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572. Terrible First Impression
🕑 Added 2024-02-08 02:38:02 +0000 UTCEdward returned to Tohsaka, standing close to Shirou and Saber.
“What a brilliant battle,” commented Tohsaka. She saw everything and saw how this battle was a pure demonstration of basic skills. Edward only used a basic Mana Energy Attack and Invisible Spell but displayed superb control over them.
“That’s why I say you need better Mana Control.”
“Okay, Grandpa,” Tohsaka rolled her eyes.
“Rin, can you tell what’s going on?” asked Shirou, and Tohsaka was about to answer. But she noticed her servant and Saber eying each other.
“Do you two know each other?”
“No, but he looked familiar,” replied Saber.
“We do know each other, in a manner of speaking,” nodded Edward. But as soon as he finished his words, everything around him stopped moving. Then, Saber’s facial expression and temperament changed; she became nobler, more righteous, and her gaze more piercing.
Edward immediately realized what had happened since this was not the first time, “Hello, Senior Brother.”
“So, you’re the new disciple that the master has been talking about,” said Arthur Pendragon, looking up and down at Edward. His face turned into disgust, “You reek of immeasurable sins.”
“Interesting,” muttered Edward as the smile on his face faded, “The old man warned me of you. I guess he was underestimating how much of a jackass you were.”
“I don’t understand why he would choose someone like you,” continued Arthur. “People like you are the easiest to be tempted and fall into the darkness. He could have chosen anyone, so why this kind of personality?”
Edward put his pinky in his nose and acted like he was picking for something, “Are you done?” He flicked the nonexistent booger in her/his direction. “If you came to say this nonsense, you can leave now. Your presence already ruined my day.”
Arthur shook his head in disappointment, “I don’t know why I expected so much from you.”
“Do you know me?” asked Edward.
“Not personally, but I’ve met your type,” replied Arthur. People whose sanity is on the narrow line are usually held together by a few individuals they love. People like you are extreme as they can do whatever is necessary to achieve whatever goal they have, and yours happens to be the pursuit of magic. Did I miss something?”
“You did not,” admitted Edward calmly. “But two can play at this game. Let me think about what kind of person you are. Extreme Righteous who believed the world was simple: either white or black. The existence of anything that does not fall into these two categories disgusts you, and you naturally label them as black. Normally, such a normal point of view or ideals would be fine, especially with someone like Merlin protecting or shielding you from the world—until the war begins.”
Edward saw the slight flinch of Arthur/Saber’s body.
“In this terrible war, your views crumbled faster than you could respond. You were forced to make decisions with terrible consequences. Now, you spent countless nights awake thinking about the righteousness you held dear. You keep asking yourself whether you are still a good man.”
“You don’t know me,” said Arthur through gritted teeth.
“But I do,” replied Edward. “War is cruel, and no good man who has experienced it can truthfully say they remain good. And such a thought is simply destroying you.”
“Have you said enough?”
“Actually, no,” continued Edward. “You’ve obviously been building a lot of stress, and somehow, you thought you could take it out on me. I don’t care about your psychological problem. Go be a little bitch somewhere else.”
Edward did not care whether his “senior disciple” did not like him, but he could be civil, at the very least, for the sake of Merlin. But no, he had to be rude on their first encounter.
“You!” grunted Arthur as he took a step forward.
“Enough!” A powerful voice echoed in this frozen universe, and Edward immediately recognized it.
“Old Man? How are you?” yelled Edward.
“I’m fine,” replied Merlin. “Just a little busy.”
“It’s good to hear from you,” continued Edward.
“Same, but you need to hurry up. Once you reach Tier 12, you will start getting involved with this war.”
“In that case, shouldn’t I slow down my progress?” asked Edward.
“What do you think?”
“I know, I know, I will hurry up.”
“I’m glad you understand. Arthur, haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough? Leave now.”
“I’m sorry, master.” He quickly disappeared to prevent his master from forcing him to apologize to this bastard.
“I’m sorry about him,” the voice echoed.
“It’s okay. We don’t have to be friends, just civil,” replied Edward.
Merlin sighed, “I truly regretted raising him so sheltered.” The war was stressing him out, let alone someone like Arthur. “Kid, I’m serious. Time is running out.”
Time continued forward, and Edward heard Saber’s feminine voice asking, “So, you do know me? How?”
“I knew your master,” responded Edward.
“Merlin?”
“Yes.”
Her frown deepened as she could not recognize this person by this description alone.
“Let’s go to your house, and I will explain everything,” said Tohsaka. Back at Shirou’s eyes, Tohsaka explained everything about the Holy Grail War to Shirou, including the relationships between Masters and Servants and the fact they were enemies. Things proceeded as Edward saw them in the Fate/Unlimited Blade Works, as Shirou could not completely wrap her head around the situation.
So, Tohsaka decided to bring him to see the war supervisor, Kotomine Kirei.
“Before we leave, could you help him?” asked Tohsaka.
“Pardon me?”
“He doesn’t know the basics of basic. Could you give him some help so that he can at least help Saber dematerialize?”
Servants can return to their spirit form or materialize, but it’s all based on the Master’s ability and mana. Unfortunately, since Shirou is a shoddy mage, Saber could only remain in physical form while losing a lot of mana.
“You do know they’re the enemy, right?” asked Edward.
“I know, but he saved my life, and I don’t want to be indebted to him. So, I will help him this time, then, we will be enemies.”
Edward looked her in the eyes. A similar thing happened in the anime, and Tohsaka did not hesitate to attack Shirou, but Edward was skeptical. A mage like Shirou should not have survived for so long in even the Tohsaka in the anime. Of course, the latter is the protagonist, so, understandably, the plot saved him as events soon unfolded where they had to work together.
“Fine, I will do it, but know I’m doing so unwillingly.”
“That’s fine. So, what’s the plan?”
“I will directly implant basic knowledge in his mind,” replied Edward. “We should probably do so after the church.”
“Why?”
“Because he will have a terrible headache for the next 12 hours after the process.”
Tohsaka looked at him; she felt this side-effect was suspicious; at the very least, the long duration was probably international. However, she could not see anything from Edward’s facial expression.
“Very well.”
The team then headed to the church to meet Kisei.
Void:
Edward sensed the communication with his Avatar, stopped what he was doing, and looked at a projection of this universe on the screen before him. He shook his head before continuing his research.
He wanted to create the Speed Force to update Morgana’s core processor as quickly as possible. Her help was indispensable if he wanted to create a Tier 11 Weapon.
