Well, this situation was not favourable at all.
I struggle to wrap my head around the fact that this is STILL the tutorial.
Having set up a connection with the leyline the Director tried to have me summon a servant but guess what?
It did not work.
With Chaldea's summoning systems and the power supply in the shitters to say it nicely due to Lev's explosive personality we couldn't even summon servants without catalysts.
And with the rayshift tech in shambles and according to the director the pressure the Mages Association will put on her for her failure and this bombing meant that this "mission" we have accidentally embarked upon has to be a success.
And I unfortunately have to agree.
Because if this all is just one catastrophic failure then the Director will get replaced. And I don't agree just because I feel bad for her. But because if they get restaffed I am fairly certain that my new boss would take a mighty liking to my new set of cool eyes and the demi servant beside me. So we have to make this mission work.
So now, us three stooges under the command of the rude baby director are going on an expedition around the singularity to explore as much as we can to at least be able to say we did something and provide data instead of coming back empty-handed.
Now, can our ragtag group of.
Mash, the barely qualifies to be a servant!
Olga Marie Animusphere, the rude baby director!
And last of all...
Noah, the restaurant worker!
Can they clear this singularity without getting into more hilarous hijinxes such as nearly dying again and getting bombed?
Sigh... this is a fucking mess.
"Senpai? You have sighing a lot? Are you ok?" Obviously, no one would be ok in this situation but I did not let anything onto Mash.
"No no, I am fine I am just a tad tired is all." This got me a mean look from the director because of course it did, everything could set off the rude baby.
"You should try conserving your stamina then, how can you be elected as a master candidate when you are already this bad at basic fitness I can't understand." Eh, doesn't even sting that much, I have faced much worse disappointment from my father before.
As we were walking the road was suddenly blocked with ethereal chains, and the moment we encountered them I trusted my gut instinct and activated my eyes.
"What are those?" Mash inquired while the Director paled, at just like her I felt the colour drain from my face.
Red.
"I suggest we run now." But my warning was too late as a woman landed on a lampost close to us her predatory gaze slithering over us.
It was a beautiful woman with long purple hair wearing black robes that barely covered her body, especially her chest area. In her hands was the mix of a spear and a scythe.
Man, I am so scaroused right now.
"An unknown master and an unknown servant? How young and fresh."
Mash got in front of us protectively with her shield raised while Marie pointed her finger gun at the unknown while she calmly jumped down from the light pole, drawing attention to the broken stone shards and stone humans gathered around we failed to notice.
'General Observation.'
_____/Status\_________________________
Name: Medusa Alter
Personal Information:
Class: Lancer
Species: Servant, Alter
Gender: Female
Current Condition: Good
___/Parameters\___________
Strength : C
Endurance : C
Agility : B
Mana: E
Luck: C
Noble Phantasm: A+
______________________________________
Shit.
"A servant! But where is the master?"
"With how mad this world is already I wouldn't be surprised if she did not have one." As the Director said cautiously Medusa Alter(Malter?) slowly walked toward us with seductive stride while licking her lips, it would have looked almost inviting if nine eyes did not show her in the color of blood.
"Mash, Cryba- Director, try to not look at her in the eyes. That's Medusa Alter, a lancer, if that helps." As I said that Medusa looked even more amused as her eyes shone, thankfully without the petrification.
"How do you-!" The rudebaby was about to interrupt when Malder cut her off.
"Oh? My, am I that famous or are you that knowledgable to spot me at a glance mr. master? Well then, why don't you take a look at those eyes you are so cautious about." Malter jumped at me with speed I couldn't even perceive before Mash stepped between us and blocked Malter's advance, getting a humoured glance from the servant. She raised her sickle and tried striking Mash while Mash blocked the blows with her shield, causing large clouds of dust to explode every time they clashed.
"Is this your first time fighting as a servant? Then as your senpai, I guess I have to teach you!" Medusa started attacking relentlessly at Mash who could only passively defend against her attacks, I could barely follow their motions, they were fast, Malter was too fast for me to keep track of even, I could only observe blurs as her hands and feet moved.
After a series of exchanges, Mash was barely keeping pace with, suddenly Malter jumped up to get high ground as her hair started moving around like snakes.
"I will entangle you all with my hair!" The hair elongated and turned into ethereal chains that started wrapping up all exits, leaving no room for exit.
Well, this is new. A feeling of helplessness. Maybe if my system gave me something to help Mash in combat I could have done something but luck was not in my favor.
It never was.
" 'You've got guts' " A ghost-like masculine voice rang out of nowhere.
" 'A little girl is a little girl but you are still pretty strong' "
"Who are you? Show yourself." Malter demanded as like a ghost a figure materialized close to us.
" 'Who? Look at me and you'll know.' " Materialized close to us was a man wearing blue druid-like clothing over a black bodysuit with a large wooden staff in hand. And suddenly he raised his staff, multiple runes emerging in front of it.
"Think fast!" the glowing orange runes turned into fireballs that flew at superspeed toward the surprised Malter who couldn't dodge it time, the fireballs upon contact into missile-like explosions which knocked her off and dispelled her chains.
Appearing right next to us, more precisely me the man in blue addressed me.
"I'm a caster, and for reasons she is my enemy. And while I know the enemy of my enemy is not certainly my friend but for now you can trust me, I am willing to enter a temporary contract with you for the sake of the brave girl. You are the master here, aren't you? You give out the commands."
Me? Give out commands? I was cooking meals at my job just hours ago!
"Hold up, think you've got this a bit twisted, I don't think I can-"
"You're man man arent you!? Don't think about if you can, just do it! You gotta do it right now!" The mystery servant shouted cutting out my words.
...You...!
You know what!? Fine!
Fine, you know what you are right. I am a man, these cock and balls give me the ability to become a master I guess. I gotta shut up and fuck up right now. This is my life now
"Fine then! Caster, bombard her, Mash! Cover for Caster, he is frail he can't take as much punishment as you." Hearing my barking commands Caster let out a laugh.
"Atta boy! That's the spirit kid." Laughing he sent more fireballs toward Lancer while Mash obeying my orders stood slightly in front and next to caster with her shield up, looking out for attacks that Malter would launch, interception several bunches of chains that went for caster.
All the while I did not even blink, keeping nine eyes active looking for any omens that might come, as caster and Mash kept pressuring Malter suddenly my hunch was proven right as a thick line of red extended from Malter's figure toward me and Marie's position.
"Wha-!" I quickly grabbed Marie's wrist and yanked us both out of the way as a spear of chains passed through where we were. Making Marie's eyes nearly pop out of their skull as I yelled out promptly.
"Caster!" "On it!'" *Boom!* almost instantly the branch of chains was blown apart by a fireball from Caster. That was a bit too close for my comfort.
Thankfully, with two servants, one that was far more experienced we were gaining on Malter pretty handily, I helped somewhat by yelling for them to dodge when I saw a red line suddenly extend from her, at least eventually the battle ended when Malter finally slipped up and stepped on the mine caster planted which led to Caster blasting her to kingdom come with his runes.
[ You have eliminated a Servant(Medusa Alter/Lancer) +1 Random Roll ]
Seeing the notification pop up brought immense relief to me, making my shoulders slump. That was probably the most stressful event of my life. I also wondered about the random draw that popped out of the notification but I restrained myself for the time being, now that the threat was gone I turned off my nine eyes.
And then came the stinging feeling and tiredness. Was I running out of mana? It sure as hell felt like it, having finished their battle Caster and Mash came back to see me keeling over.
"I won't lie kid, you showed some real courage there, and you seem to be a real natural at taking command too, I half expected you to fumble. Kid?"
"Senpai! Are you alright!?" Mash quickly ran to my side and supported me. My eyes were stinging and I felt a sense of profound emptiness. I felt like falling asleep any second.
Was this because I have had 9 Eyes open every second I could?
"Yeah, I'm fine, I am just a bit lightheaded." While I felt lightheaded it wasn't that bad. I could still stay awake long enough for us to get to a proper base. With the hope that the proper base did not have yet another enemy to ambush our ass.
"Well, I wouldn't say it's exactly fine kid. Your magical energy is running low. And you can't exactly support servants if your magical energy is low. And unfortunately, the lass over here does not have the affinity needed to be a master."
"Hey!" Injected the rude baby from behind.
"So, miss. Could you help our friend over here with his magical energy problem? I am sure he wouldn't mind and I don't think having a master running out of energy in the middle of enemy territory is a good idea."
What? Is there like rejuvenation spell or something? Because something like that would really help right about now.
"And how do we do that exactly?" Hearing my words the rude baby director's face lit up into flames as she kept talking to herself while Caster shot me a... thumbs up?
"You! Shut up right now! Just be grateful that I am willing to do this alright!? If it were any other situation I wouldn't be doing this!" Did she suddenly develop mental illness or am I just missing context here?
"I don't know what-"
My words were suddenly cut off.
By the director's lips slamming into mine.
...What?
A/N: Ah, mana transfer, you just have to love it. There seems to be some problems with the magical energy supply from Chaldea reaching singularities so I guess we just have to do this the old-fashioned way.
On another note what did you think about this chapter? I would love to hear your opinions.
— 新章節待更 — 寫檢討
章節 6: Chapter 5: A Dating Simulator?
Noticing the battle had reached its conclusion I walked up to Mash who was breathing a little heavily after dealing with the skeletons but did not look wounded in any capacity.
"Master, I have dealt with them. What should we do now?" As she said that I suddenly noticed a very crucial detail. The mobs she killed vanished like dust, and sometimes they dropped.
LOOT!
2Well, it's only bones and crystal shards but.
LOOT!
2"Well, obviously Mash. We defeated the mobs that means we have to collect the loot now?" Mash looked between the scattered materials on the ground and me before furrowing her brows.
"But master, I don't think we have anywhere to store them? Besides, I think some other things take priority right now?" Hearing her point I had to begrudgingly nod my head. The hoarder gamer in me taking critical damage from the fact I was leaving loot behind.
"Kuh! You are right, looting must, unfortunately, take a backseat now-"
My words were cut off by the familiar screams of a woman.
"Kyaaaaaaah! What the hell! Why do these things keep happening to me!?" Hearing this but Mash and I looked at each other at the same time, near instantly having an unspoken agreement as we both started sprinting toward the voice.
To be in the clear I briefly flickered on Nine Eyes and the coast was clear, meaning only yellow where we were going.
It did not take us long to turn the corner to see our dear director being cornered by another horde of skeletons as she Gandr's from her fingers, taking out a skeleton per shot but seemed less than effective since there were several dozens. Suddenly a skeleton dodged her gandr and leapt toward her.
"Help me Lev!"
Well, I don't know why anyone would ask for that man to save them but the job is up to me it seems.
"Mash!" "Yes!" Mash with her servant speed was already in front of the skeleton before I could finish my words. With ease, she smacked the skeleton it disintegrated before she locked onto the other skeletons and started clearing them too. As she was doing that I slid down the rubble with Fou nestling on my head to walk up to the cowering director.
"Whelp, it's nice to see you again Director. Are you all right?" She turned her head toward me in shock before she swiveled her head again to look at Mash who just cleared the rest of the stragglers and joined us.
"Director, are you hurt?"
The Director looked at Mash with scrutiny.
" …What's going on with you?"
"Director? About my situation. I know it's hard to believe, but the truth is—"
Mash was about to explain but rude crybaby director cut her off.
"A Demi-Servant right? It's pretty obvious that you fused with a Servant. What I want to know is why it's successful now all of a sudden! Also, you! The one who tackled me, how did you manage to make a contract with her?"
Taken aback by the rude crybaby director now pointing fingers at me I simply raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, that's me. That's my name, tackler." the rude crybaby director shook her head and glared at me.
"How did a substitute commoner like you manage to form a contract with her? Only first-class Mages can enter contracts with Servants! There's no way you could ever become a Master! What did you do to her to have her do your bidding?" I don't know why but it feels like she is projecting a little.
1"Well, maybe it's my electrifying charm?" Saying that I placed my chin between my pointer finger and thumb while winking, earning just a blank unimpressed stare from them.
"...Sorry, the humour helps me cope. To answer you honestly, I have not the slightest idea what's happening here. Hell, I don't even know if I even am a master. So could we just start there please?"
At my words, the rude crybaby director made an expression that was both parts exasperation and disbelief. I did know what the terms were and what they meant actually, I just wanted to affirm my knowledge here.
"What do you mean you don't even know?"
She walked up to me and grabbed my wrist, pointing at the back of my hand. I could see her expression when she saw the expected on the back of my hand.
And as expected my command seals were there too. And I almost instantly recognized what they took the shape of.
They were in the almost exact same shape as the Swords of Revealing Light card from Yugioh. With a radiant star in the middle above of them, looming below the star connected to its light were three indistinct swords of light.
Pretty cool.
"You, that command seal on your hand proves it. You are a master. And that means you must have formed a contract with Mash." Regaining calm somewhat the rude crybaby director stated.
As she was about to continue a bracelet in her hands shone before a hologram of Roman appeared before us.
"Alright, I finally managed to establish a connection, hello? This is Chaldea Command Room? Do you read me?"
"Huh?! Why are you running the show, Romani? What about Lev? Where's Lev? Put Lev on!" Shouted the rude crybaby director with dependence issues upon seeing Roman's hologram come through.
"D-Director, you're alive? And you're unharmed? What the… I thought the bombs..."
"What's that supposed to mean? Where's Lev? What's the head medic doing in charge?"
"Don't ask me why. I'm fully aware that I'm not cut out for this job. But there's nobody else, Olga Marie. Currently, the surviving full-time staff of Chaldea is less than twenty people, including me. The reason I'm in charge of operations is because there's no one ranked higher than me who survived. Dr. Lev was supervising from the Command Room. There's no way he could survive that blast."
earing this the Director shut her eyes tight, but did not cry, I am impressed, maybe I will have to change her title. While I want to mention that Lev was likely the one who set off the bombs in the first place I feel like that does not fit here.
"No way—Lev… No, forget that, wait… please wait. Less than 20 survivors? What about the Master candidates...the coffins?"
Hearing this Roman looked grim.
"...47, all in critical condition and we're short on medical supplies. We might be able to save a few, but all of them might be—"
"Don't be ridiculous! Cryopreserve them immediately. Think about reviving them later. Your top priority is to make sure they don't die!"
"I forgot the coffins had those functions! I'll get on it right away!"
"...That surprises me. Cryopreservation without prior consent is a crime Yet you made the decision right away. You put human lives ahead of your own reputation as the director."
"Don't be stupid! As long as they're not dead, I can explain myself later - why else? In the first place, 47 lives… There's no way I can carry that burden."
Suddenly the hologram started distorting. Seeing this Marie scoffed.
"You're breaking up. 10 seconds until the connection is lost."
"We will continue this later Roman. But for now, Romani Archaman I don't like it, but until I return you're in charge of Chaldea. Make the Rayshift repairs your top priority." After her words finished the hologram cut off. And then she turned to the both of us.
"I understand the situation now. Noah, since it's an emergency I'll approve you and Kyrielight's contract. From here on out, you'll follow my commands. First, let's set up a base camp. Listen, this is the time to search for a Leyline Terminal. A place where magical energy converges. There we'll be able to establish a stable connection with Chaldea…"
Well, I have no complaints, rude baby she may be but at least she looks like she knows what she is doing. I don't mind following her orders for the time being.
"Umm, director. We are standing on the leyline." Mash interjected, making the rude baby director flustered.
1"H-hmph, of course, I knew that. Give me a few moments I will a connection." Saying that the Director crouched down and started drawing some sigils that I didn't know
Seeing this I felt it was finally appropriate to collapse onto a near fallen piece of concrete. Making myself more comfortable into a sitting position I felt like I finally had an opportunity to experiment and see what my system could do.
And then I noticed another tab that had appeared next to my status.
___/Relationships\___________
[Mash Kyrielight]
Bond: ♥♥♡♡♡
♡♡♡♡♡
Rewards are available to be claimed.
_______________________________
What.
Explain now.
Contrary to what I thought the system actually answered me for once.
_______________________________
[ Explanation: Bond Level ]
A representation of the bond between you and your servant. It can be increased by going on dates, hanging out, giving them gifts, or interacting with your servants. A higher bond level allows the servant and master to cooperate more efficiently.
[ Explanation: Bond Rewards ]
Depending on the level of bond you forge between you and your servants you can claim rewards for it. The higher the bond level higher the reward. The rewards can range from general upgrades and their personal/class skills to their noble phantasms.
_______________________________
Uhh...
Doesn't this kind of seem like more of a dating simulator than something designed to help me save humanity? But the important thing that caught my eye was the rewards aspect.
1To sum it up wasn't this "system" telling me to get close to heroic spirits and in turn get special abilities from them?
Me? The guy who couldn't hold a girlfriend for more than a week?
3Send me into a blazing city in the middle of a holy grail war gone wrong and expect me to intervene? Fine, not like I have a choice anyway.
But ask me get a girlfriend? How? You might as well ask me to save the world!
...Oh wait...
Well, putting the existential crisis aside I may as well claim Mash's rewards right now.
_____________________________
[ Reward: {Endurance Up I} & {Physical Damage Reduction I} ]
{Endurance Up I}
Increases the effectiveness of the endurance stat by 10%
{Physical Damage Reduction I}
Reduces all physical damage by 2.5%
2_____________________________
Thank you potato mash, you are truly the best girl. You have increased my chances of me making it out of here relatively alive by at least 0.0001%.
That's better than 0!
1While I was still sitting on the concrete chunk debating whether I should put my skull through the concrete or not Mash lightly sat down next to me.
"Se- Master, are you ok?"
Hearing her worried tone of voice I shook my head.
"As fine as I can be. I am trying to wrap my head around what we are going to do right now. But from what it looks like. The only thing we can do is our best isn't it?" Hearing my words Mash smiled slightly.
"Yes, it does seem that. Say, Master, can I keep calling you Senpai? While I don't have objections to calling you master I prefer calling you Senpai." She looked hesitant to say that, I can't say I understand why.
"Sure, no problem Mash. To be honest I am not exactly against a cute girl calling me master but my heart is not too prepared for it. Does this mean I should call you kouhai?" Hearing my words Mash reddened like a red potato for some reason before she mechanically nodded.
"N-no, no need to Senpai. Ah, would you look at that it seems like the Director is finished." Mmh, did me saying 'Should I call you kouhai?' come off as too much of a 'how do you do fellow kids?' ugh, now I feel like a cringy old man.
1Changing the topic I sat up after I changed the topic.
"Yeah, we should head over to her before crybaby- I mean the director gets cranky because we are lazing about." Mash meekly nodded while steeled my heart to face the director.
Something tells me this whole thing won't be as easy as I hope it will be.
A/N: Sorry for no uploads. I was horribly sick and couldn't write, sorry for the inconvenience. besides that what did you think about the chapter and system? I would love to know.
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