Chapter 27: Basics
"That person sounds very strong… stronger than some Servants, I imagine," Tohsaka concludes.
Saber told us about her encounter with the unknown swordsman. Straw Hat listened very closely. I am astonished as well. A person that is as strong as Saber… they must be highly skilled.
"Come to think if it, they created those ripples we saw at the school, too. Do you really don't know anything about them?", Saber asks Straw Hat.
"Hmm… no", he answers.
Tohsaka sighs as she leans over to him. She grabs his cheeks and stretches them. Unlike normal a persons, they keep stretching.
"H-hey, lhat aie you doinl?", Straw Hat asks her as he wriggles.
"So, your whole body is made out of rubber?", Tohsaka questions.
"Y-yesh"
"And you never noticed before?"
"I jush forgor"
"Oh, but now you remember, right? Then, explain what that means. It is clearly neither magic nor anything related to a mystery. You said it's a Devil Fruit, but what is that?", Tohsaka demands to know.
"R-Rin, maybe you should let go of him", Illya suggests.
Finally, she stops stretching his mouth and returns to her seat. Sometimes, Tohsaka can be really frightening.
"Yeah, I ate the Gum-Gum fruit. It's a Devil Fruit", he explains, "whoever eats them receives certain abilities. However, Devil Fruit users are weak to seawater. They lose all strength and suffocate"
That is a whole new concept. I suppose it originates from his universe.
"Wouldn't that mean you could have died if you jumped into water?", Sakura asks him.
"Yes"
That sounds very dangerous. If he would have headed to the beach instead… it is pure luck he survived this long.
"How many of these devil fruits are there?", Archer asks Straw Hat.
"I have no idea. There are lots of them for sure. They are divided into Zoan, Logia and Paramecia. My fruit is from the Paramecia class", he answers.
"And the other classes? What are the qualities of each class?", I curiously ask.
"Zoan fruits consist of animals and beasts. They provide great regeneration abilities. Logia fruits are classified as mostly elemental fruits. You can't touch them. There is no way to injure them. Everything else belongs in the Paramecia class", he summarizes.
These… Devil Fruits sound very powerful. There could be dozens of other fruits… even thinking about them makes me feel dizzy.
"So, those with… Logia fruits can't be hit at all?" Tohsaka asks.
"No, there is a way to hit them, but… I can't remember it"
Tohsaka sighs disappointed before she looks at Saber again.
"Do you think the swordsman had any of these powers?"
"They could've consumed one of these fruits," Saber replies, tilting her head, "but besides the unorthodox swordsmanship, there were no extraordinary characteristics"
"He never ate a Devil Fruit, all he had were his three swords," Straw Hat adds.
Come to think of it, he knows quite a lot about this ominous person. They must have been a close friend in his life. Then-
"Why would they attack us if you knew each other so well?" Tohsaka says what I was thinking.
Straw Hat lowers his head. He seems quite troubled.
"I don't know. I absolutely don't know why he would attack me," he finally retorts.
I look around the room. Sakura, Tohsaka, Saber, Illya, Archer… they all are tired and worn out. This night demanded a lot from us. How are we supposed to progress if there are that many powerful foes out there?
"Don't back down now! So what if there are powerful enemies out there?"
It is her again. You just tried to kill me! You were the one behind Assassin, right? Is that swordsman one of your subordinates, too? What the hell do you even want from me, what is your plan, why can you talk to me, where are you and why are you in this world?
"Why, why, why- You don't expect me to answer any of your questions, right? You and I, we're both pawns in this atrocious game"
W-what? A game? Is this all just a game for you?! Hey, answer me!
"A game? Is this cursed Holy Grail War anything but a game? You and I have no other choice but to play along"
Just tell me, who are you?
"S-senpai, is everything okay?"
Sakura's words brought me back to reality. Everyone's eyes rest on me. They look very concerned for some reason. I look to Tohsaka, hoping she might explain to me why everyone is so upset.
"You were staring at the ceiling, dumbfounded. We thought you finally lost your mind," Archer elaborates instead.
I instinctively touch my face. I have been concentrating on her words too strongly. To everyone else, it must have looked like I was passing out. I shake my head and clear my throat.
"We suffered a lot today. I think we should rest for now and think about the next step tomorrow"
Tohsaka's shocked expression upset me. Did I say something wrong? Maybe I looked even worse than I imagined. Suddenly, she begins to chuckle behind her hand.
"I'd have never imagined you would be the one to make a wise decision once in a while," she cheekily remarks.
Of course, Tohsaka is just mocking me. It should not surprise me by now. So, the late-night meeting ends. We all prepare to sleep. I really am tired after all that has happened today. Therefore, I immediately head to my room, yawning as my vision narrows. However, someone taps me on my shoulder. I instantly turn around, only to face Tohsaka.
"Did you already forget our agreement? If you want to train under my supervision, I'll have to make sure you attend your lessons," she states.
"Can't we skip tonight, it's really late and I'm very tired…"
"No exceptions," Tohsaka declares, pulling me at my neck and dragging me outside.
I guess Tohsaka as a teacher would be a total nightmare. Still, there is nothing I can do to change her mind.
"So, what's today's lesson about, Tohsaka-sensei?" I ask her with a sarcastic tone.
"Well, I want you to repeat what you have done before," Tohsaka mentions, ignoring my mockery.
"I already told you I have no idea how I did that. I don't think I can replicate the blades here and now"
Tohsaka goes back inside. After a while, she returns with several empty bottles. She places them all over the place, some on the stairs, some on the ground and a few bottles on the roof. I do not talk to or question her while she runs around to scatter said bottles. She comes back to me after all bottles have been placed.
"Hey, you still didn't project your weapons?" Tohsaka reproaches me.
"Haven't you listened at all? I am unable to project these weapons. I just did it on a whim, because there was no other choice…"
"So, you have the potential to create them," Tohsaka tells me, pointing at me with her index finger, "you can very well project the swords if you have done it once. It's no mystery after all, although I wonder why you are able to produce such an advanced form of magecraft"
I frown at her last sentence. If that was advanced magecraft, it felt too easy. It appeared to me very natural.
"You really are a strict teacher, Tohsaka. Well, I guess I have no choice, but to try," I tell her as I stand up.
"And you're the worst student, Emiya-kun" she whispers.
Okay, concentrate. I close my eyes. Imagine a gun. Just a simple gun… there it is. Now, fire the hammer of the gun. Magic begins coursing through my body, a feeling I know too well. Okay, that was the easy part. Now I have to imagine the structure of the weapons. I have to think of every layer of the material. Two twin swords… it is quite hard to fully imagine them with all their qualities. I take a deep breath.
"Trace On!"
I can feel something, something heavy in my hands! Did it really work?! I open my eyes with excitement. Yet, I have utterly failed. There are two lumpy objects in my hands that would remotely remind someone of swords.
"Well, there's a lot of work to be done, but I expected this," Tohsaka admits.
I release the magical energy. The blades vanish – all that remains is disappointment.
"I told you, there is no way I can reproduce these swords. It's just impossible"
"Of course, you would fail. Your way of approaching the issue is utter nonsense from the very start"
This annoying voice. It can only be one person. Archer. He sits on the edge of the roof. He observed us from the beginning.
"Archer, what are you doing here? Go back inside, don't interrupt my lesson," Tohsaka hisses.
He leaps forward, landing precisely next to me. Archer summons his own twin swords. They look exactly like the ones I projected. Well, my blades look like his.
"You're trying to imagine both parts, but you really have to just project one of them. The other one will automatically project itself as well. Try projecting only one of them, think of them as means to project your desires and wishes in combat"
Both, Tohsaka and I are astonished. I do as he instructed me to. I imagine only one sword. One part. But… I also recall my memories of Archer fighting with these weapons. The way he moved, the way he utilized the blades looked awesome.
"Trace On"
Once again, I feel something weighty in both of my hands. This time however, much lighter and much more defined. I open my eyes again and there are… the twin blades. They look identical. Both, Archer and my swords look like exact copies of each other.
"You… actually helped him, Archer. Maybe you are a Heroic Spirit after all," Tohsaka praises her Servant.
Archer turns around and the blades in his hands dissolve.
"Oh, shut up. If that kid decides to copy me, they should at least not look like piss-poor copies," Archer points out as he walks away, "remember, Emiya Shirou is only able to copy what is already established. Never ever does Emiya Shirou create new concepts. That is an important distinction. Which sword did you project by the way?"
I raise my right arm to show him the sword. Archer turns his head to look at it.
"The white one," I simply state.
Archer narrows his eyes. He turns away and says, "I see," before he fades away.
I look to Tohsaka who seems to be quite irritated. In fact, she looks at me with a dissatisfied look.
"Is something wrong, Tohsaka?"
She hesitantly shakes her head. As she gazes at the sky, I draw closer to her, grabbing her shoulders and shake her body.
"E-eh, huh? E-Emiya…-kun?" she stutters.
She looks at me with a beet red face, before she violently pushes me away. Tohsaka quickly turns around.
"W-what do you think you were doing, you idiot? You should be more considerate to other people around you," Tohsaka blames me.
Her reaction is very confusing and I really do not know what I am supposed to do. I guess, I misinterpreted something.
"A-anyway. Now that you have projected your weapons, try to destroy the bottles I have prepared. They are your targets"
She changed the topic. Why should I destroy these bottles, anyway?
"Hey, Tohsaka, who will clean up the mess? You know, the shards can be very dangerous"
"Why, you of course"
"What? I am supposed to clean that up?"
"Yes. Therefore, you should make clean cuts, so you don't have to clean up for too long. Now, hurry up"
There is no way I can best her tenacity. Thus, I run to one of the bottles and cut it with my twin swords. I perfectly cut the bottle in half. I muster one of the blades, but there is not even a scratch. Strange, I merely moved without much thinking, but it felt like a normal routine. I run to the bottle on the stair and slice the bottle like butter. Soon, I got all the bottles, except… except the bottles on the roof.
"Hm, what is it? Why don't you continue, Emiya-kun? I admit, you were quite exceptional and the movements looked surprisingly clean," Tohsaka comments.
How does she expect me to get to the bottles? I cannot jump that high. Still, everything went so smoothly so far, I can simply not give up now. So, I sprint to one of the bottles and jump high up in the air, stretch my arms to land a hit, but to no avail. I land on the ground and the bottle has not even been touched. Still, I bolt to another bottle and try the same tactic again. Another fail. I try and try and try again, but I cannot reach the top.
At least fifteen desperate minutes passed, but I still am unable to even destroy a single bottle.
"Impossible, this is pure madness," I mutter to myself.
All these attempts made me sweat and breath irregularly. I cannot give up, though. I just have to get to these damn bottles. One last time, I run towards the roof, jump up and stretch my arms, my hands and even my fingers, maybe I can at least graze one bottle. Close, very close! I had never jumped higher before. I feel like I am dislocating my shoulders. If I let go of the swords, I could even grab the edge of the roof.
However, I fail. Once again, I failed. So, I fall to the floor. In my pure frustration, I throw one of the twin blades into the air as I fall. I tried everything, but I cannot reach them. I feel useless and defeated. Suddenly, I hear glass shattering. I thought I misheard it in my absolute despair, but there is the sound again. And again. Three bottles have been destroyed. The sword that I have thrown into the air- I can feel it in my hand again!
My back hits the ground, but the happiness numbs my pain. I have done it!
"Look, Tohsaka, I have-"
As I look towards Tohsaka, I am absolutely taken by surprise, making me speechless. I have never seen something so marvelous before, the moon shines extremely bright, almost blending with the starry blue night sky that envelops me from all around. But most importantly, there are thousands of dazzling smiling faces around me.
And in midst of it all is Tohsaka. The shards that are raining down from the roof are reflecting her face from all directions around me. It is a wholehearted warming smile. These thousand smiles say more than all the words she could have expressed. This is a beautiful sight. Awestruck as I am, she is the first one to speak up.
"Yes, you did it, Emiya-kun," she calmly states while holding out her hand.
I take the hand and stand up again. The light around us fades away, since all the shards have settled on the ground.
"I think I can hardly clean that up," I claim as I look on the ground.
Tohsaka takes out a jewel and lays it on the ground.
"Verschmelzen"
The shards rapidly move towards the glowing green jewel. They melt with the jewel, although it rapidly heats up. As all the shards have been liquefied, Tohsaka throws the jewel high up in the air… where it explodes. I really hope no one heard that.
Tohsaka faces me again. She seems quite pleased with the results.
"Lessons for today are over," she declares.
Before I can say anything to her, Tohsaka walks inside. Now, I am alone. She has not explained what has happened. Suddenly, my legs feel very weak, they are trembling. The extensive usage of magic over a long duration has weakened me, hence I instantly turn off my trigger. I shuffle to my room. I feel extremely hot, like I have a fever. How did I not notice the strain on my body? I cannot even close my door behind me as I collapse on my floor, sinking into the sleep I craved for so long.
