A few days after Cole had started working at〈S.T.E.L.LA〉, he was finally getting the hang of things and was growing accustomed to his workload.He was at his desk drinking a nice milky latte when he suddenly got a call on his office phone.
"Good afternoon,〈S.T.E.L.L.A〉Libra Department Head, Cole speaking, how may I help you?"
『Ah, Cole. I need to brief you on something. Go to the third bas.e.m.e.nt on your next lunch break.』
It turned out to be Lucille who stayed at〈S.T.E.L.L.A〉for the past few days as an annual inspection and check up. As for the Demon Empire back home, it was fine.
She made sure to deal with all the work in advance.
"Hmm? Luci-- I mean... Why does Founder want me to go?"
Oh yeah, Lucille had also told Cole to formally address her as Founder due to it being workplace hierarchy and just cause.
『Because I realized I haven"t taught you something yet.』
"Why can"t you just tell me what that is over the phone?"
Cole just wanted to go back to work, although he was already mult.i.tasking talking through a phone with viewing and signing a few doc.u.ments. He was actually nearly finished with most of the doc.u.ments that needed to be signed that day. He just needed to re-check the rest.
The Libra Department is full of efficient workers.
『Because it something that needs my supervision.』
『No. Sir Cole, it"s just because she realized that she hadn"t checked your〈Magic Physique〉yet and is extremely curious now that she thought about it and can"t work properly if she doesn"t find out.』
"〈Magic Physique〉? Is it like that thing in all the Xianxia, Wuxia, and Xuanhuan novels I read? Probably."
Cole was initially surprised by the sudden deadpan voice of Clyde and the embarra.s.sed voice of his master. What he said though intrigued him. He did think that he should make the most of a Mechanica"s ability to use the things from all the Zones to the fullest.
『C-Clyde! I told you not to tell him!』
『You didn"t say such. You thought such. Sorry for the disturbance, Sir Cole.』
The call was then cut off. Since it wouldn"t do him any more harm, Cole decided to go. In an hour when his next 30-minute break took.
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*PING PONG*
Cole made his way to the third bas.e.m.e.nt in the building using the newly repaired elevator. When he arrived there, there were many different sections intended for training purpose.
Shooting ranges, gyms, equipment with origins from all the other Zones. Like a meditation room from the〈Huaxia Zone〉, a crystal ball from the〈Fantasia Zone〉, weird machines for checking a person"s ability from the〈Times Zone〉, and a chamber for repairing a person"s neurochip from the〈Avant Zone〉
It didn"t take long for Cole to find Lucille and Clyde. Lucille was sitting regally on a purple sofa with Clyde standing behind her.
It seemed that Clyde had noticed him as well. He tapped on Lucille"s shoulder to notify her of Cole"s presence. When she saw him, she gestured with her hands for Cole to come over.
"Well, I"m here, O revered Founder!"
Cole said in his usual voice when interacting with people that weren"t close to him in any way. And although it had no emotion whatsoever, you could feel sarcasm oozing out from his sentence.
"Okay, you can stop with that. After a few days, it becomes really obnoxious."
Lucille told Cole to stop with the "Founder" stuff after she got tired of being called such. She had asked the other Heads to call her such as well but decided to go personally pay them a visit and tell them to stop.
But she had a feeling that it wouldn"t be so easy since whenever they called her "Founder", it would have a hint of admiration and respect.
"Your Majesty, you had already tested something similar like that back in the〈Demon Realm〉 a few months ago. So I don"t really see why you would try something similar again."
"I was just wondering if it would be different!
"They"re really close aren"t they?"
Cole asked himself as he watched the two of them. It reminded him a bit of his brother and his girlfriend. They were a cute and close couple and Cole loved watching their interactions.
It reminded him that not all romantic relationships were bad.
"Well, I have a new constant reminder of that though."
As Cole thought this, the image of a certain black-haired woman came to mind.
"Haa... Anyway, as you know. I have called you to see what your〈Magic Physique〉is. As for what a〈Magic Physique〉is, I"ll let Clyde explain that as I sip my favorite Wilderthorn tea."
As Lucille said, She tapped a b.u.t.ton on the side table near the sofa which brought up a cup of freshly brewed tea. It had the faint scent of the wilderness and dewy rain yet which made one"s mind relax.
As Lucille drank her tea, a blissful expression blossomed on her beautiful face. Clyde sighed as he saw his Queen"s laidback att.i.tude but he grinned for only a moment before returning to his usual dead and overworked face.
He gestured for Cole to take a seat and he cleared his throat and brought out a board full of cute and easy to understand pictures.
"...That"s unexpected. Maybe I"ll ask if I could bring it home so I could teach Eva about it too. And maybe Felicia. She doesn"t seem to have a lot of experience in the〈Fantasia Zone〉"
Cole got comfortable and awaited the incoming info dump.
"Well, Sir Cole. To sum it up, a〈Magic Physique〉is the kind of "Physique" your body has for magic. Most normal people have an〈Empty Physique〉where they have no special boosts for magic. An example of a〈Magic Physique〉would be the〈Ifrit Physique〉The "Physique" boosts your attack done with fire magic and raises your defense against it. There"s also a slight chance of absorbing the mana from a fire magic attack.
"Oh, and fun fact.〈Magic Physiques〉were only discovered quite recently from about 15 years ago. They were discovered because of a man that wandered into the〈Fantasia Zone〉from the〈Huaxia Zone〉"
"The information about Physiques ended up getting circulated and tdah. The names the〈Fantasia Zone〉is vastly different from the ones in the〈Huaxia Zone〉It was mostly because of the vast majority of the〈Fantasia Zone〉thought that they sounded too fancy."
Cole could slightly relate when he thought back to all the Zhonghuan--, No wait, Chinese web novels he had read that involved something similar.
"Well, now that all of that is out of the way, how do you test a person"s physique?"
"With this."
Clyde answered Cole"s question nearly immediately and put a crystal on the coffee table that was always in front of Cole.
The crystal ball was pretty transparent and was like a simple gla.s.s ball in terms of the ability to see through. Its stand was of a nice shade of silver that didn"t blind the eyes very similar to Cole"s hair. The stand was also engraved with alternating Chinese characters and runes Cole didn"t recognize.
"This is...?"
"A crystal ball that was made with the blood, sweat, tears and the combined effort of the Mechanicas at the R&D Department and the Demon Scientists and researchers back home. It allows you to see your physique and magic apt.i.tude as well."
Lucille answered his question this time and she looked fully rejuvenated and she had the haughty queen vibe that Cole felt when he first met her.
"Just put your hand on it and the results we show."
"Magic, huh? Well, I"d have to face it one day. I"ll also have to face other things later too..."
Cole thought on how there were so many different things in this genre mashup of a world he had yet to see. Although he felt slightly unwilling when he thought on all the work it would take to see every single part of each Zone that was their entire world on their own, he wanted to see the different kinds of beautiful things that could only be seen by each and one of them.
His interest was also slightly piqued when he thought of all the different kinds of weaponry that the Zones would have made, including what kinds of advancements the〈Avant Zone〉would have made in the last 20 years.
He reprimanded himself for that last paragraph.
He leaned forward and placed his hand on top of the crystal ball. Lucille watched with a tense expression on her face while Clyde who saw this just thought "Dafuq?"
A grey swirl started to form inside the Crystal ball. The swirl started to form into a black hole that sucked in everything like an insatiable void. It kept it"s grey color and had a few black streaks together with it. It then started to spasm everywhere inside the crystal ball.
It looked as if it was ready to burst out of it and shatter the ball completely. It just felt... Chaotic.
Cole took his hand off the crsytal ball not because of fear, not because of dread, not because of the mild chaos that happened in the crystla ball, it was becasue of...
He wanted to stop leaning forward and wanted to get in a more comfortable position.
The instant he removed his hand, Lucille stood up with a pumped up and self-satisfied expression on her face and pointed her finger at the Clyde that was confused at his Majesty"s actions.
"Haa! I win the bet! In your face, Clyde! Pay up!"
"Your Majesty, first of all, I don"t recall betting whether or not your theory was right. Second of all, you shouldn"t. And third, I don"t gamble or bet in the first place. I"m the one that takes away everybody"s money with a smug expression on my face."
"I"m sorry, but what bet are you two talking about?"
Cole was confused at what exactly the two demons were talking about. When he asked about it, Lucille faced him with a happy expression on her face and said...
"Your physique is..."