It was dark outside when Shirou opened his eyes.
He was immediately aware that something was out of place. He was no stranger to waking up extremely early, if he bothering sleeping at all.
Despite that, he had a weird feeling his in guts, like his instinct was trying to warn him of something, but he couldn't quite figure out what.
He threw off the cover, got up from his futon and slowly walked out of the room.
It was perfectly quiet outside. There was not a single sound to be heard. The wind did not blow and the even wooden floor didn't seem to creak as it usually would when he stepped on it..
Everything looked normal, but something was oddly different. The world felt strangely two dimensional, as if he was looking at it through the screen of a muted television.
Was it Magecraft? Had somebody dragged him into the Reverse Side again?
"Not quite," said a voice behind him.
He whirled around, but there was only empty space in the place he expected to find someone.
"Up here."
Shirou's eyes snapped up immediately.
There was a slender figure hanging upside down in the night sky, dangling on on thin air as if gravity did not matter to her.
"Lilith?" he asked.
"Good evening, Shirou," she greeted.
The mysterious girl wore an extremely form fitting purple leotard with high heels, which left her shoulders and upper chest exposed. While that was an impressive sight in and of itself, the bat-like wings sprouting from her back were much more conspicuous in Shirou's opinion.
"What's going on? Why are you here?"
"Oh?" she tilted her head, still upside down and brought a finger to her cheek "Am I not welcome?"
"No. Yes. That's not the point. Something's not right about this."
"Well, that much is true, but can you figure out what?"
He looked around, at his own hands and up at her again.
"This… this is not real, isn't it? Am I dreaming?"
"Yes, you are. I thought you'd figure out sooner. Then again you are quite the dreamer even when you are awake."
"Is this your doing?" he asked. "You can get in my head, just like that? Is that how you know all of my secrets?"
"You are about half right. My being here, inside your head, is the reason why I know all your secrets, but your assumption that I come from outside… that's way off the mark. I have always been here."
Shirou frowned.
"Are you the reason why I've got the Gamer Eyes?"
"Oh, no," she laughed. "I assure you, I have no part in that and I know nothing about their origin more than you do."
"Just… what are you, really? You can't be just a figment of my imagination. I know I interacted with you in the real world."
"Did you? Are you really sure about that?"
Shirou blinked and forced himself to think. His thoughts were rather sluggish.
He only ever met her in the Reverse Side, a layer of the world in which things the byproducts of human imagination and emotions existed tangibly. She was real but not in the same way that he was.
"Exactly," she confirmed his unspoken conclusion. "I do not exist in the same world as you."
"So, what are you?" he asked. "What do you really want from me?"
"It's still too soon for you to know that, Shirou. Rest assured, I am not your enemy."
"But you are someone's enemy," he affirmed.
"There are those who hate what I am and would like to see me destroyed, yes. I do not return their feelings, and neither does onee-sama."
"You are dangerous," he said. "I don't know why I know it, but I do. My instinct is telling me that and yet… I also feel that I can trust you somehow?"
Lilith giggled. "Believe me, that says more about you that it does about me."
"Now you are being cryptic just to mess with my head," he sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Ha ha ha, yes," she laughed merrily. "I don't get to have this kind of conversations very often. Sorry if I pick on you."
"That's fine. I've got used to women teasing me all the time. So, since his isn't an usual occurrence, as you say, to what do I owe the honor of this visit?"
"I've come to congratulate you for passing the first trial."
"I see… so you really knew that I'd have ended up stranded on Onigashima. Did everything go according to your designs? I was fine taking your test, but I did not agree to have other dragged along with me."
"Well, don't blame me for that. I forced no one into that situation. All the people that fell on Onigashima with you involved themselves of their own will. They might have not know exactly what they were getting into, but had they not wanted to follow you, they would have not been taken along for the ride."
Shirou shook his head.
"Mikado-san would have followed me through the portal and she did take the cup without asking permission, I'll give you that much. Velvet-san was trying to kill me so I assume he would have given pursuit all the same. However Matsumoto-san, had no part in any of that and she was was dragged with us accidentally."
"And you think that, why? Because she told you? Do you really believe that her arrival on Megijima the same time as you was mere happenstance?" Lilith chided him. "I know it's your nature to assume the best in people, Shirou, but you really need to start second guessing what you hear. Especially when it comes out of the mouth of a woman that sold you to an hostile Magus, just to sate her idle curiosity."
Shirou rubbed his nose. "... damn it, Matsumoto-san."
"In her defense, she wasn't trying to harm you. She just got caught in her own schemes, but that too worked in your favor in the end."
"Right, because that's comforting," he said.
"I'm afraid that really can't be helped, Shirou. The things you do don't happen in a vacuum. All actions make waves proportionally to their magnitude. Whether you like it or not, the people you interact with will be affected, and they will react according to their own thoughts. You really have no power over that. Moreover, with your Game Eyes and your resolve to help other no matter what, you are going to make some pretty big waves. You better be prepared for that
"Unfortunately," he accepted begrudgingly. Shirou never wanted for any sort of recognition. He just wanted to help people. However, recognition would come regardless of his wishes, and it would be both good and bad. His was the responsibility of dealing with it. "Is that why you are interested in me. Because I make waves?"
"Well, yes, but not just because of that. It's also the direction you are sending those waves that matters to us."
"And what direction is that?" he asked.
"I don't know. We have an ideal outcome in mind. We just don't know if that's where you are headed yet."
"Why don't you tell me, so we can figure it out together?"
"Did you forget? I know what's in your head just as well as you do. Unfortunately, you don't know either so we could talk about it until the sun burns out and we still won't find out."
"That's the purpose of the trial, I assume."
"Exactly. I don't know the details myself. Onee-sama is the one calling the shots. However, what I know is that a man is only ever great as the challenge he faces."
"I see. Then I guess asking more questions won't be of any use. So, did you just want to give me a heads up about Matsumoto-san?"
"Not really. I came to reward you for passing the first trial. I had a good gift in mind, but I'm giving you the chance to choose for yourself. Would you rather have a special power, or a piece of information that might keep your girlfriends safe? Hold up, I know that's a no brainer for you, but the information is merely something you have failed to notice yourself. Eventually, you might figure out on your own. However the power I'm offering you, you won't be able to obtain otherwise."
"It doesn't matter, I'll take that information," he said without missing a beat.
"You didn't even waste a second thinking about it," Lilith chuckled. "Although I know you just as well as you know yourself, I'm still surprised sometimes. Alright then. Make sure to check your Inventory very carefully once you wake up. You have picked up something extremely valuable without even realizing it."
"That's it? Are you kidding me?"
"I told you you could have realized it on your own eventually;" Lilith grinned. "Do you regret making that choice now?"
"Nah. It was the right call to make. It's my fault for being stupid… What?"
It was an odd sight, seeing a woman flying upside down smiling fondly at him.
"Really. This is going to get me in so much trouble with onee-sama, but I think you've more than earned it. It's not the power I planned to give you, but I'm sure you'll make good use of it anyway.
"That's not necessary… Lilith? Where did you go?"
He looked around, but her figure had disappeared into thin air. Granted, this was a dream so everything was possible.
"Do I have to figure how to wake up on my own?" he wondered.
He was just done saying those words that he was tapped him on his shoulder. He whirled around knowing he would find Lilith, but he did not expect that he would be right in his face. Before he could make any move, she had already planted her lips on his.
'Oh, shi-'
Shirou had barely time to recall what happened the last time she kissed him that his mind went completely white.
[br]
[EMIYA SHIROU] [THE GAMER]
[LV 50 - 18.500/50.000] [HP: 5000[MP: 35[MC: 27[ST: 920[SP: 9]
[STR: 50[DEX: 50[INT: 50[WIS: 50[CHR: 102] [ATK: 100] [DEF:100]
[You have slept in a bet. HP, MP and ST are completely restored.]
There are many ways a guy can wake up in the morning, but few people could brag about being woken by their own spontaneous orgasms.
Orgasms. Plural, yes, because just like the first time it happened, Lilith's kiss had that kind of effect on him.
"Ghkkk!"
It took all of his willpower not grunt out loud, and therefore he had none to spare to keep his back from arching like a bow, while a machine gun went off inside his pants.
A continuous string of orgasm out of the blue had a way to mess things up. He was lucky that he had gone to sleep alone the previous night, because at the rate things were going, he'd have not only to change his clothes, but also the futon.
It took two or three minutes for the effect to subside, allowing Shirou to fall back on his soiled bedding with a grimace. Once he was done, another prompt appeared in front of his eyes
[Lilith's Blessing: RANK UP!] [Description: Increases the rate of advancement of all sexual skills by 100% and the rate
of semen production by 500%. ST cost of all skills is reduced by 50%, and it's possible to absorb your sexual partner's Mana to recharge your own. However it's necessary to have sex at least once a day, otherwise all actions cost 400% more ST and 100% more Mana]
"Seriously?" he groaned. An even worse handicap if he didn't have sex every day?
Sure, he could absorb Mana now, which as great, but what guarantee did he have that he could have sex daily? If he had to leave for more than a day on his own wouldn't that be crippling?
"It's like she trying to turn me in a sex maniac."
It was difficult enough having to deal with his spontaneous libido. His Gamer Powers made it so that he was never truly satisfied unless his stamina hit zero.
He couldn't even achieve it through sex, because Lilith's Blessing made sex a free activity. He was basically perpetually horny and it was simply because he had extraordinary focus and was scarcely idle that he didn't walk around with a hard on all the time.
However, when he started having sex, he hardly wanted to stop. It was complicated enough with an additional 200% Stamina consumption from before, and it was now hiked up to 400%? And the Mana consumption was doubled?
Either he gave in and got laid or he'd spend his time stuffing his mouth, which in turn implied he spent hours cooking and farming Mana Cores
The Mana absorption ability didn't really even the scales in his opinion
Oh, he could see the benefits. With two girlfriend who did not use Magecraft he could add the entirety of their unused Mana to his own, which in turn meant that his consumption of Mana Cores was slightly reduced, and that he could use them for other purposes.
Honestly, it looked like the only thing that Lilith cared about was to get him laid as much as possible.
Surprisingly, for a guy with two girlfriends who were somewhat cool about each other dating him, Shirou didn't get to have sex as frequently as one could expect. Taiga and Saeko were busy during the day as a teacher and a student respectively, and at night they swapped roles in terms of hunting for spirits. Either that or they would explore the Reverse Side, even his absence. That meant they weren't necessarily free when he was.
The ability to slow time in a place came in handy, but it had the downside that people under it would age faster compared to the outside world. It wasn't a problem for him, since he would either live much longer because he was a Magus, or shorter for the same reason. There was no reason to worry about premature aging.
His women seemed to object vehemently to the notion. Taiga in particular wanted nothing to do with it, saying something about expiration date of Christmas cakes.
The result was that he had sex once a day, and only now that he needed to keep Lilith's Blessing at bay. Even so, he could have gone without unless he planned to get into a fight. With this new development, he could not longer afford that luxury. He needed the Mana to keep up his Boundary Fields.
He had no way of knowing that once he was having sex far more frequently that even most married couple. Some people simply don't understand their own good fortune.
Speaking of fortune, Shirou was really curious about the extremely valuable thing he had picked up, somehow without noticing. However, his investigation would have to wait until he cleaned up the room. The last thing he wanted was for someone to find him laying in a puddle of his own jizz.
He quickly cleaned after himself and scurried to the bathroom to remove any trace of seminal fluids form his body. Had anyone ever told him he would have ever had such an issue, he would have thought them either drunk or high.
[br]
Slap!
The impact of Shirou's hand against his own face echoed through the living room, as he sat at the table, going through his Inventory as per Lilith's indication.
Among the excruciatingly long list of items of vary degrees of usefulness, one stood out particularly to his eyes.
[Spiritual Iron Ore (Grade IX) x85]
Eighty-five pieces of high-grade Spiritual ores. Shirou thought long and hard how in hell those had gotten in there. He didn't recall picking up any, and certainly not such a huge quantity. Despite going to Megijima specifically to mine some from its Reverse Side. He never got around to do it, since he ended up on Onigashima instead and had been too busy looking for ways to survive and escape.
Only after going through the whole journey in his head did he recall when he picked up enough stuff at the same time that he wouldn't notice the Spiritual Ores getting mixed in.
When he got buried under the rubble of the shrine beneath Ibaraki-Doji chambers. At the time, he freed himself by throwing the several tonnes of debris into the Inventory without a second thought. Because it weighted nothing on him, Shirou didn't think twice about it.
In fact, he usually just tossed stuff into the Inventory and forgot about it until he went looking for it, but in those occasions he was at least aware of what he had picked up. In any event, he simply had so much stuff in it that he would only truly see what he went looking for.
He rubbed his temples. This was precisely what happened when one obtained something undeservingly. He lacked proper appreciation for this ability and ended up failing to understand it properly.
If Lilith had not told him, he might not have ever realized unless he went looking for an item in close proximity in the Inventory list. Was this carelessness on his part?
"It's not that."
The pitfall of the Gamer Eyes was the he could acquire a huge number of high-polished skills with much higher ease than anybody else, with the inevitable result that he would not acquire as much experience with each one. Even if he could take a certain skill to a much higher level than anyone else simply by mindless repetition, that didn't mean he would necessarily be a better user.
For instance, a great swordsman wouldn't necessarily be a competent fighter. This was a hard lesson to learn. A man with unlimited potential might just end up achieving nothing. By stretching himself too thin he would end up failing on all fronts.
He crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, tilting his head backward.
Until now he tried to max out as many skills as he could, believing that versatility would work to his advantage. There was some truth to that, but too much of that was just as bad as extreme specialization. Dividing himself among too many goals he failed to explore the depths of each one.
"Do I need to pick a build after all?" he wondered.
In RPG terms, that meant choosing which kind of character he would be. Standard denomination were Warriors, Wizard, Thief and others. There were also subclassed that were a mix of the those, depending on the game.
A stealth class was out of the question, unless he was willing to undo all he had done up to this point. His high CHR locked him out of it. His Sword Element and Origin primed him for a Warrior Class, but he was also a Magus so he could be a Wizard too.
He bumped his head on the table. He was naturally leaning toward being a magic powered fighter. That was the bulk of his skillset right now. He needed to invest a lot more resources to level up Magecraft compared to sword-skills, so it would be best kept to a support role.
No matter what he chose he would end up neglecting something else. Actually, all things considered, he was already damn strong. He found himself struggling only because he regularly put himself in situations that were far beyond his current level.
Besides, he wanted to be a neither Warrior or a Wizard. He wanted to help people. He wanted to be a Hero. Most of the skill he developed up to his point had been helpful in that endeavor one way or another. In fact, when did he ever solve a situation exclusively through direct combat? Games with Classes assigned to players expected other characters with complementing skills to step up, but Shirou didn't have anyone like that. Taiga and Saeko were strictly Warriors. No, specializing would only paint him into a corner.
That being said, he should at least be more selective about which skills he would invest time into.
He would drop all crafting skills unless he foresaw a use for them. With Blacksmithery maxed out and the Spiritual Iron Ores he had, he could finally make decent armor for himself, and more importantly for Taiga and Saeko.
There was no need to further spend time with it once he was done with that.
Cooking was on the cusp of reaching level 100 as well, but Shirou had no wish to grind it. It would eventually max out on its own as he employed it normally. There was also no point investing time learning how to use additional weapons techniques either, as he would automatically acquire those on sight.
So, should he focus on Magecraft after all?
"Aargh, damn it," he growled, grabbing his head with both hands in frustration. That was the difficulty of not having a teacher to guide him. He had to figure it out on his own, and only later he would know whether he had made the right call or not.
"Have you finally lost your mind?"
Shirou turned his head around, only to find Yoruichi leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed under her breasts. Mercifully she was dressed, but that was to be expected since there were lots of people around the house. Although, it had to be said that a skin-tight leotard wasn't that much of an improvement.
"Yoruichi-san. It's been a while. I haven't seen you around much lately."
She shrugged. "Your harem has gotten too crowded for my tastes."
Shirou gave her an unamused glare, but didn't bother protesting. That would only encourage her.
"So, what got your panties in a twist this time?" she asked once she realized he wouldn't take the bait.
"It's nothing you can help with, unfortunately."
"Try me. You'll never know," she said, taking a seat next to him.
"As you already know, I made a contract with Mikado-san to help her undo the curse that's preventing her friend from healing. That means going into the Land of Shadows and somehow force the equivalent of a Divine Spirit into doing so. If you were to prepare yourself for that, what would you do?"
"Probably put my worldly affairs in order, say my prayers and make arrangements for my funeral," she answered frankly.
"That's helpful," he replied sarcastically.
"No, seriously. Is that what you have been worrying about? Look, nothing you do will make any difference. Unless you get to the same level of power as Scàthach herself, you are not going to beat her. The best thing you can do is beg."
"Do you seriously think that's going to work?"
"No. I'm saying that your only shot. You can't bully a pseudo divinity into doing your bidding. If you had that kind of power, you wouldn't have need of her anyway. As I understand, Scàthach didn't immediately attack when Mikado and her pal first infringed upon her domain. It was only when they tried again that she turned went in for the kill. At the very least, that means she is willing to talk first. If negotiation fall to the wayside, you can still come up with another plan."
Shirou rubbed his chin. That was certainly true. However, what could he possibly have to offer a divinity that she couldn't get for herself? Before that, how could he possibly convince her that he could follow through with any request she might have?
There was an option… but what would that require?
"That was actually helpful," he said. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but it's a fresh perspective, at least. Thanks, Yoruichi-san."
"You don't have to shoulder every problem by yourself. You've got people you can rely upon," she said, tapping his forehead.
Before Shirou could reply to that, both of them turned their head in the same direction.
[Supernatural Presence Detected]
Even without the prompt, Shirou knew who that oppressive aura belonged to, and her proximity was nothing good.
"Ibaraki-Doji, is here. Yoruichi-san, you should leave now. Take the girls with you."
"And pass on the chance of seeing an Oni up close? Not a chance. Besides how do you expect I can escape with that many people?"
Knowing Yoruichi, Shirou didn't try to dissuade her after she had made a decision. She was a woman who did precisely as she wised. Insisting would only be a waste of breath. Shirou reached out and pulled Shisui from his Inventory, and ran Reinforcement over the blade and himself.
It was broad daylight, so there shouldn't be a chance of a fight breaking out. Velvet-san was a smart Magus and he wouldn't send his familiar to stir up trouble at this time. Unless Ibaraki got the best of him and killed him, but then she should have been ejected from this plane of existence.
Either way, it paid to be prepared.
A moment later, the doorbell rang. Shirou and Yoruichi looked at each other. What else where they supposed to do, other than answer?
They both went to open the door, and when they did they found two people standing outside.
Waver Velvet, still stuck in child form and a blond girl that couldn't be mistaken for anyone other than Ibaraki-Doji, although her outward demonic traits were gone, making her look like a forging teen girl. An angry one at that.
"Good morning, Emiya."
"Good, uh, good morning, Velvet-san and Ibaraki-san."
"It's Ibaraki-sama to you, morsel," the disgruntled Oni snarled.
"Right. To what do I owe the honor of this visit?" he asked.
"May we speak inside?"
No Magus worth their salt would be willing to step under another's Boundary Field if they were planning on starting trouble, as it would put them at a great disadvantage. Unless of course they were supremely confident they could break free of them at any time, but if that was their intention then they would have gone on the offensive from the start.
"Sure, come on in," he agreed, stepping aside and motioning for them to come in.
"Shirou, are you sure that's a good idea?" Asked Yoruichi. "Isn't this guy out to kill you?"
"What else am I supposed to do? Shut the door in his face, burning all bridges and spitting in the face of diplomacy? If he had come to pick a fight, he would have done so at night."
"Indeed," Velvet agreed, propping a cigar in his mouth as soon as he was out of public view, where a concerned citizen might have had issues with a kid smoking. "I assure you, Shihouin Yoruichi, that I do not have hostile intentions at this time."
"Yes, because it's widely renown that you can take a Magus's word at face value, right."
"It's fine, Yoruichi-san. We can listen to what he has to say. Besides, we are not defenseless."
"Well, alright," she shrugged. "It's your place, after all."
"Please, follow me this way."
He took them to the living room, where he offered them a seat at the table, and offered tea with some pastries of his making. Velvet didn't touch the drink and food, whereas Ibaraki only looked at them disdainfully.
"So, what brings you by?" he asked, once he had taken a seat for himself.
"I have come to propose an armistice," the other Magus said.
"I didn't want to fight you in the first place, so I'm all in favor of ceasing hostilities. Why though?"
"The Geas that binds me requires that I kill you before I can return to the Clock Tower. Unfortunately, I can't go back anyway in this state. Therefore the order my my priorities has changed."
"Why can't you go back like that? I don't think any Magus would bat an eye over a rejuvenated person."
"It's complicated. The research and preservation of Magecraft might be the purpose of the Association. Unfortunately, it runs on prestige, money and connections. Due to a number of reasons I am acting as Lord El-Melloi, which means I am the face of their family. I were to return like this, I would cause their image to suffer more than it already has. Believe me when I say that preserving what little face they have left is all they care about right now."
Shirou tapped his chin for a moment, pondering his explanation. His knowledge of the Clock Tower was limited to second hand tales from Kiritsugu, who wasn't very forthcoming about the topic in the first place.
"Well, I don't really care about the details, but that just means that you are going to try again in the future."
"Not necessarily. This curse that has changed me this way is incredibly powerful. More powerful than the geas I was forced into. If I can find a way to break that, there has a high chance that the geas too will be broken."
"Isn't that likely to kill you? I mean, something that strong would have some serious backlash."
"It is… It is very likely, yes. Which is why I see no point in keeping up hostilities with you. If I survive breaking this curse, there won't be any reason for us to kill each other. And of course there will be even less if I don't."
"So it isn't that you have come offering an armistice as much as you are asking for one," said Mikado, appearing from the corridor. Apparently, she had been eavesdropping all along. "You don't want Shirou breathing down your neck while you deal with this".
"If you wish to put it that way. It doesn't really change anything."
"Of course it does," said Yoruichi with a glint in her eyes. "This is a negotiation and you are in a weaker position. It changes a lot of things. What's keeping us from dealing with you here and now?"
"Several reasons. For starters, I took precautions in case I weren't to return. Dead man switches are quite useful in that regard. Secondly," Velvet continued, "Emiya here will stop you before you do anything. I have observed and interacted with him long enough to know he won't seek out a violent resolution unless there's no other option. Mikado-san can attest to that, I'm sure."
"Tch!" Yoruichi scoffed. "You've got all this figured out, don't you?"
"A Magus is one who prepares," said Mikado with a sigh. "Still. there is no reason why we shouldn't take precautions of our own. If you want this armistice, Velvet, you must be willing to give something more tangible that your word."
"Let me guess. A pact of non aggression, enforced by geas?" he asked, pulling out a parchment from inside his coat and putting it on the table for all to see.
The contents were fairly simple. Velvet could not attack Shirou or his allies, directly or indirectly, except in self defense, until the day when he got rid of the curse that forced him into child form. Naturally the same conditions applied to Shirou. For all intents and purposes, all hostilities would be temporarily halted.
Shirou read it over, but there wasn't anything that could be misinterpreted. The fewer the terms the fewer the potential loopholes.
"Alright, I can't see anything wrong with this. Mikado-san?"
"Yes, it's simple and to the point. But let's add a clause that he must give us a week of advance warning from the moment the curse is lifted before he can come at you. That way he won't be able to ambush us."
"Hm. That's reasonable," he agreed. "Velvet-san?"
"If that makes you more comfortable," he replied dismissively, though it was obvious that he had thought of that possibility himself and knowingly left it out.
"Also, I want a piece of that sword you found on Onigashima," added Mikado.
"What, why?" asked Shirou.
"Impossible. I need them if I want to find a counter for this thing," Velvet objected.
"Having one piece or having two won't make much of a difference," said Mikado.
"What do you need them for?" asked Shirou once more.
"Research, what else? A shard from an artifact originating from a Singularity is definitely going to have interesting properties. I want to study it."
"Are you sure you can make good use of it?"
"Absolutely," she nodded.
"Like I said, that's not on the table. Forget it," said Velvet.
"What if we share the results of our findings with you?" proposed Shirou. "Two Magi are more likely to find a solution than just one."
"Are really you proposing a joint research?" Velvet asked in evident disbelief.
"The biggest hurdle against Magi working together is their propensity to kill one another over the spoils," said Shirou. "Since we've already removed that possibility, why not make the most out of it?"
"Hm. Eh. You are something else alright, Emiya. An ordinary Magus wouldn't even think about joining hands in research with someone who has already tried to kill them. Out of sheer pride if anything. I'm not sure whether that makes you a misunderstood genius or an complete dumbass."
"Oh. So I'm not the only one wondering," said Yoruichi.
"Excuse me, what side are you on?" asked Shirou, glaring at her.
"Apparently, there is no longer any sides to be had," she replied with an unrepentant shrug. "I don't see why I should take your defenses. Having fun at your expenses is still my favorite pastime."
"As if you'd ever let me forget. Alright, if you agree with those terms let's put it down on the scroll and be done with it."
Shirou, Mikado and Velvet jointly put down the rules of their armistice turned research agreement and proceeded to sign it.
[You have been bound by a geas]
The prompt confirmed that the binding had taken effect. With that, they could all be more at ease.
"I'll deliver a shard first thing tomorrow morning," Velvet promised. "Now I think I've taken enough of your time for one day. I'm sure you have other business to attend to. Come, Oni."
"Hm?" said Ibaraki, looking up. There was a dazed look in her eyes. "Right."
She got up and meekly followed after Velvet, who stared back at his familiar with an odd look of his own. Shirou and the two women escorted them out.
Nobody paid any mind at the plate of pastries on the table, now completely empty, picked clean of even the smallest crumb.
"That went well," said Shirou once Velvet and Ibaraki had left.
"Yes. I should not be surprised about this outcome," said Yoruichi. "You seem to have a gift for turning yesterday's enemies in today's allies."
"Allies? We might have agreed to cease hostilities and do research together, but we aren't allies. Velvet-san won't lift a finger to help me and you can be certain he would be thrilled if I went and got myself killed. I think that calling us allies is too much of a stretch."
"Ehh, give it time. This woman too was like that, but now she came to assist you on her… uh? Where did she go?"
Shirou looked down the entryway, but there was no trace of Mikado. She had left just as silently as she had come. Well, he was surprised that she had come at all, considering she had been avoiding him most of the time since their return. He wasn't precisely trying to reach out to her either, having figured that she needed the distance after disaster of Onigashima.
Still, it seemed that if he just let things play out, wounds would fester rather than heal. He'd better talk to her after all.
[br]
When Ibaraki came back to her senses, they were already back at the place that the human who bound her in service called his home.
"Eh? Eh?" she asked, blinking wildly at her surroundings.
"What is wrong with you?" asked her loathed Master, while putting away his coat. "You have been spacing out for a while, now."
"I… it's none of your business," she replied scatingly, storming away.
"Crazy Oni," she heard him mutter, but he did not make any attempt at stopping her.
In the indignity that was her current predicament, Ibaraki had been extremely lucky. As humiliating as it was being bound to a human, he at the very least didn't demand anything of her other than posing as one of them. Granted, she would tear him to bloody pieces the moment she managed to break free of her bindings, but she knew at the very least that he cared not to trample upon her pride more than he already had.
However, while normally she would have still been fuming about the situation, she was now preoccupied with more pressing matters. Namely, the aftertaste still lingering in her mouth. She had not meant to eat those pastries. What would pitiful human food be to her, an Oni of royal lineage?
Oni were the embodiment of vice. Whereas Shuten-Doji's was a lover of alcohol, a veritable drunkard, Ibaraki was an unabashed glutton. Food was her weak spot, and among all types she was a sucker for sweet things.
Her palate was different from a human's though. Her buds could taste things that they possibly couldn't pick upon, which was why something that tasted good to their dull senses would only make her spit on the floor. Only human meat never failed to satisfy her. Even the lowliest of commoners would at least taste passable.
It was only because she was utterly bored of the chattering among humans that she took a chance with one of those pastries, not expecting anything good to come of it.
After that, she fell into a daze of bliss. Her tongue and brain melted, overwhelmed by perfectly balanced sweetness and utterly flawless texture. Although she had not bothered to measure time, it had taken her a good minute to process the experience brought forth by a single bite. Then she had one after the other, sinking into depths of sweetness heretofore unknown to her.
Was this the level of confectionery that humans had achieved in this world? Could it possibly be that those useless, no good humans had this much potential within them? If so, then maybe it would be worth suffering the humiliation of being bound to one of them for a while
All she had to do now was find a way to convince her Master to let her have more sweets.
Surely that couldn't be too difficult.
[br]
Outside of Shirou's house, the courtyard had been turned into a small functional village. Although the dojo was big enough to act as a dormitory for all the women from Onigashima, the facilities of Shirou's home just didn't suffice to meet the needs of so many people.
Therefore, he built a small bathhouse and an outhouse for them to use. Not only it made things smoother, but the women were also more at ease with primitive facilities. To be completely honest, they were scared of everything inside of Shirou's home.
It was said that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and modern household appliances fell right in that category to his guests. It didn't help that he was also a Magus, so drawing a line between technology and magic was even harder for them.
Taiga, ever the teacher, took a good portion of her free time to instruct them about the modern world, but it was a work in progress. Too many things taken for granted needed to be deconstructed and explained in simple terms.
Not that anyone had anything to complain about. The women felt truly safe for the first time in years. Although the world outside of his mansion was mysterious, they had been reassured enough by Shirou that it was safe for humans to live. There were not many threats and there was no scarcity of resources either.
Confused and scared as they might be by the unknown, it was an immense step up from the situation they came from, even before the appearance of the Oni. They didn't have to contend with the sea creatures for food.
The lesser hurdle was providing them with clothes. The hardest part to figure out about was how a zipper worked, but beyond that there were no issues.
Now, if they decided to go out, as Shirou stressed they were free to do at any time, they would at least do so without causing eyebrows to be lifted and questions to be asked. Not that they ventured out much. Although they did go out every now and then, they always remained within sight of the gate.
They were afraid of cars, even though it had been explained to them that they were carriages made and controlled by humans, and that they were only dangerous if you stepped in their path.
It would take them quite a while to integrate in modern society, particularly giving them an education that made them self-reliant, but that a long term project.
As it were, they had few little needs and Shirou made enough money to keep them all fed, although it was an additional drain on his finances. Fortunately, farming Mana Cores was always a profitable endeavor so he wasn't worried keeping the books in the black.
Truly, the biggest issue with this arrangement was that he could no longer do as he pleased with his own land. Not that there was any better use to it than helping those who needed it, but he had other projects for it before.
Projects that had to be put on hold, some of which he shared with Mikado. The same person he was on a curse to meet and possibly talk to.
Her room was in the secondary wing. The only western style room inside the Emiya household. When he got there, he knocked on the door and waited for permission to enter. If she wasn't here, she would only be in the tool shed turned workshop.
"Enter," she said after a moment's silence.
He stepped inside and found her sitting at the desk, glasses perched on her nose and a book resting open in her laps. As the door was to the side of desk, Shirou caught a glimpse of her legs poking out from under her miniskirt.
Briefly, he recalled his head being buried between those same legs, and them having them straddling his waist as she rode him.
He immediately looked away, up to her face, and met Mikado's eyes, who in turn looked away just as soon, a faint red hue across her cheeks
"Did you need something?" she asked.
"No, I… Thank you for earlier," he said, scratching his nose. He had come to ask how she was doing, among other things, but decided against it after seeing her face.
"What's there to be grateful about? We are allies, now. What benefits you benefits me. I have only acted in my own best interest."
"Even so, thank you," he said with a nod. "Sorry for bothering you. I'll leave you to your read. I just wanted to let you know I'll be running some errands later in the Reverse Side and that I won't be back until tomorrow at the very least."
"I'll keep a watch over the place, don't worry," she reassured. "I'll make sure that the girls are all taken care of as well."
"Alright. Thank you. See you later."
"Until then," she nodded and turned her eyes back to the book.
Shirou left and closed the door behind him, wondering if he had made any progress with her.
[br]
After she heard his footsteps getting farther away, Ryouko let out a sigh of relief.
Her heart was a jumbled mess in regard to the young man, to say the least. She had known him for just a few weeks and in that time the way she thought of him changed drastically several times. He went from being a promising research specimen to an enemy she couldn't defeat and then forced into being allies.
No, that wasn't right. She had signed away her every right to him. He could do with her almost everything he wished. He was in a position of clear superiority. Despite that, he never abused that power and in time she started thinking of each other as equals. That how things were.
Then Onigashima happened.
Ryouko didn't want to think about that. She kept herself busy and away from him as much as possible, to give herself enough time to process both the thing she did and the thing that had been done to her.
It was not easy. The humiliation that Shuten-Doji caused her couldn't be easily swept under the rug, but even that was a minor issue compared to the latter part of that misadventure.
Even now, days after the event, her body still ached.
It was unreal, but then again, everything about Emiya Shirou could be labeled as such. Having Mystic Eyes certainly explained why he was more mature than he should be. There was little surprise about that.
It was the things he did with that maturity that boggled the mind.
Although he had not outright said it, Mikado had figured out that he was in a relationship not only with the Busujima girl, but also with his neighbor Fujimura Taiga. Furthermore, both women were aware of each other and seemingly not out for blood.
Had she figured it out earlier, she would have undoubtedly thought he had used hypnosis on them. In her opinion, nothing short of Magecraft could have two women knowingly date the same man who was also so much their junior.
However, she had basically enslaved herself to him. If that was that sort of man, she would have already fallen prey of that behavior.
Instead, even though the circumstances still conspired to get them both in exactly that situation, he clearly felt conflicted about it, if not even guilty. That, despite the fact that he saved her life.
Granted, one could argue that helping her fell within the terms of doing everything in his power to save Tearju, which was the cardinal rule of their contract. However if he genuinely didn't want to rescue her, he could have easily engineered a situation in which the self defense clause kicked in, freeing himself of the obligation. Losing her meant that he would no longer be able to access the Land of Shadows to confront Scàthach. Therefore, he would have been freed of the contract altogether and all of the risks that came with.
Sure, he would have also lost all of the benefits, namely her and her Magecraft, but he never gave so much as an indication that he wanted either one of them.
Despite that he still went out of his way to pull her out of a situation that she had caused by not respecting his privacy. No matter what had happened, every fault could be laid at her feet, and none at his. Despite that, he still saved her.
What did that say about him as a person? She wasn't sure, but in light of all those experiences, she wasn't shocked about him having two girlfriend.
If anything, it was a wonder why he didn't have more.
No, actually, that part was simple to understand, in hindsight. He simply wasn't that kind of man. However abnormal the circumstances, it was obvious that his relationship with the two women were of mutual affection.
That should have made her all that much comfortable around him, for he proved himself to be trustworthy beyond measure. Unfortunately that wasn't the case.
Mikado was a lesbian. She never had the slightest inkling of attraction toward males. However, she could not forget the searing heat of the night they shared.
It would have been far simpler if she could find a single reason to detest him, but she really couldn't. Neither she could ignore him, as they were supposed to work together.
Her only option was bearing this uncomfortable feeling. Given enough time, surely, even the memory of it would fade.
[br]
Later that night
The fire from the forge raged, while the diminutive blacksmith hammered the red-hot metal into the desired shape. The clashing of steel had been echoing through the building for hours, almost never relenting.
Sweat poured down Shirou's body. Although he would not tire as long as he had stamina to spare, he was still affected by the close proximity to the flame.
Behind him, the old smith observed with his arms crossed as a boy a fraction of his age worked metal even better than he himself could do.
The sense of hopelessness and failure that he felt at being so easily outclassed was surpassed only by the feeling privilege of seeing a better smith at work. His love for the craft far surpassed his own pride, after all.
Shirou hadn't invited him to assist and Tetsuo had no wanted to either, initially, but after hours of hearing the metal being worked without rest, he had to make sure the brat had not hired an entire team of blacksmiths.
Afterward, he was simply enraptured by what he saw and no longer moved from the spot. Shirou had seen him arrive, of course, but he didn't ask the older man to leave.
After all, he had copied the ability from him, and then took it to greater heights through the combined power of his Gamer Eyes and the Sword Hax. If the old smith learned something by watching him, it could be called a fair trade, all things considered.
After many, many hours, Shirou's efforts were about to pay off.
[You have created a new item]
[Item Type: Wakizashi (Spiritual)] [Properties: DMG: 1000 (x10 against Spirits]
[Select a name?] [Y/N]
Shirou held the blade over his head, as he read the prompt.
This was his first creation using the iron extracted from the one Spiritual ore from Onigashima. Even though he had to mix it with other regular materials to make steel, thus diluting its properties, the stats that he got out of it was completely outrageous.
Compared to Shisui, is primary weapon at the moment, this was a dozen time better. Shisui's base damage was 150, with a x1,5 multiplier against spirits, whereas in this new weapon could hit for upward 10,000 points of damage. Right now, he could basically one-shot the most powerful Wraiths he had encountered so far.
Of course, it couldn't have been possible without the maxed out Blacksmithery skill and the high grade spiritual ores from Onigashima.
An object like that deserved a name of its own.
"Spirit Bane."
[The weapon Spirit Bane was created]
[You have acquired a new title: Arcane Blacksmith (Beginner)] [Description: All items you create through blacksmithery will have a spiritual
component, even if no spiritual material is used.] [Items to create to rank up: 1/10,000,000]
Shirou's eyes widened. What kind of broken ability was this? Creating spiritual items from regular material? Even if the effect was minimal, it was still incredible. Although the number of items he had to create to rank it up was insanely high.
That was fair though, all things considered. The requirements didn't specify what kind of objected he had to make. He could make a knife in a few minutes, if he didn't care about the quality. Even if he took the shortest route possible, it would take him weeks of non-stop grinding under a time altering boundary field to rank up the title.
However, since he had plenty of Spiritual Ores to to go by, there was no point in doing that.
Even better, since he could just Project his own equipment after seeing it once, he could easily reuse the materials, which mean that his current stock would last him for a very long time.
This sword, for instance, he would give it to Saeko as a secondary weapon. Next he would make a katana to match, then a weapon for Taiga, and then armors for them both.
He had his work cut out for himself for the next few days. Unfortunately, he couldn't stay any longer. Creating this sword had taken him all night and that wa still pretty damn fast. As he
was still a student, he still had to show up for school in the morning, and while he could stretch time, that would cut into his Mana pool instead.
He already had a small time altering field around the crystal containing the unconscious Tearju Lunatique, to slow down the speed at which her life force was bleeding out.
There was a toss up between speeding himself up or slowing her down, and since he couldn't hide behind a Boundary Field all the time, he decided that it was better off this way. Sure, he wasn't limited to just one Boundary Field, but he also had a permanent one around his house against intruders, and he needed a bit of Mana to himself to do other stuff.
At present, selling Mana Cores was his only source of income, and he needed the money for, well, just about anything.
He really needed to make use of Lilith's Blessing, now that it included absorbing Mana from the people he slept with.
All people generated at least a small amounts of Mana, whether they used it or not. Non-Magi like Taiga and Saeko had no need for it, so they wouldn't mind them giving it to him.
But that was a concern for another time. Now he had to wrap things up, head home, get cleaned up and then head to school. The term was about to finish and starting the next he would jump to high school.
It wouldn't change much for him, since his INT was already very high, but at least this way he would be closer to Taiga.
Speaking of which, he would be meeting with Taiga later that night, to hunt it the Reverse Side together. That was the closest thing to a date they would get to have for a long time, at the very least until Shirou became old enough not to raise any eyebrows by going around with someone of Taiga's age.
With all the people living at his place, there wasn't much privacy to be had. So if they wanted to a bit of intimate time together, they were forced to go outside. In the Reverse Side, no one would bat an eye about the two of them. There were far wilder things to be worried about.
Besides, fighting side by side really did wonders for Taiga's mood. After a few battles she was more than happy to pounce him and Shirou was more than willing to let himself be eaten by the ravenous tiger.
ff that wasn't a winning combination, he didn't know what was.