Shirou was not about to just sit here and allow this man to walk all over him. But judging from this Berserker’s personality he couldn’t just brute force his way through. Surely there was something he could do instead?
“I can understand wanting to keep secrets Berserker, but if you keep me in the dark too much how am I supposed to understand what is going on? Surely you can share some stuff with me, even the most basic things that anybody could figure out?”
Berserker thought for a second, considering Shirou’s words. Before finally he responded his face coming into a smile.
“Yes yes, you make a good point fine sir. What kind of a man would I be if all my secrets were kept like a locked chest rotting away in darkness. Very well then, as I mentioned before I am of the class Berserker. This means that I am fated to go insane at some point due to mad enhancement. When or how this happens I cannot say, only the fates can tell of such a thing. But when it does happen I shall be nearly unstoppable of that I promise you.”
“Insane? How does that work? Will it wear off at some point?”
The armored knight clicked his tongue before nodding in disapproval. “That I will not reveal my friend, to do so would be to reveal my own identity and as I said before that is an event I am unwilling to participate in. Should you wish to bring me back you will need to figure it out on your own. To do so would be a task most fitting of someone worthy enough to be called my Master!”
Shirou on the other hand was not amused by his Servant’s ramblings. He felt as if he was in over his head. He couldn’t take much more of this. “Fine, but what do you mean by war? Are we going to be fighting an army or something? How can one man be that strong?”
To this Berserker calmly walked by the still dazed Shirou before grabbing the door handle and easily ripping it and the door itself off its hinges. He then proceeded to rip the door in two pieces like it was paper and dropping the chunks of wood on the ground. “A rather barbaric method if I must say but one that should suffice. As a Servant I possess powers far greater than you can ever imagine. So long as you wish to fight I will remain loyal to you ever still, and yes even against an entire army would my blade stand strong. But as I mentioned before such a battle seems to be unlikely, for you see others are likely summoning their own Servants until the total quota of seven has been filled. After which the war shall continue onwards until one remains.”
Shirou stood there his mouth agape, how was he going to explain this to his landlord or worse, to Shinji. “W-what the hell man? This an apartment how do you expect me to repair this!?”
Berserker merely glanced at Shirou quizzically before chucking in a rather elegant manner. “If it is repairs you need then leave such matters to mine own hands. I have a few tricks up my sleeve you see, and I can use them of my own volition. And because you seem like such a polite upstanding gentleman I won’t even mind dirtying myself slightly to see that you’re possessions are fixed. But might I make a recommendations o young one. You seem rather fatigued from the days events and with good reason. This has all been a lot to take in, why not go get some rest before night’s presence leaves us? Leave the cleaning to me.”
The dizziness filling Shirou’s head had only gotten worse over time which was making it hard to decline Berserker’s offer. In the end he agreed with Berserker’s proposal and began to head for his own room. But before he could make it there, the piercing smell of blood flooded his nostrils, he took one glance around to see the giant pile of blood on the floor and then he passed out his mind unable to take any further strain for that day.
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“Hey pops, where are you at?”
Shinji had just arrived to his house. He quickly passed through the front door without even bothering to knock while shouting.
Yet there was no reply. “Jeez, is he already going deaf? Hey old man! Where are you at, I got this package you wanted!”
Yet there was still silence, perhaps he had already gotten tired of drinking passed out in his room again? It wouldn’t be the first time Shinji experienced that after all.
As he walked through the hallways and neared the stairs that would bring him to the second floor, Shinji couldn’t help but feel something felt off. The air itself felt heavier than usual and that was saying something compared to the almost constant heavy atmosphere the newly rebuilt mansion projected.
Just before he reached the stairs Shinji paused as he caught something out of the corner of his eye. There at the far opposite hall stood a door where there should have been a dead end.
“Did they do some renovations while I was one or something?” His curiosity was overwhelming, ignoring any warning signs that were going off in his head he made his way towards the door and opening it up before freezing in shock.
The room was enormous with a giant row of great stone steps leading downwards into the dirty ground. But what stood out most of all were the three people standing in the center of the room.
Two of them Shinji recognized all too well, his old man, and his gramps, but the third was stunningly beautiful, with pitch black hair and pale skin what stood out from that was her deep red eyes as she stared at his old man.
And instantly decapitated him with one swift movement of her hand. Blood was sprayed in all directions and Shinji fell to his knees in shock. He shouldn’t be here, he knew that now. This was something he should not see. But it was too late, the damage had already been done.
Almost humorously the deep cracked voice of the owner of the house spoke up as if he had just noticed Shinji’s arrival. “Oh is that you Shinji? I’m sorry but the magical energy your body emits was so puny I hadn’t noticed. Please, do come in and make yourself at home. It looks like we have much to talk about.”
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His entire body felt like a lead brick, struggling to open his eyes Shirou once more found himself in his room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, had it all been a dream?
“Good to see that you are awake once more Master, and even better still. You see, it seems I have made a small error in my actions, and one that must be addressed immediately.”
The sound of the voice through thin air immediately alerted Shirou. It appears that it was indeed not a dream.
“Error? What do you mean by error?”
Giving Shirou yet another shock the man in the silver armor materialized out of thin air directly beside his bed before continuing onwards with his explanation. “You see Master, I failed to take into account the fact that you are new to the magical world. And as such you have yet to awaken any true magical capabilities, your magical circuits in other words. This is the method that I as a Servant must use in order to stay alive. But as it is currently the amount I am getting is only just enough to keep me from disappearing altogether. Should I get into a conflict with a foe… Well I could last at most a few minutes I’m afraid.”
The dizziness from being awakened now gone from his head Shirou began to recall the nights events in full though he couldn’t remember how he got back to his room. The last thing he could recall was leaving that bathroom. But for now he needed to take care of this issue with Berserker first. “So then, what do you want me to do?”
His Servant gave a small smile before retrieving from one his pockets a small brown leather book. “Ah just like my Master, quick to pick up on the situation as I had expected. Well, for now you simply need to awaken your circuits. While you slept I ran a few small ritual tests to analyze your skill and it appears unfortunately you may just be dreadfully average in terms of magical prowess. But never fear! I shall help you to awaken what potential you may have. Please sit there for a moment while I begin the process, when completed the connection between us will strengthen greatly but before that you may feel a few uncomfortable tinges of pain. Rest assured it is all part of the process and nothing all that dangerous.”
“Dangerous? W-ha-”
Before he could object Berserker held out his free hand and began to chant in a language Shirou could not understand.
“oh magia abscondita…”Berserker’s hand began to glow in a soft purple light and Shirou felt his body get heavier and heavier.
“...tu cum occulta potentia…”His body felt as if it was one fire. His vision began to fade, something was going wrong, was he going to die?
“...excitandis!”Something had awakened inside Shirou, the circuits that had awakened in his body were pushed to life and he felt the magical energy pulse through his body for the first time. Along with that he could feel a strange tug towards his Servant.
“What is this?”
That is your magical potential awakened my Master. It may take a while to get used to but when you do you should be able to control when you wish to release your own magical energy. As for the day, I am afraid I allowed you to sleep just a little too long, noon has already passed and the sun is beginning to fall, but never fear! With what little time remains in the day I shall teach you what I know about magic!”
“Magic… Berserker… Are you a magus?”
It happened so quickly Shirou thought it was an illusion, a tinge of darkness passed through Berserker eyes before his smile and grace returned as if nothing had happened. He then began to speak in his elegant manner. “It could be said that I have dabbled in the magical arts for a short while, I know enough to be able to aid you but that is all I’m afraid. So come then, shall we get started?”
As they made their way out of Shirou’s room and into the main living room Shirou was relieved that it was still the weekend, he didn’t need to worry about work for another day. But as he walked by the bathroom yet again he paused.
“Is something the matter, my Master?”
Shirou couldn’t help but stare at the ordinary wooden door that was still connected to the wall as if it had never been broken.
“No it’s nothing. I was just confused for a moment.” Shirou then proceeded to glance about the room, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, there was no blood but why would there be?
“Very well then, please come along, we have much to learn and only so long to learn it all. The longer we wait the more our foes will plan against us and that must be stopped at all costs.”
Once again Shirou followed Berserker and once they settled down Berserker began to teach him the intricacies of the magical world.
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A lot of time had passed as Berserker patiently began to teach Shirou the basics of magic. He began to learn the mechanics of how magic worked, what magic was and the difference between odo and prana, as well as attempting a few common magical spells.
By the time night began to fall Shirou still felt rather new to all of this. But he could feel progress no matter how slight. Through great effort and concentration he was able to repair a broken glass cup a few times though he preferred to forget just how long it took to get that far.
“Our time together has been great Master, and you seem tired yet again. This seems like a good place to stop for the night. A tired mind is a mind unable to focus on what needs to be done.”
Shirou took a deep breath as if the day’s fatigue had finally begun to catch up with him. He only had to glance at the pitch black window to get a sense of how long it’d been since he started.
But then he remembered, he had been so distracted from the day’s events that he had forgotten about his friend. Where was Shinji? He said he’d be back by now but there was no word from him.
“Hey Berserker… You said you could sense when other people nearby right? Did anyone ever try to approach this apartment?
“Hmm? No, nobody made such an attempt, were you watching out for someone my dear boy? I don’t recall anyone approaching but I could try a little harder if that’s what you wish for.
Before Shirou could respond Berserker closed his eyes and stood perfectly still, suddenly his demeanor changed and he opened in his in surprise.
“Oh my, Master it seems your luck is quite astounding, certainly far better than my own. I did not sense anyone of importance nearing this apartment but I caught wind of something far better. There are two Servants close by engaging in combat. This opportunity could prove to be quite useful to us, perhaps it might be worth it to take a look?”
“Servants!? You mean like you? Who are they? What classes are they? Are they strong?”
Gently but forcefully Berserker put his gloved hand to Shirou’s lips as if to quiet him. “Calm down Master, I may be a Servant but there is only so much I can do with my own strength. If you wish to figure out who these foes might be then some manual reconnaissance is required. Maybe it’s best if you see for yourself?”
Such an idea seemed pretty dangerous to Shirou but his curiosity was getting the better of him, in the end he agreed and he quickly ran off to his room to grab some equipment of his own before setting off not towards the street but upwards towards the roof of the apartment.
“If they are anywhere close to us we should be able to see them from up there. And thanks to these binoculars sight shouldn’t be an issue either.”
“Excellent, excellent Master! As expected of one such as yourself you are already well prepared to take action! I couldn’t have asked for more!”
When they reached the rooftop Shirou looked down onto the empty streets below. Taking out a pair of high quality binoculars he began to search in the direction his Servant had pointed out, but when he looked he saw nothing. He couldn’t even feel this supposed magical energy that his Servant said should have been there.
“Are you sure it’s over there Berserker? I don’t see anything.”
Berserker nodded his head and held up his hands as if to sigh. “My dear Master do you not remember what I mentioned before? A battle between Servant’s is one that emits a large amount of magical energy as well a lot of destruction. In order to prevent ordinary people from catching wind of this the Masters erupt bounded fields that keep normal people away. Do you know what that means Master? I’m sure you can figure it out.”
Shirou remembered Berserker’s earlier teachings, and then he realized it. If he wanted to see through he’d need to pour magical energy into his eyes. And so he focused as he stared at the seemingly empty park before him. Using every nerve in his body he attempted to visualize the magical energy pouring into his eyes. And then he began to see.
At first nothing changed but then he began to pick something up, it was as if the lenses on his binoculars were foggy but then the fogginess began to grow and grow until it formed into a solid wall. So Shirou poured more magical energy into it and the fogginess slowly began to fade gently but surely until Shirou could make up four figures two on each side as they faced each other.
Though it was hard to make out due to the distance and the fogginess Shirou could see three of them two on one side facing the other.
On the first side stood what appeared to be a little girl with snow white hair, she wore some sort of purple clothes but anything else was harder to make out. The girl who stood beside her had an outfit almost similar to Berserkers. With silver and blue armor she had blonde hair and though she stood as if holding some sort of weapon Shirou couldn’t see anything in her hands.
So he turned towards the other side. From what he could make out there was a girl who stood on her own, she had dark purple hair and wore what appeared to be a large brown trenchcoat that stretched all the way down to her feet. And then he noticed it, he couldn’t see it at first because the figure nearly blended into the background.
It stood taller than the purple haired girl but it’s body was nearly invisible, what could be made out was the bright white skull shaped mask that shined in the darkness.
Currently they only faced each other talking but from this kind of distance Shirou couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Right on cue his Master could tell exactly what he was thinking about.
“My dear Master, remember it is not only eyes that you can enhance but also anything you wish. You know what that means right?”
And so Shirou poured magical energy into his ears. At first he began to pick up all sorts of normal sounds so he did his utmost to focus on the two groups ahead of him. Though it was very fuzzy he began to pick up a few scattered words.
“...akura… ainst…”“...est… exa...vant”Yet no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t make out any more than that. Was this the limits to what he could do?
Yet before he attempt to make out anymore the Servant in blue and silver charged the invisible one who disappeared just as swiftly.
With her empty hands she swung into the darkness only to see sparks flying into the night as she repelled what Shirou assumed to be some sort of projectile.
“Master… If I may interject now they seem to be about to engage in fierce combat. Perhaps it is best that we stand back and watch how things unfold? As much as it pains me to say we are at a disadvantage right now. But as allies we must come to an agreement. So what do you say? Will we intervene or will we standby?”
Berserker’s question was something Shirou needed to decide. He couldn’t afford to wait while these two pairs fought, should he pick side? Or just simply stand by and watch?
1. Aid the white haired girl and the silver knight.
2. Aid the purple haired girl and the white mask.
3. Watch how things unfold.
4. Write in…
Current Knowledge:
Berserker
