Fine? The only one I have an inkling on is the last, due to the Servant being misinterpreted - it's either clown-girl or that guy who got Arcuid as a Servant. The second could be a vampire of some sort, I guess, and no clue for Master choice #1.
And, just one last thing, exactly how many people want Alby's hacking to be like Lord Genome's hacking, I.E: a virtual avatar of him running around in the system, trying to find information, which is visually represented as books in a giant library?
Yeah, I meant it to be obvious, since once he'd see Reines, he'd be able to narrow down the possible Servants, with "you-know-who" as his prime suspect.
Alright, so that's two for Reines, and whoo boy, it'll be an interesting match, since Alby might or might not be using her dear "Nii-Sama's" skills and the results of his research data against her.
Also, I'm kinda thinking of making small little "VS" title cards for the Holy Grail matches, similar to the "VS" animations in pokemon games, with both participant's Command Seals on display.
Yep, which is why I'm asking for you guys to vote for the opponent now, so I can prepare the VS title card. And of course, design the Command Seals for each Master, since well, most of the candidates I have come up with either never were Masters in their respective series' or they were Masters under different circumstances.
And on a completely unrelated note, who's hyped for the Anime adaptation of Fate/Apocrypha? I mean, I've been reading the manga, and I've liked what I've seen so far.
And on a completely unrelated note, who's hyped for the Anime adaptation of Fate/Apocrypha? I mean, I've been reading the manga, and I've liked what I've seen so far.
Okay, so who will you and Omegastar vote for Alby and Mordred to face off against? Bingo...kinda. And just as a reminder, here are the current votes: I'm really surprised that no-one has guessed Flat's Servant even remotely close. [X] Flat Escardos: 2 Votes [X] Reines El-Melloi Archisorte: 1 Vote [X] [X] Beatrice Flowerchild: 1 Vote
[X] Could it be that Sakura and Rin were never siblings in this timeline?
[X] "My whole body feels like it's burning from the inside out. So you tell me if I'm hurt." I flinch at the phantom pain from what I presume to be my Magic Circuits.
[X] I nod in agreement. While Hakuno/Hakunon might've had the opportunity to meet face-to-face with his/her opponents without any real effort, I wouldn't have the same privilege, which would make tracking down my opponent much harder, unless I managed to get lucky and get people whom I recognized.
[X] "I'm glad you asked that Mo- Saber." I catch myself before I completely say her name, remembering to respect her wish. "I'd actually like to hear your opinion of it." After all, she actually participated in real combat, and even plotted a coup that did result in the King's death, so she was bound to have at least a few good ideas for how to progress in this tournament. Although, considering how she was more than likely used to a proper war, instead of a Tournament with rules, it was likely that her input wouldn't be as effective.
[X] Don't ask her. Better to not risk getting punished by the Moon Cell before the war even began.
As much as I wanted to ask Sakura whether or not what I planned to do was safe or not, I couldn't risk it, especially since in comparison to other Masters, I was without a doubt, much, MUCH weaker in terms of combat capability.
"So, am I allowed to leave?"
"Yes, you're in fit condition. Your room is on the second floor, Class 2-C. Your password is 063-675" With that, I left the Infirmary.
And although I had Mordred right by my side, I still wasted no time in getting up to the second floor, and then to Classroom 2-C. I wasn't sure if anyone had gotten Assassin as their Servant, but Julius had seemed to be "awake", so I wasn't about to risk getting assassinated. I refused to die in such a helpless way. [X] Attempted hacking into the Moon Cell's archives in preparation for when the Masters would be announced. If there was an easy spot where I could access the Moon Cell's records, then it would be the library.
"So, how long will this operation take?" Mordred asks as I take out my terminal from my duffel bag, setting said bag on the floor, and the terminal on a table. When I tried explaining my plan of hacking into the Moon Cell's archives, I had to use a more basic metaphor of a thief sneaking into a castle to steal magical tomes, and then she understood it.
"It'll take a while, so keep an eye out for any Assassins, or if one of the A.Is come this way." I say as my terminal projected a keyboard and a screen for me. Ignoring the effects that wouldn't be out of place from a sci-fi movie, I get to work…
Aaannnd promptly black out.
«Hacking…START!»
"Huh, this is…different from what I expected." I note to myself as I look at my surroundings. I stood before a massive Library, which I assumed to be the Moon Cell's representation of its archives. However, it was like someone had taken a library, made it in Blender, and then stripped it of any texture, leaving behind only dark blue surfaces and light blue edges.
And surrounding it was a barbwire fence, colored red. And no rewards were given for guessing what that represented.
Alright, so first I need to find a way through the firewall, and no, I'm not going to try just climbing over it, as that'd be dumb. I look at the ground, which was like the building itself, dark blue with a light blue grid.
Alright, so trying to dig my way in is a no-go.
And so, I start walking around the edge of the firewall-fence, both scouting out the inner defenses, and trying to spot some kind of weak point, or hidden entrance through it.
Oddly enough, I don't see any guards, watchtowers, cameras, or really any kind of security measures aside from the fence. You'd think that considering the Moon Cell's purpose is to observe and record the earth, the archives would be its own personal Alcatraz, or an impregnable fortress, but no, it looks like a regular library, well, aside from the 3D polygon look, but that's practically everywhere in its visual design.
Eventually, I do see a possible way in.
"Ugh, this going to suck…" I hold my breath as I descend into the hole, the garbage data, represented by sewage splashing as I wade through it. Jesus tap-dancing Christ, the Moon Cell didn't have to actually replicate the sewage smell. I had enough of that shit when I was strapped for cash and worked with garbage trucks.
«You have entered a Hostile Area. Proceed with caution…»
Okay, I'm seriously starting to consider whether or not I have The Gamer, and to be honest, I hope I do, even just the ability to learn things quickly, as I fucking know that I don't have Gamer's Mind nor Gamer's Body, since I have felt pain, and fear, most definitely fear.
I practically jump up the ladder once I spot a manhole cover, pushing it up slightly, and once I confirm that I'm inside the building, I move it aside, and climb out into what seems like a janitor's closet. I try the door, but it's locked, and so, I look around the place, before finally locking onto a ventilation shaft, which is surprisingly enough big enough for me to crawl through.
As I crawl through the small space, I can't help but be both reminded of heist movies, and question exactly why there even was a sewage pipe, or a ventilation shaft. Perhaps this was all simply an analogue for my mind hacking it's way here.
After what feels like hours of crawling, checking if I found the right room, then more crawling, I finally find the archives.
"Well, shit…" I grumble as I stare at the vast room before me. The archives took the form of a gigantic library, with bookcases tall enough to tower over me, each shelf about 3 meters tall, and just like the outside, the whole place was absent of proper texture, and the only differences were that the books that were more towards the back of the room were a darker shade than the ones on the shelf right in front of me.
Sighing, I walk over to the bookshelf right in front of me, and look at the names that were on the spines of the books as I walk by them, trying to recognize a name I knew would hold useful data. Sadly, I saw only names that I didn't recognize, aside from the last names of a few participants, like Harwey, Matou, Yggdmillenia -weren't those guys just an alliance of lesser families? - and Emiya.
And then I started to run into names I recognized a bit better, like Kairi Sisigou, Kariya Matou and surprisingly, Ryuunosuke. I mean, hey, if Shinji could be a 8-year old shit-kid in this reality, then sure, Ryuunosuke can be a Magus, or Spirit Hacker, as was the local term.
As I reached the end of the bookshelf, I noticed a plate on the wall of the shelf.
[674th Holy Grail War participants]
Shrugging at the number, I look at the books on the end of the row, and smile like a giddy child when I saw the names on two of the books.
Kiritsugu Emiya and Kayneth El-Melloi. The two main targets of my little information heist.
However, I do cock an eyebrow as I notice that the shade of Kiritsugu's book was dimmer than Kayneth's. Granted, neither one of them were exactly the brightest lightbulbs of the Christmas tree, but still, I could just barely make out Kiritsugu's name.
I take out Kiritsugu's book, intending to find out what it holds, and hopefully, find that he has the same skills he did in the Fuyuki's fourth Grail War…and of course hope that taking out a book from the shelf doesn't trigger an alarm of some sort.
And to my relief, no alarm is triggered once the book leaves the shelf, however, I do notice that the book is held shut by a strap and button…
…You know what, I'm not going to fall for that. I'm just going to shove you into my duffel bag.
«Kiritsugu_Emiya.rar has been downloaded»
And feeling a bit greedy, I shove Kayneth's book into my bag as well. No reason not to take some precious data that's practically giftwrapped like that. Besides, his Volumen Hydrargyrum would prove to be handy, even on a completely hypothetical level.
«Kayneth_El_-_Melloi.rar has been downloaded»
Sadly, I see no mention of Tokiomi's file anywhere. Possibly due to the Tohsakas being mostly wiped out by the Harveys. Or perhaps the majority of the Tohsakas never took interest in the Moon Cell.
However, I do see that it's time for me to leave. Like, right now!
So, as I reach where the ventilation shaft was, metal shutters descend in front of me, and around me, leaving me trapped like a rat.
And to add insult to injury, a red spotlight is directed at me -well, at least the Moon Cell has a flair for dramatics-, and I hope that I won't get deleted for this. I mean, it's not like I tampered with the Data of current participants, I was just browsing some old Data.
But before I can start pleading my case, I feel my nerves light up, as the system proceeds to bloody electrocute me into submission. FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK!!
Hello darkness, my old friend… «H4ck1ng_C0mpl3te!?»
As I open my eyes, I see that I'm back in the room provided to me. Okay, so Mordred dragged me back to my room.
-"Saber?"- I call out to Mordred.
-"Oh, you're awake."- she states, materializing next to my bed.
-"Yeah, about that, how long was I out?"-
-"An hour or so, give or take a minute."- she answers.
-"Uh-huh, and my terminal?"- I would be very much displeased if I lost all the data I worked my ass off to obtain. Plus, I wasn't sure whether or not I'd be able to hack back in, but if my hunch was right, that wouldn't be a problem.
-"In the bag."- Mordred replies, and as I rise up from my laying position, I wince slightly as my body aches.
Alright then, so ignoring that, let's see whether nor not the system let me keep the fruits of my labor.
"Hmm, I wonder what «Skills» I'll…get." Okay, so that's one more point to "I might have The Gamer" party.
[«Skills:»]
«Cc:_Structural Grasping» {Rank: c]
Active LV: 9/10
EXP: 18/1350
«Cc:_Reinforcement» {Rank: c]
Active LV: 8/10
EXP: /1200
«Cc:_data_theft»{Rank: c]
Active LV: 6/10
EXP: 70/900
… Okay, why do I have skills when I haven't downloaded anything? But, at least I had a few skills to work with, although the amount of Bounded Field-type skills was somewhat odd, but not at all unwelcome. Heck, I had more than a few ideas on what I could do with those.
I mean, Shinji was able to spawn more money, and Rin was able to cause an item to appear in the store, so creating a weapon, or modifying one shouldn't be completely impossible. Heck, maybe I could even alter Clarent to recognize Mordred as its true wielder, if only even for a moment, then that would be a boon in battle…although I suppose that would be a pipe-dream.
"…«Status»." I mutter, just to see if a Stat sheet would pop up and possibly have an explanation.
[«Status»]
«Master»{D Rank]
Alby Ó Catháin. LV: 8
Servant: Mordred
HP: 80
MP: 105
STR: e 18
VIT: d 20
INT: b 41
DEX: d 22
AGI: d 21
LCK: e 11
MAG: c 35
Circuit Quality: c 30
Circuit Quantity: d 25
Okay, so at least I have a good amount of Magic Circuits, but nothing that's of any real use. Now, let's get to the data I found.
I take out the terminal from my duffel bag, and then connect it to the PC in my room.
[«P_Terminal has been connected.»]
[«.rar files have been detected. Would you like to open these files?»]
«Y/N»
I press yes, and then I am greeted by an opponent most familiar to me… A loading screen!!
I spent the time waiting for the files to open…
[] Conversing with Mordred, ironing out our combat formation, with this new information in mind.
[] Checking out the features of «The Gamer». If it lacked the basic «Gamer's Mind» and «Gamer's Body», then it would be in my best interest to actually find out all the features.
Alright, so I hope you enjoyed the chapter, sorry it took so long to make.
HP: How much damage the character can take before getting K.O'd, or killed, depending on how much damage is done. The formula is: LV X 5 + VIT (5 points in VIT=10 HP)
MP: Simply put, the amount of Magical Power that a character has access to without pushing themselves. Circuit Quality divided by 10, then multiply that by your Circuit Quantity then add QualityX10.
e=10
d=20
c=30
b=40
a=50
STR= Physical strength, how hard can you swing a weapon, or how far back they can pull a bow.
VIT= Physical endurance, life energy. Increases Od regeneration rate by 0.1% for every 10 points in this stat.
INT= How smart are you? Increases the regeneration rate of Od by 0.1% for every 10 points in this stat. Also makes it easier to learn new skills, giving an initial 5 EXP for each point in this stat.
DEX= Every 5 points will increase accuracy by 0.1%.
AGI= Increases movement speed, attack speed, and reload speed.
LUCK= Governs item drops, and critical hits.
MAG= Every 5 points in this stat increases the damage of Magecraft skills by 1%, and decreases the cost by the same amount. Forumla: The Quality rank of the Magic Circuits+ the INT rank, divided by 2.
Stat ranks:
Small letters are for humans, and generally speaking for Non-Servant level beings.
Big letters are for Servants, and generally speaking just assume that there's a 0 at the end.
Now, I'm not a Type Moon expert, so this hypothetical stat system isn't set in stone, so yeah, feel free to throw some advice at me.
Also, in case you were wondering about Alby having Skills he shouldn't have, well... let's just say that I took a bit of advice from a few lovely lads and lasses from our Type Moon forum.
[X] Conversing with Mordred, ironing out our combat formation, with this new information in mind.
Letting our Servant know of our capacities seems an excellent idea. Also, wouldn't Mordred already know what hacking and computers were, due to getting an 'updated to modern day' knowledge package upon her summoning, or something? Was that only for normal Grail wars, perhaps?
[X] Conversing with Mordred, ironing out our combat formation, with this new information in mind.
Letting our Servant know of our capacities seems an excellent idea. Also, wouldn't Mordred already know what hacking and computers were, due to getting an 'updated to modern day' knowledge package upon her summoning, or something? Was that only for normal Grail wars, perhaps?
Interesting but somewhat unnecessary, since it could be just the default Moon Cell interface. Then again, Moon Cell could have based its interface on things like The Gamer or .hack or SAO, which would be funny as heck.
