(Southeastern Fiore)
Lancer sat on the edge of the Cliff overlooking the ocean. Shining, cerulean blue waters as far as the eye could see. A forest was situated behind him; the direction he came from when he took his Master off to train. Far as he could tell, Fiore was a beautiful place. He thought back to his summoning. Called upon not by the Grail, but by a System that had promised him a new experience. The system had given him enough information to know what to expect in this world. Earthland was rich with mana, making it a hotspot for all sorts of magical creatures and life alike. He didn't really know what kind of phantasmals there were in this world, nor did he really care. All he needed was his Master to point him in the direction of the enemy and fight.
The system had promised him a new world with new strong foes to battle, and that was enough for him. The thought of facing off against powerful warriors left a small smile on his face. What kind of opponents would he meet in this world? Would they even be a challenge? Would they be too much for him? ...Well, not that it matters right now, he needs to focus on helping his Master train.
Speaking of his Master; the blonde boy seemed determined. Although he is quite weak, he shows the will to grow. Cyril wanted to shed off his own ineptitude, and he could respect that. Lancer had yet to see any remarkable feats from his Master, but then again, they haven't actually started his training. The kid may just yet surprise him.
Lancer looked out into the Ocean, catching sight of his Master. Cyril was in the waters, swimming as fast as he could; away from the jaws of a large shark.
"DAMNIT LANCER, WHAT PART DOES ANY OF THIS MEAN TRAINING!?!?" His Master yelled out to him.
Upon arriving at the cliff next to the beachside, Lancer had decided to give a little test to Cyril's will and instincts. If he didn't have the grit to survive, then he won't have the resolve to keep up with his training. So he chucked his Master into the water, telling him to make it back by sunset. Lancer would be lying if he said he knew how to train someone. He was honestly just going off of instincts and random ideas popping up in his head. But thanks to the system his Master is sure to improve quickly, no matter the manner of training. Lancer wondered if he should employ any methods from his teacher. A moment later he shivered at the thought of Scáthach's training, immediately deciding that his Master wasn't ready.
He noticed Cyril arrive on the beach shoreline, gulping for air after escaping the shark. Once he caught his breath he looked up towards the cliff's precipice where Lancer sat on, and glared. He was not happy, that's for sure...
. . .
. . .
~Hours later
The crackling of a fire could be heard as the sun began to set; slowly transitioning into nighttime. Cyril and Lancer sat around the campfire. A trio of fish that Cyril had caught–with his bare hands–skewered over the flames. Cyril's clothes were still soaked from his earlier trip in the water. He sat cross-legged on the hard ground and scowled at the blue clad spearman.
"You know...when you said training, I thought you were talking about more...'conventional' methods. Not, 'chuck me into the Ocean and get chased by sharks', methods."
Lancer looked away from the fish and turned to him. "It was a test, a test." He emphasized. "I had to see if you had what it takes to go under intensive training." He turned back to the cooked fish, helping himself to one. "I'd say you passed. Your real training starts the day after tomorrow." He bit into it.
"...You know I was the one who caught those, right?" The blonde said. The only affirmation he got from Lancer was the gulp of fish meat that went down his throat. "The shark came back while I was getting those y'know. Why are you even eating anyway? You're a Servant! Servants don't need food!" He complained.
A playful grin appeared on Lancer's face. "Oh? Are you trying to take away my right to eat food? Iyaaa~, what a truly tyrannical Master I've gotten. I guess I'll just have to starve, boo-hoo~." He said, fake crying.
Cyril grinded his teeth. He was already quite frustrated with Lancer for throwing him into the Ocean, and now he's eating his food and teasing him. He was seriously contemplating if he should waste a command seal to shut up his annoying Servant. But fortunately he thought it was best not to.
"Tch...whatever... Take all the fish, I don't care. Not like I was hungry anyway."
*Growl~*
. . .
The blonde had a red tint on his cheeks. He just had to say it, didn't he? Curse his luck and stomach.
His Servant looked to him and laughed. "Hahaha! Seriously Master, you're too easy to mess with." The man offered a fish to him. A peace offering, even though it was his fish to begin with. "Lighten up Master, just taking it easy before I put you through hell."
He looked up towards the cooked trout and begrudgingly swiped it from Lancer's hand. He soon started munching on it.
"Tell you what, how about I hunt you some boar for tomorrow? Eh? A little gift from me to you before your training starts." Lancer offered.
"Do what you want." He replied in between bites.
The spearman shrugged his shoulders and helped himself to the last fish. It was true that Servants don't require food, but it wasn't like they couldn't eat. They can still enjoy and feel nourishment from it; just ask a certain King of Knights.
They continued to eat away at their marine dinner, the sun fully setting, and the moon becoming more prevalent. Lancer turned his head towards the crescent light source over the horizon. The Ocean continued to shine from the moonlight, the world currently in a moment of serenity. He wondered if there was any reason for his summoning besides helping his Master and fighting others. Maybe this was the system's way of giving him a second chance at life? It's not exactly like he's really being forced to do anything, not here to fight in a Grail War, just here to be here and help his Master. A second life wasn't exactly something that he would wish for, but wouldn't say no to. His life was filled with mistakes in the end, but he didn't regret it. He lived his short life and was content with staying as a Heroic Spirit; residing within the Throne of Heroes. Now he exists in another world, tied to one inhabitant that seeks to become Legend. Was the kid trying to become a Heroic Spirit? If so, then he hoped the boy would fare better than he did in his life. The path to becoming a Heroic Spirit is usually filled with thorns, many Heroes ending up with tragic or gruesome ends; him included. He finished his little meal and looked towards his Master.
"So, Master, what'cha planning to do after you grow strong enough to handle yourself? Besides summoning more Servants and making history of course."
Cyril finished his food and turned to Lancer, the light from the fire illuminating his face. "I plan on joining a certain Guild in Magnolia called, 'Fairy Tail'."
"Fairy Tail?" The Servant parroted. "That's the number one Guild in Fiore, right? You sure like to aim big, Master."
"I believe it's the best place to be in if I wanna affect this world's history. I'm sure we'll see plenty of action in that Guild. You'd probably like it there, what with being a battle junkie and all."
Lancer chuckled at his Master's statement, grinning at the thought of action. "Well, can't argue with that. I do enjoy a good fight."
Cyril snorted at his Servant's words, but soon put his attention elsewhere. He wondered what to do with his free time, but then remembered about the shop in his system and his unspent FP, so he decided to check it out, planning to see if there was anything of use in there. He opened up the shop, seeing only three different categories of products.
「SHOP」
[Items]
[Magecrafts]
[Essences]
(FP: 3,000)
'Is this all?' He asked to no one in particular.
A second blue screen blinked into existence.
「NOTICE」
Due to your low Fate Level, most of the Shop's options have been restricted.
This one recommends that you train.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it soon." He moved the second blue window aside to focus on the Shop.
"What'cha lookin at there, Master?" Lancer asked.
The man came over to check out what Cyril was doing with his system, now seeing that the boy was looking at a shop. Curious to see as to what a Shop from the Master System could offer, he stuck around and watched Cyril inspect all sorts of products, first starting with the Items.
"Man, nothing too useful here. Maybe a couple things that could be useful later, but not right now." Cyril said to himself, most of the items costing between 5-50 FP,
"Oi, Master, there's a fishing rod for only 10 FP." The spearman pointed out. Lancer pointed to the fishing rod item in the shop, being one of the more cheaper items.
He looked to the second screen and asked, "Hey system, am I able to buy stuff too?"
Yes
Lancer grinned at the answer and tapped on the [Buy] button for the fishing rod. The purchase went through and the item materialized in his hands, 10 FP being subtracted from Cyril's 3,000 FP
"Hey! You used up some of my FP from that! What the hell Lancer, don't buy useless crap with my points!"
Surprisingly, the system had allowed his Servant to purchase an item. On the bright side, he now knows that his Servants can interact with the system. Downside? They can totally use his points for things in the shop without his permission. Just like how Lancer bought a damn fishing rod with his limited and valuable currency.
"Calm down Master, it's only ten points." Lancer reasoned. "Plus, now I can get us some fish without having to go into the water to catch some." He said with a happy grin on his face, finally being able to do one of his favorite pastimes.
Cyril only sighed in response to that. He continued to check out the rest of the items, soon moving on to Magecrafts. The amount of things he could buy in this section was significantly smaller than the items section, but that was to be expected. He was sure that there were more Magecrafts in the Fate Universe, but he chalked it up to them being restricted for now.
"Gradation Air(Projection) and Alteration for 500 points, Jewel Magecraft and Memory Manipulation for a thousand, and finally Runes for 1,500 points." He read aloud. He was surprised that he was allowed to buy Runes, remembering how they were used by a certain Clocktower Enforcer.
"I think I'll buy Projection Magecraft. It could come in handy in some situations." He confirmed to himself. He spent 500 points and received knowledge on how to use Projection. His points now at 2,490.
"Hey Master, if you were to buy Runes I could probably teach you a thing or two. Especially since Runes is the only skill I have that isn't locked." Lancer offered.
'That's actually a pretty good idea.' Cyril thought to himself.
He contemplated on whether or not to purchase Runes. He was receiving training from Cú Chulainn. The man's Rune Magecraft skill said that he was nearly a first-rate practitioner of the thing, it wouldn't hurt to learn a couple of tips from him.
The thing about receiving Magecrafts or skills from the system was that it gave him information and the ability to use it, but it didn't tell him how to use it or give any real skill. It's like the difference between being able to drive a car, and knowing how to drive a car. Anyone can get behind the steering wheel and drive forward, but not everyone knows how to drift or have reflexes like a race car driver. If he were to be too careless with his Magecraft then he might just crash and burn.
He thought it over for a couple more minutes. Finally, he decided that he'd buy it. His reasoning was so that he could base his fighting style off of Bazett; the woman being able to keep up with Servants and demolish most of her opponents with her bare hands with the power of her Runes even though she was human. Truth be told, Cyril found her pretty badass and wanted to imitate her.
1,500 FP was subtracted from his points, leaving him with 990 FP left.
"Well Lancer, I'll be in your care for Training and Runes." He told his Servant.
Lancer nodded and declared his curiosity was satisfied, and went over to the cliff edge, getting ready to fish with his new rod.
Cyril moved on to the last category in the Shop, Essences.
. . .
He had no clue what these were.
He tapped on Essences, the screen showed an array of circular blue flames with Fate characters' portraits displayed in front of the them. The one he looked at was labeled "Essence of the Faker", with Shirou Emiya's portrait in front of the flame.
「Essence of the Faker」
Requirements:
–Gradation Air(Projection)
–Reinforcement
–Alteration
–Structural Analysis
–Fate Level 3
Receives:
–Tracing
–Memories of Shirou Emiya
–Knowledge of Reinforcement, Projection, Alteration, Tracing, Cooking, and Cleaning
–Unlimited Blade Works(Housed within the system)
Cost: 5,000 FP
'That's a lot of points...' He thought.
Essences seemed to be something akin to a bundle. The one shown is Shirou Emiya's Essence. It requires Cyril to have four different Magecrafts, reach Fate Level 3, and pay 5,000 points, but receives Shirou's memories, his unique Tracing Magecraft, his knowledge on his Magecrafts, and Unlimited Blade Works.
If he bought this then he'd be able to use any of Shirou's abilities just as good as the original. He'd be lying if he said that the idea didn't interest him; Unlimited Blade Works was practically a walking armory filled with a seemingly infinite amount of legendary weapons. But he didn't want to rely on Noble Phantasms. He'd prefer to fight with his fists than a weapon, at least for now. Which brings him onto his main interest.
「Essence of the Enforcer」
Requirements:
–Runes
–Knowledge of Hand-to-Hand Combat
–Fate Level 3
Receives:
–Memories of Bazett Fraga McRemitz
–Knowledge of Mystic Runes and Hand-to-Hand Combat
–Sorcery Trait: God's Holder
Cost: 5,000 FP
The Essence had a portrait of Bazett. Cyril had been intrigued when he saw it offered him the Sorcery Trait: God's Holder, which would allow him to be able utilize Fragarach, the Noble Phantasm passed down through Fraga family. Though it seems the Noble Phantasm won't come with the Essence. Fragarach is quite a powerful tool; it allows the wielder to basically trounce other people's trump cards, countering their strongest attacks. It forces their enemies to tread carefully and restrict them from using an all-out attack for fear of getting demolished.
Cyril sighed. He was currently low on Fate Points so he could only hope he'd be able to afford it in the future. The only times he received FP were from that one Quest and Achievement to summon Lancer, and the Starter Pack. There didn't seem to be many other ways of gaining FP other than Quests and Achievements, one of which only comes from time to time and the other not showing the conditions to unlock other achievements. Which is why his irritation grew when he saw Lancer fishing with his new magic fishing rod. It was basically just a normal fishing rod, but made out of magical energy, so it could be dematerialized and brought anywhere. It costed him 10 FP, which may seem like a little, but when the currency is rare and hard to come by, some will see why spending it on a fishing rod of all things may seem like a waste.
Cyril quickly decided he should be focusing on other matters right now. He pulled up his stats, seeing all their levels still at level one. The system a little while ago told him that the tens were just a level cap. Once he got all his Parameters to level ten, then his Fate Level would go up by one, and the level caps will increase by another ten levels to repeat the cycle. He was curious if there really was a limit, or if he could keep growing stronger and never stop, but the system hadn't informed him of anything like that, so it seems he'd have to find out himself.
Since his training doesn't start until the day after, his current course of action was to finally practice his Magecraft, having delayed it for long enough. He has never once used Magic or Magecraft before, so it would make sense he would try something simple. The simple thing he thought of was apparently Projection, in which he tried to think of an item to Project, but realized he doesn't know anything he understood enough to create. The boy looked towards Lancer and his fishing rod, utilizing his Structural Analysis to dissect the tool with his eyes. He wasn't capable of Analyzing it to its atoms or see its history like Shirou, but it was enough for him to be able to understand it's structure and design to project the rod. He soon chose to give up on practicing his Projection for now, since he doubted Projecting a fishing rod over and over would really help him in the long run, so he moved on to Reinforcement.
Grabbing a nearby rock, he used Structural Analysis again to understand its components, witnessing its imperfections and understanding what to improve on. He poured his magical energy into it, cyan blue circuit lines traveled all throughout the rock, Reinforcing it, making it more durable and solid. Carefully...oh, so carefully...he added more and more magical energy. Electrical trails of mana radiated from the stone, and eventually...
*Crack*
The rock cracked and exploded in his face.
"Ugh...this is gonna be a long night..." He groaned.
. . .
. . .
"Alright Master, time for your first day of training." Lancer declared.
The Sun peaking over the horizon made the waters of the ocean have a pink, yellow, and red color, giving off an aesthetically pleasing view. Cyril would have loved to just stare at the sun rise from over the ocean and just relax, but now wasn't the time for that.
Today was the day he began his training. Earlier, Lancer had told him he'd be doing some basic stuff first and would be quickly ramping it up as the days went on, telling him in his exact words, "There won't be any time to rest, everyday will have to be hell in order for you to grow quickly. If you really need that much power so soon then work your ass off to get it." The blue spearman then brought him to the Beach for their first day. Why they were here, Cyril didn't know. But that wriggling tarp just a little distance away from them gave him a hint as to what today's lesson would be.
"You'll need to improve your stamina a bit more before we get down to the nitty-gritty stuff."
Lancer walked over to the tarp and pulled it off with a swift movement of his hand. A large angry looking black boar which had to be at least five feet tall was tied up and raging to let loose. It huffed until steam came out of its nostrils, ready to to attack whoever came close. Its tusks were incredibly sharp, enough to probably pierce through wood easily. If that thing even hit him once it was most likely over for the young Master.
"Uhh..Lancer, I thought we were done with these kind of methods..." Cyril worryingly said.
"Well, this may not be conventional for you, but it may be for others, so it's fine." He casually waved off his concerns.
'It really wasn't fine, but okay...' The boy thought to himself.
"So, can I ask what exactly are we doing here and why you have a large boar tied up?" He already knew the answer. He just wanted to latch onto any feeling of hope that perhaps Lancer may just say it's for dinner later.
"Oh, that's quite simple Master. Today I'll have you try and outrun this bad boy for the entire day to increase your stamina." He stated.
'You can't be serious.' Cyril internally said to to his Servant, staring at the struggling hog.
He was supposed to outrun that? It looked like it was ready to tear him to shreds! That is definitely not a normal boar, it had to have had some magic shrooms or something, 'cause no way is that thing normal.
"All you have to do is run. Simple, right?"
Lancer cut the boar loose, the animal quickly getting its bearings and charged straight for Cyril.
"Good luck!" He exclaimed to his Master.
"I don't wanna be hearing that from you of all people!" Cyril snarked. Being wished luck by the most unlucky person he ever knew? Now that's how he knows his luck is terrible.
He barely had any time to throw himself to the side, just barely missed getting skewered by the animal's tusks. The boar kept going on ahead, charging straight into a large boulder.
*Crack*
The boulder shattered...
. . .
"Where the hell did you find that thing!?" Cyril shouted to his Servant. He turned to Lancer, and was greeted by the man just shrugging his shoulders.
The boar came back around, ready for another try at running the blonde boy through. Instincts kicked in as Cyril began running away as fast as he could on his two legs as that freak of a boar chased after him.
"HOW IS ANY OF THIS BASIC!?!?" He screamed out to his Servant.
This was the second time he was getting chased by an animal that wanted him dead, and felt that this wouldn't be the last it would happen either.
As Cyril ran off into the distance within the forest, Lancer sighed. He wished he'd be able to go find a good fight, but with his Master's training as his number one priority, chances are he won't be getting one anytime soon. At the very least he'd be able to see his Master grow and maybe find out what it felt like to have a student. Though he doubted this is what actual teaching looked like, as all he did was sic an angry boar on his poor Master.
His Master had ran into the forest to seemingly try and lose the boar, but he doubted that it would work. That wild hog was truly quite the catch during one of his earlier hunts. He felt that it would be a waste to see such an energetic and aggressive animal be killed off so soon, so he abruptly decided to use it for his Master's first training session. Truly a genius move from his part, being so resourceful.
From the Beach, Lancer could see huge dust trails coming from the forest as several trees fell. His Master's screams and shouts emanated from the treeline.
"I'M SORRY! I WON'T EVER EAT PORK AGAIN! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"SQUEEEEE~!"
"AAAHHH!!!"
The dust trails went further and further into the forest along with his Master's screams. It would probably be a bad idea for Lancer to not follow the boy and make sure he doesn't actually die.
He sighed, and with a huff, he leapt directly onto a tree branch and followed after the two.
. . .
. . .
"Twenty-seven..."
"Twenty-eight..."
"Twenty-nine..hah..."
"T-Thirty..!"
Cyril collapsed onto the ground breathing roughly, tired from doing thirty push-ups. His eyes were half-lidded, with exhausted eyebags from previous training sessions. It had only been a few days since his first session and now he's finally doing something more normal. Although...
"C'mon Master, keep it going. Don't tell me you've given up already?" Lancer prompted Cyril to continue as he crouched next to him.
An eagle came flying by, landing on a branch of a dead tree, squawking at the two.
"No...I haven't..." He huffed out. He could barely breathe as he laid there. "Y'know...maybe I...could've gotten further...if we weren't on TOP OF A DAMN MOUNTAIINNN!!!"
Today, Lancer had dragged him off to the tallest mountain nearby. He even had him hike and climb his way up to the top. The air at the peak was extremely thin, making it hard for the blonde Master to consistently exercise while suffering from oxygen deprivation.
"That's just an excuse Master. Break your human limits and push forward, c'mon! You! Can! Do it!" The spearman's words of encouragement went through one ear and out the other.
"As if...you would know...anything...about human limits...you damn Irish Demigod..." He snarked.
"Hmm?" Lancer hummed, "I guess you'd be right about that. But I know enough, so don't go dying on me yet, you've still got two-hundred-seventy more push-ups to go, Master." he said with a shit-eating grin.
"Ugghhh...just five more minutes..." The downed boy groaned.
"Each minute you spend on the ground will be another thirty push-ups. An enemy won't give you five more minutes." Lancer pushed.
"You sure..? 'Cause I think I could name a few who would..." A certain couple of planet busting characters with wish granting orbs came to mind.
"Master...as much as I'd like for us to just sit around and relax, remember that you'll die here if you don't finish this up soon." Cú warned.
"...Fine...ughh..." He furrowed his brows, forcing himself to get up and continue his workout.
"Thirty-one..."
"Thirty-two..."
"Thirty-three...hah..."
. . .
. . .
A small stone was passed to him, soon to be used as a component for a specific rune. He looked to Lancer who had his own stone.
"Now watch me."
Lancer brought his stone into clear view, bringing a finger up close to it. He drew a rune onto it that looked pretty much like a 'B'. The rune glowed as it pulsed with magical energy, the pulse beating harder the closer Lancer got to him until it finally stopped, reaching its target.
"Berkano: Rune of continued growth and continual rebirth or renewal in all things. The rune of becoming. It's what I use to track people down, requiring a stone as a component for the rune." He explained. "Now you try it."
Cyril brought his index finger to the stone and began focusing his mana, slowly drawing the Berkano Rune, magical energy engraved onto the the little rock that would be used as a tracking tool. After he finished drawing it, the pulse beated towards a certain direction.
"What am I tracking?" He wondered, looking towards a big bush in the distance.
"Who knows, maybe you should go check it out." Lancer replied with a mischievous grin.
Cyril knew he was up to no good the moment that smile came to view. He had gotten a good read on Lancer after these past couple weeks, his Servant knew something was up.
"I'm not going there until you tell me what it is you're hiding."
"Me? Hiding something? As if I would ever! Oh, you wound me Master. To think after all this time we spent together you haven't developed the slightest bit of trust for me." He said while swiping a tear from his eye.
Again with the fake tears. He knows Lancer usually means well, but most of the time the guy just liked messing with him, so he found it annoying when the spearman thought he could keep getting away with some things.
"Lancer...what is over there?" He continued probing.
"I'm telling you Master, I don't know what's over there. Which is why I'm telling you to go check it out." Lancer commanded.
"Since when were you the Master and me the Servant? I don't take orders from you." The boy challenged.
"Ever since you entrusted me with your training you have." He shot back. "Now I'm telling you to go check it out or else you might regret it."
"Regret it? What's there to regret? Me avoiding a disaster?" Cyril rolled his eyes at his statement.
"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you." He shrugged his shoulders.
Lancer dematerlized soon after, leaving Cyril alone in the Forest.
"Hey, Lancer! What are you doing? Why'd you demateralize all of a sudden? Hello?" The young Master called out as he was left alone.
*Thud*
All of a sudden, a big shadow was casted over him as he heard something land behind him. He turned around to see a massive ape towering over him. It had green fur with pink hearts stretched across its arms, its face, chest and abdominal area were a bright shade of purple, its eyes having no pupils and seemed to be glowing, and its legs being a darker shade of green.
'Let's make this your next lesson.' Lancer spoke to him with their telepathic link.
"Uhuhehe, what this? A boy that think MY rocks is his? Grahh! You make me mad!" The Gorian punched its fists together, preparing to attack the blonde boy.
"Oh crapbaskets..."
. . .
. . .
*Whack*
"Gah!" A pebble hit him right in the eye.
"C'mon Master, you gotta move or get hit." The man says as he throws another pebble.
Cyril was currently trying to dodge or deflect any pebbles and rocks Lancer shot his way. The exercise was something that he brought up to improve his Agility, in which Lancer immediately approved of the method and gathered as many rocks in the area as he could find. Lancer stood behind a line he drew to determine how far he should be from Cyril when chucking rocks. Which leads them to now...
*Whack*
"Oof..!" Cyril was hit by a medium sized rock right in the stomach. 'That's gonna leave a bruise...'
"Don't look at the rocks, watch my eyes. When going up against an opponent, their eyes usually give away where they'll be attacking, especially a ranged fighter. You're currently unable to react to fast projectiles, so you'll need to predict them instead." Lancer explained as he tossed a rock up and down.
"Easy for you to say. You have a skill that nullifies projectiles." The boy argued.
"Which is locked and why I'm explaining how this all works to you." He retorted. "You don't have the exceptional senses of a Servant, so you can't react just by hearing the air be split like I can. At least not yet. Even without my Protection from Arrows I can still deflect projectiles myself just fine."
"Any other ways of 'sensing' a projectile?" The Master asked.
"Not unless you can sense bloodlust, which you haven't experienced enough of yet to sense it accurately." He replied.
"Man, this is harder than I thought." The boy grew sullen, frowning at how weak he was.
"Don't rush it Master, everyone has their own pace at learning. Just keep trying and you'll figure it out, I'm sure of it." Lancer encouraged. His time during his training with Scáthach certainly wasn't short. He and Ferdiad went through hell together to compete for Gáe Bolg. Good times...
"Wow, am I dreaming or did you just give some sincere advice?" The blonde joked.
*Whack*
"Ow!" He yelped as a pebble hit him in the forehead.
Lancer grinned at the boy, "Don't be silly Master, I was just making you drop your guard, haha." chuckling.
Cyril rubbed his head. The bastard was gonna get it now. He picked up a nearby rock and suddenly threw it at Lancer.
Unfortunately, the Servant managed to easily catch the projectile with one hand and returned it with twice the force.
*Bam*
"Ack!" Cyril doubled over from the hit, stumbling backwards and falling over from the blow.
"Ya give up Master?" Lancer questioned, looking down at the downed boy.
Cyril looked up at the blue spearman with a defiant expression and snorted. "As if. Why would you even bother asking that? You already know the answer." He responded as he got back up.
"Now that's the spirit." Lancer grinned.
. . .
. . .
The trees rustled from the cool breeze. The sound of running water came from the River nearby. The sunlight showered him in its warm light as he opened his eyes. He was currently in an open glade; the same one where he summoned Lancer at. The boy looked ahead of him, spotting his opponent a short distance away from him.
The blue clad Servant was standing there with an easy-going smile. His spear was nowhere to be seen as he had dematerialized it moments earlier. His hands to his sides, his red eyes locked onto his young Master.
Today marked the day of their fifth spar; sessions where Lancer would educate Cyril on how to fight. And by educate, he means beating the poor boy to the ground until he stopped making the same mistakes. Fortunately the kid learned quick, and made sure to improve on his shortcomings. They would have sparring sessions once every week, to make sure the fledgling Master wouldn't get rusty and have time to do other types of training.
It had been a month and a half since they first started his training. He had already made good progress on his levels, with Stength, Endurance, and Agility at seven, his Mana at eight, and unfortunately his Luck only at four. He had no clue how to train his Luck, but it seemed to be going up from some events, so he could only hope that whatever he does later would train his Luck.
He made sure to check the Runes that he inscribed onto his body, which would give him more Strength, Speed, and Durability. When Cyril had bought the Runes Magecraft from the Shop, he didn't realize how versatile it was. Runes could be considered the swiss army knife of Magecraft, being able to cause a multitude of effects like strengthening, healing, invoking elements like fire, blocking powerful attacks, and more. He wasn't able to learn many of them yet, but he could at least try and close the gap between him and Lancer with these runes, even if just by a little. The main weakness of runes were the fact that they had to be inscribed before they could be invoked, making it hard for an amateur like him to try and place them down while in the middle of combat, which is why he wrote them down on himself earlier to activate later.
The objective of the spars was to land a single solid blow on Lancer. His previous four sessions had resulted in him getting his ass handed to him and spent half the time kissing dirt the first time, getting knocked out the second time, running out of stamina the third time, and a Gorian interrupting the fourth time, with him having to take care of it.
He primed himself, legs spread apart, fists in front of him, imitating what he could remember from Bazett's stance.
Lancer still hadn't bothered getting himself ready, and motioned his hand towards himself, basically telling Cyril to,
'Bring it'
He activated his Runes and dashed forward, closing the distance in a couple of seconds and threw a fist right at the Servant's chest.
Lancer pushed it to the side, causing Cyril to stumble, but recovered with a 360 spin kick heading towards the Servant's ribs.
The spearman caught him by the ankle and tossed him aside, not bothering to take advantage of his opponent's moment of vulnerability. He was toying with him, just like always.
Cyril landed and charged right back in, throwing a flurry of jabs and swings to try and knock the Servant off balance, which the man either evaded or blocked each strike.
Lancer finally decided to retaliate with an underhand uppercut, catching the boy directly in the chin, sending him upwards into the air.
Cyril quickly got his bearings and spun in the air, coming down with an overhead axe kick, causing Lancer to jump back to avoid the strike that caused a small crater on the ground.
His strength had definitely improved, even more so with runes, but it still wasn't enough to really catch the speedy Servant off guard. He needed to try something else.
With a couple of motions with his finger, he inscribed the 'Ansuz' Rune into the air. Lancer raised a brow, watching his Master invoke the rune. And out of it came clouds of smoke, enveloping the area. The kid was trying to take away his sight. He snorted at the idea, waiting to see what else was next.
A projectile shot out from the smoke in front of him, making him catch it with one hand. It was a rock. He suddenly heard the sound of the air change behind him and caught another rock that was sent towards the back of his head.
He looked around the smoke to try and spot the boy, but to no avail. After a few seconds he felt an attack heading straight for him. He looked up,
'Above!'
and blocked the diving punch that Cyril had come down with using his forearm. The boy clicked his tongue, jumping back from the failed sneak attack.
"You're a decade too young to be landing a sneak attack on me. I could hear your footsteps even throughout the smoke. You're too sloppy." Lancer remarked.
"It was worth try." Cyril said back as the smoke in the area began to clear, revealing the glade in all its splendor.
"Well Master, I'd say your grace period is up. It's time for me to get serious."
His carefree demeanor disappeared, the air around him feeling more beastlike. He crouched down and lunged forward at the boy, ready to lay a beatdown.
Cyril barely had time to react as a fist went straight for his face. He dodged and countered with his own, leading to Lancer doing the same, making the boy block the attack.
Lancer laid down a flurry of blows, faster than he could keep up with, making him get pushed back into a tree. He ducked and jumped away from an incoming strike, Lancer's fist getting stuck in the trunk. The boy had tried to capitalize but was kicked away by the blue spearman as he tore his hand free.
What came next could only be described as delaying the inevitable. Every punch, kick, and attack the young Master threw was easily parried as the Servant continued laying into him, not giving the boy a chance to breathe.
"...!?" A punch coming from below had forced his arms upwards. Cyril's guard was broken with an uppercut, leaving him wide open, in which Lancer took advantage of and clocked him right in the face, sending him flying straight into the nearby river with a *splash*.
Lancer casually walked over to the water and crouched down, waiting for Cyril to come out. His Master's head soon shot out, spitting water out of his mouth.
"Well Master, I think that's the closest you've gotten so far." The Servant had a cocky grin settled on his face. He chuckled at his Master's glower.
Cyril sighed, upset that not only did he lose again, but his clothes were also soaked once again as well. He quickly got over it and went back to camp with Lancer.
And so ends the fifth sparring match between Master and Servant.
. . .
. . .
「STATS」
[Cyril Alerion]
Class: Master
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Weight: 52kg (114 lbs)
Height: 160cm (5' 2")
Alignment: True Neutral
Likes: Fate Points,
Dislikes: Wasting Fate Points,
[Parameter Levels]
Strength Level: 9/10
Endurance Level: 10/10
Agility Level: 9/10
Mana Level: 9/10
Luck Level: 6/10
(Fate Level: 1)
He looked over his stats, smiling, a small feeling of pride flowing through him. He had managed to get his stats to nearly max(except Luck of course) with just two months of training. Now, he would never say this out loud, but he was actually very thankful for Lancer's help in his training. Who knows how much his Servant would end up making fun of him if he were to act all chummy. Nonetheless, it was thanks to his Servant's help that he was able to grow so quickly. Though he still didn't know how to specifically increase his Luck unfortunately. It just seemed to be a Stat that increases randomly whenever he's training. He had to find a way to increase it more, otherwise he won't be able to level up his Fate Level nearly as quick. It was key to completing the training Quest he had right now. Thinking back to it now, he just remembered about a skill the system mentioned when it gave him the Quest. He opened up his skills page.
「SKILLS」
『The Master System』
The Master System is a Gamer-esque System that is the source of all Cyril's abilities. It allows him to grow in power, summon Servants, use Magecraft without the need for Magic Circuits, have an inventory, and also provides a Shop with all manner of products at the cost of Fate Points.
Fate Points(FP) is the currency of the Master System used in the shop, and is usually awarded to Cyril from Quests and Achievements.
No one is able to see the Master System except for Cyril and his Servants. (There may be a few exceptions)
『Heroic Summoning』
Cyril is capable of summoning Heroic Spirits using catalysts. Servants that are summoned by him are supplied with Mana from the Master System, and can stay materialized indefinitely, though Cyril's qualities as a Master will affect his Servants' capabilities immensely.
The Command Seals located on his right hand that link him to his Servants are supplied by the system as well. The Seals work similarly to normal ones, albeit a bit weaker, but also being able to fully recharge at midnight. Upon using a Seal, Cyril can issue a command to one servant that they must follow. (It can be resisted with enough willpower. And the effects will vary depending on how specific the command is)
He can also use them to Empower, Heal, or allow his Servants to deploy their Noble Phantasms with no cost. Cyril will also be able to bring his Servants to him without spending a Command Seal. However, bringing them while they are too far apart will use up a Seal.
If all three Command Seals are used, then all Servants dematerialize and are incapable of interacting with the physical world until the Seals recharge.
『Magecraft』
Cyril can utilize different sorts of Magecraft through the use of the Master System without needing Magic Circuits, substituting it with his Magic Power.
The Magecraft and Spells he can learn and buy from the Shop are usually restricted based on his progression.
Magecrafts and Spells are recorded directly into his brain; though he will have to improve his personal skill with his Magecraft on his own.
Current List of Magecraft/Magic Spells:
Reinforcement
Structural Analysis
Gradation Air(Projection)
Runes
『Growth』
Cyril is able to improve at a rapid pace thanks to the system. As long as he trains, practices his Magecraft, completes Quests, and gains Achievements, the system will reward him with a hidden value called EXP.
EXP are Experience Points that he can convert into Fate Points, or use them to improve his qualities as a Master using the [Parameter Leveling] function. If he gets all Parameters to the level cap, his capabilities will be upgraded and increase his Fate Level, in turn, upgrading his servants with him.
Upon leveling up his Fate Level, the system will give him a reward, and allow him access to more options in the shop, and harder Quests, allowing him to gain more EXP, FP, Servants, Magecraft, and Items.
The Growth skill was the one the system mentioned. Upon reading its contents he facepalmed himself, realizing that he could have gotten his Parameters up quicker and easier without having to go through hell to get them up by one point. Why he never bothered reading his skills page earlier, he didn't know. Chalk it up to him being an idiot. But with the use of his Growth skill he should be able to fix his Luck stat being so low. But another important thing...
HE'S GOT ANOTHER SOURCE FOR FATE POINTS BABYYY!
Hell yeah! His FP has been stuck at 990 ever since his first look at the Shop, since he never received anymore Quests or Achievements during his time training. Now he can spend EXP to gain more FP and finally make some progress towards buying the 'Essence of the Enforcer'. He was tempted to start dancing around in joy, but immediately crushed that feeling in fear of someone spotting him. That someone being Lancer. The Servant would never let him live it down if he saw it.
"Hey system, what's the exchange rate for EXP to FP?" He asked, as a second blue screen popped into existence.
「NOTICE」
The exchange rate of EXP to FP is 100EXP for 1FP.
This one recommends to not rely on it.
'Wow. That means if I wanted 1,000FP I'd have to spend 100,000EXP. That doesn't sound cheap.'
Sacrificing his progress to get more currency doesn't sound like a good idea right now. He quickly decided to focus on leveling his Luck stat for now, tapping on the [Parameter Leveling] Function underneath the Growth skill. There he saw that he had 5,000EXP, his parameters required a thousand experience points to level up each time, costing a total of 10,000EXP to max each of them outright from level one. He cringed at the thought of the EXP requirements going up once the level cap increases, realizing he really couldn't rely on this type of leveling later in the future. This seemed to be a function used for emergencies, or if he needed a stat increased immediately.
He began to think if this was a good idea or not, but decided to go through with it anyway. He spent 3,000EXP to get his Luck to level nine, planning to increase it naturally later on and save the rest of his EXP for another time.
He stood up with a satisfied huff. He was nearly there, Fate Level 2 was in sight and he was ready to finish his hellish training. He looked around at the glade, reminiscing on how he started all this just two months ago. He hadn't returned to the village that saved him ever since he left, too occupied with his training sessions with Lancer. Maybe he should go pay a visit, not that the villagers would probably remember him, but he should at least thank them for keeping him nice and safe for a couple days.
*Rustle*
The rustling of bushes to his right took his attention. He prepared himself for whatever was coming out of there.
"Freeze! Put your hands in the air and hand over anything your're carrying!" A rat-like man jumped from flaura, pointing a small dagger at the boy.
And here he thought his Luck had increased. Turns out his luck would always be terrible no matter how much he leveled it.
He sighed, an annoyed expression on his face. He turned to the rat-like bandit. "Look pal, I think it'd be best if you turned around and walked back where you came from. Nothing good will come from you robbing me, trust me."
All his training with Lancer had made him much stronger than the average person. A small dagger wouldn't threaten him, especially if it was wielded by a mook.
The bandit's face exploded in anger. A weak boy with no one around to help him was trying to tell him what to do!
"HIYAAAH!" The man charged forward, dagger pointed straight at the kid's chest.
Cyril scoffed, and sidestepped the attack, tripping the bandit as he passed by, tumbling into the dirt and dropping his dagger. The man shakily got onto his knees as Cyril kicked away the dagger into the river. The boy grabbed the man by the collar and held a fist up, primed to lay a beating if needed.
"Wait! Please spare me! It was my mistake, I'll never trouble you again! Please just forgive meee!" The rat-like man crumbled under even the slightest bit of pressure, fearful of being harmed.
You kidding? He hadn't even thrown a single punch and the man was already begging for his life. The hell was this guy thinking? Might as well ask some questions.
"Tell me what you're doing in this forest. I've been coming to this place for a while, and I don't remember bandits usually hanging around in this area." In all his two months of moving around from the beach, mountains, and this forest, he had never once ran into another person.
"W-We came here to take over some village nearby! We were ordered to capture any person we see, and kill anyone who resists! I'm just a scout, so I don't participate in the fighting! Please spare mee!" He squealed.
"Take over the village? Why the hell would you do that? What's the point of attacking some no name village in the middle of nowhere?"
"I-It wasn't our choice! A pair of wizards came into our camp and k-killed the boss! He said that if we didn't follow what we were told then we'd be joining the boss in the grave! He led us to the nearby village and told us to invade! I promise!"
「ALERT」
You have received a Priority Quest
『Paying Back a Debt』
The village that had saved your life is being attacked. Go to the village and stop the Bandits and Wizards invading.
Objectives:
Defeat the Dark Mages
Stop the Bandits
Rewards:
500FP
10,000 Jewels
Failure:
The Village gets Destroyed
"Seems like wherever I go it's always the same. Folks just never leave each other alone."
~Doc Mitchell
Crap, that doesn't sound good. That village had given him a chance to live his second life. Leaving it to its doom would leave a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Bring me there. I'll let you go if you do." He couldn't remember the way back as he had stumbled upon the glade by accident.
"You promise!?"
"On my word." He let go of the bandit's collar.
It was quite sad seeing a grown man whimpering to a fourteen year old boy. He planned on upholding his promise if the man lead him to the village, not caring if the bandit tried to regroup with others.
"I-It's this way! Just follow me!" The rat-like man quickly headed back through the bushes, Cyril following him.
'Lancer. I'm heading to a village nearby the glade. Meet me there. We've got some trouble going on.' He called out to his Servant.
'Gotcha. I'll see you there.' The spearman responded.
Cyril continued following the bandit through the forest, making sure to remember the way back this time.
'Hopefully nothing bad has happened yet...'
Cyril and the Rat-like Bandit had arrived to the front gate of the village. The walls were heavily damaged, blood, soot and sand could be spotted in some places. The gate had been completely crushed open, sand covering the majority of what was left. Whatever had caused it is probably inside the village.
"W-We're here! You'll let me go now, right?" The bandit rubbed his hands together, eager to leave.
Cyril sighed and nodded his head.
The man quickly scurried off into the village, "WE'VE GOT TROUBLE!" and called for reinforcements.
He had been expecting this. At least they'll take the fighting to a more open area. Tens of bandits rushed out of the village gate, all carrying shoddy armaments that could barely count as weapons. One of them had a stick for crying out loud. There's no way they could've breached the gates with their own strength. They could cause trouble with numbers, but each and every one of them were just small fry, unable to cause any real damage.
"Ratmin! It's just a brat! The hell're you thinkin' bein' afraid of a li'l weasel! I swear, yer such a coward!" A portly bandit yelled.
Cyril assessed all of the present bandits in the area. There was at least thirty, most of them carrying weapons while others only had their bare hands. None of them seemed trained. If it was this much, he could handle it.
"I'll give you all one chance to drop your weapons and surrender. Don't test me." He called out.
He'd rather not have to fight if he didn't have to, but he had no problem with doing it. He prepared to activate his runes at a moments notice. He'd cave their faces in if they tried something.
The bandits looked to each other, a moment of confusion passing between them. They looked back with mocking expressions on their faces.
"Huhh? You think you can handle us all by yourself?" A lanky bandit scoffed.
"The kid thinks he's some sorta Hero! Hah!" A short bandit laughed.
"Well...why don't we show this li'l Hero what happens to li'l runts that try to mess with us!" The portly bandit sneered.
As the portly bandit began to move, the back of a fist collided with his face, launching him into a tree, knocked out.
"Ah, sorry about that. I meant to say 'Yo' but it looks like my fist did all the talking." A familiar voice said out of nowhere.
Cyril looked towards the man that had just appeared, grinning.
"Lancer. Took you long enough. And I was beginning to wonder if you'd come at all."
Lancer had materialized right next to the portly bandit and knocked him away with a single hit. His spear slung on his shoulder and his fist still aloft in the air, his expression lackadaisical.
"Sorry Master, I took the scenic route. Couldn't help but admire all the animals gathered around." He looked to the bandits as he said that.
"Where the hell did this guy come from!?"
"I dunno! Must've been Magic!"
"Shit! The brat's got a Wizard with him!"
"Who cares!? We've got him surrounded! Get him!"
All bandits charged at the blue spearman, ready to dogpile him. Lancer swatted away a bandit with the butt of his spear while it was still on his shoulder, knocking the man out. Two more bandits jumped at him, but were sent flying as the long shaft of the spear collided with them, sending them into the bushes. As the bandits surrounded him he snorted, and brought both hands to his spear. They charged together to attack him from all sides but were quickly knocked away or cut apart as Lancer flourished his spear. Once it was over, Lancer impaled a man through the chest, lifting his body up and throwing it towards another set of bandits, knocking them over.
Cyril cringed at the sight of blood, being unused to seeing anyone else's blood being spilled besides his. He pushed the feeling away and continued to watch Lancer destroy them. Even when he was weakened, he was still a one man army. No bandits are gonna be able to overwhelm him.
The bandits that were left were stupefied on how nearly all of them had been taken out in just half a minute. Whoever this guy was they stood no chance, even with numbers. One quickly ran back into the village, seemingly trying to call for help. The rest of them had backed off and also retreated into the village as well, leaving the Master and Servant alone at front of the gate.
"Huh? What? That was it?" Lancer was left disappointed at the lackluster end to the fight.
"Can't expect much from mooks Lancer. Chances are, they're calling for their boss." Cyril guessed. Whenever a group of small fries get their asses handed to them, they go find a bigger guy in their group to handle the problem for them.
The two entered through the village gates, seeing the total destruction that was caused, with Sand laid around the entire area, and weapons stabbed into the ground. Most of the buildings were destroyed, no people around to be seen. The rat guy said that they were to capture the villagers and kill whoever resisted. There isn't much blood around, so most must have been captured somewhere.
After a few moments, a voice was heard yelling "That's them sir! They're the pair that think they can just waltz in and take us on!"
The rat-like man had returned with another person. The guy was a tall lean man with pale skin, narrow eyes, and a buzz cut. He wore a vest with no undershirt, leaving his abs and muscles out for all to see. His baggy pants were white, and he also wore black martial arts slippers as well. He was dual wielding twin chinese sabres that were stained in blood.
"...These two are the ones causing trouble? One spearman and a kid?" He voiced out his confusion.
"Y-Yes sir! They must be Wizards to be able to take on all those people! Nearly everyone was annihilated by that blue guy!"
The pale man narrowed his eyes at the rat bandit. He stood there in silence for a moment before...
*Stab*
He stabbed the ratman through the chest. Killing him instantly, his body slipping off the blade and fell limp.
"Oi! Aren't you guys supposed to be working together? What was the point of that?" Lancer asked, annoyed at the sudden betrayal.
"That would be implying we were on the same side to begin with. Me and my lord have no more use for them, so they will be discarded." The man stoically replied.
"Tcheh...the usual pawn sacrifice then." Lancer commented.
"Where did you take the villagers to? We know you captured them." Cyril questioned.
The man stared at the boy with a neutral expression for a second before answering. "They're at the place they call 'Old Doc's Clinic'. I'm sure my lord is handling things well over there. It won't matter if you hear this since you'll be dead soon enough."
"Haaah? Is that so? I'd like to see you try!" Lancer challenged.
"Lancer, wait." The boy halted him. "He said that there's someone else at the Doc's house. That must be the other mage. One of us needs to go there and stop whatever they're doing before it's too late."
"And by one of us you mean me?" Lancer added.
"You're the fastest so it makes sense. I'll take care of this." Cyril declared.
Lancer looked to him with a raised brow before grinning. "Well Master, who would've known you'd grow up so fast? Looks like I'll be taking the big fish then!"
"That'd be assuming you'd get past me." The stoic man said.
Lancer and Cyril looked towards each other and nodded. They dashed forward together, Cyril charging straight towards the pale man, activating his runes and cocked a fist back. The man blocked with the flat side of his sabres as the pair drew closer.
*Crack*
His eyes widened when he saw his sabres crack and shatter against the boy's fist, not expecting that much power behind a simple punch. He jumped back to regain his composure, though the spearman had already zoomed past him; heading straight towards the house in the distance that his lord was at. He clicked his tongue before looking back at the boy, discarding the handles of his broken weapons.
"Well, looks like you're a Wizard as well. I should've expected such a thing, but alas, I underestimated you." He called out.
Cyril stood primed and ready to begin the fight, waiting to see what his opponent had up his sleeves. This would be his first real battle, so there's no room for mistakes here, he'll have to give it his all.
The man extended an arm out, the shape of a weapon shined in his hand, a straight sword appeared.
"Re-quip?" Cyril voiced out.
"Indeed." The man confirmed. "Through my many battles I have taken the weapons of those I have defeated as trophies. Each armament you see from here on is a mark of my many victories."
He brandished the sword, pointing it at the boy wizard. "I will take your hands as my trophy." He declared.
Soon after, he lunged forward, meeting Cyril head on.
Michelle regretted many things in her life. She regretted not being able to protect this village. She regretted not being there when her son had died. She regretted running away from her past instead of resolving things. Now that past has come back to bite her in the ass, along with the people in this village that was housed in her home behind her.
"Grandma...how long has it been since we've seen each other." A muffled voice called out to her.
A man in brown and tan leather armor with dark green pants stood before her. His tan arabian scarf mask obscured most of his face and head, only leaving the area around his eyes visible, a burn scar marring his teal left eye. He seemed to be smiling under his mask, but she knew it was no smile of joy. No...it was one made of malice.
"Ramir...I see you've managed to track me down. How nice of you to come visit your grandmother." The man was her grandson. His mother died at birth, and his father was executed from a framing while she was gone. No matter how much she looks at him, she could still see that innocent young boy who had always wanted to follow in his father's footsteps in joining the Guild.
"Of course granny. What kind of grandson would I be if I didn't come check how you were doing?" His words held a second meaning.
'I had to make sure you were dead'
"After all these years you still haven't changed. Still as greedy as ever. I thought you had already taken power?"
"I'm the Guild Master in all but name. The title still goes to you since the council hasn't deemed you deceased until proof is found. I'll make sure to bring back your head as evidence for those blowhards."
The Guild... It was her home. Her place of peace during her time as the Guild Master of her Mercenary Guild in Bosco. Now it's led by her tyrannical grandson who forcibly took power.
"You've done nothing but tarnish the name of our guild ever since you ambushed me. You're a dark guild in all but name now."
Her grandson's eyes became bloodshot, rage seemingly taking over his demeanor. "I'VE MADE THE GUILD MORE POWERFUL THAN IT EVER WAS!" He exploded.
"At the cost of our principles and morals. Whatever happened to 'enough is enough, don't be greedy'?" She asked.
"You and my old man's ways were too soft! It's why he's dead, and why you'll be JOINING HIM SOON!" He brought a hand near his opposite shoulder, a mini whirlpool of sand appearing under her.
"Sand Rebellion!"
With a sweep of his hand, sand exploded around Michelle. She gritted her teeth as she jumped out of the sand storm. She had made her skin as tough as stone using her Earth Magic, able to resist the man's sudden attack. She dashed towards him, prepared for close quarters fighting.
"Tch... Triple Sand Slash!" Ramir sent out three powerful waves of crescent shaped sand at the old lady.
Michelle flipped over the first one and slid under the second one, the third being blocked using her arms in a cross guard. She was closing the distance between them fast, preparing a knifehand strike.
"Sand Wall!" With a wave of his hand, sand appeared and created a long wall that obscured him from view, protecting him from any attack that came his way.
With a slash of her hand she split apart the wall that defended her grandson. Her eyes widened when she saw that he was nowhere to be found behind the sand wall.
"Sand Wave!"
Her grandson's voice rung out behind her, streams of sand trapping her. Ramir had used the Sand Body spell to move behind her as she came up to the wall. Soon after, a powerful wave of sand blasted her right in the abdomen, knocking the wind out of her and launching her into a tree. She struggled to get up, but her old body wasn't what it used to be. She collapsed onto her hands and knees, unable to continue the fight.
"Aha! You've grown weak granny! If one hit was enough to take you out then it looks like I have nothing to fear. You really have gotten old." He said as he raised a hand, lances of sand appearing around him.
He was right. Her body was old and withered, unable to perform many of the martial arts she had used in her prime. Meanwhile, her grandson was at top shape, ready to continue fighting. She had lost with a single hit, and now all she could do was wait until the end.
"Goodbye...Grandma..." He released the sand lances toward her, seeking to finish her off.
She closed her eyes, accepting her fate. 'Forgive me everyone. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you all...' And waited for the end.
*Swoosh* *Clang*
"Now that isn't how you treat a lady." A voice rang out.
Her eyes shot open at the sound of another person's voice. A man in blue full body tights was standing in front of her. His red spear deflected all the incoming lances of sand that came their way.
He turned his head back to her, grinning, his red eyes meeting hers, and gave a wink. "Yo. Young lady."
Young? She's over seventy years old! Just who is this man? Before she could ask any questions, a loud roar sounded out from the direction of her grandson.
"GRRAAHH! That useless fool! He couldn't even hold one person back long enough for me to finish this! I'm so close... I won't let you stop me!" He screamed in frustration as he sent out more volleys of sand lances.
Lancer had deflected all the sand projectiles that came his way, none breaching his impeccable defense.
"Looks like someone's not happy." He turned to her again, "You don't mind if I take things from here, do ya?" he asked.
She gave a slow nod in the middle of her shock. She hadn't expected someone like this to have been in the village. This stranger had come out of nowhere, saved her life, and is now going to take on her grandson. Just what is going on?
Lancer smiled in response, and turned back to Ramir. The sand mage was fuming in rage. He was so close to achieving his goals, then out of nowhere a spearman came in and saved his grandmother. Who is he? One of her allies? He'll crush him, and then crush granny afterwards!
"Sand Spear!"
A beam of sand shot out of his hand, shooting towards the blue clad spearman. Lancer held his spear out, tip pointed to the beam, and pierced it, sand flowing around and dispelling from contact with the weapon. Whatever the spearman had was durable enough to easily withstand his sand spear.
"Here I come!" Lancer held a feral grin as he said that. Finally able to fight an actual opponent after all his time on Earthland.
He shot towards the sand mage, spear ready to impale his opponent at a moments notice. Ramir widened his eyes at the speed the spearman displayed. Quickly panicking, he shot out several sand lances at the blue clad man, each one deflected by his blood red spear as he quickly closed the gap, faster than his grandmother.
"Sand Wall!"
The wall of sand had returned, obscuring him from view again. Lancer cut right through the defense like paper and soon noticed something was off. He heard the sound of sand coalescing behind him, so he thrusted his spear behind his back.
"Sand Wa–" Ramir was cut off as the long spear pierced his shoulder. "ARRGHH!" He screamed out.
Lancer pulled his spear back, making the sand mage fall to a knee, clutching his shoulder. His blood began dripping onto the hard ground, red painting the floor.
"Y-You bastard! I'll make you pay for that!" He declared as he stared with hatred towards Lancer.
"Go ahead. Show me what you've got." Lancer said. He was waiting for his enemy to release his trump card so he could really let loose.
"You'll regret this..." Ramir spat out as he smiled maliciously. He held his hand up in the air. The sand around the area began to gather around, forming a fast rotating dome around the two combatants, neither being able to leave now.
"I won't let you escape! Sand Dome!"
The two fighters were now encased in a dome of swirling sand, a wild sandstorm building within. Lancer's vision had become slightly obscured within the sand dome, but still watched as Ramir got back up. The sand mage began to get covered in specks of sand, the material now beginning to cover him and form a new appearance. The sand around him had formed an armor that looked like a wolfman, his real body hidden within the whirling sand. He brought his right arm up, the sand twisting and wriggling, changing forms. After the transformation, his right hand was now a blade that was revving up. It was a chainsaw.
"Sand Armor: Monstrum!"
"Now I'll gut you like the dog you are!" His voice distorted behind the sand, now revving up his arm.
The air around Lancer froze. His upper face was shadowed, his body stock still. A vein bulged out of his neck, anger overtaking him. His head raised, face filled with rage as he got into a stance. His hands ran along the entire length of his spear, ready to run the sand mage through. Lancer was someone who easily lost his cool, especially towards insults that called him a dog. He had planned on just beating the crap out of the guy, but now that he insulted him by calling him a dog...
'He's so dead!'
Lancer charged forward, his spear ready to slash and stab as Ramir stomped towards him, raising his chainsaw into the air, preparing to slash down.
Cyril and the Re-quip mage met head on. The man swung his straight sword right at Cyril's neck, the boy leaned back, dodging the slash. He retaliated with an overhead punch downwards that shattered the blade. The man quickly backed off and summoned a spear.
He soon began thrusting and jabbing at the boy, planning to skewer him. Cyril evaded each strike, but was unable to retaliate as the length of the spear kept him away from his opponent, their difference in ranges proving difficult for the young Master.
The pale man extended a little too far in one strike, allowing Cyril to grab the spear and pulled it back upwards, proceeding to uppercut the shaft, snapping the spear in two. This time the man did not back away, but instead summoned twin daggers that he quickly jabbed towards the boy after his maneuver with the spear.
Cyril barely dodged the strikes, cuts appearing on his right arm and side, quickly finding himself flustered. He backpedaled to regain composure. The re-quip mage pursued him with both daggers held in a reverse grip and slashed at him. He bobbed and weaved each slash and jab the man sent his way, eventually leading the re-quip mage to perform a dual slash aimed towards his throat.
He took advantage of the attack and crossed his arms, catching both of the man's forearms with his hands and pulled him down, kneeing him in the gut. Spittle flew out his mouth, the wind getting knocked out of him from the rune powered blow, causing him to drop his daggers. Cyril finished with a cross knife hand strike with both his hands into the man's neck, and kicked him away.
"*Hack*–It looks like you're more skilled than I thought,–*Cough*–I'll enjoy tearing you apart, piece by piece." The pale man coughed out after the attack on his neck.
He brought forth an ornately decorated nodachi. It seemed to be pulsing in magical energy, it's blade a bright white. He swung the blade, a crescent white slash shooting towards the boy. Cyril ducked, and rolled away from a second slash and began running to the side. The man continued his flurry of rapid slashes, shooting a volley of magical projectiles towards the boy. Cyril ducked, weaved, and hopped over all slashes that came his way. The blade of the nodachi the man held in his hands dimmed and blackened, it's blade now a pitch black. He raised it into the air.
"You're finished now kid." He declared, and swung the blade down at the boy, a huge wave of darkness zooming towards him. There was no dodging this.
Cyril drew a barrier rune as quick as he could in front of him, managing to finish it before the attack reached him. The rune held on for a couple seconds before cracking and shattering, causing Cyril to take the rest of the attack head on. He barely managed to stand his ground, panting in place, scratched up and bleeding in various areas, his magical energy beginning to run low. The fight was getting dragged out, the man's mana nowhere near as empty as his. He'd need to finish this within the next two exchanges.
"Huh...!?" The man was surprised that the boy was still standing. He began to become enraged, the thought of a boy being able to withstand one of his strongest attacks. He couldn't accept this! Out of his countless opponents, a mere child was standing up to him! He summoned forth a huge battle axe, and slammed it into the ground, rupturing the very earth beneath them. The ground cracked and split, the separate pieces of the floor had different elevations, making the ground incredibly uneven. A single misstep could cost either one the fight.
He summoned back his nodachi, the blade glowing bright white again, and repeated his previous flurry. This time Cyril sunk low, keeping his head down, and dashed straight for the re-quip mage, planning to finish the fight here and now. He swerved and sidestepped most of the slashes, some being able to glance off him as he charged at the man. It was reckless, but he had to end this now. He closed the gap, about to enter melee range with the man. He winded back a fist and leapt at him. The man blocked high, but was surprised when the boy canceled the strike upon coming down and swiveled getting low, sweeping his leg.
'A feint! I can't believe I fell for it!'
The re-quip mage stumbled, trying to regain his footing, but had his breath knocked out of him when Cyril landed a hook right into the man's side, following up with a lunge punch to the gut, and began a chain punch; landing a series of blows on the re-quip mage, finishing it with an uppercut; sending the man into the air.
"GAH!" He spat out blood as he was knocked off his feet. He couldn't believe it! Losing to a brat like this? No way! He refused! The re-quip mage recovered mid-air and came back down, his nodachi blade pitch black, ready to cut the boy down. He didn't care anymore, he wanted this kid dead!
Cyril's eyes widened, not expecting the man to recover so soon. As the blade was brought down towards his face, he clapped it between his hands to prevent it from cutting him in two and releasing the dark magical energy within.
"Ack!" Cyril's hands burned as he held the blade between his hands. The struggle between the two reaching its climax.
"DIIIEEEE!!!" The man's eyes were bloodshot, pouring everything he had into this final strike.
Cyril focused his magical energy. Cyan blue circuit lines traveled along the length of the blade. He filled it with more and more magical energy, nearly everything he had left. Eventually...
*Crack*
"Huh!?" The re-quip mage sounded bewildered. His magic blade cracking? Impossible!
It exploded, releasing a dark shockwave shooting shards of the black blade everywhere. Cyril covered his face with an arm, as the man who wasn't expecting this outcome had the shards embedded into his face.
"EEYAAAGHH" The shards burned at his skin, the residual dark magical energy attacking his face.
His opponent now wide open, he whipped his arm back, his body sideways to the re-quip mage, his other hand open and pointed to the man. He lunged forward, launching his fist with all his strength, landing a devastating strike to the man's cheek.
"GUAACKK!" A small shockwave had ocurred after impact, sending the re-quip mage into a spiral towards a destroyed building. The building collapsed right on top of him as he fainted, no longer able to continue fighting.
Cyril stayed in place for a while, waiting to see if the man got back up somehow. He had poured the last of his strength into that final hit. If the man got back up now it would be game over for him. Fortunately, after a minute of waiting, Cyril decided that the fight was over and finally relaxed, the tension leaving his body as he fell on his rear to the ground.
"Haaaa...hoooo." He took a long breath as he looked to the sky. He had managed to win his hard fought first battle somehow, but he couldn't help but ask himself,
"Is fighting always gonna be this hard?"
*Clang* *Brum-Brum-Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*
A constant stream of sparks flew as the two weapons clashed in a deadlock. Lancer held his spear up, blocking the chainsaw blade Ramir was trying to cut him in two with. The chainsaw had tried to rip into his weapon, but his spear wasn't just any normal armament or even a rare weapon you could just find. It was a Noble Phantasm, a crystallized mystery. It embodied his ultimate mystery as a symbol of his existence through historical fact and anecdotes. No way was some guy just gonna cut through it.
He gritted his teeth and pushed back his opponents blade, flourishing his spear, landing three slashes on Ramir's armor. Unfortunately, the armor reformed, the damage being undone. Lancer clicked his tongue. This technically wasn't a wound, so Gáe Bolg's curse wouldn't affect his sand armor as it isn't healing, but rather getting replaced.
With each passing minute Lancer grew more annoyed at this battle. If he wasn't so weakened he'd just stab the guy through the heart and be done with it. But right now the sand mage is able to react to his attacks, if only barely.
He released a flurry of thrusts, each one of them pointed at a different part of the sand mage's body. The sand armor was striked, holes appearing, but quickly fixed itself up. Lancer noticed each of his hits were somehow being slightly diverted so it wouldn't hit it's exact mark. He realized the sand was moving fast enough to be able to divert the point of his spear, redirecting his blows to a more preferable spot for the sand mage and reducing the impact.
"Who would've thought using something such as sand would be so intuitive? Redirecting my blows using the movement of your sand armor, how interesting. I've always thought it was just a pain in the ass that gets into everything." Lancer bantered.
"This sand will take your life." His distorted voice claimed. He sent out waves of sand soon after.
"Sorry. But it's already been taken!" Lancer stabbed his spear into the ground and launched himself upwards, avoiding the the sand waves, and came down, slamming his spear onto the sand mage's collarbone.
"Urkk!" Ramir's sand armor lessened the impact of the blow, but it had still caused damage from that much force and momentum. He was getting sick of this spearman. He swung his chainsaw while Lancer was still mid-air.
The spearman blocked the blow, sparks appearing upon contact between the two weapons, and was knocked away from the sand mage, distance forming between the two. Lancer looked up to see what his opponent was up to, but saw that he was nowhere in sight.
The sandstorm within got worse, obstructing his vision even more. The specks of the sand whirling within would be able to cut up the flesh of a normal person. Fortunately, Lancer was a Servant, even with nerfed stats he could take on this storm with little difficulty.
He sensed something was off and quickly swerved his head to the side, dodging a sand spike that came from the rotating wall. The bastard was hiding within his sand dome's walls, taking cheap shots at him all around.
Sand lances were shot from above, Lancer simply spun his spear above him to deflect all of them and continued observing the walls. He watched the movements of the sand, trying to notice any discrepancies.
"Die..." Sand lances began shooting out the walls in all directions, surrounding the blue clad spearman in a hail of sand projectiles.
Lancer deflected the first couple with a single swing, the next set were swiped away, he continued to deflect more and more of the sand lances as they rapidly fired at him from all angles. He swung, slashed, and blocked, none of the projectiles reaching him, his spear becoming a blur as he continued his defense. A maelstrom of sharp red slashes had formed within the sand dome, with Lancer as the origin, his spear leaving afterimages, his speed as a Lancer Class Servant being unparalleled compared to the rapid fire of the sand lances.
In the corner of his eye he spots him. Lancer arched his back, grasping his spear's shaft with one hand, holding it up next to his head, muscles bulging as he puts effort into preparing this attack. He aimed at the hidden sand mage, and threw his lance straight at the man behind the sand walls. The red spear projectile zoomed through the air, leaving behind wind trails, piercing through all the sand and air blocking it's path, unaffected by the resistances.
"What!?" Ramir's teal eyes widened. He had been spotted and was about to get skewered. He raised three extra sand walls to protect himself. It was soon proven pointless as the spear pierced through each one like paper, reaching its target.
*Swoosh* *Stab*
The blood red spear had caught him directly in the chest, piercing his sand armor. He was shot out of his sand dome, dragged along by the force and momentum of the lance. The sand dome began to fade away, it's caster being unable to focus on maintaining the spell. He landed ungracefully on his back, his sand armor beginning to be swept away by the wind, as the spear went flying back to its wielder, leaving a hole through his chest.
"Gack!" He soon gurgled out blood, red staining the inside of his scarf. He had lost and was dying.
"H-How...?" He asked. He had sent all those quick lances in every direction, yet they were still deflected flawlessly by the spearman. That man was a monster, being able to defend and strike with a decisive blow in the middle of that sandstorm.
"'How?' you say?" Lancer walked up to the sand mage's downed body, looking down at him with his spear slung around his shoulder. "It's because I was stronger than you. It's only natural that the weaker person dies to the stronger one. That's the unfortunate truth of this whole thing." He shrugged his shoulders.
Ramir wholly believed in the spearman's words. It was only natural that the weak die and the strong live. He was weaker than this man, so he lost and was soon to be dead. It pissed him off so much; how this world was like that. His father died because he wasn't powerful enough to resist. Now he's following in his footsteps, just like he always wanted to...how cruel...
"You gave it your best shot. No need to feel ashamed. It was a good fight." Lancer continued.
Ramir looked towards his right hand, grasping at his fading armor, the sand slipping through his fingers.
"Fa..ther..." He muttered. His eyes losing their light, his life fading away along with the sand.
. . .
"...hahh." Lancer sighed, the battle finally over. He was being honest when he said it was a good fight. The sand mage kept him on his toes from the various abilities he had displayed with his sand magic. It was his first duel to the death on Earthland, and he was satisfied.
"Lancer!" A voice called out to him.
He turned to the direction of where the voice came from, and saw his scratched and beaten Master jog up to him. It would seem he had won his as fight as well. And to be honest, Lancer felt a little proud at the little guy winning his first fight. Is this what it felt like to be a teacher?
"Well Master, it looks like you can handle yourself after all." Lancer smirked at the blonde boy.
"Of course. Although..." Cyril looked towards the dead body of Ramir. "I see yours didn't make it out alive."
A moment of silence passed between the two as they stared at the dead body.
"Well, if it isn't the boy from two months ago." An old voice called out.
Cyril turned his head, recognizing the person's voice. "Doc Michelle!"
The old lady was back up. She had a limp in her step, but nonetheless she was mostly fine. She came up to the Master and Servant and looked to the body of her grandson. Her expression was morose as more regret filled her being. It was her fault this had happen. The day she had run away instead of confronting the problem directly had set her fate on a fixed path of destruction. It was inevitable for tragedy to occur.
"Oh, you foolish grandson of mine..." She muttered. "How could I let this happen? If only I had been there..."
'Grandson? Oh crap!' The boy quickly realized what she was talking about and looked to his Servant, "Lancer! You killed her grandson!? What the hell!?" he exclaimed.
"Hey! How was I supposed to know? The guy was about to off her so I assumed he was an enemy." Lancer explained himself.
"Even though he was an enemy, you shouldn't have killed so thoughtlessly!" Cyril argued.
"It's okay you two." Michelle called out to them as she kneeled down to Ramir's body.
"He was on a path of self-destruction. If he had succeeded in his goal of becoming the official Guild Master then it would only go downhill from there. He was most likely being manipulated by others to become the Guild Master, being a puppet and only leaving misery and regret behind. As much as it pains me to admit, I believe death was the best option for him." She sullenly stated.
The feeling of victory had quickly been washed out with a somber air. The death of one's family member being the main focus. Cyril and Lancer had gone quiet, listening to the old Guild Master's words.
"That day when his father was executed was one of the biggest regrets of my life... It was also the day I had made the biggest mistake of my life as well..." She moved a hand to Ramir's face, closing his eyelids. "My grandson was left alone to fend for himself. I had not once been able to be there for him in his time of need... It had set him on a path born of hatred and loneliness. The poor boy would only continue to lash out at the world, living a life that would soon be filled with regret as well." She picked him up, "I did not want him to end up like me. Seeing everything around you crumble and turn to dust. Becoming alone and stuck up in the past. Regretting every waking moment, thinking back to what you could have changed, what you would have done differently. A person stuck in an eternal loop of self-loathing and suffering. Oh, how I wish I could have stopped him from starting this path." She stood up and turned to the two. "So I thank you both... For saving the people in this village... And for stopping this foolish grandson of mine from progressing any further into his terrible fate." She bowed to them, then turned to the forest and began walking, Ramir held up in the old lady's arms as she went further into the forest behind her house.
Cyril and Lancer were left to ponder on the old lady's words. A moment of silence passed before one of them spoke up.
"Geez... That was depressing." Lancer voiced out.
Cyril frowned, looking towards his Servant. "Lancer...let's cut back on the killing, okay?" His tone didn't have a hint of leniency.
The Servant looked to him with a cocked brow. "No killing? Master, that's ridiculous. You do realize that it's harder to keep an opponent alive rather than taking their life, right?"
"This may be an unreasonable demand, but please Lancer... Only take your opponent's life if you have to. Don't just stab them in the heart and be done with it, try to keep them alive unless it's necessary to take them out. We can't keep having this type of thing happening. It's just too upsetting."
"...Those old lady's words really get to ya that much?"
"I'm not telling you to never kill someone again. Just don't take a life if you can defeat them without needing to do so. Can I count on you to do that Lancer?"
Cú Chulainn stared at the blonde boy for several seconds, a blank expression shown on his face. He closed his eyes and sighed, opening them afterwards before responding to his Master's request.
"Well Master, it seems you've forgotten something." He smirked to the boy, "I do enjoy unreasonable demands." responding with his way of saying 'yes'.
"Hmph," Cyril snorted. "of course you do." He said smiling.
Soon after, a blue window popped up showing Cyril the completion of his Quest.
「ALERT」
Priority Quest『Paying Back a Debt』has been complete
Distributing Rewards...
–500FP received
–10,000 Jewels stored in inventory
Oh yeah... He'd completely forgotten about this thing. He swiped the blue screen away, looking towards the village. The buildings were mostly broken down and destroyed. He didn't know if the villagers could recover from this.
"Hey Master, take a look over there." Lancer pointed to the forest, opposite of the village gate. In the distance an object could be seen from this far through the trees and bushes.
"Huh? The hell's that?" Cyril questioned.
He and Lancer looked towards each other and nodded. Soon they moved towards the object in the distance.
. . .
They found a caravan filled with loot. It contained several stacks of Jewels, containers with random stuff, and a weapons chest.
"What the hell is this stuff doing here?" Cyril asked. Who would leave all this stuff here? Anyone could take it with how it's just left out in the open.
"I think it's the bandit's loot stash. Or was their loot stash. Looks like that old lady's grandson was gonna rob the bandits blind. But now that he's gone..." Lancer smirked, "To the victors go the spoils!" He announced.
Cyril then remembered about his "Stolen Belongings" Quest that he'd forgotten about. He had to get his stuff back from the bandits that had robbed him! But now that he thinks about it, the bandits who had mugged him were probably dead after what happened in the village.
He began scouring through the containers, trying to see if anything he spotted was familiar. He looked and looked for a couple minutes before an old satchel fell from a container, dropping it's contents. He looked to the satchel and inspected it.
「ALERT」
Side Quest『Stolen Belongings』has been complete
Distributing Rewards...
–250FP received
–20,000 Jewels stored in inventory
Huh? He found it already? Maybe his Luck did increase.
He grabbed the satchel and took a look at it's contents. There wasn't much. It had only a couple thousand Jewels inside, a ColorS tool that would change the color of your clothing, and a photograph that had its back turned to him. He grabbed the photo and flipped it around.
He saw a picture of two adults, one male and one female, the man having black hair and purple eyes while the woman had wheat blonde hair and blue eyes, both wearing simple clothing. A blonde child that could be no older than six years old was held between them, the trio smiling joyfully into the camera. It was obvious what this was... It seemed to be the only memento of his family that he had kept before his awakening.
And sadly, he felt nothing...
The parents who were in the photo are as good as strangers to him. He couldn't recognize the people who brought him into this world, since he wasn't the one who had lived it during his childhood. He frowned at the revelation, and put the items back in the satchel, bringing it with him.
"You alright Master? Lookin' kinda gloomy there." Lancer asked.
"It's nothing. Let's go tell the village about this caravan. They'll probably need it for repairing the whole place." He said.
Lancer snorted and looked at him with a raised brow. "Wow Master, didn't think you'd be such a bleeding heart. You're giving away all this loot to the village?"
"It's just me paying them back for saving me. This isn't a charity, it's just paying back a debt." He retorted.
"Heh, you already paid back that debt in full when we saved them from those bandits and mages. Just admit it Master, you like helping others." Lancer patted the boy on the shoulder.
Cyril raised a brow, an unbelieving face taking his expression. He didn't believe Lancer's words. "Don't kid with me Lancer. It's payback, pay–back." He emphasized.
Lancer chuckled at his Master's insistence. If his Master didn't know or didn't want to admit it, then it wasn't his place to pry.
They both finished up whatever they were doing, and headed back to the village.
~Days later
The village people had already begun recovering, making sure to thank Cyril and Lancer for their help. The village had been quite roughed up, but with the loot from the caravan they'd be able to fix whatever was broken, or even buy better equipment and resources. Not many of the villagers had died, but the few who did were mourned and buried at the forest glade.
The sun was currently setting; the sky a mixture of yellow, pink and red. Cyril stood alone above the graves of those who had died in the attack on village. He wasn't particularly sad over these graves, but he did find them pitiful. These people were unlucky enough to have been caught up in an attack, so it made sense that some would die. Though that didn't really help change how he thought of this entire debacle. Why he was here? He didn't know. He usually comes to the glade to relax after training. Now this area had several graves, ruining the relaxing feel it had to it. He guessed he came here to pay his respects, and visit this glade one last time.
Footsteps came up right next to him, placing flowers on the unmarked grave beside him. It was the resting place of Ramir, the sand mage from Bosco. And the grandson of Doc Michelle.
"It's quite sad isn't it?" She began speaking to him, her eyes on the tombstone that marked her grandson's dead body. A melancholic look appearing on her face.
"Running away from my problems had caused this. A single mistake had caused a domino effect that took the lives of several innocent people who had nothing to do with the conflict." She continued.
Cyril stayed silent. Keenly listening to whatever she had to say to him.
"My grandson has now joined his father... Wherever they are now. At the very least he won't be alone anymore..." She paused before asking Cyril a question. "Do you believe that there is an afterlife? A place for weary souls to rest after their lives have ended?"
Cyril bristled at the question, answering with a simple "Yes" to the old lady. He didn't like talking about the afterlife, since it reminded him of a certain jackass God that had booted him into this world.
"Hmm..." She mused in thought, "I believe it would be best to leave this world without any regrets, otherwise you'd only be worrying about your previous life in a place where you should rest."
She stood silent for a moment before continuing. "Which is why I believe it would be best for me to go back to Bosco and disband the Guild. That place is now my last and final regret. Whatever my grandson had turned it into, it shouldn't be kept around." She declared.
Cyril looked to her worryingly. "Are you sure that's a good idea? You could just stay at the village like you've always been doing. Continue your peaceful life."
She smiled at his concern. "I believe that more will come. Since Ramir failed in his task of bringing back proof of my death, another will be sent in his place by whoever was pulling the strings. They'll attack the village again, and it'll be my fault once more." She turned to the boy, "Have you remembered anything about your past yet?" She asked.
Cyril simply shook his head. He knew that those memories weren't coming back. The previous Cyril Alerion was long gone. Nobody knowing how he was erased and replaced by his old self. Not that anyone would believe it of course. He found it quite scary, and sad at the same time.
"How unfortunate." She looked at him with that same pitiful gaze when she had been told he had amnesia. "If you had any regrets about your past you wouldn't know. I find it quite sad. You may have had mistakes you wanted to fix, but now they lay forgotten. Your past never resolved."
She turned around and began walking away. "You can have my house. Lord knows I won't be needing it anymore." She paused in her step, turning her head back, "I'd recommend you try to resolve your amnesia. Just so you can lay previous problems to rest. Who knows when your past may come back to bite you, just as it did with mine, haha!" She heartily laughed.
She continued walking away, leaving the boy alone in the glade. Cyril still stood there, mind wandering. He soon walked over to the running river, and stuck a hand in his pocket. He pulled out the family photo that he found in his old satchel, the satchel now discarded and gone. He took a deep breath as he looked at the photo. He held it above the water, and let it go, the photo now traveling down the stream.
"Sorry Doc...but I don't think my 'amnesia' is ever going to get resolved." He said aloud.
Maybe the reason he came here was to lay the old Cyril Alerion to rest. This might be his way of burying his other self. He soon turned around and walked back to the village, having gotten rid of all his old mementos, and beginning anew in this world he found himself in.
「ALERT」
You have reached Fate Level 2
Distributing Rewards...
–1,000FP received
–Level Cap Increased
–More options in the Shop unlocked
. . .
. . .
2 Years Later~
He felt the sunlight shine onto his face, the warm light spreading across it. He was currently standing outside the front gate of the village, having been repaired long ago.
Two years had passed since their battle against the two mages who had attacked the village. The people have fully recovered and have continued their peaceful rural life. Doc Michelle never came back after announcing her departure and handing of her home to him. He wondered if she was okay at Bosco, but decided that it would be best not think about it too hard.
He began walking down the dirt road, making his way to his destination. The sounds of the wind blowing, birds chirping, and the dirt being crunched under his feet filled his ears as he continued walking. Blue motes of light began forming next to him.
Lancer materialized next to him, wearing a green, yellow and red hawaiian shirt and black pants, the Servant giving him a curious gaze.
"So today's the day we leave, huh?"
Cyril nodded his head, thinking of what to do when they arrived at their destination.
"So... Remind me, Master... Which place are we staying at again?" Lancer asked.
Cyril gave him a glance and smirked. "Don't you remember?" He asked before answering his Servant's question.
"We're going to Hargeon Town."
Author's Note
So yeah... This chapter was a lot longer than I intended it to be, and things may look rushed. But at the very least I had somehow managed writing my own little simple arc before canon starts, hope you didn't find the OCs too bad. This is also my first time writing fight scenes too, so I hope they weren't too bad as well.
I hope I was able to make Cú Chulainn seem in character. If I didn't, tell me what I did wrong in the reviews. And please don't be like "YOU STUPID IDOT CU CHULINN IS BADASS DEMIDOD SERVANT HE RECK ANY FAIRY TAIL CHARATER GAY BULGE" I'd rather be able to see the actual cohesive advice.
Well...I guess that's it for this arc. If I continue, the next chapter will be heading straight into episode 1 of Fairy Tail. There'll be a timeskip between this chapter and the next one.
Thanks for reading. Hope you've enjoyed this first story of mine so far.
