Teaching Arc common sense is quite hard. Not because she doesn't know them, she does.
As a planet's terminal, she does know of its prime species (human) habits and procedures. But living in solitude for long had resulted in her inability to apply them in society. Kyu, being the love fairy, had enough experience with people's psyches that she actually managed to put some human social norms in her, even though she is not one. Now we can leave Arc alone without having to worry about her being tricked by someone, even though the one tricking her will most likely look like a red stain on the ground afterward.
I also returned her hair and told her that I needed a string for a bow. The string should be able to launch a very heavy payload. Her suggestion was,
"Shirou, you won't find any good material with those requirements in the current timeframe. But Altrouge's hair might do the job. If you want to, I can help you rip it off her head."
No thanks, I am not going anywhere near Primate Murder anytime soon.
Recently, I have managed to get an internet connection at home. Getting all the latest technology and equipment required a good deal of cash and connections. I used the cash received from Gacha and the Fujimura family connection to get everything done. It's directly connected to a home router and shared between all the computers in the house. While Sakura has her own laptop, she mostly uses the home computer. After Arc started living with us, Sakura and Kyu taught her how to use one and the wonders of the internet. She is actually better at modern technology than Rin. I also got her a mobile phone for easier communication, since sometimes she had to take care of her subordinates.
Today, we are discussing how to deal with Roa. From what she had told me, when a new reincarnation appears, she wakes up and kills him.
"Arc, I think you should change your approach," I said.
"What do you mean?" she questions.
"I mean, think about it. How can someone so wary of death show their face without being sure of their immortality? Most likely, Roa appears after making sure his next reincarnation is ready," I explained my theory.
"Your words make sense, but if that's the case, how do you think we could find him?" she is curious.
"If we can find his previous reincarnation records, we can find his habits and maybe requirements for reincarnation. That way, it's possible to stop him from reincarnating."
She thinks for a long moment and says, "I remember someone who has knowledge of him and has a grudge against him. She might help us against him."
"Then we should ask for her help. It will make our work easier. Where does she live? Let's visit her," I advise her.
"Don't worry, I can bring her over," she lets me know.
"Is she powerful or someone important? You know Rin might have a heart attack if someone important were to show up?" I cannot help but remind her.
"Compared to me, she isn't that powerful. But she is quite important to the church. Perhaps it would be better if we visited her. But I need to confirm her location first. I will ask Merem, who works for the church."
"So church does work with the vampire? Talk about hypocrisy," I comment, knowing their track record, there is probably a lot more.
"By the way, Shirou," she takes my attention, "Why human mating ritual so weird?"
"What do you mean?" I can already feel the dread for the upcoming conversation.
"I mean, why did a bunch of people upload their mating video on the internet?" She asked innocently, and I realized what she had found on the internet.
After a long conversation explaining that it's improper to watch those 'mating ritual' videos, I realized the biggest evil on the internet isn't the porn, it's the pop-up ads that lead people there.
-----------
It's about time for a rematch with the oldest of Hassans. Arc has gone to visit Merem for the agent's location.
Currently, Kyu and I are sitting on a futon in my workshop. Giving my preparation a final check.
In fast-paced fights, it's quite hard to use high charge time spells. Since the quest has only one enemy, I got myself some protective clothing. Nothing too fancy, a Kevlar vest reinforced with rune and magecraft, and some reinforced protective gear for my arms and legs.
I also inscribed Ehwaz, Kenaz, and Tiwaz on my body for better eyesight, defense, and reaction speed.
This time, I am going to use the Muramasa blade, which is lighter than Excalibur.
"Kyu, do you have anything to add?" I ask her since her analytical skills are superb.
"You should definitely fuck Rin and Arc," and the Love Fairy's mind is in the gutter.
I take a deep breath and calm myself.
"System, start the quest for Mystic Eye of Death Perception Immunity."
-------------------
We are at the arena again, Kyu flying over my head to observe the fight while I am on the ground, rechecking everything.
I start the counter. Immediately, the Old Man tries to behead me from behind.
With the amount of time I lost my head, now I can tell when somebody wants it.
I block his slash with my sword. I let the momentum of his hit carry me to create a distance between us. While projecting swords at him. Multiprojection takes time and thought process; instead, I make regular projections and create obstacles for him.
My pride doesn't allow me to run away from the fight for a long time.
We clash our swords again. I make sure to protect my vitals while attacking. There is no room for mistakes. I don't even bother to look at the timer, as it might get me killed.
Our blades sang the tune of death. One is trying to bring it, the other is trying to escape.
I was getting minor cuts and scrapes all over my body, and the numbers were increasing over time, but my makeshift light armor protected me from heavy damage. I will surely make armor for myself before the next battle, I vow to myself.
After what felt like an eternity of chase, the timer finally reached 60. Then a bell rang.
Finally, the quest is complete.
The first Hassan talks in a deep voice, "You have held yourself against me for a minute. These are creatures of the boundary, souls who perished with a grudge in their hearts, unable to move on. Kill them to finish your goal.
The quest is not complete.
The Hassan fades away in a mist, and from that mist, humanoid black floating creatures start to appear. They have no face or legs, just hands and sharp claws. The system gives a message,
[Ding~ Quest updated: Defeat the creatures of the boundary(0/100)]
I knew nothing was simple when the system got involved.
They give an ear-piercing scream and lunge at me. Their scream gives me an attack down debuff, and eating away at my HP. If I don't kill them soon, they might get my HP down to 0.
I swipe my sword at the one at the front. It doesn't do much damage.
So I use Phantom Flame, which does damage. But due to their speed, it only kills one. They started harassing me while one kept my attention occupied, others attacked from my sides and back.
I infused Phantom Flame into the Muramasa blade. It starts to change, not physically. When the blacksmith created it, he didn't finish since it didn't reach the level of his Ideal Sword. So it remained incomplete.
Fusing it with Phantom Flame somehow made it complete. Now the sword has a blueish, fiery aura around it. As I swing it around, it leaves a trail of blue fire.
And this time I managed to kill. With my newfound weapon, I start to kill them. while the sheer numbers are the biggest issue. I slowly cull down their numbers.
--------------
After a long time....
We have returned to my workshop.
I look at the system notification,
[Ding~ Quest Complete]
Side Quests:
->Unlock Immunity to Mystic Eye Of Death Perception
[Rewards:
Immunity to Mystic Eye Of Death Perception,
650k XP,
SRT: C->C+
AGI: D->C
]
[Do you want to accept the rewards?]
"Accept," I say as I pant from exhaustion. It turns out that using Phantom Flame for an extended period of time causes mental exhaustion. I keep casting Refresh on myself to cool down my magic circuits.
Kyu brings me a glass of water. Looks like mental exhaustion hit me to the point that the water is tasting funny.
[Ding~ Receiving Rewards:
Accumulated XP->380k + 650k->1030k
Level:
42[1030k/800k]->
43[230k/850k]
Adding to Param:
SRT: C->C+
AGI: D->C
Unlocking: Immunity to Mystic Eye Of Death Perception.... complete]
I take a look at my spirit origin,
[Spirit Origin:
Name: Shirou Emiya
Title: The Gamer
Level: 43[230k/850k]
Class: Foreigner
Alignment: Neutral ・ Evil
HP: 50k [regen 5000 per min]
MP: 20k
SP: 8.4k [regen 4200 per min]
ATK: 5.8k
Points: 38,525
Familiar: Kyu Sugardust
Params:
STR: C+
END: A+
VIT: A+
AGI: C
MP: EX
LUK: D
NP: ??]
It looks somewhat decent. My next target is Excalibur's True Name release quest.
For now, I want to sleep.
"Hey, do you want me to call Sakura here?" Kyu asks.
"No need to make her worry. Aren't you supposed to make your body larger according to my level?" I asked her, remembering from her description.
"So, you can't hold your lust for me? What a naughty boy~" she teases while enlarging her body to the size of a stuffed animal plush.
I stop her rambling by grabbing her forcefully and using her as a body pillow while I drift away to dreamland.
------------
I wake up in the morning to find Kyu drooling on my chest while sleeping. So I nudge her awake.
"Kyu, return to your smaller form," I order her.
"Aww. But I didn't get to have fun," she complained, "At least let me have a drink."
"Okay, go ahead," I permit her.
While she starts her job, I summon my phone from my inventory.
My last phone broke during a fight when I forgot to put it in my inventory before. So, I bought a Nokia 3310, known for its durability.
I call Arc to ask about her search. She picks it up on the second try.
"Hey, Arc, how are you doing?" I greet her.
"Hiya~ Shirou, I am doing pretty fine. Did you miss me?" she asks in a teasing tone.
"I am sure I did. So, did you find out the whereabouts of the church agent?" I ask, getting to the point.
"Merem told me she is in Misaki Town," she replies.
She also adds, "I am heading over there. Please bring me some food when you depart."
I can see her expectant eye in my mind.
"Of course I will," I reply, "Bye."
"Bye, Shirou~"
Now there are a lot of things to consider, for example, what food should I make for her, should I take Sakura with me, how to get a leave of absence from Taiga, I need a forge to make better weapons and armor, so should I get them from a mundane method or use Rin's connections. But first, I take hold of Kyu's head.
======================
[Spirit Origin:
Name: Shirou Emiya
Title: The Gamer
Level: 43[230k/850k]
Class: Foreigner
Alignment: Neutral ・ Evil
HP:50k [regen 5000 per min]
MP: 20k
SP: 8.4k [regen 4200 per min]
ATK: 5.8k
Points: 38,525
Familiar: Kyu Sugardust
Params:
STR: C+
END: A+
VIT: A+
AGI: C
MP: EX
LUK: D
NP: ??]
[Skills:
[Gamers Mind-EX]
[Gamers Body-EX]
[Sword of Void-EX]
[Type ORT-EX]
[One Radiant Thing-EX]
[Imaginary Number Magecraft-A++]
[Seven Deadly Sins-A++]
[Perpetual Puberty-A+++]
[Kama Sutra-EX]
[Observe-EX]
[Pain Tolerance-EX]
[Avalon-EX]
[Reality Marble:???-E~EX]
[Anti-Evil (passive)]
[Archery-A]
[Cooking-A+]
[Technician-C]
[Magecraft-B]
[Eye of Mind-C]
[Anti Divinity-E]
[Phantom Flame]
[Modern Rune]
[High-speed incantation-A]
[Territory Creation(A)]
[Healing Magecraft]
[Lucid Link]
Spells:
[Tracing]
[Reinforcement]
[Refresh]
[Flash Air]
[Clone Jutsu]
[Voidblast]
[Fireball]
[Eternal Blaze]
[The Goal Of Life Is Death]
]
[Quests]:
World Quest:
->9 months and 17 days left
Main Quest:
->Save Illyasviel von Einzbern (must heal her body). {rewards: 2M XP, Mana Output Increased By 100%, 100,000 points, 5SSR tickets}
->Help Rin Tohsaka Rebuild the Jeweled Sword Zelretch. {rewards: 1M XP, 50,000points, 3SSR tickets, Skill: Gatekeeper]
->Help Arcueid Defeat Michael Roa Valdamjong. {rewards: 500k XP, 30,000 points, Skill: Mindscape Weaver}]
Character Quest:
->Increase your physical fitness
->Increase your magical fitness
->Increase your knowledge of the world and beings living there {knowledge about powerful beings yields better results}
->Learn/Improve skills
->Learn more about people you already have a relationship with {friends and foes, both are counted}
Side Quests:
->Upgrade Skill: Type ORT
->Find what happened during the Fourth Holy Grail War. {reward: 25,000XP, ???}
-> Find Tohsaka Tokomi's killer. {rewards: 10,000XP, 1000 points}
->Unlock Excalibur Morgan True Name release.