If there was one thing Artoria Pendragon could feel happy about in the modern age it was that there wasn't much in the way of competition when it came to martial training. Oh yes, there were still dojos about but they weren't too common these days and had little turn out. Apparently, she had been able to impress enough people for others to take notice of her own school. So now she was watching over fifty or so students at a time as they practiced with their wooden swords.

Artoria slightly adjusted her shirt. She was not used to being this size. It would seem the mud had allowed her to grow naturally with magic hindering her body. She was slightly happy when she found out. Ever since taking up Excalibur, she had been trapped in a teenager's body. It wasn't something she overall hated, but sometimes the slightest bit of jealousy cropped up when she looked at other ladies. Now though?

She was rather tall. Her build had become curvy as well, filling out in all the places most men and some women loved. That went especially so for her chest. Her well endowed figure was the envy of many women. It didn't bother her too much but she could tell that some of the students she had hadn't come simply to train given their stares. Of course, she did her best to beat them down into submission when they tried anything.

Taiga made a game of it. Oh Artoria was sure she didn't swing that way, but the young teacher loved to take any opportunity to spar so she would mess with her any way she could. She was tempted to lock her door when she showered and such but doors weren't exactly useful with the occupants of her house anyways.

Artoria stood up and immediately everyone's attention was on her. She eyed everyone as they stood in their battle poses before stepping over to stop in front of the closest line of disciples, "You need to work on positioning your feet. They are uneven."

"Y-Yes, sensei." The student gulped and nodded.

Artoria walked three to the right and leaned her head to the side, "You three, fix your grips. One good strike and they would be sent flying on a battlefield."

"Yes sensei." Was the immediate answer.

Artoria huffed, "Honestly, some of you make me question my teaching methods."

"You're doing great sensei," was the class's answer.

"Then next time you arrive," Artoria said as she gestured to the door, "Give it your all instead of half assing it. Dismissed."

Artoria watched them all leave before sighing. While she did not doubt the sincerity of their attempts, and there were some stars among them, she knew none of them would truly take it to the heart. This was not the age of chivalry. You could not solve problems with swords and other personal weapons. Everything was about guns and bombs and what have you. Hers was a dying art. Relegated only to novelty. It was honestly a heart breaking bit of information she had to face as she lived throughout these past ten years. It's why her business had taken its time to take off. She would do her best to at least give some of her pupils the awe inspiring art and hope they pass it onto their child.

Yet one day, even that would fade. Like her and her legend. Which she was fine with to an extent. It was tiring to see movie after movie. Show after show tell her story and watch how it all play out wrong. It was annoying how most of them were played by such boring actors and performances in her opinion. Then again, she was actually King Arthur. Who would know better how they would act then the person themselves.

So even if it faded, at least she would keep the spark alive that much longer. As well, she could only hope that some of her students would use her teachings one day for real combat. That would be enough for her. She turned to gather her things before stopping. Her breasts started to bounce as though something was pushing up against them. She sighed.

"Zora," Artoria's eye twitched, "What have I said about doing that?"

Zora materialized before her before smirking. She was what could only be described as a bipedal, black and red kitsune. She, like Artoria, were the only servant survivors of the previous Holy Grail War. It's why they kept together, to make sure that they were alright and that the magus didn't find out about either. "But they're so big~ And the bouncing is so hypnotic."

Artoria slapped her claws away, "Stop that and change into your human form. You could be seen."

"I know. I know." Zora, the former Assassin pokemon, shifted into a curvy redhead woman. The illusion was masterful. "I still don't get why you are so uptight about it. If I had those knockers, I'd happily show them off to the world."

"I would never-"

"Bunny girl."

"Tch," Artoria scowled and her left eye twitched. It was true she had to make use of a bunny girl outfit for her second job. Zora was a performer and opened up a house for such things for entertainment. Artoria was the lovely assistant in some shows and she had that costume. While she personally didn't mind it, she secretly loved it, but it just annoyed her how Zora took such an opportunity to put her in it in a public place. "Moving on, who is with-"

"Oh you know Shirou and Illya are old enough to take care of themselves at home," Zora rolled her eyes. "And just to assuage your worry, Taiga was on her way to look after them when I left. So quit worrying so much, okay?"

Artoria frowned, "You make it sound as if I'm not going to go home this instance. I should check up on them."

"Nope," Zora grabbed her hand and moved her along, "I'm your wife and we're going to have a day out."

"We are just friends," Artoria scowled and shook her free hand, "You just had to mess up with the papers and such didn't you?"

Zora cackled evily, "Oh no, my plan to monopolize the time of a drop dead gorgeous woman has been found out. Can't have competition though."

"You don't even swing that way."

"I think our cuddle sessions say otherwise." Zora chuckled. Oh she did prefer guys, her son's existence in the previous world was evidence enough of that. It didn't hurt to have a little fun the other way though.

"Th-that's just because your fur is nice!" Artoria blushed and then scowled again as Zora laughed. She didn't continue that line of conversation. Zora always did love messing with her. It was nice to have a friend like that but it was frustrating at the same time.

"Whatever you say~" Zora moved to push her back forward. "Now onwards to the mall. I really need to get more hair care products. Taking care of this amazing fur is killer."

Taiga hummed as she made her way to the Pendragon household. Zora had called her over to watch the duo. She knew Shirou and Illya were old enough to take care of themselves, but she didn't voice that out loud. Artoria was just so persistent and overprotective. Lovely things to see in a parent, but sheesh can she be scary when someone pushes her kids. That woman was a monster with a sword and that was coming from someone who was a monster with a sword herself.

That and Taiga was a mooch. She happily lived off of the food of the Pendragon household. As it turned out, their kids were master chefs. Probably to make up for their parents horrendous cooking attempts and their massive appetites. She wouldn't blame them for getting good for either reasons and she loved to reap the benefits.

As she salivated over what they would make for her today, she bumped into someone. "Oh sorry. Wasn't watching where…" Taiga's eyes widened as she took in a rather handsome blond haired man. His shirt was slightly open at the top so she could see some of his muscular chest. He made her want to salivate for a whole nother reason.

The man smiled down at her, "Think nothing of it. I was hoping to meet a stunning woman like you today."

"St-Stunning?" Taiga's blush only grew at that comment. She wasn't used to having male attention. She giggled and turned away, putting a hand on her cheek. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

"Only ones that catch my eye," the man chuckled before he pulled out three bracelets. They were made of seven blue gems each, "If you would, woman, would you like a bracelet?"

Taiga's blush went away that instant and she thrust a finger into his face and gestured wildly, "I knew it was too good to be true! Never trust a salesman! Well buddy, I'm not going to fall for a handsome face and buy whatever you sell. I have standards. Besides, those bracelets obviously fake. I should know since I've bought a lot of fake stuff before but not this time. I will not-"

"It's free."

The bracelets were in her hand in an instance. She blushed and rubbed them against her cheek, "I just love them~ They're just what I wanted. Thank you mister! I can't thank you enough."

The man laughed, "Just give the others to your kids if you will."

"Oh~" Taiga playfully swatted at him, "I'm single. I don't have any kids. I just look after a couple of them for my friends is all."

"A girl like you unmarried? Truly the men of this era are imbeciles," the man patted her shoulder. "I'm sure we'll meet again soon."

Taiga melted at his touch and watched him walk away. Well she mostly watched his butt. Then she skipped on her merry way, loving how today had turned out.

What she didn't know was that the strange man was smirking, "Another three possible masters are going to join the fray soon. I wonder who will strike first."

Darnic scowled as he walk through the airport of Japan. He had nothing against the nation, but it never sat right with him to leave Romania. That was his home country and it gave him the advantage. The Magus Organization didn't have much power there. The talk of Dead Apostles wasn't just in folk tales so most magus left it alone. That was fine with him. It allowed him to monopolize the country and turn the areas around his family's ancestral home into an impregnable fortress.

Here? He was in enemy territory. While there weren't a lot of magus in Japan either, the ones that were here were very good at striking when you least expect it. As well as being the centerpoint of most Holy Grail Wars, it meant that the magus world would have their eyes set here. He was thankful he was not a foolish man so he could quickly find out the best way to make good use of the terrain before the fighting started.

He glanced at Fiore who was beside him. He was thankful she had been chosen as well. Since their servants were in astral form, another set of eyes was always welcome. Her chair was also self moving, since she just had to fiddle with a little handle on the right side of the armrest to move it along. He didn't want to spend time pushing it. She was family and competent, but he had no real feelings for her. No true magus should. It was all for themselves and he would take the grail for himself by the end of this game. That he swore.

"Uncle," Fiore spoke up, "Do you think it was wise to take such a public airplane? It put a lot of people in danger if another magus would try and attack us there."

And there was also her annoying conscious to worry about.

"Do not fret about such things," Darnic said, "It would be too conspicuous to try such an act. No, they will wait until the rest of the masters are ready. They wouldn't want to risk having the plan fail and a servant kill them before the war has even begun."

Fiore nodded, satisfied with the answer. "I understand, uncle."

Darnic turned his gaze away from her before he stopped. Fiore stopped and looked up at him.

"Is something the matter?"

"We have company," was his reply.

Indeed, before them was none other than Caren Hortensia. An Executor of the church. She was wearing a simple black and white priestess robe and had long white hair. Her eyes were cold and calculating as they stared down the two masters. "Hello, members of the Yggdmillennia family. Fancy meeting you here."

"Indeed," Darnic replied with a neutral tone. "If you will excuse us, we'll be on our way."

Caren held up her hand, "No, I think not. Before you start worrying, I just wanted to check up on some of the more… untrustworthy masters."

"I can assure you," Darnic narrowed his eyes, "We are quite trustworthy. We will conduct ourselves with grace and honor during this Holy Grail War."

"That much I doubt," Caren said simply as if talking about the weather, which irked him greatly. "You and the Magus Association don't get along at all. I wouldn't be surprised if you tried to cheat the system in this war."

"I hardly think that's possible since it's a free for all with little to no rules," Darnic snorted.

"It matters since the Church doesn't want things to go haywire like the last Holy Grail War," Caren said sternly. "The antics of some of the servants was close enough to giving away the magus in hiding that the fallout would have been extreme. The Church will not allow that to happen. So they sent me to make sure that you magus play nice and observe this war."

"I believe that's already being taken care of by your father," Darnic quirked an eyebrow. "Or is he insufficient?"

Caren huffed and waved off the comment, "He failed to reel in the last war. The Church wanted another member to keep things tidy and luckily for them," she held up her hand with command seals, "they had me. My servant is powerful enough to destroy any in this war so please play nice." Her smile was unnerving and sent chills down his spine.

"Oh we will," Fiore smiled which was honestly the exact opposite. It was like a peaceful sunny day and made you feel right at home. "Thank you for your concern. We promise not to go overboard during this Holy Grail War."

"Very well," Caren said before turning and walking off. "Just make sure you do. I'll be watching."

Darnic narrowed his eyes at her retreating form. It would seem that he would need to eliminate not just one overseer in this war. Tricky, but not undoable.

Hello everyone and happy to see you again. I know this chapter doesn't have another servant reveal, but trust me more servants are on the way. I just wanted to do some more character stuff. Prepare to see Illya and Shirou come next chapter. Also, I've already made a list of the servants so I don't need suggestions on summons. Hope you enjoy the ones listed and until next time, Take care and I can't wait to read your comments.