"Hey Nelk, catch." Raising his hands with a bit of surprise, his hands grabbed the breakfast wrap his friend tossed at him.
"Couldn't you have thrown that a bit softer?" Nelk asked his friend. She should really be more careful with her strength. She was a Demi-Servant after all.
He only heard a small hum, whether that meant she agreed or not with his statement, he didn't know.
He was still a bit off put at being called his real name. He was used to being called Abraham, that's how Father called him when he was still around.
The wrap in his hands was still a bit hot, not that he was complaining. Who likes cold breakfast anyways?
"Who made this?" Nelk asked as he raised from his hunched over position on his chair, his eyes settling on the girl who shared a body with the Chaste Huntress, or an analog of her at least.
"Ana." Was his friends reply. He nodded.
Ana was a good cook, and it helped that a certain Counter Guardian taught her as well, albeit for a short time only.
Taking a seat from across Nelk, Kaori placed down her own breakfast wrap and two bottles of water, one of which he tossed to Nelk, albeit a bit softer this time, much to his appreciation.
Once she settled down, both of them started eating their own wraps.
"So." Kaori started as she placed down the bottle of water she was just drinking from. "How's your research going?"
"Fine." Was his curt reply, before following up with more information. "I still need to gather the resources for the next rites though. And you know how stingy our logistics officers are?"
He took another bite of his breakfast wrap.
"'Hmm, is that so?" She said, playing with her bottle as water twirled around inside it. He felt a bit of understanding in her tone. Everyone in the company suffers under the stingy and cheap logistics officers after all.
"Yep, but the combat spells are going along quite nicely. I can finally make some of my spells have a homing function now and some added punch to them." He added while finishing the last of his food.
His pursuits in Gnosticism are going along quite nicely. He may not be able to draw upon more power and Mysteries from the Demiurge, but he was getting there. Father would be proud of him.
That and he was getting progressively better in Jacob's Limbs. Who knew Iscariot would make for a good teacher? Although he was a bit reluctant to be training under him at first but he warmed up to the Fallen Apostle.
The Servant didn't have good relationships with most Abrahamic Servants, barring the Messiah and a select few. Though all of them did at least forgive the wayward Apostle.
He did wonder which analog of Iscariot was teaching him. There were conclusive reports of Servants with the same names yet different history and deeds being summoned. The differences between them could be small but there were also those like Masamune. The first recorded analog was a swordsmith following a strict moral code and discipline and treated Muramasa as a worthy rival and then there was the second one who treated Muramasa like a big brother and was also an airhead.
Did he also tell that the first one was a man well into his 30s while the second one looked like a teenaged girl?
Demiurge grant him strength and Muramasa too. Root knows how much he needs it.
They were both good swordsmiths though. And their respective Phantasms made them forces to be reckoned with, but then again that was true of any Servant, especially those summoned under the new ritual, Kyoto Summoning Protocol if he remembered correctly though it was a big drain in resources, or so he's heard.
Was it, misdirection or not? He idly wondered.
"Hey." Kaori's call brought him out his musings. Seems like he got too engrossed in his own thoughts again.
"Busy daydreaming again?" She asked with a small smirk on her face.
"Yep." Knowing that denying would just be digging him a deeper grave, he just admitted that he did in fact just daydream. It was close enough anyways.
The girl sharing the same body with Atalanta was a sly one. He wondered if she got that from the Servant or it was just one of her quirks.
The small frown on her face let him know that she'd relent this time.
He sighed.
"Anyways." He said, restarting the conversation. "Do you know when our next deployment is going to be?"
She let out a thoughtful hum before saying. "Five days from now along with two other Normalcy Maintenance Companies and 4 Mobile Task Forces."
He raised a brow at her. "Anything else?" Normalcy Maintenance Companies and Mobile Task Forces were rarely deployed en masse. Just what mission were they getting sent to?
"Yep." She popped the 'p' on that one. "Apparently an anomalous distortion was detected on the Tibetan Mountains."
"Huh." He let out a confused noise. "Isn't that outside our normal area of operations? We usually stick to coastlines and island countries, not somewhere deep inland"
"Not our first time." Was her response to his confusion. "Besides, Alistair Credentials were checked in just for this specific mission and Executioner Protocols are in place."
His eyes widened a bit. Now that was a surprise and at the same time explained why there were a lot of Companies and Task Forces participating in this operation.
Nelk knows fully well of the implications of those words. He was sure each of those two were needed to field one of the more destructive spells in his company's arsenal. The Alistair Credentials for Sodom's Fall and the Executioner Protocol for A Sun Goddess's Edict. Both of which are more than enough to melt an entire continent or two and completely boil a few oceans if output isn't controlled and managed well. And that's not even including the other Companies and Task Forces. Who knows what they have in store.
"Well shit." He blurted out.
"Took the words right out of my mouth." She said as she downed a cup of liquor.
Where the hell did she get that? Nelk shook his head, not important and he was still getting over what he just heard. It seems like he'd need to go all out with his spell arsenal and also upgrade and strengthen his Mystic Codes if he wants to survive.
And he also thinks that the Chaste Huntress didn't like it when her bodymate starts downing liquor, this analog at least.
With a loud smack, Kaori placed down her cup, muttering something about an 'Annoying Cat' (He was pretty sure that Atalanta was part lion). It was a wonder how both the cup and table didn't break. Nelk was pretty sure that the impact would have broken any normal human's bones. At least she knows how to hold her liquor.
She stood up from her seat while carrying her tray.
"Where are you going?" Nelk asked. His eyes followed her retreating figure.
"Making preparations." Without turning back, she answered before depositing her tray to the cleaning station. She waved him a 'see you later', which he returned, before leaving the cafeteria.
An exasperated sigh escaped his lips. Standing up with his tray in hand, he also headed to the cleaning station to deposit his tray.
He also had to prepare for the following days.
Briefly, he played with the thought of getting some Talismans from Officer Lin or Meihara and maybe even some Rune Cards from Jirou and Jarl. Both had their own uses in the battlefield, and those four could make a ridiculous amount of them while at base.
But regardless, the next few days were sure to be hectic. The thought of it alone was enough to give him a headache.
"Just another day at the job, I guess."