Chapter 36

From the moment, his lips left hers, her mind had already stopped working. The fear and anxiety she had been feeling from the uncertainty of his absence fading away until it was nothing more than a speck in her thoughts. Instead, an inexplicable joy that stemmed from the part of her that she had always been stowing away replaced it. That which was deep in the recesses of her mind. A place that she wouldn't dare venture to for the pain of a hope and longing too difficult for her to bear.

The things that she could have, and the things that she couldn't

The responsibilities on her shoulders.

And the simple wish of a what if.

All were things that weighed down on her like iron shackles attached to steel balls. Her life wasn't as simple as that of a regular village girl's, and she knew it from the moment that she had picked up her sword.

It can be said that she'd been resolved since long ago, steadfast in her beliefs and willing to persevere to achieve them. And yet, a factor came into her life that she never would have had been able to account for. The boy she had first called friend. He had appeared in her life in her young adolescence, when she was but a child more fixated on petty vengeance against barnyard pigs to care about anything else besides training. Friend, teacher, support, he was all of those for her growing up. He was attentive and sincere, and she unknowingly grew more and more attached to him. As such, it wasn't long until other feelings began to surface from within her when she came of age. Feelings that she was reluctant to acknowledge.

The night air felt cold against her skin, but his touch was all that she was focused on.

It wasn't fair, she decided.

The way he looked at her. The sincerity in his eyes and the gentle way he cupped a hand against her cheek. It made it difficult to hide away anything: Her ambiguity and unease, her joys and her sorrows, reflected upon her furtive gaze that locked against his own.

The calmness that she had trained and always carried since her youth, unwillingly broke away to reveal the girl beneath. Shy and bashful, like any other girl who found herself in an unexpected situation.

Heat began to rise to her face, and a tingling sensation began to crawl from her stomach to her entire body, causing her to fidget as goosebumps travelled up her skin. It was almost enough to make her go limp.

Yet she controlled herself, her duties and her oaths shattering away whatever may or would have had been, for she was bound to them. She swallowed before breaking contact with his gaze, her eyes glancing downwards.

"Shirou, I," she bit her lips, a part of her screaming in protest. "W-We can't," she eventually whispered, voice trembling.

For what did it mean to be a King? What was the path of Kingship? She already had her answer, and it was one that was a bitter truth.

A King must fight alone for the sake of saving the people.

"If you truly believe that," Shirou said, turning her face towards him. "Then why are you crying?"

There was a silence that seemed to stretch on for an eternity, the petals dancing in the breeze creating shadows that flickered in the moon light.

Nothing had changed over her face. Not her expression, and not her demeanor, but the streaks of tears that she could feel running down from her eyes were enough to let her know that any explanation would be hard to clarify. Therefore, she said nothing.

A sigh soon entered her ears, and Shirou's face suddenly appeared before her.

He wiped away her tears with a thumb before gently kissing her once more, the action causing the grip she had on his clothes to tighten and her resolve to waver.

He stared at her silently, an enigmatic expression over his face that gave her pause.

"A King must fight alone," he spoke wistfully, ignoring the changes to her expression. "To save others, one must give their all, and perhaps even go to the extent of no longer being human."

The words Merlin had spoken to her, and the thoughts that she herself had pondered on were spoken clearly from his mouth. It was almost too unbelievable to imagine how he could have had known.

She was captivated.

"The roads we walk and the decisions we make, regardless of what they may be, it's still a choice that we ourselves had made, but Arturia,"

A strong stare, one with a deep meaning, wisdom, and sentiment that seemed to look right through her. Her barriers and insecurities, her thoughts of what was right and what was wrong, they all seemed to vanish

"Just because you're correct, doesn't mean that you're correct."

Her breath hitched while those words played over and over again in her mind like waves striking against a shore.

"The branches of a river all reach the same point. They never have just one way to reach the ocean. Thus, the path you must take, isn't set in stone nor is it reserved solely for one."

She felt his arms wrap around her, one at the small of her back, and the other cupping her head with a hand to press it firmly against the crook of his shoulder as he hugged her. It was tender, warm, and secure, conveying the sentiments he felt.

"I have taken an oath, not as a Knight, and not as friend, but as a man. I will protect you and I will fight beside you."

She froze, all kinds of emotions raging a storm in her mind as she embraced him dearly. The tone of his voice, the resolution within it, she understood. She understood and it made her want to sob, but she wouldn't. For she feared that she wouldn't be able to hold herself back any longer. Her teeth clenched together as a result.

"Your dreams are my dreams, and your hopes are mine as well. You want to save the people. You want to create a home where they can all laugh and live peacefully like the days of our childhood." He hugged her tighter. "Even if you think it's a dream, or it's out of your reach, together we can make it happen. I swear it. All that I ask is that you believe in me."

The boy from her childhood. The boy who seemed to know everything and never neglected her for a moment; her interests always in mind, how could she not believe in him? Her head nodded even without conscious effort. The feelings within her were finally threatening to overtake her, but a part of her still wanted to know.

The answer for everything.

"Why?" She pushed herself away from his chest with her hands. "W-Why do this for me? I-I can't understand it."

She watched as he smiled back at her fondly; strength entering his arms as he once again pulled her in close, her half-hearted and feeble protests unable to stop him.

"If you're really going to make me say it, then fine,"

His voice lowered as he took a breath, she the center of his attention as he pressed his forehead against hers; the words he spoke melting her like the sweetest of honey.

"Because I love you, Arturia Pendragon."

LINE BREAK

She couldn't fall asleep.

Not that it was impossible, but because she was feeling too flustered. Shirou had already excused himself from her presence after carrying her home in his arms while she was in a daze. It was only now that she found herself tucked into her bed that she regained her reason enough to think back on the events of the night. Yet it was almost impossible to remain calm. More so when she felt the lingering warmth on her forehead where Shirou had kissed her goodnight before leaving.

She turned on her side atop her bed. It was the one she had used in her childhood in Bristol, and the slight creaking it made as she shifted positions was familiar. In a way, it comforted her as she lay on her side, her head pressing cozily against her feather-stuffed pillow, her thoughts wandering.

I love you, Arturia Pendragon.

Her eyes seemed to lose focus as those words played back in her mind, a finger absently touching her lips as she remembered the feeling of his on her own.

Then suddenly, she realized what she was doing and promptly buried her face into her pillow in shame. She was a Knight, a soon to be King, her actions were disgraceful. Still, the goofy smile that forced its way onto her face revealed her true thoughts on the matter.

Just because you're correct, doesn't mean that you're correct.

Those words had a profound meaning to her. It may seem that it was a paradox in words, but the context behind them more than made up for it. Even if the path she was following was right, it didn't mean that there weren't other ways to reach the same result.

Calming down, she raised her face from her pillow and rolled onto her back, staring up at the thatched roof above her.

To be honest, she didn't know of any other method to save her country and people, and this was the driving force of her conviction. But Shirou, he- her lips pursed- he seemed to see beyond her views and towards another outlook.

She wanted to believe in that sight. The vision he could see beyond her horizons. Was it beautiful? Was it grand? She wanted to know.

Yet she was selfish. Even if she wanted to know, she didn't want to risk the peace of the people in her country. Her being King would make that selfish desire certain, but at the same time it would crush the hopes of the girl inside her. In the end, it came to a single conclusion on her part. To save one or to save the many.

Her hands gripped her blanket and pulled it to tuck it around her neck, her body relaxing into the soft bed beneath her.

She already knew her choice, but just this once, she decided to believe in an imaginary ideal and method that would save not one, not the many, but all.

Because inside of her, although she didn't admit it.

She had grown to love him.

Just as he said that her dreams were his and her hopes his as well, his dreams were hers and his hopes hers as well. She wanted to stand by his side, to fight by his side. It was the emotions of not the King she was going to be, but the girl inside of her that knew no better.

And at the instance she closed her eyes to sleep, the girl and the King became one, dreaming of the future where all were saved; the light of Caliburn's glow shining in the dark of her room as if in acknowledgment. Her mind filled with the soft nothings of a man's vows.

LINE BREAK

By the time Efret returned to report to him that none of the beasts were able to escape, he had already returned to the location of Ashton manor. However, it was only then that he remembered that unlike Arturia, his childhood home was currently missing. In the location of Ashton manor where he and Arturia had been moments ago was just an empty flat of land.

His lip twitched at his blunder, but he knew that it couldn't be helped. He was too lost in thought wondering about what Arturia would decide on during the course of the night. She was a stubborn one, and it would be hard to change the ideas she had set upon herself since an early age, but he was willing to put in all his efforts for the cause.

A breath left his lips as he glanced at Efret who had a gloomy air around it after ascertaining that Ashton manor was indeed gone. Ashton manor had been its home for an untold number of years, and it was more than likely that if he had not stumbled upon it in his youth then Efret would still be waiting there.

He placed a hand on Efret's back to show his consolation, his touch reminding Efret that it wasn't the home that mattered. So long as the young Lord was alright.

Unwilling as Efret was to admit it, he had had a similar problem that coincided with Agatha's.

Efret stared for a moment, before it shook its head and gestured for a directive, suddenly growing weary from the day's plight.

His mouth closed for a moment as he thought about where he should go to stay for the evening, but it was already too late in the night to go back to James Wolfed or anyone else for lodging. They were probably all sleeping in a drunken stupor and waking them up to accommodate him would be doing himself no favours. Moreover, he was never the kind of man to burden others for his own mistakes.

As such, he eventually found himself back at Sir Ector's manor where he had left Arturia on her bed choosing to spend the night there. However, he chose not to sleep in Sir Ector's or Kay's rooms as it was too close to Arturia's and might wake her up with the noise he would make while setting up the beds. It wasn't that it was a bad thing to wake her up, but she had enough to think about tonight. He didn't want to involuntarily press her for an answer or rush her to come to any sudden conclusions by alerting her of his presence.

Therefore, he made the decision to sleep outside on a pile of hay covered with a thick woolen blanket. Tired as he was and mind unable to rest, he neglected to realize that he had slept in full view of the window of Arturia's room. Meaning that the first thing that she saw when she woke up the following morning was his form sleeping atop the hay.

The expression of dumbfoundment on her face was more than enough of a price to pay for sleeping in the cold night air. More so when she laughed from the loose straws sticking out from his hair.

He smiled, rousing the sleep away from him as he stood up and cleaned himself before deciding to make breakfast.

"Wait here," he said to Arturia who nodded back stiffly as he went to the barn.

The feelings of nostalgia that welled up from within him were enough to significantly improve his mood. It had already been too long since he had nothing on his mind for more than a moment, and he didn't want to waste it.

When Sir Ector and the others had left, they weren't able to take care of the animals they had in the barn of their manor. However, Sir Ector had asked the townsfolk that he was friend's with to take care of the animals. Thus, when Shirou entered the barn, it wasn't very difficult for him to procure some eggs for breakfast and some other things that he would need as appetizers.

It was the medieval ages, and therefore the food he could make was limited, but he had enough experience in cooking to make just about anything taste extraordinary in Arturia's words.

Breakfast was a quiet affair with the way Arturia was acting.

As soon as he had returned and made food, she timidly glanced away from his gaze as if she didn't know what it was that she should do in his presence.

She kept fidgeting and glancing over at him when she thought he wasn't looking. Clearly, the events of the previous night were enough to rattle her, but it didn't appear as if she was apprehensive of the change. Instead, by reading into her actions and the flush on her face as he observed her, he was able to deduce that his chances in swaying her were higher than he expected.

Pleased and optimistic with this observation, he served the food in front of her and left her alone to eat while he made more food. God know he would need to make plenty more as an offering to the bottomless pit that was her stomach.

As he left, Arturia looked towards the food and reached a hand towards it. She was hungry as she hadn't been eating much since Shirou had disappeared, and her stomach was already growling in anticipation. However, she stopped her hand just as it was about to reach the food and moved it towards the utensils Shirou had forged long ago in the smithery. She was eager to eat, but she suddenly became self-conscious of herself.

She took the utensils in hand and used them to pick up a portion of the food on her plate before bringing it up to her mouth. Taking a bite, the impulse to scarf everything down almost immediately took over her. However, she forced herself to eat slower, unwilling to appear sloven in Shirou's eyes.

Therefore, when Shirou returned, he was momentarily surprised to see that Arturia still had food on her plate. Generally, it would be empty in a few bites. He was in the medieval times so it wasn't uncommon for Arturia to forget herself when eating something good and end up using her hands to increase her consumption pace. He had even seen her do it in numerous occasions, and after not having eaten his cooking for several days, he was sure that it would be quite difficult for to control her dining etiquette. However, his expectations were contrary.

She sat with a straight back, utensils cutting away at the food in neat portions which she slowly placed into her mouth before chewing. He smiled wryly even as he felt a pang of longing within him. The way she was eating now was almost identical to Saber. A refined table etiquette and an appetite to match. All that Arturia was missing now was the speed in which Saber consumed food but he had no doubts that Arturia would be able to master it.

"Here," he said, placing down several other portions of food before he himself sat across from her.

She blinked at him, cheeks shifting up and down as she chewed before swallowing.

"Why aren't you eating?" She asked, drinking a cup of water before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"I already ate," he lied without much thought. Food was secondary to him at this moment, and besides, he enjoyed watching the happy expression on Arturia's face as she ate. It was a secret pleasure of his that he had dearly missed in his past.

Not saying much more, a redness began to form on the bridge of Arturia's face as he simply stared at her. Clearing her throat, Arturia shifted her attention away from him and chose to lose herself in the offerings before her.

It was only when she had finished eating and the table cleared that she gained enough willpower to stare him in the face as the two stood outside.

"About last night," she began somewhat slowly before hurriedly changing her mind and asking something else as she grew flustered. "What are we going to do now?"

He pretended not to notice the change in her trail of thought and plastered on an inscrutable expression on his face, his mouth a thin line and his eyes as calm as mirrors. It was enough that Arturia was affected by his intentions. He would take it slow from here on to ease her into it. The only reason he made his expression hard to discern was the trouble in answering the question she had just asked.

The Reverse Side of the World, and the mission he was assigned by Agatha.

He had to find the Phantasmal Species that had crossed over and reassemble the Key that Lord Ashton had made to enter and interact with those in the Reverse Side of the World. If he didn't, an untold number of Phantasmal Species may be able to wreak havoc throughout the land regardless of Agatha's intervention.

He stared at Arturia, thinking long and hard.

The point of the matter was whether or not he should get her involved. The part of him that wished to protect her said no, but the logical part of him knew that she would never accept such an outcome. As such, she may very well attempt to follow him and end up in even more danger than if she had just travelled alongside him.

Exhaling, he decided that it wasn't worth it to keep this away from her. Yet that didn't mean that he didn't try to dissuade her from coming along or attempting to follow him. His words of persuasion however only served to infuriate her, an anger surfacing in her eyes towards him that he had never seen before.

"NO!" She denied, smacking a hand on the table, the noise piercing to his ears. "No matter what you say, I will not agree to let you handle this on your own. You said it yourself, even you don't know the dangers you may face and you expect me to be comfortable with that?"

She glared at him, the agitation in her eyes evident. It wasn't fair. He had stirred up her emotions the previous night, filling her with unending happiness, unease, and expectation for the future alongside him, and now he was trying to dissuade her from remaining by his side because it was dangerous? Bullshit.

Didn't he understand that sometimes the fear of knowing that he might not come back was worse than dying? It was akin to a specter constantly clawing at her heart and mind. There was no way she could ever grow accustomed to such a feeling.

Those stories of men and Knights leaving their damsels behind for their safety, she could understand the sentiment. However, none of those stories ever spoke of the grief that those left behind remain with until the Knight returns.

Unlike those damsels, she refused such notions.

Live or die, she would rather fight by the side of the one she cared about.

This wasn't about being a King or a Knight, this was simply her own personal feeling.

She crossed her arms even as her glare became increasingly frosted, the aura around her easily able to deter others. Therefore, it was unexpected that Shirou would pull her into hug, lean his head down, and whisper into her ears.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried," he said gently.

His arguments to persuade her had been mediocre at best. He knew that if Arturia were the one asking him to stay while she ventured forth into danger, then he would never have had agreed. How could he have had expected Arturia to agree to something that he himself would never have had agreed to. In the end, it was the result of human selfishness.

He ran a hand through her hair as she eased into his embrace, the anger she had before dissipating.

"As long as you understand," she mumbled before pushing away from him. "If everything is as you've described, then we don't have much time to waste."

He nodded his head. "I've already planned it out and sent Efret to get ready near James Wolfred's manor. Before leaving we must at least express our farewells to the current Lord of the Land."

"Definitely. I still have to thank him for his efforts in the battle against the beasts. Now then," Arturia spoke lightly as she bounded forward a couple steps before turning back to smile at him. "Shall we get going?"

Shirou returned the smile, but it was only then that Arturia realized that there was something wrong as a peculiar but familiar smell entered her nose.

"I have two things to say," Shirou said mysteriously. "Where do you think you are, and what do you think you're standing on?"

Over the course of the conversation in the morning, the two had involuntarily been walking around Sir Ector's manor. It was only near the end of the conversation and when he had hugged Arturia that the two had stopped in their walk. The problem however, was just where exactly the two had stopped.

Gradually, Arturia's gaze shifted down to her feet as a certain unease began to fill her mind.

No way.

There was just no way.

Ever since her childhood, there had only ever been one thing that she had hated doing in her list of chores.

Her lips twitched, her face paling as her mind gave her the answer to Shirou's first question.

The stys.

The pig stys.

Then what did that mean the brown stains on her shoes were?

Her mind blanked.

##$##!

LINE BREAK

"I want bacon, a mountain," Arturia insisted stubbornly after the two had given James Wolfred a quick farewell and boarded onto Efret's back. Her arms were crossed together and there was an odd twitching at the top of her brow that had only grown worse when James had inquired about the brown spots on her shoes.

Shirou shook his head in exasperation. "I've already told you its impossible to make an entire mountain. Do you know how many pigs you'd need for that?"

"Let them feed their King." Arturia's face darkened sinisterly, the ahoge on her head seemingly disappearing as her entire demeanor shifted to a different person. A dark and malefic aura surrounded her. Her golden-coloured hair changing into a lighter pale white while her pupils turned into a pallid-yellow, filled with a thinly veiled murderous intent.

Shirou blinked when he stared at her before he rubbed at his eyes, clearly thinking that he was seeing things. When next he stared at her, the image he had seen was replaced with the Arturia he knew who now sat quietly with a pout on her face.

He chose to ignore the burning question in his mind and instead prompted Efret to take flight into the air.

With a flurry of its wings, Efret ascended to the sky, leaving behind the town of Bristol until the people within it became nothing more than tiny specs on the ground.

It wasn't till then that Shirou pulled out the stone marked by Agatha which would lead him towards the direction of one of the missing jewels related to the slate in his possession.

A dull glow suffused the rock, and it seemed to point him into four different locations. The feeling was similar to being tugged in his mind. The closer the target, the stronger the pull in his head. He decided then that it would be best to start with the farthest rather than start with something closer. After all, it would save time going there and back, and more importantly lead to less trouble for the people Arturia cared about. If something went out of hand due to their inexperience in the matter and the Phantasmal Species began raging in areas near Sir Ector and the rest, he didn't want to think about the casualties.

Therefore, the farthest was the safest choice due to inexperience.

Atop Efret's back, the world below was moving like a blur, vast plains, bogs, and hills passing by nearly every minute. This was the advantage of air travel. There were no obstacles that one had to maneuver around, nor where there any bandits or the like to impede them. It was simply just straight flying, and if anything, the cold wind was the only problem.

Even with Arturia and himself close together atop Efret's back, the fierce winds were able to pierce directly through the fabric of their clothes.

Arturia shivered, but she closed her mouth tight and put up with it, arms hugging around herself for warmth.

He wanted to pull her into his embrace to share his body heat, but the stone in his hands was preventing him from doing so. The tugging was getting stronger and more inclined towards one direction. It was to the point where he had to use conscious effort to prevent it from slipping out of his hands. The glow on it had long since turned radiant, and it was at that moment that he willed Efret to land.

They were close and he didn't want to be sighted so easily without precaution.

Efret landed in a dense and uninhabited forest, no signs of civilization for miles on end.

"Where are we?" Arturia asked as she got off of Efret's back.

Based on the memory he had of the map of Great Britain from the modern day, they had been travelling North for quite sometime. Therefore, he speculated that he was near where Newcastle should have had been on the map. Yet, he wasn't certain if Newcastle even existed yet and was unable to reply to Arturia's question.

"Somewhere North," he said frankly before staring up at the sky.

It was nearing evening as the two of them had been riding on Efret's back for the majority of the day.

"Let's set up a camp," he said. "If we don't start now, it'll be too dark for us to gather any firewood."

Of course, they could have had used the radiant glow of the stone in his hand, but he wasn't willing to risk alerting the Phantasmal Beast they were searching for that they were nearby. Thus, he had wrapped the stone in leathers and stored it in a bag he kept by his waist as Efret had descended.

"Then I'll look around for some dry sticks for the fire," Arturia replied as she strapped Caliburn to her side.

As he had made sure to pack enough for the journey, the two didn't have to worry about food and water and were quickly able to build a small camp in which they could spend the night. Luckily, they finished just before the darkness set in.

A trail of smoke soon exited the forest canopy and rose towards the half-moon in the sky, the area around Arturia and himself lit with a flickering orange flame.

"It's like camping with Sir Ector," Arturia spoke to break the silence. A twig was in her hands and attached to it was a piece of meat that she was roasting over the fire.

"You could say that," he agreed, similarly roasting his own piece of meat. "But more importantly, I think you might be holding that a bit too far in."

In her impatience for the meat to cook, Arturia had stuck her food directly into the fire.

"Oh," she said, pulling her food back.

Its surface was blackened, and the insides were clearly still raw.

It was too late to save it.

He shook his head, and before she could protest, he took the food from her hands and switched it with the one in his.

"Shirou, you," her protests died when he gave her a glance, her expression turning demure as she nibbled on the food.

After all, the look in his gaze spoke of the feelings he felt for her more than just the words he had once spoken.

"Eat it, it's okay," he said, roasting Arturia's burnt piece of food some more before taking a bite out of it. "It doesn't really matter what I eat anyway. You can understand what I find more important to me than just mere taste can't you?"

"Y-Yeah," she stuttered, head bowing as a warm fuzziness welled up from within her.

Was this what Sir Ector called affection? Was this what the other village girls called love?

She didn't know, but it was a tender feeling that she found herself unwilling to give up, her neutral expression marred by joyful emotion.

She bit into the food in her hands, and although it hardly tasted as good as the other things Shirou had made, in her heart, it would become a fond memory.

Time ticked by slowly as the two ate, a warm-hearted atmosphere permeating in the air that was only broken when Shirou's eyes narrowed at something in the distance.

"Come out," he called gruffly, and from the woods a figure appeared.

"Humans?" It spoke.

Its appearance was humanoid, thick greyish fur growing out from all over its bare-chested body covered only by small segments of metal plates passed off as armour. Its face was cat-like, and its muscles were visible despite the thickness of its fur.

It sniffed, slitted pupils widening in confusion.

"Halflings?" It said, turning its attention on Arturia before approaching.

It could smell that the blood in Arturia's veins wasn't ordinary, and just one look at Efret perched on Shirou's shoulder was enough for it to deduce that things may not be as it seemed.

It closed its mouth and forced itself to stop salivating, the potential human meal it thought it had found turning out to be for naught.

"Greetings, fellow halflings," it said cordially. "Are you also here by the call of that Great One?"

Shirou glanced at Arturia, and it was more than enough to get the message across. It was likely that this Great One spoken of was the Phantasmal Beast that they were after. Still, they needed more information.

"That is our purpose, however, my companion and I ended up lost after a day's travel," Shirou answered.

"Is that so?" The cat-like creature approached less cautiously before sitting down a couple feet away from the fire. "You're in luck, the gathering's actually supposed to happen by midnight. I can lead you there now that I've met you."

"Then I thank you before hand, still, do you happen to know what this gathering's about?" Shirou asked.

He knew that he was taking a gamble with this question, but it needed to be asked so that he and Arturia wouldn't walk into something they couldn't easily get out of.

"Exactly, this gathering's too sudden for anyone to know its purpose, but what are halflings like us going to do under the call of a superior Phantasmal Beast?" It laughed wryly. "Moreover, you two have got to be the most human-like halflings I've ever ran into. If it wasn't for myself being a demi-human werejaguar able to differentiate the smell of you two, then I probably would have had attacked and eaten you for dinner. Name's Arkus."

"Then you don't know the point of this gathering?"

"No," Arkus said frankly before glancing up at the sky. "But I do know that all the other halflings in the area are bound to gather towards it like the three of us. Speaking of which, it's time."

Arkus stood up on its feet and beckoned for Shirou and Arturia to follow.

They stared at each other, but ultimately moved to follow Arkus when Arturia took the initiative.

They were lead through the dark forest, branches and bramble scraping against their skin as they walked. However, it was fortunate for them that Arkus was leading in the dark. They didn't stumble or trip on any roots or branches by simply following after it.

Eventually, the forest cleared up to a large expanse of open but barren land filled with halflings and some other phantasmal species. Some were like Arkus, others appeared to be werewolves and serpent-like folk.

He heard Arturia gasp by his side just from the sheer number of them. In the darkness of the night, it was hard to tell even with the moon's light. However, it was clear that there were more than a thousand.

"All of you half-breeds line up!" A gruff voice yelled out.

It came from a towering giant made out of stone. It was bulky in appearance with a rounded stomach, fat arms, and a flat face.

"A Spriggan," Arkus spoke in surprise.

Spriggans were a race of Phantasmal Species that generally hadn't appeared in civilization since the Age of the Gods. Even then, they preferred to live as one with nature in the forests as guardian protectors. Moreover, they were considerably strong, and as a species with close ties with the earth, they also had high vitality.

Shirou frowned but acted along with Arturia to imitate the halflings as they formed into neat rows. Thereafter, several other Spriggans appeared to walk down the aisles produced while holding onto an orb of some sort that glowed with magical light.

"Listen here, the Great One has given you all an opportunity to land in his graces. Whether or not you pass this test will determine if your journey here was worth the effort!"

Saying that, the lead Spriggan held the orb near one of the halflings before speaking impassively.

"Fail!"

Saying that, it walked completely past the failed halfling.

All around, similar scenes were occurring and it was only when the lead Spriggan neared where Shirou and Arturia were standing did Shirou get a good glimpse of the orb in the Spriggan's hands. Structural Analysis revealed its exact function.

It was imbued with a magic that detected the purity of a Phantasmal Species blood, and at the same time, differentiated its type as a phantasmal species. It worked to scry the secrets of the origins of the individual before it.

For example, when the lead Spriggan stopped in front of Arkus, the orb flashed with a light that labeled Arkus as a WereJaguar with a high purity in it's blood.

"Pass!" The Spriggan said gruffly.

It was then that Shirou tensed. After all, the lead Spriggan was standing before Arturia and not saying anything.

From the moment he and Arturia had arrived, their human-like appearance had garnered the attention of nearly everyone including the Spriggans. However, as everyone present were either halflings or Phantasmal Species, none bothered to make a move.

It was only now however after the lead Spirggan had paused that suspicions began to arise.

If Humans truly did trespass into this place, then it was a death sentence in the eyes of everyone present.

Yet before the halflings and other Phantasmal Species could get carried away, the lead Spriggan spoke in an unnaturally high tone. One filled with disbelief and awe.

"D-Dragon's blood!" It said, features gawking. "P-Pass!"

Everyone was left astounded, causing Arturia to feel awkward as she glanced at the ground.

Dragons were the pinnacle of Phantasmal Species. Members of Transcendent Kind, and extensions of the world created in a form independent from nature. Even just modicum of their blood could elevate the status of a halfling or any Phantasmal Species. And from the orb in the Spriggan's hand vibrating with a radiant light, the Dragon's blood in Arturia was incredibly potent, her magical reserves almost immeasurable.

Every halfling and Phantasmal Species nearby gave Arturia a wide berth, and this included Arkus, but excluded Shirou who remained where he was.

The lead Spriggan's eyes turned dismissively onto Shirou.

Here before it, it had just announced the bloodline of the pinnacle of Phantasmal Species. Whatever halfling Shirou may be, the lead Spriggan doubted that it could be anything substantial.

However, it still underwent the necessary procedure as Shirou readied himself for anything that could go wrong. Unlike Arturia, he wasn't of Dragon's blood or any kind of blood he could think of. Instead, he thought himself to be completely human.

Evidently, Arturia thought the same as she stared at him in concern, ready to fight her way out of the situation.

Yet everything occurred out of expectation.

Because when the lead Spriggan placed the orb in front of him,

It simply shattered, fragments deteriorating to dust in the wind.

LINE BREAK

Elsewhere, within a dark fog, Agatha smiled in amusement.

It wouldn't be that easy.