Chapter 2

Shirou pondered silently to himself. Like the voice had told him, he had appeared without choice at the creek of a small church in the distance. It was modest, its wooden walls painted white, and a cross stood erected at the front. Multi-colour-paneled windows depicted the scene of Jesus wearing the crown of thorns, and his disciples watching silently in the background.

It was at that point that the voice originating from the necklace he wore grew silent. Oddly enough, moments before they had left the burning mansion, the voice didn't even seem the slightest bit tired. Rather, it was with a long sigh that the voice once again spoke asking him to stay by the church. In which case, he decided to train from what he remembered from his fight with Archer.

However, things weren't that simple.

Sooner or later, members of the church had taken notice of him, and had at first wanted him to leave, but quickly began sputtering nonsense whenever his necklace began emitting light. He had frowned then, and had adopted quite a sour look after groups of them would then come back referring to him as a Wise Man, or a Holy Man.

He couldn't wrap his mind around it, and still couldn't, but at least he understood that it was the fault of the necklace around his neck which appeared invisible to others. He didn't have a need to hide it as a result, but he still found the phenomenon hard to explain. Thus, he could only hope that the thing would stop glowing at crucial moments. Somehow he would have to learn how to control it, or at least ask the voice what exactly was going on the next time it spoke.

Still, the most unexpected situation had yet to come. Youths practicing swordsmanship had urged him for a match upon noticing the two wooden swords he had created using an ability he called tracing: A higher level of projection magic that allowed him to recreate objects, specifically swords and the like.

The outcome of those matches, is what lead him here.

He stared quietly at Xenovia, her blue hair with a green highlight at the front swaying from a gust of summer wind. Her eyes were staring at him curiously, her pink lips spread thin as she took glances at the swords beside him. "Something I can help with?" He asked.

She shook her head, regaining her bearings as she quickly took her sword out from the shrubs. "I've only heard stories," she began, a steady neutrality coming over her features. "But most involve you defeating disciples of the inner Church."

He smiled wryly. "Uhm, believe me when I say I never started anything."

Xenovia grunted and quickly adopted one of her practiced stances. "Regardless, you should understand my curiosity as an inner Church disciple myself."

He frowned, but picked up his swords and adopted his own stance with his legs spread apart, arms by his side, and swords pointed forward.

He noticed the disapproving look on Xenovia's face, but he had grown used to such expressions by now. After all, she wasn't the first to be incredulous or take offense to his stance full of openings.

He motioned her forward, and immediately her expression seemed to shift with the mood.

"I hope you know what your doing by not taking things seriously," she spoke. "But even if that's the case-"

The ground rumbled as Xeonvia suddenly disappeared from his vision.

"-I'll make you," she whispered into his ear even as the sword came thrusting towards his exposed chest.

What is the only path for a novice attempting to take on a master?

The distinct thump of practice sword against practice sword echoed throughout the clearing, an expression of surprise appearing on Xenovia's face for the briefest of moments.

The answer is simple, Abandon fear.

She back pedaled, twisting her body to avoid the second sword in his hands. It was the advantage of using two weapons. One could block and occupy the enemy's attention while the other was free to attack.

Weakness must be shown. It is the difference between skilled and unskilled.

Xenovia's eyes narrowed in concentration before she righted herself mid-backpedal, and sprung forwards with a thrust towards one of his other exposed vitals, the liver.

But since when does weakness mean defeat?

He let out a shout as he swung a reinforced arm to intercept the blow he knew would be coming.

Because weakness itself, is opportunity.

His weapon pressed against Xenovia's, a look of shock clearly visible on her face that failed to go away. It was expected he supposed. Based on how she had been carrying herself, he was deftly sure she was well versed in the use of a sword, something further driven home when his eyes subconsciously analysed the history of her practice sword.

She grunted as she pulled back and once again attacked, the previous expression of neutrality on her face shifting into frustration.

Weakness is opportunity. It was a truth he had glimpsed from his fight with Archer in their exchange of blades.

He who had no foundation in his swordsmanship, and compared with those who did, the difference between them was like comparing the earth to the Heavens.

Therefore, he did what man had done since the beginning, adapt.

Xenovia silently bit her lips, as she distanced herself and began to stare at him speculatively. None of her attacks had worked, and it was she who was beginning to get hard pressed to find any sort of advantage.

It was not because she was unskilled, but it was because she was far more skilled than him that his sword style proved effective. He who had never truly trained with a sword, relying on the memories of his fight with Archer alone, and she who had practiced for the majority of her life, there was no contest between which of them was superior in swordsmanship. She was obviously better.

"That sword style," Xenovia began. "What kind of style is it?"

He didn't answer and instead motioned for her to come at him again. It was the only way for him to win. His style of fighting involved predicting where exactly the opponent's attack would land to immediately begin to block several steps ahead of the enemy's assault. Therefore, attacking was too reckless for him. Then again, Archer had been able to do it by simultaneously leaving his vitals open for an attempted attack, but at the same time attacking with his other blade. Unfortunately, he was still far from Archer's level.

The moment she came and attacked again, he locked her sword in his, and with the pressure of his momentum, he lashed out with his other sword.

Wood splintered as Xenovia quickly twisted her sword-locked sword to angle the handle in the direction of his incoming attack.

A resounding bang occurred, and he was forced back, surprised at how skilled Xenovia had been to block such an attack. It was then that he noticed off in the corner of his eye, a shadow of a person hiding behind a tree.

His gaze travelled towards the sky, noticing just how far the sun had already set. By now it was already past high noon, and was near the start of the afternoon.

"Pay attention!" Xenovia yelled as she took his momentary action of taking his eyes off of her as an insult.

She quickly charged forward, and he quickly scrambled to block her coming attack. She was right in that he shouldn't have taken his eyes off an opponent, even if it were only for a moment.

Reinforcing himself, he quickly blocked the attack and saw the opening he needed to land the first blow and end this duel; it had appeared at her stomach.

Not wasting any time, he took a step forward, eyes widening comically as the ground beneath him gave way to mud and instantly displaced his overhead attack. Not only that, his balance had been disrupted and his momentum caused him to slam into Xenovia even after his splintered sword cut down the middle of her clothes.

With an unexpected yelp, Xenovia fell into the creek behind her, her clothes torn.

Looking around him, he quickly realized that their fight had gotten them directly next to the creek, which explained all the mud.

Still, he could instantly tell that Xenovia was not happy.

Sopping wet, and her black bra in full display, she quickly tore off a piece of her clothes and wrapped it around her. There was a moment of silence before her body began to tremble. "That, that was," she felt heat coming up over her face as adrenaline flooded her body. "You,"

"And that's the match," he quickly cut her off, taking a few steps back as she worked herself up to her feet. From the looks of it, he could instantly understand her intentions for a rematch, but the murderous look in her eyes greatly dissuaded him. Of course, he could understand her rage, but he had not intended to cut her clothes and shove her into the creek. What kind of luck did he have? For some reason, he wanted to cry.

Just as she was about to argue, light once again began to emit from his necklace, causing both her and the stranger watching from the trees to immediately freeze in astonishment.

Even he, who had experienced such a phenomenon already in the past few days was taken aback. A warmth began to ebb from within him starting from his chest and flowing outwards. Plants and flowers around him began to bloom, life retuning to even some of the plants that were previously wilted.

It was then that the stranger he had noticed watching his bout with Xenovia stepped out from the shadows. Based on the figure alone, it was obviously a woman, and based on the sudden fear in Xenovia's eyes, it must have been a person with high standing within the church.

The woman wore a black nun's habit aligned with gold crosses at the hem of the dress and the sleeves, and a wooden rosary wrapped around her neck. She had piercing blue eyes and blond hair which was covered beneath her habit.

"M-Mother Griselda?" Xenovia spoke, her face seeming to pale drastically as the woman approached.

"Foolish child, bow your head," Griselda spoke quickly as she arrived next to Xenovia and admonished her. She then gave a meaningful look towards him. "I did not expect a Holy Man to grace this simple church."

He didn't respond. Partly because he wished to avoid explaining for himself, and the other because he could tell that he had already avoided another confrontation with Xenovia. Additionally, how could he possibly even begin to explain?

After a moment, the light quickly began to die down.

But in that moment, Griselda quickly took his silence with a nod before she too looked towards the swords in his hands with confusion. "You practice with swords?" She asked.

"Yes," he spoke truthfully.

Griselda simply stared back puzzled until a small grin appeared over her face. "Interesting," she spoke. "Is this creek to your liking? Or perhaps do you need it to obtain some sort of spiritual enlightenment?"

Xenovia had a confused look on her face, her brows furrowing as she stared at Griselda.

He paid her no mind, instead trying to understand what it was Griselda was asking him. "Well, there's actually no particular reason," I just found it a bit rude to suddenly intrude. The voice had asked him to stay near the Church, but it hadn't asked him to live by the creek. He had chosen to do so out of his own principles.

Grisleda's eyes seemed to shine before she laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Boy," she spoke softly. "Seeing as you yourself have taken quite well to the sword, would you consider using your talents in an upcoming event in the church?"

"M-Mother Grisleda!?" Xenovia's outburst was quickly put down by a hard stare from said woman.

Seeing that he had yet to speak, Griselda smiled again before lowering herself to stare at eye level. "Not only that, but I can offer you guidance in the way of the sword."

"Your offer," he scratched his head and sighed. "Will you give me some time to think about it?"

"Of course, young Holy man," Griselda nodded. "Forgive me for asking, but has the Vatican sent you for any reason?"

He didn't respond because he had no answer to give. Of course, he was completely inclined to give out the truth, but something in her expression told him that anything he could say at this point, lie or not, would go completely over her head. Say he gave out the truth, to her it would simply sound like another fabricated lie as if he was willingly withholding the true answer.

"I see," Griselda seemed to have come to her own conclusions. "Then very well. You may take all the time you need, but I would appreciate a response within a couple days." She turned to leave, nudging Xenovia to follow.

Xenovia nodded in his direction stiffly before glancing back at Griselda, then back at him. Pursing her lips, she quietly followed after her mother and disappeared in the direction of the Church.

He let out a breath, and sat down, his back leaning against a tree as he rested his body. Absently he fumbled with the necklace which was still emitting a faint glow. He currently had no idea what he could use it for aside from the fact that it contained the answer to all his questions. Absently, he began to inspect it with structural grasping, an ability that allowed him to fully understand the make of an object. However, to do so required him to send a pulse of his magic into said object, yet even after doing that, the only information that filled his head were things he already knew.

Silently he began to wonder to himself.

Where was he? What was he supposed to do from now on?

Almost in response, the necklace gave off a faint burst of heat, a soothing feeling spreading throughout his body. It was accompanied by a silent thrum that spread out across the forest.

The call of the animals began to resound.

He stared up in surprise as two doves descended down from the sky. One had brown feathers and a circle of green pigmentation around its neck. The other was completely white.

A soft wind blew past, ruffling tufts of his hair and cooling down his body.

Soon, not just doves began to appear. Small animals, large animals, it didn't matter. Some came and went, while others relaxed a distance away before moving on. The two doves who had perched on trees on either side of him let out soft caws before flying off once again towards the sky.

Pleasantly surprised, he watched bewildered as a ray of light, previously blocked behind the clouds, pierced through and shone down on him. Foreign energy seemed to circulate around his body before the light emitted from the necklace faded.

It was then that he decided that even though he may not know what he was getting into, there was at least some merit in learning to grow stronger.

He stared off towards the Church, a decision made within his mind.

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Two people walked silently through the forest on their way back to the inner most circle of the Church by the small creek. One walked with her back straight, an air of regality surrounding her, while the other simply emitted a dour attitude.

"You may speak child," Griselda spoke to Xenovia. "I can tell that you have something on your mind."

Xenovia's brows furrowed before she frowned. "What was that?" She asked.

She wasn't referring to what Griselda had previously said towards Shirou, but the holy aura that had suddenly blasted in her face at the conclusion of the spar. Understanding soon came over her. This was why the other inner Church members had returned flabbergasted upon their visit to the creek. Such a radiant aura of purity was rarely if ever seen even within the Churches across the world.

"That, Xenovia, is something that you will come to understand just by staying near him." Griselda spoke as she pushed past the bramble. "The aura he was subconsciously releasing signifies how blessed he is by the Lord and the Angels up above. Even I can't tell what his future may hold."

Xenovia could only mutely nod her head. If anything, she wouldn't find it surprising if he just so happened to be an Angel in disguise. The title of Holy Man was truly fitting for an individual such as him, but what she didn't understand was why he was practicing with a sword. From her understanding, such blessed people would normally devote their time to learning the more advanced Church spells due to their dispositions.

"Still," Griselda muttered to herself. "For him to appear here at this time, he must be someone of importance to the Vatican." She turned and stared thoughtfully at Xenovia. "You best not do anything to antagonize him, rather he should be treated with great respect. If I had known about him earlier, I would have at least sent out a notification to the other disciples in the Church."

"Mother Griselda," Xenovia began as she quickly picked up her pace to walk beside her. "About that other matter of you teaching him the sword."

Griselda stopped, before turning her head to the side. "You don't agree?"

"It's not because of that," she said. "Just, don't we have to prepare for the initiation of the Holy Swords?"

Griselda nodded. "Indeed, we do, but that's precisely a reason why I had asked him to come in the first place."

Xenovia's eyes widened. "You intend for him to participate?"

The initiation of the Holy Swords was a test to determine who amongst the disciples of this small Protestant Church by the creek had the qualifications to wield the two fragments of Holy Sword Excalibur kept within the Church's vault. Holy Sword Excalibur was one of the four Holy Swords said to have been forged by God himself in the Holy Bible. A sword so strong that it granted the user seven abilities that rendered the user near un-parralled on the battlefield. However, during the great war between the factions, Angel, Devil, and Fallen, the sword was shattered, its abilities divided into seven fragments. Two of which resided within the Church.

However, as a fragment of a True Holy Sword, only those with a strong affinity to light and possessed it within them, could wield one. This of course was all incorporated into the tests administered throughout the initiation in the course of three trials: The test of light, integrity, and finally the test of combat.

"Yes child, I do," Griselda spoke. "As you could already tell from the aura he gave out, he most certainly has a great chance in wielding at least one of the two swords, just as you were born with the ability to wield the sword of Roland. Furthermore, I suspect that he was actually sent here by the Vatican to participate in the initiation."

Xenovia pursed her lips in confusion. "But doesn't the Vatican possess their own pair of shard fragments?"

"Indeed, but even I can't understand what goes through the Vatican leader's heads at times, and besides, there are no rules that say one can't do so. In the case of the Holy Swords, they themselves are the ones who choose their wielders, thus it doesn't matter if an individual from another Church were to participate."

"But how are you so sure that he's going to?"

"That is of course because I see my younger self in him."

"Truly? Did you have the dream to be a Hero of Justice as well?"

Griselda's face blanked after the question, and she simply refused to answer, regardless of how incredulous Xenovia's eyes were becoming. "Either way," she spoke. "The look in his eyes does not belong to the of kind individual who would shirk away from a method to grow stronger."

Power is necessary to protect. An ant cannot protect an elephant.

"I suspect that he will come about with an answer by the end of the day." Griselda spoke as she and Xenovia stepped in view of the Church. "Be sure to keep an eye out for him."

Xenovia nodded, and watched as Griselda entered the Church, leaving her alone to move towards the training grounds where the other disciples were out practicing, but quickly remembered to first get a new change of clothing. She didn't really mind what she was wearing, but it would be a sin to cause undo trouble to all the other disciples putting in all of their effort. Besides they were still wet and would weigh her down.

She quickly changed and then promptly made her way to the training fields.

Here eyes glanced across the open fields, staring at the hard work everyone was putting in for the coming initiation. This was why she picked up her practice sword and once again began swinging it in front of a test dummy. She knew it wasn't the most efficient way to train, as partnering up against an opponent would be far more useful, but she was never the sociable type. Out of all the disciples present, she was friends with none of them, yet she didn't care. Even if her methods were inefficient, her dedication was not lacking in the slightest. Even more so because she was naturally talented with a strong disposition to the way of the sword. It was something Mother Griselda had instantly been able to identify, and it was the beginning of the change of her image. Before, she considered her mother to be an angel as she was doted on quite frequently, and was constantly under the looks of reverie that accompanied her wherever she went within the Church property. But afterwards, she became a devil.

She shuddered from the memories of the harsh days of training to bring about her maximum potential, and even then, she could hardly supress the involuntary action of glancing behind her every now and then.

Soon sweat was beginning to glisten over her brow as the afternoon transitioned into night. Quickly her eyes darted as the sound of a twig snapping alerted her of a new presence.

She stared back without saying a word. So, he actually had come.

"Where is Griselda?" Shirou asked, stepping into the training fields.

She put away her sword before crossing her arms. "She's gone into the inner Church alter so we can do nothing but wait until she leaves from it. We do not have the authority or jurisdiction to enter at this moment," she spoke informatively. "Based on your appearance here, I suppose that means you accept?"

Shirou nodded his head.

"Good." For some reason, a fairly pleasant feeling began welling up from inside her. No doubt she was inwardly happy to have someone to train with. Even if she could practice training by herself, even she had to admit that it was lonely. "Then from this moment forth, I am your senior disciple. As such, you have no choice but to listen to all my instructions," she coughed into her hands as she noticed the blank look Shirou was giving her. Does he not understand? "Which means you have to train with me whenever I request for it. No complaints."

A hint of understanding entered Shirou's eyes, and he slowly voiced his acceptance, although he did so with a feeling as if he was getting conned. "It's fine if it's just training," he spoke.

Xenovia let out a rare smile. "Then for now, as mother is currently unavailable, I will educate you in the coming event."

Xenovia slowly walked with Shirou over to a large hill that overlooked the flat plains below it. Grass grew all the way up past the shins, and flowers of various colours were also in bloom, swaying in the gentle night breeze. She motioned for both of them to sit down, and Shirou quickly complied.

She sat down, her legs stretched out in front of her, and her hands pressing against the ground to support her weight as she leaned down on them. Slowly, she brushed back her hair and turned her gaze to Shirou.

"The Holy Sword Initiation," she began. "An event that decides the next wielder of the two Holy Swords held secure in this Church by my mother Griselda and the old uncles near the alter." She spoke freely, as if there was nothing wrong in disclosing such information to an outsider, but even still, the Holy Aura Shirou had emitted had left a large impression on her that even she didn't know of.

Shirou remained silent, letting her go on.

"The initiation involves three stages, of which I'm sure you'd be able to do well."

The two sat in silence, Xenovia bringing her knees to her chest after a moment and relaxing. After a hard day of work, she could always take pleasure in watching the setting sun in the evening.

She stared at Shirou, and inwardly began to assess him.

He was good with a sword, of that she had witnessed it herself. Still, that didn't mean he was qualified enough to wiled a Holy Sword. After all, many other disciples desired to acquire such an outcome.

Stuck in her thoughts, she sighed as she noticed Griselda finally leave the Church. "It's mother Griselda," she spoke.

Noticing, Shirou gave a nod after which he began to talk quietly with Griselda. She probably giving him more specifics on the upcoming event. Although she knew the three stages, that was because they were disclosed to her by her mother, therefore, she realized that she shouldn't be the one to explain about the initiation around half way through her explanation to Shirou, and had simply lapsed into silence.

It was on this day, that her life slowly began to change.

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It was roughly four weeks later, and activity within the Church was at an all time high. People walked in and out carrying all types of wares: Some with candles, and others with various ornaments. The interior of the Church contained rows and rows of people participating in the coming initiation.

Most were in traditional nun habits and priest garbs, but that was only for the older generation. The younger generation wore standard formal clothing, white shawls over the top of their chests.

This was the same for both Shirou and Xenovia who stood together near the exit of the room. Both of them had trained relentlessly under the gaze of Griselda, and as a result were near the exit to be as far away from her as possible. To Shirou, he had finally found someone he believed to be worse than Taiga in her kendo club days. The training he had undergone with Xenovia was quite harsh to the point that he wouldn't be going into the specifics.

As for why he had decided to participate in this initiation, the answer was obvious to him: Excalibur. The sword in his memories could never have been shattered. Just the mere thought caused a pain to bubble from within him. At this point, this was all the proof he needed to realize that he was no longer in his world. Yet even so, shard or not, he had a desire to obtain it in memory of the of the servant who found ceaselessly by his side.

"Brothers and sisters," a soft and clear voice echoed out from within the Church. "I thank you all for coming to this event, and will quickly remind those participating to line up quietly in front of the alter for the first test."

The Holy Sword Initiation test had begun.

"In front of this alter is a magical device that will measure one's aptitude to light, and the amount present within one's body. As you should all know about Holy Sword users, all without question must possess a sufficient amount of light energy. Thus, this first test is to eliminate those who do not have a sufficient amount," Griselda spoke as a small procession of elderly priests set a small device on top of the alter.

"This is the light reading device, and it scales by colour. Yellow being the lowest, and white being the highest. Of course, to pass this test, one must possess at least a colour of blue which signifies a medium aptitude of light energy."

As Griselda spoke, the priests and visitors from other Churches began to mutter between themselves about who would succeed. Most of the other Church representatives had full faith in the disciples they had brought with them.

Especially one priest from the neighboring Church who stood smugly staring at his Church's disciple.

When everything was set up, and all the disciples formed into a neat line, the event formally began as Griselda gave a few more words to the crowd.

"Irina Shidou." A name was called and a girl with orange hair tied into two pigtails stepped forth in front of the alter. Her narrow face revealed her nervousness, the expression in her wide violet eyes too easy to read. Still, with trembling hands, she quickly placed them onto the measuring device.

Instantly the colour changed from yellow, to green, to red, and then blue. At this point a look of relief quickly flashed over Irina's face knowing that she had already passed. Still, the device on the alter changed to one more colour, violet.

The smug priest seemed to become even more smug as his gaze wandered across the surprised crowd.

The audience members were shocked, the first to go, and already someone had passed. Although it was not spoken out loud, but many already knew that a lot of disciples would fail this test as the number of people possessing enough light attribute was extremely rare. It was why men like Valper Galilei researched extensively into the field to the point of producing in-human experimentation.

Smiling, Irina quickly returned to her spot by the other disciples.

Other names were then quickly called out, but many, as expected, failed.

Yellow.

Red.

Green.

More and more people failed, reducing the number of participating disciples by over half their number. It was at this point that some were beginning to stare at Irina with uncontrolled jealousy. To them this had been their chance to wield a Holy Sword, and many were bitter with similar thoughts of 'if I can't have it, then no one can' flowing through their minds.

"Xenovia Quarta," the way Griselda called her name revealed just how proud she was of her daughter.

The other disciples made way for her as even they knew that she was related to Griselda, a high figure in the Holy human society of the Vatican and other such institutes.

Upon laying her hands on the measuring device, a loud sound echoed out as the colour instantly changed from the base yellow all the way up to white.

The sheer silence of the room was deafening. No one spoke. Only the soft laugh of a proud mother echoed out across the room. Even the smug faced priest from earlier who had brought Irina Shidou could do nothing but gape.

Shown through the other faces of the other disciples that had come and still yet to pass, was bitter resignation. How could they possibly compete with that? Even if they were somehow able to pass, wouldn't that mean that they would eventually have to face the daughter of Sword Demon Quarta in the final test of combat? Still, some hope was present in their eyes. There were exactly two Excalibur shards after all, and unless another absurd candidate appeared, they could at least rest a bit easier.

Names continued to be called in the ever-increasing silence of the Church. Finally, more disciples were able to get past the test consecutively.

Blue.

Blue.

And blue.

With happy smiles on their faces, they looked towards Irina and then each other in determination. They didn't even consider Xenovia, not because she was a person to be overlooked, but because they could already tell that she was too strong. Of that they had no doubts as some of them who passed were from the same Church as her and had seen how thoroughly beaten her practice dummies were.

As the number of disciples left to take the test quickly dwindled, it was fast approaching for Shirou's turn to arrive. Still, not a hint of nervousness could be seen on his face, something he had only recently developed after Griselda forcibly drilled the habit into him. After all, she had used the excuse that it wasn't good to reveal your intentions on the battlefield.

As the last few names were called, it finally came the time for his name. A nobody. Someone in which the other Churches had never even heard of.

"Shirou Emiya," Griselda spoke.

This time it was readily obvious just what Griselda thought of the boy who walked up to the alter. Her voice hadn't been like the way she spoke out for Xenovia, but rather it contained a hint of excitement.

Of course, to the other people in the crowd, they would have no idea what that would mean coming from Griselda, but Xenovia was different. Her mother would only take that tone of voice only if she knew of something certain. Over the course of the three weeks that she had experienced a true form of hell with Shirou, she'd come to understand something about him. There was no way he could not pass this test. On more than one occasion, she had experienced the influx of his Holy Aura, and it had rendered her shocked time and time again. After all, to possess such an aura, how much light energy did he have within him? Even thinking about it was frightening, and now that she would have the chance to accurately gauge it, even she could understand her mother's excitement.

"Please step up to the alter," Griselda urged as Shirou had yet to move.

Swallowing, Shirou immediately noticed the glow of the necklace around his neck and the lack of reaction from the crowd. He had already verified it before, but it turns out that not only could they not see the necklace, they couldn't even see its glow. However, he was able to ascertain that they could feel the power coming off from it.

Nodding to Griselda, he walked up to the alter and steadily placed his hands on the device.

"My light is the light that shine's down on all."

The voice once again resounded in his head after all the weeks of silence.

"I will give you your answers later, but for now you must do all you can to win."

It was at that point that he realized that he could no longer hear any breathing in the room. Startled, he turned around to face the gawking crowd.

The device under his hand was going crazy, a multitude of colours flashing as the crystal that made up the device began to tremble. It was with the help of the procession of priests that it stabilized back to its base yellow. It was then that Griselda silently motioned for Shirou to once again place his hand on the device.

Silence.

All eyes watched as the colour came to a stop at a brilliant white before the device instantly shattered into a fine powder.