[X] Sakura agreed. Icy as Cainessa was, she didn't see what harm this class would be.
"Okay, sure," Sakura went along with this, "Er, there's no upfront charge though, is there?"
Cainessa smirked. "Show me that you can enter the Grail War proper, and that my time spent on you wasn't a waste. That's all I charge," she said.
"Well yeah, that is what I'm here to do anyway," Sakura said, still nodding along.
"So you say," Cainessa murmured, before she leaned in and eyed Sakura, "But I wonder, could you carry that same confidence on discerning the truth of the world? Either way, we aren't due to start for another few hours, so run along."
And Sakura did so, with it helping that Cainessa didn't seem the type she, or anyone really, would want to interact with much outside of class. It was one thing when Cainessa was just being cold, but another when she started getting all cryptic.
The Library did seem a good place to study up for this rare lesson, since y'know it was right there. At the library computer, which weirdly counted as a computer within a computer, VR and all, Sakura searched for Roman Emperors, which given the pages of results may've been too broad a term.
"Hmm, interesting search," Beryl remarked.
"Oh yeah, well I had that old lottery ticket in mind. I was trying to think what societies from long ago were known for lotteries, and well, Rome's the only one that came to mind," Sakura said, but shrugged, "I figure anyway. I admit I'm no historian, but hey, that's what this library's for, right?"
Searching 'Roman lottery' specifically, then having to confirm she did not mean 'Roman pottery', Sakura eyes widened when she saw the first result. "Au-Augustus, the First Emperor?" she gasped, before she had to add, "See, 'cause Caesar technically wasn't Emperor. So I do know some things about history."
Beryl didn't respond at first, but then slowly said, "Mistress, you should know…"
"Know what?" Sakura asked, given Beryl was taking her time.
"…Know that Augustus probably wouldn't appreciate you calling him 'Emperor'. He did insist on 'First Citizen'," Beryl then said, the tone in her voice changing slightly. "Of course, this is all in the event that you do summon Augustus."
"Yeah, like I'm not sure how people get dibs on relics for Servants," Sakura said, "Some other player might swipe him from right under my nose."
"It's possible the Star-Cell's Summoning System may not even work that way anymore," Beryl said, "That the catalysts are just there to get players thinking of summons. On top of the museum preserving human heritage, of course."
Sakura then paused, before she pondered, "Using catalysts to summon? Wait, am I getting my knowledge mixed up with my avatar's again? Like, our avatars are meant to be Masters from past wars, right?"
"Supposedly," Beryl said, "But somehow, the sheer number of masters I've seen, other maids say we have almost 1,000, makes me doubt that. It doesn't line up with how rare and exclusive we're told the Grail war was in the past."
"Modding, I guess," Sakura said about the avatars, before she asked, "Also, 'Summoning System may', 'other maids say', aren't you part of the Star-Cell? I thought you'd know all these things."
"Keyword there is 'part', mistress. I am but a punctuation mark on the Star-Cell's page," Beryl said.
Sakura just nodded again, probably having become a bit too exasperated there. Only then did she and I notice each other again, given I was seated at my desk buried in some books. "Oh hey, Amemiya," she called out.
"Tohsaka, h-hi," I said, before I hastened to tell her, "I found out some info about, er, 'Liners' and 'A-Rays'," checking my notes again.
"Oh wow, I kinda know what an A-Ray is," Sakura said, "Beryl says they're animal-human hybrids, but then said that's not fully the case." I'd later learn she'd actually met an A-Ray, but given what he was like, I could see why she didn't bring him up.
"Okay, and Liners are related to that 'Grain' thing I was talking about," I said, "They're basically people who've adapted to the space-dust, since it's usually poisonous."
"Huh, sure sounds like something! Hey, what else have you found out?" she asked, as she had to lean in closer.
"Well, um, y'know, things," I said as I covered my books with my hands.
Sakura sighed. "Hey, if you've been slacking off or something, you can tell me. Apart from a few topics, I'm no super-studier either," she said. She leaned in to see the novels and comics I'd been reading, then laughed, "Sheesh, from the way you were talking, sounded like you were reading porn for a second. Huh, though does this library even have a porn section? I mean, it is supposed to be all human records…"
I twitched. "Not a… question I expected you to ask, Tohsaka," I mumbled out.
She blushed in turn. "Yeah, guess I was just running my mouth, that's all," Sakura said, "You figure it wouldn't be so embarrassing, like everyone our age with a computer knows porn, yet we still feel awkward talking about it, y'know."
"Ah, master- mistress- my liege Amemiya!" Jasper then called out, breaking said awkwardness. He was staggering back and forth, carrying a whole mountain of books, before he inevitably and sent tumbling all over my desk. "Figured these would come in help," he said dazed and sprawled.
"Right, that reminds me! There's this Master, her name's Cainessa, who offered to teach players a class," Sakura said, right over all of Jasper's effort. "Thing is, well, she's kinda… intimidating," she then whispered, "so I was hoping to have someone I knew come with me. I mean, of course there's Beryl, but she's not a player so I don't think she'd be allowed."
Jasper's eyes narrowed hearing Sakura say that. "W-well, it's clearly a trap then, if us attendants aren't allowed. My liege, surely you see this too?" he asked me.
I had to sigh. "Jasper, the War hasn't officially started yet. Cainessa couldn't ambush us even if she wanted," I told him, "And Tohsaka has a point, safety in numbers."
"W-what? My liege, you can't mean what you say-" Jasper began, before he turned to Sakura and said, "Alright, fine. But you'll bear full responsibility for anything that happens to Amemiya, you-you hear?"
Sakura groaned, "I hear", before she in turn looked at beryl, "Is Jasper always like this?"
"Hard to say," Beryl said, "Both of us, along with all the other attendants, were materialised quite recently. Wouldn't be surprised if a glitch has got to him," she conspiratorially whispered.
"I heard that!" Jasper bleated.
Later that day, we gathered into your standard amphitheatric lecture hall, a soft blue light glimmering throughout, with the much darker blue of Cainessa- ah, Miss Archibald I should be thinking, standing in the centre. Well, I say 'we', it was more…
"So, only four of you could be bothered to show up," Cainessa said, her voice staying restrained. As a bunch of late students made no sudden arrival, sure enough it was me, Sakura, a boy I judged to be that Wolf A-Ray Sakura mentioned, and… well, the last student deserved her own paragraph.
She was a girl a year or so older than Sakura, about my age or still a bit older then. She was the tallest student by far, nearing Cainessa in height, with sure enough, lilac hair, pink jacket, and a black skirt and boots. Matou Rin, who else fit?
"Fine, appears we'll have to make do. From the left, state your names and schools of Magecraft," Cainessa said.
I shuddered a little since this meant I was first. "Amemiya Yakumo, and I'm an Oneiromancer. Ah, that means stuff with dreams. They/them," I said.
"Tohsaka Sakura. I wouldn't say I'm a specialist, but I am interested in Imaginary Numerology. She/her."
The wolf boy snarled. "Hey, we all know what Oneiromancy is, who doesn't? Anyway, Blut Mavrik, 'cause I'm trained in Blood Magic. It's dark and violent, like my soul. Oh, and unlike some people here, I don't have pronouns," he said in total seriousness.
"…You do know what pronouns are, right?" Sakura said, where I just would've kept quiet and hope it blew over. Luckily for us, Blut just snarled but said nothing.
That left… "Matou Rin. Jewelcraft, elementalism, and theoretical interdimensional studies," we heard her finally speak. "She/her," she then added.
"I see," Cainessa muttered, before she then stared straight at me. "Young Amemiya, you do realise just how much you've handicapped yourself by choosing Oneiromancy in a Grail War? Unless the likes of Endymion or Zhuangzi should happen to be summoned, you are aware Servants don't dream, or even sleep, aren't you?"
"I-I know," I said, feeling the heat bearing down on me. "But Masters still do, so there's that, right?" I also wanted to add that my interest in oneiromancy was for many more reasons than whether it'd help in this Grail War, but I could tell Cainessa only would've scolded me for it.
"True, but you'll find there are many more efficient ways of gathering intel, the likes of which may be used against you," Cainessa said, before she moved onto Sakura. "As for you, did I honestly hear 'Imaginary Numerology'? Why not simply say outright that you have zero faith in your future Servant?"
"W-what? How can you just say that?!" Sakura had to speak out.
"Quiet. Can any other student inform the class on 'Imaginary' Numerology?" Cainessa then said.
I twitched upon it being Rin who stood up. "Imaginary Numerology. A branch of Ethereal Magecraft that manipulates the Spiritual, not the Physical. This would technically give a Master the power to attack a Servant directly," she summarised, not needing to check a single note.
"Thank you, and I'll draw everyone's attention to the use of the word 'technically'," Cainessa said, "Unless our Miss Tohsaka reveals herself to be some once-in-a-Zeitgeist wunderkind, being able to harm Servants does not entail being able to defeat Servants."
Still more than I could ever do, I thought. Evidence was piling up that Cainessa would've insulted our field of magic regardless of what we said.
"As for you," she looked at Blut, "You know what, I won't even dignify you with a response. I suspect you only even showed up to disturb the lesson. Moving on, Miss Matou," she said, only a slight smile forming, "Already the most accomplished here of you four, but even with you I find fault. Sounds to me like you've been spreading your specialties too thin."
At first it didn't sound like Rin Matou would reply at all, but then she said, "Well, you must be quite powerful then, assuming you've stuck to a single field." I winced at those words, Rin's tone making it sound like she was the teacher, not Cainessa. Not even Blut baited her this much.
Cainessa of course wouldn't be shown up like this. With what to me looked like a trance-like muttering and wave of her hand, Cainessa somehow forced Rin to suddenly start talking backwards. "Dleif a ot kcuts ev'uoy gnimussa-"
"Control over time's current, thank you for asking. Nothing theoretical about it," Cainessa's smile grew wider, yet even colder.
A-A Chronomancer? I thought. Now I hoped even harder not to be placed against Cainessa in the War. Rin meanwhile was left in a state of concealed fury, which couldn't help but amuse Blut and even Sakura.
"Now then, I assume you all know what a 'Liner' is," Cainessa then said, something I had only just found out. "If you still don't know, then what are you even doing in this class, this War? Hmhm, because do you seriously think that's Mana or Odic Force you're using to code-cast spells here?"
Wait, she's implying all of us are Liners? I thought. I didn't ask to confirm, she probably would've only mocked me had I done so.
"But how many of you can tell me what an 'Ether Liner' is?" Cainessa asked, even though she could just tell us.
It was Rin who answered. "Ether Liners are people who have accumulated enough Grain that is has hardened into a Knight Arm, a weapon unique to them," she said, quick to take back her esteem.
"Correct. Or at least when it comes to basics. Other than Servants, Ether Liner players will be the biggest threat you face. I should know, you should already be able to tell I am one," Cainessa said, "There are at least two more of note. The first will need no introduction to youths like you, Felix de Carvalho. The other, well, I believe Miss Tohsaka's already acquainted."
Sakura twitched and said, "Wait, Kasaito?"
"You know her?" Rin spoke up to ask.
"It's nothing," Sakura said, "We just met in the hall once, found it strange how she kinda looked like me, that's all." This at least seemed good enough an answer for Rin, for now.
After that intro to Ether Liners, we quickly found out Cainessa could talk for hours, or rather talk down for hours. It was a lot for me to take in, but I think one part of the lecture that caught my attention, Sakura's too by the look of her, was-
[ ] About Spiritrons, the magic particles of data that made up the world of the Star-Cell
[ ] About the Servant Classes, not just the standard seven but also some weird outliers.
[ ] About the phenomenon of 'cyber ghosts'.
[ ] About the history of the Clock Tower, emphasis on 'history'.
[ ] Write-in
The lecture all over, day all over really, it looked like all of us but Rin were ready to crash immediately on our beds.
The time was drawing near to work out the 'truth of the outside world', which left my shivering self with no idea what to do tomorrow. Sakura however said she'd start the day by:
[ ] Getting around to talking to Carvalho, and any other player she could.
[ ] If an 'Assassin Jeeves' was in charge of the attendants, then she ought to find any non-combatant Servants in charge of the Museum or Library, they ought to know some things.
[ ] See if she could eavesdrop on some of the people who wouldn't give her direct answers, like Rin, Cainessa, and Mikoto.
[ ] Armed with new knowledge, find out anything more she could on Grain, A-Rays, and Ether Liners, since that way seemed to be the truth of the outside world.
[ ] Write-in
