Blacksmith quest :Take Two

[Liam-don]

[X] New Game​

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__________


... And at the end of the Light, what our Hero found was...

[]A really familiar shed.
[]A ancient Japanese slum, housing people of all races and origin.
[]An old warehouse where a massacre just happened. A squad of soldiers lays dead, killed by their own weapons, plus single a woman in a straightjacket at his feet.
[]A darkened living room, alighted by a summoning circle. There is a man and a girl there, one watching him with glee and the tied up on the ground, utterly terrified.
[]A smiling young girl in a maid uniform sitting on a spinning machine.
[]A room with wall covered with screens, nine winged men floating before him.
[]...?


______________________________________

Emiya Shirou​

Age: 17
Class: Esper
Alignment: Neutral

Stats

Strength: C (B*)
Agility: D (B*)
Endurance: B (A*)
Mana: B
Luck: C

*Stats using Reinforcement.

Skills

Magic resistance: D
Clairvoyance: C-
Eye of the Mind (True): B
Thaumaturgy: C
--Unlimited Blade Works E~A++


Esper (theory): E
exp 8/200

 

[Liam-don]

[X]A smiling young girl in a maid uniform sitting on a spinning machine.

-Flash-

It is as if you were struck with by a thunderbolt. Your body seizes up, fire pours through your veins, lighting up your nerves ending in an unmatched symphony of pain.

It ends as quickly as it started, leaving you feeling intensely disorientated and unsteady on your feet.

"You really fixed it!"

A girl laughs, spinning cheerfully on top of a cylindrical machine mounted on mops. Some sort of high tech cleaning appliance, maybe? The maid outfit supports that theory.

"That's Shirou-chi for you! Academy City's Janitor will fix anything in a snap!"

Academy city?

...Where are you? Clearly you're back in the material world, probably in Japan. But you've never heard of an "Academy city," just like you have no idea who this girl is.

Just what is going on?

You look down at yourself. You're dressed in simple white shirt and black slacks and holding a wrench, probably a part of the unrolled toolkit laying on the ground.

What really catches your attention however is how pale your skin is. You haven't looked like that since you hit your twenties.

"Oiiiii! Earth to Shirou!"

Your eyes snaps back to the girl. You think the look on her face means she's worried about you, but the effect is utterly ruined by the way she has to keep twisting her entire body from the top of her spinning mount to keep looking at you. "You're still with me?"

[]Be friendly. The girl knows "you", so it may be better to follow her lead for now.
[]Be blunt. Interrogate the girl about the who, where and the whys.
[] Cut this short. Give some excuses and try to find some answers by yourself.

 

[Liam-don]

Rolled 1d100 : 59, total 59. DC 65: mild failure.

[X] Be friendly. The girl knows "you", so it may be better to follow her lead for now.

Yes, better to fit in for now than raise suspicions.

How you do a friendly expression again? Cold indifference and insufferably smug have been your default faces for a pretty long time. You're not sure you can pull off anything else convincingly on demand anymore.

You give it your best shot. "Don't worry, I just had my mind elsewhere for a second."

The child isn't very convinced. She stares at you intent on figuring out what's wrong with you.

You flee her suspicious gaze by kneeling on the ground and packing up the toolkit. "Did you need help with anything else?"

She perks up, suitably distracted. "Oh yes! Now that you say so, there's something else. Come with me!" The girl taps her mechanical and the machine glides forward. You follow, without a word.

You are in a courtyard. A schoolyard if the buildings, facilities and teenagers in uniforms are anything to judge by. Maid uniforms, worn by an entirely female student body.

...You have a sneaking suspicion, and you can't help but ask if it's accurate. "Am I really allowed to be here?"

"Of course not!" The girl says with a large grin. "If you're caught, I'm turning you in as a panty thief!"

...Truly you have the best friends.

Thankfully, you reach your destination with no trouble. She swipes a card over a reader and a door slides open with a quiet hiss, revealing the large room behind.

"A kitchen?"

"Not just any kitchen", the enthusiastic girl replies. "With its futuristic design and smart ergonomics, our Ryouran Academy kitchen's classes are the envy of even most professional restaurants! You should be honoured to get to cook in it!"

You cross your arm and give her a dry look. "I'm supposed to cook something then?"

Jumping off her robot, she nods. "Yes! I want to give a great meal to my brother and you're the best cook I know, Shirou-chi, even better than our teachers!"

You sigh.

[] No way, cooking is the last thing on your mind right now.
[] Alright, you're willing to give her pointers at least.
[] It really is a nice kitchen. If you cook for the girl and her brother, you could always make enough for yourself too.
[]Or a feast. It's been a while since you've gone all out.
[]...?

 

[Liam-don]

[X] Alright, you're willing to give her pointers at least.

"I don't mind giving a few advices."

The girl clasps her hands and blink huge, soulful eyes at you. "Don't be shy Shirou-chi, we both know you want to do more than that. Did I mention there's a whole closet for the soy sauces? It's so big you can fit half a dozen person in it easily."

You raise an eyebrow in appreciation, picturing all the lesser known and subtly different regional brands they must have collected to fill an entire closet with a single sauce. Soy sauce is king in japan, but their selectiong of other condiments must be something to behold as well. You remember several dishes you'd made long ago that had been lacking is some way or another. Surely here, you could find the right ingredients to complete a few of them...

But no. This isn't the time for that.

"Our pots and ovens have integrated thermometer and various system to regulate and spread the heat to maintain a constant temperature" the maid sings in your ear. "Our knives have a monomolecular edge, to achieve the most delicate cuts just. As. You. Want. To."

Wow, that's certainly not to be underestimated. A carrot slice just doesn't cook the same way if its 11 milimeters thick instead of 12, and requires a completely different timing. The flavor it gives to the other components of the dishes is changed just as drastically since you can't associate them in the same way. Once again, several combination you'd never had the chance to try before pop up in your head.

But no! This is an obvious trap! You won't fall for it, now matter how enchanting this kitchen's siren song is! No matter how sleek and shiny the coutertops are, how large and powerful the refrigerators look, how the light break into a dozen colors when it strikes the stainless pots. You're stronger than that!

R-really, you are!

You shake your head quickly, dismissing your flavourful fantasies before they take you over completely. "I don't think so," you say forcefully. "If it's meant to be a gift to your brother, shouldn't you do it with your own hands? I'll be there to make sure you don't mess up, but you'll have to do all the work."

The girl gives you the puppy dog's eyes for a moment longer but you stands strong. Finally she turn aways with a pout. "Fine, let's do this."

You spend the next hour and a half looking over the girl as she busies herself around the kitchen. She doesn't need much assistance really, she already had a good menu in mind and the kitchen is so well equipped the ingredients are prepared in a snap and the dishes practically cook themselves. Before long, the food is packed, the kitchen cleaned and the two of you leave the schoolground.

"Thank again, Shirou-chi!" The girl says from atop her robot. "You were a big help!"

"I did nothing worth mentioning," you assure her. "This was all you, your talent and your training. It's good to see you aren't wasting your time at school."

The girl blushes brightly, but her back straighten at your words. "How shameless of you Shirou, embarassing a girl like that with your compliments."

She doesn't seem embarassed at all. Rather, her attitude says 'praise me more!'

"I'm only saying the truth. Keep up the good work and be sure to tell me how much your brother liked it."

With a wave of your hand you walk away, but the girl rolls up to you.

"You're going somewhere? It'll be night soon, I thought we would go home together."

The way the girl says that implies you live close to each other. Going with her would point you in the right direction, but she'll probably get suspicious again if you miss a turn or generally shows that you have no idea where you're going.

What to do?

[] Go with her.
[] Decline.
[]...?

 

[Liam-don]

[X] Go with her.
-[X] Stay behind her and let her guide you home. If asked simply say the fatigue of the day is catching up to you and you aren't thinking clearly.

"After you," you answer with a slightly smarmy bow. The girl snorts good naturedly and rides away, holding the packed meal possessively.

As you follow her quietly, you look at Academy City for the first time. The densely packed towers of steel and glasses and the mazes of alleys in between reminds you of downtown Tokyo, if the average age of its population was divided by three and its technology had made a fifty years jump in the future. For every adults you see on the streets, there is a large group of children no older that high schoolers. You're getting a pretty good idea of where this city got its name, you think.

15 minutes after you've left the school, the maid rolls into an appartment building purposefully. She didn't pause to tell you goodbye, does that mean you live here as well?

The maid is completely oblivious to your hesitation, her attention entirely focused on the food she carries.

You could probably walk away and she wouldn't notice until you had disappeared, you think.

[]Walk in. You'll figure something out
[]Leave like a thief.
[]...?

 

[Liam-don]

[X] Structure analyze the history of your possessions.

In a stunning flash of inspiration, you come to the realization that as a human being living in a first world country, the Shirou whose body you've appropriated probably has some personal items in his pockets that could tell you things about him! While you could certainly rummage through your pants like a normal person, you decide to go the extra mile. Structural Grasp, your ability to create a near perfect mental blueprint of an object through your senses is what you use as your hands slides into your pockets.

Instantly three dimensional images spring from your mind, complex and exact down to the last details. A wallet, its fake leather and metal studs, but also the bills, coins and cards it contains. Keys, mundane and magnetic. A transport pass. A large and thin smartphone in your back pocket. The grain of the paper the mix of the ink the composition of the alloys the make of each and every electronic component and circuit board the speck of dust and the traces of finger on the screen...

You grasp all these items and everything there is to them at the material level in a single, implacably clear thought.

This is far more than what you expected. Too much.

You banish the images as quickly as you've brought them up. The process was entirely painless but the surprise is enough to make you reel back and cries out, hands coming to clutch your head tightly.

You recover in a heartbeat but the girl you are with didn't miss your reaction.

"Shirou!" She gasps fearfully and backtrack to you. "What's wrong! Are you sick?"

You shake your head. "Nothing to be alarmed about. It's been a long day and I'm starting to feel it, that's all."

"You're always pushing yourself," the maid reprimands you lightly. "Absolute rest tonight, alright? You eat light and go straight to bed! I don't want to hear about how they had to drag you to the hospital."

You resist the urge to eyeroll and nod dutifully instead. "Yes, ma'am."

The girl nods once, then head inside. You've just had a very thourough look at your student id that confirmed that you, Emiya Shirou, indeed live here, so this time you follow.

In the elevator you push the button for your floor and get off before the girl.

The maid waves at you. "Bye bye, Shirou-chi! Remember, absolute rest!"

You say good bye as the doors closes. Your find your apartment easily, your name written on its door.

You let the toolkit fall on the ground and look around the place. It's all just one room, but with the bathroom and large kitchen corner, it is a fairly respectable place for a high school student.

If you want to know about the boy you've replaced, this is the place to start, you think. "So who were you, Emiya Shirou?"

There is a bed, a flat TV, a table and a bookshelf. Besides that, you find (pick two):

[] Kyudo equipment.
[] A laptop.
[] A set of keys.
[] Kendo equipment.
[] A second phone.
[] A green armband.

 

[Liam-don]

Why a d3 when there are only two options tied?

Click to shrink...

Third option was both.

[X] Kyudo equipment.
[X] A laptop



Your hands are naturally drawn to the long black bag leaning on the closet's half-opened door. A tag hanging from the ropes read Property of Emiya Shirou, Amanogawa high school kyudo club. You already know what it contains but still undo the knots to reveal the tall and slender form of a japanese bow. You free the long piece of crafted bamboo and and a coiled length of string from their protection, your practiced eyes immediately able to tell that their owner put in the time and care to keep them in premium condition.

More strings hangs in the closet besides a kyudo uniform. You can't find any arrows, but you suppose the boy has (had?) no place to fire them other than the school range, and so he left them there.

So your other self is still a high schooler and a member of an archery club. In addition to whatever gave him a reputation as a janitor, his days must have been quite full. You wonder what you'll learn next about the boy. If you manage to get anything off the second item in the room.

You put the bow back in its place and sit down before the thin electronic device on the table. A laptop, thinner even than the tablet you've encoutered in your previous life, its screen a fine, flexible film fixed to an extendable platic shaft. Unfamiliar with the design you may be, it still doesn't take you long to light on the machine, and you wait with a little trepidation as the device boot up. You've developped quite a few shady skills in your time but hacker was not one of them, the targets you'd hunted most not relying on modern devices such as these.

You are both relieved and disappointed when the exploitation system finishes loading without asking for a password. If that Shirou had not bothered with even the most basic security, how many secrets could you hope to find in the machine? But then again, what you needed right now was informations on the boy's daily life, so even the most innocuous details was invaluable to you.

Those you found in spade. The boy apparently kept track of everything school related on this machine, so you have easy acces to his daily program, but also to reports on every courses he'd followed and notes and scores of about every test he'd passed in his two years of high school. Emiya Shirou, Amanogawa high school third year, was a dedicated and methodical student.

You could appreciate that.

You also find the days of archery practice, and a few scattered notes about places and people who regularly used him as a handyman.

Even if doesn't go into details, this is quite a headstart. You're really lucky Emiya Shirou was such a neat and organized young man.

...Too neat even. For some reason, the ease you've obtained all this vital information strikes you as odd, like this was meant to be found.

You shake your head. Or maybe you're just paranoid. Emiya Shirou he may be, nothing says this boy has to be exactly the same as you. Your arrival certainly didn't seem premeditated.

Then you notice it. What could motivate Emiya Shirou to become an honour student. Side by side with the math and history lessons, there is a set of courses you've never heard of before, but its name is enough to get your entire attention.

The Power Curriculum Program.

You missed it at first because it's right in the open. Not in the middle of the night at some secret location, but right there in the midst of the ordinary courses, are lessons to develop psychic powers.

Academy city.

You are right in the middle of an army of superpowered children.

You shiver at the utterly terryfying idea, then calm down. The city isn't burning down around you, so the risk is at least not immediate.

Then you wonder, what sort of power does Emiya Shirou have?

You open several files before coming upon the information. "Ah, here it is. Level 1..."

[]Psychometer.
[]Chronokinetic.
[]Transmutation.
[]Psychological control

 

[Liam-don]

[X]Chronokinetic.

The ability to freely manipulate the flow of time. To speed up, slow down, stop or outright reverse it within a specific target or area. The file expands on the potential variations and applications of such an ability. Enhanced reflexes, superspeed, precognition, time reversal regeneration, dozens of others possibilities are put forth, broken down, detailed and explained in a thick scientific jargon that goes right over your head. That doesn't stop you from understanding just what sort of power this entails. Mastery over time, that is the skill Emiya Shirou is developping at his school.

"Fuck me." You whisper inadvertantly.

Further reading somewhat dampen your reaction, as while in theory the implications are mind-boggling, the reality issn't quite that grandiose. Emiya Shirou was a level 1, which as far as you could understand meant he was barely able to use his powers. In practice, the boy could only slow or accelerate his own time-flow by a factor of 2 for a duration of ten seconds.

Your own professional hazards probably colored your opinion, but that was nothing to sneeze at as far as you were concerned. Still, the report said that it was far short of the boy's projected potential.

Who made those "projection" exactly, you wonder. Based on on what factors?

You take a deep breath and shake your head. While you get the general ideas in those reports well enough, there is a lot of reference to concepts and theories you've never even heard of that keep you from really understanding what you're reading. You're lacking the basic knowledge about "espers," "supernatural abilities," "the Power Curriculum Program." Academy City as a whole, really.

You are very hungry, you realize suddenly. Time flew without your notice and night has fallen. You set the laptop aside and go to the kitchen to fix yourself a quick meal. While you busy yourself in the kitchen, you think about what you'll do next.

[] There's school tomorrow. You want to get an early start. Go rest right away.
[] Go out for some scouting. Locate the school especially.
[] Your host's file wasn't completely beyond your understanding. Surely you can figure out how he used his ability.
[] Don't be hasty and start from the beginning. Read up on Academy City and Espers.
[] First of all, you need to know what you can do right now. Check this body's conditioning and see how it interacts with your ability as a Servant.
[] Look around the apartment once again. Maybe you missed something?
[]...?

 

[Liam-don]

[X] Don't be hasty and start from the beginning. Read up on Academy City and Espers.


There's no handy "Academy city 101" "Superpowers for dummies" book lying around, but you manage to cobble up some basic knowledge from books and the internet.

Academy City.

A landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the Tokyo Metropolitan Employment Area. As the city's name suggests, it is a city of several schools and institutions of higher learning from kindergarten to university level that learn side-by-side along with the scientists who research on psychic powers and higher technology. It is so advanced city its technology is said to be 30 years ahead of the world.

Academy City is composed of 23 districts, called School Districts one to twenty-three. Its total population is about 2.3 million with 80% of them being students and 1/8 of those students living in the city dorms. Of the entire student population, only 20% possesses a power worth mentioning, while about 60% demonstrate only a slight amount of psychic ability, level 0, 20% pursue other subjects instead of going under the Power Curriculum Program.

That significantly cut down on the number of people who can blow stuff up with their mind, but still leave about ten to a hundred thousand of them packed in the same plot of land. The knowledge doesn't really bring you much peace of mind.

The city's first line of law enforcement is the security bots that constantly patrol the streets. They're the one who deal with minor offense or delinquency, leaving Anti-Skill, an armed militia equipped with Academy City's latest toys, free to take care of real criminals. There's also Judgement, a city-wide "disciplinary comittee" of volunteer students, depending on their abilities to support Anti-Skill.

You take a look at a map and locate your appartment building and school before moving on to Espers.

Espers are the name given to the people who developped a supernatural ability through the Power Curriculum Program. Through the use of training, hypnosys and drug treatment, they learn to manifest their Personal Reality, substituting the world's reality with their own. The concept is eerily familiar, but whereas your Reality Marble is engraved in your very soul, the Personal Reality is describing as a mental structure whose magnitude depends entirely on the Esper's calculating ability.

...You have an inkling as to why Emiya Shirou never progressed beyond Level 1.

You're not Emiya Shirou. Not this Emiya Shirou at least. While you seemed to have things in common, your mindset are different and you definitely lack that Personal Reality of his.

But if that power is born from the physical shape, then you might be able to learn it as well. At least, self-hypnoiys is the first step of a sucessful magecraft and your own skill depends on imagination. While you don't have the six years this boy had to work on this skill you have more than a decade on him in the practice of those. It's no garantee, but it's worth a try, you think.

You keep reading for a while longer, delving into details about the underlying theories that support espers abilities and the experiments the students goes through. You're not eager to let some mad scientist toy with your brain, but the Level 1 experiments aren't that invasive, even if some are outright brutal. You can handle easily enough.

The only question then, is if you are willing to take the risk. Espers release a form of energy called AIM, which is as unique to each of them as their thumbprint. If you have AIM at all, it is most likely doesn't match your previous hosts.

You'll have to think about this carefully.

It's past midnight now. You're not really tired yet, but there's only a few hours until you have to show up for school. You live in the district 7 and your school is in the district 23. While the two border each other it is still quite a distance on foot, especially when you don't know your way around.

Maybe You should take a day off to really get your bearings.

Right now, you will...

[] Sleep
[] Go out.
[] Read on Emiya Shirou specifically
[] Check your condition.
[] Search through the appartment again.
[]...?


In the morning will you...

[] Go to school.
[] Don't go.

 

[Liam-don]

Rolled 5d100 : 22, 81, 56, 54, 25. DC 85: Failure.

[X] Check your condition.
[X] Don't go.


After your reading binge, you have a small understanding of your situation. You know where you are, who you're supposed to be, and in the short term at least, what you're supposed to do.

But really, nothing forces you to follow the script. You were a dead man falling back to his purgatory, now walking in another man's shoes While you feel the slightest prick of remorse about effectively killing the boy, you didn't ask for this either. Not that you're complaining, but you don't feel duty bound to protect the life Emiya Shirou had lived until a few hours ago.

No, more than that, it's impossible for you to be Emiya Shirou. You're not him, you've not even met him, and there's only so much to be learned from his belonging. Beyond that, there's you have far too much baggage to try to leave it all behind. You can't pretend that it all never happened and become someone else. You can only be yourself.

"Emiya Shirou." Your voice is thick with emotion.

Yes. For better or worse, you are Emiya Shirou. And you get to live your own life again.

It strikes you like a thunderbolt.

You're free.

Once you get over your bout is hysteria is over, you get back to business. Whatever you plan to do, you need to know what you have to work with. Starting with your body.

"Trace on."

Structural grasping is a more thourough than any training menu or medical check up you can think of. Faster too. You are in excellent shape, you're happy to see. No matter how busy this boy may have been, he did not neglect his body. There's still room for improvement, but you have a solid base to build on.

"Now for the hard part."

You excel in Structural Grasping to the point where it's stopped being a spell and became an innate ability, something that takes only the barest amount of prana to perform. In fact, you don't even need to open your Magic Circuits. But if you need to fight seriously, you're going to need them.

It is risky, of course, to release your prana within your new body. Your soul remains that of a denizen of the Throne of Heroes, and this is the flesh of a human being. Even with perfect compatibility, you are still a lion wearing a kitten's skin. Too much stress and it will rip at the seam.

On the positive side, you are still breathing. Technically, you should already be dead (again) , your sole presence too much of a burden for this flesh to handle. That nothing has gone wrong so far is very encouraging.

Still, it is with much caution that you activate a single circuit. There is a familiar pain as the alien pathway burn itself into your body, but the flesh accepts the new organ willingly.

Next, you send a trickle of prana flowing through. The energy passes safely. You have a working magic circuit. You progressively increases the flow slowly, slowly, until it can't take no more and the overflow goes into a freshly activated second circuit. One by one you activate the Magic Circuit of Heroic Spirit Emiya as the imprint themselves into the flesh Emiya Shirou. Three, four, five... Until all twenty seven function fully.

You raise an arm, watching the green lines of prana flowing through it smoothly with a satisfaction. This is not a fifth of the power you could use as a Servant, but this is beyond your wildest hopes. Those circuits are far more efficient than the one you had in your teen. You felt it, in the way the circuit traced themselves easily, following well-worn paths. The boy had opened his own circuits long ago and in the proper way.

Emiya Shirou had been a Magus, one with a master.

Immediately your thoughts turn toward your father, Emiya Kiritsugu, the man who had stubbornly refused to teach you magic out of the kindness of his heart and the wisdom from bitter experience. Emiya Kiritsugu, whose family's magecraft revolved around time manipulation.

You clench your fists tightly, overwhelmed by dark feelings of anger and jealousy.

Then you shake your head, relaxing immediately. You refuse to jump to any conclusion with so little facts. If the boy had been Kiritsugu's apprentice, what was he doing in Academy city for the last six years? The idea that he'd completed his studies before his thirteen birthday was not even worth considering.

You need more informantion. All that you know is that the boy had functional Magic Circuits, and this serves your purpose well.

Thinking that, you Reinforce your body. The blueprint already in mind, the process is quick and efficient. You kick and punch the air, the motion letting off satisfying cracks as you move superhumanly fast. Then your favorite twin dao are in your hands, the yin and yang blades leaping out of your mind with your first thought, faster and easier than ever before. You take a few light swings but soon put them away, before releasing the Reinforcement and let your prana flow away. You'd rather not wreck your house.

That went extremely well. While the power is lacking, your talents in themselves aren't diminished in the slightest. Indeed, it feels like your magecraft responds faster than ever. You're sure you could call up more blades or deploy your reality Marble if need be.

Then, one last thing.

Mana coalesces around you and your clothes vanishes, replaced by your red and black armor and you hold your bow in your hands. Satisfied, you're back in civilian clothes a heartbeat later.

Yes. You can definitely fight.

Safe in this knowledge, you decide that's you've done enough for the day. Your asleep the second your laying down.

You wake up in the morning, slightly later than you'd have liked. Getting to school on time would be a challenge now, so it's good you've decided to blow off entirely.

What will you do today?

[]Watch TV all day. Freedom!
[] Roam around district 7. You should get to know your neighbourhood.
-[] Look for something in particular (write-in)
[] Continue reading on espers. You've barely scratched the surface.
[] Read on Shirou's ability. The possibilities are so tantalizing.
[] Make your way to district 23. You might as well learn how to get to your new school.

[]...?

 

[Liam-don]

Rolled 2d100: total 44 + 64 = 108

You decide to keep learning about the theories of Esper abilities.

It doesn't go very well unfortunately. Despite all your efforts you fail entirely to wrap your mind around the scientific concepts, the words' meaning slipping out your brain almost as soon as you've read them. Still rote memorization lets you retain what you've learned, even if you don't understand it.

It's progress nonetheless.

Esper (theory) Exp = 108/100

Rank up! Esper (theory) reached Rank E.

Click to shrink...

It's close to noon when you catches a faint buzzing. It's your phone, you realize, you've forgotten it in yesterday's pants. You quickly extricate the device.

Your breath catch as you see the caller ID and the tiger plushie beneath.

Numbly, you answer the phone. "Hello?"

"SHIROOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" A woman wails into your ear.

You move the phone away from your ear protectively as the woman gibbers at the same loud volume.

"Are you okay? Sick? Nee-san was so worried when you weren't here this morning you never miss school even when you're sick and then you didn't call the school to say what was wrong with you and I thought the worst and so I didn't want to overreact so I waited but you didn't call me either and then I couldn't take it anymore and Shirooouuuuuuu..." She dissolves into loud sobs.

A rush of nostalgia fills your heart. "Sorry Fuji-nee," you apologize earnestly. " I just felt really tired this morning and felt like I needed a break."

"So you're really okay?" Taiga sniffs pitifully.

You nod, even if she can't see it. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm nearly back at 100%, I swear."

"So will you come this afternoon? I mean, you don't have to!" She adds hastily. "You're such a good boy nee-san know you wouldn't skip school without a good reason, but as a teacher I have to ask."

What do you say?
[] Yes
[] No.
[]...?

 

[Liam-don]

[X] No.
-[X] Cite the need to be sure of your recovery.
--[X] Continue studying: if you don't understand the concepts then search help. Internet is a thing right? And so are forums.
---[X] Reserve a bit of time to research more about your current life. You can't be caught unprepared.



"I'd rather not," you say carefully. "I'll take the afternoon off to make sure I'm completely fine."

"You do that," Taiga agrees eagerly. "Let your reliable Fuji-nee take care of things on this end!"

The call doesn't last much longer after that, as Taiga's lunch time is short and her meal is large. You heave a sigh as you hang up the phone.

That was nerve-wracking. You hadn't expected a ghost from your past to suddenly appears efore you. You wonder what happened to motivate Taiga to leave her cozy nest back home. Maybe the teachers have really good benefits in Academy City. Or maybe this was about you.

You curse under your breath, your lack of knowledge frustrating you to no end. You really wish Emiya Shirou had kept a diary. This time was easy, as you had old habits to fall back on, but you're not looking forward to complete strangers who will come at you like close friends.

You'll try to figure something out later. For now, you return to your studies.

If the books are too dry and complicated, you should try to find something meant for a more general audience. You boot up the laptop and access the largest repository of junk science and babarized knowledge known to mankind: the internet. Surely there is somewhere an article written in small enough words for you to understand.

As it turns out, Emiya Shirou had bookmarked several interesting pages and forum, which considerably speed up your research. In particular, the blog of "Sensei-chan" has several post elaborating on fundamental principles in very simple term. Among them her explanation of the uncertainty principle using a box of chocolate resonates with you.

An esper is the one who can change the nature of the candy within the box to what he wishes it to be.

You can turn all the marbles in the bag white.

Yes, the two powers are definitely close.

Another site of interest is a forum dedicated to "Level Upping." Most of the users seems to be proper espers expanding on the curicullum the follow to increase their powers. None of the members claim to be higher than level 2, but it's a start.

Sadly, not everything you find is worthwhile and most of your afternoon is spent on repeats of what you've learned in one form or another. In the end, you shut down the machine in disgust.

You need a change of pace. Maybe you should check the phone's memory for names you might recognize?

...A pressure crashes into your body. An energy fills the atmosphere around you, blanketing your room. You recognize it immediately, of course. After all, you've used it yourself countless time. Prana, the source of magecraft.

There is a magus nearby, preparing a truly powerful spell. Judging by the way the energy radiates rather than gather at a point, it is a bounded field of some sort.

Your hand clenches into fist and your heartbeat speed up.

What do you do?

[]Not your business. Keep your head down and hope it goes away.
[] Really not your business. Run away.
--[]Stealthily. Get to the stair and don't look back.
--[]Quickly. Jump out of the balcony.
[]Peek out of your room, carefully.
[]Go out and find the magus
--[] As a worried civilian
--[]Using reinforcement
--[]Draw out your swords already.

[]...?

 

[Liam-don]

Mmh, there's quite a lot of runes. This magus may have taken redundancy a little too far. On the other hand it means he probably didn't see the need to hide some in hard to find locations.

Still, you need to act fast. The probability that Spiky up there has an ability to keep himself alive is about 20% so you'd better even these odds.

You Reinforce yourself in a flash and get to ripping the talismans of the walls. The point being to disrupt the runes, you're quite content with messily shredding the piece of papers at top speed. As they also lack any sort of defensive properties, it doesn't take long for you to clear the entire floor.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"

But you weren't fast enough, as you see Spiky take a dive the roof of the bicycle shack, bounce off it and crash on the ground. He weathered his fall remarkably well however as he gets up quickly once the Fire Elemental roars down at him. It doesn't seem like destroying the runes slowed him down much, but it's not trying to pursue the boy either, so maybe you reduced its range of action or increased the burden on the magus. Regardless, you don't think it was useless.

The Elemental hasn't noticed you yet, but you have a completely clear shot at it now. The Magus doesn't seem to have moved yet.

What do you do?

[] Fire on the elemental. (If so, fire what?)
[] Go down. The boy may need help and be willing to give you information.
[] Go up. You've weakened the magus, now take him down!
-[] Quickly?
--[] Stealthily?
--- []Flashily?
[]Nah. You've done enough. Go back inside.
[]...?

 

[Liam-don]

Rolled 85, 44, 30. DC 75: 1 success.

To get to the magus, you first need to avoid his familiar.

Fortunately the creature is still making the evil eye at the boy and you swiftly sneak behind it. Once you're past, you climb the stairs silently, keeping a low profile. T

You reach the floor where the commotion began and peek across the corner. The magus is kneeling down, his back towards you. He is crowded by several cleaning bots that keeps you from seeing what he's doing.

His back tenses suddenly. He lets out a heavy sigh before standing and turning your way, but you hide long before he can catch sight of you.

"Do you you know what is the mark of a truly skilled fire magician? The ability to detect heat sources, such as a human body."

Huh. You didn't know that, no.

New universe, new rules?

"If you had the courage to come back up here, then stop acting like a rat and show yourself!"

He doesn't sound like he's bluffing. You've been made.

No point in hiding anymore then. You advance and get your first real look at your opponent.

Red haired male of european descent. Very tall, taller than you would be after your second growth spurt, even. Despite his size and menacing sneer, his face still has the youthfullness of childhoold. That boy is barely a teenager.

That doesn't make him any less of a threat though. There's a silver ring on each of his fingers, all crackling with mana. The dark flowing robes he wears emits a magical glow as well, somewhat reminding you of your own overcoat from the Burial agency, though not as powerful. You're sure they offer some degree of protection against magical and physical attacks. Nothing that could slow down your blade, but it could make less lethal avenues more difficult.

As you watch him, the boy watches you. His eyes widen a fraction. "You're not that guy." His surprised look turns quickly into a mocking sneer. "Do all Academity City students have more guts than sense? You're so eager to run toward certain death one after the other!"

A small flame appears in his raised hand. "If you can't mind your own business, then you deserve the consequences."

In the detached, analytical sight of your eye of the mind, you note that the boy is really paying more attention to his monologue than to you, his opponent. He doesn't seem inclined to call his familiar back to his sides, either.

The boy is completely, entirely underestimating you.

You're not nearly as taken with the sound of his voice as he is. What will you do about it?

[]Abort. Run away before things escalate any further.
[]Surrender. Raise your hands and attempt to negociate.
[]Punch him. In the face.
[]Sword him. (Which? How?)
[]...?

 

[Liam-don]

Rolled 27, 36, 17, 25, 95, 26. 2 successes.



[X] Punch him. In the face.

"Hear the name of the one who killed you!"

Right, that's about enough of that.

"Fortis-"

In a single breath you're in the boy's space, your fist sailing toward his face. To his credit your burst of speed doesn't make him panic. Indeed, his eyes sharpen as he reassess your threat level and understand that you can give him a real fight. Still, he doesn't initiate any movement to defend himself. He simply waits, sure that he can withstand your attack with no harm.

Well, you'll both learn whether his confidence is misplaced immediately.

Your fist lands square on his face with a meaty smack and despite hitting bare skin, the cloth's protection work against the impact of your Reinforced strike. The power is absorbed, dissipated, and even negated, a blow that could shatter stone and rend steel is reduced to next to nothing.

Next to nothing is more than enough.

Your right hook hits him square in the jaw and send the boy crashing into the wall. His eyes are wide and uncomprehending and he leans on the wallfor support.. Your blow was effective; doubly so because this magus never expected his protection to fail. Once, again, he sees you in a completely different light.

Too little, too late.

Before he can begin to use his magecraft, your fists land again and again. Jaw, center of the ribcage, liver, throat, you clinically pummel him to maximize the pain and limit his actions. He raises his arm in a pitiful defense but it becomes clear he has absolutely no close combat skill as your blows slide through effortlessly to rattle his brain. Desperate, the boy tries to curl into a ball, but you lift him up and shove him against the wall. You see a hint of fear in his eyes before one last punch make them roll up and he crumples uncounscious.

You feel the bounded field vanish from the building. The familiar has probably vanished as well.

That was easy. You look at the numerous bruises and let out a sigh. "I'd almost feel like a bully."

If he hadn't just tried to kill another kid, that is. You were positively merciful.

"Assistance is required."

With a start, you turn toward the voice. Then you see what held the magus' interest before you appeared. A young nun dressed in white looks at you with dispassionate eyes blue eyes. The cleaning bots crowd her as they wipe off the blood that flows from a wound on her side.

With a growl, you push the machines away and kneel down near the girl. "I'm going to take care of you."

Carefully, you check the extent of the injury. It's pretty bad. Someone went at this girl with a long and thin blade, and and the damage goes deep. Still, you try your best to be reassuring. "You're going to be Okay."

"Incorrect," the girl answers emotionlessly. "This injury is life threatening, death will occur in about half an hour."

"That's more than enough time", you answer with a confident smile." Where do you think you are? Academy City has the fastest response teams in the world."

You don't know if that's true, but that would be more than enough time for any large city in Japan. You take your phone out, hoping the emergency numbers are the same in this place. "What's your name, miss nun?"

"Index!" Someone shout from behind you.

Spiky is back. He glares at you with all his might. "Get away from her!"

You glare back."Can you make a compress?" Quickly, you removr your shirt. "If not, I'd suggest you make yourself useful and call an ambulance."

He starts. "Wait, is that you, Emiya? What's going on? You're the one who beat up that magician?"

Well crap, that kid knows you. "He couldn't take a punch," you say quickly as you fold your shirt and put pressure on the injury. You twist the cloth and tie it around the slim girl."Hurry up and make the call!"

He shakes his head. "No wait, there's a group of magicians after that girl. If we get her to a hospital, they'll find her easily!"

"She needs treatment." You shoot back.

"I know that much, but it's all over if they catch her. We'd be putting the other patients in danger too."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"I don't know!" He retort helplessly. "Isn't there a healing spell in those 103,000 Grimoires of yours, Index?"

103,000 Grimoires? What?

"Positive, but I do not possess mana. Furthermore, espers cannot perform magic."

The boy growls in frustration, until his face lights up. "You mean, if they're not an esper any ordinary human can do magic?"

"If the preparation is correct, yes." The nun answers.

Seriously, what.

"Alright," the boy cheers. "Let's bring her to Komoe-sensei! She's not an esper and I'm sure she'll help us."

You have lot of questions but they can wait until the girl isn't bleeding to death.

[]Call the damn ambulance. They're far more reliable than an amateur magus.
[]Reveal that you are a magus. Surely you'll do better.
[]Go along with his plan. It might reduce the collateral damage.
[]Leave. Just let the kid take care of his friend.
[]...?

There's also the magus to consider.

[]Keep him. You have question for him.
[]Give him to the cops. Stalked and injured a child.
[]Leave him there. What's the worst that could happen?
[]Kill him. That's the normal consequences for his lifestyle.
[]...?

 

[Liam-don]

The girl has passed out. You need to decide quickly.

You sigh. In your experience, magi are very attached to their secrecy and would go to any length to preserve it. Back to clandestinity then.

"How far away is your teacher's place?"

The boy perks up at your approval. "Not far at all! 10 minutes at a fast jog!"

You nod. "Let 's hurry. You carry her and I'll take care of this one," stepping toward the downed magus.

The boy hesitates. "What do you plan to do with him?"

"Take him with us, obviously. His friends won't give up because I gave him a few bruises. If we're planning on solving this situation, this boy will be a big help."

"An hostage you mean," he grumbles as he lifts the nun in his arms. "Makes me feel like the bad guy."

You don't roll your eyes, but it's a close thing. "I'm more interested in his side of things, really. You pocket the boy's ring, disrobe him and rip parts of the cloth to bind his limbs together. That done, you sling the hopefully harmless boy over your shoulder. "Who knows, maybe we'll be able to resolve this peacefully."

Spiky stares at you. "Your words and actions don't match at all."

You shrug. "Let's hurry."

With a grumble about how unfortunate this is and that you'll probably all end up in jail, the two of you set off with your luggages.

Fortunately the night has fallen and you move fast while through the badly lit back alleys. While you're walking the boy tells you what little he knows of the situation. The nun, Index, landed yesterday on his balcony and demanded to be fed. The boy accepted, not wanting the bad karma of refusing a woman of the clothes. During the meal the girl revealed that she was pursued by a group of magicians for the 103,000 Grimoires in her possession.

You cut him off. "Again with the thousands of books. Does she carry a key for a secret warehouse?"

"That what I thought at first to. But Styil Magnus, the guy you're carrying, said that she has them all stored in her brain. Index has perfect memory and the English Protestant Church shoved them all in her head."

The nun had left shortly after that, warning him that her staying would drag him to the depths of hell with her. He'd thought the odd encounter would be the end of it, until he discovered her this evening at his front door, badly injured.

"You met this girl for the first time yesterday?" He nods. "Then why are you risking your life for her?"

"I couldn't live with myself knowing I'd ran away and failed to protect one lone girl. If she is in the depths of hell, then I'll drag her out!" He declares with steely determination.

You nearly cringe, his word hitting a little too close to home. This was a city of espers though, so maybe he had the power to back up his talk.

"Also my right hand is the reason Index's Walking Church was destroyed, so I'm partly responsible for her injuries." He admits guiltily

"What's a Walking Church?"

The boy shrugs. "That's what she called her clothes. Supposedly it was an absolute defense that could stop any attack or magic, but Imagine Breaker destroy any supernatural phenomenon it touches."

An anti-magecraft ability? That could be handy. "Though it didn't work against the elemental, did it?"

"It did, but according to Index Innocentius would always revive so long as the runes to call him was around." He grins. "Beating the magician black and blue works fine too, I guess."

Soon after, you reach your destination. The boy bangs at the door until a child's voice answers. "Yes, yes! I'm coming. I hope you're not a newpapers salesperson!"

The door opens and a strange creature appears.

It's a child dressed in a bunny-eared pajamas, you realize after you've managed to process all the pink. The whole thing is sickeningly cute.

She takes a good look at your group before settling on the spiky haired boy. "Ara, Kamijou-chan? Who are your friends."

"Komoe-sensei! We need your help!"

"That kid is your teacher?"

"How mean, I'm a proper adult!" She waves her arms in indignation, which does nothing to help her case.

Then the nun starts shining in Kamijou's arms, cutting short the budding argument. "Warning, chapter2, Stanza 6, the loss of vital evergy due to blood loss has exceeded safely levels. Forcibly awakening in John's Pen mode. Presently, according to the International Standard Time shown on the clock tower in London, my body will lose the minimum amount of mana needed to sustain life and will die in fifteen minutes. I would be appreciative if you were to follow my instructions and apply treatment. "

"Awawa," Komoe whimpers in surprise.

"Sorry sensei, this is an emergency." Kamijou forcefully walks into her room and you follow him after bowing to the tiny teacher in apology.

The place is an awful mess, beer cans and empty cigarettes packs competing with dirty clothes and plates. But that's beyond the point right now, the nun once again asks Komoe for her support and tell Kamijou to leave. Apparently, his mere presence might interfere with the healing magic.

"What about us?" You ask.

"You may remain."

You drop Styil in a corner and sit down near him. The teacher is as far as you can tell a completely ordinary person. Which is what Index asked for. Somehow ,this brand of magic seems to not require Magic Circuits.

The very idea boggles the mind.

But the girl has access to an incredible amount of magic knowledge, you remind yourself. It is possible she knows a shortcut that doesn't require Circuits, as impossible as it sounds. Regardless, you're very curious as to what kind of magic they're going to use.

The process is far beyond your expectations. Rather than instructing Komoe in the sort of spirit healing you are familiar with, Index manufactures in a matter of minutes a ritual to transform the room into a temple linked to the higher planes. Then by singing Komoe calls down a Cherub and borrow its power to heal Index. As soon as the healing is finished, Index stops glowing and falls asleep.

In your corner, you're having a hard time handling what just happened.

They called down a Divine Beast to stitch a flesh wound.

You have no words. This is the equivalent of dropping the entire world's nuclear arsenal on a small chack to clear out a rodent infestation.

That the process worked without a proper magus with Magic circuits performing is sidelined by all the way making such a creature pay attention to the human world could have gone wrong.

What were they thinking?

"Getting scared?"

You snap back to reality. Styil Magnus is awake and grins dangerously at you. "You've realized it, haven't you? That you've jumped blindly into a situation far beyond what you can handle."

His bluster helps to distract you from the implication of what you've just seen, and you revert to your usual nochalance. "So far I've been dealing pretty well. For one," you wave your hands. "I'm still free."

The boy laughs loudly, a harsh sound that makes Komoe cower. "Don't kid yourself. I'm not the one in danger here. You, that other guy and that brat you've dragged into this. You're all already dead."

As if on cue, an enormous pressure fills the entire room. In a screech of metal against metal, the front door is sliced twice before a boot kick in the remains.

A young woman walks in, her gaze sharp like drawn steel.

Her strange attire doesn't so much as register, even her long No-dachi is only worth a half-thought as your Reality Marble records it. (Shichiten Shichitou, high grade mystic code that can generates ultra-thin wires to cut down the enemy. Tough, well mantained, highly attuned to mana. Also reliable for the traditional use of a sword)

What draws your attention is her aura. The woman radiates a power the likes of which you've rarely seen. Divinity. Like Golden King Gilgamesh or the mighty Herakles, that woman's existence is close to the Gods. Her spirit and body have been touched by the Divine. Not a blessing, but a fundamental part of her nature.

"A saint." You aknowledge.

The woman nods at you. "How perceptive. If you understant that much then you know resistance is out of the question. Hand over my partner and Index."

You understand what Styil meant now. If you were still a Heroic spirit, you could put up a fight, but now...

You're so outgunned it's not even funny.

But giving up isn't your style.

You put an arm over Styil's shoulders. "Let's not get hasty. None of us want to do something he'd regret." You stare right back at her unflinchingly. She doesn't scare you.

The girl's eyes narrow and she draws her blade, just barely. "Nanasen"

Komoe cries out in terror as her table fall in pieces. You might have seen the thin wires that sliced it, but they were so fast as to be completely beyond her perception.

"Do not test me again. Release him, now!" She orders.


... This is a far greater reaction than you excepted. With how powerful she is, the situation should not require such a demonstration of force so soon. Regardless of the risk to her associate, the girl herself is perfectly safe and so should not feel the need to scare you into surrendering. Unless...

You look at the woman again, pushing aside her powerful aura. Her pupils are dilated, her hand wavers slightly on her weapon's guard, Her breathing is uneven. For a split second, her eyes turn furtively toward Komoe and the nun and her hands tighten around her weapon at the sight of the bloodied cloth.

The woman is nervous. Shaken. Scared.

She is not the cold professional she tries to project, her emotion playing a bigger part in her action than her judgement. Despite her powers, her confidence is not absolute. She cares about the well-being of the people in this room and doesn't wish to put them at risk any more than you do.

There is still room for you to strike, a chink in her armor you can stab at. The battle is not yet lost.

You will

[] Run away!
-[] With Index
--[] With Komoe
---[] Both

[]Attack(choose your weapon)
[]Get her to retreat
[]Get her to lay down her weapon and talk

...?

To do that, you will
[]Give up Styil
[]threaten Styil
[]Kill Styil
[]...?

---------------
I suck horrendously at keeping it simple.

 

[Liam-don]

Infodump, ho!


Rolled 92, 61, 87. DC 40. Three successes!


You raise your arms and speak slowly. "I subdued your associate because he attacked a friend of mine with the intent to kill. I captured him because I wanted information about what is going on. I do not want to fight if I don't have to."

The girl relaxes slightly at your words, though her expression doesn't change. "I've already stated my conditions."

You nod in understanding. Without a word, you free Styil.

The boy gets up stiffly, but gives you a smug smirk. "My rings," he demands haughtily.

If he weren't in his under clothes, he might cut an intimidating figure. But he is and you're not intimidated in the slightest. You shove the arrogant child toward his ally and he crashes at her feet.

The girl doesn't overreact to her partner's mistreatment, relieved as she is to have him back. Her eyes rest on him for only an instant before they return on you, following you as you put yourself between her and Index. "You won't hand her over."

You cross your arm and shrug. "I know very little of this situation, but what I know is that this girl has no wish to be with you and that you are willing to hurt her." The two flinch at the accusation. There is history there. "As such, I cannot step aside while you take her away. I do not wish to fight, but I will if you force me to."

Saying that, you glare at them with the full combative spirit of a warrior of countless battlefields. Their eyes widens as your pressure hit them, and they reevaluate you yet again. You're not a snake trying to slither his way out of trouble, they realize. You're a cornered tiger about to jump at their thraoat.

Even then, you don't expect the boy to back down. After how his day has turned, he must be itching for payback, regardless of the risks.

"Screw you, esper! I'm going to enjoy watching her put you in your place!"

You ignore him entirely, only interested in his partner's reaction. She's the threat, but also the one cool-headed to consider meeting you in the middle.

"Styil, enough."

"Kanzaki?" The boy says dumbfounded.

The girl puts an hand on his shoulder and speak to you. "I am Kanzaki Kaori of the Church of Necessary Evil, Necessarius."

You nod. "Emiya Shirou."

This is when Kamijou barges in, right hand held forward like a shield. He probably thought the worst after he saw the slashed door, but he calms down when he sees everyone's fine. He looks at the newcomer, his eyes lingering on her very long weapon, before turning to you. "This is the part where you tell me this is your girlfriend, right? Please?"

...Well, you can't refuse an opening like that.

"I wish," you say fornlornly, your gaze trails on the girl's body with obvious admiration.

The girl's cheeks bloom the deepest red and she fidgets nervously under your leer.

A real blushing maiden, how cute. She really is a child, utterly inexperienced, probably kept isolated by her powers and status.

But with that, the tension entirely leaves the room. As proof, Komoe claps her hands and adresses everyone with a large smile. "Alright, you may be unusual guests, but welcome anyway! Who wants a cup of tea? I have chocolate too!"

Soon, the group makes itself comfortable in the small appartment and Kanzaki tells her story.

As it turns out Index is also part of Necesarius, an underground group of enforcers for the Anglican Church. Their role is to suppress and destroy magicians who steps out of line and endangers the peace. Part of that is to keep forbidden knowledge, Grimoires, from getting in the hands of those who would misuse it.

'Magic Grimoires' refers to texts containing knowledge from another plane, knowledge which contradicts the law of the world and if mishandled would drive the reader insane. In the hand of a trained handler, that knowledge become 'magic.'

Grimoires, as in the sum of knowledge itself rather than the physical form, are eternal entities that cannot be destroyed by any means in the current world, and so they must absolutely be kept somewhere safe. That is Index's role.

Her Magic Name (And you have no idea what the hell is that supposed to be. More worrying, the two magi have no idea either.) is Dedicatus545, the lamb that guard the knowledge of the strong. She was born with photographic memory and was used by the Anglican Church to record 103,000 individual Grimoires and thus allow to destroy their previous physical form.

You have to admit, it's a brilliant move. A single woman is easier to defend and move that an entire library and all that knowledge in a single place is also an excellent bait for to draw out magi hungry for power and knowledge. Which in your experience would be any magus ever, but you suspect that the religious organization is just happy the less magi are running around. Magic is heresy, after all.

You wonder how it feels about espers.

Index carries nearly all the forbidden knowledge in the world in her mind. There is however, a price to pay.

"The brain's capacity is rather minimal," Kanzaki says mournfully, "even more so in Index's case, as she remembers everything around her, from the smell in the winds to the number of threads in the coat of a passerby. Her brain was already filled at 85% by the Grimoire, leaving her only 15% for everyday life. In her case, that 15% is only enough for one year. Any longer and her brain would be destroyed by the pressure."

She turns toward the younger girl, giving a look of affection and guilty sorrow. "That is why every year, we erase her memory. Until last year, Stiyl and I were her friends and guardians, but after she forgot she mistook us for her enemies and ran away."

The girl isn't telling you the whole truth, you feel. not lying, but carefully obscuring details. Not so surprising, considering she's giving her life story to strangers under duress.

Aside from that, there's something about this story that you feel is...

"Hum, I'm sorry, but you're not being serious, are you?" Komoe dares to ask . "I mean, you're story is kind of..." She scrunches up her face, the childish teacher looking utterly adorable as she struggles mightily to find the right word, "...stupid?"

Yeah. That.

The magi don't take it well. Their faces twist in anger and Kanzaki's hands clench on her weapon. Clearly, they're being very serious about this.

Kamijou jumps in before things turn sour. "Don't take it the wrong way! She's a teacher in the city of Science. She can't take story about magic seriously."

"I'm sorry!" The tiny woman wails from behind Kamijou's back, close to tears. "Kamijou-chan is right, but this isn't about magic. It's just, Index-chan having only one year's worth of memory space doesn't make sense!"

Styil growls. "You're calling us liars? you little...!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Wait! Listen to her. The brain is a key part of an esper's power. She may not be a neurologist, but Komoe-sensei has to know a lot about it mechanism for her job. Please, listen to what she has to say."

Styil looks at Kanzaki, who nods. He settles down grudgingly. "Please," she says.

Suddenly on the spot, Komoe takes a deep breath before switching into what you assume is her lecturing mode. "Well, I only know some basic neurology, but it's enough to tell you the brain definitely doesn't work the way you think." She starts counting on her fingers. "First, memory isn't one big bag where everything is throw in, but several separates sections meant to stored different things. Everyday memories and knowledge picked from books aren't even in the same category so one can't affect the other. Second, eidetic memory is a known, documented condition and the people who had it lived long, full lives. They certainly didn't die before reaching their tenth birthday, so even if Index-chan had only 15% left, that's much more than one year worth of space."

"Finally, brain don't explode because there's too much data in it!" She declares firmly, shaking her head repeatedly. "I don't care about magic books or anything like that, that's just completely, positively, entirely iiiiiiiiiiiiiiimpossible!"

"But," Styil starts, absolutely stunned. "It does happen. Every year at the exact same date, Index brain starts to break down. We have to erase her memories or she'll die. If it's not because there's too much of them, then what?"

"Isn't it obvious," Kamijou throws in. "Your higher ups want to be sure they can control Index, right? What better way than to make sure she stays a blank slate in need of someone holding her hand?"

How about erasing her memory once and then properly build her personality so that she became entirely devoted to the church and their cause? The yearly memory erasure seems to be overkill, really, unless they think Index will inevitably slips out of their control if given enough time. You keep those speculation to yourself, as they're entirely based on your gut feeling.

Kanzaki look shaken to the core by Kamijyou's spiel. She gets up shakily. "This is...I need to talk with my superiors."

"They may just lie to you again," you warn.

Kanzaki's eyes grow cold. "No, they won't." She says with finality. "We'll leave Index in your care for now."

With that, the two magi leave.

As she needs the rest, Komoe is willing to let Index sleep in her home. Kamijou wishes to stay, fearing that the magi might come back.

As for you:

[]You stay. Can't be too careful
[]You leave. Kanzaki can be trusted.
-[]You're kinda hungry. Buy something on the way home.
--[]Go straight home.

 

[Liam-don]

[X] You leave. Kanzaki can be trusted.
- - [X] You're kinda hungry. Buy something on the way home.


After making sure you indeed have Kamijou Touma's number, you tell him to call you when there's news and leave.

"I will for sure, Emiya." He answers gratefully. "I knew you were a dependable guy, but you were amazing tonight. I don't want to think about how it would have gone if you hadn't talked them down." Komoe nods fervently, her eyes bright with admiration.

You humbly accept their praise and leave.

Once outside, you allow yourself a smirk of satisfaction. It's true, you've dealt with the previous crisis incredibly well. The problem is far from solved, of course, and you may very well find yourself at odd with the two magi again, but you entertain the possibility of peaceful reconciliation and the in it will give you in this world's magical community.

Magic that doesn't need Circuits, and so powerfull it can call down Divine beasts. The idea still makes your mind spin. Such a fundamental difference can't simply be a simple matter of methodology, you think, but must begins at a far deeper level. You suspect that aside from being unexplained by mundane science, their magic and your magecraft are entirely different. It's only a theory at this point though. As so often rencently, you need more information to reach a conclusion.

You think about the Grimoires implanted in Index's brain. Certainly, the answers must be there if you can access them, but you're wary of anything that could potentially drives you insane.

But all that are questions for another day. Time flew during all this drama and it's close to midnight. You haven't eaten anything since lunch, your stomach loudly reminds you.

Your home is not far but you don't have anything ready in kitchen. Making food is no chore to you but you feel like eating quickly, so you decide to swing by a convenience store you saw on the way.

The store is nearly empty at this hour and you're soon sitting at the window's counter, eating a warm katsu-don. The food is reasonably good for its pricetag and you're hungry enough to make quick work of it. You stomach pleasantly full, you return to your home.

Or you would have, if not for the scene you come across in as you leave. A schoolgirl with long blonde hair is surrounded by five guys leering at her. Their intent is clear, as is the girl's dissaproval. Still she seems more annoyed than scared, so she may not be in danger.

[] Move on. You've done enough heroing for the day.
[] Sneak attack. Knock them out before they see you.
[] Be cunning. Act like you know her and hope they give up.
[] Hit and run! Grab the girl and make a run for it!
[] Watch and wait. Maybe it'll work out peacefully.



------------

I was tempted to go BiriBiri Imouto, but I thought that was too many long plotlines thrown at you when we've barely started.

 

[Liam-don]

[X] Watch and wait. Maybe it'll work out peacefully.




Right. Those teens are pushy and refuse to take no for an answer, but things haven't gotten physical yet. Your intervention is as likely to make things worse as better, so you hold off for now. Who knows, maybe they'll take the hint and leave her alone.

And maybe you'll rediscover the First Magic before the night is over, too. Might as well dream big.

The girl valiantly tries to ignore her admirers as she goes about her shopping, but her cold attitude only spur them on and one of them finally reach out to grab her arm. She freezes, her shopping basket slipping off her grip. Like animals sensing weakness, the thugs crowd their prey with hungry leer, shamelessly enjoying the fear of their victim.

This has gone far enough, you think.

You're about to move when you catch the girl throwing you a look that stops you in your track. Even now, annoyance is the only feeling you can read on her face. She doesn't feel in danger at all.

Her hand digs into her large bag and a steel claw clamps down on your brain. Your arms go limp, your back gets ramrod straight. Your senses grow dull, until from the tip of your toes to the crest of your head, your whole body slip out of your control.

Your nervous system has been overtaken. This is bad, especially as you slowly feel the control tighten on your brain itself and your conciousness begins to slip away.

Hell no. You haven't weaseled out of a fight with a Saint to be taken out by a random kid on the streets.

You activate your circuits. It' s a close thing but you manage to push a trickle of prana through them. You feel it pass through your body, zapping you like an electric chock as it strains to expel the foreign power. But it's not enough and you are prisoner of your own body, the pain barely enough to keep you aware.

You need more power.

"Ah, having so much Star power makes life so difficult~" The girl sighs theatrically.

She moves around the men, looking them over. They stand frozen, caught in the girl's power just as you are.

A mind controller. No wonder she wasn't worried.

More power.

"I can't go anywhere without attracting the attention such crass individuals. Such is the fate of a Queen, I fear."

She digs into her bag once again and fishes out a remote control. At the push of a button, the thugs start to move all at once, walking down the aisle in a single file until they reach an empty corner. There they stop, face to the wall.

"Now what shall I do with you?" She drawls playfully.

You really don't like the way she's saying that.

With an herculean effort, you pour more prana in your circuits. The energy flows strongly and it feels like you've stuck your hand in a power socket as it burns away the girl's control. Your mind clears as your sensation returns.

She has golden eyes, you notice as she comes to stand right in front of you. With large, flashy stars in the middle.

She hums thoughfully. "From up close, you are pretty handsome."

Your fingers twitch. You flex them experimentally while she stares at your face. Their response is back to normal. You're in command of yourself once more.

Her hand slips under your shirt.

What.

"Oh goody," she whispers as she brazenly fondles your stomach. "Your muscle power is quite high, too."

Your chastity is in danger.

[] Stay still. You're curious to see how far she'll go.
[] Not interested. Tell her to stop right now.
[] Knock her out! You don't want her to put you under again.
[] Steal her remote. It looks like she needs to use her power.
[]...?