Okay, so this isn't the new story I was talking about in Fake Hero. It just popped up while I was rereading through my copies of the Arifureta light novels, and it's been bouncing around in my skull like the DvD screensaver ever since. And every time it hits a corner, I get a new idea for it. I just want to satisfy this idea as it brews in my head before it gets any worse and I actually try taking it seriously. I doubt this one will actually be that popular. This isn't my attempt at replacing Duality, either. But… here. Take it and leave. I don't want it.

Please, do not wish for more. I cannot handle more. This is short and poorly written for a reason.

"Hah…" A cold, icy breath escaped his lips. He shifted his arms slightly, which was accompanied by the quiet rattling of chains. How long had he been down here…? Long enough he didn't care, probably. Less than a year, though. Miyu's 11th birthday hadn't come yet, he knew that much.

Was it sad that he cared more about Miyu, who was probably living a happy life, than himself, who was locked away underground? Probably. Did he care? Of course not. Shirou Emiya was incapable of caring about himself more than he cared about others, it was part of his existence. His contract with EMIYA probably wasn't helping much in that regard, either.

He slumped his shoulders in defeat. With that said, if he had managed to defeat Angelica… Would he be there? With Miyu? He didn't know, he didn't wish for his own salvation, but it was a nice thought to have. Also a depressing one, since he wasn't there with her. Still, she should be happy there… even if he wasn't present in her life anymore…

"…"

He heard something. It was faint, quiet. He would've missed it if it wasn't dead silent down here. It wasn't a footstep or his own breathing. No one was coming down here. He blinked twice, but dismissed it as a pebble coming loose or something.

"…!"

There it was again, slightly louder. Annoying. Was he finally losing it? Or were these the voices of the people he's killed, calling him down from hell? 'Sorry Shinji, but Julian's not gonna let me kill myself just yet, and he doesn't plan on killing me off, either. You'll have to wait a bit longer.' He thought jokingly, recalling the last words of the dead man. 'I'll be waiting for you in Hell, Emiya', or something along those lines.

"…summon the."

"Shut up… If this is the voice of god or whatever, I'd say this is already a fitting punishment. And I don't regret a damn thing. Well… maybe one thing." He groaned tiredly. Might've been some kind of ploy from Julian or something. He must've been bored if he was messing with him like this.

"I am sorry for this, little one… But I have no choice."

He closed his eyes, shutting out the voice entirely. Evidently, that was a mistake, because he saw light break through his closed eyelids. They opened out of surprise, and Shirou saw a large blue magic circle fill the room, getting increasingly brighter. He raised his arms to shield his eyes. When the light dimmed slightly, he lowered his hands, and his eyes opened a slit, the bright light of the sun momentarily blinding him. He was not in his cell anymore, judging from the forest canopy above. "…Definitely a prank from Julian, or someone else in his family. They're going the whole nine yards for this, huh?" He sighed, raising a hand to his head. Unless… no, it couldn't be. But that Magic Circle looked nothing like anything the Ainsworth used… And Julian knew that if he got free, he'd be after him immediately.

That was when he realized his restraints were nowhere to be seen. The shackles, the chains, the cuffs, everything. He then realized that he wasn't wearing his torn sweater, like he was just a moment ago. In fact, his entire outfit has changed into something else. It was like an amalgamation of his two outfits during the Grail War. His own casual clothing, and EMIYA's garb, though modified to fit his identity better.

The first thing he noticed was the red scarf with frayed ends, which looked very similar to the Holy Shroud that he wore. One quick check later, he realized that it was that same Holy Shroud, however it was turned into a long scarf instead of a detached sleeve. It was surprisingly comfortable, despite the fairly high temperature.

His white and blue shirt/body armor merged into a black dress shirt with silver accents, less baggy on him than his normal sweater and less tight than the armor. He also wore a red tie, which he assumed was made from part of the headband. Tough black pants that vaguely resembled jeans, several straps wrapped around his legs. Hard black boots with protective metal around his heels, toes, and ankles.

Finally, his coat. It was now a tough red trench coat with a gray interior, rather than that plain winter jacket. The remainder of his Holy Shroud, and the jacket he tore off in his battle. There were additional pockets both inside and outside the coat, though the breast pockets on the outside were smaller, only large enough to fit a wallet or a phone. In contrast, the interior pockets were large enough to fit a decently sized book.

It felt a bit like if EMIYA's armor was a more casual outfit, with a few additions and changes. With that said, there was plenty of room for modifications, both mundane and mystical. For the former, leather padding around his arms or legs for better protection, or tough gloves to protect his hands. For the latter, he could add enchantments to decrease the weight or noise of the clothing, or perhaps Runes to help moderate the temperature. That said, the coat was made from a Holy Shroud, so it likely had protections of its own. It would explain why he wasn't burning up in these clothes, at least.

After he finished observing his new garments, he stuffed his hands into the jacket pockets to test them out, and felt foreign objects in several pockets. His left outer pocket had two small, weirdly shaped objects inside. And one of the interior pockets had a larger, rectangular object. He checked the smaller things in his main pocket first, already suspect of what they really were. His suspicion was confirmed when he pulled out two red handles, which looked like a sword without its blade. "I thought I got rid of these?" He muttered. He held them between his fingers and injected his Od into the hilts, and a long blade materialized for each. These were the Black Keys he purchased from that Fake Priest.

He stared at them for a moment longer, before willing the blades to vanish and sticking the hilts back into his pocket. He then reached into the coat and grabbed the object inside, which revealed itself to be a journal. He tried opening it, but a slip of paper fell out. He snatched it out of the air before it reached the ground, and folded it open. It was a note.

To whomever this may concern,

I am the last True God of this world, after Ehit usurped us millennia ago. We have been all but forgotten. I gravely require your assistance.

Ehit has gone mad, he's turned the world into his chessboard, and its inhabitants into his game pieces. He grew bored enough to take innocents from another world and turn them into his playthings as well, summoning them to fight in a war he and his retainer Alva have been forcing their subjects into for cheap amusement. I took advantage of his summoning ritual to summon you without him noticing. Whether you're from the same group, or even the same world as his summoned 'Heroes', I do not know. But Ehit needs to be stopped, he cannot be allowed to continue this.

I have given you a few gifts in order to best assist you in my goal, including this journal, and the ring you bear on your right hand. Shirou paused to check his right hand, and there was indeed a ring there. Silver with a simple shape, and a small gem on top. It looked to be a Ruby. Under no circumstances are you to take off that ring. It shall hide you from Ehit's eyes with the same Magic I use to evade him. I do hope my other gifts will be of assistance to you as well, for I do not know exactly what they will be for you. Anything from powerful armor to a grand weapon, it will be whatever you require most. Well, that explained his clothes, at least. He didn't need any new powerful weapons, he had those in excess. Proper clothing however, he could use.

This is a journal containing vast knowledge, including maps of the world and its respective nations, notes about individual kingdoms and towns, and countless other things. Everything you could ever need to know about this world. Please, use these notes to find and conquer the Seven Great Labyrinths, all that remains of the Liberators who stood against Ehit ages ago. With the powers you obtain from each, you will be able to defeat Ehit. And with all seven united, you should be able to create a way for you to return home.

I am truly sorry for this. But I had no other options.

The Ancient God of Penance, Xexius.

Shirou stared at the note for a long time after that, the only noises being the soft breeze rustling leaves or the occasional chirping of a bird.

Eventually, a chuckle escaped his lips. That chuckle turned into light snickering, and then into full laughter. He tilted his head back and laughed towards the heavens unbidden, completely ignoring his surroundings. Eventually, he calmed himself down enough to speak. "God of Penance, huh? Fitting, I guess…" He jested. But if that last part was true, then… Shirou began to think about Miyu again.

If he could create a way to return to his own world, then he could probably create a way for him to reunite with his little sister as well. In fact, he probably had a stronger connection to Miyu's new world than his old one, so it might've been easier for him to go there. "Sorry Miyu, but it looks like I'll have to make you wait a little longer. I'll take you to see the ocean, just like you wanted." He put away the note and flipped open the journal, starting from the beginning. "'Tortus, a History'… Awfully generic…"

As it turned out, Xexius (Who shall be referred to as Xex from now on, much like how Ehit's name was shortened from Ehitruje) had summoned him into the Sea of Trees where the demi-humans (people with animal-like traits and poor control over their Magic) lived, far East from the humans who lived up north and demon-kin who lived in the south. And as his note implied, he was summoned into the world the same time his fellow otherworlders arrived, though they were summoned into the capital of the Heiligh Kingdom off to the north.

As such, the closest city to his location would be Brooke, a small town that also belonged to the Heiligh Kingdom. The fact that it had an Adventurer's Guild Hall was also a great boon for him, since it would allow him to find a better way to travel from city to city. That did come with a slight problem, however. He had no forms of identification whatsoever.

According to the Journal's 'Essentials of your Everyday Traveler' section, every citizen of the Heiligh Kingdom and Hoelscher Empire had a 'Status Plate', which served as a sort of Magical ID card and a way to gauge one's strength and abilities. He needed one if he even wanted to get into the town without raising suspicions, and to register in the Guild. Unfortunately, he couldn't just explain his circumstances or get one issued for him via the normal means, because people would assume he was crazy, or they'd completely freak out. Especially since his stats would probably be much, much higher than a person of this world's.

According to that same section, an average person without a special Job -one's natural aptitude, having one determined the types of skills one could acquire- had average stats of 10. However, humans from Earth or its many counterparts were much more powerful compared to humans of this world, but many forgot that Magic existed. That also went hand in hand with his own world, because one of the 'Ancient Magics' here was essentially the ability to create Mystic Codes, though they went by the name 'Artifacts' here. It wasn't that great, really.

On the other hand, another one of the 'Ancient Magics', this one called 'Spirit Magic', was a somewhat watered down version of the Heaven's Feel, so maybe it wasn't a fair comparison. Perhaps this 'Creation Magic' could create Mystic Codes on par with Noble Phantasms. It was used to create the Artifact that created Status Plates, apparently.

He was getting off track. His point was that people from Earth were stronger than people from Tortus, several times in fact. And Shirou was more than ten times stronger and faster than a professional athlete, who was definitely stronger and faster than your average human. Shirou wouldn't be that surprised if none of his status was lower than 1000 at level 1 out of 100. To put it in perspective, a Jobless human would have max stats in the 100-200 range, humans with combat-oriented jobs could have stats in the 300-400 range, and demon-kin or Demi-humans had stats that ranged anywhere from 300 to 600. He'd be well above that without going up a single level.

Of course, this was just speculation on his part, but he severely doubted that he'd have the average stats of a Tortus native, so he was well into the hundreds at the very least. And that would understandably raise questions. He couldn't hide those stats from people if they needed to be there to issue his Status Plate in the first place.

Really, his only hope was to stumble across a Status Plate and hope he could somehow overwrite or reset it. Well, that or see if he could project one for himself, then modify that into a blank card. They were both stretches of the imagination in different ways, but preferable to people assuming he's another one of these summoned heroes. He didn't need that kind of attention on him, especially not this soon.

Thoughts for later, he was still several kilometers away from the town. It was good enough he had a basic idea on what he could do, now he could spend time focusing on other things. For example, there was a really big rock coming up, and he didn't want to crash into it. So he leaned to the right, tilting the shield and swerving around. Oh, did he mention that he was surfing on a floating shield?

It wasn't like he was going to walk all the way to Brooke.

The next thing that he began to think about was which Labyrinth he should go to first. He dismissed three of them right off the bat, since they required the conquering of at least one other Labyrinth.

That left four available to him at the moment: The Great Orcus Labyrinth, the Reisen Gorge, The Grand Gruen Volcano, and the Schnee Snow Fields.

The first and third were the only ones that were properly documented as Labyrinths, while the other two were simply high suspect locations. However, the Journal confirmed their existence and explained their 'gimmicks'.

The Great Orcus Labyrinth was a multi-floored dungeon with stronger Phantasmal Beasts -Demonic Beasts, actually. More commonly known as Monsters- every floor down. The deepest floor anyone in recent history had reached was 65. That's all he really knew about it, since it was fairly simple. The journal went further in depth than that, something about the now-extinct Vampires, but he didn't go through it right now.

Next was the Reisen Gorge, the 'divider' of the north and south of the continent, spanning from the Gruen Desert to the Sea of Trees. The Gorge itself was once a sort of execution ground, for a very good reason too. It had a weird effect on Mana that dispersed it when it exited the body. So any external spells (basically all of them) were useless. And it was full of powerful monsters, too. So there was little chance of people surviving down there, unless they had naturally high stats and a good weapon.

Or they could be like him, who had very good Reinforcement. But that wasn't a spell anyone could learn, it's Tortus equivalent was a high-level technique that doubled or tripled one's stats.

The third was the Grand Gruen Volcano. Because it was a volcano, it was obvious what it's 'gimmick' was: It was hot. Really, really hot. That's basically it.

Finally, the Schnee Snow Fields. It had the opposite gimmick from the Volcano. Three guesses as to what it was.

Shirou was deciding which one he would start with. He immediately ruled out Reisen Gorge, because he didn't have any proper weapons he could take with him. And his Projections would be dispelled in an instant with the abnormal effect on Mana. Really, his only advantage would be Reinforcement, and that probably wouldn't be enough. He'd do that after Orcus, since he could use Creation Magic to create a good enough weapon to bring there.

He wasn't even sure how he'd go about using 'Gravity Magic' in the first place.

The next one he ruled out was the Schnee Snow Fields, for a very simple reason. They were the closest to the demon-kin. He was a human, despite having no connection to either human kingdoms. It didn't take a genius to see why that was a bad idea.

That left the Volcano and the Orcus Labyrinth. Both had their pros and cons.

Orcus was the most straightforward, and it would grant him 'Creation Magic', which he could definitely take advantage of. Alternatively, it was part of the Heiligh Kingdom, so the Heroes would probably end up going there to train. He'd rather avoid them as much as possible.

The Volcano on the other hand was further away, and more challenging. It would grant him 'Spatial Magic', which he wanted solely to spite the Ainsworth family and their specialized Magecraft. But considering the fact that it was full of magical flying lava, he decided that he would go to Orcus first, and create the tools to help him survive the others.

With his decision made, Shirou leaned forward and increased his speed.

As it turned out, Shirou wouldn't need to go though what was effectively 'fantasy customs' in order to acquire proper identification. That's because he found the perfect way to acquire a Status Plate.

A dead body.

…

Let him explain.

He was still 'surfing' towards Brooke, when he came across a small pack of large, monstrous lions. They were tearing away at something. After dispatching (read: sniping) all of them, he checked what it was that they were eating at.

It was a human cadaver.

Dead bodies never really bothered him (he saw his first before he turned 10, thanks for that, Kiritsugu), so Shirou chose to inspect it. Clearly male, a bit on the younger side. Not majorly fit, but not unhealthy by any means. When Shirou began to check for anything useful, he found two things: The man's Status Plate, and his valuables. Specifically, his money pouch, and the few Mana Crystals on his person.

Mana Crystals were effectively a very weak version of a Mana Core within a monster, which could be harvested. The stronger the monster, the higher quality the crystal, and the more valuable it was. They were used to create Magic Circles and Magic tools, since they were really good at channeling Mana. He made a note to tear out the ones inside those lions.

Anyways, with these and the other materials he could get from those lions, he definitely had enough to acquire basic supplies at Brooke. He was feeling a bit peckish. But the real jackpot here was the Status Plate.

It was a 12 cm by 7 cm piece of metal, with a smaller rectangle pressed into it. It lit up a lime green, and presented the kid's name, age, gender, job, level, stats, and skills.

Henry Watson

Age: 17

Male

Job: Swordsman

Level: 19

Strength: 45

Vitality: 60

Defense: 37

Agility: 72

Magic: 55

Magic Defense: 55

Skills: Swordsmanship, Fire Affinity

No, he couldn't just present himself with Henry's Status Plate. The color of the screen was the color of one's Mana, and his was most certainly not lime green.

He could, however, see if he could overwrite it and put his own status in place of Henry's. So, he started experimenting with Reinforcement, Alteration, Structural Analysis, a little bit of everything he knew.

While they did tell him what the Magic Circle on the back did and what the plate was made out of, he couldn't figure out how to overwrite it. So, he decided to see what he could do with his last spell: Projection. Specifically, Tracing. It may not have been a sword, but it was still worth a shot.

First, tried seeing if he could project another Status Plate. He could, but all he got was another copy of Henry's status. And he wasn't sure if he could modify it like he could with his other Projections, since it wasn't in his Reality Marble.

So, he tried something else. His first instinct was to try and use Rule Breaker, but that might've broken the circle on the back, and all he'd have left was a sheet of metal. So he tried another sword, which was created to Analyze spells rather than break them.

The Sword of Paracelsus.

While it did work as a Catalyst for strengthening Magecraft (Enough so that several other Catalysts, such as Azoth Swords, were modeled after it), it's primary function was to serve as a tool for analyzing and copying spells. Essentially, it was a tool for stealing Magecraft.

Because of this, it was a very powerful Noble Phantasm, more powerful than that 'Holy Sword' that was to be wielded by the 'Hero'. But right now, it was just another tool for him to wield. Shirou stabbed the tip of the blade into the back of the Status Plate, and intoned the activation phrase.

Not even a second later, he understood exactly how the Status Plate worked. And how he would go about resetting it. So he got to work, crushing the smallest Mana Crystal available into powder and using it to create a new Magic Circle on the back, almost perfectly resembling the first. Then, he placed a hand on the new Magic Circle, and activated his Circuits.

Icy blue lines appeared on his hand and trailed up the arm. Then, they spread across the Status Plate. The lime green screen started glowing pure white, and when it began to dim, it had changed to the same color as the lines that spread across his body. Shirou didn't even need to place a drop of blood on the Magic Circle, since he was already identified as the Plate's new owner through the reset process.

He turned it back around to look at his own status, noting the new color of the screen, and- His mind stalled upon looking at the stats and skills. He stared at the numbers blankly, expecting his vision to correct itself. It didn't. These were his real stats.

Shirou Emiya

Age: 17

Male

Job: PRETENDER

Level: 1

Strength: 3450

Vitality: 4865

Defense: 3205

Agility: 3120

Magic: 5285

Magic Defense: 3390

Skills: Feux Arms Mastery [+], Thaumaturgy [+], Unlimited Blade Works [+Weapon Recording] [+Weapon Duplication] [+Technique Reading] [+Body of Swords], Magic Resistance, Clairvoyance, Eye of the Mind (True?), Status Appraisal, Language Comprehension

"…What are those spots next to Feux Arms Mastery and Thaumaturgy?" He asked in a confused, shocked, and somewhat resigned voice, extending his finger to hit the [+] sign on the former. To his surprise, it showed a long, long list of weapon 'masteries'. When he pressed the other [+] symbol, it closed the first list and displayed all the Magecraft he could use, though this was much shorter. "…I gotta change these around a lot, there's no way these are gonna go under the radar. At least I know how to disguise my status…" After promptly changing what the Status Plate displayed, he looked back at the plate to check his work for any flaws or inconsistencies.

Shirou Emiya

Age: 17

Male

Job: Magus

Level: 30

Strength: 115

Vitality: 135

Defense: 110

Agility: 175

Magic: 200

Magic Defense: 200

Skills: Sword Mastery, Material Transmutation, Runecraft Affinity, Magic Resistance

This was far, far more reasonable than his true status, especially for his level. He changed his job to something that was less ominous (What the hell was a PRETENDER, and why was he one of them?), and he changed around Feux Arms Mastery to only include a few of his abilities. He could just describe Magus as a Mage that could use weapons, and decided that could be used to explain away rest. Paladins already existed, and they were knights that could use magic.

Again, at least it wasn't as unreasonable as his true status. Seriously, there were more weapon proficiencies there than there were words in a book.

With this, it was only somewhat unusual, not majorly so.

Speaking of unusual, it appeared that using the Sword of Paracelsus had an unintended side effect. Because one of his skills was 'Status Appraisal', which was clearly not part of his Thaumaturgy.

When he tested it out, he focused his eyes on one of the lions and injected a tiny bit of his Od into his eyes, the same way he would Reinforce them. Then, a bunch of information just appeared in his vision like one of those annoying pop ups on Kiritsugu's old laptop. It told him that the lions were called Lygerfangs, and that they usually preyed on weaker monsters or leftover scraps.

When he did the same thing on Henry's body, he saw the same things that were on his Status Plate, but the word 'deceased' appeared right next to his name.

…

These didn't count as Mystic Eyes, right? He didn't want a Sealing Designation.

He shook his head and re-created the shield he was surfing on earlier, returning to his trip. When he got within eyeshot of the town, meaning any of the guards could see him in the distance, he dismissed the shield again and walked the rest of the distance, carrying a projected sack with all the materials he acquired earlier. It took a bit longer than he would've liked, but he didn't want anyone asking too many questions. One of the guards walked up to him, raising a hand in greeting. "Status Plate, and reason for your arrival. Sorry, but it's just standard procedure." The guard explained, and Shirou was secretly glad for his 'Language Comprehension'. He clearly wasn't speaking any language on Earth, but Shirou understood the man perfectly.

Shirou nodded and took the plate out from his left breast pocket, conveniently the perfect size for the plate. He handed it to the guard, who gave it a quick look over. "I'm here to resupply some food, sell materials, and register at the guild."

"Huh… never heard of a 'Magus' before. And I don't know anything about this 'Runecraft' or 'Material Transmutation'… Strange name you got there, 'Shirow'." The guard butchered his name.

"I had strange parents. And it's pronounced 'Shiro', I think it means 'white'. As for my Job and Skills… well, they are what they are." Shirou scratched the back of his neck, intentionally being misleading and vague. The guard looked at the plate for a few seconds longer, then shrugged and gave it back.

"White, huh? Well, I can see why." The guard pointedly looked at the patch of white hair over his left eye. He nodded to himself. "You're clear to enter. The adventurer's guild is on the main street. Welcome to Brooke."

"Thanks." Shirou nodded, stepping forward into the town. Despite the relative size, there was actually a very impressive stone wall with a metal gate. Still, the journal called it a 'small town'. It didn't really matter. He'd stay one night at most, acquire supplies that would survive his trip to Orcus, then continue from there. How long would it take? He didn't know.

Shirou headed straight to the Guild, ignoring all the stalls on the side of the street. It was fairly lively for a small town, but nothing that mattered at the moment.

The Guild was a small building, nothing impressive. It wasn't actually that much bigger than a typical house. It wasn't super full at the moment, so he could go straight to the front desk without waiting in line or anything. At the front was an older woman, who… Well, time hadn't been fair to her, to say the least. "Welcome to Brooke's adventurer's guild! What can I do for you?" She called out in greetings.

"I'm just here to register and trade in some materials." Shirou replied, taking out his Plate again and gesturing towards the sack. The receptionist nodded, taking out a paper and a quill in an ink jar.

"Of course, you get 10% more if you're a registered adventurer. There is a small fee to register… I'll just take it out of what you're selling then give you the rest with the bonus." The receptionist grinned at him, and Shirou allowed himself a small smile. He took the quill and ink, filling out the form after handing the receptionist his Status Plate.

After a minute or two, he handed back the form. The receptionist gave it a brief check over and double checked with the Plate, before nodding and handing back the Plate. "So, you're here to sell materials, right?"

"Yeah, I got them right here." Shirou put the sack down and grabbed the first thing he touched. The pelts, the teeth, claws, fangs, bones, everything he could harvest from the Lygerfangs. Apparently, the receptionist was a bit surprised. "Is something wrong?"

"…No, it's just been a while since I've Lygerfang materials, especially in such good condition." She explained, before taking everything and putting it into another bag. Then she grabbed something from under the desk, and pulled out a tray with a variety of colored crystals, shaped like coins. "It totals out to 30,000 Luta. I've also given you a map of the city, free of charge." The receptionist smiled again, handing over the map in question. Shirou took all the coins and put them into his newly acquired pouch, then looked at the map.

"Is it really okay for me to have this? I mean, it's basically an entire guidebook…" He trailed off, unsure about the map but still accepting it.

"Don't worry about it, I just do it as a hobby." She reassured. Shirou shrugged, rolling up the map and placing it inside his coat after identifying a good place to eat. He bowed slightly and stepped back out of the Guild. Thankfully, it was a quick affair. Now, all that was left was to regain his strength, and then he would set off to Horaud.

And yes, he did need to regain his strength. While he wasn't starved in the Ainsworth's 'care', he was hardly getting a perfectly balanced diet. Not to mention the fact that he did a lot of nothing but sitting around for the past few months or so. That's why he was surfing on his shield rather than just running the same distance. He was actually having a bit of trouble standing straight right now.

First, he would focus on recovering and resupplying. Then, he'd begin his 'journey' through this world. And eventually… he'd reunite with Miyu. But that wouldn't be for many months. For now… recover.

"Finally here…" Shirou muttered, shifting his bags, now a high quality satchel at his side and a backpack, rather than a single old sack. "I'm kind of surprised it took so long to get here."

It had been just under a month since his summoning to this world, as he spent a good bit of the time between now and then going through some self-imposed physical therapy. Since then, he had more than just recovered his strength, he was actually feeling somewhat better than before. Despite the fact that the entire system was almost a replication of those old RPGs Kiritsugu got for him that one time, it worked the opposite way. Rather than increasing one's level to increase their stats, like how it happened in those old games, one's level only went up as their stats did. That meant that one's level was a reflection of how close one was to reaching their maximum potential.

So he knew just how far he was from reaching his limit at level 10. Yes, he trained until he hit level 10, and all his stats went up by anywhere from a few hundred to just short of a thousand. How he was only at level 1 after going beyond humanity to save Miyu, he didn't know. He just blamed the Magic here, it barely made any sense as is.

He also heard a few rumors in that time. First off, the people who were summoned were a class of highschool students and their teacher, and the latter was revolutionizing agriculture as a summoned 'Farmer'. The fact that a teacher's 'natural aptitude' was being a farmer… It was strangely funny.

Secondly, another one of the summoned students had completely average stats and the job of a Synergist, which was basically the equivalent to a magic blacksmith. Actually, not too different from him, as they both used Magic to create weapons and armor. The fact that he came from modern Japan was likely a boon for him, as there were many things that could be considered common or everyday that were completely unheard of in Tortus. Firearms, most forms of machinery, electricity. Unfortunately, if it were to happen, it wouldn't be through that Synergist student, because of point three.

Speaking of, the third thing he learned was that there was a trap on the 20th floor that brought the class and their guards to the 65th. The Synergist perished due to a spell missing after buying time, and fell into the depths of Orcus. The rest of the party escaped with their lives, but many of them were traumatized and stayed in the castle. If there was one good thing that came out of this, it would be that he could skip all the way to the bottom in one quick bound, rather than go floor by floor. He silently thanked the Synergist boy as he walked up to the main entrance to the Labyrinth, which happened to have a front desk.

Since it was so popular as a training spot, especially for the kingdom's knights, an outpost town was created to serve the people who came to the Orcus Labyrinth for training. That was the sole reason that Horaud existed. He did consider grabbing some extra things, but he had enough home-made rations to feed a small army in his pack, he could always produce more water with Runes, and could project anything else. So buying a rope and hook was unnecessary, along with most other forms of equipment or supplies.

He presented his modified Status Plate to the receptionist, who gave it a quick look over, nodded to herself, then returned it to him while allowing entry. It was a quick process at least. Shirou immediately stepped in, and as soon he was deep enough inside, he began going straight for the 20th floor.

While he didn't have one on him, he did see maps for the first 20 floors, and he was able to figure out where the trap was. He'd intentionally activate it, then jump off the bridge when he got to the 65th. He'd figure everything else out from there. There weren't a lot of people to get in his way, apparently a few other people were shaken by the Synergist's demise, so he could navigate with ease.

When he did get to the trap, it had several signs signaling not to touch it, and it was chained off. There was nothing to stop people from setting it off, but it was pretty clear that it was advised against doing so. Perfect for him, since he'd rather not rush down another 45 flights of stairs when such a convenient shortcut was right here. Without any hesitation, he reached out and grabbed the crystal which served as the catalyst for the trap. If Kiritsugu was here, he'd be chided out of his mind for reaching out to what he knew to be a trap. But Kiritsugu was dead, so he didn't care.

On contact, he could detect a change in the Mana in the air. Immediately after, a Magic Circle appeared on the floor, not unlike the one he saw when he was transported out of the Ainsworth's cell. Again, he shielded his eyes, and felt his body be lifted off the ground. He nearly fell over when he found himself standing on solid ground yet again. Then the bridge started to shake violently, as two more large Magic Circles appeared on each end, swirling with dark red Mana.

On the side he was facing away from, several human skeletons with weapons and armor. They were Traum Soldiers, they appeared on the 35th floor. Traum was German for Dream, so… they were Dream Soldiers? If anything, they were nightmares. Not exactly terrifying… but hardly pleasant to look at. At least there were no decaying innards or anything like that.

On the other side of the bridge was… it looked like some kind of Dinosaur. Specifically a triceratops. Unlike the dinosaur however, it had spiked claws and fangs, hot fire came out the head, and its eyes glowed a bright red. Without a doubt, it was a Monster.

Shirou took one look at both ends of the bridge, shrugged, and jumped off the side into the void below without any hesitation. He could've swore that the dinosaur monster let out a confused roar.

When it started getting dark, he cast a simple spell that would allow him to see in the dark, and Reinforced his hearing. After a moment of nothing but wind rushing past, he heard something else… the roar of a waterfall? He released his Reinforcement and looked down, soon seeing the sources of the sound. There was a hole in the cliff on the side where the Traum Soldiers showed up, and water was flowing out. He heard more, and saw countless small 'waterfalls' flowing out of the walls. He quickly threw a simple Rune on both of his bags after checking to make sure they were secure. Immediately after he finished, he crashed into one of the waterfalls.

And then another, and another. He was continuously thrown around in his descent. Eventually, the rapid motions began to slow, and he was guided through another hole in the cliff. Thankfully, it was large enough for him to stick his head out of the water without hitting the ceiling. He took in a deep breath, kicking below as to stop himself from sinking back in. The 'river' was now guiding him through a channel. Rather than try to fight it, he started swimming with the water. Eventually, the river exited the underground channel, and flowed into a more normal river. As soon as he could, he crawled out of the water. His clothes felt heavy, and they got dirty when he crawled out into the mud.

He took one look down and sighed, he'd have to clean them off. So he trudged along the river, wet and cold, until he got to a part of the river that was adjacent to dry land. He dropped both of his bags on the ground, noting that they were both perfectly dry. He checked the larger pack first, opening the zippers to look inside. Good, nothing was wet. He checked the smaller bag, and its contents were dry as well. Good, the Rune kept them both dry. He'd rather have to dry off wet clothes than try and salvage wet food.

With that said, he did need to change out of these before he got hypothermia or anything. So he threw off the coat -silently thankful that he remembered to move the journal into the handbag- and the rest of his clothes, excluding the boots, and hung them over a tree branch while he got changed. He didn't bring any spare clothes with him, but he could just project a new set. He'd do that later though, after he dried himself off.

He gathered a few dead branches and leaves, and set them in a pile on top of a flat stone right under his clothes. He applied a few enchantments to resist any fire or burns, so he wouldn't have to worry about it catching fire. Then he drew a Rune of fire -Ansuz, his mind supplied- and ignited the kindling. This would dry off his clothes in a while. As for himself… he just projected a towel and wiped off any water, then projected a new set of clothes to change into while his 'real' outfit dried off.

"So, this is my first Labyrinth… Not as impressive as what I had in mind." He muttered, crossing his arms. For now, he'd wait until his regular clothes dried off, and then he'd begin his descent from there. "I'll see you soon, Miyu. Just wait for me."

Wow, I got this done fast. Well, better to get it out of the way and focus on the main stuff instead of wasting too much time on something I don't really feel that passionate about. Again, please don't ask for more. I don't think I can handle more.

(In all seriousness, if anyone does actually want more, as unlikely as that is, let me know in the Reviews.)

For now, Eldritch Namer signing out.