10

Chapter 10

The class period was interesting, to say the least for Marcus. Next to his right was the blonde girl, Reines, she quite often would look at him. He counted it, I was 15 times in 45 minutes.

Once the break time was here Sion and Rin left to talk, though they only have 5 minutes until the class will restart.

At the same time, the pair of newcomers were looking at Marcus. By this point, the whole class didn't give a damn anymore.

"So…ladies, what can I do for you? Since you two have been staring at me most of the time." Marcus asked, he decided if he got himself into this mess he is going to enjoy it. And trap these two in his web.

Yes, since the Clock tower so gracefully handed over the Heiresses of two Magus families he is going to keep them.

"We simply wanted to see Marcus Goldman in person." The blonde said with a smile.

"And you do now. All the way from England no less, it's quite a trip. Was it worth it?" He asked with a smile of his own.

"Yes, very, the tales are not exaggerated," Reines said with a smile, she was sweating buckets because of how seriously impressive his mana output is! He is a monster!

The whole room is reeking of his mana, she can sense some other stuff but that's from the other girls who are here for him as well.

However, they simply pale in comparison to what he can emit!

'Does he have some sort of core or generator? Did his family find out how to perform such rituals?'

Raines thought to herself as she doesn't know how to proceed with this. Sheer force is pointless, this is his turf and she has noticed a pair of eyes on them from time to time. His Servants are watching them which just proves that he is serious about making this town his fiefdom.

Quite greedy but she likes when someone is like that. Not that she likes to be on the receiving end.

"Oh? How much did you hear about me? I doubt he told a lot. He only saw the tip of the iceberg." Marcus said that with a casual smirk, the only one who knows anything is the same guy who he let leave with his life.

"He told us enough, for us to know and come here."

Marcus and Reines talked in a roundabout way, no one understood what they were talking about. This is why everyone was quiet yet no one grasped what this meant.

Though the Alchemist in question rarely speaks like this, it's enough for some sort of weird conspiracy theories to rise. People just for fun don't come across halfway through the world or just enrol in the same place as Marcus without a solid reason.

He knows people will talk and it will eventually reach his parents, this is a small community after all.

His mother knows his Homeroom teacher, and vice versa.

~~~~~~Meantime with Sion~~~~~~

"Well, what is it?" Rin asked the purple-haired girl. She is quite anxious to return now that there are two more enemies for her.

"There is another reason why I am here. While I am indeed here for Marcus to join Atlas. The other reason is that Atlas TRI-HERMES calculates that human society will collapse in the year 2012."

"Hah?" This was the only thing Rin could say.

"In the year 2012 in the Eastern part of Europe, something will erupt and will completely wreck the current system humanity is living in.

So far all my clues led me to a single person." Sion seriously explained which made the black-haired girl take it seriously as well.

From the looks of it, she realised something which made her pale.

"So you figured it out? Have you been to his workshop?"

Rin very mechanically moved her head down, acknowledging.

"You saw something that proves that he is the perpetrator?"

"...He industrialised Alchemy, I won't be saying anything else." Rin snapped out from her shock-induced absentmindedness.

Sion slowly nodded and hummed, this was enough as it is. This means that Marcus indeed can produce numbers just as he has the means to produce quality. With these two factors, she is 100% certain that he is the one. No one else in this part of Europe can cause such a collapse.

'Well, this just means that I will have to give my all, to get close to him, close enough to make him change his mind.

Easier said than done.'

Internally she grimaced, it sounded almost like a joke to her.

"This is enough to confirm my theory."

Rin narrowed her eyes when she heard.

"What are you planning to do?"

Sion smirked seeing how defensive the Japanese girl got for Marcus.

"Same as before, only now I have a bigger reason to get him for myself."

Her words confused the black-haired girl for a bit, what is she talking about? She won't be telling everyone what Marcus is planning!?

'Would anyone even believe it? It's deep underground so no one even believes even when we say anything!'

"I am from Atlas, the interests of the outside world don't mean much to us. So he can do anything he wants. Though it's more like my personal interest to mitigate the collapse as much as possible.

It's more beneficial for you to stop chasing him as you are part of the outside world."

'So this is why she said it.' Rin had some sweat dripping from her forehead.

Partially Sion was right, it freaked the black-haired girl out. Marcus a world conquer of some sort!? That's intense and unbelievable! HOWEVER, Rin's gut feeling and her two Goddesses are telling him that he will be successful.

It's more like her and the Goddesses' biassed and greedy perspective!

"I am not going to stop, not after investing so much into this," Rin said with a challenging smirk.

Sion slightly pushed her glasses back up and had an unreadable look for a bit.

"Fine, I suppose, it's war then."

The purple-haired girl said with quite a casual tone.

This made the black-haired girl pull back with some alertness to which the Alchemist girl snorted with amusement.

"What are you doing? Did you forget where we are? Marcus Servants are watching us all the time and he has his Caster with him the whole time.

If we do any sort of aggression towards each other we will end up provoking him and saying goodbye to any sort of future with him." Sion explained with an eye roll. She can't believe this girl though she will fight her!

"Then?"

"Please, use your brains. It's a war for attention. Do your research, there are countless examples of this in humankind's history."

Rin realised what she meant, that moment she relaxed but still got quite a bit serious about this.

So they will be doing what they did before, only this time it's going to be more aggressive and they won't be sharing—!!!

"You! You used me before declaring war!"

"Maybe? You gave me the information I needed to solidify my claim on my future husband." Sion explained while pushing her glasses up, she has put her free hand on her hip. You could say she was quite smug about this.

Rin just grinds her teeth for a bit, but then she decides to fight! At that moment she was reminded by Goddess Ereshkigal.

"Heh, you might have this info, but I am part of Marcus Workshop, I will be staying with him for a considerable amount of time in the future."

The purple heads' reaction to that was priceless for Rin. as she basked in that.

"...I see…"

~~~

"Oh her reaction was just glorious!" Ishtar laughed silly when she saw this through Rin's eyes.

"We can agree on that. It was a good way to get back at this girl who got information from you!" Ereshkigal joined Ishtar in this. One of those few times that they agree on something!

'Yes, well, now we are at war, I need to watch out.' Rin mentally said to the pair as she was walking back to the class. The classes are about to resume.

"No worries, you have the Goddess of War on your side!"

Rin deadpanned at her when she heard how cheery she was about this.

The girl doesn't know how to feel about this, it's like she is entertainment for them!

'That's what I am worried about…'

"Hey! my powers work!"

'Do they work in THIS kind of warfare?' The black-haired girl asked with 80% distrust.

"I mean… you will get more incentive to go on offence." Ishtar said with a thoughtful voice.

'Offence? We are NOT fighting an actual war here!' Rin snapped back angrily, before taking a deep breath and calming down, and putting a friendly smile back on her face.

She then entered the classroom.

'We are fighting an intellectual war, it's not even a direct flight!'

"I get it! geez! I am not stupid, as said before, this is still WAR in a different form but still a WAR, so you can use anything, including my powers! So when you see her trying to make a move just get his attention with my Manifestation of Beauty B and overshadow her beauty! Easy Win! I am a Goddess after all!"

After hearing this Rin just groaned mentally, she had the urge to bang her head into a wall.

It's the same thing over and over again with Ishtar, just spam her skills and magic!

"Didn't you hear it last time? You have too many clouds in your head! We are inside Marcus Boundary Field! Any wisps of Mana and he will know that your magic has been used!" The Goddess of the Underworld reminded her.

"...Yeah…whatever… Just do something! That girl has more common things with him than you have. So try to be more offensive towards him."

The black-haired girl didn't say anything, instead she looked at Marcus who was sitting at his table, his head leaning against his left hand. He was doing…something.

~~~~~~With Marcus, Few Moments Ago~~~~~~

'A war huh, these girls are serious, I forgot how emotional they can be. *Sigh* Space used to be so much calmer and quieter, now I have to deal with this.

Still, though, Sion is good, she knows me well, what is more, concerning is that she knows about my grand plan, her…TRI-HERMES is one dangerous computer.

However, from the looks of it, her more concerning goal is to have me.'

Marcus was weighing his options, soft approach or hard approach, he doesn't have the military might to erase Atlas. From his understanding that place is much more dangerous than the Clock Tower.

'Hmm…in the end, it's better if I see what she has to say, all of them came into my web, now to come up with a way to deal with them…'

After thinking all about this he stopped looking through Ortlinde's eyes. What he learned is fascinating, it appears Rin is quite defensive about him and Sion in the end wants him more than caring about Humanity as a whole.

This is most likely because she is not a proper human in the first place. Or it's Atlas mentally, or just both.

'That reminds me… Spiritron calculations and coding, after seeing how TRI-HERMES figured out what I will do… I need to start learning about it.'

The Alchemist hummed to himself that this world is much more…fun than his last one.

His last one felt more like people are doing art instead of researching Mana, this one is pure research, more extreme research, just looking at how seriously crazy Magus can be about their need for information.

He never expected his expertise in Alchemy or having Servants would make people just throw girls at him, without any sort of protection for their well-being.

Especially four Heiresses of all people. Don't they have hundreds of years of studies in their Family Crests?

'Well, whatever… Let's see…'

Marcus flipped his notebook and opened the last page and started to write 'Grail War', he then brushed the word 'Grail' as if it was a mistake and then wrote 'Girls' on the top.

After that, he wrote four names: Rin, Sion, Reines, and Olga.

To finish this off he added a brush to each next to Rin and Sion.

Writing further down he wrote 'Battle Results' first battle Rin Vs Sion, the result was a draw.

There was a small smile on his face. He will be enjoying this. They want this themselves, making him observe such a battle. Such a war.

'I suppose I did this to myself but at the same time… As Newton says: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction…

Wait…why am I putting physics in this?'

Marcus sighed, he is far too used to logic, there is no logic in this. Hell! Even those girls' illogical actions affect him!

~~~

After language class was over Marcus' classmates had to move to the next class.

It was quite a unique sight as he was surrounded by four girls, three of them having unique hair colours! It was something out of some sort of television show.

While one could see a blonde in this place, the blonde of Reines is far too light, it was almost Platinum, while Rin had black hair her bright blue eyes made her stand out regardless.

Seeing how close both Rin and Sion were, Marcus decided it was time to have his fun as well. Since they want to get him he will do just that!

Both of his hands slowly sneaked upon their waist and hugged

This made the pair slightly freak out as they felt his hands around their waists!

"M-M-Marcus!?" Rin asked with a stuttering voice.

"What is it?" He said while looking forward, there was no indication that he was doing anything! It's like it's all normal here!

"Y-Your hand?"

"What about my hand? You are the one who wants to be hugged." He said with an obvious tone.

Rin's cheeks exploded pink, same with Sion, though she didn't say anything, the purple-head alchemist HAD some expectations.

It's good to know that her charms do work. However, now she needs to see how far this can go…

"...I guess…" Rin could not say anything to that! She is gunning after him after all! However, his move was like a steel beam slamming into her brain gears!

"You don't like it? I can always pull away and focus on Sion who wants to get hugged, right?" Marcus said that while slowly removing his hand from Rin, he then asked Sion who with some amount of shyness nodded at him.

His actions sent warning bells to Rin, she swiftly shook her head!

"N-No! I am fine with this! Don't mind me!" The girl swiftly made his hand stay around her waist!

She can't believe this is happening to her!

At the same time, his classmates heard or had a glimpse to see what was happening! Marcus Goldman himself is making a MOVE!

What the hell!? Is the world flipped upside down? Has the planet started to spin in opposite directions? Joining Venus in this absurdity?

"I see, good to know." He pulled Rin closer to himself enjoying this amusing development to the maximum. Though Sion was not happy that Marcus' attention was on the more shy girl.

As if noticing that he did pull Sion closer as well, this made her a little bit more relaxed that he did not forget about her.

And no, he did not, the Alchemist's interest in fellow Alchemists only continued to grow. Not only was her talent absurd, but she is beautiful and scheming enough to make him continue to look at her and try to decipher her. In other words, she is keeping him significantly interested in her.

Something she wants… and now gets.

While this was happening the other two girls who were behind them were looking at this with thoughtful looks. It appears these two are here quite early if the relationship has reached this point.

"We can allow that Atlas girl to get to him!" Olga said with a somewhat uneasy voice. Quite a bit is riding on her succeeding this! And seeing something like this is bad for her!

"I know… I Wasn't expecting that Atlas girl was already here or that some sort of Magus family from outside the Clock Tower had sent their daughter!" Reines said with an annoyed frown.

Olga nodded with a frown, she knew that they should have come earlier! But, it takes time for the Clock Tower people to decide anything!

"Well, you are up for a challenge? Let's see if we can get him to notice us!" Reines said with a challenging smirk, they do need to get back at this!

"Y-Yes! A Lot is riding on this!"

The blonde internally snorted.

'You don't say, the whole Clock Tower is in meltdown with Marcus Goldman thanks to Kaleidoscope.

Not only that but if I get to him I will get what my stupid older brother lost in Holy Grail War.'

That alone made Reines glee, now she just needs to make it right, however, this turns out the most difficult task.

Apart from the simple talk with him after the first class she had zero chance to do anything…

~~~

Once the maths class hit Marcus ended up sitting with Sion. Slowly all of the sitting positions in the classes are getting replaced by either Sion or Rin, the Alchemist friend is getting slowly removed from the equation.

As the maths class was on the way the purple head slowly leaned at Marcus and whispered.

"If you want you can continue to hug me with your hand~," She said with a teasing smirk. If he does that she will be closer to him and will have a better vantage point to see what he is doing in the notebook.

And once she sees that she will be able to comment and start a conversation. Making them bond on this even more! It's a simple and effective way to get closer to that boyfriend-girlfriend thing! Sion read all about it!

Marcus didn't say anything instead he simply swiped his hand around her waist and pulled her closer. Sion smiled internally, it is working! This is great!

Though her heartbeat slightly accelerated, this was a new area for her so she doesn't want to mess up so early in this whole thing!

While this was happening the teacher noticed this, not that he did anything… The reason for this is that he already 'challenged' Marcus… but he got roasted so badly in maths that he had to take a week off from teaching.

After that event, he didn't care what the teen did. He only does something if it gets out of control, at this moment if these two act like lovebirds it doesn't disturb anyone.

As the teacher was ignoring Marcus' desk Sion decided to use her proximity to talk with him.

"So what have you been up to?" She asked curiously.

"Hmm?"

"With your notebook I mean." The purple head clarified as she looked at his notebook. He is solving some sort of equation! But it's nothing like the one's school teaching, no it's several levels AT LEAST above it!

"Hmm, this is what I got after I used a blank homunculus model to alter it according to the spirit it inhabits," Marcus explained to her as he was thinking about how to progress with this.

"Oh… One of your Servants is unique." She said that with realisation, Marcus summoned someone quite intriguing, now he is trying to figure out the properties of such a Servant's body!

"You catch on quick, yes, it is. I wanna see if I can figure it out and then improve my original Homunculi design."

She nodded at him and proceeded to watch what he was doing. The girl didn't say anything, instead she just observed him figuring this out.

Same time she was 'catching up' as in trying to understand what is this formula, the basis on it, and what IS this Servant.

It's not easy to figure out just with things provided to her, there are no hints from him after all!

"That reminds me, I would take up that offer to learn about Spiritron coding," Marcus said after being quiet for some time.

Sion's eyes widened for a second before a small smirk appeared on her lips.

'Hehe, it's working!'

"Alright, I can show you a few things, I'm pretty sure you will find them interesting~," The girl said while getting quite comfortable in this one-arm hug.

~~~

With the whole spiritron coding starting Marcus made sure Sion was sitting with him the whole time they were in the school.

This made her delighted however at the same time she was in panic mode. The guy was a sponge, he would pick up on things at absurd levels, it's like maths is part of his very being.

Like he did this for a very long time. Because once she wrote the formula down and made him utilise it to solve some of the issues. He did it with only a few mistakes. Though those mistakes swiftly disappeared once he got used to the formula.

'This… He has experience with souls?' Sion realised once she saw him solving the tasks she made for him very quickly.

Internally she was a little bit sour about how quickly he is learning Spiritron Coding. She was sure this would be a completely new thing for him!

"...You have delved into Soul Magecraft, haven't you?" Sion asked with a slight pout on her lips. She was sure he had him for a much longer period!

"...Maybe… Who knows~" He didn't agree or disagree with her statement.

"Oh? You can tell me. You do know that I am here to get you. Not like I will tell this to anyone… I doubt I can use such information against you." Sion said that as she leaned into him a little bit more.

Trying to remove those walls little by little.

"Hmm, true, but I do like it when you try so hard."

His words made her pout at him, so he knows and is doing this on purpose!

He is not giving in to her even after spending hours in such close proximity!

"You do know I can help you? I am good at similar things to yours!"

She then leaned forward and whispered.

"I can help you with your grand plan."

Marcus for a second stayed quiet. Before having a thoughtful look.

"If you know what my grand plan is, you still insist on helping me? You do know what it entails?"

Seeing that he is not shocked that she knows, made her internally pout even more, he is good at this, and this makes her antsy!

"...I will help you with anything you want, under the condition that my Atlas Academy is not touched, it should not be an issue for you since we don't interfere in other people's business, my being here is because of your talent, and your grand plan."

The alchemist slightly smirked hearing that.

"So you only like my talent? I feel sad now. I thought you look deeper into guys which are interesting to you?"

Sion blushed and pouted at him at the same time.

"Please! I am a simple girl, my conditions are simple yet extremely hard at the same time. If you can keep up with me, that's the only thing I would want in my future husband."

'So you need to be able to program a supercomputer to move her heart? How is that easy? It took me a few centuries to reach this…'

"What about character issues?" He asked curiously now that they are discussing this topic.

"It's part of it. He would be Smart, talented, and knows what he is doing, meaning confident, insightful, hard-working, and relentless. Well? Do I hit the marks?"

As she said that Marcus felt weird… isn't she describing someone extremely familiar?

"...See…I know all along, this single requirement is easy but at the same time hard, but it reveals all I need if you can figure it out." She was quite smug about this.

"This is why I want to help you out, you already have a Servant watching me, and you can continue to do so if you wish to satisfy your need for caution." She quite smoothly positioned herself into quite a good spot with these words. Knowing that Marcus should accept her offer. He would only gain from this.

'*Sigh* Now she just makes me feel bad, almost pointing out that I am a paranoid idiot…'

"...Smart…you are far too smart for your own good… However…you do know that once you are part of my 'group' you won't be leaving me in any shape or form, after seeing my workshop I won't be going to allow you to leave. except maybe death is the only exit you will have."

Instead of answering she simply fixed her glasses and then smiled.

"I already know that."

He snorted with a smirk when he heard her answer. Of course, she knew…

"The scale you build and the size of the secret is not something one would easily reveal to outsiders. And I have been trying everything to my knowledge to get close to it. I knew the consequences.

So what is going to be?"

She asked seriously, at the same time she was nervous, mentally she did her calculations which should be around 70% to 80% success. Unless there are some sort of factors she doesn't know.

…

…

…

"Fine. I will take you to my Workshop." Marcus agreed with a resigned sigh, this was far too perfect to miss. Like a piece of the puzzle which fits with the rest.

Internally Sion almost screamed in delight! Yep! It was working! It should have worked because the combination was just that good!

"Thanks! You won't be disappointed!" As she said that she snuggled into him. After all those hours I constantly stayed like this. With short breaks, she got used to this hugging thing!

It's just nice and warm.

"Yeah…"

Now he was feeling slightly weird… Only his Caster likes to do that…however it's different from Fae's hugs…

Though Marcus could feel a pair of eyes digging into the back of his head. He can feel envy radiating in force. He can feel Artoria doesn't like this at all.

~~~

Rin was looking at Sion who was snuggling with Marcus.

"She is good. From the very beginning of this war, she was in constant offence." Ereshkigal said with an observant tone. She was like a tactician who was looking at the current positions of their 'troops' and the 'enemy' ones.

'It's to be expected, she is an Alchemist from an Academy as old as the Clock Tower. Her techniques are new to Marcus. However, what is important is that can Marcus learn fast enough to get bored with her?' Rin mentally said with a frown on her face.

"You say we will be leaving this with Marcus? You trust enough that he won't get interested in her?" Ishtar said with a shocked tone. As a selfish Goddess, she can't see this working at all! She could only trust in herself…unless a situation is critical but this is a war for a man not for the world or civilization.

'No! Of course not! I am saying that we have a short amount of time to get back before that front line crumbles!' Rin swiftly explained to the Airhead Goddess.

"Oh…I see… It's like Archer facing Lancer, Lancer has a theoretical advantage against Archer. In this situation, Marcus is losing against Sion because she is just his most natural enemy."

'...'

"..."

'Yes, something like that…' Rin eventually said it with a tired sigh.

"So what is the plan? I like those cuddles by the way." Ishtar said with a straight tone which made Rin blush for a bit. How straight the Mesopotamian Goddess said only made her think that she is extremely shameless which she is…

"I am telling the truth, I can sense your feelings just like you can sense mine. So I know that you liked it. I liked it too. So you need to cuddle more."

For a moment the black-haired girl was pissed but she controlled herself.

'Shut it! And I know! We need a plan of approach.'

"We will be going to the Workshop with him. Rin you can't lose this deal. If you do, Sion will have an extreme advantage over you." Ereshkigal said with a very serious tone.

'I know, this is why I want to get close to his parents! It's a good safety belt to have! If they like me, which from the looks of it they do, then I am more secure if a setback happens.' Rin explained to the Underworld Goddess. Who doesn't quite grasp what family bonds mean…

"I see… Good to know."

As Rin was thinking the classes were proceeding at a rapid pace as she was in deep thought most of the time.

~~~

"Marcus! Wait! I am coming with you!" Rin swiftly got his left hand. Hugged it properly.

This made Sion, who was being hugged by Marcus' right hand, frown for a bit before making that frown disappear.

"We still have that deal, remember? I am your excuse to go to the Workshop."

"...Yeah, I haven't forgotten, I can still use the old excuse for a few more days," Marcus explained to her as they continued to walk away from the school building.

"...Still, I can come with you. I do have two Goddess transformations you could study…what do you say?" Rin said with a cheerful grin. Her words made Sion's eyebrows twitch. She got her!

Studying Gods who wouldn't want that!?

"Indeed. Let's go then." Marcus won't say no to that! His previous world didn't have any sort of Gods to speak off. So this is a completely new frontier for him!

Rin grinned and swiftly changed her position, once again she got herself to be hugged by one of his arms. The girl is still not used to this. So she is still somewhat blushing by doing this.

It's not easy to just stop being shy…

However, she will be fighting back as Sion has been taking far too much 'land'.

If it means being bold and a little bit shameless then so be it!

While Marcus smirked internally about this. He is amused because Rin has to fight a double battle. One she is a Tsundere, something he recalled, and second Japanese by culture are shyer.

Truthfully he is impressed by her actions as mental battles are the hardest ones to fight.

However, Sion frowned for a bit upon seeing this. She was expecting Rin to fight back. So, it's not a big deal, she has confidence that her compatibility with Marcus in Magecraft will make him rely on her more than on Rin.

And besides, at this moment her advantage is that she is more bold. She witnessed that throughout this day.

This means she can push this more and gain more advantages.

"Are we passing through the supermarket?" Sion asked Marcus as she saw that they were walking through that road next to the Supermarket.

Hearing that made Marcus turn stiff for an extremely brief period.

"Do you need something? I am quite good with organic alchemy. I can make it if you need anything." He smoothly gave her an alternative. In the alchemist's eyes, this should be a superior choice.

"No, don't worry, I just want to be something since we will be visiting your workshop, going empty-handed like this is rude in my opinion."

Internally, the alchemist sighed in resignation. He has no idea how his mother will react if he is now walking with two girls. Knowing his stupid luck, because after thinking for some time he concluded that he either died from some sort of black hole or a sun going supernova.

What kind of shit luck is that!? So he now knows that he can't escape his mother if Sion wants to go to the supermarket…

"Fine, I suppose…" Marcus gave in very quickly, he doesn't want to argue at this specific moment, one needs to choose his battles and battlefields wisely. This one is not worth it. He doesn't want to reveal that his mother and father are the only ones who can mess with him on the whole planet.

"Marcus… isn't this…" While Rin realised what this place was…

She knows this place is where his mother is working.

"Yes, let's go." He pulled the pair towards the shop. Sion had a confused look, she was wondering what Rin knows what she doesn't know! She doesn't like not knowing!

Less than three minutes later the trio passed through the automated doors and entered the shop.

~~~

Marcus' mother, Rose, was working at one of the tilts when at the edge of her vision she saw a girl with purple hair. The hair colour was so natural that it got her attention. However, her eyes stayed there for a bit longer as she saw HER son with her as well!

But this was not all! As she saw him with this girl and Rin! Both of them were close to him, surrounding him from both sides. It's like he is holding them by their waist…

And yes…after watching this closer… He was indeed holding them by the waists!

'What a find! Who knew Marcus so swiftly can become this good with ladies! But who is this new girl? She is more exotic than Rin!'

As her curiosity was at its peak she was quite annoyed that she can't use her phone at this moment, otherwise, she would have already contacted Roland with this new juicy story!

'Can't wait to tell the girls! They are always so interested in Mark!'

The woman grinned from ear to ear, her co-workers are always curious about her son because of how different he was and they are interested in his growth and development.

So this will be something else once they see him in the shop with TWO girls so close to him and how she will tell more about this!

Oh yes, this is starting to get interesting!

~~~

'Knew it! I just knew it! The first thing that happens when I enter this shop is that my mother notices me! Oh, for —'

He got pulled by Sion, she wanted an opinion on something…

It's like she is asking and asking about certain things…but the weirdest part is that she never goes beyond a certain point when it starts to piss off. In other words, she ain't asking in a clueless airhead way but more in a curious researcher way. This makes him want to explain some of the stuff…

It's just a weird experience in general…which he doesn't mind.

"Do you think we should get a cake?" Sion asked him as they eventually arrived at the section where the refrigerators are.

"Hmm, it's up to you. You have a sweet tooth?" He asked curiously as he saw how her eyes zoom in on the cakes the moment they arrived here.

"...Maybe~? I am in a foreign land, after all, I do want to taste how sweets taste in this place."

Marcus for a second had a smile, he recalled something similar, back in the day. He did visit a bunch of places and sometimes stayed for years in some interesting places. So he knows the feeling.

"Then, in that case, try out the honey one, or the chocolate one, both of those are good. Good enough for a birthday celebration."

His words got them intrigued as they now want to know one thing…when is his birthday?

"...So…when is your birthday?"

Rin asked and Sion patiently waited while pretending to check out the other cakes even though she already decided which one she would take.

"Hmm? That? It's July 6." He answered without care. He didn't even notice how serious this was for the pair…

Eventually, Sion picked a cake that was bathed in liquid chocolate. It looked extremely delicious and beautiful. Even biassed Marcus agreed on that. He sometimes laments how these things become extremely bad in the future. The quality drops, the size shrinks, and the price goes up.

Even with all his hate and annoyance at scamming people he still remembers the reasons why he ended up stopping walking to such a thing as a store.

So recalling how it used to be before is a nice change of pace.

After taking the cake they continued to follow where Sion wanted to walk. While sometimes checking out other things. Like the pastries. The Pain Au Chocolat, or the cinnamon swirls…

The everlasting battle which was his favourite, in the end…even after living for this long he still could not select which was the better one.

"Something on your mind?"

Rin asked him as she noticed how his gaze was crushing the pastry section.

"Can't decide… those two… After all this time I was reminded that I can choose which one is the better one."

"...Eh? What are you talking about?"

"Pastries… Those two…I like them both, but I can't decide which is better." He clarified to her.

"...Then why not both? There is a thing called a draw you know." Sion said with a smirk as she picked both and put them in a single paper bag. She then handed it over to him.

He looked at her as if she did a huge heretical thing.

"...You…"

"What? If you can't decide, just take both." She casually said to him with a shrug.

"Take both…huh…that fits as well." He smiled slightly while closing his eyes for a bit. She was right if you can't decide on which one you want just take both.

This includes other things as well. Not that the purple-haired girl realised what she did.

"Very well, I take both." As he said that he motioned to proceed, to check more of the stuff available in the supermarket.

In the end, the trio just picked a bunch of sweets…

And ended In his mother's tilt, while Sion was still clueless, the other two were not so.

"...Say…Mark. It appears you have a new female friend. What's her name?" Ever so curious Rose asked her son who took a deep breath. Here it goes again… Will he experience another few days of torture?

"Oh!" Sion swiftly understood what was going on, she neatly faced palms, of course, that's what happened!

'This is the perfect opportunity for me!'

"Marcus didn't say that his mother is working here! My apologies, my name is Sion Eltnam Sokaris! I just recently moved in here. Marcus is helping me with a few things!" The girl used all of her Charisma, etiquette, and cuteness at the same time. Combined with her intellectual aura. It made Ross experience a super effective attack.

"I see! Good to hear that my son is helping you with a few things. It's hard for me to pull out from his garage. Thankfully he is growing out of that phase."

Sion smiled brightly when she heard that! This is just perfect, his mother is one of the types who like to dig at her son. This usually reveals his weaknesses. Something which she can use in the grand quest of becoming his wife!

"It's fine! He is a great help and knows what he is doing." The purple-haired girl was on his side, like always it was a good time to get some brownie points with him as she can sense how he is not comfortable in this situation. Which made her internally grin even more. It appears she found his Achilles heel.

His parents this means she needs to get close to them. This way she will secure herself.

"Yes. He is quite intelligent but his communication skills are quite lacking, something he inherited from his father."

Marcus just rolled his eyes. Sion and Rin tried not to laugh. This was another dig at him…

"Mother, these are a line behind us. You can talk about this when you are free." He pointed out the crowd behind them. While they were amused by what they heard it was getting bigger.

"Yes, yes…"

~~~

After the shopping was done the trio continued to walk toward Marcus' home. It was time for the Alchemist girl to find out where he lives.

Though she does have a general idea in mind. Since the massive Boundary field is emitting mana from a specific point. It could be that it's not around his home. However, that would be against Marcus' personality.

What the girl believes is that he would most likely build a massive base right under his house. That's what she is thinking and what her research on him is pointing out.

And it only made more and more sense as they were getting close…

The moment they were in front of his house the moment Sion knew she was right. The massive energy flow comes out of the ground and into the air.

Right around his garage spot. This means his garage or the area around his house is the workshop.

"...So…we are going to your workshop or the house." She asked him while staring at the garage. Almost saying with a cute tone 'I know where it is~'.

This is what Marcus is imagining as he was looking at her smiling cutely at him.

"Workshop…"

As he said that he handed over the shopping bag to Sion while he grabbed her free hand.

"Come with me."

The Alchemist girl and Rin followed him, and the black-haired girl already knew what this is while the other did not so much. She is curious to see.

Soon enough she knew why he was holding her hand. Her mind tried to decipher what kind of spell it was… It was not something she saw before.

It's far too…natural?

'Is his Caster a nature spirit of some sort? a Druid? Or a Fae? Or a Demigod of some sort… I did sense the uniqueness of the one following me… he is capable of summoning some serious firepower with the amount of mana he has.'

It makes her want to taste his mana…

One day she might be able to do it.

Once she saw the ground move and reveal stairs she started to inspect the material used to build this. From this, she can make sense of his alchemy level.

The girl wants to fill in the gap which she knows exists. One is how it is possible. From her study of the Goldman family history and records of their Magecraft, they didn't practise to the point that Marcus can pose a threat to human society as a whole. There is a huge gap in performance that she needs to fill in the understated way he can do it.

It's like there are 300 to 500 years of extreme Magecraft research missing…

As they walked in her eyes scanned everything… The temperature is optimal even when it's freezing outside, the air is clean and smooth, it's nice to just breathe here, and the lighting and the smell.

She walked over and put her hand on the smooth grey wall.

Sion scanned the composition of the wall. What she got was…

Bizarre and something she never sensed before. The way the atoms and put… It's a realm beyond what is regular Alchemy.

"...What is this? How did you do it? This doesn't make sense… It's nothing like Atlas' work or any alchemy I know from the West or East…" Sion asked with ever-growing curiosity.

"It's as if… You gained several hundred years of research in a specific brand of Alchemy." She pointed out. His reaction, which was a smile, only made her lean towards this!

Seeing how Sion is reacting made Rin look at him curiously as well.

'So even she is impressed by this…now I want to see what is downstairs even more!'

"...Will you tell us or do we need to put this together?" The Alchemist girl asked while fixing her glasses, she is up to the challenge however she would want to focus on getting close to him instead of playing a detective.

"Hmm, depending on how deeply you want to know this. If it's your regular everyday curiosity then you can figure it out yourself."

Sion sighed, she is feeling like she wants to make a stubborn mule walk. It is somewhat annoying but at the same time she understands what is going on. His trust is nowhere near the point that he will easily reveal any of this.

"No-No!" She quickly shook her finger.

"This isn't just casual curiosity. As a fellow Alchemist, I want to understand you. If I understand you it will be better for both of us."

As she said that he had a thoughtful look. For a bit.

He then contacted his maid mentally.

A few seconds later the maid manifested next to him.

"Take these to the kitchen and prepare three cups of tea."

"Understood." The pale blond maid nodded before taking the shopping bags to the kitchen.

Rin and Sion finally saw his Rider, the Japanese girl finally saw all of his Servants while the purple haired girl finally saw one of his Servants.

They didn't expect an actual…maid.

"...This is your Rider? An…maid!?" Rin's mouth slightly opened from that sheer disbelief.

"Not just any maid…you will be shocked to learn who she is." Marcus teased her with her true identity.

While Sion already knew that he had a Maid Servant. Though she didn't expect to feel a chill going down her spine. This Servant output of mana is simply absurd!

The servant can only release a mana output equivalent to what the Master can offer. With no intermediate devices to support them, Marcus is the one who fully supports his Servants.

'This means his mana output is simply on the level of a generator or above! How can he have such a thing!? I see…he truly has experience in things related to the soul…'

That moment Sion looked at this from a different angle and she realised something… Something absurd, but it explains everything…

'He is much, much older than I thought!'

She then recalled the way he speaks from time to time. But it doesn't explain his relationship with his parents! It simply…doesn't make sense!

"Fine… Anyway…so what do you think?" Rin asked, she wants an explanation as well. After what Sion said she is a little spooked by what Marcus is planning. She wants some clarity. Not that she can demand… He holds pretty much all the cards…

"Follow me."

Marcus motioned the pair to follow him. The duo saw that he was taking steps to go downstairs.

At this moment Rin's heartbeat accelerated, and anticipation started to rise in her gut. This is it! She is going to see what he is hiding on the lower floors of his workshop.

~~~

Marcus should. have known that he won't be able to hide this for long. Sion is simply far too smart and observant. Using his art to the full extent has opened up Pandora's box as they say.

A mere 15-year-old should not be able to do what he has been doing.

From there on out, it was a downward spiral, and now he is about to show one of his greatest creations…

The Triple Core Reactor.

"This is the reactor room."

"Reactor?"

"My perpetual energy reactor." He clarified to her.

Sion and Rin's eyes widened when they heard that.

"Perpetual? Are you joking? Right? That stuff is—" Rin didn't finish as her mouth opened wide when she saw what was on the other side of the door.

She heard a deep humming sound and three large energy circles spinning around a black and red ball. The sheer heaviness of this…even after all the protections Marcus has placed the gravity it's generating still affects them!

"... Incredible…" Sion was the first one to comment as she entered the room.

However, she soon felt how…heavy she was starting to feel as she was getting closer to the reactor.

"Just like you put me on a test, Sion, I have one for you. This is called the Triple Core Reactor, I spent close to 200 years developing this… Improving it… If you can tell me what it is and what it is simulating I will tell you everything."

Marcus' words have spooked the purple-haired girl quite seriously, same with Rin!

"W-Wait! What about me!? Do I get the same thing!?"

The Alchemist turned around and looked at the black-haired girl for a bit.

"Sure, if this is what you want. However, Alchemy is not your strong point. So, I won't be disappointed if you fail."

A frown appeared on her face when she heard that. This is not good enough! She doesn't like being… separated from this. No! She is one of the best Magus produced by the Tohsaka line!

"I will try regardless! This test, I WILL pass!"

"Sure, you two have 5 minutes. You can use your mana senses and structure analysis but nothing else. You don't want to die if one of those glass containers cracks."

Both paled for a bit when they heard that. They looked at three layered glasses containing the reactor. It is indeed built from glass!

'Is he mad!? It's just glass!'

However, Sion quickly realised that he was messing with her, she can't even approach the glass! And mana doesn't even touch the glass! It was as if a powerful force field was keeping away!

'Like Gravity!?'

At that moment she remembered what Rin said about him using Alchemy at the industrial level! Then what about Gravity!?

'This guy…'

Internally she laughed from despair…if he industrialised gravity to this level… Then this is on a completely different level!

Gravity is still something humanity can't even explain! And this guy is harnessing energy from it!

Eventually, she tried to scan it… The glass is impossible, so instead, she tried the walls and then the ground.

The time was short but she had to find a way to get as much as possible about this.

In the end, she freaked out about how much force there is… it's like the sheer weight of this is crushing her very mana!

'How the weight of this thing doesn't break the ground? How can that pedestal hold this much weight!?'

Rin was not far away from this, Instead of just scanning it she observed the black core, she saw the red light from it.

"Time is up."

The pair stopped and slowly walked back… they were tired just from standing there for five minutes. It was simply an out-of-this-world experience!

"Let's start with you Rin."

As he said that he used his mana to create a gravity field around them. This is to keep Sion from hearing what Rin figured out.

His display of casual gravity control made them remember that he can quite easily traumatise a regular magus.

"Well?"

For a second she gathered her thoughts about this thing which honestly made her a little bit terrified.

"...This is the core of your Workshop, this reactor generates power through gravity, it emits the power needed to power the boundary field covering the town. I understand this thing is so heavy that it affects gravity around us. My guess…is that it uses its weight to produce power?"

This was Rin's blind guess when she felt its sheer weight on her, it was all she could think. Hell, her legs are feeling weak just from standing there!

"...Not bad, you are insightful, and quite lucky when you need it. Yes, your guess is right. What you see is an imitation of a planet spinning. There are three layers of it. The core itself makes power, and the second layer generates gravity itself which is the sturdiness of these walls and spreads through the whole workshop.

And lastly, it emits a field that is morphed into a boundary field around the town."

Rin slowly nodded when she heard that, her mind was blank, and she was trying to proceed with what she just heard. He made this!?

She recalled what Sion said at that moment, this guy was supposed to end Human society!

After seeing this! He will! Hands down! If you can harness power like this and manipulate gravity to this extent! Then it's only a matter of time before he will unleash an avalanche of some sort which will end everything if he wants to!

"...So…do… I pass?"

Seeing how vulnerable she was looking at this moment, the girl was channelling 'please! I did my best! Pretty please!', Marcus simply could not ignore this…

"Yes, you do."

That moment Rin first bumped and her eyes gleamed for a moment.

The alchemist simply rolled his eyes at her excitement, is his past that important to her? Or is it just her wanting to or getting another draw against Sion?

Well, it doesn't matter, he lowered the gravity field and looked at the purple head in front of him, she had a spacey look for a bit before focusing on him.

"...I am all ears. What do you think?" Marcus asked her with crossed arms.

"...The weight generates some sort of friction which generates heat for energy, this is not all, you use weight to create gravity, and this gravity field is everywhere. It took me a few moments but I noticed that we are not standing on the regular floor but instead on the gravity field.

And finally, the last piece is the field it generated, this is why you call it the Triple Core Reactor."

Rin looked at Sion with slightly widened eyes. Did she figure it out like that? Or she can read lips!?

"Impressive… You got it right."

At that moment Sion sighed loudly! It was as if a huge boulder was removed from her back!