Chương 110: Panic

As a [Heroic Spirit] turned [Ghost Spirit], Rider never had the need for any of the living beings' basic three. As such, whenever dinner was over and every one else turned in for the night, she would quietly de-materialize herself and enter into Shuhang's inner world. After paying her respect to the most majestic of all the [Phantasmal] Creature, the [Heavenly Dragon] Ddraig which resides within, Rider would send herself straight into Illya's castle.

Her target is not the castle itself and is actually the [Library] in one of the many rooms there. Said [Library] is of course not just any ordinary one as she was directly pointed this direction by Shuhang himself. According to her [Master]'s own words, the room itself was just an ordinary, empty, storage room. With the combined and liberal use of the 2nd and 3rd [True Magic] however, Shuhang was able to materialize and connect the space within to his [Library of Heaven's Path].

He didn't explain any further though and only lightly said that it's a complicated process. Rider of course believed him word for word as she does have 'some' knowledge of what a [True Magic] is and what using 'one' entails. To use 'two' in conjuncture to one another... Yes, there's no reason to needlessly give herself a headache by asking for the finer details. It's complicated and let's leave it at that...

Leaving all that aside, the reason she comes to this [Library] every night was to of course read, like anyone would inside a library. As explained by her [Master], she will continue to gain strength at incredible speed and would soon catch up to him in cultivation realm (not in strength of course... only in 'realm'). As she is his [Ghost Spirit], that is only par for the course. The only problem with this though... Rider who is-- was a [Heroic Spirit] from a different reality, having different sets of rules and combat experience, would definitely not have the corresponding knowledge on how to put her quickly rising Realm/Strength to use.

As a remedy for that, Shuhang had deigned to give her a figurative 'Homework' which is to find any and all [Cultivation] skills related to Rider's preferred combat style. Once that is done, Shuhang himself would take similar techniques as what Rider had chosen and [compile] them into the 'flawless' version for her to cultivate.

On a side note, Tohsaka Rin and Illyasviel von Einsbern were also given access to this [Library] as well.

The [Library] is huge however and Rider hadn't been able to make too much progress. This place is [endless] in all directions after all... literally. So far, she had only been able to find a single cultivation manual which she was interested in which is on [Beast Taming]. Tonight, Rider was determined to find at least the 2nd manual, possibly even 3rd. She was really excited at the prospect of gaining more strength. It wouldn't do after all to be weaker than the person she'd sworn her loyalty and duty to protect.

Sadly, said plan would never be able to come to pass tonight as she suddenly felt the 'world' shook violently. Within the quake, Rider could faintly feel the extreme pain, unease, and stress emitted by Shuhang through their bonds of the [Ghost Spirit]'s contract.

Danger!)

Just like so, Rider had vanished from within the [Library] as she speedily moved towards the closest source of Shuhang's presence, which is within the this minor world itself! Within seconds, she's arrived at the place she now confirmed to be [Lotus Island] where Shuhang's nascent soul resides. In front of her was a most shocking site.

Her [Master]'s, Shuhang's spiritual body was seen to be on his knees and looked to be pain and his normally 'beautiful' complexion were twisted. His form was unstable and looked as if it would collapse and disappear at any time. A bit of distance away, the toddler looking Shuhang, his nascent soul, also shared the same complexion as it was struggling to resist something.

Correction. Someone. That someone the nascent soul was resisting took the form a young girl in black Gothic dress. It was precisely Ophis which still had her hand inside the chest of the nascent soul! Even more worrying, she seemed to be moving said around and digging deeper as if she was trying to 'find' something.

(NO!) exclaimed Rider in her mind. In her hands, a large 'nail' with chains attached suddenly materialized in her hands. At any given moment, Rider was even prepared to remove her mask and use her [Mystic Eyes] if things gets desperate enough. Just as soon as she got into her combat stance and was poised to attack at any moment, a feeble voice resounded in her ears.

"...-op! Huu huu. Don't attack it."

Startled, Rider turned towards the owner of the voice, Shuhang, whom looked in her direction with a pained face.

Shuhang: "It's... fine. I do--ugh--n't know what it is, but I can tell she's--huuu--not the one causing this pain. I need yo--u, to go 'outside', and let everyone know that I'm alright and not for 'them' to do anything."

Reluctantly and slowly, Rider released her hostility towards the tiny dragon god. In actuality, she wouldn't have done so were Shuhang's condition to deteriorate even just a bit more. In which case, she would have attacked the Ophis even knowing that she wouldn't have stood a chance. Luckily, Shuhang's pain seemed to ease up more and more as he continued to talk.

Giving Shuhang's weak looking smile one last glance, Rider finally left the inner world and re-materialized outside, into Shuhang's room, and right next to his bed. Before Rider could even finished re-orientating her senses, a pair of arms grabbed hold onto her shoulders... and began to very violently shake Rider up.

Rin: "RIDER! WHAT'S GOING ON!? TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!"

Her face now full of Rin's saliva, Rider's gaze scanned the around the room even as she was being shaken. The first thing she looked for was of course Shuhang's physical body which was marred with a black stain around his lips and chin. Judging by the lingering smell, it seemed he had coughed up some blood which should be impossible as Shuhang's blood should have kaleidoscope colored. Not that Rider knew that though.

Standing directly in front of Shuhang's physical body was his friend, White. If her guess is not wrong, White seems to have taken the role of examining the condition of her [Master]'s body condition as he is the most qualified person to do so. Judging by the frown on his face though, it doesn't seem like he's found what he was looking for.

A bit to the side of Venerable White, stood Sixteen whom was trying not to get in White's way as he continued to work. The expressionless glare she sent towards Rider's way, as if she was ready to kill something was a bit unnerving.

As for Saber and Doudou; the former was intensely staring out into the horizon as if looking for signs of something while the latter was sniffing around, most likely trying to pick up some scents. As expected of a dog...

Lastly, Illya was moving around the room trying to examine the magical barrier set up by Shuhang. Not that she would succeed though as her current level was far too below that of Shuhang's. Apparently, a powerful and ominous aura was momentarily let loose the moment Ophis had 'struck' Shuhang's nascent soul. This in turn had caused everyone in the house to have gathered in Shuhang's room in alarm.

(...No wonder [Master] sent me out here with that message. Other than this White person, everyone else looked as if they were ready to start a war at any moment now.) thought Rider as she patiently waited for Rin to stop shaking her.