Thank you for all the reviews! I shall respond to them here:
Kitsune Obsessed Freak: As I stated in the server, none of us direct jokes at those who are uncomfortable receiving said jokes. That wasn't directed with you. In fact, you weren't even a part of the conversation. Out of the three people in that conversation, you were the only one offended. I'm not going to apologize for someone else's actions. While I apologize that you did not find the server as agreeable as you wanted to, that's just how things are.
To the guests that further corrected me about Rule Breaker, thank you. And yes, Shirou does have a bit of divinity. As for the guest who made predictions about his stats, you were pretty close on some of them, but I do want you to keep in mind that Shirou will grow and improve, so these stats are subject to change. A lot of change.
Chapter 11: My Path
Shirou cursed and traced Kanshou and Bakuya and threw them at the first Chimera before grabbing Lisa and dashing away. He hoped that the enchantments were enough to be able to slice through their skin. They weren't his weapon of choice, but they were quick and cheap to trace and Shirou used them a lot in his earlier years after the grail war.
"Crap!" As soon as they landed, Lisa unsheathed her xiphos as the married blades returned to his hands. "What do we do?"
"I have a plan, but it's going to take a while," Shirou said. He could smell the raw power behind the garbled, disgusting smell of the chimera. The two beasts roared and pounced after them. They jumped back in unison as one of them spit poison from its tail. Shirou conjured a large nameless sword that the poison eroded before vanishing into motes of light.
"Make it quick. I don't know how long we can keep this up!" Lisa shouted as she stabbed at one of them, which easily avoided the blow.
"Alright," Shirou said. With such a huge disadvantage, he knew he only had one choice. He thought back on the prophecy and scowled. It looks like this part was coming true.
"I am the bone of my sword."
Shirou intoned as he rushed one of the chimera, jumping up and slashing down at its tail. The snake managed to dodge out of the way. It lunged for Shirou, but he managed to roll to the side. He looked at Lisa to see her struggling with her chimera, clashing with the goat's horns.
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood."
Shirou slashed at the chimera's leg with Kanshou. It cut a large gash in the monster's leg, but it didn't cut it clean off. Shirou cursed silently. He knew he could keep the reality marble up, but with the current state of his circuits, he needed to conserve as much magic energy as he could. He slid past the chimera and stabbed at the one attacking Lisa who jumped out of the way.
"I have created over a thousand blades."
"Thanks," Lisa huffed as she stood up and brandished her sword. It was obvious that she was exhausted. Shirou turned to the two chimera. Could he possibly face the two at once? He shook his head. There was no other choice. He had to. He remembered his promise. He would defy fate.
"Untouched by fate…"
Shirou let out a cry as he threw the blades, tracing another pair. He jumped down and stabbed one of the chimera's shoulders. Instead of doing an overedge, he pumped enough mana for the blades to explode. He jumped back as two explosions caused the chimera to stumble. Unfortunately, its wounds started to heal at a rapid pace.
"Nor touched by destiny."
"Trace overedge," The blades extended until they looked like wings. He slashed through both of the chimera's sides, leaving deep gashes in their torso. They both roared in pain as the wounds started to regenerate. They both turned and glared at Shirou.
"Have withstood pain to create many paths,"
Shirou prepared for them to attack, but at the last second, he saw both tails descending on Lisa. He felt his blood turn cold. He wouldn't let them kill her! He won't!
"Yet my journey never ends."
Shirou dashed forward, his eyes focused on Lisa. His tunnel-vision, however, prevented Shirou from seeing the claw that was hurtling towards him. He was sent flying into a tree, but wasted no time dashing forward.
"I will keep searching, for my path is…"
Shirou managed to dash past the chimera this time. He managed to slice one tail off with an overedge Bakuya, but the other tail lunged for Lisa. She held her sword up, but it weaved past it, biting down on her shoulder.
"No!" Shirou shouted as Lisa cried in pain. He gritted his teeth. He had to finish the chant.
"UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS!"
A ring of fire formed, swallowing the entire world around them.
/
Lisa was delirious. The chimera's poison was working quickly through her veins, but despite that, she couldn't help but marvel at the world around her. She was in a grassy plane filled with swords. The sun was shining overhead and the sky was a clear blue. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. In the distance, there was a hill with shining golden lights glimmering from the top.
She was so enamored, she barely noticed the snake on her shoulder fading away. She looked down and saw a sword buried in the ground. It was her sword, yet she was holding it.
"I can replicate any blade I've ever seen," Shirou's words rang in her head. Does this place show every sword Shirou had seen? But… There were so many. Hundreds, thousands… All different shapes and sizes. A few feet away from her she saw a giant stone slab that was over twice her size. Did that even count as a sword?
"Don't worry Lisa, this will be over soon," She heard Shirou's voice. It was shaking. Was something wrong with Shirou? She forced herself to sit up just in time to see a golden sword fly into Shirou's hands. This sword… It looked exactly like the one she made for him. Was this the inspiration? The sword Shirou saw in his dream?
"I won't forgive you," Shirou said through gritted teeth as he raised the sword. To Lisa's amazement, a giant beam of energy shot out from the sword. "SWORD OF SELECTION! CLEAVE THE WICKED!"
"CALI—" Shirou swung the sword. "—BURN!"
The ground shook at the force of the blow. Lisa almost fell over again. She heard the anguished cries of the chimeras as the beam extended all the way to the hill. When the beam subsided, there was nothing to be seen. The sword vanished into golden light as he turned to face Lisa.
"Lisa!" Shirou ran to her and helped her lie down. "Damn, I should have something here to help…"
A beautiful sheath appeared in his hands. Lisa could only describe it as perfect. He held the shield up to Lisa's shoulder wound. The pain subsided, but it didn't fade away.
"Damn it!" Tears started spilling from Shirou's face. "It's been too long… I can't cure the poison."
"Shirou," Despite her strength fading, she felt a golden light envelop her. She knew she was still dying, but it didn't hurt anymore. "I… It's okay."
"It's not okay!" Shirou cried. She looked up from Shirou to see something form. A woman shrouded in golden light. "I can save you!"
"Shirou, I'm happy," Lisa looked around with a weary smile growing on her lips. "This place… it's beautiful."
She tried to comfort Shirou as he sobbed, gripping the sheathe as tightly as he could. She then looked up to the woman. She didn't know what she was thinking, but she felt the words on her lips.
"Did I do a good job?" She asked the woman, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You did good, half-blood," The woman said as the world faded around them, returning them back to the forest. Night had fallen and the full moon shone in all its glory. "Come. Your afterlife is secured."
"I'm sure I'll see you in Elysium," LIsa put a hand over Shirou's head. "Don't let me down, okay?"
"'Kay," Shirou sniffed.
"Let's go," Lisa whispered as she closed her eyes. Lisa Hagen died with warmth in her heart and a smile on her face.
/
Shirou didn't know how long he sat there with Lisa's dead body. He had failed. He promised to change fate and he failed. His first friend, his partner in this quest… she was dead because of him. Because he wasn't strong enough.
He wiped his tears. So many secrets he had kept from her. She only wanted to know him. To help him. And she died not knowing the true him. It was painful. He hadn't felt the sting of failure pierce his heart like this in years, decades even. He felt like he betrayed her. She had put her whole heart into caring for him and he just turned her away. He lied to her. Deceived her.
I need to get stronger, Shirou thought to himself. His eyes were open. He was disgustingly weak in the state he was in. He could have been so much stronger if he didn't spend all that time in Camp Half-Blood. The place was nice, but it was holding him back. He needed to search for power. Power he would wield so no one he cared about could die again.
But first… he needed to finish the quest. To go to Jamestown and collect Caliburn. With the genuine article, that would already make him much more powerful. He stood up and traced a shovel. Before any of that could happen, though, he needed to pay respects to his friend. He looked at the sword at her side. It would provide the info on where she died so he could visit the grave when he wanted to.
He stood up and looked down at Lisa's body. She was still smiling. It made Shirou angry. Not at her, but at himself. She looked to be content, but she shouldn't have been.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as he prepared to dig. Before he could, though, the scent of silver touched his nose. Silver and… violet.
Shirou whirled around to see a silver arrow flying towards him. He reinforced his body and the shovel and swung with what might he had left, sending the arrow flying off into another direction.
Before he knew it, he was surrounded by women pointing arrows at him. The smell of silver was overpowering at this point. He held his shovel tightly. It was obvious that they wouldn't strike until he did. He tensed his muscles and played the image of a hammer striking an anvil in his head, letting a little bit of mana flow throughout his body. It wasn't ideal, but if he had to fight, he would.
"Half-blood! State your purpose!" One of the women shouted. "Where did you come from and how did you get here?"
Before she even finished her sentence, Shirou knew exactly who they were. His time of grief had to be put on hold. Right now, he had other things to worry about.
Well, rip Lisa. This is the first time I've killed a character like her. I like to think I did an okay job. Please do consider leaving a review! I would love to read and reply to your thoughts. Also please join my Discord! I would love to talk to you all and answer all your questions! I talk a lot about my thought process while writing, so if you're interested in that, do consider joining. The url is discord . gg (forego the spaces) followed by a slash and CpVs7R8KXz. Unfortunately you'll have to type the rest of the url in manually because I'm not allowed to post links. If you want to read chapters as soon as they're finished along with a slew of other benefits, check out my Patron at pat reon dot com slash kfpisnotacult. They've already read up to chapter 19. Thank you for reading and I'll catch you on the flipside.