Chapter 4

(Y/n) (L/n) is not amused

Obviously, from the moment he entered this world the unintentional wielder of the First Magic had never been amused. Being an unremarkable, average teen have it's own perk. He don't need some god-like powers to be happy in life

Too bad Fate doesn't seems to get it

For taking down Odd Borzak, a wanted Dead Apostle, your Infamy has risen by 5

At the moment my eyes laid on the name of the person I just killed, the blood in my veins froze up. Immediately my eyes swiveled downward, where staring at me with surprise was one Natalie Kaminski and Kiritsugu Emiya

'What the hell are those two doing here?' I panicked 'Shit, and here I thought I could get away so easily'

In the universe of Fate Zero, admittedly considered to be "non-canon" by it's creator, Odd Borzak was the main factor that contributed to the way Kiritsugu turned out to be. The dude supposedly turned a plane full of passengers into infested ghouls and trapped Natalie in a cockpit, resulting in her death early in the series

But that goes farther than jut that. The Dead Apostle pushed his mentor into a situation where the old Emiya was forced to take action by blasting her away with his own hand. Killing his older sister to save the city of New York, his belief of "sacrificing one for all" solidified and influenced his choices later on the war

No, judging from their appearance it would seem my hypothesis is right. The event of Fate/Zero still took several years to take place in the future. The woman is alive, which means Kirit hadn't become the man he was in Canon yet

So I calmed down. Nothing good would come out of this if I lost my cool. Odd Borzak was dead, which means Natalie won't be killed in the future. As unfortunate as my involvement in this goes, one could say that the man's death has actually steered things for the better

Right, I supposed a change like this is welcome once in a while 

Sighing as I walked down the stair, I came face to face with them. Though surprised as they were, the two freelancers tensed up - their postures ready to enter combat at a moment's notice 

"Easy, easy. I mean no harm" I raised my hand "I'm only an average Magus apprentice. No need to worry about me"

"Last I seen, no "average Magus apprentice" can sneak up and ambush a dangerous Dead Apostle like that" Natalie snorted, pointing at the ground where Borzak fell down. Though her point was kinda moot since his body had already turned to ash seconds ago

"Well to be honest he was kind of busy monologuing about his plan with you, so the guy's not very wary of what's happening behind him"

"He has a point" thankfully, Kiritsugu came to my aid with his usual monotonous voice "Any Magecraft practitioner, no matter how powerful, can be easily killed if they let their guard down"

"Kerry-chan, are you seriously going to lecture to your teacher at her own field?"

"No" The boy instantly replied, much to her amusement 

"Still. It's rare to see someone who practiced Thaumaturgy willing to resort to dishonorable tactic to take down his opponent, and with a Thompson no less" She grinned at the firearm in my hand "Thought we were the only one who use this"

"Oh no, I'm afraid you're mistaken" Much to their surprise, the gun in my hand shattered into ethereal particle "This is merely a reinforced projection. I don't usually carry the real thing with me"

Internally, I lamented the fact that now I'm basically a second Shirou with his skill set. But it's not like there's anything wrong with that, they're more useful then other Magecraft in most situation anyway

"Ho? " A raised eyebrow "Your projection is strong enough to make an actual weapon that last more than a minute. Are you sure you're not a genius or something?"

"Sadly I'm not" I smiled "Projection, Alteration and Reinforcement are my only fort. Aside from that I'm only a third-rated Magus at other subject"

"I supposed such a narrow and basic range of Magecraft would get you on the Clock Tower's bad side, regardless of your skill in it" She smirked, holstering her gun back to their container "Talk about elitism. Oh well, I supposed our job here is done. Nice knowing you"

As expected, they didn't like to make conversation more than necessary due to the nature of their job. That's something I could respect

"Likewise" If I had a hat I would have tipped it at them, as per the British's tradition of departing

Packing my suitcase, I walked out the hotel, easily passing through the corroding Boundary and into the London night again

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Kiritsugu watched as the mysterious stranger walked out the , his blood-stained coat fluttering in the wind

"Teacher, did you feel that too?"

"Of course, kid. His magic circuit is certainly top notch compare to other Magus we've hunted down" The woman lit herself a cigarette "Normally such talent would have granted him at least the rank of Brand in the Clock Tower if he really tried, but too bad he is only invested in the practical application of Magecraft"

Kiritsugu thought for a moment

"Did you really believe what he told us about him? It sounds too...perfect to be true"

"Obviously" His teacher scoffed "He's being honest, but not entirely"

His eyes widened at that revelation

"How did you know?"

"As you said, his origin here is convenient. Too convenient" The older woman explained "Being  a Magus would allow us to pinpoint his specialization and would likely result in him being a suspect in this case. Saying he's a dropout from the Clock Tower will put him a blank slate where he can easily come up with any answer to our question"

"If you think about it, the facts matched, but the story didn't. What are the chances of him registering in this hotel just one night before Borzak made his move? What are the chances of him being the only survivor in a hotel infested to the brim with Dead Apostle?" She started walking

"Well, now that you mention it, he doesn't seems to be fazed by what was supposedly his first kill..." The Emiya muttered, eyes unfocused as he followed suit

"What do you propose we do about him?"

"Nothing. We owe him our life. I say we forget about it and continue on with our job"

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

I ran. And ran. Hoping to catch the last flight to Japan before the time of midnight

Why am I in such a hurry? Well, as you can see, it would do me no good to remain here longer than necessary. Staying in London means risking myself to another attack like the incident at the hotel. plus there's an unsettling in my stomach that the recent conversation with Natalie and Kiritsugu had triggered something undesirable. It's nothing more than a gut feeling, but I know better than to completely ignore it

And the reason why I'm heading to Japan is...well it's my hometown. That's one major change from my former life, as my family was originally situated in Europe before my transmigration here

My ID and passport supports that theory, but weirdly enough there's not a single contact or message found in my phone, even that of my parents or friends. Dialing their phone numbers from my old world doesn't yield any result, which once again surprised me. It's as if the old (Y/n) (L/n) has been a living ghost with no connection until now 

Well, more on that later. Right now I'm too busy boarding the flight to think about it 

Showing my passport to the attendant, I hurried with the long line of passengers walking up into the plane with my small suitcase in hand. At this time of the day I'm surprised there's still many people present

Settling myself on the designated seat, I exhaled and relaxed against my back. With that hurdle out of the way, I pulled out my flip phone

As expected, there's still nothing. No message, no calls, no install or search history. As far as I can see, the previous (Y/n) doesn't seem to exist until this point in time...

Welcome to the new interface, Magician

I yelped, tumbling with the phone in my hand at the sudden message that flashed on the lock screen. Several weird looks were sent my way from the nearby passengers, to which I sent them a sheepish smile in reply

My attention returned to the phone, my phone. Slowly, I opened it and went straight to the Messenger app. The sender doesn't have a name, only a blank at where their identity is supposed to be

After a moment of hesitation, I texted in return

- Who r u

The reply came not a second later

We are the conscious of the Magic that you have obtained, Denial of Nothingness

- Conscious?

Indeed, but please do not worry. Our roles are to purely assist you in mastering and using this new power. As soon as you have grasped the true concept behind [First Magic] we will cease to exist

- You are telling me [True Creation] is not the purpose behind it? 

The phone slightly vibrated, as though whatever's communicating with me was laughing it's ass off

Incorrect, it's Denial of Nothingness. Comprehending the power of [Infinity] in order to accept the authority of [Nothingness] requires vast knowledge, but it's not impossible

I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Considering it's reply just now, whatever this thing was wants me to figure out the meaning of the First Magic on my own

....

- As if I'd do that!

Pardon us?

- Knowledge? Power? Authority? Please, I want none of those. The only thing I'd like is to have a relaxing life from the Magus world and possibly removing the first Magic from me. 

You can do that once you've obtained the Fourth Magic

-...Cool, so how can I obtain the Fourth Magic?

By participating in the Holy Grail War, achieve the Third Magic and open a hole to the Root using it. 

- You blasted thing. Is there any other way for me?

Alternatively, obtain the Second Magic from it's user to transfer worlds

- Out of the question. Anything else?

Alternatively, obtain the Fifth Magic from it's user to reverse time

My smile cracked. For a moment I considered snapping the phone in my palm by half, before I calmed down enough to shut it

"....." Taking a few minutes to regain my bearings, I opened my phone again

- Enough of the chitchat, send me to the main screen

The white screen flickered, showing a black window with white texts on it, organized in the form of a menu

[Profile]

[Equipment]

[Skills]

[Archive] (1)

[Setting]

Noticing the alert on one of the choices, I tapped my finger above the Archive option. My eyes widened in surprise as it displayed even more choices before me

[Trophy] 

[Locations] (1)

[Characters]

[Lore] 

Once again, I tapped on the icon with the alert symbol. The screen morphed into the shape of a virtual book. Opening the first page, I was greeted with a line of text, accompanied by the image of the Big Ben from a distance

London, England

Being one of the older city whose streets remained from the Victorian era, this country has retained many Mysteries over the year. As such, it's high magic density has been a popular place for Magus to come and conduct their own research, to the point the Mage's association had established their headquarter there in the form of the Clock Tower

[Fast travel] unlocked

I hummed. 

- So I can now teleport through space?

Incorrect. Fast Travel sped up the time it took to reach your destination, at the same time slowing down your time perception so it looks as though you'd arrived there at an instant

Fascinating, but I can't imagine I'd use it that much. After I traveled to Japan there's a high chance I'd stay there permanently. Perhaps get myself a job, buy a house or something

I exited to the menu, before choosing on the Skills option

Personal Skill: 

[Projection] (Maxed): You can materialize different object at 0.1% of the original cost. All projections created will be stored in your Inner World, ready to be summoned at any time

[Reinforcement] (Maxed): Allows you to maximize the Potential of any given object to 2000% it's limit. While the object's structure remain unchanged, it's original value of existence is increased  

[Alteration] (Maxed): You can freely manipulate an object's properties as long as it is compatible with it's Origin. Enhancing it's strength, diluting it's weakness, altering it's physical appearance, the possibilities are endless

[Structural Analysis] (Maxed): By sensing a given object/entity with any of your senses, you can receive knowledge about 99.98% of their composition, material and history

[Unlimited Growth] (Maxed): Your capability for Potential is limitless. The more hardship you face, the faster you grow. The more you push yourself, the stronger you become

[Prodigy] (Maxed): All skills can level up faster at an astronomical rate once obtained. At this level you can learn at the speed of a supergenius, excelling on all front aside from the most obscure of subject

[Magic Theory] (Lvl 4): This is your understanding of the magical world. At current you can comprehend and recognize basic Mysteries and other supernatural phenomenons that happen in the modern world

[Incantation] (Lvl 2): Influence the effectiveness of your Magecraft by manipulation of Magic Circuit. You can chant one-verse and single-action incantations at this level, albeit with some delay 

Thankfully, the headache from yesterday had subsided. This time I don't intend to overflow my bran with excessive amount of knowledge, so I only choose two of them to upgrade

[Magic Theory] has been maxed out 

- At this level, you can comprehend most Mysteries from the Age of Gods

[Incantation] has been maxed out

- At this level, your chanting time is reduced by 80%. Enable uses of Divine Word

Well, it's acceptable. I could probably strengthen myself more, but this will suffice. After all, I have no intent on involving myself with the magical world and getting my ass in trouble. 

I closed my eyes as the familiar headache of foreign knowledge settled in, before leaning back in my seat with my hands behind my head in a resting position against my seat