38 Servant.
Alex groaned as he felt a wave of energy wash over him and his wounds instantly heal.
"You okay there?"
"I feel as though an interdimensional entity punched me with the force of a missile." Alex replied.
Mr. Black just hummed with a small smile.
Alex groaned again as he set up and joined his boss at the familiar table.
"…..I failed my mission."
His expression was a bit sullen.
" Eh, kinda." Mr. Black replied. "If you would recall, I never said your mission was to kill all the shadows present."
"Semantics." Alex replied.
"Yes, but generally there is a bit of leeway involved. It's not like you did it intentionally and you did drive them away from the world."
"Can't he just come back now that I'm gone and wreck the place more easily?" Alex asked.
"Yes and no. Shadows generally only have one shot at a world to destroy it. If they try to come back, its almost impossible to hide from our 'sensors'. At the second attempt the world will more easily recognize the invader and try its best to remove it which is how we're alerted easily so we can send our guardians quickly to remove the threat."
"That sounds awfully convenient." Alex replied.
"You need to understand, their biggest advantages over us are their numbers and their ability to hide. They lose that when they attack a world a second time so they tend to not do that. I'm not saying it never happens, but it has to be worth it to take such risks."
"Is the fate that the world provides not enough?" Alex asked.
"Not all worlds are created equally, some have more 'fate' than others. Can you take a guess how your points calculations come about?" Mr. Black replied.
"I see, so the 'points' I'm rewarded with is 'fate' from a particular world I help?" Alex asked.
"Yup."
"So the more fate a world has, the more points I gain by lending my aid?"
"That is correct."
"If I die, does it all return to the root? And if so does a shadow gain it all if they kill me?"
"If you die normally, as in without a shadow involved then it indeed does go all back to root. If a shadow is involved in your killing, then they gain a portion of your 'fate'." Mr. Black replied.
"…..does that mean I also gain a portion of theirs when I kill one of them?"
The man smiled. " You're learning. Yes, you indeed do gain a portion of theirs when they die."
"Why havn't I been told this before?" Alex asked in annoyance.
"We didn't want you to chase the shadows about carelessly until you learned first hand the danger they posed. You wouldn't believe how many of our newbies charged them with reckless abandon in the name of gaining 'points'."
"So, to sum it all up, I'm not in trouble?" Alex asked.
"Correct, you basically just missed out on a large amount of points." Mr. Black mused.
"Alright, what am I looking at for my gains?"
Mr. Black tapped his tablet and a moment later, Alex's was updated with his payment. "That's…..alot more than I expected."
"You killed four shadows, even if they were the lowest level they were on the stronger end of that specific spectrum. Compared to the previous ones that were pretty negligible overall."
Alex looked at the number that was just added, 46,750. His total was now sitting at a whopping; 75,750.
He mentally went over a list of things he could purchase. He actually had enough to purchase Caliburn...though smarted minds prevailed over that thought. His status was more important at the moment and he would bring Medusa with him before he wasted any points on merely sentiments like that.
"I think a status upgrade is paramount." Alex stated.
"Alright, go ahead." Mr. Black ushered him.
A moment later Alex clicked the 'upgrade' button at the cost of 50,000 points.
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Alexander Penn (Arthur Pendragon)
Strength [ B- ] [ B ]
Endurance [ B- ]
Agility [ C ] [ C+ ]
Mana [ B-] [ B ]
Will [ C ]
Luck [ C ]
Passive Skills:
- Magic Resistance [ C ] [ C+ ]
- Riding [ B ]
- Charisma [ C ]
- Instinct [ C+ ] [ B- ]
Personal Skills:
- Mana Burst
- Strike Air: Hammer of the Wind King (Requires Invisible Air)
- Transfer
- Reinforcement [ C+ ]
- Bounded Fields [ D ]
Equipment:
- A King's Armor [ C ]
- Noble Phantasms
o Excalibur [Anti-Fortress] C – EX
o Invisible Air [Anti-Unit] C
o Rule Breaker [Anti-Magecraft] C
o Gate of Babylon [Anti-Unit] E-EX
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A torrent of power washed over him as he felt his parameters increasing.
His prana was denser, he could feel his reserves getting increased by a large amount. Not only that, his strength and speed felt increased as well.
It was almost addicting to have such a feeling pumping through ones body.
"I think I'm just about at where I was before I died the first time. Maybe one more status upgrade and I'll either hit the mark or surpass it."
If he were to fight that Nouma infused shadow now, he would be able to match it's strength. The fight would have gone a lot differently, he probably wouldn't have gotten wounded nearly as bad.
"So, whats the next job?" Alex asked as he settled down.
His boss smiled as he sent the info over to Alex.
"….I did not expect this." Alex muttered. "It's going to be a bit weird to meet Arturia's Mordred when she is a carbon copy of mine….."
The next assignment was Fate/Apocrypha. He was familiar with it and had seen the series once before.
"That wont be an issue." Mr. Black replied.
"Did the plot get messed up somewhere and Mordred isn't being summoned?" Alex asked in confusion.
"There was a little bit of a deviation which is why you're intervening, but Mordred is still being summoned as the Saber of Red." Mr. Black replied. "There are many versions of Fate/Apocrypha that play out, this one is close to the original one that you know with only one minor change that doesn't take into account the deviation. The Mordred that would be summoned had a male Arthur as a father."
"....is she….my Mordred?" Alex asked hesitantly.
"Originally no…..but it wasn't hard to tweak that slightly. It would have no change on events that should have occurred." Mr. Black replied. "Is this going to be a problem? While it's rare, there are times where an employee can veto an assignment, we will respect your decision if you can't handle this particular mission."
Many emotions were flaring to the surface. There was a mild amount of anger that was directed towards the Knight of betrayal…..but that was drowned out by his own regret. He was scared. He wasn't afraid to admit it to himself. He was scared to face the one he hurt so badly, the daughter he pushed away and took away any chance at having a proper parent.
He could still recall the look in her eyes when he pierced her with his spear. The sadness that radiated as the life left her. Did he even deserve a chance to reconcile? After everything that happened, he couldn't blame her for the fall of his kingdom, he rested that burden solely on his own shoulders.
But a chance presented itself. A chance to make it right, to find redemption with the one he should have been a father to. To run away from this now...he would never be able to call himself a Knight again.
"She deserved better than the hand she was dealt, she deserved better than how I treated her. I wish to make amends if possible." Alex said resolutely.
Mr. Black just smiled. "Lets talk about what happened to this world to warrant intervention."
"Basically, there was interference and the grail was tampered with slightly so Ruler's summoning was botched."
"Who tampered with the grail?" Alex asked.
"Take a guess."
"So….i'm going to be dealing with servants and shadows?" Alex asked, a bit exasperated at the whole idea.
"No, there are no shadows currently detected."
"I'm confused." Alex replied.
"I'll explain. As I mentioned before the shadow's two biggest advantages are their numbers and their ability to remain hidden. The biggest way they abuse this is by entering a world and slightly move it off it's path so that it could potentially lead to ruin. It usually is something small that leads to something enormous that the world can't naturally mend in a short time and they do this in such large numbers that its hard for us to react properly. The grail for instance. Ruler plays a pivotal role, if she died early on than a certain priest may get his wish and doom the world. At that point the shadow that caused the deviation will probably return and reap the benefits."
"I see, such a thing would be of big enough interest to return even with the detriments that come with revealing itself." Alex stated.
"Bingo."
"So where does that leave me with regards to my enter strategy?" Alex asked.
"You mentioned before that you wanted to play the role of a servant, yeah?"
Alex began to grin. "It seems like I'll need to get into character."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ruler was making her way towards Trifas. It was to be the setting of the Great Holy Grail War She was summoned to referee.
But something happened during her summoning. She was summoned improperly as she had to take a host to bind herself to the physical plane of existence. And not just that, her stats were heavily deteriorated to the point where she could be considered one of the weakest servants ever summoned.
This did not bode well for her. She was supposed to be a deterrent, strong enough to stop the other servants from breaking the rules and she retained none of her Authority that was supposed to be given to her upon summoning.
"I know you are there." She said to the surrounding darkness as night permeated the sky.
"As expected of Ruler, you seem to be able to detect us more efficiently than a normal servant when we are astralized." The man appeared. He had odd-shaped goulden pauldrons and a golden lance. His hair was white and he wore a red fur-like coat. His chest had a red jewel fused in the center with a few golden inlays around it. "I apologize Ruler, but my master has given the order for your death."
"I am a neutral party in this war Lancer." Ruler replied as she brought forth her banner.
Her noble phantasm. It was the banner she used in life to rally her comrades. It held a point on the end that allowed it to be used as a spear.
Lancer just shook his head as he pointed his lance at her. A moment later he was upon her, as it's sharp end was about to make contact with her head. She tried her best to deflect the blow as the force knocked her back.
"I never expected the Hero of Charity to act in such an unbefitting manner." Ruler stated as she held her banner up.
"I apologize Ruler, it is what my master commands and I have sworn my loyalty."
He stabbed his lance into the ground and the area erupted into fire.
The force blew Ruler back again as she fixed her footing, the familiar golden lancer slashed at her form the side. She barely dodged as a line of blood was drawn, didn't didn't have a chance to follow up as the back end of the lance collided with her arm, knocking her down.
Her eye's widened, a trace amount of fear present.
This wasn't supposed to be how the war went. She was needed here to keep them in line. Two whole groups of servants could lead to so much death and destruction and if she were to die they would have almost free rein.
"Please....Lord" She prayed inwardly. "I need help."
Lancer held up his spear as he thrust it down to kill her, he noticed it in the very first exchange that she was exceedingly weak. He didn't question it as his orders were absolute.
As the spear moved down, a strange phenomenon occurred. Something seemed to stir in the air.
The night time clouds parted as a pillar of light descended.
His lance collided with something metal as the area lit up.
The sound of two divine constructs meeting each other rang out into the distance.
Lancer's eyes widened as the force knocked him back a few dozen yards.
The pillar of light that brightened up the surroundings had started to fade as a figure was now present. Donned int the attire of the knights of old. His regal authority ever present and a blade the likes that none could compare shining brightly.
He turned to Ruler as he knelt and presented his blade.
"By your will I have been summoned."
"Through your plea for aid I have come forth."
"I shall make my oath here."
"I offer you my blade so that it may be both your judgement and mercy in this upcoming war."
"If this contract is suitable, then I ask of you..."
"Are you my master?"
