God who resides in Izumo
Aesthetically certain
Breath of the soul.
Residing in the mountains and watery heavens, Amaterasu
Let this freely become the proof of purification.
Thy name I weighted stone of Tamamo.
Become the sacred treasure, Mirror of Uka!
Just Kidding!~
-Caster; Fate/Extra
A/N: Let us proceed shall we?
Chapter 4: The First battle(A)
While walking along the corridors Conan noticed that there are students roaming around, however they're not talking about their lessons, their teachers and their school activities. The air is also very thick, and the atmosphere is too heavy and it isn't the type that gives the vibe of being at school.
It's like being in a warzone, "It truly feels like a war…" Conan muttered.
Conan can feel the gaze of the people around him, though he doesn't pay attention to any of them he has more important things to do.
While walking around the first floor, he noticed a middle-aged man standing in front of the corridor. He wears a dark cloak and his appearance makes him shiver and Conan himself doesn't know why.
"Hello young man." The man greeted him, Conan looked at his eyes, they're no emotions as if there's no soul, his gaze appears calm but threatening, he feels like he's being torn down to pieces while looking at him. It's a lot worse than Gin's glare.
"Congratulations. You have been deemed worthy to be a participant in the Holy Grail war."
"Worthy? More like a curse…" Conan thought.
"You may call me Father Kotomine. I am an NPC assigned the task of supervising the Holy Grail war."
"So he's an NPC, I guess I can relax now" He's relief to know that this priest is not a candidate in the war, his presence is too heavy that even the shrunken detective can't take it.
"As of today, you and your fellow magi have been given the honour of fighting in the arena and only one must survive." This again, Conan can't help but be disgusted by the rules.
You win; you get out of this virtual world. You lose, you die.
The thought of killing everyone just to survive, he's so tensed he feel like puking.
He's a detective, he shouldn't allow people to die, he can't bear the sight of seeing people kill each other, let alone he himself kill someone for survival.
His thoughts were interrupted when Kotomine spoke, "well then your opponent for the first round is Matou Shinji."
"Shinji!" Conan recognized it; he remembered Tohsaka Rin muttered the same name. So his next opponent is also a child like him. He's not surprised after all; he's also just a child, well in appearance only.
"I hope to see both of you tomorrow for the Elimination battle. I wish you good luck, Edogawa Conan-kun"
(Evening: Private Room)
Conan's POV
"Praetor, what' wrong?" Saber is sitting beside me. I guess I feel more relaxed now that I have someone to talk to. Right now Saber and I are staying on our private rooms, each master is given one private room and I'm the only one who can gain access to it. This is okay I guess, at least I'll be able to think properly about my situation.
My first opponent is Matou Shinji, I have no idea who on earth that is. I wonder if he's one of the kids who were trapped at the Cocoon or he's really one of the participants.
I need to investigate.
I need to stay alive. I need to keep calm and concentrate. Ran is waiting for me.
I can't afford to lose.
"Humn! Yes my master! Your resolve is astonishing…! You're going to investigate am I right? Well then I shall accompany you~!"
Saber is full of energy as always, "Thank you" I said.
(Evening: School Library)
Conan's POV
I tried to go and pay a visit to the library first, there might be books that give information on how to determine what type of servants are there.
I was scanning around the books, when I heard someone calling me.
"Soooo…you're Conan huh? My first opponent" That voice, I turned around to find out that it was actually a teenage guy (around the same age as Tohsaka Rin)
"…"
That was unexpected. I thought it was a child however this guy called Matou Shinji is actually same age as me (not physically though).
"he...he...haha...HAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAAH! This is hilarious! What is the SERAPH thinking?! Huh? Huh? Me battling against this midget?! I'm surprised you even managed to qualify!"
Damn this guy! If only Hakase's inventions are working, I have already kicked him in the face long time ago.
"This game is hilarious! Me, the best hacker in the world is battling against a weak little brat? Give me a break won't you! …Hey! Don't bother fighting! A cretin like you won't win! You'll die anyway…you see I am the best!"
Oi oi…he looks ridiculous and for some reason I'm not threatened however his personality really ticks me off. I didn't even bother to speak up; I have no time for stupidity.
"By the way I would like you to introduce my servant" as soon as Matou said that, his servant appeared.
A flash of light, then suddenly a figure appeared out of nowhere.
A woman around the age of mid 20's to 30's, and she has a huge scar on her face. So this is Matou's servant.
I tried to take a look on what type of weapon is she holding. Servants are classified into classes according to their skills, Saber is wielding a sword so it's obvious what type of servant she was.
Matou's servant is armed with a dual pistol. I read on the book that a servant that has mastery with guns is classified as archer.
"So she's an archer then." I thought
"Seriously, feel free to turn him into a bullet-ridden corpse whenever you like it." Matou gave a smirk and he left.
"Hmph! Immature though he may be, we cannot let such an insult pass!" I can hear Saber muttering beside me, "Just let him be" I said to her.
"But praetor, his total lack of respect and his immaturity is truly disgusting! He needs to be thoroughly beaten!"
"Oi just calm down Saber…" I tried to convince the girl, *sigh* I guess this won't be easy.
(Evening: Outside the Library)
As Shinji went out the library, Conan followed him, he need to investigate on what type of servant he has or how strong he is. Quietly he opened the door and slowly followed him. Shinji is standing on the corridor and he is talking to…someone? Conan tried to take a look only to find out that the person Shinji's talking to is none other than Tohsaka Rin.
"Have you been inside the arena yet?" looks like Matou Shinji is having a casual conversion with Tohsaka.
-or so he thought.
"Interesting place isn't it? I thought it was amazing at first, but it's really pretty primitive. It's like an ocean pulled from a story. I even saw a master who managed to summon Armstrong." Shinji tried to joke around however,
"…"
Tohsaka Rin is not amused.
"Sorry, I was just messing with you. I dig the sea theme. Overall the game's pretty well done."
"Oh, what's this? You actually managed to summon a decent servant then." Rin started to talk and not just stand there.
"Asia's premier hacker, Matou Shinji?"
Conan can feel the air is starting to tense up. Quietly he continues to listen.
"You know, I may have had to take crap from you in the past, but this time the winner is me!"
"With her armada to back me up, I'm invincible. Nothing you can do will be able to even touch me."
Shinji's been gloating for an hour now. Feeling all confident he believes that no one can match him, not even Rin.
However when it comes to destroying an ego and crushing a person's pride, Tohsaka Rin is an expert.
"Oho~! You must be pretty confident to give out information about your servant to your enemy Matou-kun." Tohsaka's eyes are gleaming and her smile is so bright, her sarcasm is so fabulous not even Haibara can compete.
Due to Tohsaka Rin's reaction, Shinji's face went pale. He realized that he said something he shouldn't have.
"Err…y-yeah. Yeah that's right! One-sided fights bore me, so think of it as a gift."
"B-but is it really? I might be lying you know? You might want to forget what I said."
"That's true. A single word would never expose a servant's true name anyway"
Shinji's somewhat relieve on what she said, however she continued,
"However, a class that controls an armada and is tied to a ship will thin out the possible candidates."
"How will she attack? Bombardment or a frontal assault? It'll definitely be physical in nature."
"gah…!"
Shinji's reaction. He's pale face turned blue. When someone find out the Servant's identity. Anyone can easily determine their skills, their weaknesses and their attacks. An opponent can easily plan on how to defeat their enemy's servant no matter how strong it is as long they were able to plan perfectly.
Conan smirked. He was able to get clues against Shinji's servant, as he was about to head back to the library he heard Rin saying something,
"I wonder if the Invincible Armada might be relevant to anything…I mean others will start making references to that, wouldn't that piss off your servant?"
"Well…whatever knowledge is nothing if you can't use it anyway" Shinji walks out.
And Shinji blurted out to biggest mistake of his life.
A/N: And so the info dump ends. The battle will commence on part (B) which will be uploaded soon. ***The bold words are actually keywords so that you can also try to investigate the servant's identity.
Don't forget to write a review ;)
