Saber tilted her head. “A story?”
“I don’t know if you remember Fuji-nee at all, but she’s my legal guardian after Kiritsugu passed. She usually drops by to check on me every morning to have breakfast. There’s Sakura as well, my kouhai and a person I hold dear to my heart… as well as someone whose family we’re going to pay a visit to at a later point.”
Shirou’s expression darkened near the end of his words.
Saber noticed and nodded. “I take it Sakura’s family is not a pleasant one?”
“…Yeah. Let’s leave it at that. But anyway, your story. Since you knew my father… do you think you can spin a tale of being an associate from overseas? Maybe a collaborator from a few years back?”
“Hm. I suppose so. You wish for me to use my history as his Servant, but in a more conservative manner?”
“Basically.”
Saber nodded. “I can do so.”
“Good. I’ll leave it to you. Then, with that settled…” Shirou stood up.
Saber was confused. “Shirou?”
Shirou bowed. “Saber- no, King Arthur. I request your help in refining my swordsmanship.”
Saber blinked and then smiled. “If that is your wish, Shirou. But I warn you. My manner of instruction is a bit… rough.”
“I can take it.”
“Then… shall we head to the dojo to begin?”
Xxx
Shirou raised his shinai in front of him. It was a traditional kendo stance, one that Shirou’s body remembered and that he half-remembered from his memories.
Saber stood in front of Shirou. Like him, she wielded a shinai in her hands. But unlike Shirou, her stance was different. Rather than a traditional kendo stance, Saber held the Shinai slightly to her right in both hands.
“I am sorry to tell you this, Master, but I do not know how to instruct you on proper swordsmanship.”
Shirou nodded. “That’s fine. Just point out my openings and leave a lesson with pain.”
“…if you say so. Then.” Saber became quiet. At once, the air quieted down.
Saber had removed her armor, leaving her in just a plain blue dress.
Shirou was similarly unequipped, wearing only a plain shirt and jeans that he had changed into.
Saber stepped forward.
Shirou observed, cautiously analyzing her every movement. His eyes tracked her feet, shoulders, and waist.
Was Saber impressed? A slim smile appeared on her face for an instant. And it was just that: an instant. When that instant faded, Saber closed the gap.
Before Shirou could react, Saber’s shinai was already slashing towards his side.
It was fast, but still within the realm of perception.
Instead of panicking, Shirou shifted his sword and brushed Saber’s attack aside. In the same instance, he stepped forward, his sword positioned for a thrust. However-
“Your back is open!”
With a complicated maneuver, Saber crouched and pivoted with the force of Shirou parrying her blow. Before he realized it, Saber was behind him.
Thwack!
A sharp pain erupted along his back.
“Fu-“ Shirou bit back a curse and staggered forward, grabbing at his back.
Saber didn’t relent. The moment that she finished slashing Shirou’s back, the swordwoman was already stepping in for another.
Shirou focused.
Techniques, skills… he had none. The body he now inhabited had some, but they were nothing in comparison to the elite Saber. His memories that made up the current Emiya Shirou knew more, but he couldn’t execute them. At least… he didn’t think he could?
“You are distracted!”
Saber shouted and then swung her shinai at Shirou’s head.
It was fast. A simple streak amidst the air. At the same time, a fierce crack echoed as it whipped towards Shirou’s skull.
He couldn’t perceive it. Not only was the attack from behind, but he was still reeling from Saber’s first strike.
Shirou could tell, however. The initiative was lost and Saber wouldn’t be letting him rest to restart.
From the visual novel, her best way of teaching was through pain. Eventually, he would learn with his body where to block, where to strike… but that was a painful affair. And he wasn’t the same Shirou.
He could learn faster, smarter.
Saber’s shinai connected with Shirou’s skull. Was it because she knew that he could survive it? Her attack was done without a shred of mercy, hard enough that his neck cracked from the whiplash. However, she wasn’t finished yet. “Block, Shirou!”
Saber shouted and swung her shinai again… no, with her strength and speed, it might as well have been a proper sword. “If not, at least dodge!”
Shirou took her advice. Before she could strike him again, Shirou quickly dashed forward. As he did, he brought his shinai behind his back, holding it parallel to his spine.
There was a crack and the two shinai connected. Saber’s slash struck Shirou’s quickly prepared defense. With it, he was sent forward from the blow. But Shirou was expecting it. Instead of staggering from the sudden added momentum, Shirou used it to pivot.
Saber stepped forward. A hint of surprise flitted in her green eyes as she saw Shirou’s actions, but it was quickly erased. When it had, the shinai once again cut through the air.
Shirou had spun to strike, but found himself facing a preemptive slash. His attack was forced into an abrupt parry. However, it was effective and Saber’s sword went awry just a fraction.
It was short, but it was enough time for him to act.
A crimson and emerald web erupted in his mind’s eye. Avalon was fired up. Even if he obtained a fatal injury, it was there to restore him. That was the absolute power of the sheath imparted by the fairies.
Therefore.
For the weak him who needed both skill and power to save everyone he desired to protect.
“Trace, on.”
He had to acquire it, even if it didn’t exist.
Time ground to a halt before Shirou’s eyes. No, it wasn’t that time froze, but that his mind had surpassed time. He couldn’t move, but neither did anything else.
A shortcut. He reinforced his brain to surpass normal limits.
Something cracked.
Half of his vision blurred out. At the same time, Saber began moving back into motion. The frozen shinai began accelerating.
But that time was enough.
“Mind and body… connect.”
Reinforcement.
‘Skill’ was something engraved in muscle memory and coordinated with the mind. If the muscles lacked the nerves to act in a certain way, there was a delay in coordination. If the brain lacked the connections to move the body, skill was also lacking. That wasn’t something that could be bridged in such a short time. Even if Saber went all out to train him, it would take at least a week to properly attain the skills.
But Magecraft was a shortcut to that. What could only be done with time could be bridged with thaumaturgy.
And for him, who excelled at both structural grasping and reinforcement…
Time resumed.
Saber’s sword slashed towards Shirou’s neck. But it never reached it.
Shirou’s own blade lashed out to parry.
“Hm?”
Saber’s surprised voice echoed.
Shirou could barely hear it.
He could see the blonde swordswoman in his field of vision, but only barely. His senses were muffled… no. Overextended. He could see the sounds echoing in the room, taste the color of the floor, smell the texture of the sword within his hands.
It was disorienting, but he focused. All he had to do was envision it, and his body would do the rest.
“…Interesting.” Saber said. “So this is your ability?”
“It’s just a trick. However, it should help.” Shirou smiled and raised his sword up. “Let’s see if this holds up to snuff.”