The same day that Shirou had obtained the patronage, in the office of the young Lord...
Waver and Gray had just arrived inside the office, and a young lady was waiting for them. She had bright blond hair as well as pale white skin. Her most impressive feature was definitely her eyes, burning like fire, even though they were greenish. Her name is Reines El-Melloi Archisorte.
"Did you have a good conference, big brother?"
The way she called him brought a great headache to the young Lord. Waver sighed and asked, "If you have called me, it means there must be something you want me to do, doesn't it?"
She smiled mischievously. "Do you know anything about Adra Castle?"
Waver nodded. "Geryon Ashborn, I researched him as a way to pay off my debt."
"Oh, interesting, because it just so happens that he has died and an invitation has come to us to attend the claim of his inheritance..."
This greatly surprised Waver. "Then I suppose I should attend."
Reines nodded while winking at him.
This only increased the Lord's migraine.
"By the way, big brother, you met the student who caught your eye today, right?"
Waver nodded. "I confirmed my suspicions. Not only did he live in Fuyuki, but he has more limitations than me, or in other words, there's no way he could have passed the entrance exams. How did he manage to pass it?"
Reines handed him some documents. "He didn't. Instead, he received a recommendation."
Waver started reading the documents. "Lady Valualeta?"
Reines nodded. "That's right. The head of the Creation Department seems to have an interest in him."
"Why does it? I analyzed him in class and didn't notice anything special. Did you notice anything, Lady?" he said, turning to Gray.
"Do you mean the boy who was with you when I called you, Sir?"
Waver nodded.
"Well, when I was near him, I felt something strange, as if something connected or linked us..."
"And?" both asked.
"Quietness. I felt calm as if a warm feeling were flowing into my chest."
After hearing this, Reines couldn't help but want to bother the girl a little. Sketching a mischievous smile, she started teasing her. "Oh...? A warm feeling in your chest? Could it be that Gray entered that age?"
This took the young woman by surprise and she tried to deny as much as she could the implications of the Lady. "N-NO, I-I just... I didn't mean that..."
This joke attracted the fun of Add, who couldn't help but burst out laughing.
This gave the young Lord an idea. "Add, did you also feel that feeling that Gray talked about?"
"I am not a simple mystical code, I deserve respect," he grumbled, "but I understand what Gray means. I felt it too, it was a power similar to Rhongomyniad, but opposite in function."
"Opposite?"
"Yeah, like a shield or something. At least, that's how I felt."
"That's strange. Why could only Gray and Add feel that?" Reines said.
Waver tried to find an explanation; however, she couldn't think of anything. "Lady, I have a request to make of you, will you listen to it?"
And that's how Gray ended up keeping an eye on the boy and sitting next to him. Not that she was annoyed about it, Shirou was quite industrious and took her master's lessons seriously. Besides, every time she was near him, that feeling of tranquility and security began to flood her.
Another thing he remembered clearly was his research on the Einzberns. In addition to what they already knew, he could not learn much more. The Einzberns were a family independent of the Clock Tower and extremely isolated. They communicated through the homunculi they produced, which, from time to time, came to the Clock Tower to make the occasional deal. Beyond that, he could not find out anything new.
Finally, he arrived at the last event that happened, it hurt him to remember this part, but he almost had the answer.
It happened after his Modern Magecraft Theories class…
He was calming the already normal arguments between heiress Edelfelt and heiress Tohsaka, Rin had attended as a listener, as she wanted to enroll in the class for the next period, and It all ended when Lord El- Melloi II stopped them both by threatening to remove them from the auditorium.
Once the class was over, everyone prepared to leave, then, he entered…
He was a boy his own age, had a superior look and an arrogant smile, and his hair was bluish and reminded him of a pile of seaweed.
"Tohsaka! So here you were."
Once Rin saw who it was, her expression went sour.
"Matou-kun... I thought you were at your Zoology Lecture. Why did you come?" she said with a forced smile.
His smile became wider. "Of course, I came to see you. Our families have been allies for the last 200 years, so I came here so that we could study together."
She put all the effort she could into keeping her smile. "I'm sorry, Matou-kun, but I promised to tutor Shirou-kun, so I can't help you. I have to make sure he passes his final exams."
"Shirou?" asked the confused magus. After a few moments, he observed the red-headed man standing right next to the heiress Tohsaka.
"Muramasa Shirou," he introduced himself.
"Muramasa? I have never heard of a lineage of magi with that name..."
"We are not magi properly speaking, only let's say that our trade is linked to magecraft."
"Are you not magus? Tohsaka, do you really think relating and studying with a random person is better than associating with me?"
With that said, Rin stopped holding back. "Matou-kun, if I'm preferring to associate with Shirou-kun, it's because I obviously think it's worth studying with him, at least, more than it is worth studying with you. Also, I understand that you are proud of your lineage, but considering that it's a declining lineage that had to use a designer baby to prolong its existence... If you're not even naturally someone born into the Matou family, do you really have anything to be proud of?"
That left the whole classroom silent, even Lord El-Melloi was silent about this statement. Rin had not only despised Shinji and his lineage, she had even questioned his place as a member of the Matou family. For a magus, receiving such words was equivalent to receiving several of the worst insults that could be done to him, one after another.
"Tohsaka…" Shinji looked at her with hatred and suppressed rage. If not for the presence of other people in the room, including a Lord, he probably would have jumped on her."Hey, you." Shinji pointed at Shirou.
"Yeah?" Shirou asked, not knowing what he had to do with this discussion.
"Let's go to one of the rooms used for self-defense classes; let's fight there."
"What?" Shirou asked in a daze.
"The only way to shut that bitch up is to prove I'm better than you, or are you afraid your pathetic magecraft can't do anything against mine?" Matou asked, abandoning all manners and smiling mangily at his last statement.
"I have no reason to fight with you."
"Oh? So, you want me to give you one?" he asked, having fun. "Do you only have that sword to show off? Oh, don't tell me, it's just a useless piece of plastic, isn't it?"
Seeing that this could escalate, Lord El-Melloi decided to intervene on behalf of his student. "Matou, if you came to my class just to cause trouble, I will be forced to report you to your dean. I understand that your family has not done any research in the last centuries, right?" Waver, who normally looked tired and bitter, was stern and determined in front of the young magus. "You are not being sponsored by any Lord, and you are only coming to cause trouble... I will make sure that you receive a proper punishment."
That pushed back the arrogant heir, it probably would have ended there, but Shinji pressed a button that even Shirou didn't realize he had: he insulted his swords.
"You can rest assured, professor. If Matou-san wants to measure his strength against my sword, I have no problem with that." Shirou approached Shinji. "Let me show you how well it cuts this piece of plastic."
Having said this, Shinji left the classroom and made a gesture to Shirou to follow him.
Before he left the class, Rin stopped him. "Are you sure about this? He may be a scumbag as a person, but the magecraft of the Matou family is quite problematic and dangerous."
Luvia was also approached with concern, even Caules and Gray looked this way too.
However, Shirou smiled. "I may not be a magus in every sense of the word, but I have something to be proud of too, those are my swords. I can't let him just insult them, just like that."
"Hihihihihi! That's right, buddy, kick his ass," Add encouraged.
Muramasa did not say anything, but he did not need it, since his descendant and he were in perfect synchrony.
Shirou left the classroom followed by all of his classmates. The four mentioned above were worried about him. Lord El-Melloi was doing his duty. Svin didn't really care about the fight and simply followed the others. And, others, like Flat, or a girl with an eye patch, the self-proclaimed number one mistress of Lord El-Melloi II, Yvette L. Lehrman, were just excited to see the fight.
The two arrived at the hall and stood on opposite sides of it, both were so focused on the battle that they didn't even notice how the hall was quickly filled with spectators and nor did they notice the three Lords who were watching them.
Once they were ready, or more specifically, when Shinji was ready, they both stood facing each other at a certain distance.
Shinji knew that Shirou would use his sword, but Shirou had no idea what Matou's sorcery was doing, so he simply grabbed his sword hard and prepared to cut whatever Matouthrew at him.
What the apprentice magus did not expect was that from the clothing Shinji, a large number of insects would begin to emerge.
"These are my sword-type flying insects. They love meat as much as piranhas. I'd avoid them if I were you," Shinji said with an arrogant laugh.
He sent a small first wave of these insects right to where Shirou was. But when they came within range of his sword, in a few seconds, all were reduced to pieces.
"It seems you don't just have that sword to show off," he said without worrying.
Soon a large number of insects were on Shirou and he, reinforcing his body, began to move through the whole room while cutting as many as he could and, at the same time, making sure he was not cornered. However, Shirou did not realize that more and more insects were surrounding the room, and at one point, the insects covered all directions inside the room, leaving no room for escape.
"Was not bad, Muramasa. In an open place, I would have had problems, but inside this room, I have the advantage." Shinji clicked his fingers and laughed. "Let the show begin."
Each of the insects launched like a shark toward its prey, and each one of them tried to tear the flesh of the redhead. If not for the reinforcement, Shirou would have been devoured in a matter of seconds.
Shit!
Shirou clenched his teeth tightly so as not to complain.
"Shirou-kun! / Shero!" shouted both heiress respectively.
Both were about to intervene, and Lord El-Melloi was also about to stop the fight, even Gray had to Add ready and about to jump. To be exact, several of the students in El-Melloi'sclass were preparing to take action. Flat had momentarily abandoned his funny attitude and was looking a little serious and worried about the scene. Caules seemed to have some sort of battery in his right hand and was squeezing it hard. And, even Svin was not oblivious to the fight.
But someone stopped them all, Lord Trambellio, his words were clear and precise, "Do not interfere."
It was then that Gray felt it, a tug, something that connected her to Shirou, it was similar to the same sense of security he gave her, and this bond was asking for mana.
No one in the room could stand up to the stout lord, at least, not without her revealing the mystery inside Add. So, with her hands tied, she did the only thing she thought would help his classmate, and she poured as much od as she could into that link, and suddenly, from inside the insect cloud, a beautiful, beautiful light began to shine.
It began to regenerate Shirou's wounds at an extraordinary rate, and it seemed that the light had a certain disturbing effect on the insects, as they were driven away for a few moments.
Shirou tried to cut off as many insects as he could, but there were too many. They threw themselves into his hands in an attempt to snatch his sword, and no matter how hard he fought, he could not stop them from taking his weapon.
The insects snatched his sword and took it to Shinji.
He held the sword like a toy. "Hey, Muramasa! Is using this piece of plastic the only thing you can do?"
That was the last straw. For some reason that he did not know, his magical circuits lit up as never before, and, at that moment, some words appeared with force in his head along with the distorted reflection of that land of steel that he dreamed of almost every night...
In anger and determination, he pronounced, "I am... The bone of my sword!"
The redheaded man stretched out his hand and, in his palm, a bluish glint began to take shape, lengthened about 150 cm, and, when it stopped shining, had transformed into aMonohoshi Zao.
"That sword!" Rin thought as she recognized it.
Shirou smiled unconsciously. The blade had not degraded.
"Another useless sword? And created with such a pathetic magecraft as Gradation air? I expected more..."
The blacksmith's apprentice jumped forward without a second thought. He ran at full speed against Shinji, without caring about the insects' attack. The sword was ready, but he was not capable enough of realizing that technique created by the simple and pure effort that had reached the territory of the gods. Or so he thought...
Faster, I need to be faster!
And, as if his magical circuits obeyed an order, the crest of the Emiya family began to shine under his shirt, and words that he did not understand began to resound in his head:
Opening the temporary manipulation file...
Creating a delimited field within the user's body...
Temporary acceleration of the user to twice his usual speed is possible. Do you want to proceed?
He somehow knew the words to say, "Double accel!"
Everything for the redhead moved in slow motion, although to the others it looked like he had gone off like a rocket.
Shinji tried to stop his advance, but it was useless, the sword was already ready and, when the legendary technique was said, the sword of infinity roared in response...
-TSUBAME GAESHI!
The first cut was thrown with extreme speed and force, and the wave of insects that Shinji sent was reduced to pieces. Subsequently, the second cut destroyed the insects that the Matou used to protect itself.
And, the third cut...
CRACK!
The sword went on its way until it hit the wall. It entered the wall as easily as a fiery rod would enter human flesh. And there was Shinji, between the sword, his enemy, and the wall.
"It's my victory," said the redhead, picking up the sword on which the kanji of his ancestor was written, and Muramasa didn't need to say how proud he was Shirou had been able to use the technique of who was once his student.
But Shinji did not answer him, his eyes lost all energy, he was not dead, but he had fainted from the shock. And soon after, Shirou fainted as well.
After having his memories clear, the redheaded man looked again at the girl holding his hand on the hospital bed. He didn't know how, but he was sure he had survived because of her. The boy approached her and said:
"Thank you. I don't know how, but without you, I could have ended up dead." Unconsciously, he placed his hand on Gray's cheek, pulling her hood a little apart and looking at the girl's fine features, later lowering his face in shame. Shirou muttered in a low voice, "You'd look so much prettier if you didn't wear that hood all the time."
"Eh...!?"
Hearing that exclamation, he looked up and saw Gray, who was awake and somewhat nervous.
In a rush, he tried to explain himself, but was interrupted by the mocking voice of a girl he didn't know. She had blonde hair and green eyes.
Unable to avoid making fun of both of them, Reines said, "Big brother, it seems we've come at a bad time, so I think we should leave them alone for a while longer."
Behind the girl, there was his teacher, who, instead of having a bitter look, maintained one that balanced between fun and feeling pity for Shirou...
Wait, pity, why!?
The redhead found out shortly after the reason for the pity of his teacher, as the heiresses Tohsaka and Edelfelt entered the room with clear displeasure etched on their faces. And soon after, Svin also entered, who apparently wanted to kill Shirou.
Oh yeah, this was going to be another long day...
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AN: So we end with chapter 2, hope you enjoyed it!
Remember that I'm posting extra chapters for every 10 powerstones and for every review I get (until we reach 10 reviews)
Thank you for reading!