Chapter 6: I summon myself?
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Although Elric Bradley had been confident in Tom's fighting abilities from the beginning, the reality was… apart from beating up Ryuunosuke, he had never witnessed Tom in an actual battle.
And, as seen in countless animations, Tom's fighting skills were highly inconsistent. While he often started with the upper hand, it was usually Jerry who emerged victorious in the end.
There were countless examples of this, and the pattern was undeniable.
Still, the fact that Tom had managed to defeat Apia was undeniably good news for Elric.
When Elric stepped into the house, the first thing he noticed was the pungent, musty smell in the air. The entire place felt damp, and at the entrance, there was a sizable hole in the wooden floor, roughly the size of a bowl.
Considering that this old house had been abandoned for at least 20 years, its condition was surprisingly decent.
Elric had no complaints about the state of the house. If anyone asked why, it was because this place was still far better than the dormitory he had endured during his high school years.
Elric had spent three long years in that dormitory, a place so dreadful that even a dog would cry in despair. He often joked that if a poet had seen it, he would have deleted his poem overnight.
To this day, Elric vividly remembered the horror he felt when he first entered the dormitory and discovered someone casually relieving themselves in the hallway.
Compared to that nightmare, this old, damp house was practically luxurious.
After tidying up the living room to make some space, Elric sat on the floor, pulling a flashlight, a local map, and a comic book from the plastic bag he had been carrying.
He didn't plan to go to sleep too early. Instead, he intended to study the map and try to pinpoint the locations of other Masters. Drawing on his memory from watching anime in the past, he figured he could roughly locate their hideouts based on key landmarks.
The comic book, on the other hand, was for Tom's entertainment. If another haunted location popped up, only Tom could deal with it. That meant Tom needed to stay awake tonight.
Elric knew that the Holy Grail War typically started at night, so it was better for Tom to rest during the day. If Tom grew sleepy at night, everything would fall apart. Elric also understood it was impossible to suppress Tom's sleepiness once it set in.
Rather than letting Tom sit idle and risk dozing off, Elric decided to keep him occupied with the comic book.
By tomorrow morning, Elric planned to check out several key locations: the Matou family estate, the Tohsaka family mansion, and Emiya's residence.
As everyone knows, a Holy Grail War usually involves seven Masters and seven Servants—barring exceptions like the Romanian Holy Grail War, the Fifth Holy Grail War, or the United States Holy Grail War. And there were many such exceptions.
Elric was certain he occupied one of the Master slots, but he still needed to observe how many Masters were participating in this particular war.
There was also the possibility that this Fourth Holy Grail War was an anomaly, and Elric was an extra Master. To be honest, he thought this scenario was even more likely.
After all, Tom's class wasn't among the seven standard classes. Instead, it was simply labeled Tom. His ability values were all marked as question marks.
If there were indeed eight Masters this time and Elric was the extra one, so be it. There was no point in overthinking it now. The true number of Masters would reveal itself in time.
For now, Elric needed to focus on his daytime investigations.
Fuyuki City is a relatively small place, making it manageable to locate key landmarks within a day, especially with the help of a map. A leisurely walk would suffice to reach them all.
At the same time, Elric Bradley planned to use the quiet hours of the night to devise his strategies for the days ahead and study his Servant's status panel.
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While Elric stayed up late poring over his map, another participant in the Fourth Holy Grail War, a young man named Waver Velvet, ensured the two elderly members of his host family were fast asleep. Quietly, he tiptoed out of the house.
The stigmata on the back of his right hand marked him as one of the chosen Masters in this war. Once his Servant was summoned, these stigmata would transform into the distinctive Command Seals.
Unlike wealthy competitors like Kiritsugu or Tokiomi, Waver's approach to the summoning ritual was far more humble. He didn't have expensive mercury for the summoning circle. Instead, he had hastily captured a few chickens, planning to use their blood to draw the ritual markings.
In comparison, Waver's summoning setup appeared rather shabby. However, for someone who had scraped together borrowed money just to reach Japan, merely being part of the war was a significant achievement. To expect anything more would be akin to asking for a luxury car when a bicycle was already a stretch.
After carefully placing the stolen holy relic he had taken from his professor in front of the summoning circle, Waver extended his right hand nervously and began the summoning incantation.
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"Your body is at my command, and my life is bound to your blade."
"If you heed the call of the Holy Grail's will and principles, then answer my summons."
"I swear on this oath."
"I seek to accomplish all the good deeds in this world and eradicate all the evil ones."
"You, entangled in the Seven Heavens and bound by the Three Great Words of Spirit, I call upon you to emerge from the Wheel of Restraint, Guardian of Balance!"
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As he finished the final chant, the summoning circle erupted in a brilliant, dazzling light. The glow lasted for a fleeting moment before fading, revealing two figures standing within the circle.
"Eh?" Waver stumbled back in shock and sat down on the ground, utterly confused. His wide eyes darted between the two individuals. "Two… Servants?"
This wasn't what the books had described. If he recalled correctly, a Master was only supposed to summon one Servant.
In the summoning circle stood two men, one tall and the other quite short.
The shorter man seemed relatively ordinary, clad in a red outfit with a matching cloak draped behind him. The only notable issue was his height—he was barely 1.5 meters tall, with a strikingly pretty face.
That said, Waver himself wasn't particularly tall, standing only 157cm.
The taller man, however, was downright bizarre. He wore a modern business suit and casually held a cigar in his right hand. The absurdity of the sight made Waver want to question whether this was really a Servant, but the overwhelming tension in the air held his tongue.
"I am the son of Zeus, Alexander, also known as Alexander the Great," the red-haired young man declared grandly, spreading his arms wide in an almost theatrical display. "You must be my Master, correct?"
"Apparently... yes," Waver replied hesitantly, still struggling to process the idea of summoning two Servants. He introduced himself. "My name is Waver Velvet."
After speaking, Waver turned his gaze toward the towering man in the suit. "And you? Are you also a Servant?"
The tall man had been staring at Waver with an incredulous expression since the moment he was summoned. When Waver addressed him, he seemed to shake himself out of his daze, adjusted his posture, and replied.
"Ahem, forgive my rudeness," he said with an awkward smile. "Yes, I am indeed a Servant. My name is Zhuge Kongming."