Tale of Discovery

Chapter 226: Tragic Flames ; Ring

Seriously? Just like that? Isn't Norse Magic's summoning a little absurd?

Examining the beautiful young lady, whom she claims to be Jeanne d'Arc, I begin to deliberate on my battle with Loki.

During the rather anti-climactic battle, Loki had only summoned a few mythical begins and nothing remotely close to a globally recognized historical figure. In a sense, the mythical creatures that he summoned are related to him, while Jeanne is related to 'me'.

In my previous life, I had read a little about the woman and her achievements. Not only that, but I read about her end...

"Jeanne," I say, "What is the last thing you remember prior to arriving here?"

"I was being burned at a stake," she responds without any hesitation.

Yeah. She's Jeanne, alright.

Nevertheless, what was that ability or power she used a while ago? I don't recall Jeanne being a legendary figure with absurd inhuman prowess.

"Father," Gabriel's voice reaches my ears, startling Jeanne a little as she turns her head to examine Gabriel with curiosity apparent in her eyes.

"Have you all recovered?"

"Yes."

"Where are Rias and her peerage?" I question while briefly looking around.

"They're on their way here," she responds, "Due to the intensity of the battle, they had to retreat to the far end of the city."

"Alright," I say before shifting my attention back to Jeanne who now has an odd look on her face.

"What's wrong?" I question.

Hearing my query, Jeanne takes a few seconds to think about something before asking me, "My Lord, where are we?"

"In an artificial world that I refer to as the Arena. The purpose of which is to strengthen my children and provide them guidance."

Jeanne nods her head once before looking around at the devastated city without uttering a word.

Knowing what she's thinking, a smile forms on my lips as I state, "In a matter of minutes, this city will return to prime condition, with all the damage done to it getting reversed."

The young lady's eyes widen slightly before she seems to realize something and nods her head.

Hah~ She's such an interesting lass. To the point that I had been unaware of the stinging pain all over my body due to my extreme loss of energy.

Well then, I reckon that having a short private conversation with Jeanne would be interesting. It would also grant me a general idea of her thoughts and beliefs, which is rather important if I'm going to be counting on her abilities.

"Jeanne," I say composedly, "Let's have a little chat, shall we?"

"Your wish is my command," she immediately responds while leaning forward a little.

Nodding my head once, I turn to face Gabriel and say, "Round everyone here. I will be back in a few minutes."

"Yes, Father," she responds.

Having said my piece, I reach my arm out to Jeanne who is still on her knees, beckoning her to take it.

She takes my hand and gets up from the ground before I pull her close to myself.

Seemingly not thinking of my actions as anything out of the norm, Jeanne has a serene expression on her face as she waits for me to proceed with what I have in mind.

Letting out a small sigh, I wrap my right arm around her slender body before using telekinesis to lift her off the ground a little.

The next moment, I dash into the sky with Jeanne, only to stop once we're a few kilometers high up in the sky.

In this position, I am presented with a better view of the wrecked city and the 'barriers' around it.

"Now then," I say, "Where should I begin..."

Being as smart as she seems to be, Jeanne asks me, "My Lord, why are we here?"

"As I said earlier, this world is an artificial one that I use to train my children. As for the reason I'm training them, it's because the real world is in great danger."

"Great danger?" Jeanne repeats as her brows quiver.

"That's right. You are aware of the existence of devils, right?"

A slightly perplexed expression appears on Jeanne's face before she ultimately nods her head.

"The ones that we fought against earlier were angels. They're the ones aiding me in my cause in the world."

Naturally, I won't be telling her what my real intentions are with the Rift. I will leave that part for her to figure out.

"Currently, the devils are on the verge of declaring against me and my angels once again."

"This has happened before?"

"Indeed. My mortal form has already ceased to be once before."

As if she heard the most shocking revelation in her life, Jeanne's body shakes as her eyes widen by no small margin.

"Fret not," I say, "The reason for that was because of the limitations of a mortal body. Due to them, I was unable to make use of my true power."

Seeming to have come to an understanding, Jeanne lets out a sigh of relief before looking at me with awe.

"This may come as a surprise to you, but not all devils are evil in nature," I continue, "Most were simply born as one with no power over it."

At this moment, a solemn look appears on Jeanne's face as she seems to think of something rather important.

Taking this chance, I observe her and her attire with intrigue.

For her torso, Jeanne has a female-specific white chest-plate that reaches her thighs. At the top section of the chest-plat, a luxurious-looking cloth covers her breasts, while highlighting them. Attached to the skirt-like bottom section of the chest-plate is a long white piece of fabric outlined by a slightly dark shade of tapestry. The piece of fabric covers the back of her legs to her feet.

Her legs and arms are mostly covered by white armor with black cloth underneath for her comfort.

Apart from that, there are two other notable things about her attire. First, she has a curvy t-shaped metallic headgear with two cyan gems attached to the sides.

Second, she's wearing a gorget around her neck with a silver plate connected to it by a series of chains on either side. Attached to the gorget are two pieces of white cloth with a black lining that cover her breasts.

Overall, her attire compliments her firm and beautiful countenance, seeming to give her a rather 'heroic' appearance.

Hm... she surely wasn't burned while dressed like this, now, was she?

"Jeanne," I say, interrupting her thought process, "If it doesn't pain you, do you mind telling what exactly happened before you arrived here?"

"Of course," she responds before recounting what happened without displaying any form of discomfort.

As expected, the subject was a rather heavy one. To put it in simple terms, she was escorted while dressed in a simple white cloth to a stake. On the way, she was showered with curses and pebbles from the onlookers.

Then, she was bound to a stake before it was alighted and burned her alive, as a method of punishment for her 'atrocious acts'.

The next thing she knew, she was in front of me in the Arena, brimming with power and comfort while dressed in battle attire.

"Say, what was that earlier? The thing you did to block the first attack?"

"I... don't know," she responds, a little perplexed, "It just felt like it would work, so I did it."

Color me surprised. She fought against my angels and their abilities despite most likely having zero experience with the supernatural. It seems like I have summoned one heck of a prodigy.

Surely, there is a limit of sorts on my summoning ability, right?

{Affirmative. Currently, Father is regaining energy at a rate that's half of how it was prior to the summoning.}

Seriously? Does that mean she's consuming half of the energy I 'regenerate' to stay materialized?

{Affirmative.}

As expected, there is a limitation. In other words, if I were to summon another being similar to her, I won't be able to regain my energy unless I sleep or more favorably, sleep with a Code.

Now, am I willing to sacrifice half of my natural energy regeneration for a beautiful young lady that just offered her body to me and reveres me?

Absolutely.

"Jeanne," I say while using my left hand to stroke her left cheek, "I want you to stay by my side from now on."

"Understood," she resolutely replies as if she has been waiting for me to say this.

"Let's get back to the ground now," I say before creating a gateway directly connected to where Gabriel and the rest are before crossing through with her.

"Papa!" Aruru exclaims before leaping toward me.

Setting down on the ground, I let go of Jeanne and embrace Aruru's body and issue a light chuckle before stating in distraught manner, "I hope you can forgive papa for stabbing you."

Aruru rubs her forehead against my chest for a few seconds before looking up with a bright smile on her lips as she says, "Do not worry. It's fine, even if papa killed me."

"As long as it's papa, it's fine," she adds with an odd glint in her eyes, sending a slight shiver down my spine.

"What are you saying?" I proclaim in relieved tone while pinching her cheek, "I would never do that."

Hearing this, Aruru lightly giggles before wiggling out of my embrace and moving back to Gabriel's side.

The next moment, the atmosphere tenses as the group of angels and demons adopt a serious expression and wait for my judgment.

At this moment, dark and sandy dust particles spin like a tornado a few meters away from us, before they begin merging and begin recreating a building.

This scene repeats all around us, earning the awe of many who hadn't seen such a thing before, including me.

After a few moments, I break out of my stupor at the mesmerizing sight and state in a loud and clear voice, "Well done. You lot managed to outdo my expectations."

The moment the words left mouth, a look of pure joy appeared on everyone's face apart from Gabriel and Gasper.

On one hand, Gabriel rarely expresses herself outwardly, while on the other Gasper is nothing more than a spectator today.

However, Gasper is quite happy. For his master and friends, that is.

Ignoring the pain on my body, I create two luxurious seats for me and Jeanne before taking a seat on mine as Jeanne follows suit.

Good. Had Jeanne refused to sit without me stating so, I would've been rather disappointed.

The angels and demons don't express any doubt in my actions as they stand straight with solemn expressions.

Well then, this might take a while...

---

"This is a little troublesome," I say upon sizing Jeanne and her banner up once we have exited the Arena.

Confused, Jeanne silently tilts her head a little before looking down at herself and realizing what I meant.

"Some casual clothes will suit you better than a school uniform, even if we're in the academy."

Having said that, I'm about to access the database with a set of clothes in mind, but before I can do so, a bright light covers Jeanne as her attire completely changes to what I had in mind.

"The heck?" I subconsciously say.

"Did you do that?" I directly ask.

"No," Jeanne responds before examining herself once again.

Don't tell me...

Along with my thoughts, a bright light covers Jeanne again as her attire changes once more to that of Kuoh Academy's school uniform.

How neat. It seems like I can change her attire at will, at the cost of my Essence Energy.

This is most likely an aspect of Mahesvara, specifically, Creation. I suspect it to be so due to the circumstances of Jeanne's summoning and how she's dependent on my Essence Energy to stay materialized.

I change her attire back to the casual ones I had in mind.

Like her armored attire, the casual one is a mixture of white and black. For the torso, she has a sleeveless white shirt with exposed shoulders, with a short black tie around its collar.

As for her lower body, she has black shorts on that cover a portion of her smooth thighs. On her legs, she has thigh-length dark stockings, coupled with a pair of brown shoes.

Overall, she looks like a demure teenager. If there is anything that stands out apart from her ethereal beauty, it would be her long golden hair that extends to her hips.

As it's not tied, her hair shimmers under the sunlight coming through the window, making her seem like a saint.

Wait...

"Master," a low voice interrupts my thoughts.

Shifting my focus to the source of the voice, I find Koneko with a calm expression on her face. As for the rest, they all have an odd look on their face while gazing at me and Jeanne.

"Right," I say, "We should get going."

But before that, I need to deal with the banner that Jeanne is holding.

After giving it some thought, I pull Excalibur out of my storage ring along with the rest of the stuff. I proceed to change Excalibur's form to that of a ring and put it on and destroy the needles.

Then, I reach my arm out to Jeanne.

Seeing my actions, Jeanne places her palm atop mine. Grabbing her fingers, I telekinetically pull the storage ring off my finger before holding it and putting it on Jeanne's ring finger.

Fortunately, the ring seems to fit her properly as she flexes her fingers a little while examining the ring.

"This ring is a storage ring. It's capable of storing a limited number of objects. Try storing your banner inside it."

Jeanne immediately does as I tell her to as purple energy exudes from the ring and covers the banner before it vanishes from sight.

Satisfied with her performance, I nod my head once before leaving with Koneko and Jeanne after bidding the rest farewell.

---

"Hello," I casually greet upon entering the Kendo club-room and walking over to Nao, Ayumi, and Misa.

My appearance attracts the attention of most girls present in the club-room as quite a few begin to whisper among themselves.

"Brother Yu!" Ayumi says in a bright tone as she rushes into my embrace.

"You're finally here," Misa says, "Your sister wanted..."

Her words trail off as she sets her eyes on Jeanne who is respectfully standing behind me.

"Who is she?" Misa asks.

"Jeanne d'Arc," I shrug my shoulders and say.

Misa seems to be confused, while Nao lets out a "hoho" as she inspects Jeanne.

"Isn't she supposed to be..." Nao says after a few seconds.

"We will discuss this matter later."

"If you say so," Nao responds.

Looking over at where Sora is, I see that she is speaking to a club member. Perhaps, she wants to practice Kendo as well?

After a short while, their conversation ends as Sora walks over to us, her eyes squinting upon setting sight on Jeanne.

Once she's close enough, her brows furrow as she stares at Jeanne's hand.

A little confused, I follow her line of sight only to notice that it's the same hand that I put the storage ring on.

Shit.