Capítulo 10: Vol. 1. Chapter 9. Sheer Utter Stupidity.
"Remarkable, isn't it?" Mother's words snapped me out of my daze, and my neck snapped in the direction of her voice.
She stood beside me, longingly looking at the lance. Seeing her gaze, I followed it back to the lance before answering.
"More like unbelievable. How the hell did that end up in our possession?"
Mother must have been truly out of it since she didn't even half-heartedly scold me for my crude language.
"It fell into our possession during the early years of William the Conqueror's reign, after a cult's failed abduction attempt of the then matriarch's only son."
I raised a brow and turned my head to meet her gaze. "You're telling me some random cult had a Divine Construct, which just so happened to be one Arthur once owned, and they somehow managed to lose it in a scuffle to one of his descendants?"
Mother met my gaze with a bittersweet smile.
"Back then, the spear was encased by a sentient Mystic Code known as Add, which had Sir Kay's personality imprinted onto it. When it was wielded against his king's family, it rebelled and stopped working properly, making it somewhat obsolete." She fondly explained, making me arch a brow.
That was… interesting. I'm not exactly sure how this Mystic Code was able to 'encase' the spear while still keeping it battle-ready, but there are a lot of Mystic Codes out there, so best to ask.
"Oh? So it's like a support Mystic Code for the spear. What else can it do?" I asked with a smile, making my mother's expression minutely twitch.
"More like what it could do," she said with unmasked bitterness.
"What?" The word spilled out of my mouth unintentionally.
Mother fixed me with a grimace. "Remember the story from earlier? The Mystic Code he broke was Add."
At the news, I instantly facepalmed at the insanity that Mum had just dumped in my lap.
Oh my god. What moron thinks he's capable of reengineering a sentient Mystic Code?
Taking a deep breath, I removed my hand from my face and refocused on Mother.
"Let's just pretend that I didn't just hear that," I said, earning an understanding nod from Mother before fixing my gaze back on the spear.
"Soooo, why aren't you using the spear?" I probed, earning a resigned smile from Mom.
"The spear is picky about who can wield it, hence why Add was such a godsend, as it lowered the requirements." Her explanation made me internally curse the name of the fool who broke Add.
"And by picky, you mean what? I'm fairly sure you can still wield it, as it is a weapon. Or does it curse the wielder if they are 'unworthy' or something similar?" I probed.
Mother gave a low hum before replying.
"The spear's requirements are unknown, as the only true wielder was Arthur. Everyone else has had Add to allow them to use the spear's functions." She explained, letting out a bitter sigh.
"As for why I'm not using it, the last time I tried to pick it up, I got third, bordering fourth-degree burns on my hand. It took me months to properly recover from the damage."
The spear felt a lot less welcoming after hearing Mother's words.
Glancing back at her, I raised a brow, shooting her an unimpressed look.
"And you expect me to try to pick it up, right after you said your hand got scorched from doing the same thing, without me having an inkling on what the spear's requirements are?" I drawled.
Does she think I'm stupid? Well… maybe, as I am still incredibly tempted to try… does that make me stupid?
Mother gave me a shrug before flashing a confident smile. "Well, no one has had a magic core or draconic blood since Arthur, so perhaps that is the requirement?" She said with her best salesman impression.
And shit if it wasn't a good impression, as I'm sold.
Nodding, I looked back at the lance, which glowed with such an inviting light.
Reaching out my hand, I closed my eyes before I gingerly wrapped it around its hilt.
The grip was warm to the touch, which almost made me flinch as Mother's experience flashed through my mind, but I soon realized its warmth was soothing, not scorching.
Tentatively, I opened one of my eyes, eyeing the spear with some mild suspicion.
I was expecting a bit of a lightshow or something dramatic like that, but it seemed I was mistaken.
Seeing that everything was fine, I opened my other eye and pulled the spear out from the case.
"Fou…" Glancing down, I saw Cath looking up at the lance with a longing expression. It was a bit odd, maybe he was reminiscing.
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!" The sudden yell made me jump, and Cath's fur puff up in startlement.
My head snapped in Mum's direction, and the sight shocked me.
Mum was standing with her arms raised high in the air, her fists clenched tightly in excitement. Her face was lit up with sheer joy, eyes wide and sparkling.
Her shit-eating grin was very unlike her, so I felt a bit on edge.
"Mom, are you okay?" I said with a hint of worry lacing my tone. It was very unlike her to be so outwardly happy.
Her head snapped in my direction, a self-satisfied smile plastered on her face.
"Never been better," she assured, making me give a shallow nod in return.
She took a deep breath before quickly exhaling, lowering her arms but still looking extraordinarily jubilant.
"Putting you through spear training was worth it in the end!" She exclaimed, making me send her a dubious look.
"Are you telling me that the only reason I 'went against traditions' was for the slim chance of me being able to pick this thing up?" I said while shaking the spear to emphasize my point.
Mum shot me a victorious look before answering. "Why are you complaining? It worked out in the end, didn't it?"
Taking into account that the worst that could have happened was that my hand would be burnt, she actually has a point. I'll just drop the topic and move on to something else, no need to feed into her ego.
Swinging the spear experimentally, I felt its distinct lack of weight, as if it was light as a feather, despite being made out of metal and having metal coils surrounding it.
Glancing at my mother, I shot her an interested look.
"Do you have any idea what it can do?"
My question made the corner of her mouth twitch into a frown before returning to her smile.
"Not exactly, given that we've only used Add before, so we have some theories on what it can do. But we do know that it is extremely pointy." She said confidently.
My mood instantly plummeted.
How the hell was that all they had on the spear? I mean, I think it can do some extreme beam attack, kind of like Excalibur but from the sky, as seen in the Camelot singularity. But they've had at least a hundred years to study the spear alone, and all they got was that it was pointy? That's disappointing.
"You're telling me that you've had a hundred years to study this thing," I said while dangling the spear, "yet all you could gather was that it's pointy? Truly impressive." My voice dripped with disapproval mixed with sarcasm, earning me crossed arms from Mom.
"Alright, I framed that poorly." She said while shaking her head.
"Add could do a plethora of things, like shifting its shape into other weapons, from swords to shields to bows. It could create a spiraling shield out of light around the user as well as create a beam of light upon using its activation phrase, and each displayed trace levels of divinity." She explained, before looking at the lance.
Now that sounded a lot more impressive, and that beam part sounds like Excalibur.
"The problem is knowing where Add's abilities end and where they overlap with Rhongomyniad's abilities."
She shrugged before giving me a smile. "But as I said, the only thing we can confirm is its 'pointiness,' or rather its extreme ability to penetrate anything with ease." She explained, making me give an exasperated sigh.
Couldn't she have led with that? Like my god, 'I can confirm it's very pointy' made it sound so lame.
"And how 'pointy' is it?" I asked with a hint of humor.
Mother rolled her eyes at my wording before gesturing at one of the display cases by the entrance.
"I recall you having a look at Albion's scales. If you looked closely, you'd notice a small dent on one of them. That happened when my grandmother tapped the scale on the tip of the lance, barely using any strength, but it still dug into the scale with no effort." She explained with thinly veiled amusement.
And she had the audacity to describe it as merely 'pointy'?
Strengthening my grip on my new spear, I gave Mother a contemplative look. "Seeing as I don't think I can keep this hidden from Altrouge, could I ask her for information about Divine Constructs or some tips on how to use the spear?"
At my question, Mother glanced down at the cute Cath Palug, who was circling my legs and rubbing himself against them like some house cat.
"I think she'll find out either way, so go for it. Just leave me out of it," she mused, making me nod as well.
"Point," I said while crouching down and scooping up Cath in my free arm, prompting him to climb up and sprawl himself atop my head.
Turning around, I started heading for the exit, ready to meet with Altrouge.
"Wait!" Turning around at my Mothers sudden exclamation, I was greeted by a somewhat hesitant looking Rosalind. Seeing this, I raised a brow. "Yes?"
Pursing her lips, mothers face flashed through a few different emotions before stabilizing on reluctance.
"How about you try to use your eyes on the spear?" Her question made me stop and think.
While my Pure Eyes had been more of a nuisance the first few years I had them, they had quickly proved themselves invaluable to both my knight and magecraft training.
Once I got past the whole analyzing every atom in sight, to instantly understanding any mystery or technique that was performed in front of me, my performance skyrocketed.
The only reason I had advanced at all with my magecraft training was thanks to the eyes, as I had little free time while being dragged through the torture mother called knight training.
Learning a single branch of magecraft is little more than tedious for me, seeing as long as I can enact a single Mystery within the branch, I'll be able to comprehend it at a fundamental level.
Meaning that the only thing I needed to progress was practice, and gain experience with whatever I was learning to get a feel for it
So using my eyes on the spear was a good idea, as I'd learn a ton about it, but I've naturally never tried to use them on anything divine, or alien in origin. And from what the books in the library have to say about such items, it's that they are incomprehensible.
But hey, what's the worst that can happen?
Hmmm… feels like I've thought that before…
Nodding at mother, I gave a short response.
"It's certainly worth a try…"
I moved the lance closer to my face before flooding my eyes with Od.
As the energy surged through my eyes, the world around me began to distort.
Colors bled into each other, and the spear seemed to pulse with a light that wasn't just visible but resonant.
It was like hearing colors and seeing sounds, an utter clusterfuck of senses that overwhelmed my mind.
Fragments of visions started to appear before me.
A pillar, no, a colossal tower of light, piercing the heavens and anchoring itself deep into the earth.
I could feel its weight, not just physical, but existential, keeping reality itself from unraveling.
Then, a shift. The tower's glow is encased by thirteen shadows, and slowly morphs into the lance, gleaming with a divine brilliance.
The lance fell through the void, only to land in the grip of a young king with emerald eyes, and golden hair with a resolute expression.
My perspective started to move around her, moving to view the king's back. The different perspective allowed me to see a large white dragon in the distance.
The king seemed to gather her courage, before she started a charge at the dragon.
Reality flickered again, this time I was at the final battle. The king faced his traitorous knight. The lance didn't just pierce their chest; it completely skewered them.
The lance slowly fell out of the skewered knight's breastplate, and as it fell, my vision followed.
The falling lance suddenly got encased in a large gray box, before suddenly shrinking to an impossibly small size.
The falling box gained more details, blue gold and black highlights, making it look like faces being formed on each side.
A dainty outreached hand appeared below the box, allowing it to land softly on the hand.
A face covered by a veil slowly emerged from the darkness, the only thing visible though her veil were a set of emerald eyes that seemed to peer down at the box, before they snapped to meet my own.
The reaction was instant.
An immediate, all-encompassing cacophony of sensations surged through me.
My vision fragmented into impossible geometries, each shard reflecting an aspect of a reality my mind couldn't grasp.
Time dilated and contracted, creating a rhythm of chaos that thrummed in my skull.
I saw patterns within patterns, spirals that twisted into dimensions beyond my imagination.
An overwhelming sense of wrongness invaded my thoughts, as if the spear was rewriting the very essence of existence around it.
My mind screamed in protest, every neuron flooded with incomprehensible data.
A searing pain exploded behind my eyes, and I staggered back, wrenching myself free from the vision.
The world snapped back into focus, but not before a head-splitting headache and a sense of vertigo left me gasping for breath.
Keeling over, I knelt down, and started dry heaving.
"----IR!" Everything around me felt incredibly muffled, mute? I don't know. The world was red and fucking spinning around me, and it sucks.
"I—, Ugh fuck… I think I'll be taking a nap…" I mumbled as I felt my eyelids slowly droop closed.
~~Fate/False Order~~
Fuck.
My head hurts. My brain feels like it was put through a grinder, and I feel like shit.
But of course, someone didn't seem to care about my condition, as I felt someone incessantly poking my arm.
Grunting, I turned my head in the direction of the poking menace before opening my eyes.
The room's light slammed into my eyes like a sledgehammer, forcing me to close them again.
"Fuck." I grunted while moving my arm up to massage my eyelids.
The sound of clothes ruffling was heard from beside me, along with amused chuckling.
"Good morning, Dumbass. It's twelve-thirty, wake up," came the unmistakable voice of Altrouge.
Frowning, I started to move up into a sitting position, but I felt a hand place itself on my shoulder, pushing me back down.
"Lie down, Cath is taking a nap on your chest," Altrouge explained, making me give a nod.
Slowly opening my eyes, I was met by Altrouge's amused gaze as she lazily lay stomach down on my bed, propping her head up with a hand.
Squinting my eyes at her, I pursed my lips before schooling my expression.
Bitch was trying to get a reaction out of me while I was at my mentally weakest.
Damn teenage hormones, and damn her for trying to seduce me into joining her little gang of bloodsuckers.
Seeing my reaction, she gave a pout before flashing a smug smile. "Now, tell me, what possessed you to try to analyze that," she said, pointing at my side.
Following her finger, I saw the lance still firmly in my grasp, before looking back to Altrouge with a sheepish expression.
I knew what I did was kind of, very, stupid, but it was necessary given the little information I had on the spear.
"Weeeelllll…" I mused, using my free hand to rub the back of my neck.
"You see, while I was down in the vaults, Mother informed me that we had little to no actual information on what the spear could do. So I—"
"Wait." Altrouge raised a hand to stop my explanation, shooting me a confused look.
"First, from what I know, there's only one proper vault in this manor, specifically the one in the dungeons, and I'm fairly sure that it didn't have a Divine Construct in it. So where did your mother hide it?" she asked, making me internally cringe.
Don't tell me that the trapdoor actually served its purpose… that's just embarrassing on Altrouge's part.
And like hell am I telling her. If she's been snooping around, then she can continue and one day find the trapdoor and feel stupid.
"Seconed, what do you mean you don't know? Didn't you get a feel of its capabilities after completing the contract?" This time she sounded confused, which was odd, as her words made me even more confused.
"Ummm, what contract?"
My question made Altrouge's brows furrow, as her face morphed with confusion.
"You weren't offered a contract?" she asked with bafflement, before pushing herself up from the bed, hopping off, and walking over to the other side to look at the spear.
Seeing her odd behavior, I decided to get some clarification.
"I'm assuming that's important. Care to fill me in?"
Altrouge didn't bother to raise her gaze from the spear as she scrutinized it.
"Each divine construct has some level of sentience, and when they pick a wielder, they establish a connection, usually through a contract or something similar. Through that link, they usually supply the wielder with information about themselves."
Pausing, her glowing eyes flickered between the lance and me, before giving a low hum. "I can see two strings connected to the lance, one of them loosely connected to you, while the other one's line goes off into the distance…" she mused.
I frowned at her words. "How can you see these lines?"
At my question, she rolled her still-glowing eyes.
"I recall telling you that I am the master of blood and contracts. I can see any pact, agreement, or similar that someone has agreed to if I focus on them," she explained, making me nod. But there was still a problem with her explanation.
"But I didn't sign a contract with it, so why can you see a string?" The question made Altrouge look thoughtful.
"Perhaps the connection is too weak to establish a contract. I believe it's due to the other thread, but that one too seemed weak…" Altrouge's sentence trailed off as she gazed at me.
Her eyes widened momentarily, then sharpened.
The room's temperature seemed to drop as her blood-red eyes focused on me.
"Seeing as I've known you for a while, I am willing to ask nicely. Why do you have a contract with Alaya?"
Shit.
I did not think this whole 'I can see anyone's contracts' thing through. And given the bad blood between Gaia and Alaya, I can't really blame her for her sudden hostility.
As this situation is quite… volatile, it's best I come clean about everything. Lest she misunderstand and think I'm working against her somehow.
Taking a deep breath, I spoke.
"I fucked up while drunk in my last life and kind of signed up for something while inebriated. Then I got basically strong-armed into doing something for Alaya without having the possibility to back out." I explained in a single breath.
Altrouge's cold demeanor stopped being so menacing, replaced with confusion as she slowly blinked her eyes in surprise at me.
"What?" she slowly intoned, slightly frowning.
"I got drunk, said yes to what I thought was a terms of service thing for a mobile game, and died thanks to it. Alaya forced me to enter a contract with her, as the thing I said yes to, while drunk may I add, was t—"
"Stop!" Altrouge interrupted my ramblings, placing a hand on her face.
"Just show me the memories! I can tell you aren't lying, but this just sounds so stupid," she grouched.
That last comment stung a bit, as I do agree that it was stupid, but being told so just hurts on a different level.
Nodding in agreement, I let go of the lance and extended my hand. Seeing this, she removed the hand covering her face and grasped it while looking me in the eyes.
Relaxing my mind, I pulled forth the last moments of my former life before flooding my body with Od. As I did this, I felt something poking at the edge of my consciousness.
Knowing that it was Altrouge, I promptly ignored it and allowed the probe to view the memories I displayed.
The two of us sat there for a few minutes until Altrouge broke eye contact and let go of my hand.
The second she let go, she slammed her head on the bed, before screaming and banging her hand into the mattress.
"Mhhhy are yhu sho fhuking shtupid!? Mhhhy?"
Her muffled yells made me feel a bit self-conscious, so I decided to start talking.
"See? Nothing too bad?" I said.
Instantly, she stopped her antics and tilted her head up to look at me. "Nothing too bad? Nothing too FUCKING bad? Are you stupid!?" She snapped while pushing herself up from the mattress.
"You agreed to become a counter guardian, A FUCKING COUNTER GUARDIAN!" Her yelling seemed to startle Cath, as he jumped up from my chest.
Her tone made me shrink in on myself.
"Yeah, but if I fix the grail, I'll be able to wish it away." I pointed out, only for Altrouge to start tugging at her own hair in a manic fashion.
"'Fix the grail', how fucking naive are you? The damn cup won't do shit to fix your situation!" Her eyes snapped up to mine, frenzied as she stared at me.
"The contracts Alaya hands out are ironclad. Even I, the few times I've encountered them, study them for their ability to bind the contractee to its conditions." She spat.
Seeing her frantic behavior, I tried to come up with a different solution. "But I can just wish for the Third Magic then. I'd be immortal and unable to die, or at least not in the traditional sense, hence I couldn't become a Counter Guardian." I countered, earning a shake of her head from Altrouge.
"The terms of the contract were 'post-death,' which is extremely vague. So, if your body was destroyed but your soul stayed thanks to the Third Magic, Alaya would still snatch your soul and drag you into the Counter Force, as you are close enough to count as dead. So even becoming a Dead Apostle is off the table." She explained begrudgingly, making me shudder.
"Couldn't I just have Kaleidoscope send me to a different world?" To my question, Altrouge shook her head once more.
"Alaya would simply send a 'warrant' for your soul to all other worlds, and they'd happily kick you out, as they have an agreement about sending someone back if their own version of the Counter Force asks for them back." She explained, bitterness entering her tone.
Her continued dismantling of each of my solutions made me feel a wave of despair.
Slowly, I moved my gaze away from her and stared at my room's ceiling.
I'm so fucked.
I've royally fucked myself.
I'm going to spend eternity being Alaya's bitch thanks to a snap judgment on my end. Fuck.
As I felt my mood take a nosedive, I felt Altrouge grab my hand and give it a squeeze.
"Alistair." Her tone was remarkably soft, making me turn to look at her.
Her face had regained some of its former playfulness.
"Seeing as you'll be going to Japan in four years, I'll need to educate you in the Japanese language, as well as kicking your training regime up a notch." She said with a twinkle in her eye.
"After all, I can't have you die during the Grail War and fall into Alaya's clutches so soon. You're far too amusing to not have around." She said while leaning her torso back onto the bed once more.
I could only crack a small smile in response to her words. She was right about me needing to learn Japanese, and the physical training was probably a good idea.
Seeing my smile, her face grew more playful, and she fully rolled onto the bed, positioning herself next to me with the spear acting as a barrier between us.
"Soooo, any ideas on the servant you want to summon?" She probed, making me chuckle at her successful diversion from the depressing topic of my eternal servitude. I was certainly happy with the topic change.
Humming thoughtfully, I spoke. "I originally considered summoning Jesus, as I'm fairly sure that if he existed, he'd have a Noble Phantasm about cleansing things upon his death. Which would make fixing the grail a cakewalk. But can you see the issue with trying to summon Jesus?"
Altrouge gave a contemplative hum before answering. "I didn't get a lot of context on what qualifies for a Ruler and Avenger class servant, but I'll go out on a limb that Judas might qualify for Avenger." She said with amusement.
"Ding ding ding, you scored full points." I said with humor.
My comment got a light chuckle from Altrouge. "Then what servant do you currently wish to summon?"
This time I gave a slight sigh. "Sherlock Holmes, but I'm unsure if I can even summon him, given he is a fictional character." I explained.
Altrouge gave a grunt of agreement. "That might be difficult, but seeing as you're unsure of what servant you want, how about you give me your criteria for the type of servant you'd like, and then I'll do some research while you take a nap and recover?"
That was actually a good idea. She might be able to spit out a few historical figures that match my needs, then I'll try to determine if they are suitable for either class.
Plus, the headache from before hadn't vanished yet, and I now had a lot to think about.
"To put it simply, I want the closest I can get to a Caster class servant, seeing as I'll probably need help to expel Angra Mainyu without damaging the grail, in order to keep its wish-granting abilities." I explained, getting a hum in response.
"There are a ton of magic casters throughout history that have enough impact to end up in the Throne of Heroes… but I'll have a look into possible candidates." She said with a twinge of annoyance, though her willingness to help made me feel a bit better.
"Thanks for the help, Altrouge. It means a lot." I said with gratitude, only to be met with a low chuckle.
"You're not off the hook yet, Dumbass, but I'll wait to grill you about your last life and this 'fate series' thing once your headache is over." Her words made me groan.
Why couldn't she just drop the topic?
Maybe I should show her some more of my memories, and corrupt her with memes? Then she'd probably not berate me too much for my stupidity.... hopefully.
The sound of ruffling clothes came from Altrouge's side as she started shuffling off the bed.
"I'll be going downstairs to catch up on some reading, so get some rest, as tomorrow will mark the start of hell for you." Her words were followed by heels clacking on the floor.
Quickly, I moved my gaze to Altrouge, who had just opened the door to my room.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I exclaimed, making her stop her actions.
She turned her head around and sent me a smug smile. "I recall saying that I'd kick your training up a notch." She explained, before a predatory smile overcame her face. "By the end of it, you should ideally be mistaken for a physically strong Caster."
Her words sent a shiver down my spine, something she seemed to notice, as her smile grew at my reaction.
"See you tomorrow!~" She said in a melodic tone before closing the door behind her.
"I'm so fucked, aren't I?" I mumbled aloud.
"Fou!" The energetic response came from the fluff ball curled on my chest.
Huh, even Cath thinks I'm fucked. What an absolutely shit day…
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A/N
Welcome back, my reader Overlords, please add this to your library and give me some comments, stones and Reviews, as it would be much appreciated.
Now that the mandatory begging is done, time to ask the hard hitting questions.
What do you think about the twist of having Altrouge learn of Alistairs reincarnation?
Any thoughts on the servants Alistair suggested earlier?
And what did you guys think of the scanning of Rhongomyniad? It took me a while to imagine how it should look, and I think it turned out alright.
Btw, I have made a Discord server for the fic, come on and chat with me! https://discord.gg/wWRhZrbx
But that's all I for today! See you in the next chapter, or Discord, Ciao.
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