Prologue - The Summoning

Waver Velvet was a Magus - in other words, a practitioner of Magecraft.

Once he'd stumbled upon a package to be delivered to his teacher Kayneth in the Clock Tower, he discovered it was related to a ritual that took place in the Far East - in a city called Fuyuki in Japan - and he knew it was his chance to prove himself.

He went to study the ritual, which was apparently a war.

But it wasn't between countries - it was waged by seven Magi who were known as Masters and seven Servants - that is, spirits of heroes from the past, present, or even the future. They were summoned by and worked with the Masters because they sought the Holy Grail. However, it was not certain whether it was the Grail that King Arthur himself wanted in life. It was - at the very least - an omnipotent wish-granting device that resembled the original.

Three magus families, the Tohsaka, Makiri, and Einzbern, cooperated to produce the ritual itself - which would materialise the Grail. However, their cooperation soon became a violent rivalry - the conflict that was now called the Holy Grail War - for the Grail would only grant one wish.

After opening the package - originally from Macedonia - he discovered that it contained a catalyst that would aid in summoning the Servant it was related to.

Only moments before this, Waver had been ridiculed by that very teacher - Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, for writing a theory titled 'Magecraft of the Next Century.'

It proposed that Magecraft no longer had to be tied to blood and lineage and that newer families could potentially become more powerful than those with hundreds of years of studies and knowledge passed down to their descendants.

Kayneth's reply was blunt.

He considered it a childish fantasy, and when Waver tried to object, Kayneth shot him down immediately. Then, he proceeded to mock Waver's three generation lineage - referring to Waver's family as but a baby compared to the long history of the Mage's Association.

So, after he received the package and was told to deliver it, he felt like it was the perfect opportunity. This was his chance to prove to Magi like Kayneth that his theory was worth giving some consideration.

He flew, package in hand, to Fuyuki.

Once he arrived, he used hypnosis on an elderly couple to make them believe he was their grandson coming back from America, so that he could stay on their house. After a couple months of preparing for the ritual, he was chosen by the Holy Grail as a Master in the war.


Waver took a deep breath after preparing the summoning circle for the ritual that would, if successful, summon Alexander the Great.

He couldn't help but remind himself of Kayneth mocking his theory at that very moment - and that memory made him angry.

'Getting angry will solve nothing - I need to keep myself calm,' he thought, before starting to brace himself for whatever might happen once his Servant was summoned.

Feeling ready, he began chanting for the Servant Summoning ritual, and the summoning circle started to glow in a faint blue tone.

"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill.

Repeat every five times.

But, when each is filled, destroy it."

He paused, briefly worrying about the summoning - 'What if he's a weak Servant?' - before thinking that there was nothing he could do about it right now and resuming.

"I announce.

My will creates your body, and your sword shapes my destiny.

If you heed the call of the Holy Grail, and you abide by my feeling, my reason, then answer.

I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world.

That I shall defeat all the evil in the world.

You, Seven Heavens clad in the Three Great Words of Power, come forth from the circle of binding - O keeper of balance!"

As the summoning circle's glow increased in intensity, Waver felt a surge of adrenaline well up within himself - for the Ritual was working as intended - and surely Alexander the Great himself would answer his call.

Or so he believed.

The glow of the summoning circle slowly subsided, revealing the Servant he had summoned.

He was shocked, to say the least. 'No way, Alexander the Great is a little girl?' he thought, his brain grinding to a halt for a while before he realised that the Servant he had summoned was not the legendary King of Conquerors.

Possibly noticing that he was too shocked to say something, the girl spoke up, "Umm, are you my Master?"

He was thrown further into the depths of confusion by that simple sentence because she did not seem imposing - even for Magi standards, let alone having the sheer presence that Heroic Spirits were rumoured to have.

She looked like an ordinary middle schooler - sporting a rather feminine pink dress. It was a casual dress - one that looked modern, no less. Which only sprouted more doubts within Waver.

He started to wonder if things were going to work out in this Grail War - thinking he had drawn the weakest Servant of the seven and would be defeated quickly if he did fight the others.

'Still, I guess I should reply,' he thought - deciding to settle for a neutral way to address the girl in front of him until he knew more about her.

"Yes, I am," he paused briefly, contemplating whether to say anything else before deciding to fish for information, "But what is your Class?"

She seemed to consider that for a couple moments before awkwardly replying, "Uh, I've been summoned as a Caster. It's nice to meet you?"

Waver sighed in exasperation - causing him to miss the stare of disapproval she was giving him after she looked around the forest clearing they were currently in because he made the summoning circle not with silver but with chicken blood. A pile of chicken was right next to the circle itself, making that clear.

"I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Waver - Waver Velvet."

"You can call me Illya," noticing the way he groaned, she quickly added, "It's okay if you don't recognise my name - I'm not famous at all, but I know how to fight, probably."

"That doesn't reassure me at all!" he shouted, startling her a little, then started to rant. "Damn, where did I go wrong with the summoning? Everything was supposed to be perfect!"

Getting the general idea of why he was ranting, she spoke up, "Hey, so basically, you need a demonstration of my power, right?"

He stopped ranting and looked at her as if she had grown a second head, but nodded, gesturing for her to continue.

"I hope this is good enough," she said, taking a deep breath.

She then swung her arm as if to slash something with a sword, revealing a previously Astralized wand in her hands, which threw a thin blade of pure prana at a tree and sliced it cleanly in half.

Waver was about to praise that, but instead of stopping there, the prana blade sliced a couple more trees cleanly before stopping altogether - making him speechless.

"Oops. Seems I overdid it a little again. By the way, that was called Schneiden," she said, but noticing how he froze, she decided to ask, "Are you alright?"

"W-well, I suppose you are stronger than you seemed. But we should get out of here - the other Servants will no doubt come to check this place out after that kind of attack," he told her - apparently unnerved by the possibility of a battle right off the bat.

"Sorry. I guess you're right," Illya replied, laughing sheepishly.

They silently made a short trip back to the house where Waver was staying for the duration of the Grail War. While walking, Waver began wondering whether this sheer power would be a blessing or a curse during the war.