She pulled me deeper inside.
The dungeon, of course.
That was when we stopped. I was cornered against the wall, and she kabedon'd me literally. It seems, she caught me.
"I think you owe me an apology, Ken."
"What apology? Oh, right. I suppose that shouldn't have been a mistake I made. Did I hurt your feelings somehow?"
"Kinda. You treat me like I'm going to tell everyone that you're a Guardian."
"Okay, relax. I was wrong, but I'm sure I was going to tell you later. Anyway, are we going to kiss or not?"
"Ahem! Language! I won't look at you like that, I treat you like my little brother."
"Little brother? Look, noona. You bring me to a lonely place like this. I'm not dense enough to not see you as a woman. Our age gap isn't that big either."
"S-Silence! I was worried, okay? What are you doing here instead of going to school?"
"I dropped out."
She looked at me with an expression that clearly said, 'This guy…'
"Hah… enough. Give me your hunter ID."
I handed it to her. She raised an eyebrow as she looked back at me again.
"Just A-rank? I thought you'd be an S with the kind of abilities you have. But…"
She looked closer at me. "I don't feel like you have that much mana either. Even back then, you didn't have this much."
"Do you want to know my secret? If we go to dinner together—"
"Okay, I believe you."
Did I just get rejected? So much for the idea that the MC gets all the girls? Okay that was a lie.
"So, have you joined any guild yet?"
This time, she smiled at me, and I could already tell where this conversation was going.
"No."
"How about joining us, the Hunters? Maybe if you do, I'll consider your dinner offer."
Okay. She's definitely toying with me. And son of a bitch, how dare she use that just to make me join her guild.
"Okay."
---
Back to my apartment. It is time for magic study.
Aside from the Clones I've already been using, there were Heroic Spirit Summoning and Loop Cast. As a mage, honestly, I was far more astonished by Loop Cast than by Heroic Spirit Summoning. Still, the summoning would be valuable assets in times like this.
The last fight proved that I can't defeat a combat-type hunter in melee.
Caster types and combat types follow completely different philosophies in how they use mana.
Simply put, magic caster types use mana outside their bodies, because mages, in essence, are omnipotent. That's why they can change world phenomena in a short period of time and affect the real world directly.
Meanwhile, combat types are much simpler. They use mana to enhance their bodies to make themselves more durable, faster, and stronger. In other words, combat types let mana flow inside their bodies.
Then the question arises, why don't mages just strengthen their bodies like combat types?
The analogy goes like this, mages use mana like tools, the same way humans use shoes to run faster. Combat types, on the other hand, are naturally fast and strong like horses born with four powerful limbs.
No matter what happens, humans can't beat horses in terms of speed and endurance.
To make this analogy clearer, mages can use spells to temporarily enhance their bodies like steroids but they'll lose if the fight drags on. Over time, mages grow tired, and eventually, they'll be overwhelmed by a combat type.
Instead of trying to defeat them with raw strength, a mage simply needs to overwhelm them with powerful spells.
With the difference in mana usage between casters and combat types, this also explains why Zoltraak is useless against strong warrior-types like Hwang Dongsoo.
The mana flowing inside his body likely acts like an anti-magic scale. Zoltraak is essentially just compressed mana with minor adjustments to its mass, so it can be easily deflected by someone with high magic resistance like him.
Now that I think about it, this is probably why Frieren couldn't kill the red dragon as it had thick anti-magic scales.
Anyway.
I was able to defeat Hwang Dongsoo using [Material Burst], the spell I created thanks to Elemental Sight.
The way the spell works is that it requires a material to act as a medium.
Since I use mana as the medium, the first step is to contain that mana within a sterile space. That's why the spell [Convergence] was created.
In short, this spell separates matter into an isolated space.
Right now, I'm focusing my mana at the tip of my index finger, forming a spherical veil around it.
At this moment, there are various kinds of matter inside that space. To make it sterile, I use Convergence to pull out CO₂ and other particles from the tiny enclosure. This spell can also work in the opposite way, for example, I could absorb poisonous gas if needed.
Now, I can finally use Material Burst with mana as the medium.
The next question is, does Material Burst only work this way? Well.... no.
Can I use existing materials, like a spike or even a drop of water? Yes, I can. I could literally use anything as long as it has mass. But this method is, frankly, a lot cooler.
So, Material Burst is actually a very flexible spell.
Nevertheless, all of this needs to be done with extreme precision. That's why Elemental Sight is the foundation of this spell. It allows me to enter an omniscient state, letting me calculate all of this crap in real time.
That said, things would get dangerous if I encountered a hunter like Hwang Dongsoo again or someone even worse.
What if I couldn't detect an assassin-type like Jin-woo? That's why I need someone to fight on the vanguard.
Which means this Heroic Spirit thing might be what I need the most.
"I didn't watch Fate that much. What if someone nasty like Gilgamesh shows up?"
To summon a Heroic Spirit, I basically need a catalyst. If I were thinking about the Batmobile, maybe I could summon Batman. If I had Caliburn, then I could summon her. But I don't have that kind of knowledge or those kinds of artifacts.
"Whatever."
I finished reading the grimoire on how to summon a Heroic Spirit. As expected, it didn't tell me how to summon a specific hero from the past.
The catalysts are the key just like how Shirou used Avalon to summon Artoria.
However, it did reveal one important thing. Even without a catalyst, I could still summon someone based on my own power, and whether that be my personality, affinity, my ass or something else entirely.
After drawing the magic circles, I began chanting the ritual. The room slowly lit up as the spell activated.
I poured a massive amount of mana and holy magic into it.
I wanted someone strong and preferably not someone with an ass personality. Fuck it, I don't give a shit if he's a femboy. So God, please just not Gilgamesh.
Slowly, a human-like shape began to materialize. When the process finished, the light faded, revealing a woman who looked to be in her early twenties maybe even her late teens. She stood there with a calm yet serious expression.
She had long blonde hair braided down past her waist and wore dark blue armor. Silver plates rested over her dress, covering her hips, arm guards, a face guard, and metal shoes. She was undeniably beautiful but what caught my attention most was her lance. Or rather, the white flag entangled around it.
"Are you my Master?"
Her voice was calm and resolute.
"I am."
She wasn't Artoria though.
"Who are you?" I asked.
She placed a hand over her heart. "My true name is Jeanne d'Arc. I have been summoned as a Servant, Master. I assume you wish me to oversee the Holy Grail War?"
"Takakura Ken. Just Ken is fine. Ah… actually, there isn't a Holy Grail War going on."
"..."
"I beg your pardon?"
How was I supposed to explain this?
I raised the grimoire in my hand.
"In short, you're in another world. I didn't even know whether the summoning ritual would succeed. Still, I summoned you because I need your help…"
She frowned and glanced at the grimoire. I sighed inwardly. This felt like one of those cliche plots where someone gets randomly summoned and chosen as a hero. I'd call it a dumbass plot.
"Then, what is your intention?" she asked.
It would take a long time to explain, but I told her everything, the Gates that appeared across the world, the hunters who entered them to fight monsters, and how those monsters would eventually pour out and destroy everything if left unchecked.
"That's why I believe that if something inhuman can use interdimensional magic on such a massive scale to bring these monsters here, then it's powerful enough to destroy the world. My goal is to fight them just for simply to survive."
Of course, it was too early to tell her everything.
"I see," she said. "Your intention is to prevent the world's destruction. Is that correct?"
I nodded. "Since I'm a mage, I lack the strength of a warrior. That's why you're here. So… what do you think?"
She hummed softly. "This may be why God sent me here as a Ruler-class Servant."
"I'm confused. What does that mean?"
She looked at me with half-lidded eyes. "You said this is another world. That alone makes this summoning irregular. Even if you had summoned someone else, they would likely lose motivation since most Heroic Spirits desire the Holy Grail."
"What about you?" I asked. "I don't want to force you to follow me into this war."
She shook her head gently. "Naturally, I could refuse. However, I have no regrets, nor do I desire the Holy Grail. I am merely a servant of God, and I wish to protect the world."
With a smile, she met my gaze.
"Very well. I will accept your orders for now. However, if you act against my principles, I have the authority to sever our contract. That should not happen but you appear to be a special case. I hope you understand."
I nodded. "I accept the terms."
---
The day came to an end. Aside from that, I managed to summon a Ruler-class Servant. Tomorrow, I should go to the Hunters Guild like Hae-in told me to.
[Ding!]
You have completed the quest.
[Quest: Become Dungeon Miners]
[Reward: 300 AP]
Today's quest reward. On top of that, I cleared twenty B-rank gates thanks to the Clone Spell. My level shot up like crazy, hell yeah! From now on, I'm going to keep doing things this way, even if I'm only joining the Hunters Guild temporarily.
"Um… Ken."
I glanced to my side and paused my chopping. Jeanne stood there, wearing my old clothes after taking a bath.
"Sit down. I'm making dinner. Does it fit you?" I said, resuming my cooking.
"Yes, thank you."
"Should I buy you some clothes?"
"N-no! You don't have to. I mean, I can use magic, but wearing your old clothes is more than enough for me."
After talking for a while, we grew closer at least in terms of our master-servant relationship. She asked a lot about this world and about my abilities.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"I was wondering… do you possess some kind of holy energy?"
"Something like that. I can heal people using that energy."
"That sounds kind of basic. Are you sure?"
"Well, you'll see later. Why do you ask?"
Jeanne pouted, and… she was kind of cute. Well, she is cute.
"A-ah, I'm sorry if that was a sensitive question. But actually, I answered your call because of that divine power. I thought.... my Lord was calling me, until I met you."
By "my Lord," she obviously meant God. And she wasn't exactly wrong. I do have Goddess Aqua's power. That probably played a role in why I was able to summon her.
Or maybe, like Jeanne said, the Holy Grail detected something abnormal and treated my summoning as an error. Ruler-class Servants are essentially a neutral faction or God's errand boy in the world.
"So… you're disappointed?"
"N-no! Not at all! That's not what I meant. Hey! You're teasing me, aren't you?"
"Alright, dinner's ready. Let's eat. We should get some sleep, tomorrow's going to be busy."
---
-Author Note-
I've done my research on Fate, so dear my fellow Fate expert. Don't bully my limited knowledge LOL. Does it make sense to summon Jeanne d'Arc as a Ruler?
Please support me with your powerstones and leave the comments!