Shirou, true to his words, was incredibly surprised by his party's performance in combat.
The day had started nicely, as he woke up and prepared some of the groceries from the previous night into a delicious… Japanese? Style breakfast, which the rest of his party members who slowly woke up one by one greatly appreciated.
Manato shook his head wryly as he looked down at the delicious omelet he had just bit into. "And he can cook, too, huh? How's a guy even supposed to compete?" He spared a glance over at the curvy mage who was letting out moans of pure delight as she tasted her own food.
Everyone finished their food and suited up, with Shirou taking a moment to check on each of them and spending some of his Prana reserves to strengthen their clothing, armor, and weapons. He cautioned them that if they were wearing cloth, even if the fabric might protect them from cuts, it wouldn't stop blunt force from being transferred through, or from a piercing attack just driving the reinforced fabric into a wound if it was strong enough. Finally, he had told them that for their first few fights, he was going to take on an observing role and only step in if somebody seemed like they were in danger, so that he could analyze their fighting styles and help them work together efficiently. Haruhiro looked pleased that someone was stepping into a leadership position, but Manato seemed a little rankled at taking orders from Shirou. Regardless, they all set out into the forests surrounding Altana to search for what was supposedly the weakest of the monsters that threatened humanity: The Mud Goblin, or mudgob for short.
Shirou, from his position at the back of the group where he walked with strung bow, thought that part of the reason why they hadn't found any goblins yet was perhaps because of the intense banter going on amongst the group, which he tried to stay out of for the most part. Yume and Ranta went at each other, with the former blaming the latter for being the reason that they hadn't seen any of the local wildlife, and Ranta retaliating by calling the girl flat. This led to a frantic Dread Knight apologizing profusely at arrow-point, only to immediately resume his name calling once safe. The bickering finally stopped when Ranta started yelping and jumping up and down like he was dancing, with some sort of small black creature, about the size of a rat, clinging to his leg.
"A pit rat!" Yume exclaimed, glancing around. "They normally attack in packs, so there's probably more around!" She yelled, struggling to be heard over Ranta's screaming "getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!"
At this, Shihoru yelped, and tried to run off in a random direction without looking where she was going, which led to her smacking directly into Moguzo, who didn't budge an inch, sending her down to her bottom.
"Fight, all of you! This is your first test!" Shirou yelled, attempting to rally the troops as suddenly a small swarm of pit rats emerged from the forest around them.
What followed, Shirou could only describe as a comedy of errors. The pit rats were too weak to tear through the group's reinforced clothing and armor, though their bites would probably leave nasty bruises, so Shirou decided to sit back completely as they didn't really pose any threat. And after all, if they couldn't fight rats, they certainly weren't ready to fight anything else.
Haruhiro was slashing and stabbing wildly with his dagger. Without finesse or any kind of strategy, it was impossible for him to hit any of the oversized rodents. Moguzo was trying to save Ranta from the rat that was still sunk into the redhead's leg with large, smashing cleaves of his sword that Ranta was barely managing to dodge, making Moguzo a bigger threat to life and safety than any of the rats really were. In between dodging the huge boy's strikes, Ranta was swinging wildly with his own sword, almost identically to Haruhiro, and with matching results. With a short incantation, Shihoru fired off a spell, a small ball of light that directly impacted the back of Ranta's head. The boy bemoaned the fact that all his teammates were trying to kill him, and diverted his attention from the pit rats entirely, starting to chase after Shihoru, who screamed and ran away again. This in turn distracted Manato, who spared a moment from using his staff against the rats – not entirely without skill, Shirou noted, but still not enough to actually land a hit one of them – to trip the Dread Knight. Yume… Shirou sighed. She, too, was swinging her kukri around wildly. Meanwhile, one of Moguzo's stray blows impacted a tree heavily, showering him in leaves and insects from above.
Finally, the fight ended as Haruhiro sacrificed himself heroically, waiting still until a pit rat sank his teeth into his leg for Manato to bash it away. At the sight of their first casualty, the rest of the rats scampered away.
Manato looked around for someone to heal, and despite the fact that nobody was bleeding, cast a few spells to heal the worst of the bruising on Haruhiro and Ranta, before spinning angrily on Shirou.
"What's the matter with you? You didn't help at all. We could have been seriously hurt!"
Shirou met Manato's glare unflinchingly. "I needed to see how you all would react under pressure. You won't grow if I do everything myself, and I need you all to be self-sufficient so that I can rest assured you won't need saving." He glanced around at the rest of the crew, who all looked rather demoralized. "First of all, Shihoru. No matter how impressed I am by your Divine Words, you need to be able to cast them with your eyes open, ok? It was alright since it was a weak spell, but what if it had been something really dangerous and you hit one of your teammates by mistake?"
The girl looked down dejectedly, and Shirou could tell that tears were threatening to spill forth again.
"Don't worry about it, ok? I'll help you train, later tonight. Just do your best today, and I'll make sure you can do it by morning. Now, Moguzo." He turned to the tall boy, who was still panting from his overexertion with his longsword. "Learn finesse. Conserve your energy. If you get tired out before you can even hit your enemy, you'll be easy pickings. And I feel like it doesn't need to be said, but don't swing at your teammates even if an enemy is on them. Actually, the first part of that applies to the three of you as well," he said while nodding towards Haruhiro, Yume, and Ranta. "Attack when you see an opening where you can hit your target, don't just swing wildly. If you do, it'll just leave openings in your guard that anything smarter than a rat will easily exploit. Yume, good thinking using your kukri instead of your bow in such a dense and chaotic melee. Haruhiro, good plan at the end, it's thanks to you I didn't have to interfere. Finally, Manato. Good staff work." He sighed as he finished his assessment. "I'm not going to lie, overall that was quite bad. Nobody even tried working together, until Manato and Haruhiro at the very end, and even then it was only thanks to Manato seizing the opportunity that Haruhiro's sacrifice wasn't in vain. And what are they even teaching you in those guilds? Wild swings are not a combat style."
The rest of the group grew more and more surly as Shirou offered his honest analysis. Finally, Manato snapped a bit. "And you, Shirou, did nothing. We can't even critique your skill back because you were too high and mighty to show it to us. Your reinforcement is useful, sure, but as far as actually being useful in combat, how do we know you're not just a poser? A real paladin wouldn't stand in the back and watch their friends be hurt."
Shirou looked conflicted at the priest's accusations. "Fine. Next time, I'll take the lead, alright? But after that, you have to trust me. I want you all to get better, to become strong."
Manato accepted Shirou's promise on the group's behalf, even though he still looked a little annoyed, and they decided to continue exploring the forest. At one point, they saw a deer, which Shirou encouraged Yume to take a shot at, but she wildly missed, making Shirou grimace and promising to take her aside for training as well that night.
Once more in the day, they were attacked by pit rats. The group reacted a bit more professionally, and Shirou had no doubt that they would have been able to fend them off with no trouble, but Manato shot Shirou a triumphant glare that made the redhead sigh and draw an arrow from his quiver.
In a high stance, he drew back the arrow, and waited until the first pit rat was only a few feet from the party before releasing. The arrow impacted directly between the beast's eyes, killing it instantly, and the rest of the swarm immediately attempted to turn tail and run. As they did so, Shirou drew three more arrows, firing them gracefully one at a time, each a perfect shot to the vitals that instantly killed a rat. Finally, he turned to take in the expressions of the rest of the party, who for the most part were watching the performance in awe. Only Manato bore a look of disappointment, like he'd wanted Shirou to fail, to miss. Shirou nodded to him, as if to ask whether he'd proven himself, and received a grudging nod in return.
After the second incident, Shirou decided that it was probably time to return home. Despite not having found any monsters, and it still being fairly early in the day, only around five o'clock, he promised he could at least cook up the pit rats he'd slain into something tasty and save them a bit of money on food, to which Moguzo looked a little green. True to his word, however, by the time the sun set around seven, nobody could find anything to complain about in the meal he'd prepared, which they had to admit was even better than most of what they would have been able to get in the marketplace. With some time left before they had to sleep, he then declared that it was time to train.
He took Yume aside first, fashioning a straw target on one side of the courtyard, and gesturing for her to try her shot, which missed completely, leading Shirou to explain the philosophy of archery to his protégé.
"You're thinking too hard about hitting the target. Focus on your form, making sure the act of shooting is perfect. You shouldn't even have to think about the target if it's standing still – so long as your form and technique are perfect, it stands to reason that there is no other result but 'the target is hit.'"
He had her go through all the motions of planting her feet and properly positioning her body, gently molding her stance with his hands until he was satisfied. He had her raise the bow until it was held just slightly above her head, and had her hold it there until her arm grew weak and she had to lower it again, and had her repeat the process for a few more minutes. Next came the draw, which was simultaneous with the lowering of the bow until it was even with the target, using her left pointer finger to set her sights, also performed for several repetitions. Finally, when the string was drawn all the way back near her cheek, came the release, as he instructed her to simply loosen her fingers, without trying to catch or tug at the string. With a thud, the arrow impacted the very outer edge of the square block of hay.
Yume instantly dropped the bow, raised both arms to the heavens, and let loose with a howl of excitement as Shirou politely clapped from behind her. She jumped up and down a few times, swept him into a big bear hug and spun him around, and then went back to jumping.
"Yume's never hit the target before! Yume's gonna prove her master wrong, and show everyone that she can be a good hunter after all!"
Finally, she managed to calm down a little bit. "Good job, Yume, but keep practicing," he told her. "Try to make the motions instinctual, and work on making them perfect. This style is good for an opening sniper shot, but if you want to be able to use it even in a fight, you need to practice until the technique is second nature to you."
"Thank you, Shirou. Yume will." She offered him a huge smile in thanks, and Shirou couldn't help but smile back. Another little half memory… something about a smile, and wanting to save people… They just don't stop coming, do they? Shirou thought. It's amazing how much past experiences can shape you, even if you don't remember them.
As Yume settled back into the almost meditative breathing pattern of concentration necessary for archery, Shirou went and fetched Shihoru from where she'd been taking a brief rest in her room. She looked nervous but excited at the prospect of private lessons with Shirou, and waited patiently as he set up another target on the opposite end of the courtyard from Yume.
"Alright, Shihoru. We're going to focus on a few things. First of all, endurance. By casting spells repeatedly here, you should be able to increase your capability to cast many in the field. Second, accuracy, just like Yume over there is practicing, and finally, performance under pressure."
Seeing that she was already getting a little shaky from nerves, Shirou took one of her hands in his own, which ceased the shaking entirely as she suddenly froze in place completely. "Shihoru. You can do this, trust me. Anybody capable of mastering High Speed Divine words and casting without a magic circuit is a genius of magecraft, and to do so in only a week is just plain incredible. Why don't you start with just trying to hit the target, and we'll see where it goes from there?"
Shihoru took a few calming breaths, did her best to ignore the fact that Shirou was watching her, and incanted "Mark em Parc!" while gesturing with her staff. The same ball of light that she'd hit Ranta with earlier impacted just to the left of the center of the target with a strength similar to that of a solid punch, and Shihoru let out the breath she didn't even know she had been holding in relief.
"Good. Again." Shirou's voice startled her into action again. With each spell, she managed to hit the target, until on her sixth cast, Shirou grabbed her by the shoulders from behind and yelled "Boo!" Just as she was about to release the spell
With a shriek, she clenched her eyes shut again, and the ball of light went off in a wild direction, shooting through an open window on the second floor of the complex from which a muffled, "Ahh, what the fuck?!" was heard. Interesting, she really does seem to accidentally target Ranta a lot, Shirou thought to himself. "You need to be able to handle distractions, even when you're afraid," he scolded her gently as she trembled. "Keep going. I'm going to try and distract you again at random intervals, but every time you close your eyes again, it'll be ten push-ups!"
Before the hour was out, Shihoru could barely feel her arms anymore and she collapsed onto her back, staring up at the night sky and the crimson moon. On the bright side, the fact that she wasn't physically capable anymore of doing what Shirou demanded of her nonetheless was a powerful incentive to keep her eyes open, even as Shirou threw hay in her face, grabbed and poked at her from all directions, and made loud noises. After a certain point, he had enlisted a bored Moguzo to continue the distractions, while he himself crouched behind the target and carried it from left to right, and then he had her try to hit it while both she and the target were moving. By the time she collapsed in exhaustion, feeling a little bullied, Shirou was pleased with her progress.
As she lay gasping for breath, joined by Yume who sat at her side, Shirou gathered up all the boys for their own training. "Alright Haruhiro, Moguzo, Ranta. Frankly, you need a lot more practice fighting, so that's what we're gonna do. Practice bouts against each other, to get used to fighting against smart, humanoid opponents. Manato and I will be training with you as well, but you should probably practice amongst each other first, until you're closer to our level."
Manato sharply turned towards Shirou, surprised both at the lack of pride such boastful words were said in, and that Shirou was placing the other boy at his own level. "Won't that be dangerous? Even if not for us, won't our equipment be damaged at the very least?"
Shirou shook his head. "Remember that other spell I told you I know? Projection? Trace: On." With a wave of his hand, four wooden weapons clattered to the ground in front of him – a dagger, a sword, a longsword, and a staff, all blunted.
"Neat," Haruhiro commented as he grabbed the dagger, prompting the rest to grab their own weapons as well. "This should let us save on our equipment, huh?"
Shirou shook his head again. "They… should… disappear in a couple of hours. I don't think I can make permanent equipment like this. And besides, I can only really make swords, with other weapons costing way more prana, armor and shields even more than that, and objects unrelated to war only at an obscene energy cost."
Haruhiro accepted the explanation, and then looked for who to pair off with, but Ranta and Moguzo were already squaring off in the middle of the courtyard. The first battle was over soon after it started, with the smaller boy cursing as he was forced to the ground before the giant.
"Ranta, you don't have the strength to go toe to toe with someone stronger than you. Focus on your agility, wait to dart in either as he winds up for a large swing or just after you've dodged one. Haruhiro, you're up next."
Haruhiro seemingly took Shirou's advice for Ranta as well. Keeping out of range of the longsword was easy for the lightly armored thief, and he allowed Moguzo to tire himself out with heavy swings before finally darting in just as he wound up for a [Rage Cleave], or whatever the Warrior's Guild was calling a basic diagonal slash these days, and stabbing Moguzo's wrist with the basic thief skill, [Hit]. I mean, really? They weren't even trying with that one. Regardless, it was effective, and Moguzo's loosened grip at the height of his backswing sent his sword flying backwards out of his hands, and Haruhiro, looking surprised at his own victory, quickly had his wooden dagger to Moguzo's throat.
"Nice, Haruhiro. Moguzo, don't overcommit to attacks that don't have a good chance of landing. Ranta, you and Haruhiro are next."
The third fight was by far the longest. Ranta was too quick for the same strategy to work for Haruhiro again, which led to a lot of them dancing around each other and trying to get in a quick blow. In the end, even if Haruhiro was a little faster, Ranta's much longer reach was enough to rack up enough smaller bruises on his opponent that Haruhiro was eventually forced to concede.
"Oh! Yume gets it! It's kinda like rock paper scissors, huh?"
Shirou was forced to admit that it did seem like a rather sound analogy for what they'd just witnessed. "Good win, Ranta. Yume's kind of right. Moguzo, your ideal opponent is somebody who thinks of themselves as strong, but that you can still overpower – which considering your own strength, should be most people you fight. Watch out for people who are even bigger and stronger than you, though, because the same thing will happen to you if you test your strength against somebody you aren't ready for, at least until you can make up the difference in skill. Haruhiro, at the opposite end of the spectrum, you want to look out for high power targets of opportunity that you can outmaneuver and land a telling blow on, but your lack of strength and reach makes you a sitting duck for anybody who can match you in speed. Ranta, you're best as a skirmisher who darts in and out of the front lines, not really testing your strength or speed against anybody, just targeting whoever looks most exposed with quick hit and run tactics. Now, which of you wants to fight Manato?"
"Actually," the priest cut him off, "I would rather fight you."
Shirou thought for a moment, and then nodded along. "Sure, it could be a good teamwork exercise. All four of you against me."
Haruhiro sputtered a little bit from where he was gulping down some water from the well. "Sorry, Shirou, you want to fight us four vs. one?"
Manato himself narrowed his eyes a bit. "You're good with a bow, I'll give you that, but you're an arrogant bastard if you think you can take us all on in melee. I know for a fact you didn't learn a single combat skill at the Paladin's guild."
Shirou just shrugged. "I wasn't trying to brag or anything. I just think it'll be a good test of your teamwork. Come at me, I'm ready when you are."
The other boys gathered up their weapons again, and stood in a loose circle around the still unarmed redhead, sizing him up. By now, Shihoru had gathered enough energy to sit up again, and still leaning heavily on Yume, watched the growing fight with bated breath.
Ranta was predictably the first to charge in, with a fierce battle cry, despite Shirou's recent advice that he wait for targets of opportunity, but he was avoided with a lazy sidestep. The other three had rushed forwards just after Ranta had, with Moguzo taking the front and Manato and Haruhiro trying to maneuver around Shirou's flanks. As Ranta passed, Shirou extended a foot, causing the Dread Knight to stumble and roll forward into Moguzo's legs, slowing the giant's advance. Temporarily facing only two opponents now, Shirou suddenly turned and sprinted directly away from Manato and towards Haruhiro, much faster than the thief had expected. Tracing a bokken for himself as he ran, he brought his blade down in a slash aimed not for the head, which Haruhiro desperately raised his dagger above his head to protect, but the arm to the left of the dagger Shirou had correctly predicted would be there. If he hadn't pulled back at the last second, he would have shattered Haruhiro's wrist, and even as it was the brunette was easily disarmed, and the simulated slash across the throat that Shirou performed with a dagger he'd projected for himself in his off-hand left Haruhiro with no illusions about whether or not he was still in the fight.
Shirou continued his run for a few more paces before sliding to a stop and spinning to face the others, as Haruhiro, with a surprising flair for the dramatic considering his usual role as the party's straight man, exaggeratedly toppled to the ground "dead." Manato had slowed his own charge after seeing what had happened, and waited for Moguzo and Ranta to catch up behind him. "Alright," he growled, "Maybe surrounding him was a bad idea. We all attack from the front, that way he can't divide us like that again." The trio advanced, a little more warily this time, at their now armed and proven dangerous quarry. As they neared, Shirou darted to the left – Ranta's side – as he kicked up a cloud of dust into the Dread Knight's eyes. With the enraged and temporarily blinded boy between him and his target, Manato attempted to circle around Ranta and swung with his staff, but Shirou easily parried the technically sound but well telegraphed attack with the sword in one hand as he delivered a powerful side thrust kick to Ranta's undefended chest, once more sending him flying into the approaching Moguzo. The only difference was that this time, as Shirou leaped over their prone forms to put distance between himself and Manato again, only Moguzo struggled to his feet again, with his small friend still lying in the dirt gasping for air.
"Bastard! Fight fair!" Manato yelled as he advanced again, spinning his staff. Shirou just let out a small chuckle at that as he dropped his wooden dagger, projecting a steel one as he did so. At this, Shihoru let out a loud gasp from the sidelines, and Manato visibly paused. Shirou looked at him disapprovingly as he ran his left thumb across the edge of the wickedly sharp knife before letting it dissipate, and said calmly "To hesitate on the battlefield means death." Anger renewed, Manato resumed his advance, but as the priest approached, Shirou held out the bokken straight in front of him and then flipped it around so the other side of the blade was facing Manato – upon which was engraved a small hexagram, smeared with fresh blood. The night sky was suddenly lit by a dazzling gleam coming from Shirou's sword, and Manato was left suddenly blinded as his eyes struggled to adjust. He backpedaled rapidly so Shirou couldn't close with him as he rubbed his eyes desperately, but the blinding light didn't seem to be moving from where it had originated. By the time he could once again make out his surroundings, an agonizing few seconds later, he realized that the bokken had been thrust into the ground in front of him, and whirled to see another wooden blade being pulled across Moguzo's throat from behind, and yet another one stabbing into the ground besides a still gasping Ranta for good measure.
Alone, Manato could do nothing more than charge at the man – no, the monster before him. This time, he was met with no tricks, no evasions, just a stony faced killer who casually blocked even his most powerful swings with a freshly projected wooden bastard sword. In desperation, all he could do was increase the strength of his blows, and as each successive strike was blocked just as contemptuously as the rest, his hands grew a little more numb, until his staff was swatted out of his hands and sent spinning off into the distance. He fell to his knees in defeat, and felt smooth, cold wood glide across his neck as Shirou stared down at him with utterly merciless eyes.
Shirou paused as he realized that everybody present was staring at him, with a mix of awe and horror in their eyes, and attempted to break the tension by teaching. "When outnumbered, divide and conquer. Take out threats as fast as possible, and don't let them gang up on you – the faster you kill, the faster the odds are back in your favor. If possible, use your enemies against each other – force them to get in each other's ways, make them pull their blows for fear of hitting their friends. If you're on the other side, outnumbering a single foe, don't let them do the same to you – focus on protecting those beside you more than taking out your enemies hastily – you have time to be cautious, they don't. Finally, use every advantage in a fight, no matter what's fair. Honor doesn't matter to the dead."
"Where did you learn all this, Shirou? Magic, fighting… all those scars… what were you, Shirou? What are you?" Yume asked with tears of compassion and pity coming to her eyes as she struggled to imagine just what kind of hardships would forge someone into the type of person that Shirou was.
Shirou flinched from her pitying gaze. "I don't know what I was, Yume. Or what I am."
"I-I think Shirou is our friend. Umm, now, that is," Shihoru stuttered out.
"Well, I'm glad he's on our side, I guess," Ranta wheezed, having finally recovered from having the wind knocked out of him. "With a training regimen like that, the Dark Lord Ranta will be the strongest around in no time!"
"Get some sleep, all of you. You've earned it," Shirou gently ordered. "Another day of hunting tomorrow. Manato, I think some people would appreciate it if you would heal their bruises before bed."
The silky haired priest quietly complied as Shirou rinsed himself off with cold well-water. He heard everybody else slowly filing up to their rooms, too tired to even wash themselves after their exertion, but turned around at the sound of soft footsteps approaching to see Shihoru coming up behind him. "Shirou-sempai… could I make a request?" She asked nervously.
"Of course, you don't even have to ask," he reassured her.
"Seeing you fight, like that… without fear in your eyes… can you make me strong like that too?" Her earnest gaze was tinted by fear and hope in equal measures. "I don't want to be scared anymore, Shirou. Ever since we got here, I've been terrified, terrified that I can't remember who I am or where I came from, terrified that I was forced to fight, that I might get hurt… that any of us might get hurt. So please, please, teach me to be strong like that too!" The speech, the longest Shirou had ever heard from the shy mage, was rambling faster as she built up steam and as tears made their way to the surface. "I'll do anything, any training you want me to, just please take away the fear!"
By now, the tears were flowing freely, and Shirou really didn't know how to handle the situation. He awkwardly put his hand on her shoulder, and was surprised as she threw herself forward against him in response. He lowered his arms down around her and gently squeezed as she sobbed into his chest. "Why, Shirou? Why are you even here? You're too strong to be with us… too strong for even Renji's group, probably! You could be with any group you wanted, so why…" The sobs started to quiet down as she trailed off, until finally she was just hiccupping, but she made no move to pull away, so Shirou kept her wrapped in the hug.
"The only thing I've ever wanted was to save people," Shirou said as he gazed off into the sky over Shihoru's head. "You, Shihoru, you and everyone else… you looked like you needed saving."
Shihoru looked up at him, her face red and puffy from the tears, and asked "So if you saw somebody else that needed saving… you would leave us?"
Shirou grimaced. "To save one means not saving another, huh…? No. I won't leave you. I've already committed to saving you all, and if staying by your side no matter what comes is what that takes, then I promise that's what I'll do."
"Thank you," the tiny mage whispered into the magus' chest.
"If you wake up early, tomorrow… I'll meet you in the courtyard. I'll teach you how to become a proper magus."
Shirou felt her nod into his chest, but not long after that, as he realized that she hadn't moved in a while, he discovered that she'd fallen asleep standing up while propped against him. Gently, so as not to wake her up, he swept her up into his arms and carried her up to hers and Yume's room. The hunter was still awake, waiting for her roommate to return, and as Shirou laid Shihoru down on her bed, Yume looked down on him from the upper bunk with another of those wonderfully wide, genuine smiles, and nodded her head gratefully at him before he turned to go.