Meteor Garden

It had been a month since Ozwald had acquired a magic of his own, one that could alter the flow of time to his whips, namely 'Chronicle Script'. Though powerful in its own right, he can't help but feel he is undeserving of possessing such magic, especially to a total novice. He had done work in manipulating ethernanos to fuel gadgets, sure, but it's not true magic if you can't cast spells. He also had issues in casting spells as he found it inconvenient to constantly flip through the pages to chant verses to attack, heal, defend, stop or reverse the flow of his or their own time. Deep down, he seems to think there is a reason for him to wield such great magic. Most importantly, if this were to be used by the hands of those who wish to use it for their selfish wants, Earthland would surely be doom. He is glad he is raised by respectable parents who, in his and his brothers' eyes, were a first hero to them.

As he found carrying a book all the time too inconvenient, he sought a way to perform his duties, both as a scholar-adventurer and a guild member, more effectively without relying on the grimoire too much. It will take him time to get himself accustomed to spellcasting. He was fond of roughhousing with his twin sibling, Michael, who had the same physical strength as him unlike Francois. This led him to make a request from the researchers to come up with a pair of gauntlets capable of denting steel. He found it easier to do his jobs as he always observed a flaw on most mages found on Earthland - they don't react as fast as him who has had experience in close combat. His punches are enough to knock enemies unconscious but with his bare hands, he would find himself in a conundrum against spells that shield an individual or an area. He requested the pair of gauntlets to be able to break through enemy defenses easily.

A new day dawns on the Sanctum as he gets up and does his daily routine of keeping himself fueled with coffee and looking handsome in front of a mirror. Vanity cannot be achieved passively, afterall, and he's made it an effort to look incredibly dashing to make himself look pleasing to the eye. His muscular stature has made him completely irresistible, maintained by his constant tinkering in his workshop and through his adventuring profession. He knows the weapon he requested isn't quite finished yet as it has to go through testing before he is able to use his new weapon.

A rumor was spread around the scholars, and when he has heard of the rumor of an falling meteor, he remained calm on the outside, but deep down, he is panicking. Is this the end of the world? He would think. "How big is the meteor and what is its trajectory?" He asks the scholars who, after doing some calculations, and with the help of the observatory near the lab, they have come up with the answer to his question. "We have good news. The meteor is not that big. It's just as big as your... biceps... sir..." One of the scholars answered embarrassingly, though Ozwald is oblivious to the scholar's thirst. He is relieved to hear the good news, but he needs to know where it's headed. "And what about its trajectory?"

"It's headed towards Desierto." "Aye, it's not that big of a deal." The scholars mumbled to themselves. Meanwhile, something is bothering him. The observatory should have detected its presence long ago. What made it slip under the radar until now? Even for a meteor as big as his biceps, who knows how massive the damage will be? A village could be hit! Though there is no saving for whatever it is, Ozwald can't help but investigate the meteor himself. "Odd. The observatory should have detected its presence while it was still beyond the exosphere. What made it go invisible under it?" He says to himself, the scholars having the same question and coming up with several hypotheses of how it came to be. "In any case, I should go and investigate it." He says as he makes his way to his room to pack up for his journey to Desierto. 

"We're coming with you." One of the scholars said, "You will need our help uncovering it.", continues one of the archaeologists. Though the scholars protested for him to not to go alone and bring some of the archaeologists with him, it is in his best interest to ascertain if the meteor is a normal meteor or not, a question he thought of when he was thinking of it being undetected. "There's nothing to uncover if it's just a piece of rock that fell from the sky. I must determine if it is safe for all of you to come over or if it's just a heap of rock that doesn't concern us. I wouldn't want to waste our time digging through something that doesn't even contain anything." He responds to the group, all nodding in unison as they understood Ozwald's course of action.

Before he could set out on his expedition towards Desierto, it is imperative that he notify the guild, Silver Wolf, of the events that have and will transpire in the coming minutes. "Send word to Silver Wolf of the situation. Tell them I'm on my way to investigate it." He orders the clerk, which she does immediately just as Ozwald was about to leave the building, heading towards the port to get a ride towards the mainland through aerial travel.

He knows meteors would most likely contain minerals and the likes, which is why it would be on his best interests if a fellow guild member would come towards the would be crash site to help investigate and keep watch and keep away the looters. The stone itself would cost hundreds of thousands of Jewels. Who knows what else is inside the meteor? He has to be the first one to arrive before everything is taken.

By the time Ozwald left for Desierto from the port, the small meteor will have landed on its barren deserts. He hypothesized it would take time for curious people to get to the crash site, and on his current pace, he should be able to reach Desierto in a day or less. Bandits might have come to collect these meteorites for a quick cash, though it is highly unlikely as the meteorite would have still been hot, unless they have a wizard who could make it cooler. He was thinking of alot of possibilities that might happen should he arrive too late to find the meteorite and its contents missing, but he shrugged it all of, thinking everything will be fine. He will get there, and he will investigate the meteorite even if he has to incapacitate his opposition.

The aircraft vehicle is travelling in currently has just entered the mainland after an hour, and Ozwald wanted to know how far Desierto is from their current position. "How far 'till we reach Desierto?" He asked the pilot, who promptly checked the map of their current position. It reveals them to be just more or less 5 hours away from reaching the desert region, less than Ozwald would have thought. The map had an estimated arrival time to their destination, and it should have taken them around more than 8 hours by air. "Around... 5 more hours, boss." The pilot responds to his query, surprised to see the numbers on the map.

"Did they upgrade the aircraft's engines?" Ozwald asked, to which the pilot shook his head. "No, boss. If they did, it would have been on the records." Odd. As much as he wants to know how they're travelling at such a fast pace, he shrugged it all off and relieved to find them reaching the crash site first before anyone else. Little did they know, the temporal magics of the grimoire allowed the plane to accelerate. Ozwald was not aware of the magic seeping through the book as he couldn't detect it, and was oblivious to its effects. Still, it was a benefit he would welcome.

Ere long, they have travelled far enough, and it will take them more or less an hour or so before arriving at their destination. He took this time to prepare himself for the worst, and with just half an hour remaining, he laid back and waited for them to arrive. As he brought out his grimoire, its pages glowed and sand-like substance flowed out from the pages, disappearing into nothingness. Odd, it didn't happen before. He was curious to what had happened to the book, and as he opened it, a flash of light broke out, engulfing the entire room in blinding light.

He opened his eyes to find himself in a room unknown to him. Looking around, the room and its furnitures were mostly composed of metals such as brass and steel as well as a wooden floor. At the far side of the room, he found what looks like the sigil of the Brass Seraphs. "Goodness gracious, where am I?" He mumbles to himself. He approached the brass door and opened it. Screams of agony flooded the place. Outside, oriental looking structures and familiar architecture were burning to the ground, and falling balls of flame threaten to destroy anything beneath it. 

It suddenly dawned on him that he asked the wrong question to himself when he saw familiar garbs running away. He sneakily followed them under the suspicion that he would be detected, and it has led him towards the port of the city he is in. The familiar garbs were worn by none other than members of the Brass Seraphs. Another group appeared and they look like they were carrying a huge rock. He concluded they are about to leave the falling port, evident from the bags they were carrying, most likely clothes and important stuff like the wrench.

"All good, milord. The last of the artifacts have evacuated safely." One of them said to a person clad in brass and steel armor, though not covering the entirety of its body and hints of garb from the brass seraphs were evident underneath the armor. It had a more ornate design, which made him conclude that this person was the leader. The other one had a different garb, one that befits a mage of stellar magics. "You don't have to address me as such, Borealis. You may call me by my name."

"Of course, Alexander," the other says, "Shall I have the crew evacuate is immediately?"

Alexander nods. "I will stay behind and sort things. I will catch up ere long."

The crew, including the one named Borealis soon departed and left Alexander to the port. His mouth was wide open as he found who he assumed to be the author of the Grimoire. He was shocked to realize he was in the past - the past of the Brass Seraphs. "You will swallow a fly if you keep your mouth open like that."

Crap. He had been discovered. He cautiously stepped out behind the crates and revealed himself to the brass seraph, THE Brass Seraph himself. He was struggling to find words to describe how he's feeling nor does he know what to say to him. He wasn't aware of what he was doing before that got him in this situation. "I know, it's not your fault for going to the past. It was I who had you come here through the grimoire."

Ozwald breathed a sigh of relief. He knows he wouldn't stand a chance against him if Alexander was going to attack him. He had assumed he was going to attack him for looting the grimoire for himself. "Why did you bring me here?" He asked the Brass Seraph, who also brought with himself the same grimoire. "Because I trust you to do this one thing in the future, Ozwald. Well, several." He approached Ozwald slowly and placed his hand on top of his shoulders. He was bigger than what he appears to be from afar, only a little, which slightly intimidated Ozwald. "We sent artifacts to the future. I know one has landed already, and I want you to get it before the others do."

"Why me? Why can't it be someone else? I'm not even an experienced mage to begin with!" He says to him, doubting at his own abilities as a mage. Alexander tries to perk himself up with encouraging words of wisdom, "You're a fast learner, Ozwald, and an excellent mage. You have the prowess to plan ahead of time, and you are a responsible person. I wouldn't have let you escape that tomb alive if I knew you were vile and irresponsible. The first spell you cast is proof of your strength and determination as a wizard." He responds while referencing the incident back at the tomb. It was him who wrote down the spell that saved him and his sibling, and his words of encouragement helped Ozwald get back to his optimistic self.

"I don't have much time. The spell I cast will end, and I had expended alot of my magic power to drag your consciousness to the past." Alexander fell to his knees, clearly exhausted from maintaining the effects of the spell he had cast. Ere long, Ozwald starts to disintegrate to gold dust, signifying that the effects of the spell will end. "Wait! I still have alot of questions!" He reaches out to Alexander, but he just left him behind. He stopped in his tracks to say something to Ozwald, "I trust you."

His vision blurs, and slowly lost consciousness for a few seconds before opening his eyes to see himself standing on the aircraft he was in.

"I'm glad they're safe..." Alexander says, the last thing Ozwald was able to hear before going back to his present. His body was about to tumble and fall on the floor until he regained his consciousness and kept his balance while the aircraft was moving. The pilot wondered what had happened because there was commotion behind him, though he doesn't seem to know what had happened to Ozwald. "Everything alright there, boss?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Are we there yet?" Ozwald responded. He came to the conclusion that the pilot doesn't know anything, nor was his consciousness dragged to the past alongside him. It also didn't look like that much time has passed as everything happened in one mere second in real time. Examining the map, the pilot discerned that the trip will not last for long before they reach their desination "10 more minutes, boss." the pilot responded. It was far enough that the two of them could barely see the crater from their position. It was time for Ozwald to prepare himself as there will most likely be an opposition by this time.

It may just be him, but he can't help but feel like Alexander is more than just the Alexander he knew as he read from the tales his mother read to him. He looked familiar to him, but he doesn't know why. It is best to inquire his mother about who Alexander sometime in the future when he isn't busy.

A few minutes later as they were nearing the site, they saw a group of people hanging around it. They bore an insignia familiar to him, those who bore the insignia of a dark guild Rapture Skirmishers. They are a guild notorious of their thefts and raids against the Rune Knights, their goal being to amass enough power to rule and terrorize. This he cannot slide, as Alexander put his trust to him to make sure these artifacts do not fall to the hands of evil.

He could make up 6 silhouettes of these guild members, all riding a vehicle. This shouldn't prove much of a nuisance to him. He is all prepared to face them head on, though the element of surprise is way overdue as they could hear the sound of the engines of their aircraft vehicle. With book in one hand and pilot bringing them near the ground, Ozwald lept and landed on the ground.

"Right. Let's get this over with." He says as he opens his grimoire and flips through his pages, casting a spell which conjured a magic circle beneath him. Temporal magics coated him and his inner gears were energized, making everything he perceive slower than usual as he casted a spell from his grimoire, one that speeds up his momentum. This allowed him to dodge any attacks and evade any spell they fired against him. Upon nearing one of the hooligans, it took only one punch to the gut to knock them unconscious. As an adventurer who previously had no magic, it was imperative for him to be physically fit and capable of defending himself. This includes learning martial arts.

And one by one, they all fell to Ozwald's punches. They didn't look physically capable, which didn't prove much of a threat to someone who's faster and more experienced than them.

He approached the crater, and it was not as big as he expected. It was as small as a pond, and at the center lie a rock similar to the one he saw when his consciousness was dragged into the past. The area was unnaturally cool, one he isn't surprised with as he hypothesized it could be an effect from the rock. The meteorite isn't even a real meteorite as it was composed of a different stone.

He approached it, and some of the rocks came crumbling down, revealing what looks like a gem of some sorts. He detected some kind of energy from it, though he isn't sure as he doesn't know how to detect magic now that he is a wizard. He feels like its is not some form of magic, but it is different. He stopped pondering as he heard the sounds of multiple vehicles coming to his direction, all bearing the same guild insignia.

This is bad.

He swiftly grabbed the stone and went for the jet to escape the wrath of the vengeful dark guild. He could only handle much, and he definitely cannot handle defending himself and attacking 20 people, one that he knows his brother would definitely be capable of dealing with. He dashed through the sands and boarded the aircraft, making a swift escape from the guild.

Ere long, Ozwald managed to get back to base. Before he could hand the stone to them, he thought of consulting the book if there was any information regarding the nature of the stone. He got this idea that if this stone was an artifact sent from the past to the future, it is most likely recorded in the grimoire. Flipping through it, he found the page he was looking for, one that was previously blank. It contains details of the stone named 'Brass Artifact No. 1 "Huygen's Chamber"', stating that the stone empowers scripts under the icon of the Still Belt, the defender of the Quantum Realm and Real Space.

Collaborating with the rest of the research team and development team, they successfully fused the weapon he requested to the brass artifact. It was beautiful masterpiece due to the efforts of him and his team, and without his grimoire's guidance, he wouldn't have had an epiphany of integrating the stone into the gauntlets.

The race for the artifacts had just begun when several other meteorites rained down from the sky.