You decide to table discussion of the alleged eunuch and his empress and get right to your proposition, “Whoever sent that guy can be dealt with later. While you all were out we decided that the war’s overseer should be considered a high-priority target, and I’m hoping that you’ll agree.”

“What brought that on, if you don’t mind my asking?” Rushorou replied as he leaned against a wall, “You reported that he wasn’t an active participant in the war.”

“I think I have an idea.” Ryuuta responded, then addressing Koko, “I get that you don’t like the guy, ‘sensei’, but I don’t see how kicking his ass helps us much right now.”

“Matsuda-kun, we adults talked things out and came to the conclusion that Anon-san just told you.” The petite woman answered self-assuredly, then adding with a hint of mischievous emphasis, “Edelfelt-san agrees.”

“I don’t see what has to do with it…” Ryuuta mumbled uncomfortably.

“Why I was singled out for emphasis?” You hear Anne whisper to Koko, who only responds by placing a finger over her lips in the gesture understood to convey ‘be quiet’.

“You ought not address my Master condescendingly, Miss Koyama.” Caster of Black replied to her with subdued harshness, but lightening as he continued, “If appeals to seniority were to be given their due weight, you’d all be doing my bidding, after all.” Drawing a pipe out of his robe, he then finished as he lit it, “However, I‘m interested in hearing why you want to follow that course of action.”

You decide that you should say something before Koko does, since an argument along the lines of ‘believe us, we’re the adults’ is going to be the opposite of persuasive here. There are a few different angles you could approach this from; you could make an argument of strategic soundness, appeal to a sense of justice, or perhaps pride.

However, you decide to take a chance here and take the lads’ continued fidelity for granted. You may not have known either of them for long, but you’d like to believe that neither of the two is the type to resort to sudden betrayal. “It’s my understanding that none of you have met Triscus Adajio in person yet. I don’t trust him, how he leaves a few cryptic hints and then hides in the shadows. If he has the Holy Grail in his possession, I don’t expect him to be an impartial game-master. There are too many things he hasn’t told us while he’s more than capable.”

“That’s right!” Koko interjects, and you begin preparing to improvise some kind of damage-control depending on what she says next, “It’s like his Akeldama world is a big jar, and the people he abducted are bugs that he threw into it before shaking it up. Everyone panics, the ones who make it as Masters grab onto the Holy Grail War as their lifeline, and along the way forget about the guy who put them on the spot in the first place!”

“That perspective is not one that Servants would view the situation from. We all chose to come, for various reasons.” Caster notes after blowing a swirling ring of smoke from his mouth, “That aside, the next question in your inquiry would be ‘to what end did he gather the bugs and shake the jar’, no?”

Koko answers less decisively, “I don’t have enough to go on to guess his motivation yet… but what he did was blatantly evil anyway, so that’s not the main point!”

“Even so, understanding his motive is important for predicting how he’ll react when confronted directly.” You counter, adding, “As well as the reactions of anyone else we can convince to declare war on him.”

“Declaring war… I’m not sold on the idea yet, big guy.” Ryuuta says, “Since we’re in his world, I’m betting he has some kinda leverage he can use to get rebels to turn on each other.”

“He’s welcome to try. I don’t doubt that he’s capable of offering a map of the city’s leylines and all of the supply caches that he’d prepared, and perhaps sensitive information on the other Masters and Servants if he felt so inclined. But what of it?” You say, looking Ryuuta, Rushorou, and Truvietianne in the eyes one by one as you continue, “Do you think anyone here would capitulate to such a cheap temptation? To take the side of that devious manipulator over the comrades they’ve fought alongside? I may have only known you all for a couple days, but I’m willing to put my faith in you. If Triscus Adajio truly is steward of a Holy Grail, then he’s unworthy of it, and I’d rather entrust any of you with it until the war‘s end.”

“You really feel that way about someone like me?” Ryuuta asks. When your gaze met his earlier, he appeared a little flustered, and it seems to be because he’s surprised that you’re willing to trust him. For comparison, Rushorou’s calculating expression didn’t give anything definitive away when you looked at him, and Anne simply smiled gently as the two of you had already come to a prior consensus.

“You needn’t be surprised.” Caster comments as he rests his hand on his Master’s shoulder, “Even if he’s simply making a leap of faith, I know you won’t fall short in a test of integrity. Of all present, your heart is the most resistant to the temptation of self-serving lies and base treachery; that is why I am proud to be your Servant.”

You’re not quite sure what to make of that assertion; was that old man complimenting his Master’s honesty, or casting doubt on everyone else’s? Perhaps both. After a few moments of silence, Truvietianne says, “Assuming our proposal has caught your interest, how would you like to proceed?”

Rushorou replies, “Shouldn’t it be our right to demand an audience with the overseer since he hasn’t shown himself to us yet? Myself and Matsuda, that is.”

“What are you suggesting?” she asks.

“I won’t declare war on someone simply from hearsay.” Rushorou clarifies, “On the pretext of hearing an explanation from the man himself rather than relying on rumors, we should be able to get him to either prove your accusations correct by refusing to give straight answers to our questions, or come clean about his motivations that we can later share with you.”

“That’s a fair compromise.” You reply, and neither Koko nor Anne speak up to object, “Ideally you’d have a way to verify what he decides to tell you, but anything you can get out of him will likely fit more pieces of the puzzle. Would you also agree to avoid battle against the other Masters until you question Adajio? Self-defense excluded, of course.”

“I can get behind not kicking any hornet nests for a while, though I’m thinkin’ finding the overseer is going to be step one.” Ryuuta says, amenable to your suggestion.

How do you want to proceed from here:
> Locate Triscus Adajio and have Rushorou and Ryuuta arrange a meeting.
> Try to get a few more Masters on board with the rebellion before you make your move. (Anyone in particular to look for? Exploring the city to find new people who wouldn’t have any hard feelings against you is also a viable option)
> A different approach to the problem (write-in)

***

It's nice to be back after a couple week's break. Now the fields of blood are in need of watering.

>>5767774
>Locate Triscus Adajio and have Rushorou and Ryuuta arrange a meeting

>>5767774
>Locate Triscus Adajio and have Rushorou and Ryuuta arrange a meeting.
Good to see you're still alive.

>>5767774
>> Locate Triscus Adajio and have Rushorou and Ryuuta arrange a meeting.
Glad to see you back, hoping that Blood Moon and Bond get their second threads up soon

Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>5767831
>>5767935
>>5768195
Looks like we have a solid consensus. I wonder how long it may take to find out where the overseer went.

File: Fyodor Boglyubov.png (348 KB, 444x465)

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“… is it… over?” Sessyouin Kiara whispered to no one in particular as she risked poking her head out from a snack-kiosk the subway-station where she’d hidden herself and Fyodor after the main body of Sun Wukong was killed. Between the battle between the Servants and the barrage of lightning-bolts, the surface-level section of the station had been devastated, and rain was pooling in various places as it fell through the many openings that had been blasted into the structure’s ceiling.

“The storm’s died down, and the other Servants either fled or took their fight elsewhere.” Caster of Red telepathically informed her Master while remaining in her spirit-form to keep her wounds stable and save energy.

“Hard to believe… every lightning-bolt missed us.” Fyodor Boglyubov muttered as he brushed some rubble off from himself.

“Maybe Lady Luck took pity on you after your Servant found a way to lose in spite of everything.” The girl teased as she rose to her feet, observing her surroundings, “A shame you couldn’t manage him better, I’ll miss him.”

“No one could ‘manage’ him.” Fyodor grumbled back, but checked his ire as he continued, “Letting him attack other Servants at his discretion may have led him to bite off more than he could chew, but what’s done is done. We now must be less ambitious.”

“I hope those Dead Apostles and their Servants have more important things to do than chase after us again.” Kiara replied, before slyly adding, “Or after you, specifically.”

“We thinned out their thralls, and Dead Apostles will not be a problem when my od recovers.” Fyodor asserted as he rose to his feet and reached into his robe, revealing a skull engraved with runes and scriptures, “Sun Wukong was stronger by far, but I have an alternative. We ought to stay together, at least until your Caster can fight again.”

***

Regular update is coming along well, ought to be ready tomorrow.

“I concur; we should focus on locating wherever it is he’s been hiding so your meeting with him can be arranged.” You agree.

“You don’t want to try to find more people to join us first?” Koko asks.

“Not necessarily.” You respond, “After those two finish questioning Adajio, they ought to have more information for us to guide interested third parties toward making an informed, and favorable, decision.”

“We’ll be in a better position to convince others once we have a better understanding of the situation, essentially.” Truvietianne explained further.

“If you’d be so kind as to give me a clear description of the overseer and his bodyguard’s appearance, you can leave the searching to me.” Caster suggests, “After that you’re all welcome to pass the time in my workshop if you’re so inclined.”

“The overseer is slightly taller than Anon-san, has dark hair and a beard that goes to about his chest, wears robes that are… umm…” Koko begins to give an account, but begins having trouble putting what she remembered to words.

“They aren’t the robes of any sect I recognize, though I wouldn’t call myself an expert either.” Anne says to help Koko, “They were black with some golden symbols embroidered on. He’s apparently middle-aged and from a glance I’d guess his ethnic background was either Eastern Mediterranean or Middle Eastern.”

“As for his bodyguard, he was slightly shorter and visibly older, though not as venerable as yourself.” You say to Caster, who appears amused at your remark regarding his age. You continue, “He wore black armor, had white hair and a close-cut beard, carried a polearm with the tip of a pike, a large hammer’s head protruding from below the tip, and a curved spike on the reverse side of the hammer, and had an indecipherable status despite clearly being a Servant.”

Caster thanks the three of you, but you aren’t able to pay close attention because you sense something unusual about your connection to Avenger. Generally the amount of Magical Energy she’d been taking from you had been small yet steady while out of combat, and this held true even while she’d been unconscious, up until now. If pressed to describe it, you’d call it a sudden arrhythmia. At one moment the rate of energy transfer would double, triple, or even more, and then in the next it would entirely stop briefly before spiking again. It doesn’t seem normal, to say the least.

“Avenger, are you alright?” You ask telepathically. No response, though shortly afterward the amount of Magical Energy returned to about the level it was at before. You wonder if you should check on her, or if it was just a minor anomaly not worth paying much mind.

“My Servant and I will be sharpening our skills, you can join us if you’d like.” Rushorou suggests mainly to you and Ryuuta, pulling your attention back to your immediate surroundings.

“That sounds like a good time, count me in.” Ryuuta answers.

You also hear Caster say to Truvietianne, “It certainly wouldn’t put me out my way to help mend your dress for a few minutes.”

“Thank you.” She answers quietly, “I’ll fetch it right away.”

“That sounds like fun! I’ll come too!” Koko chirps.

What will be your next move?

> Check on Avenger alone
> Check on Avenger while inviting others to tag along if they wish
> Head back to Caster’s workshop with him and the girls and either
>> Practice Ether manipulation more
>> Craft an item (maintain/upgrade your current gear, try making a piece of armor or a ring, or a write-in which may or may not be approved depending on various factors)
> Train for combat with the lads and Lancer of Red
> Something different (write-in)

***

Also, are there any characters that you'd like to see designs for? I was planning on drawing Triscus Adajio and his bodyguard together but if there are others that you'd like to be able picture in your head I can put them in the queue.

>>5771340
>Train for combat with the lads and Lancer of Red
She was testing something, I expect.

>Also, are there any characters that you'd like to see designs for?
Diomedes, or maybe a redesign for Roland.

>>5771340
>Check on Avenger

Lets see whats up with our injured little bird

If we still have time after that then
>Train with the Lads

>>5771340
>> Check on Avenger alone
Designs for Triscus and his bodyguard would be nice

>>5771340
>> Check on Avenger alone

File: Triscus Adajio and bodyguard.png (395 KB, 600x520)

395 KB PNG

>>5771539
>>5771798
>>5771879
Checking on your Servant appears to have it.

>>5771798
That was the one I was already working on, so here it is. For now it's by hand maybe I can convince someone in /qag/ to trace it digitally then add color in Paint as I've done before. The description in the update can fill in the color details that I didn't want to put in by hand for risk of cluttering it up too much.

Update is almost ready. Will be posted tonight or tomorrow.

“Could you tell me where you’ll be, Rushorou? I may come by later after I check something.” You say to him, deciding to check on Avenger first. He shrugs and gives you directions to the gym-room where he plans to train with his Servant and Ryuuta.

After that you walk toward the room where you left Avenger to recover, though on your way over you notice a thin mist in the hallway and catch a scent that you surmise is from some herb that you don’t recognize. Your initial reaction of trepidation fades as you notice that your body and mind seem unaffected, so it should be harmless. As you reach the room, you aren’t surprised to find that the mist has been seeping out from it. You’ll find out what it is from your Servant soon enough, anyway.

Since she didn’t respond to telepathy earlier, you knock on the door and say, “Avenger, can I come in?”

You hear a bit of rustling through the door before you hear her answer, “Yes, that’s alright… Master.”

As you open the door, you’re first greeted by a misty, herbal-scented fog which quickly begins spreading into the hallway. At the significantly higher concentration, you find breathing marginally more difficult, prompting you to warily ask, “Did you create this fog? What’s it for?”

Focusing toward where you’d heard her voice earlier, through the fog you can see Avenger sitting up in the bed, fully conscious, with her wings folded behind her. As she begins ordering her slightly-disheveled hair with a comb, she replies, “I made it partly to freshen the air, but mainly as an attempt to cause a treatment to be absorbed through my lungs more easily.”

“I see. Would it have caused the rate that you receive Magical Energy from me to fuctuate, and does it also block telepathy?” You say, “I tried to ask you what was going on earlier, but you didn’t respond.”

“My my, I think you’re worrying about me a little too much.” She gently laughs playfully, “Don’t mind that, I was simply concentrating rather hard at the time so I had to block out external stimuli, telepathy included. It’s nothing to be concerned about.”

“You seem to be feeling better, I’m relieved.” You respond. Would this be a good time to let her know about the plan to rebel against Adajio that Koko and you came up with?

“I am feeling better. Better still, now that I’ve had time to clear my head, I remembered a way to disclose my true name to you while guaranteeing perfect confidentiality.” She replies.

“You have?” You echo, pleasantly surprised at the revelation though wondering what she’s planning if it would provide guaranteed, perfect confidentiality.

“Indeed.” She says as she reveals a sheet of paper and a pen, “In fact, should we agree to this geas, we can invoke it whenever we’d like to ensure mutual discretion regarding the contents of our present and any future discussions.” Holding it out to you, she adds, “Here, have a look.”

Walking to her, you take the paper and read the following:

“All signatory parties agree that any attempt by any of said signatory parties to directly or indirectly disclose any information shared in confidence shall be forbidden as long as said signatory parties live, unless this geas is revoked in part or in whole with the approval of all signatory parties.
Information is made confidential by the following process:
All signatory parties may agree to establish further discussion as confidential; all information previously unknown to at least one of the signatory parties is considered confidential, until either:
all signatory parties agree to cease the condition of confidentiality on further discussion; or
thirty minutes elapse

Each signatory party will be mentally notified as to which information is considered confidential for future reference at the point in time when either:
all signatory parties agree to cease the condition of confidentiality on further discussion; or
thirty minutes elapse

All confidential information may also be mentally reviewed at any time by any of the signatory parties to aid in the maintenance of mutual discretion.

If all signatory parties later agree to revoke the status of confidentiality on any or all confidential information, any information from which confidentiality was revoked may be freely disclosed to third parties at the discretion of any signatory party.

Violation of this agreement by any of the signatory parties will result in immediate notification of all other signatory parties of the violation; except in cases of attempted forcible extraction against the will of the signatory party by a third party (see below), violation will also result in the immediate infliction of a debilitating migraine on the violating party to prevent further breaches of confidentiality.

Any attempt by a third party to forcibly extract said confidential information against the will of any of the signatory parties (e.g. by means of torture or invasive telepathy) will cause all signatory parties to be immediately notified of the attempted extraction; said third party will also be notified that persistence will be met with extreme prejudice, by means of a debilitating migraine as described above.”

“Hmm.” You hum, considering the limitations of the contract. There’s some flexibility already written in, but this is undeniably something that will restrict your freedom. Then again, your Servant has already told you that certain behaviors, such as coercing her to act against her will with your Command Seals, would not be tolerated, so the benefit of a defense against torture and telepathic incursion may be worth the tradeoff.

More immediately, you notice a deficiency and say, “One problem. You mention ‘signatory parties’ referring to us, but how am I supposed to sign this, or for that matter any contract, when I don’t know my name?”

“There’s a workaround for that, actually.” She responds while wiggling her index finger, “Since we can’t swear on our names at the moment, we’d swear on our blood. You’d simply utter verbal consent while pressing a droplet of your blood here. I’ll add a clause clarifying that.”

She quickly writes at the bottom, “Signature may be provided by uttering the words ‘I swear on my blood that I will conform to the conditions of this geas as set forth above’ simultaneously with the pressing of one’s blood onto the signature line.”

“What do you think? Assuming you agree to it, I’ll be bound by this geas as well, and I’m willing to sign it as is.” Avenger says as she lays the pen down.

> “This looks agreeable as written, now that you’ve added the bit about signing with blood; I’ll sign it with you.”
> “I’d like to suggest an amendment” (write-in, but if it deviates too substantially from the spirit of what’s already there she may refuse to enter it)
> “I can’t sign something like this.”
> Something different? (write-in)

>>5775854
>All signatory parties may agree to establish further discussion as confidential; all information previously unknown to at least one of the signatory parties is considered confidential, until either:
>all signatory parties agree to cease the condition of confidentiality on further discussion; or
>thirty minutes elapse
If I'm reading this correctly, any information revealed to the other party during a confidential discussion will cease to be confidential 30 minutes after the discussion is declared confidential. Is that right?

>>5775891
It’s intended to indicate that you “turn on a timer” when you agree to reveal things in secrecy so that unless you renew the time-constraint, a conversation that introduces confidential information can’t last longer than 30 minutes. Essentially to stop you from accidentally “leaving the timer running” longer than you meant to if something unforeseen occurs and adding a ton of extra constraints to yourselves. I may have fucked up the wording when I wrote it because I was sleep-deprived so that could just be retconned rather than amended in-story.

>>5775857
>“This looks agreeable as written, now that you’ve added the bit about signing with blood; I’ll sign it with you.”
>>5776080
Thanks, that's what I thought.

>>5775857
>> “This looks agreeable as written, now that you’ve added the bit about signing with blood; I’ll sign it with you.”

Retconned version, where the changes are italicized; prior ambiguity was a screwup on my part as QM rather than an oversight by Avenger

“All signatory parties agree that any attempt by any of said signatory parties to directly or indirectly disclose any information shared in confidence shall be forbidden as long as said signatory parties live, unless this geas is revoked in part or in whole with the approval of all signatory parties.
Information is made confidential by the following process:
All signatory parties may agree to establish further discussion as confidential; all information previously unknown to at least one of the signatory parties is considered confidential; the introduction of new confidential information may continue until either :
all signatory parties agree to cease the condition of confidentiality on further discussion; or
thirty minutes elapse

The establishment of discussion as confidential may be repeatedly invoked with the approval of all signatory parties, at their discretion

Each signatory party will be mentally notified as to which information is considered confidential for future reference at the point in time when either:
all signatory parties agree to cease the condition of confidentiality on further discussion; or
thirty minutes elapse

All confidential information may also be mentally reviewed at any time by any of the signatory parties to aid in the maintenance of mutual discretion.

If all signatory parties later agree to revoke the status of confidentiality on any or all confidential information, any information from which confidentiality was revoked may be freely disclosed to third parties at the discretion of any signatory party. Otherwise, confidential status is maintained as long as this geas is in effect (refer to first paragraph).

Violation of this agreement by any of the signatory parties will result in immediate notification of all other signatory parties of the violation; except in cases of attempted forcible extraction against the will of the signatory party by a third party (see below), violation will also result in the immediate infliction of a debilitating migraine on the violating party to prevent further breaches of confidentiality.

Any attempt by a third party to forcibly extract said confidential information against the will of any of the signatory parties (e.g. by means of torture or invasive telepathy) will cause all signatory parties to be immediately notified of the attempted extraction; said third party will also be notified that persistence will be met with extreme prejudice, by means of a debilitating migraine as described above.”

No one objects, so signing it is.

Been looking forward to writing this for some time, at last the 'mystery-box' can be cracked open in earnest.

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

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>>5777744

You take another minute so to review the terms of the geas >>5776905 to make sure you understand everything. Eventually, you decide the pros outweigh the cons and answer, “This looks agreeable as written, now that you’ve added the bit about signing with blood; I’ll sign it with you.”

Revealing a pin from her dress, Avenger smiles as she replies, “Excellent. A small prick on your fingertip with this will suffice, then press onto the signature line with me.”

You do so, and as the two of you press your index-fingers onto the signature line and let a tiny droplet of blood soak onto the page, you both recite simultaneously, “I swear on my blood that I will conform to the conditions of this geas as set forth above”.

The page begins radiating white light, and the ink starts to shift from where it was written and funnel toward the signature line, flowing toward both your own and Avenger’s fingers. Startled, you reflexively try to pull your finger back, but at that moment the muscles in your arm freeze.

“What is-” You begin to say, but stop as the letters shift into a stream of light that tingles as it flows up your arm and shoulder. You lose sight of it as it rises past your neck, but you continue to experience the tingling sensation as it reforms as something like a stringy net that closes around your brain before the sensation dissipates and you feel as though nothing happened.

“It’s the engraving process.” Avenger answers, assuming the intended inquiry of your outburst. “Now that’s taken care of, why don’t we begin our private chat now? No time like the present!”

“I don’t see why not. I’ve been looking forward to speaking freely with you.” You answer, and feel a slight twinge in your head right as you agree. Maybe it’s an indicator that the agreement’s been invoked?

“Wonderful!” She cheers gleefully, and quietly whispers a few syllables before her shadow begins ominously spreading out in all directions across the floor of the room. “Now all I have to do is ensure no pests can violate our privacy. We have at least half an hour together, and I don’t consider a scrap of paper reading ‘do not disturb’ wrapped around the doorknob proper security.”

Stepping away from the encroaching darkness, you ask, “And your solution is?” You can’t put it to words, but your instinct is telling you that something’s off about this.

“I’ll simply place this room into a separate world while we talk. You can think of it as a pocket-dimension.” She answers as her misshapen shadow covers the walls, doors, and windows of the room before they fade away and everything appears as normal.

“A separate world? Isn’t that the kind of thing that Triscus Adajio made to start this whole affair?” You note as you try to make sense of what she’s telling you.

“A fair observation. You’re closer to the-” She begins.

“Hold up.” You interject, “I could understand you neglecting to mention the ability to write up a binding geas from how your other abilities are more relevant to warfare, but if you’re able to make a separate world at the drop of a hat like this, you should have said something about it before now.”

“Ah, I suppose there’s not much point in keeping up the charade now that I’ve got you where I want you.” She muses with a different voice and a devious glint in her eyes. It isn’t Avenger’s voice, but you’re sure you’ve heard it before somewhere.

You curse to yourself as you realize that the binding oath you just swore to is with some imposter that you don’t even know, and whoever it is isolated you from all of your other allies. Shifting into a stance with a lower center of gravity, you coldly say, “You must think yourself exceptionally clever for pulling a fast one on me, whoever or whatever you are. Why don’t you explain your genius plan and what you did to my Servant?”

“Oh, how intimidating! If you were any more riled up, I’d fear for my chastity!” The woman in the guise of Avenger pretends to shudder as she flops onto the bed, “I ought to thank you for showing such gentlemanly restraint when alone in a fine-feathered lady’s bedroom, my illusion probably wouldn’t have held up if you forced yourself on me in a fit of lustful passion… interloper.”

You remember now, there was one other person who called you that. “You’re the dog from Avenger’s dream? Though in light of recent events, ‘cheeky bitch’ would be a better descriptor.” You growl, “Now quit stalling and tell me what you did to the real Avenger.”

“I didn’t really DO anything to her.” The woman shrugs, “I’ve been tagging along in a quiet corner of her Spirit Origin from the beginning. It was mainly the attack from Diomedes that let me take the reins for a bit, since she’s in such a sorry state. But really, there are far more important things we could discuss. Things that cut right to the heart of this twisted Holy Grail War.”

“Oh of course, let me pour us some tea before we have a civilized dialogue as you lounge about in mockery of my Servant’s form. Is that what you’re expecting me to say?” You spit sardonically, “Your first action upon meeting me is to arrange this elaborate deception, and you think I’m going to believe whatever you tell me? What game do you think you’re playing?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhG81O0coYs

“I suppose you’d want to understand what I’m trying to get out of this; though if my illusion is also upsetting you, the remedy for that is more swiftly rendered.” She says as she stands up on the bed, her body beginning to radiate white light. “Don’t complain if you’re blinded by the majesty… of my TRUE FORM!”

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The intensity of the light continues increasing until her entire body shines nearly as brightly as the sun. As you reflexively cover your eyes, your throat begins to dry out, and you feel as though gravity is steadily increasing. You’re getting the same sense of foreboding now that you got when Athena momentarily revealed herself at Diomedes’ side. You steady yourself from the additional gravitational pressure and before your sink to your knees, the pressure and radiating light fade. Lowering the arm you’d raised to shield your eyes, you take stock of the figure standing above you.

Her height is slightly greater than Avenger’s, her skin tanned a shade or two by comparison, with black hair flowing well past her waist and a pair of furry, doggish ears poking out from her head. Her eyes shine a cool silver light, a band of interlocked circles and crescents runs around her head, above her floats a crescent-shaped object shining with the same silver light, and her black dress is decorated in the front with a golden symbol that links to a fragment of a necklace, branches out somewhat at her chest and abdomen, and ends with a hollow circle at the bottom that exposes her navel.

Your crimson eyes silently meet hers of silver, and for a time your gaze is fixed to them as though by enchantment. Without so much as a word, she stunned you into frozen silence. Her lips curl into a satisfied smirk as she places one of her hands on her hip. Her smugness lights a fire in your chest. You refuse to lose yourself like this. So what if she’s a goddess like Athena, or she’s isolated you in a pocket-dimension? Gritting your teeth, you remember that you’re not without options. There should be a way for the real Avenger to return. She seems to have been telling the truth about using Avenger’s ‘Spirit Origin’, because you can tell your Magical Energy is flowing into her and that she’s also considered ‘Avenger of Red’ for the purposes of the Master-Servant contract. You should be able to cut off the supply if you put your mind to it, or if worst comes to worst try to get her under control with a Command Seal. She doesn’t look particularly strong either, and since she’s right in front of you it shouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility for you to can catch her by surprise and rush her before she can react in time with a spell. Though injuring her might have adverse effects on the recovery of the Avenger you know; not enough information to go on.

For now, you decide to see what you can get her to tell you. She said herself that she wanted to talk after all, “So that’s what you look like. I take it you’re the same type of goddess as Athena?”

“I guess she stole a little bit of my thunder.” The goddess sighs, “Well, this is still the first time a goddess has been so gracious as to properly grace you with her presence. You may prostrate yourself presently.”

Standing up straight, you cross your arms and reply, “I’ll receive you in accordance with the fact that you imposed your presence unbidden and fraudulently.”

“Oh, stop being such a baby about it.” She quips dismissively, but laughs as she adds, “Then again, given the amount of remembered experience you have, you are like a baby. And you don’t even have a family to show you the right way to order your priorities or orient your behavior, poor thing.”

“What do you think you know about me?” You say, narrowing your eyes. As much as you hated to admit it, there was a grain of truth in her mockery.

Assuming a relaxed posture and cupping her hands behind her head, she responds, “ ‘Know’ is a strong word, but my hypotheses carry a fair amount of weight, given the fact that yours truly is a Goddess of Magic.”

You’re getting the impression that you’re going to need to be particularly direct in your questioning before you can get much out of her. How will you start:

> Ask for her name and motives. Even if she isn’t entirely forthcoming, you should be able to predict her actions more effectively than you can now.
> Tell her to clarify her exact relationship with your Servant, Avenger. When will you see the Avenger you know again?
> Ask her to explain as much of what she knows about this Holy Grail War as she can. You may get some leads as to who is truly pulling the strings and why.
> Screw it, playtime’s over. Goddess or not, you’re teaching her a lesson. Your brazenness in assailing her should give you the element of surprise.
> Something else (write-in)

>>5779184
>Ask for her name and motives. Even if she isn’t entirely forthcoming, you should be able to predict her actions more effectively than you can now.
>Ask her what hypotheses she has regarding your existence.

>>5779184
Hmmm she is probably Circe's and Medea's teacher.
Is she Hecate?

>>5779703
Some helpful facts: Hecate is associated with dogs, and she was Circe's mother in various myths

>>5779703
You'll probably get confirmation one way or the other next update. Just a tiny bit more patience.

Also as a sidenote, I based her facial features on a mix of Nemesis from To Love Ru and Jahy-sama, so you can visualize that as well is you like.

>>5779184
> Tell her to clarify her exact relationship with your Servant, Avenger. When will you see the Avenger you know again?
> Ask her to explain as much of what she knows about this Holy Grail War as she can. You may get some leads as to who is truly pulling the strings and why.

>>5779184

Supporting >>5779492

I honestly didn't expect this shit to happen so I am curious what she does have to offer for us. We will figure out the stuff regarding the Grail War down the line, for now we should get a good hypothesis as to WHO and WHAT we are in this mess

“Alright Magic Goddess, start by telling me your name, then what it is that you’re trying to get out of this elaborate scheme.” You demand directly.

Standing up straight, her dress begins to display glittering constellations all along it as her voice shifts to a far graver tone, “Hailing from the ranks of the Titans, the one who stands before you the Goddess of Magic, the Moon, and the Night: Hecate Brimo Trimorphos!” Relaxing her posture, she adds with a light-hearted wink, “But Hecate is less of a mouthful. As for my motivation… take a seat and get comfortable: this will take a while.”

After you roll a chair over and sit down, she lies down on her side in a relaxed position, showing off quite a bit of her legs through the splits in her dress. You feel a sensation stirring in your chest similarly to hunger, but push it from your mind for now. The herbal fragrances from before still lingering in the air, Hecate begins, “I’ll start with the concept of time travel. Going into the past is generally not viable, but information can occasionally work around the usual limitation. In past ages oracles and prophets could take advantage of this fact, for example. Do you follow me so far?”

“It sounds plausible, so far.” You reply tentatively; you don’t like where this is going, but at least she’s cooperating now.

“And you recall that a Holy Grail provides the Servants that are summoned with a set of information to allow them to bypass some logistical issues such as language barriers?” Hecate continues.

You think you recall hearing something to that effect. Picking up on the implication, you skeptically remark, “You’re claiming that you used that mechanism to send information back in time? I’d think a logical paradox of some sort would be inevitable.”

“You’d think so, but the great part about being a Goddess of Magic is I can cheat!” She answers as she sits up and puffs out her chest with pride. Noting your incredulous gaze, she adds, “I’m serious.”

“‘I waved my hands and a miracle occurred’ and ‘don’t think too hard about it’ aren’t going to cut it as explanations.” You say flatly, “You need to give me something more concrete when your story is this ludicrous, otherwise I’m going to assume you’re the Goddess of time-wasting nonsense.”

“In fairness, I did not act alone.” Hecate concedes as she lies back down onto her side, “The situation back there was untenable for everyone involved, so I made a compact with-”

“Back where?” You interrupt, not letting her gloss over potentially important details.

“A future denied its resolution; though by now it would be a past... no, a divergent timeline. Probably pruned by now.” She tries to clarify, but her uncertainty in her own answer doesn’t reassure you.

Unsatisfied, you press, “Describe this timeline gibberish from your personal perspective, please.”

Beginning to betray a modicum of irritation, Hecate replies, “You’re most fortunate I’m graciously overlooking your impertinence.” Taking a deep breath, she continues, “My intervention commenced in the year 2019 by modern reckoning, the information was sent a few weeks into the past of that same year, but my consciousness terminated when the information was sent, and only reemerged when this present Holy Grail War began, which is in the year 2023 of a different timeline.” Not skipping a beat, Hecate continues before you can interrupt, “Back to what I was saying, I made a compact with a fellow God of Magic. He’d already had ample time to tinker with the Holy Grail, so as the state of affairs deteriorated beyond recovery we agreed to cooperate to try to salvage something resembling a desirable outcome.”

“You must realize your tale raises a multitude of new questions for each one it begins to answer.” You sigh, “Another God of Magic? Who is it this time?”

“I told you this would take a while, and I’m trying to cut it down to the essential details! As for the other God of Magic, it’s not my place to tell you his name.” She says with some anxiety seeping into her voice, “Part of our agreement was to stay out of each other’s way, and I haven’t the slightest intention of carelessly crossing him. Further, he’ll reveal himself to you sooner or later.”

“Looking forward to the next scheming mastermind introducing himself, then.” You shrug, thinking it may be better to allow yourself a bit of humor in the face of this convoluted, timeline-spanning conspiracy, “Now then, you left off with two Gods of Magic walking into a bar with the Holy Grail, ordering a trip to the past. Finish explaining the how and move on to the why, if you would.”

The goddess responds, “Sparing you the unnecessary particulars, we were able to modify the Holy Grail to transmit a set of data and administrative commands to its past self, at a point before the True Holy Grail War started. This delayed its initialization and allowed for certain conditions to be guaranteed. The standby-order reaching the past version of the Holy Grail is when the timeline-divergence occurs. One of the commands facilitated the establishment of the present Holy Grail War in the world of Akeldama, another ensured that your feathered friend would be summoned with yours truly stowed away in her Spirit Origin. Naturally, I and my colleague alone can clearly remember the divergent timeline. With that we’ve arrived at the present Holy Grail War of Akeldama, the most pressing matter for us.”

“And that’s a good segue for you to explain what you’re trying to get out of this.” You note. All this talk of timelines is starting to hurt your head. You doubt you can take her at her word on everything, but if nothing else it seems too intricate a tale for anyone to have fabricated from whole cloth; a lie would have been far simpler.

“Long story short, I find the state of the world to be in need of… correction, so being the overflowing wellspring of magnanimity that I am, I’ll take it upon myself to be a guide for the humans of this age.” Hecate explained, “A Holy Grail would greatly aid the realization of my desire. It’s quite simple.”

“What kind of wish are you going to make?” You probe.

“It involves stabilizing my existence. Have you heard that Servants are automatically eroded by the world, and survive by means of energy input from an external source such as a Master? I have a similar predicament that I plan to remedy.” Hecate explains.

“I see.” You nod. Self-preservation is a simple yet compelling motivation, you suppose. “Moving on, I’d like you to share the hypothesis you have regarding my identity.”

“The Einzbern family, of which you have already heard, are known to produce homunculi that may serve a variety of purposes.” The goddess begins, “More pertinently, some of the newest models were designed to function as vessels for spiritual beings.”

“If even the great and wise Hecate thinks I’m an Einzbern, I guess the chances are pretty good.” You chuckle.

“If you were one of their vessel-homunculi, you’d be a mindless meat-puppet. Don’t jump to conclusions.” Hecate says as she stands up from the edge of the bed and walks over to you. Placing a hand over your heart, she leans up against you and gazes into your eyes as she counsels, “While it’s likely your body was manufactured either by that family or someone using their techniques, your body is not you .”

Between being close to the answer you crave, the lingering fragrances in the air, the feeling of Hecate’s soft breath on your face, and the cool light shining from her eyes, you find your irritation toward her fading. If she hasn’t been lying to you, this could very well be the most fruitful encounter you’ve had since the war began. “Then… what am I?” You ask softly.

“I can’t give a confident answer to that.” She sighs as she takes a half-step back, “I’d speculate your memory and power were intentionally suppressed to allow the body to gradually acclimate to the presence of your spirit, but there are, no doubt, other possibilities.”

“What are some of your less-than-confident answers?” You inquire.

“Alas, I don’t have much time left before I recede back into your Servant’s Spirit Origin.” She replies, “I estimate I only have time for one more question until next time. I could give you a few guesses, but perhaps there’s something else you’d like to know, such as the true name of your Servant? Oh, and everything you heard from me stays between us unless someone else tells you independently and with no prodding on your part, understand?”

That’s right, she tricked you into swearing yourself to secrecy. What will you ask her?

> “Give me your guesses anyway. I can work from what you give me.”
> “I’ve been curious about Avenger’s true name for a while now, go ahead and tell me.”
> “Tell me what you can about Triscus Adajio, the overseer of the Akeldama Holy Grail War.”
> A different question (write-in)

***

You may have observed that a 4-year time discrepancy between this and the previous timeline should put Rushorou, Ryuuta, and Yatsu-kun as 4 years older than they appear to be. There is a reason for this discrepancy, though in-character Anon wouldn't think to seek it out right now.

>>5786713
>“Tell me what you can about Triscus Adajio, the overseer of the Akeldama Holy Grail War.”

>>5786713
>> “Tell me what you can about Triscus Adajio, the overseer of the Akeldama Holy Grail War.”
This would help the goals we already had

>>5786713
>> “Tell me what you can about Triscus Adajio, the overseer of the Akeldama Holy Grail War.”

>>5787468
>>5787705
>>5787786
Asking about the overseer gets 3/3

Here's a complimentary interlude about Ogawara's love-life

***

“Uuurgh…” Ogawara Yatsuhide groaned as he woke up to find himself in a school’s infirmary with a curtain strung about the cot he was lying in. The wound in his side where the shrapnel pierced him still ached immensely. The metal shard was out and he was bandaged, though. “I’m still alive?”

“You scared me, Master!” He heard his Servant’s voice say through the curtain, “You were unconscious through the afternoon and early evening.”

“Thank goodness, you’re still here Kiyo.” Ogawara sighed in relief, “For a second I was worried I woke up from a coma and meeting you was just a dream. I don’t know what I would’ve done if something that terrible was true.”

“Oh Master, such a prospect must have been absolutely dreadful!” Kiyohime gasped as she flung the curtain open. Then it was Ogawara’s turn to gasp.

“Uwaaah?!” His eyes almost bugged out of their sockets. At some point while he was unconscious, Kiyohime had found and donned an outfit resembling a nurse’s uniform, but showing far more skin and making the natural curves of her body very visible.

“Leave the treatment of your mental wounds to me!” She gleefully declared, flinging the sheet that was covering him out of the way and climbing onto the cot. Rubbing one of her cheeks against his, she then whispered into his ear, “I can thank you for saving me at the same time.”

“I, uh, look forward to it…” Ogawara stammered, still not used to the forwardness of his Servant’s advances, “But what if we, uh, get interrupted? Like Kokutou-san or Nijou-san walks in on-?”

Silencing him by placing one of her index fingers over his lips, Kiyohime replied, “Those girls and their Servants are exploring the city and won’t be back for a while.”

“Oh, good.” He answered in confusion. Although Kiyohime had shared a long embrace and a number of kisses with him shortly after they met, they didn’t fully consummate the physical intimacy of their relationship at the time, largely due to Ogawara’s skittishness at moving things along too quickly.

“Master, the rest of what I want to say to you can’t be expressed with words.” Kiyohime said right before she pressed her lips against his.

As before, while he greatly enjoyed the sensation of her warm kiss, he was still unsure of how to appropriately reciprocate. There was any number of places on her body he’d like to embrace more closely, but he was held back by a nagging fear that he might cross a boundary that he shouldn’t and turn her freely-given affection to disgusted scorn. And why should he take the risk to begin with, when the status quo was already pretty nice? He could gather enough courage to proportionally respond to what his Servant did, but no more.

Sensing his trepidation but unsure of its source, Kiyohime broke off her kiss and said, “Master, you don’t have to worry about your wound: I know exactly where it is and how to avoid disturbing it.”

‘It’s not that…” He replied fumblingly, “I just… don’t want to make a mistake… and make you hate me.”

“Mistake? Hate you?” She asked quizzically, not seeing the root of his anxiety, “I can’t imagine you’d try to lie and run away after everything you’ve done for me.”

“O-of course I wouldn’t!” The injured lad cried with his eyes clenched shut in embarrassment, “I’d never choose to leave you, but I’m scared that I might do something… improper… or… l-lewd… and a-accidentally drive you away!”

“Master, I don’t know what led you to harbor such fears.” The dragon-girl softly said as she shuffled forward and drew his head to her bosom, “But know this: you may touch me wherever and however you like. All I ask of you is that you don’t lie or run away from me.”

“Thank you.” He sighed in gratitude, his anxiety ebbing away in the dragon’s warm embrace.

File: Table_scene.png (1.07 MB, 1079x730)

1.07 MB PNG

I also felt like doing another drawing, so here's a peek at something else that's going on concurrently with these events.

From left to right:
>Rusalka
>The ancient wight (called Kniig)
>Athena (owl form)
>Diomedes (helmet on)
>Miko
>Adelheid
>Sophia

KUBO!

“Tell me what you can about Triscus Adajio, the overseer of the Akeldama Holy Grail War.” You decide.

“The overseer? I didn’t meet him in the divergent timeline, so this information is second-hand.” Hecate responds, “But he’s actually a Servant, and the world of Akeldama is his Noble Phantasm.”

“Strange that I didn’t recognize him as such, but he could have some means of concealing his true nature.” You think aloud, “To think a Noble Phantasm could do something like create another world…”

“Yours truly can do the same without the need of a Noble Phantasm, if you recall!” Hecate reminds you sharply. Was she jealous that you seemed to be impressed by the overseer’s ability?

“Triscus Adajio must be a false name too.” You reason, “Otherwise someone would have recognized him by now. Do you know his true name? And why he set this Holy Grail War up to begin with?”

“So many questions, so little time.” Hecate murmured as she turned around, pulled back the bedsheets, and crawled under them, “He was one of the most detested reprobates in the memory of humanity, the chief and foremost of all betrayers, who sold out his Lord for a pittance and sealed the deal with a kiss. His true name is Jud-”

“Jude?” You ask, but are answered only by a quiet snore. She must pass out when she runs out of time, and her Spirit Origin reverts back to the Avenger you know. It didn’t sound like she finished saying his name, but she did leave you plenty of hints that you could use for research later.

Shadows suddenly appear all over the walls, doors, windows, and floor of the room you’re in, before they’re sucked back into Hecate’s sleeping body. However, her form begins to shift before your very eyes, her skin-tone lightening and facial features rearranging until you see only the slumbering form of your Servant.

Hecate gave you some interesting revelations, but you’ll need to be careful if and when you try to independently investigate them further, since you can’t let anyone else know about the contents of your discussion unless you want to bear the penalty of violating the geas she tricked you into signing.

What to do next…

> Check to see if Rushorou and Ryuuta are still training with Lancer of Red. She seems a more than competent combat instructor, and you said you were planning to drop by earlier.
> Look for Suzaku and ask if he could show you how to research things on a computer. You can try to get to the bottom of what you can, such as the overseer’s true name.
> Go up to Caster’s workshop and see what he, Truietianne, and Koko are up to. You could practice your Ether manipulation a little more, or try your hand at crafting an item.
> Something different (write-in)

>>5789474
>Check to see if Rushorou and Ryuuta are still training with Lancer of Red. She seems a more than competent combat instructor, and you said you were planning to drop by earlier.

>>5789713
Welp, if one reply is all that's coming in then that's that.

The thread got pushed to the back pages pretty quickly too, the recent spam of gender-confused individuals likely to blame.

>>5792066
sry m8 I was studying for a substitute exam these past days.

>>5789474
> Check to see if Rushorou and Ryuuta are still training with Lancer of Red. She seems a more than competent combat instructor, and you said you were planning to drop by earlier.

You decide against disturbing your Servant’s sleep, and head toward where Rushorou told you he was planning to train. You’ll find time to research the overseer or practice with magic later. Looking into a gym-room, you spot Ryuuta and Rushorou each sitting on a bench with water-bottles in their hands as Lancer of Red is talking about their progress.

As you enter, you catch her saying, “… improving far more quickly than should be possible. I suspect your Servant is responsible, Matsuda Ryuuta.”

“Has he told you-” Rushorou begins to ask, but stops as he acknowledges your arrival, “I see you’ve made it, welcome. Was your Servant alright?”

“Yes, she’s still resting to recover from the wound Diomedes inflicted.” You reply, making sure to omit anything relating to your unexpected encounter with Hecate.

“Didn’t he get you too, big guy? I’d be careful training the same day you got a serious injury, even with magic healing.” Ryuuta advises. You glance down at your stomach; ever since Ryuuta’s Servant Caster of Black bandaged it the pain’s subsided to just a lingering ache, but you also haven’t been physically exerting yourself much in the past few hours.

“Perhaps I should start slow and see how far I get before I start pushing my luck.” You concede, “Though if you don’t mind my asking, what were you talking about as I came in?”

“It turns out we’re a lot better than we thought we were!” Ryuuta laughs, before adding more seriously, “I’ll talk to Caster later and see if he’ll explain what he’s doing for us. He mentioned something about it to me before.”

“If you’d like to get started, we’ve been alternating between hand-to-hand and weapon-sparring, both with Lancer and with each other.” Rushorou explains, then points toward a small pile of training weapons carved from wood, “She cast a spell on those training weapons that makes their weight distribution feel the same as their real counterparts, and slows them down right as they make contact so you can get relatively serious without risking injuring your partner.”

“Gettin’ hit still hurts though, so if you can’t keep up with her she’ll give you conditioning training.” Ryuuta remarks, then continues, “And these hand-wraps we use when we practice without weapons work about the same, softens the hit right at impact.”

“My Master informed me that you fought well against the copies of Sun Wukong.” Lancer of Red says to you, “I must admit a modicum of curiosity for how a man in your circumstances fights.”

“I think we oughta let him pick how he wants to do his first round.” Ryuuta suggests, bumping his fists together as he adds, “I’m ready if you are!”

“Likewise.” Rushorou responds as he sets his water-bottle down.

Pleased at how accommodating everyone’s being, you decide to start with:
> Weapon-sparring
> Hand-to-hand sparring
And against:
> Ryuuta
> Rushorou
> Lancer of Red

>>5792639
It is what it is, plus given how infrequently I update it probably isn't super feasible to expect players to check for updates constantly.

Anyway, now that Hecate provided a convenient lore-dump I imagine you guys have most of the premise of the quest figured out by now. Are there any particular aspects of the story that you want to explore going forward? I can take that into consideration when planning future events and character-choices.

>>5793415

> Weapon-sparring
> Lancer of Red

Go big go-

>>5793415
>Weapon-sparring
>Lancer of Red
>>5793420
I got some of it worked out. Still trying to come up with a coherent narrative.

>>5793520
>>5793540
Going for the gutsy option, very nice

Roll a d100 to see how it goes. If fortune smiles upon you an interesting development may occur.

Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>5794402

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>5794402

I raise

>>5794646

Well shit a mild roll. While I am here may as well gather the points left by Hecate

>She and "A Certain God" made a pact trying to salvage a dogshit situation in a pruned timeline
>The timeline ended around 2019 with us now within 2023
>We are a transfered consciousness to a different body

Alright so the idea is that in a previous timeline the Akeldama War had broke down so badly that the timeline burned itself out. Hecate here being the sole survivor alongside Him, they may have recreated the original contenders(Ryuuta, Rushurou, Ogawara, and Us). So we are back more or less in the same scenario, different timeline.

Dunno the proper details to some things like. What happened to get the timeline pruned? Is Jude ACTUALLY Jude of this setting or the previous timeline's? WHO are we still?

I do know at least one thing, we're not an Einzbern and much shall be rejoiced over for it.

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>5794402
Rolls ended yet?
If not here is mine.
Otherwise pls disregard.

>>5794405
>>5794646
>>5796960
I can give you a little something with 75, writing.
Will probably be the last update of the thread.

File: Lancer of Red.png (602 KB, 512x724)

602 KB PNG

You think for a moment on the opponents you’ve personally fought so far. Many of them, such as Aka no Rider’s soldiers and the mindless, roaming zombies weren’t particularly memorable in and of themselves because your strength exceeded theirs by a wide margin. The ghoul Anton Kagan was also weaker than you, but his bit of creativity and tenacity prevented you from defeating him unscathed. In your spar yesterday against Ryuuta you also were significantly stronger, but his skill in hand-to-hand combat considerably closed the gap. It was the clones of Sun Wukong that forced your back against the wall and pushed you to your limit, but there was something about it that you enjoyed, in spite of the hardship. No, ‘in spite of’ isn’t right; it was the act of withstanding and defeating a powerful opponent that you found gratifying.

“You fought against the main body of Sun Wukong on an even footing, didn’t you?” You ask the woman with complexion and hair as white as snow, “I’d also like to see how you fight first-hand, using the training-weapons.”

She bows her head in assent, before picking up a wooden version of her spear and a familiar looking weapon that she hands to you, “I prepared a mace that should wield similarly to yours.”

Gently swinging it through the air to test the balancing, you’re impressed at how close an approximation it is. You don’t recall her ever holding your mace before; her sense of measurement for this kind of thing must be rather precise. Remembering the wound in your stomach, you point to it before saying, “Thank you; could you try to avoid hitting me here? A direct hit might break the wound open, even with your spell softening the blow.”

“I understand.” She replies as she readies her spear in a defensive stance, “You may begin at your discretion.”

You start slow while your opponent focuses on defending to sate her curiosity. It doesn’t take long for you to realize that in terms of weapon-choice, she seems to have an advantage in a dueling scenario, given the reach of her spear. You begin to get a sense for how she goes about dealing with your strikes: rather than matching strength against strength, which you know she could do with ease, she maintains distance and deflects them in an efficient manner that you might describe as mechanical. Even though you’re strong enough to quickly recover your mace to a readied position after she deflects it, your movements are wasting much more energy than hers. Then again, you do have a free hand that you’re not doing much with.

Picking up the pace, you press forward, let her parry one of your mace-swings before trying to grapple her spear. However, she retracts her weapon before thrusting it downward toward your thigh. As you exhale in discomfort from the hit, she hops back and notes, “A commendable attempt, but perhaps you’d prefer a second weapon in your off-hand? I’ve seen you use one before.”

“I think so; from what I can tell a mace is meant more for breaking through armor than dueling.” You agree, picking up a short training sword about the same length as the gladii you found before meeting her spear again. This time you attack with more purpose, trying to move into close range where you can use your sword to parry her spear and use the mace’s comparatively longer reach to land a direct hit.

Again, the Lancer shows enough consideration to match your intensity rather than overwhelm you with superior speed or power, but she also begins to go on the offensive, thrusting her spear from several different angles at varying speeds, making it difficult to follow them with your short-sword. Her strikes often slip past your defenses while you can’t break through her guard with your own attacks. But each time she hits you, your resolve strengthens. Though your body is stinging all over, you aren’t going to concede until you’ve broken through her guard at least once. A ghost of a smile appears on the Lancer’s lips as glowing white veins appear on your skin, the telltale sign of you activating your Reinforcement spell.

“Oi, don’t get carried away!” Rushorou calls out as he rises to his feet, prompting you to pause momentarily.

“It’s nothing to be concerned about, Master.” His Servant answers him, then says to you, “Continue.”

“Gladly.” You exhale as you rush forward with renewed vigor, hoping to stop her from executing any attacks of her own by pressuring her constantly. You come close to hitting her several times, but a solid hit still eludes you, even as you run out of breath from your continuous attack-rush. A few punishing thrusts to your chest and shoulders push you back as you were too tired to effectively parry them.

Surely there’s something you haven’t tried yet. As you think in a moment of intermission, you remember your ability to see ambient mana and absorb it through breathing. Activating your ‘Mana Sight’, you see a fairly large amount of it swirling around; perhaps Caster establishing his territory here caused the leylines to emit more than usual. You decide to try to have it fuel your Reinforcement in tandem with your breathing. As you intently focus your attention on your opponent, something else catches your eye.

You can just barely make out the mana-circulation in her body, or at least near the surface of her skin. What strikes you is that it isn’t a uniform distribution, but it instead gets localized at various nodes that then disperse it through her body. A glance at your arm reveals that your body has similar nodes. You feel as though there’s a name for what you’re seeing. Pressure-points?

Replenishing some of your stamina with the ambient mana, you charge forward yet again. Your attack-pattern is similar, but your movements have become more mechanically efficient from your repeated failures, and you try to strike in a way that even when she blocks or deflects it, some of the force is directed to one of the pressure-points on her hands or arms. You want to win. Your opponent can tell something is different this time as well, but doesn’t appear to be sure of your strategy. You keep hammering at her guard, sucking up a significant amount of the mana in the room to fuel and extend your assault and prevent her from counterattacking. You’ll keep this up as long as you have to…

Your mace collides with the shaft of her spear, pushing it back momentarily. You take advantage of the opening with a lunge of your short-sword toward her face. She weaves her head aside. You swing your extended thrust to follow her head. She ducks under your slash, but the training-sword skims across her hair and the top of her scalp. The flat end of her spear hits your ribs. Both of you disengage.

“So damn… close…” You pant before clutching at your stomach in a spasm of pain. Even though she never hit you there, going all-out the way you were just now was basically asking for trouble sooner or later.

“Shit, we really shoulda stopped you sooner big guy.” Ryuuta curses, sympathetic to your trouble.

“My apologies, I should have been more cognizant of your injury.” Lancer of Red says as well, as she lowers her wooden spear.

“I don’t blame any of you; it was my choice to go as hard as I did. And I’m largely satisfied with how it turned out.” You reply as you steady your breathing. The pain aside, you feel something about you has changed from between when you started the sparring match to now. After clashing your strength, speed, and skill against Lancer of Red’s for as long as you did, you learned a couple new uses for your abilities, but more than that, it’s as though the blood that flows in your veins acquired a new quality. Something like…

[New personal skill unlock: Divinity E-]

I just realized I may not have clearly indicated that the update finished since I didn't leave a list of vote-options at the end.

That's pretty much all I got.

The second day is bascially over now, and Anon will be discouraged from sparring again for a while. Caster of Black, Koko, and Suzaku would be getting a supper ready, does anyone have a preference between playing through that with some socialization vs. saving time and skipping to sleep for when the next thread starts?

>>5798274
socialization would be nice

>>5798594
Alright, next thread will start with a ranked vote on who to focus talking to. I’ll let you pick 3 characters from a list of who’s around and the ones who get the three highest totals will be the ones Anon spends the most time talking with. More details will be given when the next thread is posted.

>>5797328

[New personal skill unlock: Divinity E-]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit boys, could it be? COULD IT BE?

>>5798274

Some socialization will be good, we should tell Bryn good match and see how the rest of the boys are doin.