Training and Hypothesis

The summoning room fell silent after Gerard's stats were revealed. He frowned as he examined his own abilities.

"I'm so weak?" he questioned himself, drawing bewildered looks from everyone in the room. "Well, I don't know how these letters represent my power, but I think I should be EX in everything. After all, I'm the strongest," he asserted without a hint of doubt.

"You think so?!" Mordred exclaimed. "Father is the strongest knight there is, not someone from an Order that we didn't know about at all."

Gerard looked at her, then turned his gaze to Artoria. "Well, you are her sister, right?" he asked. "You should introduce me to your father to test my skills and show this young girl that I am the strongest."

"This is not my sister!" Mordred corrected him. "It's my Father!"

Gerard squinted his eyes, looking at Artoria, as he tried to make sense of the situation. "You're her Father, but you are a girl. Ah! I see, she was adopted, right?" he asked.

"You!" Mordred exclaimed, angered by the suggestion that she was adopted despite being the heir of Camelot. Red lightning started to dance around her.

"She was not adopted!" Artoria declared. As she said that, Mordred looked at her father with widened eyes, surprised that her father had acknowledged her in any way.

Gerard looked at the duo, still squinting his eyes, before flashing a smile. "I'll stop investigating here as it seems it's a touchy subject!" he declared. The colossus of a man then turned his attention to his Master. Ritsuka started to flinch under Gerard's intense gaze.

"So you'll be my Master? Know that the only true master I'll ever have is His Majesty and nobody else," Gerard stated.

"But I'll work with you nonetheless. Destroying humanity is a grave sin that His Majesty will hate without a doubt," he added before looking at everyone else in the room. As his eyes wandered, they stopped at Chiron.

"So you have a part of Divinity too?" asked Gerard, studying the centaur.

"Indeed. My name is Chiron, the hero trainer from Ancient Greece," replied Chiron with a smile.

"A great ally!" exclaimed Gerard. "You are all great. I am so grateful to have been summoned here, or I would have gone mad with the incessant talk of Askin."

Ritsuka looked at everyone else in the room before smiling.

"Welcome to Chaldea!" he said. "I hope that we can all fight together to stop humanity's extinction."

All the heroes nodded at his declaration. Gerard wore a little smile, seeing the young man trying to command beings that were far beyond anything he could do. It was amusing to see, never in his life could he have known that he would be commanded by such a weakling. But if it was for His Majesty's plan, he would do anything.

If my Master wants me to fight, I'll gladly help him, but if you summon Jason, know that he will be mine to punish!" announced Medea as she smiled menacingly.

"Well, I already fought with you, and you realized my wish to summon me as a Lancer, so I'll help you once more!" declared Cu as he grinned toward Ritsuka.

"Boy!" exclaimed Gerard, his voice generating a shockwave that made the walls tremble. "I'll help you vanquish these fools that threaten humanity. In His Majesty's name, I, Gerard Valkyrie, the Miracle, shall give you my blade!"

"Great!" exclaimed Romani as he looked excitedly at everyone in the room. "Now, with the number of servants here, we should be able to take on any Singularity!"

"Don't be hasty, Romani," declared Da Vinci as she looked at the doctor. "We don't know what lies in these Singularities. Don't declare victory too early."

She looked at Ritsuka and Mash before smiling.

"The Rayshift for the third Singularity starts tomorrow morning. You all have one day to make acquaintance with your new comrades and to prepare yourselves for the fight," she announced, and the atmosphere in the room grew heavier as she continued.

"Ah!" exclaimed Gerard. "You can just Rayshift me and the boy, and I shall bring you back your precious Grail without fail!"

"We can't risk it, Berserker," declared Artoria as she looked at the man. "Boasting about your strength doesn't make you stronger."

"You think I am boasting, little girl?" questioned the Miracle. As he said that, Mordred started to look at him with fury in her eyes. "I am the strongest of the Stern Ritter, I am a Royal Guard of His Majesty himself. I've fought against opponents far stronger than you and won, so don't take this tone with me."

Tension crackled in the room as the atmosphere grew more charged, with a growing sense of conflict between the three of them.

"Gerard," began Jeanne, her gaze locked on the giant, "Arrogance is a destructive quality. It often leads to dire consequences."

"It's not arrogance, young lady," Gerard replied firmly, "I was merely stating the truth, the truth can be hard to comprehend"

Some moments passes as the tension grew weaker between the servants,

"I have a question, Gerard," Jeanne began. "Do you know a man named Friedrich Braun?"

Gerard scrutinized the question, his eyes sharp, before responding, "Yes, indeed, I know of him. I trained him in spear arts for a bit. But that's all the information you'll get from me concerning him or any of my brothers and sisters."

"Thank you for your response!" Jeanne said with a smile.

Cu then proposed a training session between the newly summoned servants to explore each other's capabilities. Ritsuka considered the idea, and Romani expressed his approval. They headed for the training grounds, with Gerard's observation about the color white lingering in the air.

"You seem to like the color white," Gerard noted. "A great choice!"

"Thank you," replied Romani, scratching the back of his head shyly.

Soon they arrived at the training ground, as Gerard jumped in the training ground.

"Come, Artoria, If you think my boast was only arrogance, face me and see for yourself !" declared Gerard, as Artoria prepared to jump in the training area, a red blur passed near her and Mordred, wearing her armor, appeared in front of Gerard.

"As if my Father will lose her time with someone like you !" she declared, pointing the newly rebuilt Clarence toward Gerard

"It seems that your 'Father' didn't educate you properly, girl!" Gerard exclaimed as he placed his shield on the ground, drawing Hoffnung from his shield. "I'll do it in her stead."

"You're dead!" Mordred shouted as she sped toward the Miracle, creating a gust of dust. As she neared him, she swung Clarent horizontally toward him, aiming to cut down his arm holding his sword. In response, Gerard hurled his shield toward her, forcing her to parry. The impact of the shield sent her propelling in the opposite direction due to the sheer strength behind the throw.

Mordred growled as she stood up from the ground where she landed, lightning dancing around her again as she prepared for another attack. She sped toward Gerard with determination.

"I like how you fight, girl!" Gerard declared as he appeared in front of Mordred with his sword dangerously close to her head. Her instincts told her to dodge, and she flexed her body to avoid the incoming sword. Although she dodged the fatal blow, the strength behind the swing was immense, causing it to destroy the walls of the arena.

"Nice dodge!" Gerard complimented her as his body was left exposed above her

"Shut up!" Mordred exclaimed as she used her fist, coated in red lightning, to strike Gerard in his exposed stomach. The blow connected, but it seemed to have no effect. Gerard didn't even grunt in pain; he simply smiled down at Mordred. In retaliation, he used his own fist to strike her in a similar manner, leaving an indented fist mark on her armor and pulverizing the ground beneath them. The impact left a crater in the ground with Mordred's unmoving armored body at its center.

"It was a good warm-up!" Gerard exclaimed as he turned his attention to Artoria. "Now you're next!"

Napoleon commented on the spectacle, amazed by what had just transpired. Chiron was equally impressed, feeling as if he had witnessed one of his former pupils in all their glory. A smile graced his face as he watched the intense battle unfold.

Meanwhile, in the training ground, Mordred lay on her back, gazing at the ceiling. Her body ached from the earlier encounter, and she was seething with frustration.

'How could I be defeated so easily?' she fumed inwardly. 'I've been humiliated in front of Father. What a disgrace!'

Summoning her determination, Mordred rose to her feet, her armor-clad legs trembling under the weight. She glared fiercely at Gerard, her grip tightening on Clarent. She knew not to activate her Noble Phantasm in a training session, but she was determined to prove her strength to her Father.

As Mordred approached Gerard, an armored hand rested gently on her shoulder, and Artoria's voice broke through the moment.

"You've done well, Mordred," Artoria said. "Allow me to take the next fight."

Mordred looked at her Father with wide eyes, the hint of tears hidden within her helmet.

"Yes, Father!" she exclaimed, stepping out of the arena to let Artoria face the Quincy.

"Your daughter is a true warrior, but her discipline is lacking," Gerard noted. "From this, I conclude two things. One, that you don't care about your soldiers. Two, you are a horrible Father."

"You don't have the right to judge me," commented Artoria as she placed herself in front of Gerard while he retrieved his shield.

"I am merely comparing you to our Lord, and I can already see the difference. You were nothing more than a poor king," he retorted, looking at the woman before him.

"I will not engage in a debate with a fanatic like you. It seems to be a common trait among your Order to believe that your king is the best," Artoria responded firmly.

"Of course he is, for he is our Father, our King, and our God. Prepare to face me, King of Britains!" declared Gerard.

"I am ready!" Artoria replied, gripping Excalibur with both hands.

The two combatants locked eyes for a moment, and then they both accelerated toward each other. Hoffnung and Excalibur clashed with such intensity that the blinding light they generated forced Ritsuka to seek cover behind Mash to shield himself from the brilliant flare.

The two swords reached a momentary standstill, but it became apparent to all that Gerard had the upper hand, gradually pushing Excalibur back.

"A contest of strength?" Gerard questioned with a grin. "Really?"

"You take me for a barbarian?" Artoria retorted. With a burst of mana, she propelled Gerard backward, sending his body flying. As she observed him, three golden beams of light headed her way, which she quickly recognized as arrows, having seen this attack from other members of his Order. She effortlessly parried every one of the arrows, noticing that their power far exceeded Friedrich's.

Suddenly, Gerard materialized in front of her. Artoria widened her eyes for a moment before gracefully dodging an incoming strike from Hoffnung. She used her right foot to block his sword from the ground and thrust Excalibur at him. As her sword neared his exposed body, he brought his shield to block her strike.

"You are a skillful girl, but you should do better than that!" he exclaimed, his shield glowing with golden light. In the next moment, Artoria sensed herself being sent flying, her body impacting the ground with a resounding crash.

Silence fell over the arena as Saber slowly regained her footing.

"Are you asking the King of Camelot to serve under another's banner?" she questioned, her voice filled with fury. "Your arrogance knows no bounds!"

"Did I stutter?" retorted Gerard. "You simply declined my invitation to join His Majesty's army. What a pity," he added, and Hoffnung began to emit a faint red glow.

"I am faster than you!" he declared, reappearing in front of her at a speed that Artoria found astonishing. She couldn't fathom how his speed had increased so rapidly.

"How can this be? His speed has increased so much in such a short time?" she wondered, bewildered by the bizarre occurrences.

"Your sword cannot harm me!" he exclaimed, catching Excalibur with his bare hands, entirely unscathed. Artoria's eyes widened as she comprehended the situation.

"His words are affecting the outcome of the battle," she realized, dawning comprehension sweeping over her.

"I'll strike you no matter what!" he declared as Artoria attempted to dodge his incoming shield bash. With his declaration, her body began to feel sluggish and weak, leaving her unable to evade the oncoming attack.

Her body was sent hurtling, and she lost her grip on Excalibur as she was launched into the wall. Despite the impact, she didn't sustain any damage, just as he had declared.

"This marks the end of my training!" Gerard declared. "I have witnessed firsthand the strength and determination of these two knights, and I am not disappointed. It was an incredible battle to fight against you both. Thank you!"

"I'll leave the arena to others who want to test their skills," Gerard added before leaping back to where Ritsuka was standing.

"That was incredible, Mr. Valkyrie!" exclaimed Mash as he landed. "It seems that you can control your own Miracle through speech, right?"

"Aahah!" he laughed, looking back at the girl. "Indeed, my Miracle can be passive or active as I decide. I can force them to happen through my speech."

Jeanne looked at Gerard, her expression frowning as she observed the man. For her, only God and Jesus could perform miracles, and now this man appeared to have similar abilities.

"I was given my power by His Majesty," declared the man. "He gifted the Miracle to me."

"Could I know the name of your king?" she demanded.

"No," he replied firmly. "I won't give you the name of our King, as his name is sacred and not to be spoken by people like you."

She looked at him, her frown deepened as she had a theory about their king, but she soon shaked his head, considering her thoughts heretical.

The training resumed as Medea and Cu demonstrated their prowess to the other Servants. The older ones, except for Mordred and Artoria, showcased their powers as well. Gerard was extremely impressed by Napoleon's display, as his attacks reminded him of his Miracle, albeit much weaker.

The training continued until the sunlight could no longer be seen through the windows.

"It was truly remarkable!" exclaimed Gerard as he clapped his hands. "I am genuinely impressed by the displays of power from the others, and I can't wait to see your Noble Phantasms on the battlefield. It will be an incredible experience."

"Indeed, Mr. Gerard," Mash concurred as she retrieved her shield from the ground. "I'm sure we will emerge victorious in the next Singularity, right, Senpai?"

"Yes, Mash," Ritsuka affirmed with a determined fist. "I'm sure we will emerge victorious. We must!"

"Very optimistic, Master," Jeanne remarked while maintaining her frown. "You still won't tell me the name of your king?"

"Still not," Gerard replied as he walked toward the exit door. "Prove yourself worthy, and maybe I'll tell you and give you a Quincy cross as a gesture of good faith."

"Master!" he called out. "I'll be taking my rest now! See you all tomorrow!"

"Wait, Mr. Gerard!" exclaimed Mash. "We didn't show you to your bedroom."

"Don't worry; I'll take the first one I find," he replied, waving his hand before disappearing through the door.

After Gerard's disappearance, Mordred's voice could be heard through the training ground.

"What an arrogant bastard!" she declared through gritted teeth. "He's strolling here like he owns the place."

"Language, Mordred!" admonished Artoria to her 'son'. "But he is indeed extremely arrogant, though he does possess remarkable strength."

Artoria's words made everyone ponder for a moment until they heard the door open, revealing Da Vinci entering.

"Everyone, thanks for the little training," she began, "I collected data from everyone and took my time to analyze the data from Gerard's fights. Now I know what these miracles are!"

"First, his powers are extremely strange," she continued. "It seems that they originate from his heart. In fact, this is where his Divinity comes from. So, I suppose he has some kind of artificial heart in place of a normal human one. His 'Miracle,' as he calls it, is just probability manipulation. He isn't bending the laws of reality or creating something from scratch, but he's manipulating the probability of what he says."

"These aren't miracles?" Jeanne inquired, her voice laced with something unusual.

"These are miracles, just not the divine kind," Da Vinci explained, "but the power to manipulate the odds of an event happening is nothing short of a miracle. However, I think the greatest miracle that could be seen is resurrection."

"Manipulating the probability of something happening ? " pondered Napoleon as he looked at the ground "So he can make something that is impossible to happen happen, what an incredible power"

"Like I said, we can't know for sure just how far his probability manipulation can go," Da Vinci explained, "if it has no limit, we could be witnessing the emergence of one of the strongest magecraft ever, to the point it could possibly be considered magic."

"What I fear," she continued, "is that someone so powerful is in the service of someone else. Given Gerard's behavior, I can't see him serving anyone weaker than himself. So, there must be someone with a magecraft superior to probability manipulation, either in their nature or among the Heroic Spirits in the Throne of Heroes."

"Miss Da Vinci, what type of magecraft could be strong enough to rival something like that?" asked Mash, her curiosity piqued. For her, manipulating probability was already one of the strongest powers she could imagine, making the user nearly invincible.

Da Vinci considered the question for a moment before responding, "I think that the manifestation of imagination could potentially defeat probability manipulation, but it would depend on the user who wields both powers. However, I can't be certain about the nature of their king's magecraft, so I can't make any theories in the dark."

"I see," nodded Mash. "But their order seems to be full of extremely strong individuals, so why is there no trace of them in history?"

Hearing her, Da Vinci widened her eyes. "Wait, we forgot one of the most important parts of it. Does anyone know of a Gerard Valkyrie?" Her voice trembled for a moment.

The heroic spirits and Mash, realizing what she was getting at, all widened their eyes.

"How could someone who doesn't have any legend known in the world be a Heroic Spirit, and so strong at that?" Medea asked, bewildered. They all understood that a servant's form was entirely dependent on the fame of their legend.

"You're telling me that some nobody can defeat me and Father without a problem when we are beyond our prime?" Mordred exclaimed, her face reflecting her disbelief.

"It could only mean one thing," said Da Vinci darkly. "As his legend is not known, he was stronger in his life than now, or at least at this power level. And his powers were not crafted by the Throne of Heroes but borrowed from Gerard during his death."

Mash, puzzled by this occurrence, asked, "Miss Da Vinci, could it be that only their order knew of his legend, and it somewhat boosted him?"

"It's possible, but it's extremely hard, Mash," Da Vinci explained. "Something like that would mean that their order has a population of at least 500,000 people. This is impossible, or they would have been known throughout history."

"But Miss Da Vinci, it can't be that a servant is unknown to the entire human population," Mash continued to theorize. "It must mean that this knight order has existed through history and has remained hidden from everyone else."

"Mash," started Ritsuka, "it seems that you've been reading a lot of fantasy books recently. How can someone hide a population of 500,000 people and more throughout history? This is an impossible feat."

Mash blushed at the comment, but she still persisted with her point. "But Fujimaru, we can already travel through time and space using technology, so tell me, why wouldn't it be possible to accomplish that?"

When Fujimaru opened his mouth to reply, the door suddenly swung open to reveal Dr. Romani. He appeared utterly exhausted, his eyes devoid of emotions.

"This man Gerard," Romani began, "he is such a loud fellow. I just wanted to go to sleep, and he burst in front of me, asking where he could lodge. I showed him to his bedroom, but he said it wasn't convenient enough. He then proceeded to break the wall between two bedrooms and declared it his bedroom now before kicking me out."

Hearing Romani's story, Da Vinci couldn't help but hide her smile behind her hand, while Cu burst out laughing.

"You truly are unlucky, Mr. Archaman," Cu said as he crossed the door with Medea. "Well, I'll go to my bedroom too," he added, turning his attention to Medea, who was right behind him.

"I didn't know that you wanted to sleep with me, Caster!" Cu laughed out. But suddenly, a purple magic circle appeared behind the woman.

"Tell me, dog," she began, her voice calm but sending shivers down everyone's spine. "Do you want me to cut you open or disintegrate you with magecraft?"

"I think I'll just head to bed for a good night's sleep, Caster!" Cu declared as he hastily made his exit.

Observing Cu rushing down the hallway, Medea deactivated her magecraft and turned to Fujimaru.

"I'll go set up my own workshop, Master," she declared. "I wish you a good night."

She disappeared in a blue light, soon enough all the servant left bare Mash, Fujimaru,Da Vinci and Mordred as Saber has gone in her bedroom too

"Mordred, why did you fight in the stead of Artoria at first" asked Fujimaru, puzzled about her choice, as her legend specified well that she hated her father

"I just want her to recognize me," Mordred confessed, her voice heavy with sadness. She looked at the ground with a mixture of pain and longing. "In my whole life, Father never acknowledged me in any way. When I showed to her who I truly was, she just looked at me with disgust. Even if I am just a filthy Homunculus, I deserve to be recognized!"

Mordred continued to speak, her voice filled with both sadness and anger. "Back then, I just wanted to be loved. My mother saw me as nothing but a pawn in her little game, while Father straight up hated me and wanted nothing to do with me." Her eyes revealed the pain of her past.

"Then when I realized I was summoned as a servant with Father, I was happy. I thought I could prove myself to him once again. But since my summon, I've only faced defeat," she went on, her voice trembling. "I was defeated by the man who could turn into iron, by the man with his strange abilities, and then by Gerard. I feel worthless, just a pale imitation of my Father in the body of a Homunculus."

Ritsuka and Mash watched Mordred with sympathy. It was clear that beneath her tough exterior, she was just a girl longing for the affection and attention of her Father.

Mordred soon met their gaze and spoke softly, "I'm sorry for burdening you with my state of mind. I just had to let everything out, or I'd explode in the future. I know my temper quite well."

"Good night to both of you," she added before walking out of the room.

Fujimaru looked at the training ground that was restoring itself slowly,

"Mash," he started "Can you help me with some training ?" he asked as he walked toward the training ground 

"Yes, of course Senpai !" she replied excitedly as she followed him to the training grounds

As Fujimaru ran laps around the arena with Mash by his side, he contemplated what he had witnessed with Gerard. The encounter had made him realize that humans had untapped potential beyond their legends. Previously, he believed that the strength of servants came solely from their legends, but seeing someone like Gerard, a human without a notable legend, easily defeat powerful servants had expanded his perspective.

Mash followed him without any problems while he struggled to run more than ten laps.

"Senpai, if you feel exhausted, you can stop for a bit" she proposed, her breathing not bothered in any way as she rn with him

Fujimaru looked at her, before looking at the ground

"No that's good Mash, I want to see just where my limits lies" I replied as I continued to run

Two hours later we could see Mash carrying the unconscious body of Fujimaru through Chaldea's hallway

But unbeknownst to them, a towering figure was observing them since the start of the master's training

"Tomorrow, the young Fujimaru will be healed of all aches " the figure declared as he used the shadow to disappear a second later.

"What a admirable young man, full of energy and passion" it added before being totally engulfed by his shadow

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The next chapter, we will begin the Third Singularity. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I initially aimed to write 2,000 words yesterday and today, but I ended up sleeping on my computer yesterday due to having had only 3 hours of sleep over the whole weekend.

See you soon :)