From Fake Dreams

36

She had been waiting for days for this.

Caster was nothing more than an annoyance to her. True, the power she had amassed recently made her somewhat of a threat, but ultimately the renegade Servant served two simple purposes: fuel and bait.

She had done nothing the previous night as Lancer, Archer, and the other Caster assaulted and immolated the side of the mountain. The one she wanted wasn't there, and while gathering information on her future opponents was a smart thing to do, it was nearly impossible to learn anything while the blaze blocked her view of anything. The most she got was that the second Caster was able to organize her summons for more than just simple up front attacks. She had left shortly after Archer and his Master first approached the Mountain, having finally lost interest in doing nothing but looking at an ever growing blaze.

It was obvious that their goal was to set as much of the mountain on fire as possible. Likely it was to reduce the oh so scary Assassin's territory advantage for the rest of the war...

It reminded her of his methods of assaulting enemy bases. She wouldn't be surprised if her target was the one who planned this, even if he wasn't there. He always seemed to be involved in one way or another when something big happened. No, she was certain that he had orchestrated it. None of the other Masters in this war were the types to plan the destruction of such a wide area just to gain a slight territory advantage later on.

So that meant that in addition to Rider, he held some sort of agreement with the other Caster as well. Maybe Lancer and Archer, but unlikely. The attack would have been more coordinated had that been the case, resulting in Caster's and Assassin's death...

Instead, apparently, Caster had somehow gained control over Lancer after she had left. It was a somewhat concerning fact, as it meant that the Witch could somehow steal Servants, but she wasn't worried about that happening to Berserker. Caster would be too preoccupied with trying to survive to even attempt to steal him.

Lancer was a reasonably strong Servant. Her encounter with him shortly before the War went into full swing proved it, as the Irishman had managed to hold his own against her Servant without receiving any substantial injuries for a fair amount of time before retreating. No, the real issue with the shift in power was that while Caster still was incapable of defeating Berserker, she did have the resources to spare to stall the Black Giant while the Witch looked for his only weakness... her.

The homunculus may have a child's body, but she was not stupid. She had every reason to be confident in her Servant's power and strength, but the same could not be said for her own capabilities. All things considered, she wasn't really that much of a Magus either. She had been trained and prepared for the war as a "grail" than a magus. Oh she knew a good deal of spells and theory, and could channel more prana than virtually anyone on the planet, but how her powers worked and how she thought... no, she was not a magus.

She was just a tool.

She had watched the fighting from the top of one of the taller buildings in the area a kilometer or so away from the Mountain while masking her presence. She'd still be noticed if anyone bothered to look in that area, but given all the fighting recently, it was more likely that Caster would focus on the buildings and alleyways bordering her property.

Generally speaking she was only moderately skilled at any sensory based thaumaturgy, but she had been altered for the War specifically by the family that designed the system itself. Keeping general tabs on all of the Masters and Servants was an easy task for her. Assassin and Caster were, of course due to their traits and abilities, somewhat more difficult. However the fact that she knew where they were beforehand corrected that flaw.