"...Are you sure this is a Noble Phantasm?" Olga asked leaning over Faeran's shoulder as he examined their newest find, eyeing the golden piece in his hands dubiously.
It was the last one, and the one that took the longest to find. And it had only been two hours. More than half of that time specifically going into this one single Noble Phantasm.
It was amazing the kind of distance one could cover when they could move faster than a bullet. And the amount of objectives they could complete in that time frame.
"It's definitely one," Faeran nodded looking it over critically. So far, this was the fifth they'd found, sixth counting Harpe. It was the oddest one of all so far either, an oddly shaped and large golden dagger with a dim black gem between the hilt and the blade, "It's just completely out of power." he sighed, but couldn't let himself feel disappointed.
After all, one dud out of six wasn't bad. And he was honestly stupefied at the ones he did find. It was unreal the power he held in his hands now.
Vajra, the Noble Phantasm he had in his hands right now, while powerful in that it could unleash a B+ rank blast of lightning, actually paled in comparison to not one, but two, maybe even three of the Noble Phantasms he'd found. And as powerful as Vajra was, it could only fire one shot.
That was why he couldn't find it in himself to be disappointed despite Gilgamesh wasting such amazing resources.
"What a waste of time," Olga sighed shaking her head, despite what she said though, there was a smile on her face that she couldn't wipe from her face, only highlighted by the golden glow emanating from her eyes, "We could have been done and meeting up with Mash and Fujimaru if not for this."
He could tell she was only griping for the sake of griping. He liked to do that as well after all. Doing so could be great for venting minor bouts of stress. And she didn't exactly have A-rank mental skills from the greatest hero of Greece propping her up now did she?
"Well it shouldn't be long now, I just need to bind these to me and we can head to the church." Faeran chuckled, focusing on the golden dagger in his hand for a moment before enveloping it in the Mirror World and letting it sink into the subspace, joining the other Noble Phantasms they had found.
This was where the Sorcery Trait of the Matou's would come in very handy. Since these Noble Phantasms did not currently have an owner that they were bound to, he could take advantage of that and bind them to himself and become their 'owner'.
After all, he wouldn't be able to activate the abilities of any of the Noble Phantasms without doing that. And hell, he wouldn't even be able to lift one of them if he didn't do that because he didn't fit the classifications to wield it.
'Not having the qualifications of a king my ass.' Faeran scoffed, rolling his eyes as he stood up. If fucking Shirou Emiya could do it, why couldn't he? It wasn't as if Shirou was fucking good king material.
Granted they were different swords but they had the same qualifications and abilities. Maybe Caliburn just let Shirou wield it because he had such a boner for Arturia?
"Well, the sooner we get this done the better, and at least I can let this spell fade now," Olga shrugged her shoulders, and a moment later the golden glow faded from her eyes and her shoulders slumped, "Ah, that useless dagger took so much more Od to find than the others, any longer and I would have had to start using my family crest to keep it up."
"Thanks for the hard work love, thanks to you I'm sure we've secured our victory here and now." Faeran turned and beamed at her.
One of the Noble Phantasms they found was a sword with Anti-Dragon aspects. It would be perfect for taking care of Saber Alter.
Olga's cheeks burned at his words and she quickly looked away, a cough escaping her, "W-well it's only natural is it not? To repay the aid you have given us and help you secure victory." she stammered.
"I guess, but without you it would have probably been impossible to find these." Faeran pointed out. "I'm glad you're as great as you are." he winked at the white haired woman.
While it wouldn't have been impossible to find them on his own, normally. It would have taken a lot of time to track down even one. Olga's magecraft was specifically tailor suited to finding things because it embodied the aspect of the stars. As such, she could imbue her eyes with the light of the stars to find what they were looking for, the reason why they were glowing.
Taking all that time, with the world the way it was currently, with Emiya and Saber Alter hanging around and some mystery man that caused all this shit? Yeah, no, there was no way he could have found them on his own as things were right now.
Olga didn't reply to his words and stubbornly kept staring away from him for a good thirty seconds. then, she lifted a hand and grasped her robes at the chest and turned to him and he almost gasped at the way her flushed cheeks glowed under the moonlight.
God she was fucking stunning. Looking at her, and Medusa earlier, he could sort of understand why the daft cunts throughout history had waged wars over women if they looked anywhere near as good as them.
He supposed that made him a bit of a daft cunt as well.
"You're going to be a real problem for me aren't you?" Olga shook her head, lips twitching up as she beamed at him.
"Can't be helped." he shrugged and smirked. He didn't really understand what she was getting at with that, but there was a tried and true method that had seen him losing his virginity and a whole lot of other crap by time he was fourteen. Fake it till you make it.
She continued smiling at him for a few more seconds before realising what she was doing, "So, where to now?" she coughed, quickly changing the subject, "We need to find a safe place for you to bind these to yourself correct?"
Olga had been quite impressed when he revealed to her his plan for the Noble Phantasms. Not only because of the plan, but because of him possessing tow Sorcery Traits. Both of which would make his plans viable.
The sorcery trait of binding and absorption, and that of inheritance. He would bind them to himself using the Matou's sorcery trait, and then inherit them fully using his own families sorcery trait.
"Yeah, it'll probably take a little while, so we need some cover," Faeran nodded. He wanted to be able to use them as soon as possible for when Emiya came calling, "That's why I think we should head to the Tohsaka mansion for now."
"Ah, the house over the leyline we passed not long ago!" Olga's eyes lit up in realisation, "That will be a perfect place for placing some defensive bounded fields!"
"Yup, so climb on and we'll get going." Faeran replied, kneeling down and presenting his back to her. Olga was not a fan of being thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes apparently.
It wasn't just that the Tohsaka mansion would be an easily defendable position that made him want to head there though.
There was a specific set of blueprints for an absurdly powerful weapon hidden within that mansion. He would not be able to do anything with it as he was, but once Ilya was brought back using the Grail. she would be able to fix it up, maybe.
It didn't take very long to reach Rin's place of residence. Again, the wonder of being able to move faster than a bullet was a god send.
And it was a simple matter entering the mansion. He could sense the lingering remnants of bounded fields, but that was all. Whatever happened to cause the crazy crap going on in this world and setting it alight, seemed to have completely destroyed Rin's bounded fields.
'Now that I think about it, the Einzbern castle bounded fields were gone as well.' Faeran mused as he entered the mansion, Olga at his side.
"Well at least thanks to it being out of the way it's not a flaming wreck like everywhere else." Olga hummed as they walked in.
The place was eerily quiet. Not a sign of life at all. Every was empty. The halls, the living room, the kitchen. Not a sign of Rin at all. He hesitantly made his way upstairs and checked her room, but not a sign of her there either.
His eyes landed on her desk where a bunch of gems lay scattered. One in particular caught his eye. A red gem shaped into a pendant with a silver chain.
"..That's..." he trailed off and made his way over, picking it up.
This was what allowed her to summon Emiya. And what she used to save Shirou Emiya's life after Cu Chulainn stabbed him in the heart.
It was more or less empty. He could feel some dregs of mana within it, but it had already been used. So that meant she saved Shirou already? 'How long did the war go on before things went crazy?' he wondered lifting it up and wrapping it around his neck.
With that done, he traced his hands over the gems, twelve of them in total. There was twelve of them in total, each of them brimming with massive amounts of mana. 'If I remember right, Rin said in the visual novels each of these would be worth ten million yen right with how much mana she'd charged them with?' he mused.
These could come in handy later. He spread out the Mirror World over them and stored them inside, before turning around and making his way back downstairs to where Olga was resting on the couch rubbing her ankles.
She looked up at him and he noticed then how hazy her eyes were looking. She was exhausted, "Find anything?" the white haired woman asked.
"A few gems that might come in handy later, but nothing beyond that." Faeran replied, pointing to the pendant around his neck before making his way over to sit beside her.
"Well it's better than...ah...nothing." Olga replied, pausing slightly in her words to let loose a small yawn.
"Tired?" he teased, nudging her with his shoulder.
"Yes, sorry I'm not a divine empowered superhuman who can absorb the mana from the air at an absurd rate to keep himself energized." Olga huffed, rolling her eyes.
"Testy aren't we love?" he teased with a chuckle, "Why don't you go to sleep for a bit? Rest up for now while I get things done." he'd have offered to massage her ankles to feel her up a bit, but well it was more important to get this done quickly.
Sadly.
Olga bit her lip, "I can't do that, what if we're attacked, I must remain vigi-" she was cut off. By herself. Another involuntary yawn escaped her.
"Don't worry," Faeran gently placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her down until her head was resting on one of the couch cushions, "I'll protect you and wake you up if we do get attacked, you're safe as long as you're with me." he assured her, before moving his hand from her shoulder to her head and gently stroking her hair.
It was something he'd always liked done to him as a kid when needing comfort and helped calm him down.
For all that she was older than him, twenty three to his fifteen, she was still inexperienced in her position, and as he mentioned before, she did not have the mental abilities of Herakles keeping her grounded like he did. Her mind must have been frayed with fear. On top of that, she'd used up a lot of magic energy helping him find all the Noble Phantasms.
Olga stared at him with sleepy yellow eyes for a moment, "...Very well." she finally agreed, not saying anything about his hand in her hair. A moment later, her eyes gradually began to close.
It was a simple matter after all for any competent magus to hypnotise themselves to sleep.
He kept stroking her hair for a moment before pulling his hand away and turning to face the coffee table in front of the couch.
Faeran reached into his pocket, and pulled out six stones and quickly filled them with his od before placing them on the table. And with a quick incantation, they were instantly replaced by the gleaming and powerful Noble Phantasms he'd found.
Harpe, Vajra and four others.
One was a large golden bladed spear with a black shaft. Its name was Houtengeki and it had the ability to transform into a bow. It was the Noble Phantasm of the legendary Lu Bu.
Another was a simple straight blade with a golden hilt, the blade widening slightly at the tip and with a small hole at the front of the blade just before the hilt. It was the blade he found with the dragon slaying aspect. Ascalon.
Third was the sword that pissed him off. A long silver blade connected to a golden hilt with a wide guard, a ring of sapphire blue around the base of the hilt. Merodach the Original Sin and the prototype sword that would eventually become Gram, and that which Caliburn itself was based on.
And finally, the best of the bunch and that was saying something considering the power all these weapons held. Durandal, a gleaming black and gold weapon with a cross shaped golden hilt, a gleaming grey gem held within the end of the hilt. It was by far the most powerful of all the Noble Phantasms he had found and he thanked his lucky stars Gilgamesh had lost it.
Not only was it a weapon that was completely unbreakable, it was also imbued with the conceptual power to achieve three miracles.
Faeran eyed all six of the amazing weapons in awe, before shaking his head and putting that out of mind. He lifted his hand and focused intently on the second sorcery trait within him.
From his wrist, six shadowy black chains manifested and slinked through the air like serpents to wrap around the six Noble Phantasms.
...It took longer than he cared to admit to bind the Noble Phantasms to himself. While yes that would actually be expected from crystalized conceptual legends, that wasn't the reason why.
They all were pretty damn easy and quick to bind to himself. Except for Merodach. The fucking thing fought him every step of the way.
And it was the reason why it took nearly two hours to finish up, when it took a mere twenty minutes to bind the other five.
"Who's not qualified to be fucking king now you little prick?" Faeran mocked Merodach with a shit eating grin, casually swinging it through the air in front of him.
What made Gilgamesh be worthy of being king beyond being Gilgamesh? Merodach allowed him to swing it around, but compared to say Arturia, Gilgamesh wasn't exactly a king any normal person would want.
But Arturia wasn't the example he should be following on that route if he thought of it really. 'Kings conquer and steal the thrones for themselves.' Faeran nodded to himself. That was how kings came to rule in the fucking first place.
Merodach was a sword that chose kings, just like Caliburn. It may not have chose him willingly, but since he conquered it, did that not mean he was worthy of being a king?
Well, that was how he was choosing to look at it at least.
He eyed the sword in his hand for a moment, before dismissing it with a thought and like his axe sword it faded away into spirit form, just waiting his call.
"Yeah that's what I thought bitch." Faeran grumbled under his breath. He shook his head and looked over his shoulder at the white haired woman peacefully snoozing away.
He was loathe to wake her up. But, now that he was done, it was almost time to get a move on. 'Well she can have another five minutes.' he shrugged.
There was still something he had to do. He made his way out of the living room into the hall towards the study where there was a door leading down to the basement of the mansion where he knew Rin's workshop was located.
There would usually be a bounded field to block any unwanted person from entering, but just like the mansion as a whole, there was only the dwindled ember remnants of what was once a powerful bounded field on the door.
He opened it and made his way inside and down the stairs he found waiting for him.
His chest tightened for a moment. For a wild moment he thought he may find Rin's corpse down here.
But as he stepped down into the work shop off of the last step a sigh of relief left him. Not a person in sight.
Just a dark dank stone room filled with book cases and ornate desks. tons of books and paper was scattered around the place, and crates filled with all manner of things.
"There you are." Faeran grinned as his eyes landed on his target. He wasn't here for any of Rin's work. Rather, he was here for the chest that lay in the corner of the room.
Zelretch's treasure chest. Which should hold the blueprints for the Jewel Sword. Something that if he managed to get completed, he would have full access to infinite mana.
The Scottish teenager made his way over to it and pressed his hand to the chest, enveloping it in the Mirror World and depositing it within the subspace.
"Now to wake up Olga and get a move on." he mused, grin stretching to massive proportions and joy filled whistle beginning to sing from his lips.