Chapter 2: An Unfamiliar System

That night, EMIYA didn't sleep.

The reason was obvious. He might not be the apathetic, paranoid killing machine that he had been in the past now, but his experience accumulated during his own life had taught him a lot about humans and society. If there is something he has to be always aware of when dealing with humans, it is that you must not put all of your trust in anyone, especially people you have just met once.

Those people had summoned the four heroes here to fight for their world. It means that, no matter how inexperienced and naïve those heroes could be, they must have, or at least have potential, to be weapons of mass destruction. There's no way they would let them be alone without trying to impose some kind of control on them. He's not going to let his guard down ever as long as he's still staying within the walls of this palace.

Although, he couldn't tell whether the three others were aware of that or not.

That was the reason why he requested a separate room from the other three Heroes. He couldn't risk his secret about his magecraft being exposed, even to the people who would be his comrades-in-arm in the future. The king hadn't been very happy with that demand, but after a while, he had to relent. But EMIYA was sure that the authorities here would not give up trying to spy on him.

He walked toward a wall, and put his right hand on it. "Trace, on."

Just as he thought. There were magic runes written on at least two walls which he didn't know the effects of. It was entirely possible that the runes were used for the purpose of eavesdropping or observing him; he had experienced that during his stay in the Clock Tower before, when he enrolled there with Rin as her apprentice.

And luckily for him, she had taught him the way to deal with that.

He walked to the four corners of the room and wrote a rune of his own at each corner. That was the rune for a fairly simple protective Boundary Field which is used to mute all sound and block all vision coming from inside the area within it. That way, if anyone tried to eavesdrop or watch him from the outside, they would only see a blank space without being able to hear anything.

Now that he had been free of observing eyes and ears, EMIYA decided to return to the problems on his hand right now. From what he had seen, he was somehow reincarnated into a living, breathing body when the summoning ritual clashed with the returning ritual. That was not something a normal summoning ritual could do; souls are just not something to be pulled from another dimension and put into a body easily like that. So far, only Heaven's Feel, the Third Magic, was able to do something seemingly close to that. And even the Einzberns, the family who owns the True Magic themselves, could only utilize a lesser version of it. This gave him a reason to be afraid; just how powerful the magic in this world was?

He flexed his arms experimentally. This living body was pretty much the same as the one he had had when he was still alive; which means that even though he still had access to all the abilities he possessed, he was much weaker than he was during the time he worked as a Counter Guardian, with his spiritual body.

That king, Aultcray, had mentioned about a way to use something called the "Status Magic" to watch the stats of each hero. That kind of magic was pretty similar to the way magi in his world used to watch the status of Servants in the Holy Grail War, albeit much easier to use. He glanced at the corner of his view, and focused his attention to the human-shaped icon he could see there. A screen appeared in front of his eyes.

[STATUS MENU]

Class: Hero of the Sword

True Name: Emiya Shirou

Sex: Male

Height/Weight: 187cm/78kg

Alignment: True Neutral

[Parameters]

Strength: B

Endurance: B

Agility: B

MP: C

Luck: E

Huh. So being summoned as the Hero of the Sword here is pretty much the equivalent of being summoned as a Saber-class Servant in his world. All of his stats were boosted up to a pretty balanced level suitable for melee combat, except for his luck, which was still pretty much at an abysmal level just as usual. And the Noble Phantasm part of the parameter table was absent; it was understandable though, considering a Noble Phantasm is the crystallization of the legend of a Servant, not a trait of a human.

And the Mana level was replaced by MP. He didn't know what it was… maybe the abbreviation of Magic Points? And there was a blue bar next to the letter C. Maybe that was the amount of mana he could access in his body. He shrugged, and turned to page 2 of the status screen.

[Skills]

Magic Resistance: D. Cancels Erste and Zweite Ritual Magic spells. Magic Resistance of the same degree of an amulet that rejects magical energy. However, cannot defend against higher levels of Ritual Magic and Ceremonial Magic spells.

Riding: C. Most vehicles and animals can be handled with average skills. However, riding of Phantasmal Species such as Dragons is impossible.

Eyes of the Mind (True): B. Capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament.

Clairvoyance: X - C. Capable of keeping track of objects moving at fast speed within a range of four kilometers. Ability is unlocked only when using a bow.

Territory Creation: X. Ability is locked. Manifestation of one's inner world is impossible.

Projection Magic: A. Allows the use of mana to create constructs.

Not much to consider, then. Most of his skills acquired in his life were still intact, albeit he was quite unnerved seeing the Clairvoyance skill being locked. It means it would be much harder for him to keep track of his opponent during battle unless he was using a bow.

And Territory Creation? That's weird; a Saber-class Servant doesn't usually have this skill. He didn't have this skill as a Servant, either. And it being locked would mean…

Oh, crap.

If he was reading it right, with this specific description, Territory Creation being locked would mean he would be unable to deploy Unlimited Blade Works.

Shit.

Okay, calm down. Even without being able to manifest his Reality Marble, he could still use the blueprints of the swords from it to project the weapons he needs. Let's have a test.

He activated his Magic Circuits, and Traced Kanshou and Bakuya, his trusted weapons. The two swords appeared in a burst of light.

And suddenly he felt drained. At the same time, he could see that the blue bar next to the mana level in his status screen quickly dropped to a fourth of the original level. Stumbling forward, he grasped the handles of the two falchions as they fully manifested into reality.

*ZAP!*

"Ouch!" He screamed in surprise, and the two swords fell from his hand and stabbed into the ground with two loud "thud"s. "What the…?!"

LEGENDARY WEAPON RULE VIOLATION: CONTACT WITH UNAUTHORIZED WEAPON

The Heroes may not hold a weapon aside from their assigned Legendary Weapon with the intent to fight with it.

A feeling of dread hit EMIYA like a truck. This restriction means all of the swords he had stored in Unlimited Blade Works were… unusable. Even if he could access them, the mana requirement for them would still be too steep for him to utilize them effectively.

And that also meant he couldn't use a bow. His strongest ability, archery, was also sealed.

Now EMIYA was getting more and more worried about the situation he was in. Whoever set up this ridiculous system seemingly intended for the war to last as long as they could. They summoned heroes to save their world, and yet they set up all these restrictions to hinder the summoned heroes. It's very possible that this great conflict was just something they considered a game.

But before he could say anything, another message popped up.

WEAPON COPYING COMPLETE

[Name: Kanshou and Bakuya – Quality: Legendary – Base Power: 200x2]

[Strength + 40, Speed + 35. Medium increases to Physical and Magical Resistance. Additional 400% damage against Monster-type enemies]

[Skill Unlocked: Synch Blade (0/100), Sword Throwing (0/100)]

[Unique Ability: Mutual Attraction.]

[Unique Skill: Crane Wing Combo – Level 1 (0/100)]

[Proficiency: 0%]

[Unlocked at Level 80]

He stared at the new message with wide eyes. What the heck is that?! He only has a little basic knowledge about RPG gaming, but even with those only, he could see those stats are ridiculous! And that additional 400% damage against monsters was just like the true ability of the original Kanshou and Bakuya, which were made to slay monsters! Hastily, he opened the help menu and found the information about Weapon Copying.

WEAPON COPYING

The Legendary Weapons can copy weapons of the same categories and take the forms of those weapons for the chosen Heroes to use. If the Heroes meet the level requirement, the weapons copied will be unlocked, and the Heroes will have access to the skills the weapons possess, as well as the bonuses coming with the weapons. However, if the Heroes switch to another weapon form, the skills would be temporarily inaccessible unless the Heroes already mastered them, which is done by continuously using the weapon form until the skills reach mastery.

So that's how it is. In order to become more powerful, he would need to gather up weapons and allow the legendary sword to copy them and add them to its arsenal. This sword is just like Unlimited Blade Works, but better, as there is no power degradation of the copied weapons like with his Reality Marble.

He absently wondered whether the reason his Reality Marble was locked was because of his sword. It's just like the sword was a clingy jealous girl who didn't want her boyfriend to look at another girl.

*ZAP!*

Oh, and apparently she's a tsundere too. His life had never been better.

*ZAP!*

He received quite a violent zap for that comment. Yep, definitely a tsundere.

Another zap, but it was so worth it.

"Lord Sword Hero, the King has requested your presence," a maid said through the door. "Please come to the common room to have breakfast and then come to the audience chamber to meet your chosen companions."

Right, companions. EMIYA had to refrain from rolling his eyes. There's no doubt that this is just a ploy of the government of this country to impose some kind of control on the Heroes. How the hell did they manage to gather up a bunch of followers for all four Heroes over one single night if that isn't the case? Assigning some people they didn't even know the face before to go with them, observing their activities, interfering when something outside of their control happens… that was what any authorities, no matter how incompetent they might be, must know how to do.

He wouldn't complain about that, though. After all, with the heavy nerf the Legendary Sword brought to him, he would need as much help as possible if he wanted to finish the job quickly.

The breakfast passed rather quickly and uneventfully. EMIYA had to admit that the chefs who made the food did quite a good job, even though the taste couldn't compare to those made by the Servants in Chaldea, or even by Sakura and Rin in his previous life. His mind absently wandered back to the time little Shitonai, a.k.a. Illya, asked Herakles of all people to cook something for her. For a brute like him, he was a surprisingly good chef.

And now, time for companions.

The door to the audience chamber swung open, revealing a group of people, both men and women, all dressed in pristine, shiny combat suits, wielding weapons of their own. They looked like they were also going to embark on their adventures. These must be the volunteers.

Looking at them, EMIYA had to say he was not impressed. Sure, all of them were pretty good-looking, but it seemed that was the only thing they were actually good at. None of them seem to have any real combat experience. If they were supposed to go to a war right now, he could bet his life that at least a half of them would piss their pants and run back home crying.

"As we discussed yesterday, I have called for others to assist you in your journey. Apparently my call did not go unheeded," the King announced dramatically. "Now, gathered adventurers, please choose the Legendary Hero with whom you will travel with!"

The three other Heroes all showed a shocked expression, while EMIYA was still impassive as always. But then the moment passed; the four of them lined up in a row, waiting for the companions to assign themselves.

Five of them gathered up in front of the ex-Counter Guardian. Four stood before Motoyasu. And three came to Itsuki.

And Naofumi got none.

"Your Majesty!" Naturally, the Hero of the Shield protested. "This is so unfair! Why don't I have anyone?"

The king seemed unnerved. "Well, I didn't expect anything like this to happen."

Bullshit. From the first meeting, it was clear that the king didn't like the Shield Hero from the beginning. He had been polite when talking with Motoyasu and Itsuki, but with Naofumi, he had shown an apathetic, if not downright hostile expression to the poor guy. EMIYA didn't know what happened to the name of the Shield Hero that would have gained him such a treatment, but it definitely couldn't be anything good. And from what was happening now, it was clear; this whole kingdom definitely had something against the Shield Hero.

On the other side, Naofumi was still protesting. "I might be stuck with the most useless class… but that doesn't mean I cannot do something! Why do you guys treat me like that?!"

Wait. What?

"Excuse me," EMIYA cut in. "Where did you get the idea that Shielder is the most useless class?"

Naofumi looked at him in surprise. "But everyone seems to think so! I mean, I only have a shield without the ability to attack…"

The ex-Guardian's eyes swept around the hall. Everyone, even the two other heroes, all showed the expression of agreement to the statement. Even his own 'chosen companions' seemed to agree.

He sighed. Are these people for real?

He had met a lot of heroes who are famous for their exploitation with shield fighting in his life. King Leonidas I of Sparta, the legendary hoplite, master of the great shield art who fought valiantly against 300,000 troops of Xerxes I of Persia with his 300 troops, and only fell after being completely surrounded without any way to retreat. Ajax the Great of Telamon, the hero wielding the great shield which was able to stop the strike of Durindana, the spear of Hector, launching at him at full speed with the power of a nuclear strike. And Sir Galahad, the person who wielded the Table itself as a shield, and yet was the most powerful Knight of the Round Table. These people were spitting on all of their achievements in history.

And he's going to have to spend every day after this with these worthless, incompetent…

"…you are all idiots. Every single one of you."

"Excuse me?!"

Cries of outrage exploded in the audience chamber.

"I said all of you are idiots," EMIYA said, still with his bored and apathetic tone, but now his voice was showing clear disappointment. "You claim that you want to help save the world, but you didn't even bother studying battle tactics and strategies, or even the way to fight properly?"

"But the Shield is really useless as a weapon!" A companion of Itsuki protested. "It cannot deal any damage…"

"And that is exactly the reason why he needs you to give him support," the ex-Guardian pointed out. "In a battle, the shielder has the role of staying in the vanguard, covering the frontline for the ranged attackers to unleash their firepower safely without interruption, and attracting the attention of the enemies so that the other close combat fighters could close in quickly to finish them off. And now you all refuse to help him, even knowing that he must play an important role during the Waves, and as such cannot afford to keep himself weak. Unless…" he narrowed his eyes at the King, "… this is some kind of conspiracy against the Shield Hero that none of us knew about? To keep him as weak as possible?"

"Come on, Shirou-san, aren't you just being paranoid?" Motoyasu said nervously. "I doubt there is anything suspicious about this."

Yeah right, EMIYA nearly snorted. Of course this guy would say that. He was obviously some kind of Casanova wannabe, and considering the people who volunteered to go with him were all pretty women, of course he would try to dismiss the ex-Guardian's opinion. He wouldn't want any of the girls surrounding him to leave, would he?

"Well," the minister standing next to the king cut in, "the thing is, that has been common knowledge since the beginning of this world, sir. Besides, people are whispering around the castle. They are saying that among the Four Heroes, the Shield Hero does not know very much about our world…"

Another flimsy excuse. It seems what I'm suspicious about is correct after all. There is definitely a conspiracy here.

"And what is special about this world after all?" EMIYA asked with a sharp tone. "Is there anything that I need to know other than the usual 'receiving the contract, going to the designated place, killing people, receiving the payment then going'?"

"You… don't know anything about the system of our world at all?"

Now the king and his followers seemed to be really worried. This was, obviously, something no one among the people who summoned the Heroes had expected. Their plan was crumbling, pieces by pieces, right under their eyes.

"Sir, if it pleases you, I can join the Shield Hero."

One of the women who were with Motoyasu raised her hand.

The girl looked like she was around the age of sixteen or seventeen. She could be considered a pretty girl, with a round face, big, green eyes and red hair reaching her shoulders. However, even though very faint, there was something about her which made EMIYA feel wary. That feeling was something he felt whenever he faced a certain enemy. Koyanskaya. Da Ji. Tamamo-vitch. Or whatever names she decided to use. The treacherous nine-tailed fox who brought the downfall of the Shang Dynasty. That woman was incredibly dangerous, despite her beautiful and innocent appearance.

"Ah, yes, yes!" The king jumped at the opportunity a little bit too enthusiastically. "Are there any others willing to join the Shield Hero?"

Not a single other person showed the slightest hint of enthusiasm.

"Then, Heroes!" the king continued hastily. "I have set aside 800 pieces of silver for Mr. Naofumi, and 600 pieces for the rest of you, since Mr. Naofumi will have to recruit others to accompany you while you are traveling. Each month, I will supply all of you with the necessary funds for your journey. Please take these funds and begin your journey!"

The bag of money was literally shoved into the heroes' hands rudely. After the obligatory bow of gratitude, they were kicked out of the audience chamber.

"Way to go, Shirou-san," Itsuki complained when they were alone with their teams in the corridor. "You made the King and everyone hate us!"

"I just stated the truth," EMIYA shrugged. "You guys are just too naïve to see through their ploys."

"Ha, as if you have the right to say that," Motoyasu snorted. "You are just a few years older than us. How old are you anyway? You didn't even tell us your age when you were summoned. All we know about you is your name."

A few hundred or so, the ex-Guardian thought snarkily.

"How old I am is not important," he waved him off. "What matters is, I have been a mercenary even before you were born; I have experienced a lot of things that you lots don't even know exist. Trust me, when the truth finally comes down on your heads, you are going to regret not listening to me today."

The Spear and Bow Heroes snorted disdainfully and walked out of the hall together with their companions. Only Naofumi and his partner, as well as EMIYA and his team left.

The woman turned toward the Shield Hero and offered her hand. "My name is Myne Sophia. It is a pleasure to be your partner, Naofumi-sama."

Naofumi grabbed her hand with a relieved and happy smile. "Thank you, Myne-san. I wouldn't know what I would do if it hadn't been for you…"

She answered him with a bright smile of her own. "Then should we go now, Hero-sama?"

"Iwatani Naofumi."

The Shield Hero blinked at the direction of the voice. The Sword Hero was looking at him with a grim, serious look.

"No one in the world gives you anything for free. So… be careful with that woman."

Then with those mysterious words, the Sword Hero walked out of the room, followed by his team.