Note: Hey guys, it's me again, Xyaqom. I try to keep it short and sweet this time around. This chapter is going to be all over the place. Unlike the previous chapters, which take place in one day, this chapter will take place over two days. Well… A day and a half, to be exact. This chapter will also be shorter than the previous Shiro chapter (Hopefully) and not reach the 12K word mark. But it will still be a good chapter by the end of the day. After reading this great chapter, check out Axel Emiya and his stories. If you need a story proofread, he is the guy to do the job.
With that in mind, let's get this chapter on the road!
Warning: This story is NOT for readers under the age of eighteen. The story will have coarse language, violence, nudity (including the private parts), and sexual scenes. (Including sex scenes). The story will explain a character's surroundings in great detail, especially with a person's body. If you are not over eighteen or do not like these things in a story, please do not read this book/story. You have been warned.
Chapter Thirty-Eight:
September 28th, 2017:
Deception Within The Ranks:
In the few hours since Shiro and the girls have befriended their new Lizardon companion, we see our heroes riding on him like a steed, much to Alyssa's dismay. Upon approaching a large cliffside, the sun was setting. Shiro had the Lizardon pause as he and the girls took in the beauty of the vast landscape as they left Ostia.
"Wow, what a beautiful sunset," Cassandra said, amazed at the sight.
"Wait, it's already late afternoon?" Asked Christina, since it was only one in the afternoon when they arrived at Mundus.
Alyssa looks at her wristwatch, which she and the girls bought during their short stay in London, England: "It's only 3:30 p.m., and the sun shouldn't be settling for another four more hours, depending on the season this planet is on."
"Don't forget, we're on a different planet now. So obviously the time zones are going to be vastly different," said Shiro.
"How much of a difference are we talking about?" Asked Cassandra.
"Well, knowing that it was about 1:00 p.m. when we left England for Mundus and judging by where the Sun is setting, I would say it's currently 7:30 p.m. on Mundus right now," said Shiro.
"Oh, so only a four-hour difference?" Asked Christina.
"It is a rough estimate but I believe so. Plus, keep in mind that I'm judging that from England's time zone, not Canada's. If I had to guess, it's currently 10:30 a.m. in Canada whereas it's currently 3:30 p.m. in England. That means, Mundus's timezone is nine hours ahead of Canada. And that's only based on where we are right now," Shiro explained.
"Wait, so you're saying that even though it's a late afternoon where we are, it's currently morning on the other side of the planet?" Alyssa asked.
"Yep. Also, Mundus is a bit larger than Earth, so obviously, there are going to be more locations that the sun can and cannot cover since Mundus rotates as well," said Shiro.
"How large are we talking about?" Asked Christina.
"Ever seen the difference between a nickel and a quarter? And I mean by their size, not the value," said Shiro.
"Yes?" Asked Cassandra.
"Think of it like that. The Earth is a nickel, and Mundus is a Quarter. They're both relatively large planets," explained Shiro.
"Ohhhhhhhh," said the girls, understanding what Shiro was saying. It was big but not by much in other ways,
"Anyways, I suggest we set up camp for the night before it gets dark. Unfortunately, the lights have gone out since the attack, so it's going to get pitch black out here, so we should set up a fire so we can see," said Shiro.
"We should also try to track down a water source. We need to keep ourselves hydrated during this journey," Christina said.
"Wasn't there a water stream over by Ostia?" Alyssa asked. "If we keep heading west it should lead near the ocean."
"Yeah, but we still have to purify it first," said Shiro.
"Oh? This planet has saltwater like ours?" Asked Cassandra.
"Yep. So unless you girls want to get sick, I wouldn't drink the water before purifying it first," said Shiro.
"Do you have any knowledge of purifying the water?" Christina asked.
"Well, I have a general idea on how to purify it." said Shiro.
"What do you mean by a 'general idea', have you ever tried it before?" Christina replied.
"Okay. Let's go find a suitable place to set up camp. One of these ruined buildings should do," said Cassandra as she looked at the ruins in the buildings.
After a short walk, they started setting up camp inside one of the ruined buildings in the city. They ensured the building they arrived at was stable and wouldn't crumble on their heads while they slept.
After finding their suitable sleeping place, they took some bags from their backpacks.
"Wait, you bought sleeping bags?" Asked Shiro, surprised.
"Obviously, what do you think we've been doing while we've been in England?" Asked Cassandra.
"Yeah, you did give us a brief description of what happened to your planet, so we figured that there wouldn't be any hotels for us to sleep in. So we bought some sleeping bags for us to sleep on. There was no way we were going to sleep on the floor," said Alyssa.
They then took out four sleeping bags. The yellow one was for Cassandra, the brown one was for Alyssa, the black one was for Christina, and the white one was for Shiro.
"Technically we are going to be sleeping on the floor," Shiro pointed out.
"Well… Yes, but the ground won't be as miserably hard when we're sleeping on the sleeping bags," said Cassandra.
"We also bought some other stuff, like bathing materials," Christina said in a monotonic tone.
"That's right! We don't know how long we're going to be on this planet while looking for the treasure. Could be a week, a month, or even a year. Regardless of how long we are going to have to stay here, we are not going to go without a bath during the given timeframe," said Cassandra.
"We?" Asked Shiro.
"As in, all four of us of course! You're going to be bathing Shiro. I'm not going to let you go through this whole trip without bathing," said Cassandra.
"Does that mean we will be bathing together then?" Asked Shiro with a smirk.
"NO! We (meaning the girls) will bathe together. YOU (Meaning Shiro) will be bathing alone," Christina told Shiro.
"Aw, where's the fun in that?" Asked Shiro in a sly remark.
"You have seen enough of me in the nude! You do not need to see the rest of us naked!" Christina exclaimed
"Ever heard of the meaning, 'The more the merrier?'" Ask Shiro with a smirk.
"This ain't for debate Shiro!" Shouted Christina.
"Okay, geese, calm down. I'm just messing with you. Besides, we still need to purify the water before we even think about having a bath," Shiro told the girls.
"It's a Good thing we bought these pots then to put water in," said Cassandra as she took some pots from her travel duffle.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask, how were you girls able to afford all this stuff since you are going broke," said Shiro.
"Credit cards mostly," said Cassandra sheepishly.
"Credit cards?!" Asked Shiro, "I thought I told you to leave that…."
"Oh come on Shiro, you really think the Christale City Police we're going to make a b line to England in just a few minutes? Besides, even if they use my credit details to track us down, they'll realize that we are long gone. You don't think they're going to figure out that we use the stone hedges to get to Mundus, do you?" Asked Cassandra.
"Well…"
"And even IF they managed to figure out how to work the Stone Hedges, they wouldn't be able to get over here since the teleportation device to get here was destroyed by Lex," Christina pointed out.
"Okay, you made your point." Shiro sighs, "But this does mean that you'll have to pay back the credit card companies after we find a way to get back to Earth, right?"
"Yes, I'm fully aware of that," Cassandra told him.
"Okay, good. Now that that's settled, let's hurry up and purify the water," said Shiro.
Shiro and the girls walked up to the shore and used the pots to store the water. Once they filled up as much water as possible, Shiro began to chant a spell to purify the water.
After using his aura on the salt water, Shiro was able to purify it, making it safe to drink and bathe. They decided to use one of the pots for drinking water and the other for bathing water. Then, they used one of the water pots to fill up the many water canteens they bought during their trip to England.
Using his new spell, Water Spear, Shiro created a small crater for the girls to bathe near the ravine. He drew and guided the water over, and it took an extra 10 minutes to purify it.
"Phew, that was exhausting," Shiro said, letting out a tired sigh.
"Alright, that takes care of the water situation. Now we can finally have a bath," Cassandra said as she lifted her summer dress.
"Sweet," said Alyssa as she took off her top.
Cassandra takes off her summer dress, revealing her purple bra and panties, and Alyssa takes off her top, revealing her light blue bra. This makes blood squirt from Shiro's nose, and Christina's face turns pale. Cassandra and Alyssa were stripping in front of Shiro.
"C-Cassandra, Alyssa! Have you two completely forgotten that Shiro is still here?" Christina asked as Cassandra took off her bra and Alyssa took off her mini-skirt, revealing her light blue panties.
"Huh?" Cassandra asked as she took off her bra, making her 36C breasts bounce freely. She then noticed Shiro standing before her, his face gushing red. She then looked down and saw that her breasts were out for Shiro to see. When she realized, her face turned dark red, "EEEK!" Screamed Cassandra and quickly covered her breasts.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare," said Shiro as he closed his eyes, "I was just surprised that you girls started stripping in front of me without hesitation."
"N-No, we're sorry Shiro," said Alyssa, blushing.
"We've gotten so used to stripping in front of each other, that we didn't consider that a man would be in the same area as us," said Cassandra with a blushed face while covering her breasts.
"Yeah, I guess we still haven't gotten used to having a man tag along with us," said Alyssa, blushing and covering up her goods, even though she was still wearing her undergarments.
'Wait, so they didn't see me as a man for a while?' Asked Shiro.
"Um… This is kinda embarrassing to ask, but do you mind if you go somewhere else for a while so we can have a bath, Shiro?" Cassandra asked while blushing profusely.
"Y-Yeah, sure," said Shiro as he turned his back towards the girls. I was thinking of going to search for food anyway. I'll probably be back within the hour. Just make sure you save some water for me," said Shiro as he went into the wild to look for food.
"Just be careful," said Cassandra.
"Geese, what a pervert. He was staring at the both of you as if you were a piece of meat," said Christina as she took off her top, revealing her red bra.
"To be fair Christina, we stripped in front of him without warning," said Alyssa as she started taking off her bra.
"Yeah, we were so excited to have a bath we didn't consider Shiro being with us at the time," giggled Cassandra as she took off her panties.
'I hope this doesn't become a trend,' said Christina in her thoughts as she took off her bra, revealing her 36D-size breasts.
Meanwhile, back on Lex's ship, Lex and Chao's arguing reached a breaking point. Chao was trying to reason with Lex that translating the Records of Maxwell would take time and that he could not translate the book if Leon had it in his room. However, Lex wasn't having any of it, and he wanted the book translated NOW! Lex convinced himself that if he, Leon, and Chao believed it hard enough, they could have the whole book translated in just a few days. Unfortunately, that's not how it worked. Eventually, Chao had had enough of Lex's self-righteous, entitled, spoiled-rotten attitude.
Leon, who was in his room, trying to translate the Records of Maxwell, overheard their arguing and could tell it was reaching a breaking point.
"Are those two still at it?" Asked Leon, who could not concentrate due to Lex and Chao's arguing.
"You know what! I've had it up to here with your bullshit! You can't make progress appear out of thin air! Shit like this takes time!" Chao shouted while getting into Lex's face.
"Watch your tongue assassin! And I'm telling you that I am paying you to translate that damn book! So get on to it unless you don't want to get paid!" Shouted Lex onto Chao's face.
"How many times do I have to tell you until you get it through your thick skull!? I can't read ancient Greek!"
"You were able to read it just fine a moment ago!"
"Yeah, and I was reading complete gibberish, you numbskull! In case you have forgotten since you tried to read the book yourself!"
"Then hurry up and learn how to read the damn language already!"
"That's easier said than done! Learning how to speak and write ancient Greek in such a short time frame would be like asking me how to read and write the Drogon language in only three minutes! It's not possible!"
"You're a fucking mage! Just cast a spell on yourself to make you understand the language!"
"There is no such spell, you idiot! If there was, the book would've been translated a long time ago!"
"Then hurry up and create it!"
"I can't make up spells on the fly! That shit takes time!"
"I am your boss! I am TELLING you to make the impossible possible! So hurry up and make a spell that will allow us to translate the book already!"
"And I'm telling you that you can't rush progress! Making spells, and translating a language to another takes time! You can't complete it at the drop of a hat! If you understood that, the old man would have picked you to be his successor rather than Shiro!"
"Don't you go…"
"Ever wondered why the old man picked Shiro over you, despite your grades being vastly different from each other?! It's because you are a spoiled rotten, self-righteous, self-entitled brat that can't handle having things not go his way!"
"You take that back!"
"Make me, brat!"
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Screams Lex and punches Chao in the face, which Chao retaliates by punching Lex in the face.
A brawl breaks out between Chao and Leon. Fists were flying, and they both had each other in chokeholds. When Leon heard their bodies being slammed at his door, Leon had enough. He had to break those two apart before they ended up killing each other.
Leon exits his room and sees Chao and Leon rolling on the ground while trying to choke each other, trying to get the upper hand on the other.
Eventually, Lex got the upper hand on Chao and was about to cast a killing spell on Chao.
"Ultima!!"
Before Lex could finish, Leon grabbed Lex and pulled him away from Chao. Seeing that Lex was off of him, Chao summons his blade and charges towards Lex, only for Leon to use his wind magic to disarm him.
"KNOCK IT OFF, YOU IDIOTS!" Shouted Leon to the two, "How the hell am I supposed to work, when you two idiots are constantly at each other's throats!"
"He's the one who wants to rush progress!" Shouted Chao while pointing at Lex.
"And I'm telling you that I am your-"
"ENOUGH! Both of you! Quit acting like a bunch of five-year-olds!" Leon told them. "You have a crew that's trying to work!"
At this, Leon pointed at the grunts controlling the ship and stared at the group impishly. The tension was so awkward that nobody wanted to speak up. Some coughed and whistled away, minding their own business.
"He started it!" Said Lex and Chao while pointing at each other.
"I don't care who started it. I'm finishing it!" Leon told them and looked at Lex, "Lex, like it or not, you need to understand that translating the book is going to take us time. We're not going to be able to translate the whole book at a drop of a hat! And you Chao," said Leon and he turns to face Chao, "You need to keep your blood lust under control! If I hadn't stepped in when I did, you would have killed the boss!"
"Well, it wouldn't have gotten as bad as it did if he just understood what I was trying to tell him!" Chao explained.
"Well, he's going to understand it now, right?" Leon asked as he turned his head to look at Lex for assurance.
"...Yeah," said Lex, starting to calm down while wiping the blood off his bottom lip.
"Now, like it or not, we are stuck together for the long haul. We're going to have to learn how to work together. That means we cannot fight amongst ourselves. If we crumble and start fighting amongst ourselves, Shiro and the girls have already won!" He then turns his head to Lex, "You don't want that, do you, Lex?"
Lex made a fist, Shiro and the girls getting to the treasure before they could be the last thing he wanted. He understood that if he wanted to get to the treasure before Shiro, he would have to keep his pride and ego in check, if he didn't want his team to fight amongst themselves.
"…No," Lex simply answered, letting Leon know he didn't want to lose to Shiro over infighting.
"Good," Leon nodded and looked at Lex and Chao. Now, both of you, go to your rooms, wash yourselves up, and get some sleep! We have a long day tomorrow, so we'll need all the energy we can get."
"Wait, who made you in charge?" Asked Chao.
"DON'T! Test. My patience, Chao!" Leon told him with a glare.
Without another word, Chao and Lex head to their respective rooms and crash for the night, leaving Leon to stand there, looking at the destruction Lex and Chao left during their brawl.
"Christ, I feel like a father who broke up a fight between his two five-year-old sons," said Leon while facepalming and retiring to his room.
September 30th, 2017:
The Next Day:
The next morning, Shiro began to wake up while the girls were still sleeping. He ended up sleeping across from the girls so it wouldn't look like they were sleeping together. Shiro woke up early while the sun was still rising so he could hunt for food for breakfast.
After several hours of hunting, Shiro returns to the camp with his haul, and he and the girls make breakfast with the food that Shiro caught. As they sit down to have breakfast, Cassandra asks Shiro a question.
"I figured with our new friend here," Shiro patted the Lizardon, "We could easily cut through the main road and get to the ruins of Moeris a lot faster."
"But what's so important in Moeris that we need to rush through the forest?" Alyssa asked to look at the map Shiro provided for him.
"That's…" Shiro looked away, unsure how to answer.
"Before we arrived there, I have a question for you Shiro?" Asked Cassandra.
"What is it?" Asked Shiro as he took a bite off his elk leg.
"Can you teach us how to use magic?" Asked Cassandra.
This sudden question shocks Shiro so much that he coughs out his food and drinks water to clear his throat.
"C-Come again?" Shiro shuddered, not believing what Cassandra requested.
"Well, you see, since we are going to be stuck here for the foreseeable future, it would be nice to learn how to use magic to defend ourselves in case we get into a pinch," Cassandra explained.
"Yes. We don't want to be a bother to you by having to defend us all the time," said Alyssa.
"When it comes to physical fights, I am in peak shape, I can handle whatever is thrown at me. But when it comes to magic… Well… I hate to admit it, but I am a sitting duck when defending myself against mages," Christina sleeplessly said.
When the girls asked him to teach them how to use magic, Shiro felt mixed emotions. He was shocked, honored, amused, and baffled by their request. He then took a moment to gather his thoughts before clearing his throat.
"Well… I'm honored that you girls think so highly of me. But, you can't just learn magic from a drop of a hat. It takes years of dedication and training. Hell, I'm still learning myself," said Shiro.
"You and that Chrome guy split the sky in half! How much more are you learning?!" Asked Christina.
"THAT WAS YOU?!" Asked Alyssa and Cassandra in shock.
"Wait, you know about that?!" Asked Shiro in shock.
"Of course, we knew. It was all over the news. Plus, we could see what was going on from the city," said Cassandra.
"Oh, I didn't realize it had gotten that intense," Shiro said sheepishly, scratching his head.
"So after all that, you're saying that you're still leaning?" Asked Christina.
"Plus, you even managed to hold your own against Xyaqom. Don't you think you're selling yourself short?" Alyssa asked.
"I mean… Um… True, I did hold my own against Xyaqom back at the museum. But he was heavily holding back during our fight. If he was serious going into that fight, I'd be dead by now. Also, to answer your question, Christina, I'm not really a mage," said Shiro.
"How can you not call yourself a mage when you were able to pull off the stuff that you did against Xyaqom AND fight off the assassins on the way here?!" Christina asked.
"I mean, you do use magic. Doesn't that make you a mage?" Asked Cassandra.
"Well… On the surface, it does seem that I am a mage. But, when you look closer, I really am not," said Shiro.
"What do you mean?" Asked Christina.
"You see, in order to become a mage, a proper mage, you have to graduate from an academy that teaches magic. And in order to graduate, you have to spend at least a year or two in the academy to sharpen your skills and learn the basics. Then, when your professor feels like you're ready, they'll assign a Master to you to learn under for a full year. And if the Master mage that you trained under deems you worthy after a year, you'll be qualified to take part in the graduation exam. And only when you pass the graduation exam, you'll become an official Mage," Shiro explained and then took a deep breath after that long explanation.
"I'm sorry to ask, but were you ever qualified to take the exam?" Asked Cassandra.
Shiro laughs, "Oh heck no. I was barely an apprentice under my master for less than a year before the shit hit the fan," said Shiro.
"Whaaaaaaaaaat?" Asked the girls in shock.
"But you're so powerful!" Christina witnessed Shiro's firsthand power during his battle against Chrome, saying, "How can you be so powerful and not be a mage?!"
"Well, after I was sent to Earth six years ago, I had a lot of time on my hands. So, I used most of my time studying and training. After I turned sixteen, I started helping Puck with the diner. After I turned eighteen, I moved out of Puck's place, got a place of my own, and went to Vincent College to continue my education. You wouldn't believe just how cheap it was to pay for my intuition," said Shiro.
"Why do you think we transferred there this year? It was to save money," said Cassandra.
"Speaking of Puck, did Puck's diner always look like it was about to fall apart while you were working there?" Asked Christina.
"No, not really. It was a pretty nice place while I was working there," said Shiro.
"So what happened?!" Asked the girls at the same time.
"That's what I would like to know," said Shiro, chuckling nervously while scratching his head. "Puck was never good at keeping up with the maintenance around the place, so he would always leave me to do it," said Shiro.
"And after you left, the maintenance got so bad that the roof looked like it was about to crumble any minute and fall on the customers' heads?!" Cassandra asked.
"That's a good way to get a lawsuit," said Alyssa.
"Yeah… I didn't know that the place would get as bad as it is during my time away," Shiro said sheepishly. Still, he claps his hands, "But enough about my personal life. To answer your question about teaching you how to use magic, I can teach you, but it's going to be a lot of work to cast a simple spell. And before you can even think about casting a spell, you'll have to learn how to awaken your aura to unlock the ability to use magic," Shiro explained.
"You have used the term' aura' a lot since we've known you. But what exactly is aura?" Asked Cassandra.
"Alright, if you're sure about this," Shiro sighed and took a deep breath. The girls leaned closely, paying attention. "Aura is a special type of energy found within every living being, some could say it's the living manifestation of one's soul. But I think it's much more than that. I think it's two sides of the same coin,"
"How so?" Asked Alyssa.
"Because the other side of the argument Ki is one that breathes life into the soul, the physical manifestation of your latent energy. Whether you realize it or not your body is always using Physical energy or Ki as we call it on everyday mundane tasks. Whether it be walking or running to school, pulling or pushing boxes at your job, or competing in sports. You're using Ki to help you through life," Shiro explained. "As for Aura, the best way I can describe it… How can I explain… It's like… Willpower… I think…"
"You think?" Asked Christina.
"Well, you're learning how to use magic, and it takes time and dedication to master," he explains while shrugging, "And to do that, you need willpower."
"Oh? Like a boxing match?" Asked Alyssa.
"I think a boxing match requires ki, not aura," Christina said.
"Sure, if you want to go that far, then sure," said Shiro.
"Wait, what?!" Asked Christina.
"Like I said, using aura requires willpower. And although boxing requires A LOT of ki to throw your bunches, you need the willpower to keep fighting. Eventually, you're going to be so beaten up that your body will want to give up. That's when your mind gives you spiritual energy or aura to keep fighting. When it comes to boxing, the mind and body work together to defeat the opponent. However, the question is, which boxer has more willpower or the drive to win," explained Shiro.
"Wait, so we've been using aura this whole time without realizing it?" Asked Alyssa.
"Aura and ki," Shiro corrected her, "But to utilize them efficiently is different."
"How so?" Asked Cassandra.
"Because I don't think you can spit the sky in half without a basic understanding of Aura," Shiro says.
"So how do we awaken our aura?" Alyssa asked.
"Oh? Are you girls still determined to learn it, then? Even after all that?" Shiro asked in a serious tone. The girls nodded without hesitation. Shiro sighs, "It will take a lot of time. So don't be discouraged if you don't awaken your aura immediately."
"Right," said the girls with a quick nod.
"Alrighty then, here's the first step…."
October 3rd, 2017:
Meanwhile, back on Earth at Christale City, Steqos was chased by a hundred stray dogs, wanting a piece of his bone armor.
"DAMMIT! ARE THESE EARTH'S INUS?! WHERE DID COME FROM?! AND WHY ARE THEY ON ALL FOURS?! AND WHY ARE THEY CHASING ME?!" Screamed Steqos as he was running for his life.
Seeing nowhere to run and desperate to escape from the dogs, he finds a manhole, quickly opens it, and dives into it while closing the lid. The smell is unbearable, but at least he can escape from the hungry street dogs.
After a few minutes of waiting, the street dogs passed, and Steqos climbed out of the manhole, gasping for air.
"By Draga, the odor down there was unbearable. I think I'm going to be sick," said Steqos, feeling the urge to puke.
After throwing up into a nearby trash can, Steqos closes the lid to the manhole and exits the alleyway to continue his search for Princess Reythian. The people passing by either faint or gag at the sewer odor that is now on Steqos.
Unfortunately for Steqos, the street dogs returned after they sniffed him out.
"Oh, come on! Not again!" Steqos shouted and started to run for his life yet again.
To Be Continued…