We walked in silence towards one of the arenas in the vicinity. There were several places that one could go for the more physical applications of testing or sparing. Not all of them were wide open like where Rin or Luvia fought, many were private, and you merely needed to pay a fee to 'rent' them.
I of course swept the entire room for any third parties trying to peek.
"It is not too late to recant." Artoria gave me a look, stepping to one side of the arena.
"Then accept my words as truth." I retorted.
She frowned. "It seems I must end this foolishness with action."
"It seems I must beat some sense into you then." I replied, realizing that she was quite the stubborn woman.
There was no call to action, no indication of the battle starting, she stared at me and I could see that she was content to allow me to make the first move. Of course, she was a Servant she probably felt it would be bullying if she immediately came after me.
I raised an eyebrow, bringing out Mirage.
My Glass sword beamed with enthusiasm as the iridescent colors cascaded from a small swing.
She responded by summoning her armaments, the attire of a knight covering her body, her regal form looking all the more splendid covered in steel. She held something in her hand, something impossible to see with the naked eyes. A weapon, a Noble Phantasm, only by using my acute senses could I just see the faintest glimmer, the smallest fluttering of wind around her true weapon.
Invisible Air.
Elevated to the level of a Noble Phantasm, used as almost a 'sheath' for her True Sword. It was condensed wind-based Magecraft, so many layers applied upon one another that it made the weapon invisible.
I shook my head; it wasn't time to get lost in thought regarding her weapons.
[Reinforcement]
[Ebony Flesh]
I didn't stop, the Boosted Gear appeared on my hand. "Boost."
My body was filled with power, strength beyond what should be possible for a mortal.
She looked at me in surprise for a brief moment before steadying her expression,
I frowned slightly as she just sat there, allowed me to cast all these spells. She wasn't taking me seriously.
This wouldn't be a repeat of the fight against the samurai, I was playing to win now.
I had a strange thought, I pointed my finger right at her. "Turn Undead."
Her body twitched ever so slightly, and I just tilted my head in amusement. Honestly, I didn't think that world work, I was just curious at the result.
It seemed like that was enough of a call to action, because she moved.
Fast.
It was all I could think about as I pushed myself backwards and cast a [Distort]. Images of me filled the room, surrounding her.
I summoned hundreds of Ice Spears in the air to fly down at her. She swung her sword up, knocking them away with a burst of magical energy, only a few even getting close but her innate magical resistance made it so she could shrug them off without a conscious effort.
Every movement of her sword, dozens of my illusions dispersed. She unveiled an unfathomable level of swordsmanship; I merely touched the tip of the iceberg with my spar before.
Abruptly, her eyes turned right towards me, even with copies of me everywhere she could find me so easily.
What a frightening instinct.
"Haah!" Artoria swung her sword down on me, so quickly that I had no time to retreat, instead I met her attack with my own weapon, a shockwave bursting from the epicenter.
The ground under me cracked and splintered as I was pushed, my knee touched the ground, barely fending off her strike with my own sword.
"Surrender." She pushed her sword down just a bit harder, my arms tensed under the strain.
"You surrender." I grunted, forcing a smile on my face. "Boost."
Her eyes widened as I got a second wind and knocked her weapon back with the new burst of strength I had.
Spell circles began to swirl around my blade, lighting up with the obvious signs of spellcasting. A multitude of colors burst out as I tilted the point of my sword right at her in that narrow opening.
"Ether Canon."
A golden light met my spell as a cascade of different colors flew out in every direction.
The conclusion was obvious, I had barely pushed her back a few feet and her golden sword shined bright. I hadn't had time to charge up anything substantial, but it was still an impressive spell, unfortunately it was all for naught.
"Beautiful." I admired the naked sword before my eyes.
Excalibur, the Sword of Promised Victory.
"I see you're taking me seriously then?"
"You have a surprising number of tricks, but they will not defeat me." She gripped her weapon with both hands.
We moved simultaneously; swords blurred at insane speeds. Every swing, I was on the losing end of the exchange. This wasn't surprising, I knew she was still faster and stronger than me, how many more boosts would I need to match her?
I could only lament my lack of skill compared to her. I was practically cheating using my equipment to catch up.
An overhead slash, I blocked it with my Gauntlet, sweeping Mirage from the side even if my arm shuddered under the force. She simply countered by sliding her sword off and deflecting my blow. She pushed into my space, shouldering me in the chest, the force almost made me spit blood.
My feet dug into the ground in an attempt to keep my balance, I had a small window so I gathered Runes on my hand. "Bindings of Gaia."
The roots sprang up, surrounding her but I didn't finish. Several Runic Circles ignited around me, crackling with powerful magics.
"Lightning!" I called out again, not even giving the roots time to fully actuate.
I rained all manner of spells down, Fire sprang up from the ground, Ice bombarded from the sky. My lightning bolts continued to fire off as each spell circle finally ran out of magical energy. In that brief moment, dozens of spells are collided with that singular location.
Her form obscured by all the magical effects, only for a golden blade cut through everything, I could barely see her spin her body, slicing through her bindings and mitigating every spell that came her way.
What ridiculous magical resistance.
"You are a very impressive mage. If I were not a servant, perhaps your spells would have reached me." She looked at me, the ground torn asunder where she stood, but otherwise untouched.
I felt the ring on my ring and pulled out another item. I saw her eyes narrow as she saw the second sword I was holding.
She took a true stance this time, her weapon lifting up to her side, parallel to the ground. A moment later, she moved, using her bodies momentum and spinning on her heel to put all her weight into an overhead swing.
I had no choice but to block with both weapons, I could feel her small hesitance towards my second sword. I knew how she felt as it was also something I could feel just holding it, but it was able to provide some sort of suppression on her.
"Boost." I surprised her again, gaining the momentum back. She must have been wondering the limits of my gauntlet at this point, but I doubt I can take her by surprise again.
I knocked back her sword, stepping into a stab that was without her usual strength and speed, deflecting with Mirage and swinging at her with Ascalon. She recovered faster than expected, blocking my new Noble Phantasm, the sword she deemed the bigger threat, but Mirage followed up, moving towards her neck at insane speeds.
She took a half step back, the tip of my weapon missing her by a hair's breadth. To her absolute skill, she did not even dwell on it, knowing the path of my sword without a second glance.
But this was my only chance, I dropped Mirage, much to her astonishment as I opened my Gauntlet-clad hand.
"Pierce."
Her guard was completely destroyed, she twisted herself in an odd way to avoid the nearly point-blank burst of power.
I wasn't done. "FUS" My voice bellowed out, completely disabling her footing with the invisible force rippling out and slamming into her. Her back legged stomped into the ground, as to not be blown away.
I followed up with a swing of Ascalon.
What happened next was so quick it was a blur even to my eyesight. She moved at a much higher speed than she had previously, able to regain her composure so quick.
My sword flung into the air, trailing down a fair distance away, stabbing into the ground and I felt the warm touch of her sword at my nape.
"You have lost." Artoria said with no small amount of pride in her voice.
I think she's really the competitive sort.
"You went easy on me." I just sighed, realizing to the extent that she held back. Every time I took it up a notch, she matched me and even at the end she pushed way past my limits.
"Perhaps...but you reached me regardless." She replied, the smallest line of blood dripping down her cheek. "Fighting a Servant and managing to draw blood…..it is no small feat."
If I were willing to blow this place up, I may have been able to do more than that, but alas this is my current limit. And it wasn't like she couldn't do the same, if she wanted to, her casual swings could easily bring this building down. In hindsight there were a few more things I could have done, perhaps more kinetic force behind some physical attacks? It made me wish I had the staff for this particular moment, but what can you do.
"Well, I lost." I fully admitted.
"We had never agreed on a prize if I had won." She dismissed her armor and sword, returning back to her normal clothes.
"What do you want?" I tilted my head, it wasn't like I would duck out of a true defeat. If I lost, I lost, I would pay up any reward she wanted at this point and its not like she would ask something ridiculous from me.
"You fought valiantly...I have been forced to revaluate some thoughts I have had." She said quietly, contemplating various thoughts.
Well, at least I got through to her a bit.
"Rin explained to me some concepts about this era.....what a 'date' is. An evening spent in the accompany of another to see if both parties desire to further a romantic relationship. For my prize.....I have never experienced such a thing before and I find myself curious." Her cheeks turned the slightest pink, her gaze turning away from mine.
I'm pretty sure that wasn't Rin's exact wording, but it wasn't exactly wrong either. Well, the pain I'm feeling suddenly felt worth it.
So, funny thing, on the writers portion of this website, to upload a new chapter you simply put everything on a page and hit the 'publish' button and boom, chapter gets uploaded. Well, here's the thing, there is a 'save' button right next to it that does exactly as you would assume, saves the chapter. Guess which one I hit yesterday and didn't realize until now! So here's both chapters, yesterday and today, just wait a few minutes for the second one.
***
[That lass, she is practically a dragon in human form.]
Tell me about it….I think I have new bruises now. And I don't think there is in doubt about what she is. You know, I'm starting to think I like women who can beat me up.
[Wouldn't be surprising, Devils in general worship strength, dragons also do the same.]
Yeah, that makes sense.
[How are you feeling?]
"Pretty decent, all things considered." I moved my body around, still a little sore after boosting so many times and my stamina was drained pretty heavily.
[You're getting better, and with your bloodline fully coming out it seems like your overall strength has gotten a nice increase, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to hold your own in physical combat so well.]
Yeah, Servants are ridiculous, and she wasn't even going all out. If she were serious, a single swing of her sword would have demolish the building with ease. And that wasn't even taking into account her unleashing her Noble Phantasm or utilizing her other skills. I seem to recall she has an ability that could give her a large boost for a few moments at the cost of a chunk of Magical energy.
It was also good to get another perspective, adding in my magical repertoire showed me a few more flaws in my combat abilities. The most obvious thing, there was such a huge divide between my martial and magical abilities and I don't mean in the realm of strength. It was like, I couldn't combine them in any meaningful way, they both were just….there.
I had walked around the campus here for a while, just enjoying the day. It seemed like several people saw me and just turned and walked away. I guess knowledge of me has started to spread, good. I wonder how long it will take for someone to do something stupid.
Well, it's not like I'll be staying specifically here for that much longer, only a few days and I should be making my trip to the Land of Shadows, and who knows how long I'll be there. Though I will be here back and forth quite a bit, well, we'll see what happens in the future. I think anyone would would want to approach me is just watching and waiting for now. I'll deal with that nonsense when it comes.
Speaking of, I should go back and check in. Maybe the old man needs some stuff from me? I would rather the project not get delayed because I was absent.
A hop, skip and the upscale living areas were not far away. No way Zelretch would be living among the 'common' folk. He wasn't exactly the snooty sort, but he did appreciate the finer things and he would acquire the best if it were available.
"You!" Rin shouted as I walked inside, grabbing me and pulling me into grandfather's office.
I just blinked, getting forced down in a seat as the man himself turned around in his chair, staring at me…. menacingly.
"Does the defendant have any words to speak in their defense?" He tapped his fingers together.
"I want a lawyer?"
"Denied." Rin answered, looming over me. "You have some explaining to do."
"You know, I have the strangest urge to flee at the moment….funny thing…." I flex my hand, feeling around in my ring, until I felt the connection shut off.
Zelretch just wagged his finger. "There will be no Magic in my courtroom."
Oh poo. "I believe I have a right to know what charges are against me?"
"May the prosecution present her case." Zelretch ushered to Rin, seemingly ignoring me.
Rin nodded, pacing around the room. "A couple hours ago I was deep into my research when I was interrupted by my Servant, the victim, stating that she required my help." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Apparently, she was asked out on date."
"A date?" Zelretch repeated. "And which dastardly villain seeks to corrupt our pure and innocent Saber?"
"He is sitting here in this courtroom right at this moment!" She slammed her hands on the desk.
"I see." Zelretch nodded. "And what does the prosecution recommend for punishment?"
"Immediate execution." She declared, pointing towards me.
"….accepted." He leaned back.
I gave him a deadpan look, sitting up I flicked Rin on the forehead.
"Oww" She whined, rubbing the spot.
"Is this really necessary?" I asked.
Zelretch just shrugged. "Is anything necessary?"
"Oi, don't start going all philosophical." I sighed. "Why are you both acting like I'm asking for her hand in marriage? It's a first date, it's entirely possible that nothing even comes of this."
"How did you even get Saber to agree to date?" Rin asked.
"Let me answer your question with another question. Why the hell does she think she has no charm or appeal?"
Rin threw her hands up. "I have no idea! I've been trying to get her to stop thinking that way, but she just won't accept anything I've said. How did you convince her to go on a date!?"
"She started some bullshit about not being attractive, I denied it was so, but she doubled down. I had no choice but to force the issue, challenging her to a duel and if I won, I get to take her out." I explained.
"You won against her?" Rin looked surprised.
"Fuck no." I laughed. "She kicked my ass, but I think I got through enough. She seemed to accept I wasn't trying to pity her or any other weird thoughts she has." Yeah, regardless of the outcome, I just want to take her out and have some fun.
"Well, this is wonderful news." Zelretch said happily. "Rin had approached me not long ago about this very issue, and I admit this isn't exactly my area of expertise." He then turned towards me. "I hope I don't need to explain how cross with you I will be if you are merely playing around with the young woman. I admire Miss Pendragon very much and I would hate to have a very different conversation about her with you."
"Really, a shovel speech?" I raised and eyebrow. "Besides do you really think I'm that kind of person? I do actually like her you know…" Rin looked at me, eyes slightly narrowed. "Her physical attractiveness aside, I find her temperament very charming." Did there have to be more than that? I don't think there's a threshold where you must reach to be allowed to like another person, it's not like I was confessing my love or anything.
"Good." Rin acknowledged. "What are your plans?"
"Well….I haven't really thought much past this point." I scratched my cheek. "I have a few ideas I'll need to double check on."
"What kind of clothes will she need? Is it inside or outside? Will she need special shoes, maybe some kind of dancing? Or are you going for something classic, maybe just a movie and dinner?" Rin started to bombard me with questions.
"Uh….mostly outside, a bit of walking, and somewhat warm weather." I listed off, thinking about it. "Oh shit."
"What?"
"….I don't actually have any money." Well, at least mundane currency.
"...Idiot." Rin sighed.
I turned towards the old man. "So how about that pocket change you mentioned?" He just laughed waving his hand, making a piece of parchment fly towards me. I read it over, furrowing my brow a few times. "Are you seriously trying to extort me?" I grumbled taking out a few items in my ring. "These metals should work fine, though you may want to double check….and here's a few more gems, the quality should be about what you need."
I looked over everything I sat on the table. "How is the project progressing, do you have all the resources you require or do you need me to fetch some other stuff?" I really wanted my staff back...I felt weird not having it with me. Not like I was feeling vulnerable, but maybe I just didn't like my things being out of my grasp.
"It's Good, I should be able to get the gateway up and running in a few days if these work as intended." Zelretch stated, rubbing his chin. "I'll give you access to my accounts here in England, it should be much more than you will need."
Yeah, that's a bit of an understatement. Just his mundane currency was in the millions, that wasn't even touching things like stock or other forms of wealth. Actually, I think he has a garage somewhere with a couple dozen cars…..definitely going to raid that at some point.
"Now I need to take her shopping." She started giggling to herself. "Shoes, dresses, what else?"
Well, it seems like Saber will be in good hands.
Actually, I need new clothes too! And Shoes. Now that I think about it, my whole wardrobe needs an upgrade…..from this singular outfit I've been wearing for a whole month. Magic or not, I'm sick of it, I will want to look my best when I take Artoria out.
Now the thought of her in a cute dress won't disappear from my mind.
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