Disclaimer: Fate/stay night and Log Horizon belongs to Type-Moon and Mamare Touno respectively. This is a fan work so it's free. I made this for fun, constructive criticism is good, constructive flames will be considered before ignoring. So please be gentle since this is my first fanfic I've put on the internet and English is not my main language.
Summary:
Old and retired, Shirou Emiya decides to find a hobby at his family's advice. So he turned back to play Elder Tales in which also the time when the Twelfth expansion pack was released. How was he supposed to know that the game would become real?
Prologue
-(Shiroe's POV)-
"Naotsugu pay attention to the right!" he shouted to the tank.
"Right, leave it to me!" replied Naotsugu to Shiroe's warning with a yell, raised his silver shield and shielded himself from the Briar Weasels attack.
"Emiya covering fire on Naotsugu!" he yelled to Emiya.
"Okay, covering fire coming up!" Emiya bit back while calmly firing his bow from a tree and was followed by explosions.
'Seriously where did he get explosive arrows, there's no such item back in the game.' He thought with a bit of bewilderment.
"My Lord!" shouts Akatsuki
With one blow, Akatsuki quickly restrained the green twisted ivy reaching out to him from the left, and right after that, she lowered her body and positioned herself to protect him.
This place was the Herbery of Small Stone. It was a small zone but as it held ancient entertainment facilities, which made it different from the ruins surrounding it. But there are great variations in the terrain, thus making combat a little difficult.
"Then again, isn't this a little too many?" he joked after observing the number of enemies.
"Their numbers increase whenever Naotsugu cracks a dirty joke." Akatsuki replied.
"Well since you tempted Fate itself." supplied Emiya with a nod which prompted a smile on the girl's lips.
"So it's my fault?" Naotsugu retorted with a frown on his lips.
Without replying to Naotusugu's retort, he casts a bluish-white magic arrow and fires it at the Briar Weasels. Mind Bolt was a basic attack magic of Enchanters, an arrow of mental energy that struck a single enemy.
While he was looking at the rodent-like creature that was roughly a meter in height as it shrieked and jumped about, an icon appeared in his mind.
The said icon had turned pale to represent its cooldown time, and it was slowly recovering like an hourglass. Until the icon regained its lustre, he can't cast the spell again. However he still has other skills to use.
"Rush them! Akatsuki, attack their left flank!" He ordered. "Emiya restrain the right flank!"
"Roger that!" Akatsuki responded while rushing to the location.
"Copy that!" Emiya promptly replied.
"Leave it to me!" Naotsugu also replied
Furthermore, even if all of his skils were unusable, Shiroe currently had three comrades to rely on.
"Haa, let's do it! Shield Smash!" Naotsugu shouted to no one in particular.
The silver-armored warrior, who quickly advanced down the moss-covered path and swept his shield sideways, mowing enemies down, was Naotsugu. He was a tall guy with short hair and jovial-looking eyes and he was Shiroe's friend from the old days.
His class was Guardian. Among the 3 warrior classes that could single-handedly draw in and tank enemies' assault, Guardians boasted the greatest defensive abilities and in Elder Tales, were nicknamed "Unbreakable Shield".
"… Too slow!" Akatsuki also shouted.
A young girl, who gave one the impression of a swallow, made a quick dash into the gap that appeared from Naotsugu's assault. A strange creature that looked like a burst rugby ball with glass-like fangs growing from it attacked but she cut it down with the short sword she wielded as she passed it.
This petite girl with her black hair fluttering in the wind was Akatsuki. She called Shiroe "My lord" without hesitation and was also Shiroe's friend.
Her class was Assassin. It was a resourceful class that wielded one-hit skills. It boasted of having the highest physical attack among the 12 classes of Elder Tales.
"What's with the kid's these days? Always shouting at the top of their lungs. Oh well Spark shot." Emiya groaned while casting a bluish-white electric spark to one of his non-explosive arrows. Spark Shot is one of the advanced skills of Ranged Assassins, an arrow covered with electric shocks that splits when it hits the target while giving minor damage to the surrounding enemies.
The blue-coated archer which gives one the impression of being calm and firing arrows in a steady rate was Emiya. He was a tall guy with white hair and tanned skin with cold calculating eyes and was also one of Shiroe's friends from the old days.
His class was Assassin like Akatsuki. But unlike Akatsuki who is wielding a short sword, he is using a black long bow with two chinese dao swords currently sheathed behind his waist. He is actually a good guy when out of combat but his expression always become emotionless when in combat.
Though he viewed the movements of his friends in fascination, he hurriedly advanced forward.
His class was Enchanter.
Among the three magic attack classes, it was a 100% support class type specializing in support and battle status magic. As was common for magic attack classes, the Enchanter's defense wasn't something to rely on. Leaving out Naotsugu's full-plated armor, it couldn't even equip the leather armor of Adventurer's like the set Akatsuki and Emiya was wearing.
Under the huge white gown-looking mantle of his, there was nothing more than an ordinary tunic shirt and a pair of trousers.
Shiroe, who was the rear support without defensive abilities, could not be left alone on the battlefield; he needed to take the opponent's area-of-effect magic into account while keeping in mind that being overly close to the front lines could be dangerous. So the best method was to be wary of ambushes from the rear while maintaining a set distance from Naotsugu, Akatsuki and Emiya.
Needless to say, the Herbery of Small Stone was not a field-zone of high difficulty.
The monsters that could appear in this zone were Triffids , Briar Weasels, and Venom Moths; all around Level 50.
All of them were Level 90 Adventurers.
In the World of MMORPG, Elder Tales, they were the highest class of power. Even if Shirou's defense was low, he wouldn't receive much damage with that much of a level gap.
Furthermore, although Naotsugu was up against a large number of opponents, even if it were just ten or twenty Triffids, they were opponents of a level where they could be taken care of single-handedly by any of the three party members.
'Even so, the current situation…..' he mused.
Till now, the four of them had carefree looks on their faces, chatting and bickering, but Naotsugu, and Akatsuki both had serious expressions right now. Even Emiya's warm eyes turned cold.
Battles were terrifying.
Even if one had a strong body or a sound mind, even if one cast magic or used a sword skill, when facing monsters, fear still lingered. 'Although there is no trace of fear in Emiya's face.' He pondered after looking at everyone's faces.
Both feet o the ground, hands firmly gripping his staff, they were all parts of his body. The wind that blew past his cheeks, the piercing howls of monsters, the adrenaline that was pumping through his blood, they were all that Shiroe experiencing at the moment.
Tooth and claw that suddenly appeared in front of their faces, flames or acidic attacks assaulted them. Needing to dodge or intercept these attacks at the front-lines was a lot harder than the three of them thought apart from Emiya, who told them that it is like dodging bullets aimed to your body, probably speaking from experience. In order to overcome to conquer this handicap, they had no choice but to accumulate combat experience, this was the conclusion all of them had come up.
"Watch your right!" He once again shouted to Naotsugu.
"I got it!" Naotsugu promptle replied.
Despite a serious look on his face, Naotsugu still swiftly looked in the direction that Shiroe had warned him from, swinging the longsword in his right hand. Although it wasn't a critical hit, it was sufficient to restrict the movement of the Briar Weasel.
The weasel extended its green briar, glaring with its crimson eyes as it chirped two or three times, pulling back by curling its body into a ball.
The attack just now had proven their suspicions.
They were all Level 90 Adventurers, originally if they met these monsters that were around Level 48, it would be impossible for a situation where there would be an "Attack Failure".
Despite being Level 90 Adventurers, they were still unable to wield their skills to the best of their abilities yet.
"Nightmare Sphere!" He chanted.
That was why they had to carry out their roles the best they could. He who had arrived at this conclusion executed an area of effect skill. Nightmare Sphere was an area of effect attack magic that Enchanters possessed.
Even though it is an offensive skill, the damage that it deals is very little.
The Enchanter Class was not versed in offensive magic from the start. Compared to other classes of the same level, the attack magic that Enchanters could dish out by themselves was very weak; this was a fact to everyone. The skill he used traced out an unreliable arc, landing right in the middle of the weasels and the moving plants and violently exploded; it seemed that it did not cause much damage to the opponents; this was the best proof that Enchanters were weak.
Even though they were monsters who had levels half of his, he was unable to defeat them in one strike, only able to use attacks of such low damage, this was the trait of the Enchanters as such it was an unpopular class in Elder Tales.
As players, they were ruthless when playing games. In a world where language and communication was restricted, numbers were something that was absolute. Despite being in a game universe and precisely because it was a game universe, it caused this world to be a caste society that was even more heartless and strict than the real world.
The highly popular classes and the outcast classes had a very large evaluation gap.
However, even though it wasn't popular to normal players, Shiroe was not even unhappy with his class. It would be great if he had some special ability that he could use, despite lacking in that, he was still able to find a way to enjoy playing this class. This was his playing style. Furthermore he liked the Enchanter class. Including this troublesome trait, its weak abilities as well as its hidden versatility, he was interested in all of them. The class that was 'useless when left alone', it was completely different from Shiroe's own shortcomings; Shiroe liked that particular point very much.
The Nightmare Sphere that he cast released a colorless mental wave in its area of effect. The multiple enemies caught in its area were all affected by the wave, they seemed to have suffered grave mental trauma, resulting in a huge drop in movement speed. It was the status ailment of movement speed reduction. The Nightmare Sphere was a skill that had short effect duration but it was capable of inflicting a crippling effect on its target.
"Yeah! I can fight better like this!" Naotsugu boasted in excitement.
"Thank you, my lord." Akatsuki also cried out in excitement.
Emiya just nodded to me in acknowledgement. He was shouldering his bow and unsheathing his twin swords to engage the enemies in close combat.
The monsters that there group were currently embroiled with were Triffids and Briar Weasels, although they looked menacing and hideous, the height of the two monsters were only round a meter.
"Alright! I got one!" Naotsugu once again boasted after killing a monster.
"Same here!" Akatsuki cried out after killing one.
"Not bad, Shrimp!" Naotsugu shouted to the small assassin.
"Don't call me a shrimp, Idiot Naotsugu!" Akatsuki replied to Naotsugu's taunt.
"Hmm, you got one each while I got two per each of your kill!" Emiya mocked to the two while methodically killing the other enemies with his twin swords.
"Shut up you Snarky Bastard!" Naotsugu and Akatsuki shouted in unison to the taunt.
The three teammates weren't people who would only engage in negative thinking.
Naotsugu's positive thinking was exceptional; although Akatsuki was usually silent, she was not behind Naotsugu in that field of thinking as well; and Emiya in his combat mode was just following the flow, albeit in snarky and sarcasm dripped words that sometimes make the two to do better.
As long as an opportunity was provided and ample support was given, they would be able to repeatedly defeat monster. Shiroe only needed rear support for the three, if Naotsugu and Akatsuki had monsters left over that they had missed, he would only need to use magic to restrain them as well as provide a final blow since Emiya never left anything his attacks.
Lowering the movement speed of the opponent was something that would turn the tables to one's advantage. Since that point was understood, would know what he should do, that would mean using Nightmare Sphere or Astral Bind related restraining type magic's to restrict the enemies, completely taking the role of supporting the front lines.
Thinking closely, it was not that big of a deal at all, it was a basic battle stategy that had repeated countless times.
'At the very least, we can't continue struggling with these low-level opponents; I still haven't tested a new formation yet.' He pondered over such thoughts.
"Take that!" Naotsugu yelled.
"Haa!" Akatsuki also cried.
Emiya was just silent as usual in killing the monsters.
The three of them were seasoned players with tons of experience. As long as there was an opportunity, they would become partners that focused on teamwork who got along remarkably well. His preconceived doubts vanished.
"It's over like that?" Naotsugu questioned to nobody while he swung his one-handed sword in a large arc, wiping the blood of his sword before returning it to its sheath.
"No not yet." Emiya replied to Naotsugu's question while throwing his twin falchions near Naotsugu's head and hit two Briar Weasels thus killing them. "But now it is over." He said in finality and promptly retrieved his swords.
Coming out of his musings, the battle was already over.
Shiroe nodded his head in support of Emiya's comment, dispelling the magic that he had been readying.
"Hey, Emiya are you trying to kill me?" Naotsugu questioned to the white-haired man.
"We defeated a lot of monsters already." Emiya stated completely ignoring Naotsugu's question while looking at the surroundings.
"There seems to be no more indications of any enemies in the surroundings, maybe it'd be best to stay alert for a while. I'm sorry, but can you three help collect the loot?" Shiroe called out while beginning to observe the surroundings.
The warning indication in his mind changed from red to calming blue, indicating that battle mode had been deactivated.
Naotsugu, Emiya, and Akatsuki started collecting the loot that the monsters dropped after being felled and bursting into bubbles without leaving a single carcass.
It was fortunate that the moon was shining brightly high in the sky.
'Really now, in the end the one that keeps thinking negative thoughts is me.' Shiroe thought releasing a long sigh.
"Hey Emiya, where did you get those explosive arrows you used?" Shiroe asked to the white-haired man. "There's no such thing as an explosive arrow in the game or in the real life."
"Why are asking by the way?" Emiya replied to his query.
"Hmm, I'm just curious. And I just want to know if you can procure them in large numbers." He answered.
"Well truthfully I created it by scribbling some runes in the arrowhead." Emiya replied to his question. "If you are inquiring on where I got those runes and what are they, then my answer is it's a secret. You will know if the time is right."
"Ah ok, do you perhaps have some skills in sword fighting in the real life?" He once again queried to the white-haired man.
"Yeah Shiroe's right, do you have skills in swords?" Naotsugu cut in their conversation.
"Hmm, what makes you two say that?" Emiya replied to the two.
"Well since we didn't see you cast any skill when you are using your swords and it looks like too methodical and too fluid to be a beginner's skill." Shiroe replied with Naotsugu nodding his head in approval to his reply.
"Hmm, the truth is that I do have some skills that may be considered by some people to be at a swordmaster level and you have seen today is my personal sword fighting style that I created myself." Emiya replied without hint of a lie. 'My style though was copied from my alternate future self.' Emiya thought dryly unknown to the people around him.
He and Naotsugu nodded after hearing Emiya's answer.
Looking down, it was the edge of his white cloak, made from tough cloak that was suitable for outdoor activities, long pants that seemed to be of high quality. If he remembered correctly, the shoes that he was currently wearing were made from Thunder Elk's leather, boots that were soft and comfy.
As what he was carrying, it was a staff.
Staff of the Wise Owl- it was a rare item that was able to raise his magical power and casting speed, it was Shiroe's treasure. Around two meters long, it was longer than him.
His appearance gave him a mysterious air. He personally thought that such a design looked great, the word 'great' was not the feeling that he'd use in the real world, but the feeling that one would feel inside the virtual world.
-(3rd person POV)-
'After that day when the incident coined as the Apocalypse happened, everything around them had totally changed.' Both Shiroe and Emiya thought.
It wasn't as grandiose or as sweet as heroic epics, but full of sarcasm, muddled, stress-laden and tough another "Reality".
The "Reality" mentioned, were the monsters that they had just fought against; it was the reason why Shiroe was paying attention to any movement around him, it was the ruins that was shrouded in greenery, it was the teammates who wielded their weapons and skinned their prey.
A cold wind blew through the forest, bringing a chill with it.
As well as leaving behind the fear of battle under his skin.
All of this was currently the "Reality" that they were living in.
Shiroe and his friends seemed to have been confined in the world that was supposed to be just a game, Elder Tales. After the Apocalypse happened, everything changed.
'However, if we can do battles like this we can earn money as long as we fight. We have a bed waiting for us when we go back. Furthermore, since I can meet Naotsugu, Akatsuki, and Emiya because of these in many different levels, this can said to be the most fortunate turn of events.' Shiroe repeatedly sighed, forcibly changing his gloomy thinking into something more positive.
'Rin and Sakura aren't here to help me but I still have some friends to rely on.' Emiya thought while looking at his newly found friends. 'I, Shirou Emiya can only hope for the best in this world we found ourselves in.'
The scene of the day when the Apocalypse happened flashed in both of their heads, the scene of countless players holing up in Akiba filled with despair. Shiroe did not wish to be like them as they fell into a swamp of despair while Emiya thought of helping them crossed his mind, before he discarded the thought reasoning to his altruistic mind that it is those people's way of coping to this new world.
Shiroe and Emiya observed their surroundings as they both recounted the chain of events that happened on the day the Apocalypse occurred.
Shirou's Character:
Emiya
Race/ Human
Assassin, Lv. 90
Author's Note
This Shirou Emiya came from the UBW route. This idea first popped in my head over two months ago and then I promptly searched for a Fate/stay night X Log Horizon. To my complete disappointment there was just 1 fic in which the Hakuno was the MC. So then I thought why not make it a reality than just a mere idea since they are both compatible. Then I started writing this fic while living my life to the fullest. So please be gentle in your criticism.