Author's note: Well...this fic now has 242 favorites, 251 followers, and 68 reviewers. I thank all of you who favorited it, followed it, and reviewed it.

"Master? Are you okay? You seemed a bit down today," Shirou asked as he was escorting Ritsuka to his room.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," Ritsuka replied tiredly. "It's just probably your imagination."

Shirou looked at him suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm just really tired right now."

"Well, if you say so."

Ritsuka then went ahead of Shirou and went into his room, leaving Shirou with a few questions on his mind. "Wonder what is up with master today..."

Meanwhile, Ritsuka slammed himself on the bed after a long day of doing a quest. He was exhausted as the quest took its toll on him.

However, he wasn't feeling just exhausted.

He was also depressed, not at the quest.

But rather at himself.

Because of his own weakness.

"Am I too weak to be a master of Chaldea? Is there anything else that I can do beside summoning servants?"

That was the thing that was on his mind as he thought back on what happened on that quest.

(Flashback to earlier...)

"Okay, I think that's all of them," Shirou said as he took his katana out from a bandit.

"Is that so?" Mashu asked.

"I don't sense anymore enemies around here, so we should be good."

Shirou then cleaned the blood off his katana as he looked at the corpes that fell to his sword. Earlier, Ritsuka accepted a quest involving a group of bandits having access to a dangerous weapon that could change history itself. To prevent that from happening, Ritsuka formed a group with Mashu and Shirou and rayshifted to an area where the bandits and the weapon were nearby.

After Ritsuka and his group found the bandits along with the weapon, they proceeded to fight the bandits, and seemingly killed them all.

Or so as they thought...

"Okay then, lets destroy the weapon," Ritsuka said.

However, out of nowhere, a bandit snuck up behind Ritsuka and placed a dagger in front of his throat.

"Master!" Shirou exclaimed.

"Senpai!" Mashu exclaimed.

"Don't move! Or else I'll slash this kid's throat!" the bandit exclaimed threateningly.

While the bandit may look like he had the upper hand in using Ritsuka as a hostage, in truth he was in a state of panic. After all, he just did see his comrades getting slaughtered by Shirou and Mashu. Within his state of panic, he hoped to use Ritsuka as mean to escape from the bloodbath he just witnessed and not be a victim of it as well.

"Okay! If you want this brat alive, drop your weapons!" the bandit exclaimed.

"And then what?" Shirou asked.

"Isn't it obvious?! I'm taking this brat with me as a hostage!"

Mashu was in a loss of words. "W-What do we do Shirou-san?!"

Shirou stayed calm.

"D-Didn't you hear me?! Drop your weapons!" the bandit exclaimed nervously.

Trying to calm the situation, both Mashu and Shirou dropped their weapons.

However, Shirou had a plan in mind. As he dropped his katana, he said two words.

"Trace on."

As soon as he said that, a black bow along with a twisted sword appeared in his hands. He then assumed into a shooting pose.

This made Ritsuka, Mashu, and the bandit surprised immediately.

"A bow?!" Ritsuka and Mashu thought.

"W-Wait! Don't you care about the kid?! I'll kill him you know!"

"S-Shirou-san! W-What are you doing?!" Mashu nervously exclaimed.

Shirou then telepathically talked to Ritsuka.

"Master, are you alright?"

"Uh Shirou, are you okay with the bow? Because we're in a tricky situation here."

"Relax. Trust me. If you're scared, just close your eyes."

Ritsuka closed his eyes and hoped that Shirou was able to defuse the situation.

"Hey! Are you even listening?! I'll kill this brat you know!"

However, in a swift moment, Shirou released the string, shooting the twisted sword right into the bandit's face accurately, leaving Ritsuka no harm. The bandit's dead body slumped backwards, falling into the ground.

Both Ritsuka and Mashu were amazed with the display of power Shirou has just released on the bow.

After all, he's a saber servant, yet he can use the bow as well.

"I'm sorry master. I didn't know there was one more bandit hiding over there. Are you all right?" Shirou asked.

Ritsuka was stunned.

"Master?"

"Eh? Oh, y-yes,"Ritsuka said after he snapped out of his daze.

Shirou let out a smile, knowing that his master was safe. "Okay then, let's destroy that weapon."

As Ritsuka, Mashu, and Shirou proceed to find the weapon, Ritsuka was having multiple thoughts going in his head throughout the quest. However, they were all related because of one thing.

The moment he became a hostage and couldn't do anything about it.

(Back to the present...)

"How did I not see that bandit coming? I mean seriously, I faced singularities scarier than this. Was I really that careless? If it wasn't for Shirou's pinpoint accuracy, things would be different than now. Am I this weak? Have I not changed at all?" Ritsuka thought as he rolled over on his bed and looked at the ceiling. "What should I do?"

After a few minutes of thinking, Ritsuka finally got his answer.

"Guess I'll hit the training room tomorrow and maybe learn a few skills over there."

Ritsuka then went back to sleep.

(The next day...)

Mashu was walking around Chaldea, looking for Ritsuka. Earlier, she tried to wake him up, but he wasn't in his room. She searched everywhere but couldn't find him.

Desperate, she went into Chaldea's summoning room, hoping to find him there.

Sadly, she didn't find him, but she did find Da Vinci, who's currently working on something.

"Oh, Mashu. Can I help you with something?" Da Vinci said.

"Yes. Have you seen senpai?"

"Ritsuka huh? Hm...last time I saw him, he was here earlier."

"Where is he now?"

"He said he was going to the training room, and he was in such a hurry too."

"Really? How come?"

"Apparently he said he wanted to get stronger."

"Really? What's the occasion?"

"I don't know actually. Do you have any idea?"

"Who knows. Do you?"

"Nope. Anyways, thanks Da Vinci," Mashu said as she left the summoning room and headed towards the training room. As she arrived at the training room, she saw Ritsuka on the treadmill running nonstop. Not only that, but the fact that he is sweating a lot means that he's been there for quite a while. "S-Senpai?"

"Huh? Oh, hey...Mashu!" Ritsuka said while breathing on the treadmill.

"Senpai...are you training?"

"Yeah!"

"But why?"

"Isn't it obvious? To get...stronger...of course!" Ritsuka huffed while running on the treadmill.

"Huh...mind if I join?" Mash asked.

"Sure."

Mashu then went on the vacant treadmill next to Ritsuka, powered it up, and began running as well. As she began running, she noticed something on Ritsuka's treadmill.

The amount of time Ritsuka spent on the treadmill was long. In fact, too long.

And it freaked her out a little bit.

"Uh...Sempai...just how long have you been on the treadmill?" Mashu asked.

"Eh? Oh, about a few hours I guess," Ritsuka replied. "Why?"

"Well...check the amount of time spent on your treadmill."

Ritsuka followed Mashu's request and checked the amount of time he spent on the treadmill.

He spent three hours on the treadmill.

"Oh," was all Ritsuka just said after being on the treadmill before focused on running again.

"S-Sempai! Are you alright!?"

"Huh? I'm fine. Why?"

"You've been running for three hours straight! Haven't you taken a break yet?"

"Yeah. About 10 minutes earlier."

Mashu let out a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't overworking himself.

"But seriously though, are you okay with this?"

"Relax. I'll be fine."

Later on in the day, after he did his running on the treadmill, he then proceeded to hit the sandbags multiple times until it was lunchtime, and even then, he goes back into the training room until dinner occurred.

And even after that, he continues to train...

(A few weeks later...)

"Do you think something is wrong with master today?" Shirou asked Mashu in the cafeteria.

"You think so too Shirou-san?" Mashu replied.

"Yeah. Recently he's been going into the training room every day in his free time and every time when its either breakfast, lunch, or dinner time, he would eat really fast and just head back towards the training room."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and that's not only it."

"What do you mean?"

Shirou let out a sigh. "Earlier, I saw something drop out of Master's pocket, and you wouldn't believe what it was."

"What was it?"

"It was his training regime, and honestly, the contents of the training regime is just too crazy."

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently his training regime consisted of 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, 100 squats, then a 10 kilometer run on the treadmill."

"What?!" Mashu exclaimed.

"Yeah, and he's been doing that for a few weeks now."

"Ehhhh?!"

"Yeah."

"W-Why though? Why is senpai doing this crazy training regime? Do you have any idea what could possibly make him do something like this?"

Shirou gave it a long thought but came up with nothing. "Sorry, but I got nothing. Do you?"

Mashu shook her head. "Me neither."

"Then shall we ask master then?"

"S-Sure!"

Shirou and Mashu then left the cafeteria and went to the training room to see if Ritsuka was still there. As they arrived, they saw Ritsuka at the sandbags, punching them nonstop.

"Uh master?" Shirou said.

"Huh? Oh, hey Mashu, Shirou."

"Master, don't you think that you're overworking yourself with this training regime of yours?"

"What? Of course not! If anything, I feel better than before!"

"You sure about that?"

"Yes! Now, I need to work on the next part-" Ritsuka exclaimed but was cut off as he suddenly falling over. "What the...my body...why don't I feel so good all of a sudden...?" he thought as fell to the ground before passing out.

"Master/Senpai!" Mashu and Shirou exclaimed.

(A few hours later...)

"Mnnnnngh...wha?" Ritsuka said while waking up.

"Senpai! Oh, thank the root that you're awake!" Mashu exclaimed in relief.

"Wha...what? W-Where am I?"

"You're in the medical room. Apparently, you passed out in the training room."

"I see. Did you and Shirou brought me over here?"

"Yes."

Ritsuka let out a sigh. "Mashu, I'm sorry for passing out in the training room."

"It's okay senpai, although I want to ask you a question," Mashu replied.

"What is it?"

"Why are you doing something like this all of a sudden?"

"Well...to get stronger of course."

"And why?"

Ritsuka didn't say anything to that question.

"Senpai, please tell me," Mashu said with a pout.

Ritsuka sighed as Mashu unleashed her cute pouting face. By the root he knows that he can't resist that face of hers. "All right. Mashu, you want to know reason why I've been overworking myself with this crazy training regime, right?"

Mashu nodded in reply.

"Well...it's because of the quest that happened a while ago."

"The one with the bandits and the weapon?"

"Yes. That one."

"What about it?"

"Well...let's just say...I was frustrated at myself."

"For what?"

"For letting my guard down and letting myself being a hostage."

"Aw senpai, don't get so down about that."

"It's not just that though. I'm also frustrated at my own weakness. By my own inability to help my friends and servants. It feels like I haven't changed this whole time. Not only that, but after looking at Shirou's display of power, I couldn't help but feel weak at him. Not to mention the fact that he used to be a magus until his death. Do you think he came from a powerful line of magus since he was a magus during his time when he was alive?"

"You're wrong about that part," A voice said from the doorway.

Ritsuka and Mashu jumped at the voice and turned their heads to see who was at the doorway. "S-Shirou?!" they excalimed.

"Yeah. I came by to check on master. Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Good. So, I've heard that the reason why you've been pushing yourself with that training regime was that you felt yourself as weak correct?"

"Y-Yes."

"And you think that I came from a powerful line of magus?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Well Master...to tell you the truth...I'm not from a powerful line of Magus."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If anything, I'm probably a third-rate magus who can only do projection and reinforcement. Maybe second-rate at best too."

"Huh. Who taught you magecraft then?"

"My adpotive father. And even then, I had to learn projection and reinforcement on my own after he died."

Ritsuka and Mashu were shocked at what Shirou just said. He stated that he was a third-rate magus like Ritsuka who only knows two types of magecraft: projection and reinforcement.

"Let me tell you a piece of advice master. There is no definite definition of the words "strong and weak." Those two words have multiple meanings, and those meanings can be defined in many ways more than one. You are strong in your own way, Mashu is strong in her own way, and I'm strong in my own way. The reversal can be applied to us too. Don't let the past drag you down. Instead, use that experience to live for the future. Do you get it?"

Ritsuka and Mashu were in awe at what Shirou just said, especially Ritsuka.

"I think I get it now. So basically, I'm not weak. Rather I have my own type of strength correct?"

Shirou smiled. "Yes. Now if you will excuse me, I got to go back to the cafeteria to prepare dinner. See you later," he said before leaving the room.

"Wow. Didn't expect Shirou to know all of that," Ritsuka said.

"Yeah...by the way senpai," Mashu said.

"What is it Mashu?"

"Where did you get the idea for that training regime?"

"Oh that? I got it from an anime I watched a while ago."

Mashu sighed.