Chapter Text
Hello and welcome to the seventh chapter of Fate/Stay Cooking Game Night. With me again is my friend and Co-author/writer, JoySeeker101.
Joy: Glad to see you return to this story.
Today, we’ll be… (Sheepish) I have no idea what we’ll be doing honestly… Hard to think of good ideas for this series… Maybe see another world…? Not a dungeon, world. Joy, a little help?
Joy: A good dungeon, I say. Leave the other worlds for later down the line. For when you have to increase difficulty.
Okay, that far, but there has to be other things as well… Maybe start working on his Magus Lab/Forge in the shed? Meet up with Sakura and Shinji? Learn/Teach with Rin? Huh, I think I’m starting to get a good picture in my head for this chapter now. Doing it Like Persona and what not. You’ve played Persona Right? And if so, you Excited for Joker VS. Giorno Death Battle?
Joy: I have played Persona 3 Remake, 4 Golden, 5 Royal and Strykers. Not exactly a fan of Death Battle.
(Shruggs) Eh, not everyone’s thing, I enjoy it. Anyways, enough rambling, Shall we bring in today’s guest?
Joy: Bring them out! Who is it this time?
Please welcome the heir to the Tohsaka clan, Rin Tohsaka.
Rin: (Walks in, smiling smugly) “Finally time you brought me in here.”
Joy: Welcome. We need your help for the intro and disclaimer. Can you give us an elegant one?
Rin: (Huffs and sticks her nose up) “Who do you take me for? Of course I can. You are now reading “ Fate/Stay Cooking Game Night ”, Written by Light He’arth/Xarazechi with the help of Joy. They are not the owner of the Original material used, so please, support the official releases as a thank you for their hard work. Please follow and review if you enjoy the story, and keep your tone civil.”
…
Joy: Damn.
Rin: “I told you that I could do it.”
A little too wordy and flowery for my tease. And I’ve written Yusuke.
Rin: “Hey!”
Joy: Compared to the others we had, I say that for once a proper lady intro is not too bad. So, thank you, Rin.
Rin: (Smug) “Thank you. Now you two should get back to work on this.”
She’s right, shall we get started?
Joy: We should, people have been waiting for the new chapter, after all.
Right then, onto the chapter!
______________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 7: Confidant Raising and Explore- Wait this isn’t Persona!
(Emiya Household: Next Day)
Shirou awoke at five in the morning, rested and ready to start cooking and training again. Getting the usual notification when she did.
[You have slept in a bed
Your HP and MP are full]
“Good to see you’re taking your training seriously, Host,” The System stated, almost sounding proud.
“Thank you System,” Shirou thanked. “I need all the training I can get to match the more experienced Magus in five years for the upcoming Grail War; I need to push myself. And cooking that can do magic might make me look more favorable in the eyes of Magus, unorthodox as it might be. ”
[For thinking logically and wisely
Your INT and WIS went up by 1] X 5
Shirou gave a flat look. “Oh ha ha Gaia…” He then pulled up his [Stats] to see what he had.
Name: Shirou Emiya
Title Occupation: Aspiring Chef
LV 19
Next Level: 20,139,300/26,214,400
HP: 2,784.38
MP: 5,776.8
Strength: 36 (+25%)
Dexterity: 41 (+10, +10 from Hunter’s Bow +2 Equipped, +25%)
Intelligence: 20 (+5, +10 from Fire Resistance Boost Equipped, +35%, +25%)
Wisdom: 19 (-2, +35%, +25%)
Charisma: 15 (+5, +2, +25%)
Luck: 16 (+20 From Rabbit’s Foot Necklace, +25%)
Points: 45
Yen: ¥138,383,500
Special Status: Magic Circuits: Rank C (+30% to INT, +30% to WIS), Dragon Aspect: Rank F (+25% to All Stats)
Perks: - Magic Circuits: Rank C
- God Of Cooking in Training
- Noble
- Gamer (Beginner)
-Math Genius
Flaws: - Self Sacrificing
- Lack of Self Worth
Background: Shirou Emiya is one of the linchpin of the Fate/Nasuverse, he was found by Kiritsugu Emiya after the fire of Fuyuki. This was due to Alaya interfering with his birthright, The First Magic, and wanting to be her tool. Due to this, he had amnesia and couldn’t remember who he was or who his family was, leaving him a shell. Thanks to his adopted father, he has a goal to be a Hero of Justice. With this, he was chosen by [The Gamer] and the Gourmet System to try and fix this issue and help bring in a new age of Gods and Technology as the candidate for the titles of God of Cooking, Heroic Victory, Smithing and Crafting.
“At least you’re not totally helpless,” Blackie stated, appearing out of nowhere and startling the boy.
“Gah! Blackie! Don’t do that!” Shirou shouted, shocked. He then felt [Gamer's Mind] Activate, calming him down.
“I am Ancient , very few things amuse me anymore. So let me enjoy the few things that amuse me!”
“The Woe’s me attitude doesn’t suit you.”
“Hahahaha! Good Kiddo, pretending to know the intricacies of comedy! Maybe one day you will recognize my subtle humor!”
The Dog then slumped down and started snoring.
“I will never understand that Dog…”
“Fou,” Fou called out, stretching from sleeping by the window. “Fou Fuu Fu.”
“Oh, hush you,” Blackie snarked back.
“What did Fou say?” Shirou asked, confused as he changed and started heading to the kitchen.
“That dogs never have a good sense of humor, Host,” the System informed.
“Oh. Glad I was not the one missing the joke then.” He sighed in relief.
Blackie huffed. “Yes, yes, just get to work boy. Your food won’t cook itself.”
“Careful, you’re sounding gluttonous there. Don’t want to be like your brother and father now.” Shirou commented.
Blackie’s Tail stood up. “... This Lord Dog will allow you that one…” He grumbled. He heard snickering from Cerberus. “Silents mutt.”
“I said nothing,” Cerberus stated from all three bodies, still with a wolfies smile.
“Can you not fight in my home?” Shirou asked, giving the two a flat look. “I know the System reinforced it, but I would rather not test it out.”
“... Eh! Okay.”
“Neither outside! We don’t need any more attention drawn to us by Zouken!”
“Pfeh! Fine…”
“Thank you.” Shirou then went into the kitchen, grabbing his heavy knife. “... Did it get heavier? Hn! Time sure flies.” He muttered, chuckling.
“We did increase its weight because you were getting used to it, Host,” System informed. “Would you like music to listen to again while working? It did seem to improve the Host's concentration.”
“Uuuh! I can have a radio while I train? Nice!”
“ As long as it is not a distraction, it is permitted. ”
Shirou turned on his [Background Music] and music started to play.
(Cue: Forest Wood Cafe)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnXgaZ2DfsM&ab_channel=CafeMusicBGMchannel-Topic
Shirou hummed, liking this music. “So what will I be preparing for breakfast?” He asked the System.
“Steamed Buns and Dumplings,” the System stated.
“And what crazy items will I be using to cook these?” he asked, excited to see what ingredients he’d be using?”
“Host will be using the meat of Iron Boar from the same world as the Iron Armadio and Shoot Steak Cattle from Toriko’s world, Pure Wasp Honey BBQ Sauce, made from 100 Percent Real Wasp Honey from Courage the Cowardly Dog Universe (and headache universe for me) for the sauce on the meat and in the Buns and Dumplings, and Paradise Rice from Toriko’s world as well to create Paradise Rice Flour for the Buns and Dumplings dough,” the System listed off.
“Why the fancy name for some rice?” He asked, confused by the last one. The others sounded hard to use, but the Paradise one sounded out of place.
“ Paradise doesn't mean it will be lethal. Just hard to find.”
“Expensive too?”
“ Very. a single grain is priced in the hundreds of thousands. ”
Shirou choked on his own spit at that, and felt faint. “Seriously!?” He shouted. If Ren was here, she'd probably scold him for using such a high end thing for cooking instead of using it for Magus Crafting. That or sell it for more gems, even though he had a literal farm for them in his dimensional storage pocket.
“Do not let her influence allow you to falter, Host,” the System stated firmly.
“I know System, I’m just shocked at how much this rice is, and you want me to turn it into dough. What’s next, you want me to use a legendary weapon as a kitchen utensil?”
“If it helps with making food better, yes,” the System automatically answered with no hesitation.
Somewhere in Fuyuki City, a certain King of Heroes felt irritated, like someone wanted to use one of his treasures for something so mundane.
Back in Shirou’s Kitchen, The System formed all of the items needed to cook. Shirou looked at all the items and was yet again impressed by the Quality. He commented on his statement, while looking at the food, “Don’t let Ren hear that either, she’ll throw a hissy fit.”
“Let her throw one, Host, the System does not care for her pride.”
“Figures you’d say that,” Shirou said, sighing.
“ Bottling emotions is bad. If listening to her tantrums helps her feel better, Host, as a good host to her, can offer a friendly ear. ”
“... I mean… On paper it’s not wrong… She does need to learn to just, you know? Let herself go. She is too stiff, she can speak her mind when her friend.” Shirou muttered to himself.
“I think talking about her is over, Host, you must focus now on your meal preparations.”
Shirou nodded in agreement, and followed the instructions that the System laid out for him on making the breakfast dish. After they were steamed they turned out spectacular.
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“I like making buns, it’s relaxing…” He admitted while kneading the rice floor into a compact sphere of dough.
“ I am more of a meat guy, but you do you, kiddo.” Blackie answered, chuckling.
“It does have meat in it, Blackie,” Shirou stated, rolling his eyes.
“ But it’s not steak-shaped, or ribs-shaped! ” The dog smirked.
“And now you are moving goal posts.”
Both shared a laugh at that.
“Are those Meat Buns I smell~!?” Taiga shouted from the front door.
“Seems Taiga has already smelled my cooking a mile away,” Shirou said, holding back his laughter.
“I heard that!” Taiga shouted from outside.
“... And sharp hearing, Host,” The System stated in his mind.
“At least she is easy to appease…” He leaned outside the kitchen.
“I’ll make your portion bigger if you behave!”
“Okay!” She answered with a wide smile and a thumbs up.
“ Good girl. ” Blackie snickered.
“Did you say something Shirou?” Taiga asked, sounding annoyed, while Shirou camped his hands over Blackie’s muzzle to keep him from talking more.
“I didn’t say anything, you must be hearing this from how hungry you are!” Shirou shouted back, chuckling nervously. “I'll get your meal here soon~!" Taiga just shrugged and took a seat at the table. Shirou then harshly whispered to Blackie. “Are you trying to get discovered…!? Remember, Tiga is a normal human, and if she finds out about the Moon Lit world, she'll either have her memories altered, or worse, killed and experimented on.”
“Right… Pompose Magus that wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone below them… Maybe this Lord Dog should teach them a lesson…”
“Oh, sure, and have one of them take a hair sample from you to study, even if they are badly damaged…” Shirou said in a flat, deadpan voice. “Look, we’re pushing it as is, and I believe that due in fact that Gaia, The System, Zelretch and Ren are keeping me safe. We don’t need some crazy Magus trying to clone you as a familiar army.”
“ You are lucky I am not my father or older brother, they would have marched to whoever tried and killed them even just at the idea of somebody trying to clone them. Can’t tell if for a matter of pride or just to avoid seeing a Clone possibly coming out ‘ Uglier’ and ruin their reputation… ”
“... They hold their appearances that dear…?” Shirou asked in a deadpan, an anime sweatdrop on his head.
“ They are gorgeous, I mean, I am too, but at least I am humble enough to not have it used against me. ”
“Eh! Small mercy.”
“The System wanted to make sure you had an actual CARING Blackie that wouldn’t just do things quickly and make things worse with misunderstandings and what not…”
“Again… Small Mercies…”
In two other universes, two other Gods of Cooking felt annoyed for some unknowable reason.
Back at the Emiya Household, they heard another knock at the door. “Emiya,” came the voice of Ren, “I do hope you have breakfast ready. We have things to do today, and need to have them ready.”
“Looks like one of your mates is here, Shirou,” Blackie whispered, a playful smirk on their face.
“System, Remind me to cut Blackie’s next meal portion in half as punishment for that comment of his,” Shirou said, sounding unamused and annoyed with the dog, making Blackie’s eyes widened.
“ Good suggestion. A Third Blackie with a pot-belly would be far too many. Dieting is suggested.”
“ Diet? NOOOOOOOO! ”
“So very dramatic.” Shirou said, rolling his eyes as he finished making the buns.
Blackie just grumbled, annoyed.
While he was doing that, Taiga had let Ren in.
“Thank you Fujimora-San,” Rin properly greeted and thanked her.
“I hope you’ll be more respectful today,” she stated, brandishing her bamboo sword.
“I am always respectful,” Rin stated, using her hand to wave her hair back.
Taiga gave a flat look to the girl. “... Yeah… Keep telling yourself that…”
“Girls, be nice, both of you. I want proper ladies as guests, not angry cats.”
“We are not cats!” Rin said, actually hissing.
“At worst, we are beautiful tigers!” Taiga added, smirking.
“Not fun! Didn’t laugh!” Shirou’s voice echoed from the kitchen making both laugh. After a second or two, he hauled, realizing something. “Wait, Taiga, I thought you hated being called Tiger?” Shirou asked, sticking his head out of the kitchen.
Taiga blushed. “Oh hush you, I can call myself whatever I want. You just got back to cooking, young man.”
“Ah! I see! You can do it, but others can’t!” Shirou said, smirking and pulling his head back in the kitchen.
“... No need to point that out, out loud.” she said, her eye twitching in annoyance at Shirou’s smugness. “When did you become so smug?”
“You can blame Rin, she’s a bad influence~!” Shirou stated, throwing the girl under the bus.
Rin squawked in indignation hearing that. “I am not! And I’m not the one to make you smug!”
“No, but you showed me how fun it is to be smug.”
“You are a bad influence!” Taiga said, laughing.
“Libel! Lies! Slander! Bullpoop!” Rin yelled petulantly, her face flushing red in embarrassment. She grumbled, then had an idea, and payback for a comment Zelrecth made of her. “Wait, I’m not the bad influence, Zelretch is!”
“And what makes you think I’m a bad influence~?” the wizard asked, smiling cheekily, appearing out of nowhere behind the two, scaring the two girls, almost giving them heart attacks.
“Where the hell did you pop up!?” both shouted at him.
“In the restroom,” he answered, smiling.
“... Sure…” they said, not believing him.
“I technically live here, so I can pop out from the floor too if I so desire!” He declared.
With a loud bonk a big frying pan came flying from the kitchen and nailed him behind the head.
“Not the floor, I spent too much time cleaning it for you to add a trapdoor to it,” Shirou’s voice came in answer from the kitchen.
“Spoilsport brat!” He muttered with a pout, rubbing the lump on his head.
Taiga and Rin were typing to hold back their laughter, taiga struggling harder than Rin.
Shirou finally came out of the kitchen with a steam basket, and placed it in the center of the table.
“Luckily I made enough for everybody. Please try this, I tried a new dish.”
“Smells nice,” Rin answered, going for the cover of the steamer. Shirou swatted her with a wooden spoon. “Hey!”
“I’ll get the lid,” Shirou stated, making Rin grumble in annoyance.
“A lady never forgets her manners, right… I blame you two for leading me astray!” Rin said.
“Yes, yes, blame us. Sure!” Both Taiga and Zelretch said at the same time.
“No respect for the new generations! You old fossils forgot good manners with old age!”
“Young lady, you are still young enough to get spanked!” Zel said, harrumphing.
“And I may just do the honors!” Taiga added.
Shirou sweatdropped. “If you don’t stop arguing, I’m taking breakfast back…”
“We are just teaching her manners! And she was the one to start!”
“Sometimes I wonder who is the adult between you three.” Shirou said, sarcastically and rhetorically.
“ME!” All three said at the same time.
“... Riiiight.” Shirou muttered, shaking his head. Shirou knew Zeltrch was the oldest, being in his 70’s, but he was a man child bat, while aiga was only 19, 4 years older than him and Rin. “... I think I’m the mature one here…” He muttered quietly, but it seemed not quiet enough because Rin heard him.
“What do you mean by that!?” she shouted at him, annoyed.
“... Of course she heard me…” Shirou said, sighing.
“Nothing, nothing. My precious Guest…”
“I am honestly impressed, Shirou-boy! Hard to cram that much sarcasm in a single ‘ Precious’ without it collapsing in a singularity! Full marks!” Zelretch laughed and clapped amused.
“ Host wants an aspiring? ” System asked, and Whitey already handed him a glass of water with the fizzy tablet already inside.
‘... Thanks… I feel like their nanny…’ He mentally thanked, before [Gamer’s Mind] took effect. ‘... Whoever made that skill is a lifesaver, and I thank them with all my heart.’
[You’re welcome~! :D]
‘Guessing Gaia then…’ he thought, and took the lid off, showing the nice golden-brown Buns and Dumplings.
“OOOOH! Chinese-style Buns! So Nice!” Zelretch said, pleased.
“I am amazed you can actually tell by sight,” Shirous answered.
“I traveled the world quite a bit and tasted a whoooole lot of dishes! I got experience!” He puffed-out his chest.
“Good to know,” both girls said in a sarcastic voice.
“I’ll trust your judgment then, try to not pull a fast one on me, I need an actual honest opinion,”
“Oh! I can do that! Both constructive but not too harsh!” Zel answered.
“I’ll make sure he won’t be a clown, trust me.” Taiga added, winking.
All three were hit over the head by a wooden spoon. “You know I can hear you all, right…?” Shirou asked, being the one to smack them.
“... I think Taiga’s the bad influence now…” both Rin and Zelretch stated, both holding their heads.
“HEY!” Taiga shouted, annoyed.
Shirou sighs. “Let's just eat, please…?”
“Itadakimasu/Thank you for the meal,” everyone thanked, and started to put buns and dumplings on a plate.
When everyone took a bite, they all had blissful looks on their faces. The seasoned BBQ Meats just melted in their mouths as the flavors exploded like fireworks.
“Shirou, did you improve again!?” Taiga shouted in shock as her eyes widened.
Rin had a faraway look in her eyes. “How can food actually be this good…? I thought the previous meals were good… But they keep getting better…”
“My cooking teacher is a perfectionist,” Shirou stated. “And Zelrtech isn’t the teacher, it’s someone else.”
Taiga’’s eyes narrowed. “I want to meet them.”
‘... Uh… System… what do I do…?’ Shirou asked, unsure of how to make them meet, or if they should or could, without having the Moonlit world revealed.
“ Play on Tradition. Ancient ones.”
“Oh… Well, I could do that, but traditionally speaking, I can’t just barge there.”
“Ah, they are some of those that remained stuck to the old ways, fanfare and all.” Taiga groaned, annoyed at that..
“They love tradition.”
“Ugh, boring.”
“They prefer the term Traditional. ”
“Yeah, yeah,” Taiga grumbled, going back to eating her dumplings and buns in annoyance.
Shirou let out a mental sigh of relief. ‘Thank you, System… I was caught off guard by her asking that.’
“Host should make sure to have this in mind.”
‘Understood.’
“ Also, Host, the System has located your Family’s Crests, both the Muramasa and Masamunia’s ,” the System informed Shirou, almost making the boy choke on his own food.
“You okay Shirou?” Taiga asked, seeing this.
“Shirou drank some water and coughed . “Yes, sorry. Just went down the wrong throat.”
Taiga raised an eyebrow but said nothing and went back to eating.
‘Could you not have dropped that bomb shell when I was not eating?” Shirou asked the Entity, annoyed at it.
“ Overreacting of the Host provides entertainment, ”
‘Ah, yes. You are mean enough to enjoy that.’
“ Entertainment takes many forms. ”
Shirou looked annoyed and just ate. ‘So, you located my Family Magic Crest? Or is it Magus Crest? Oh, whatever. You said you found them.’
“The System has Host, this way you’ll have some of the information on forging, and what your ancestors forged, and how forge them if need be.
‘Let me guess, you want me to forge my own knives, forks, spoons, swords, hammers, ect., sooner rather than later?’ Shirou mentally asked. He shrugged mentally. ‘Eh, I need to get to work on forging anyways. Need to learn my families’ trade.’
“Yes, the Host will learn to forge their own weapons and utensils for themself.”
‘Honestly, it sounds more satisfying to make my own cooking wear,’ Shirou thought to himself.
BOOOM!
“The heck was that?!” Taiga shrieked.
“An Earthquake!” Rin yelled as well.
“ Forge added to the back of the house.”
“... I ordered a forge to be added to the house. I just didn’t expect the Express Delivery to be so extreme.” Zel said with a shaking smile.
“Those guys at Emezon have no shame…” Shirou tried saying.
Taiga looked confused. “Is Shirou taking up traditional Japanese smithing or something?”
“He said I need a hobby.” Shirou answered while pointing at Zel.
“It was either forging or painting, so I used a coin to choose.” He answered, shrugging.
“I then said I could just do both, if I’m going to run a food business, I’ll need to paint the Logo and the font for the lettering.,” Shirou stated, coming up with a good excuse for learning multiple skills at once. “Plus, it’ll come in handy when doing brush work on food that is more artistic but still amazingly tasteful.”
Taiga just shrugged, thinking that was reasonable. “Just don’t overdo it, those that burn both ends of the candle burn out faster.”
"I believe I can pace myself, but, thank you." Shirou answered, smiling.
“Hey, don’t some forged items need to be painted as well?” Rin asked.
“Some do, yes,” Shirou agreed.
“A big deal of the forging procedure requires the same care for painting. And nothing says he can’t train himself by making something small and simple, like 40k figurines!” Zel said, smirking.
“I sometimes forget how old you are. Because you do know young people things, I thought you were stuck on rotary phones and gramophones,” Taiga answered, smirking.
“I am not that old…” Zel gave her a flat look. “Just a few Decades Older than you…” He then mentally added. ‘In this timeline at least, that game is not for losers… yet…’
Fans of 40K thought the multiverse felt annoyed for some reason.
“Hahaha! I will be sure to make a couple Ork figurines for you then.” Shirou answered, laughing.
“Much appreciated, my boy!”
“What about Dungeons and Dragons?” Taiga asked, having played a few games out of boredom. “Those figures need to be painted as well.”
Shirou looked surprised. “You know about Dungeons and Dragons?”
Taiga shrugged, still eating. “I played a few games just out of boredom and curiosity. It was actually fun, if not utter chaos at points.”
“What is 40k and Dungeons and Dragons?” Rin asked, looking lost and confused.
Taiga looked at her, then asked the other, “How sheltered is she?”
“HEY!” Rin shouted, blushing.
“She doesn’t know what a gameboy is.”
“Ouch!”
“Hey! Don’t pick on me!”
“ D&D Is the Grandaddy of tabletop roleplay games Games, the one who set the base of the games that came after. Me and a few old acquaintances of mine sometimes have a game or two. But for example Merlin is forever forbidden from being Dungeon Master. It’s a long, messy and icky story… so don’t ask.” Zel said.
“Merlin?” Taiga asked. “You mean that pretty boy that came over the other night? The one named after the Wizard of Camelot?”
“He is a bad Game Master and a WORSE player. He always plays Bard, and his main strategy is ‘ Seduce, seduce or seduce… And if that doesn’t work: SEDUCE HARDER . ’ and he often hits Natural 20s” Zel answered, frowning, and almost facepalming. “And the worst part, he plays both genders when playing a bard…”
Taiga’s eye twitched. “Of course he plays THAT kind of bard… At this point, bards are going to be a joke character soon…” She said, sighing.
‘You have no idea…’ Zelretch thought to himself, knowing fully well what that class would become synonymous with. ‘Him and Proto Merlin should never meet…’
“... I’m not sure if I want to play now…” Rin said, sounding unsure if should play.
“It can be fun. But it’s not a game for you.”
This hit her pride and she shouted, “Eh!? Why?!”
“Because it’s important to let yourself go in that game, just enjoy the moment and enjoy fun and randomness… All things you can’t do.” Taiga answered.
“How dare you! I can have fun!”
“...”
“You people are insufferable!” Rin grumbled/growled out, annoyed and bit down on her meat buns.
“You would throw the dice at anybody that questions your plan, or if the Dungeon Master tells you you can’t threaten a door into opening with a low roll.” Zel said.
“I certainly would not! ... You can threaten doors?” she shouted, then asked out of confusion at that remark.
“Threaten, bribe, seduce. I saw all of them happen, as long as your dice roll is good enough.”
“... Then I’m being this Dungeon Master and have a story planned out,” Rin states, smiling proudly.
“Then you’ll have to make side plans when things go off script, and they always go off script,” Zelretch stated.
“... Do I want to know what you mean by that…?” she asked, already sounding annoyed.
“There are too many possibilities to count off, it’s a build your own scenario type of thing,” he answered.
“And many, many, MANY players like to see how far they can stretch the Rules of the current game: ‘ Can I shrink a whale, shoot it with a bow and return it to its original size mid-flight ?” Shirou added.
“Can I use magnetism to pull out nails and bolts from bridges and doors and traps and shoot them at the enemy.” Taiga added.
“Can I seduce the undead zombie dragon from another dimension, have kids with it and use them as minions?” Zel added as well, actually looking sick.
“And these are the more tamer examples.” Taiga said.
Rin could feel the migraine coming. She was rubbing the sides of her head. “Greeeeeaaaaaaat…” she said, annoyed as her eyebrow twitched.
“Told you! If you can’t embrace Chaos, you can’t enjoy D&D … Ergo, You. Are. BORING!” Zel said, smirking.
“I am not boring! I am not Boring! I am not boring!” Rin chanted, petulant, and not wanting to blast him with one of her gems.
“Sometimes I wonder who is the adult here.” Shirou muttered, sighing.
Rin tried not to lose her temper. She angrily ate more buns and dumplings to take her anger out on the food.
“That’s not getting into the Home Brews of the game,” Taiga added.
“... Home Brew…?” Rin asked, unsure she wanted the answer.
“I’ll explain later. If we actually have a game night, no need to crack your head over that yet.”
Rin let out a sigh of relief.
“Though, it is a good way of thinking outside the box when things go awry,” Shirou stated, hinting at her future actions.
Rin’s eye twitched again, as she just ate her last dumpling in frustration, all the food finally finished.
Taiga let out a satisfied sigh in happiness. “That was great~” She then got up, stretching. “Well, I need to get to work, I’ll see you both at school.”
“See you there Taiga,” Shirou happily sent off.
After Taiga left, Shirou got serious and looked at Zelretch and Rin. “The System informed me that it has Located the Muramasa and Masamune Magic Crest, that’s why I choked earlier.”
“Ahiii! And you want to go collect them immediately? That won’t be easy.” Zel answered, whistling.
“Those two crests have been lost for ages!” Rin growled.
“It’s the upside of having eldritch sponsors,” Shirou stated. “And they are my birthright, I need to learn from them and the knowledge left in them. Isn’t that how Magus should be? And wouldn’t it be better for me to have them instead of someone that abuses their knowledge?”
Rin was about to scold him- but stopped, her mouth clamping that he was actually correct on the matter.
“To be fair, as your birthright, it does belong to you. And I heard enough rumors to know that several Magus families would be good owners of those. So, for once, I concede.” She answered. She then looked him in the eyes. “So where are they?”
“Oh, they are-” Shirou stated, but stopped realizing that he wasn’t toppled where they were yet. “... Uh… The System hasn’t told me where they are yet. Might have wanted to wait until Taiga was out or something.”
“Correct Host, and the location of your family crests are hidden in a Blood Family Bounded Field in the still destroyed area of the Fuyuki Fire incident.”
Shirou stiffen in trama, his eyes widening. He was about to have a panic attack when-
[[Gamer’s Mind] has activated]
Shirou felt the effect of his skill taking hold, making him calm down and overwhelmed by the memories and the horrors of the fire five years ago. He took a few deep breaths to fully calm down.
“So?” Rin asked.
“It’s… In a place I still don’t feel at ease thinking about.. Let alone visit. It’s only thanks to another skill of mine that I am not fully panicking,”
“Aah… No good,” Zelrtech stated.
The System then spoke out loud to all three of them. “If Host Shirou is to become the God of Cooking, Heroic Victory, Smithing and Crafting, he must not let anything affect him, trauma must be pushed past so that nothing can phase him when he goes to get ingredients and forging/crafting items.”
Shirou didn’t know how to feel about that.
“ Just a reminder for the future, it is still not time,”
“Does help a bit…”
“Sanity is important, all the power in the cosmos means nothing if you are bananas, a raving lunatic or a vegetable. You need a good heart and a good mind, so do not underestimate that little skill.” Zell said.
Rin gave him a flat look. “... You do know that Sanity for Magus is not a common thing… Also, you're the last person to be talking about Sanity…”
Zelretch only smiled, not saying anything.
“The irony is that, by definition, I am sane. I just… don’t care. Because when you live for as long as I have, having seen all the timelines I have, you start noticing that very few things actually deserve your worry.”
“That, and you’re one of the more powerful Magicians of the modern day,” Shirou added in. “Being the one who discovered the Second Magic and all.”
Rin grumbled, hating that he actually made a comeback, and a valid one at that.
“You are young, so it’s fine, but a secret to living properly is to give things the right weight, or else you will be overwhelmed by useless stuff and miss the real issues.”
“Can you just… stop making sense? I am not used to this.”
“Why~? I thought you wanted me to be more serious~?” Zelretch asked, teasing her in her own words.
Rin’s eye twitched in annoyance. “Must you…?”
“Must I what?” Zelretch asked, still smiling.”Help you understand that treating every tiny bump on the road as if they were catastrophes is bad for you?”
“Not with that tone!”
“Let a poor old man have fun, missy!”
You could practically hear Rin’s blood pressure rising.
“Before you make Rin blow a blood vessel, we should get back to planning out to get my Family Crests?” Shirou asked.
“And in case your powers somehow make that place a Boss Zone for some reason,” Rin shot back, surprising them all. They turned to look at her in surprise. “What? Just because I’m a Proper Magus, doesn’t mean I can’t think of situations of reality warping First Magic linked game powers to make it so.”
“Well, looks like she CAN be taught,” Zelretch stated, smirking.
“Hush you!” Rin shot back. “But also, there are some families that test their heirs to see if they are worthy of the family crest, be it through their Skills, or through combat. And the Muramasas and Masamunes were revered for their smithing and forging, so you might have to do a puzzle or fight a cursed sword, or golem.”
“... Okay, now I feel stupid for not thinking of that,” Shirou said, actually thinking his blood relations would let him, but not thinking of challenges.
“To be fair, Not everybody knows about that, even the existence of that secret Test of Worth is secret,” Rin Answered, almost with a comforting tone,
“And how do you know about it?” Shirou asked.
“... Isy.” She mumbled something.
“At a human volume?” Shirou asked, rolling his eyes.
“... Magus families are also nosy… Gossip is still a thing.” She repeated, ashamed.
“Oh! That’s nothing to be ashamed of!”
“Hush! It’s not proper for a lady to do such things!”
“But remember, you’ll be a goddess~” Zelretch reminded her, teasing her with a smirk.
“... I still find that crazy to be honest…” Rin admitted, rubbing the sides of her head. “Though, it might make me one of the top Tosaka’s in the family to achieve that, and find a way to reforge your sword.”
“And having an heir to two of Japan’s most well known smiths might help,” Shirou stated.
“I might ask you to teach me to smith, and that’s it, I need to forge the blade myself,” Rin stated. “This is my duty as a Tosaka.”
Right after that, a new Quest appeared in front of Shirou.
[Quest Alert
Smithing For a Crystal Family Legacy
Rin wants to learn how to smith so that she can create versions of the Jeweled Sword of Zelretch. Teach her all you can after you’ve learned to smith yourself, and make her reach Level 50 in [Smithing/Forging].
Rewards:
100,000 EXP
1,000,000 Yen
Mystic chisel. (The perfect tool for beginners in the Art of Enchantment)
Sparkling Whetstone (Restore equipment from light damage. Rare chance of temporary 5% attack increase)
Goblin Oil (Made by goblins, temporarily adds fire attribute to attacks)
+250 Reputation with Rin Tosaka
Failure:
-250 Reputation with Rin Tosaka
Dishwasher permits revoked for 2 months
Forced to be Rin Tohsaka’s Taste Tester for a month]
Shirou winced seeing the penalties, and even though he was teaching her, she was far from a cook.
‘But Rin doesn’t know a thing about cooking! Let alone on her own!’
“ Exactly.”
Shirou did not want to be mean, but he didn’t want to think of what the kitchen would look like after leaving her alone in it, unsupervised and not knowing all the ins and outs.
‘... Hopefully I can teach her more if that does happen…’ he thought to himself. ‘I still have time and there’s no time limit on this Quest since I’m going to need to learn two skills, [Teaching] and [Smithing/Forging] .’
“Why do I get the feeling you’re insulting me…?” Rin asked, eyeing Shirou.
“Just you being paranoid,” Shirou stated.
“... Why don’t I believe you…?” she asked, looking at him skeptically.
“As fun as it is to watch you two play the married couple-” Zewlretch started.
“NOT FUNNY!” both kids shouted, blushing.
“-but you should really start getting a move on to get Shirou’s family crests.”
Shirou took a deep breath then let it out. When he opened his eyes, they had a flare of determination in them. “Yes, I need to face this, now rather than later.”
“It is good to see Host is not afraid to challenge themself to be the best,” the System stated, sounding pleased with Shirou.
“Would being afraid change anything?”
“ No. ”
“I knew it, so I didn't even bother being afraid.”
“It is still good to know that you’re willing to do what’s needed.”
Rin sighs, standing up and pulling Shirou. “Come on, we need to head out now. We need to get this over with. You can talk to your ‘sponsor’ on the way there.” She then grumbled to herself, “Why do I have to be dragged into this craziness…?”
“I would like to say it’s because of my magnetic personality. But I guess it’s for the food.” Shirou said.
“... Definitely the food.” Rin admitted, looking away to not show her blush at being read so easily. She was the Tosaka heir, she wasn’t supposed to be read like a book.
“Called it.”
“But don’t sell yourself short either. Your personality has SOME good part to it too.” She punched his arm, playfully.
Shirou smiled kindly at her. “That was almost a full complement~”
“HUSH YOU! It was clearly 3/4 of a compliment.”
“... Riiiight.”
Rin grumbled and dragged him out of the house.
______________________________________________________________________________
(Fuyuki City Streets)
The two kids were walking through the streets with Whitey trailing silently behind them, with the robot’s steps being completely silently, something its bulk and size shouldn’t make possible. It also seemed that Whitey was only able to be seen by Shirou and Rin.
“I know that this automaton is magical… but this is ridiculous…” Rin muttered, doing her best to keep herself proper and not facepalm. “It can mask itself with concealment, and how is it being quiet with that body it’s made up of and the shape of the body…!?”
“I guess blending with the background and not getting in the way is considered good bodyguard skills.”
Rin felt a headache coming on… again… “Have I told you how infuriating your sponsor is and how broken everything he gives you is? Magus would literally KILL to have something like Whitey…!”
“I guess. But listening to Zelretch, Whitey can’t be stolen.”
“Won't stop them from trying.”
“... Right.”
“All those that cause trouble will be stripted as an example to others,” Whitey stated, making Rin shiver, remembering that threat.
“I was told what is the alternative in case the target is a pervert…”
“Do I dare ask?”
“It’s too strange to say… I am told it has a 100% success rate, but I guess I am too normal to catch “The Horror” of it…”
“Maybe it’s for the best, it reassures me you are not a pervert.” Rin said.
“... I am almost certain that that is formally recognized as a compliment somewhere…”
“Emiya, you truly are a comedian…” She rolled her eyes.
“Says the sheltered girl,” Shirou shot back.
“I am not sheltered, I am noble trained,” she said sharply, turning her nose up to him.
“More like trained to be a brat~” Shirou shot back, smirking.
Very mature… she pinched his side.
“Kyaaah!” A very undignified scream escaped Shirou. A second of silence passed, before Rin held her hand to her face, a snort of laughter coming out. “Did you just-?”
“I’ll make your favorite dessert for a week if you drop the topic right now,” Shirou bribed her.
“... Do you know how to make mooncakes?” she asked. “If not, I can give you my recipe.”
“... Wait, you do know how to cook?” Shirou asked, surprised. “I thought you needed help training?”
“... I… Only know how to cook Chinese dishes, other than that… I have trouble with…” She admitted, blushing.
“... You know, if you told me, I could have chosen a dish that you knew how to make.”
“I… Wanted to challenge myself outside my comfort zone, okay…”
“... Make it two weeks of Mookcakes and we drop the subject?” Shirou asked her, getting a nod.
“Deal,” she said. “I’ll… Give you the recipe when we’re done here.”
“No need, just make me one and I can just use my Trace ability and eat it to know how to make it myself.”
“... You know, for a skill that’s supposed to be useless… You make it seem overpowered somehow…”
Shirou shrugged. “I think it has to do with my heritage, as well as my connection to the First Magic and being a God of Cooking candidate,” he said, the System making sure that the last two subjects were only heard by him and Rin. “As well as one of our dimension’s Linch Pin…”
Rin let out an annoyed sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Still can’t believe that ridiculous story is true…”
“You know the saying, ‘Truth is stranger than fiction’.”
“As a Magus that saying is all too true…”
“I wonder,”
“Yes?”
“Are all Magus really that strange? You are pretty normal, but then there is the family holding my Sister hostage , and then the Old Man that will probably try to dissect me alive if not worse… Are there any Magus families that are Normal ? In the common meaning of the term?”
“... I want to say no… But I’m not in a position to talk, having my parents dead and my caretaker being a creep…” Rin admitted, sighing. “... And a sister that hates me for my father’s actions and used as a sick torture experiment for years…”
“So there are no Normal People that just happen to be Magus?”
“...” Rin took in a loud hissing breath.
“I mean. By the laws of probability… Maybe? I believe there are.”
“So, Magus families that are just sbout taking care of their gardens, paying their taxes… Without mad plans or psychotic secret plots…”
“...”
“Rin? Are you crossing your fingers?”
“Yes, because if there are none, I will really get worried about my future. I don’t think I can pull off a convincing power-hungry Psycho Look.”
“... Well you do have the pompous Princess pat,” Shirou shot back, smirking and lightening the mood.
“You know what? I can take it. Still better than self-mutilation and other evil acts in insane wishes for immortality and power just for the sake of it. I’ll also start knitting, no Villains is ever seen knitting, just in case.” The last part made Shirou chuckle.
“Glad to see you’re feeling better now,” Shirou said, smiling warmly.
“Eh, I’m starting to think change is needed,” Rin said, shrugging.
“Well said, you are already Leagues better than many other Magus People.”
“Nice.” Rin said, smiling. “Now we just need to help my sister out…”
“We will, we just need to take it one step at a time.”
Rin nodded slowly, letting out a sigh. “I guess that’s all we can do.” She then looked at him and asked. “Do you have a plan for saving her? Or at least to keep her safe?”
“... Make a meal with magical ingredients that’ll mutate/evolve the worms in her into something she can control… Maybe snakes?” Shirou answered, looking away, sheepish.
Rin wanted to say something, like it was ridiculous, but stopped, her voice catching. “... I want to say that’s ridiculous… But I know you’ll SOMEHOW do that… I’m still getting migraines thinking of that ridiculous magic of yours…” She said, pinching the bridge of her nose again.
“It’s not as crazy as having magic that can cut through time itself,” Shirou countered.
“It’s a family secret, you're not even supposed to know about it.” she hissed.
“I am followed by an entourage of nosy deities,”
“Still unfair. But at least I have one thing over you!”
“...”
“You can?” She asked in dread.
“Oh, heavens, no. Not yet at least. I was told Gods of Cooking of other realms can do it, but after they Ascended.”
Rin grumbled, annoyed that he had a cheat skill to learn that power.
“If you marry him as well as others, he can teach you it,” The System informed,making the two young teens blush.
“Don’t start booking wedding chapels yet… Miss/Mister Elder Ancient Sir/Ma’am,” She answered, eyebrow twitching in irritation.
“And we are not of legal age as well,” Shirou added, coughing in his fist, looking away from Rin, and trying to calm his blush down.
“Can we focus on the task at hand, please?” Rin asked, wanting to get off this subject quickly. “We’re almost there.”
“Of course. Any suggestions on how to do this?”
“Have our weapons at the ready, and hope for the best,” Rin suggested, getting a flat look from Shirou. “What? It’s the only thing we have at the moment, and we don’t know what we’ll be facing.”
“... Okay, I see your point,” Shirou admitted, rubbing his head. “I don’t know what my family left to protect my families’ crests, and even if I did, I can’t remember, due to my memories being burned away.”
“Maybe something in your families’ estates can return some of your memories,” Rin said, shrugging. “It’s a possibility.”
Shirou shrugged, unsure. “Not sure. But crazier stuff has happened.”
“You should know.”
“I fear that having to visit dungeons is only the beginning…” He admitted.
“... That’s… Not fully what I meant…” Rin said, sighing.
“I did instead, unfortunately. I believe that will only be the beginning.”
“... And I can tell you’re not lying…” Rin said, slumping in annoyance.
“We are here,” Whitey stated, getting the two to look at the place.
The two turned to see a ruined city area, untouched by people. This was the area of the Fuyuki fire, and no one touched it, not even plants would grow here. There was an air of malice that drove people away from it and left a reminder of the incident five years ago.
Both kids gave an involuntary shudder from the feel. Shirou recovered due to his [Gamer’s Mind] skill.
“This is Pure Evil in the air. I don’t like it.” Shirou said, shivering.
“I don’t have that special skill of protecting your mind… So I got it worse…” Rin answered, shuddering.
“You okay?”
“Not really. Let’s hurry, the less I stay here, the better.” She answered.
Shirou nodded. “Yeah, we need to find the two houses quickly and get the Crests.”
“Yeah, easier said than done…” Rin stated blandly.
“Well, it shouldn’t be that hard… hopefully.” Shirou siad, smiling sheepishly at the end.
“That’s ensuring…” Rin said in a deadpan.
“Hey, I’m still trying to remember my home, okay.”
“Hopefully those memories will help us,” she answered.
“... I can’t tell if you're being sarcastic or not…” Shirou stated. “You do know I can’t remember anything before after the fire, right?”
Rin stiffened and blushed madly. “S-Shut up! Just hurry up and sense your home or something!”
“I am trying, you keep distracting me,” Shirou stated, making Rin irritated as shown by her eye twitching.
Before they continued, another Quest Screen popped up.
[Quest Alert
Forged In the Fires of Darkness
You and Rin have just made it into the remains of the Burnt District of Fuyuki. Now you must find your family homes and regain your crests. But be warned, who knows what the fires of Angra Mainyu has done to the creations of your family.
Rewards:
500,000 EXP
5,000,000 Yen
Avenger Cursed Iron Ingot X 5
Recipe of Healing Tea (DEBUFF remover)
19% discount coupon for the Supermarket, single use only.
Enhanced Smithing Anvil (Allows to work with Magic Ingots Ores without risks)
Steel Kitana Blueprints
Failure:
Death
Soul burnt and erased.
This Quest has been auto accepted.]
“... Lovely…” both kids stated, giving the Quest page a deadpan.
“... I’m blaming you if we die,” Rin stated bluntly at Shirou.
“Why blame me!?” Shirou shouted, shocked. “I’m just trying to be a proper magus.”
“While touching to see you try to be a proper Magus, Like me! ... Your methods are far too wild.”
“Wild methods that bring good results.”
“Fair enough,” She answered, grumbling. “Each family has their own methods of studying magic.”
“Okay, we should hurry and find my family houses, I don’t want to stay here and risk either of us getting cursed from being here too long. Even if I could make a meal to cure it, it might be something I’m not ready to make at my skill level.” Shirou stated.
Rin wanted to say something, but stopped, pinched the bridge of her nose, and let out a sigh. “... I’m starting to worry about my sanity, if I’m starting to accept the craziness of that sentence….”
Shirou looked away, holding his laughter back. Rin looked at him, annoyed and glaring at him for laughing at her plight.
“So. We know for certain that what we need is here. But “Here” where exactly?” Rin asked while looking around the burnt landscape.
“Maybe I’ll get a sense of family bounded field tuned to my bloodline?” he suggested, shrugging.
“... That… Might not be too implausible…” Rin said, putting her hand to her chin to think. “If the bounded fields are keyed to your bloodline, you might be able to sense it.”
“Okay, that is actually good news, because I was hoping the cliche from fantasy novels worked in real life too. Considering how Magus magic works…”
“Well, not 100% exactly like that, but close,”
“Obviously,”
“You do remember Magic is rare nowadays, hence Magus studying Mage Craft, and you’re helping to bring it back. … Which I’m still wrapping my head around…”
“I kind of understand that I have this role. But admittedly, I am way over my head in this…”
“Again, resurrecting an entire branch of Magic!”
“Yeeeeeah…. You will help me… yes?”
“Of course! Nobody sane of mind should do this alone! And we are friends, technically… by that role I am supposed to help, a Tohsaka never turns their back on a friend.”
Shirou smiled. “Thanks Rin, I appreciate it.”
Rin just huffed, looking away, hiding her blush. “I’m just doing what one of the heads of Fuyuki City should do.”
“At least you try to be reasonable about your position,” Shirou stated, as the group walked through the burnt streets.
“Hey! Not all heirs are spoiled cretins! Some of us are well educated too… we just… Don’t always remember that and let Ego momentarily take over.”
“Kinda, but you don’t do that.”
“Oh my, thanks.”
“All the time at least.”
“Hey!”
“Sorry, trying to lighten the mood from this place.”
Rin just grumbled, but appreciated the joke.
After five minutes of walking, Shirou stopped, having sensed something.
“I take it you found the Bounded Field?” Rin asked, hoping that was the case.
“I think so,” he answered, looking around, hoping he could get the feeling to amplify more if he looked in the right direction.
“It’s a good start. Where is it?”
“Still trying to determine that,” Shirou stated, still trying to locate it.
“Should be close if you can sense it,”
Shirou sensed it was coming to the right of them. The feeling was getting stronger. “Think I found the general direction.”
“That’s good.” Rin stated, still wanting to leave quickly.
The group walked in the general direction of where Shirou was sensing, moving slightly when needed to to stay on course.
After ten minutes, they made it to what looked like two worn down storage facilities that looked like they were burnt and rusted. They looked unimpressive, but Shirou could sense that this wasn’t what they looked like.
“I take it this is the place?” Rin asked.
“Yeah, I think this is the place, and I can sense this is a bounded field that hides what it actually is supposed to look like.”
“I kind of figured that out,” Rin stated dryly. “That’s the point of bounded fields, to hide magic from the world.”
“To be fair, I thought that it wouldn’t work on Magic users, only normal humans,”
“Not very useful in that case. A magic user has more reasons to look for that stuff. Humans would just wander here by chance and be repelled, a Magic User would try to blast through, so it needs to be tough.”
Shirou thought about it for a minute and nodded. “That does make sense I guess, and with some less than noble ones that are willing to kill for information, it would be needed.” Shirou walked up to the barrier and was able to watch through, and was shocked to see what was really behind the vale.
“Whoa…” he said, seeing two giant Japanese temples that still stood proud, even though they were burnt, like they were representing that they would stand no matter what. “... Guess my family knew how to build stuff.”
Rin and Whitey walked in, Rin was shocked to see the building. “... We… Your family were no slouches in nobility…”
“Yeah… Now… Either the crests are at the top of the towers, or in the basement, if they are in the basement, that’ll be easy, but we might have to fight a guardian or something. And at the top…” He trailed off, as both kids looked up at the 10 story tall castle, twice as tall then what normal temples were… and maybe twice as wide… “... Not counting all the steps we’ll have to climb in a burnt temple… Smaller security magical creations that might attack us along the way…”
“... And we have two temples of powerful families to look through…” Rin said, dread filling her. “So either a powerful enemy boss… or swarmed by enemies… Lovely…” Rin blinked. “Wait, won’t they deactivate sense you’re the head?”
“I think the curse fire might have affected the items my family created,” Shirou stated. “My father was still affected by it, slowly killing him for years until it killed him.”
“...” Rin wanted to cry, but her noble heritage refused to show weakness. … So she cried in the sanctity of her mind. “... I hate your LUCK…!” she stated, feeling the urge to throttle him and his accursed E Rank Luck. “When we’re done here, I’m making so many Luck Gems, I’ll make a necklace from them, and force you to wear it if I have to so it fully counteracts your horrible luck.”
“... I want to say that’s unnecessary… But with how my lick is in multiple timelines… Please.”
Rin was taken aback. “Seriously?”
“Trust me… I would prefer not dying…”
“A very understandable goal, indeed.” Rin answered, rubbing her temples.
“I… No, you know? I think I am starting to understand your passive-aggressive way of showing care.” He answered, chuckling.
Rin looked away, blushing. “I’m just doing my job…”
Shirou just smiled. “Okay. Let’s go in. … Which one should we go into first?”
“... Honestly… I’m not sure.” Rin admitted.
“Same…” Shirou admitted.
“Flip a coin?” Rin suggested.
Before they could head two loud stomps. This made the two freeze.
“Uh… Did you hear that?” Shirou asked Rin, quickly equipping his combat gear.
“That sounded heavy, and possibly angry.”
“Thought so. I hoped to be wrong, though.”
“Me too,”
Just then, two metal Golems, one made of black metal, the other made of white metal. But that’s not the scariest thing. The two were melted and cracked with unnatural blue fire in the cracks and where their eyes were.
[Corrupted Black Guardian of Muramasa Clan
LV 50]
[Corrupted White Guardian of Masamune Clan
LV 50]
“... Not good…” Both stated in worry, seeing the level the two Corrupted Guardian Golems were. Both were just around level 20 and there were thirty levels higher than them. And there were TWO of them!
“Will we have to fight them at the same time?” Rin asked.
“I fear we’ll have to…” Shirou answered, gulping. His skill [Gamer’s Mind] activates to calm him down.
“... Can you summon your familiars?” Rin asked.
“No, I asked The System to hold off on that because I wanted to be challenged…” Shirou admitted, looking away. “And he won’t allow me to bring them until after I finish this task.”
Rin gave him a flat look. “You’re an idiot…”
“It’s a matter of personal growth. You first should be all about it, no? You can do things yourself, you are not a spoiled Princess that never gets her hands dirty.”
“... Touche, Shirou. Touche.” Rin said, letting out a low annoyed groan.
“I am open to suggestions, who should we focus on first? Between those two?” Shirou asked.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to fight them one on one…” Shirou stated.
“I was afraid you were going to say that…”
“The moment we initiate the fight, they will very likely jump us, we will have to, probably, have to fight both at the same time if we are unlucky. We need to decide who to focus on, because if we try to fight both at the same time, well, I fear our chances of victory will drop to single digit.”
“... Knowing my/our luck… they’ll attack us together…”
“Lovely. So if it happens, we go from fighting a hard battle to?”
“Try to survive, desperately.”
“I feared you would say that.”
“And I don’t think we’ll come back like the Soulsborn Universes…” Shirou added.
“... Should I know what that is…?” Rin asked.
“A game series coming in the future in our world.”
“... Of course it is…” Rin said, sighing but going with it.
“So, set up traps around them, and weaken them tactical fighting,” Shirou stated
“Huh, thought you’d be the more ‘Noble and Honorable’ fighter,” Rin stated.
“Hey, I might be, but there’s a time for honor, and a time for tactics.”
“Look like you CAN be taught.”
“Tease later, plan now,” Shirou ordered, getting serious now.
“Guess you’re right,” Rin stated, pulling out gems to fight.
“Good, because as Zel taught me… Sometimes playing dirty is not dishonorable, it’s survival.”
“... At least you’re not suicidal,” Rin stated. When she said that, Shirou looked away, sheepishly. “... You were, weren’t you…?”
“Again, talk later,” he said, dodging the question.
Rin grumbled, but got ready to fight a difficult battle. “I knew the fights would have become progressively harder. I just hoped the spike in difficulty would have been less steep.”
“Well, they were forged by my family, do you think they’d build something weak to protect them? And I think the Curse Flames might have enhanced them as well.” Shirou theorized.
“... Do you think we can win?” Rin asked.
“If we play it smart and don’t let them get close or let them hit us,” Shirou stated. “It’s getting past their defense that’ll be the tricky part.”
“... I might have a Weakening Jewel that could lower it, thanks to the gems you make, I’m able to work more on Magi Craft more.”
“I like good news. Did you train in that already? At least aiming?”
“A little, I can’t train it too much or my caretaker will notice and ask questions, but I did make some that’ll affect a creature for five minutes, and I could only make 10. 5 that’ll lower their defense by fifteen percent, 3 for twenty five percent, 2 for forty five, and 1 for fifty, and they can only be used three times before breaking.”
“Still better than nothing.” Shirou stated. “I’ll have to use piercing attacks as well.”
“Good idea.” Ren agreed with the idea. “I may need you to act as bait so as to aim for peace, though.”
“You mean making sure… You want those two murder machines to focus on me only? So you can set up traps I’m guessing?”
“... I am sure you can pull it off, Emiya.”
“That short pause before you answered fills me in dread,”
“Oh, shut it! Be a man!”
“You mean ‘be your Shining Night’~?” he asked, with a teasing smile.
“S-Shush you! Keep this up and I won’t scrape off enough of you from the pavement for proper burial! ... IF things go extremely bad.”
“Somehow it is not as encouraging as you believe, Rin…….”
“Oh hush you! I’m trying my best here!” Rin shouted, turning her head away from him in a huff, and puffing her cheeks in anger.
“Sorry, sorry, you’re right, now’s not the time for bickering and teasing,” Shirou stated, getting serious again.
Rin just groaned. “So will you do it or not?”
“...” Shirou let out a sigh, and pulled his bow out. “Guess I should allow you to set up your Magus Craft so we can get past these things and get out of here.” He then stepped in rang of the two corrupted golems, starting the Boss Fight.
“And I better do it fast… I don’t want your death on my conscience…” Rin muttered to herself, pulling out her gems and running around to make a barrier with them.
The Golems roared in a broken clock sort of sound that was unnatural. Shirou got his arrows ready and ran around, to keep moving, hoping the golems were slow. He used [Observe] on them to see what their stats were.
[Corrupted Black Guardian of Muramasa Clan
Title Occupation: ??? Corrupted Minion
HP: 28,300
MP: 12,100
Strength: 100 (+30, +50, +30)
Dexterity: 100 (+30, +30)
Intelligence: 50 (+30, +30)
Wisdom: 50 (+30, +30)
Charisma: 0
Luck: 0
Special Status: ??? Corruption: Give +30 to STR, DEX, INT and WIS.
Perks: Muramasa Master Craft: Gives a +1,000 to HP, +50 to STR, and all attacks are reduced in half]
[Corrupted White Guardian of Masamune Clan
Title Occupation: ??? Corrupted Minion
LV 50
HP: 28,300
MP: 12,100
Strength: 100 (+30, +30)
Dexterity: 100 (+30, +50, +30)
Intelligence: 50 (+30, +30)
Wisdom: 50 (+30, +30)
Charisma: 0
Luck: 0
Special Status: ??? Corruption: Give +30 to STR, DEX, INT and WIS.
Perks: Masamune Master Craft: Gives a +1,000 to HP, +50 to DEX, and all attacks are reduced in half]
“Amazing, those stats are even worse than I hoped… Lovely…” Shirou muttered in dismay. Before he could complain even further, the White Guardian was in front of him with speeds the belaid it size. A 210 DEX was no joke! “Crap! This is a damn Soul Born Boss Battle!”
“Okay. I am not new to this… Remember the game…” He muttered and focused, trying to remember anything about similar games..
YOU DIED.
“Oh, right… I am no good at those…” Shirou muttered in dismay.
The White Golem went to strike, but Shirou dodge rolled out of the way. He then realised that the Black Golem was behind it… and hit him, sending him flying back with its 210 STR, and its giant arms.
-375 HP
“... Ow…” Was Shirou’s response when he stopped sliding on the ground. [Gamer's Body] did make it that he wouldn’t get cuts or scars… but he still feels the pain. “... Glad its attack is only its STRX2 and my STR took some of the damage away… But still… can’t take too many of those…”
He watched the golem walk towards him with heavy steps and the crinkling of its joint, it may not display much intelligence, but Shirou could still see the thing looking at him with far too clear hostility. Almost on a personal level.
“You really don’t like intruders… very unwelcoming.” Shirou commented.
The two Golems raised their arms and went to slam them on top of him. Shirou rolled out of the way, and saw the creator that was left.
“Rin, almost done?” Shirou called out, while firing his bow at the two. But they dodged the arrows.
“Almost! Coming along nicely!”
“I hope it is lethal too…”
“Have a few Gems with Infliction Craft written in them.”
“That’s good!”
“ROOOOOAR!”
“Too bad they have my name written on their fists! Hurry up!”
“Don’t rush me! One wrong step and I could both blow us up sky high! Or worse, have the effects target us and not the golems, or all of us!” Rin stated, annoyed by being rushed.
“... The very painful one?”
“The ‘ Die in horrific agony that lasts way too long before the sweet release of death one’ !” She answered.
“... I’ll just let you focus,” he stated, firing an arrow and actually hitting White Golem.
-1,556 HP
… And barely even scratched it.
“Need something bigger!”
“Almost done! Keep them occupied!”
“What do you think I’ve been doing for the last 5 minutes…?” Shirou muttered to himself, dodging another attack.
“A pretty decent job, but you can do better!”
“I don’t think this is as much a compliment as you think it is!”
“Shut up and distract them harder!”
If Shirou wasn’t busy dealing with the two Corrupted Golems, he’d let out a frustrated sigh.
While Shirou was still keeping the Corrupted Golems, Rin was muttering to herself. “So I have to make sure the Jem Circuits are attained and aligned properly, otherwise they’ll cause a feedback loop in the Magus Circle I’m making, and only have what I want targeted hit by my spell. Just have to get the last gem placed and-” Just then, what looked like a magic circle appeared around the field, all the gems glowing from each point. The Corrupted Golems then faltered, their bodies moving like they were rusted. “-they should now be weakened.”
Shirou saw this and looked at the monster’s stats.
[Corrupted Black Guardian of Muramasa Clan
Title Occupation: ??? Corrupted Minion
HP: 28,300
MP: 12,100
Strength: 100 (+30, +50, +30)(-15% X 5, -25% X 3, -45% X 2, -50%) = -138.28
Dexterity: 100 (+30, +30)(-15% X 5, -25% X 3, -45% X 2, -50%) = -105.13
Intelligence: 50 (+30, +30)
Wisdom: 50 (+30, +30)
Charisma: 0
Luck: 0
Special Status: ??? Corruption: Give +30 to STR, DEX, INT and WIS.
Perks: Muramasa Master Craft: Gives a +1,000 to HP, +50 to STR, and all attacks are reduced in half]
[Corrupted White Guardian of Masamune Clan
Title Occupation: ??? Corrupted Minion
LV 50
HP: 26,744/28,300
MP: 12,100
Strength: 100 (+30, +30)(-15% X 5, -25% X 3, -45% X 2, -50%) = -105.13
Dexterity: 100 (+30, +50, +30)(-15% X 5, -25% X 3, -45% X 2, -50%) = -138.28
Intelligence: 50 (+30, +30)
Wisdom: 50 (+30, +30)
Charisma: 0
Luck: 0
Special Status: ??? Corruption: Give +30 to STR, DEX, INT and WIS.
Perks: Masamune Master Craft: Gives a +1,000 to HP, +50 to DEX, and all attacks are reduced in half]
“Negative Numbers? Am I playing DnD now?” Shirou asked, confused.
[The Gamer Skill offers its sincere apologies. It will be fixed in the next patch to show the correct total.]
“Figures… Can’t have something like that be too busted… Then again… I wouldn’t want my stats in the Negative hundreds. Negative 5 at most…” Shirou muttered to himself.
Rin walked up to Shirou, a smug look on her face. “So~? Impressed~?”
“I will admit, you did. Maybe going a bit overboard though. You turned them from Tanks to Glass Cannons now.”
“At least we can deal with them no- what are they doing?” Rin asked, seeing them charging up blue fire balls.
Shirou had a bad feeling about the attack. “Move!” he ordered as the two dodge the fireballs and a pillar of blue fire was set ablaze behind them. Shiropu then used [Observation] on the flames to see what they were.
[Cursed Flames of ???
Evil fire that is made of the evil and hatred of ??? and will curse anyone who it touches.It will slowly kill the one cursed by it.
-5 HP and MP for each minute the curse is on someone, and must be purified by a strong [Blessing] to get rid and undo the damage done.]
“... Okay, this is bad…” Shirou stated, a worried look on his face after reading the description. He turned to Rin and shouted, “DON’T LET THOSE FLAMES HIT YOU! THEY’RE CURSED!"
“As in…”
“You die in a bad way.”
“That’s bad,” Rin said, her face paling.
“Indeed!” Shirou answered.
“Kill them quick?” Rin asked.
“Super fast!
“Roger!”
Thanks to the Golems being slowed by Rin’s circle, the two were able to move around the now clunky moving Golems. They still had to dodge the occasional Cursed Fire Ball fired at them, though.
“Not completely disabled, but slowed-down they are easier to handle. Does that circle thing have a time limit or similar limitation? Because in that case we better hurry.” Shirou said.
“It only lasts as long as the crystals stay intact. If they break, the spell will lose power.” Rin answered, trying to fire a gem beam at the Golems, but had to dodge another fireball, her eye twitching. “But those Golems SPAMING those Cursed Fireballs are annoying!”
“I know what you mean,” Shirou agreed, firing a normal arrow at one of the incoming fireballs, making it stop in midair, having it engulf the arrow and fall to the ground. “They have to run out of Mana sometime though. Each one uses up 100 MP, and I counted that they used 20 each.”
“Unless they can somehow regenerate Mana… Against any notion Magus established.”
“Please don’t joke about that! They just have massive reserves!”
“Are you telling that to me or yourself, Emiya?”
“I am hoping they don’t. This is already difficult as is, we don’t need more challenges.”
“Like what, they summon a giant fire-” Rin was cut off when the two Golemed summoned two fireballs that were ten times the size of the ones theory were firing. Shirou gave her a deadpan look. “... Not a word. Also, RUN!”
They both scattered as the two Golems fired the balls, where they previously were. When they hit the ground, they exploded making the two fighters go flying from the force of the explosion.
“I apologize for giving them ideaaaaaaas!” Rin yelled while flying back from the explosion.
“Apology accepteeeeed!” Shirou answered, he too sent flying.
Both landed hard on the ground, both of them taking [-100 HP] of damage from the force and hitting the ground pretty hard.
Shirou groaned, and sat up, and looked at the [Stats] of the Golems again. “I have good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first?”
“Bad news…” Rin answered.
“The fire’s curse potency went up to 20 HP and MP draining…”
“... Lovely…”
“And the fire now tracks you, kinda.”
“Nothing else?”
“It doesn’t just kill you, it destroys your soul too.”
“Why did I ask…?”
“Hey, better to know it this way then if one of those fireballs or just the fire hits you,” Shirou started, getting another arrow ready to fire.
“Just go attack them, so I can offer covering fire, Emiya!”
“We really need to teach you regular combat as well…” Shirou muttered.
Before Rin could retort, more Curse Fireballs were sent at them, making the two dodge.
“Talk about swordsmanship or something like that another time, we still have these things to finish off,” Rin stated, getting more gems out to fire and stop the oncoming fire.
“Fair enough, but we do need to teach you the basics of sword fighting if you want to forge that one sword of yours,” Shirou stated, still firing arrows.
Rin only gave a grunt in acknowledgement.
“By the way, how’s your own MP?” Shirou asked her, not wanting to lose focus on the fight.
“Still have plenty of Mana,” Rin stated, still blasting. “I can do this until they go down!”
“Good to know!” Shirou stated, watching as the Golem’s MP was gradually depleting.
The Golems kept trying to blast them, trying to keep the two Magus away. Thanks to the female’s trap, they couldn’t move as well as they did and their physical attacks would do nothing to them now. And they both knew that their mana would deplete soon, even with all the curse fire around them to try and burn the two.
Just then, after dozens of Cursed Fire Balls, they finally ran out, and all they summoned was smoke.
“Now!” Shirou shouted, seeing their opening.
“I’ll take the one on the left, Emiya! Feel free to give it your all and smash the other!” Rin said.
“Same to you Tohsaka,” Shirou stated, summoning a [Piercing Shot] Arrow on his bow.
“I guess I can lend a hand to finish them off,” Rin started, ready to fire magical blasts from her gems.
“Very generous of you,”
“That was irony and sarcasm. I learned to recognize it…”
“Oh! You are learning. Impressive.”
“ Gugugugu! ”
“ Even those things dare to laugh at me!? You shall die!” Rin screamed in righteous fury.
“Yes! Use that anger!” Shirou said, proud.
“First on them, then on you, EMIYA!”
“... Please on them only…” He muttered.
Rin huffed. “We’ll see.” As she said that, she and Shirou fired at the two Corrupted Golems, putting almost all their mana into their attacks.
Critical Hit!
Lucky!
-28,300
-26,744
[Corrupted Black Guardian of Muramasa Clan
10,000,000 EXP
100,000,000 Yen
Cursed Black Metal Iron Ingot X 6 (Black Iron that is imbued with Cursed Energy. A Great Master Blacksmith can use this to forge it into anything.)
Black Guardian Golem Skimatis
Cursed Black Guardian Skimatis
Master Forging Wet Stone]
[Corrupted White Guardian of Masamune Clan
10,000,000 EXP
100,000,000 Yen
Cursed White Metal Iron Ingot X 6 (White Iron that is imbued with Cursed Energy. A Great Master Blacksmith can use this to forge it into anything.)
White Guardian Golem Skimatis
Cursed White Guardian Skimatis
Master Forging Anvel
Cursed Object: “Oven Mittens of the Meat Lover…
“Absolute heat resistance for taking food out of the oven (not usable in combat). Malus: If the dish is meat, your hands will caress it in very suggestive manners.”]
[Shirou Emiya has Leveled Up
LV 19 --> LV 20
You have gained 5 Stat Points to use]
[Rin Tohsaka has Leveled Up
LV 19 --> LV 20
You have gained 5 Stat Points to use]
“Oh, God! Why?! Can’t you or Gaia remove it?!” Shirou asked, horrified.
“ Unnecessary . It’s not life-threatening.” The Entity answered. “Plus it is a funny story to tell friends, sharing a laugh together is shown to increase good humor by 5%. They also go well with your [Frying Pan of the Mad Ogre Chef] .”
“But I’ll be molesting turkeys!”
“A God of Cooking is not bothered by such minor silly things.”
Shirou’s eye twitched, and thought to himself, ‘Those things are staying in my inventory and won’t come out unless it's a last resort sort of thing….’ Again, he was starting to relate with Rin. Speaking of, he said in a dreary voice, “Rin… Let’s get my family crests now before something else happens.”
“... Bad drop item?” She asked.
“More like too embarrassing to want to talk about and just want to get back home.”
“That bad, huh?”
“The sort of things that makes you wonder if the life of a Hermit in the woods wouldn’t be more preferable.”
“... Snort! Never lose that overdramatic flair, Emiya.” She answered, amused.
Shirou just gave her the stink eye, but left it there. “So which tower do we want to check first? I’m fine with whichever.”
“I’d say the one on the left first,” Rin stated, pointing to the left building.
Both nodded, and started heading into the first building.
______________________________________________________________________________
(??? )
In a pitch black void, a pair of eyes were watching the happenings of the two that bested his corrupted toys.
“Interesting?” the ‘void’ said. “The boy has grown since I last saw him. And… there’s something… powerful.” A smile appeared in the void. “I wonder if I can corrupt him? Sooner or later?”
To be Continued…
______________________________________________________________________________
And that’s the chapter. Sorry about how long it took to get this one out, Joy and I have been busy.
Joy: Life has the bad habit of not giving people a lot of free time unfortunately.
Yeah. We’ll try our best, but life happens. Hopefully we’ll get more done soon.
Joy: Should be possible, you do want to finish this story, and I want to help whenever possible. Teamwork makes it work!
And I do want to continue the reaction and dating story as well. They are fun, and people really enjoy these stories. Speaking of, we should hurry up and finish this so we can get back to working on the reaction one.
Joy: One step at a time. You can do it; I believe in you!
Thanks. Anyways, we hope you enjoyed the chapter and leave a like, favorite, kudos, stars and everything else wherever you read this. And leave a comment on what items Shirou should get as either smithing/cooking or item drops. Or ideas for dungeon and what not. Anything else you want to add, Joy?
Joy: That the readers should wait for the next chapter in hype, because it’s going to be a good one!
Yeah. And with that- Wait, where’s Rin?
Rin: Just wanting you two to finish so I can get back home.
Joy: Almost done! The last goodbyes and we are done.
Rin: (Nodded) Well, then, we’ll see you all later then.
Joy: Bye! Thanks for the help.
And with that, we’ll see you all next chapter. Bye.
Please R&R