Summoning Your Favorite Character

After he was transported back to school, he went to his classroom again, and that made him annoyed.

Ray's seatmate was Brian, someone that he didn't want to meet right now.

"Ray?" the voice of a woman can be heard from his back.

He knew who it was, someone that he didn't want to meet more than Brian.

"Yes?" was all that Ray said to her.

Nadia Fatimah, Ray's 'girlfriend.'

Before all the betrayal fiasco, Ray loved her so much that he prioritizes her as number one, much higher than even Brian, his best friend

Nadia was everything to Ray at that time. But that made the betrayal more devastating for him.

Ray's heart can't accept anyone anymore, he closed his heart from the world, and that made him lonely.

He always convinced himself that everything is going to be alright or being alone is not that bad, etc. But humans are social beings.

His grades in college were always below average and never had a chance to make any friends, or even if he did, it was not a real friend that he seeks.

Nadia was surprised and afraid, just like what Brian felt the moment that Ray is not 'him'.

Ray and Nadia promised to went on an after school date together, something that Ray just remembered thanks to his [Eidetic Memory] and he wanted to cancel it.

"What happened, Ray?" Nadia said with concern, a genuine one, but not directed to Ray.

Just like how Brian interpreted Ray's voice that contained a little bit of anger, she thought that her relationship with Ray's best friend got caught.

But fortunately for Brian and Nadia, Ray didn't intend to expose them, at least not yet.

Ray wanted to expose them to everyone in the school, making them the object of scorn instead of him. So he made a plan.

It was simple, made himself known and popular in his country, lift up his school's name, and by the time he was popular, he can expose them and make himself as the victim.

"Sorry, Nadia. But I don't feel so good. Can we rearrange our date later? I promise I will make it a great date." said Ray.

He was lying, of course. But he didn't want to meet Nadia and Brian right now.

"...Eh? Yeah... okay then. Please get well soon, okay?" Nadia sigh in relief inside her heart.

'I thought he caught us. But a wild man like him didn't really have a good brain, to begin with.' She thought, seemingly blinded by the fact that Ray always helped her understand subjects that she didn't understand.

Ray left to his class, it was already 4 P.M. so he needs to go to his part-time job as a dishwasher.

Ray didn't live with his parents anymore because they always argue all the time.

He worked at a cafe as a dishwasher. It was not easy for him to get a part-time job as a student, so being assigned as a dishwasher was good enough, at least until he can create his own restaurant.

Ray has plans besides revenge. He plans to create a restaurant, a 5-star restaurant. Ray loved cooking, even though his [Cooking] skill is quite low at the moment.

After he took his bag from the class, he went to the school's parking lot to grab his motorcycle.

On the way to the parking lot, he found Brian and Nadia talking to each other. At a glance, it was like a friend talking to each other, but Ray knew they were having a rare rendezvous together.

Ray walked faster. It was still quite a heart-breaking sight for him even though it's already 10 years since then.

Excalibur sensed it's user's negative emotions and tried to calm him down.

Ray felt a warmth coming from Excalibur, he was happy that he's finally not alone.

[*Ting*I'm here too, host.]

'Yes, yes you are. Thank you, truly.' Ray said towards his system and Excalibur.

[*Ting*You are welcome.]

Ray got on to his motorcycle and went to the cafe to work. He told the owner of the cafe that he wanted to work instead.

Ray told the manager days earlier that he wanted to have a date with his 'girlfriend', so Ray suddenly told the owner that he wanted to work instead, confuses the owner.

He went to his boarding house first to change his clothes from school uniform to his work uniform.

Well, 'work uniform' is just a blue polo shirt with black jeans. Since it's a cafe, the uniform is not really strict.

His worked started at 6 P.M. while he arrived at his boarding house at 4.30 P.M. so he still has some time before work.

"System... can I call you something else? And please stop with the 'Ting', it's getting quite annoying.

[You can call me anything, host.]

"Hmm... let me call you Hana."

[Thank you for the name, host.]

"Your welcome. Now, how do I enter the [Training Ground]."

[Host just needs to say [Training Ground] in your mind.]

'[Training Ground]'

[Do you want to go to dungeon or training ground?]

'Training ground'

[Teleporting...]

The scene changes into another white space. The scene inside the training ground will change based on what type of training that he wanted to do. For example, if Ray wanted to further improve his [Cooking], then the scene will change into that of a kitchen.

"This is very similar to that place... who should I summon?"

[An update to this feature was added by Dragon God of Creation. He added a time dilation control for both the dungeon and training ground. To set the time dilation, Host can simply say how long and Hana will adjust it for you.]

"What? Can this place be more overpowered?" He asked to no one in particular.

[Host will also stop aging, so Host has free will to set the time dilation.]

"...Shouldn't have said that." Ray sweated.

'If I can set time dilation freely, then I can train whatever I want. This is great!' Ray thought.

Then, he remembered that he needed to work at the cafe later.

In his past life, the cafe closed down because of the lack of customers and the taste of the food. Though the coffees were good, the food didn't come up to par with some of the cheaper cafe in Ray's town.

The cafe, named "Greg's Coffee", originated from the name of the owner, was a cafe that offers coffee, snacks, and heavy dishes for lunch and dinner.

He didn't want the cafe to closed down because the staff there were all nice. Ever since they went bankrupt, Ray fell out of touch with all of them.

Ray always thought that if the cafe didn't go bankrupt, he won't be the depressed man that he was before.

"How can I summon a character?"

[Host needs to say the complete name and the world that the character is from.]

'Hmm.. who should I summon?'

Ray was thinking that to summon someone from Shokugeki no Soma, but he wondered if that will be enough.

Sure, if we were to talk about cooking techniques, summoning a character will be a good idea. But [Cooking], or cooking in general, will improve itself, especially if you own a restaurant or become a chef.

So he thought of something else, swordsmanship.

Ray wanted to be a master in swordsmanship so that he can wield Excalibur with pride. And he knew just who can he summon.

"Artoria Pendragon, Fate Universe."

[...Summoning...]

Particles of light were gathering in one place and made an outline of a human. The more particles came into the 'human', the more it resembles a human until the face and body became someone that he knew and loved at the same time.

Artoria Pendragon, The "Once and Future King", The King of Knights, and wielder of Excalibur. She is regarded as a male in Fate Universe. In her world, she became a servant in the Holy Grail War, but that's a story for another time.

Artoria has the appearance of a young woman in her late teens with a slender physique, soft skin, and green eyes. She has "finely textured" blonde hair that seems "as if sprinkled with gold dust." Her face shows some signs of naivety and displays elegance. She normally wears shining armor with an old styled dress, made from old-fashioned blue cloth, underneath. She is actually older than her appearance would show, as her body did not age from the moment she pulled Caliburn from the stone to the time of her death.

Artoria opened her eyes as a new person, rather than the King that has set impossible standards for herself.

She was about to take her last breath when time stopped. In front of her, appeared a woman with red hair and white eyes. Her facial features and her body looked like it was sculpted by God himself, which is true.

"Do you regret becoming a King?"

Artoria, being a King, was angered by the fact that an unknown woman suddenly asked such a question. But she can't hide her inner feelings from the woman.

The woman in front of Artoria, is the physical representation of Hana, the system of Ray.

Throughout her rule, she was plagued by self-doubt, because of the standards that she set upon herself. She knew about her kingdom's downfall and felt responsible for it. So Artoria can't answer the woman's question, because she, deep inside her heart, regret becoming one.

'If someone else became King, then the Kingdom will never...' she thought.

"Then..." Hana extends her hand to her head.

Artoria can't summon her strength since she's already on her last breath, so she can only close her eyes, waiting for the immediate death.

When Hana's hand touched her head, she saw a modern city, filled with people with various emotions. People talking on the street, drinking beer, driving a "metal horse".

"This is what happened after your death. Your legend brought about the success and the glory of this country, Britain"

"This is?!" Artoria was shocked.

She never thought that the lively city is her kingdom, Britain. She can feel her connection with this nation.

What Hana displayed to Artoria was Britain on Earth, instead of the one from Fate Universe.

"Doubting yourself means that you doubted Britain. Look around you, your downfall caused this. The fate of this county was already set in stone for greatness with or without your death."

Artoria looked at the ground, feeling like she was failing her county from the start. She always feels like she didn't work hard enough for her country, but seeing the result of her reign, she felt happy and lonely.

It was a good sight, seeing her country prosper, but she knew that the citizen here only remembered her as someone from a fantasy story. But that, in and of itself, was okay.

"...What is your purpose for bringing me here?" Artoria asked. The woman beside her must have had a plan for bringing me here, she thought.

"I want you to protect your country once more, not from the savage you once fought, but from something far more... fantastical."

"What do you mean?"

"A monster is coming. It can ruin not only this country but the whole Earth with a single flick of his finger. I want you, not assigned as a protector, but as a teacher for my master. He was but a human destined for greatness far more than your country can ever dream. But now, he was just that, a human with no single skill to even kill a savage*."

"Who is this 'master' that you are talking about?"

Hana then changed the scenery to when Ray was talking with God.

"My master is over there." Hana then points her finger to a 16-year-old boy with black hair.

Artoria was looking towards God, she can feel he was an existence far stronger than her. But when she saw the boy, Ray, she felt the same thing.

Artoria knew he was just a citizen, but she can feel something great from him even though it was all just imaginary.

Hana and Artoria didn't expect that God was looking at their direction.

When God disappeared in front of Ray, he was actually just teleported himself in front of the two women.

"My, my, look who we have here? The system, or should I say, Hana, and the legendary King from Britain."

Hana was surprised, she was just casting an illusion directly towards Artoria, so the scene in front of her should've been only that, an illusion. To think her former master can bypass even illusions, Hana thought to herself.

"What did you take me for? I'm the Dragon God of Creation, you know." God said.

"So, she's the one Ray wanted as a teacher? I expect as much from my successor."

"What do you mean?" the more Artoria heard their conversation, the more confused she became.

"You have the same fate as him. Ray was destined to become someone bigger than myself the moment I point him as my successor. You also have the same fate as him, someone bigger than only a King from a country. But it seems like your fate intertwined with him." God was looking at her, more specifically, her 'fate'.

It was like an aura from God's perspective, and a string was coming out from the said aura and intertwined with a similar string coming out from Ray's. It happened the moment Artoria came to this place.

It was like they were destined to be together, but this can mean a lot of things besides marriage. It can be as a teacher-student, master-servant, or even marriage.

Ray's affection towards Artoria was as big as the Caspian Sea**, even though Artoria was only a 2D character from an anime that he liked. But if Ray saw her face-to-face, he will even kill a monster with just his fist just to look 'cool' in front of her.

Unfortunately, Artoria never knew something like love or being a woman in general. So Ray will be hard-pressed to look like a man in front of her.

Artoria listened to God, and she interprets his words as something akin to, "So, I accompany him as a teacher forever?"

"Haha, not quite, but you can interpret it as is. For now, though, let's look at Ray's reaction." God was looking at Ray's direction.

Artoria tilted her head, confused at what God was saying. But when she looked at the boy in front of her, she was surprised, not by his handsomeness, but by the weapon that he just summoned.

"EXCALIBUR?! HOW?" She was so shocked that she even summoned Excalibur. Artoria remembered that she told Bedivere to throw the sword back to the Lady of The Lake. But how can that boy have Excalibur?

"I created it, of course. With your Excalibur as a base, I created an upgraded version of it. So that sword that you are looking at, is my best creation out of all others, except the scabbard of course." God didn't lie. It was really the best creation of his. With Ray as its user, it can even slay the one that created it.

Even Avalon, the scabbard of the sword, is also the best of his creation. It never seemed to amaze him that instead of creating Barriers, just simply isolating the user inside another dimension is an absolute defense one can get.

Artoria didn't feel any connection to the Excalibur in Ray's hand. It looked like hers, but not at the same time.

"Hmm... I think I should give you your sword back," said God as he summoned sheathed Excalibur and giving it back to her.

"But..."

"Just think of this as a welcome gift," said God.

"...I thank you for your generosity," said Artoria. She didn't realize that the sword in her hand is basically the same sword that Ray has. When the two swords meet, a miracle will happen, but that's a story for another time.

Artoria's sheathed Excalibur went inside her, regenerating any injuries on her body.

"I think you should end it here. Because Ray will be needing your guidance soon. Please take care of him." said God as he appeared in front of Ray again.

"I guess I have to be his teacher as I have no say in this. But that doesn't mean I won't teach him. I feel like if I follow him, I will see something far more beautiful than even my own country."

"In due time." is what Hana said as the scenery changed back into the forest where she was supposed to die.

"Are you certain to follow my master, even to the deepest of hell?"

"I am."

"Then... Transference Start..." Light covered both of them, as time passes, the Artoria that were supposed to die, went to the unknown, as a new person.

When she was conscious once more, she opened her eyes, as the scene in front of her was not the same forest anymore. And the man she was destined to be together with, was looking at her with a gaze she never got from her knights, affection.

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Hello there

Whew, finally have the chance to finish this chapter.

My habit of not wanting to write came back yesterday, probably because I tried to write in the office. Not the best place to write XD.

I wanted to tell you all something about Artoria's case.

At first, I want Scathach as a teacher. She's a great teacher, but I don't know how I can change her backstory from wanting to die to something else. I read "The Wish of the Dragon" where Scathach and Scáthach-Skaði became the same person, at least that's what I think it is.

Since Ray has Excalibur + Avalon, then I thought, why not? I think it will be much 'smoother' for Artoria as his teacher rather than Scathach, since I planned for Ray to meet Artoria at the next novel that I planned to write.

And I can only say... sorry. Not because of not summoning Scathach, but because of Artoria.

I admit, I think quite hard for this. Because of her contract with the world in Fate, I can't exactly change it. So I go with this "Hana's Intervention" before she(Artoria) can offer her service in exchange for the Holy Grail. But, I need something for Artoria to take her 'self-doubt' and her regret away, so I have no other choice (more like not having a better imagination XD) but to made her looked at Britain. Its very shitty, including the last part, but I hope you all like it.

[Training Ground] is the name of the feature while training ground, without the '[]' is the name of the dimension that he will be trained at.