Thank you for the reviews! Please do continue to leave them for me to respond! Let me got to the one I got for the last chapter.

Bashleyz: Thank you for reading! I definitely don't intend for Taiga to be useless. I'm not 100 percent sure whether or not I'll give her magecraft, but she'll still be formidable on her own. Even if she doesn't go off and fight servants or whatever, she'll still be a very important character, especially when Senshu's character development is concerned. Thank you for the review!


Chapter 3: Magic Lessons

"Alright, let's get you to your mother," Merlin finally said. The two had spent the past half hour discussing when they would be able to meet and how they would justify it to Senshu's parents. "I don't want my head on a pike because I made her worry about you."

"Why would she—" Senshu's mouth snapped shut when he saw Merlin physically shudder.

"I'm glad you understand," Merlin smiled. The two then walked out of the classroom, only to see Yui barreling towards them.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Yui knelt down and cupped Senshu's face. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I thought you got lost and someone took you and I was never going to see you again and we were going to have to get Raiga to—"

"I'm okay, mom," Senshu assured his mother as he hugged her. A pang of guild struck him as he felt his mother genuinely shaking as she hugged back. "Mer— I mean Shujin wanted to talk to me about something."

"I think you mean Mr. Tengoku, young man," Merlin quipped, which earned him a glare from the young child. Yui gasped at the blatant disrespect that Senshu was exhibiting towards his new teacher.

"Senshu! Don't look at your teacher like that!" Yui scolded before bowing to Merlin. "I'm so sorry about him. He usually isn't like this."

"It's alright, Mrs. Tanaka," Merlin held a hand up and smiled. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh? Is Senshu in trouble?" The worried look returned to Yui's voice. "I promise he's a good boy. He's really—"

"Quite the opposite actually," Merlin shook his head and his smile widened. "Your son is one of the brightest children I've ever seen. I want to personally tutor him in accelerated courses because I feel like the current curriculum would only bore him."

"Oh," Yui looked shocked for a second, but it was replaced by a smile of her own. "Senshu was always a quick learner. He even started writing when he was three!"

"Oh, did he now?" Merlin raised an eyebrow at Senshu, who shifted uncomfortably. "Anyways, is it okay if I could tutor him for an hour and a half after school every day?"

"That's quite a while…" Yui rubbed her chin. "Are you okay with this, Senshu?"

"Yep," Senshu nodded. "As long as you are."

"Well, if that's what you want," Yui nodded before bowing to Merlin at the waist. "Thank you for taking the time out of your day to educate my child."

"Oh, no worries," Merlin smirked as he shot another glance at Senshu. "I'm sure little Senshu won't be the only one learning."

"Wonderful," Yui clasped her hands together. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow then, Shujin."

"You too," Merlin nodded before walking away.

"Well, look at my little scholar go," Yui teased as soon as Merlin was out of earshot. "I'm so proud of you."

"Mom," Senshu whined.

"Oh hush, darling," Yui gently grasped Senshu's hand and led him towards the school's exit. "You'll always be my little baby."

/

"Senshu!" As soon as Senshu opened the door the following morning, Taiga shouted his name while pointing an accusatory finger at him. Thankfully, the two had arrived early, so no one else was there, except an altered scrying tool that took the shape of an apple that Merlin had placed on his desk. "What did you have to do that was more important than playing with me?!"

"Well, Mr. Tengoku wanted to—"

"You got in trouble already?!" Taiga shouted.

"Taiga, please let me finish," Senshu said.

She's six. Be patient, Senshu took a deep breath. In the novel, Taiga was far from the ideal person, but Senshu always envied the amount of energy she had.

"Fine, fine! But you better have a good explanation!" Taiga demanded. Senshu eyed the apple on Merlin's desk and sighed.

"Mr. Tengoku wants me to do some extra classes," Senshu explained. He wasn't even finished with his sentence when Taiga opened her mouth, so he continued. "He said that I learn really quickly so he wants to teach me more stuff."

"That's so cool!" Taiga's eyes shone. "So you're like some super genius?!"

"Something like that," Senshu rubbed the back of his head. "The only thing is, I won't be able to play with you—"

"What?!" Taiga interrupted yet again. "You can't take them then!"

"Taiga, you didn't let me finish," Senshu said with a patient, yet strained tone. "I won't be able to play with you right after school, but that doesn't mean I won't be able to play with you at all."

"F-fine…" Taiga balled her fists, but acquiesced nonetheless. "But you still have to play me!"

"Yes, hime," Senshu rolled his eyes.

"And don't you forget it!" Taiga puffed her chest out. Senshu saw her look of victory and smiled.

The two continued to converse as more and more children filed into the classroom until Merlin himself walked in.

"Alright kids," Merlin said, silencing the gaggle of young children. "Thank you. I will now call roll."

Merlin shot Senshu a mischievous smirk before starting to call roll. Senshu could only sigh in response.

Let's get this over with.

/

The day went by well. Senshu had tried to help Taiga make a few friends with mild success. Reikan was a little apprehensive, but Taiga and Otoko hit it off immediately.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Reikan had said.

"Let them have their fun," Senshu had replied with a smile. He was happy that Taiga had made a friend, especially this early since Taiga originally met Otoko in high school, but he feared for the safety of Fuyuki.

Now, Senshu was sitting in the shed made for PE equipment, waiting for Merlin to finish activating a bounded field he had made the day before.

"Done!" Merlin barged through the door, locking it when it closed. "Alright, Senshu. What do you know about magecraft?"

"Well magic and magecraft originally come from the Root. The more people know a certain spell, the weaker it is, since the Root only has a set amount of power allotted for a certain spell (or something like that)," Senshu drew upon his countless hours of wiki sifting. He knew the theory, but there were still some things he didn't get. "Magecraft follows the law of equivalent exchange, which is self-explanatory. The five main elements are fire, earth, wind, water, and ether. Along with the elements, there are origins. I know what they are, but I don't know mine yet."

"Alright, you have a good understanding of the basics. Lectures are boring anyways." Merlin nodded as he took a seat across from Senshu. "Let's start with some basic spells."

Merlin took out an apple and placed it in between the two. "I can sense that your circuits are already open. Can you try using magecraft to analyze this apple?"

"Alright," Senshu grabbed the apple and let out a bit of od to examine the apple.

Ding!

Spell unlocked!

Structural Analysis (Lvl 1)

Allows the user to analyze an object via magecraft. Mana cost determined by the complexity of the object.

Synergy Unlocked!

By having both Appraisal and Structural Analysis, you can now use Structural Analysis with sight rather than touch.

Nice! Senshu thought to himself. Now his Structural Analysis was like Shirou's, which would be useful in the future.

"Now, let's try something…" Senshu muttered to himself as he held the apple and activated Structural Analysis again, closing his eyes. "Trace On."

Judging the concept of creation

A scrying tool made by the Magus of Flowers

Hypothesizing the basic structure

The shape of an apple with a magical camera placed it its center

Duplicating the composition material

Glass, an apple, a touch of gold and silver

Imitating the skill of its making

The practiced ease of Merlin's crafting honed by hundreds of years trapped in Avalon

Reproducing the accumulated years

The data that was collected from the school day

Excelling every manufacturing process

When he opened his eyes, an exact replica of the apple was in his other hand.

Ding!

Spell unlocked!

Tracing (Lvl 1)

Uses magical energy to recreate an item by using seven steps to perfect the duplicate. Mana use is determined by the complexity and power of the item

Class unlocked!

Faker

A specialist in Projection magic. All forms of Projection, Reinforcement, and Structural Grasp costs 20% less mana while boosting its effects by 50%

Element: Projection

Class spells unlocked!

Unlocking the Faker class has given you these new spells: Reinforcement, Alteration

Woah! My first class! Senshu read the info excitedly. The class seemed really good, but Senshu didn't know if he could use it properly. He was not Emiya Shirou. He didn't have a reality marble with infinite blades.

What does the Element mean, though? Senshu thought. I know it can't mean my element. Those can't be changed easily if I remember correctly.

"What…" Senshu was snapped from his stupor when Merlin plucked the traced apple from his hand. "It's… nearly perfect. I've never seen a Projection like this. What did you do?"

"I uh…" Senshu's eyes darted around nervously. "I followed my gut?"

"Hmm, it might have something to do with your element and origin," Merlin said as he placed a hand on Senshu's chest. "Here, this might hurt a bit."

"Wha—" Senshu gasped as a wave of pain assaulted his body, but vanished shortly after.

"Huh, you took that rather well," Merlin said, removing his palm. "Hmm… I've never seen anything like this."

"What are my element and origin?" Senshu asked.

"Well, my dear student, it seems that you are an incarnation," Merlin pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Both your element and origin are "Game," but I honestly have no idea what that means."

"I see…" Senshu said.

Status! Senshu commanded.

Name: Tanaka Senshu

Age: 6

Class: None

Level: 3

Exp: 250/1600

HP: 75/75

MP: 75/75

Od: 668/675

STR: 4

SPD: 4

VIT: 4

END: 5

INT: 8

WIS: 6

LCK: 3

SP: 0

Class change, Faker, Senshu didn't know if the words would work, but he did the first thing that came to mind. The class then changed from "None" to "Faker."

"This may seem weird, but can you try again?" Senshu asked.

"Well, I don't see the harm," Merlin said, placing his hand on the boy's chest once more. Senshu was much more prepared for the pain this time, and didn't even wince when it came.

"What did you do?!" Merlin shouted suddenly. Magic swirled around him as he glared at Senshu. "You could've died!"

"What?" Senshu asked, legitimately confused. "What happened?"

"Your element…" Merlin took a deep breath. "While your origin has remained, your element has somehow changed to Projection. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to tamper with that?!"

Merlin's following words started to drown out as the implications of his previous statement started to sink in. As it did, there was only one thought that crossed Senshu's mind.

Shit.


Surprise! As ludicrous as this sounds, this is actually a nerf for Senshu. While his spells will be more powerful than if another iteration of the Gamer cast them, when he's in a certain class, certain spells will be stronger while every other spell will be weaker. So if he's a pyromancer, his element will be fire, so all fire spells are stronger than his classless "Game" element, but he becomes a specialist in fire alone while in that class if that makes sense. This way he'll have to add a new variable into combat instead of spamming every spell in his arsenal.

Again, please leave a review if you feel so inclined and join the discord server! I would love to talk to you all and answer all your questions! The url is CpVs7R8KXz. Unfortunately you'll have to type the rest of the url in manually because I'm not allowed to post links. Thank you for reading and I'll catch you on the flipside.

P.S Heads up, there'll be some pretty big timeskips in the next couple chapters. The next chapter will be taking place 4 years after this one. Just a heads up!