IdleMuse's Snippet

Disclaimer - The rights of the respective characters are with their respective owners. I don't mean to violate their intellectual property rights and thus, only my original characters are my IP. 

The One Who Tamed Mereoleona: Chapter 6

Grand Magical Zone

–Ignis Vermillion–

"Nice to meet you, Wizard King," He shook the offered hand, slightly annoyed by the man hiding from him, something he thought to be impossible though considering the man's Time Magic attribute, if anyone could hide from his senses, it would be the man in front of him.

"I am Ignis."

The Wizard King raised an eyebrow at the introduction but ignored that before barrelled by questions from Ignatius Vermillion.

"Wizard King! When did you come here?"

The Wizard King waved their questions off before turning to him, "Say, Ignis? I heard that you were a part of the Vermillion family. Then, would you like to come back? The Clover Kingdom could use a powerhouse of your strength."

He felt uncomfortable at the thought of being used for the Vermillion family and the Clover Kingdom, two things that have given him nothing save for a half torn Grimoire and a whole lot of pain. He sighed, "No. I will have to refuse your request. I just need a couple of answers that Ignatius here might have. If not, then that's fine as well. I will return to my travels from here."

"I see. That is regretful but I can't force you to come with me as well. Though I have to ask, how did you encounter Mereoleona-san here?"

"I found this cabin in the middle of nowhere and decided to take a nap before heading onto my next travels. She found me and I guess she considered me a threat, attacking me in my sleep with her Fire Spells."

"I see, that would do it. Mereoleona has always been a hit first ask later kind of person." Ignatius commented from the side and he nodded at that as well, ignoring the slowly rising temperature all around them as the person in question was now bathed in fire.

"About your earlier question, I don't have an answer for you right now but if you come with us, I am sure I can–"

"No." He sighed as he stood a bit straighter. 

"No?"

"No. I will not be coming back to your castle. If you have any answers, I will visit this cabin once every week. You can leave a letter here, that will be enough. Now, this has been enough social interaction for me now so I will be taking my leave." 

"What? Wait!"

"Hey, we still haven't fought!"

He ignored all of them and unleashed his white flames, burning away space in one place before exiting another location within his sight, creating a very crude but effective short range teleportation technique. It was yet another thing that he made during his experiments with his magic.

For reasons he could not explain, his magic had stagnated, for lack of a better term, for the past decade or so. He couldn't increase the intensity of his fires, couldn't find any new innovative uses, or create any new spells in his Grimoire though that was something that he had long since given up, considering that he was only working on half a Grimoire.

No, it was something else, he could tell that much. And yet, no matter how much he mediated, no matter how much he tried to peer deep into his magic, his mind for the answers, he could not find any.

So, for the past 10 years, he had set his sights on something else. Mana. Pure Mana manipulation. That gave him an edge on fights since his research into Mana meant that he could just shut down other people's mana, even if they did have a Mana Zone active. He only needed to be stronger than the other people, which he was, most of the time.

It gave him the ability to fly without using Mana Zone, to traverse the space between spatial cracks, to be able to sense subtle Mana fluctuations, something that the most adept sensor wizards wouldn't be able to sense. Just like now….

"What do you want, Wizard King?" He asked, from his floating cross legged position. He was now deep into the Grand Magical zone, only a couple hundred meters away from Homura's lair. Homura was sleeping right now but once he awoke, they would most likely have a spar.

The area in front of him fizzled as if space itself was glitching and then, the form of the Wizard King became clear to him. Gone was the smiling, stars in his eyes magic enthusiast. In his place was the person entrusted to protect all of Clover Kingdom, a Wizard King. The strongest being in clover Kingdom, supposedly.

He didn't hear much about them aside from propaganda. He knew some people who had become informants and who would gladly give him all the information he wanted but so far, he deliberately maintained distance because he knew that once he got involved, his strength itself would invite challenge, would create a never ending cycle of violence, right up until he actually slipped and died.

"You truly can sense everything happening in your Mana Zone." The man said before floating right in front of him, mimicking his position.

He nodded at that, "Yes. Stronger people can cast magic in my Mana zone but any disturbance will still be noted. So, what do you want, Wizard King?" The man was strong, no doubt but if it came down to a fight, the only reason the Wizard King would win is because of his own unfamiliarity with TIme attribute mages. His Fire could burn through space but could it burn through time? 

He did not know and he was unsure if he would ever get a chance to test that in a friendly match. For now anyway.

"I thought as much. Your Mana Zone is remarkably advanced for someone so young." 

Ah, there's the fishing for information. Oh well, he was going to tell Ignatius everything once he had his answers anyway, which would inevitably reach the ears of the Wizard King so why not do it now? He was waiting for Homura to wake up anyway.

He chuckled and shook his head, "No. I am not young, despite my appearance. I am 6 years younger than Ignatius. I just don't look the part."

The Wizard King leaned in close for a look as his eyes flashed, "Hmm. you are speaking the truth and yet, your body is in its prime, with no sign of any external magic being used to do that. Hmm, how interesting."

He sighed, floating down and standing on the ground, crossing his arms, "So? What do you want?" 

"Ignis Verm-"

"I am just Ignis, get it into your heads."

"Alright, Ignis, I would like to ascertain your intentions. Having someone of your strength on the fringes of the Kingdom is a threat that I cannot ignore. So, I would like to ask again, what were you doing in that cabin?"

He could have given the Wizard King the same spiel about him needing a nap but that would be utter falsehood. After all, if he really did need to rest, he had his own place in Homura's lair, an area where nobody had come in almost a century. He would be completely undisturbed there, with only the sleeping form of Homura to keep him company. 

And yet, he went to the cabin of his volition, for some reason he still didn't understand. The mind was something he had still not understood, despite all his research so he couldn't say for certain but if he could put it in words, it was some sort of attraction that led him to go there.

"I don't know." He admitted to the person who could admittedly defeat him, even now, which was kind of scary, to be honest. He didn't share in the excitement that Mereoleona had whenever she encountered a strong opponent capable of defeating her.

He clarified further, "I don't know. I am more attuned to mana than most beings in the world and as such, I can actually sense fate around people. I can not see but feel the mana flow of the world as a whole and as such, can sense some things. In return, I think that I can also be influenced by the mana of the world. 

I never thought of something like that happening but now that I see my past actions, it is suddenly very clear."

"Hmm. I have no frame of reference for what you are saying but if I am getting it right, it is because Mereoleona is one of those fated individuals that you were compelled to go to that cabin. Even someone as strong as you had to dance to fate's tune, is that what you are saying?"

He chuckled at the healthy skepticism in the man's voice, "It is not like Mereoleona was the fated individual. No, it was the event of me meeting her that was fated, that is what I was saying. Also, no matter how strong you get, the world's mana will always be stronger. If it wants something done, it will happen, period."

"I see. You have given me much to think. I assume you will be here for the foreseeable future? I still need some answers and I think we can be of mutual help to each other." The Wizard King offered and he nodded.

"Sure. I will be in Homura's lair. Just knock on my Mana Zone with yours, I will know." 

"Wait, Homura?"

"Oh, I have named him Homura but you guys know him as the Fire Dragon at the end of the Grand Magical Zone. See ya!" He waved his hand and flashed away, using Fire Magic to propel himself beyond the sound barrier in an instant.

A/N - 

If you guys would like to support me or read more of where these snippets came from, you can head on to my P*treon. 

I run weekly polls on P*treon to decide which snippet series will get updated (2-3 ch/wk) and ofcourse, I write what my muse brings me as well.

Do note that the 5 extra snippets will be in order of when they were written & uploaded, not necessarily 5 chapters of any given story.