Normal POV
As we drove in Waver's car he started discussing the details of what exactly I would be doing for him.
My pay rate per month in total would be the equivalent of 70,000 American dollars which was more than what I usually earned as an assistant chef or waiter.
He then explained the rankings within the clocktower, the rules, the inner workings, the departments, the various classes available, the goal of most magi along with their sick experiments, the proper mannerisms to address those of higher prestige, the enforcers, the church, and lastly those with sealing designations.
When asked which classes I'd be interested in I admitted to being interested with his class and that of Astrology specifically if there was any that covered the constellations and stars.
Waver admitted that he could easily get me into his class but getting the head of the Astrology Marisbury to take a student so late in the year might take a bit of negotiating.
After we finally arrived at my apartment building Waver had insisted on getting my phone numbers.
So after only a couple seconds we had gotten each other's numbers and just in case Waver couldn't get in contact with me. He had me and Gray exchange numbers too.
"Wow this might the first time I've ever had a girl's contact number on my phone aside from my neighbor and the pizza guy," I accidentally confessed.
"Huh?" Gray said with her head tilted while Waver deadpanned "that sounds incredibly sad. Never confess such a thing out loud again, people will make fun of you for it."
"With respect sir...fuck you," I quickly flipped the man off before stomping off with a face of embarrassment.
Both the original Rigel and James had crushes sure but neither ever got laid much less dated everyone. Especially since James was too busy coping with his issues and Rigel with taking care of Nate.
"Wait!" an unknown voice suddenly exclaimed.
I turned back to see a shocked Gray holding a small cage up and Waver looking at it with interest.
Inside the cage was a metal looking box with what looked like facial features "Add what are you doing?" Gray questioned.
"Pipe it down Gray I am trying to talk to the brat over there," the box scolded before looking at me once "you wouldn't happen to know any witches would you," it's tone was cautious when it asked.
I blinked at the odd question "sorry but I haven't met anything like a witch. As I said before I only just found out about the moonlit world today," I explained a bit confused.
Until it suddenly clicked....could it be that Add is able to since whatever this witch factor thing of mine was? But how?!
"Hmm well I guess I must have been imagining things then," the box mumbled before Gray pulled the cage back.
"Right well if that's all I am leaving now. See you on Monday, Professor," I wave the duo a goodbye before walking into the building in a laid-back manner.
Once I was inside I made my way to the third floor before walking across to Miss Harper's apartment.
I knocked on her door before she opened the door and greeted me back, "Nate! You ready to come home now?" I called.
A tiny voice responded almost immediately "Big bro! Your finally back"
Nate ran to me, little legs moving as fast as they could, arms stretched wide.
I scooped him up with ease, feeling the weight of him against my chest as he buried his face into my shoulder "sorry I took so long kiddo. I hope you didn't stuff yourself with Miss Harper's biscuits" I said.
"I swear that I didn't!" Nate exclaims with a confident smile.
Smirking, I swiped at his cheek where a bit of crumbs were "ooh well care to explain this then?" I teasingly asked with a raised brow.
Nate giggled, scrunching his nose and trying to swipe at me with a tiny fist, though he barely reached my shoulder "Miss Harper said I could have one though!" he protested, but the spark in his eyes told me he had already eaten a few more than that.
I laughed, ruffling his hair gently "hmm, alright one biscuit is fine but you'd better have saved room for lunch."
Nate wriggled in my arms, giggling as I carried him back to our apartment "so what are you going to make Rigel?"
I closed my eyes to recall what we had stocked up on before nodding "hmm I'll make us some beef sandwiches with a bit of french fries" I decided while carrying him down the hallway.
His small hands clutched my coat like a lifeline, and I couldn't help but feel that little pang of warmth in my chest.
The same comforting warmth I felt the first night I held him after dying five times over.
Once we reached our apartment, Nate immediately ran over to the living room, flopping onto the carpet with a soft thump and looking up at me expectantly "big bro! Can I watch cartoons while you cook?"
I chuckled, shaking my head "sure, but only while I make lunch, okay? Once I am done come over to the dining table alright?"
He nodded eagerly, bouncing in place, and I couldn't help but laugh at how much energy he had. All while feeling a bit melancholic...I never really got to enjoy my own childhood when I was James.
So it made me feel just a bit sad and envious when I compared it to Nate.
I shake my head to snap me out of my negative thinking.
I'll make sure Nate will be free to enjoy his youth without any pressure or great expectations.
I moved to the kitchen, pulling out the little ingredients we had stocked up.
A fresh baguette, thinly sliced roast beef, a small block of cheddar, a few tomatoes, lettuce, and potatoes for the fries. I set to work chopping the potatoes into thin even strips.
Nate snuck into the kitchen looking up at my work with wonder "hey big bro...can I help?" he asked, purple-colored eyes wide.
"Of course, little chef," I said with a grin.
I handed him a small, safe knife and a cutting board "you can slice the tomatoes while I handle the fries. Remember to be careful!"
He nodded seriously, concentrating hard as he cut, his tongue peeking out slightly in focus.
I couldn't help but laugh softly at the sight.
Once the fries were cut, I tossed them with a bit of olive oil, sprinkled some salt and paprika, and slid them into the oven to bake.
Nate carefully arranged the tomato slices and some lettuce on the cutting board, and I began layering the baguette with roast beef and cheddar, adding the greens and finishing with a light mix of mustard, ketchup, and mayo.
"Here we go...perfect beef sandwiches for my favorite little guy," I said, setting a plate in front of him.
He clapped his hands happily, his purple eyes shining "thanks, Big Bro!"
I smiled ruffling his hair, "anything for you little star," I said as we began eating together at the small table.
Nate occasionally giggled or talked about cartoons, and I found myself smiling more than I had in a long time.
Moments like these were truly like rare treasures, fleeting but precious I thought.
After lunch was over, I cleaned up quickly before heading to my room while Nate hogged the TV but not before I warned him to finish his homework.
I then wandered over to the old computer my parents had bought for me on my sixteenth birthday. Dusting off the keys, I booted it up.
The screen flickered to life and I quickly entered in my passcode before going to a search engine.
I began poking around, just seeing what was left or even around this time period. To my surprise, there were several books, movies, shows, manga, and even old games I recognized.
However some of the future manga authors and webnovel authors I searched around for didn't exist.
"Well...if they don't exist then I can exploit that. I know I technically have a better job now but it never hurts to have more funds," I murmured before thinking over which story I should first work on.
"Screw it, I'll just make a light novel version of the JJK series. It was popular enough in the future so it'll do," I said, loading up Microsoft Word and typing a quick outline and timeline.
Once I finished that I quickly hooked up my flip-phone and started extracting the screenshot photos of the magecraft texts I had taken earlier.
Time to get an early learning I thought flicking open a couple pages from Magecraft Fundamentals and Book of Elements.
I then took out an old notebook and a pencil before I started reading and taking some notes.
Magic Circuits as I've read have two basic functions one is to convert life force into magical energy and another is to allow their owner to access thaumaturgical foundations.
The Magic Circuits are also paths that connect the material world to the astral plane. To perform mysteries, a magus connects his Magic Circuits to a thaumaturgical foundation. Emitting a command and dispatching magical energy to fuel the execution of the magecraft written within one of the magic formula included in the thaumaturgical Foundation.
Sort of like sending commands to a computer program I thought.
Once a magus has initially awakened their circuits a strong mental image is required to mentally switch them on and off. These foundations could be anything established like legends, myths, religions, curses, or alchemy.
A mage only needed to connect with one before sending their commands to then re-enact whatever mystery they were calling upon.
Pausing from my note taking I started to ponder what my own mental switch could be.
It needed to be something strong.
I closed my eyes trying to imagine various things but none of them worked properly until I remembered my first death.
No rather I should say the pain of death itself.
A gasp escaped my mouth as a brief phantom pain stung me and then a surge of heat went through my body.
All 25 circuits were switched on, opening my eyes with a grimace. I grabbed one of the knives out from my pocket that I had been stabbed with.
Today would be the first time I'd test a spell.
[Analysis] and [Projection] were the first two spells mentioned in the texts.
The spells were considered useless and as such magi had no problem writing and explaining the how to for them.
However Shirou Emiya was able to combine these two spells to [Trace/Copy] swords and store them in his reality marble Unlimited Blade Works.
Admittedly it's only because I was such an anime nerd in my past life as James that I was able to pull off what I did next.
Judging the concept of creation.
Hypothesizing the basic structure.
Duplicating the composition material.
Imitating the skill of its making.
Sympathizing with the experience of its growth.
Reproducing the accumulated years.
Lastly, excelling every manufacturing process I mentally thought with a grin.
A wince escapes my lips though as my brain is rapidly overloaded with information
My thoughts scrambled, as I tried to hold onto the flow of information and history. Attempting to reproduce every subtle nuance of the knife's composition and the technique behind its creation.
I could feel my vision blurring slightly, sweat beading on my forehead as I forced my mind to focus, every fiber of my being straining to retain the image, the feel, and the overall picture of the blade.
A flash of blue occurred and then a copy of the weapon formed in my grip although not exactly perfect.
Soft pants escaped from my lips as the information I had scanned all rapidly faded away from my head. It makes sense since I possessed no reality marble or storage place like Shirou's Unlimited Blade Works I thought with some disappointment.
The spell itself was quite useful but not something I'd want to mainly use or rely on.
That's Shirou's thing after all.
Honestly I could have done something more useful with my time back then. Instead of mentally memorizing the spell info in hopes of it actually working in real life.
But what do you know who could have thought I'd end up getting isekaied to this world I thought with a wide smile.
After all I had just performed magic! Well...not true magic but still magic.
Sighing I spent the reading over the text pages and taking notes along with thinking of some ideas and small theories for spells.
Because duh I wanted to make cool awesome spells too.
Even if it was a bit complicated with Nasu's complex magic system, but let it be known that I could be quite the persistent bastard when I wanted to be.
-end of chapter four-
Next chapter will reveal the origin, attributes, and elements that Rigel is most aligned with but for now I bid you all a good night or morning.