The Pain of Hiatus Part 2
Unknown time, with Zelretch…
"Oh, here's the party! May I come in?"
"Of course not, you do technically live here after all!"
At the door step to Zelretch's room, Zelretch opened the door to let the guest in, and the guest looked… exactly like Zelretch?
"Well then that makes you the twenty-fifth me to make it to my party!"
The two shared a mirthful laugh, as they shared a private joke. Something all the guests knew due to their unique, or rather exact circumstances. For inside Zelretch's room was exactly twenty five versions of himself that had been bored enough to come.
The room had expanded to fit several hundred more comfortably, and on the wall was a holographic projection of an ongoing film, that Zelretch was apparently fully enjoying. There were many different types of food and beverage being served, some were mundane, others were alien to this dimension, but they all looked delicious. Tables were set to the side of the wall that contained these scrumptious meals, refilling the plates whenever so much as a gram of food was taken out. An invisible flight of stairs was at the centre, supporting the weight of several tonnes of platform, used to house hundreds of thrones with a cloud-like consistency. Zelretch would have full view of the playing movie due to the magic involved.
"Oh, it seems that the movie has started already!"
"No worries, we can speed the movie up at complacent events or set it at normal speed during interesting ones. While waiting for me to sit down, the movie has been set to normal speed!"
"I see! I'm a genius!"
"Indeed I am, now take a seat, more will be coming"
Zelretch and Zelretch made his way to the centre of the seating. He settled in in the cloud-cushion to fully savour the entertainment he had set himself up for. He found it relaxing to be alone with himself. It was good to laugh with someone when enjoying it, right?
With Blacklight 'Shirou'…
Alright, this was getting nowhere. It decided that manually eating by mouth was incredibly inefficient. Though it felt little pain, it did feel a heaviness that was disproportionate to the strength it had assimilated. The tendons in its jaw was absolutely sore, so despite its bellowing appetite, it could no longer keep eating the same way it had been.
It needed a new way to consume, like direct assimilation…
It paused in its futile chewing, realizing the inefficiency of the stomach that was unable to digest more that its full load every few hours. The body was strong as its species could get at this age, but it was still too weak.
It needed to be stronger, to eat its fill, so it would not threaten those it did not consider a threat. He wanted to see them smile… he wanted to be a hero that made those precious to him, smile…
It thought and thought searching through the library of information it had accumulated in ways its body could apply that knowledge. It though so intensely, it made no notice of the brief illumination of gold that came into existence from its heart for a fraction of an instant before disappearing as it was never there.
At the same time, it did not notice the subtle, but definite shift in his mentality…
Fuyuki City, Two months after Shirou's departure…
Outside the Emiya Estate, a man with questionable origins began knocking upon the massive wooden gates. He wore conspicuous black, and had a bulging stomach that did not seem to fit with the rest of his skinny frame, His hiking boots were black, his jeans were black, his sweater was black and his hap was black. All of it in the middle of summer no less. Had it been anywhere else, he would have been immediately apprehended by the police and investigated under the suspicion of a being a terrorist.
However, this was the Emiya Estate, home of one of the world's most notorious mercenary alive. A real terrorist would not have made it past half a dozen steps within the park itself before being shredded by the slew of traps both mundane and magical that surrounded the area. The fact that the man was still alive proved that he was here with peaceful intentions at the very least.
As soon as the man placed his knuckle upon the wooden gates, they gave way, immediately parting into an open path into the mansion. He did not hesitate to march straight in, it would not do to show up his appointment after all.
Especially if it was the same man who could frame a murder of one of the most politically powerful men in the world on a kitten with a plastic spoon…
He bit his lips as he removed his boots and entered the home. The tight corridors made it hard to more around with his 'package', but he managed to do so without tipping anything over, or rather there was nothing to trip over.
The man knew the floor plan of the structure, the places he would travel to first was the living room. The other rooms were on lock down as far as he was concerned, he would not dare impose anything upon the owner of this home, ever.
"You're late, the tea is cold." The chillingly empty tone of the voice jerked the black garbed man, just as he entered the room. He felt an icy claw scrape at his heart for the moment his eyes met with the home's host, then it disappeared on the next words. "No matter, did you bring it?"
"Y-yes, I have the Starlite right here, a whole kilogram of it." The man nodded, beginning his unwrapping of the package he carried. He took off his sweater, as well as several other layers of clothing to reveal a metallic casing strapped over his heart, an advanced lock with an old fashioned key hole was upon it. "Do you have the k-key?"
In response, Kiritsugu rose up and jammed his hand into the key hole, the key in his hand turned with a sickening squelch before it fell away. The formerly black clad mad sighed in relief as it did so. Kiritsugu used his other hand to catch the package within it as it fell from the loosened binds He did not spare a second glance at the man with t device attached over his heart.
"M-may I leave now?" It was more of a plead than a request, but Kiritsugu simply waved him away. The man bowed once before collecting his discarded clothing and escaped as fast as he could
He supposed that his reputation helped in that regard, still it was a something that was not on sale. It had to be stolen, and it had cost him half his fortune, but it was worth the investment to do so. He would be dead soon from the vile curse that flowed through his veins and it would be up to his son to take up his mantle in his stead.
Perhaps one day, he would share his dreams with his adopted child. Right now, he had more pressing concerns, like figuring out how to make enough of these to protect his son, and figuring out its properties.
Setting the metal casing upon the table and opening it as easily as a jewellery box, Kiritsugu could not help but think of how black it was.
Within metal casing was a short cylinder with smooth edges and polished sides. It was matte black, even though the sides were polished to a perfect sheen, he got neither reflection not roughness when he felt it out. It was odd, as objects that were matte black did not have a smooth surface enough to reflect light.
This object… the light seemed to ignore its existence rather that reflect, refract or bounce off of it. Even as he firmly gripped at it, he felt like he was staring at a solid illusion. It was not 'real' to his senses.
Under it was a slip of paper, and he replaced the strange object back to where he had took it from. The note was a detailed manufacturing process of the substance, as well as its properties. He was more focused on its properties at the moment.
Starlite AKA 'Self Amplifying Solid State Energy Foci Mark Three' or SASSEF Mk.3
Make-up: SASSEF Mk.3 is a successful fusion of raw energy into a tamper able form that is molecules.
Phenomenal Strength and Durability: This material shows disproportionate 'stubbornness' in its molecular bonding, able to withstand any chemical agent or injections of energy form breaking it apart. Molecules seem to attract each other like a magnet and bond exactly as intended. These joined molecules are far stronger than the sum of each individual's activation energy. The sum is greater than its parts, this applies greatly in this case.
Once bonds form, it cannot be broken down by anything other than being soaked in an artificial chemical agent bath specifically made to break down these bonds for several hours. This time extends as the molecular chain extends.
Negligible Weight: SASSEF Mk.3 seems to be both buoyant and static. It 'clings' to particles that are lighter than it when in air and shares it buoyancy, lightening it so long as there is atmosphere. It has proven to be of its exact mass when in a vacuum.
Molecules of SASSEF Mk.3 seem to resist change by pure physical effort. It will certainly yield, but will immediately return to its original shape with no deformations once released. Additionally, it requires an exponential increase of applied force to bend it. In Theory, it would take a force reaching infinity to bend it in half perfectly, and even then it would bounce back. Making it, in essence, static to any form of deformation.
Sentient Moulding: Of all things that is easiest to determine is its initial shape. Once it is cast into a specific form, it will remain in that form for an indefinite period of time unless placed into the special chemical bath to take it apart a single molecule at a time. It resists change to the form it was cast in, and easily takes up an initial form to perfection beyond even the casting's precise designs.
Elastic: SASSEF Mk.3 cannot cut. It can apply pressure great pressure in any form, but it cannot Puncture a balloon, or cut a dried leaf. Instead, the material crushed the air out to the balloon and crumples the paper through blunt trauma.
It does however make excellent at absorbing any form of kinetic impact or radiation no matter how thin.
Self-Amplifying: As mentioned earlier, SASSEF Mk.3 exhibits self-augmenting traits when joined with other SASSEF Mk.3 molecules. Indeed, while a tank shell may be able to pierce through a single molecular sheet of SASSEF Mk.3, it would be stopped by a one more layer. This mysterious effects seem to apply to all of its properties. There is strength in numbers, does apply here.
Note, upon testing, it is determined that a centimetre thick ness in enough to protect whatever is behind it from a ten mega tonne nuclear warhead, while two in enough for a twenty five megaton dropping right on the target.
Shocked couldn't even describe just how Kiritsugu felt at just how Overpowered this material was. Despite the sheer cost it took to assemble and disassemble, it was more than worth it.
He placed the note down and picked up the matte black cylinder with his left hand. Now that he thought about it, it was certainly light for an object of its size, and despite how much of his meagre strength he place upon it, not that there was much left, the material refused to give.
It was certainly useful, but therein lied the problem…
He had no idea how to make it work to his advantage. He did however know someone who could. It was someone he did not want to see, after all he'd already sent his son to that same man… in a place where he was as hated as he was feared.
If he could not make it work, then it really was just an indestructible block of something. Completely useless save for a paper weight.
Sometimes Kiritsugu wondered what he was thinking when he took up the Einzbern family's job offer… then again he wouldn't have been able to get Illya if he had not met Iri…
It was surprising how much Maiya could teach Irisviel about copulation, and up until today he still wondered how she learned so fast…
The Pain of Hiatus Part 2
Dear Diary,
These are the first words I've ever written on something that isn't going to be seen by anyone but me. I am beyond grateful for this gift, this gift of privacy, my true sanctuary.
My room isn't bad, it has all the luxuries any child my age could possibly want. However, I am not a normal child. This is not my room… and the people I live with could not possibly be 'people'.
I'm going to indulge to you a secret alright? You can't tell anyone!
You see, my real name was Sakura Toshaka, my blood sibling was Rin Toshaka. We both had the same hair and eye colour, and no one would be able to tell us apart unless we told them despite my sister being older! So they cut my hair and I personally thought-
No, I'm rambling. Grandfather does not like it when my mind wanders, otherwise it is another training lesson again.
About a year ago, I was given to Grandpa since our families were so close together. They had no heir, and we had me and my sister. I went, and have yet to see my sister since.
Since then I've been through many rigorous training session. I call it torture, because I was told that my screams didn't stop until the third week. Then they took me out to recover.
It hurt… More than anything I could possibly imagine.
It felt so wrong while I was in there, like, like… I can't describe it properly. My vocabulary isn't as developed as a kindergartener would allow it.
Any ways, thank you for listening to my whimsical needs! Even if you're an inanimate object, I really appreciate the attention!
Sakura Matou
PS: I must thank that man for giving you to me. He looked like a weirdo, but… his smile… I wished he was my grandpa instead.
I would do anything to escape this hell…
The Pain of Hiatus Part 2
"Oh, hello there Magus Killer, didn't see you there!" Zelretch prattled on carelessly even as said assassin stood less that an arm's length away. While the magician smiled and laughed, Kiritsugu was as tense as a whipcord, ready to snap at a moment's notice. His tenseness came two fold.
First, he had been enjoying a morning cup of tea, whilst reading up on the world news to see the current events, when he was suddenly whisked away from a sun-lit yard, to a darkened theatre with Zelretch in it.
Second, he was surrounded by Zelretch. There were probably nearing a hundred in number. All of them were magicians just as powerful as the original. He could do nothing but be compliant in the face of such logically insurmountable odds.
"What. Do. You. Want." His tone was even and every word was clear, but it was choppy due to the cutting of emotion off of them. His face was set in stone even as he continued to drink his tea. He would not show weakness, not even to someone who could send him to the ends of the universe and back for a prank if he so wished.
"Come now, don't be so rude! Are you not an Ally of Justice? Why not watch the next generation take up the mantle?"
"What are you-?"
His own question was choked off as he saw a flashing screen to the left. He turned his head and almost dropped his mug if not for his lifetime of discipline. There was a live feed of his son, if the 'LIVE' on the top left could be trusted, absorbing the ground around him.
"Amazing isn't it? This adaptation to the environment? Rather than working in separate natures, they are working together to create a solution, that benefits both but sacrifices neither."
There on the screen was Shirou, there were minuscule Goosebumps all over his body, and each of those Goosebumps supported a translucent chain of elongated links. Each end of those links were sharp and pointed. They were stabbed into the ground and the same ground around them was simply drawn in. Wait, those were not elongated chain links, they were… linked blades in some form of element he could not recognize.
He could see his son's form continuously expand and compress, and as he did so, some flew wide into the sky above or the oceans. It was strange, but that did not concern him.
His son was in visible pain, if his hard pants and grimace was of any indication!
"What did you do to my son?" All thoughts of caution were thrown out the window, as fraternal rage overcame him. He did not care that he was lifting a powerful magician off his feet and yelling at the top of his lungs, nor did he care that there were almost a hundred more of the same calibre. All that mattered was his son's apparent state of pain. "I trust my son to you and this is how you repay it?"
"Oh, I assure you that it I nothing of the sort! You're son went through the portal of his own free will!" Well, not the destination, bat that hardly mattered! "Besides aren't you more concerned on what your 'son' is doing?"
"Shirou is MY son! I couldn't care less if he was some magically charged, sentient virus with the potential to wipe out humanity in weeks!"
"Well said!" At this, the Magician disappeared from the enraged father's grip and appeared further away. Kiritsugu quickly cooled his features, scolding himself for the loss of control in front of so many- of Zelretch. "Now then why don't you show me that little miracle material you've been wanting to ask me to replicate?"
"I won't even ask" The assassin said in a resigned tone, the Magician probably knew everything, so deception was useless. He took out a metal container from one of his hidden pockets, and handed it to the magician. "You probably know of my intentions for it."
"Indeed. Prepare your adopted son to save his Estranged sibling, and carry on your mantle!" The wizard marshal continued to speak, even as he left his cane to hold itself up as he opened the box, "But, have you not seen enough of the Grail's corruption to last several lifetimes? You would force your son to face that same evil that put you in this condition in the first place?
"The Holy Grail war won't start for another-!"
"- Nine years, even with those explosives you set up. It will only serve to handicap your son as the future participant" His voice gave no indication that he was doing anything other than observing the strange material. It was… odd.
"My son?" Kiritsugu almost choked on blood at that part. Was he really dooming his son and daughter to a fate worse than death?
"Indeed, he will either die or encounter a fate worse than death due to your carelessness in improperly destroying the contaminated Grail. However, if you can work with me, I can ensure a good outcome"
"Why don't your just use your Magic?" It was a stupid question, he knew the answer as soon as it passed his lips, but the turmoil of emotions was keeping his lips loose.
"I would like to answer that interference would cause turmoil in different dimensions… however I cannot." His answer came out like a pouting child rather than the powerful magician he was, "His particular future is closed to me, so I can only affect him in the present… sadly."
"I see" Kiritsugu did not ask why, he knew he did not possess the mental faculties required to understand the answer. Besides, this could work in his favour… to protect what remained of his family. "What is it you need?"
"First you must understand something about your son. His powers and abilities, then we shall talk."
"Alright, I'm listening"
The Pain of Hiatus Part 2
He could feel it resonating within him. They wanted release, whatever they were. Trying to burst through his skin, yet not harming him.
He wanted to let the sensation of countless pricking needles loose. It was pushing painfully against his skin, and his own circuits were beginning to pulse in bursts... however this time they were not flowing.
When once, his circuits were constantly growing and developing far too fast for his immature body to handle. Its growth rate had tapered off significantly, to the point where they had actually closed for the first time, and had not opened since. He had not managed to open them since.
Now though, they wanted out, but he had no idea how to provide an outlet for it.
He remembered Kiritsugu's lesson on activating his magic circuits, that lesson was burned into his memories due to the shock of Prana flowing through his systems for the first time in such an overwhelming manner. He remembered diving into his very own soul to fix the problem, he remembered the very first words he used to hypnotize himself, to awaken the magic that had laid dormant inside him.
How could he have forgotten?
"Trace On"
The words came as naturally as breathing, like an atrophied limb that was only now getting activity. It was slow and painful, but it became easier with continued use. But these words were like a switch, and his dam broke. The Prana stored into his body flowed themselves out from every pore he possessed.
With this discharge, the pinpricks that he had felt under his skin ripped themselves free with great force. In that instant he knew several things.
First, it hurt! Like searing metal was being shoved out of every pore of his body before into turned jagged and began crudely slicing its way out.
Second, they were draining his Prana at a decent rate, even for his own large reserves of power. He could even feel the ambient Mana surround and enter him as it converted itself into usable Prana for the first time. The Mana felt 'delicious' in this world, a vast distinction to the hostile feel that his home world's Mana felt. Like it WANTED to me consumed.
Third, he felt every single one of the newly formed appendages. They were strange, but at the same time, like a limb that had been cut off, and then re-attached. He could not control every single one of them like he had been using them for all his life. They were vaguely directed by his will, but seemed to be semi-independent.
Fourth, he could 'perceive' the world around him in a different sense. As if the world that had been previously been hidden, was unleashed. It was as if he was performing a Structural Grasp on an impossible scale, on everything the new appendages made contact with. Its history, basic make up down to even the subatomic particles, and its formation. The information would have overloaded his brain if he had been human.
Fifth, he saw his new appendages. They were moved in front of him, and he saw that they were the same translucent pillar blades that supported the all-encompassing gate in his soul. They were connected end to end, from the tip to the pommel, able to freely rotate, yet fixed t that very point. He could barely see them, they were more like dessert Mirage's than the actual object itself.
Finally, they acted as feeding tendrils. Plunging into the edible ground beneath like the sharpened slabs of steel they appeared to be, and formed craters where they landed. These depressions came from the surrounding area in the process of being drained. Fortunately this did not seem to matter, as the ground itself seemed to flow toward the feeding tendrils as if willingly being consumed.
Shirou could feel his body shifting as it took in the new source of nutrition directly. His analysis of the protein-ground showed that it did indeed contain every type of amino acid possible, as well as impossible. The oceans was rich in free ions of all the elements in the periodic table and beyond, as well as comprised of what could arguably be called energized water as the solute for all the entire solution. The air had a similar composition to earth, but instead to free nitrogen, there was instead free flowing bundles of simple sugars taking up the area. This world was certainly strange.
But his body was even more so.
Seconds ticked, yet he felt like it were minutes. His bones became impossibly denser. His muscles became denser as well, but he could feel those growing inwards as they increased in volume rather than out to come with the compressing of his body. Every part of his body became denser and larger, and it came to a point where his baby fat had been burned away for enough energy to convert the free amino acids to fix themselves into his body.
The Phantom Chain Blades continued to, literally, suck the planet of its nutrition. The land became his body, the oceans became his blood and bones, and the air was the energy that provided that conversion to take place.
Shirou instinctively reinforced himself, filling his body with more meaning in order to lessen the pain. His Prana filled every imperfection it could find present, and much to his surprise, the Prana was immediately replaced with the influx of nutrients from his feeders. It effectively being a permanent reinforcement. He did nothing to direct the nutrients anywhere, not consciously anyway, his body seemed to know what to do well enough even without any commands.
Without constantly Structurally Grasping his own body he had no idea what was going on. One moment he was in an apathetic persona, disregarding human concepts, then those concepts became partially fused into his core being. He didn't understand fully what pain was, but he could at least slightly comprehend the feeling. He understood human biology, as it was a purely intellectual fact of information, but did not comprehend when a cell died. To him, living cells became part of his being when they were consumed. Death was a concept as alien to him as reaching for a reflection of the moon, it held no meaning to him. Not even now…
As it was, he did understand that the changes being undergone was definitely not something any human, no matter how perfect their genes, conditioning or upbringing, could ever hope to survive. This wasn't merely enhancing the body through chemicals, this was the restructuring of the entire body into a far more combat adaptable form, without losing the base properties on which it was built upon. Substitution and restructuring, it was painful but at least he was able to keep his human guise, unlike Alex Mercer, which had just been one highly compressed point of Biomass from his former species, with little in the way of organs or bones.
His constant surveillance told him that his body was not rapidly mutating into a better killing form, but rather it was honing itself in a more… refined manner. It was nothing like the shifting mass of tendrils, his fictional precursor had become. He was still in a human form, but with each second, his compressed mass was pushing against each other with greater pressure. If he wanted to escape this world, he would have to eat it, and to do that, he would have to make even more… adjustments.
Right now, his six-year old frame was at its limit. It was compressed, every imperfection squeezed out until there was nothing left to improve upon, unless he was willing to forego the human form. He was not willing to do so.
He was unwilling to lose the humanity he had stumbled upon, even as a mask. However, that did not mean he was unwilling to take up another form, perhaps it was possible to convert this world into a more compressed form outside of his own body?
No, perhaps it was time he grew up.
His cells had received more than enough nutrients to mature.
The Pain of Hiatus Part 2
"How much longer will it take?" As of now, Kiritsugu, could do nothing but watch. To his left, Zelretch was sharing a bag of buttered popcorn with Zelretch. To his right, Zelretch was intensively the mysterious SASSEF Mk.3, occasionally jotting down notes in the dimly lit cinema-room while staring through an open portal leading to an unknown dimension that he had wanted to test it in. Apparently this was the fifth of several dozen intensive experiments he intended for it to go through, and each one had several dozen more categories he could not fathom, attached to it. The Wizard Marshall may not be as fanatic about research as the Clock Tower's inhabitants, but he was extremely thorough in whatever he did.
Like watching a live action film of his son rapidly growing up into a fine young man before his own eyes, setting up a party technically comprised of himself and the Magus Killer, and setting the SASSEF Mk.3 into absolutely bizarre scenarios he could not fathom the application of it was.
Wasn't he supposed to just reach out and make more of that stuff?
Oh right, he signed a Geass with the Sorcerer that basically made him the lucky, in exchange for caring for his son's well-being. If his wife were here, she would probably chastise him before driving them to the beach to have a relaxing walk. Provided that he was still conscious after the ordeal.
Irisviel, driving… two word that should never go together. Under any circumstances.
For all his late wife's compassion and care there was one thing that scared him more than anything else. It was her horrendously terrific driving skills. He did not know how to describe it. Either she was such a natural behind the wheel that she could afford to take up absolutely insane stunts, or that she was so lucky that even drunk on adrenaline, her reckless driving was just a hair's breath away from being lethal. Even though he suspected the latter, he dearly hoped it was the former. Sadly he would never know.
Such a depressing note to end his train of thought…
Discarding the memories bubbling out, Kiritsugu instead focused on how his son was faring, which was quite conveniently on a screen facing him.
Currently his son had ceased his spasmodic jerks of pain as an impossibly enormous amount of nutrients flooded his body. Now it was like watching a fast-forwarded version of his son maturing right before his eyes in full detail.
Shirou was currently bare of all articles of clothing, and as such Kiritsugu could see that the child-like form he had become accustomed to living with for the past year grew into an adult. His body grew as it was keeled over on his hands and knees, leaving an impression of where his weight had formerly rested at. Yet even with the arbitrary point of reference to compare, Kiritsugu still could not believe the sight before him.
His shoulders widened and thickened, his arms elongated as much as they thickened, it was a physique suitable for one who drew heavy-weight bows intensively. As archers generally must pull back and hold their position until ready to fire, their upper bodies and arms tended to be much stronger.
There were no lopsided muscles developing despite the unnaturally high rate of growth, his body was totally symmetrical in build, just as he had been when he was first found. This accelerated grown came to a stop upon reaching approximately the one hundred sixty centimetres mark
For an instant the boy-turned teen seemed relieved. The tight expression he had been holding dissipating into a more relaxed one. That moment lasted far too briefly, and as soon as it had passed, the same process of feeding continued.
Kiritsugu wanted nothing more than to have his Thompson Contender at this moment to aim at Zelretch. Even though it would shatter every bone in his arm at the fragility of his current state, and the bullet would most likely not hit its intended target, the Magus Killer was certain he would have felt a some form of pleasure at being able to threaten one of the most powerful people in the world and get away with it.
This was his son suffering, and there was nothing he could do except wait for his life to fade faster from constant stress.
(A/N: Sorry, I'm trying to describe Shirou's transformation into Heroic Spirit EMIYA's physique with Shirou's height during cannon events. I know it's no good, but please bear with me. It is as torturous for you as it is for me.)
With Blacklight 'Shirou'…
'Growing up' turned out to be much less painful than he expected it to be. Perhaps it was because he had an over-abundance of nutrients supplied constantly to fuel off of, perhaps it was because the changes were too fast to notice, or maybe he just did not have the concepts required to feel unpleasant whilst growing up.
His body matured, taking on the full musculature that he could have gotten through dedicated training and a harsh lifestyle. His S.G. told him that he had grown to exactly one-hundred-seven centimetres in height. In this form, he felt so much less pressed for room, it was nice to not feel like simply exploding due to over compression. He relaxed somewhat form he abated pressure.
Just as quickly though, that relief was soon swept away by his the feeling of more nutrients filling his system. Immediately, he reinforced his body as much as he could, uncaring if some became damaged, it would relieve the pressure if he actively helped rather than simply await the end like last time. Again he felt his body expanding, before forcibly compressing the excess biomass flooding in into a far more efficient form.
His cellular structure had changed due to the compression, now the majority of his original cells had been enclosed into some form of fail-safe, this represented his heart, whose function had yet to change despite the whole thing having nearly all his original biomass inside of it.
All of his cells were far more compact, efficient, resilient, and responsive. With just barely being a Nuclei with some organelles floating in compressed cytoplasm, they were quite tiny and easily arranged to make the most of the space given. More cells were produced as biomass poured in, they joined the rest. His Reinforcement efforts helping the arrangements to smoothen out the fitting process for each one.
It was not hard, but the constantly building pressure was almost more than he could take. He might not know the concept of 'Death', but he sure knew what the concept of 'Pain' was. He was getting stronger, but at the same time that same strength threatened to tear him in two if he did nothing.
He took a look around, and with his enhanced eyesight, found a good chunk of the continent was a depression several hundreds of kilometres in radius and less than a hundred under the sea level, if the stream of liquid pouring from above was of any indication. He had eaten a lot, but he was far from finished due to the Planet's strange want to feed itself to him almost forcefully. It was scary in a way, such willingness to be devoured…it's not like the Planet was actually alive a planning something right?
…He shut down that unsettling train of thought. It was far more disconcerting than he realized. He would not look a gift horse in the mouth, if the planet was indeed planning something, well he would burn the bridge when he got there. Besides, Zelretch chose this place, he trusted the Wizard Marshall enough to know he would not place him in a position for some malignant entity to enter him. Which he could be vulnerable to now due possessing a soul rather than a gestalt intelligence.
Once more, he could feel the compression reach its limit. His skin may have been restructured to withstand more stress than any material on earth but it was still in danger of splitting open from the sheer mass it was attempting to contain. A planet was a planet for a reason, they were massive heavenly bodies and attempting to squeeze one that was on the scale of Sextillions of tonnes into a human frame typically weighing less than a hundred kilograms was not a good Idea.
Not unless you could squeeze the electron clouds orbiting each nucleus so that it just touched the nucleus of the atoms. If that were possible, then the compression wound be a hundred-thousand times more efficient. His frame would be able to handle a hundred thousand times more than the amount it was just barely holding in at the moment. Such efficient behaviour would just barely allow him to squeeze together the whole planet, core and all. This was given that he had just swallowed a whole continent's worth of biomass, but his SG form the feeders in the ground told him that he had not even consumed 0.001% of the planet's entire biomass.
This was however impossible in what he had studied in human knowledge. Such a phenomenon was not possible for humans to achieve at the current level of technology, perhaps in a few decades it would be, but not now.
Fortunately, as one able to freely mould his own soul, albeit in an extreme emergency, he did not understand the human concept of 'Impossible'. He could do anything, shift to anyone, even now he was attempting at consuming a planet!
The knowledge was to help him was there, but it was under lock and key.
Fortunately, he did not feel particularly patient given the fact he felt his body begin reaching its limits. If he did not act fast, then the involuntary feeding would go out of control and either reset his progress via an explosion, or create an unexpected change he really did not want to ponder on.
"Key: Unlocking phase one." The words came of their own accord, he neither summoned them nor did he think of them. Oddly, they felt right given the situation. Maybe it had something to do with the Sky-Gate within his soul? Initiating phase one: Instinct imprint"
He did not know what happened next, as the world had literally disappeared before his very eyes…
With Zelretch…
"Well, then that was entertaining! Let us move on to the next episode, shall we?"
A/N: Hopefully I did not make Shirou too OP, and if you all got the hint of a possible antagonist, then good for you! If not, then do not fret! It may not be anything at all!
Also, can anyone clarify to be the difference between Od, Prana and Mana? I seem to see the used interchangeable, most notably Prana and Od. It would be a great help!
How do any of you like the Sakura's new diary? Anyone? Let me know!
Confirmed abilities:
Ability Name: Phantom Chain-Blade of the Feeding Feelers
Passive/Active: Active
Manifestation Location: External Sphere
Description: Manifests countless blades connected end to end like a chain over the skin surface. Anything they touch will be Structurally Grasped down to their metaphorical base components for a smoother assimilation into the main body. These act to analyse the environment up to three hundred meters accurately, as well as assimilate biomass in large quantities. It can be forced to perform at a higher rank if actively used. They are composed mainly of Prana, but make use of Biomass when assimilating surrounding Biomass. It is costly to use, so recommended to only use when vast amounts of Biomass are available to prevent simply breaking even.
Magical Energy Units Consumed upon activation: Five per individual length.
Magical Energy Units Consumed to maintain activation: 1 per minute per individual length.
Magical Energy Units Consumed if actively used: 10 per minute per individual length.
Biomass Units consumed upon activation: One per individual length.
Biomass Units consumed to maintain activation: One per minute per individual length.
Biomass Units consumed if actively used: Three per minute per Individual length.
Rank: E
Type: Anti-unit
Range: 1-20
Maximum number of targets: EX (due to being dependent upon users' current reserves of Biomass and Prana)
Omake Two: An Incarnation of Sword is still a Sword!
"I ask of you, are you my Master?"
She asked me this as her slender from contrasted beautifully with the regal armour she wore. The moonlight that shine from behind seemed to only enhance that aspect of her to an unreal level. Her emerald orbs glittered like finely cut gemstones at they locked onto mine.
"Yes I am, Servant Saber"
(Line break)
"Master stay back, it's dangerous!" The man in blue tights and a blood-seeing spear faced off against the beautiful knight maiden. She was shielding me from death with her dainty body.
"Ha, you really want to fight so bad girlie?" The man seemed to be more excited in her than me at the moment, so I took the moment to catch my breath.
"I shall be the one to face you, Lancer" Saber reached out to grad an invisible blade, but I could not see it. Was she stepping closer to me?
"Oh, my weapon was obvious wasn't it?" He took no notice, of the movements, simply waiting. Judging from his relaxed posture, he was letting Saber have the first strike. Immediately I though up a plan.
"Saber, listen-!" Whatever word I had formed was cut off as the beautiful knight maiden suddenly grabbed my neck with one hand in a reverse grip before placing the other. The Pressure was beginning to choke me, and I had no idea what was going on. Lancer seemed confused as well. "Saber, I'm-ack!"
"Behold Lancer! Prepare to feel by Blade!" She ignored me in favour of swinging me over her head as if I were a sword as she ran over to a dumbfounded Lancer. At the last momentum however she seemed to realize her mistake and let go with an incredibly guilty look, and let me go. The moment of the swing bruised my throat, but even more importantly sent me hurtling toward the Servant of the Lance.
We made eye contact for a brief moment as he dodged my hurtling form. In that instant we understood what the other wanted to say.
'Women are scary!'
Then I knew a world only of painful splinters and a pounding headache and nothing more.
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