On Edge

{Fortress of Millenia, Transylvania. 2004}

If there was an important occasion where I would be glad to have my Pure Eyes, this would be one of them. I had several close calls as a hunter of Yggdmillennia before I could easily snap out a daze when I wanted to appreciate the beauty of Magecraft.

The Fortress of Millenia was a majestic structure, and I couldn't help but to admire the care and maintenance that Darnic had put into the place.

It was a large castle on top of a hill, towering above the streets of the city Trifas. Serving as family property of the Prestone family since the middle ages, it became the main base of the Yggdmillennia since Darnic Prestone himself founded the clan.

I've never extensively interacted with the old man, being a basic bitch hunter whose paycheck came from him, but his achievements spoke for himself.

Magi, actual Root-seeking mystics from bloodlines older than a century, were a scarce people in this day and age. They were a recognized pillar within the World of Mystery, but they were a fraction of what they once were back in the Renaissance age, let alone B.C.E. Things change over time, and the amount of competitive organizations didn't help the MA at all.

The Mage's Association of Europe was powerful in both magical knowledge and leylines, but the Moonlit Society of the Americas had its strength in numbers and modern innovation. Both had their disagreements and wars hidden from the public, while the Middle and Far Eastern factions were just kinda neutral unless provoked.

The MA was weakening enough as it was. Truly, it was a sad state they were in.

And by virtue of metaknowledge and some amount of common sense, I knew that Darnic was gonna kick that magical association dog while it was down. All through the provocation he was going to announce.

Walking through the main gate, sister beside me, the castle grounds shone to my sight as if splattered with gold and cyan dust, with streams of lime aura flowing around large concentrations of mana.

Squads of homunculi and tall golems roamed by, the latter type's magical signatures glowing with a quality that no modern Magus could attain. The golems' materials were only decent, but the power, weight, and fluidity of their forms were beyond what lil' Roche could get out of those.

We were led through marble hallways by the homunculi, leading to the large throne room of the castle. As the light behind the walls glowed brighter and brighter I put my glasses back on.

"Fiore and Caules, welcome to the Fortress of Millenia." The man himself said in front of us. A gentle smile on his surprisingly middle aged face despite being nearly a century old. Sitting on the throne behind him, Vlad the Impaler sat in all his pale and menacing glory.

In the background were the 12 year old Roche Frain, a young Kabbalah genius, and a blonde man wearing a golden mask conversing with each other. My attention stuck to them for a split second, registering the fact that Avicebron was our Caster, before I turned back to the blue haired old man.

I idly noticed the red leaf shaped command seals on the back of Darnic's hand, and was reminded of our own.

A Holy Grail War was never actually insinuated in the letter, but with the evidence on the back of our hands and the 2 legends in the room, I could see the gears turning inside Fiore's head.

"Good afternoon, grandfather." Fiore said with a short bow.

"Grandfather." I greeted with a nod.

"A pleasure to see you once again. It seems the only Master candidates left are miss Icecolle, who will arrive within the afternoon, and Sagara, who will be taking a more independent role. I'll further explain later, but for now..." He looked to his Servant.

"I can introduce myself just fine, Darnic." His deep voice resounded across the room, standing tall with a commanding gaze.

"Greetings, young heir and hunter. My Master speaks well of you too. I am Servant Lancer, Vlad III. May we see this war through together."

"Nice to meet you too." I curtly said, nudging Fei out of her slight shock.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Impaler." She added with a slight bow.

"Thank you, Lancer." Darnic turned to us. "You may take the East hallway. The homunculi will lead you to your rooms and later call you for dinner. Good afternoon."

With that settled, the both of us unpacked our luggage in our rooms. Fiore collected herself by the time we got there. Apparently she was a bit of a fan for some of the heroic legends, telling me about the various scenarios and "Grail War meta" that was frequently talked about in the Spiritual Evocation department.

I hadn't told her yet that I coined the second term. Besides, every Magus knew that conceptual bullshit was the optimal powerset in any Grail War...if you were a good strategist.

The dinner affair a few hours later was a bit awkward for me. Uncle Gordes kept shooting me glares and muttering about "a damn Thaumaturge in a Magus' business". And Celenike Icecolle kept sending me small curses from across the dining table.

That was literal by the way. I had to Breathe a bit to shake off the curses' effects, and reciprocated by using tendrils of ectoplasm to tickle her legs throughout dinner.

So it went for some time after us Masters were briefed on the coming War: Fei and I did training and preparations. Darnic waited for the M.A. to respond to his declaratory "screw you, I'm making my own faction AND I have the super magic sippy cup". Gordes Musik continued to supply the expendable homunculi. Celenike was probably busy torturing said homunculi for her sadistic pleasure. Lil' Roche was making golems with Caster. And...I actually have no idea who the heck this "Sagara" was, other than he was out of the country. I was gonna look out for a certain Jack the Ripper if so.

Then, 2 weeks after our arrival to the castle, the M.A. sent 50 contract killers to our location.

I almost felt bad for them. What with literal Dracula being on our team...

-0-0-0-

Yeeaaah, nothing much on this chapter. But! The summoning will be on the next! Who do you think he'll summon, eh?

That's it. Peace✌️out.