As the second day of the Holy Grail War dawned upon the Fuyuki City, its clueless inhabitants woke up to go about their day.
Harry, being young as he was, was part of this group of people. Clueless and careless.
Even so, he knew that things had changed.
First off, the Servants that he and his family summoned for a 'war.'
Second, the way that his father and older brother grew tense in the past three days. Even if he didn't understand much of what his father had told him, he knew that there was danger outside. Which was funny, considering that he understood everything his Tome said but not what people said.
Good for him, it was because now he got to spend more time reading the Tome.
So he sat in his room with the Tome open before him. His father's Servant, "Saber," sat on the other side of the room with her armor and sword out.
Harry didn't pay attention to his environment. Instead, he dove deep into the lore written in this book.
Today, he was reading something called "Zulu Rituals."
Zulu Rituals were developed in cooperation between the mundane and the magicals of the Zulu people. Most of these rituals had much to do with divine the luck, future, and prosperity of the ritualist. Materials used in Zulu rituals involve bones of animals, liquid of any kind, soil, and living sacrifice.
Initially, Zulu rituals were disregarded as a magus or wizard ritual due to its shamanistic nature. One of the reasons why Zulu rituals were dismissed as primitive magecraft was due to the first contact magus not taking the personal symbols seriously. If the ritual in question does not use the ritualist's personal symbol of whatever is centric to the ritual, then the ritual just does not work.
They were given their due, however, by Mage's Association when United Kingdom of Great Britain was the ruler of South Africa. This included the measure of wiping out any magic-related incidents that may expose magecraft to the mundane world. Due to the actions of the Mage's Association at this time, recorded accounts of Zulu warrior shields ricocheting rifle bullets and monstrous size of some of the Zulu warriors were wiped out. It was by the fortune of a collector that a mere dozen such account are preserved.
Unlike the magus populating Europe, whose primary goal was to reach the Akashic Records, or the Swirling Root, which is said to contain knowledge of everything and anything past, present, and future, the Zulu mundane and magicals were not interested in such ideas (because it didn't occur to them that Root existed). They were more focused on the improvement of their general lifestyle.
It is because of this that the Zulu rituals contain the fourth most colloquial rituals despite possessing less than two hundred years of written language. Yes, the Zulu magicals have their own written language that's not based on Latin alphabet.
The diversity of the Zulu rituals is made better by the fact that unlike Eurasian rituals, Zulu rituals do not require the ritualist to know a single written language, for the rituals were developed with the lack of a written language in mind. On top of that, it does not require a single unit of mana or od from the ritualist in question, although it does perform better.
In fact, one might call the Zulu rituals one of the many roots of the modern Voodoo rituals.
Ritual of Cleansing
Description:
This ritual is designed to remove a single ailment from target.
Required materials: Soil, body paint (any color), ritual knife
Recommended materials: Soil, cleaned thigh bone, ritual knife saturated with prana, body paint (white)
Steps:
1. Paint the ritualist's personal symbol of healing onto the chest of the patient.
1.2 Paint the ritualist's personal symbol of the ailment in question onto the chest of the patient.
2. Evenly spread dirt around the patient so that the patient is covered in dirt, even the painted symbol.
3. Make a single cut on the patient's forehead with the ritual knife. The ritual knife should be saturated with prana, patient's or ritualist's, or the ritual will take an hour to commence.
4. Optional: Place the cleaned thigh bone at the feet of the patient with less than ten centimeters from the patient's feet.
5. Ritualist: Chant: "Sawubona, umngane emhlabeni! Ukusiza lo mphefumulo. Aphulukise lo mphefumulo. Umngane emhlabeni."
Comment:
*It takes about approximately five to ten days to fully heal the body once the ritual is complete, but the ritual can only heal one ailment at a time. For example, the ritual can cure the AIDS but not cold. It can cure cold, but not the AIDS.
*This ritual cannot work for self, only others.
*The cleaned thigh bone is the outlet for the disease. This reduces mana required from the environment and makes the process expedite.
Ritual of Ox's Strength
Description:
This ritual is designed to boost the target's strength. It is an additive ritual. No surface change outside of changing muscle mass and height occurs.
Required materials: Any animal, soil, body paint, ritual knife with prana
Recommend materials: Ox, soil, ritual knife saturated with prana, body paint
Steps:
1. Paint the ritualist's personal symbol of strength and conquest onto the chest of the patient or self.
2. Kill the animal and have the ritual's target stand on top of it.
3. Make a single cut on the patient's forehead with the ritual knife.
4. Ritualist and Target of Ritual: Chat: Besingeba inyama yakho namandla! Chant must go on for an hour and a half at the very minimum. Otherwise, the ritual aborts.
Comment:
*The reason why this ritual was hard to perform was due to the fact that they were prized possessions. Only kings, the rich, and other prestigious members of society could afford the cost of the ritual.
*Can be performed only once on anyone.
*The animal can be any animal, mundane or magical. It is the strength of the animal (with a few pounds) that is to be added to the ritual's target.
*This ritual is one of the many Zulu rituals requiring prana.
*Watch out for the bones.
Ritual of Cheetah
Same as Ritual of Ox's Strength, though the sacrifice is replaced with an animal that is fast. The chant is also different. Instead of strength, you speak speed.
Ritual of Power
Description:
This ritual is designed to steal magical core or magic circuits from the victim. The victim must have fought the ritualist beforehand and lost in earnest.
Required materials: magus(sacrifice)(alive), 50,000 units of prana in any form of storage, ritual knife
Recommended materials:magus(sacrifice)(alive), 50,000 units of prana in any form of storage, ritual knife, cleaned thigh bone, ropes
Steps:
1. Paint the ritualist's personal symbol of magic and conquest onto the chest of the ritualist's own chest.
2. Cut the magus so that that he/she drains blood slowly. Magus must not die until final phase. Use the ropes to bind the magus, if available.
3. Make a single cut on the ritualist's forehead with the ritual knife.
4. Rituatlist: Chant: Duse kokunqotshwa, mina bathi ilumbo yakho!
5. Kill the magus.
6.Rituatlist: Chant: Duse kokunqotshwa, mina bathi ilumbo yakho!
Comment:
*This is a modern ritual.
*Can be repeated.
*Stolen magic circuits connect to the existing network without much issue. Only the most incompatible souls reject the others' magic circuits. In which case, bye bye. You're dead.
Ritual of Purification
Description:
This ritual is designed to clean food or water before consumption.
Required materials: Soil, food/water, ritual knife
Steps:
1. Place food/water(in non-metallic holder) on top of a mound of soil
2. Stick the ritual knife into the substance
3. Wait for two hours.
4. Ritualist: Chant: Umoya womhlaba, ukuhlanza ukudla kwami. Ukuthatha engcolile enhlabathini lapho kungase ngukudla kini.
Comment:
*If you can't do this ritual, don't advance. Give up.
Harry turned to Saber. "Let's do this!"
Saber raised an eyebrow. "Do what?"
Saber was ... amazed. The youngest Emiya was magus that even she had trouble understanding.
After all, children do not read the dustiest, oldest, and the thickest book he comes across in his life for fun.
...But children do attempt to do what they see and hear. Or read.
"I do not believe that Kiritsugu would allow you to do this," Saber said sternly. "It is also my responsibility to see you safe and sound. My honor would be stained if anything were to happen to you."
Harry looked at Saber for a second.
"Because I'm a kid?"
Saber nodded.
Harry grinned back. "It's okay then. It's not like I'm doing anything experimental."
"Regardless, using magic without guidance or a veteran-"
"I know," Harry replied. "No one lets me do anything, even though I know so much. Even the book says so."
Saber blinked. "The book says so?"
Harry nodded as he pointed to the tome he was holding. "Mr. Obscure says so."
"Wha-?"
Then Saber froze as the entire room plummeted with pressure. Her entire body buckled and she was shocked. She knew what she was feeling at the moment.
Killing intent.
Normally, only the most veteran or bloodthirsty warrior could exude killing intent. It was, after all, a matter of will. She was confused, though. She was confused because of where the feeling was coming from.
The book.
Then the pressure of the killing intent was gone. Only silence remained.
Instead, her skin rose as one as goosebumps covered her entire body as the silence stretched on.
The book.
It had changed.
No longer was it old or dusty. It was no longer bound in leather.
Rather, it was gone.
And in its place was Harry... covered in moving scripts and -!
"Ms. Saber?"
She blinked.
And everything was back to normal.
"What-?!" she hissed as she drew her sword and looked around.
Harry stepped back in shock at seeing Saber draw her sword. "Ms.S-Saber?"
Saber paused.
Everything was back to normal. Then what was that before? Why did she feel the book and why did she see Harry covered in scripts.
"I-It's nothing," she replied as she sheathed her sword.
But it wasn't nothing.
Harry smiled. "Alright then. Anyway, let's do this."
Saber sighed. "Harry, we aren't."
In the end, they did it.
It was a minor ritual.
Ritual of Spiritual Perception.
It was found at the back of the Zulu rituals and required only one thing: soil. The steps were easy too. Make a cut on the forehead and shove dirt and prana in at the same time while dunking your head in dirt water.
Easy, not clean.
In the end, it allowed Harry to see the spirits partially. The ritual itself was only meant to aid those already with spiritual perception and served to boost their senses. So the fact that it worked at all showed that Harry did possess some spirit perception. Just not enough to matter before the ritual.
Also, Saber only allowed the ritual to happen because she had seen Merlin perform a similar ritual, except Merlin had the help of the spirits, or as the Englishmen know them, the fae.
Harry's reasoning had been that if Lancer and Caster could astralize, other Masters can't see them. But now he'll be able to regardless of his connection to any servants because he could now visually see spirits. Partially.
Saber thought that it was also a good idea and allowed herself to be subjected to Kiritsugu's slow and quiet lecture on what is safe and not.
"Harry, you will not perform any more magic or magecraft without my express guidance. Is that understood?"
"But how about Shirou?"
Kiritsugu's cheek muscles ticked. "Is that understood?"
Harry looked downtrodden even as he said "Yes, tou-san."
'Shirou was a special case,' Kiritsugu reasoned with himself. 'He also doesn't modify his body.'
While the Emiya household was building up their defensive foundation (courtesy of Caster, Shirou, and Kiritsugu), a Master was on the warpath.
Namely, Kirei.
With Kakashi at his side, he attacked the first Master he came across.
Matou Shinji, the Master of Rider.
Shinji had been cornered in his own school where he had been setting up traps for the eventual attack on his person.
He was a coward but he wasn't stupid. He knew he had to prepare and with his lack of magic circuits, he would be an easy picking for most, especially assassin.
So he had Rider trap the entire high school he was attending in hopes of taking out Assassin.
Except this Assassin was too good.
The Assassin disabled all of his traps within five minutes, disabled his Rider, and chased him through school.
And he was now at the edge of the rooftop with Assassin holding a kunai against his throat.
"No personal feelings, kid, but Master wants you gone," he said.
With that he withdrew his kunai-
-and pushed the boy.
Kirei watched the Matou boy fall from a distance and smiled when he struck the ground. The boy's skull had caved and brain matter was decorating some of the nearby students in a new macabre fashion.
He relished in the screams the students made.
Terror.
How delightful.
He smiled and left. He only regretted having to use one of his Command Spells for such a small fry.