Thank you for the reviews! Let me go over them before the chapter begins.

King33Two: Thank you! I wanted to write a gamer fic where the MC had to think of strategic ways to use his abilities during combat instead of coming up with exploits that takes all the stakes out of things because he's too op.

SkeletalReader: Yeah, I feel that way too. Personally, I just wanted to get to the grail war. While I do plan on powering him up a lot during this arc and the next arc, it won't be through exploits. As someone who doesn't play MMORPGs, it wouldn't make sense for Senshu to come up with game-breaking exploits. Jian Han was someone who put all of his time into MMORPGs and understood how their systems worked, so it does make a little bit more sense for him to come up said exploits. Also Senshu hasn't read The Gamer, and even if he did, he's dealing with a whole different system in which a lot of the exploits might not work.

Chapter 4: Prepare for War

Senshu was currently sitting in a seiza position with several bumps on his head. He decided to explain his Gamer abilities to Merlin, but refrained from talking about his previous life. The young boy wanted to put that life behind him and focus on the one he had ahead of him.

"It would have been nice for you to tell me about that before we started lessons," Merlin glared at Senshu, who shifted under the killing intent.

"To be fair, I only discovered it a few—"

"That is irrelevant," Merlin sighed. "Well, at least I know the scope of your abilities now."

"T-that's good…?" For some reason, Senshu started to get a bad feeling in his gut.

"One thing you brought up was a resistance to pain," Merlin rubbed his chin before a devilish smile grew on his face. "I have quite a few ideas for you now."

Senshu gulped. Yeah, I'm totally fucked.

Four years later

"Well, it looks like my time is coming to a close," Merlin sighed. The two were standing in the shed that they had spent countless hours in. "Vivian's been pretty lax about me being here, but I don't want her to get too suspicious."

"I see," Senshu responded with a sigh of his own. "Thank you for everything you've done, Merlin."

"It's no problem," Merlin smiled at his student. "It was an honor to have you as my student, Senshu. I'll be watching from my tower."

"Speaking of students, I have something to ask you," Senshu said. Merlin cocked his head, indicating for the boy to continue. "I have it on good authority that the One and Future King should make his return in four year's time."

"Oh?" Merlin smiled. "Have you unlocked clairvoyance?"

"No. I just know a great many things," Senshu replied with a knowing smile.

"So that's what it's like to be on the other side of that," Merlin chuckled. He held out his hand and a letter appeared. "Make sure my Dear Arthur receives this."

"Of course," Senshu took the letter and put it in his inventory. "I'll be sure it'll find its way into Artoria's hands."

"So you know about that, too," Merlin shook his head. "Well, I'll be seeing you around."

"See you around, Merlin," Senshu said as Merlin faded into sakura blossoms. Senshu felt the feeling of sadness and longing swell in his chest, but it was quickly snuffed out.

Ding!

The Gamer's Mind allows you to think calm and rationally

Huh? Senshu looked at the message for a couple seconds. Did the Gamer's Mind actively suppress his emotions?

Well, I can think about it later, Senshu thought as he walked out of the shed. I should head back. Don't want people to get worried.

"Senshu!" Taiga barreled into the preteen as soon as he made his back to the main campus. "Where were you?! As soon as the graduation ceremony finished you vanished! I was so worried! What if you—"

"Taiga, please. You're starting to sound like mom," Senshu gently pushed the eccentric young girl off of him. "Mr. Tengoku just wanted to give me something."

"Ara, where is he?" Senshu turned to see Yui, Daisuke, and Raiga walking up to the pair. "I thought he would be around to socialize."

"Mr. Tengoku has… decided to retire," Senshu looked down. He had been thinking up a proper excuse for his disappearance as soon as he left the shed. "He booked the first flight home."

"I see…" Yui sighed. "I knew he was moving this year, but he left a bit quick. I won't miss his passes at me, though."

"His what?!" Daisuke shouted.

"Oh, it's nothing. I knew he wasn't serious," Yui waved Daisuke off and gave him a reassuring smile. "Mr. Tengoku is quite the lady's man, you see. I think flirting is just instinctual for him."

"I don't think that's a thing…" Daisuke grumbled as he pushed his glasses up with his finger. "He better not come back or I swear I'll…"

"So Senshu!" Taiga grabbed Senshu's hands with her own. "What are you planning on doing for spring break? Grandpa is finally letting me start kendo!"

"Let me guess, you want me as your punching bag," Senshu deadpanned. Taiga gasped and recoiled as if she were struck.

"Of course not!" Taiga shook her head with a badly contained smile. "I'll be hitting you with a sword."

"Great," Senshu muttered to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

"Awh, look at them," Yui smiled at the two children. "She already has him wrapped around her finger. How adorable."

"That's my granddaughter," Raiga shook his head and smiled. "He better treat her right, ya hear? I wouldn't want something bad to happen to him. I quite like the kid."

"I'm right here, you know?" Senshu's brow furrowed and the old man chuckled.

"Why would something bad happen to Senshu?" Taiga tilted her head.

"Don't worry about it," Senshu put a hand on Taiga's shoulder. "Jiji's just worried you might break bones while we spar."

"Grandpa!" Taiga whined while everyone laughed.

"Anyways, we should head back now," Raiga said. "I'm sure Taiga's eager to get her shinai."

"Yes!" Taiga jumped into the air excitedly and ran off, dragging Senshu along with her.

"Root help me," Senshu muttered the fanmade phrase as he rapidly approached his doom.

/

"Why am I getting deja vu?" Senshu muttered as he flopped onto his bed. Even though his body could not tire, he felt weariness in his soul from the beating that he weathered at the hands of Taiga.

I knew the tora-shinai was cursed, but does it have to hurt that much? Senshu thought to himself. Well, it doesn't matter. Status.

Senshu smiled as he saw his status screen. He sat up and grabbed a notebook and pencil that was resting on his nightstand. He opened it and started to write.

Name: Tanaka Senshu

Age: 10

Class: Swordsman

Level: 10

Exp: 657/7675

HP: 168/265

MP: 240/240

Od: 675/675

STR: 14

SPD: 12

VIT: 13

END: 20

INT: 22

WIS: 19

LCK: 6

SP: 8

Senshu chuckled as he looked at his END rating. The amount of beatings that he received from both Taiga and Merlin had brought his rating up quite a few points. Unfortunately, it didn't mean much when Taiga got her hands on a weapon.

"Now, let's see," Senshu started to write down the classes he had obtained.

Classes:

Faker

Element: Projection

Elementalist (Obtained after obtaining all 5 major elemental classes)

Element: Average

Magus

Element: Magecraft

Swordsman

Element: Sword

Senshu sighed. Although he had technically unlocked nine classes, the elemental classes fused into one, the Elementalist, so he only had four classes available to him. Having this one class had its own pros and cons, but that was how the cookie crumbled, so Senshu would have to deal with it.

Senshu didn't really focus on his Faker class. The class wasn't useless like many people in the Nasuverse might think, it was still quite specific, and Senshu didn't really have access to powerful noble phantasms to trace, though with how cheap it is to trace small items, Senshu had plans of tracing ammunition.

The Magus class was interesting. If anyone else had this element, it would be staggering, but for Senshu, it was a different story. The boost to magecraft was only about 10%, and although it covered a lot of skills, it didn't cover all of them. He had obtained several physical skills which would be dulled by the Magus class.

Swordsman was a class Senshu obtained that day after a couple hours of "sparring" with Taiga. The swordsman class gave Senshu a few physical skills that utilized a sword. Unfortunately, it won't be as useful to him as it was for Shirou as it almost completely negates magecraft, but Senshu was holding out hope for his preferred class when playing RPGs, the Spellblade, to show up sometime down the line.

"Alright, I need to find a way to level up," Senshu muttered as he put the eraser of the pencil on his chin. He had run into a couple of Zouken's crest worms and killing them gave him a fair amount of exp. Fortunately, he was able to be inconspicuous about it by just stomping on them as if he were going on a walk.

Zouken will eventually get wise, though, Senshu shook his head. He closed his notebook and laid down on his bed.

Is there really no way for me to get stronger? Senshu closed his eyes. He had no desire to go to either Zouken or Tokomi for help in his magecraft and it wasn't like he could go anywhere. His family liked to stay within the country for vacation and trying to track down Aozaki Touko in a week while going to tourist attractions every day was nigh impossible.

Well, I have four years, Senshu eventually concluded. Might as well enjoy life while I can.

Three years later

"Senshu, are you alright?" Taiga placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch. "You haven't been yourself lately."

"Yeah… I just have a lot on my mind," Senshu replied. He was now thirteen and it was only a few months before the Fourth War was going to start. Senshu hadn't been able to progress in his magecraft much, only able to level up all his skills. Thankfully, since he had so much time, most of his skills were in their late 30s. Since he had no one to use it on, he couldn't get more experience, however.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" Taiga said, her tone uncharacteristically gentle. "Whatever's going on, we can tackle it together, just like we always have, yeah?"

"Thanks, Taiga," Senshu smiled at the teen. As much as he wanted to vent his frustrations and anxieties, Taiga didn't deserve to get dragged into this. If things went according to plan, the only exposure she would get during this war was a meeting with Iskandar and Waver, and Senshu wanted to keep it that way.

"Ahhh, I'm bored!" Taiga groaned. They were sitting on the back porch of the Fujimara estate after a long spar.

"Why don't you head over to the Copenhagen?" Senshu suggested.

"They won't give me booze!" Taiga complained loudly.

"You've never tried it," Senshu shot back.

"Well I want to try!" Taiga shot back.

"This can't end well," Senshu muttered.

"What was that?" Taiga smiled sweetly at Senshu. "You want to go back to sparring?"

"I mean I completely support you in everything you want to do!" Senshu held his hands up and spoke frantically.

"So you'll support me when I say I want to spar with you?!" Taiga jumped up with stars in her eyes.

Senshu gulped. At least he will be able to level up his END.

Omake: Research

Vivian barely tolerated Merlin, but something was obviously wrong. It had been a few days since his fake body faded from the material world and receiving its memories and he completely changed.

Alright, I need to get to the bottom of this, Vivan thought as she stopped in front of the door to Merlin's personal quarters. She took a deep breath. I can do this.

When she opened the door, she was assaulted by a horrid stench. Before her was Merlin's room, once pristine, completely trashed. Empty colored bags, plastic bottles, and aluminum cans piled up around the man who was starting at the glowing screen he had brought back with him.

"Merlin, explain yourself," Vivian demanded.

"Shut up, Vivian! I'm in the middle of a raid- I mean doing research!" Merlin turned his head momentarily to shout at the fae. Despite all the junk food he had eaten, the only physical change that occurred was white stubble growing on his face.

Vivian sighed and closed the door. If this were any other time, she would have yelled at him and cast a few spells his way, but the stench was proving too much for her. As she walked off, she heard a slew of curses in multiple languages.

How can such negativity allowed in Avalon? Vivian thought as she let out a sigh. I hope Arturia is having better luck than I.

Well, the fourth war is starting next chapter. I may have rushed a bit, but I'm excited nonetheless. 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.