I took a deep breath as I lay on the ground, staring up at the sky after another intense day of training.
I would say I'd been keeping track of how long it had been since I'd entered this place, but that would be a complete and utter lie.
I had no idea how long it had been since I entered the Throne, and I hadn't bothered asking the System since time was irrelevant to me in this place.
All I had focused on was my training and refining my abilities to their peak. And I liked to believe the results could speak for themselves.
Endurance: E
Territory Creation: C
Item Creation: D
Ethercraft (Shadow): C
Through my training, I had successfully increased my Endurance to E, which was a good enough victory for me. Territory Creation had managed to get to C Rank thanks to my experiments with Primordial Runes. Item Creation had done the same, rising to D Rank.
Observation Haki had not risen a rank, but I didn't have anyone attacking me to help me with training it, so I would have to contend with it for now.
My Shadow Magic, on the other hand, had risen quite a bit. Outside of studying Runes- once I realised that I couldn't train my Haki efficiently- I put all my focus into training my Shadow Magic, and it had risen up to C Rank as a result, something I was very proud of.
As I lay on the ground though, I did stare at one skill in particular.
False Reality: E
False Reality.
There was no question in my mind that this skill was my 'Golden Finger.' In other words, this was meant to be my Cheat Skill. To 'Reject Reality' and 'Replace it with my own.'
The description was almost akin to the First True Magic – Denial of Nothingness, but it wasn't. False Reality…
This skill had some secrets, because even my inherent knowledge of my own skills told me truly little about it. Only that it was beneficial towards me. If I wanted to understand this skill, I would need to unravel its secrets by myself.
Perhaps, one day, this skill would become my Trump Card.
I slowly sat up… I felt I had come a long way… But now, what I needed was to fight in a real Holy Grail War. Even if I died in the war, at least then I would understand the experience that came with being in a Grail War, I would see flaws in my attacks and learn how to fix them. It would help propel me to being stronger, faster.
"System, bring up a list of Holy Grail Wars I can enter."
Fate/Stay Night (Fate Route)
2. Fate/Stay Night (Heaven's Feel)
3. Fate/Stay Night (Unlimited Blade Works)
4. Fate/Apocrypha
5. Fate/Extra (Saber Route)
…
I hummed as I looked at the list, rubbing my chin slowly as I contemplated which Grail War to be summoned in…
"Firstly…" I murmured. "Remove Fate/Stay Night routes. I want a functioning grail, not a corrupted one… Remove Fate/Extra too, I'm not certain on if the Moon Cell Grail is capable of granting true magic… But it's better not to take that risk."
That left me with a few options…
First, there was Fate/Apocrypha in the Greater Grail War. I knew the Grail was functioning in that one… While it would be tough, obtaining my wish was certainly possible in that world line.
Next would be Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Silver Sky. The first Tokyo Holy Grail War, which ended up serving as the manifestation for Beast IV/G under Manaka Sajyou.
The issue were the enemies in this Grail War – King Arthur, Arash, Dr Jekyll, Ozymandias, Brynhildr, and Hassan of Serenity.
This Grail War would not be easy by any means if I were summoned, I wasn't confident in surviving past the first day even…
There were other options like the First and Second Holy Grail Wars… But the information about those wars was scarce.
All I knew about the first war was that it was more like a debate than an actual war, with them basically running out of time for the ritual…
And then the second war was an all-out slaughter fest where nobody won, and only then did they finally implement proper rules into the Holy Grail War, resulting in the Third War.
The Third War might be ideal, but the issue was I only knew about the key events in both wars, not the crucial details. The Third War in the Stay Night route was just not feasible, as Angra would be summoned and thus corrupt the Grail, unless I made sure he survived until the end for the Greater Grail to manifest and grant my wish.
In other words, not worth the damn effort.
The second was the Apocrypha Third War where Ruler was summoned, but then… I think Darnic stole the Holy Grail, thus prematurely ending the War and killing the Einzbern Homunculus who was contracted to Shiro Amakusa in the process.
In both instances, there were certain events that were simply out of my control that made it near impossible to actually obtain the Grail in those wars, meaning they simply weren't feasible.
Which meant that if I wanted any chance of winning the war and getting my wish… I would have to go to Fate/Apocrypha.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Okay, now that was determined, I had to think about other possibilities.
I had two Servants I could replace as a Caster Class. The first was William Shakespeare, Caster of Red. This was a desirable option, as I would be part of the Red Faction who got closest to winning the War. If I managed to survive until the end, then I could backstab Shiro Amakusa and make the wish for myself.
The second replacement would be Avicebron… The issue is that Avicebron is summoned incredibly early, almost two or three months before the War, and then he spends all his time creating Golems to use for the War.
I could contribute little to the Black Faction beyond some Primordial Runes and minor Mystic Codes.
The ideal for me would be to get summoned by the Red Faction in Shakespeare's place, and then simply chill in the background… Maybe play up a bit of an extravagant role like Shakespeare did, claiming I wanted to record Shiro Amakusa's actions in a manuscript.
I could end up with something as ridiculous as being summoned as the only member of a 'third' faction for all I knew.
What would I be, Caster of Pink maybe?
I took a deep breath… In the end, I could only hope that things went my way.
"System, I'm ready," I told it.
[Which Holy Grail War will the host participate in?]
"Apocrypha Grail War," I said decisively.
[Acknowledged. What Class will the Host be summoned as?]
"Caster."
[Would the host like to impose any restrictions?]
I paused at that. "What benefits are there to imposing restrictions?"
[When the host imposes restrictions on themselves, rewards are increased exponentially.]
Hm… That would be useful in the future when I was much stronger… But, for now, I wasn't going to unnecessarily restrict myself. That would be suicide for the current me, after all.
"I will not impose any restrictions."
[Acknowledged. Beginning Summoning…]
I closed my eyes as I felt warmth washing over me, a man's voice I unquestionably recognised filling my ears. It made me shudder unpleasantly, but I endured it as I felt myself drift away, following the call of the summoning.
I felt my eyes slowly open, finding myself in a room reminiscent to that of a church… Standing in front of me were two figures, a man and a woman, both of whom I recognised very clearly.
The first was a handsome young man with hair as white as snow and dark skin, dressed up in priests clothing as though he were a holy man.
At his side, staring at me with condescending eyes, was a woman of ethereal beauty with long black hair and pointed ears in a beautiful brown dress that emphasized her nobility and royal status, tastefully showing off her body without being crass about it.
I took a deep breath. It was time to get to work.
"Well now, isn't this a show?" I mused with a polite smile on my face. "Caster of Red has answered your call… I hope we can get along as allies."
Shiro Amakusa Tokisada, I will kill you and obtain my wish.