The King of the Grail's Fate (Fate/Nasuverse)

Chapter IX: Unpack

Salter and Harrison lie there motionless for a while as they slowly watch the effects of the bonded field dissipate taking this time to rest and recover before moving on to more important matters, such as unpacking the events that had just unfolded. The air that tasted of fire and malice finally resigns to the crispness of fresh cold air as the last effects of the field fade. Thankfully the field had some damage control function built-in so when Harrison gets up, surprisingly unharmed despite his muscles ripping themselves to shreds moments earlier, he sees that there is no property damage to speak of. As he brushes himself off he extends a welcoming hand to Salter as people begin flooding into the parking lot as normal as if school just ended.

"You should probably dismiss that armor people might notice a badass knight like yourself, actually about that how did you know I was in trouble, and how did you get here so fast." Salter grasps his hand the cuts bruises and broken bones healing themselves, her void-colored broken armor discorporated off of her revealing the clothes she was wearing yesterday, as magical energy rushes from Harrison to her. She gives him a knowing smile before responding, "You think I would really listen to your stupid request that mindlessly if you just fed me," "y-" Harrison starts before Salter quickly kisses him on the forehead cutting him off.

"No Righter, I just decided to secretly follow you, and I noticed when your magical energy signature seemingly disappeared. When I came to the last place your signature was I found this field but the magical coating was so thick it was equivalent to trying to cut into a mountain, and I really didn't want to unleash my noble phantasm because god forbid I damage something you would never let me live it down," Salter begins to dance around at the now growing number of prying eyes as most people are wondering how Harrison is this close with someone that pretty (that someone being Salter). "I digress basically I ran to the top of the sphere where it was weakest before smashing my way in, and you know the rest. If you wouldn't mind though I would really like to get out of here sooner than later." Salter is clearly uncomfortable by the number of people staring at her and Harrison understands and he begins to comfort her as they walk to his car.

"Yeah you're right, let's just get out of here, so we don't sound any crazier than people already think I am," with a laugh Harrison lets out, with newfound spirit Salter jumps in front of him right before they get to the car, "How could people think you are crazy?" Harrison just laughs the question off urging Salter to get into the vehicle their spirits healing ever so slowly as the relief of surviving the last encounter washes over them like waves to the shoreline.

Harrison gets into the driver's seat preferring to drive since Salter took them on that ever wild joy ride. Turning over the car with practiced efficiency he begins to drive off. "So before we unpack all of that may I ask what kind of clothes you do like," Harrison coughs out trying not to be too awkward, "Whatever clothes you think look best on me Righter," a sly smile crosses Salters lips accompanied by those words. "No no no, I know what you are doing there, we are not being all devious," he says turning his head to give her a disapproving glare for a moment before his attention returns to the road as he begins on his way to the outlet mall.

"So you said you wanted to talk Salter, what about?" Harrison with a heavy heart goes right into the conversation.

"Berserker, how did you know his true name, class, and weapon at just a glance?" With a self-assured tone,  Salter almost accuses Harrison.

"Ah well you see a lot if not all of the heroic spirits including yourself I have studied and collected in a video game so I can recognize a lot of them and the more well-known ones I can even cite weaknesses or things of the like," Harrison responds with an awkward laugh never thinking how much of a Fate nerd he is would help him out like this.

"So information will be in our ballpark most of the time at a glance that is invaluable, this may not be as difficult as I thought. Also, it seems you have some sort of increased regeneration abilities. However, your magic circuits need to be brought under control. Starting tomorrow we will put in place a strict training regimen 2 hours before you go to school and 2 hours before dinner." Salter says with a satisfied expression as she crosses her arms nodding to herself.

"W-what I have it under con-"

"You do not end of conversation," with a finger over his lips he is hushed by Salter.

"Alrighty but what are we going to do about this Master, we can't have them running around the school potentially causing harm and other things and why were they threatening John for his command seals, you shouldn't be able to hold more than three or take them from other Master's as far as I can remember?" Harrison lets a little bit of worry slip through his voice.

"We are going to watch the school carefully for changes in magical density as well as elaborate fields like the ones we saw today clearly that is this girl's specialty. As for the command seals maybe that is unique to this holy grail war, other than that I have no ideas." Salter says crossing their arms in contemplation.

"One more thing, Salter there is something I definitely don't know, the name Annabelle Kaiser I don't recognize it," at the mention of the name Salter seems to shrink as if bad memories were brought back up. Not wanting to press further or make it worse Harrison quickly backpedals, "Most likely I can recognize any others, I am familiar with the Tohsaka's, Matou, etc."

A long silence follows those words seeming to stretch on all too long only interrupted by the occasional pops and bangs of Harrison's exhaust system. With a heavy sigh, Harrison tries to break the growing tension that is beginning to way on his being. "So if I recall correctly, magic circuits aren't something you are just born with, the techniques have to either be practiced extensively or a magical crest has to be passed on to someone if not both, so why someone who has never practiced or felt magic have some sort of abilities." Salter snickers to herself at this, "with a name like Ad Astra I had figured you knew what you were doing haha." Harrison's cheeks flush red with embarrassment, "It just felt right okay!" "Okay okay hehe," Salter is trying really hard to stifle her laughter but failing miserably. The laughter and smiles are a welcome break for Harrison and he himself can't help himself but smile slightly at Salter's happy expression. 

"What you called Ad Astra is strengthing magecraft, not a lot of mages bother with it as it is hard to master as well as has an incredibly high mana upkeep cost and is only good for enhancing speed and strength, not good in the typical long-range fights for mages, however, the added durability is a niche benefit some take part in using. The other type of magecraft you showed today is, feilding an incredibly dangerous technique that involves shedding one's magic circuits to oppress those around them however the circuits are incredibly susceptible to damage and breaking altogether if they encounter a force with greater magical density than themselves. So again no mage has really ever bothered to specialize in it to my knowledge. Lastly, as for why you have magic circuits is it possible someone in your family was a Magus and passed on their crest to you when you were really young." Salter goes on to explain to Harrison who is trying his best to keep up.

"Umm, no I don't think anyone fits the bill of a typical Magus type character in my family," Harrison responds as he pulls into the parking lot for the outlet mall. With a smile, Harrison says, "Salter let's just shelve this for now and try and have some fun, I kind of need it after almost being killed again and losing you, both really bad. The next couple of days will be rough as we try and figure out more about this new master, so once again let's enjoy this last bit of normalcy."