60

I woke up early as my mental alarm went off. It was something very convenient I had gotten from my powers, an alarm that would wake you up and never the fact I would never be groggy in the morning.

Looking over, I saw that Komainu was fast asleep with her hands wrapped around my left arm. Extracting my arm and leaving the bed carefully took a few minutes.

Padding out of my bedroom, clad only in my pajama pants, I emerged in my kitchen and started pulling out supplies to make pancakes.

I then heard the slurp of somebody drinking tea and whirled around, hands outstretched to attack anybody who tried to harm me. Sitting at my table was one Yukari, who had just taken a sip of tea and was setting it down with a slight smile on her face as her vibrant violet eyes peered into me.

"Hello, why are you in my kitchen drinking tea?" I asked, pushing down the annoyance at somebody sneaking into my home and having the audacity to simply have a drink.

"We need to talk about your actions last night." She said calmly, causing me to freeze as I reviewed how she could know what I did on the moon yesterday.

"I don't have any problem with it. In fact, I congratulate you for sticking it to those arrogant Lunarians. However, you may invite reprisal, so I have an offer for you."

Sitting down at the table, I hummed before asking, replying, "What exactly is this deal?" I asked, resulting in Yukari nodding as if she excepted this.

"It's quite simple; I need your knowledge of Lunar devices to reinforce the barrier and prevent the Lunarians from wiping us out with the push of a button."

I took a moment to study her face, which, in contrast to the polite smiling visage I had spoken to at the party, this Yukari was tired and deadly serious.

"Alright, what are the benefits?" I asked, ignoring how she knew that I could construct Lunar machinery. The question was mainly for appearances as I wouldn't let Gensokyo die as it was Komainu's home, and she had friends here.

Yukari perked up a bit at my response, and her smile grew wider. "Well, you get to join a little club of mine; we call it the Sages. The perks of it are that we back each other when necessary as well as sharing knowledge and other such information."

Tapping my fingers on the table, I went over that deal; it seemed that I would be joining a group of movers and shakers that made Gensokyo stay running. While that was a good deal, I had another idea I wanted to try and would likely not be able to get off the ground without Yukari's support.

"I'd like something in addition to that. You see, I have a method of distilling faith, praise, and the like for consumption. However, it's currently too slow for my use, so I would like permission to set up collectors in the Human Village and around Gensokyo."

Humming, Yukari pulled out a fan that hadn't been there a second and started cooling her face as she thought. I then sat in my chair, slightly cold, as the fan started blowing cold air over my bare chest and triggering the artificial nerves that Alter Self-created.

"Alright," Yukari said suddenly, putting her fan down on the table. "Deal, you shall assist me in reinforcing the barrier, and in exchange, you can join in meetings with the sages over Gensokyo's continued stability as well as putting up your faith collectors."

"Wonderful," I said, reaching out my hand to seal the deal. Blue fire rippled out from the shake as we shook hands before vanishing. Standing up, I then looked down at Yukari, annoyed.

"I'll get to work soon, but until then, please leave," Yukari snorted in response to my demand before giving a lazy wave and falling back into her eye-filled gap.

Shaking my head, I returned to my task of making breakfast for Komainu. It didn't take long, but I was still missing Alice the doll by the time I finished. That was another thing I added to my mental checklist, retrieve her from the other Alice.

I had wanted to head to the Moryia Shrine today, but given the task, I had just been accepted, I would have to push that off. Setting out plates and cups of water as Komainu shuffled out of her room, I assembled a new plan as the Grimoire grew and faded away.

After finishing breakfast, I would work on Yukari's job; then, I would travel to Moryia Shrine. That would likely take a good portion of the day; however, given that Patchouli didn't need sleep, I could probably meet up with her at night.

Then I would meet up with Yuuka for training and, following that, find Tenshi and have another fight. However, that was later for now. I enjoyed the meal I made and made small talk with Komainu, mainly concerning her friends and their playtime.

Soon enough, Komainu had finished her plate and rinsed it off, leaving me alone at the table finishing off my glass of water. Sighing at the tasks ahead of me, I stood up and cleaned the plates before leaving them to dry; heading into my room, I quickly threw on my fairy-made clothes, then summoned my robe and parasol.

I now needed to find Yukari so that she could point me to where I needed to reinforce the barrier. The only issue was that I had shooed her away before getting any of that set up because I was annoyed.

Rubbing the bridge of my nose, my ears picked up the faint sound of somebody giggling, and when I turned, I saw Yukari leaning out of one of her gaps and chuckling behind a fan.

"Alright, alright, I was a bit of an idiot not setting anything up before shooing you away," I said, rolling my eyes before stepping into the gap she opened.

We started walking through the Gap on a path of yellow bricks towards a small building in the distance. It was strange and very different from my method of simply tossing my things into the Gap; it seemed that she went to lengths to personalize and organize her area.

"Now, where am I going to be setting up the device, and how much traffic can I expect?" I asked as my mind whirled through schematics and plans to construct something able to amplify a barrier to be impenetrable.

"It will be at the Hakurei Shrine, and not much traffic, if any at all," She replied, stifling a snort at the second comment. Nodding, I asked another question as my mind remembered how Reimu's blood was linked to the foundation of Gensokyo.

"Reimu is linked to Genskoyo, right? What is your plan if she is to die?" At my question, Yukari frowned, and I could tell that I had hit an old topic.

"Unfortunately, that is a problem, I can't exactly force her to have kids, and the Spell Card Rules have made things safer. So while I do have precautions, they are not the best," I hummed as Yukari fell silent; that meant I needed to make a small change to my ingredient list.

Aside from the materials needed to construct both the Purity Genreater and whatever I would call the barrier device, I needed a sizeable diamond and a massive valuable coffin to ensure Reimu's death would not doom Gensoyko, after all, I had made a deal to help preserve this realm, and I would not be caught slacking.

Walking into the shed that contained countless items and materials, I started passing through what I would need and grabbing them.

Soon my hands were full of metals and rare gems that I dumped into my section of the Gap. Following that up, I started my search for the Reimu backup plan.

"Yukari, do you know where I can find a diamond worth roughly one hundred thousand dollars and an empty container around five feet tall worth around two hundred thousand dollars,"

Yukari didn't even blink before pointing down one area in this massive shed. Nodding, I walked down the aisle and marveled over what she had accumulated over her many years of life.

Eventually, I managed to find a diamond the size of my head, unpolished and still coated in a thick layer of dirt and a large quantity of dried blood. It was the work of another twenty minutes to find a suitable jewel-encrusted coffin.

Dumping both separate from my other items in the Gap, I spent a few moments retrIntereving Dust and conjuring two small vials and a simple scalpel. I wasn't a doctor, but with access to healing magic, extracting blood and flesh shouldn't be too hard.

Returning to Yukari's side, I nodded that I had retrieved all the needed materials. "This is quite the collection," I commented as she opened another gap, this time to the shrine where I would build my device.

"Thank you. I worked hard to find all of this," She said, a smile different than her usual smirk gracing her face. We then stepped out into the courtyard in front of the shrine. Striding up to the door, Yukari knocked loudly, then waited a few more seconds and slammed her hand into the door again, provoking a loud groan inside the shrine.

Stumbling out was the shrine maiden clad in very little except for the bare minimum required to be comfortable on a cool spring night. Upon seeing Yukari, she groaned before squinting at me.

"What are you doing so early, Yukari, and what did you rope him into?" She asked, focusing on Yukari and dismissing me from her mind for the moment.

Brushing past her, Yukari walked into the shrine and observed the poor state before replying. "The barrier needs reinforcement, the Lunarians are getting antsy, and we need proper defenses." At this, Reimu's frown only deepened as she formulated a response.

"Then why do you have the new guy here?" She asked, jerking her head at me, clearly confused at why exactly I was there to reinforce the barrier when theoretically, it would be Yukari's job.

It was then I decided to interject. "I'm quite knowledgable about magic such as this, and due to my nature as a god of fantasy reinforcing such a fantastical barrier falls into my wheelhouse," I said, letting my parasol rest on the floor as I leaned on it.

Sighing at that, Reimu rubbed the bridge of her nose before looking back up at me. "Alright, but I hope you understand that it's my job to ensure the safety of Gensokyo, and if you try anything, I'll exterminate you."

Internally I rolled my eyes at the comment; it was getting a little annoying having her give me death threats twice in such a short time frame, and if this was how she acted, it was no wonder I never saw any worshippers except for that one party. Even then, it was pretty much entirely youkai and other nonhuman beings.

"Fair enough; now I must ask would you prefer your arm, stomach, or back?" I asked, causing her to blink in confusion. My lips quirked up slightly as I continued. "I need blood and a square inch of flesh, so I would like to ask where you would like me to take it from."

Reimu's eyes darted to Yukari in confusion as her right hand tightened as if she should be holding something in it. "Why do you need my flesh?" She asked in an accusatory town.

"Sympathetic resonance," I said, with only resulted in confusion as she cocked her head, clearly not understanding a thing I just said. I ignored the faint pulse of the Grimoire growing and felt a light weight lifted in my head as I relaxed minutely.

"Keeping it simple, your bloodline is interwoven with the base of this land, so having your blood on hand will ensure that my device doesn't cause issues and prevent everything from coming in and not,"

"Why would that be a problem," Reimu asked, "Except for the occasional outsider, we don't have much coming in, and not dealing with outsiders would make my life a lot easier."

"It would also prevent light or air from coming in and out, I would give Gensokyo about eight minutes before temperatures plummeted and almost everybody died,"

That seemed to set off a spark in her brain as she nodded after looking at Yukari and receiving a nod, "I suppose my back then; how long until I heal?" Reimu asked as I retrieved the scalpal and a healing potion.

"Just lay down on your stomach and focus on something else; after I'm done, you'll drink a health potion and be fine," I said, setting both health potion and vials down as Remiu lay on the stone floor on her front, clearly annoyed but willing to go through with this task to ensure the stability of Gensokyo.

It was clear to see from her back that she had not lived a peaceful life. Large and small scars decorated her otherwise smooth skin, and I could see her ribs from where they pressed against her sunk-in sides.

I, however, ignored all that as I made four quick incisions that provoked a quiet hiss from Reimu and nothing else. The next step would be hard with only mundane tools, as cutting the cube free would be almost impossible without requiring a wider wound.

Ignoring the blood that started seeping from the incisions, I folded the tiny space I had just opened and kept folding it until I was sharp enough to cut through stone.

Focusing on the base of this sharp space, I stretched it thin in a quick option cut through the bottom of the cube I wished to retrieve. This elected another twitch as Reimu's hands spasmed for a moment.

Grasping the cube, I pulled it free and quickly slowed its time down so it would not rot. I then pushed it into my sleeve, then the Gap. Following that, I retrieved the two vials and, using, Telekinesis, lifted blood and funneled it into the vials.

It took a few moments as Reimu grew pale as blood pooled around her back, but I soon had enough of the red liquid. Capping them off, I set them down, then poured the health potion inside the wound I made.

Gasping as flesh was knit and regrew, Reimu pushed herself up and felt around the healed spot. I heard another gasp from further inside the shrine and felt a surge of magic.

Whirling around, I was face to face with Marisa, with Yukari standing off to the side, a smirk on her face as she observed the standoff.

Marisa was also clad in very little, and it was clear she had just woken up and only had the time to put on her large witch's hat. Raising my blood-stained hand, my eyes focused on what I realized to be remarkably similar to my Mini-Hakkero, except for being slightly bulkier.

"It's fine," Reimu said, standing up before nearly slipping into the small puddle of blood that had grown around her. She glared at me as she realized that a good portion of her back and nighttime clothing was coated in blood as well.

"Apologies," I said, waving my hand and casting prestidigitation a few times to ensure no speck of blood remained. Blinking as her clothing was immaculate and the blood had vanished off the floor, Remiu shrugged and moved on, walking over to Marisa and assuring her that everything was fine.

As they conversed in hushed tones, I looked at Yukari, who seemed about ready to double over laughing; it appeared that she took far too much enjoyment out of causing trouble.

I still needed to do my job, so I walked over to her. "Where do I need to place the device?" I asked, causing her to stop watching Reimu and Marisa and turn her gaze over to me.

She then strode between Marisa and Reimu, causing them to stop talking as she walked further inside. Frowning, Reimu muttered something under her breath as she followed behind the youkai, followed by Marisa and me.

Soon we emerged into a small secret room with a statue made of bone. Reimu looked around, confused, as Marisa started poking every board of wood, looking for anything else.

"What is this place?" Reimu asked, whirling on Yukari, who responded with an enigmatic smile. Stepping forward, I could feel the heavy thrum of magic in the air that resonated heavily with my divinity.

"I believe this is the anchor point of the border," I said in awe. I had seen many impressive things, from Ea to Scion's body, but this was pure magic and fantasy that pushed against a world that didn't believe in it and succeeded.

"Correct," Yukari said before turning to pin Marisa in place with her violet eyes. "Now I understand you have loose lips, but this place must be kept secret, understood?" She said, her voice heavy with the threat of violence, causing Marisa to nod, somewhat upset.

"Well then," I said, reaching into the Gap and retrieving the items Yukari had gifted me earlier. "I'm going to be working, so please leave; I don't want any interruptions. They could prove lethal to everybody nearby."

"You better not cause any trouble," Reimu said before leaving while grumbling about being woken up so early. She was followed by Marisa and Yukari, the latter who hesitated as if she wanted to stay before walking to the other side of the hidden door and waiting.

The Grimoire grew as I set out the supplies and started working. This was perhaps one of the more complex devices I had to build. It was similar in principle to the purity generator in that it formed a thin barrier to prevent impurities from coming in.

However, by improving the amount of energy it had access to, I could make that barrier solid, which would stop almost everything from coming in. While to the Lunarians, that wouldn't be a problem, on Earth that would kill everybody, so using Reimu's blood, I would link it to the barrier which would let it act in a similar manner but with better protection against direct hostile attacks.

Assembling was the work of a few hours as I double and triple-checked every nut and bolt that I screwed in. Finally, I pushed down on the top, and it rose, revealing two slots. I put both vials in and then closed them.

As the squat machine was closed, it sat silently for a moment before humming lightly as it started working. My shoulders relaxed as I opened my magesight and checked to ensure that there would be no problems.

Peering into the tangled web of the barrier, I reeled back as I spotted a massive eye glazed over. I shouldn't have been able to see physical forms in mana, but somehow I could see that massive desiccated body of an eastern dragon.

Its eye formed the base of the small statue, and its body extended out past the shrine. Looking behind me, I could see its tail grasped firmly in its mouth as its body radiated power.

It was clearly dead but not quite gone; shaking my head, I dismissed my magesight, happy that the device was working as promised.

Walking outside, I saw Yukari sitting up against the wall, her eyes locked on the room I had just existed. She was antsy, and her fingers tapped against her arm as she waited.

Upon seeing me, she shot to her feet and strode up to me. A small part of my mind noted that she was taller than most of the people I had met here; if I had to guess, she would be around five-six or five foot seven.

"It's done; you'll need to replace the blood once every two years, but besides that, so long as nobody attempts to harm it, it should last without maintenance for around a hundred years," I said and saw her shoulder relax, and she grew less frantic as I finished.

It was clear that having somebody else messing around with the fabric of Gensokyo worried her. However, as I looked closer, there was something else, I could see small bags under her eyes, and the tips of her hair were frazzled like she hadn't been properly taking care of it.

This was a far cry from the Yukari I had met at the party, and while I didn't want to irritate her, I felt like offering support couldn't hurt. Of course, I couldn't just offer help; she was old and powerful, so something like that would likely be great for her.

"If ever need anything else to call me up after all, I'm a member of the Sages now, isn't that right?" I said, flashing her a cheeky grin and eliciting a chuckle of laughter.

Walking into the main room of the shrine, I saw that Reimu and Marisa had gotten dressed and were munching on small bowls of rice with meat in them.

"It's done," I said, catching both of their attention, "Now, it shouldn't have any problems, but I want to make something abundantly clear,"

My firm speech caught both of their flagging attention and while Reimu seemed a bit irritated, she kept paying attention. "Don't mess with that device; if you break or damage it, it will likely purify the entire shrine and kill you by pushing the impurities out of your body."

Reimu shrugged, "I didn't go in there anyway," she said before returning to her meal; Yukari then emerged from the hallway and interjected.

"Perhaps that's why your god doesn't speak to you?" Clucking her tongue, she shook her head in faux disappointment. "Such a poor shrine maiden," She continued, resulting in Reimu reaching into her sleeve and withdrawing small needles that she flung half-heartedly at Yukari.

Laughing, the youkai fell backward into a gap and vanished, the eye-filled blackness closing moments later. Seeing Reimu's gaze turn over to me, still clutching the needles, I decided that my work was done, and it was about time I made my exit.

"Have a good day Miss," I said before opening a gap behind me, stepping into it, and closing it. I saw her turn back to her food and jumped when an arm slung itself over my shoulder, and blonde hair tickled my nose.

"Hello Yukari," I said, resigned to whatever she was planning now, I didn't know if it was exposure or seeing the person I had considered the most significant threat worried and tried, but I felt like I didn't need to be on my guard all the time around Yukari.

"I'm afraid I must ask what you plan on doing with my dear shrine maiden's flesh?" She inquired, a possessive tinge to her voice. I sighed and started to explain my actions.

"The entirety of this realm is held on the back of one human, and that's unacceptable, so I'm going to be using the flesh to cast Clone, which will ensure that if Reimu dies, her soul will flow into this backup body," I said plainly, causing the arm to remove itself from around my neck and for Yukari to float around on her side, looking me in the eyes.

"I suppose that makes you an official sage; I mean, you got the making immoral secretive decisions for the greater good down pat," She said as I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not quite ready now to debate if what I did was immoral, but I think that having an entire world on the shoulders of one girl is a poor choice," I replied, causing her to simply give an enigmatic smile and once again fall into a gap that led to an almost completely blacked out room with a four-poster bed.

As it closed, I opened my own gap and stepped into my home, snagging both coffin and large diamond. Feeling the Grimoire pulse, I was stopped from grabbing the flesh when a small book dropped into my hands.

Reading over the cover, I frowned; it was titled 'When the loli is mass-produced: An introduction to cloning,' which was a crass way to name a cloning manual.

Flipping through it, I could clearly see that while I could accomplish the basics, such as growing flesh and creating simple beasts, any of the more complex methods would be difficult.

However, I did want a proper supply of Reimu's flesh which, while macabre, was incredibly potent and likely to be useful in experiments.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the time for that now as I wanted to head over to Moryia Shrine relatively soon, but I needed to cast Clone first would take an hour.

Retrieving the cube of flesh, I sat down and placed the coffin and diamond in front of me. The ritual itself was simple; it only took time, and so I started.

Chanting in German, I stood up and paced around the flesh and other components; continuing my chant, I placed the flesh in the center of the coffin where the heart of the occupied would be. The diamond was placed over the top where the head would lay, and I continued.

The chants continued flowing from my lips in almost a daze as I felt a mania travel up my fingers as I started moving quicker, and the words stumbled over themself to fall out of my mouth.

My mania reached a crescendo when the final words were spoken out loud, and for a bare second, there was stillness; then the flesh melted into the coffin while the diamond distracted and the dust seeped through the wood and into the casket.

While you would normally have to wait four months, I could cheat with the help of my simulacrum. Hefting the large coffin up, I strode over to where my simulacrum was lounging.

"I need you guys to speed this up so that four months have passed," I commanded, resulting in the simulacrums sighing and discarding their various implements and books.

Holding out their hands, the four copies started to distort the time around the coffin; it would take a few days and even with multiple people speeding something up by four months was not easy.

Walking off, I strode out of the Path and onto the road where I had set it up. I knew the Moryia Shrine was up in the mountain, but what I didn't know was exactly where it was.

That could be an issue because the mountain was massive, and my flying speed left much to be desired. So I decided to go for the next best option of flipping on my magesight and searching for a high concentration of mana, it wasn't perfect as Gensokyo was flooded with mana, but hopefully, the shrine would stand out.

Turning it on, I winced as the massive amounts of mana seared my eyes, but a few moments later, I had adapted. This was the main reason I didn't use my magesight here; it was designed for a much lower magical world where massive amounts of magic were rare, which meant places like Gensokyo could blind me for a few seconds.

Looking up at the mountain, I could see a large amount of mana swirling around near the top and surmised that it was likely that was where the shrine was.

Fortunately, the road seemed to lead that way, so I traveled down the packed dirt road, humming with a smile on my lips. I was taking my time as it was only ten which meant I had the entire day ahead of me to talk with them.

As I approached the mountain base, I saw what appeared to be a large station of sorts; I could see about half a dozen people waiting around as a large metal box rumbled down on tracks.

It appears somewhat similar to a large carriage on particularly fancy Ferris Wheels, except made of metal and only designed to go two ways.

Walking into the station, I placed my parasol's tip on the ground and waited as the transport slowly made its way down to the ground. As it thumped gently against dirt, I waited until the humans had entered it before getting on myself.

Inside, it was fairly barebones, with metal benches and handrails hanging from the ceiling. Seeing that the people were somewhat nervous about me, I sat in the corner and retrieved the book on cloning I had just gotten.

I started to read through the book as the carriage shuddered and, with the sound of turning gears, was off. I was impressed by whoever had built this as, for the most part, Gensokyo was technological in the late 1700s, by my guess.

They had guns that were better than flintlock or other basic firearms, which put them past when guns were first introduced but beyond that, I didn't know much and knew very little about other Japanese affairs. I was much more interested in Europe, for the most part.

However, this was much closer to modern-day technology, so it would be difficult to make without an existing industrial base as before factories were widespread, most metallurgy had to be made by hand and so took a long time and was of varying quality.

What also surprised me was its speed; I had initially guessed that it would take an hour or two to travel to the top of the mountain; however, barely fifteen minutes had passed when the carriage shuddered to a stop, and the doors opened.

Tucking the book back into the Gap, I picked up my parasol and walked out as my Grimoire grew. Emerging into the morning sun, I smiled as I saw the shrine.

It was methodically maintained and clearly well cared for. I could see the green-haired girl that had been at the party bustling around and talking to the various people that had arrived, primarily young men.

She didn't seem to notice me as she started to lead them in prayer, and I deiced to join in. Closing my eyes and leaning on my parasol, I spoke under my breath, praying that wherever my family was that they could move on and be happy, even if it was in another life.

Taking a breath, I opened my eyes and mentally prepared myself to introduce myself to the shrine maiden and open dialogue with the Moryia Shrine.

Powers Gained

Waltzing with the Reaper

To be a Magus is to walk with death. The very act of using what we call magic, of mixing the Mana of the air with the Od of your body to create Prana and circulate it into your Magic Circuits, is something that has inherent danger. To accept that knowledge and revel in it is to take on the air of something more than human. The petty concerns of human life fade somewhat, making it so much easier to retain the sophistication and grace expected of a refined member of the Association. It requires a will stronger than normal people to brush up against death and that same will, in a rather less dramatic application, is something that allows most Magi to withstand the long hours of study, research and constant requirement for creative thinking when it comes to learning magecraft. Exam hell doesn't even begin to describe it, when you're studying to make sure you don't incinerate yourself from the inside out!

"When the loli is mass-produced: An introduction to cloning"

This book, by a famous Scandinavian Alchemist, details the fundamentals behind custom construction of human bodies, and then implantation of memories into them. When handled by a sufficiently skilled Alchemist, one can learn how to automate this process and the mechanics behind copying, implanting and transferring memories.