Chapter 321: Land of the Sun
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"Are you sure you do not need our help in your quest to save the world?" asked Duril on the island's coast.
"I'm sure. And as I said, if I need your help, I will ask," replied Edward with a smile, who proceeded to say goodbye to all the chiefs. He then waved at all the dwarves who came to send him off before flying in the sky and heading eastward.
Midway through his voyage, a colossal serpent came out from the ocean to bite him, so he instantly teleported behind the beast.
"Well, lunch is here," muttered Edward before using Captain Jack's Cutting Magic to cut this serpent into five sections. Then, he entered his small pocket dimension, where he used Charmy's Cotton Magic to make himself a feast.
After enjoying himself and taking a nap, he continued flying to his destination while creating the spatial path connecting these two continents and gathering resources for the World Gate.
A few hours later, he arrived at his destination. It was nighttime when he arrived on the coast, but he could see everything clearly. The majority of the people had black hair and eyes, with signs of being of Japanese descent.
The architecture looked similar to Japan's Edo period, with horizontal buildings with heavy tile roofs supported by timber frames. He could see many temples with designs influenced by both Buddhism and Taoism.
While in the invisible state, Edward read a few people's memory to access this place's language, customs, and some information. He learned that a little over two decades ago, the Yamato Clan took over the neighboring countries to establish the Yamato Dynasty.
The Hino Country (Land of the Sun) was among the conquered countries which the Sukehiro Clan ruled. And unlike the other nation who surrendered to the Yamato clan to retain their nobility status, the Sukehiro clan fought to the last man.
As such, they were wiped out.
'I see. So, Yami is a prince,' thought Edward as he thought of something. From what he knew, Yami should be the son of two fishermen. But now, he learned the latter might have been a runaway prince.
So, either Yami lied about his origin and his arrival in the Western Continent was not because of an accident, but his family sent him there as a last resort to preserve their lineage.
Or his previous theory was correct. His arrival created a ripple in space-time and changed Yami's origin as a butterfly effect.
'No wonder he never liked to talk about his past,' thought Edward as he labeled this information as important in his mind before heading to the most prominent house he could see in a few miles' radii.
He wanted more information, so he figured a noble or wealthy individual might have more information than the commoners.
At his destination, he used a Spell to map out the entire mansion before heading straight to the place with the most books.
'A magic barrier?" thought Edward as he looked at the locked door in front of him. So, he used Gueldre Poizot's Permeation Magic which not only turned him invisible but allowed him to pass through some magic spells or barriers.
Without wasting time, he began to read these books as countless of them floated in front of him, with their pages turning automatically.
Suddenly, a blade struck directly for his head. A shield appeared to bounce the attacker back, and Edward turned around before canceling his invisible spell.
"How did you detect me?" he asked the middle-aged man holding the katana.
"A foreigner? And an Onmyo Mage one at that?"
"So, you're just going to ignore my question?"
"Why should I interact with an intruder in my own home?"
"Fair. Is it still possible for peaceful negotiation?"
"What do you think?"
After saying that, the middle-aged man rushed toward Edward; his speed was extremely fast, but not fast enough for Edward not to react. His Grimoire floated in front of him before flipping a few pages.
Then, numerous tree branches came from the wooden floor, trying to capture the middle-aged man. However, he would cut them with his sword or evade them with great agility and skill.
Unfortunately, too many of them were too many, so a tree branch soon caught the middle-aged man's leg.
'Damn it. I did not expect this foreigner had such mastery of the wood element. I guessed I have to take this seriously.'
"Equip," said Toru. Then, armor appeared on his body and an illusory katana with red markings. The illusory katana fused with his normal katana, making it appear sharper and more dangerous.
'A samurai?' thought Edward as he watched this transformation. 'The magic system of this place might be unique.'
Toru swung his sword, creating flames to burn the tree branches. Then, his boots also turned red before rushing toward Edward again; his speed was at least five times before.
'So, the armor not only gives him elemental properties but also augments his physical abilities.'
More and more trees came in Toru's path, but he could predict the place of their appearances and cut them with his katana, not to mention the additional fire damage.
Meanwhile, Edward calmly watched Toru cut off tree branches after branches while he observed him deeply. He could sense the mana inside the latter's mana.
Toru divided his mana into two: one section to power the sword and armor, and the other to enhance his physical body. Additionally, Edward noticed he could only apply his fire attributes to strengthen his physical body.
When it comes to using it as a spell, it had a limit of 2 meters diameter around him. Beyond that, the flame will naturally extinguish.
'Is this place's magic divided into Warriors and Mages?' thought Edward based on his observation and the few words this samurai revealed.
'Alright, let's not waste any more time.'
So, before Toru could react, countless chains came from his blind spot and bound him. Moreover, even his mana was also sealed. Then, Edward looked at the small army outside the room, waiting to barge in and save their lords.
He controlled these people's minds and made them forget what occurred here before ordering them to return to their posts. Finally, he read Toru's mind to better understand the situation in this land.
"So, that's how it is," he muttered as he understood why he was discovered. This samurai sensed his Ki; unfortunately, he did not know much about Ki to completely hide from an expert. After all, Yami only knew so much since he left his country when he was ten years old.
The second thing he noticed from the information was this land did not use Grimoires in their magic systems.
Thirdly, he learned about the socio-political and economics of the Yamato Dynasty. However, he frowned a little at what he found regarding magic. 95% of all magic knowledge is kept in the hands of the royal families.
Nobles can access basic knowledge like how to control spirit energy, which is the name of mana in this place. However, if they want access to advance knowledge, they must attend the Onmyou Royal Academy.
Using the map he found in Toru's mind, he opened a portal outside of the Capital; he then placed a seal on his Ki before heading to the location of the Academy.
A serious look appeared on Edward's face as he looked at the building from afar. In that Academy, he sensed Zuriel's location, the third Origin Grimoire, and the power of the Universe Will.
'What is going on?' thought Edward as he felt things were getting more complicated. So, he created a Mirror Clone to sneak into the academy. As expected, even when sealed, he was detected by the strange power of the Universe Will, alerting the higher-ups of the academy.
Additionally, teleportation was impossible on the school ground. So, he had to disperse the clone to escape.
'The Universe Will in this Academy is as weird as the one I noticed in Elysium.'
Edward proceeded to check the Royal Palace, but he also had to stop from afar. He discovered a magic array that connects the Royal Palace, the Onmyou Protection Hall, and the Academy, with the latter at the center, which allowed them to borrow the power of the Universe Will.
Although Edward could use brute force to deal with the problem, he wanted to be cautious. No matter how strong he was, he would pay a terrible price if he were careless.
"I guess I'll be attending school. It's been a while," he muttered.
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Another disclaimer: Little to no information about the Land of the Sun is revealed in the Black Clover manga besides the name, and Yami is from there. So, the plot forward is all my creation.