Chapter 6: Discovery [Part 2]

After awakening Frank Castle's magic circuits, even improving them, James quickly noticed something as he gazed at the man. The alterations he had given Frank had caused a stir, one that directly affected the root-

For a magus, reaching the root was their main goal, especially for a magus from the Clock Tower. But James had been able to "view" the root for a long time.

His azure eyes could pierce through all truths and create any lie. It was an interesting ability which was given the name [Mystic Eyes of Mystery Perception]. Given by the old man Zelretch, the name was based on a similar ability held by a certain psychic in the far east.

Although not as absurdly broken, James' eyes allowed him to "view" the root, it also allowed him to "obscure" others "view" of the root.

Despite allowing him such capabilities, his ability did not allow him to "connect" to the root.

In a way, James was basically in a state where he "could see heaven but could never reach it". Only he and the old man Zelretch knows of his ability, Zelretch knowing it only because of a certain "vision", James did not spread information of his ability, he even masked it as some other mystic eye ability.

If anyone were to find out about his ability, he would have been hunted down like some dragon with a horde of treasure. 

History had proven that greedy eyes did not see power, in the face of seeing the "root", any magus would risk their own existence in order to take him out-

And that was only considering the madmen of the Clock Tower.

He did not even factor in the zealots of the Wandering Sea or the "researcher" in "the Pit". He spent most of his life with his secrets concealed, of course, he had to limit his own genius because of Zelretch knowing of his own secret.

While "viewing" the root may not seem all that amazing, for James, this ability is what made him gain insight into his own origin.

The reason why, despite having been born with the prospect to become the head of the Barthomeloi family, he was unable to cast even the simplest of magecraft. His constitution that left him trapped in the Spirit Tomb of Albion did not help him learn magecraft and instead became the barrier that prevented him from even having a glimpse of it.

But, the moment he awakened his eyes, he saw through his own nature-

The root did not only contain limitless energy, it also contained information and from there he gleamed the core of his own existence.

Because of this, James had the uncanny ability to see through almost all magecraft. He was able to quickly break through bounded fields and he was the last person anyone could keep their secrets from.

People called it a gift of prophecy, an ability that was common and he stuck with it.

No one noticed, the veil draped over their eyes-

His mystic eyes revolved around "vision" and the "root". He could not alter or tap into the root like some others.

He could not severe life by tracing lines of death.

He was only able to open his eyes and cover those of others.

As such, his ability could be likened to one that allows him to manipulate and see through all illusions.

There were many ways to interpret it but what truly changed James life was the information about his own existence.

He did not need to change his own information, to mask it or anything.

All he had to do was see and understand his own nature, and with a bit of help from Zelretch he was able to fully grasp the reason for his own weakness. 

It was his origin that held him back, he tried to learn magecraft under the conventional methods but in reality- he was only able to truly utilize the mysteries through the unconventional!

His eyes had saved him countless times and it also allowed him to reach where he was. Although he tried not to rely on his eyes too much, in this unfamiliar world, James would have his eyes constantly "open", trying to "see" as much as he could.

Of course, his "sight" had the potential to "see everything in existence", a type of omniscience, but-

Who could actually "see" it all?

Even if he used all his magic circuits, James would barely be able to achieve a state of "omniscience" for less than a minute.

Of course that was just a scale based on "taking in information".

If he were to "search for information" instead, the strain would be too much and could even kill him. 

It won't "break his mind", after all, to simply maintain it, he had to use all his magic circuits as "processors" to funnel the information into.

But this did not stop James from looking for loopholes and tricks he could abuse to maximize the potential of his ability without killing himself.

Right now, James was in a rush, his ability was used just moments ago. He felt a stir and used his eyes to "observe" the root and spend a mere 2 seconds to "see" everything and what he "saw" made him discover a path he had never thought was possible.

In the world of FATE, in the Nasuverse, any and all alterations he caused would go through various "corrections" all done by the root. At times, when his meddling got too "big" the world would "prune" them.

Because of this, no matter what he did, the root of the Nasuverse remained stable. No matter what disturbance, the root maintained its form and function.

In a way, James felt it was quite counterintuitive as the root was something many mages, even those wielding true magic had been targeting. Yet, despite being "disturbed" and "targeted", the root of that universe remained stable…

On the other hand, James had noticed it when he first arrived in this world and all his subsequent actions but-

Now, after altering the trajectory of Frank Castles, the future "Punisher's" fate, the root had shown a significant change.

When he awakened and enhanced Frank's magic circuits, his fate had been changed and all the fates connected to him were also heavily altered.

The root had shifted and yet-

James had arrived in another room, within the room were countless blue orbs-

"Not a single reaction… the world- is silent?"

Looking at all the models, James' heart stirred, he had first hand experience in "disturbing" the World. In fact, V was the result of one. 

Yet, even when he created V, took in a goddess, reincarnated two Legends and played around with corruption, the root of the Nasuverse had remained stable.

Now though, a single act, one small shift in the fate of a person who was not meant to do anything "too major". A shift in a thread that was not all important had caused a stir-

Yet the extreme stir did not cause a reaction, it was as if the World was-

"Asleep…"

James' eyes opened wide, his thoughts swirled as he tried to recall as much information as he could from his original life.

Unfortunately, by the time he had obtained the ability to imprint memories into his magic circuits, the most important memories he maintained, at that time, were his recollections of the nasuverse.

Although he imprinted all his memories at that time, the memories he had of other matters were vague. He could barely pull up memories of the "true appearance" of multiple characters.

Even the knowledge of Frank Castle was nothing more than a vague recollection. He did not even remember how and why Frank found himself strapped to a chair.

Was that how his family was murdered? But he remembered notes of it happening at a park that matched the information gathered by Black…

Due to these inconsistencies, James had quickly scattered all his resources to gather information. 

His recollections were a guide at best and he could only rely on careful intelligence gathering and analysis to proceed further.

Now though, with this new discovery at hand, James finally found a way for him to act-

"Tapping into the root does not need me to personally control it right? Maybe I could achieve that in the future but for now…"

James recalled Victor von Doom, that young man who was set to become Dr. Doom…

"Black"

"Yes My Lord"

"How much longer till Victor is kicked out of the university?"

"Unfortunately, it seems that we would need to take the second approach"

James froze, he stared at Black, his gaze unfathomable as he thought deeply-

"No, get Yolda to make a move, Victor MUST be kicked out of Empire State University"

"As you will"

Black vanished into the shadows, James thought about his interactions with Victor. The young man's desire for power and greatness was reflected in his mind.

"Oh Victor, I'm sorry but for the sake of my goals… you need to go through some suffering"

With that, James exited the room with blue orbs, with steady steps he headed for another chamber.

Inside, dozens of "eggs" smaller than the one used for Frank were lined up in rows, like cabbages raised in the dark. But these cabbages were shaped like eggs and crimson in color. Fleshy veins enveloped them, pulsing like the beating of a heart. 

Within the "eggs" were curled up fetuses, all at different stages of development.

Inside the room, a bespectacled blue haired maid was carefully checking all the "eggs", after taking careful note of the "egg" before her. She stood up and was about to walk to the next "egg" when she caught sight of James.

"My Lord"

She bowed, her movements careful and graceful, James nodded as he approached her. 

Standing before her, James, taller than the maid, leaned in, his hands extended towards her chin lifting up her face. He had a playful smile on his face as he asked in a flirtatious tone.

"Izabella~ how's my two darlings doing?"

Izabella ignored his flirtatious tone as she responded.

"FATE-01 and FATE-02 are both stable, in another two weeks they would have completed their development. An estimated 2 months is expected for them to take in the capsule before they could reach the age of 20, complete maturity."

Hearing her report, James pondered for a moment before saying.

"Hmm… if we reduce 2 months into 1, we would release them from the capsule at age 10…"

"My Lord?"

"Reduce their capsule time to 1 month-"

James commanded to which Izabella did not say anything as she bowed.

"Also-"

Hearing James words, Izabella raised her head, preparing to listen to another command but what James said was-

"Later, come to my quarters, you know the drill"

Unfortunately for James, the response he got from Izabella was-

"Sorry My Lord, but I am unable to leave my current tasks, moreover, to ensure that I am able to complete the tasks without error, I have undergone "purification" as such I am unable to resolve your desires"

Her words made James pause, he looked around and found that only one Izabella was present in the chamber. 

Upon seeing the actions of James, Izabella quickly explained.

"Under sir Black's directive, manpower was reduced to the bare minimum, all manservants were sent for investigation, infiltration and expansion of influence. Most of the maids were sent to establish and precede over offices established for set Enforcer offices globally, the Yolda maids were sent to influence governments while the Satura maids were all placed under sir Red working on creating influence in the Underworld"

Hearing her explanation, James recalled the thick stack of papers Black had handed him the night he met with Victor and Frank.

At that time, he had sorted information and focused solely on New York.

He did take note of the spread of manpower and the "need for more hands" but the report also stated that it was already accounted for. 

Though they lacked manpower, Black had already prepared for it-

Now that he thought about it-

James looked at the multiple "eggs", he had set for more homunculi to be created, the models were already set in place and their cells were created using those of people form this world. He didn't even need to kill or harm anyone, after all, a blood bank won't notice a few packs missing.

Moreover, he was not creating a hero, he simply needed more helping hands.

Aside from the FATE series for tests, the rest were all models created to be "shadows" manpower hidden in the dark.

Yet, despite knowing this, as his eyes took a proper scan of the room, James realized that-

"The number of homunculi have… quadrupled?"

"As per sir Black's instructions"

James understood-

He made an oopsie, but who could blame him?

It was Black's fault for claiming the "problem solved" without elaborating properly-

'No… it was there- but he still claimed it "resolved" what else was I supposed to think? But- why would I need another Izabella?'

Seeing James' troubled expression, Izabella raised her head as she then said.

"My Lord, I believe a Hilda maid had been left to be in your service, although it is not an Izabella, I believe it could satisfy your desires for the meantime"

Hearing her words, James calmed down as he replied.

"I see, well then, I'll be going- also, everything that had occurred here-"

"Will only be between My Lord and I"

"Good"

With his mood uplifted, James left the Chamber, as he exited the door, he raised his gaze to look at the Chamber's nameplate.

"Chamber of Life… really, it does bring life- in various ways"

Muttering, James left whistling without a care in the world.