"Hah! Hah! Hah! Yaaah!" Arturia Lily yelled as she was swinging Caliburn repeatedly. Right now, Arturia Lily was practicing her swordsmanship alone in the training room to improve herself and her skills and swordsmanship.

"I need to get stronger! For master's sake! For everyone's sake! And for Shirou's sake!"

As she continued swinging Caliburn, a memory came into her mind.

Which was Shirou swinging Tsumugari Muramasa at Archer Gilgamesh.

(A while ago...)

"The heart of the blade is right here!
Take this, this is my Tsumugari Muramasa!"

Shirou then swung his sword at EA, creating a light that was so bright, everyone inside of Shirou's reality marble shielded their eyes. After the light faded, everyone uncovered their eyes and the result the match between Shirou and Archer Gilgamesh was shown.

Shirou won, and Archer Gilgamesh lost, including an arm as well.

The results were clear. Not only did Shirou survive EA, but he also sliced through it and cut Archer Gilgamesh's arm off as well.

At that moment, everyone was in awe at what just happened.

Especially Arturia Lily.

(Back to the present...)

"That technique...that swordsmanship...and that sword...I want to be the same as Shirou! I want to be as strong as him, so I can protect him, master, and everyone else!" Arturia Lily thought as she continued swinging her sword.

After the practice match between Shirou and Archer Gilgamesh, Arturia Lily was inspired by Shirou's Tsumugari Muramasa along with his swordsmanship, and she had been training herself every day in the training room, trying to reach the same level as Shirou holds. And ever since that day, Arturia Lily put herself through a rigorous training regime which would involve her practicing her swordsmanship whenever she has free time.

Normally, she would be alone doing this routine, but sometimes she would also get help from her counterparts and any of the Knights of the Round.

Heck, she even had some help from Merlin, although that was short-lived because of some pranks he pulled on her.

"Phew. Just one more set and I'll be done with today's training regime...speaking of which, I could use someone as a sparring partner right now..."

However, as soon as she thought of that, a certain servant soon came into the room.

It was Bedivere, one of the Knights of the Round.

"My king," Bedivere said as he bowed.

"Hm? Oh, hey there Bedivere!" Arturia Lily said happily as she turned around and noticed him coming in. "How are you doing today?"

"I'm doing fine my king," Bedivere replied.

"I see. Anyways Bedivere, can you help me with something?"

"Sure, my king. What is it?"

"Well, can you help me with practicing my swordsmanship?"

Bedivere quickly complied. "Of course, my king."

Arturia Lily and Bedivere then headed towards the training arena. As they did, they drew their swords at each other. "Are you ready my king?" Bedivere asked.

"Yes!" Arturia Lily replied enthusiastically.

"Well then...here I come then!"

In an instant, Bedivere then lunged towards Arturia Lily with his sword in his hand. As he did, he then swung at her, forcing her to block his strike with Caliburn. Arturia Lily then pushed Bedivere back and then swung Caliburn at him. However, Bedivere dodged her swing by moving to the side and then swung his sword at her as well.

However, Arturia Lily saw that as well and dodged Bedivere's swing as well. "Wow. Bedivere's swordsmanship has improved. Perhaps by any chance, did Shirou give him some advice?" she thought as she swung at Bedivere. However, Bedivere blocked her strike.

Afterwards, the two separated from each other, trying to gain some distance from each other. For a moment, nothing happened between the two as they were trying to gain some breath from their earlier clashes.

"I see...that you have improved...my king..." Bedivere said.

"Yeah...but I still have a long way to go...especially when it comes to them..." Arturia Lily replied while gathering some breath for herself.

At that moment, Bedivere was intrigued with what Arturia Lily said. "Them? You mean your counterparts?"

"Yeah, but...there's one more person..." she said with a blush on her face.

Upon seeing the blush on Arturia Lily's face, Bedivere instantly knew who the person she was talking about. "Let me guess, Queen Shirou huh?"

"Bedivere?" Arturia Lily asked, snapping Bedivere out of his thoughts.

"Hm? Ah, it's nothing. Anyways, let's continue the match, shall we?"

"Y-Yes!"

Soon, Arturia Lily and Bedivere regained some of their stamina back and began positioning themselves. For a moment, nothing happened between the two as they were waiting who would make the first move.

Then in an instant, Arturia Lily lunged towards Bedivere with a swing. However, Bedivere blocked that her swing and then pushed her back a bit. However, Arturia Lily didn't stop there and continued assaulting Bedivere with multiple swings from Caliburn, forcing Bedivere to block each strike while moving back a bit.

Noticing that she was getting the advantage here, Arturia Lily then quickened the pacing of her swinging. In an instant, she let out one giant final swing, hoping to finish the match.

"This match...is mine!" Arturia Lily thought as she swung her sword to where Bedivere was.

However, Bedivere saw that swing coming through and immediately dodged it. In an instant, he turned his body to Arturia Lily's back and gently tapped her on the back with his hand.

"Well then, looks like I win," Bedivere said with a smile.

Arturia Lily pouted and sighed for a moment. "Dang it, I thought I had you there..." she muttered.

Bedivere chuckled. "Well, better luck next time my king."

Arturia Lily let out a sigh. "Still though, that was some great swordsmanship over there Bedivere," she said with a smile on her face.

Bedivere slightly blushed upon hearing praise from Arturia Lily and replied, "T-Thanks. But most of the credit goes to Shirou."

"Really?" Arturia Lily asked.

"Yeah. He gave me some great advice one day during a practice match where I was sparring against him."

"Is that so...what kind of advice did he you?" Arturia Lily asked as she was interested in what Shirou said to Bedivere.

"Well, he did tell me that I swing too wide, which would leave me open for enemy attacks. A solution that he offered me was that I shouldn't fully swing my blade. Instead, I should trust it forward with a half-swing."

"Wow. That sounds like good advice there..." Arturia Lily said in awe.

"Yeah. Not only that, but after applying what Queen Shirou said to my technique, I was able to go up against the Knights of the Round."

"Wow..."

"Yeah. Anyways, do you want to continue?"

"Y-Yes!"

And Arturia Lily and Bedivere soon continued their practice together. As they did, Arturia Lily had one thought in mind.

"Hm...if Bedivere improved his training upon meeting Shirou...maybe the same can happen for me as well..."

(The next day...)

Shirou was walking in one of Chaldea's hallways, minding his own business. As he did, he passed by the training room and then stopped for a moment.

At that moment, he saw something that intrigued him for a moment.

It was Arturia Lily, who was practicing her swordsmanship alone.

"Hm? Isn't that the younger version of Arturia over there? And she seems to be practicing her swordsmanship..."

For a moment, Shirou didn't say anything as the image of the many times he and Arturia had their sparing matches in the dojo back when he was alive. The form of her posture was still fresh in his mind as he remembered it like a precious memory.

"I suppose that from that point on, she gained a lot of combat experience..."

After a few more minutes of watching Arturia Lily swinging her sword around, Shirou then decided to head into the training room.

Meanwhile, Arturia Lily continued practicing her swordsmanship undisturbed. "Yah! Hyaa!" she yelled as she kept swinging her sword. As she continued swinging, she then took a small break to get some breath.

It was then that she noticed Shirou coming in.

"Ah! Shirou!" Arturia Lily said cheerfully.

"Hey there Arturia. What are you up to now?" Shirou asked with a smile on his face.

"Oh. Just practicing my swordsmanship for today."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah! By the way, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well...if you don't mind...can you help me with my swordsmanship?"

"Eh? Why?"

"Well, yesterday I had a mock battle against Bedivere. What happened was that he beat me and at the end of the match, he told me that you improved his swordsmanship to the point where he's able to against his fellow members of the Knights of the Round. Is that true?"

Shirou sheepishly laughed. "Y-Yeah."

Arturia Lily's eyes sparkled. "Great! Now will you help me with my swordsmanship?"

"Well..."

"Please?" Arturia Lily asked as she looked at Shirou upwards with her puppy eyes that seems to have stars in them.

Upon seeing Arturia Lily's puppy eyes, Shirou knew he could not resist seeing those eyes, especially from Arturia.

Well, her Lily version that is.

Sighing inwardly, Shirou was not able to reject Arturia Lily's request. "Sure."

Arturia Lily let out a huge smile. "Great! Follow me then! And don't hold back on me!" she said excitedly as he hurried towards the training arena. Shirou soon followed her. As they arrived at the arena, Arturia Lily drew Caliburn while Shirou unsheathed his katana from its scabbard. "Ready?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Well then...here I go!"

In an instant, Arturia Lily lunged herself in front of Shirou, seeing an opening to strike at. However, Shirou quickly blocked it and pushed her back by a bit. Shirou then went towards her and swung at her in which Arturia Lily blocked his strike as well. Soon, Shirou and Arturia Lily began clashing with each other, each strike from their swords met with each other. As Shirou and Arturia Lily kept clashing with each other, Shirou then saw an opening on Arturia Lily's side and tried to exploit it.

However, Arturia Lily saw that and dodged to the left. She then went for a sword strike on him, but Shirou turned around quickly and blocked her attack, reaching a stalemate between the two.

Eventually, Shirou and Arturia Lily had enough and moved back to their corners of the arena, gasping for air and stamina.

"Wow...that was amazing Shirou..." Arturia Lily said.

"Yeah...you were great too Arturia..." Shirou replied.

"Really?" Arturia asked happily.

"Yeah, although you should square your shoulders more when you're striking. Not only that, but you should use your hips more. It will generate more power in your swings."

Arturia Lily blushed for a moment before following the advice Shirou gave her. "Like this?" she asked as she squared her shoulders.

"Yeah, just like that," Shirou replied.

Arturia Lily was happy with the praise she was getting from Shirou. "L-Let's continue, shall we?"

Shirou smiled. "Yeah."

And Shirou and Arturia Lily continued their training. As they did, Arturia Lily was following Shirou's advice during their clashes and she found out that Shirou's advice was working.

Bit by bit, Arturia Lily was pushing Shirou back.

"Wow! Shirou's advice is helping me! It feels like my movements are a lot easier to do as well! I think I can do this!" Arturia Lily thought as she continued to push Shirou back. Eventually, Shirou moved back for a little bit in which Arturia Lily was not going to let that chance escape.

However, it was then that Shirou and Arturia Lily experienced a little accident.

Because as Arturia Lily got close to where Shirou was, she got a bit too excited...and accidently kneeded him in his balls.

In an instant, Shirou fell over to the ground, kneeling as he was cradling his balls from the pain he just experienced.

"Ah! I'm sorry Shirou! Are you all right?!" Arturia Lily asked as she was worried about what she just did to him.

"Don't...worry...I think...I'm going...to be fine..." Shirou muttered.

However, it was then that Shirou passed out from the pain.

"Shirou!"

"Mmmmh...mmmmhhh..." Shirou moaned as he was opening his eyes.

"Ah! Shirou! You're awake!" Arturia Lily said with a sigh of relief.

"Y-Yeah," Shirou muttered as he was now regaining his sight. As he did, he noticed two things.

One was that there was an ice pack on where his balls were.

And the other was that his head was on her lap.

"W-What happened?"

"Well...you passed out earlier and I went into the kitchen and grabbed an ice pack for...well, you know-" Arturia said, but was cut off from Shirou.

"You don't need to continue. I get the gist of it now," Shirou replied.

"I see..."

For a moment, there was silence between the two as Shirou as his head on Arturia Lily's lap while Arturia Lily was playing with Shirou's head.

"Listen Shirou, I'm sorry about earlier..." Arturia Lily said.

Shirou sighed. "It's okay. I forgive you."

"But I hurt you though! I hit you!"

"Was it on purpose though?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then all is forgiven. None of us predicted that was going to happen, and it wasn't on purpose. Therefore, I forgive you Arturia," Shirou said with a smile on his face.

Arturia Lily blushed upon seeing Shirou's face. "W-Well then, guess everything is forgiven then?"

"Yeah. Everything is fine now."

Arturia Lily let out a sigh of relief. "Well then, guess I don't have anything to worry about now."

"By the way Arturia."

"Hm? What is it Shirou?"

"Do you want to continue training?"

Arturia Lily thought about it and replied, "No. Let me stay like this for a while," with a smile on her face.

"As you wish."

And the two remained like that for quite a while...