Hello everyone! If people notice the dramatic transformation and lack of grammatic/synatax issues that would be thanks to my editor (DiscereEstVivet), who volunteered his time to help edit this chapter. Please thank DiscereEstVivet for the help. Without further ado, please enjoy the chapter.
Chapter Five "The Start of a Familia"
Liliruca Arde hummed and skipped happily down the street. She was so excited to meet Shirou and work with him again. It might have only been a week since they had started adventuring together in the Dungeon, but it felt like they had been working as a team for years already.
As she remembered her experiences with Shirou, drool started to form at the corner of Lili's lips. She blushed and quickly brushed her drool away while looking around to see if anyone saw. It was so embarrassing that she was drooling just thinking about Shirou's food, but Lili couldn't help it. Just as her patron god, Soma, made some of the most delicious and addicting wine, Shirou's food nearly had the same effect. Hell, Lili had even suspected that Shirou was the god of cooking in disguise. It was that good.
"Lili, do you want something to eat right now?" A familiar voice asked in a friendly tone.
"Argh!" Lili screamed as she jumped. "Shirou-sama…" She sighed as it turned out the person she had just been thinking about was already here. "Please don't do that. You scared me!"
"But your reaction was so cute. I couldn't resist," said Shirou with a smile. "Can you forgive me?"
"You shouldn't have…" Lili said as she prepared to harshly rebuke Shirou when saw something that caught her eyes. "Mine!" She screamed as shesnatched the shortcake in Shirou's hand. "Don't think you can bribe me with this!" She shouted in a defensive tone while chewing on the shortcake cutely. "Food is just part of the payment…"
Shirou smiled as he held up a small pouch and shook it before Lili. "So, you don't want this?"
"No! My food for today!" Lili shouted as she snatched the pouch from Shirou's grasp. She inspected the contents inside the pouch and asked, "So what floor are we going to today?"
"That depends," said Shirou as a table materialized before him, "on which of these that you take."
Lili watched in fascination at the objects that Shirou materialized and placed on the table. It was always interesting to watch the motes of light gathering around his hands as it transformed into various objects.
"What are these?" Lili asked as she grabbed a small rectangular box the size of two fingers put side to side and a finger long.
"They are 'magazines'," said Shirou, "just think of them as a quiver that is imbued with spatial magic to carry the bolts for your crossbow."
"What a strange name." Lili said as she pressed her hand carefully through one of the magazine's two holes.
She let out a surprised yelp when something fell out of the other hole. It was some kind of bolt which was much longer than the magazine itself. The bolt landed on the ground with a solid thump. It looked much heavier despite not being about three fingers long and a finger thick. An object of a similar size, for comparison, has only a tenth of its weight.
Seeing the unasked question in Lili's eyes, Shirou started explaining. "The crossbow bolts are made out of tungsten carbide, which makes it stronger and heavier than other crossbow bolts. As a result, they also have additional stopping and penetration power compared to the common crossbow bolt." Shirou then explained the magazine's functionality. "Each magazine holds a different type of bolt. Some for pure stopping power. More penetration power. Others are more exotic containing poisons or magical spells."
"This is a huge arsenal of crossbow bolts, useful for just about every enemy in the Dungeon." Lili said with glowing eyes. "It must have cost a fortune, I am grateful for the gift."
"It would be worth a fortune if I sold it," said Shirou with a sly smile, "but money isn't something I am short on. All the gear that I have provided to you in the past and right now was made by me, I only need time to make such equipment."
"You only needed time to create the gear we use?" Lili asked in a surprised tone.
Shirou nodded and continued on, "That's right. As you probably already noticed, I used magic to create the gear we use. It is called Projection Magic, as long as it is not a living creature or something with a soul, I can create it. The more I know about the item the more powerful and complex the Projection can become."
"You create items? Not summon them as I had assumed?" Lili asked in a surprised tone.
"That's right." He nodded. "I have much more than just those magazines for crossbow bolts."
Motes of light started to coalesce until more and more objects started to appear on the table. Many of the objects were what she was familiar with, while some Lili had some idea about and most others she didn't have a what their function is.
"I made a wrist-mounted crossbow that is superior in every way to the Little Ballista that you use,it also has a few extra surprises." Shirou said as he gently grabbed Lili's right hand and started to put the crossbow on her wrist. "Try using it."
Lili wondered how her new crossbow was superior to her Little Ballista. She spotted an old glued paper in the distance and inserted one of the many bolt magazines Shirou had given her. Aiming at the target, Lili was about to press the trigger when the crossbow fired.
"What just happened?!" Lili shouted in surprise as she looked at the new wrist-mounted crossbow and the target she had been aiming at before turning to Shirou.
He chuckled at Lili's reaction and started explaining the crossbow's new feature. "The bracelet the crossbow mounted on is magically enchanted, it is magically enchanted to detect your thoughts,so it will fire the moment you mentally command it to do so. This is to free up your left hand from having to press the crossbow trigger. Now with your free left hand, you can hold a weapon or a shield if you so desire."
"Wow! This is amazing. I have never heard something that can read your mind being used to fire a crossbow. Why haven't others done such a thing?" Lili asked in awe.
Shirou resisted the urge to explain why no one had made a thought-sensing weapon. The number of resources, effort, and time to make a single crossbow that was not much more powerful than a regular one would have been completely wasted. Only someone with a Reality Marble like himself that could replicate some of the most powerful and complicated weapons to exist such as Noble Phantasms would create a thought-fired crossbow for a friend.
"Someone might have in the past, but we have never heard about it." Said Shirou with a wry smile. "So what do you think? Do you like it?"
"Like it? I love it! This is the best weapon that anyone has given me." Lili replied with shining eyes. "Yet, I got the feeling you got more things for me."
Shirou nodded. He grabbed another piece of equipment he had created for Lili and started to explain it to her.
- O -
A crossbow bolt punched into the skull of an orc. Bones crumbled under the bolt's enormous piercing power as brain matter splattered out from the back where the bolt then pierced through to hit another orc behind its killed brethren.
Lili quickly turned her attention to another orc that was heading towards her. She pointed her new crossbow at the orc and with a thought, several bolts fired in rapid succession. Each arrow hits various joints, restricting movement and the orc went crashing down. The opportunity to take out the downed orc didn't come as Lili was quickly forced to take her attention to another orc that was coming from behind her.
Another orc roared as it attacked her from the front. She was forced to block the orc's sword with the dagger in her left hand while pivoting her body around so that she could aim her crossbow in her right hand towards the orc that was attacking from behind. A single mental command later and the crossbow bolt pierced the heart of the orc before she turned her full attention to the orc she was blocking with her dagger.
Just as she was about to disarm the orc, Shirou came from behind and decapitated the orc. Lili's body collapsed as the adrenaline that had been fueling her started to subside.
"Are you okay?" Shirou asked as he caught Lili's trembling body.
"I'm fine." Lili sighed as she took a deep breath to calm herself. "I am still getting used to fighting on the frontline, but I think I am starting to adjust."
She glanced around her surroundings. Lili found it hard to believe how easy Shirou had made it look. As a Supporter, over the years Lili had seen her fair share of combat, but that had always been with teams of adventurers and from the sideline. As Lili soon learned, it was another thing entirely to be fighting a large group of monsters alone without any support.
"You will not be fighting alone. I am simply training you in a way so that even if you find yourself alone, you can survive." Said Shirou as he patted Lili's shoulder.
Lili pouted, she didn't like the training that Shirou was making her undergo. Her role was that of a Supporter, someone that was supposed to handle non-combat duties that Adventurers didn't want to do or were too exhausted from combat to do. Yet, Lili could understand his motives. They were going deeper into the Dungeon, a place where monsters were more powerful and intelligent. The times that she had been attacked while Shirou had been busy dealing with his share of monsters had slowly increased as they went deeper. So much so that it became more important than ever that she could protect herself. Shirou on the other hand wanted to train her for her own sake.
"So you're planning on training me the entire day?" Lili asked.
"That's right." Shirou nodded. "Not just today either, I'm planning to do so for several days."
" Why do you value me so highly?I have been constantly thinking about this question," Lili asked as she stared at Shirou. "if you had been a rich and naïve wannabe adventurer who pitied me for some reason, then I could understand why you were splurging money on me with excellent gear and food. Yet that isn't the case. You are an experienced adventurer, you know how the world works, so why are you investing so much of your money, time and effort into me?" Lili asked with a tinge of desperation in her voice.
Just as Shirou was about to answer, he was forced to dodge a small boulder that had been thrown at him. Lili resisted the urge to curse when Shirou swiftly disappeared. She only sighed and prepared herself for the new patch of monsters. The fact that Shirou was not intervening yet meant that he thought Lili could handle the new arrivals.
She dodged another small boulder that was now thrown in her direction. A quick scan of her surroundings revealed the enemies she was facing. Numerous goblins, likely acting as cannon fodder while the larger and better-equipped orc would act as elite troops. Lili kept a careful eye on the large troll that was acting as ranged support, the monster that had used the small boulders as projectiles. Despite the goblins and orcs charging at her, Lili remained calm. She carefully thought about the best way to defeat the monsters.
A stray thought entered her mind, Lili couldn't help but be surprised at how calm and analytic she was right now. If Lili had been the same person before she had met Shirou, she would not believe the rapid transformation she had gone through. No, she had indeed changed over the last few days, but not as much as the last few hours. A time when Shirou had stopped her from acting like a Supporter and started her hellish training.
"What are you standing there dazed for? Do you need help?" Shirou asked, his voice echoing in Lili's mind.
"I am fine." Lili quickly replied as she turned her attention back on the charging goblins and orcs.
Her new thought-controlled crossbow, which she named Little Ballista Mark II, aimed at the left at the charging mass of goblins and orcs. She then slowly moved the crossbow to the right while firing a relentless barrage of bolts.
Wearing little more than scrappy and tattered cloth, the goblins were mowed down as if they were being shot by a machine gun. Goblins died in scores as their vital organs and brains were pierced. Those lucky goblins that survived the first barrage of crossbow bolts were killed in the pandemonium as a multitude of goblins that are unharmed or lightly wounded, broke formations in an attempt to survive.
On the other side, many of the orcs were unharmed besides superficial wounds thanks to their tough skin. Their worst injuries were among those that had their eyes, nose or mouths shot at by crossbow bolts. This only further angered them and caused several orcs to charge faster ahead of their unharmed brethren.
Lili fired another barrage of crossbow bolts at the orcs, but the same results as before occurred. She only incited more and more to charge faster at her as more orcs had their vulnerable facial features hit. It was clear that firing another barrage of arrows would only prove futile and Lili was quickly attempting to switch to another set of ammunition when the first group of orcs came too close for comfort.
"This is too much for me to handle! Help!" Lili screamed in her mind.
"Got it, duck!" Shirou replied.
Lili threw herself to the ground as she felt the breeze created by objects passing over her head at extreme speeds. The sound of screams, bone, and flesh breaking soon rang in her ears as she raised her head to see what was happening.
It was a massacre. The orcs that had been invulnerable to Lili's bolts were cut apart to ribbons. If Lili's Little Ballista had been a single machine gun, then Shirou's arrow barrage was like several machine guns firing at once. The number of fired projectiles couldn't be compared, but so was each arrow's destructiveness. If Lili's bolts could be likened to anti-infantry bullets, Shirou's arrows were .50 caliber ammo fired at squishy humans.
The more of Shirou's immense power she witnessed, the more Lili failed to understand why he placed so much importance on her. Lili wasn't any more special than the other Supporter that was struggling harshly daily to make ends meet. Someone of his power, skill, and experience as an adventurer shouldn't be spending so much time and effort to train her.
With the threat over with, and seeing Lili's expression, Shirou decided on a course of action. "Before we talk about that matter," said Shirou as he gestured to their surroundings, "let's go somewhere else. This place isn't where we can have a long discussion in comfort."
Lili nodded her head in agreement. The last place she wanted to have a conversation was a place filled with corpses that stink of blood and death.
The duo quickly found themselves in a secluded cavern that was far away from the smell of the massacre. Two comfortable seats soon quickly appeared in a flash of lights. Shirou was the first to sit down, and a table soon appeared topped with food that gave off the delicious smells of freshly cooked food.
"Please sit down." Shirou said as he gestured to the free seat opposite of him. "Before I answer your question, I have a question for you. It has been something I have waited to ask for a while. Are you willing to join my Familia?"
"Join your Familia? Don't you mean the Familia that you are a part of?" Lili asked in confusion.
"You didn't mishear nor did I misspeak." Shirou shook his head. "I am a god."
"You need to think up a funnier joke next time, Shirou. Claiming that you're a deity is no laughing matter, especially if the Guild or the deities are to hear about it." Said Lili in a serious tone.
"You have heard about this document right?" Shirou asked as he produced a very fancy large scroll.
Lili took a deep breath as she stared at the scroll in Shirou's hands. "That cannot be the Guild's proof of identity given to deities right? The one that is personally written and signed by Ouranos-sama?"
"Take a look for yourself," said Shirou as he handed the scroll to Lili, "it's the proof that I am, indeed, a god."
"The writing and signature can be faked, but not the divinity imbued in writing and paper." Said Lili as if she found it hard to believe the proof of identity was real. "If you're really a god… " She stared at Shirou skeptically. "How is it that you're able to enter the Dungeon? Deities are supposed to be unable to enter the Dungeon."
"It's not that gods cannot enter the Dungeon. It is simply that when the Dungeon senses the divinity of a deity within it, it rampages. And so Ouranos forbids gods that cannot perfectly restrict their divinity from entering the dungeon. That is where the legendary anti-divine reputation of the Dungeon started." Shirou corrected Lili. "The Dungeon treats adventurers like ants, beings that are an annoyance that it can tolerate within it. Deities, or at the very least their divinity, pose a potential threat that if ignored could destroy it. So, it will do anything and everything in its power to destroy anything related to divinity. How the Dungeon reacts to gods is a secret restricted amongst deities. The only thing I can say is that several gods have disappeared or died in the Dungeon with very few amongst them surviving to escape."
"I don't mind the fact that you cannot tell me why the Dungeon is dangerous to gods." Lili huffed in an annoyed tone. "At least, tell me how you can enter the Dungeon as a god or pretend to be an adventurer. I saw you had a Falna which is impossible for deities to have."
He debated on how to respond to the question. Shirou hadn't known about it at first, but he had learned that she was a very intelligent and quick-witted girl, so lying to her wasn't really an option. This fact had been proven during his time fighting monsters with Lili in the Dungeon. So, if he lied there was a chance that Lili might notice, and that would only harm their friendship. The answer soon became apparent.
"Do you really want to know? It would take hours of explaining arcane knowledge that you have no idea about for me to answer that question satisfactorily." Shirou asked. "Just know that I am a god, who can disguise himself as an adventurer and can hunt monsters in the Dungeon."
Lili frowned and chewed her lips. "Fine, I will accept that explanation." She glared at Shirou for a while before a radiant smile blossomed on her face. "I demand more food and better tasting ones in the future as payment for my services. Consider it the price for me not prying about your secrets!"
He sighed in relief at how the situation had been resolved. At certain times, Shirou had been expecting his friendship with Lili to be harmed or severed as he had experienced numerous times in the past over similar matters.
"Don't worry, I have lots of food prepared for you." Shirou chuckled at Lili's behavior and couldn't help but recall when the friends of his past life would act the same way, especially Rin, Sakura and Arturia. He sighed as he took out the food he had prepared beforehand for Lili. It was a rather large selection of food, covering all sorts of cultures and food types. Due to a habit he had developed feeding Arturia, Shirou had prepared enough of each dish to feed several people.
"This is all I had prepared." Said Shirou as the last of the food was carefully laid out on the table.
"If this is what I get every day as part of your Familia, I'll join this instance!" Lili shouted excitedly as she tasted a small proportion of all the food. "What are you the god of?"
"My divine domain covers heroes." Shirou replied. Well technically it's Heroic Spirits, but it seems like the existence of Heroic Spirits is completely unknown in this world or a secret that a select few only know.
"I never heard about a god of heroes. Are you a relatively unknown god? Cause I don't ever recall a god with the name 'Shirou Emiya'." Lili asked curiously as she continued to eat.
"I'm not surprised that a mortal like you doesn't know my name." Shirou laughed. "A new god hasn't been born since a millennia ago, and I just recently ascended."
"Ascended?" Lili repeated as she stopped eating and stared at him.
"I can't discuss the details about that, but suffice it to say that it has something to do with divine secrets." Shirou sighed. "So how is the food?"
"It's fantastic. Your food is the best I have ever tasted, but I can't really compare on how it would fare against the greatest chefs in Orario. I don't have the money nor connections to get such a chance. Yet, I got the feeling that no mortal chef could likely compare to your skill in cooking." Lili replied.
Shirou smiled. "I am sure there are plenty of mortal chefs that are comparable to me. They have dedicated their entire lives to cooking while I cooked out of necessity and as a hobby. Let's not forget that there are mortal chefs amongst the long-lived mortal races like elves that are older than I after all."
"Well, I can't really say whether you're right or not, I have no experience as a cook." Said Lili. "So, how do you do it? All this food would take hours to prepare and cook. Time that you couldn't possibly have when you're so busy hunting monsters with me in the Dungeon. Do you have people to make the food? Or are you using your divine powers despite it being not allowed in Genkai?"
An awkward smile grew on his face. He wanted to cry. It had been a recent discovery, but his transformation into a Divine Spirit had altered his Reality Marble somewhat. His Unlimited Blade Works continued to function like normal, but he had found that it had several new functions. One of these new functions was the ability to produce food just as he would his myriad blades. Shirou wouldn't be surprised if he was to meet Arturia one day, and she started to affectionately call his Reality Marble, Unlimited Cooking Works.
"I can use magic to produce food…" Shirou explained embarrassingly and as vaguely as possible.
"What is there to be ashamed of? You have magic to produce food! It seems like wonderful magic to me. You don't have to worry about starving and could easily feed people." Lili replied in a confused tone.
"You will not understand." Shirou shook his head. "Anyway… Do you understand why I value you so highly after I revealed my identity as a god?"
Lili nodded as she had some idea why she seemed so valuable to Shirou. It finally made some sense why Shirou invested so much time, effort and resources into her. She also got answers to several questions she had always had about Shirou she had been dying to ask about.
"I am your first potential Familia member," said Lili, "so you are very concerned as this is a foreign experience to you. It could even determine the direction of how your Familia grows amongst the many other factors that only a god of a Familia would be concerned about." Shirou nodded. "So how am I turning out as a potential first Familia member?"
"You're doing pretty good for now." Shirou said in a very pleased tone. He spotted Lili's incredulous look and said. "In your head, you must be thinking, 'there must be more worthy candidates than me, why didn't he choose a more powerful, skilled or experienced adventurer over me?'. It would be a lie for me to say that I have never had such thoughts, but all those thoughts never appeared again after I realized something. Deities are much more than just patrons of a Familia. They are supposed to be the wise and caring parent that takes care of their children."
"You do know all deities are not like that." Lili said as she stared at Shirou. "My patron god, Soma, is nowhere close to a caring godly parent. That is just an idealized standard that only a minority of deities live up to."
"I know." Shirou nodded grudgingly. "I aspire to live up to such high standards even if only a minority of deities do." His golden eyes stared at Lili, and he added. "I choose you for that reason. I will help you grow as an adventurer and as a person. In that regard, you are perfect."
Lili stared at Shirou in disbelief. The fact that Shirou cared for her deeply stirred her. It made her remember a happier time. A time when she had run away from her Familia and was treated like a normal girl, instead of slave labor Lili was used as a Supporter. She couldn't help but think back to the elderly couple that were running a flower shop. They had taken Lili in and treated her like she was their granddaughter.
No! Lili screamed in her mind as she suddenly recalled how those happy times had come to a close. Her Familia had somehow managed to track her down, beat the elderly couple and ruined their flower business. In the end, she had been dragged away by her Familia, not before the elderly couple, who she had thought would fight to protect her, started cursing at her and screaming that they had never should have taken her in.
"There, there." Said Shirou in a soothing tone as he hugged Lili, who was starting to cry. "Tell me why you are crying?"
Lili looked up at Shirou. She was so caught up emotionally with her traumatic past that she unconsciously lowered her guard and started to explain why she was crying when such a thing wouldn't have happened under normal circumstances.
The quietly listening Shirou soon became furious, but he kept his emotions to himself. Lili needed someone listening to her, not a fuming god promising revenge. He was reminded of Sakura's traumatic childhood where she had been severely abused. Thankfully, Lili hadn't suffered in the same manner as Sakura did, but Shirou could see that she had been scarred just as deeply as Sakura had been.
What is Soma doing?! The story I am hearing makes Soma's Familia sound more like a criminal enterprise than a family. Shirou screamed in his mind as he comforted Lili. "After hearing your story, I find that you are even more worthy of being the first of my Familia."
Lili was greatly touched, he was like the family that she had always wanted. Suddenly, she became emotionally conflicted. She felt unworthy of Shirou's attention and time when there were more qualified candidates to be Shirou's first Familia member. She would only bring his new Familia down if the Soma Familia was to retaliate for snatching one of their own from them.
"I want you to be my first Familia member." Said Shirou with finality. Lili was about to refute him when he shushed her. "I will not take any answers but a yes from you."
"Okay." Lili sniffed. "I can't join your Familia even if I wanted to. Soma will never allow me to change Familia, and my Familia would retaliate if only to protect their reputation that no one could leave without Soma's permission."
"Let me handle that." said Shirou as he thought up plans to handle the situation, "I might be a new god, but I have a reputation and connections that a new god couldn't have. Soma cannot possibly turn down my offer."