[Chapter 5: Are you my master?]

"What is this? The grail summoned a Ruler class servant while I was attending to my new toy. I thought my corruption was enough to prevent any further action without my consent but it looks like it still serves its original purpose if I easy up even a bit."

  In the middle of a dark room, there was a shadow, it was the same shadow that announced the start of the grail war to the 27 participants in the church. Its voice contained a tone of annoyance within it as it spoke about his error.

"Do you really think that this "Ruler" class servant will cause any trouble to the continuation of our plans? By the way things are going, this servant must be in the same situation as the others. That servant should have been summoned as an incomplete and weaker servant and knowing the qualifications to make it into the ruler class plus the fact that they cannot directly interfere with the war. I am sure this "Ruler" class servant will not try to make itself stronger by beating other servants, as for the other way, it is even less likely that this servant will attack innocent people in order to increase its strength with their soul."

"Oh! your words are wise Kotomine Kirei, it was indeed the correct choice to choose you as a partner, by my knowledge the fact that a person like you is working as a priest is quite ironic. But I still do not understand the meaning of you rising that plaything of yours, have not killed her father? Why do you insist on keeping her alive after those deeds?"

"Haha! Do you really not understand? I am sure you and I are the same type of person so I know you understand Angra Mainyu. She has enough talent to be the winner of the grail war, I simply can't wait for the moment she has to fight the new heir of the Matou family. Plus, don't you think it would be fun to tell her about how I killed her father with the sword I gave her as a coming of age present. It would be a delightful experience don't you think?"

*Whistle*

"You my friend are the best thing that has happen to me ever. I cannot wait to see that expression of her face, With the small patience that remains within me I will like to wait for the servants to grow stronger. In the mean time I will go hunting in the vail of the night and gain enough power to keep the grail from acting without my orders. May the day we destroy this rotten world reach us soon."

"Your wish is the same as mine, go and I will handle the masters for as long as you are gone, with the help of that king there is certainly nothing that will be able to stand in our way".

  After those words were said, the shadow disperse into the floor and the priest was left alone in the darkroom, the man also walked out of the room and the room was now without a presence within it.

#School Cafeteria

"What should I eat, I think some ramen will do for now" I paid for my food and looked for a place to sit down when a voice called out to me.

"Hey Emiya, over here" The voice belonged to the captain of the archery club Mitsuzuri Ayako.

"Oh, been a while since we've spoken Ayako-Chan" I said while sitting down in front of her. It was fun to see her eyebrows twitch from me calling her Ayako-Chan, she always says that I shouldn't treat her like a kid since we are the same age but gave up after I kept doing it, it's just like what happen with Taiga.

"ye-yeah, it's been a while, why don't you just come back to the archery club already, just so you know I have already improved enough to leave you in the dust, hahahaha"

*hehe, such a lively kid, maybe I should start teasing her too, I bet it would be amusing*

"Well, sorry but I don't think I'll be going back, you already know about the thing with me and Shinji, I can make no promise about leaving him with a single teeth next time he pisses me off"

"O-oh, ye-yeah, I remember that" she said while grimacing with the memory.

*sigh*

"I know you don't like him but I think you're the only one who can keep him in check at this point."

"what happen?" I asked sensing the annoyance and helplessness emanating from her soul.

"Shinji made one of the new members take a bow and shoot the target until he managed to hit the target, which he didn't, in front of all of the girls in the club, then started laughing and making fun of him with every miss, I think that kid won't be coming back."

"and… you just let that happen? I asked with a calmed tone, it really didn't concern me, on the contrary, I think I am somehow physically incapable of caring about it, the only reason I beat him bloody last time was because the target of his "I am better than everyone else" shit was Sakura.

"HAH? Of course not! But I can't be there all the time, Fujimura-sensei and I got our own things to do as the supervisor and captain of the archery club. And to top it off, the reason he is like that is because he got rejected by Tohsaka."

*Cough-choke- cough*

"What? He confessed to THAT Tohsaka Rin?" ok, there are some things in life that you can see coming from miles away, and others that you simply can't see, this one was right in front of me but I never even expected it.

"Wha- Shhhhhh! Keep your voice down" she was whispering for some reason I don't know but let's go along with it.

"so, now he is mad because he was shot down?"

"Yeah, I think he might do something to back to her for revenge, they keep getting into fights every time she goes to the archery club and the poor Sakura always ends up in between the argument."

"Oh ok, I'll see what I can do"

"…. So, it only takes one mention of Sakura in the issue and you go from complete uninterested to interested in less than a second?"

"Of course, Sakura is Sakura after all" I said while sipping on the soup from my ramen.

"And you don't have any shame admitting it so easily."

"Why should I be embarrassed about it, such a cute little thing has to be taken care off right" I said with a grin on my face.

"Woah, it's worse than I thought, he just said that with a completely straight face" she said with cheeks that were tinted pink.

"Thanks for the food"

#Archery club

"I haven't been here in a while, I'll take a quick look and see if Tohsaka is there, if not I'll just leave" I was trying to check inside from the windows when I hear something coming towards me from behind.

*Woosh*

  It was a reaction cause by pure instinct, I jumped to dodge the low blow to my feet and stepped on the "weapon" when I came back down, and then twisted my body to the side and let my leg rise to kick the "attacker" in the face and make some distance.

"Oh" for better or for worse I regained control over my body and stopped my foot right in front of the "attacker's" nose. I lower my leg and stepped back twice to make some distance.

"you know, you should be more careful, I almost made your head fly, literally" I said while scratching the back of my head awkwardly. In front of me were three frozen figures, all three were girls, one with short black hair that looks like the boyish type, one with long silver hair and glasses, which looks like the type who just goes along with things, and the third was a medium length brown hair girl who looks like she is about to cry and was dragged over here against her will.

"M-Ma-ma-Matou Sh-Shi-Shinji, I- hate to bre-break it to -y- you bu-but Toh-Tohsaka isn't coming." She tried to sound threatening but it wasn't working, not with her legs moving like soft noddle's.

"Ma-Maki, I don't think he fits the description that was given to us." Said the girl with silver hair.

"Emiya Shirou at your service" I said while trying to sound sarcastic and giving a light bow.

"E-Emiya Shirou, THAT Emiya Shirou, the one who fixes all of the stuff from the Track club Emiya Shirou? The "you better don't mess with Sakura Matou or the bloody hulk will come after you" Emiya Shirou?"

"Wh- Th- Hulk? For real? That's what they've been calling me? Wasn't there something better, not wait, it actually fits" I said while rubbing my chin and nodding my head in acknowledgement of the nickname.

"So-So-SORRY, WE GOT THE WRONG GUY" yelled the girl with the short hair and then she ran away while the other two followed behind.

"Huh! Quite the interesting trio. Well, since Tohsaka isn't coming I might as well go and wait for Sakura somewhere"

#

"Fuck, this curse won't even let me take a nap in peace."

  *yawwwn*

"Let's go and get Sakura, huh? Why is it dark outside, that nap shouldn't have been that long right?"

  When I looked at the clock in front of class room it was already way past the time the archery club ended.

  *sigh*

"So, nobody managed to see the guy dead asleep in an empty class room. Sakura most likely went home already so I might as well just leave right away"

  I got myself together and started leaving the school, with nothing else to think about my thoughts once again drifted towards the grail war and my problem of not being able to summon my servant.

"but still, I think I worried too much, like, what are the chances that I will meet a servant on my way home from school."

  *CLANK*

"huh?"

  *CLANK CLANK CLANK*

"I know those sounds, did I really just jinx myself, for real, out of all of the places I could end up meeting a servant, it had to be school."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Following the sound of metal heavily hitting metal which might have not being the best idea, I arrived at the school yard, hidden in the shade of a shadow I managed to see what was making the sounds that could be heard all around the school.

"Those are …. servants?"

  That was a stupid question, of course they were, those two were using too much mana for a normal human body to handle, if a human used that much mana then either their bodies or their magic circuits would be totally destroyed. Those two in blue and black are definitely servants, by the way It looks they should be Lancer and the other seems to be a Saber? The blue lancer had a red spear, and the Saber in black had two short black and white swords, it was an incredible fight, that I am sure about it, but I wasn't able to pay much attention to it, there was something weird happening. My od, the magic energy inside of me was moving without my consent, its goal was my eyes, as more and more od started to pour into my eyes, I started seeing something weird. I could see and make out a lot of things that I couldn't before.

  First, I suddenly started seeing the lance and swords basic structure.

  Second, I suddenly knew what materials they were made with.

  Third, I suddenly knew what the skills and methods used to make them were.

  Fourth, I suddenly was able to sympathize with the experience of their growth

  Fifth, I suddenly knew of their accumulated years.

  More than suddenly knowing or learning of these five things, its more as if my eyes were analyzing all of this and sending the information to my brain, after the process was done with and the od stopped flowing towards my eyes, there was only one thing left within my mind.

"I want them!" those words escaped my mouth by accident.

"WHAT? Who's there?"

  The two men in the middle of a battle froze when they were interrupted by an unexpected voice coming from me.

"Oh shit!" I started running.

"Shit, shit , shit, shit, SHIT!" I fucked up. If I don't hurry up, I am 80 percent sure that I am going to die. I am in no condition to fight, much less to strengthen my body for any type of movement, in my current state of mind reinforcing my body would be the same as committing suicide. I can't focus, my mind is full of bits of pieces of new information that I've never knew before. Kansho? Bakuya? Gae Bolg? Materials? Skills? This is all coming to fast."

  Calm down, Calm down, think, think, what is this, my eyes, my eyes did something when the od flooded them. After that I could see information that I couldn't before. What now? I should run into the school building, I am too far from a place with a lot of people so the next best thing is to suppress my magic and hide somewhere.

*Gasp Gasp Gasp*

  I was gasping for air, the seals I drew in my body to train were now acting against me, if I release them, then I will just give away my location, so I will have to keep running with this extra weight on me. Control, I need to control my breathing or I won't be able to run for long. I ran up the stairs towards the second floor and was running in the halls, I decided on one of the random classrooms and was about to enter it when I sensed a presence behind me. I turned around, since I was already found I might as well and undo the seals and strengthen my body, if I am going to die then I will do so in an exciting battle, or so I wanted but things don't always go the way you want them to.

"Relea-"

*Pierce*

  The sound of flesh being ripped and blood spilling on the floor was hear loud and clear.

"Rea-lly man, *blood spurt* stra—ight for th- har-. Gi- me- a brea-" blood left me from both my mouth and the new hole in my body that is now where my heart used to be.

"Sorry kid, no witnesses." Said the blue lancer before retracting his spears and disappearing into thin air.

*Plop*

  I fell to the ground. Ah shit, I forgot that I don't have the skills I use to have back then, having a hole in your chest is a new experience, I think it's easier to breathe with this extra hole.

"Haha UGH" ok, not funny, definitely not funny. Huh? It's getting cold, I better do something fast or I am really going to die.

"How is it Archer?" I hear a female voice from getting closer. I think I know it from somewhere but I don't really feel like thinking about right now.

"…"

"Archer!"

"…"

"With this amount of blood loss, he is going to die without a doubt"

  She crouches next to me, it was more like I fell her do it more than I saw her do it, I wanted to do something to survive, but with a master and servant still here then that's just reviving to die again. I felt her hand touching my arm and pulling me to the side so that I was laying on my back.

"Oh my god! Wh- why did it have to be you, out of all the students in this school it has to be you here at this time. What am I going to do? She will break if you die, you can't die, I won't allow you to die, you are the only support she has right now."

  The voice was getting farther away, if I couldn't feel her magic energy next to me then I would have thought that she was leaving already. But, why does she sound so desperate, I know the voice but I shouldn't be close with the owner of this voice, from a certain point of view I am only close to Sakura, and this voice doesn't resemble Sakura's at all. Well who cares, it looks like I am going to die without being able to fight even a single servant, if my wives saw this then I would be too embarrassed to look at them, the fierce Ango, the god slayer, Demon King, The king of the biggest country in that world, one who was revered as god by many, dying by the single trust of a lance. DISGRACEFUL, TASTELESS, WHAT A FUCKING JOKE. I was only getting angrier by the second but that wasn't going to make a difference, I'm stuck between a rock and a wall.

  Eh? My body was regaining its lost heat, I could feel it, I was getting healed by something, by someone but why? What reason does that person has for this? I know she has no idea I'm a master but I am still a "non-mage" witness, she should be making sure that I am dead if anything.

"Ahhh god, that jewel is worth a small fortune—no, scratch that, it's worth a fortune so you better don't waste this "free" life.

  Those were her last words before she left with her servant which was extremely quiet for some reason, that Saber in black I remember doesn't look like the quiet type. Wait, she called him Archer so why is he using swords.

  After a couple of minutes and confirming that they were gone for good, I stood up with unsteady legs.

" It looks like the blood loss will need some time."

  I looked down to the pool of blood that was where I was laying just a second ago and waved my hand over it, one second there was a puddle of blood and then the next there was none.

"I got to say, Inventory can be useful in the strangest of ways when you put it to good use. Now that there is nothing left I better head home."

                #Emiya House

  *Gasp, Gasp, Breath in, Breath out*

"getting home was harder than I expected, I had no idea that this is how having a hole in the chest would leave you afterwards. My throat is dry, my feet feel like jelly, and it was hard enough to focus before but now is even harder"

  I went straight to the kitchen and had a glass full of cold water.

"UWAA! That's that good stuff, I feel refreshed" I relaxed and my body fell to the floor.

"Well, at least am still alive."

*Jingle Jingle*

  My body tensed up again. Those bells were the boundary field in this house, it tells me when I get any "unexpected guest".

"FOR REAL! I think I'm better than the grail at granting wishes, I should open up a business"

  I hurried and stood up, looking around the only things I found that could be useful were a couple of knives and a poster that Taiga brought in the other day. I ran to get out of the kitchen in order to get in to a better position but what greeted me was a lance trust coming right from above which I dodge by rolling forward and turning to face the lancer without missing a beat.

"So, you were not satisfied after killing me once?"

"Well, I have no idea how you survived kid but bad luck for you, my master's orders are to leave no witnesses alive. You can blame your own luck for this."

"Bad luck huh?"

  I can finally see him clearly, a man with short spiky hair, red eyes, and a couple of earrings on his ears, his clothes were also peculiar but I knew they were not simple silk either, it was a battle suit that cover his bottom half but left his stomach, chest, and sides with nothing over them, maybe it's something about the servants being incomplete, or just his preference, who knows. I started seeing something appear next to him.

  Strength: D    Endurance: E

  Agility: C     Mana: E

  Luck: E     NP: D

  Stats? What is this? a game? Still let's see how good I can do in my current state against an incomplete servant.

"RELEASE"

  With that command a couple of runes in my body shone and then disappeared just as fast. Now I feel way better than before, I feel lighter.

"Huh? So, you're actually a mage kid?"

"Yeah, something like that"

  Right after finishing those words I strengthen two of the four knives that I took from the kitchen and threw them at him, and just like I expected, the one that was going for his head was dodge with a tilt to the side and the one going for his chest was block by the red spear.

*sigh*

"to think that because of an incomplete summoning I have to become "stronger" in order to regain my protection from arrows skill"

"Is that so? Well good for me that you don't have it"

"yeah, good for you kid"

  He jumped at me with a super human speed, but it was not as impressive as I thought it would be, if this was all then I could manage.

*CLANK CLACK*

  He kept attacking and I kept deflecting with the reinforced poster, left, right, above, and even below, hits were coming from everywhere but I could still manage to hold him back easily. After a couple more, times of him attacking and me defending I realized why I was managing his attacks so easily.

"Heh! You bastard, so you've been holding back, and here I wanted to have some fun but it looks like you're not into it."

"oh! if you realized that then that means you know your stuff kid. Alright, let's give you the fun you wanted. He said with a smile on his face, I recognized that expression, is the one I used to wear when going to battle.

  It was not that difficult to realized he was holding back by a lot, I already knew he could move faster but the biggest thing was his technique. He was only using big swings as if he was using a sword, clearly to give me time to react to the attack, a spear can be used in many ways, and one of the most difficult ways to deal with is thrusting, unlike wide swings that let you know where the attack is coming from, a thrust comes from a single point so you either see it coming or you don't. still he kept using those big swings but this time the speed kept increasing bit by bit and I kept retreating step by step.

"Come on kid, show me what you can do"

"you asked for it" I said as I threw the last two knives I had hidden, but these two were different, these were "broken", I reinforced them a bit too much and now when he blocks them with his spear.

*Crack Puff*

  They broke and became dust which kept flying towards his face, I was about to jump in and attack him while he couldn't see but when I saw that he managed to "deflect" the dust by swinging his spear I changed my plans and decided to run to the yard instead.

"good, kid, you have a talent for battle, let's keep going, I feel that you are the same type of person as me" he was smiling, and so was I. it was a common yet rare trait found in those who enjoy battle, even a simple spar can make a smile appear on their faces.

"Just what I wanted oh great hero"

"Lancer, stop playing with the kid and kill him already, you might attract other servants if you wait too long"

  A female voice came from the side, when I looked towards it, I saw a woman who looked to be no more than in her early twenties, wearing a black suit with earrings similar to that of the servant fighting me and magenta color hair adorning her head. Looks like Lancer's master was here all along. When I looked back to lancer his smile was gone, and so was mine, now it was about to become more business than enjoyment.

"Sorry, looks like we were not destined to enjoy a duel"

"No worries, do what you got to do and I'll do what I got to do"

  We both gave a light nod to each other and resume the fighting, but it was nothing like before, he gained the upper hand in the first move which wasn't actually unexpected. I slowly started to strengthen my body but the delay wasn't going to help catching up to him, not unless he gives me a couple of minutes.

*Kick*

"augh" he kicked the air out of my lungs, I'm flying across the yard, like, literally flying. I felt an impact on my back and when I managed to see which way was up, I realized that he sends me flying more than a couple of feet into the shed that I use for training.

"Guess this is it kid"

"Hah? Nah, you got to try harder, or I'll keep getting up no matter how many of those weak kicks you use." I said that but I knew it was bullshit, and he knew it was bullshit too, he really kicked the air out of my longs, Damn!

" Just give it up kid, you might be a mage but you don't know what you're dealing with, at least die like a warrior instead of dying while being ignorant.

"Nah, I know exactly what I am facing, Ireland's Child of light Cu Chulainn, and I haven't use everything I have yet so let's start round two how about it?"

  His eyes grew wide, his surprise was the same as his master who gasped in the same place she was before.

"ok, Level with me here for a second, you're the second person to pull that out of nowhere today, do I have it written on my back or something?"

"Hehe, let's just say I have my ways"

"Well, for a mage from this era you sure know your stuff, alright kid, this will be the last blow"

  He readied his spear and lower his waist; his heels dig into the grown and his upper body was arched forward just like a predator about to capture his prey. He was serious, and I could feel it in every move he took. I was not sure if I was going to survive or not, but like hell I am going down without a fight.

"Like hell I am dying twice in a single night"

  He started his attack, but something weird happen, the shed was suddenly filled with light, at the corner of the shed a magic circle glowed but we couldn't see it because of the light. Thanks to the light I managed to roll out of the way but crashed with something I was sure was not supposed to be there. After the light was gone and both Lancer and me regain our sight, we were able see the "thing" I crashed into. It was a petite blonde girl with a blue and white dress over her fair skin. She was someone that I've "seen" before from within Kiritsugu's memories.

"Artoria"

  She seems surprise at the fact that I call her name without notice but regained her composure and look down to me who was still in the floor,

"I ask of you, Are you my master?