Archer smiled as he deftly parried a beautifully executed combo from Fran, allowing himself to be pushed back by the catgirl offensive, getting a good look at how her patterns were developing. He searched for obvious openings, but found none.
Then, he struck back with the blunt wooden axe he was using as his current weapon, interrupting her movements. Her recovery was quick, absorbing the momentum without showing a single gap in her defenses. They were once against sparring, with Archer using a Fran Doppelganger body in order to test the girl's improvements. She had grown well in the past week, and was continuing to grow. Whether it was because of her returning health or a result of the intense training, Fran's stats were slowly increasing, the bonuses she had already achieved being comparable to if she had grown an extra two levels. She was already as strong as a fit adult in Shirou's old world and her prospects for continued growth were good.
And not only were her status improving, but in her ability to put her 'skills' to use were as well. All the actions that were once rigid now flowed naturally, and she was getting better at thinking three steps ahead in battle. She was a clever girl. Archer felt that she would one day become worthy of being called a Master.
Archer could only wonder how long it would be before she would be able to start landing the occasional hit. Archer could no longer get away with minimal movement and had even been made to use magic to prevent his duplicate body from falling to exhaustion. While the times between when Fran would need a pick-me-up were getting longer and longer as she no longer wasted energy on unnecessary movements.
Archer swung upwards with the axe, catching his own sword body on flat, using Fran's own momentum to carry her out of position and into range of his moves.
"[Gust]." Fran mumbled, using the fast wind spell against the broad side of the sword, having it press her down to give her more traction so that she could maintain her footing while using [Herculean Strength], a [Skill] that was similar to body reinforcement magic, to pull her weapon back into a strong sweep, warding away Archer's follow up.
It served to buy her time, but Archer didn't give her the chance to truly recover. Archer swung down hard to intercept the blade, sacrificing his own weapon in order to knock her back onto her back.
While she was down, Archer traced a practice spear and went for the finish, lunging towards Fran as she was helpless on her back.
Only to be forced to disengage as he felt something unseen in front of him, an almost imperceptable shift in the air. Not even a moment later, the air popped as the top of his spear was neatly cut through, letting Archer know that his gut instinct was correct.
Fran had used [Aura Blade], a higher end [Sword Technique]. Normally, it would have been a barely visible blade of magical energy in the air, one so dull as to be more like slugging someone with a stick than a cutting blade. But when combined with [Vibration Fang] the mana blade was condensed, making it both more difficult to spot and greatly increasing its cutting power, until it could easily cut through common leathers and bone.
But even if it was almost invisible, it could still be sensed by the perceptive fighter.
This was not a combination that Archer had taught Fran. The little catgirl had figured it out all on her own. The girl had purposely let Archer down her in order to lure him in close enough to launch the attack.
"Thought I had you." Fran grumbled, already twisting herself up into a defensive crouch.
"It was a good trick." Archer said with a smile. [What a frightening little kitten my Master is.]
Fran shook herself before lifting her weapon back up into the ready position. "No more holding back." She said, as electric bolts hummed along the blade's surface, as she primed her [Elemental Sword] skill with her [Lightning Magic].
"Whenever you are ready." Archer said, tossing the broken spear aside and creating a shield and sword, before lasing the shield with [Earth Magic].
Fran gave a battle cry before rushing in to engaged.
"...Did… Pass?" Fran asked as she lay on the ground, her eyes unfocused at the end of their training. They had gone for eight hours straight, until Fran simply couldn't go on anymore.
"Yes. I think you are ready to start seeing some real combat." Archer told the girl. "Though don't get ahead of yourself. In battle, a single mistake can cost you your life."
"Nn!" Fran said excitedly. She had worked hard, and deserved praise.
Archer felt a bit of pride, glancing over at Fran's status in order to see how far she had come.
Name: Fran
Age: 12
Race: Black Catkin
Job: None
Status: Normal
Level: 5/45
HP: 71, MP: 49, STR: 44, END: 56, AGI: 48, INT: 32, MGC: 30, DEX: 43
Shared Skills: Sword Arts: LvMax, Divine Sword Arts: Lv2, Sword Technique: LvMax, Divine Sword Technique: Lv1, Elemental Sword: Lv1, Fire Magic: Lv7, Wind Magic: Lv3, Lightning Magic: Lv3, Herculean Strength: Lv2, Flash Step: Lv1, Axe Art: Lv2, Axe Technique: Lv2, Dual Sword Art: Lv2, Dual Sword Technique: Lv2, Spear Art: Lv2, Spear Technique: Lv2, Bow Art: Lv2, Bow Technique: Lv2… Night Vision, Directional Sense, Hunger Resistance: Lv3, Cold Resistance: Lv2, Exhaustion Resistance: Lv7, Vigor Control
Titles: Fire Mage, Lord of Cooking, Lord of Dismantling, Lord of Digging, Skill Collector, Incarnation of the Sword, Favoured of the Goddess of Chaos, (New) Cadet of Hell's Training.
Equipment: Nameless, High-Quality Wyvern Leather Armor, Good-Quality Wyvern Leather Boots
Title:Cadet of Hell's Training
Description: Pressing through hellish training, you reap the benefits of your labors.
Effect: +5 END, increased resistance to exhaustion, increase effectiveness of training.
(Must press your body to collapse in training at least once a month or the title is lost)
All of her stats were at least double what they were before she had first equipped Archer, with many of them being triple or even quadruple their original values, the Status Condition of Malnutrition was gone as she was said to have a clean bill of health, and her personal set of [Skills] was increasing.
Her [Sword Art] and [Sword Technique] had both surpassed the level that Archer had obtained from absorbing Mana Stones and she had unlocked [Divine Sword Art], [Divine Sword Technique] and [Elemental Sword] as a result. Something she was greatly proud of. Her [Exhaustion Resistance] had also increased several levels as a result of the intense training.
Archer's use of every type of weapon under the sun had also caused her to develop [Skills] for several other weapon types, allowing her insight into their basics, such as there common stances and reach. They would come in handy if she was ever forced to fight against them.
The progress of her magic was a bit odder though, as she seemed to gain [Fire Magic] levels in her sleep, while several hours of training had only increased her [Wind Magic] by a single extra level. Archer didn't currently have an explanation of why. Though it appeared that when it came to learning [Lightning Magic], there was a cap place. Her [Lightning Magic] level couldn't grow higher than her [Wind Magic] and [Fire Magic] levels.
Though it was while training her [Wind Magic] that Archer discovered, much to his annoyance, that even with his [Magician] skill increasing the power of his spells, the spells were more effective and cheaper when Fran was the one casting them, even though she was using his mana to do it.
It seemed that even in this world he couldn't get away from his handicap when it came to using magecraft outside of his specialty. In order to cast a simple fireball spell, Archer would need to consume more than double the amount of mana Fran would use for the same spell, and the effect would have half the force behind it.
Even after splurging his Evolution Points in order to upgrade [Mana Manipulation] to [Mana Control] his effectiveness didn't even reach the level that Fran possessed with the first evolution of the skill. Though [Mana Control] was well worth the 5 points he spent on it, as it didn't only decrease the cost of all spells by nearly half and increase their power, it also allowed Archer and Fran to see the flow of magic in the air around them. An almost invaluable ability.
With Archer's larger than normal mana pool and mana recovery at her disposal, the spells granted by shared skills, along with her own steady growth and the abilities she gained through [Mana Control], Fran was set up to become quite the caster, on top of being a warrior.
It was something of an oddity to Archer, having gotten used to being a Servant. He had always been the front line fighter while his Master provided him with Mana and Support Spells. Now the roles had been reversed on him, with him being the one providing Fran with support.
He was still the better fighter, and could probably handle things better by himself than being wielded by her. But that might not be the case forever. With her rate of growth, Archer believed she would become strong. Frighteningly strong.
"Archer…" Fran said, drawing the man out of his compilations. Though he had an idea what this was about when he heard a low rumbling sound. "Hungry..."
Archer blinked before chuckling to himself. "I suppose it has been eight hours since you last ate something. Go wash your off and I'll prepare you something to eat."
"Nn." Fran said, going towards the dugout bath in front of the house and preparing the water and fire spells needed to make the hot water. Meanwhile, Archer went off with the doppelganger body to go and prepare a meal, leaving his sword body behind to stand guard over his master.
The sun would be setting soon, and tomorrow their real adventure would begin.
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
The sounds of cannon fire echoed as a tall, white haired man garbed in black armor with a crimson red shroud jumped through the air, carrying a young and small woman with wavy brown hair and a placid face in his arms. All around them were ships, beautiful ships which flew through the air, glowing with radiant power.
*BOOM* *PING*
One of the cannon balls, brimming with that same golden energy which seemed to surround the ships, came at the pair, too close for them to dodge, prompting the white haired man to swing out one of his hands in defense. A curved, beautiful white blade materialized in the hand as the man cut the iron ball cleanly in two, letting the two halves fly off course before smashing into the ground with a heavy thud that shook the earth.
"Are you alright, Master?" The white haired man asked as they landed once again.
"I'm alright." The girl said, her voice flat as she looked up above them. "Our prediction was correct. Shinji was rather eager to bring out Rider's Noble Phantasm, the Golden Hind and the rest of it's fleet."
"He never could help but to show off." The white haired man nodded with agreement, his face conveying some amount of disappointment. "While it is indeed a powerful Noble Phantasm, it is more suitable for use against armies, not against Servants. It wouldn't be too hard to destroy it."
"Not yet. The longer Rider is forced to maintain her Noble Phantasm, the more Mana they waste. Drawing it out will make it easier for you to beat her in the end." The woman said in that monotone voice of hers. It took a moment for the man to respond as he had to attend to yet another valley from the fleet of a hundred floating ships.
"I am aware of the plan. I just don't like putting you at risk like this." The white haired man said.
"Because I am so weak, you are not at full strength, so we must use whatever tactics are necessary." The young girl said, before reaching up her hand, placing it on the man's cheek. The man blinked with surprise at the gesture. "I know that you won't let them hurt me."
The man scuffed and gave a smug smile as he again deflected another massive projectile. "What kind of Servant would I be if I could not even protect my Master. I will not let them lay a finger on you."
"I believe in you. Archer."