"Ah, please slow down for a second."
"My apologies."
Holding her head in her hands, Jean tried hard to sort out all the similar faces.
"Would you like us to do it again?"
"....If you would, it'd be the best. I'm still having trouble."
"Alright."
Having entered the cafeteria earlier with Artoria and Salter, Jean came face to face with a group of Servants that, as she found out later, all shared the name of Artoria. As a Knight, it was her duty to try her best to understand her friends and allies so she had spent the next couple of minutes trying to remember each of the Artoria's, So far, it was going pretty badly although Artoria mentioned that most Servants would have trouble remembering who's who until they had been here for at least a month.
"Archer, another plate please."
"....That can't possibly be healthy."
"Let her be Jean, she's like that. If anything, almost all of us have the same massive appetite. Traits of a dragon I suppose."
"I see."
Walking in from the kitchen with a fresh plate of 'fast food', Emiya, one of the Servants Jean
had met in Mondstadt, called out
"Here, Salter, your plate of wholly unhealthy food."
"Thanks."
"Lalter, Lartoria, Archuria, Maid, Lily, MHX, MHXX, Arthur, MHXA, SSalter, would you like anything?"
Answered by a chorus of variations of "I'm good, thank you", Emiya nodded before heading back into the kitchen.
"...I'm impressed that he managed to memorize all of you."
"Emiya is a relatively special case I suppose. He managed to memorize all of us upon our materialization. Something I noticed when I fought against him in Camelot."
"Us two met him in a war, so he is already used to this."(Salter)
"Ah, I see."
"Anyway, let's do a quick intro. I'll go first. Artoria Pendragon, the original Legendary King of Britain or at least the one from Proper Human History. Saber-class. Call me Artoria."
"Artoria Alter, the Ideal King she tried to become. Saber-class. Salter."
"Artoria Pendragon, Lancer class. The Artoria who wields the Divine Lance Rhongmyniad instead of the Holy Sword Excalibur. Please call me Lartoria."
"Artoria Pendragon, Lancer class alter. In the same way Salter is Saber's counterpart, I am Lartoria's counterpart. Lalter."
"Christmas verison of Salter. Rider-class. I'll go by SSalter although you may here a couple different names for me around Chaldea."
"Swimsuit verison of Artoria. Archer-class. Beach volleyball is the best sport, hands down. Archuria."
"Swimsuit verison of Salter. Rider-class. Remember, I'm a maid first, then swimsuit Servant. Maid Alter, although Maid will do as well."
"Mysterious Heroine X! The bane of all Saber class! I'm actually from a different universe, but that's not the point. Right now, I'm holding myself back from killing all of you because of the newcomer. Assasin-class. MHX."
"Mysterious Heroine X Alter. Consider me the shut-in verison of MHX. I'm from the same universe and make sure to always give me sweets. MHXA."
"Artoria Pendragon Lily! I'm a younger verison of Artoria. Please just call me Lily!"
"Arthur Pendragon Prototype. I am from another world. The male form, I am arguably the closest to the person described in this world's textbooks despite me being not from here. Simply call me Arthur. The name Proto belongs to someone else at the moment."
"Ah…..so the older-looking ones are Divine Lancer wielders, the younger ones wield the Holy sword. I can assume Arthur, male, also wields the Holy Sword?"
"I do."
"Actually, I wield Caliburn, the Sword of Selection!"
"The three of us are wield slightly different weapons. I wield both Excalibur and Excalibur Morgan, the dark version that Salter wields."
"My 'sword' is more like an internalized version of Excalibur. It's quite confusing and I don't really understand it completely either."
"I wield my universe version of the Divine Lance."
"...."
"Well, um, if you're ready, we'd like to take you on a quest with us. Just to, ahem, gauge fighting abilities."
"...Sure...."
With a sudden stomp, a long-haired, red-headed male breathed hard in the doorway.
"Ah, Sir Tristan. What has gotten you riled up, my knight?"(Lartoria)
"My kings, I apologize for disturbing you. Gawain and Lancelot beat up Merlin as you've asked, but after such a battle, they are itching for a fight. If we do not go on a quest soon, I'm afraid they'll take the training room for the remainder of the day and perhaps tomorrow too. While I frankly could care less, it'd be sorrowful for the other Servants here."
"....I agree."
"Alright Sir Tristan. We were just planning on going on a quest anyway. Archer, nevermind how you suddenly showed up randomly, did I not forbid you from fighting Lancer all the time?"
"Tch."
"Archer."
"Fine."
"Ah, Emiya-san, before you go, may I request some of your finest sweets?"
"Sure, MHXA."
"Mm."
Walking out of the kitchen, Jean followed Artoria towards the rayshifting room. The rest of the Artoria-faces, as she had decided to call them, enjoyed their snack time in the kitchen.
"Will Emiya be alright?"
"While I would normally ask him not to, he insists saying that I have no say in this matter. Whatever the case is, he seems quite content with it so I'll leave him be. Although….we are not the worst ones he must deal with."
"Worst ones?"
"The Servants who bear her face are more unmanageable. It is simply a trait all who ended up summoned in her body have. On the other hand, the purple haired one is more reasonable compared to all of us."
"What?...."
"I refuse to tell, apologies. Such information I will not share until you can comprehend everything that has already been handed your way. Let's go. I must call Sir Lancelot and Sir Gawain."
"At your call, my king."
Appearing suddenly, the two knights kneeled down with bowed heads.
"How did they…"
"We went looking for you after Sir Tristan told us that you were planning to go on a quest."
"Knowing you came from the cafeteria, there are only so many routes one can take to the rayshifting room."
"Good. Let's go."
The group of four made their way to the rayshifting room and encountered Da Vinci. Answering Da Vinci' question of where they wished to travel, Da Vinci nodded in response before starting everything up. Once the machines were ready, Da Vinci gave them a look over before letting them into the pods.
"See ya! Have fun!"
With a sudden whoosh, Jean's vision became encased in white before giving way to a kaleidoscope of blues. It felt like she was falling and she had half a mind to scream before the falling feeling disappeared, replaced by solid ground and terrain she did not recognize.
"We have arrived."
"This is Camelot. The Singularity where the Lion King ruled. Over there is the palace where I once stood guard."
"Let's head for the sands. There are normally many enemies there."
After walking into the hot desert, Jean suddenly remembered something.
"Ah, I have yet to decide on skills."
"...Right, I forgot the beautiful lady here can choose skills. Well then, my dear, please. Take
your time."(Gawain)
"Let's head for the oasis over there. Some shade would do good."
"Lead the way, knights."
Having made it to the small oasis, Jean opened her character menu. After going through all her options, she chose three to fill in the three empty slots for skills.
"I have finished."
"Oh. Perhaps you can tell us?"(Artoria)
"Sure. I tend to be a hybrid sub DPS/healer in my world...or so Lumine says...so my skills reflect that. Guiding Breeze, increases incoming heal amount for all allies, Let the Wind Lead, increases self NP gain, Charisma(Gale) A, increase attack for all allies and increase defense for all allies."
"Interesting. Hey, maybe we can unlock your Noble Phantasm today!"
"That'd be fun."
"We just need to find some enemies and-"
As if in response, a growl sounded far away, followed by other growls.
"Enemies. On guard, knights."
Shing! The sound of blades being drawn from their sheaths rung in Jean's ears as she too entered her battle stance.
For a moment all was silent again as if the growls had just been imagination. Concentrating, Jean focused on the flow of the air around them, having trained herself on noticing the slightest difference.
…
There.
Lunging forward, Jean jabbed at a small sand dune. With a howl, a scaly beast with a tipped tail appeared. It snarled in pain before raising its head and crying out. Answering the call, other beasts appeared from the sand.
"Engage!"
The four knights rushed forward, blades whirling and cutting scales, quickly changing the surrounding sands' color. As they continued to fight, Jean noticed something. The other knights tended to use only three to four hits against the enemies before moving on. Jean had to use well over twelve to down even one of them.
"Ugh!"
In a few minutes, the battle was over and the victors, slightly exhausted, regrouped under the shade in the oasis.
"I….huff had heard that...huff..that Servants had much...hah..higher attack stats than us. So
it seems...gasp…..that was true."
"Deep breaths, don't talk so soon. And yes I suppose that would be true. I had noticed your attack power was only 2,030. In comparison, Lancelot's is the lowest at 10,949, mine is 12,173, and Artoria my king is 13,221."
"While I may have the lowest attack power, I'm more normal attack oriented than those two so overall, I end up dealing more damage. Gawain is a mix of both sides while Artoria is a burst type. Her NP damage is frighteningly high, worthy of being my king."
"Enough. We have more enemies coming our way. It seems the fight from earlier ended up alerting a whole horde."
Looking up, Jean's face paled as she watched the incoming horde. Black and dark, it swallowed the horizon line and was slowly moving towards them.
"Guards up!"
The four then continued their fight.
~~
~~
The sun was setting now as Jean and the other three continued to fight. While all of them were getting exhausted, Gawain was noticeably tiring out faster. His blow no longer cleaved the enemy in two, and his legs seemed ground to where they were.
"My king, we must finish this. I cannot hold on any longer."
"I agree. Once the sun dips below the horizon, I will no longer be able to fight as well."
"Please wait a little longer. My gauge is yet to reach 100."
"But-"
"Shh."
Ignoring the two male knights, Jean turned towards the horizon. After a certain point, the knight had noticed that the enemies came in waves, each stronger than the last.
"Relax, Jean. We have a small break before the next w-"
Cut off by the sound of pounding feet, Jean raised her blade.
"Damn, there's no time. Hey Miss Jean! As you probably noticed, most of us are getting
pretty low on health. Unleash your Noble Phantasm!"(Lancelot)
"I still do not know how!"
"Breathe and focus on what pushes you forward. Then, you will know."
As Jean looked around her, all she saw was the incoming horde of enemies and her exhausted allies that were putting their trust in her. As the sun continued its descent, Jean noticed something. While it may not do much in this world, her Vision, the proof of her resolve, still glowed faintly on her left hip. As she focused on the glow, she realized that even though she had traversed worlds, somewhere, the Archon she followed and the city she vowed to protect were still believing in her. They always had. Taking another glance around at her allies, she found herself smiling. They may not be the citizens of Mondstadt or anyone from home at all, they were her new found friends who had gladly helped her. Now, it was time for her to repay the gift.
Raising her sword, dripping with blood from the creatures she had killed, she brought the sword up before her. Closing her eyes, she focused on the sound of the wind. The far away pounding of the wave of enemies and the harsh breath of her allies became background noise as Jean's ears picked up and followed the flow of air.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced, back from when the four were first moving towards the rayshifting room.
"I don't have a name for my Noble Phantasm either."
"Hmm. That probably means you have to unlock it in the same manner Mash did. Face an onslaught of enemies and push yourself to the limit. Then, the Noble Phantasm will come."
"There is a chant is there not? How do I know what to say? What should I-"
"It will come by itself. The chant is not something you recite. It is something that comes directly from yourself. Don't worry, the words will come in time."
Now she knew what Artoria had meant, for somehow words had appeared in her mind, bright, clear, and calming like the wind she followed. Concentrating, she felt her energy rise as her Noble Phantasm began to activate.
"Barbatos, guide us-"
~Stats~
Tuonto's Jean(y'all should've seen this coming a long time ago)
Artoria - MLB First Sunrise
Gawain - MLB Aerial Drive
Saberlot - Painting Summer
I know I said non event gift CEs wouldn't be MLB but I have no idea how to find out stats on a level 20 CE so just assume everything MLB I guess. Haha.....
If one of y'all know how to find stats for CEs based on level, care to share? Thanks!