Introduction

In a certain room of the Mages Association, an organization focused on the training of mages, stand five people. One instructor and four students. These students will be receiving a great honor today. They have been given the opportunity to participate in the Holy Grail tournament. But, for this to happen, they must first summon forth from the Throne of Heroes the servants who will fight for them.

Instructor: Greetings, students. The four of you, Mark, John, Chris, and Elizabeth, have been chosen to represent our school in the Holy Grail Tournament. Congratulations.

The students are jumping with joy at this news.

Instructor: I’m sure you’re all excited about this news and can’t wait to summon your servants but first we will have a brief review of the Holy Grail Tournament and about servants. Understood?

Students: Yes, sir.

Instructor: Good, then let me begin. The Holy Grail Tournament originates from the Holy Grail War of old. The Holy Grail War was a brutal competition in which mages and their servants fought for possession of the Holy Grail, an artifact said to grant any wish. As you can imagine, these previous wars were far from civil and many mages were killed as a result. However, unlike these wars, the tournament is less violent in that the rules forbid the killing of your opponents and that teams are playing for a fictional holy grail, not the actual one. Seven students form a team and each school has one team. You will meet the other three members of your team later.

The strict, middle-aged instructor takes a moment to collect himself. The piercing stare of his blue eyes and imposing posture in his neatly tailored black suit makes the students slightly nervous as he speaks.

Instructor: I won’t bore all of you with the details today. So, let’s move on to the discussion about servants. The exact method of summoning a servant is complex, so I won’t get into that. The most you need to know is that your servant will appear from the magic circle behind me after you chant the summoning spell you learned in class.

The Instructor motions to the circle on the ground behind him. It’s a red circle with ancient symbols written around it and a slight glow to it.

Instructor: Upon completing the chant, a servant will be pulled from his place upon the Throne of Heroes. The Throne of Heroes is not an actual throne but a space outside of time that is said to house the spirits of heroes and mythological beings of the past. Basically, your servant will take on the appearance and abilities of a hero, historical figure, or legend. These-

John: Instructor, what do you mean when you say the servant will have the appearance and abilities of a legend?

Instructor: Good question. In essence, the servant that appears does not have to be based on someone who was once alive. If a legend was once widely believed to be true, then the Throne of Heroes will form a pseudo spirit that takes on the traits of that legend. Does that answer your question?

John: Yes, thank you, instructor.

Instructor: Back to what I was saying. These spirits are known as Heroic Spirits. It is important to define them as this so that they can be differentiated from Divine Spirits. Divine Spirits are the spirits of gods and beings on that level. These Divine Spirits cannot be summoned as servants under normal circumstances. After all, having gods fight each other could prove disastrous for the world. Though, that isn’t to say it is impossible to summon Divine Spirits as servants. There exist some loopholes that allow it but at the cost of extensively reducing their strength.

The instructor takes a moment to catch his breath.

Instructor: The summoned Heroic Spirit will take on one of seven classes: Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, or Berserker. Each team of the tournament will be comprised of one servant of each of these classes. The class of your servant is determined at the time of summoning, depending on which Heroic Spirit comes forth. There are other classes, but summoning a servant in one of those is rare. Once you have summoned a servant, they will take on a physical form and a crest will appear on the back of your left hand. This crest represents the bond between you and your servant. Should the crest disappear, so will you servant shortly after. In addition, the crest allows you to give three orders that your servant must obey. These are known as command spells. These are a kind of insurance to ensure that your servant does not go out of control. However, should you use all three command spells, the crest will disappear from your hand. And that conclude this overview, any questions?

Students: ……

Instructor: Alright then. Let’s get started summoning your servants.

Magic Circle.

Source: Wikimedia Common.