Here u go
-
I quietly stared at the swirling green water in the ceramic cup lying on the table before me. From all accounts, Shirou was supposed to be this incredible cook. I didn't know if that extended to his tea-making skills, but I was no great connoisseur of tea either.
"So,"
I looked up.
Rin tossed her hair over her shoulder, "What are we going to do about it? Let's be honest, you have no reason to protect Shirou."
I craned my neck
"You don't either."
"That's-... Well, I-"
"I don't want either of you to put yourselves in harm's way for me." Shirou said calmly, holding his hands together over the trouble, "It wouldn't be right to take the risk for someone like me."
It totally would. His death was always going to be on my conscience if it happened, and there really was no other outcome to him facing Berserker and Illyasiviel.
"Why are you so sure I'll die anyway? Tohsaka's taught me some magecraft-"
"Listen here, Shirou. You can't even perform reinforcement properly, and Gradation Air isn't nearly enough to fight the... oh I don't know. The son of Zeus! It's Heracles we're talking about here." Rin chided him loudly, waving around a fist, "I'm not sure all the other servants combined would be able to fight a heroic spirit on that level."
I sighed, "She's right. Two servants barely made a dent."
Two whole noble phantasms for a quarter of his life was definitely not a trade-off that favoured us in any world.
"I still want to fight myself." He narrowed his eyes, uttering words full of conviction. "If I can't even protect myself, how can I ever become like..."
I glanced at his missing hand, "Your last run-in with a servant did that, and you still think it's a good idea?"
He seemed to think for a moment, "I can't just lay down and hand my fate to someone else, no matter how weak I might be compared to you two."
Rin groaned.
"See what I have to deal with? He says he wants to fight in the Grail War even without a servant."
His words were so genuine... That... It was admirable.
Pursing my lips, I downed my tea in one gulp and rose to my feet.
"Where are you going?"
Without answering, I made my way outside, out onto his backyard. Once there, I took a measure of the surroundings.
"This is enough."
His yard was massive, and almost entirely open with nothing in between. The ground was clean, and hard earth, so there was little to no chance of slipping out of nowhere. Both Shirou and Rin followed me outside.
"Enji, you-"
Ignoring Rin, I brought my hands together to cast a shadow. One below and straight to resemble a snout, the other like a claw to resemble antlers. The Zen'in Crest manifested, and dark marks formed all over my body, pumping mana alongside my circuits.
My shadow enlarged, then spewed out a mass of black inky darkness. It rose and rose, till it was twice as tall as myself or more, then began to take the shape of a beast. First came the massive antlers protruding from either side of the head.
When I blinked, the beast was complete.
An immense deer with muscled legs as thick as tree trunks and a back that rose above its head. Its black eyes honed in on me immediately, but it made no move. Just watched, calm and quiet, waiting for me to attack it instead.
Round Deer.
The Shikigami capable of using Reverse Cursed Technique and outputting positive energy primarily capable of healing others.
"What the-"
I heard Rin behind me.
"Assassin. Destroy the heart."
A servant was a familiar, in theory, the same as any of my Shikigami, so the ritual wouldn't be disturbed if he delivered the killing blow... It was a theory that cost me nothing to test. If the ritual was ruined, I just had to wait. Ideally, I'd be doing it in a different place but, looking at Shirou had gotten me worked up a little too much, honestly.
Shuwen stepped out of the air beside the Round Deer with his fist already reeled back. The Divine Dogs leapt from my shadows just as the muscles on his arms began to bulge out, and Nue took to the skies.
Purple lightning rained down from the heavens. The Round Deer merely raised its great head to stare at the flying Nue.
The lightning never reached it, dispersing moments before it struck.
The Black Wolf brutally chomped down on the underside of it's neck, and the white wolf gnawed away at its head, biting through to the brain. The creature's tough hide offered no resistance at all to their ferocious bite, the same as Heracles.
Not willing to bet on the possibility that it could heal without a brain or heart, I chose to target both at the same time.
Just as Shuwen blew through its side, destroying its heart in the process, Giant Toad behind me ripped off what the wolves had left of its head. The Round Deer, what was left of it, crashed to the earth in a splash of its own lifeblood, then drowned in sudden darkness that slithered over to join my shadow.
Instantly, I knew that I now had the Shikigami at my disposal.
It was good to know that using a servant's help wouldn't nullify the taming. That opened up an avenue for cheesing the trials.
I made the sign once more, and my shadow enlarged to form the Round Deer. The poor thing backed away from my touch when I reached out to stroke its neck, and I then realised that the Shikigami did indeed remember the method of taming. I'd known it with Toad and Nue.
"I'm sorry, big guy." One of its great big eyes narrowed on my arm, "I'll feed you peaches... or whatever it is you like."
Hesitantly, Round Deer brushed its snout against my palm. After a while, it submissively closed its eyes.
With a smile, I turned to face the two teenagers who bore witness to the trial.
Rin, well aware of magus social dynamics, did not make even a slight peep. She merely accepted the absurd ritual with closed eyes and crossed arms. Shirou however, did not understand that it was taboo to question a magus for details about their craft.
"Can I do that too?"
"Do you have an ancestor from the Age of the Gods with a rotten pile of flesh for a brain?"
He paused, "I don't think so?"
"Then, it's a no. Sorry, man."
He took a startled step back when the Round Deer began approaching him, but found his resolve in mere moments. Really, I couldn't help but admire that sort of conviction, even if it was a little stupid to know the reality and still put yourself in danger.
"Show it your hand, Shirou."
He raised his only hand.
"No, the other one."
Pursing his lips, he held out the stump.
"How did I not realise it last time?"
Before I could give the order, Rin stepped over to me and pulled me down to her height with a hand. I didn't really mind the force.
"I thought the Ten Shadows were supposed to be an extinct myth."
I rubbed a hand against the mark on my chin.
As Shuwen had said, if I did not arrive here, they probably never would have awakened.
"They were. I brought them back."
"That's-"
Her jaw dropped.
Beyond, the Round Deer nudged Shirou's stump with it's snout. An ethereal glow brightened up the yard, then slowly, surely, the bandages were ripped away as a new hand grew from underneath them. Within moments, the stump was gone entirely. In its place was a good and new hand that would make anyone doubt it had been severed just days ago.
Hell, that hand was still rolling around in my shadows... and would continue to do so until the new catalyst arrived.
Its owner was still in disbelief, clenching and unclenching the hand he'd recently lost. His eyes were wide, and I couldn't help but smile in relief.
This time, I did not feel some weight lift from my shoulders. Instead, my thoughts grew clearer, as if some fog clouding my mind had finally faded away into obscurity. Hopefully, it wouldn't ever come back.
When I blinked, the creases in the hard earth looked like a painting, and the mist condensing on the grass around the yard seemed to glisten so beautifully when the faint sunlight hit it. A deep breath, and the cold air that once carved my lungs refreshed me.
I clenched my fist.
Apparently, I hadn't been raised a purely selfish cunt after all.
-
Hope u enjoyed.
You can find 7 chapters ahead at patre0n.com/Bleap