Chapter 1

You know, Fate is a funny thing

One minute you could be sitting on your sofa on a Sunday night, rewatching some of the anime that sat in your old watchlist; and then next, you found yourself inside that same anime you’re binging

As I said, it’s a funny thing. Too bad the one at the receiving end of it was me

“(L/n), pay attention to the lesson”

Right now, I found myself staring right into the contemptuous gaze of one Kayneth el Melloi Archibald, with a worried Waver Velvet sneaking glances at me from the side

Memories flooded my brain. Memories that weren’t mine, but that of another person, that of this host to which I am inhabiting. Knowledges of the supernatural that exist and the life I have been living until now

A world that was shrouded in the Mystery of magic. Of humans who strives to achieve the impossible with their Magecraft. (Y/n) (L/n), the “me” that is not me with his ambition to study the art of thaumaturgy and achieved it’s peak one day

In other word, my soul has been transferred to another body...in another timeline...of another different universe...and I apparently have no knowledge of how it come to be

Deep breath. Inhale and exhale

So that was my identity until now. I supposed I should be panicking at the peculiar situation I found myself in, but doing so will compromise my position and draw unnecessary attention from my surrounding

“Yes, sir. I was just... mentally occupied” I decided to go with my instinct and issued a verbal reply, hoping for all that he won’t notice anything different from me

Thankfully, he didn’t. It looks like the previous (Y/N) and me doesn’t differ that much from personality

“Hm, a third-rate Magus like you won’t ever amount to anything even if you were to try your hardest, so I supposed you are forgiven” Kayneth sneered in your typical rich guy fashion “Don’t let me kick you out of the Clock Tower, you dunderhead”

“Understand, sir” He doesn’t give me a verbal response and just went back to teaching, leaving me alone to my own thought

Clock Tower. Magus

Fate. TYPEMOON. Nasuverse

This is...troublesome

I do not know how I am here, but thinking about it won’t help me much. Such concerns should be best left decided when the initial troubles have been processed first, especially when the ideas of “Foreigner” and “Second Magic” exists in this world

Beside, there’s other things to worry about, My knowledge regarding the serie’s lore weren’t that strong in the first place - extending from Fate/zero to Fate/Stay Night , along with a bit of information from the other Nasverse fiction like Tsukihime - So I could be in big trouble if I don’t know what I’m doing here

Of course, That is assuming I don’t intend on doing something so world-changing Gaia and Alaya will hound on my existence. No thank you, I am an unambitious man with common sense and a desire to a relaxing lifestyle

I mused, half paying focus to the teacher’s mineralogy lesson as he went over the importance of gems in conduction magic spells and rituals

From what Kayneth has just spoken with me, I’m merely a “third-rate Magus”. That largely indicated I’m a nobody with average magic circuits and above average talent in a subject of theirs

The latter was only possible maybe because of the Clock Tower’s elitism attitude toward practitioner of the craft, otherwise I wouldn’t even be accepted in the first place

But that is not important. Because either way, I’m going to quit being a Magus as of now

To be a Magus is to walk with dead. One who pursues knowledge regardless of the cost. I am not throwing my life away just because of some stupid magic that hae a one in a billion chance of being achieved

For having calmly assessed the alien condition you have found yourself in and arrived at the correct Conclusion, you have been given 50 skill points

My hand which has been randomly jotting notes down until now stopped

What?

I looked around, expecting some sort of reaction from other students at the holographic screen floating in front of me. None of them did, and all I received in return were looks of distaste and scorn from the higher-up students

But the surprise doesn’t stop there. Before I could react, other windows began popping up

For having survived the experience of having your soul transmigrating into another body from another world, the probability of which is under one in a quintillion, you have been given 10,000 Skill Points

For having survived merging with your newfound body, you have been given 40 Skill Points and the memories of the previous host

For having made contact with the Root,, you have been granted with the knowledge and possession of True Magic

Calculating host’s compatibility with Magic….

Ding!

Host has been given the First Magic: Denial of Nothingness

[True Creation] has been maxed out

[Projection] has been Maxed out

[Structural Analysis] has been maxed out.

[Alteration] has been maxed out

I forced down the urge to yell in surprise at the content in favor of keeping my cool. This is a public classroom, and it won’t do me good to start screaming like a madman here

Still, what the hell is that? Skill Points? First Magic?

Skill points are digit unit designed to bolster a distinctive ability to a higher level. Certain skills took more points to learn and upgrade than others due to their rarity and power

My eyes darted across the board in a matter of seconds, before forcing it to shut down for temporary duration. Surprisingly, the holographic window shattered upn my command, as though it can receive orders from my thought. I mentally summoned it, only to blink at the screen materialized in front of me again

Summon. Discard. Summon. Discard

So this is not just an illusion

I looked at the pencil in my hand, suspicion began bubbling on me as I contemplated my current power

Trace. On

In that moment, My eyes took every detail of the object. it’s history, material, making, and the concept imbued in it.

So this is what Shirou felt when he achieved the peak of his power. Not bad

My magic circuit flared to life, forcing me to hurriedly hide my hand under the table in order not to get caught by Kayneth. Yet even with my palm hidden from my view, I could still visualize every single atom that form the pencil and replicate every single one of them with flawless precision

When I turned it up, in my hand there was already the same pencil. Same structure, concep, appearance. A perfect replica with no inherent deviations from the original

I stared in awe at my first usage of magic. not just magecraft,but magic. In Canon, EMIYA can Trace any blade he sees with the only downgrade being a rank-down from the initial material

Yet there are no such things in this case. Any imperfection my eyes could spot on the pencil are inherent in nature. Even then, I'm sure a little change in practice can fix that

Subtly shaking my head to clear off all stray thoughts, I started thinking about my current situation. It’s obvious I’m not going to interfere in any Canon events in any ways, but the revelation on this power may put more difficult strain on it

This...System, is akin to one that would be given to a Gamer. As if that’s not enough, I had been granted the First Magic, something that all Magi will no doubt want to obtain at all costs; even if that means putting me through countless procedures that will strip me off my power to make it their own

And I don’t think they’d let me live after that

A small sigh escaped my lips

Alright, so it’s decided then. No more magus life for me, after this lesson is over I’ll pack my belongings and retire back to my hometown

With such thought in mind, I began to plan out my schedule for the next few years

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“Wait, (Y/N)! (Y/N)!”

Rushing down the hallway with his timid voice, waver called out to me

“Yo” I greeted him simply, tilting my head at the shocked look he’s giving me “What’s the matter”

Waver. Master of Rider Ishkandar in the fourth Holy Grail War and one of its few survivor, also the future Lord of house El Melloi

Being fellow Magus with an inferior bloodline and a shared dream for recognition, he and this boy’s previous host has been friends ever since they entered the Association. While it hasn’t been shown in the anime, I figured such things are of o consequences to me and just shrug it off

“What’s the matter?” He cried out, pointing at me “Did you just seriously decide to resign from being a Mags?1!”

my room is, for the lack of a better word, a mess. Magical appliances and books on magic theories strewn in a corner, while my clothing and essentials are being neatly tucked away inside my suitcase

I nodded

The original “me”, (Y/N) (L/n), has dug himself in a deeper shithole than he could even realize. The existence of magecraft, the obsession with obtaining the “truth”, the biased attitude of the tower and favoritism toward older bloodlines

None of these things are pleasant, especially if one were a third-rate magic user with barely 3 generations in their practice

“He” would even risk his life, suffer humiliation, and possibly committing some very unpleasant deeds in the future to uncover some bullshit truth from the World itself. There’s no doubt at the end of this road, lest he continue with such blind

“T-then I will quit too” He declared with a frown

I am temporarily shocked at the level of affection he had for me, but my impulses are halted to stop by my more rational side

“No, you must not” MY tone was patient “Doing so is just stupid”

The existence of Waver Velvet is crucial to the eventuality of the Canon Fate/Zero. Judging from his current appearance, the Grail War itself should be due in a few year’s time. I that period, Waver will steal the artifact from Kayneth and summon Iskandar on his own, thus commencing one of the pivotal plot point in the series: That of Saber’s conviction

Even the slightest “divergence” Would ultimately lead to changed timeline. Like a pendulum in motion, each swings will only cause further disharmony the longer it was lot on

Personal or not, the less involved I am in this war the better. To that end I should distance myself from the magical community altogether, especially if they’re critical factors like the guy currently talking to me

“Waver, there’s no reason for you to abandon this path” I said, folding the suitcase shut “Unlike you, I want to resign not from the lack of progress, but due to me realizing the goal for me as a Magus”

“But what other goal is there than reaching the Root?”

“A lot” I walked past him, but stopped just before I reached the door “I know this may sound weird, but sometimes it is better to distance yourself from a dream and look at reality. Knowing your own limitation can actually benefits you in the long run”

That’s certainly weird with a dude who has been given the First Magic of all things and took it for granted, but what were you expecting from me? I’m a hypocrite

“A dream will always be a dream. Only by opening your eyes will you make it a reality”

Fuck...what the hell am I even doing? I’ve just vowed to distance myself as much as I can from the other characters and here I am already giving one of them a lecture. Fuck this

(Y/N) sighed and resumed his step, waving a hand in goodbye as he crossed the Bounded Field to the Tower’s entrance, back into the human world

He never sees the admiration Waver looked at his path, nor the gleam of determination flashing in hi eyes

Fate is a funny thing

The slightest deviation from its intended path...a single factor...can determine the outcome of everything

<><><><><><><><>

I wonder if today’ society had any defence against utilization of Magecraft

Oh, don’t take me wrong. Kiritsugu Emiya had already proven human technology can be a wonderful thing against the supernatural if done right, but there weren’t that much precaution against the abuse of Magecraft as far as I’ve seen in the movie

Yes, normal humans aren’t supposed to know about the existence of the supernatural

Yes, Magus are too prideful to abuse their own Magecraft, and their methods were far too varied to defend against

Yes, there were already laws and protocols regarding public use of Thaumaturgy in order to ensure secrecy

But that doesn’t change just how god damn easy it is to fool a person with your magic alone

I sighed, handing the money to the receptionist at the hotel

Me being me, of course, mean that the money in my hand was fake. It was created using [Projection] to duplicate my current account, thus doubling the money in my possession

Saying it was a Projection, but I doubt anybody will find the difference either way if I were to use my Creation Magic…

...ooh, that’s one tempting thought, but no. I’ll only use Magic unless absolutely necessary. No need to draw trouble to myself

Bowing in appreciation, I packed up my suitcase despite the luggage attendant’s protest and made a beeline to the elevator

On my way there, my eyes met that of a quiet man sitting at the corner of the reception area. His colorless eyes followed my movement with a curios glint, as though trying to find out something about me

Strangely enough, he also smells of...bees

Shaking my head, I entered the elevator and closed it behind me