Chapter 1: A meeting in fate
It was raining, a plenty and rough rain that seemingly put a gloomy mood into the atmosphere. It was a day that made shopkeeper's think 'business is gonna be slow'. It was a normal thought to be had, considering who in their right mind would come to a store in piss-poor rain that seemed intent on drowning your very soul.
But, one store was seemingly open in this street. A shop by the name Treasury. The owner of said shop was sitting inside, drinking tea and reading a novel by the faint light of the lamp near his desk.
He was well dressed, a suit of black and neatly trimmed hair which was black in color and was slightly long tied back into a pony tail.
He was not too old, most likely twenty if one wanted to guess. He lived in Tokyo for a certain number of years before his parents died and he moved her to Kyoto after finishing school and opened a shop which sold practically anything one would want.
An orphan, a shopkeeper, and sharply dressed, can anyone guess where the story was going?
The shopkeeper went by the name Thomas Adams. He was a hafu, atleast that's what many of the old people seemed to call him. He preferred the term daburu, it had a more positive meaning of culture combination.
Then again, his feelings on the matter was more amusement than anything.
As he was reading the novel in his hands, drinking tea of a bitter blend, he had other thoughts swirling in his head as he read.
'I wonder if middle-earth is real?' he thought as he read through the hobbit. It was a book he never got to read in his first life and he wanted to enjoy the sensation that seemed to stock the fantasy world.
His thought was one he always had when he picked up the novel. Since he reincarnated, he always wondered if other worlds were real, a passing thought that plaueged his mind often more than not.
He sighed as he set the book down, marking the chapter with a dog ear and took a swig of the tea that was near him. He adjusted his glasses and got up from his comfortable placement and headed down a nearby hallway.
The hallway wasn't particularly long and at the end there was only one door marked with the symbol for infinity( Mugen).
He opened the door to be greeted by a person who wore a simple one piece dress which while displaying her emfeminate beauty, also gave a type of modesty to her being, which only seemed to enhance the allure of her body.
She had crimson hair which reached down to her waist and was tied in a loose ponytail. Her eyes were a brown color and his skin was unblemished.
"Ah Adams! Nice to see you again!" she greeted Thomas as he stepped through the door, seemingly abandoning her comic books which crumpled listlessly to the floor.
"Hana, I literally was here not even a couple hours ago" Thomas deadpanned as he pulled at Hana's cheek. "Owie!" she screamed lightly as Thomas let go, leaving a subtle red spot on her cheek.
"You shouldn't be mean to ladies you know! No wonder you haven't found a wife!" screamed Hana as a proverbial arrow seemed to pierce the mans heart.
"You sure are rough Hana-chan" he said with a tone that feigned being hurt but he did chuckle slightly at her joke, even if he felt it was a bit much considering he wasn't trying to find a wife yet.
"Well that's what you get you jerK!" she shouted as she stuck her tongue out at him in a particularly childish manner. Thomas could only sigh at this as he rubbed his eyes and wondered if maybe he made a mistake.
"Anyhow, what are you here for?" asked Hana after she had her fun. While it wasn't uncommon for a social visit, he must have came here for something else as the atmosphere didn't fit a social visit.
"I was just looking for a book on magic if we have one" he spoke and Hana looked at him like he was dumb. "This is the infinite Treasury, of course we are going to have a book on magic" she said exasperated as she floated the book over to him.
The book was weathered and was seemingly falling apart at the seems. It had no title, or atleast, no visible one. Thomas opened the book and the characters were legible and readable to him, of course due to some innate talent that he could read, speak, and write in any language.
He perused the book and its mysteries were bare to his eyes. Of course it spouted the basic rhetoric of how magic was the art of utilizing mana to cause a change in the world. It was extremely basic to the point Thomas put it away to focus on trianing it.
He sat in a meditative pose and began to breathe in a calm and rhythmic manner. He clsosed his eyes and focused on his breathing. He let the air flow through out his body and felt it map out his body.
He sat there in silence for a little while, trying to feel out the mana within his body. After what seemed like hours, he got....nothing.
Nothing.
That is what hours of meditation got for him as he sighed while he opened his eyes. "That was awful" he muttered as he rose from his position as Hana, who was off somewhere else, finally came back.
"Done already?" Hana asked as she sat down a glass of tea. It was not as bitter as Thomas's preferred blend, but it would do for now.
"Thank you Hana" he grabbed the glass as he gave thanks and took a great swill of it. It was refreshingly cold, as if it was chilled using the coldest of ice. "What did you chill it with?" he asked casually as Hana said "Casket of ancient winters".
He nearly spit out his tea at the news.
"Seriously?" he sighed as he remembered that object he came across when he first went to explore the vault he was given. He almost couldn't close it before it began to freeze everything. Thank God he made Hana to help him with it.
"Yeah, I was able to modify for recreational use" she waved the statement off as something casual to be said. If anyone were to here what she used it for, they might just have a universed sized heart attack.
"Yeah yeah" Thomas said as he exited the vault to go back to his front counter. He was waiting for customers as usual, but he had a feeling no one was gonna come to his shopp today. He sighed as he picked up his book and began to read as per usual.
Then a pleasant surprised happened.
The bell of the store rung and swing, ring-a-ling.
In stepped a man with an unusual appearance. His hair was white, and it didn't look artificial either. He wore a uniform that seemed to indicate he was a teacher of some sort. He also wore a black blindfold over his eyes.
'I wonder if that hampers his sight?'
He seemed confused on where he was right now and Thomas got his attention with a short cough.
His eyes snapped forward and his fingers almost pulling off his blindfold but he resisted at the end. "What a nice little shop" the man commented as he looked around the nice decor. He seemed to be a man of means, if the quality and subtle body language choices were clues.
"Hello sir, welcome to Treasury. How may I assisst you?" Thomas spoke as he lightly bowed to the well dressed man. The man seemingly looked him over and extended his hand forward.
"Gojo, Satoru Gojo. You can call me Satoru" said Gojo as his hand was gripped in a firm handshake by Thomas. "My name is Adams, Thomas Adams. You can call me Thomas" he introduced politely.
"So, what does the shop sell here?" asked Gojo, who was vaguely curious. "We sell anything you can imagine. If you are having trouble coming up with an answer, how about some tea while you wait" said Thomas as a tea set materialized onto the counter with a steaming pot.
While it wasn't seen by Thomas, Gojos' eyes widened at the sudden materialization of the tea. 'A cursed technique like construction? Or is some spatial-type?' were the questions swirling in his mind while he thought over the shopkeepers words.
"You sell anything?" Gojo asked as he grinned at the shopkeeper, Thomas, who nodded expectantly. Gojo decided on one rediculous thing to ask for. "How about a method of immortality?" asked Gojo. He decided this would be the product to ask.
He expected Thomas to say he didn't have it or it would take time to prepare or some other crap to delay it. However, on the counter materialized a vial full of glowing liquid. "Here is a vial of immortality of a lower grade. As long as your brains intact and you have energy to spare, your immortal" said Thomas as he looked at the dumbstruck look given to him by Gojo.