Another two weeks, another chapter.
You know, this chapter was supposed to be something else entirely, but I think it's about time the end starts approaching. So, after much writing and rewriting, this chapter comes to be.
And, well, there it is. Things are finally picking up. Ain't gonna spoil what's about to happen though. You do that on your own.
Also, I was...uh, somewhat disappointed about the number of reviews that came. I mean, I only got about 8 or 9 reviews, which is fine, but I can't help but wonder if I did something wrong on the last chapter. Was it too boring? Was there just nothing interesting? What do you guys think?
That aside, enough ranting from me. Enjoy!
The end was nearing. Even within her sealed cocoon, Tiamat can feel the Singularity creaking, cracking as she begins to wake.
That Chaldean master remains alive, having killed the giant [Lahmu] she'd sent. The invader magician still lives, her presence in this world alone breaking every predetermined path. Gilgamesh remains alive, leading Uruk and now aided by his female counterpart. Uruk still stands, housing the last remaining shard of humanity.
The contract she'd forced onto that foreign goddess and her pet is broken. The snake she'd caught has been released. The demonic beasts she's sent out to the world have been killed, turned into weapons against her.
Kingu still lives, but he's growing restless, the old soul of the body he occupies fighting against him. The priest lives, but he is not her pawn, operating outside her control. The oni lives, but she was fighting, her will alone pushing against the restraints forced against her.
Tomoe, the general, has mysteriously died, her mangled corpse discovered hanging from a tree.
This has gone for far too long.
She must wake. She must advance. She must destroy.
She must.
ShE mUSt bRInG tHeM Her LOvE.
But there is something, deep in the back of her mind that tells her to stop, to simply stop and think and consider. A small part that shouts to her, telling whether this is right or wrong, whether this is what love truly means.
It hurts to listen. She tunes it out.
Ah, there is something else though, something softer.
That magician. She remembers her. She remembers trying to take her over, and she nearly did. She saw into her mind, her soul.
Tiamat had been astounded. The girl's mind is like that of an ocean, clear and pristine and glittering. She'd felt...calm.
The girl fears her, but that is accompanied by genuine curiosity, a wonder over who she is and what brought her here. There is concern there as well, an odd concern about an enemy the girl had never seen.
There is empathy, understanding.
Her instincts shout at her, telling her to wake and devour the world, but those instincts are dark, and cold. She hates them.
They are nothing like that girl's soul.
And somewhere along the way, a new desire was born in her heart. A desire to see that bright and calming soul once more. A need to see that magician with her own eyes.
So, she wakes, and her eyes open for the first time in forever.
The waking of the goddess shakes reality, and every living being, be they plants or animals or humans of anything else, will feel it.
At the kingdom of Uruk, every citizen, every soldier freezes as something passes them, something telling them of danger. All the servants snap to attention, cold sweat pooling by their neck as they feel the presence of something greater.
Mash freezes up entirely, her eyes dilating as a large presence, larger and brighter than anything she's ever experienced washes over her.
Ritsuka, even asleep, jolts awake, her every instinct shouting at her.
Da Vinci and Romani, back at Chaldea, nearly drop their cups of coffee at the sudden explosion of magical energy in the distance, their sensors going haywire.
King Gilgamesh frowns, his eyes narrowing as the beast finally shows itself.
Merlin regards the presence silently, contemplative.
Shirou tenses, his muscles itching to move. The presence that just appeared feels remarkably similar to Erebus, but larger, more powerful. Every soul in his mind goes silent, already prepared for what is to come.
Saber narrows her eyes, hands twitching as a fire burns inside her, pushing her to burn away the enemy that will arrive.
Gil regards it in silence, silently sorting through her treasury to bring out her strongest Noble Phantasm.
And Hanami, worlds away in [Yuriele], freezes as her mystic eyes activate. Bells ring in her mind, and she sees the entirety of the situation in a single moment, information compressed and made understandable by her eyes.
The beginning of the end arriving, she quickly finishes the plans she's been scribbling, hands it over to the mayor of [Dun Stadia], and jumps back into the singularity of [Babylonia].
"Oh? Finally back from your excursion?" Gil comments as she idly sorts through her treasury.
I smile slightly. "Yep."
Not done with my plans though. There's still more I wanted to draw up for the mayor, but, well, Tiamat's appeared, and that's much more important at the moment.
But...I don't know, I don't feel as worried as I initially expected. Like, she'll kill everything, of course, but I don't hate or fear her or anything.
Which is weird, but everything's been weird lately, so it doesn't stand out so much.
I look around, glancing at the empty throne room. Everyone's in the other room it seems, standing around a table as they discuss something. "Everyone's talking over what to do, right?" I ask, and she nods. "Why are you still here then?"
I expected a quip, or maybe a small comment.
But Gil remains silent.
"...Gil?"
The woman remains silent for a few more moments, pondering, before she frowns. "Tiamat is not our main threat." She says, and I blink. Because, after all, isn't the entire point of this singularity to beat Tiamat? I try using my mystic eyes to see what she meant, but the flow of the world is erratic, much more than before, and it doesn't take long for my connection to be snapped shut.
"What do you mean?" I try to ask.
"I'm afraid I can't say much more." She says instead, turning to glance at the sky outside. "But the need to defeat Tiamat remains the same. Whether or not she shall be condemned to death is up to you."
"...Eh?"
Gil smiles slightly. "Do you truly want to kill her?"
"I…" I begin, and then stop. Because do I really? Do I really need to kill her? If everything can be explained, then Tiamat might back out.
"Neither do I." Gil continues. "It is the ruling gods' fault. They had feared her, feared what she could become, and so they sealed her." The woman looked at the sky and scoffed. "An irrational decision born from irrational beings. How appropriate."
And that's somewhat surprising from her. I expected her to hate Tiamat; Gil hates gods in general after all, but she's fine about Tiamat?
...Maybe because Tiamat is a primal deity and not actually a god?
I mean, it's a small distinction, but it is a difference, I suppose.
"Now, I believe it's time for you to join the rest." Gil suddenly says. "Your input would benefit them greatly, I believe."
And saying that, Gil leaves, heading out the throne room.
I blink. "...Um, okay."
System had appeared before her again the night before, telling her of a certain pestering demon. It hadn't asked for help directly, but Gil could tell System was trying its hardest to ask for her aid on the matter.
[Hanami is vital to save Tiamat. She can't be distracted.] System had told her before disappearing, and that is very much true. Her Noble Phantasm tells her so, her instincts tell her so, and her mind tells her so.
So Gil makes way down the steps, preparing the many Noble Phantasms in her treasury.
The line of history is accelerating, and twisting, and I have no idea what's going to happen.
Tiamat has awakened earlier than expected, yet there has been no signs of [Lahmu] anywhere in the kingdom. Kingu is nowhere close, and the areas around Uruk are eerily silent.
They haven't made a contract to have Ishtar fight. In fact, Ishtar hasn't appeared in the slightest, which is...worrying. For how she is, she's important in defeating Tiamat, and with the loss of that firepower…
Well, I can only hope we can fill that gap somehow.
At least there are some good differences as well. Ushi, Leonidas, and Benkei are alive and healthy. Quetzalcoatl's contract with Tiamat is actually broken. Gorgon's still asleep, now hidden underneath Uruk. New powerful ammunition fills the Dingirs, granting Uruk even more weapons to fire.
Mash is stronger, the ring I gave boosting her stats. Ritsuka now has a new Powerful Noble Phantasm that's incredibly effective against [Lahmu]. Shirou is here to fight alongside them, his agility above mine. Saber's here as well, her Excalibur a pure antithesis to the [Lahmu]. Gil's here, her much more complete treasury ready to be rained down.
And I'm here as well.
Will that be enough? It took the entire cooperation between several divine beings to even hold Tiamat long enough to bring her down into the underworld, and we don't even have that option this time.
But something feels off about this whole thing. Despite waking, Tiamat's done nothing but stand on the sea. She did that in the game as well, but she hasn't sent any [Lahmu], or one of the servants she's got contracted, or Kingu, or anything really.
And then there's Gil's words. "Tiamat isn't the main threat." She said, but what does that mean? Could there be someone else that worries Gil even more than the primordial goddess herself? I can't find out really, since the future of this singularity's become too shaky for my mystic eyes to try and understand.
Could there be someone else working behind Tiamat's back? Who could-
No, it's entirely possible.
...Hah, what a convoluted situation I've found myself in. I mean, I could've just escaped and all, but I don't think anyone will appreciate that.
And after this singularity, comes the [Temple of Time].
"-anami?"
I blink and turn to see Shirou sitting beside her, both amused and worried as he smiles. "Uh, Shirou? When did you get here?"
"...Wasn't it you that asked me to come?" He asks back. I blink.
Did I really? I don't remember that…
"Are you really okay?" He asks again, more worried this time. "You've been spacing out. Do you need to sleep?"
"...I said that out loud, didn't I?" He nods, and I smile wryly. "I'm fine. There's just-, just a lot to think about, you know?" I say, and I sigh once again. "I mean, we know our goal, but what's the plan? We have no idea on how to bring Tiamat down, or how to even stop her."
I frown, staring up to the starry sky above. "We know too little."
"True." He easily agrees, before he shrugs. "But what can we do?"
I laugh slightly. "Not much."
There really isn't.
But that's fine, I think. We've gone into battles with far less knowledge than we have now, fought in situations where the only objective we had was to survive.
We've always bodged our way to the finish line, creating makeshift plans after makeshift plans until the path finally opens itself.
It isn't healthy. It'll eventually lead us to an unfortunate downfall, where every bodge we've thought up brings nothing but failure.
And that's okay.
"Hey, Shirou."
"Hmm?"
I turn to him, and with a heat in my heart, and I smile. "When we're done with all of this, let's take a visit to our new home, okay? I still need to furnish it after all!"
He blinks, surprised, before he smiles back. "Yeah."
I hold out my pinky to him. "Promise?"
He stares at it for a moment, unsure of what it means, before he takes it with his own. "Promise."
It wasn't a promise that really meant anything.
But for the two of them, there were no words to explain its importance.
They'd fought together, lived together, worked together, learnt together, suffered together, won together, lost together.
One was a pillar to the other, and if one was to shatter, then so will the other.
On that day, with the sun high above and with the inevitable inching close, a promise was made between the two. It didn't mean anything, the words she used jovial and telling nothing of what went on in her mind.
It held no power. It gave them no power.
But for the two of them, the weight behind it was something not even gods can bear.
"Are you sure?" Mari asks again. "The moment we do this, you won't be the same anymore, you know?"
Shirou stares back with no hesitation, the wind from the ever-distant gardens blowing past him. "I'm sure."
Mari frowns slightly, biting the inside of her cheek as worry built inside.
They'd talked over this several times before; she was the one who gave him the idea in the first place. But, this suggestion was given when she'd only seen him as a figure of interest and not as a companion.
And now,
Here he is asking her to aid him shed his humanity. By all accounts, he should be capable of doing this on his own. He already had a titan's soul inside him, and hers as well. Breaking past his human body should be a natural occurrence.
But time is running short. The eradication of human existence is approaching, and there can be no hesitation left.
Mari sighs. As reluctant as she is, she knows that no words will make the boy before her back down. He's as stubborn as a mule, and it was as much a curse as it is a blessing.
Everything should be fine. It should be, but there's always the chance of something going wrong, of some unknown factor taking play.
And considering what [Origin] his female friend has, then there's every chance for something to go wrong.
Still, she relents, and so she nods back at the boy sitting across the table. "Very well. Then we shall begin." She says, and snapping her fingers, the tower they've sitting on vanishes, leaving them sitting on the flower-filled meadow. "First, is your body in a secure location?" She asks, and he nods. "Are there anything you must do soon?" He shakes his head in reply.
With a deep breath, she smiles. "Then everything is in order."
Saying that, the wind grows, and the pink flowers rise into the air, breaking into petals and carried off into skies unknown. Each petal seems to reflect the light of the magical sun above, and they all glitter, filling the air with shining diamonds. Magical energy spreads, and with her staff in hand, Mari begins her wordless chant.
Shirou winces as he feels something enter him, reaching deep into the back of his soul. It prods around, analyzing, and though he feels nothing, it feels very much strange.
And then, pain filled him.
Something breaks, and everything flows into him as his nerves are fried all at once. He cries out as he begins to burn from the inside, and not even the concerned shouts of the people in his soul registers in his mind.
Mari quickly stops her chant, but nothing happens. Shirou continues to cry out, and blood begins to fall from his lips.
"Shirou!"
He doesn't hear Mari's shout, he can't. His mind flashes with a million images and noises and senses at a fraction of a second. He doesn't know any of them, nor does he understand their meaning.
But he knows they're important.
So he grits his teeth and pushes back the cry in his throat. He's suffered through worse, he's felt his mind and soul be burnt away by the taint of the world's sin.
I'll push through.
From the outside, Mari can only watch, both horrified and intrigued as she watches the foreign magic spin around him.
She didn't cause this. The moment her magic touched him, it shifted, and the control she had over her own magical energy was cut.
And it was changing him.
Shirou grows slightly taller, his muscles harden, and the magic circuits in his body multiply, impossibly growing in number and quality.
Something shifts once more, and Shirou doubles over, the pain flooding through his body doubling. He bites his lip, shutting his eyes close as he struggles against the voices in his head. They're calling to him, asking for him, telling him to let go.
He ignores them.
They grow louder. They remind him of his pain, they whisper over the fire that rages through his insides.
He ignores them.
They begin to shout. They shout about how painful everything is, about how they just want everything to stop, to shut away everything and let him glide to a dreamless land.
He ignores them.
Then, they tell him to open his eyes, to see into a void unseen and witness everything.
He listens.
Shirou opens his eyes, and he sees everything. He sees the beginning of life, the start and the first second of the universe. He sees the formation of reality, he sees the progression of time, he sees the inevitable end.
He sees the void, and he sees the well of everything that lays within it.
And everything around him shatters.
Morning has come once again, and Ritsuka can't help but yawn. She didn't sleep much last night, worries and thoughts over what's to come keeping her awake. To be fair, Mash seems to have suffered the same ordeal, her eyes slowly drooping as she eats her breakfast.
Then a handsome man arrives and sits on their table,
And everyone stares.
"...Am I disturbing something?" He asks, his voice a soothing deep baritone, and Ritsuka finds herself drawn to it slightly.
"Took you a while." Hanami comments with a smile, fingers idly tracing the spoon she's holding.
Ritsuka blinks. "You know him, Hanami-san?"
Hanami blinks back at her, eyebrows raised in complete confusion. "...What are you talking about?" She asks, lips curled to a bewildered frown. "That's Shirou."
Ritsuka blinks again, and so does everyone else. Hanami's frown grows. "Why are you all confused? It's not like he changed or anything."
Gil huffs. "I believe the change in his presence has confused them."
"Hmm? What do you-" Hanami stops as her mystic eyes activate, green turning to a bright shifting blue. Her frown then changes to a grin. "Huh. So you're no longer human." She mutters as she leans towards him. "Are you...taller? And your hair's a bit longer, I guess?"
"Really?" Shirou then reaches a hand to his hair. "...It is longer."
"Looks good on you." She says, reaching a hand to his hair. "Hmm, it is a bit squiggly in some places though. We should get you a barber some time soon…"
"Isn't it fine like this though?"
"You'll never get girls with that attitude." She deadpans. Shirou laughs softly.
Ritsuka smiles wryly, feeling somewhat awkward as she listens to the two. Mash seems to be riding on the same boat; her face and ears warm as she stared intently at the table. Ushi and Benkei are watching the two neutrally, more interested at Shirou's change, and Leonidas is giving them...a thumbs up?
...Merlin was silently staring, an expression of interest on his face as he watched. King Gilgamesh and Gil are ignoring the two entirely, instead focused on the breakfast prepared before them.
And Saber is just silently gawking.
"By the way," Hanami then asks. "How did you change?"
Shirou opens his mouth, and closes it. He ponders over it for a moment, eyes closed as he hums in thought, before he just shrugs.
"So you don't remember?" She asks again.
"Not...really. I remember seeing a lot, but my mind just blanks."
"Ah, I see." She says with a nod. "Information overload. Your brain probably couldn't handle the information the [Root] was giving to you and just shut down."
"Information ov-"
"The [Root]?" Saber quickly interrupts. "Did you just say that you've seen the [Root]?"
Hanami easily nods. "Yep."
"Ahaha…" She laughs weakly, placing a hand on her forehead. "What incredible words. I wonder how Merlin would react when he hears that…" She says with a sigh, pointedly ignoring the fact that said magus was sitting just across the table.
Hanami looks at Shirou, wondering if she's said anything wrong. Shirou shrugs.
Saber just sighs.
Name: Emiya Shirou
Age: 17
Sex: Male
Race: High Human
Class: [Saber], [Empty]
Level: 220
HP: 352,000/352,000 (35,200 HP/min)
MP: 165,000/165,000 (16,522 MP/min)
Stamina: 100% (1600%/hour)
Strength: 1654 (+54) (x2)
Vitality: 1600 (x2)
Dexterity: 1373 (+123)
Intelligence: 751 (+401)
Wisdom: 751 (+401)
Luck: ?
[Skills]: [Od Manipulation - Lv 90], [Reinforcement - Lv Max], [Structural Analysis - Lv Max], [Gehen - Lv 50], [Sense Presence (Smelling) - Lv 75], [Sword Mastery - Lv 85], [Natural Body - Lv Max], [Cooking - Lv 85], [Avalon - ?], [Compounding Momentum - Lv 20], [Ninja Arts - Lv 40], [Wrestling - Lv 11], [Floramancy - Lv 30], [Titanic Empowerment - Lv 20], [?]
Holy hell.
That's...a terrifying improvement. His level shot up by several dozens, all his skills gained levels, and his stats shot through the roof. I mean, look at those numbers! His Strength and Vitality are double of mine, and his Dexterity is nearly tripling mine! His Intelligence and Wisdom are lower, but for someone who doesn't focus on magic, that's still a frightening number.
There are also those weird skills he somehow gained overnight.
[Compounding Momentum], [Ninja Arts], [Floramancy], and [Titanic Empowerment]. They all sound strong, and they probably are, but I can't confirm that.
Because, for some reason, they don't have descriptions.
It sounds impossible, but there's been a lot of impossible things lately, so this fits right in.
That [?] is also a bit suspicious. Was it an unnamed skill? A dormant skill? Maybe even something that Shirou could gain if he did something special?
Whatever it is, I'll have to keep an eye on it.
That aside, we're now standing in a small clearing in Uruk's northern corner, with Shirou standing across me.
He's recently gotten a pretty hefty upgrade to his status, so I'm planning to test it out. That, and we haven't done our spars in a while, so this will be a nice way to bring that spark back.
"You ready?" I ask, casually twirling my Noble Phantasm in my hand. He simply smiles back with a nod.
Confirmation given, I nod.
Immediately, my mystic eyes come active, and everything slows to a crawl as my mystic eyes stretch my brain's perception of time. [Mental Partition] goes online, multiplying my thoughts threefold, and I begin to plan.
Usually, I would be the one giving Shirou the chase, but I doubt that'll work now. His Agility stat has far surpassed mine, and that [Compounding Momentum] probably makes it even higher. I can't afford to be hit either, since his increased Strength would easily shatter through my Vitality. Not sure if he'll be able to shatter through magical barriers, but considering his Strength is about 600 above my Intelligence, he probably can.
So there are two options: Restricting his movements, or evading it entirely. Both of which rely on [Morningstar].
I can try forcing him to a stop using gravity, but I'm not sure if it'll be enough to actually hold him down. The other option's to fly to the sky, but Shirou can kick hard enough to propel himself to the sky, so even flight's not safe.
Fighting him head-on isn't much of an option either. Putting aside his Strength stat, his [Sword Mastery] is higher than mine, he has [Wrestling] in case his sword is lost, and that [Ninja Arts] probably also has some secret hand-to-hand techniques that can pummel me down.
So all that's left is magical bombardment, but that isn't even a guaranteed tactic. And then there's [Floramancy] and [Avalon].
Overall, my chances weren't looking great.
A second finally passes, and Shirou almost seems to vanish, his form stretching as he moves out from sight with incredible speeds.
But my mystic eyes are omnidirectional, so I easily detect a fist coming from behind and leap to the sky, keeping myself afloat using [Morningstar] as I continue to plan.
Seeing my escape, Shirou smiles as his legs tenses, the ground under him cracking as he leaps up towards me, arms cocked back to strike.
My eyes narrow, and I tighten my hold on my Noble Phantasm as I flick it to the side. Shirou begins to lean forward to strike before he suddenly finds himself abruptly turning and smashing back to the ground.
He didn't turn by his own of course. I just bent the direction of his movements by creating a well of gravity.
Him downed, a thousand Prana Bullets instantaneously form, and they come crashing down on Shirou upon my command. While he's busy with that, I cast [Call of Lightning], sending a bolt of electricity towards the sky. The bolt then spreads, reaching out towards all the nearby clouds and gathering them together.
Soon, the bright skies are darkened as thunder begins to sound from the skies, and energy floods my body as I feel [Voltaic Charge]'s bonus come into play.
With increased power, [Alsa'Mal'Sara] begins to crackle with lightning as-
"[Falchion]."
Suddenly, a sharp bolt of energy shoots up from the cloud of dust my bullet bombardment created, and I just barely manage to twist aside, letting the bolt fly towards the thundering clouds above.
That's...new.
And definitely surprising. When the hell did Shirou learn that!?
But my thoughts are soon cut off when more of those bolts are fired, and swiftly turn and flip out of the way.
My mystic eyes glow, and my perception of time stretches again.
Seeing past the dust, I can see Shirou, barely injured from the bombardment of [Spinning Prana Bullets] that befell him. In his hands is a large greatsword, the one he'd gotten from the [Hearth of Daedron]. The sword is pointed at the ground, and it seems he's about to swing upwards to send more of those [Falchions] at me.
Information gathered, my perception of time normalizes, and I fly away as Shirou fires off more energy bolts.
Quickly filling my Noble Phantasm with magical energy, I turn around and aim my staff at him, lightning building at its tip. Then, [Morningstar] mixes into it, turning the lightning's blue glow white, and I fire off a beam of condensed holy lightning at him.
Shirou brings up his [Uriel] and blocks it, digging his feet into the ground as he pushes against the beam. Then, with a shout, he smashes the beam aside, sending it flying towards the sky.
Which shouldn't be a surprise, it really shouldn't.
But it surprised me nonetheless.
I mean, I packed as much power as I can into that without turning it into a bomb, and the guy just swats the thing away?
God damn.
"[Falchion]."
Again, those words echo through the air as Shirou swings his sword, sending a speeding bolt of energy at me.
Pushing my thoughts away, I quickly twist away, sending back a barrage of lightning bolts in retaliation. Again, Shirou just bats them away, sending them crashing towards the earth and creating craters upon impact.
He doesn't bend, even as I pelt him with thousands of Prana Bullets and send down beams after beams of light and lightning.
And it begins to sink in slowly.
My normal attacks aren't enough, not anymore.
So be it.
The air around me almost seems to twist as lightning bursts to life around me, filling the air with enough heat to melt through metals. The skies above turn impossibly darker, green lightning snapping across the thundering clouds.
Slowly, the erratic lightning begins to morph, taking the shape of a dragon of ancient times. It looks down at him, staring at his unflinching eyes, and it grins.
Shirou responds in kind.
He rears his arm back, pointing [Uriel] towards the earth as he begins a silent chant. The ground around him cracks as an invisible pressure forms around him. Streaks of light spiral around him, slowly seeping into his greatsword as the blade's bronze coating begins to crack, revealing the bright silver underneath.
He takes a deep breath, and slowly, he takes a step forward.
The dragon above clenches its teeth, its body growing bright as lightning cackles in its belly. Then, upon my command, it opens its jaw, and all the energy it'd gathered fires out as a singular beam of condensed plasma.
Shirou takes another step forward, eyes turning an almost violet glow as he roars, swinging his sword up and sending a giant torrent of primordial winds towards the sky.
The two forces clash, and the world breaks.
Heat and winds explode outwards. Surrounding buildings are toppled from such powerful winds, the stone that makes them melt under the intense heat, and sand turns to shards of fine glass.
Luckily, this is all taking place inside an [Empty ID], so nothing's actually being destroyed.
The air slowly clears, and we stare at each other, neither looking worse for wear, and the victor of the battle still unclear.
And if Shirou had actually been an enemy, we would've continued fighting.
He isn't, thankfully, and so I descend down to the ground. I turn to him, smiling slightly, and he smiles back.
Just like that, our spar is over.
In the real world, everyone shivers as a powerful pulse of magical energy sweeps through Uruk.
Only Saber and Gil, being intimately familiar with the energy, knows of its origins. The latter smiles, while the former just sighs, silently lamenting over her master's lack of control.
A couple hours have passed since our little spar ended, and I now find myself alone in [Remnant of Skypiea], sitting atop an island I emptied of its boss monster just minutes ago.
Shirou's improvement is massive. His stat upgrades are enormous, his resilience against damage is incredible, and the power of his Noble Phantasm easily matched mine.
He is, to put it simply, an unstoppable force.
And I might not have been hurt; I didn't even get hit, but I know I was on the losing end there. I used my mystic eyes to try and simulate how many different outcomes could've come if we were actually fighting to our deaths there, and, it isn't horrible, per se, but definitely not ideal.
There are some instances where I won, but in a battle of attrition, Shirou will always come first, and since every attack I use consumes my limited MP, then sooner or later, I'd drop back onto the ground, lacking magic and very much tired.
And I could try defending myself using swords, but Shirou would easily beat me there as well.
The chances were against me.
So I find myself wondering.
Is this really enough?
None of my stats breached into the thousands naturally, and my Intelligence and Wisdom will only break through that threshold when there's a thunderstorm going on. Most of my skills need improvement. My [Spinning Prana Bullet] was basically useless against Shirou, and my lightning bolts were easily deflected as well.
Not even [Morningstar] could stop him. It's a maxed skill, but my low Intelligence stat reduces the power it could've had.
Tiamat will be stronger, so if my attacks can't even hold against Shirou, then I doubt anything will.
I don't need more skills, I need to better the ones I have.
So here I am, on the beginnings of my [Boss Rush] to level myself to an acceptable level. There are a nearly infinite number of islands with their own bosses, and thousands of branching islands that hold items and treasures on the side.
My agenda's simple: Upgrade my skills, to their max level if possible.
[Sprint], [Od Manipulation], [Spinning Prana Bullet], [Gehen], [Starfall], [Voltaic Charge], and everything else. I want to max them out, and maybe even evolve them if the possibility exists.
Restrictions: No using [Alsa'Mal'Sara], no using armor, no sleeping unless needed, no using [Morningstar] unless needed, and no getting help, either from Roseria or someone else.
It feels slightly weird not having my Noble Phantasm in my hands, and I feel awfully vulnerable with the lack of armor on me, but I'll manage.
There isn't anything else to say really. A minute here is three in the real world, so I'll be stuck here for a while. I've finished most of the things I needed to do back in Uruk, so I don't think I'll miss out on much.
So I take a deep breath, and ascend the stairs, heading towards the island above this one.
And it begins.
The island I come upon is decorated with a lush forest, with a giant bee floating at the center, her many eyes staring deep into mine.
I stare back, my eyes a bright shifting blue.
[Queen Bee Lv 200]
HP: 15,000,000/15,000,000
MP: 100,000,000/100,000,000
Stamina: -
A giant bee, the queen of a magical breed. Her stingers contain a deadly poison, and unlike her normal counterpart, she won't simply die after she stings something. Be wary of her speed however, as she can move rather quickly despite her large size.
Note: [Queen Bee] is the Boss Monster of [Island Tier III]. Defeating it will grant you access to [Island Tier IV].
With a deep breath, I charge forward, [Prana Rocket Propulsions] on the soles of my shoes boosting me forward. The queen bee stirs, and she rises, her giant stinger dripping with deadly poisons. I narrow my eyes at it, and with magic circuits glowing throughout my body, my magical energy expands and forms into a hundred Prana Bullets, spinning and cackling with electricity.
Sensing the danger, she quickly flies away, twisting and dropping as she lets the prana bullets fly her by.
But that is fine.
Using my hail of bullets as cover, I rush under her, before propelling myself right behind the giant bee. I extend my hand, and from it forms another prana bullet, this one larger than its brethren.
The queen bee's wings stir, sending me behind her.
It's far too late.
[Voltaic Charge] activates, and the large bullet is filled with electricity, lightning surrounding it as it begins to spin. The propulsions on my shoes grow, and my momentum builds as I spin in place. Then, with one final spin,
I send a powerful kick onto the back of the electrified bullet, and it flies forward with a powerful shockwave, crashing against the queen bee's head and digging straight into it. Inside, the large bullet continues to spin for a few more seconds, shredding even more of its insides, before finally exploding as the electricity becomes unstable, showering the air with burnt bee flesh.
[Fatal hit!]
[You have slain the [Queen Bee]! 1,500,000,000 Exp gained.]
[You have gained [Large Synthesized Soul Chunk]!]
[The path leading to [Island Tier IV] has been uncovered!]
[[Spinning Prana Bullet] has leveled up!]
Ignoring the notifications, I immediately head to the stairs and ascend to the next island, my magic circuits still bright and active.
The next island is a frozen wasteland, with snow covering most of everything. I can see some wither trees here and there, but just like most of the island, they're all covered with lumps after lumps of snow.
And standing in the middle is a giant yeti, his white fur blending near perfectly with the snowy landscape.
Too bad it doesn't do anything against my mystic eyes.
[Primal Yeti Lv 220]
HP: 60,000,000/60,000,000
MP: 100/100
Stamina: 91%
A giant man-like monster, covered in a thick white fur that keeps it warm. Its white shade allows it to blend perfectly with surrounding snow, allowing it to hide from its enemies. It possesses little to no magic, but its colossal strength more than makes up for it.
Note: [Primal Yeti] is the Boss Monster of [Island Tier IV]. Defeating it will grant you access to [Island Tier V].
Opposite of the [Queen Bee], this guy's a complete power build. He would've been a complete nightmare if I was a melee fighter.
Thankfully, I'm a [Caster], and playing fair isn't always in my book.
Hidden in the falling snow, I conjure several hundred [Spinning Prana Bullets], enchanting them with [Gehen] to make them far deadlier. Then, with a snap of my fingers, they fly off, flying past the snow and crashing straight into the Yeti's chest.
Then, the magical energy they contain expands, piercing into the yeti's body before violently shredding its insides.
[Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit!]
But even with all the damage it's received, the yeti remains standing, now growling as it attempts to find where I am.
It's truly unfortunate that the snow that hid him also hid me.
The yeti growls as it falls, its legs finally giving up as blood spills from the many wounds my bullets have caused. But my rain of gunfire continues, and the yeti brings its arms over its head in a futile attempt to defend itself.
[Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit!]
Alas, a hundred massive lacerations across one's body isn't something that can be ignored forever.
[You have slain the [Primal Yeti]! 2,200,000,000 Exp gained.]
[You have gained [Large Synthesized Soul Chunk]!]
[The path leading to [Island Tier V] has been uncovered!]
[[Gehen] has leveled up!]
With the [Primal Yeti] dead, the stairs towards the fifth island appears, and I waste no time climbing it.
And so this continues, with me clearing islands after islands.
[You have slain the [Wolven King]! 3,000,000,000 Exp gained.]
[You have slain the [Goblin Lord]! 5,200,000,000 Exp gained.]
[You have slain the [Eye of Graham]! 6,400,000,000 Exp gained.]
[You have slain the [Ancient Drake]! 9,800,000,000 Exp gained.]
[You have gained [Large Synthesized Soul Chunk x4]!]
A hefty amount of Exp is added to my status, and yet I remain unleveled; a testament to how hard it's become for me to level up even a single level.
The progress on my skills are far better at least.
[[Sprint] has leveled up x3!]
[[Reinforcement] has leveled up x2!]
[[Spinning Prana Bullet] has leveled up x12!]
[[Od Manipulation] has leveled up x6!]
[[Gehen] has leveled up x4!]
[[Voltaic Charge has leveled up x2!]
The level ups are nice, but I'm more ecstatic about the fact that my Intelligence has finally surpassed the thousand mark. It didn't give me any new skills, which was a bit of a downer, but the fact that it's above 1000 was enough of a reward for me!
But a problem soon appeared.
The bosses are getting smarter. They spend less time just mindlessly attacking, and more time observing me. The [Ancient Drake] in particular was annoying. Not only did it manage to shrug off her attacks, but its tail was a surprisingly potent weapon, capable of suddenly snapping and sending me crashing onto the ground.
I was picking up more and more damage, and my HP was dropping. It's still in a fairly good position, but if I keep taking damage, then I'll be forced out of commision sooner or later.
So I slow down. My tactic shifts.
Instead of charging and attacking, I sit back, pelting the bosses with just enough power to see where they click before raining hell on them.
Which meant that I had two standardized methods of murder: Raining hundreds of [Spinning Prana Bullets], enhanced with either [Gehen] or [Voltaic Charge], or just using [Poison Dimiiorga] and just and waiting until it drops dead.
Of course, The latter will only work if the boss is susceptible to poison, and if the boss happens to be resistant against poisons, then I'll busy myself with looking for ways to deal a [Fatal hit].
And so the [Boss Rush] continues.
[You have slain the [Minatourus]! 10,000,000,000 Exp gained.]
[You have slain the [Grand Firefly]! 12,100,000,000 Exp gained.]
[You have slain the [Venusian Clover]! 15,000,000,000 Exp gained.]
[You have gained [Large Synthesized Soul Chunk x3]!]
[You have leveled up!]
Finally, after 3 bosses are put down, a level up is achieved! Well, it's still only a single level up, so the benefits are limited. But, still! Level up!
Also, there's been several treasure islands that don't follow the ascending path. They each had some type of item, which I've gratefully taken, but that isn't so important at the moment.
So it continues.
[You have slain the [Grand Fisher]! 17,500,000,000 Exp gained.]
[You have slain the [Spectral Knight]! 20,000,000,000 Exp gained.]
[You have slain the [Overt Helion]! 22,300,000,000 Exp gained.]
[You have leveled up!]
Another 3 bosses slain, and another level gained!
The difficulty was ramping up, fast. The power difference between the [Venusian Clover] and the [Grand Fisher] was actually rather terrifying, especially since the giant monster could sense you from any location and in any condition.
Also didn't help that their ranged attacks could home in on their targets.
[HP: 401,012/545,360]
I really need to be careful though. It's clear that the difficulty spikes are getting bigger and bigger with every boss I encounter, and their attacks are getting harder to avoid. The last hit I took, one I got from the [Overt Helion], snapped away a terrifying 50,000 HP; just under 10% of my HP pool.
But!
[Spinning Prana Bullet Lv - Max]
By shaping your prana into a bullet and spinning it, you fire a deadly projectile.
Costs nothing to fire
You can scale up the size of the bullet, at an increasing cost
Passively grants +26 Intelligence
After much usage, my [Spinning Prana Bullet] has finally made it to its final level.
It isn't crazy impressive. There isn't any new line in the description, and while the 0 MP cost is nice, it doesn't really mean much since the bullets themselves are weak.
That isn't the important part however.
[[Spinning Prana Bullet] has been maxed, and a new evolution option has appeared! The options can be seen at the [Compendium].]
Yep! Not only did I get it to max, it has an evolution as well!
Which is honestly convenient timing for a break, since the island after this one is [Island XV], and if we're going by video game logic, then the boss there will be an extra powerful one.
So, dusting off some dust from my shirt, [Kaleidoscope] activates, the world shifts, and I soon find myself in the familiar darkness of the [Tool Station]. Walking forward, I make my way to the [Compendium] and flip it open.
[Skill Evolution]
[Skill Splicing]
[Skill Sealing]
Eagerly, I tap the [Skill Evolution] option, and it expands further.
[Possible Evolutions]
[Spinning Prana Bullet]
And there it is! Now then, let's see what this will evolve into…
[Conjuring possible evolutions…]
[Taking into account current skills…]
[Finished. You may now pick 1 of 1 choices]
-[Arcane Armory]-
...Huh. There's only one option.
I mean, [Attribute Enchant: Holy] had three different options I could pick from when I was doing this, so I guess I was expecting a bit more, but...well, this is fine.
Now, let's see what this skill is about, shall we?
[Arcane Armory]
-At level 1-
"For it all began from a single spark of the arcane, and all flames shall dim back to it."
The [Arcane]. It is the origin of all magics, the beginning. From it came all magic, all elements, all possibilities, all choices. It is the purest of all magic, and the most potent in its strength. It is poisonous to those who cannot handle it, its purity far too intense for any mortal to handle.
But you are no mere mortal, are you?
Allows you to manipulate the forces of the [Arcane], morphing and twisting it to your desires.
You gain intimate knowledge of the [Arcane]. Grants you access to [Arcane] skills.
Any skills related to the [Arcane] will have its strength increased by 50%, and gain experience twice as fast.
Passively grants +5 Intelligence and Wisdom
-WARNING! Once you take this, the following shall be consumed: [Spinning Prana Bullet], [Prana Grenade], [Spinning Prana Rocket], [Prana Burst], [Prana Construct], [Prana Rocket Propulsion]. Experience will be added to [Arcane Armory] accordingly.-
...Damn, so it's essentially the [Arcane] version of [Voltaic Charge]. Seems pretty strong, though seeing all those skills that it'll consume does suck a bit, though it seems the experience I gained on those skills will be added onto this one, so I don't think I'll be losing anything.
[You have chosen [Arcane Armory]. Are you sure? Y/N]
Well, nothing much else to do aside from pressing [Yes], so let's do just that!
With confidence, I press [Yes],
And everything seems to stop for a moment as the world seems to shift. Information floods my head, but it doesn't overwhelm me, not anymore. Instead, I let the information flow, even using my mystic eyes to try and gain some more insight about it.
Then, just as it started, it ends, and the awaited notification pops up.
[Evolution successful!]
[You have gained the skill [Arcane Armory]!]
[[Arcane Armory has leveled up x49!]
Ehe, slight cliffhanger there, but, well~, I suppose you'll just have to wait for next time, eh?