"Red Maverick?" asked Kim. "Kinda an odd name."

"Well... It's not really my name. It's a designation. But, you don't want to know about boring me!" said Red with a large grin. "I am here to formally register you to Holy Grail Wars. Kim, Dan, can I see your Summoning Spells?"

Kim stretched out her right hand to show the hibiscus-looking mark at the back of her right hand. Dan showed the swirls on his hand.

"Yes, those are indeed Summoning Spells. Kim, your Servant is Archer and Dan's Servant is Assassin, yes?" He inspected all 4 of them, looking at their eyes, clothes, their faces. "Great! I officially accept you to the First New Manila Holy Grail War!"

"That's it?" asked Dan.

"That's it! Oh, well, I gotta go. Russia is waiting."

"What are you doing in Russia?" queried Kim.

"Supervising the Holy Grail War there, of course!" And with that, Red vanished, disintegrating into shadow.

For a while, there was silence. Nothing but the wind made any sound. Kim and Dan were wide-eyed, dumbfounded by what had just happened. And Dan is especially shaken up, now that he's just gotten his Servant. He knows who his Servant is, of course. There is no need for formal introductions. But it's more than that; Dan has been so invested in the life of this man. He's not even his childhood hero anymore, more like a close friend.

De Vera then breaks the silence. "Come on, then. Let's get to work!"

"Wait, I don't get it. What are we doing, again?"

"Dan, we're trying to see if you can use Magecraft. Eventually, there will come a time when you'll have to defend yourself. Magecraft would be the optimum solution, but of course, we'll have to see if you have magic circuits first. Okay, Kim, you go first"

Kim walks towards de Vera. "Right. Stretch out your hand. I'm going to disperse my prana in the are. Try to focus and collect the mana I will release. Okay?"

"How will I know it is finished?"

"You will feel a difference. A distinguishable sensation. Ok, are you ready?"

Kim looked at Sir de Vera, determined, and said, "Do it."

Nico closed his eyes and expended prana all around him. The prana danced around, dancing, but then, it started moving towards one point. Kim was pulling the prana into her body, and when she felt the prana enter her body, she opened here eyes and smiled a mischievous smile. She could use Magecraft.

"Excellent," said Nico. "Dan? You're turn."

Dan is now really pumped up. After seeing Kim succeed at her first attempt in Magecraft, Dan is excited to see that he can do Magecraft too. He closes his eyes to focus his energy in absorbing the prana. He nods at Nico and Nico disperses the prana into the air. Daniel is concentrating really hard, flexing and contracting every part of his body. And... nothing.

"What's wrong?"

De Vera shuts his eyes and shakes his head in disappointment. He then quickly says, "But that's ok! Because there is good news."

"Wait, what?" Says Dan, shocked at the idea that there is good news when he clearly could not use Magecraft. "I don't get it. How can I defend myself now? I can't use Magecraft?"

"True. That doesn't mean you still can't use magic." Nico said, as he smiled a sly smile, as if he had something up his sleeve.

"Wait, so Magecraft is not magic?" asked Kim.

"Magecraft is magic, but magic is not Magecraft, do you get it?" Kim and Dan stared back with blank faces.

"The Philippines has a different energy of magic. Most parts of the world have raw mana scattered, requiring Magic Circuits to be transformed into usable magic energy. However, some parts of the world have no energy, requiring the creation of new kinds of magic. The Philippines is different. Magic works so that your faith is your energy. The larger your faith on a certain idea, object, or person, the greater your power. Your faith, then, also determines you magic. The only reason Kim can use Magecraft is because her faith matches that magic. Yours, however, is different."

"How do we know what magic I can use."

"That... I haven't figured out yet."

"Great."

"You know what, why don't you set up the tent, grab a sleeping bag, and go ahead and rest. You can do your Servant training tomorrow. For now, I'll be practicing Kim in using Magecraft."

"That's swell." Dan went to the trunk to grab the tent. Kim's head follows as Dan walks away.

Dan sat up. He couldn't sleep. Well, between being excited for finally being inside something like a video game, being anxious for how defenseless he would be, and being envious of his best friend doing something better than him, I bet you wouldn't be able to rest either.

"Can't sleep?' Startled, Dan looked behind him. His Assassin was there, indian sitting behind him.

"No. Not my best night."

"You should try to rest. There's no use training when you're tired."

"I must ask... who are you?' I haven't figured it out yet. You don't look like an Assassin I know."

"Don't I? Maybe, that's because you haven't met me."

"You do look familiar."

Assassin looked up, straight at Dan's eye and said, "My name is Desmond Miles."

"You... you're... but...?"

"But?"

"You look nothing like Desmond Miles."

Assassin takes off his hood, and suddenly Dan knew who he was. Actually, he figured he knew the entire time that that was Desmond. Why he couldn't recognize him earlier, he didn't know... "You're hood, is that what it does?"

"Pretty much."

Dan widens his eyes. "So, wait, you're Desmond. That's amazing."

"Right. The contract is now official, Daniel...?"

"Daniel Santiago. The name is Daniel Santiago. So glad to finally meet you sir, Desmond Miles."

"You should sleep, now. You have to learn to contain your excitement."

"I'll try," replied Dan, as he lay down to rest. As his eyes shut, he sees bright light from outside the tent. He turns around to concentrate on his sleep.