Lost World of Fate

[Blue Glass]

I figured I should post a story on here now.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Fate series.

---

Slowly his vision started to return to him as the disorienting sensation overcame him. For a moment he tried to remember what had happened to him and were he was. That quickly faded to the hack of his mind as his blurry vision ceased and what greeted him was a vast expanse of blue interrupted by floating islands made up of various buildings and sites, each with drastically different styles from across the world.

Below his feet he was standing next to the edge of one of the islands. Its form is that of what looked like hardened glass with marble surrounding in circles. Small lights moved out from the edge both into the expanse and too it. Crossing along in ways similar to a circuit board as they moved from each of the floating islands and even very faintly in the sky up above. Said sky was strangely that of a full night sky filled with nothing but stars. Yet, at the same time it was as bright as if it was noon.

"Where am I?"

His question was mostly to himself as he couldn't see anything that looked like a person so far. This assumption was proven false as a soft yet strangely stern feminine voice. "You're inside the Moon Cell."

He turned around at the voice as the owner sounded just behind him. A pale woman sat on a large ornate silver throne with three moons, one full, one half, and one a crescent. At its head two crescents held what looked like a half twisted rubik's cube floating there. Long, knee length silver hair tied in a great braid held tight by a blue ribbon near the end. A royal dress, half blue and half red on each side with white dots like stars connected by yellow lines in the form of constellations of some sort. It held itself to her voluptuous figure, almost too perfect with a sizable bust barely held by it. Finally, her eyes a deep gold that gave the feeling like she could crush him with but a stare, and irises shaped like ovals. From the throne the woman sat on I could see small pulses of energy moving along the circuit-like pathways both too and from the throne.

She stared at the young man in front of her while he stared back with confusion. There was something in the back of his mind that told him that this woman was a lot more than what she showed herself as. It was a gut feeling that made him move into a defensive stance. "Who are you?"

"The correct question is less who am I, and more what am I," The woman didn't bother to stand up but she moved forward in her seat as she stared seemingly into his soul. "I am both the Interactive Avatar of the Moon Cell and the Mind of the Moon itself," She had a smirk on her face as she moved back to sit on the throne upright as the area around them seemed to change with the starry sky to that of a heavy cloudy day. "You can call me Archetype Moon."

---

Archetype Moon was rather quick to answer some questions that he would have. First, this was a virtual environment of some sort. Not the typical computer made using human understanding as the Interactive Avatar of the Moon Cell explained it technically ran on concepts in the realms of mystery rather then science. As the name suggested this was located within the Moon. Although, she made a point that it wasn't the Moon he was used to seeing. At that his last question was how he had gotten here when she answered.

"You recreate the Second and the Third Magics?!" Such a thing sounded wild to even hear as it was known that while theoretically possible for some to recreate aspects of each of the True Magics, recreating the True Magics in full was deemed impossible.

True Magic was practically a miracle. The very thing that could alter the world itself. A slice of power from the Root. Yet, here was someone, arguably something if one wanted to be technical given her nature, that just admitted to recreating True Magic without much fanfare. Especially, given that one of those still possessed a very much living user which is theorized by some to prevent anyone else from gaining it.

"You seem shocked but really I think it shows more how limited in perspective Humanity is on what is possible," Archetype Moon waved her hand acting like this was indeed no big deal. Brushing off what would be something that some Mage families could only dream about doing as something trivial. "The real problem is more trying to accurately pull a freshly dead soul here without it suffering large amounts of degradation that even I can't fix."

That reminded him of something important. He had died in what had seemed to be not that long ago. He wasn't even much more than nineteen when it had happened though given he had signed up with the Enforcers, even part time, that was always something to be expected. For a brief moment he wondered how his family was taking it. "Why am I here?"

Not that he wasn't grantful at not being completely dead. The effort taken though was something that seemed utterly insane for just him. "It's not a curiosity that I try to pull out people from the point of death here, and neither are you the only one," She raised a hand as several holographic screens appeared showing several pointed crystal and orbs with various percentage states. "Most of the souls are unfortunately more than forty percent gone which is too much for me to bring back."

Many of the screens showed orbs that glowed among various faint colors. Each one then having an X going through them as the numbers ranged from just above zero to those just below forty. Several words from languages not recognized by him save for those in Japanese, English, and German passed by. From what he could understand it said that the reconstruction was impossible. "Those unfortunate souls are released into the Far Side of the Moon Cell in order to fade into the Archivals, or the Root as you call it."

The images moved to orbs, the souls, who were at forty percent or upwards to about just under eighty percent. Finally, the number came to a stop with those above eighty percent. Only four of them seemed to be shown. With the last one's name being his own. "Most of the rest are good to go with some help, but you alongside three others are pulled fully conscious due to most of your soul being complete when you arrived and fully restored by my reconstruction."

Three others had been here before him. That actually raised a question on why she was doing this. Why would some sort of supercomputer, to his understanding of what she was, want to pull on souls of beings who had just died? "Why do you do this?"

"Because, I have watched Gaia's surface, or as you term it the earth, and there is a problem," On one screen showed an orange line that started to branch off as it moved upwards. In even intervals some of the branches ceased while others continued. Eventually it started to look like a tree of some sort.

At a point at the top a red dot was noticed before others were noticed. Eventually the whole tree was seen falling into itself in one like before the line fell down into itself. No longer a great vertical tree but a wide line that had numerous scans. "Time has crashed in this world, what was once proper history and its many branching timelines collapsed into itself as a nonlinear throwback to the early planet."

After a while the orange line turned purple and condensed itself back to a point with time moving back upwards. The new purple line wasn't branching out as often as the previous one and neither was many of them ceasing at each interval which seemed to take place at far longer periods. "Gaia fixed the time issue but the World below is a mess, one of which I feel a desire to figure out why and maybe to experiment on what would happen if I intervene in the world like my counterpart."

He was very certain that there was a smirk on her face as those words left her mouth. There was a brief moment where he wondered just what she meant by her counterpart. Given that she could apparently recreate the Second Magic and was tied to the moon there was an obvious idea on who that might be. "So, how do you do that then?"

"Well, most of them get sent to the planet in a way to be reborn assuming I can locate a proper free vessel for it or if need be I can fuse the occasional dragged Ghostliner into them," If he was reading between the lines it sounded like placing their souls within something like stillborns or maybe artificial flesh constructs in the former. As for the latter, he hasn't heard the term Ghostliner before. "In instances such as that and in cases like you I just recreate a new body for them as I send them to the planet."

"You can actually do that?"

Archetype Moon had a small laugh at his question. Sure, she knew that such a question had been asked before. "Recreation of your body is easily within my power while you stand in here."

The amount of power that she had already shown spoke volumes even if she was restricted to the Moon. Of course, it was probably easy to recreate his body for something that could pull off not one but two of the True Magics. Archetype Moon stood up and held her hand up at him. Everything around him felt blurry as the area around his soul was covered in a wrapped space. Once it ceased he could feel himself gasp for air as a heartbeat could be felt in his chest. His soul was now housed within an actual body once again.

"Did you just-"

"Recreate your body using your soul as a blueprint?" Archetype Moon cut him off acting like she knew what he was going to say. "Yes, though until I send you to the planet it's still in a state of flux so as to be convertible for the Spiritron transfer down to the planet."

That explained how he would be sent back to earth but there was something off about him. Sure, his body was a recreation of himself as a nineteen year old but there just felt like there was another thing added. Taking a look at the back of his right hand there were red lines in the form of a tattoo of some sort. He, on reflex wanted to use a spell to figure out just what they are.

They reminded him of the things he saw on the back of his father's hand. "Those are Command Seals, a tool used to control Ghostliners," Archetype Moon was back in her throne typing away on a screen that appeared next to her. "I based those off a World that figured out how to replenish them and control multiple Ghostliner emissions to a lesser extent."

"What even is a Ghostliner?"

His question caused her to pause for a moment as if she was thinking about the question. After a moment the Interactive Avatar decided to see if he understood it in another term. "Do you know what a Heroic Spirit, or a summoned Servant is?"

That he knew about and wondered why he would need one. Was there some kind of Holy Grail War going on or was there something else going on? From what little he was about to get on it there should only be one Servant per Master. Nor should they be replenishable. "I know what a Heroic Spirit is but I don't know why you would give me these?"

"I consider it a bit of an investment," On a screen showed the crystal that formed into the outline of seven different individuals each wielding something in their hands. These had to be the seven classes that he had heard about. "Even if you can't figure out how to summon a Heroic Spirit, or find one that I threw into this world to form a pact with, you can still use them as a self replenishing buff when you need it."

A small screen appeared next to him which gave a brief explanation of this. On each attempt to pull out souls from other universes the Moon Cell does end up taking a connection to the Throne of Heroes. Apparently, using this and the knowledge of the systems used in other worlds the Moon Cell was able to create a summoning system of its own that those who are brought before it could get to tap into. At least some of the souls that had been brought to the Moon Cell were merged with these Heroic Spirit emissions to see what happens. His Command Seals are designed to replenish themselves fully after each long sleep and can even be used up to preform greater acts of Magecraft. As for their physical position it was on his hand but losing it will just cause the seals to leave it as they are actually connected to his soul.

Finally, under the right circumstances one of the four who were given the Command Seals could summon a Servant with the Moon Cell's aid. So far only one has figured it out and nowhere was it listed on how he or she accomplished it. "Wait, so you're not going to tell me how to summon a Servant?"

"I figure it's something to give you an incentive to figure it out on your own," The explanation was rather weak. She could have him summon a Servant here for himself but really though she knew that would be a pointless effort and may actually tip off that the Moon Cell reaching into the Throne of Heroes isn't that Moon Cell. "Oh, that reminds me I haven't gotten your name."

"It's Shirou, Shirou Emiya."

Archetype Moon typed into it as she did a double check of known Worlds. It had seemed that the Shirou before her weren't from those with the traditional Five Holy Grail Wars. Looking for the more deviant wars he didn't look like what was termed a Dead Apostle, nor did he show any other deviant. Avalon had surprisingly been inside of him and crossed out the dying worlds or the ones where he was adopted without the Fuyuki Fire. If the scabbard of Gaia was inside him it would have explained some of the anomalies in his soul and in the recreated body.

"Who are your parents?"

Shirou didn't know why he was being asked these questions but given what was going to happen he might as well answer. She was basically a sentient computer so she was properly trying to work a profile before she sent him on his way. "Kiritsugu Emiya and his wife Irisviel are my adopted parents, as for my birth parents I can't quite remember their names."

"Can you remember anything before you are adopted?"

"A bit, a few things clearly but its mostly all a blurry mess," His memories before the incident are there but it's largely broken up and faded. Not completely gone but also not fully there. Like an old photograph that is long faded but still shows an idea of what it is.

With that added Archetype Moon could narrow down the World he likely came from. One which had the Fourth War get upended before it could truly begin. The Fuyuki Fire didn't quite happen, at least not alone. An earthquake running along the leylines from the Greater Grail lashing out. 'It has to be because the other option is rather tame in comparison.'

With all this done she set the profile to be archived. One does need to keep a record of anything done within their experiments. "Now then, most of what you will remember in our conversation will be a vague understanding as the World acclimates you to it so I will tell you a basic summary and then you will pick where I send you."

---

"Only three regions have Humanity dominant?" A brief understanding of the World was given. First, was that none of the land masses looked the same. Archetype Moon theorized that the period of time basically breaking was to blame and told him that any maps he had wouldn't be helpful. Besides that Humanity didn't hold the title of Prime anyway.

"Relatively speaking, yes although humans still show up everywhere, various Phantasmals can be said to rule much of the planet," She pulled out images of various places on screens and each had basic maps for him to see. Images of the places on this messed up version of earth alongside rather basic maps. "Even in such places though Humans still exist within various communities but not enough to say they truly rule."

Shirou just found it such an awfully strange thing to think about. Even in the Age of Gods the presence of Phantasmals was slowly falling out to Humanity. Such a thing had been going on for literally thousands of years. To think that after proper history collapsed and was reset that Humanity didn't have an immediate leg up. "So, this world is in the Age of Gods again?"

It only seemed logical that with history being reset that reality would return to the Age of Gods. Which would explain why Phantasmals were as common and as power as they are. "Technically, yes but in terms of what you know most Magecraft is stuck within a state similar to the Age of Man for Humanity."

A brief summary was shown for him to read. Apparently, whatever happened did end up causing a very hard rest on the understanding of Magecraft and while it was theoretically possible to pull off Age of Gods levels of Magecraft with some even accomplishing it but Mages were basically around his own idea of what they could do. A side effect of mostly learning how to do so from the ground up with no aid from organized groups for centuries. Also, many deities did return but others are long dead via various reasons like their pantheon just not surviving the chaos, or actually being dead themselves. It was like the decaying period of the Age of Gods but not really as Mystery was still technically the norm of the World Order as Humanity couldn't oppose their desire.

Perhaps this was more a result of something from the modern day materialized in the reconciliation of time. The Moon Cell had several theories on how but Shirou didn't feel like reading much on it. Mainly because he didn't think it would matter much and he may not have had enough time. "I take it there is no concealment of mystery."

"Correct though you should conceal that you are from another world to anyone native to the world," Her gaze was rather stern as she said that. There had obviously been an issue with this or perhaps there was something that the Archetype didn't want to deal with.

Shirou almost wondered how she would know but decided that was a mute point. The Moon Cell probably monitored the whole planet and could probably locate him if he did so. Not like he had any reason to. What were the chances anyway that he could meet anyone else from another world. "Am I to accomplish anything?"

It was a question that had started to eat at his mind. Being brought here and being sent to live another life did sound like something out of a Manga. Honestly, if his older sister Illya was here she would probably be talking about it with more enthusiasm then him. "If you want to be a ruler, become a known hero, or hell just do something like be a farmer I don't really care."

That seemed underwhelming to hear that he was basically just going to be dropped into a world with nothing but his own abilities with no real aim. What's weird is that he was one of four who she actually talked to and if she had some grand aim she could have told him. From the sounds of things this was more in line with a mage doing an aimless experiment in hope of something happening. 'Maybe that is the point she drops people into a broken world to see what happens.'

Honestly, he had seen and heard about the effects of such a thing before. Usually, nothing came about it. Those that did cause something to happen tended to be minor with a rare case of it blowing up completely in the face of the individual that caused it. There was no comfort in knowing that this was such a thing taken up to a far more massive scale by a being who he could honestly compare to a God. Still, he would be lying if the idea of another life wasn't a tempting offer for anyone in his position to have, especially after dying and with no strings attached.

---

Slowly his mind started to return to the realm of consciousness. Opening up his eyes he was greeted with the shade of a tree. Shirou could feel a strong headache hit him as everything came running back. He had died and at the moment of his death was pulled into meeting with someone powerful. That someone brought him back to life and sent him to a new world in order to do basically whatever. It was all rather vague but he felt like he just instinctively understood what was going on and what he shouldn't do.

Using the three to help himself up the headache subsided. Taking the moment to look down at himself he noticed the red markings on the back of his hand. Command Seals that would be used to summon and control a Heroic Spirit provided he could figure out how to do so. Walking out of the stream he tried to shield his eyes as he looked up to get some idea of what time it probably was. The sun was still in the sky but half way over the western horizon which meant it was probably late in the afternoon.

'Well, I got maybe two hours before sunset,' Turning over to the stream he knew that if he followed it he could eventually hit a village and if not it could end up in a larger river or maybe even the ocean. In the latter case he could run across a ship or a city eventually.

Before he was going down the path he had to do one thing first. Taking a moment he held out his hands in front of himself. "Trace On."

He could feel the abundance of mana in the air. Under normal circumstances a human from the Age of Man would feel pain from trying to control this much mana or even dying. Luckily, it seems that his new body was made a bit more resistant to this. In a flash a long saber formed in his hands. 'Well, everything is in order.'

He really only needed his Tracing for right now. Maybe if he found himself with the proper supplies he could expand to his other side of his Sword Magecraft. At the very least he could find materials on his way to civilization. 'Man, it's a pain that I don't have the tool Sella gave me… wait a minute.'

Shirou felt a weight within the pockets of his pants and reaching in he found a stone talisman, an octagonal device that was given to him by his aunt as a means to help him perform the other side of his craft on the fly. His unique Mini-Alchemist Forge, a Mystic Code designed to help him perform what was termed Alchemical Sword Creation. Alongside a little note with only a single phrase typed on to it. 'You're welcome.'

---

Alright, so that's a wrap for the beginning. Now, then yes the Moon Cell doesn't typically exist like this from Fate/Extra but Fate/Extra basically doesn't have the Moon Cell exist with the actual Will of the Moon while here they do. Oh, and I do plan to explain what the hell happened to this version of Earth and caused time to basically collapse in on itself. Much of this chapter is me setting things up anyway.

 

[Blue Glass]

Disclaimer:Why do I even do this? Whatever I don't control or own Fate.

---

Following the stream for about half an hour within the woodland had led what looked like a dirt road of some sorts, or at least a well traveled area that had been worn down into a road, at a point where the stream converged with a river. Shirou seemed to be on the right track at the very least when it came to finding civilization. Looking up at the sky it was just about an hour before sunset. If he didn't find any sort of civilization then he'll have to make camp soon.

'Either way would do though it looks like it clears up over to the west,' If he did need to make camp it would probably be a bit of a danger of being exposed in an open area. Such an issue could be mitigated by use of a temporary Bounded Field but still.

Walking down westwards the woodlands opened up as the worn trail was turning more into an actual dirt road. Soon the cleared land gave way to fields of wheat and corn? Yes, there was corn within a separate field next to wheat. As he walked by he saw the people working the fields who didn't seem to pay him any attention. This was a sign though that there was at least a village nearby which was confirmed as he could see a windmill, or rather a water and windmill off in the distance next to a large village.

As he walked into the outskirts of it he could hear the people speaking. From his understanding it sounded like something close to French but with a few words from what he understood as German and he was very certain a few bits of something else was thrown in as well. There was no way he could bridge the language gap so he went with a simple spell taught in order to do so. Touching his throat with a single finger he casted a translation spell as the language barrier was quickly undone.

"He walked here on his own really?"

"Do you think he is human?"

"Can't ya see at all he clearly is!"

"Well, what about his outfit then?"

"Maybe he is a foreigner?"

Comparing their outfits to his own it was very clear he was dressing differently. Modern clothes made of mostly synthetic fabrics didn't look at all the same when compared to hand woven tunics of wool and fur. Overall their features were European but a few he could say showed signs of other traits commonly found in other parts of the globe. It really explained why it was more his outfit that caught their attention.

Slowly, Shirou watched as an old man, who appeared to be within his mid to late sixties. His outfit was slightly better looking than everyone else, likely due to a higher status in the village, and stood leaning a bit on his wooden cane. "I am the Village Elder, what brings you here traveler?"

All around he could see the mutterings of the villagers. Shirou ignored most of them as he decided to focus on the more important matter. "I believe I am a bit lost and if possible I could use some idea of were I am," He looked around as he could see everything talking to themselves as he said this. "Could we do so somewhere in private?"

---

Explanations on where he currently was by the village elder was giving him a clearer picture of just where he was. For one he was in the Kingdom of Orleans, a human dominated realm. From some out of date but somewhat useful maps he was able to get a better idea where this was. If he could compare it, the Kingdom was mostly just southern mainland France that hugged a space around the coast and below a narrow highlands that cut what would have been this France in two. The Novum Sea was the name given to the greater human dominated region that the Kingdom rested in. From the looks of the maps it was vaguely like that of the Mediterranean from his world.

It was a sea that existed between two continents and was cut and divided by peninsulas and large islands creating various smaller seas and bays within it. What differed from the Mediterranean though was that it actually was cut between the continents. In the west was a narrow corridor but in the east there wasn't a thin strip of land connecting two continents but another passageway for the sea to connect to an ocean to the southeast. An island existed within that passageway like some remnant of a land bridge that had two straits on either end being the connecting line between them both.

"So, before I go any further you're from either the Albionic Isles or perhaps out east from either Indus or Tiax Xian?" The Elder gave him a very inquisitive look as he took a drink of what Shirou figured was something with a low quality of alcohol based on the smell. "Its clear your a foreigner but the way you talk doesn't contain an accent."

Right, the translation spell he is using does kind of eliminate any sign that he isn't a fluid speaker of the language someone was hearing him as. It seems that training to eliminate accents when speaking in another language wasn't really taught in this world. "I confess I am using a spell as I can't really speak or understand your language."

A chuckle came from the Village Elder at hearing this. "Figured as such only the nobility learn how to speak without a noticeable accent and I don't think any noble would come pay us a visit, not even the local Baron does."

Technically, speaking Shirou was considered adopted into one as far as the Clocktower was concerned. Irisviel wasn't disowned when the whole Grail War was upended and was technically speaking the only one who could claim full inheritance of the Einzbern holdings. All of which was mute as the Einzberns probably both don't exist here and nor does the Clocktower. "I see you figured that because I was speaking with you without it that I had to be a mage right?"

It was a sound assumption though one that probably wasn't without some problems. None of which matters given that Shirou had admitted to using Magecraft to be able to speak. "That's correct now then just where-"

Before anything more could be said they were interrupted as the door was violently open in a panic. One of the villagers, a young woman a few years older than Shirou, was there with a look of panic. "Sir, we have in issue our hunter Gaston found tracks of what he thinks are that of a Troll."

"Gods damn it," He slammed his hand on the table in a fit, causing a few things on it to shake from the impact. This wasn't something that the Village Elder had wanted to hear right now. Especially, given that they were low on livestock as is. "The blasted Oni must have chased them from the highlands."

Wait, did Shirou hear that correctly? The Village Elder had said Oni. Oni were here within what was basically this world's equivalent to France. To be perfectly honest he really should have expected as much. "Are you going to send someone out to deal with the Troll?"

The Elder shook his head at this. No one in the village had any training in combat let alone a chance against a Troll. "Nay, I will have to send word to the local outpost and hope the Baron's men can take care of it," He paused for a moment before deciding to ask what had just crossed his mind. "I know it might seem rude but would you be willing to take out the Troll?"

Shirou was going to volunteer to do so anyway. It was just what he tended to do. "I will as it's the least I can do for you helping me."

---

The village's local tavern slash town hall was where the Village Elder pointed him to find the hunter in question. Walking into the big building he was met with the sights of some villagers drinking together and even the smells of cooked food being prepared. On one of the walls was a small wooden shield with what looked like the image of the Eiffel Tower colored in black over a blue background. Unlikely to be the coat of arms for the village but maybe the coat of arms for the Kingdom of Orleans.

Looking around he saw where he was told would be were the hunter claimed as his spot. Gaston the hunter was a man in his late thirties. His beard and hair was unkempt and his clothes permanently stained with animal blood and dirt. As Shirou got closer two things stood out about the man. First, was his knife resting on the table. Its design was very reminiscent of a modern combat knife that he had in a half leather sheath. The other thing was that around his neck was a pendent of a sun with a fox face on it. A type of religious charm more than likely but it didn't remind him of any religion he knew that was practiced in Europe.

"So, if it isn't our wander," Gaston looked up from his seat as the redhead young man. There was a slight annoyance on his face as he looked up at him. "Why are ya bothering me boy?"

"I overheard with the Village Elder about you spotting a Troll," Shirou took the seat opposite of him. "I wish to help take care of it."

Gaston took a swing of his drink at this statement. Once he put it down he leaned in looking Shirou over for a moment. "Ya don't have any visible weapon," He leaned back a bit as he watched him closely. "I am guessing ya can do spells and the like?" Gaston grabbed his mug as he brought it up to drink. "No way anyone wanders over the roads on their own without a blade or spells."

"If you're asking if I am a mage then yes," Mentality Shirou made a note that he was probably going to need to create a sword or a weapon to hide the fact he was a mage. While there was technically no reason to do so given this world was supposed to have no concealment of mystery, he felt like he needed to at least not draw attention to the idea he is one. "Are the roads that dangerous?"

Sure, he knew that this world wasn't human dominated like it had once been. Many phantasmal beasts and races walked the earth and dominated much of it. "Orleans is considered by travelers to be a frontier Kingdom on account we get attacked by the damned Oni, marauders, and wild monsters occasionally roaming our lands."

By the sound of things either the Kingdom was having troubles, or at the very least this part of it. Marauders painted that a lack of order existed which is likely due to either preparing for war or having already fought one. On the other hand it could be the actions of the Oni. As for the beasts it was likely always the case but made worse with the other two factors going on.

Gaston grabbed his knife and stood up. All the annoyance he had with Shirou was gone now as he decided . "Alright, I'll show ya where I saw the monster's tracks so you can work your spells on the bugger."

Shirou followed behind the hunter as he led him back into the dense woodland. After half an hour of moving through the woodland the two of them came across a less dense patch in the woodland. Gaston pointed to the ground where the tracks were still visible in the dirt.

Shirou looked at the tracks on the ground. Having never seen a Troll before he started to go off what he had heard about them. The tracks made it seem like the Troll was quadruped but having a closer look revealed that wasn't actually the case. The way that the troll walked seemed to be somewhat closer to a gorilla. A very large and very heavy gorilla. Judging by the state of the tracks it has been a few hours since the Phantasmal had been here.

"Has there been problems with Trolls before?"

"Rarely, they mostly stay in the hills and the like," Gaston looked at the tracks thinking for a moment. The hunter was trying to remember were he knew they headed towards now that he wasn't in any worry of being attacked. "I think the bestie is hold up at the old hermit's place over that ways."

Gaston pointed deeper into the forest from where the Trolls' tracks are headed. If that was were the creature had as its lair it made looking for the creature easier. All he had to do was wait as eventually the creature would return or it was already there. "There was a hermit who lived around here?"

With what picture he had about the area such a thing sounded rather dangerous and insane. Unless of course, the hermit in question was able to perform Magecraft. "Some old guy my pa told me was a druid or the like," Gaston was in thought for a moment as he tried to recall what he was told. "The man lived out in the woods in a hole curved out of a small hill with spells and the like."

An old mages workshop or home it seems. There was probably a chance the Troll had anything like a Mystic Code left over or there was nothing. Mages here did not necessarily have to be like the mages he knew back in his world. Still, either way he shouldn't count it out. "Can you lead me to it?"

Gaston gave a nod as he led Shirou back into the dense woodlands. At a certain point the tracks became hidden by the forest underground of leaves, sticks, and whatever else. Finally, there was a small clearing with a raised hill that had half of it curved open into a cave that had shown signs of being overgrown with vines. In the shadow of the cave's entrance something was moving about and threw a broken and gnawed bone out into the opening. That confirmed it the Troll was home.

"Stay out of sight," Gaston looked at him and gave a nod of understanding as Shirou walked up towards the entrance. With a shout he called out to the beast. "Hey, Troll come out!"

That got his attention as the Troll turned to the intruder and walked out of its lair. He was big, at about ten feet tall and that was just slouch over, and about as wide as a car. His skin was hardened to the point it looked almost like rocks and the teeth. Jagged and protruding from his mouth as he glared at him with yellow eyes. His nose was flat, almost only nostrils took a deep breath. Finally, his hands had broad but sharp nails that looked like they could rip out flesh. The Troll finished his bite out of the deer leg literally ripping parts of the bone as he did so.

"Hooman," The Troll took a step forward as Shirou raised his hands, clinging to a projection of a heavy longsword to his hands. His act of Tracing caused the Troll to pause and almost jump back a bit in shock. "Sorcie?" The Trolls' shock turned into panic and then anger. "Sorcie like Oni!"

One did not expect something so large to be capable of moving swiftly. The Trolls hand nearly crashed into Shirou's chest at a speed that almost cut him off guard. Dodging out of the way he slashed into the Trolls side, his blade metting hard resistance at it dug a shallow cut into the Trolls flesh. Seemingly unfazed by the cut rammed his shoulder into Shirou knocking him to the wall behind him. It hurt but he forced himself up just in time to see the Troll about to smash both fists down in a hammering motion. With the sword raised he reinforced his arms, legs, and back in order to block the strike. The sword cracked as it dug into the bones while Shirou could feel the strength behind the Troll.

Thinking quickly he let go of the projected construct and rolled out of the way as the Troll lost his balance. Taking the opportunity Shirou held out his hand as he traced a pair of daggers in his hands and overcharging them threw them at the Troll. With an arm raised the Troll tried to block them but on contact they exploded creating a burst of fire and smoke respectively. A loud cry was heard as the Troll pulled back while several knives came flying through the smoke, each one exploding on contact with the beast.

Shirou held out his hand as he traced into being a large helbert. One that was used by Leys back when she actually did much more than watch tv. He swung the weapon through the smoke and slash into the Trolls stomach. The blade cut deep into the monster who screamed with pain but despite having its gut torn into the Troll backhanded Shirou off of him. Grabbing onto the halberd the Troll removed it from its still bleeding stomach.

Picking himself back up Shirou reached into his hair as the Troll charged forward bringing the halberd down with the intention to kill him. Just as it was about to make contact the halberd dissipated into motes of light as Shirou dismissed the projection. The Troll didn't get much time to react a a katana blade bit into its head and then cracking with excess mana the blade let out a controlled explosion blasting apart the creature's head.

A sigh escaped Shirou's mouth as he looked at the smoking remains of the blade on the hilt of the sword. It dissipated as his strain of hair at its center turned to ash in the air. His side hurt as he was very clearly having a broken rib from that backhand. Focusing on himself he felt his healing spell mend and repair the damage done to his ribs, the blood from the bruises flowed back into him, and finally the strain of his muscles relieved themselves. A spell that he had used to mend and repair swords repurposed to heal his body.

"By Amatera," Gaston walked up to the redhead amazed by the display and almost completely lost for words. He had expected something like fire, blasts of light, or something else one typically pictures when thinking of spells. Watching someone create weapons out of thin air was a sight. "Ya blasted its head apart with a sword ya just brought into being!"

It was all probably amazing for someone who didn't see magecraft performed but for Shirou it was kind of retinue. The use of Amatera caught his attention more than anything. 'Does he mean Amaterasu?'

---

Shirou sat down as he set up camp before him. A spark from his Mini-Alchemist Forge was all that was needed to get a fire going as he stuck the fish he had caught to cook. He would like to have cooking supplies for something to actually remind him of home. Hell he could just project most of the pots and skillets if he wanted. It was more his limited supplies and that he really didn't have a way to carry everything with the backpack that was provided as part of his reward.

Some coin for the job, a bit of preserved food, and an old backpack that the Village Elder had. Waiting for the fish to finish Shirou took a lot of the coins he was given. First, was a simple copper coin, well mostly copper coins as a quick Structural Grasping told him. At the core of the coin was low quality iron with the copper plated over it. Next was the silver coin which as Shirou suspected wasn't pure silver as he suspected. He didn't know the exchange rates but he was sure he'll figure it out once he got to the nearest town or city.

Putting the coin away he looked as the fish was already cooked. Taking one Shirou was about to eat when he felt a slight disturbance with the basic Bounded Field he had put up with the help of a few knives edged into the ground. Said field wasn't anything but a proximity alarm, unless someone was extremely careful they wouldn't exactly notice it. "Who's there?"

Walking out of the shadowy brush and under the trees was a figure covered in a large black cloak with the hood hung over their head almost hiding their face in shadow. For a second Shirou thought he could see something moving in at the very bottom of the cloak. Like the shadows themself were moving beneath it.

"I just saw the flames and wonder if I can rest by it for a time," Her voice was rather familiar to Shirou. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew who that sounded like but he couldn't quite remember whose that was. "I mean you no harm."

"Alright I guess," Shirou was a tiny bit suspicious given how sudden this all was. Nevermind that he was still very certain he saw something under the cloak. However, he wasn't going to let his suspicion get the better of him.

As she walked up to the flames to sit down Shirou caught sight for just a moment of a few strains of purple hair that seemed to peek from under the cloak. Her right hand and arm wrapped completely in bandages peeked out from the cloak alongside her left arm that was seemingly fine. He couldn't help but stare at the arm wondering about what had happened.

As if she sensed what was going on she answered the question that was burning within his mind. "Oh, it's just a recent burn, no need to worry about it."

A burn that required that much bandages did bring cause to worry. Shirou was going to trust that she knew what she was talking about. He wasn't going to pry into someone's personal matters. Taking one of the cooked fish he decided to offer it to her. A brief pause existed before she took it and started eating.

After a few moments of silence it was broken by Shirou. "So, what are you doing out here?"

Shirou didn't know much about the region but Gaston words from before about the roads not being safe echoed back in his head. The cloak covered woman finished up her bite of fish as she took a seat on the stone next to the fire. "I am traveling about looking through the old Imperium ruins in hopes of finding relics that are slowly being lost in these turbulent times."

Whatever this Old Imperium was, Shirou had a sort of vague idea on what it could be. Given he was inside the equivalent to France and had seen a regional map with a long peninsular landmass that corresponded to Italy it had to be something akin to the Roman Empire. He was really going to need to stock up on history or find some way to get the information of the world into his mind.

"So, you're an archeologist of some sort and you're wandering alone?" There was something not adding up in this whole thing. Mostly because she was wandering alone when she seemingly didn't have any weapons on her.

"You're alone as well are you not?" She pointed off to a little off the edge of where he set up camp. Right were one of the knives he had edge into the ground to create a Bounded Field. "Like me you can perform spells so going on our own isn't that dangerous."

She had picked up on that. Either she was extremely talented or she had seen the knives in the ground. Both were plausible especially after she had admitted that she could use magecraft. Her being alone was explained by the fact she was probably able to defend herself with spells if she needed to.

"Well, where are you heading then?"

"There's a ruined temple to the sun goddess nearby that hasn't been used since the Kingdom of Orleans broke off from the Imperium," She reached into her cloak and pulled out a much more up to date map of the area. "Back when the Storm King led an invasion it was the site of the battle that led to his defeat with legends saying that the most important thing to the warlord was kept there before the temple was abandoned."

Shirou had no idea who the Storm King even was. Nor did he know what she was even talking about because his understanding of history in this world was pretty much ended with the fact time broke and it's basically been reset. "So, what exactly is in there?"

"That's the thing it could be the Storm King's legendary weapon believed to be wielded by dark gods or even the King's heart said to possess the blood of a dragon," Both of which did not sound all that great to just have lying around in a ruined temple. Shirou knew that dragons blood, or even an organ that once pumped it, had many uses in spells and rituals.

True Dragon blood was so prized that it could literally be said to be one of the few things in the modern day that could allow a spell from the Age of Gods to function if it was rendered impossible. Given this world was technically stuck in the Age of Gods it was very likely probably that there were indeed True Dragons running around. Even if not something like that would be invaluable. Shirou recalled that a few of the Einzbern Alchemy techniques did require dragon blood that are now nigh-impossible.

It was arguably as big a danger as some weapon of dark gods. Neither of which was probably a good idea to leave laying around. "If you want I can come along with you and help you find the relics."

There wasn't an immediate response to his offer. Probably much like modern mages she was weighing her options. "If you're serious then I would appreciate it."

"My name is Shirou by the way."

"Sakura."

In a moment, Shirou was taken aback. He almost wondered if the cloaked person was indeed who he was thinking of but quickly reminded himself that couldn't be possible. She had been to his knowledge living her life as someone largely disinterested in the wider World of Magecraft, only practicing for practical aid in living a normal life. It was unlikely she had gotten into something or was pulled to this world.

---

Sakura watched as Shirou was fast asleep while she took first watch. In truth she was able to get something of a half sleep if she had wanted. A sort of meditative state that slowed her mind into a state of light sleeping. Shirou had something similar and as such it was agreed that they would each take turns sleeping in the night. The flames in the fire flickered lowed as Shirou was fast asleep and Sakura sat there seemingly motionless.

The cloaked girl suddenly stood up as she looked at the sleeping boy. Her eyes looked up to the waxing moon overhead alongside the starry sky. It seems that the young mage hadn't been as suspicious as she had expected. Indeed she had expected to eventually fight him but instead he had agreed to help her. A stranger he had just met. Sure the human sorcerers could have his own motivations, perhaps looking for ancient relics could be useful in his craft or something else.

'I almost feel bad for him,' Reaching up, she pulled her hood down. A slight breeze blow through as the flames flicked and her purple hair got caught up in it alongside a pair of red ribbons that were tied both into her hair but also on the pair of short horns that sprout from the side of her head just next to her ears and ended just before they popped over the crown of her head. 'I wonder if he knew he had agreed to help an Oni?'

Sakura looked at his sleeping form and for a moment a hint of familiarity came over her. It was strange but it had been nagging at the back of her mind as soon as he told her his name. Not once in her life had she ever met him and yet she felt like she had known him for years. 'Just who are you Shirou?'

Regardless, of her strange feelings she had a task she needed to see through. Who knows maybe if all went as planned she could give her new ally a 'gift' when all is said and done.

---

I am guessing you all expected overused cliches about pseudo servants or what not.