Meanwhile, in a place isolated from the hustle and bustle of modern society. The clearing was surrounded by trees, however in the middle it was barren and torn apart, like a carpet ripped from the floor.

Although the sky was raining, this place was drier than the surrounding area.

Then, like a tailed comet, a strand of energy flew through the raindrops towards the barren clearing in the forest.

Initially it was colorless, but as it approached the ground, it began to turn into a living black fire.

Then, it disappeared into the clearing.

Soon after, like a stone being tossed into a lake, a large ripple began to spread through the air, causing the space around the clearing to oscillate..

As the ripples scattered out, the transparent shape of an unknown black object started to appear.

It was a near perfect sphere and seemed to be covered in condensed fire, its heat was visible to the naked eye.

The further the black sphere entered into reality, the stronger the space around it shook.

Finally, when the black sphere fully emerged into the real world, its surface began to burn with smoldering black flames.

A figure could be seen within it.

The figure opened his eyes, they were filled with anger and resentment. With just his mere gaze, he could make the temperature around him rise a few degrees.

He gritted his teeth and tightened his fists, determination and hatred were carved into his very being.

After the shell around him burned away completely, the figure landed on the ground, causing it to boil from the heat that radiated from his body.

He looked ahead, as if the events that had transpired in the past had just happened yesterday.

He saw a woman holding a bow as tall as her and a blade staring back at him.

Then, as if the laws of space and time were forgotten, the two figures glared at each other, each showing equal amounts of determination and revulsion.

"This time I will have my revenge.” He gritted his teeth as anger filled his heart. “ You damned Hound, even if my body is shattered and my soul is destroyed into oblivion and even if I have to chase you to the ends of the world, I will kill you! No matter the cost."

Getting up, the man then walked into the trees and disappeared.

. . . .

At the same time, in some backend of Fuyuki City, there was an seemingly ordinary mound of earth covered in grass.

The mound began to shake violently, then split in two. A graceful figure emerged from its maw.

The figure stretched her arms behind her head, as if she was trying to rid herself of the stiffness of sleep.

The figure opened her eyes, a bright orange flashing across them. Then, her eyes seemingly penetrated through space as she gazed towards a certain direction while giving off a strong aura.

The woman’s white hair turned orange and the clothes she wore also gave way to orange flames.

"So, you're finally awake." The woman willed fire into her right hand and turned it into a bow the length of her body..

“This time it shall be different, this time this hunt shall end once and for all.” The woman exclaimed before heading for the city.

. . . . .

At Emiya's house.

Koe was sitting in the living room. In front of him was a short table, and across from him was a hooded and robed woman, her only eye-catching feature were her purple lips.

“So you are Caster and I am now your Master?”

Koe asked confused.

Caster looked at Koe and replied. “I wanted to enter a contract with you now, but it seems we can postpone that for now.”

Caster looked at Koe's right hand.

On the back of his hand was a red tattoo with a strange pattern.

The pattern looked like a bisected circle with an abstract circular pattern inside it.

“First, let me explain the Holy Grail War to you first.”

When Caster proposed that, Koe decided to object, opting for a different method.

“Why don't you use magic to convey all the information about the Holy Grail War into my head instead, it’ll be faster and more efficient” As per usual, Koe wanted the simplest solution.

But Caster turned grim "I’m not sure what will happen if I do that to you."

"Do you remember what happened earlier? I sensed traces of magic that could almost rival True magic itself.”

Hearing the word 'True magic' Koe became even more interested. That is the first time he heard this term in respect to magecraft.

“True magic? What's that ?" Koe asked enthusiastically.

"Since you're not a normal magus by any definition, it's natural for you not to know about True magic."

“Both the Holy Grail War and True magic are intertwined.”

"But for now, we'd better talk about the Holy Grail War first."

"Okay." Although Koe felt a little disappointed, he was still interested in the Holy Grail War.

"Wait." Koe cut off Caster just before she could start. “Keep it short, concise, and clear.”

Caster paused for a moment to hear Koe's words, then smiled slyly.

With a slight chuckle, she answered. "Fine then."

“The Holy Grail War is a great magical ritual that-”

"Hey." Koe cut off Caster's words again and glared at her. “Keep it simple stupid."

This time, Caster's brows could not help but furrow.

After considering her words, Caster began to speak yet again.

“It is a ritual that can grant the victor's wish. This ritual itself selects seven masters and seven servants, and pits them against each other for the right to use the Holy Grail.”

Koe digested this information carefully before asking for more details.

"First off, what is a Master?"

“Master is a magus that has a command seal and is also the master of a servant.”

"A Command seal?"

Koe raised his right hand and pointed at the tattoo.

“Right, that is a command seal, which means you are now a master.”

"Then, what is a Servant?"

"Servants in short, are heroic spirits that are summoned from stories and historical events of human history."

Caster wanted to say the Throne of Heroes, but considering that Koe had no basic knowledge pertaining to this, she chose not to. Caster was someone that could adapt on the fly.

“In addition, servants are divided into seven classes; Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and finally Berserker.”

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“The seven masters and servants will fight until finally a victor is determined. The victorious obtained the right to use the holy grail.”

“What kind of requests can the Holy Grail grant?”

"Anything, anything you can imagine, anything you can dream of, it can grant anything."

"How interesting." But then Koe's expression stiffened. “But if I am involved, will my life be targeted by other masters?”

"Yes."

Koe nodded his head, he had made his decision. "Then, I don't want to participate in this Holy Grail War."

Koe wasn’t ambitious, he simply wanted a quiet life of exploring the secrets of magecraft. Instead of exposing himself to death in the Holy Grail War, it would be better if he continued learning magecraft in the comfort of his home.

With magecraft, life would never bore him.

But now, Caster had just stated that he had been involuntarily drafted into a war he didn’t even know existed until now.

Of course Koe would refuse to participate.

The risks weren’t worth the rewards.

"Can I resign from being a master?"

"Yes you can."

“Then I choose not to join this Holy Grail War. I don’t have any grand ambitions I want to achieve."

Caster gave Koe a meaningful gaze.

“The purpose of the Holy Grail War is to grant the request of the master that follows it, thus a requirement to be a master is to have a desire they want fulfilled.”

Koe's brows furrowed at that explanation.

He asked himself, did he really have a dream?

He wanted his memories back, but not to the point of risking his life.

'Then, what do I really want?'

Koe looked at Caster.

Then at his command seal.

He lost himself in his thoughts for some time.

"Okay."

Koe excitedly looked at Caster.

“I will join this Holy Grail War, not to grant my wish, but to find out what my wish is.”

Caster became amused; she didn't expect Koe's reasoning to be the opposite of the Holy Grail War’s purpose.

"First things first, let’s summon your servant."

“My servant? Didn't you say you wanted me to be your master? "

"That's true, but think of what will happen if you have two servants."

At this moment, Koe understood what Caster was saying.

"Alright, let's summon my servant then."

“Before that, there is something you need to know first.”

"Usually to summon a servant you need a catalyst to summon them, this catalyst can either be relics of theirs or something related to them"

Koe was concerned, "But I'm just an ordinary high school student, where would I get a catalyst?"

“Can servants only be summoned by using a catalyst? In that case, how about we use your robes, Caster?”

Koe looked at Caster's robe.

“As you said, catalysts have a lot to do with heroic spirits, and of course they have to be related to them, right?”

"If we use your cloak as a catalyst, won’t we get a servant closely related to you?"

Caster didn’t respond, but Koe could still feel her discomfort.

"Actually, there is actually another way to summon servants without a catalyst."

Koe realized how bitter Caster was feeling when he brought up her past.

Without thinking, Koe chose the second method proposed by Caster.

"You yourself can be a catalyst, the servant you summon will be based on your compatibility with all possible heroic spirits."

“A heroic spirit that is compatible with me ?” Koe whispered to himself.

For someone as curious about himself as Koe, the second method was perfect for him.

First, he could tell what his inner self was like because the servant summoned was a reflection of himself.

Second, because he would have a high compatibility with the servant, they would be docile and friendly to him..

"Alright, let's summon my servant now." Koe said cheerfully.

Caster suggested that they use the magic circle in the Emiya residence.

Koe was quite surprised to hear that despite knowing that Kiritsugu had been a magus.

‘Perhaps he created it before he died.’ Koe thought.

They traveled to the warehouse where Koe used to practice magecraft.

"This… ?" Although Koe expected it, he was still surprised.

After walking inside, Caster showed where the magic circle had been engraved into the warehouse floor.

"Now, please stand near this magic circle and cast the required spell to summon a servant."

"Eh? A ritual?" Koe was surprised, he didn't know that this summoning process would require a ritual. He hoped it wasn’t too long and complicated, he didn’t like troublesome things.

"That's right, to summon a servant the master must first perform a ritual."

As Caster explained the required process, Koe’s mind went blank.

"Too long." Koe complained.

He didn't want to memorize the entire ritual process for just one summoning because it was too troublesome for him.

"Isn't there another way to summon a servant?"

Caster was silent for a moment. After analyzing her knowledge of magecraft and the information provided by the Holy Grail, Caster thought of something.

“Actually, you can bypass the spell casting process by using a catalyst.” Caster looked at Koe, he could still use his body.

Koe wanted to reject Caster’s solution but in the end, he gave in.

After getting his consent,Caster explained some very important things related to summoning servants.

Upon digesting all the information provided by Caster, Koe finally understood the general method of how summoning servants worked.

Servants are divided into seven classes, and each class would be a vessel for their embodiment.

Each class would limit the abilities of each servant, and the catalyst would be the link between the desired servant class and the heroic spirit in the Throne of Heroes.

After considering Caster's suggestion, Koe decided to summon a servant of a certain class.

By adding a few additional sentences to the summoning spell, the summoned servant’s class could also be determined by the summoner.

Koe prepared himself, calming his mind and visualizing the process he was about to initiate.

Koe glanced back at Caster, he wanted to confirm it one more time. "Will I be okay?"

Caster tilted her head, Koe’s question was so random that Caster didn’t know what he was trying to ask.

Koe then stretched out his right hand towards the summoning circle.

I lost the track of myself true self

The past that has passed already gone

Thus I have forgotten my reason and my goal

But I still want to reach what my heart desired the most

If you are the one who can represent myself

.

.

.

.

I wish to find a companion that will share this fate with me

Caster was slightly shocked at Koe’s summoning ritual.

If Koe was suggesting that he was the catalyst, then wasn’t his desire a summoning spell onto itself?

However, there was no reaction from the summoning circle. A successful ritual didn’t play out like this.

Caster wanted to stop Koe when suddenly....

The summoning circle began to glow as streams of mana began to flow from the summoning circle.

Caster swiftly strengthened the barrier around the warehouse to prevent mana from leaking out.

The summoning circle dazzled for a moment before going dark, revealing a figure standing in its center.

The figure emerged like a black rose blooming at night amongst the dry and dead branches.

"Are you my Master?"

With a cold voice, the woman in rusty black armor and shabby clothes glanced at Koe.

Her disheveled hair also looked rough, everything on here, even her skin and face, looked like a withered flower.

“Correct, I am your master.”

Koe swiftly answered any remaining questions the female servant asked of him

After confirming her contract with Koe, the woman then moved her right hand, summoned a cracked and rusty sword, and pointed at Caster.

"Enemy?"

There was no emotion, only coldness in her voice.

“No, she is an ally.”

But the female servant didn't let her guard down at all, on the contrary, her killing intent was slowly increasing.

“This…” Caster looked at the female servant in front of her, she was at a loss for words.

Usually, every servant summoned was in their peak condition, however the woman in front of them....

No matter where one looked, every part of her seemed destitute and broken.

“Caster, hurry up and make a contract with me.”

Sensing that his servant is not lowering her weapon, Koe urged Caster to make a contract with him to avoid further trouble.

Caster wanted to do that, however she knew the servant next to Koe would react if she moved a centimeter.

Realizing this confrontation was silly, Koe decided to order his servant to lower her weapon.

But he didn’t even know her name, she hadn’t even introduced herself to Koe yet.

“Hey, lower your weapon and introduce yourself.”

Hearing Koe's command, the female servant lowered her sword and head.

“Master, pardon my impudence, but I do not have a name I can give you” The female servant then knelt solemnly.

“My life, body, soul, and sword will only move as you will it, my Master.”

“I only have one hope, that you will be the winner of this war,.”

“My class is Assassin.”