Here I go with the next chapter of the week. At the moment there will be no battles since our protagonists need time to get know the environment a little, and in addition to that before they can start, they will need help for what will come in the following nights.
Before starting, you should know that I divided this chapter into 2 parts because tomorrow I am going on vacation for a day and I will publish the second part on Sunday.
On reviews:
Maxim7: Yes, despite I knowing enough about Mordred, there are some things that escape me, such as praise or not to praise King Arthur. She is certainly a bit complicated brat.
I think that despite all the resentment she feels towards Artoria, deep down she still continued to admire her as such, and all that she really hates apart from her and her mother is herself due to the circumstances with which she was born.
ZeroxSaber: I was glad that you will like it. I see that I am improving my writing a bit and that. I also find the way Mordred teased Orihime quite amusing.
DemDazer: Yes, I know this story is not the same without Ichigo in action, but this was part of my plan. As I surely said before, I wanted Ichigo to find himself in the same situation as Shirou at the beginning.
But don't worry, in time our Substitute will have some glory and who knows. Maybe he may be able to create his own Reality Marble.
Chapter 7: Alliance part 1
16/10/2020
Ichigo let out a tired sigh as he sat on the couch in his room reading a bit. A few hours had passed since he woke up and he had learned a few things about this world and about the Holy Grail Wars already knowing its origins, but it did not help him enough in how to fight directly.
In fact, it was going to be a pain in the ass to fight 7 magi without him being one of them and even worse with the absence of his Shinigami powers, and in addition to having his friends he was fighting for them to take sides in this as safeguards in case he was in danger during the heat of battle. He felt unable to do anything for them, but at least they would not fully engage in a fight between the Servants who are the true protagonists.
He still didn't know much about them or what the extent of their powers were, but he still suspected it would be enough to make any Shinigami or Arrancar tremble other than Captains or Espadas respectively.
"Oi, Ichigo." Ichigo stopped reading upon hearing his Servant's unmistakable voice and tilted his head back to see her putting on a frowning expression similar to the blonde Visored with her hands on her hips.
"What?" Ichigo asked looking at Mordred.
"When are we going out now?" She asked bluntly.
That almost surprised the orange-haired Master when he heard that she wanted to go out into city. He already understood that Fuyuki was going to be the main stage for the combat between Servants, but not now, as it was still noon.
"But what do you say? It's not night yet."
"It's not that, baka." The Servant replied not being in the mood for her Master's mental dullness. "I get bored being here cramped in this shitty room. I'd like to go for a walk around town if you don't mind."
"And why don't you ask Inoue or Ishida to come with you?" Ichigo asked not seeing how important he should be at the center of the problem.
The Servant only made an annoyed face upon seeing her Master's complete ignorance. Was this really the same person his friend was talking about?
"You shouldn't be like this with Mordred-san." Inoue's voice caught the attention of the orange haired boy who immediately turned to her surprised by her presence, as well as holding an empty canvas bag in her hand.
"Inoue."
"It's true. You should go out too." Then came Ishida who was next to Inoue, and he also had an empty canvas bag. "Inoue-san and I have been talking about it, and since the first fights are going to take place tonight, we should take advantage of the day to explore a bit and we should also buy some clothes, since we can't spend all our time with the same clothes."
"B-but we don't have the money to buy that." Ichigo argued seeing the impossibility of being able to buy something.
"Don't worry. I don't know how, but Urahara-san managed to get a good amount of money for us." The Quincy said as he reached into the canvas bag and took out a piggy bank which he then shook, making himself heard the sound of the coins inside.
Ichigo just watched with a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
"Where did that guy get so much money?"
Ishida just gave him a slightly nervous look. "I have no idea, but we better not know."
"Urahara-san is amazing." Orihime exclaimed happily next. "He gave us all a large sum of 108,000 yen."
Ichigo's face jumped in shock upon hearing that.
"108,000 yen !?" Ichigo exclaimed in disbelief.
"It's true, I still don't know where he got them from, but it would be better not to ask." Ishida replied with the same nervous air.
Aside from his odd eccentric personality and annoying nature, Ichigo didn't know what other trades the old shopkeeper had with making money. He didn't know how much he earned during his trade at his old shop, but he had a hard time believing that he would bring all that money all this time here. Maybe he had stolen it from somewhere, but he would rather not know.
Better to take the advice of the Quincy.
"What do you say?" The Quincy once urged him. "Are you coming or are you staying?"
At that, the chosen Master let out a tired sigh. Actually, he had nothing planned to do today other than wait until nightfall and the fighting would begin, but that didn't seem like a good option, since he would be wasting his time here.
Furthermore, if his friends including Mordred were to go outside in the city that was still unknown to them, he couldn't help but worry that something would happen to them like getting lost or being attacked by a Master and his Servant.
He also thought about the option of buying new clothes with the money Urahara somehow obtained, and just like Ishida said before, they couldn't be wearing the same old clothes.
"Fine, I'll go." Ichigo said giving in and getting up from the couch. Orihime couldn't help but put a big smile on her face, while Mordred's expression didn't change much.
"I'm going too!" Kon shouted excitedly as he emerged from the couch and got on top.
"Are you going too, Kon-kun?" Orihime asked.
"Hai!" Kon replied again.
"Then get in my bag." The bubbly girl said as she indicated the aforementioned bag to the Mod soul.
Taking this as a signal, the Mod soul inside a stuffed animal took a big leap and slipped into the bag. With everything prepared, Ishida looked back at Ichigo still sitting.
"What are you waiting for?" He encouraged once more.
"I already told you I'll go." Ichigo replied to a bit annoyed. So, Ichigo joined his friends and comrade in arms, and they left the room.
They walked down the corridors until they reached the elevator room, where they called one, entered, and then took them to floor 0, the lobby. At first, they were cautious of the employees who worked here, especially the receptionists because they had not rented a room "officially" but thanks to the hacking that Uryū did and the modified memories of the receptionists, the teenagers managed to overlook the that they are temporary "stowaways".
With that in mind, the 3 friends, plus the Servant and the Mod soul hidden in Orihime's bag walked through the lobby without fear of being "caught" and finally went outside from building. Once outside, our protagonists encountered a different atmosphere than what they saw before when they first arrived here. Sure, the first time they were here was in the middle of the night and they did not see much except dark streets, several illuminated buildings and there was very little presence of people around.
Now, with the light of noon, the city around him was filled with all kinds of activities like many people walking around. In fact, Fuyuki was bigger and more populated than Karakura, and it gave the feeling that they were in Tokyo.
Once the teenagers had absorbed the atmosphere of the city, they realized that it was not going to be too easy to find their way around here.
"Well? What do we do?" Ichigo was the first to ask curiously towards the brain of the group.
Ishida adjusted his glasses before acting. "The first thing is to go to a clothing store." He responded as he took out a rolled map from his bag and unwrapped it, thus revealing a graphic map of the city showing each neighborhood, each block and route that made up the city.
"Where did you get that map from?" Ichigo asked with a little curiosity.
"I took it from one of the hotel shelves. It will be very useful for us to orient ourselves well. Also, I asked the receptionist if there was a clothing store nearby, and he replied that there is one in two blocks to the right." The Quincy replied as he inspected the map.
"Here." He indicated while pointing to a location on the map, just to the right of where the hotel is. "Here we can buy clothes. Come on."
The Quincy was the first to walk to the right, followed by his friends. The first thing they did was cross a crosswalk once the light turned red. They crossed without problems and reached the next street.
As they did so, each began to register what they saw around them. Orihime was ecstatic as she looked at the buildings as something new. For as long as she could remember, the orange haired girl had hardly ever been on vacation outside of Karakura Town, and it felt like she was somewhere different apart from Soul Society.
Uryū didn't have much to say, since he had been to other places like Kyoto and Osaka, and this place was no different.
Mordred, on the other hand, was not really interested in tourism and just walked with her hands on the side of her head and her elbows raised while putting on a serious expression and eyes barely emanating boredom.
Ichigo was more or less the same as the latter, as he wore his typical serious expression and boredom, although he could not help but observe the environment just out of curiosity. It all looked very lively and normal to the Master of Mordred's opinion. Regardless of where he went, there were many people walking around either on foot, bicycle or in vehicles.
He still found it hard to believe that this entire metropolis was going to be the main scene of the war in which he had been dragged, and many of its citizens were totally oblivious to what was going to happen in the following nights, and he only hoped that the other participants be respectful enough and follow the rules imposed by the Holy Church to limit both collateral and civil damage here. The last thing he wanted to see in this shit was all these people around him getting hurt by this.
After about 15 minutes since they left, the 4 reached a shopping street and there they found the clothing store that Uryū had pointed out. Orihime was the first to enter enthusiastically and then she gazed in amazement at the amount of clothing there were.
"Wow, look how many there are." She exclaimed happily.
"The truth is that I did well to choose this place." The Quincy boasted proud of his own ingenuity to know what one liked.
Ichigo could only roll his eyes slightly at that. "Surely you have asked the receptionist."
Without commenting on anything else, the teens set off and began to inspect every corner of the store and try to find any appropriate clothing. Of course, they did not find much of their style.
Orihime only found 2 pairs of dresses that they seemed to like, while the boys found their own shortly after. As for Mordred, well, she wasn't really into fashion and settled for waiting for her companions while leaning against a wall. After a little time, the teens left the store satisfied with their purchases, and as they walked, they wondered what to do next.
"Where could we go too?" Orihime asked wanting to use the rest of the day for sightseeing.
"I don't know, apparently there are many places to visit here." Ishida replied as he looked back at the map brochure.
"We are not here for sightseeing." Ichigo argue who not getting carried away by the fun and enjoyment of being like on vacation since he had more important priorities than sightseeing.
"Don't be like that, Kurosaki." The Quincy reprimanded the former Substitute. "We understand our situation well, but that is why we are doing this in order to better memorize the surroundings. Also, would you have preferred to stay all day at the hotel?"
"That, don't be so killjoy." Mordred agreed with what the bespectacled boy said.
Ichigo frowned further upon hearing that, but didn't do anything to counterattack or comment, as he knew he was right that this would be much better than staying locked in his room until dark.
After a while, the 4 of them moved away from the commercial street and entered a different one. Now they were looking for a restaurant to have some lunch, and Ishida told them that he had found one and it was not too far from their location, which seemed like good news for those on an empty stomach at the moment.
"Kurosaki." Ishida said catching the attention of the orange haired boy next to him as they continued walking. "There is something I have to tell you."
"What is it about?"
The Quincy's expression seemed a bit serious. "Before leaving, I was doing more research on the rules of this war, and I have found something interesting that might just help us for now."
Ichigo paid more attention as did Orihime and Mordred.
"Apparently, in cases of difficulty, alliances between two Masters and their respective Servants are allowed in order to gain more advantage."
"Alliance?" Ichigo asked surprised.
"Hai."
"What nonsense are you saying!?" Mordred exclaimed suddenly looking at the Quincy. "You are not implying that we ally with one of our enemies, right?"
Uryū could see the hostility and intensity emanating from the Knight of Rebellion's expression, and needless to say, she totally disagreed with the Quincy's suggestion.
"It will not be necessary for us to make an alliance. I can defeat every Servant that will cross our path." Mordred boasted confidently.
Still, Uryū didn't seem to trust the blonde's overconfidence. "Yeah, but remember that Kurosaki is not a magus, and I don't think he's going to defend himself against the other Masters."
"Eh? But didn't that girl say that you two would also participate in this to defend him?" The blonde Servant asked looking at her Master's 2 friends.
"Yes, but we don't know much about those Masters either, what kind of tricks they can do since they are not just ordinary magi." Uryū explained.
"And what makes you think that one of those Masters would ally with me?" Ichigo asked skeptical of the possibility of allying himself with one of his enemies.
"Well, I'm still not sure. Actually, they are temporary alliances that are formed out of necessity when Masters find themselves unable to fight against their other competitors either because the former are weaker or inexperienced, so they decide to join forces for their advantage and once they see that it is no longer necessary to fight together, they will be enemies again."
Ichigo and Orihime listened well to the Quincy's explanation and mentally nodded, but the former thought that this might not be a good idea.
"Bah, how a stupid idea." Mordred retorted sarcastically. "I am the only Servant that's needed to win this war. Two-on-one, five-on-one, seven-on-one; I do not care! I will win this war single-handedly. Just watch at me and you will see."
Neither they wanted to comment or argue what the blonde knight had just said if they did not want to be the target of her anger, but in a sense, it was true that they should not come into contact with another Master if he wanted to take advantage of them.
Thus, they dropped the subject for the moment and continued walking towards their intended destination. It was after a silence, Inoue decided to speak.
"Nē, what kind of food do they prepare there, Ishida-kun?" Orihime asked.
"I'm still not sure, Inoue-san." The Quincy replied.
And so, Orihime began to fantasize about the possibilities of what kind of food there will be in that restaurant. However, Mordred did not share the same illusion as the other girl, and simply stood aside from this. Until, suddenly, she feels a presence that made her stop abruptly.
Ichigo and his companions noticed this and also stopped to see what was wrong with her.
"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked confused.
Instead of answering, Mordred was still absent knowing there was something abnormal in the environment around her. She could felt something moving among all the people around her, unnoticed among them, but for some reason, he did not want to do the same for them as if he wanted them to be carelessly noticed. Either way, she knew very well who it was.
"Oi, can you tell us what the hell going on?" Ichigo asked again with impatient at this.
"Mordred-san." Orihime said worriedly.
After a moment, the Servant decided to speak. "There is a Servant nearby."
That news surprised everyone when they heard it.
"What!? A Servant nearby?" Ichigo asked puzzled.
"What is one doing here too?" She asked worried Orihime.
"How do you want me to know it?" The blonde retorted abruptly without wanting to satisfy the questions of her companions. "I just know that they are walking around very close and each time it is getting closer."
This left Ichigo and the others very concerned about this matter. They did not understand why a Servant would be here in the middle of the day and all these people since according to what they were informed in the church, Servants only went into action at dusk. The only explanation there would be that he may not be here with hostile intentions.
"Maybe they would be out for a walk like us." Kon said while still in Orihime's bag.
"It's true. Maybe he's here to eat like us." Orihime agreed with that statement since she couldn't think of another theory for, they to be here.
"We do not know it yet." Ishida said without letting his guard down at any time. "It is better to be prudent at all times. We should first find out if the Servant is alone or if he is accompanied by his Master."
"How?" Ichigo asked with a bit of concern.
The Quincy said nothing as his mind began to wander over the last few hours he had been learning about the war.
"Oi, say something." Ichigo said a little impatient for the silence of the Quincy.
"Can you think of something, Ishida-kun?" Orihime asked worriedly.
"Bah, I don't know what you are scared of." Said Mordred who was the only one who did not take the threat seriously. She started to walk away from the group going in the direction where the enemy Master was supposed to be.
"What are you doing?" Ichigo asked not understanding his Servant's actions.
She tilted her head back to look at him.
"What do you think? Let's see them." She replied with a smile. Of course, this was not well received when everyone was stunned.
"But what do you say? If still-
"Not that I am going to fight them." Mordred snapped looking directly at her Master. "I just want to see their faces so I can recognize them when we have to fight tonight." She turned to go in the direction she was before.
"You should go too." And with this, she leaves.
Just when Ishida was going to stop her so that he would at least listen to his idea, he suddenly saw Kurosaki running after her without warning.
"Kurosaki!" The Quincy yelled in hopes that at least this idiot would hear him before doing something rash as usual. Unfortunately, he didn't when he got farther away from the group reaching for Mordred.
The Quincy let out a weary sigh. He was the typical Kurosaki.
"No, no, no! Enough already, Rider." Shouted a youthful voice with a tone filled with indignation. "Why do you always have to drag me around these places?"
"Come on, it's not that bad either, boy." Said a voice, which, unlike the boy, this one was adult and with a deep baritone tone. "It's always good to get in shape every day."
"Yeah, but it's not going to help much in this war either." The boy replied in response. The issue in question was that, for a few days, the young Waver Velvet, originally from England, barely 15 years old, had decided to be part of the war to get the Holy Grail.
Waver had come from a family of magi that did not possess a very prestigious bloodline. His grandmother was the mistress of a certain magus who had picked up the basics of magecraft during their pillow talk. His mother, the second generation, only sparsely practiced as a way to honor her mother. Waver had followed the same path of his predecessors and enrolled in the Clock Tower, but his time there was only met with hardship and failure on the part of his peers for coming from a newly born lineage of magi.
In the 3 years that he served as a student, he only suffered humiliations and disparagement from his least liked professor, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, head of the influential noble family and one of the Lords of the Clock Tower, who did not understand him and would never recognize him and his family as a first-class magi.
They were 3 years so disastrous, that for a moment he thought that he would no longer have any future. However, fate had the opportunity to grant him a chance to gain renown when by chance he learned of the existence of a secret ritual that existed for 200 years known as the "War of the Holy Grail" in which it consisted of 7 magi will summon 7 Heroic Spirits and direct them as their Masters so that they will fight each other and the last one standing, the "Grail" would be manifest before them.
He obtained all the information when he read it in a library book and obtained the necessary catalyst to summon a Heroic Spirit and turn him into his Servant and officially participate in the war. Originally the summoning catalyst was to be given to his teacher Kayneth who was presumably one of the 7 participants in the ritual. From the beginning, the less talented young student was reluctant to participate in a kind of contest like that, but the more he thought about it, the chance of gaining glory and respect was too tempting to pass up, and it would make his shitty teacher swallow it his words. That was how Waver had decided to take advantage of the fact that his arrogant and annoying shitty teacher was ignorant that one of his inept students had stolen the catalyst and all the information so he could participate in his place. He managed to leave of absence from the Clock Tower and quickly hopped on a plane to Japan.
But even though he was just an inexperienced young man who still had a lot to learn, all young Velvet wanted was to prove himself. To dash away the prejudices and limits put upon him because of his status as a third-generation magus. To prove to the world that even a nobody like him could command a Servant and win the Holy Grail War. To tell his shitty teacher and those like him to fuck off.
The catalyst was a piece of red cloth that was part of the cloak used by a powerful ancient king. Now thanks to that, Waver managed to summon said king from the Throne of Heroes as a Servant of the Rider-class, and maybe with his help, he might have a chance to win the war. However, what did not count was that his Servant liked to do what he wanted in this new environment around him and was not taking his young Master very seriously, causing headaches for the poor boy.
"Also, if you wanted to go on long walks, why didn't we go the route yesterday?" Waver continued arguing with his Servant who was completely invisible to the naked eye, although he was actually in spirit form.
"Come on, boy, it is also vital in a war to know the battlefield where we are going to step at night. It will be useful if you memorize it." Suggested Rider's deep voice.
Waver resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He doubted they would ever have to fight in a place like this without causing collateral damage. According to the rules, the fighting between Servants should take place in less urban places where there were no apparent witnesses and he sincerely doubted that this area was the right place.
He let out a tired sigh. It was clear that all this recognizing the aspect of the battlefield was just an excuse to hang out and wander where he wanted.
"Come on, cheer up, boy. I'm sure we'll find a good restaurant to nibble on." Said the voice with a cheerful tone sounding almost like a father trying to cheer up his little son.
"I do not think that-
Gmmmm!
However, his stomach said something else, and it forced Waver to stop and rub his belly with both hands as he looked nervously down. He just hoped his Servant won't listen to him.
"See? A warrior cannot start the fight on an empty stomach." Rider taunted his young Master.
Waver couldn't help but grimace as a blush formed on his face. The shame of being seen as an idiot or a failure in front of his Servant had taken hold.
"Yeah, so what?" He replied trying to regain some dignity. "Where can we find a restaurant?"
"I think I'm seeing one right now." Although Waver didn't see how Rider was pointing it out, he could see one several feet in front of him amid so many people. Quite a stroke of luck.
"Fantastic!" The young British exclaimed almost with joy when he began to run without warning towards the restaurant.
"Watch out, boy! There's another Servant nearby! " Rider tried to warn urgently, but unfortunately, his young and inexperienced Master did not have time to hear his warning as he kept running and collied with someone.
Both victims grunted in pain.
The suddenness of the impact caused the poor boy to fall back to the ground in a daze.
"Crap. Are you alright?" The concerned voice of the person who collided with him asked.
Slowly, Waver managed to regain his senses just as he heard a voice address him.
Opening his eyes, he came face to face with a rather menacing looking person. Just like many before him, the first thing his eyes saw was the male's fiery orange hair, his intense if slightly worried hazel eyes and then the rest of him. The person was a teenager like him but taller having an age between 17 or 18 years.
It was only a moment that he saw his worried expression and his hand extended towards him that he understood his intentions and took the offered hand. The other teenager pulled him, making the youngest manage to incorporate up and stand in front of him.
"Sorry If I have hurt you." Ichigo apologized to the young British.
Waver rubbed his aching head before answering. "It's nothing. It was me who was running."
Ichigo looked curiously at the young boy whom he helped to stand up. From his physical appearance and the dialect in which he spoke, he deduced that the must be a foreigner, although he did not know if he was from England or America.
Instead, Waver also noticed the companion of the other boy being a blonde girl who looked to be rebellious since she had messy hair in ends tied to a ponytail, in addition to wearing a little extravagant dress being a red jacket and some blue short jeans. She was looking at him with a half-listless gaze with those striking, deep emerald eyes.
However, what caught the attention of the young Englishman was that she, unlike the orange haired boy who was a local native here, must have been a foreigner like him because of the physical features of her face and the color of her hair.
Is she from England or Germany?
Just when the orange haired teen was going to be the next to speak, he noticed something above the hand he was still holding onto the boy. What he saw puzzled him.
"Is that a Command Seals in your hand?" Ichigo blurted out those words surprised to see the younger boy's tattoo. Although its shape looked different, there was no doubt that it looked quite similar due to the color as if it were made with the same ink.
Waver looked surprised when the other teenager released him.
"Oh, this? Yeah, it is a-
His words died when he realized that he was about to violate one of the rules of not telling anyone related to the Grail everything he knew. However, an instant later, he realized that even if he had not said it, the other boy was able to recognize the seal earlier just by looking at it.
"Wait, what did you just say?" Waver asked uneasily while still looking at the couple in front of him. A strange chill rose to his marrow.
"Did you say Command Seals? How do you know that?"
Neither of the 2 responded to the boy's question. Ichigo was debating whether the younger boy really was one of the Masters who had to fight or was he just wrong. Mordred did not think the same.
"How do you know about that?" Waver kept asking awkwardly with concern. It was then that his face tightened, and a sweat ran down it when he finally made up his mind who the boy in front was.
"You will not by chance be one of the Masters who come to participate for the Grail, right?"
It was an instant after, he received his reply.
"Huh, yes."
Waver cringed. Now he was completely screwed.
"Aaaah, please don't hurt me! It's not night yet, and we don't need to fight now!" The young British yelled hysterically as he waved his hands desperately as a sign not to hurt him.
Ichigo and Mordred could only look confusedly as they blinked. Was this scared and whiny looking young boy one of the 7 Masters they had to face? It seemed like a bad joke that someone who did not look physically impressive, or a fighter was considered a threat.
Ichigo was the first to get over his shock and softened a bit to try talking to the younger boy.
"Easy, boy, we won't hurt you." Ichigo said sounding less threatening to reassure the restless boy.
Waver seemed unconvinced by this and continued to stare at the older teenager without lowering his guard.
"Let's see, are you really one of those seven Masters of this war?" Ichigo started questioning the other teenager.
Waver was reluctant to respond as he was not quite sure about revealing his identity to his enemy.
"Of course he do." Mordred replied without bothering to wait for the other Master's response. "Besides that, he has his Servant by his side."
"What? Where is?" Ichigo asked confusedly as he started to turn his head from side to side without being able to see anything suspicious.
"He is in his spiritual form." His Servant corrected a bit annoyed at the lack of information from her Master about it.
"And what does that mean? Where exactly is it?" Ichigo asked looking frantically at Mordred.
"I'm here, boy!" The answer came when Ichigo then received an invisible blow to the face that caused him to stagger and fall backwards to the ground. His friends were surprised and worried.
"Kurosaki/Kurosaki-kun!" Ishida and Inoue yelled in unison as they went to help their friend.
Ichigo moaned in pain from the blow to his muzzle, but he quickly recovered although not in a very good mood.
"Temē!" Ichigo growled angrily as he stood up and glared at the invisible force that attacked him.
"Where are you!? Come out and face like a man!" The teenager shouted loudly at the invisible being that was supposedly in front of him without thinking, without taking into account how he might attack.
"Kurosaki." The Quincy warned, whispering into the former Substitute's ears, just in time before he to do something rash. "You better not provoke it, and also let me explain that it is a Spiritual Form. As you know, the Servants are spiritual entities like the Shinigamis, but unlike the former, they are able to materialize their bodily forms at will without the need to use a Gigai, and they can also do the same when they revert to their spirit form. While in spirit form, they cannot be easily detected by enemies due to being invisible to the naked eye and can also save energy."
Ichigo collected all the information from the Quincy in his mind and immediately understood what he meant.
"Oh, I see."
"You're a Master too, and yet you don't know anything about it?" The invisible baritone voice of Waver's Servant asked, sounding a bit surprised and disappointed at the same time. "You certainly seem just as inept as my Master."
"Hey, what did you say!?" Both Ichigo and Waver yelled in unison angrily.
"Rider, what gives you the right to tell me that?" The young British rebuked his Servant.
"Well, seeing as you are not taking the war seriously, it would be normal for me to think that you are inept." Rider replied naturally.
Waver gritted his teeth in anger and shame at the same time. He hated how treated him as a 'loser' or 'incompetent.'
"Still, it doesn't give you the right to call me that. Remember that I am your Master." Waver snapped at Rider's invisible form. "I was the one who summoned you in the first place so that we will participate in this and could earn a Grail wish, understand? So, you must treat me as such."
"Boy, I am well aware of your status as my Master, and I will follow you wherever you go if it is to get the Grail. But keep in mind that you are still inexperienced and do not know much about war so it is likely that you will go to die in the first confrontation."
The young British Master winced at that even though deep down he knew he was right. He was not quite a magus and still had a long way to learn despite the many obstacles that stood in the way of his future like the constant teasing and prejudice from his classmates and his shitty professor. It was for that reason that he made a rash decision to changed that even though it was likely that he would not make it out of it alive. Despite his doubts and inexperienced, he decided to try his luck to earn the right to make a wish from the Grail and prove to those who mocked him that they were wrong.
He hoped that his Servant, who was the most powerful Rider class, understood his views, although he did not seem to have them.
"I know perfectly well, okay?" Waver replied. "I know the risks well and that is why I trust you to protect me from danger. You're making in ridiculous of me in front of those two, do you understand?" The boy exclaimed as he pointed to Ichigo and company without looking at them.
"Well, I think you're the one making a fool of yourself in front of them." Rider replied to a moment later.
Waver growled at his invisible Servant and thus, the discussion the 2 continued without interruption. Ichigo and his friends could only observe with various confused expressions and none of them had any desire to interrupt them until it became apparent that they were drawing public attention.
"Ahem." Uryū was the first to speak coughing a little. "You two, could you stop now?" He spoke loud enough that both the young Master and his Servant stopped to observe the group.
"I advise you not to talk to your Servant in his Spiritual Form as you could attrack people's attention and think you would be crazy. Look."
Heeding the statement from the bespectacled teenager, Waver glanced around to confirm that several people stood there glancing at the British tourist with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.
"Who is that boy talking to?" A little girl asked her mother as they watched the stranger who seemed to be talking to no one in particular.
"I no idea." Her mother replied.
Realizing his mistake, a blush formed on the Rider Master's cheeks.
"See? I told you that you're still inexperienced." Rider spoke again with a tone of fact.
"Shut up! It's not my fault I was caught talking to myself." Waver chided his Servant with a mixture of outrage and shame.
And like before, they argued again in front of Ichigo and his friends who were confused and stunned. It was only after that Uryū decided to intervene again.
"Ahem, excuse me again, but..." Both the young Master and the Servant in his Spirit Form stopped arguing and turned their attention to the Quincy again. "I know this is pretty confusing, but what about we go to a place where there aren't too many people like a park that I saw not too far away?"
After listening to the Quincy's suggestions, Waver and Rider seemed to be giving it some thought. Although, they did not want to have a direct confrontation with their adversaries is broad daylight and without being prepared, but neither was the young magus sure of wanting to dialogue with them peacefully.
"Very well, we will!" Rider's voice replied enthusiastically without a second thought.
"Haaah!?" Waver yelled suddenly surprised by his Servant's sudden response.
And so, once everyone was in the park, which fortunately no one was around at the moment, the Masters and Servants had a free hand to interact without anyone seeing them. Still, Waver couldn't help but be uneasy in the presence of one of the enemy Masters he had to face for the next few nights.
While each Grail War fighter was forbidden to fight during the day as otherwise their heads would be hunted by both the Mage's Association and the Holy Church, but he also did not feel quite confident if by chance the person in front him dared to break those rules to seize the opportunity to eliminate one of his competitors with ease, although Rider didn't seem at all concerned about that.
He just hoped everything turned out okay.
After a few minutes of silence, the bespectacled teen began to speak.
"Well, sorry for all the scare we've given you, but like I said before, we have no hostile intentions, and we only want to talk to you if you don't mind." Uryū started so reasonably making the younger boy nod and pay more attention to him.
"Now, to begin with, this one here as you know, is a Master like you." He said as he placed his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. Then he nodded towards Mordred. "And she is his Servant who is of the Saber class."
"Hooh, so from the Saber class, huh?" Rider exclaimed with amazement. "I had heard that they are the strongest Servant class of all."
Mordred could only smile proudly at the other Servant's compliment. "Of course I am the strongest class. My Master is lucky to have me."
This statement only made Ichigo roll his eyes a little.
"I see, it would be an honor to face you as soon as night falls." Said Rider's voice enthusiastically.
"Yeah, but first, would you mind rebelling so we can see you?" Uryū asked with a bit of nervousness in hopes of engaging in a more formal conversation when they see at least the other Servant's form. For a moment, he thought that he would not make such a request, since it would be as if he wanted to reveal his identity to the enemy. But when the British Master turned his attention to the invisible form of his partner, the latter said the following.
"Very well, I will do it."
He answered to the surprise of all who did not wait for him to agree without problems to the request. In an instant, Rider's true form materialized in front of the teenagers who were shocked by his appearance.
In front of them was a tall, muscular looking man with reddish skin. He was undoubtedly a gigantic man standing over two meters in height. He has large muscles that give the impression of being able to kill a bear with his bare hands. He has sternly chiseled features with eyes and burning red hair and beard. He wears bronze armor, with cuffs and greaves with white-furred fringes, that leaves his arms and thighs unprotected. He wears a thick red mantle with a fluffy white fur collar. It is luxuriously decorated and looks like a curtain wrapping the stage of a theater.
Ichigo and the others could only helplessly stare at the imposing man who undoubtedly reminded them so much of the infamous 11th Division captain Zaraki Kenpachi for his height and muscularity. But unlike the terrifying bastard, he did not seem as threatening as a big happy smile instead of bloodthirsty.
"Yo!" The towering Servant greeted with a cheery bellow. "I'm Iskandar, the King of Conquerors!"
Everyone was stunned to hear the presentation of the newly appointed.
King of Conquerors?
"You fool, why do you reveal yourself and tell them your name?" Waver chided his gigantic Servant not happy that he latter had done a rather reckless and stupid things like revealing herself to the enemy. However, Iskandar did not care.
"Huh? I do not see anything wrong it, boy. I'm going to reveal it sooner or later anyway. I don't hide my identity like a cowering thief."
The young British growled with both fists clenched. It was not simply about being able to reveal just the name because yes, but as far as the rookie Master knew it was that no Servant would ever expose his identity to the enemy in that way, why otherwise he could take advantage of it to his advantage.
With nothing more to say, Rider turned to the other teens.
"Well then, what is all this about wanting to talk to us?" He said how he had no problem talking to them.
Seeing that he was willing to listen to them, the Quincy said the following. "Well, you see... the truth is that I had thought about making a deal with you, but I don't know if it could be."
"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked his former rival not understanding where that meant with a 'deal'.
"Do you remember what I told you when we left the store about how we could have an advantage in the war? Well, I think it will benefit us if we make a temporary alliance with them."
"Haaa!?" A around of gasps could be heard in the middle of the park as all the shocked faces (except Iskandar) stared at the Quincy in astonishment at what he just said.
"Are you still talking about it!?" Mordred asked almost angrily. They all turned to see her throw an indignant withering look. "I thought I told you that I can take care of everyone. We don't need anyone!"
"I understand, but I still think it is beneficial for us to work with them, as we still do not know very well what the others Masters are like, and remember that Kurosaki is not a magus."
That information was not taken unnoticed by the new characters when they listened carefully and were surprised by it.
"Are you serious?" Rider asked in amazement, drawing the attention of the others. "Is that boy the same as my Master?"
"More or less." Uryū replied. "Actually, due to some circumstances that are difficult for us to explain, Kurosaki was chosen by the Grail to participate in this war without even knowing anything about it, and despite flatly refusing to participate, he was forced to do so anyway and that's why we find ourselves in a rather delicate situation."
Both Waver and Iskandar absorbed the information letting it settle in their minds, and for the former, it was hard for him to believe that.
"It's a joke? Is he really not a magus and doesn't know about the Grail War?" Waver questioned as he pointed at Ichigo in disbelief. "Why is he here anyway?"
"I will explain later, but even so Kurosaki decided to participate anyway if he wanted to get out of this alive, but we also know almost nothing about the Servants and the other participating Masters, so that will give us a great disadvantage." Uryū explained. "I understand that in this contest there are also temporary alliances between two Masters to gain some advantage when the situation requires it. So, I ask you to collaborate temporarily until you have defeated all Servants, okay?"
The two seemed to consider the proposal that the Quincy made to them, but it was difficult for our protagonists to find out what they were thinking. After minutes of intense debate, Rider was the first to give his answers.
"Very well, I accept."
Everyone was speechless at the apparent response of the King of Conquerors, even his own Master could hardly believe what he had just heard.
"But with a one condition." Rider said again before Waver replied something. "How did you hear, my Master is just a beginner and doesn't know much about war compared to the other Masters who will surely have no mercy on a kid like him, so I ask for your protection, understood?"
"Okay. This alliance will definitely benefit us both." Uryū replied to whit a smile. However, Mordred gave a small grunt of displeasure.
"Oi, Ishida, do you think this is safe?" Ichigo asked in his friend's ear not really convinced of this association.
Ishida barely frowned before turning to the carrot head.
"Didn't you hear what I said?"
Waver also had the same doubts as Ichigo. "Is it really okay to ally with them?"
"Boy, you should know that there is nothing wrong with making small alliances from time to time to gain an advantage over the enemy. Of course that's fine!" Rider replied with a big confident smile.
However, the young Master did not seem too convinced of this, but after a moment pondering his options, he thought that it would be nothing wrong to take advantage of them as well until they saw that the alliance was no longer necessary. With a sigh of defeat, the British gave his answer.
"All right. I'll trust you, Rider." He said firmly towards his Servant before looking his new allies. "But with one condition." His expression wavered a bit, looking less brave. "Promise me you won't do something weird, okay?"
"OK." Uryū said in response happily seeing that the alliance was closed, although not everyone shared the same enthusiasm.
"Well now that we finally have new allies, we have to celebrate it!" Iskandar exclaimed in joy making everyone look at him in amazement. "But first, you'd better introduce yourself." He looked first at Ichigo. "Your name is Kurosaki, right?"
"Huh? Yes, my name is Kurosaki Ichigo." The Master of Mordred introduced himself to Rider making the latter look at him a bit confused.
"Ichigo? That means 'strawberry' in Japanese. How unmanly." Rider commented as he identified the meaning of the orange haired boy's first name.
Ichigo's expression paled upon hearing that, but just as he was about to retorted, suddenly a loud laugh broke through the atmosphere filling the park with laughter. They all turned to see that it was Ichigo's Servant who seemed to be suffering a fit of laughter, probably upon hearing the meaning of his Master's name.
"Strawberry? Really? Is that... hahaha!" She could not complete the sentence as she continued to laugh uncontrollably. She bent her knees to squat down facing the ground. "I cannot believe it!"
Neither dared to speak as they watched the knight blonde still giggling nonstop and it goes without saying that they were getting uncomfortable about it. Kon also tried to suppress his own laughter while still in Orihime's bag.
As he continued to laugh, Ichigo clenched his teeth in annoyance as his skin turned an almost red color. It was then that after a few minutes of laughing, Mordred got up from the ground and wrapped an arm around his Master's neck.
"Oh boy, why did your parents curse you with that name?" She asked a little exhausted from having used her breath in that fit of laughter. She had a stupid smile and tears in her eyes.
Ichigo gritted his teeth further as his head grew hot with anger. He was getting sick of people calling him that. What did they think? That his parents were sadistic enough to name him after some fruit?
"Oh, shut up!" Ichigo yelled as he removed Mordred's arm from his neck. "My name doesn't mean 'Strawberry'. Ichi means 'Number 1' and go is 'he who protect'."
Rider took note of what the orange haired boy said.
"So, its spelled 'Protector number 1', or something?"
"Yes. Protector number 1." Ichigo corrected immediately hoping that they would take his name seriously now and not as a laughing matter like before.
"Hmm, it seems like an appropriate name for a warrior." Iskandar said approvingly before turning to Mordred. "And you, Saber? Can you tell me your name? The truth is that I would very much like to know what kind of warrior you were in life and see if your legend was so great to deserve your position as Saber."
Mordred could not help but draw a big smile at the compliment and it was so without realizing it, she committed the biggest oversight that no Servant should do.
"Of course I deserve to be in this position. After all, I am the rightful successor to the King of Knights Mordred Pendragon."
Her presentation caused several mixed reactions to the 2 new characters upon hearing Saber's name. Rider was still trying to assimilate the name so he could recognize her, but Waver did not have to do that when he realized instantly who it was. How could she not recognize the name of one of the legendary characters of her native country, much less the most infamous of all? He could not believe that this cute blonde girl in front of him was one of the history's most infamous traitors
"D-did you say Mordred?" The British boy asked while pointing a trembling finger at the supposed character that appeared in Arthurian legends. "Are you kidding me? Are you really the Knight of Treachery, the one who killed King Arthur in Camlann?"
"Of course yes, kid. Any problem?" Mordred snapped wlooking at the boy.
"Huh no, I'm sorry. I thought you would be more manly or something." He said with barely a whisper hoping this did not offend the wild-natured girl more.
Unfortunately, he was wrong when Ichigo and his friends' expressions tightened when they heard how the younger boy had named the blonde. Waver looked puzzled at their reactions before turning to the blonde Servant and being the next to piss in fear when he saw the cold and angry look she gave him as if he had just awakened a fearsome dragon.
"W-what's wrong?" Waver asked uneasily not understanding why she was giving him that so murderous look.
Before things got out of hand, Uryū decided to intervene again by standing next to Mordred.
"No, what happens is that Mordred doesn't like to be called by her 'gender' because for her it is like a taboo subject, and well..."
"It is true." Orihime said as she also walked up to stand in front of the blonde and look at her with a nervous smile. "This boy didn't mean to offend you or anything. Please, forgive him." She asked pleadingly.
Mordred said nothing but a little snort, but it seemed that everything was settled. Once everything was calm, Rider took advantage of this to speak.
"Well, since everything is settled, now we will have time to celebrate our alliance!" The giant exclaimed adding more emphasis to the term 'celebrate'. Ichigo and the others could only stare blankly at what he meant by 'celebrate.'
That's all for today.
And yes, I made even Mordred reveal herself just by she being carried away by pride.
Oh, one important thing. I've already reidited the 180 yen part as it should be.
Ja ne!