Outside of a cave on Mount Pelion, Chiron had his horse lower body laying down on the stone ground next to the sparkling blue waters of a pond on the mountain. He was looking straight at Achilles, the young demigod boy sitting across from the centaur and gazing at his teacher with round eyes, hungry for learning.

"Now, Achilles," the centaur started, "we will begin today's lesson with a quick overview of pankration."

Achilles' face fell as soon as he heard the word 'pankration'. "Aww, sparring again? Come on, isn't there anything else you can teach me?"

Chiron chuckled in amusement then stopped and slowly raised himself up. "Come on, you want to be a hero, right? Then stop moping and learn how to defend yourself. If you get disarmed, this could end up saving your life."

Achilles sighed and reluctantly stood up, stretching out his stiff limbs and torso. "Yeah, yeah."

Chiron sighed in disappointment, sensing why Achilles wanted to get out of this. The green-haired boy didn't think it was fun to be knocked back on your ass again and again after lasting a little over three seconds against someone or having your entire body covered in bruises, making sleeping comfortably impossible.

The clattering sound of hooves hitting the stone ground snapped both back to reality. Chiron and Achilles turned their heads to the sound. It was coming from the trees leading to the path down the mountain. And they were getting closer.

"A horse?" Achilles guessed. It wasn't unusual to hear them on the mountain due to travelers.

Chiron narrowed his eyes. "No. The hoofsteps sound too heavy to be one. It must be a centaur." The teacher moved himself in front of Achilles, shielding the boy with his body. "There's a good chance of things getting messy. If that happens, leave the fighting to me."

"If the centaur doesn't have the blood of the gods, it can't hurt me! Let me fight too!" Achilles protested. He'll have something to brag to Patroclus later tonight.

Chiron grit his teeth. He loved Achilles like a son, just like he did all of his other students. But right now, Chiron wasn't in the mood to argue with the boy. "Have you forgotten about your heel?! If the centaur ends up wounding you there, your entire body will become mortal! And you're not fully able to use your power as a demigod yet! So the answer's still no!"

Achilles shut up immediately. He never heard Chiron get this angry at him before. It honestly scared him. The fact that Chiron was getting snappy means that he was preparing himself for the worst-case scenario.

The bushes Chiron was facing rustled. The teacher tensed, ready to spring into action to defend his student. But he slowly relaxed at seeing the centaur, Pholus, emerge from the foliage. Like Chiron, Pholus wasn't savage like the other centaurs.

"Oh, it's just you, Pholus. I thought at first that the one coming to the top of the mountain was one of our brethren."

Achilles peered around Chiron at Pholus. "Who's that?"

"Oh right. Achilles, this is Pholus. Despite me warning you about the other centaurs, you have no need to fear him. Pholus, I would like you to meet Achilles. He is the son of the nymph, Thetis, and the human, Peleus."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I have this to give to you, Chiron." He handed the other centaur a scroll. "It's in regards to a former student of yours."

Chiron unrolled the scroll and looked over what was written in it. "It seems Heracles has recently completed his first labor," he said without looking up.

Achilles cocked his head in confusion. "Who's Heracles? And what do you mean 'labor?'"

Chiron looked up from the scroll and spoke as he rolled it back up. "Ah, that's right. You know that I've taught others before you, right? Well, Heracles was one of them. And as for his labor, at one point, he went mad. I suspect it may have been caused by Hera, who hated him for being the child of Zeus after he had an affair, but I can't accuse her without definitive proof. Anyway, in his madness, he killed his wife and children. King Eurystheus, Heracles' cousin, has ten labors for Heracles to complete. In return for completing these labors, Heracles would receive forgiveness for his sins. His first was the slaying of the Nemean Lion."

"Hm? What's that?"

"It's a beast that can't be harmed with human weapons. Apparently, Heracles strangled it to death."

Achilles had stars shining in his eyes. "Really?! That's so cool! I want to meet him more than anything! Can I?!"

Chiron couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes, however he's still busy. But we'll prepare a feast for him at a later time."

When Mikoto went down to the bar, Misaki was right in the middle of pleading with Rider like a little kid begs their parents for a new toy.

"I've given up on tryin' those cool skateboard tricks ya did on my own! I'm throwin' my pride away just this once to beg ya to show me how ya did 'em!"

Misaki was getting in Rider's space, causing the demigod to start moving back. "I told you it's just instinct from my Riding skill! I don't know how I did what I did!"

"Then just let me watch ya do it a few times!"

Izumo was chuckling. "He ain't gonna give up, Rider. May as well do what he says."

"You spoil him too much!" the Servant shot at the bartender.

Mikoto growled under his breath. It seems everyone was too focused on this to notice him. Then he spoke up, temporarily breaking away everyone's attention. "Not now. We're gonna investigate that building hit with the gas leak to check for foul play."

"Oh, that's right!" Did Rider already forget what was planned only last night? "I guess I'll show you some other time, Misaki."

"Yata! Call me Yata!"

Nothing could be seen in this dark void. Only a woman's voice could be heard.

"Perhaps...I wanted to die at your hands."

Said like a prayer as she entrusted her beloved student with Gáe Bolg and trained him how to use it. For someone such as her, who was the guardian of the gate to the Underworld who can hold back any, be they man, spirit, or god, she walked the thin line between mortal and immortal. She wanted nothing more than to die before she became the latter, but won't just roll over and take it. She trained countless warriors, hoping one has the potential to be both stronger than her and her fate. She saw that potential in Cú Chulainn. But...

"If only you were born a little earlier...Young, still young."

Death was now denied to her. She was meant to be an immortal guard for as long as the Land of Shadows existed.

"Sorry," her beloved student, now a mature warrior, replied. "Somehow, it seems I got sidetracked a lot..." It was a man mourning the fate of the only woman he ever looked up to.

He went on to use the spear to kill two of his loved ones, his best friend and his son. But before that it was only meant to kill a single woman...

The beeping of an alarm clock abruptly ended the dream. Upon awakening, Reisi groped the nightstand by his bed in his apartment room for his glasses and switched off his alarm clock. Once he got them on, Lancer materialized at the foot.

"Nothing out of the ordinary happened last night."

"I keep telling you that you don't need to spend all night on surveillance. The bounded field you created should take care of guard duty."

On the first night, Lancer set up a bounded field around the apartment building that would alert him if anyone with ill intent entered it. So far, the only times that its gone off are for the few husbands who are overly mad and planning to take their anger out on their wives. Lancer had to stop them in the hall to talk out their frustration or to scare them from it, mainly by convincing them of the fact his roommate's a cop.

"It isn't perfect. There are still harmful things that could be set up outside it. It just helps when I'm doin' it myself."

"I should get ready for work today."

"I cooked an omelet and some bacon for you shortly before your alarm clock went off. The plate's in the kitchen."

"I thought I smelled something nice. Thank you." Reisi paused before sliding out of bed.

"Somethin' wrong?"

"Lancer, do you have any regrets about your life?"

"Talk about out of the blue. What brought this on?"

"I was dreaming about your past. I imagine that you probably regret some of the choices you made."

"I prefer not to think 'I shoulda done this'. I think it's stupid to wanna change events gone by."

"? Then why are you seeking the Holy Grail?"

"I'm a hero, so it's right for me to wanna engage in battles fit for a hero."

"...Is that all?"

"Like I said, I died without any regrets. So logically I only answered your summon to fight."

"...Someone who doesn't think back on his actions. Reminds me of a certain someone," Reisi grumbled.

"Look, are ya gonna talk or are ya gonna eat before your breakfast gets cold?"

Kuroh slid the door to the guest room Caster stayed in open and was met with the witch's naked form. A feminine scream loud enough to pop eardrums sounded and Kuroh went red and turned around. The air felt electric all of a sudden and the teen didn't need to turn back around to know four light violet magic circles were pointed at him.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Kuroh guessed Rule Breaker was just materialized and is being held at his back.

"I came to see if you're ready to go into the city!"

"Clearly I'm not!"

"I think I know that now!"

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking first?!"

"A habit! I typically don't have to here! Put your magecraft away before you take out the whole house!"

Then Ichigen dashed to the entrance. "I heard a scream! Is ev -" He shut up and covered his eyes as soon as he saw his Servant's state of undress.

Caster thought she couldn't get any redder. Is the whole village going to come barreling in? "Don't worry about that! Um, could you both leave and slide the door shut? That'd be great! And, um, do me a favor and forget this ever happened!"

"I've only been bitch-slapped by one woman, before I joined the Hashshashin. I asked her if she was pregnant. I quickly learned she wasn't."

Yukari couldn't remember how the conversation got to this point. He faintly remembers it began with Tenkei's question to his Servant about how comfortable he'd be fighting in an urban setting instead of a desert in the Middle East.

"Why would you do something so stupid?" Sukuna demanded.

"It just came out is all!" Assassin sounded embarrassed all of a sudden.

"Well, that shouldn't happen here. There are only a few dozen females in JUNGLE and none are overweight," Nagare said.

"Maybe we should be thankful that includes Saber," Sukuna snickered.

Saber's face was expressionless the entire time she spoke. "If he did make that kind of comment to me, Photon Ray would make short work of him."

"If it involved Teardrop Photon Ray[Star of Tears, War God's Sword], you'd also make short work of this base..." Sukuna muttered.

Seri was on her way to the information room to get some data from Saruhiko when a pop sounded and her field of sight abruptly fell.

"Kyaa!" She hit the floor and glared at her right boot. The heel on it snapped off. Thankfully, none of the Clansmen saw it. If they did she'd probably hear whispers that the heels can only support so much weight while those men are glancing at her chest. She started to get back up only to collapse again when a sharp pain shot up her right ankle. Damn, she twisted it, huh? Not a great day.

"Is somethin' wrong, Seri?" A male voice, above the woman. She recognized it right away.

"Yes, Lancer. The right heel broke off and I twisted my ankle when I fell. Just let me sit somewhere to recover and don't tell the Clansmen about this. I don't think anyone wants to deal with a sexual harassment charge."

Lancer blinked in confusion. "What's sexual harassment? Weapons? Food?"

Seri stared up at him in astonishment. Is she really going to explain the concept of sexual harassment to a hero of mythological times? No. She doesn't have the patience to put up with that impossible task. "Forget it. Now, are you going to help me or not?"

He crouched down. "The problem is your ankle, right?" He removed her right boot. "That'll be too much of an obstruction."

"Huh?" Seri just blinked when Lancer placed a hand on her ankle. "What are you -?"

"Ya saw yesterday that I'm capable of healing magecraft. Well, I'm gonna get rid of the issue."

Gentle warmth seeped into Seri's ankle, melting away any pain. Seri would have to say that typically, Lancer's very crude for a knight. Some of his talk, such as regarding the details of some of his past "conquests", can get pretty...graphic and his legend describes him as being pretty brutal at times but he's probably one of the kindest people she's ever met. His touch was incredibly gentle in contrast to his savage reputation. The touch of a person who takes great care not to break things he cares about if he can help it, like his country, since he hates to lose them.

Silence stretched out between them and it began to feel like they were the only people who currently exist. This moment of peace made the blond really study the Servant's face. With him this close, she could really see how those beautiful deep-set red eyes, like a rose, with hints of violet and with the serpentine pupils, like those from an animal, of his stood out from his mane of long, azure hair. The scent of a beast coming from him seemed to suit him. She saw but didn't register him looking at her.

"You do realize you're starin' at me, right? If ya want, just snap a photo." Seri instantly turned red and, without thinking, bitch-slapped the spearman. His head didn't move, but his eyes were wide with surprise. "The hell was that for?!"

Seri quickly stood up. Her ankle was mostly healed, so there was only a dull ache. But her standing looked awkward, her left boot standing on its side due to the height difference. She gave up and removed it, grabbing the one Lancer took off. "I need to go to my room and get my spare boots! You return to doing whatever!" She dashed away, leaving a confused Lancer behind.

"...What was that about?"