All stats are E- to EX?
Tokiomi had a look of confusion on his face.
And there was this Class that was either ‘None’ or ‘All’.
It was too strange.
“EX should be my stats at my peak, before I linked the fire.”
“E- should be my stats now, after being burned by the first flame for tens of thousands of years, completely burnt out.”
Gwyn said.
This meant the Level 802 Lord of Cinder had been burned down to a Level 0 ‘fierce cinder’.
But to him, this didn’t matter.
If his level dropped, he just needed to find some mobs to farm.
Anyway, his abilities, equipment, and items were still there, including soul items; he just had to crush them to level up.
It was just like a max-level veteran whose level had reset to zero but kept all their gear and items; the level simply wasn’t important.
“All stats at E-? Isn’t that the same level as an ordinary person?”
Hearing this, Tokiomi’s expression changed drastically.
Being burned by the first flame for tens of thousands of years sounded impressive, but that was in the past; a hero shouldn’t dwell on former glories.
Now, with the Holy Grail War about to begin, you’re telling me that by using the first snake slough as a catalyst, I summoned a useless Servant with all E- stats?
Isn’t this just like the Einzbern Family overreaching and failing in the Third Holy Grail War?
Tokiomi couldn’t help but feel a bit of a breakdown; how could he drop the ball at such a critical moment?
But as a proper noble, he managed to stabilize his emotions, quickly adjusting and thinking of a way to break the deadlock.
Should he rely on his relationship with the Church’s overseer to pull some strings and apply to swap for a different Servant?
“It seems that you, the subject who was acting so humble before me just a moment ago, are quite dissatisfied.”
Gwyn gave a cold chuckle, his tone chilling.
“No, Your Majesty, I am merely contemplating how we shall achieve victory now.”
Tokiomi hurriedly denied it; before he could truly cut ties with the Servant, he wasn’t foolish enough to let the relationship turn sour.
Even if the other party’s stats were all E-.
“Utterly hypocritical.”
Leaving those words behind, Gwyn walked out of the basement with heavy steps.
Feeling the fresh air around him that wasn’t boiling or scorching, he felt a long-awaited sense of relaxation.
Tokiomi stood in place, furrowing his brows as he watched Gwyn’s departing back, feeling that things were a bit troublesome.
This Servant was quite arrogant.
‘However, there’s one issue I just remembered: although I summoned the Servant, I haven’t completed the contract yet.’
‘Once the contract is complete and I supply him with magical energy, that’s when his true stats will manifest.’
‘I was too emotional just now and forgot to think; this is unacceptable and must serve as a warning for the future.’
‘A qualified Mage must never be careless, otherwise a single oversight could cost one’s life.’
After reflecting on himself, Tokiomi took a few deep breaths, adjusted his posture, and walked out of the basement with a smile on his face.
In the living room, Gwyn was brewing tea at the coffee table, feeling very nostalgic for his life in the distant past.
Tokiomi came before him and said respectfully, “O King, it was my oversight earlier to forget the formation of the contract.”
“Now, please allow me to make amends by signing a contract to become your subject, and from now on, become your provider of magical energy, offering it up to you.”
Truly a man who knew when to yield and when to stand tall.
Gwyn turned his head to look at him, a playful smile unconsciously appearing at the corner of his mouth as he said:
“Are you worthy?”
Tokiomi’s face stiffened; the other party repeatedly refusing to give him face made things very difficult.
“However…” Gwyn picked up a teacup, his gloved thumb rubbing against the outer wall of the cup.
Seeing a turn for the better, Tokiomi’s expression relaxed again.
“O King, you may put forward any and all requirements.”
“Don’t be in a hurry.”
Gwyn set down the teacup, unbuckled two melted and deformed bracers and threw them aside, revealing arms as withered as dry wood.
Having been incinerated by the first flame for tens of thousands of years, his body was no different from a mummified corpse, far more withered than the Emperor who had sat on the Golden Throne for ten thousand years.
That he could stay alive and maintain consciousness was entirely due to him being strong enough.
Gwyn opened his inventory, took out a ‘Humanity’ and added it to the teacup, stirring it gently with a teaspoon as he asked unhurriedly:
“Don’t you have two daughters? One named Rin, and the other named Sakura.”
How could he know?
Tokiomi was shocked.
He lacked common knowledge, yet he knew about his family situation?
Could he have abilities like Past Sight or Present Sight?
But they clearly weren’t on the status screen…
“Yes, Your Majesty, I indeed had two daughters, but now I have only one.”
After guessing that Gwyn might possess some kind of ability to know his information.
Tokiomi hurriedly answered truthfully, while simultaneously feeling a surge of joy; as expected, it was just a matter of magical energy supply, he hadn’t dropped the ball.
“Was Sakura given away for adoption by you?”
Gwyn slightly lifted his helmet and downed the tea infused with Humanity in one gulp; immediately, his body filled out at a rate visible to the naked eye, returning to a body of flesh and blood.
Humanity was the soul of humans in the Dark Souls world, fragments of the Lord Soul.
Only with Humanity is one human; if not a single bit remains, one becomes a Hollow—a living corpse, without self or consciousness, only instinctively thirsting for souls.
The feeling of coming back to life.
Having replenished his Humanity, he showed a look of pleasure, closed his eyes, and hummed softly.
“It is exactly as Your Majesty says, Sakura has been given away for adoption.”
Tokiomi hesitated for a moment and decided to provide an explanation; who knew if that ability of his had glimpsed the cause.
“Both Rin and Sakura possess rare talents equivalent to miracles. Rin possesses the five elemental attributes, while Sakura has the even rarer Imaginary Number attribute.”
“In our world of Mages, if a Mage possesses a rare talent but lacks the protection of a family or other power, they will receive a ‘Sealing Designation’ from the Mages Association.”
“To put it bluntly, it’s turning the Mage themselves into a living specimen for protection and research.”
“Both Rin and Sakura’s talents reached the standard for Sealing Designation, but with the strength of our Tohsaka Family, we can only protect one.”
“I agonized for a long time and ultimately had to make this heart-wrenching move.”
“I let Rin stay to inherit the Tohsaka Family’s Magic Crest, while giving Sakura away to another family that could protect her.”
When Tokiomi mentioned his two daughters’ talents, he couldn’t help but show pride on his face.
By the end, he had a face full of helplessness.
“To put it bluntly, it’s because you, as a father, are too weak to hold your ground.”
“If you were strong enough, let alone protecting two daughters, you could protect four or eight.”
Gwyn mercilessly poked at his sore spot.
Tokiomi looked ashamed and lowered his head.
“Was she given to the Matou Family?” Gwyn asked; this was one of the few things he cared slightly about.
After being burned for tens of thousands of years, a part of his emotions and desires had grown thin.
In short, he lacked Humanity.
“The Matou Family?” Tokiomi was taken aback, then shook his head and said:
“No, although the Matou Family indeed possesses the strength to protect Sakura and lacks an heir with strong talent.”
The head of the Matou Family had also proposed many times to have one daughter given to them to inherit their magecraft.
“But over these years, I have investigated the Matou Family deeply and discovered that their inheritance of Command Magecraft seems to have run into problems.”
“I felt that the Matou Family was not a good place for Sakura.”
“I thought for a long time and finally decided to contact the Edelfelt Family.”
“The Edelfelt Family is the family of my mother, Sakura’s grandmother.”
“Back during the Third Holy Grail War, she and her older sister—my aunt—came to Fuyuki City to participate.”
“At the time, nominally, my mother was killed by my father in the Holy Grail War.”
“But in reality, she fell in love with my father and stayed in Fuyuki.”
“However, the Edelfelt Family believed she had indeed died, and even her Magic Crest was lost.”
“Even after learning the truth later, they still held a grudge, loathing and despising our Tohsaka Family, saying they would never step foot in Fuyuki and refusing to associate with us.”
“I was originally unwilling to lower my head and beg, but Sakura is my biological daughter after all; if possible, I still hoped she could be happy.”
“In the end, it was my wife, Aoi, who took Sakura to the Edelfelt Family and gave her to them for adoption.”
“They were very disdainful at first and even sent a letter criticizing my incompetence for not even being able to protect my daughter.”
“But later they changed their attitude and very joyfully designated Sakura as one of the twin heirs.”
“I then sent a letter back to mock them, and they could only grit their teeth and accept it.”
“I suppose this can be considered the father rising in status because of the daughter; I finally got to hold my head high.”
By the end, Tokiomi was smiling.
For a long time in the past, he had been looked down upon by his mother’s family and couldn’t hold his head up.
But Sakura changed all that; now it was his turn to look down on them for why they couldn’t produce a descendant with such excellent talent.
Gwyn fell into deep thought after listening.
Sakura was sent to the Edelfelts, which means…
that ‘Lady Forklift’s’ family?
Although the reasons were unclear, it was a good thing overall.
“You’ve actually done a good deed for once, Tokiomi.”