Thank you for the reviews! There are few ones that I really want to address so let me get right into them.
Cookiesndip: You're completely right. The Gamer's Mind is a curse, and I'm going to use it to torment the hell out of Senshu.
Questionable Watcher: Well…
Eggplant: The capabilities for UBW to capture the history of an item is subsidized by the Gamer's Appraisal. It's a bastardized version of Tracing, that's for sure, but it's still superior to average projection. If a normal projection has 50% the effectiveness and Shirou's tracing is 90%, Senshu's is more like 70%. He can trace mystic codes, but he won't be able to trace Noble Phantasms.
Chapter 5: The Beginning
"Senshu!" The Gamer jumped as he felt something collide with his head.
"Ow!" Senshu dropped his bokken and clutched his head. "You know, Taiga, this is why I want to wear protective gear while sparring."
"It's your fault for spacing out," Taiga holstered the Torashinai just to put her hands on her hips. "Senshu, you've been out of it for weeks. Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? I'm sure grandpa can take care of any problems you have."
"No… this is something I have to do alone," Senshu sighed as the pain subsided. The war was starting any day now and Senshu had been getting less and less sleep trying to plan his place in it. "It's just… nerve-wracking."
"That's why we should deal with it together," Taiga's tone was uncharacteristically soft. "Like we always have."
"Thanks, Taiga," Senshu smiled.
"Anytime," Taiga patted Senshu on the shoulder. "Now, let's get cleaned up. You still need to help me with my math."
"Yeah," Senshu straightened his posture as Taiga ushered him out of the room.
Raiga sighed as he heard Senshu and Taiga walk the other way from the doorway to the dojo. He heard the tone in Senshu's voice. He saw the expression on his face.
"They grow up so fast," Raiga muttered solemnly as he walked off with a contemplative expression on his face.
Senshu opened the door to his house and walked in with a blank expression on his face. He was so tired. He barely spent time at home anymore. He would go to school, train with Taiga after school, then roam around the city in hopes to find Irisviel and Saber for the rest of the day. He wasn't dumb enough to check the Einzbern castle to see if anyone had arrived. He would be killed in an instant if someone had.
"Senshu, can we talk?" The glazed expression instantly vanished when he heard his father speak.
"Yeah," Senshu said nonchalantly and Daisuke led him to the dining room table, where Yui was waiting for them. As Senshu sat down, Senshu noticed the worried expression on Yui's face and the scowl pressed on Daisuke's lips.
"Dear, is everything alright?" Yui broke the silence. It took Senshu all of his willpower not to flinch.
No, Senshu thought. The last thing he wanted was his parents getting involved in the war.
"Yes," Thanks to the Gamer's Mind, he was able to keep a cool head while lying. He didn't show any of the common ticks when lying. His heart rate stayed the same and he was able to look people in the eye without shifting his tone when lying.
"Raiga stopped by earlier today," Daisuke said. This time, Senshu did flinch. "Raiga said that you're up to something. Something dangerous. He doesn't know what it is, but Raiga's intuition is never wrong."
Before Senshu could speak, Daisuke raised his hand. "We're not mad at you."
"What?" Senshu asked, giving Daisuke a confused look.
"I don't know what you're doing, but it's obviously important," Daisuke continued, his lips twitching as he spoke. "Raiga told me about your excursions after you leave his estate every day. He said you look frantic. If this thing is that important to you, then I understand."
"We just want you to know that we're here for you," Yui jumped in. With the way they spoke, it felt like the two knew and understood each other and what they wanted to say perfectly. "If there's anything we can do to help, please let us know. If our baby boy got hurt when we could have done something to help, we would never be able to forgive ourselves."
"Mom… dad…" Senshu felt his heart swell.
Ding!
The Gamer's Mind allows you to think calmly and rationally.
"Thank you," Senshu forced a smile. "This thing… It's very personal. If I need your help, I'll come to you. Promise."
"That's all we ask," Daisuke nodded. Yui stood up and pulled Senshu into a hug. Daisuke joined the hug shortly after.
Despite the looming threat hanging over Senshu's head, he couldn't help but feel safe in his parents' arms.
"Thank you…" Senshu repeated, barely above a whisper as he hugged his parents back. "Thank you so much…"
"Thanks for today," Senshu said as he put on his backpack.
"When are you going to let me join you on one of your outings?" Taiga pouted. "It could be a fun date or something."
"Maybe one day," Senshu felt his cheeks heat up. Even before reincarnating, Senshu was always a bit of a wallflower. Dates and relationships were unfamiliar territory. "But I really need to get going."
"Fine, but I'll hold you to that!" Taiga promised.
"Alright," Senshu nodded as he closed the door and made his way to the city proper.
Status, He commanded the system as he walked.
Name: Tanaka Senshu
Age: 14
Class: Swordsman
Level: 13
Exp: 230/9150
HP: 330/355
MP: 270/270
Od: 675/675
STR: 18
SPD: 15
VIT: 15
END: 30
INT: 28
WIS: 26
LCK: 10
SP: 0
Senshu sighed. He originally tried to go for a more balanced character, but as his stats increased, he knew he couldn't do that. Actions that raised his stats had started to give diminishing returns about six months ago, and although Senshu found the opportunity to balance his physical strength and speed, he felt like making his chances of survivability higher, and if he was going to fight in the war, he was going to need to hone his magecraft.
As he turned the corner, he felt himself bump into someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Senshu yelped instinctively as he staggered backwards.
"No… I'm sorry," A familiar voice replied. Senshu shook his head and blinked a couple times before focusing on the person he bumped into. His eyes almost widened when he saw Irisviel von Einzbern in front of him with Saber not far behind. "It was my fault for not paying attention."
"Irisviel, are you okay?" Saber put a hand on Irisviel's shoulder with a concerned look on her face.
"I'm fine. Thank you, Elise," Irisviel held a hand up. "Oh, this is perfect! My name is Irisviel von Einzbern and this is Elise Watson. This is our first time in Fuyuki, so can you please show us around?"
"Irisviel… are you sure that's a good idea?" Saber asked.
"Of course," Irisviel assured her husband's servant. "I'm sure the locals know all the good spots."
"I don't mind," Senshu nodded at Saber, both as a motion of approval and as a motion for his appraisal skill to activate.
Name: Irisviel von Einzbern
Age: 9
Class: Lesser Grail
Level: 12
HP: 90/90
Od: 50/7100
STR: 9
SPD: 10
VIT: 6
END: 12
INT: 30
WIS: 29
LCK: 2
Looks like INT and WIS stats were boosted thanks to her magecraft, Senshu thought as he moved on to Saber's screen.
Name: Arturia Pendragon
Age: 45 (15)
Class: Servant (Saber)
Level: ?
Shit, Senshu swore. There have only been two times Senshu appraisal has not worked: when he first encountered Merlin and when he caught a glimpse of Zouken a couple years prior. With the limited info he had, he assumed that people marginally stronger than him could not be fully appraised.
Guess I'm no match for a servant, huh, Senhu resisted the urge to spy before speaking up. "Follow me. I know this Chinese place that sells some great mapo tofu…"
"Ah, that was so much fun!" Irisviel, Senshu, and Saber stood at the beach as they watched the sun set. Senshu had taken Irisviel to the place that Kirei frequented first. Saber had almost attacked him when Irisviel cried out in pain at the first bite of mapo tofu, but the homunculus was thankfully able to stop the servant from cleaving off Senshu's head.
Senshu wanted to take them to the Copenhagen next, but Saber vehemently protested the second she heard that alcohol was involved, so Senshu took them to the Fuyuki Arcade instead. Although it was still rather new and the games were ancient compared to the arcades Senshu frequented in his previous life, the three of them still had a blast.
Finally, Senshu took the three to a batting center. Irisviel was surprisingly good at it, but Saber, as expected, was abysmal.
"Thank you for guiding us, Senshu," Saber turned to bow at the young man.
"There's no need," Senshu shook his head and held his hands up. "Fuyuki is a wonderful place, and I just wanted to share it with you."
"No, I—" Saber cut herself off and flinched. Irisviel instantly perked up and looked at Saber with a serious expression.
"Irisviel…" Saber's tone was grim.
"I understand," Irisviel replied before turning to Senshu. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but Saber and I have an urgent matter to attend to. I assure you that we shall give you proper thanks later."
"Wait—" Before Senshu could respond, the two were already running off towards the port.
So it begins, huh? Senshu sighed as he turned to look at the port with empty eyes. I guess I better go follow them.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I won't be able to write for the next couple days so I'll give you this short chapter to compensate. 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.