Chapter 29.3 - For the Unworthy [3]

So they go, walking on a road heading towards nowhere of interest. Hanami doesn't speak, nor does Mash, and the minutes are spent in silence. There aren't any underlying feelings, no tension to speak of, but Mash can't help but feel slightly awkward about it.

Then,

"So, how're you feeling? Enjoyed the addition I gave?" Hanami begins with a small smile, and Mash nods eagerly. She still isn't sure what it was, not even Doctor Romani could identify what the ring that Hanami gave is, but it's incredible. Her body feels lighter than it's ever been, and deploying [Lord Camelot] became much easier.

Hanami's smile grows slightly. "That's nice. First time I tried to create a ring, but I'm glad it works normally." She casually says, and Mash almost trips.

She glances at the ring on her finger and stares in awe.

'This ring is the first ring Hanami has ever made?'

It's a beautiful little thing, colored a bright, almost velvety red and engraved with decorations and markings. It's...amazing, and again, she wonders what origins Hanami has to be able to create something like this.

"It's a ring enchanted with [Natural Body] and [Magic Resistance], though both brought down to Rank D." She explains. "Would've liked them to be like the ones I have, but my skill in imbuing specific skills isn't all that great yet. Still, even weakened, the effects they bring should help quite a bit. Besides, I need someone to test its effects for me."

"I...see."

'But why give it to me?'

"Because if it'll help you, then why not?" Hanami answers, and Mash's eyes fly to her. Did she-?

"No, I didn't read your mind this time." She says with a laugh. "Your face told everything I needed to know though."

"But...why?" She decides to speak up. "If this ring is the first one you've ever made, then why not give it to Shirou-san? Aren't you closer to him? Wouldn't he give a better description of what the ring does?"

"I could." She shrugs. "But, again, if it'll help you, then I might as well, right? Besides, just because we've only been together for a day or two doesn't mean I can't put my trust in you."

Again, there it is, that casual admittance and acceptance, and Mash can only wonder. To put one's trust in someone else is a heavy thing, and truthfully-

"-you shouldn't." She says, and quickly clamps her mouth shut in surprise. She didn't mean to say it.

"So I shouldn't trust you?" She asks back, raising an eyebrow. "There are plenty of suspicious people, evil people, people who I would never trust." She looks at her, her eyes seeming to glow. "You are none of them."

'You shouldn't.' She silently cries. 'You shouldn't. My worth is nothing compared to others.'

"Truly?" Mash blinks. Hanami almost sounds...sympathetic. "Your worth is nothing compared to others?" She repeats. Then, in a quieter, gentler voice, she asks, "Is it because you feel unworthy of holding the spirit of Galahad inside your soul?"

"...yes." She whispers out, her stomach feeling like lead.

"Is it because you believe you hold no strength without him?"

"...yes."

Silence descends once more, but Mash doesn't notice, too busy trying to calm the voices shouting in her head.

Then, Hanami puts a gentle hand on her shoulder, smiling with understanding, and everything stops.

"It's a frustrating feeling, isn't it?" She begins, eyes growing just a bit distant. "To know that your power comes from something else, to realise that, without outside influence, you would probably be nothing."

"I know that feeling too." She admits, and Mash eyes snap to her. Hanami fidgets slightly, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "It's...It feels like you're cheating, having this power up because we're granted something we're truly not deserving of. And it gnaws on you, and you constantly wonder what would've happened if you didn't have this strength."

"Hanami-san…"

"I'm not like everyone else." Hanami just continues, too lost in her own mind to stop. "Shirou trained for years, honing his craft when no one would. Saber lived and suffered for her kingdom, shedding tears and blood for her people. Gil fought and contested against the gods, bringing a beginning to an age of humanity."

"Me?" Hanami laughs, smiling with self-deprecation. "I'm a cheap knock off. I have power, sure. I have skills, items, weapons, knowledge, access, whatever. I have them all, but I'm nothing. I'm just a privileged kid, given things by some unseen entity and dropped into this world with no certain purpose."

"The things I have aren't mine. I took them. Made them my own, perhaps, but it still stands that they were never mine."

"Compared to everyone else, I'm nothing but a faker."

Hanami stops, takes a deep breath, and lets it go. "...I've spent many nights just staring at the moon, wondering what I did to ever deserve this gift that allowed me to grow so unnaturally strong."

"And I came to the conclusion that I didn't."

"B-But!" Mash quickly interjects. "But you must have fought and trained to become who you are now, right? You made that given power your own!"

All sounds stop for a moment, and Mash stills, hoping she didn't overstep her boundaries.

Then, Hanami smiles.

"Exactly."

"Eh?"

"I came to the conclusion that I didn't deserve this gift." Hanami repeats, but her smile is a genuine one this time. "And that doesn't matter. Whether I deserve this or I don't doesn't matter. Sure, there's certainly someone out there in the multiverse that's much more deserving of my gift than me, and someone who can use it better than I ever can, but that doesn't matter."

With eyes of shining gold, Hanami turns to her and smiles. "Because in the end, it was given to me, and wouldn't it be a disservice to not use it to the best of my capabilities?" She says, and her smile softens. "Isn't it a similar case to yours?"

Mash finds her breath stolen as she hears that, staring into those bright golden eyes of the woman that stands before her.

'Beautiful.'

"You were given the soul of Galahad. You were gifted his shield and his Noble Phantasm to use in battle. You were given a life where others died. Do you deserve so? Maybe, maybe not. But what matters is what you've done with that chance."

"And look at you now, Mash Kyrielight. Look at how far you've come. You are a designed child, your life may not be your own, the time you have left may not be long." Hanami takes a deep breath. "But you've kept moving. Doubts plagued you, and the bell of your death hung above your conscience, but you walked forward."

Hanami smiles. "So, as you've said to me, you fought and trained to become who you are now. Galahad may be where that shield and that Noble Phantasm of yours came from, but you've made that power your own."

"And isn't that the most important thing?"

Mash remains silent. She has no words. She can say no words. Because for as much as she denies it, she knows those words are the truth, and that Tsunaka Hanami truly understands.

So she just stands there, tears of relief falling as she's gently embraced. She doesn't know when she began crying, or when Hanami had hugged her, but it doesn't matter.

Because those words have been spoken, and her heart feels lighter than she has ever remembered.

~~~

In the end, Mash and I spent most of the remaining daylight touring the roads around Uruk, talking and sharing our stories. It was only when the sky began to darken that Mash realized that we'd used up so much time outside, before then remembering that she hadn't finished the task she was supposed to complete for the day.

With a wry smile, I quickly reassure the girl, telling her that I can tell Gilgamesh that we were busy with something. Mash looks at me for a moment, before slowly nodding.

And so we begin heading back, idly chatting as our soft footsteps escape into the night.

You know, I'm...glad I had this chance to talk with the girl. Not just because I could help lift some of the doubts plaguing her, but also because I had the chance to just let out some of the things I've been holding.

Because it's true, you know? I'm a faker, holding cheat powers and standing amongst other people who had to actually work hard to get to where they are.

Heh. It's kinda ironic actually. I had the quest to help push Shirou away from his fate of being a faker, but I guess that trait was passed onto me.

But, well, I don't let it hold me back. I'd rather not spend that energy contemplating on an answer I have no way of answering on my own. There's just a tad too many things I need to do at the moment.

Like right now.

I stop walking. "Mash." I say, bringing out [Alsa'Mal'Sara] from my inventory. "Bring out your shield. Be on your guard."

"Y-Yes!" In a flash of light, the shield of the round appears in Mash hands, and she bends her knee slightly, preparing to move at the slightest signs of threat. Seeing that, prana surges into my eye, and my pair of mystic eyes activate.

And-

"Behind!"

"Right!" Turning on her heel, Mash spins and leaps back, kicking the monster that was slowly creeping behind me. The beast crashes onto the dirt, before it shakes, standing back up with an almost mechanical snap.

Under the guise of night, a normal human would've been hard-pressed to see the monster, but I have my mystic eyes, and Mash is no normal human. The monster is a familiar one, its glossy skin a reflective black, its body made only of a torso and a giant mouth, teeth visibly shown to the cold night air.

My eyes narrow.

[Lahmu β Lv 300]

HP: 9,000,001/9,000,001

MP: -

Stamina: -

The children of Tiamat, and the new species that shall overtake the rule of humanity. Born from the cursed mud of creation, they set out with the singular purpose to spread their influence and let their mother rule over what is rightfully hers.

Due to some circumstances, the first prototype was destroyed before it could breed, and so a second form was released.

Skills: [Pliable Body - Lv Max], [Child of Nature - Lv Max], [Unnatural Weapon Mastery - Lv 01], [Iron Body - Lv 01], [Regeneration - Lv 01]

...Huh, so the [Observe] function of my mystic eyes has some additional information now. That's kinda cool!

It's a bit odd though. For a level 300 monster, the Lahmu's health is-, well, it's now low, but it's certainly on the lower end of the spectrum, especially considering the level it has.

That aside, from what I can see, [Pliable Body] and [Child of Nature] seem to be the base skills of all types of [Lahmu] going forward, but the other three are exclusive to this one, since all three's still at level 1.

I wonder how those three skills are supposed to gain levels though…

But let's not focus on that right now. There's more important things to do.

"Don't let your guard down, Mash. The thing's fast, durable, and unpredictable." I say. "And it regenerates as well."

"Got it!"

I nod at her, smiling lightly. "I'll provide fire from behind."

And without further ado, the dark of the night sky lights up as hundreds of prana bullets form in the air, each glowing with holy magic. The Lahmu lets out a shout as the bombardment rains down. The first few bullets make impact, but the rest missed, the Lahmu having created holes in its pliable body to avoid the incoming barrage.

I'm slightly impressed.

Slightly.

Because, though it may be able to bend its body in unnatural forms to avoid attacks, it doesn't have a keen battle sense. A cloud of dust is kicked up, and the Lahmu moves too late to avoid Mashu's enhanced shield bash. A cloud is kicked up as the Lahmu is sent crashing into the dirt, before being blasted by several hundred holy magic bullets from above.

And then, the dust cloud fades, and the Lahmu's gone.

"Huh? Where did-?"

"Mash! Below!" I quickly shout, and Mash heeds the command and jumps, just in time to avoid the claw that snapped out from the ground. The shielder turns and promptly smashes the bottom of her giant shield into the ground, pummeling the claw flat.

Thought that doesn't mean much, as the claw just slithers back into the ground, [Pliable Body] negating much of the damage.

But, there's something I just can't ignore.

[Unnatural Weapon Mastery - Lv 17]

How the hell did it level so fast!?

In just under a minute, the skill shot up by 16 levels?! That's not normal!

Wait-, is it gaining experience by fighting us?

HP: 8,302,391/9,000,001

[Regeneration - Lv 35]

Oh. Okay. Yeah, this thing just healed most of the damage we did.

It needs to die. Now.

"Mash, buy me some time!" I shout, and seeing her little nod, I stash my staff back into my inventory, switching it with a nameless Rank D sword. [Voltaic Charge] activates, lightning bursts to life around me, and I take a deep breath. Prana fills my lungs, snapping back and forth, and I feel the burst of electricity coursing through my veins.

Then, I condensed it all into my sword.

The magical energy in the area spikes as my magic flows into my sword, turning it an almost blinding white as arcs of lightning snap around its blade. Mash stiffens from the sudden influx of magic, and the Lahmu stills, its glossy burning from the intensity of my magic before it quickly moves to strike me down, moulding its body into a thin pike to maximize speed.

And maximize speed it did, moving fast enough to break through the sound barrier with only a single moment of acceleration, creating a shockwave that blasted Mash and the earth around her away.

I'm sure that, had I not been prepared, I wouldn't have been able to dodge.

However, that was a possibility within another universe.

Letting free a misty breath, my mystic eyes flare, time seems to slow to a crawl, and my words ring out into the night sky.

"[First Form:"

My arm jerks forward,

"-Thunder Clap and Flash-"

And I burst forward, my sword slashing right through the Lahmu's torso, burning a horizontal cut using blinding hot plasma.

"-Onefold-"

But I'm not done.

"-Twofold-"

Digging my foot into the ground, I spin on my heel and strike again, cutting off two of its claws. The monster shrieks, bending backward as it attempts to flee.

"-Threefold-"

My arm moves before it can though, and my plasma sword slices through its waist, cutting the Lahmu's legs off its torso, and the mud-born creature can only shriek.

I take a quick breath, my body quickly tiring with burns beginning to appear on my skin, but I move again.

"-Fourfold-"

I burst forward again, cutting off the other two arms the Lahmu had, filling the air with a disgusting stench as the sliced claws burned. The Lahmu shrieks again, Mash watches in silent awe, and I let a small smile appear on my face.

Now, one more...!

"-Fivefold!"

Spinning, I turn to face the Lahmu, and with my arms raised, I bring the sword straight down, cutting right through the Lahmu's head and torso.

All goes silent for a moment, before a loud bang follows as the sound of the thunderclap finally comes. Chunks of the earth fly up, molten bits of iron flop onto the ground as my sword fully melts away, and I watch with satisfaction as the five consecutive slashes I made take their toll on the monster, burning away the 5 pieces I'd cut the Lahmu into.

[You have killed [Lahmu β]. 35,000,000,000 Exp gained!]

[You have gained [Tainted Magic Core], x100 [Life Essences], [[Divine Shell] Skill Book]!]

[[First Form: Thunder Clap and Flash] has leveled up!]

[[Abnormal Status Resistance] has leveled up x2!]

"Nice." I whisper with a light laugh, before wincing as a cough wracks through me. With the battle over, the adrenaline fades and I let myself fall to my knees, wincing again as the burns on my body scrape against the ground.

It kinda sucks that I still can't use [First Form] without hurting myself. I mean, I guess I did kind of push it by using it five times in a row, but still, kinda expected a combination of my Vitality and [Magic Resistance] would've allowed me to at least mitigate that downside.

Actually, isn't that kinda weird? Both of them combined makes me strong enough to tank some of the more powerful magic spells, so why isn't it protecting me from [Voltaic Charge]?

Is...Is it just because my Intelligence stat is high enough to bypass that, or is it because I'm letting [Voltaic Charge] occur inside my body?

Hmm. How curious.

"H-Hanami-san!"

I blink, snapping out of my musings to see Mash kneeling beside me, her eyes shining with worry. "I'm fine." I say as I try to stand, only to then fall back down. Confused, I blink and look down. "Ah." I then see the slight spasming of both of my legs, and I can't help but smile wryly.

Don't know how I missed the fact that both my legs are [Paralyzed], but, yeah.

Should've probably noticed earlier when my [Abnormal Status Resistance] leveled up, but, well, whatever.

"Oh well, let's go!"

Mash stares for a moment. "Um, do you need to be carried, Hanami-san?" She asks, but I just smile, and her eyes go wide as I begin to float off the ground, the pull of the earth nullified by my own control over gravity.

"Welp, let's go back, okay?" I say with an amused smile. Mash blinks a couple more times, before she finally nods.

And so, with our troubles finished for the time being, we head back towards the kingdom of Uruk.