Years go by
[ Dio pov ]
"So..." I said, taking my eyes away from the red haired woman strapped to the table and focusing on Lorelei, who stood beside me. "How does this work?"
As a Wizard Marshal, one of the highest ranking people in the Clocktower, Lorelei knows this type of thing perfectly well.
"They will simply be examining how her brain works and seeing how it is that she managed to reach the level she did with her magecraft." replied Lorelei calmly.
"Hmm." I hummed before shrugging my shoulders. "Whatever, just tell me when you manage to learn how she made those puppets and how the process is."
"Of course." she replied, looking at me with a small smile she usually doesn't show others.
Coming closer to the woman on the table, I sighed and simply stared at her for a moment. The hatred in her eyes was clear, even if there was some resignation and acceptance in them. "Honestly, it was your fault, Touko." I said with a disappointed gaze. "My offer was pretty generous, I really don't get why you had to loose your shit over it."
She remained silent, not that she would have been able to talk with the gag on her mouth anyway, and simply stared at me angrily.
"Sigh, whatever." I said, turning around to leave.
"Did catching her cause you too much trouble?" asked Lorelei as we walked to the exit of the lab.
"Not really." I replied while shrugging my shoulders. "There was this one guy with her but I just killed him. He was absurdly weak actually, literally a normal person, but whatever. Thinking about it, he looked quite similar to an old friend fo mine but younger."
Lorelei nodded calmly as we continued to make our way across the hallways outside of the lab. "Do you have plans?" she asked.
"Yes." I replied with a tired expression. "I am planning on training. I am confident that today I will finally convince the ultimate teacher to accept me as her student." I said with a slightly excited expression.
Lorelei looked at me confused for a moment. "Is there anyone who would dare to reject a sorcerer?" she asked.
As someone from the Barthomeloi family, one of the most prideful families in the entire association, Lorelei clearly didn't appreciate the idea of someone rejecting me in any way.
As weird as it sounds, the Barthomeloi family thinks that the only ones on their level are sorcerers and, while it is not true because we sorcerers are simply on a different league altogether, she is probably the closest thing to a sorcerer that doesn't reach our realm so I guess it is fine to let it pass.
With that being said, anyone who says no to someone on their level is basically saying no to them, so she doesn't exactly take kindly in that.
"Yeah, there are indeed people who don't give a shit about my status as a sorcerer." I said, shaking my head. "A prime example of that is inside the lab we just left."
Lorelei nodded as we continued to walk together. "I guess... though I would like to think that Touko Aozaki is an exception it wouldn't make sense for her to be the only one."
"Exactly." I replied. "But don't worry about it, I am confident that today will be the day."
Lorelei nodded. "Sure... just let me know if you need anything."
I smiled at her words as we continued to walk. "I will, for now though just let me know when you learn about her puppet crafting skills."
"Why are you so interested in them though?" she asked confused. "They may be good, but they are not on the level of true magic."
"They just caught my interest." I said, shaking my hand and dismissing her question. "I have spent the past four years hunting dead apostles with you, researching my own magic and giving classes. I suppose I was looking for a distraction and this proved interesting enough."
Lorelei sighed and shook her head. "I really can't understand how you sorcerer's think."
"Don't worry about it." I replied while chuckling.
"I won't." she said before coming closer and kissing me in the cheek. "Enjoy your day, I need to attend a meeting with the rest of the Aristocratic faction to discus how to implement properly your capabilities to upgrade people's magic circuits so I won't be seeing you at least for the next three days."
"Sure." I replied with a close eyed smile. "Take care, and I am sorry for leaving all those annoying meetings to you."
"Don't worry." she replied. "If you indeed figure out a way too create magic circuits on a non-magus, it would help revitalise the mystery unlike anything before, so the least I could do is help you."
Watching her back as she left, I rolled my eyes and continued walking back to my house.
"Hmph, she still hasn't learnt her place huh?" asked Medea, materialising at my side.
I smiled seeing her and kissed her before chuckling. "Well, that's why I went through the effort of charming her." I said.
"I know." Medea replied with a pout while rubbing my cheek, probably 'cleaning it' from the kiss. "But I still don't understand why she thinks she is even remotely close to your level."
"Hahaha, I don't know either." I replied Medea, pulling her closer by the waist as we continued to walk towards my mansion. "It's like a kitten thinking she is on the same level as a lion because they both are felines or something."
"Hmph, more like a bug thinking it is on the same level as a lion because they are both alive."
"Hahahaha, I guess that is more accurate." I replied.
Honestly, it is annoying. She may be the closest person to a sorcerer, but the fact that she would dare to think she is on the same level as one is absolutely fucking disgusting. Besides, saying that she is the closest person to a sorcerer doesn't mean she is close at all, it is alike saying Mercury is a star because it is the closest planet to the sun, it makes absolutely no sense and is a complete insult to the sun itself.
"Sigh, still... she is a necessary bug..." I said, shaking my head. "I would hate having to go to every single meeting those idiots at the Aristocratic faction have."
"Hmm, I guess she is indeed necessary if she manages to make things less annoying for you." replied Medea her expression changing as a classic villain smile grew on her face. "At least for now."
"Indeed, just for now..." I said, kissing her. "Just like the rest of bugs, she will be crushed when she grows useless."
"Anyway, what are your plans now?" she asked. "Because if you are free, there are some things we need to go over and fix on 'Project Salvation' now that you managed to capture the puppet-maker woman."
"Indeed, but I am not proficient yet on memory reading because, while memories are indeed in the soul and I can see them, I also sometimes destroy them by accident. The memories of this woman's magecraft are too valuable to take risks, so the association will be doing this calmly." I replied with a slightly serious expression.
"As for the changes in Project Salvation... do you mind getting started on that? We will move forward assuming that it will take them two decades to crack her memories or for me to grow capable enough to do it myself." I explained.
It is true that I can see memories, even manipulate minds and create, destroy or upgrade magic circuits, because all of these are located in the souls of people, and souls are mine to control.
After a small pause, I continued. "I will join you later today, because right now I will be trying to get 'her' to teach me again."
Medea showed a slightly horrified expression for a second before it quickly turned into an annoyed one. "Why would you need that purple-haired bitch to teach you? I still don't get it..."
"Come on my beloved." I said, kissing her neck. "You know perfectly well why I am trying to get her to teach me. She is the best after all."
"I know..." said Medea with an awkward expression. "But she is a bitch! How dare she not teach you?!"
I chuckled slightly at her reaction. In the past few years, I found myself spending more and more time with both Medea and Artoria doing small couple things like going on dates and the like and while it was indeed slightly boring, the end result of the effort into our relationships was two op gouderes.
An absolute win.
Eventually, we arrived at the mansion. Diarmuid was fighting Artoria on the gardens as usual. Seeing this, Medea and I went to the other gardens, since having a mansion without more than one garden is stupid, especially when living with people who spend their entire days outside.
"Well... here it goes." I said, taking a deep breath.
Closing my eyes, I began searching through the throne of heroes until I found who I was looking for.
"Answer my call!" I said, and in an instant a summoning circle appeared in front of me.
I didn't even have time to see if the summoning went well, even though I knew it did, because I had to avoid a red spear that was thrown at my face.
"I told you to stop summoning me you evil bastard!" said a purple haired woman form inside the circle.
"God dammit Scáthach stop throwing me your spear whenever I summon you!" I replied.
"Well then stop summoning me!" she said as her red spear flew back at her.
"Don't tell me what to do!" I replied.
We both had clearly frustrated expressions on our faces, though unlike mine, hers was completely unjustified.
"I wouldn't tell you what to do if you stopped summoning me!" she said, instantly rushing forward and trying to stab me with the spear.
"I already told you that I would summon and annoy you until you agreed to teach me!" I replied with the same annoyed expression while avoiding her constant attacks.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Medea staring at Scáthach with an angry face, though it was evident that she was also tired of seeing our exchanges, so she simply left.
"And I already told you that I would never take an evil asshole like you as a student!" she exclaimed.
"Arghhhh grow up already woman! It is useless to try to say no to the guy who can summon you whenever he wants to!" I screamed, narrowly avoiding one of her attacks that was pointed at my neck while jumping back in order to gain some distance.
While she can't kill me, because I am literally immortal, I also don't want to give her the satisfaction of landing a blow on me again.
"Shut up and die already! This is the 57th time you have summoned me! When are you going to get the fact that I won't teach you shit through your thick skull?!"
"I already told you that never!" I screamed in reply. "Besides, I am not asking you to marry me or anything like that, just teach me how to properly move a fucking metal stick to kill people nicely!"
"How dare you insult spearmaship like this?! 'Moving a metal stick around to kill people nicely'?!"
"Well I wouldn't be insulting spearmaship if you taught me!"
"Just shut up and die!"
"Arghh fucking Alaya that lets you keep your memories of my summonings! I hate this shit, just teach me already!"
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Author note:
I will upload the parameters chapter either today or tomorrow so don't worry.