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Hours passed in a haze. It felt like Hakuno blinked and it was evening. Now the whole school was abuzz with conversations. The announcements of the first matches were up. Despite her grudging efforts, the makeshift Master had not found any information on who she'd be facing. Giving up, she started asking around. The various students around the hallways pointed her to one NPC in particular. He was a tall man, modeled after a priest if his attire was anything to go by. Despite his outfit of the church, there was a maliciously friendly smile on his face.
Be careful Master. This guy gives me the creeps. Seems like the type to stab you in the back the first opening you give him. Hakuno could picture Lancer's hackles raising. In truth, the warning was not needed. Something about this man set her ill at ease too.
"Welcome to the Holy Grail War, Master" the NPC greeted. "You may call me Father Kotomine. I am an NPC tasked with supervision. The Area ahead of you has been opened for the elimination tournament. You and your fellow Masters will kill other until there is one left standing. Easy enough to understand, yes? Even an idiot would not need further explanation." His tone implied he would not be surprised whatsoever if he did have to explain more. "Masters such as yourself will get six days to prepare for their elimination battle on the seventh day. They unlock the battle coliseum through the collection of two triggers within the Arena I mentioned earlier. Use the time you have been allotted to devise the most efficient way of slaughtering your opponent. You win, you progress. You lose, you get deleted. Any questions? All Masters have to the right to ask about the rules."
Hakuno feared for her safety in this NPC's continued presence, so she shook her head rapidly. "No, thank you." Best be polite to this ominous swaying cobra of a man. His smirk implied that NPC or no, he was fully aware of just how unsettled she was and was relishing in it.
"Good luck then. All Masters from here onward are given a private room. Here's the key to yours." The false priest handed over a key that read 2-B on a tag. He noticed her pause. "Do you desire something else?"
"My… uh match. I can't find anything about it." Hakuno rather wished this NPC was not the only one who would know the answer.
"I see." There was a pause, the NPC querying the system. "Strange. There seems to be an error with your match. Return tomorrow and I will have your opponent. I suggest you familiarize yourself with the Arena. Do try not to die too quickly in there." And the ominous priest strode away, humming to himself as if the prospect of imminent death was something to take joy in.
My vote is we check out our new room first. Then we can test out the Arena. But you're the Master, so I'll follow your lead. What'll it be boss? Room, or Arena?
A moment to breathe away from prying eyes would be appreciated. Hakuno nodded to herself before following Lancer's advice. She found the appropriate door and it beeped open to allow her entrance.
Lancer appeared beside her as their new quarters were revealed.
"This is a fucking classroom." His gaze was flat, sliding over to Hakuno and finding her deadpan expression matched his.
"At least there's a bed?" It was a small mercy in a room otherwise filled with desks, then the realization of one bed and two of them hit her. Did Servants have to sleep? He kept vanishing so did he sleep that way?
"Yeah, you go ahead and take that Master. I'll figure something out to do with the damn desks. You just watch, I'll force some personality into this place. If nothing else, we can talk with some privacy in here, whatever it looks like." Lancer ran an exasperated hand through his hair as a sigh dragged its way out of his chest. "Let's hope that Arena isn't…" a vague gesture to indicate the sorry excuse for quarters "… this". He vanished, as Hakuno echoed his sigh. There was nothing for it. She could only let Lancer do as he pleased with the desks and hope he managed something somewhat comfortable.
On her way back down the stairs a familiar face was waiting.
"Hakuno!" It was Taiga, her teacher from before awakening, now revealed as an NPC. "Please won't you do your favorite teacher a favor!"
"… sure" Hakuno somehow felt that this was only the first step on a long road of fetch quests. She was soon tasked with the retrieval of one kendo sword that had magically made its way into the Arena. How, Taiga wasn't sure and Hakuno was not sure she really wanted to know in the first place.
She made her way to a set of double doors on the first floor. An echo of the ones she had taken to get here in the first place. Time moves differently in there, Master. You go in, and no matter how long you're in there, when you come out it'll be night. Just so you know. If you need to shop or snoop, I'd do it now. Hakuno acknowledged Lancer's warning with a nod of gratitude; as teasing as he often was, Lancer was at the very least helpful and knew when to tone it down. Putting aside her unease to force her feet forwards, she stepped inside.
The computer world spread out in blue hallways before her. Lancer's footsteps sounded behind her as he materialized and came to her side, an eager grin splitting his face. "Welcome to the Arena Master! The only place outside of the coliseum we're allowed to have any real fun. Except against other Masters of course. So many damn rules in this war. No killing each other until day seven, so says the almighty Moon Cell." He gave a mocking sort of half bow towards the sky. Then he gestured down the halls. "There's lots of enemy programs from SERAPH in here. Meant to kill incompetent Masters. But those same programs can also be used by resourceful Masters for training."
Hakuno got his rather obvious hint. She could make herself go from an incompetent and useless Master to something better. And thus help both their survival prospects.
"Let get as far as that buzzing bastard" Lancer indicated a bee looking thing "Even with a handicap, you can handle that much. And don't worry, I'm a much nicer instructor than my old Shishou… please don't tell her I said that." The sudden look of sheer terror on his face, even if it only lasted a second, had her wonder just what on earth her Servant's trainer had been like.
And so they set off. It… was not pretty. Despite their ease with taking down the doll, even these low-level programs were giving trouble. And it wasn't even just her that was the issue, or at least she hoped it wasn't, and it wasn't like Lancer couldn't handle them, nor was he unable to defeat them. But there was something… off. His movements looked like they should be smoother. His hits felt like they lacked the impact they should have. There was nothing specific Hakuno could say it was, it was just a sense that she got.
It had been Hakuno's understanding that Lancer had wanted to face down the bee thing, but instead he refused to let them approach the program. Instead, after some more minor cube shaped things, they made their way back to 2-B.
Give me about two minutes Master and I'll get something set up. Lancer's presence vanished from her side. Hakuno stopped briefly in the library to see what else she could learn about the Grail War and grant the request. Outside of a shocking number of Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales, nothing in particular stood out from what she'd already been told. Worn out, she went to see what chaos Lancer had wrought of the room. She entered their shared quarters to find the desks had been put into towers. Lancer found a large red cloth from somewhere and draped it between the towers to create a sort of hammock on which he sat.
"That cannot be stable" were the first words out of her mouth, her jaw hanging open incredulously.
"Oh, ye of little faith." Lancer snorted before smirking and jerking a thumb at his towers. "Don't worry Master. I won't wake you with any crashing in the middle of the night. Or risk you losing your servant so easily in case that was your concern. I reinforced the lot of this with some rune work now it's as stable as can be!" Lancer looked rather like a puppy expecting praise as he deliberately bounced in the hammock, the cloth swinging but the towers showing not even a hint of strain.
"I… uh… good work?" How was she supposed to resist the eyes?! It was taking every ounce of self-control she had not to call him a good boy and offer head pats!
"Thank you, Master." Lancer straightened, taking a moment to preen before the look on his face turned serious. "Doesn't make telling you this any easier though." Her expression must've perfectly conveyed the thought of Oh fuck because Lancer gave a nervous chuckle. "Listen. You're… not able to draw all my power out of me. To dumb it down for ya, you're not able to access all of it. We're both limited in what we can accomplish, as things stand. The only way to fix that is you improving as a Master and fast. Otherwise, we're both dead men walking. Been there done that, Master, believe me it's no fun." Lancer's eyes flared with determination. A man on a mission. "But. I was nothing but a punk kid when Shishou took me in. Effort can make some major changes in a person. Starting tomorrow, I say we work our asses off in the Area until we're exhausted. And then we keep going some more." Remembering Lancer's expression from before Hakuno really hoped this wasn't going to be the same training methods her Servant got put through.
Mustering up her nerve, Hakuno stared her servant dead in the eye, face serious "… I refuse to let my incompetence mean our deaths. The only thing I can do is keep moving forward."
"That's the spirit, lass." Gack! Again with the puppy vibes!
*/*/*
The next day came as bright and sunny as the last. It was not like things would change here in this cyber world that the SERAPH had created. Hakuno's terminal beeped with a notification. The first combatants had been announced. Reluctant feet brought her to the bulletin board on the second floor searching for her name among all the others. There she was, first one on that dreaded piece of paper. And the next, her combatant. Master – Kazuhito Sakagami. Battlefield – First Chimeric Lunar Sea. A male student dressed in the black uniform of the student council topped with a fur lined jacket met her gaze. White hair and red eyes would make him stand out in any crowd.
"So, you're my first match." His gaze traveled over her, seemingly growing bored with her in the time it took to get from the top of her head to her toes. "Hmph. Try not to disappoint." Uninterested in further contact, he walked away.
Well, I suppose we didn't join this war to be social either. Still his manners could use some adjusting Lancer drawled, apparently unimpressed. Hey, how about this! Next time he gets mouthy I'll manifest, sock him, and go 'Oh, sorry about that. I meant to say stop but I just punched you instead.' It'll be hilarious!
"I have to kill a complete stranger" Hakuno drew a shuddering breath. The reality of this war sunk like a stone into her gut once more, even with her servant's appreciated attempts to distract her. In seven days either she would be dead, or she would have blood on her hands. She could almost imagine its sticky texture already, her fingers spasming slightly in attempt to cleanse themselves.
Easy there girlie. Her Servant's voice was firm yet sympathetic as she felt his metaphorical hand on her shoulder Just breathe for me. In, out, in out. Trust me, it'll be easier this way. Just imagine if it was someone that you actually knew. Unfortunately, that's still possible, provided we survive this round. At least you whet your teeth on this brat first.
Hakuno could only shudder at the prospect.
Somewhere, far away, a butterfly's wing flapped as a single string of errant code managed to pass unnoticed by the Moon Cell.
A/N: This will normally be weekly I hope. But things didn't really start until this chapter so it gets posted early.