Two hours later…
Shirou had just come out of his first class, and it had been more informative than he expected. Although Lord Trambellio appeared to be a harsh and somewhat inflexible person, he was an excellent educator in his eyes. He informed them of everything they will study in the next years, in a way that even he could understand.
The blacksmith's apprentice wondered if Lord Trambellio would be his teacher in all his next classes or if, on the other hand, he would only give them this initial lecture and, in the next class, it would be given by another teacher.
Shirou was glad that, during his first year, all his classes would be taught in the main building of the Clock Tower. In the next few years, he would have to go to the specific facilities of each faculty.
He had half an hour between his first class and his second, so he walked calmly.
He was moving through the corridors of Mystile to another of the five main rooms of the department. In this, he will receive his first lecture on Mineralogy.
Shirou entered the auditorium, this one was similar to the other, but inside it was different tools, as well as precious stones and other minerals.
The redhead took a seat in one of the empty places. Unlike the previous class, this one was not as crowded. The class of General Fundamentals was mandatory for all magi, unlike this one.
Like last time, he had to wait until the professor arrived, and this was not a Lord, as in his previous class, but he was a member of the Meluastea family. And this was the family that was in charge of the Mineralogy Department.
In their first class, they were asked to form duos, as they would be put through a series of small tests to gauge their abilities.
He and another girl had trouble finding partners, well, not only him and the girl, the magi from little-known families and magi foreigners also had slight problems.
But, in the girl's case, it was a little worse. Not only because she was not European, which stood out thanks to her features, but also because the professor praised her, saying that she was one of the best freshmen, according to the notes on her income test.
Normally, any magus would have wanted to take advantage of that, but the fact that the girl was from a family outside of Europe and that, also, they had to do it during the first class... well, nobody liked to compare themselves to the first day with the best of the class.
Although for him, this did not matter in the slightest. He didn't come to the Clock Tower for things like prestige, what Shirou wanted to gain was as much knowledge as possible to achieve his goals, so working with the best in the class was more of a blessing to him than a disgrace.
She was a girl his age, possessed aquamarine eyes and long wavy blonde hair, with a hairstyle consisting of two twin ponytails. Her outfit consisted of a red turtleneck coat, a black skirt, and long black stockings under her brown leather shoes.
"Nice to meet you," she said with a hint of pride in her voice, and, to the point of view of Shirou, she acted like a lady and a model student. Perfect in both appearance and qualifications.
"Muramasa Shirou, it's my pleasure," he introduced himself, extending his hand.
"Muramasa Shirou… Hmm… Are you Japanese by any chance?" she asked curiously, at the same time that she returned the greeting.
Shirou nodded. "My family lives on the island of Kyushu, in the city of Fuyuki," Shirou replied.
The girl smiled with interest. "Oh, seriously? My family also lives on the island of Kyushu, and also in Fuyuki..." it only took a few seconds for her to realize what that statement meant. "Wait! What!?"
"Miss Tohsaka! Lower your tone of voice!" The teacher scolded her.
Wait, Tohsaka!? The same family of magi that Kiritsugu told me not to go near, that Tohsaka!? According to what Kiritsugu told me, she would not be attending classes this year.
"Although you are the best student in this course, remember that we made a special exception so that you could enroll. Considering how late you applied. Show some respect!" The professor continued.
"Y-Yes, professor... My apologies," she answered, embarrassed.
The girl looked at Shirou with suppressed anger, and, for the rest of the class, she didn't speak to him even once.
The girl was, without a doubt, the best in the class. She excelled in all aspects, and while Shirou was average in most of these, the only case in which he surpassed her was in the analysis of minerals and jewels.
The lesson ended, and Shirou was about to leave for his last class.
"Wait there!" said the girl holding his hand.
With an awkward smile, he asked her, "Is something wrong, Tohsaka-san?"
Her model student mask was falling apart, but she cared little at the moment, "What do you mean with: is something wrong, Tohsaka-san?" she said, clearly angry. "I am the heir to the Tohsaka family. The family was designated as the Second Owner of Fuyuki City, and I was never informed about any family of magi with the surname Muramasa. You and I have things to talk about..."
Shirou sighed internally, this was the reason why he didn't want to meet the heiress of the Tohsaka family; she was the Second Owner of the Fuyuki spirit land.
The Spiritual Lands are mystical grounds where strong leylines of Mana can be found, places that increase the power of Magecraft, and, in the case of those of top class, where magic can be activated. The Mage's Association has the ownership of most of the high-quality spiritual lands around the world but, for practical purposes, the actual administration of the land is left to a local lineage of magi that is related to the Association.
These magi in charge are called: Second Owners. They are in charge of managing all the supernatural activity within their territory. And, once a new magus takes up residence for himself in a Spirit Land of the Association, it is expected to seek permission from the Second Owner before establishing the Workshop. Of course, some magi do not respect this rule, like his father, these are usually magi who are not within the Association, and, generally, these will remain hidden, so, as long as they do not cause problems, they should not have problems to remain in it.
He really didn't know what year his family had moved from Kuwana to Kyushu, and for some reason, his grandfather didn't remember clearly, there was a possibility that they had moved before the Tohsaka arrived in Japan; however, even if this was true, the land had been owned by the Association for who knows how many centuries, and since they were not a part of it and had never attempted to associate with it, the authority over the land had been given to the Tohsaka.
The logical thing would have been to inform the Tohsaka about their stay in the city and explain that they had been in it for who knows how long, however, apparently, their family had not done so, perhaps because they did not consider themselves really magi, or for any other reason, while, on the other hand, Kiritsugu had more than one good reason for wanting to remain hidden from them: which boiled down to him being in Fuyuki illegally, at least from the Association's point of view.
Now, back to his dilemma, Tohsaka didn't seem like she would take no for an answer, and he didn't want to antagonize the family that ran the town where he lived.
"I understand Tohsaka-san, but, right now, I have classes. Could we finish this conversation later?"
She narrowed her eyes. "What class do you have to go to now?"
"Modern Magecraft Theory…"
The girl clicked her tongue. "I planned to listen to that class but did not write it as part of my study plan. Besides, I also have classes after this..." she murmured.
"¿Tohsaka-san?"
"Well, give it to me..."
He cocked his head, in confusión. "What?"
"The address of your bedroom! What else!?"
"Oh, that, sure..." Shirou replied while giving him a paper with his address, without fully understanding why.
She took it and said, "Well, I'll go tonight. Don't think about escaping, or I'll chase you all over the Clock Tower, do you understand!?"
"I understand…" Shirou replied, more for instinct than because he really understood what happened.
"See you later then..." with that said, she left the class to go to her next lesson.
"She is an intense girl. Don't you think?" Muramasa commented, dangling from the boy's waist.
At this, the redhead couldn't help but nod.
According to what Kiritsugu had told him, this was the Clock Tower's newest faculty, only 100 years old since its inception, however, it was said that the professor teaching this class, despite being the youngest Lord, was also the one that had produced the most amazing students in recent years.
The apprentice magus sat down on an empty seat, and as the teacher had not yet arrived, he began to analyze his classmates. There were two blond boys, who were completely different from each other. There was also a brown-haired boy with glasses, and, a few seats away from where he was sitting, there was a blonde girl with a pigtails hairstyle in the shape of... drills?
After a while, the professor arrived, and he was followed by a person whom he couldn't quite distinguish, as she was wearing a hood.
He was a tall man of about 26, with long flowing hair. He wore a red coat with gold trim on the shoulders, and his face had a tremendously bitter expression.
The person following him sat on one of the seats. Shirou started to feel something strange about this person, but the teacher proceeded to start the class, so he had to pay attention.
"I will be your teacher this year, you can refer to me as a teacher or as Lord El-Melloi II, don't forget the II."
Shirou could see how the man had a bad attitude from the beginning. He was undoubtedly the type of person who started on the wrong foot in the morning. However, as a teacher, he was very dynamic and didactic. And Shirou could understand why he was one of the greatest lecturers inside the Clock Tower.
The class itself flew past, and he didn't even notice. For someone like him or Kiritsugu, this man's classes were worth pure gold.
Just as he was about to leave the room, a voice stopped him, "Wait."
Again?
The redhead thought something worried. "Yes, teacher...?"
"Your name is Muramasa Shirou. Isn't it?"
Shirou nodded. "So is"
"According to your papers, you come from Fuyuki city in Japan, true?"
Shirou nodded again.
This left the young Lord thoughtful.
"Is something wrong, teacher?"
"Nothing, it's just that the last time I was in that damn city, I didn't hear of any magi family that had your last name."
Damn city?
The boy thought, confused. "My family is a bit different from the other usual magi families. Beyond our works, we are not well known."
"Works… And that sword. So, you are related to the cursed swords of Muramasa. I thought you only shared the last name, but it seems that it is not only that."
"Exactly, my ancestors created those swords."
"I understand... There's something I want to ask you about: Do you know anything about a ritual known as..."
However, someone interrupted them before the Lord could ask him. It was the same person who came in behind the teacher. That person wore a coat with a hood and a skirt, and Shirou recognized her as a girl a little younger than him.
"Excuse me, Sir. I ran into Miss Reines when she was leaving the classroom, and she asked me to tell you that she is waiting for you in her office."
The professor's face became bitter at the mention of that name. "Thanks, Gray."
Shirou moved closer to look at the person his teacher was talking to more closely, and, suddenly, he felt as if time had stopped. Something ignited within him, a warm sensation that he hadn't felt since he met Kiritsugu. The boy saw that it did not possess the same strength as that time, yet even so, whatever it was, it had ignited.
The girl also stared at him for a while…
"Is something wrong with you two?" the young Lord interrupted them.
"No, nothing," said the redhead. "Was he going to ask me about something, teacher?"
"Yeah, but it looks like it will have to be later. I don't want to tempt that girl."
"I understand. In my case, I have to meet with Lord Valueleta."
"Are you in the Creation Department?"
Shirou nodded. "My goal is to create the ultimate sword."
For a moment, numerous emotions ran across the lord's face, the first was fear, and the last was bitterness. "You have a very big goal if you want to create something more powerful than that thing. I'm not even sure if it could be called a sword."
"What?"
Lord El-Melloi II shook his head. "Nothing. Let's go, Gray."
The girl followed the Lord, but not before giving the boy a small gesture of farewell.
His classes were over for today, but despite that, he still had a lot to attend to during the day: The meeting with Lord Valueleta, his meeting with Tohsaka, and his training with Muramasa. Today was going to be a long day...
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Mass release!!
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Lets make a deal. I will post 1 chapter for every review this fanfic gets, until the first 10 reviews.
Also, I'm going to post another extra chapter for every 10 power stones that the fanfic gets.
Thank you for reading, see you on the next chapter!