Trapped in Another World With No Magic

Chapter 124: The Storm Before Calamity

Rikuto meets Grand Prince Yaulander in the courtyard of the castle of Mornistae, bowing at a professional 45% degree angle. “Your Grace, I am King Rikuto Tachibana, ruler of Mornistae.”

The Grand Prince has his left forearm across his chest, draping a portion of his cloak, and he dips his head politely with a proud smile. “King Rikuto Tachibana, I am Grand Prince Yaulander kos Strylaph of the Grand Zenkon Empire. I must thank you for hosting me on this most auspicious day.”

“It is my honor and pleasure. Please, you must be exhausted from your journey. We have prepared a suite for your stay, and your welcome feast can be readied at any time.”

“Yes, yes. Much appreciated. Have my luggage taken to the room. I have much to discuss with his Majesty.”

“As you wish, your Grace!” replies the Grand Prince’s equerry, as denoted by a simple fabric collar with a metal pin depicting the elemental symbol for fire on Zenkon superimposed over a man’s forehead with the man looking down. 

Yaulander then says, “Now then, King Rikuto; let us go to somewhere where two men can have a conversation in private.”

“Very well.” He nods at the chamberlain to take care of the entourage, and he escorts Yaulander to his office, where he sets up one of the book-sized devices Wenlianna developed, which creates magic noise that disrupts eavesdropping from outside of its effect.

Rikuto explains once it’s on, “I bought this before the Grand Duchess turned traitor. It’s a device her daughter built to create a secure conversation space.”

“That's good. I wonder if I would be able to obtain one myself.”

I bought a second one, just in case. Though, I can’t give you any guarantees on service life, your Grace.”

“It’s no matter. My family has four magic artisans and seven artificers as permanent retainers. They’ll be happy to reverse engineer and start producing these devices.”

“I see. It would be convenient to have more of them on the market when needed. Artisans are often in short supply.”

“Ahhh, yes. Mornistae has always been economically weak. At least, until you arrived.”

“Among other things, improving our roads improved tax revenue from travelling merchants. It took a lot of negotiating with the various territorial lords. But, in turn, it made it safer and easier to travel our own goods as well.”

“Indeed. And, I’ve heard some various farming strategies you brought over from your world.”

“That’s true. We don’t have all of the equipment here, of course, but some of the basics were enough to improve yield and overall crop health.”

“Excellent. And, that brings me neatly enough to the true reason for my visit.”

Here it is. Rikuto was certain there was an ulterior motive, since he had no direct relation with Yaulander prior to his reaching out. 

“Certainly. What can I do for you, your Grace?”

“I’d like to learn about the Divine Summoning that brought you and the other man to our world.”

This is a little surprising, but not overly so. Sundenelle has strongly requested in the past that Mornistae turn over the documents and any apparatus of the ritual. Several other kingdoms have made requests as well, offering a great deal of gold and other treasures in trade.

Not that Rikuto is in any hurry to trade the mysterious artifact in the basement of the castle, but even if he wanted to, it appears to be impossible to move. It can’t be dismantled and repels all kinds of magic, including magic intended to analyze the device, lift it, or even damage it. The only parts that are replaceable are the two glass orbs that perform the analysis on a person to identify the nature of their inherent mana. In fact, just with what little Rikuto has seen of the artifact, the orbs look almost like they don’t belong.

Regardless, he’ll likely have to give the same answer to the Grand Prince as he has all of the others. But, for now, he can humor questions.

“I’m not an expert on the device or the ritual. I believe Lord Crosserly or Lady Honnatye would be better suited to answering specific questions. But, I’ll do my best while you have me here.”

“Is it true you passed through the Divine Realm and were granted blessings from God?”

“Yes. Though, I spoke to a goddess by the name of Ryukana, not a god.”

“I see… so, it’s Ryukana the Goddess… Interesting. And, the blessings?”

“I have a growing amount of mana that supposedly exceeds most of the Court Mages. My curative magic seems to have no upper limit, though it does strain my mana, depending on what I’m using it on. I haven’t tested it much, but weapons also seem to immediately be added to my skill set when I hold them. It feels like… they become natural in my hand.”

“Curative magic? As in diseases?”

“Yes, your Grace. Diseases and wounds. It’s not as simple as simply saying ‘cure’, but I can… see the ailment and repair it with magic.”

“How very interesting,” replies Yaulander, sipping the juice Rikuto provided for him. Something Rikuto and Daniel both noticed quite quickly was that this world seems to have no alcohol. Instead, the wealthy drink rare juice cocktails made from fruits and even some vegetables that common folk can’t afford to purchase, aiming for a general sweetness and flavor.

Rikuto doesn’t care one way or the other, but he does appreciate the lack of drunks in the world. The smell of alcohol always annoyed Rikuto on Earth, and the people getting hammered have no respect for boundaries, no volume control, and regularly do stupid things. He’s certainly not sad for that particular loss. Even Daniel reeked of alcohol when the two arrived that fateful day. He was pretty self-controlled, but admitted that he was ‘half asleep and drunk’ when the summoning took place.

The Grand Prince adds to his thought, “We should capitalize on your abilities more, your Majesty.”

“‘We’?” asks Rikuto.

“Yes, ‘we’. Your ability grants you a great blessing that you have sorely underutilized through no fault of your own. In this time of turmoil, you should be using it to improve your own image.” Yaulander looks up as he imagines it. “We’ll have you known as ‘Saint King Rikuto’. People will flock from all over to support you and your kingdom.”

“That’s… I’m just one person, and my power has limits.”

“That is of no matter. Cure one ailing soul in front of the masses, and the rest will take care of itself.” Yaulander smiles. “And, nobility will pay any price to ensure their health, or the health of their loved ones.”

Rikuto remains silent. He didn’t necessarily want to exploit his abilities granted to him by Ryukana for financial gain, but he does have a kingdom to take care of. The Grand Prince isn’t wrong. People would pay a great deal -especially nobles for whom it truly is a small price to pay- for the extension of their lives. To Rikuto’s knowledge, healing potions can treat virtually all wounds, but drain the user, and if they are weak from malnutrition, disease, or something else, they can die. Rikuto’s power can remove diseases, buy time against malnutrition -though, not make a hungry person full-, and, though he didn’t do anything to confirm it, he’s pretty sure he can cure curses. Greydald’s brother, the Duke of a territory in the northern part of Mornistae, has a daughter who couldn’t be cured. In fact, healing magic specifically made it worse. When Rikuto used his curing on her, he felt a malicious magic present in her body. Once it was gone, she bounced back like the eight year old child she is; energetic and happy.

And, she became infatuated with Rikuto.

A part of him wonders if Daniel’s situation is similar, but he puts it out of his mind. If he thinks too much about the libertine American, he might become envious. Even if he isn’t evil, the Emperor of the Fievegal has very loose morals.

“I’m afraid it wouldn’t be best at the current time, your Grace,” starts Rikuto in reply. “We’re currently at war with and being invaded through the gulf by the Fievegal. I don’t have definitive proof, as the Grand Duchess was in her territory at the time, but I believe Grand Duchess Aramellianna is colluding with them.”

“Hmm… A tricky situation indeed…” ponders the Grand Prince. “It sounds like you could use greater support.”

Rikuto does his best to hide it, but he can feel his eye twitch slightly. He knew there was pretext to this meeting, but now he’s certain; the Grand Prince is trying to corner him.

The problem is, it’s working. Rikuto does need support. He doesn’t have the firepower to compete with Daniel’s firearms. The best he could hope for, in addition to the void artillery, which he’ll use to defend the capital, would be to make simple firearms to close the gap at least partially. Rikuto never held a gun in his life; they were strictly controlled in Japan and he grew up in Kyoto and went to university in Osaka, so he never had the chance nor interest in hunting. The closest he ever came to a gun on Earth was in video games, movies, and manga. At best, he might be able to explain to this world's inventors how a basic firearm works and hope they can assemble it.

Since the atom bomb was revealed by Erimaya, he tried to gather engineers for it, but few saw the advantage over crossbows and spellcasting to justify intentionally detonating ‘alchemy powder’ close to their own face.

Rikuto isn’t even sure if he could make a Minie ball musket work, but he's going to have to divert a lot of resources to it if he wants to compete with Daniel’s apparent assault weapons, from what the survivors described. Of course, most of the people of this world still see it as magic.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

With the Grand Prince offering aid, Rikuto might be able to get traction.

And, it's then that Yaulander is finishing talking. “... the best outcome for everyone.”

Rikuto missed most of the monologue, but he can guess at some of it. And, he takes a neutral option. “You want technology from my world in exchange?”

“That's right, your Majesty.”

“I’m afraid I’m not sure how to make many inventions. There’s one that should put us closer to the Fievegal in terms of military strength, but I’ve been struggling to find people willing to build a prototype. And, if we’re to survive, we’ll need mass production quickly.”

“I’m interested,” replies Yaulander with a coy smile.

Rikuto sighs. “Beyond that, I’m afraid I’m too busy to be of any great help.”

“I understand. But, as I said, it doesn’t have to be you.”

The Japanese man cocks his head. “Do… you mean Daniel?”

The Grand Prince snickers warmly at the notion. “Is that the name of the other otherworlder?” asks the young man with a coy tone. Something seems off about it, though. It doesn’t feel genuine.

Regardless, Yaulander continues, “Were it so easy, I would already have that disrespectful man bound in servitude. No, I wish to recruit another otherworlder from your world; one to serve the Empire as graciously as you have served this kingdom.”

Rikuto shifts again. It’s not that he didn’t expect it, but he’s not comfortable with the idea. He’s even less comfortable with discussing it so directly.

The main part of Rikuto is worried about another person from Earth being dragged to another world suddenly. In Rikuto’s case, Ryukana asked for his consent, with the implication someone else would be chosen. But, if a second person is pulled along with them like Daniel was…

The other part of Rikuto is worried about the damage more Earthlings could do to Zenkon, and the harm it could do to his own reputation as a result.

If he does nothing, on the other hand, it’s very likely Daniel and his demon army will overwhelm him and conquer all of Mornistae.

Rikuto takes a deep breath.

All he can do now is pray he’s not making the wrong decision.

***

It feels like a tidal wave just hit Daniel, throwing him onto his back. Water erupted from the lake like a geyser, blasting him with a spray like a firehose. A heavy gust breezes across him as a shadow blots out what remains of the sunlight  peering through the spotty, magically summoned local storm.

During his fall, he feels something hit his armor and a large shadow pass by, flopping him in the mud as a deluge washes out around him.

Shielded from the direct rainfall in the aftermath by a humongous form that almost reminds Daniel of a smaller version of a delta-wing configured aircraft. Though, unlike the rigid aircraft frame, this is a living being fluttering its ‘wings’ to soften its landing.

Similar to a crayfish, it has ten legs coming from the center part of its body under its pectoral fins, each with a small grasping claw that it tries to pick at Daniel with. 

As each spears down on him, though, the human Mechanic is battered and bumped, but the claws seem to slip off of him, as if he is made of grease.

Rifle shots boom out, and the monster flinches. It flutters its wing-like pectoral fins rapidly, like a titanic hummingbird, squatting as it backs away to try to figure out why it couldn't grab Daniel. Seeing him clearly, it tries to spear its forward pincers at Daniel, and one batters his arm. The claw misses its grip, seemingly slipping from his arm, but it successfully batters the flashbang grenade out of his hand. Daniel grunts, doing his best to shout, “FLASH-!”

WHOUMP!

The mantarouck attacking the mechanic squeals extremely loudly, flinching back again from the bright light and concussive sound.

Surprisingly, Daniel doesn’t feel all that bad from the hits he took from a titanic monster, as if… He glances at the watery pixie, who smiles at him with a soft grin. She has something to do with it.

What he wouldn’t give for a typical isekai video-game style status menu or appraisal ability to explain what each of the elementals do.

But, for now, the human’s in the midst of battle. 

And, his role is critical. 

The graetcheth mantarouck, a powerful natural mage in its own right, flutters its pectoral fins quickly. Glowing energy builds around the beast’s mouth, concentrating as it continues fluttering.

The teams have closed in behind those with barriers, and Hekate charges magic between her hands with the apparent intent to intercept the attack.

A lance of water slices across the ground towards Hekate, who bides her time a moment longer. The feldrok girl presses her hands forward, discharging a water lance of her own, aimed directly for the nose of the mantarouck, where its magic is spraying from. The two water jets clash with thunderous force, exploding water with enough pressure to stumble the mantarouck back.

Daniel flinches, but the water that sprays him doesn’t seem to strike him with any meaningful impact. When he looks, the elemental is a little larger and curvier, like a slender woman suddenly becoming voluptuous.

Daniel scrambles to his feet as the dazed monster shakes its body and head back and forth. He hasn’t had a moment to really study it yet, with the ferocity and suddenness of its attack.

Looking at it now, it very much reminds him of a manta-ray, with wide wing-like pectoral fins and a relatively flat and leathery body. But, supporting its weight are ten crawfish-like legs. And, it has mantis-like foreclaws as well, though their size implies that it’s meant for dragging larger things into the water.

The mechanic closes the distance, which is quite great in relation to him due to the monster’s massive size translating to a huge gait even when simply flinching backwards.

Neith runs by at the water line, which is close to where the titan’s tail is swaying around for balance. He’s moving through to set each of the needed glyphs for his spell, which he mentioned shouldn’t need more than five for this instance.

Thankfully, like a true manta ray, the mantarouck has a gigantic mouth, since Daniel is definitely not a champion of any sports. He makes sure he’s close enough that he can easily strike his target. 

Daniel pulls the pin on the polonium grenade. He has to be mindful because of its weight, but he’ll be able to reach. He takes a step to throw the grenade as hard as he can into the mouth of the mantarouck as the great evolved monster clears its vision.

He can hear the ‘whump!’ of the grenade exploding in its maw, and it stumbles again, this time to the side. 

“Gooo!” shouts Treia. “Capitalize!”

The gatonines all charge close with spears, and Treia and Gwenesphia move to fire on the monster’s gills. 

Senn uses a magic blast of void energy to buckle the graetcheth mantarouck’s legs. It flops to the ground, granting Goelselmo and his children access to its body, especially its eyes.

Kuboen sprints towards the head, bounding up the side of its face to jam his spear into its eye. The monster flinches and bucks its head, flopping its massive pectoral fins. The forceful motion launches him through the air, but he nimbly twists in midair to recover and land on his feet, though Gwenesphia and Lyrtef to call out, “Kuboen!”

“I’m fine! Press the attack!”

Gwenesphia and Treia aim at the monster’s other eye, firing at it while it tries to rise. It flops itself away from them, shielding its remaining eye with its head and forcing Goelselmo, Peiburi, and Lyrtef to avoid the huge mass of pectoral fin coming down. 

Senn, who casually hums a song with a slow and beautiful tempo, swirls her staff as magic circles and glyphs dance around her. Conjured with magic, a giant stone appears above the mantarouck just as it's getting its footing, and the boulder slams down on top of it, pinning it to the ground once more as it huffs a powerful exhale.

Veiranoei, for her part, has rushed to Daniel’s side, helping him stand up and move away from the monster. Kera’tai also jogs up, ready to defend with magic while they retreat. 

The mechanic is alright, though. None of the impacts from the monster trying to grab him were anything more than glancing blows. He watches the monster squirm and flutter its fins, trying to do anything to free itself, including summoning rain. But, the storm is already dissolving with the last of the rain coming to an end as suddenly as it began.

The polonium grenade is doing its job.

He watches the relatively tiny gatonines attacking its head from the sides using spears and swords. It reminds Daniel of one of the video games he loved playing back on Earth, but unlike the game, where the player character had game-world strength granting them the ability to fight such monsters, the gatonines aren’t much stronger than an average human. Their slashes and thrusts don’t seem to be doing much.

Then again, even in spite of their thick skin, humans had been slaying whales on Earth for centuries until it was outlawed at large using little more than spears.

The graetcheth mantarouck, for all of its size and might, is losing strength and fading to wounds from what would normally be its prey.

Daniel notices something that makes him move before he thinks. The monster has used its right foreclaw to raise its head.

Daniel tackles Peiburi, the one closest to what is happening at that moment.

Daniel is slammed into her, but he hears the massive weight slash against his armor, and he takes Gwenesphia’s younger sister to the ground, surprising her. Her horrified eyes indicate she sees the claw swiping above them; the left claw of the beast given leave to strike with lightning force across the front of the monster towards the right side where the gatonines are attacking.

The human mechanic and the youngest gatonine warrior present slam into the ground together, the impact softened only a little by Daniel tackling her at an angle.

“D-Daniel!?” cries out the young woman. She tries to rise to rejoin the fight, but Daniel presses her down.

“Wait!”

CLUNK!

“Ahhh!” she screams as the claw swings back. Daniel is putting a lot of faith in tiny little pixies, but so far, they haven’t failed him yet.

It seems, among whatever other effects she might provide, the water elemental is somehow protecting the weak human mechanic from direct hits, even from a monster as big as Rohgattabor.

He pants, scrambling to help Peiburi up. They both sprint clear before the monster can swing again. Rohgattabor is ferocious, and it’s cornered. They might just be able to defeat it here and now.

“Daniel, incoming!” shouts Doephluev as she points at the water.

Neith delayed putting up the wall, since Rohgattabor is pinned down, but the commotion has drawn out other mantaroucks. Thankfully, they are are about a third the size of the legendary monster at the largest, so they’ll be easier to handle.

“Hekate, Doephluev! They’re yours!” calls out Daniel.

“Prepare to lose!” shouts the feldrok as she charges to the right, while the archoneldwyn walks calmly to the left, firing off a barrage of icicle spears to delay and wound the common mantaroucks attacking. Several flee back into the water, though Hekate blasts the lake with a violent spit of fire, killing at least one of the monsters that would have escaped otherwise. She’s picking off extras to increase her score.

Daniel is going to have to scold her later.

The mechanic checks on Peiburi. “You alright?”

“Y-Yes! Thank you!”

“Watch its arms and legs. It still has fight left in it.”

“Yes! I will!” She charges back in to join her family members, spearing the graetcheth mantarouck once more.

Its strength seems to be almost completely depleted. Treia and Gwenesphia have put out its other eye with rifle shots, Neith is standing by to execute it quickly if it manages to catch a second wind, Senn has cast several spells around it like landmines, Vaergraes and Kera’tai are watching over everyone, and Veiranoei has rejoined Daniel, trying not to get in the way, but also afraid of the titan they’re fighting.

Everything is going well. Hekate and Doephluev are successfully keeping the shoreline clear of other beasts. Gwenesphia’s family members are wearing themselves out slaying the monster that has plagued their territory. Neith is ready to prevent it from escaping, as well as to assist the feldrok and archoneldwyn purging the lesser monsters.

Something feels off, though. Daniel can’t quite place it, but the boulder seems to draw his attention. Even though it’s still on Rohgattabor’s back, keeping the ferocious predator pinned down, it doesn’t seem to be matching the struggles of the helpless monster.

If anything, the boulder seems to have gotten heavier.

During a break when Treia and Gwenesphia are reloading their rifles, a strange sound in the distance grows closer.

Daniel looks at Neith when the dragon seems to notice it as well, and the mechanic searches the sky in the direction he thinks it’s coming from.

The sound rapidly gets closer, as does the source.

A full-sized blue dragon roaring as loud as he can as flames fill his mouth.

For the most part, the dragons have fairly unique appearances for each one, making it quite easy to tell them apart, even when they’re in their true forms. 

It’s Magnir in full attack mode. He doesn’t have the mana necessary to project the laser-like plasma jet that the stronger dragons can, but he is still one of the more powerful beings in the world.

The blue Einherjar exhales a powerful breath of fire towards the boulder, startling everyone in the area with the suddenness of his attack. His arrival is ferocious and merciless, but his target isn’t any of the beings visible.

The flames glance off of a solid surface that remains perfectly invisible, cutting the shape of a shield from how the dragon breath diffuses into licks and cast-offs of an intense blaze.

During the inferno, vortices of magically accelerated air, visible thanks to the moisture in the air condensing, forms a larger cyclone below the invisible shield, and it moves seemingly on its own.

The whirling funnel of air seems to slice through the blue dragon’s fire breath as he’s swooping in, and Magnir is forced to bank hard to avoid the wind magic.

Suddenly, the air gusts again, and the stone pinning Rohgattabor shifts. It begins to levitate, and Goelselmo calls out, “Lady Senn!”

“It’s not me!” She’s using her staff to cast magic, but the stone continues to rise in spite of the apparent effort on the elf’s face.

The boulder violently shatters, and the mana backlash stumbles the elder mage backwards.

Even fractured into hundreds of pieces, every last portion of the formerly giant stone remains airborne, floating weightlessly.

The air cracks like claps of thunder in rapid succession, and all of the shards streak off into the distance towards Magnir. Meanwhile, lightning starts to crackle roughly where the air cyclone formed, while Rohgattabor springs backwards, limping into the water.

Doephluev and Hekate try to prevent the graetcheth mantarouck from retreating, but as soon as it reaches the water, it drops, slapping its pectoral fins into the water with such impressive force, a substantial dome of vapor masks the monster. Even with their barrage, Rohgattabor vanishes into the lake, leaving only streaks of blood and swirls of water behind.

Neith tries to interrupt the lightning attack with his own magic, but he is slammed by an invisible solid object that sweeps over Daniel’s head from the gust.

The lightning arc is launched towards Magnir as Neith tumbles across the ground. He seems to have noticed the incoming attack before it was launched, and he is in the midst of a fast roll that launches two humanoid figures from his back over the lake water near Hekate. The lightning hits him, and his body curls and tenses in midair; dropping him from the sky.

The brutality of the attack masks how brief it was; Daniel could perceive it, but can barely respond.

“{Daniel, throw me!}”

He shakes his head clear as the others scatter, now fully aware that something new is attacking them.

Daniel draws Nemaisol, throwing it towards where the magic attacks were coming from.

The human mechanic from Earth is certainly no superhero. He only has enough mana to make a small ember of fire for a few seconds or summon a drop of water thanks to a strange series of events that have granted him that tiny bit of magical ability long after arriving on Zenkon. He won’t be harming whatever it is by throwing a sword.

But, it seems to go far enough, since Nemaisol is slammed out of the air by a brutal impact that cracks by with supersonic speed.

And, a monster shrieks from the powerful -if brief- electrocution that occurs when a being with a lot of magical energy comes in contact with the sword. And, in this case, Nemaisol is also able to disable the magic making the beast invisible.

The colossus that appears as if the air is distorting into a solid mass has a terrifying visage. It reminds the otherworlder of the Feral Feldrok, though it has the scales of a dragon-like being, along with leathery wings and metallic horns. The scales, now visible, possess a sort of moving rainbow sheen similar to how sharmelkolle reacts in the presence of mana.

The supernatural being radiates magical power as well, which is surprising, given that there are so many people present that can detect mana. But of course, there are spells and techniques that each can hide even powerful mages from the most sensitive senses, as seen with Doephluev and her former comrades.

Realizing that it is visible, the draconic monster rises to its full height, easily towering over everyone present. It takes a calm, deep breath through its nose before snapping its head forward with jaws agape.

A visible wave of vapor flashes out with the sharp pressure spike of the most powerful and loudest sound Daniel has ever heard:

The roar of a true colossus.

If Daniel is the Harbinger of Calamity, then Calamity has arrived.

***