(Sorry for being late, also an update about by interview. I got the job, as Machine Operator since 1 August)
On the ninth day since the last Singularity, Olga and Romani are finally able to locate the next stabilized Singularity which calls for everyone in preparation for the next mission.
———
Early in the morning after breakfast, the majority of the Servants had gathered in the Command Room for a briefing.
Ritsuko is still half awake with a coffee mug in her hand, slowly blowing the heat away and sipping it.
As for Adam, he is wide awake and staring at the large screen while Olga did her best to deliver crucial information about the Singularity.
"The next Singularity had been determined to be occured in the 1st Century of Europe, specifically during the Ancient Rome. For now, the Trismegistus has been unable to pinpoint the exact location of the Grail but it should be around here." She circled the region on the map. "You all will be Rayshifted close to the target region which is supposedly the location of the Imperial Capital of Rome."
"For now, are there any questions?" Olga paused and focused on both Ritsuko and Adam.
Ritsuko shook her head but Adam was in deep thoughts at the moment before he nodded.
"I do, actually. Can you explain what TRISMEGISTUS is and how exactly it pinpointed something in the past?"
Olga was expecting various kinds of questions. But this isn't what she had expected. Then again, Adam was someone from another universe brought here possibly by the Wizard Marshal. So, she wouldn't hold it against him for not knowing many things. Besides, Adam is literally the Chaldea's Ace in resolving the Singularity. Not that Ritsuko is any worse as Master performance wise. But Adam simply excels in many other fields aside from what is required of a Master. Mainly his martial strength and wisdom. For that reason, she wonders why Adam would like to know about TRISMEGISTUS.
"To put it simply, TRISMEGISTUS is a supercomputer that governs the procedure of Rayshift and processing information gathered by LAPLACE and SHEBA. LAPLACE being a device that can observe the past akin to a prediction while SHEBA being a device that can observe the past visually. TRISMEGISTUS used the information outputted by LAPLACE and SHEBA to create these data that we use." Olga explained with ease the basic information about the inventions of Chaldea with pride.
"I see. So, it is akin to Clairvoyance but through scientific means and made possible with the aid of Magecraft." Adam nodded understandingly.
It is almost like his clairvoyance ability but more versatile yet less potent while his clairvoyance can see less but the information he can see is much better. After all, from the explanation, these devices are made to observe a wide area like an orbital scan on an area while Adam's clairvoyance is like seeing through his own eyes.
But with his own clairvoyance ability, Adam can dive his mind into the Warp where concepts of time do not exist and it is like a library that contains the information from the start to the end of time. However, like a grand library of such scale. He needs to locate the information through a sea of books.
In short, Adam can glean some information about this Singularity already with his mind through the Warp. For example, he can already see the interference of a Daemon similar to Flauros in this Singularity which oddly enough, is absent in the France Singularity.
When Adam revealed this information to everyone in the Command Room, almost everyone was staring at him silently. Some in shock, some in disbelief. Especially Olga who had her jaw slacked wide.
"H-Hold on a second. This Warp place… You say it's a place where concepts of Space and Time do not exist and are filled with information from the beginning of time to the end?" Olga asked, obviously shaken and trembling.
"Yes. Warp is the Sea of Soul, the place where the unconscious minds of all living beings are gathered and where we Psykers draw our power from." Adam answered although confused by the reaction from everyone else.
Olga then drops herself on her knee and hugs his leg, before begging him. "Please teach me how to be a Psyker! No. I beg you, please make me a Psyker!" She says.
"Ahem, please allow me to explain." Da Vinci stepped up after seeing the confusion on Adam's face. "To Magi like Director Olga, this 'Warp' place that you can access is something all Magi aspired to reach, it is the Root of Magecraft. The source, so to speak and all Magus dedicated their life and generations in hope of reaching this place. The original Holy Grail War is also a ritual that Magi created in order to reach the Root."
After hearing Da Vinci's explanation, he understands why Olga would act like that. Although, he didn't know exactly how to make a person a Psyker since it is a mutation gained from birth. His case is slightly different, an artificial one after receiving the Emperor's Gene-Seeds. But he didn't have any Gene-Seed material on him or will he do it on another person and subject them to the terrible procedures.
Thankfully, Malcador came to save the day.
"Unfortunately, to be a Psyker. You must be born as one. It is a genetic mutation, speculated to be a result of humanity's evolution. For Adam's case, he could become one only after a terrible procedure of Gene-Seed implants obtained from Humanity's strongest Psyker." Olga immediately wanted to say she is willing to be subjected to numerous tortures but Malcador shot her down when he said, "It was only made possible due to his gift of Immortality and unbreakable will. Without those both, he wouldn't be able to endure those procedures. Not to mention, we do not have any Gene-Seed Material from the Emperor to even make the procedure possible."
With her dream shattered, Olga was left sullen. But then she remembers something. If she cannot achieve it herself, her progeny might. If she can give birth to his child, the Animusphere Family will rise up from its fall in the Moonlit World as another Magus Family that has reached the root!
While Olga is still stuck in her imagination, she didn't realize the predatory gaze she threw at Adam which made him and Alina frown.
"Ahem, we had derailed from our original briefing." Olga coughed and hid her poorly hidden intention well in her mind which returned to briefing about the Singularity like nothing had happened.
"Dueb to the suspected presence of a Daemon in this Singularity, I hope everyone will proceed with caution. That's all. We are dismissed." Olga announced.
Then Romani rose up from his seat to take over the Rayshift process.
"Unlike before, this time both of you can bring up to three Servants each. That is our maximum limit for Rayshifting Servants. So, including Mash. There are five more slots which the two of you can decide who to bring along." Romani said to Ritsuko and Adam.
As such, the selection begins. Emiya is Adam's first choice as he is their sole Archer and capable of scouting with his Personal Skill [Clairvoyance] which basically is a far sight ability that allows him to see in greater distance and details.
Next is Jeanne D'Arc due to her being in Ruler Class and vital for identifying Servants for appropriate countermeasures. Also, her defensive Noble Phantasm might come in handy as having more than enough life saving cards can't ever go wrong.
The last choice of his is surprisingly Jeanne Alter.
"Really, you are choosing me? Why?" The broody clone of Jeanne was surprised that she was chosen too, thinking she wasn't accepted by the Chaldean considering many still bear hostility at her. Other also wondered why Adam would choose Jeanne Alter instead of them.
"It's rather simple." Adam said and explained. "For my group, I didn't need a Servant for combat. Mostly for utility since I can fulfill the role of main combatant. The same goes for Jeanne Alter's skill and Noble Phantasm." Adam said as her Saint Graph is displayed on the screen. Especially on her ability to strengthen ally and her ability to self sustain her Mana at Rank EX.
With such proof, none can say Adam is biased. Not that he is. But it helps make those disgruntled ones like Cu shut his mouth for not being selected. As for Jeanne Alter, she looks proud to be praised and her favorability of Adam improved greatly.
Once Adam is done selecting his Servants, it's Ritsuko's turn. Since Adam already covers most bases for combat, Ritsuko can afford choosing based on her need. Her choice was Martha and Artoria on top of having Mash.
Ritsuko looked apologetic to Cu while Emiya snickered at the Lancer that was put on the bench.
"Great, since you are all already done choosing. You all can start preparing. The Rayshift will begin in two hours." Olga claps her hand to gather attention before dismissing their meeting.
———
Two hours later.
Ritsuko, Adam, Alina and Sif along with the chosen Servants find themselves standing on a grassy hill.
"Rayshift succeeded. However, we can't see any sign of civilization." Mash concluded her report as they all entered the Singularity.
"No sign of civilization? Romani!"
"W-Wait! I confirmed the coordinates were indeed correct. There must be something else at fault." Romani fearfully replied in a hurry.
"It seems that we have to explore on our own then." Ritsuko sighed as exploring is very tiring and boring. But when she turned to Adam's group, she noticed Adam was staring towards a certain direction along with Sif that had her ears twitching like she was picking up sounds.
"Did you find out anything, Adam Senpai?" Ritsuko asked and also turned to the direction they were looking at and focused her ear but failed to hear anything but the sound of rustling grass.
"Sif heard the sound of battle and I detected a large group of people on the other side of the hill." Adam explains before ordering everyone to approach the site of the battle.
When they reached the other side of the hill, they saw two armies clashing against one another. One side overwhelmed the other by a large margin. But that isn't what caught Adam's attention. What did instead is their identical color scheme of red and gold.
Usually, each nation identifies their army very clearly with different colors for a reason, even in the Imperium. The gear can be identical but the color scheme or pattern of their marking is always different to make it easier for identification purposes. The only time one can see both sides bearing identical colors is commonly in civil war. Which is what he assumed were in this case as their difference is only the design of their emblem on their standard.
When Adam shared his observation, Olga explained that he might be correct about the Civil War part which isn't foreign throughout the history of the Roman Empire. But what is weird is in this time period, no civil war was ever recorded and it was supposed to be a golden age where the Empire flourished and no major war much less a civil war was waged.
Aside from that, Alina also commented on how similar those armies are to the Astartes Legion in terms of their conduct like bearing a standard, usage of golden eagle icon, etc.
"Anything else you all observed?" Olga asked.
"There's this woman in all red and wielding a big flaming red sword leading the smaller force. She is basically taking on the opposing force alone. Perhaps a Servant from her performance?" Mash replied while observing the battle very closely to catch every single detail she could.
"No, that's not possible. We detected no sign of Servant head. All of them are human from this era." Romani chipped in with his analysis.
"Hmn… It might not be impossible since this era still possesses an abundance of Mystery and yet to fully transition into the Age of Man." Olga explained with her knowledge.
"But, how should we know which side to help?" Ritsuko brought up the serious question before inadvertently turning to Adam knowing his trusty Intuition would have an answer for her.
With such expectations given to him, Adam has to provide an answer. Based on his intuition, he feels like helping the leader of the smaller force to defend the city would bring him closer to catching the Daemon. Naturally, Adam chose to aid the woman in red and her forces.
"We will help the woman in red to defend the city." Adam said and none objected to his suggestion since basically everyone had their faith in him and his guidance.
"Alright. Let's go!" Ritsuko agreed and rallied her group too as they all joined in the fray.
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