A glimpse into his past

Spending the whole day with Vivian drinking tea and having casual talk was certainly a nice experience for Raito. Even though they do it from time to time, today it felt special. It just... left a sweet aftertaste in his mouth. And it was not from the tea.

For a moment, he wondered if it was fine to drink the whole stock in one session but ultimately decided that it was worth it. Even if it definitely will be a pain to replenish his reserves, what else is he supposed to do with such amounts of tea? To hoard and then just stare at it? It even sounds ridiculous. Why else is he working if not to get resources to have a better life? Today's teaparty most certainly made his life better. In this constant struggle, he calls life, moments like this become the most precious.

Raito stood on top of a building, looking at the Big Ben on top of Elizabeth Tower that magus call the Clock Tower.

To him, they were starge people. They name things the most literal way, yet when it comes to their own names, their imagination runs wild. Magus, in general, are weird people. They proclaim their lifestyle to be dedicated to finding the "Truth", yet they spend it maneuvering their aristocratic society and squeezing the most benefits out of each other during constant political and business struggles. In the end, they don't have enough time either for the "Truth" or to grind themselves to the bone and advance their magecraft to the realm of so much desired True Magic.

What do humans do when they encounter difficulties? They take a shortcut. This trait is a great blessing and an equal curse. So many amazing things were invented this way, yet a disaster is waiting to happen on every try humanity takes. Holy Grail War is one such case.

The ritual was invented for magus to reach the Root. Something somewhere that kick started everything. There, they believe that they surely will get that "Truth" of theirs, and even if that fails, they will get Heaven's Feel, the 3rd True Magic, which will make their status skyrocket, and so the better future is guaranteed either way.

'Suicidal idiots! If the Root is truly a place of Genesis energy, then coming there is a certain death sentence. You worship simple in comparison sorcery, yet somehow are not afraid of a primordial force! Wow! Just... WOW! Magus, sure, dream big.

Laugh or cry, but those madlads managed to actually build this wish granting device on the principle of making a hole there. Alaya created the Throne of Heroes to battle dangerous invaders and keep the world from collapsing on itself in case someone crazy and powerful decides to destroy history. Now, this amazing defensive mechanism is used to cause bloodshed for a chance to fulfill someone's desire. And it is not even the worst part! One of the founding families, the Einzberg family, tried to cheat the system they created and got the Grail corrupted.

Imagine devastation you must experience if after sacrificing so much, especially in case the sacrifice is a loved one who willingly lays their life for your wish to come true, and winning the war (it will come as a surprise if in a conflict of such caliber the city doesn't end up destroyed and lit in flames), you are faced with the truth that all above was meaningless if you don't want for Grail to make it happen in one of the worst ways possible, of course.

Do you wish for sex with beautiful women, riches, and fame? For your sweat and blood during the war you are rewarded with being worldwide famous rape victim who was kidnapped by a group of beautiful ladies, chained and played with without any consideration for your well-being, after which they set you free and gave you riches for "playing along". Their recording ends, and so does your life. Satisfied? Your wish came true.

Do you wish to change your past? Maybe back then you have made a decision you regret now. Do not fret! For the victory in the most dangerous battle royale of your life, Grail will change your fate. This time, everyone and everything your decision could have affected suddenly died and collapsed, yourself included. You didn't have to make any decision, congratulations!'

Gaia painted quite a picture in my head when she was explaining the risks. After separation, Gaia and Alaya don't care about each other that much, but they are still connected. What that means is that Gaia's main worry is the damage to the planet itself, but humanity survival is also included. Alaya sends agents every time a threat emerges. They solve a lot of problems and save Gaia the effort to do anything herself. The most important job is to stop Outer Gods' foreigners' advances. In Tortus, they managed to cut off from the World Tree and to usurp it after killing local Will of the World. If not for Raito, that place would be forever lost. This must never happen to her. The wake-up call arose a sense of crisis. Gaia decided to look out for humanity and even send her Beast to help if necessary.

'This is where the alliance comes into play. I am a monster. Someone no longer human, yet not a beast. This gives me privileges to both come-and-go between the Present World and the Inner Sea of the planet and also to take part in the events of human society, including the Holy Grail War as a Master. While I can summon just anyone and carry the team myself, I am tired of fighting. If I have a choice, I will pick the strongest one, and for once, watch the action from the third person point of view. Gaia was so gracious as to establish a connection using a shard of Morgan le Fae staff from panhuman history between me and a Great Mother, Vivian's counterpart from the lost Age of Fairies, Fairy Queen Morgan.

I really have to remind myself sometimes that here all the parallel timelines exist within the confinement of a single universe. It's quite funny how the first analogy that comes to mind is a tree with the bark as the main timeline and branches as deviations. Well, I was wrong. It' a damn BUSH and the gardener is crazy! I have already broken my mind trying to understand what is going on here! Not that it was healthy before. Maybe the only thing I have seen up until now was only the roots. There are many. They intertwine. If one starts to rot, it gets chopped off. In special cases, it survives and supports itself to give birth to a new sapling. And all this time, I was only messing around in the mud, trying to comprehend what kind of vegetation grows on the surface by looking at different roots.

Stop! You are going crazy. Come on, Hajime, imagine Yue. What would she tell you right now? Well, she wouldn't tell anything. She would just embrace me. Shea, on the other hand... Yeah, only Tio would try to actually talk about it...

I miss them...

Fucking Speed Force! You were meant to stay a comic book power! My journey was supposed to be over. And when will you finally calm down?!

I just wanted to test my upper limit, and now I am stuck in probably another universe, damn it!

They must be worried sick about me...

Calm down. Lamenting won't help you.

Did I just address myself by my surname? Yue rubbed off me this much, huh. Or maybe... Haaa... I begin to understand why Gaia showed me an A-ranked "Madness Enhancement"...

What would I do if it grows higher?

Berserker wasn't shown in the options. Will I get access to it, too? Well, no use thinking about it now. Another problem for the future me.'

Len Raito is the name he chose to live in this world. Name translation was something akin to "beyond the light".

Back then, he ran so fast that light itself couldn't keep up. Glowing light, darkness, new world. Who would have thought that simple running could get you spirited away? For him, the most irritating thing about this whole situation was the constant feeling of discomfort from the Speed Force that had gotten out of control the moment he stopped. He tried to start running again, but it was an awfully painful experience. It was coming from someone who had experienced continuous destruction and reconstruction of his body for several days while being awake and starving. Monster of the Abyss can call pain and darkness his friends. Even if he would prefer to avoid the former.

Finished reminiscing white-haired red-eye young man dressed in dark gray that blended perfectly into the darkness of the night jumped from one rooftop to another. He was heading towards the place he secured earlier solely for this summoning.

'Time for our first meeting has come. Let's see for whom Gaia vouched this much.' With such thoughts running through his head, Len Raito, now known as Hagime ???, stopped in a clearing and started to draw the summoning sircle. It was a version improved by him after extensive research into the commonly used one and the addition of his magic to it. Cutting his wrist, he guided his blood to flow into the symbols, and after it was done, he took out the shard of an ancient staff. The ritual was ready at last.

'Alright, here goes nothing!'