Lecture Hall C, Chaldea.
January 5th, 2015, 8:49 AM.
Blake studied the man at the podium, as he indicated the runic circle on the monitor while most of his focus remained within himself, exploring the network of circuits, an extension of his soul imprinted on the physical realm.
"The summoning is different from the original system it was derived from." Feend vor Sembren said calmly. "It has been developed to the point where it can be used within the singularities and outside; however, this has several drawbacks associated with both the system itself and the tactical approach."
The distinction drew his attention once more, and from the rumbles of the other five masters in the room, it was of interest to them as well.
"Summoning a specific servant from the repository is no longer possible unless you have already summoned that servant previously, and the material we have designed to allow for the exchange is both time consuming and expensive to manufacture," Feend said calmly, looking around quietly for a moment. "This obviously results in a randomly selected servant, although once you have summoned them initially, you will, of course be able to resummon that servant in particular once more."
"Sir, you're saying that we won't be able to choose a servant at all?" A young woman near the front said curiously, "What if they don't want to work with us?"
"That is a possibility, incompatible summons or disagreements do occur with the FATE system, and both the Servant and the Master must agree for the contract to be formed," Feend said easily, "If there is a dispute, the quartz crystal will still be consumed during the summoning, and the servant will vanish."
There was a rumbling and some muttered comments between the other masters.
"How many of these manufactured crystals are sent along with each of the masters?" Blake said evenly.
"One per master," Feend said immediately, "Given how long they take to create, and the resources that go into making them, forty-eight crystals is the maximum production possible, at least for now."
Forty-eight crystals for forty-eight masters, obviously, that would be the final amount they were hoping to find. Given they were now at forty-six, it was approaching the deadline for the first singularity.
Interesting, another reason to send all of the masters at once, if the chance of a failed summoning existed, depending on the percentage of failure, there was the possibility that all forty-eight masters could fail to summon during the same singularity. They wouldn't be able to clear it in that case, resulting in all of humanity being destroyed.
"The Saint Graph repository is where all the available servants are stored," Feend continued, after a moment, once the image on the screen changed to show a dark grey card. "Upon a successful summoning, you receive a copy of the Saint Graph for that servant, which will enable you to resummon them in the future, provided you have a crystal or catalyst powerful enough to fuel the summoning process."
Some excited whispers at the idea of so many powerful servants washed over Blake, but he paid them no mind, once more returning to introspection within himself. It was several minutes before his interest was peaked once more.
"Any entity compatible with the FATE system that you encounter while inside the singularities will have its spirit origin analyzed and automatically recorded into the Saint Graph repository," Feend said seriously, "Enlarging the pool with which the masters may draw from in the future."
Interesting, then the potential existed if he survived several of these singularities to summon any strong opponents for additional spars, fights or duels. Provided he could get away with using their precious crystals for such a purpose.
"There will be a series of simulated Spiritron dives that you are required to undergo as well," Feend said easily, "You have already all been confirmed to have the basic qualities needed for the conversion process to succeed, but ensuring consistent conversion is the next step, expect that to come within the next week."
Blake listened to the man explain everything in great detail and managed his growing boredom with manipulating the energy inside of him, familiarising himself with it.
Unused Storage Room, Chaldea.
January 8th, 2015, 12:17 PM.
"The intent matters here; obviously, if I were to simply fill myself with the energy my circuits produce, it would have no purpose." Blake deduced, and Jean smiled.
"Exactly, but reinforcement works with the additional concept that can be hard for most to grasp at first," Jean said pleasantly, "You are not increasing your physical strength directly as if it is some kind of parameter, although the outcome is indeed an increase in physical strength, you are reinforcing a certain concept within yourself to accomplish that outcome indirectly."
Blake followed the abstraction easily; it was a potency or density quality amplification instead of a direct increase of force. If he thought about it as a system of numbers, it was easy to unpack, if his strength was the number '1,' 'increasing' it would be raising it directly to '2,' that wasn't what was happening. It was more like filling in the gaps of a single unit so that '1' strength was actually as 'strong' as '2' strength, at least in the area which was reinforced.
"This can be used on more nebulous concepts?" Blake asked thoughtfully; Jean had implied as much earlier. "Three examples, please."
"The sharpness of a blade can be reinforced for increased cutting potential, reinforcing visual acuity would result in seeing further, or in more detail depending on the reinforcement," Jean said pleasantly, "Reinforcing the durability of an object, or yourself."
"Interesting," Blake said intently, "Can you reinforce mental faculties? Memory? Reflexes?"
Jean tilted her head slightly.
"You can, although it isn't a simple task to perform reinforcement on vague concepts, and you cannot reinforce something at all if it is below a certain threshold," Jean said curiously.
"How many things can you reinforce simultaneously?" Blake asked immediately.
"As many as you are capable of supporting via focus or concentration, as well as mana output, I suppose." Jean smiled. "I think I myself would struggle to keep three things reinforced at once during combat."
Blake didn't reply for a moment, thinking. If it was simply a matter of concentration, then that would simply require diligent practice to master to the point where it wasn't impacting his performance in combat.
"How is the mana expended, is the cost front-loaded, or is it used up throughout the reinforcement?" Blake asked seriously, "How long can you keep something reinforced before you run out of mana?"
Jean blinked at the questions.
"Well nothing is expended until the reinforcement is actually taking place," Jean said thoughtfully, "I personally could use it for several hours before I would begin to grow weary but if you are trading blows with someone capable of inflicting damage on you through the reinforcement it would chip away at you much faster."
Blake was content with that answer; if a fight lasted for several hours, you deserved to be killed at that point. You should have already reevaluated your strategy long, long before it ever reached that point. There would likely never be a reason to hold a reinforcement for more than half an hour, and even that felt on the long end.
"Very well, you mentioned alteration?" Blake inquired, paying close attention.
He had much to learn from this woman.
Waiting Room, Chaldea.
January 15th, 2015, 10:27 AM.
Blake meditated on the 'Od' inside him as he waited for the attendant to come for him. The other four masters had already been called in for there own spiritron dives, each of which had taken half an hour per person.
Two hours of time, he had spent reinforcing different concepts and finding both success and failure in equal amounts. Specificity, intent, and focus were all the key components that seemingly led to a successful reinforcement.
Reinforcing the hardness of his skin was straightforward enough, infusing the Od into his skin, keeping the concept of firmness, durability, or things with those natures led to his finger making a sharp 'tack' noise when he tapped it again the metal table in front of him.
The same effect stretched over the entirety of his skin seemed to weaken his grasp on the Od, something he was certain would vanish with practice. The more familiar he became with the process of converting his Od into magical energy through his circuits, the more he would be able to reinforce the concept he was targeting.
It was not unlike infusing his own body with energy generated from his core in his old life, even if there was one additional step in the process. The energies themselves were vastly different, but they were controlled in much the same manner.
The areas in which he was practicing the reinforcement for hours every day were his legs, arms, heart, and lungs. More specifically, the muscle groups found in both his arms and legs and the speed of the synaptic response. The breath techniques he had spent mastering his entire other life worked almost as well here, and if he could find a way to reinforce that, it would certainly lift him higher, but for now, he was attempting to reinforce both his lung capacity and aiming to reinforce the benefits. So far, his attempt at reinforcing his heart and lungs were both failing, and he had put aside an hour every day to further study the anatomy knowledge that was available in the library at Chaldea.
The door opened, and a woman stuck her head out.
"Were ready for you now, please come through." The woman said plainly.
Blake dropped his reinforcement; it might interfere with the conversion attempt if he was actively using mage-craft when it occurred, he could pause his training for half an hour, as much as it galled him.
Unused Storage Room, Chaldea.
January 24th, 2015, 1:27 PM.
"A mystic code?" Jean said pleasantly, "Could you explain your reasoning?"
This was the first time Jean had been available for hand to hand instruction, but he had derailed it before it had even begun. Blake had been practicing reinforcing other objects for the last three days, instead of himself. Further research into Servants and the kinds of things they might be facing led him to believe that to deal any damage to a 'Divine,' 'Heroic,' 'Wraith,' or a similar entity, he would need some kind of weapon that would interact with them.
"My personal study has led me to believe I will not be able to deal any damage, purely with hand to hand, to things which exist in the form that these servants or other entities take," Blake said easily. "The benefits of the reinforcement technique certainly carry over, but I will need a weapon that is able to cut the threats within these singularities."
"Somehow, I hadn't realized that you were intending on fighting them yourself." Jean said curiously, "I won't insult your intelligence by warning you about the sheer difference between a mage and a servant, you no doubt have already factored that in."
Blake simply nodded, Jean once again showing that she wasn't like most of these others. Of course, the things in the singularities were going to be stronger and faster than him, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to happily fight them, the thought of such a challenge sent sparks of thrill across his nerves, it had been far too long since he had been able to engage in combat.
"Mystic codes and powerful mage-craft are both capable of dealing damage to servants," Jean confirmed, "The issue is usually the sheer physical difference, the untouchable skill in which they fight, these are all people who were world renown for there exceptionalism in some respect, and the crystallization of that legend has granted them incredibly powerful weaponry."
Noble phantasms, he had read the literature. Weapons, jewelry, objects, amongst other things that were part of the legends or myths surrounding these heroes, granted an obscene advantage to each of them depending on the usefulness of the item. Blake was certain that his own sword would have been classed as a noble phantasm if it had existed here.
Mystic codes, on the other hand, were like watered-down versions of these crystalized legends. A coat that increased the user's durability, jewels that stored magical energy to be used later, magical batteries, weapons that could deal damage to enemies that held certain attributes. There was a rather famous case of a 'Magus-Killer' who had created a handgun that could fire bullets that would destroy the circuits of magi on impact, the man had a rather large kill count, at least for this world.
"Some of the recorded noble phantasms are fascinating," Blake agreed, "I will need a sword that can withstand the standard attacks of these servants, and deal damage back, how do I go about obtaining such a thing?"
"Chaldea has already designed many mystic codes, though defensive in nature, to increase the survivability of the masters," Jean said pleasantly, "I will undertake the process of getting an offensive mystic code approved for you."
"Thank you, Jean," Blake said genuinely, "We will need to have a further discussion about form and functionality at a later date."
"You are most welcome, Blake," Jean said happily.
"I must apologize for using a portion of your allotted time on this matter," Blake said evenly as he stood. "Are you ready to begin?"
Jean rose to her feet before moving several paces into the center of the room and assuming the same stance she had during their first fight before all of this.
"I am in your care, Blake," Jean said pleasantly. "Please take good care of me."
Blake twitched at the words, what a strange phrase. It didn't seem to fit given the circumstance, and the request came off as strangely intimate, which he wasn't sure was the intended meaning at all. Either way, he intended to teach her with as much diligence as she had shown him, so she needn't have worried, Jean was neither the first person he had instructed nor would she be the last.
"Yes," Blake said, faintly embarrassed, "I will take good care of you."
Lecture Hall C, Chaldea.
February 5th, 2015, 9:17 AM.
"In order to access the Saint Graph repository on-site, that's within the singularities for those who are still struggling; you will need a source of mana, your own Od will likely not be enough to do more than start the connection, so finding a leyline is the optimal way to keep it open long enough to activate the quartz crystal," Feend said dryly, staring at one of the sheepish boys at the front of the hall. "There are other methods, a mystic code, or a magical battery of some kind; even another servant would be able to provide the magical energy needed to set up for the summoning."
Blake listened idly to the man as he pulses reinforcement through his calf muscles in small twitches. A brief moment of reinforcement to provide a boost of movement was the end goal here, to maneuver out of the way of attacks and setup additional ones.
"Once you are inside the circle, activating the crystal is as simple as you would imagine," Feend said evenly, "Simply convert your Od into magical energy within your circuits and attempt to fill the crystal with it, once the threshold is reached the crystal will be consumed as it fuels the random summoning."
"Does the servant just appear?" The sheepish boy said curiously.
"A Saint Graph will appear, which you will need to make physical contact with." Feend said seriously, "You will state the contract you intend to make with the servant, and it will either accept, appearing before you, or the Saint Graph will dissipate."
There were a few mumbles at the idea of failure.
"Either outcome will result in you being ejected from the repository to return to your previous location, with or without your contracted servant." Feend continued, "Do you have any more questions?"
Blake began switching rapidly between reinforcing his eyes before settling into using both at once but in a weakened form.
"Are you able to enforce any type of selection criteria on the random summon?" Blake said distractedly, "The other system I have researched was able to select the berserker class with certain additions to the circle."
"The Fuyuki system, that the FATE system was built upon." Feend said interestedly, "Indeed the berserker class could be induced on purpose, a strange anomaly of the design, it didn't make it into the redesigned system, so you are not able to influence any of the classes received via your own actions, not even with a catalyst used in place of a quartz crystal."
Interesting, that was obviously not by choice, because they would have tried to maximize their ability to select those heroes who could contribute the most, it must have been one of the trade-offs associated with the removal of so many restrictions that the old system had in place.
"What were the other classes again?" The sheepish boy asked again, and Feend sighed.
"Assassin, Archer, Berserker, Caster, Lancer, Rider and Saber," Feend said evenly, "I would like you all to keep in mind that these are abnormal places that exist outside of the normal temporal axis, and we have speculated that there could be things other than Servants there, so make sure you don't freeze up if it's not exactly what you expected."
Blake glanced up at the solid advice. Expectations and plans had a vicious relationship; if you prepared for months for a specific threat, but when you arrived, it was something completely different that could very well be the end right there.
Establishing a protocol for dealing with situations that were both broad enough to cover multiple scenarios, but could be focused on a specific one as it presents itself was the solution.
Blake would be ready.