WARNING at one point there's a bit of a headcanon for this fic (pretty obvious) and Gilgamesh doesn't always speaks the truth. Also read the author note in the end.
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After the boy finished taking a shower his complexion improved and he didn't look as if he was sick anymore. He changed into clean clothes(provided by yours truly, the king, of course) and followed Gilgamesh as they left the room and made their way to the hotel lobby.
As they were making their way down the stairs Gilgamesh looked at the boy. "I suppose it's useless to ask but I'll do so anyway. Are you curious about where we're going?"
"No, not really."
"Yeah, figures." Gilgamesh just gave a bitter smile at his answer, the boy was a real mood killer.
"For today I wanted to take a better look around the city. In the meanwhile I guess I'll teach you a thing or two. Not that you will ever need it with me around but leaving you in your ignorant bliss is not to my liking."
As they got out of the Hotel entrance Gilgamesh continued his explanation unbothered by his surroundings, not that the boy would have cared about secrecy. "Yesterday I believe I gave you a rough explanation about command spells and the likes and even mentioned something called a Holy Grail War, right?"
The kid just answered with an affirmative nod.
"Good. Yesterday night I confirmed that the event happening in this city is indeed a Holy Grail War. As for what it is, it's basically a battle fought by seven Masters each with their respective Servant each belonging to a different class."
Sitting on a bench after they got a bit of a distance away from the hotel Gilgamesh gestured at the boy to sit beside him as pulled out a paper and a pen. Then he started writing on the paper and strangely enough he could write smoothly even if the paper wasn't placed on anything as support.
"The seven classes can be divided into two big groups: The three knights and four chariots."
The kid looked as Gilgamesh wrote in some strange language that wasn't japanese but somehow the words seemed to translate themselves once his brain registered them.
"The three knights classes consist of: Saber, Archer and Lancer."
"The four chariots instead are: Berserker, Rider, Caster and Assassin."
After circling each group he also drew a symbol next to each class. Respectively going by order of a sword, bow and spear for the first group and a bull, a horse head with a wheel , a staff and a skull for the second. He was pretty good at drawing.
"The names and symbols should be explicit enough to help you understand what each of these uses as a primary weapon. Saber uses a sword, Archer uses a bow… at times, Lancer a spear and so on. Is this clear?"
"Yes." The boy nodded even if he couldn't figure out what he could have meant when he said that Archer at times used the bow but it didn't seem that important. If there was any detail that looked important it was the fact that Gilgamesh didn't belong to any of those seven classes. 'I think his class was called Ruler when I checked his status.'
"Good. The reason they fight each other is to obtain an object called the holy grail. It's a cup said to grant any wish. And to obtain it they slaughter each other until only a single Master and Servant survive to claim the cup." Gilgamesh said as he drew a cup on the paper.
"As you probably already know from yesterday I'm not from any of the seven standard classes. I don't know the details of this ritual and my summoning was faulty enough that I didn't even know I was summoned for a grail war, so I don't know if I substituted one of the standard seven Servants or if we are the 8th pair of Master and Servant and honestly I don't really care enough to go out of my way to check."
Then Gilgamesh proceeded to draw a new symbol on the paper on top of the others, this time it was a scale. "Rulers are usually Servants who have no desire for the holy grail and are often summoned as overseers of holy grail wars by the counter force… as for what that is though would better be left for another time."
Then giving an amused smile Gilgamesh looked at the boy. "But if there is something to take note of is that Rulers summoned for such roles are usually without a Master as to not be tied down and are provided an extra number command seals that work on any Servant participating in the war, which clearly is not our cases and when u were sleeping I confirmed that that yours are only connected to me."
The boy just tilted his head in confusion. "I'm not sure what that could mean…"
Huffing a little laugh Gilgamesh drew an arrow on the paper. "It means that we are not really arbiters so, if we wanted to, we could participate in this war to pass the time." The arrow went from the scale to the cup on the paper.
"Didn't you say Rulers don't desire for the grail?" The boy asked, glancing up at Gilgamesh.
"Yes and I have no interest in it honestly as well." Gilgamesh replied with a smirk. "But what about you?"
"Me?" The boy blinked, confused.
"Yes, you." Gilgamesh said, leaning in slightly and wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Would you like to make a wish to grail?"
"I don't know. I don't think there's anything I'd wish for even if I had it."
"Hooo." Gilgamesh chuckled but looked at the kid with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Should we put it to the test then?"
The boy tilted his head. "?"
Gilgamesh stood up from the bench, now standing in front of the boy who still seated and stretched his arms.
"You remember when I said that my vault contains every treasure, right? The reason I don't desire the Grail is simple." He raised a hand, golden light flickering around his fingers. "It already belongs to me."
From the light he opened a portal in the air and after he rummaged with his hand inside it he then pulled out a cup made out of gold and threw it in the kid's lap.
"Here, that's the holy grail all the other Masters are killing each other for. Go ahead, try and make a wish, brat."
Even though he should have had no way to verify it, the boy knew, maybe instinctively, by holding the cup in his hands. It felt so mysterious and powerful that it gave the impression that if he tried, maybe it wouldn't be too strange if the cup actually granted him a wish.
However.
"I have nothing I wish for though…" The boy said as he just returned a dubious stare at Gilgamesh unsure of what to do with the cup.
"Pfffffftt hahahahahaha." Seeing the scene he couldn't help but give a little laugh. It was really amusing to see the child treating a holy grail like that. If any other magi had seen the scene they would have cursed the boy while having a stroke and die on the post. "Yes, you do not, I guess. What a shame. I'll just take it back, then. It was still funny to see your reaction to it though."
Usually disrespecting one of his treasures was usually an offense punishable by death even for this version of him, but his reaction was just too hilarious for him.
Putting the grail back in his treasury Gilgamesh made something else appear from the portals, it was a bookshelf. Inside of it were present a few books that looked all from different eras and places, some looked like modern day books, some were scrolls and others were in stone slabs.
From the bookshelf Gilgamesh picked up one that looked like a stone tablet. "Yes, this one should do. Seeing as you refused a gift from me, I guess I should give you something else." After giving the tablet an once over he handed it to him.
"What is this?"
"It's a tablet that is older than even the city I ruled. It contains in it a description of the most basic yet most ancient form of magecraft created by humankind."
"You see, I once told you there are only Five Arts that boast the name of True Magic. But once upon a time each of the currently existing forms of magecrafts were also Magic, just that as humanity developed they became magecraft and weakened. But this alone was a magecraft since the very beginning, it's the dumbest magecraft but it's also the first magecraft of humanity."
"What you are holding is the first inscription of Reinforcement Magecraft made by humanity."
"Does that make it special?" The boy asked as he recalled the king saying how the age of a mystery is important.
"Somewhat, being the first inscription of it means that just reading it once you'll be able to inherit its mystery and will learn it much more easily but its mastery is totally up to you." Gilgamesh kindly explained, omitting the fact that he was actually mixing lies with truths in his expenation. "Also while learning it from that tablet makes it somewhat better in mystery, it's actually not too much of a difference from people of this era. After you learn what reinforcement is you will understand why that is the case."
The boy held the stone tablet in his hands, its surface etched with a rough, weathered script.
The boy looked at the tablet, the moment he let his eyes linger over the carvings, something shifted in the gears inside his mind. He could now read the symbols, not exactly, but he understood them. The meaning clicked, not in words but more like intuition. Almost like his body had remembered something his brain never knew or somehow learned it so fast it felt like recalling something.
"It's... about strengthening objects?" He murmured.
"It's called Reinforcement, don't make me repeat it again." Gilgamesh corrected, lounging back on the bench. "The first and most primitive magecraft. The art of taking what already exists and pushing it to its limit."
The instructions on the tablet were rather simple and synthetic... just four lines:
[Target Object]
↓
[Understand Its Inner Structure]
↓
[Pour Magical Energy In The Gaps]
↓
[Push Its Function to Limit]
For example if used on a knife it would make it cut better, if used on an apple it would make it more nourishing or if used on an organ it would enhance its function.
Other than those four lines there also three other lines of warning:
[If understanding is flawed the magic energy will have an adverse effect]
[Cannot reinforce vague concept or unknown things]
[Living things have a higher resistance to reinforcement so it's advised not to try use it on other organisms]
"Think of it this way." Gilgamesh said, tapping the armrest. "You're not adding anything. You're using mana to amplify what the thing already possessed by pouring magical energy in the gaps that exist in every object. That's why it's so damn hard, for others of course if I ever tried to learn it would be so easy it would be a waste of time, anyway you need to understand your target up to an extent. Otherwise, you will make a mistake and it will either break or die."
The boy looked from the tablet to Gilgamesh. "Is it hard to learn?"
"To learn, no, everyone can learn it even with no specific affinity. To master?" Gilgamesh grinned with teeth. "Nearly impossible. The fact that the tablet is old doesn't makes it too different from the one of modern magi used to this age. That's why it's called the dumbest magecraft. But it is also the most honest and that's why I gave it to you."
"Why?" The boy asked.
Gilgamesh rested his other arm on the back of the bench.
"Because it only works if you understand something. It doesn't pretend anything. No rituals, no incantations, no self hypnosis. Just you and the target. The moment you lie to yourself and make things up or fail to grasp what you're working with and it will fail."
The boy furrowed his brows slightly. "But while you said it's not much different from what the modern ones learn, isn't it just pouring magical energy, how much could it be different anyway?"
"Oh that." Gilgamesh took a second to rummage through his memories. "Well, according to other books in my treasury what changes is how they fill those gaps. For example, some create magic circuits like lines inside the gaps of an object to waste little magical energy to reinforce an object. Another method I remember I think was about dividing your own magic energy in subunits like little balls to occupy the area of the gaps."
The boy nodded slowly. "So if I want to reinforce... my hand, I'd have to know how it works?"
"Well, not really you instinctively know how your hands work and that's already enough even if you don't know all the details but you do need to know what composes your hand though."
Gilgamesh watched the boy study the tablet with an oddly thoughtful gaze. "Don't worry too much. You're not expected to get it right immediately. You'll likely fail. And that's fine." He snapped his fingers, and another golden ripple shimmered in the air.
From within the Gate of Babylon, a wooden butter knife came out hovering in front of the boy.
"Try it on that." Gilgamesh said. "From now on you will train to reinforce that knife. It's a wooden knife made from the wood of a tree that insulting to me. It can restore its shape every time it is broken but it cannot cut anything harder than butter. So it will be your practice tool."
The boy's eyes darted from the knife to the tablet, then to Gilgamesh. Then he activated his magic circuits.
SHIII VZZT
He tried doing like the stone tablet told him to and move magical energy inside of him through his circuits to flow to the butter knife, however–
–BANG
The handle of the knife snapped in two like it exploded from within.
Looking at his blunder the boy started thinking why he failed. 'I must have poured in wrongly like it said in the first warnings. But how do I improve my understanding of the structure of an object? Do I need to read a technical book or something similar?'
"What now?"
"Just pick it up and bring the pieces together."
The boy did as instructed, picking up the two broken halves of the butter knife and holding them together. As he watched, the knife started moving, and the broken edges knitted themselves back into one.
Gilgamesh gave a satisfied nod. "See?"
The boy looked at the knife in his hands. "So... I just keep trying until it doesn't break?"
"More or less. Come on, try again. " Gilgamesh prompted him to continue trying to reinforce the knife.
The boy stared at the wooden butter knife in his hands, now whole again. He closed his eyes and took a breath, letting the magical energy in his body stir once more. This time, he slowed the process.
He focused on what the tablet had said and tried imitating it.
'Target Object.'
He imagined the knife. its texture and form.
'Understand Its Inner St-'
–SNAP
The handle folded inward like wet cardboard, and the blade popped clean off the rest of the knife. The boy blinked.
With a slow arc, the wooden blade flipped in the air before-
THUMP
-landing on the kid's forehead. The blade slid off a moment later and landed in his lap. He just stared down at it.
Gilgamesh tilted his head backward, watching with a faint smirk. "…I suppose that's one way to measure failure. When even a butter knife can retaliate."
Still, the boy didn't react. He simply picked up the blade again, inspecting it like a riddle.
'He got even quieter than before. Well, that's good I guess, it means he's thinking.' Looking at the kid being absorbed in the task he gave he gave a slight smile, it was nice to see children try their best. 'I guess I could give him a little hand in the right direction for now, he's still a total novice after all.'
Gilgamesh interrupted the boy's contemplation. "It's not a textbook. You don't learn it just by staring harder. What makes a knife a knife?"
The boy looked at the blade. "…It cuts?"
"But this one doesn't."
"...Then it's a bad knife."
Gilgamesh gave a short bark of laughter. "Maybe. But you're trying to make it better. So what makes this knife what it is? Why is it shaped like this? What is it meant to do? Start there."
The boy stared down at the knife again, thinking. He wasn't sure what Gilgamesh meant but he decided to try again anyway. He activated his circuits again.
He took a breath and focused. This time he tried to picture the knife as he used to cut butter as it's what it was meant to be used for. This time, the knife didn't explode… right away at least. It didn't end up holding much longer as the handle started cracking again and fell to the ground in splinters at his feet.
He blinked and looked down at it, frowning slightly. 'It lasted a bit longer but I broke it in even more pieces… did it go even worse than before then?'
Gilgamesh stood up, brushing his coat. "Well, that's three for three." he said smiling. "Enough sitting, we're moving."
The boy glanced up. "Where to?"
Gilgamesh waved a hand vaguely. "Does it matter? Just keep walking and try again. You don't need a desk to learn this sort of thing. Just think of it as part of the lesson."
The boy's expression remained unreadable as he followed. The knife reformed itself once more in his hands from the splinters. As they walked, he focused on the texture of the knife, he tried thinking of his previous trials and how he failed and after gathering his thoughts for a bit he decided to give it another try.
BANG
Gilgamesh didn't even look back. He just chuckled. "Excellent, you're getting worse than before when you walk. That means you're getting somewhere at least, hahaha." His laugther rang as he ignored the fact he was the one who was increasing the difficulty by making him move while he tried.
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Hello, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you liked it leave a power stone and maybe also a review. Also a special chapter after this one, it has nothing to do with the plot see it as an omake to waste more time.
The thing about Reinforcement being the oldest magecraft is something i somewhat made up but not unreasonably so, after thinking on how the spell work i made this one setting on it.
Also It's gonna be revealed in the future at some point but it's nothing important so just to be clear, The part where gil says that it's the spell is easier to learn due to it's mystery is bullshit he made that up on the spot so that when the kid fails, he has an excuse to make him continue work on something or make him do something else after a while.
The dumb and restricted explanation about he spell in the stele is due to another reason that will be explained in the future as well other than being old.
The information about the explanation that entered his mind are due to every book(or stone slab i guess) being considered a noble phantasm so as books are meant to pass down knowledge the moment he looked at it the content has been memorized and translated for him to understand as he had Gilgamesh's approval.