Interlude - Illyasviel von Einzbern (Caster)
The four Servants watched as Rin quickly closed the door to Shirou's room behind her.
"Well...that was something." Emiya managed to speak out.
"Now what do we do?" Illya asked.
"In a Holy Grail War like this, we should be guarding the Master as they sleep and think up strategies or some course of action." Artoria replied.
"That makes sense." Gudako looked down in thought for a moment. "I've become used to going from battlefield to battlefield, so being able to rest in a modern house is kinda weird. It makes me restless for some reason."
"So we should make a plan while onii-chan and Rin are sleeping." Illya noted.
"I can already think of some things that can be done. We can try and take the leyline at Mount Enzou. We don't even need to keep it, it would be hard to keep the leyline to ourselves since a bunch of people live at Ryuudou Temple. If I can set up a summoning circle on the leyline, it would increase my chances of pulling stronger Servants from Chaldea. No one else can use my circles anyways, so all we really need is to be able to get in and out." Gudako explained.
"We would have to get around Caster first." Emiya explained. "If my memory is correct, she already has a territory set up at the top of the mountain, so if you want access to the leylines there, you'll have to break in. It would take a lot of effort to do so, and entering a territory set by a magus of her caliber without preparation is suicide."
Gudako pulled out her phone and started scrolling down a list. "Let's see here... Caster, Medea. Territory Creation rank A. As expected of Medea-san, just getting past the outer Bounded Field would be nearly impossible unless we have another Caster with an equivalent rank of Territory Creation."
"Amazing," Emiya muttered as he looked at Gudako's phone, which was loaded with Servant info, including a picture, list of skills and parameters, and other important information. "And you said you've summoned and commanded them all?"
Gudako nodded. "See? I even have you on here." She picked out the info page for EMIYA and showed it to him.
He looked at the parameters and skills listed. Most of them were the same, although there were some differences which he pointed out.
"You can actually make Servants stronger by feeding them and ascending them. By fighting alongside them for a long time, you can even make their skills and Noble Phantasm stronger. At least that's how it worked for me."
Emiya was amazed. "You can actually do that? I thought Servants came with fixed skills, and the parameters would only differ if you compared a strong and a weak Master. If it was possible, wouldn't all the Masters in a Grail War try to make their Servant as strong as they could?"
Artoria decided to speak in place of Gudako. "You're thinking in terms of Grail Wars, which usually only last no more than a few weeks. For our fight against the incineration of the Human Order, it wasn't something that was easily solved in a matter of weeks, it took over a year to make sure everything was properly fixed. During this time, Master fed and trained with all of us Servants, and we got stronger for it."
Artoria pulled out Caliburn.
"Thanks to the hard work of our Master, she can even make Noble Phantasms stronger if we put in the effort. For example, my Caliburn used to be rank B, but now it's rank B+. Besides doing more damage, it also heals me when I use it."
"Onee-chan's training with me also paid off when she made my Quintett Feuer go from A+ to EX. It was a lot of hard work, but it was worth it!" Illya added.
"Illya has an EX rank Noble Phantasm?" Emiya eyes went wide that his sister would possess an attack of that caliber. The gap between A and EX was far larger than the gaps between the other ranks, after all.
"Yeah, but it's considered Anti-Unit for some reason. You would think it would hit more than one person with a blast that size..." Gudako shook her head. "Anyways, we were planning on taking the leylines, so can you go scout the area, papa? Your sharp eyesight of an Archer is best at this sort of thing."
"Yeah, a quick scouting run shouldn't take long. What are you planning to do, then?"
"I think I'll strengthen the bounded field around mama's house while you're gone. My EX rank Territory Creation doesn't work with setting up a normal magus territory, so I have to use the rank D version built into my Multipurpose skill to reinforce the existing magical territory mama set up."
"Isn't Illya a Caster? Why can't she do it?" Emiya asked.
"Um, Illya doesn't actually have a Territory Creation skill at all. I think it's because she's a magical girl instead of a magus." Gudako explained, much to Illya's embarrassment.
"Very well, then. I'll be off scouting for a bit. I'll be back soon." Emiya nodded and left the house.
As he left, he blinked as he suddenly realized that he was speaking to a nine-year-old like she was an adult. He sighed and continued on his way.
Artoria and Illya followed Gudako around the building as she reinforced the existing bounded fields.
Suddenly Ruby appeared in Illya's hand and started yanking her toward a particular room.
"Eh? What's wrong, Ruby?" Illya asked.
"I can feel it...my other self is in there!" Ruby exclaimed.
"That door leads into mama's workshop. Should we go in?"
All three girls just looked at each other. Since Ruby didn't seem like she was letting up anytime soon, Gudako decided to just go inside. She quietly undid the bounded fields around the workshop and they all entered.
Almost immediately, Illya was dragged over to a certain chest on the ground.
Gudako slowly opened the lock on the chest and lifted the lid. There were a big pile of papers inside, although it was clear that something was wiggling underneath all the papers.
She picked up the papers, which were all research notes on something about a Jeweled Sword of Zelretch.
"What are all these papers about, Ritsuka-chan?" Illya asked.
"Something about a Jeweled Sword of Zelretch. Looks boring." Gudako replied as she just moved all the papers aside.
Sure enough, there was a copy of Kaleidostick Ruby that was native to this world buried underneath the massive pile of research papers.
"Hmm, do I unseal it?" Gudako pondered. After about 2 seconds, she unsealed it.
"Whew, you saved me! I thought that evil witch was going to keep me buried underneath all those papers till who knows when!" the poor Kaleidostick exclaimed.
"Hello, another me! I knew I felt you here and I wasn't wrong!" Illya's Ruby exclaimed.
"E-eh? Two of Ruby?!" Illya yelled.
"Hey, hey, lemme show you something," Illya's Ruby pulled out a USB cable from the bottom of its handle and connected it to the other Ruby. "It's my album of Illya's sleeping faces!"
"EHHHH? I TOLD YOU TO DELETE THEM?!"
"Illya be quiet," Gudako slammed her hand over Illya's mouth. "You're going to wake them up."
"So...do you want to become a magical girl?" The uncontracted Ruby slowly crept toward Gudako.
"No! Don't do it, it's a scam!" Illya tried to stop the stick.
"As expected of the Kaleidostick, your shadiness level is totally at MAX." Gudako commented to the mystic code with a sweatdrop.
"Mou, fine. I guess little miss Saber over there doesn't want to become a magical girl either? She could have started a new genre, a magical knight princess!"
"Eh, you know who she is?" Gudako asked.
"To be honest, the Ruby with Illya already shared her memories with me through that USB cable, so I already know what's going on. So if you need help saving the world and all, I'll be happy to help. You know, for being the daughter of that evil witch, you're a pretty pleasant person to be around, Ritsuka-chan."
Gudako just shook her head. "Can Illya use both copies of Ruby?" Gudako asked.
"Hmm, I dunno. Lets do this for science~"
"Wait, I never asked for this~~!" Illya exclaimed as the other Ruby forced a contract onto her.
"Eh? It seemed to work." Artoria spoke up as she watched Illya dual-wield both copies of Ruby with no problem.
"Hmm, not bad. Looks like you can channel magical energy even faster now." One of the Rubies spoke up.
"How do we tell the difference between both Rubies now?" Gudako asked.
"Well after the memory transfer between the both of us, we're basically the same now. So it honestly doesn't matter anymore." said left Ruby.
"So just treat us as one weapon, okay Illya?" said right Ruby.
"And also if you ever need to free your other hand, just connect us by the bottom of the handle like this."
The two Rubies bonded together at their base to become a double-ended staff made from both Kaleidosticks.
"Good job, Illya, you look more like a shady Caster with that long staff now." Gudako noted.
"You're not helping at all~!"
Interlude clear!
Infinite Mana Supply C → Infinite Mana Supply B
True Name: Illyasviel von Einzbern
Class: Caster
Alignment: Neutral Good
Master: Fujimaru Ritsuka
Parameters
Strength: E
Endurance: C
Agility: D
Mana: B
Luck: A
Noble Phantasm: A+
Command Cards: QAAAB
Class Skills
Magic Resistance B: Negates spells with a chant under three verses. Highly resists spells with the rank of High Thaumaturgy and Greater Ritual.
Infinite Mana Supply B (originally C): Access to infinite magical energy by drawing on the Second Magic, Kaleidoscope. Even though there is an infinite amount of magic to draw on, it's still limited by the amount that the Kaleidostick can channel at once. Since Illya contracted with a second copy of Kaleidostick Ruby, the skill has ranked up.
Personal Skills
Pleasant-Type Mystic Code A: Since having the Kaleidostick has become an integral part of her identity as a magical girl, this was given as a skill. Can power up buster attacks for one turn.
Child of Nature B: The holder of this skill can be blessed by the World. Become invincible for one turn and increases the rate of Noble Phantasm charging.
Suspicious Medicine A: Illegal-looking drugs made from shady plants that are created by Kaleidostick Ruby. Can clear debuffs and apply Guts effect to survive a fatal blow. Very useful, but it makes Illya do weird things so she refrains from using it if possible.
Noble Phantasm
Quintett Feuer - Multi-instrumental Saturation Bombardment
Type: Anti-Unit, Buster
Rank: EX (originally A+)
A Buster-type Noble Phantasm that converts muscular, nervous, and lymphatic systems as well as her blood vessels into pseudo-Magic Circuits to unleash a massive burst of magical energy. Due to the strain of forcibly channeling magical energy through the entire body, it inflicts an attack and defense down debuff on the user. The skill was originally ranked at A+, but after a training montage involving beating down several divine Servants in Chaldea, Illya has found her resolve to protect her precious people. Without her mentality holding her back, this skill received a rank up from A+ to EX.