"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Mental link"

"Noble Phantasms"

POV

Chapter 3: Let's get to training.

Third Person POV

Lancers eyes narrowed dangerously and she scowled heavily at the new arrival, who simply smirked at her in return.

"Caster!" She spat the words with considerable venom "Why do you aid these people?"

"Huh?" Caster replied with a raised eyebrow and a slight frown "Because it's better than being on your side!" he swipes a hand in front of him and symbols made of fire immediately form and shoot off at Lancer.

Seeing the projectiles coming she jumps off to avoid them while Caster joins the Chaldea group "I'm a Caster Servant, for obvious reasons I consider her my enemy…" he says with his back to the group "The enemy of the enemy isn't always my ally, but for this instance I'll aid you in defeating her." he then points at Mash who jumps slightly "Get in position, young lady. Skill aside, your courage is second to none." Mash slightly blushes at the praise before turning her attention back to Lancer.

"Kid!" Caster calls out again and Ritsuka startles slightly at behind called out "You're the Master aren't you? Then I'll leave the commands to you, we can't have your Saber Servant doing all the work."

"But…" Ritsuka starts before being cut off by Casters raised voice "If you call yourself a man then you'd better steel yourself!" Ritsuka clenched his fist before nodding at Caster "It'll only be a temporary contract but out of respect for that little girls bravery I'll become your servant."

The Ashen One jogged over to the two other Servants facing down Lancer before he turned back to her with a drawn sword "I must thank you for your aid, Sorcerer."

"Ha! Don't thank me yet, we still need to kick her ass!" Caster laughed slightly a rather viscous smile forming on his face.

"Fufufufu..." Lancer let out small laugh as she focused her attention on the trio of Servants "This just means I get to kill you earlier than expected!" she charged Caster while the chains surrounding the statues lashed out at Mash and the Ashen one forcing them to either dodge or block them.

Caster was quickly forced on the retreat as Lancer started to slash away at him with Caster barely getting his staff up to block her blows, he continued retreating as she gave chase to him.

"Is running all you can do!" She called out to him while laughing "I won't give you the opportunity to chant and use your magic!" with that said she thrust her lance forward with Caster bringing his staff up to block her. The impact sent him skidding back a few metres "Perhaps you shouldn't have opened your big mouth so soon!" she went to run Caster through when a voice called out.

"Mash, Saber! Now!" Ritsuka shouted out and Lancer's eyes widened as her spear bounced off Mashes shield as she had rushed to Casters aid, Lancer barely had a moment to think before the Ashen One struck her in the gut with a rather powerful kick which sent her crashing down into the ground below with the floor cratering under the force of her impact.

As Lancer slowly attempted to pick herself up Casters amused voice called out to her "Don't you know that Runes don't need chants?" once again Lancer's eyes widened in shock as the ground she was staring at suddenly burst to life with the Celtic symbols "Maybe you should have stayed in school dimwit!" the symbols exploded engulfing Lancer as she screamed in pain. As the flames died down she staggered on her feet, her body covered in nasty burns, she looked up just in time to see Caster launch another wave of runes and Saber hurl another fireball at her this time however she was incinerated upon contact with the spells.

"That's another one down then…" Caster said to himself as Mash turned to him with a thankful expression.

"Thank you, without your help we would have been in trouble." she said with in a grateful voice, Caster laughed at her and then slinging an arm around her shoulder "Ha! Myself and the swordsman here would have gotten no where without your support girl!" he said with a wink. Caster however suddenly found himself separated from Mash when Ritsuka pushed himself in between them while making indignant noise, Caster simply laughed in response.

"Regardless, We do owe you a debt of thanks Sorcerer, although I do find myself confused…" The Ashen One spoke while facing Caster who turned and raised an eyebrow at him to clarify "You bear the appearance of a wandering Sorcerer and yet you wield Pyromancies like myself."

"Eh?" Caster made a confused face at him "That's just my Rune craft, although I've never heard of a swordsman who fights by throwing fireballs at his enemies."

"I'm...Not from around here…"

"Heh...I'm sure there's a tale there-"

"We'll have to hear it later." Roman interrupted as he materialised his hologram near the group "For now we should ask Caster about the situation seeing as how he's a sane Heroic Spirit."

Caster turned away from the Undead Saber servant and looked at Roman's hologram "Oh? Is that some kind of communication magecraft?"

"I'm Doctor Romani from Chaldea" Roman introduced himself before continuing "Heroic spirit from an unknown land I'm hono-"

"Eh?" Caster cut him off with a grunt and a bored expression on his face "Skip the pleasantries. Just say what your here to say. You can do that can't you weakling?"

"W-weakling?" Roman had a shocked and slightly offended look on his face having been to completely dismissed by the Heroic spirit "I've been called a weakling by someone I met for the first time…" he said in a rather despondent voice before shifting his tone into a more questioning one "Let me confirm something first, your a servant summoned to the Holy Grail war which broke out in this city and are also the sole survivor?"

Caster clicked his tongue "If by that you mean I haven't lost yet the sure." his face changed, gone was the smirk which he previously had, he was now sporting a rather serious expression "Our Grail War changed mid-way through into something else. The city was engulfed in flames, the humans vanished and it was only the Servants that remained." he scowled slightly "Saber was the first one to resume the Grail War, they began rampaging through the city like a Tiger let out of their cage. She defeated Archer, Rider, Lancer and Assassin. Berserker I don't know about yet, that walking boulder was the only one who seemed to match them in terms of power. All the others that were defeated by Saber however became like Lancer. Corrupted by that black mud."

"They, and all those monsters, sprung up altogether and started searching for something. The troublesome thing is that I'm one of those things their looking for, the other being Berserker so he's done well to survive on that end. Problem is you won't see an end to the Grail War while Saber and Berserker are still alive."

"I see." Olga spoke up with narrowed eyes "That's why you saved us, you need to defeat Saber and Berserker but you can't do it on your own."

"Yeah" Caster admitted immediately with a shrug "But it's not a bad deal is it? You get to end your singularity or whatever and I get to win the Grail war."

"The Saber and Berserker then…" The Ashen one spoke up getting their attention on him "What can you tell us about them?"

"Saber's a real piece of work. Cut through just about every other servant, save Berserker, single handedly." He then sighed heavily "Berserker is another thing entirely, my fire runes don't work on him and while he's definitely slow he's strong. With that giant armour he wears was able to tank some of Saber's blows and strike back just as hard."

"What is it Saber-san?" Mash called out to the undead Servant who shook his head slightly "I'm not sure...something about that description sounds...familiar."

"Could this be one of the Spirits you were sent here for?" Ritsuka questioned and the Ashen one simply shrugged his shoulders "It's possible, however it's also possible that the Saber here already dealt with them. More importantly which would be the easier target to go for Sorcerer?"

"Hmmm" Caster adopted a thoughtful look "Saber's up at the centre of this land along with the corrupted Holy Grail..." he turned his head and gestured to the mountain "Problem is they've got Archer protecting them, Berserker to my knowledge is still in the city somewhere. I believe Assassin was sent after him bu-"

"Assassin is dead." The Ashen One spoke up, interrupting him "We killed him shortly before encountering yourself and Lancer. However…" he turned to Ritsuka "Ultimately it is your decision on who we prioritise Master. Berserker is isolated but evidently he is evenly matched with this Saber servant."

Ritsuka adopted a thoughtful expression for a few moments before staring up at the Ashen One "We'll find Berserker first."

"Very well then…" he turned back to Caster "Where was he last sighted?"

"Last I saw him he was bashing Rider's skull in with a large club, it was in a ruined park just north of here." He pointed in the general direction.

"Then it appears we have our objectives." Olga interjected "We shall deal with Berserker first and then head to the cause of the singularity and ensure that Caster wins the Holy Grail War."

"Then we should-" another scream interrupted the Ashen Saber who simply shook his head "By Andre's beard...it's like I never left Lothric."

The group turned to see another mob of skeletons rushing them.

"Mash, Saber, Caster!" Ritsuka called out, although he neededn't have bothered as by time the words left his mouth the trio of servants were already rushing the group.

The Ashen one reached them first, swinging his sword and demolishing two skeletons at once, Caster waved his hand and sent a barrage of fire balls at several skeletons and Mash swung her shield at any skeletons that got close to her, the force of her blows was more than enough to obliterate them and the Skeletons themselves were skilled enough in combat to exploit Mash's lack of experience.

The group continued on their search for Berserker, occasionally encountering local monsters which were quickly dispatched however as time went on it became more and more apparent that something was bothering Mash.

"Mash…" Ristuka spoke out and turned the girls attention to him "Is something wrong?"

"No! Nothing's different, I'm operating perfectly, Master!" Her tone started upbeat but mellowed out the further she spoke "Or rather, nothing's changed…" she frowned and hung her head in shame "Under your command I've gained a bit of battle experience but…"

"But?" Ritsuka egged her on as the group came to a stop to look over at the shielder servant.

"I can't unleash my Noble Phantasm…" she squeaked out, voice drowned in shame and embarrassment "Or rather, I don't know how to unleash it. I'm like a defective Servant…"

"Oh, so that's what was bothering you Mash…" Dr Roman nodded through the screen before flashing the girl a reassuring smile "But I don't think something like this can be settled overnight. After all, it's a Noble Phantasm." The doctor let out a small laugh "If Heroic Spirits weapons could be mastered so easily then they wouldn't be servants anymore."

"Eh?" Caster shot the man a confused look "Of course we can master something like that immediately. After all, Heroic Spirits and Noble Phantasms are the same thing. In fact…" he turned and pointed at the Ashen one who tilted his head "You can use your Noble Phantasm can't you?"

"I still don't have a good idea of what that is…" The Ashen one replied while shrugging his shoulders "However if you refer to a chant for my blade and releasing it's power as a Noble Phantasm then yes, I was provided with such knowledge upon my summoning."

"See?" He turned back to the girl "If the young lady here is a servant then she should have access to her Noble Phantasm. Although…" he adopted a thoughtful expression "If she can't right now that means that her magical energy isn't flowing correctly."

"What can I do then?" Mash inquired with a small gleam of hope in her eyes, Caster snapped his fingers "I got it!" he then turned to Ritsuka "Hey, lets take a little detour quickly."

"A detour?" Ritsuka raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, just a quick one come one." Caster led them off in a different direction they had been travelling to what appeared to be the ruins of a run down market street "This should be good enough."

"What are we doing her Caster?" Olga questioned him with a slightly frustrated tone at having been delayed in their objective.

"Just some special training." Caster hummed before walking up to her "Let me just inscribe some misfortune bringing runes here…"

"Huh? What are you doing!?" Olga became slightly startled before looking down at her coat "Why are you inscribing runes on me!?"

Caster flashed her an innocent smile "Even if something targets you, you can defend yourself right?" Olga's eye's widened and before she could shout out a reply Caster pointed in a different direction "Look here they come now!"

"What!?"

"Hey, Saber come over here and let the kiddies sort it out."

The Ashen One shrugged "This is fairly similar to how I learned to swing a sword."

"I knew you'd get it."

Ashen One POV

I watch as Mash rushes to protect the Olga woman and my Master from the small horde of monsters. I know they are in no real danger, the second it appears so I imagine myself and Caster will rush in.

"Caster might I ask you a question?" I turn to him and he give me a small nod to continue "I was curious as to your name, I imagine it is not your title."

"No it ain't" he nods to me "Normally Servants don't really give out their names during Grail Wars but…" he gestures to the area

"I assume this is no normal Grail War?" I finish his scentence.

"Yep...So call me Cu Chulainn." he gives me a small bow "So what's your name then pal?"

"I have no name."

"What?" He turns to me with a raised eyebrow "Forsaken or…"

"Most Ash raised from the graves have names. I simply do not recall my own." I shrug to him "Most other undead I encountered had names but...they had been so for a long time…"

"Undead?" He looks me up and down with a strange gleam in his eyes "You look pretty sane for a ghoul."

"Ha!" I let out a small laugh, poor fool has no idea of the hollows "I suppose I am better than most undead. However I believe there is a significant difference between the undead of my world and the undead here."

"Oh? Different world eh?" He tilts his head at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Indeed. Brought here by an old Sorcerer."

"I see...so what are undead like where you are?"

I look up at the sky, I rarely thought about the origins of the other undead. Most Ash didn't really consider it, perhaps with the exception of Hawkwood we simply carried on with our duty "The original undead were Human." I begin and Cu looks at me with an intrigued expression "However at some point they would develop a brand on their bodies. At that point if they died they would simply rise again." I shake my head "There was no real limit to the amount of times an undead could die, however they would only remain sane for as long as they had a purpose. If they lost that then they would go hollow, or as you would probably call it insane."

"Yikes...that's a pretty big curse. Who caused it?" He turns his head away from me and back to where Mash is fighting.

"No one really knows, by the time I rose it had already existed for hundreds of thousands of years…"

"Don't suppose you could have ever asked anyone could you?"

"There was the Slave Knight Gael...He had been around since the first age of Fire. I just never saw the need."

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa Hold up…" Caster turns to me with slightly raised eyebrows "How old was this Gael guy?"

"Never found out...when I first met him he may have been hundreds of thousands of years old. When I last him though…"

"Damn, What happened to him? " Caster says with a knowing expression. My silence is his response and he takes that as his cue to avoid questioning further.

We remain silent for a moment before he speaks again "So what were you risen to do anyway?"

"Kill Gods."

"…"

"…"

"...hahahaHAHAHAHA!" Caster bursts into a fit of laughter and hunches himself over as it gets louder and louder "Y-you were rais- hahahaha!" he continues laughing for a few more minutes before standing up and wiping a tear from his eye "Di-did you actually kill any?"

I look up and start counting out the Gods I probably killed "Seven or Eight. Depends if Gwyndolin counts."

Cu raises and eyebrow at me "Why wouldn't he count?"

"He was being eaten alive at the time…"

"…"

"…"

Cu scrunches his face up in disgust and looks at me "...What the fuc-"

"I can't!" we both turn out attention back to Mash who has finished her battle and come up to us "I can't do anymore back to back battles!" she pants before frowning slightly at him "Rather than test my will why don't you teach me some solid theories!"

Caster sighs rather loudly, cutting her off "You just don't get it do you? Did I miscalculate?" he shrugs "Oh well, lets cross that bridge when we get to it." he twirls his staff and then flashes a smile at the girl "I'm your next opponent. Don't worry about holding back!" his smile shifts to a more bloodthirsty one and he points at Ritsuka "I'm not gonna hold back when I kill him."

"Are you crazy!" Olga shouts at him and I slowly prepare my sword.

"I wouldn't move if I were you Saber!" He calls out to me and gestures to my feet, I look down and spot them. Dozens of the same runes which killed Lancer. He's trapped me. "No hard feelings but if we're gonna stand a real chance then that's girls gonna need to learn how to use her Noble Phantasm."

I'm loathe to admit it but he's right, if she can't unlock her Noble Phantasm then Servant or not she won't be long for this world. I can do nothing but watch.

Caster strikes first, unleashing a small barrage of fireballs aimed at Ritsuka, Mash intercepts them although the strikes are enough to stagger her slightly.

"Not bad little girl!" Caster calls out to her "But is it enough?" he jumps into the air and launches a second wave of fireballs, only this time they're all coming at her from different directions.

I watch as Mash is forced to move quickly to block them, however she's barely keeping up. Caster is relentless with his casting, I know this though. I used this tactic myself back in Lothric, wear down an opponent with magic before going in for the kill. He'll tire her out so she's easier to deal with at close range.

I watch as for a minute Caster pelts fireballs at Mash, there's a grim inevitability to this fight. Mash will lose if this keeps up, it's not that she's a bad fighter. It's just that Cu is better, he's had years more experience on a battlefield than she has.

Caster closes in on her fast, his staff meets her shield with a resounding clang, Caster's physically weaker than Mash, however he doesn't need to be stronger than her. His continuous casting of spells has tired her out given by how heavily she's panting. She pushes forward, but the movement is sloppy and tired and Caster simply dodges it and strike her in the face with the end of his staff.

Mash is launched back slightly but picks herself back up, however slowly that is. She's persistent I'll give her that. Her determination would make even the most stalwart of undead envious.

"Ok it's time we finish this!" Caster shouts out and jumps a considerable distance away from Mash "Burn to the ground with your Master!"

Something in the air shifts, last time I felt this I was on the receiving end of that Assassins failed attack, this however…

"My spell is a coffin of flames, a giant of verdant thorn. Retribution, a shrine that will purify human misery-" A large construct made of wood rises from behind Caster and ignites itself in fire "Befall the Wickerman!" the massive construct marches towards Mash, Ritsuka and Olga.

This is bad, the girl is in no shape to fight that thing of and Ritsuka and Olga will die, if I move the runes will surely activate and kill me.

I look back up at the Servant girl as the construct closes in, before I can move though I notice something.

Mash's eyes. There isn't a hint of fear in them, only determination.

'I underestimated her didn't I?'

She rises her shield above her head and lets out a shout before she slams her shield into the ground and a blue light forms in front of her. The construct harmlessly bounces off her shield and disappears.

Caster lets out a laugh and the runes under my feat disappear.

I'm instantly walking over to them, Mash looks around with a surprised expression "Eh? Did I unleash my…?"

"Indeed!" I shout out at her "You've done well girl. A momentous day, you have passed your very own ritual of fire!"

Cu lets out a whistle as he walks over to us "I knew you'd survive that, but to think that your master would walk away without a scratch?" he shakes his head and laughs "That confirms it then. This little girl truly is a first rate Heroic Spirit."

"You should praise her Master." I turn to Ritsuka and nod at him "She's succeeded where many have failed."

"Senpai...did I?" Mash begins but Ritsuka cuts her off with a cheer "Yeah! That was amazing Mash!"

"Although…" Cu cuts in "You didn't unleash it's true name did you?"

Mash becomes slightly downcast and shakes her head "No, even though I could cast it I didn't get it's true name or the true name of the Heroic spirit…"

"That's fine though..." Olga cuts her off "Even if you are inexperience, even if you are only temporary." she gives the girl a small smile "Your very wish unleashed your Noble Phantasm. You didn't have the slightest desire for a true name or to become a true Heroic Spirit." She laughs slightly "It's like a fairy tail."

"Ummm… Director?"

"Relax I'm only teasing" her smile vanishes and she returns to a serious posture "Regardless I'm glad you've unlocked your Noble Phantasm, but it's inconvenient to deploy without a true name." her face turns thoughtful and she hums "Since it's a psuedo-deployment of a Noble Phantasm...let me see…" she thinks for a moment before sporting a self-satisfied smile "we'll call it 'Lord Chaldeas' since you have a link to the name that should be a good spell for you right?"

Mash seems positively elated at the news, I never really had to worry about the monsters and Gods in Lothric shouting out spells but, different forms of magic I suppose.

"Perhaps we should make haste." I begin and get the attention of everyone back onto me "We have dawdled here too long."

"Everyone!" Roman's face pops up, he's panicked "I'm picking up a Heroic Spirit heading right for you!"

Before I can even respond the building on the far end of the street explodes outwards, Mash jumps in front of Master and Olga to shield them and myself and Cu focus on the now destroyed building.

Through the dust I can see a shadow slowly come out and begin turning towards us.

I freeze. I recognise that shadow.

"Berserker…" Caster whispers next to us, but that isn't his true name

Dealing with one of his disciples was challenging enough, but if the Throne of Heroes is where only the greatest legends go when they die then this isn't some undead who donned the armour.

This is the original.

My eyes narrow behind my helmet and I speak out.

"Master, Mash...you were curious as to the Heroic spirits of my world" the smoke begins to clear to reveal a club made from what would look like stone to anyone else. Not to me. "This is one of the oldest and greatest of all" More of the smoke clears and the figure continues to step forward, I grip my sword tighter. "He inspired an entire cult dedicated to the art of hunting Dragons." the smoke clears and reveals the two metre tall man, donned in heave stone armour and holding a large shield, slightly smaller than Mash's.

"A veteran of the War against the everlasting dragons…"

The man slams his club into the ground, I feel the shockwave from the impact over here.

"That, Mash, is Havel the Rock…"

AN: Dun, dun, dun

Going in full force with a big name, Havel. The OG Havel. Go big or go home yeah?

I spent a little bit of time working on his stats so here you go, I think they are pretty on par.

Havel The Rock

Servant: Berserker

Strength: A

Endurance: B

Agility: D

Mana: -

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm:

Dragons tooth: A

Stone Flash: A (Anti-Unit Self)

Temporarily coats himself in nigh-impenetrable armour at the cost of agility.

Class Skills

Magic Resistance: E

Mad Enhancement: A

Personal Skills:

Bishop of Gwyn: B

Offensive Miracles have no effect on Havel

Great Magic Barrier: B

Temporarily prevents the casting of spells

Mystic Slayer: A

Protection from Flame: A

Does not extend to the black flames however