Saving the Human Order with Chat(FGO/Pokémon)

Two pairs of footsteps echoed in the cold and empty halls Chaldea. It was early in the morning so Mash, with Fou nestled in her arms, and Ritsuka were walking towards the cafeteria to get breakfast.

Over a week had passed since Ritsuka had summoned his servants and received the prizes that his powers had gifted him. During that time, he hadn't been idle. The clean hallways he and Mash were walking through were proof of that.

He, alongside his servants, had been helping the limited Chaldea staff clear out rubble and debris. Having several servants with superhuman strength helped move things along and made the process smoother and faster than if they had only used normal human workers.

Dozens of tons of rock were broken up and dumped outside to clear space and after a few days, most of it had been cleared.

All the dust and fire damage had been cleaned as best as it could possibly be, mostly due in part to Archer. Out of all his servants, he seemed like the one who decided to take charge of bringing the place up to a certain standard of cleanliness, and he helped others learn the proper ways to clean up. To top it off, he even took over kitchen duties after pressuring the head chef into letting him cook the meals.

Archer was so disciplined and good at this that female members of chat started seeing him as great househusband material, much to his annoyance. He always deflected praise by stating he was only carrying out orders, even though, while Ritsuka had asked him to help, he never actually ordered it. The guy was genuinely bothered by the messy state of where he would stay and sought to correct it. But even he had his limits.

Cooking and cleaning were one thing, but fixing the complex and intricate systems of Chaldea was another matter. Despite that, he was still the only one among the servants Ritsuka had summoned who could offer any insight into helping repair some of the 'lesser' machinery, although his expertise only extended as far as fixing the heating and cooling systems.

Ironically, Archer was closer to an actual servant, a housekeeper, than all his other servants combined, though Ritsuka wasn't rude enough to say it out loud.

In a few days, they had finished cleaning up all the damaged parts of Chaldea. After that, Romani gave him and Mash a mandatory weeklong rest.

Since then, he's spent most days finding ways to cope with what happened in Fuyuki; however, he knew this small breather would not be long enough to get over all his emotional baggage.

Romani, Da Vinci, and the rest of the Chaldea staff were preparing to ensure that his and Mash's next rayshift would go smoothly, and due to Da Vinci's nature, the work was progressing faster than it would have normally taken a large team of regular staff members.

His next mission was getting closer and closer, and frankly, he would admit that the wait was making him feel more nervous.

Which was why he was doing his best to prepare himself mentally and emotionally while also doing his best to bond with his servants.

He informed he was available to talk anytime and that he would love to get to know each of them better.

He did this so they wouldn't get uncomfortable or annoyed with him for trying to force a connection. That included refraining from looking up their legends without their permission.

Sure, everyone knew them, and many of the looks he got when he told others this made him feel like he was being judged as dumb for not looking up public information. But he wanted his servants to have the option to share their stories with him if they wished.

Of course, his servants seemed appreciative of his consideration, and a few took him up on his offer. There really wasn't much entertainment outside his room for them to enjoy, so he couldn't always default to gaming as a bonding experience. So, they just spent time getting to know him better, with or without having chat involved. It was up to them but none of them minded having an audience while they had a casual conversation.

Some of them even found novelty in recounting the fun moments of their lives to an audience who didn't know of them.

However, despite these good moments, there were also heavy ones, ones that forced him to experience the worst moments of another person's life.

"Did you not sleep well, Senpai?" Mash asked with concern. It would seem that Ritsuka had let his facial expressions get the better of him again and gave Mash the wrong impression.

Ritsuka responded with a shake of his head.

"No, I slept well. I'm just reflecting on the servant dream I had last night."

"Ah ok." Was all Mash responded with before she continued walking without saying anything else.

Ritsuka, seeing his kohai's reaction, pursed his lips in guilt. 

She didn't want him to see her past, and he truly wanted to respect that. If he had the option of never seeing servant dreams, he would take the option without question. Unfortunately, unlike his servants, he had no choice. The dreams came to him with or without his consent.

He had already seen at least one from each servant at this point, except for Mash. And now, he realized he was eternally grateful to whoever had given him his streaming powers that his servants were given the option to not let chat see their dreams.

He remembered the first servant dream he had after returning from Fuyuki. He saw a younger Archer with white hair, surrounded by flames and destruction. A boy who climbed a hill to meet a purple-haired girl. A girl whom he decapitated.

He saw Kriemhild find her husband's corpse when she woke up in the morning. His chest still felt heavy when he recalled her anguished screams as she held his cold body. He could even recall seeing the exact moment her grief sparked into an intense flame of vengeance that engulfed her heart.

He saw Caster Cu's famous death, with his body tied to a boulder with his intestines so he could die standing.

These dreams were brutal, horrible, and downright tragic. Even if the knowledge in them could be found in any local library or with a quick Google search, which he had access to thanks to Chaldea keeping an archived copy of the internet in their personal servers, they were still heartbreaking and deeply intimate.

He was glad not all of them were about tragedy, though. He once dreamt of Gareth cooking for a feast in Camelot. Seeing her work in that hectic kitchen with a positive attitude in spite of the ridicule thrown her way because of Sir Kay and others had only given him more respect towards her.

Still, despite her love of cooking he wondered why she was still so insistent on helping Archer in the kitchens when she clearly had reservations about Archer's complex romantic relationship with her king.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on who you asked, the dreams also explored the more lewd aspects of a servant's life.

Like when he saw Chiyome teaching young women how to seduce and pleasure men, but also how to defend themselves when a man became too… eager with his advances. Ritsuka still shivered when he recalled her TED talk on the many ways to cut off a man's family jewels. 

But despite all the trauma, baggage, and good moments that came from the dreams, the dream he had last night was wilder than he expected.

Ritsuka then heard a shy but cute "ah" escape from Mash's lips. Her fair skin turned a bright red as she read the comments in chat.

Flicking his gaze towards the conversation, he cringed.

Yeah, he couldn't blame her. Normally, he could keep such private things to himself. However, he couldn't really stop chat from sharing what horrors they saw in his dreams they were allowed to see.

[AltariaFloof: Roland is a piece of shit. ]

[Yeah. I sympathized with him when he was rejected… but going on a murder spree killing innocents because of it… disgusting. Hopefully Gudao never summons him. ]

[Krystal: You forgot the part where he was running around with his massive dick swinging all over the place!! ]

[Bunny_Aachan: yeah….. that was not one of Roland's best moments. He's usually a pretty upstanding guy… so long as romance isn't involved. ]

[Krystal: I know he's your cousin Astolfo. You have a lot of respect for him. But as a fellow cousin of a famous person to another, please do not excuse his vices. ]

[Bunny_Aachan: I'm not. He totally deserves getting flak for the wanton slaughter, but he's really outstanding otherwise!! Besides, he's the strongest of us twelve, so Master would lose out on a powerhouse if he sends him away! ]

[You sure you don't have feelings for the guy? I'm from a rural town in the KinJoHS area so I won't judge. ]

[Bunny_Aachan: Σ(°△°ꪱꪱꪱ) Absolutely not!!! Wincest is not a word in my vocabulary! And even if it was, I wouldn't go for Roland anyway. He's into kinky stuff like handcuffs, and I HATE being restrained. ]

[Yet despite what you just told us, you still dressed up like a woman and tempted him with a good time. While he was nude too. ]

[Bunny_Aachan: Desperate times called for desperate measures. ]

[Guh. That's the dilemma isn't it? Gudao needs to summon more servants to help, but they are people from a bygone era. Their morals and motivations won't always align with modern thinking. ]

[Bunny_Aachan: Don't worry. If he goes crazy again, I'll do it again… platonically of course.]

[AltariaFloof: @ OrochiMochiHime if Roland gets summoned, please make sure he doesn't lay his filthy eyes on Aachan's body.]

[OrochiMochiHime: *thumbs up emoji* ]

[Junior_Researcher: are you all seriously forgetting how this man somehow escaped the Earth's gravitational pull using a flying wooden carriage to GO TO THE FUCKING MOON?!! ]

[Bunny_Aachan: Oh yeah!! That was fun!! ]

[Ngl that part of the servant dream seemed like something you would see after eating some bad Morelull mushrooms. ]

[MalasadaMayhem: I've heard of the moon being made of cheese, that it's a hollow cave where the Beast Who Calls the Moon goes to rest during the winter, and so many other tall tales, but going to the moon to find your cousin's lost wits, and actually finding them? That's just plain old insane. ]

[Junior_Researcher: Honestly, after seeing that bullshit I am more than willing to bet this was just a drug induced hallucination. Astolfo looks like the type who'd eat something off the ground just because "it looks yummy." ]

[Bunny_Aachan: Hah!! You got me there!! Not about going to the moon part, but rather the mushroom part. In my defense, it looked like an exotic candy. ]

[Zero hesitation. No denial. I respect that. ]

Ritsuka was about to send a message, but he stopped when the enticing aroma of breakfast glomped his nose like an overly affectionate childhood friend who hadn't seen him in years.

His stomach grumbled and wanted to reciprocate, so he followed the pleasant aroma forward.

By the time he came back to his senses, he was already in front of Archer, who had filled up his tray with a plate of blueberry pancakes drizzled in syrup, some eggs with plenty of vegetables mixed in, bacon, hashbrowns, and a cup of hot green tea. The typical American diner breakfast, but in a much smaller portion than what he had grown used to seeing and eating since he was a child.

At first, when he started eating breakfast here, he had eyed every dish warily for any Pokémon products. But thankfully, he didn't have to worry about eating Pokémon, yet. Da Vinci had run experiments with a few volunteers and confirmed the food was safe to eat, though she said they should preserve those crates until their normal food supplies ran out.

The fires had created a lot of smoke, but thankfully neither the smoke nor the flames had reached them, as the food was stored in airtight rooms.

Their food supplies would last for a while, but not for the entire duration of the so-called "Grand Order." If not for the relief crate, Chaldea would have been forced to scavenge supplies from the Singularities. Something which was still on the table, but less necessary thanks to the help they will receive each month. That said, certain foods would go bad quicker than others, and those would be the ones he'd eventually have to swallow his tears and eat when the time came.

For now, he was just going to enjoy his normal breakfast without guilt while he could.

"Thank you for the meal, Archer," he told the man, who simply nodded.

"Enjoy, Master. You're going to need the energy for later," He was right, today was the day he and his servants would finally begin practicing coordinated battle drills.

Archer then grabbed another plate and served Mash a similar breakfast, except with an extra pancake topped with a bunch of fruit and whipped cream instead of syrup, a cup of chamomile tea and a sausage for the privileged life form of Chaldea, who snatched the offering from the Archer servant and ran away to enjoy its meal wherever it pleased.

After a final, genuine "thank you" from Mash, they both turned to find a place to sit.

The cafeteria was rather spacious and, unlike many areas in Chaldea, it was lively and filled with life. Even so, there was no shortage of seating due to the abrupt shortage of staff members.

Currently, the state of the cafeteria was visibly divided.

On one side, many of the human staff members huddled in their own cliques while eating breakfast. They all seemed tighter-knit and comfortable with each other's presence. Ritsuka's eyes lingered on the coffee machine and the line of staff preparing and serving what was likely their fifth or sixth dose of coffee.

Despite the merry idle chatter, he could still see the exhaustion on their faces. The bags under their eyes made it obvious that coffee was the only thing keeping them going.

He felt bad for them. Unlike him, they had been working around the clock in constant shifts, while he had mostly been goofing off and not doing much the past week.

Part of him wanted to sit and chat with them, but he could tell they weren't comfortable with him or Mash around. That much was self-evident when he glanced at the many rows of tables separating them from the other inhabitants of the cafeteria.

His servants were all sitting merrily on the opposite side of the room. After sparing the Chaldea staff a brief glance, he turned his back and went to sit with his servants, just as he had every day since his return.

At first, they had all seemed surprised that he would choose to sit with them rather than the other humans, but he was serious about bonding with them. And what better way was there to bond with someone than over a meal?

Initially, they had all denied food, as it was unnecessary for servants to eat. If they'd only had their normal supplies, they wouldn't have indulged. But thanks in part to contributions from chat, Romani saw no issue to allow them to eat if they wished.

Astolfo had a plate of French toast and a glass of strawberry milk while Chiyome was enjoying a modest Japanese-style breakfast with grilled fish, miso soup, pickles, and green tea.

Astolfo was having a mostly one-sided conversation with Chiyome, while she gave occasional head nods and short responses to show she was listening. Normally, Gareth and Chiyome would hang out frequently, but not during mealtimes because of the wolf knight's duties in the kitchen.

He saw Cu sitting at the next table over, indulging in some morning alcohol, judging by the pile of empty beer cans, he'd been at it for a while. His only meal being a bowl of simple oatmeal.

Then he spotted Kriemhild seated at a table farthest from everyone. She was currently enjoying a meal of sliced roasted beef next to what looked like oatmeal, a small cup of milk and a glass of water.

It was the first time he'd seen her in the cafeteria this early, or at all since she was usually absent during this time of day.

Feeling bad seeing her so isolated, he decided to approach, but not before sending a PM to his other servants, letting them know he was going to try bonding with Kriemhild. They all gave him a thumbs-up emoji as a blessing, so he made his way toward her table with Mash in tow.

The noble lady immediately noticed his presence as he approached, her intense eyes left her meal and focused on him.

"Ah, good morning, Master. Is there something you need?" Kriemhild asked with a polite and demure voice.

"Ah, I just saw you sitting here by yourself and thought you might want some company, if you're willing to have us."

Kriemhild stared at him and Mash for a moment before she responded.

"Do what you want. I do not mind." She then went back to her meal, taking a fork and cutting a piece of the sliced steak into a smaller bite before bringing it to her mouth and taking a delicate bite.

Ritsuka looked at Mash, who seemed a bit uncomfortable, but she silently reassured him she was willing to follow along with a slight incline of her head.

And so, they both sat down to have breakfast with Kriemhild.

The table was quiet, except for the clinking of silverware as they all ate their meals in silence. 

Neither Ritsuka nor Mash could find the right way to start a conversation with Kriemhild, despite trying their best to come up with an icebreaker. 

Their hesitation ended up costing them, since chat was all too eager to throw in their commentary.

[Awkward.]

[Yeah, Gudao has been working his magic for a week, but Kream is still very cold towards our boy. Never going past the typical Master/Servant relationship. ]

[I'm sure she'll thaw out the ice around her heart eventually. He has a whole year! ]

[Krystal: Or, perhaps not every female servant he summons should be made into a potential lover. Did any of you dunderheads think of that?]

[OrochiMochiHime: :Head nodding emoji: ]

[Nah. We will hold on hope. It will happen. ]

Thankfully for chat and Ritsuka, after Gold's little confession, Kream didn't engage with chat often and therefore was not always privy to what they said about her. She was too focused on living in her own mind and planning her revenge schemes to bother with them.

Oh, she knew chat expected her to fall in love with him, but he did his best to reassure her that he wouldn't take advantage of her using his command seals. She, in turn, reassured him that she knew he meant no ill will, because she would have sniffed it out during their first meeting if he did harbor such feelings toward her or her body.

He was recently made aware of GudakoBot's Waifu Counter. To say that it was a feature that annoyed him was an understatement. Its existence implied he was some kind of deviant playboy when, in truth, he was simply being sincere with the girls the feature had reduced to numbers on a board. Yet despite his feelings, people still shipped him hard with Kriemhild for some reason, which only made their bonding moments more awkward due to those expectations.

Chat knew Kriemhild had been through a lot, but if they saw just how much trauma and pain she endured when she found her murdered husband's corpse that morning, maybe then they would back off. But alas, he couldn't speak about it in front of them and always made either Mash or Astolfo babysit chat when he went to inform his servants about the dreams he had related to their pasts.

His thoughts came to a halt when he noticed Kriemhild dipping her spoon into her cup and scooping out white blobs from what he thought was milk, then gracefully bringing it to her mouth and eating it.

"Kriemhild, can I ask a question?"

Kriemhild's eyes moved to Ritsuka, and after she took a moment to swallow her food, she spoke up.

"Yes?"

"I'm curious about that pudding-like dessert you're eating. What is it?" he asked with complete sincerity.

She scooped up more of the dairy product and held it up for him to see. "This is curdled milk. It's a staple dish my people used to eat."

"If I recall correctly, you were a Burgundian princess who lived in the fourth century, correct?" Mash asked, now more confident speaking with the Berserker.

"Yes, I was. As a princess of the Burgundians, I was able to indulge in many foods the peasant population could not, but we all relied on our cattle herds as part of our culture."

[Dragon's-Iris: Ew. Gross, why would anyone eat milk that's gone bad? ]

[Beaumains: washing dishes right now, so I have time to respond. Curdled milk isn't spoiled milk. It's milk that was cooked with animal rennet, or stomach lining. It's a process that cheesemakers use to make their cheeses. In other words, it's just milk curds.]

[ACinnamonRola: Blech. ]

[CasCu: oh calm down you babies. That stuff's better for you than that sweetened flavored milk they sell at supermarkets. ]

[ACinnamonRola: I'd rather drink my unhealthy normal sweet milk than chunky, wet cheese. ]

[CasCu: I keep forgetting that there are literal children in this space. My bad girlie. You're right, go back to drinking your choccy milk with the rest of your kiddie friends. ]

[ACinnamonRola: I'm 19 you idiot! ]

[CasCu: Hard to tell with the sweet stench of yo mama's milk on ya lass. ]

[ACinnamonRola: How dare you!! ]

Despite the heated argument going on in chat, Kriemhild, Mash, and Ritsuka's conversation blossomed into something pleasant. Despite her cold attitude at first, Kriemhild began to open up when she shared details of her people's cuisine.

As a princess, she never had to lift a finger to cook, that was handled by her attendants, but she knew enough to relay what she wanted and was always given something that closely resembled what she was used to.

Apparently, Gareth was the one who took it upon herself to make this dish for her. Archer, while skilled in the culinary arts, was not well-versed in Western cooking, especially historical Western dishes.

Everything was going smoothly, but the moment didn't last.

"But then that bastard Hagen had to go and ruin breakfast for me when he decided to drop my husband's corpse in front of my home one morning," Kriemhild growled, her spoon bending under her superhuman strength.

Ah. She just went ahead and said it.

[Bro, how the heck did she go from talking about how different the oats taste between eras to finding her husband's corpse in front of her house in the morning?! ]

[Lusamine_Aether: That poor woman. Finding her husband's corpse dumped in her lawn by who I assume is her husband's murderer. If that had happened to me, I would have ended up following the same path of vengeance as her. ]

[JennyPD-16528: Ok. Maybe her path to vengeance is somewhat justified, but I am still confused. Why does she hate and blame her husband and not just the one who killed him? What did her husband do to her that caused her to be in such an unstable state? ]

Good question, Officer Jenny. Unfortunately, he felt it wasn't an appropriate question to ask at the moment. It was better shelved for another time, preferably after he spent more time with her.

That, or when Siegfried suddenly decided to show up during the next summoning session, but what were the odds of that happening?

✦✧✦

The doors slid open with a hiss and exposed the interior.

The expansive room was no different from any other room in Chaldea, same color scheme, same materials, except the walls, the ceiling and the floor had a grid pattern etched into them.

Ritsuka calmly walked through the door, followed by all his servants.

"Alright, Senpai, I'm going to start the simulation. Pick three servants you wish to use for the upcoming battle," Mash told him as she fiddled with a holographic interface connected to the computer battle simulator.

Ritsuka didn't need to be told twice and made his pick.

"Caster Cu, Gareth, and Kriemhild."

The servants named calmly walked in front of their master and readied themselves for battle, while the rest stood by the sidelines.

"Okay. Now I'll start the simulation." Mash pressed a button on her keyboard, and then the room expanded. From Ritsuka's perspective, it looked like the walls came alive and grew, like some weird cubic balloon.

The walls then suddenly disappeared, and the artificial gray concrete was replaced by a vast, misty forest.

Ritsuka looked to the sky and saw the canopy above was pitch black. He could feel a gentle breeze brush past his skin, the sweet scent of nature entering his sinuses and the distinct sound of dirt crunching under his feet when he took a few experimental steps forward. 

He let out a whistle at the feat that he only ever saw in scifi shows and movies happen before his eyes.

"This is just like the holodeck from Star Trek."

"Ah, I remember that show. Yes, you are right, Senpai. Much like the holodeck in that sci-fi TV show, the simulation room can replicate any environment listed in Chaldea's database."

[ThunderCles: Pretty standard AR tech. Heh, look at Gudao's face, it's so fun seeing him guffaw at something so simple. ]

[Which is all the more reason why we should cherish our technology and not take it for granted like so many in our society tend to do. ]

"Except, unlike in Star Trek, the simulation room wasn't designed for entertainment like the holodeck. It is meant solely for servant-vs-servant targets for servants to fight," Mash said, bursting her poor Senpai's bubble like a needle through it.

[ThunderCles: Lame. Battle simulations need to be stimulating and entertaining for both the battlers and viewers. ]

[JustaBill: *head nods emoji* ]

[SurgeOfLightning: I can see the appeal of a simulator focused entirely on serious missions. AR tech is too often used as a distraction rather than what it is, a tool. ]

[ThunderCles: Whatever you say old man.]

Then, Mash transformed into her demi-human state.

"Alright, Senpai, you can admire the scenery later. We have to complete our new daily battle simulation missions," Mash said, which caused Ritsuka to snap out of his admiration and become serious once again.

Ritsuka felt a rumble beneath his feet.

He looked down, confusion written on his face.

Then he heard it, the sound of earth shifting and groaning, coming from in front of him.

His eyes followed the sound and landed on a pillar of dirt emerging from the earth. Then it opened its hand, exposing a bright orange light in its palm.

The light suddenly glowed brighter, and much like how Mash had shown off her magic circuits, circuit-like lines of energy expanded all over the hand, from the tips of its fingers to the base of its arm that was still connected to the simulated earth below it.

The orange light then floated upward a few feet before hovering in place.

The light sphere expanded into a larger sphere, and much like a red giant, it dulled into a red-orange and hovered over the hand, menacingly.

Ritsuka's pupils shrank.

His heart started beating faster.

The hand before him evoked a vivid image of a similar-looking enemy from The Legend of Zelda.

"Floor Masters are real too?!"

His servants all turned to look at him, confused by his words.

[Wah!!  \(˚☐˚")/ ]

[No way… this has to be some joke. How can THOSE things be real?!! ]

[Run away!! ]

[Beaumains: Why is everyone freaking out? They are just hands? ]

[CasCu: Dunno. The throne isn't providing us with context so it must not be that important. ]

Mash, with the newfound wisdom she obtained about her senpai's hobbies the past week, knew exactly what he was afraid of and tried to ease his worries.

"Ah, no, these aren't those monsters, Senpai. These are Hands of Dawn, they are completely different monsters" 

Ritsuka felt a little more relieved, but his guard was still up. "And what makes them different from a Floor Master?"

Before Mash could answer, a shadow fell over him. His heart raced, his mind thinking he was going to get yanked by his leg and dragged down into an abyss. Instead, when he turned his head, he saw Kriemhild in front of him, her massive sword raised like a shield to block something.

Then he felt it.

The intense heat splashing over the blade and kissing his skin.

His eyes then caught two fireballs making their way toward him, but again, Kriemhild blocked them.

"That. Hands of Dawn launch fireballs at their enemies," Mash said a bit too late.

"Master… "His eyes landed on Kriemhild, who looked ready for battle. "Should I kill them?" While her words sounded concerning, in this instance, it would be okay to let her showcase her power.

"Yes. Take care of them, please."

"Understood." The woman gave a monotone reply as she slowly walked toward the protruding arms, her blade's tip cutting the earth below as she dragged it toward her enemies.

The floating orbs glowed and shot forth more fireballs, each one aimed at his servants.

Gareth easily blocked the projectile with the back of her gauntlet. Her Magical Resistance skill, combined with her endurance, allowed her to perform the feat without any damage done to her hand.

Cu Chulainn swatted the fireball that came at him away, all while lazily covering a yawn with his hand. 

However, his nonchalant attitude broke like a mirror when a quiet laugh filled the air.

A laugh that grew louder and louder, to the point where Ritsuka could feel the vibrations in his bones.

The laughter was coming from Kriemhild, who was overflowing with malevolent energy.

[(Ó﹏Ò ) ] x 2681

[Is she good? ]

[She's laughing like some maniac after brutally murdering something. What do you think?! ]

Then Kriemhild jumped into the air.

The jagged blade pointed at the hand below her, and in a move straight out of a Super Smash game, she changed her position midair and threw herself forward like a raptor diving straight at a rabbit.

But rather than use her claws to grab the prey, she impaled it with her proverbial beak.

The hand's fingers tensed, reacting with visible agony as the evil blade stabbed through its body.

And it only got worse. Her blade exploded in dark energy, which blew its insides apart, spraying chunks of its body into high-speed dust that embedded itself in its companions.

Then, with an aggressive grunt, Kriemhild ripped her jagged blade out of the arm's body, which quickly crumbled into motes of light.

The other two hands, despite not being able to see, could still sense the brutal death of their companion. And so they responded as any cornered wizard hand would do: by spamming fireball, but all of them were easily batted away.

The attacks were not very effective.

Kriemhild's maniacal laughter filled the air, and suddenly, Ritsuka started to feel bad for what he had unleashed upon those simulated hands.

✦✧✦

After a few more sets of simulated battles, Ritsuka was scheduled to come to Da Vinci's workshop for magecraft lessons. Da Vinci had been working hard on many tasks, but now she finally had time to give Ritsuka time to tutor him.

Unfortunately, something suddenly came up, so Mash had other things to attend to and couldn't join him.

His other servants, even the caster in his group, were also not really interested in modern magecraft lessons so they went about their own business. 

His only escort was Chiyome, who walked silently by his side. 

Chat was currently going on a tangent on the mechanics of how it was possible for the Hands of Dawn could exist after Mash informed them that they weren't originally coded to be part of the battle simulations. And that they just showed up one day and how Chaldea decided to harvest them for their Flames of Wisdom, which were crystals of energy that could be used to strengthen a servant's energy.

A fact which was well documented due to Da Vinci's experiments. 

Speaking of Da Vinci, he had arrived at her workshop.

He lightly knocked on the door and heard the voice of Da Vinci giving them permission to enter.

He opened the door and was about to walk inside but stopped at the door when he saw the room.

For the first time in over a week, while the walls were the typical dull gray concrete, he couldn't say the same for the rest of the room. Instead, he saw a warm room that was heavily decorated with extravagant old wooden furniture. The floor was made of hardwood and protected by an intricately designed brown rug.

His eyes saw a lot of dated pieces of equipment, like the kerosene lamp on one of the tables. The back of the room was filled with tall bookshelves chock-full of old looking books. But what caught his attention the most was the huge wooden construct with wings hanging on the ceiling.

[Wow. ]

[IndoorElm: Ah, this is definitely giving off some ye olde science lab vibes. I dig it. ]

"No need to be shy, Gudao-Kun, you can come in."

His gaze fell from the invention and fell to Da Vinci, who was patiently sitting on her desk and wearing a pair of glasses that really enhanced her teacher vibes. He could see she cleared time for a chalkboard and a western high school desk at the ready, a notebook and paper placed neatly on its flat surface.

Wasting no more time, he walked inside her room. His nose was invited by an earthy, vanilla like aroma. A scent which solidified the room as a place of learning. 

"Alright, Gudao-kun. Now that you've had a good paid time off to bond with your servants," Da Vinci told him as she wore a pair of glasses. She pushed up her glasses, the light reflecting from the lenses. "Now it's my turn."

She grabbed a long ruler and tapped the American-style school desk.

"Sit. We have lots of ground to cover."

He sat down on the chair and he immediately went into school mode. He heard Chiyome pull up a seat from one of the nearby tables and sat down, her eyes keenly focused on Da Vinci like a hawk.

[Lol. Chiyome is jelly. ]

[OrochiMochiHime: I am not jealous. I am here to monitor Da Vinci to make sure she doesn't take advantage of my lord's naivete to have his way with him. ]

[Oh yeah. Totally jealous. ]

[OrochiMochiHime: ( ᗜ ˰ ᗜ )  ]

Da Vinci brushed off her gaze and focused her attention on him.

"Now then. Up until this point, all the magecraft you've known has, unfortunately, been taught to you briefly and only in relation to the immediate danger you were facing." She lightly smacked the palm of her hand with her ruler and smiled at him. "Today, that will be rectified. I will do my utmost best to fill in the gaps in your knowledge and impart all the basics of the moonlit world you will need for your missions. Feel free to stop and ask questions if you are feeling overwhelmed or seek clarification on something. The same applies to your audience, so long as it relates to the subject we are discussing, but keep in mind that we have a limited amount of time so make your questions count.

Da Vinci got up from where she was sitting and calmly walked to her blackboard.

Picking up a piece of chalk, she wrote the word "Magecraft" in large letters and circled it, at the same time, Ritsuka took a piece of paper and the pencil to write what she put on the board.

She turned around, and put on her best teacher pose.

"So. I reviewed the information that you have been given so far by Mash. We'll start from there. She explained magecraft and True Magic in simple terms. Now that you know the definitions, I will explain what fuels it."

She drew a line and wrote "Magical Energy" in a bubble, then drew two more lines and wrote "Mana" and "Od."

"So. Magical energy is what is used to actualize the mysteries of magecraft. Without it, magi would be nothing but loons who say funny words that hold no power. Magical energy is separated into two classifications: Mana and Od." She tapped the words with her piece of chalk for emphasis.

Her eyes noticed the recognition in his expression.

"It seems you are familiar with at least one of these terms. Can you explain to me how you interpret them?"

Ritsuka scratched his cheek, nervous that his answer would be a bit childish to bring up but it was too late to deny it now and he said it anyway, "Well, Od doesn't really mean much to me, but I have heard 'magical energy' and 'Mana' before in anime, manga, and video games." He looked at Da Vinci, who was nodding along, so he continued.

"I know that in most interpretations, Mana is a finite pool of energy a mage uses when they want to cast a spell, and every time they cast, their mana bar goes down. Once it hits zero, they're unable to use magic."

"Well, the media you consume, while egregiously wrong in many areas, has got the general concept of a few aspects of how magical energy works down rather well. However, the way magical energy works is a bit different. Mana is magical energy that is derived from the atmosphere, and Od is the magic individuals produce from within, their life force. Unfortunately, I do not recommend that you exhaust your od to zero, because unlike in the media if you exhaust it, it will lead to your death." She gave him a pointed look, one which caused Ritsuka to look away in shame.

He had been pretty reckless with his magical energy during Fuyuki hadn't he?

"You must also keep in mind that just because both Mana and Od are magical energy, does not mean they are equals in terms of abundance. Far from it, in fact, as the amount of Mana in the air far exceeds the amount your body can produce by several orders of magnitude." Da Vinci took a moment to look at Ritsuka to see if he was still paying attention. Seeing that he was, she continued.

"Do you have any questions?"

A soft ping noise could be heard.

[SoniaYampers donated 50 bits] 

["Does this mana, in sufficient quantities, allow mages to grow into giants?"]

Da Vinci raised a brow at that question but still answered it. "Mana itself does not cause people to grow larger, but it can be used to fuel a spell to enlarge objects or the mage. Curious, why do you ask?"

A moment passed before Sonia made another donation.

["Ah. I was asking because this talk of mana reminded me of Galar Particles. All Pokémon in Galar have a reservoir of Galar Particles inside them, but it's also tiny compared to the amount of Galar Particles that permeate the land and atmosphere of my home region."]

Da Vinci's eyes suddenly lit up. "Interesting. By any chance, does this Galar also have areas of concentrated 'Galar Particles' that exceed the amount of the surrounding areas?"

["Yes. We do. We call them power spots. When a Pokémon spends time in a power spot, it gets flooded with a massive quantity of particles,but if they spend too much time there, then they will transform into giants in a process we call Gigantamax or Dynamax depending on the Pokémon."]

"Huh. That sounds similar to what a leyline is, barring the transforming into giant stuff. Oh, and speaking of leylines, listen up Gudao-kun. You are going to want to listen to this, since leylines will be something you will always be on the lookout for during missions."

Ritsuka straightened up.

"A leyline, or Dragon Vein, is a path where mana flows around the planet. Think of it as the veins that circulate the blood of a single gigantic lifeform."

[Dragon's-Iris: Dragon veins?!! Like from the new fire emblem game?! ]

[Cool. But are they only limited to certain bloodlines who have dragon blood in them? ]

[Cascu: Anyone can access leylines, no dragon bloodlines necessary. Geez, you kiddies all need to get your head out of the games and pay attention to the sexy teacher giving her lecture. ]

[Dragon's-Iris: … ]

[Heart0f6old: Can do Mr.Cu. ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ ]

Ritsuka nodded. Da Vinci continued, "Now then, in order for a mage to use magecraft, a mage must channel magical energy through their magical circuits to activate their spells; however, I don't advise using a leyline directly to refuel your inner Od without a tool to limit the amount of mana that you can take from the leyline. Unlike your Pokémon friends, you will not become a giant if your body gets flooded with mana but you'll die instead."

Ritsuka gulped. "Noted."

[Mighty1Oak: Hmm, so magical energy does work like the energies from our world. From life force, but with different results and properties. ]

[Junior_Researcher: I knew it. I told you guys this was the case! ]

[GARcher: I would like to point out that not everything in our world runs on Mana and Od. There are many different magical energies completely separate to what Master is being taught here. Each of them also have their own properties that a normal wouldn't be able to replicate with just plain Mana and Od. ]

[Mighty1Oak: would you be willing to provide examples? ]

[GARcher: No. That is something that you will all have to learn as Master comes across it during his future trials. ]

[Junior_Researcher: Hmm. I see the logic in slowly introducing us to the basics until eventually we can move to more complex subjects. Very well, I can accept that. ]

[I feel conflicted. The more I learn about magecraft, the less appealing it is for me to practice it. Too much pain and suffering attached to it for my tastes. ]

[Same.] x3275

[GARcher: Good to see a lot of people have their heads screwed on right. To become a mage is to walk with death, there is no mercy for the weak willed in our world. ]

Da Vinci nodded. "Now then, when it comes to us heroic spirits, we also have a reservoir of Od like mages, but unlike mages, we cannot replenish it. So it has to be replenished by our masters."

Ritsuka raised a hand, which Da Vinci found a bit amusing. "Yes, Gudao-kun?"

"So, how do mages recharge their magical battery without dying?"

"That is a great question, Gudao-kun. There are many ways to do so."

She went up to the board and wrote some bullet points.

"Now, the first way to do so would be the easiest: just eat some food. All the food you consume will replenish a small amount of magical energy to you."

"Next, rest. Without proper sleep or rest, your body will not be able to properly refill your reserves. That is why we had you take a week off before we had you do battle simulations."

[Makes sense. Food is fuel. And mages are living beings too. ]

[Sleep is for the weak. ]

[So far these methods are just common sense, but I feel that's going to change into something unhinged soon. ]

Da Vinci stopped smiling. "The next two methods I will share, while effective, are morally wrong to use. Please know that I am only telling you for educational purposes, but I and many others would be disappointed in you if you decide to go down this path."

Ritsuka nodded, which brought a smile to her face again. "Good boy. Now then, the first distasteful method to replenish magical energy is something you've already encountered before, by drinking another's blood."

Ritsuka's eyes widened in shock when he heard that.

"Why is that even a thing?" Ritsuka said with a bit of horror in his tone.

"Because mage's blood is one of the few liquids where the body stores magical energy. Which is why drinking it helps another mage regain energy."

[( ⚆ _ ⚆ )] x3728

[0ffDoodyJoy: Oh Arc, not that Medusa woman again.]

[The most infamous woman in our world. ]

[Bunny_Aachan: why what happened? ]

[0ffDoodyJoy: During the Fuyuki singularity, one of the servants was Medusa. She aimed her mystic eyes of petrification on Gareth but our camera orb got in the way. She nearly turned tens of thousands of people into stone if not for the stream reversing the process. ]

[GARcher: (0_0) ]

[Bunny_Aachan: Holy smokes. That's gotta be a new record in how many people got affected by a mystic eye power. ]

[Cascu: I was there and I still can't believe it. ]

[Mew_TheSecond: I'll admit, that woman caught me offguard. I genuinely felt like I was going to die that day. I'm only sticking around because I'd rather learn about such dangers while being under the stream's protection than having to confront the dangers with no knowledge or safety net. ]

[Beaumains: I'm sorry Chat. You all took a hit meant for me. ]

[DragoonRuleZ: It's fine Gareth, for you I'll do it again. ]

[Simp. ]

"What's the other liquid?" Ritsuka asked, completely unaware of the Pandora's box he just opened by asking that question.

Da Vinci gives him a playful but devilish smile, then she walks close to him and leans over his ear, "semen."

Ritsuka felt his brain short circuit at that information. Did she just say what he thought she said?!

[(O/// . ///O) ] x2928

[Ms.Roxanne: Ehem… I suppose that makes sense. Od is life force and semen is one of the components that can create a new life. ]

[Heart0f6old: I wasn't expecting a sex ed lesson, but I'm here for it! ]

Da Vinci's grin curled when she saw Ritsuka fidgeting in his seat, nervous and embarrassed about the information Da Vinci had given him, "Yeah, you heard me right. By drinking a mage's semen, the drinker can replenish their reserves. It's an intimate process that is usually practiced by either weirdos or partners." 

She leaned in a bit closer to Ritsuka, her warm breath caressing his ears and making his blush a deeper red, "of course, that also means you can also use this method to replenish your servants reserves… if you are both willing."

Ritsuka's heart was beating at an accelerated speed. So much so, that he could hear the blood pump in his ears.

[Awawawa. ]

[Ms.Roxanne: Goodness Da Vinci, have some common courtesy!! A teacher should never openly flirt with students like this!! ]

[Unfortunately for some of us, even if it happens, we're never gonna see it. All Gudao has to do is say, "babysit mode" and we're all gonna get booted off to someone else. ]

[Good. I don't wanna see that. You can bone him later ma'am, please go back to the magecraft lesson. ]

"Caster. Focus on your lesson. You are wasting my master's precious learning time." Chiyome said in a tone that contained a bit of edge to it.

Da Vinci flicked her eyes to Chiyome for a moment before she closed them and moved away from Ritsuka's personal space, "apologies Gudao-kun, I got carried away."

Before Da Vinci could continue her lesson l, someone in chat asked a question from a previous topic.

[Mighty1Oak donated 100 bits]

["Ms. Da Vinci, you mentioned something about how leylines are akin to veins that transport magical energy throughout the planet. Are you implying that your planet Earth is alive?"]

"Oh. Nice catch. Indeed, our planet is alive. Da Vinci flipped the mobile chalkboard and wrote the word "Gaia," circled it, then tapped it.

"Gaia is the name of our planet's will to survive and 'to stay beautiful,' and they accomplish this by using Nature spirits and phantasmal species to exert their will. For all you pokemon world folks, phantasmals would be the closest thing to Pokémon since phantasmals are magical animals."

[I FUCKING KNEW IT. WE JUST GOT CONFIRMATION POKEMON ARE REAL IN GUDAO'S WORLD. ]

[Yeah baby!! That's what I'm talking about!!]

[Junior_Researcher: So the planet itself is a living organism. Fascinating. ]

[MalasadaMayhem: what, aren't you gonna argue against Da Vinci and demand proof? ]

[Junior_Researcher: considering the fact that fungi can form into supermassive organisms that are miles long, it's not too far-fetched if a planet connected by flowing vessels of energy could become alive. The so-called Phantasmals and Nature spirits are of coarse in a symbiotic relationship with the massive organism that is Gudao's planet. ]

"Humans, as a species, are also counted as protected creatures; however, as we became more independent and began to destroy the natural beauty of Earth, the planet began to deem us a threat. So it created beings that could rule or cull us in retaliation."

[Oh. ]

[Junior_Researcher: Such is the case when a symbiotic relationship becomes parasitic. ]

[Just_N: Serves them right. ]

[Bro. Not cool. ]

"However, due to humans being so numerous, our collective subconscious forced Gaia to split in two. Thus, Alaya was formed, and its sole purpose is to 'keep humanity from extinction for as long as possible.'"

[So one mega organism became two, because of the collective subsciousness of humans? Cool. ]

[More like confusing, my head is struggling to grasp how such a thing can happen. ]

[Just_N: Of coarse humans would corrupt their planet and change its purpose to serve them. ]

[GARcher: It's not like we asked for Alaya to be born, it just happened. ]

Da Vinci crossed one leg over the other. "The mechanics by which Gaia and Alaya function can get quite complicated. As we still have other, more practical subjects to cover, we will have to shelve the deeper look into how Alaya functions. But all you need to know is that the normal mechanisms which usually would take care of resolving singularities are currently not working. So it is our job to make use of one of its mechanisms, the Throne of Heroes, to help us complete our mission to save humanity."

[Defense mechanism? ]

[GARcher: Yeah. The planet has defense mechanisms which it uses to defend itself against extraterrestrial threats, as well as threats from within that could jeopardize the planet's safety or the safety of humanity. ]

[Prof.Burnet: It all makes sense now. No wonder our dimensional scanning equipment could find your dimension but not pinpoint your planet. The planet itself has been intentionally messing with the coordinates!! ]

[GARcher: yup, that would do it. ]

[Junior_Researcher: Ok. I think I can take that as proof that Gaia and Alaya are not just real, but at least somewhat intelligent if it could encrypt its location. ]

"Now then, Gudao-kun let us move on. We still have a lot to cover and so little time." 

And so, Ritsuka spent the next half hour learning from Da Vinci. 

Unfortunately, it was only his first day so all this information was hard for him to digest in one sitting.

By the time Da Vinci finished her lesson, Ristuka was too exhausted to do anything else but lay on his bed and fall asleep until dinner arrived. 

✦✧✦

Champion Lance's office, Indigo Plateau

"Finally finished." Lance said as he finished signing the last piece of documentation he needed to have Gudao's badges be recognized by the Indigo league.

The Champion of Indigo stretched in his leather office chair, his bones creaking after having spent a whole day doing paperwork.

He let his muscles relax and he let his gaze sweep back to his finished work and feeling a bit ashamed.

He made a promise over a week ago to have Indigo approve of Gudao's badges that would allow him the same privileges as trainers who have earned theirs through the gym challenge. Unfortunately, despite his previous enthusiasm to do so, he underestimated just how tedious the process was.

Without league documentation, Indigo's pokemon league had to hire experts to analyze Fuyuki's entire singularity and determine the worth of its badge. 

Once they determined its worth, it had to go through several screening processes and many blue laws that bogged down the process further.

By the time he got the damn thing, it was an entire stack of paperwork he had to carefully skim through and sign.

Now it was evening and he was getting hungry.

He opened a drawer in his desk, and his eyes lit up when he saw his trusty dragonite lunch pail. He took it out and put it on his desk, then he opened the box and what greeted him was the delicious scent of cheap, ultra processed fast food. A thick, juicy Mr. Mime's spicy Mega burger, some slightly wilted fries, and a water bottle.

He took out his burger and unwrapped it, revealing a classic Tauros beef burger topped with lettuce, onions, and tamato berry slices to give it a kick.

He took a bite and turned on the tv monitor he had installed in his office.

His favorite Paldean Telenovela was on. It's a love story between an Ice Type Specialist and a Dragon type specialist who hail from rival clans. It was considered by many as a trashy romance show, but he loved it, and it was on its final season. The show was all in Paldean, but that's why subtitles existed.

The two star crossed lovers were having their private marriage ceremony, which they had hidden from their families.

Lance felt his blood run cold, as he knew something bad was going to happen.

Just before the couple could say "I do" a loud crash interrupted the ceremony.

Lance let out a gasp as he saw a feral looking hydreigon emerge from the hole in the chapel's walls. The same hydreigon that belonged to the male lead's younger sister.

The credits rolled and Lance let out a loud groan as he was left in a cliff hanger… again.

He sighed in disappointment, then turned off the tv.

He stared at the clock and saw that his allotted time to rest was over and now he had to go back to work.

Lance throws away his garbage and takes one last gulp of his water before psyching himself up to finish the last stack of paperwork before he could go home and sleep.

Time passed and Lance fell back into his usual rhythm, but his mind kept wandering to the sister's hydreigon interrupting the wedding while also cursing Gold, Red and Blue for forcing him to take the responsibility to do all this paperwork for them.

He tried to shake it off, but he was still too annoyed. Yet, his paperwork would not wait for him, so he tried his best to push past those thoughts.

It grew easier to ignore it after an hour, but the hydreigon still wouldn't leave his head. So he tried to pivot to something else, by thinking of Chiyome.

Not in the dirty way, but to the day she unleashed that noble phantasm of hers.

The crushing authority that radiated from her at that moment still shook him to his core.

Lance has always been able to stand his ground whenever he dealt with dragons, especially the dangerous ones from the wilds and the elder Dragonite that lives in their clan territory.

But Chiyome was different.

That petite woman had emitted a draconic aura so potent, that it would have made their their clan's prized dragonite kneel beneath its weight 

He hadn't felt anything like it before.

Part of him wondered if this pressure was the same Cynthia felt when she encountered the creation trio back when she attempted to arrest Cyrus in Spear Pillar all those years ago.

When he heard about it from her, he couldn't help but admit his envy. What kind of dragon master is he? He missed the chance to meet dragon legendaries not once but TWICE, but he supposed it was for the best. 

Sure, he would have loved to witness Rayquaza's glory like in that cutscene Gudao showed them years ago… but not at the cost of plunging the world into chaos.

The super ancient pokemon had to remain dormant.

He remembered when he first joined Gudao's channel all those years ago. He had been so excited to see what "otherworld dragons" would be like. But Gudao ended up bursting his, and every Dragon-type specialist's, bubble when he revealed that dragons, as he knew them, were myths and legends.

Still, when it was revealed that myths and legends in Gudao's world were also real creatures, it rekindled hope. Hope that one day, they would see a true dragon.

In a way, Chiyome had already checked that box with her Noble Phantasm, but Lance still longed to see an honest-to-Arceus dragon: wings, claws, fire breath, and all.

That would be so cool.

His thoughts were interrupted by the vibrating buzz of his Rotom phone. He picked it up and saw a text message from Clair:

"Lance. Go to Gudao's channel. His channel just uploaded a video. Its urgent"

Lance furrows his brows in concern.

Gudao's U-Tube channel was also considered a rogue channel, but it seemed to have worked as a separate entity to his Twitch account. The last video it uploaded showed more context on Olga's life. And after chat had asked about it to Romani, they confirmed it was actually true.

He types out a message, thanking Claire for the information before he opened his U-Tube app.

He didn't even need to check his subscriptions inbox to find the video.

The algorithm had decided to bring the video to him via the recommended videos section at the top of the screen.

The thumbnail showed a woman in black armor, similar to King Arthur, but holding a swellow tail flag.

However, his breath hitched when he saw the title of the video. 

"The Dragon Witch."

________________________________________________________________________________

New Chatters: 

ThunderCles = Sophacles from Sun and Moon and Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon games.