that was bugging him, for some reason.
As for why he continued to make his gems even with access to the Devil's imagination based magic? The gems were easier to use, specialized, and most importantly they amplified the magic he cast through them. He could still use his new Devil Magic as the base spell while funneling it through the appropriate gem to amplify its effectiveness by several degrees. The Psionics gem had also shown him that the more specialized a gem, the better the amplification. With all of that in mind, he had some glass replicated and got to work.
[Boost x32!]
The feeling of using a single boost call out to hit the maximum he could sustain couldn't be described with simple words. Getting the equivelent of five normal boosts in an instant just couldn't be beat. If he was just touching Ultimate-Class power in his base state, he was now at the top tier of Ultimate-Class touching the beginnings of Satan-Class. It was one hell of a power rush.
After enjoying the rush for a few moments, he focused back on the work he needed to do. He activated The Workshop and began reforming the glass into a new gem. He'd avoided making this particular one until now because it was simply too dangerous and would definitely require more power than he'd previously had available to use it. The glass quickly formed into a gem that started out as a light purple at the edges and quickly got darker toward the interior until it became a black so deep it seemed to absorb light. Unlike all his previous magical gems, this one didn't have a bright star of power in the center, instead it had a black hole.
A few minutes later, Junichiro held up the finished Gravity Magic gem and grinned brightly. He could now control one of the four fundamental forces of the universe, gravity. That got him thinking a bit as he retrieved another of his magical gems, this one was light blue with jagged white lines running through it, his Lightning Magic gem. If he remembered right, all electricity had at least some magnetism attached to it while the reverse was also true, thus why it was called Electromagnetism.
[Reset!]
Junichiro stared at the two gems for a while before moving to sit in front of his computer and setting them down. It'd been a long time since he'd last thought about the four fundamental forces of the universe, as they were known in his last life. It was an advanced field of physics that was way above his head and had only been brushed over in his classes. Only the forces of Gravity and Electromagnetism had any real constant reminder in normal life. Hardly anyone paid any attention to Strong Nuclear Force or Weak Nuclear Force. They just didn't have much to do with day to day life in any real meaning. Aside from Strong Nuclear Force holding matter together, but who pays attention to that?
After refreshing his memory on the four forces, he leaned back in his seat and looked at the Lightning Magic gem. He hadn't thought of Electromagnetism while making it simply because he was thinking of lightning instead of electricity. Just a little mental quirk he supposed. Now that he was thinking about Electromagnetism, the lightning gem seemed useless. He pushed it to the side and decided he would give it to Akeno later. He might not like her a whole lot, but he didn't mind giving her something to enhance her lightning magic with if he wasn't going to use it anymore.
More glass was replicated, mostly out of habit even though he could replicate any type of gem he desired, and he focused.
[Boost x32!]
After the rush of power settled down, he activated The Workshop once more and began crafting a new magical gem. It took a few minutes to create his new Electromagnetic Magic Gem, but the finished product was well worth it. The gem looked similar to the lightning one being light blue with jagged white lines through it. However, it had additional light purple lines going around it like ripples giving the gem a rather unique look.
He set the new gem next to its brother and decided to stop there for now. Not only did he already have a rather annoying headache induced by the creation of powerful items, but he was slightly afraid to proceed further. He definitely wanted to make further gems to give him control over both Strong and Weak Nuclear Force, but his lack of understanding held him back.
If he made and used gems to control the last two forces, what would happen? Messing with Nuclear forces of any kind seemed like a bad idea without a PHD in some related field. He knew that Weak Nuclear Force dealt with the decay of particles and just the idea of nuclear decay should scare the crap out of anyone with two brain cells to rub together. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally create radiation through particle decay and kill himself and everyone around him!
Strong Nuclear Force wasn't quite as scary, but still had terrifying implications. Since it was the force that held all matter together it was considered to be the strongest of the four. While holding matter together didn't seem so scary, it was the opposite that made him a tad fearful. Control over the Strong Force would potentially give him the power to simply cancel it out. In other words, he could possibly unravel matter into its constituent pieces with a flex of power. He wasn't even thinking about turning iron into a bunch of separate iron molecules, but rather ripping it apart on the atomic scale. Blasting apart protons, neutrons, gluons, quarks, or whatever else made up matter seemed like a scary concept to him.
He'd think about revisiting making those two aspects of reality later. Probably after a few decades of study with a few PHD's under his belt.
[Reset!]
'You done for the day, Partner?'
Junichiro shook off his contemplation and stored the three magical gems away, “Yeah Ddraig, thanks for the help.”
Ddraig didn't reply mentally, instead his small robotic body shuddered to life and focused on Junichiro, “No problem, though those last few thoughts of yours were terrifying. I can't think of anything that could fight against having the very stuff it was made of being ripped apart on such a small scale.”
Junichiro nodded after Ddraig finished speaking, “Yeah, I also have no idea how to use that kind of power. In fact...” He summoned all of his magical gems and had his nanite clothing cover his hands in gloves with spots for the gems to slot into, “Now that I'm actually thinking about it instead of running toward any power I can think of, I think I need to slow down or stop creating more things. Just a few weeks ago I was a normal human with no combat experience. With all of these magical powers and abilities at hand I could end up freezing while trying to think of what to do in the heat of the moment.”
Junichiro looked over the dozen gems over various colors and frowned, “The little bit of combat practice I'm getting is nothing compared to the old monsters of this world. Even with you and all of this stuff, someone like Sirzechs could crush me like an ant with little effort, and he's not even the most powerful being in existence.”
He stopped looking at the gems and crossed his arms over his chest, “Frankly, if I didn't have stuff specifically to counter him, I'm not sure I could even beat Riser Phenex. He might be a lazy womanizing piece of crap, but he's a High-Class devil in strength with a decent amount of combat experience behind him. My experience consists of accidentally exploding a fallen angel once.”
Ddraig nodded his head and studied Junichiro, “Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to force experience. Even if you could make something to give you all that experience at once, I would recommend against it. Part of growing stronger is learning your style alongside gaining the strength. You might fancy yourself a spell caster right now, but maybe you're destined to be a sword wielder. If you forced spell casting experience into yourself, somehow, and aren't meant to be one then the outcome would likely lead to a gruesome death. You need to find what you are meant to be and forge your way down that path.”
The two fell into a contemplative silence for a while. Junichiro really had no idea what kind of fighter he was. He liked the idea behind everything he could think of. Swords, guns, magic, fists, mecha piloting, anything really. Ddraig was correct though, he needed to find where his skill lay and work on that. If nothing stood out, he would focus on spell casting. Between his gems and Ddraig's boosting, he could cast spells of unrelenting power at will.
“Computer, targeting range.”
His whole apartment seemed to shift as the holohome system created what he wanted. It wasn't a huge target range but that was fine, he planned to start small. He looked over his various magical gems and focused on the Electromagnetic gem. Control of lightning and magnetism would give him a lot of potential strength. With fictional characters like Magneto to draw inspiration from there was no limit to what he could accomplish with mastery over the force of nature.
However, all of that would come later. For now, he focused on using the gem to create small bolts of electricity to fire at the targets down range. After a while, he had some steel BB's created and used magnetism to control them. He worked on firing them like a rifle, nothing said he couldn't give himself the power of a railgun! Although, right now it was closer to a coil gun. Going full rail gun in his apartment was just asking to blow holes through the walls! His holohome wasn't invincible!
----- Line Break -----
Junichiro flopped down onto his favorite seat in the ORC's main room, right next to Koneko, and let out a long suffering sigh. When he'd first arrived in his new life, going back to school seemed like such a wonderful idea! He could redo his life and make better choices! He could study harder, learn more, waste less time, and had an edge by just refreshing himself on some topics. Though the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia, high school seemed amazing.
In reality, it sucked horribly and he wished to quit right then and there so he could focus on what really mattered. Getting stronger! He would finish high school at the end of this year, college would last a few years, and then the 'real world.' Except... he was now a devil and a human education didn't mean piss all in the underworld!
What did it matter if he went to college and got a masters or PHD in something? It didn't matter as he could possibly live for tens of thousands of years! He'd have to go to school again every few decades to keep his education relevant. Then there would be the growing difficulty of having a valid identity in the human world, especially as technology progressed. Sure, he could hack into anything and make a fake identity every fifty to seventy years, it just seemed like an annoying hassle.
Or, he could focus on becoming stronger, join rating games later on, and become a big deal with a ton of money in a society that prized strength and power above all else. A society where he could, generally, just blow problems up.
All this meant that school was a boring waste of time.
It was made all the worse because he'd realized something as he was falling asleep. His magical training so far was as close to a complete waste of time as it could possibly be! As he'd laid down to sleep, he'd realized that he could have made a portable holographic projector and used his Portal gem to take himself to an alternate dimension, as he had with Raynare. Once there he could have projected targets and used any level of power he desired with no consequences! He felt like a moron for not realizing that sooner and abusing the hell out of it. So much time wasted...
Well, maybe not a complete waste of time, it was probably a good idea to start small and work his way up anyway. He also realized he needed to practice with his inherent Devil Magic as well. Yes, he had all of his magic enhancing gems and whatnot at his disposal, but would he always? Someone sufficiently strong or skilled enough could possibly destroy or steal the gems, or anything else he made, from him. Aside from Ddraig, the things inside of his body, and his genetic modifications, everything he had was external and therefore potentially could be lost in some manner.
There was a bright side though! He'd thought of something so amazing that he couldn't wait to get home and make it! Then he was going to use the impossible creation responsibly... No, no he wasn't. He was going to abuse the snot out of it and probably let the others in the peerage do the same. Hell, with it in use, Rias could possibly become as strong as his base state, or even stronger, in just a few days. The stronger he could make Rias and the others, the better it was for him.
As he'd been thinking to himself, the other members of the peerage all finished gathering, Kiba being the last to arrive, likely having to dodge his crowd of fangirls. Poor guy. Junichiro had never been so happy to be rather average looking until he'd seen the horror that was fangirls. He was actually getting a bit worried about his looks getting better lately. The combination of nanites making him stronger along with his new devil genetics were working together to increase his appeal to the fairer sex. Add in everything else that enhances that and his future wasn't looking pretty.
With everyone gathered, Rias spoke up and addressed her Queen, “Akeno, are we all set for everyone's contracts tonight?”
Akeno nodded and placed a small pile of papers in front of Rias, “Everyone has a repeat customer to attend to tonight, except for Junichiro-san. However, there is a new customer scheduled for tonight that he could take.”
Of course, this was all scripted for Junichiro's benefit. The two ladies worked in close sync at all times so they both knew who was doing what that evening without having to speak about it. Without needing to say anything, the others dispersed using the teleportation circle inside the club room. When only Rias and Junichiro were left, she addressed him, “Junichiro-san, despite this being your first contract, I want to reiterate that I expect you to carry yourself with the dignity expected of a member of my peerage. Also remember that any immoral or unwelcomerequests can be turned down and the client will be blacklisted.”
When she said 'unwelcome' what she really meant was sexual. She didn't really expect Junichiro to get any requests along those lines. No disrespect to him but, objectively, he was the least attractive member of her peerage. It would take time for his new devilish nature to change him into a more handsome version of himself.
Junichiro nodded and made his way over to the teleportation circle, “See you in a bit boss.”
Red light flared beneath Junichiro and he found himself in a new location. He was in a small living room that was absolutely filled to the brim with memorabilia from magical girl anime of all kinds. As he focused on his customer, he couldn't help smiling, “Greetings.” He gave a polite buisness-like bow, “I am Junichiro of the Gremory peerage. You requested the presence of a devil?”
Standing in front of Junichiro was a massive wall of muscles that could easily win at a Mr Universe contest from the 1980's wrapped in a skimpy magical girl costume. The magical girl trapped in a muscle-man's body waved her magic wand while performing a classic pose, “That's right! Mil-tan wishes to be a real magical girl!”
Junichiro smiled brightly. He'd actually been hoping to meet Mil-tan at some point to grant her wish. He always felt bad for people like her. Being a mind trapped in the body of the opposite sex was bad enough. Being a woman trapped in a body so masculine that it made Junichiro want to shout 'MEN!' and go on a testosterone fueled binge of eighties movies, must have been torture. Getting into the mood to have a little fun due to Mil-tan's constant posing, Junichiro gave a grand sweeping bow, “I believe I can do something to help you out Mil-tan.”
Mil-tan froze in her most recent pose and looked directly at Junichiro in shock. It took a few tries for her to speak, “R-really?”
Junichiro waved his hand and summoned out some bits and pieces from his storage ring, “Indeed I can. However,” He looked up at Mil-tan, “A permanent change would be ill advised. While I could do so, there are many issues that would crop up with such a thing. The most basic of which, proving your identity without revealing magic to the public at large. Turning from your currently very masculine form into a very feminine form in such a short time is medically impossible.”
Junichiro could see tears forming in the corner of her eyes so he hurried on, “There is something I can do though! I will craft a true magic wand for you. With it you will be able to change into any female form you desire with any costume you wish, so long as you have a good mental image of what you want to change into.”
Seeing Mil-tan's growing excitement, he continued, “I will even grant the wand some magical abilities!”
So Junichiro might know a bit about magical girl shows. His only excuse was that back in the day his only access to cable TV was at a friends house and said friend insisted on watching Sailor Moon, which happened to be on before the show Junichiro wanted to watch, Dragonball Z. While Mil-tan watched, his hand began to glow green as red sparks leaped around the materials. They slowly began to reform as he spoke, “What I will create will let you temporarily turn into a magical girl. It will have a limited supply of magic that will fuel the transformation as well as the spells you can use with it.”
Mil-tan's eyes were practically stars with how brightly they seemed to glitter, “Mil-tan will be able to cast spells?!”
Junichiro nodded as he continued to reshape the materials to his desires, “That's right. The first spell will be a spell that will let you do little illusions. Ya know, like making sparkles or little fairies or whatever else you like. Whatever illusions you make will just be figments of your imagination made up of light so they can't do anything but be seen.”
Mil-tan nodded excitedly as she listened, “Mil-tan will be the sparkliest magical girl ever!”
Junichiro smiled at that, though he turned serious as he spoke again, “The next spell will be a multipurpose elemental spell. Just the basics, earth, fire, wind, and water. However, if you're not careful bad things could happen to you or the people around you.”
Did he think giving Mil-tan the ability to cast elemental spells was a bad idea? Not especially. If Mil-tan wanted to hurt people, all she had to do was punch them. With massive arms like she currently had, he was pretty sure even he, as a devil, would be knocked for a loop if she threw a full strength punch.
Mil-tan nodded seriously, “Mil-tan promises to use her power only for good!”
Junichiro nodded, he'd expected nothing less, “Lastly, I'm going to include a small spirit,” a VI actually, “that will let you talk to the wand and help you design how you want your spells to appear. Just remember, the more powerful the spell, the more energy you will use from the wand and the less time you will be able to stay transformed.”
It wasn't impossible for him to give the wand infinite energy, he just couldn't justify doing so to himself. Giving such power to his fellow peerage members was one thing, handing them out like candy was another. Aside from that, granting wishes like this was a business and all good business generated return customers. A limit on how much energy the wand had meant that Mil-tan would need to contract with them regularly to recharge the item.
Mil-tan squirmed a little as she watched Junichiro work, he'd deliberately been making the wand at a slower pace than he actually needed to. Finally, her curiosity got the better of her and Mil-tan asked, “How long will Mil-tan be able to be a magical girl?”
“If you just transformed and did nothing else but hold the transformation, about seventy-two hours straight. It will lower as you use spells, of course.”
As he explained the time limit he'd built into the wand, the glow coming from his hand finally faded away. The two looked at the finished item and Junichiro couldn't help smiling. It wasn't an overly complex or large item and looked more like a classic magical girl magic wand. The handle of the wand was mostly white but had a wide center stripe flanked by two much thinner stripes wrapping around it like a candy cane. At the top of the wand it was crowned with a crescent moon that had a five pointed star centered within it.
He gave the wand a quick spin in his hand letting the illusion spell trail small sparkles behind it as it moved. Seeing the illusion spell working properly, he presented the wand to Mil-tan, he wasn't about to try the gender swapping option on himself.
Mil-tan gingerly reached out toward the wand while tears trickled down her cheeks. Junichiro couldn't help thinking that it was nice to help people out. He was definitely looking forward to helping out more people like Mil-tan in the future.
Comments
Alex I
Nice, I forsee Junichro having a brigade of uplifted 'normals' following him around and beating up more powerful supernatural's within weeks. A magical girl/power-ranger army of maximum loyalty.
