Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, it's amazing the quantity of support the story has received so far and I'm very happy with the reviews, so, thank you all!
17th floor
Shirou let a sigh of relief escape from his mouth, as the warmth filled his upper body. Raul lent him one of his shirts, both helping him with the cold and the stares that his partially naked body was receiving.
The group continued for that cave's path eventually entering a quite gigantic room, with the particular trait that meanwhile most of its walls were made of irregular rock one of them was perfectly smooth. He wanted to ask Raul about what they were doing here to start with but his serious gaze, moving from point to point, as if continuously searching for something that would harm them, made him not express those thoughts.
When a cracking sound spread over the room, from the walls, and some even from the ceiling, he nearly panicked thinking the cave was going to collapse, but contrary to his expectations, the cave didn't collapse. Instead, from the cracks in the walls and ceiling, some type of gigantic body started to emerge 'What the hell?'
After just a few seconds, dozens of beasts, with human-like body structures and yet with the characteristics of a bull, were standing in front of the group. Even someone that didn't indulge too much in fiction, as he was, knew about the famous minotaur 'But there was only one, right? And how the hell did they appear from the walls?!'
Though looking at the reaction from the group they didn't seem especially concerned. He prepared himself for what would be a fight...he didn't need to, what his eyes were seeing wasn't a fight, this was a slaughter.
The twins from before were utterly destroying the minotaur's body barehanded as if they were made of little branches instead of pure muscle. 'I'm so happy right now that I didn't annoy them' Seriously, the strength of the girls and the beast-man from before was ridiculous, they may as well be servant-level, certainly not at the level of first-class heroic spirits, probably at the lower end of the barrel actually, but servant-level nonetheless.
He wasn't that surprised when the monsters decided to flee, instead, he would be shocked if they stayed. Finn shouted, telling the group to follow them before they stumbled with low-rank adventurers, and so, the group was naturally divided into two one being led by Finn and the other by Raul.
They continued moving, going up some stairs from time to time, seeing the environment and the type of monster change as they continued to go upwards. He wanted to help, but when he said it Raul told him that right now, as a task told by Finn, his protection was a priority and that they didn't even know how much or even if he was able to fight, and that was without having in account that he would probably disrupt the group formation and put them in danger as a consequence.
With those arguments on the table, Shirou had no other choice but to agree, he would try to help anyways if someone was in danger, but they seemed to have the situation controlled.
And so, they went up rock stairs eleven times without any incidents, from time to time monsters would appear, putting doubt in his mind on how they were being created exactly and tried to kill the group...they weren't successful at all. Heck, some members of the group seemed to precisely know how the monster would move and would cut them down before they even got the chance to become a danger.
Shirou continuously moved his head, studying his surroundings, from zones with a continuous fog to the green-colored walls, every few floors, something would change. To hide something like this, the Magus Association had to be involved, such a big maze full of monsters would have taken the attention of any country it was in, at least if not for external interference to prevent that discovery.
As he was lost in his thoughts, Shirou heard another crack near him, he looked at his surroundings, the group, like him, was looking at his surroundings, trying to find where the monster would appear. They seemed quite less tense than on lower floors and more casual in their demeanor, their focused expressions were slowly replaced with tired expressions.
But there wasn't any monster to be seen if that was the case...his hand moved, with Kanshou already on it, to meet with a black hand with claws 'Above'. The clash between claws and sword didn't last even a second, as soon as the blade reached the claws, they were separated from the hand.
The monster who took advantage of spawning from above, a War Shadow, fell to the ground with its balance off due to the clash. It tried to get up to do another attack, but before even being able to do that, it turned to black ash, from a slash that cut its body in half.
Raul's and Shirou's eyes met, both with a sword in hand and equally shocked eyes. One from being purposely targeted from above, as if the monster considered him vulnerable, and the other because despite knowing that the other didn't have any weapon before, right now and in front of him, he was holding a sword that he did not recognize.
Seconds passed and with a snort, Shirou relaxed his stiff body, letting Kanshou disappear from his hand. Though as he looked around, it was impossible to not notice how everyone looked at him shocked. He tilted his head, confused about what was the fuss. He confirmed they were Magus, hell he did even see one of them throwing an ice spell, so he didn't understand the shock. Maybe they didn't expect him to be a Magus himself? If that were the case, why would they use magecraft so casually? Did they plan on whipping his memory after getting him out of there?
"Swift strike magic?" Something like that was said by one of them, but as nearly everyone was looking at him, it was difficult to tell who said it.
His previously relaxed shoulders stiffed again, and his hand instinctively closed just enough so he could hold the handle of a sword.
Raul, maybe seeing his tense body, sheathed his sword and put his hands up, as if reassuring he wasn't dangerous and said "Sorry, we were just surprised, we didn't expect you to be a mage, nor being able to defend against a monster by yourself, excuse our rudeness."
He couldn't stop himself from raising an eyebrow against the wrong terminology used by Raul 'Mage', if Tohsaka heard that, she may have died from laughter.
"Don't worry, no offense taken."
Though Raul and Aki could tell, even when his posture became relaxed once again, it wouldn't take more than a second to put himself in a combat pose if he wanted to.
'Dangerous' Was the thought that both of them had. As soon as they reached the surface once again, he had to tell Finn about this, after all, this guy just used magic, he has a Falna. And they didn't even know what Familia he was in, hell, all the confused memories thing could even be so that they would lower their guards towards him, making him able to see how Loki Familia operated without a second thought from them.
Loki Familia was the top Familia, only matched or surpassed by Freya Familia, and Orario was full of hyenas, there were Gods that would gladly wipe out a Familia if that raised their status or helped them financially. After all, for a lot of Gods, this was only a playground with no real consequence whatsoever.
Even while thinking about all of this, Raul controlled his body language, just nodding and saying "Same here" in return. Though the actions of both parties did not match what they said, and now they had become aware of the danger that the other represented.
The silence that followed while they advanced was various leagues tenser than before. From time to time, both Aki and Raul would throw Shirou fast glances, taking in all they could about his form before he could notice. He couldn't be higher than level 2, reaching level 3 came with quite a fame, it was the difference from a third-rate adventurer to a second-rate, and thus, worthy of attention/consideration.
Both of them were certain that there wasn't a description that matched him, at least that they could recall at the moment, so he probably was a level 1 or 2. All of this was "talked" between Aki and Raul without exchanging words, just by the looks in the eyes of the other and slight head movements.
The other members, perhaps feeling the tension of their team leader, straightened their backs and returned to the same concentration and caution they carried on the middle floors.
Not much later, they were going up the stairs that connected the first floor with Babel, since the incident happened, the small talk between the members stopped and all looked cautiously to Shirou, in their minds the mission passed from the protection of a civilian to escorting a possible spy.
They went straight to the exit forcing Shirou, who was in the middle of their formation and trying to take every detail of the building as he could, to move with them.
As soon as they got out, they could see the members of the first team, who were waiting for them outside of Babel, so they could all go together to the Twilight Manor.
Raul instantly approached Finn, leaving Shirou, who was looking at his surroundings with a shocked look that got even more pronounced when he turned around and saw the full height of Babel, with Aki.
When Shirou finally turned their attention towards them, it was to see the first team and Raul approaching where everyone else was waiting. As soon as they got near enough to not have to talk in a loud voice to hear each other, Finn said with the same smile he'd seen before "Well it's good to see that everyone is okay and without injuries. Shirou, having into account the strange circumstances in which you appeared, could you accompany us? I would like to ask you some questions if possible"
Having into account the previous reaction from the group when he used magecraft, he would like to refuse the offer, but that would leave him without money or any kind of basic supply, not knowing where he was, and with a small army of super-strong battle oriented magus suspecting him. Shirou's eyes slightly deviated from Finn to the beast-man from before, who was already looking irritated 'And I wouldn't like to test too much the patience of that guy' and so, he simply nodded.
He just wished that inheriting Archer's memories didn't mean he would also inherit his shitty luck.
Twilight Manor
Luckily for Shirou, the tense silence slowly disappeared as chatter from the first team filled the trip to the manor. They trusted their captain and his decisions, which made the second team relax as well.
He looked around, seeing many types of people, not only humans but what he was quite sure by now, were elves and diverse types of beast-man. The architecture of the city resembled one of the middle ages, making him ask himself, once again, where he was. This definitely was no longer Japan, this seemed like a medieval city in Europe, yet everyone was talking in Japanese, making the situation even more confusing.
On their way to the manor he'd seen a lot of people, some wore normal clothes meanwhile others went in full plate armor, hell even the air, if one wouldn't take into account the absurd amount of mana, was even cleaner and fresher than even the forests surrounding Fuyuki.
After a while, the group stopped in front of the doors of a property, and what was behind those doors was truly impressive. The mansion, besides being gigantic, also merged with architecture that would be more appropriate for a castle, having long towers that overlapped with the mansion, supporting it at the same time.
The doors suddenly opened and a redhead came out running before directly jumping at the group. The ones in the first group instinctively dodged but the one in the final of the group, the blonde elf that had seen him naked, wasn't so lucky. 'Isn't this sexual harassment? Why is everyone so calm?' Thought as the redhead groped the elf.
"We're home Loki" 'Hmm, the name of a Nordic God? Curious name choice.'
"Ah, I missed you a lot, I was feeling really lonely, you know?"
He'd seen the redhead going from person to person, talking and sometimes nodding as people started to enter the manor, carrying their equipment with them.
It wasn't till she came to talk with Aki, who was still by his side, that he did understand what was in front of him. The scent of smoke and ash grew bigger as she came closer and his body started lightly shaking. The overwhelming power of the being in front of him was even superior to that of common Heroic Spirits, and after confronting Lancer, Berserker, and Gilgamesh, he already knew the sensation of the divine. The being who was casually chatting by his side, was a Divine Spirit, a God.
As the God Loki looked at him, still shaking, he froze. Their eyes met, and she instantly knew, by how he was shaking and the concerned look on his face, that he had seen the true nature that any other child couldn't truly grasp, the true power of a Divine Spirit in the Age of Gods.
Loki raised an eyebrow. Gods did have an aura around them, their divinity, that enabled them to be easily differentiated from normal people, but their true power, their Arcanum, was repressed by themselves when they descended to the inferior world, was he able to perceive it? Her true form?
A smile appeared on her face. Well, wasn't this interesting?
"What's your name?" Loki asked with genuine curiosity and without being confrontational, but the boy still tensed his body.
"Emiya Shirou" He deviated his head, at least to not directly look at her, and saw Raul talking to Finn, whose expression changed from that laidback smile to a business-like one, before approaching them.
"Ah Loki, I see you've found our guest, I wanted to ask him some questions would it be right if you'd accompanied us?" The context of that question was only lost to the one that was going to be interrogated.
"Yeah, why not, this certainly seems interesting" Loki started walking towards the manor, followed by Finn, and a concerned Shirou. They were joined mid-way by Gareth and Riveria and they guided him towards the room where the executives held their meetings. Shirou took advantage of this time to stabilize his breathing and to try to calm himself for what would happen.
As soon as they entered the room, Loki went to a desk chair, accommodating herself before giving Finn a nod.
"Well let's start with the questions then. You said your memories were kind of foggy, is that right?"
"Yes'' He said, he wasn't a good liar, so he would stick to short answers if he could. But the Goddess Loki, 'and how the hell is a God here? I thought there were no more of them after the age of gods ended?' talked right after him.
"You know, Gods can tell when someone is lying, so I recommend you to not try to go for the branches" Shirou grimaced as the eyes from everyone else in the room seemed to become razor-sharp, no one losing the implicit 'You're lying'. Knowing how completely surpassed by everyone here he was, and having a literal God in front of him, he decided to speak with truth.
"Then I'll ask once again, are your memories fine?" Asked Finn.
"Yes"
"Why did you lie?"
"I didn't know your affiliation, whether you work with Magus Association or not. To avoid potential conflict, I lied" That made everyone raise an eyebrow, the term strange to everyone but one in the room.
"You did say that you were brought here, how exactly did that happen?"
"I was absorbed by a black vortex, the next thing that I remember is struggling to walk in the forest after I left the tent."
In this back and forth, Finn was looking at Loki after each question, waiting for her to confirm that what the boy was saying was true, just to receive a nod after each question.
"Okay then. Raul told me you used magic, swift strike magic at that, Trace on, was? So, seeing that you have a Falna, which Familia are you part of?"
Shirou frowned, once again they were referring to magecraft incorrectly, and what were these new terms he was using?
"I don't know what's a Familia or a Falna." The faces of everyone changed to disbelief before they looked at Loki, who seemed surprised and slowly nodded.
"Seriously?" Finn couldn't help but murmur that. Magic without a Falna was possible, as he had seen Riveria use it herself when they went to recruit her, but the chants for it were longer and the power was much inferior to magic originating from Falna. So using swift strike magic with such a system seemed ridiculous.
The executives and Loki herself were surprised as they hadn't been in a long time, and with a look between themselves everyone already knew that Loki was planning something, but before that, they had to confirm something. Finn, once again, started talking.
"Did a God put some of their blood in your back, that you can remember?" Shirou seemed as confused as they were.
"I've never met a God before, I thought they were no more present in the world after the Age of Gods" Now everyone, except Loki, had a twitching eyebrow, even someone that lived under a rock would know about the Gods descending to the lower low, it had been continuously happening for 1000 years after all, and was the biggest event in human history.
"Say Kid" Loki spoke directly to Shirou, making him gulp in the process "Would you tell me the biggest economic potency of the current world?" The executives raised an eyebrow at that, everyone would know that...but if Finn recalled correctly, the kid did put a strange face when told he was in Orario.
"That would probably be the United States, right?" And so, Shirou mentioned something that no one ever heard about. The deep confusion shared by everyone in the room was interrupted by an uncontrollable laugh that had Loki as a source.
"Hahahaha, this can't be, would I be so lucky to hit the jackpot two times in less than a decade?" Everyone looked surprised at Loki, and Shirou couldn't help but have an uneasy feeling about the situation. After a brief moment, Loki seemed to recompose herself and gave him a mischievous smile.
"Well, I didn't know that we could have outlanders, I'm certainly surprised. I should probably greet you then" She raised her arms in a flamboyant way and exclaimed "I shall greet you, Emiya Shirou, human from another dimension to our world of Gods and Mortals"
Everyone was left speechless and shock was on their faces, none more than Shirou itself.
"What do you mean?" His eyes dilated and his breathing accelerated as he was slowly starting to grasp the situation.
"Well, for starters, you don't know Orario, the economic center of the world. You didn't know about the descent of gods, you used magic you should be incapable of, and especially, back there in the backyard, you perceived my divine essence, my Arcanum, didn't you? That's not something humans, the children that we created, can do, much less without a Falna."
Now everything made sense, why they didn't recognize Kyuushu, why everyone was using magecraft so casually, why there was a Dungeon full of monsters, and why there was a Goddess in front of him. Japan, the Magic Association, the Age of Man, Finn didn't know about them because none of them existed here.
Shirou tried to calm down, his body was trembling and he was gasping for air.
"Can...Can you send me back to my world?" The question was asked softly and for everyone was clear that he was near a panic attack.
"Sorry kid, I can't interact with other worlds. Even if I could, I would have to use my Arcanum for that, which would make me return to Heaven."
When even a literal God couldn't do anything...all he could say was "Oh…"
Now even Loki's joyful mood stopped, seeing how lost the child looked.
"Look I can't send you to your world, but I can offer you a place. Right now you're here without clothes, money, work, and probably you can't even read the language, so you can join my Familia and I will grant you all of that, and from that point onward, you can search by yourself a method to return, how does that sound?" He didn't know yet what a Familia was, but the offer sounded good, too good to be honest, and if this Loki was something like the Loki of his world…
"What's the trick?"
"You catch fast, don't you? Well, if you're going to join my familia I will expect you to do the same things as any member would do, no more no less."
"What is a familia, and what does it do?"
"A familia is an organization that works under a God, what it does differs between Familias, but in our case is an exploration type, which means that we fight and explore the dungeon, the place where we found you" This time was Riveria the one to answer, as she was feeling a little inadequate with not having participated in the conversation at all, and feared that her Goddess would leave a first bad impression, or at least worst of what already was, with her usual shenanigans, to someone she was trying to recruit.
"Yeah, what the mommy said it's true, there's more to it than that, and I will have you indulge me in some of my whims, but that would be the basics." Riviera sent Loki a glance but apart from that, stayed silent.
Shirou stayed there, pensive. 'I don't want to work under some God, those histories usually end badly, but if what she said it's true, I will be screwed and without a possibility of returning'
'More so, this is Loki we are speaking about, if she is like the Loki back in our world…I don't exactly want to help in creating a Ragnarok or anything similar for that matter.'
'Even so, the offer may just seem that but…' Shirou's eyes slightly deviated between each member occupying the room, three fighters on the level of servants and a Goddess, his chances were not that good-looking if they decided to make him cooperate.
'Doesn't seem like I have many options. Hopefully, I will be able to escape if things go south and I can try to use Rule Breaker on any binding magic or contract if it comes to that.'
"I..accept." Shirou said rather hesitantly.
"Perfect then, then I will give you a Falna, but there's something I want to see before."
"And what's that?"
"Your fighting skills, I'm interested in what is that magic of yours, my Familia is made of the strongest, and we usually only accept people from Level 2 or more, you know? So you should pack some good things or you'll have to catch up pretty fast, I won't have you lazing around at Level 1. If you're gonna be part of the familia you should be at least qualified to be a supporter, if not, you'll only be dragging down everyone else"
She used some terms that he didn't know what they meant, but he grasped the general meaning. If he was going to accompany people like Finn or those sisters, he had to become strong too, at least strong enough to be able to avoid becoming their exploitable weakness.
"I will do my best, so please, treat me well." He said, inclining himself at a 90-degree angle.
Loki looked strange at him for a second before murmuring "So same customs as the far east uh…"
"Well anyways, move those asses to the backyard, and Finn, find one of the newbies for them to fight Shirou" Finn nearly protested but decided that it wasn't worth it, after all, the most equal match that Shirou could expect from Loki Familia was a Level 2. So instead, he silently nodded and went to the dining room to grab one of them for this little spectacle for Loki.
Shirou stood in the backyard, embarrassed and avoiding the glances from the members of Loki Familia, who reunited after hearing that Loki wanted him to fight one of their members as a way to initiate him into the familia, she just conveniently forgot to tell she didn't give him a Falna yet.
In his attempt to avoid the gaze of the people, he met eyes with Raul and Aki, who looked at him a little ashamed for the treatment they gave him, as Loki told them he had congenital magic, and in consequence, the magic he used didn't come from a Falna.
Taking out his attention from the crowd, he looked at his opponent. He was moderately attractive with strongly marked features, with black hair, and wearing plate mail with clothes that would enable good mobility underneath it. Loki introduced him as a new member who had recently converted, and said to take him as the standard required to join Loki familia.
The guy was wearing a wooden longsword. Loki familia had a little armory dedicated to sparring, used mostly by the new members of the familia, in which it had both wood and metal weapons, as he was a "newbie", his opponent decided to take a wood weapon. The reason why most of the upper members didn't use it and simply relayed in their usual weapons to spar was simple, the sparring weapons wouldn't be able to handle their strength.
He heard Loki start a 10 seconds countdown, marking the start of the battle, making his opponent raise an eyebrow as he didn't see any weapons on him, but prepared anyways, after all, for all he knew, Shirou could be a martial artist.
As the countdown began, he had his circuits ready and simultaneously projected a copy of his favored swords, Kanshou and Bakuya. He nearly instantly used reinforcement to dull the blades, the process highly accelerated due to the deep knowledge and familiarity he had with these blades. Even so, the process felt awkward and sluggish, the denser mana in the air making it take longer to appropriately "move" the magical energy to do his bidding.
He would have used reinforcement in his own body, but it would take time for him to do it safely, time that Loki didn't grant him, though, to be fair, she didn't even know he was capable of doing that, so he couldn't resent her for that.
The countdown reached zero, but his opponent didn't throw himself towards him yet, he stood there silently with a look of surprise, looking at Shirou's blades, before looking at his weapon, as if feeling it was inadequate, which to be fair, probably was.
"Oi Shirou, be careful with that, I don't want any of my children with longing wounds!"
"Don't worry, I dulled the edge of the blades!" And indeed it was, most of the adventurers there, with better senses than most of the people and with knowledge of blades, saw that the blades were extremely sharp when he pulled them out, but that not a second later they lost that razor-sharp edge and became more of a blunt weapon than anything else.
After recovering from the initial surprise, his opponent moved, and with not more than two steps, the previous distance between them, approximately 10 meters, was covered in an instant.
His eyes could only go wide with shock as he parried the descending blade, only to be pushed with such strength he flew nearly two meters backward. His experience battling Archer was the only thing that enabled him to resist the hit and rapidly regain his posture, but… 'Wasn't that hit even stronger than when I crossed swords with Archer?' His shaking arms only confirmed that thought.
To be fair, his future self was deeply weakened, and quite far from his full strength when they fought, but he was still a Servant, and as such he was leagues up from a normal human, both in terms of skill and strength. To be able to easily match him, even if it was in that weakened state when Loki declared that this was the minimum standard to enter her familia, was enlightening.
Everyone in this backward right now was ridiculously strong. He truly couldn't appreciate it before. Yeah, he was surprised with the strength of the upper-ups, who easily matched full-fledged servants, but thought it was an exception, this single strike made him understand, that in some grade, everyone here was in the realm beyond that of an Olympic athlete and reaching a superhuman status, though there was a huge strength gap between some of the members.
Seeing how much only one of his strikes pushed its rival, his opponent gave him a second to recompose himself, before reaching him again with a fast stomp in the ground, with which the distance was closed.
The attack came with strength and velocity, but it wasn't something that his eyes, far better than the average, couldn't follow.
He dodged for a strip of hair, and blocked the following hit, putting all his weight in the parry to make sure he wouldn't be sent flying again, though he was still pushed a step or two.
His arms were trembling and he knew he couldn't block many hits like that, but those three hits were enough to understand how his opponent fought. Direct hits, focused on power and velocity rather than millimetric precision, a straight path easy to predict. A style without a single scrap of deceit developed while fighting simple-minded monsters, barely having encountered another human blade to polish itself.
A style he could easily surpass.
The following strikes, one slash towards his hip, another one pointed at the shoulder, and a thrust to his chest were all deviated, dispersing its strength. He moved his body accordingly to enhance even more the effect, his opponent's movements were rigid and he took advantage of that fact.
His rival's posture slipped a little bit more after each encounter, as his parries were making him overextend, making it more difficult each time he attacked for him to follow up with another slash.
After a pair more strikes, his footwork already became a total mess, and that was when he took the chance. He entered short range, making his slashes and thrusts more difficult to block, as it was more difficult to maneuver his longer weapon, especially with the uncomfortable and unnatural posture he was in right now, compared to his shorter ones.
When he was obligated to take a step backward, to try to regain some appearance of a posture, he gave Shirou the opportunity he needed. With a single and fast kick to his stomach, a trick he got from Archer, his opponent lost balance and when he was able to stabilize, Kanshou's dulled blade was already an inch from his neck, having stopped from actually hitting him.
The silence extended into the backyard, previously filled with the sound of clashing swords and casual comments about the fight. Saying that everyone was surprised would be an underestimation. For them, a total newbie, a level 1 who had just acquired a Falna, had just bested a level 2 with years of experience over him.
The ones more shocked were the people that knew the truth, that a person with no Falna, was capable of actually beating the overwhelming power difference of challenging a level 2.
As soon as the duel ended there were already murmurs of a stat-boosting skill, capable of closing if only for a bit, the difference of levels. But people like Aiz, Bete, or Tiona and Tione knew the truth. The physical capabilities of the newbie were horrible, the first strike event sent him flying a bit, and their superior senses could clearly see how his body trembled after each strike. That victory was made out of the pure and simple skill of someone who was acquainted with fighting against humans.
Shirou looked around as some of the familia members started to compliment him. He felt a shiver down his spine, turning himself to see Loki who had such a smug smile he wasn't sure she could best even if she tried.
She rapidly approached him and took his hand sending a glare to Finn, Riveria, and Gareth to control the situation, and said something along the lines of "Okay guys, gotta teach the newbie some things about how the familia works, you can go do whatever you want!" in a loud voice, before taking him to her room.
Shirou had just taken off his shirt, with an embarrassed look on his face, when the door suddenly opened, revealing Bete, Aiz, Tione, Tiona, and Lefiya, who came because her friends did more than anything else.
"What the hell was that Loki?" The werewolf asked in a harsh tone, and though in a way nicer way, the others expressed the same doubt.
"Ahh, I thought this would happen," Loki said as Gareth and Riveria appeared both seeming embarrassed of having the group slip past them.
Loki, who was sitting just behind Shirou, inclined herself till her chest touched his back and whispered to him "What do you want me to do?" Lying to his children, though undesirable, would be easy. She would just say that it was a skill and would ask them to not question more, out of respect for Shirou. But, at the same time, it was a test, to see what Shirou would do.
Shirou hesitated, he still wasn't all that sure that they wouldn't become enemies one day, but they seemed nice enough and they would be his comrades in the foreseeable future, and lying felt bad to him. He would feel especially guilty if they trusted him when he was blatantly lying to them. He just hoped this wouldn't come to bite his ass in the future.
So, against his better judgment, he said "You can tell them"
Loki couldn't help but smile thinking 'I got a good one, suck it Freya!' and told them the truth. Not about his origin, she didn't know that much herself yet, a thing that she wanted to correct as fast as possible, and it would be Shirou's call if he wanted to tell them himself, but about the truth of the duel.
The intruders who already had more than one question were beyond shocked at hearing the news, but that was all, meanwhile, Aiz's face acquired a strange and intense look, and Lefiya, who was previously blushing and turned her head away to not see his torso, turned pale.
"Now everyone gets out of here! I'm gonna give him the Falna." Loki moved her hand as if telling them to get lost.
Even as they walked towards the door, the eyes of the group didn't leave him until the room was closed once again.
"Are you sure you won't regret that?" Loki whispered in his ear.
"I'm not, but if they're gonna be my comrades, I don't want to start the relationship with a lie"
"Eh, whatever you want then, you won't be hearing complaints from me in that matter, actually, I'm quite happy you did so, you seem quite trustworthy"
Shirou was a little embarrassed by the compliment, so he simply nodded.
"I didn't exactly tell you what even a Falna was, right? It is a blessing, that Gods give to mortals, so they can unlock their true potential."
That made a lot of sense, it certainly justified the ridiculous strength of the upper members at least, a divine blessing wasn't something to joke about.
A drop of blood touched the bare skin of his back, and Loki started tracing with her finger some kind of patron, unbeknown to him. Once her finger stopped, he heard her whistle.
Meanwhile, Finn was trying to deal with all the other members of the Loki familia, that after seeing such a display suddenly felt encouraged to visit the dungeon and train harder.
Now that wouldn't normally be a problem if they didn't enter the mansion like a stampede to take their equipment. It was only when most of them, mainly the third-rate adventurers, actually got out of the manor to go to the dungeon, that he could watch his surroundings, only to see that the executives of the familia as well as Lefiya disappeared.
It was only moments later, when Gareth and Riveria returned, both with pitiful smiles as if they were saying 'We're sorry' that he understood where they went. Finn already could feel the imminent headache, he would be hearing about this for a while.
"Damm kid, way to start, you truly are a jackpot ain't you? Anyways as I guess you can't read Koine, I'll directly tell you your status" Another term that he would have to ask her later, but for the moment, he would listen.
Name: Emiya Shirou
Level 1
Strength: I0
Endurance: I0
Dexterity: I0
Agility: I0
Magic: I0
Skills
Heroic Path
Increases four times the Excelia gain rate as long as the user keeps pursuing his dream/ideal.
Increases the Excelia gain rate while performing 'heroic' actions.
Moderately increases the Status while performing 'heroic' actions.
Magic
[Unlimited Blade Works]
Reality Marble. Overrides the surrounding area with the vision of oneself.
I am the bone of my sword.
Steel is my body and fire is my blood.
I have created over a thousand blades.
Unaware of loss,
Nor aware of gain.
Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for one's arrival.
I have no regrets. This is the only path.
My whole life was Unlimited Blade Works.
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Not only did he have congenital magic, which the Falna didn't register, but he also got a skill that was practically cheating and extra magic. Gods would kill for having a child with this skill and even Loki, while not approving it, would deem it reasonable. Given enough time, this child could become an absolute monster.
Knowing that he wanted to be a hero dismissed most of the concerns that would appear in her mind with someone with this skill, though it gave her other types to think about in exchange.
She told him his status, she was a little disappointed when she heard that the magic wasn't a new one, but one he was already able to perform, but that didn't take anything off of having such an amazing skill and three spell slots on that. Though when asked what the spell did, as the description was confusing, he told her that it wasn't something that he could usually use, as his magic reserves were lacking, and he would only be able to use it in really specific circumstances.
She thought it was strange for him to have a spell he couldn't use, but she let it slide. Instead, she started to tell him all he would need to know, not only about this world or how Falna functioned, but she told him as well how to evade getting too much attention from the people, though a certain degree of it, as a new member of Loki familia, was unavoidable.
In exchange, he, though quite more hesitant, told her the basics of his world, keeping himself in explaining the basics as the two worlds were really different to start with, and he didn't want Loki to make strange assumptions about it. It seemed as if Loki was near developing a headache, but even with that, she didn't lose her smile. That reaction gave him conflicted feelings, and could only hope that Loki was not a bad person after all.
In the end, they chatted until midnight, even skipping dinner. He eventually fell asleep in a room Loki guided him to. He slept thinking of his loved ones back in his world…'Fuji-nee...Issei...Saber...Sakura...Tohsaka, I will try to find a way back.'
The next morning, Loki would tell him that he was a cruel man, making her stay up until midnight. Luckily there was no one around to hear it, or to see his flustered face. Apparently, Loki loved to tease people... he should have taken Archer's advice, this was hell he was walking into...
So, some of the questions that could arise with this chapter are… When Raul thinks about a sword he doesn't recognize, is referring to that he would recognize such a unique weapon if it was the belonging of one of the second team, and as such, he deduces that is a weapon Shirou hides somehow.
About Shirou sensing Loki's Arcanum...While sealed, it still remains in their body, and they can theoretically use it at any moment (As seen when Hestia partially frees her power on the 18th floor). So it is more of a thing of self-control than an actual seal, and as such, Shirou could sense the "leaks" of the seal.
About power levels. It is heavily suggested during danmachi, and practically confirmed in the summary of Riveria story (when she joins the Loki familia, and if the wiki isn't mistaken), that Falna gives an immediate boost after receiving it. And about the level of power, I would say it would add the strength of a normal grown man to your current one (Level 1), hence how Aiz was capable of killing monsters at 7 and why it's illegal to enter the dungeon without a Falna.
About general power levels. Lily, who has trashy physical stats except for Agility that it's near a D, when leveling up to level 2 says she could jump to the roof of a 2 stories tall building. That's 8.6 meters more or less. The world record for high jump is 2.45 meters. So Lily, someone who isn't that capable physically, when compared to other adventurers, can jump nearly four times the high of our world record.
So, yeah first-rate adventurers can match up to weak servants and the upper echelons (the members of Zeus and Hera familia) of adventurers can probably compete with moderately strong servants, although there will still be a considerable disadvantage on the adventurer side due to lacking the game changer of a Noble Phantasm and some of the overpowered skills that some Servants have.