Chapter 4: Competition
Chapter 4: Competition
Susan jumped around, dodging the little balls flying towards her. She stepped from one foot on the other, balancing her weight on her legs, moving her athletic body as soon as she noticed something closing in on her. The training was tiring, wore her out and after a certain time, it became impossible for her to concentrate on dodging. She got hit more and more often.
“What are you doing Roberts?”, the old man standing next to her admonished. “You know this isn't the way I want you to do it.”
He raised his hand and signaled Iri, who threw the balls with an immense force, to stop. “Why don't you use the power given to you?”
Susan nodded. She only studied being a Magus for two days now and still the training already was this hard, but she had known, that she had to practice a lot, that was why she was prepared to give everything for the sake of winning.
Jubstacheit von Einsbern made another gesture and Iri went on to throw at her counterpart. This time Susan didn't even try to dodge, but just stood there concentrating on what was inside her body, tried to feel the Prana and lead it's way out of her body, guiding it to the balls, not even knowing what was going to happen.
One hit her knee. Another one her head. She felt a slight pain coming from the points Iri had thrown at. She concentrated even more on the balls, imagined them to change their course. Susan opened her eyes to get an idea of their current positions, forced her body not to react to them coming near faster and lead her Prana towards them.
The balls continued hitting her.
The old man signaled the Homunculus to stop again. He looked at his student standing still in front of him.
“What did you imagine?”, he asked her bluntly. “You know what I told you yesterday?”
Susan nodded. “To make something real using my magic, I need to clearly see it before my eyes.”, she repeated Jubstacheit's words. “I imagined the balls going another way. That's all.”
“Why did they do that?”, the old man added another one to his archive of odd questions.
“Huh?” Susan was confused
“Do you know why they changed course? Everything needs to have a reason. You can change forms of something, but you can't just make something without knowing why it changes. You can't just move an object, but you can change it that much, that it starts to roll. It's the same with those balls. That's how our magic works. Try it again!”
Susan nodded and concentrated on her Prana again, grasping it and regulating it's flow. As she opened her eyes the first balls were already on their way. Susan imagined the air to thicken and using it to slow down the balls and finally make the ozone heavier, pressing them on the ground.
They hit her. Her knee. Her leg. Her arms.
“It didn't work?”, Susan put her surprise in a dull question. She looked at the old man. He grinned at her.
“I think I felt some of your magic touching the air around me, didn't I? Let me tell me one more thing. Don't try to change anything that is not solid for now. As you might have realized, it isn't that easy to get Prana to leave your body right? That is because of the fact, that your body is solid and the air around you is not. Prana alwa ys prefers to be in those things that are heavy than those who are light. We Magi still have no idea why that is so. That's why things that are fluid or a gas are harder to use magic on. Elemental Magi have a way to do so, but it's a well guarded secret that even I have no idea of.”
“You knew it wouldn't work?” Susan was visibly annoyed.
“It never did. You would be a true genius if you would have done it three days after starting to study. Magic is not a piece of cake. I hope you know that.” Jubstacheit looked amused as he turned around and walked to one of the shelves standing in the corners of the giant training hall.
“Let's go on”, he said. “Iri would you come over for a second?”
The silver haired woman let the balls left in her hand fall on the ground and followed the order, hurrying over to what could have been her grandfather.
The Homunculus rarely said a word, mostly being the quite observer. She was a kind person as far as Susan had experienced, but it was hard to have a proper conversation with her. Most of the time the two women met was in training and while eating, which were times when talking was hard. The Homunculus studied a lot. She knew the holy grail and she knew she would be dying young, that her body was only built for the purpose of dying. A Homunculus, a human created by magic rarely was build for another reason but death. That had been the first thing Iri had ever known. It was no happy life. Nothing beautiful that she had ever seen, only the white walls of this castle that was like a prison to her. But she didn't know any better. She didn't want to escape because she didn't know the world outside and she would barely learn to know and appreciate it. Certainly...This was no happy life, but she would be of great use to Susan. Homunculi were incredible in using magic, their Magic Circuits were immense and that would be a help for the mercenary that couldn't be denied.
“Hey Roberts! Stop dreaming!”, the voice of the family head echoed through the room. Even though he was that old, he still managed to shout this loud. Magic perhaps.
Susan looked up and quickly apologized before hurrying over to the same place the two others were in.
~
Susan lied down in her bed. She still wasn't used to the giant room, that was hers now. It was neither beautiful nor anything special if you looked at the other rooms in the castle, but it seemed wrong to her, having seen how her family had lived for so many years. They belonged to the poor part of America's low society, living in only one tiny room together with her four siblings and her parents. It was a complete contrast to the world she would live in four almost the next 10 years. It was a good life she would live in Einsbern castle, never having to worry about anything trivial. Even though she knew it was unfair, she knew that she didn't stay here without a reason, in contrary the reason was big enough to kill or guarantee her life, she couldn't help but enjoy it. The German she spoke with the others that lived in here still was hard for her. It was no language she really liked, but it was necessary for her to learn it and talk to the others like she did.
Susan sighed, stood up. She should use her free time more efficient. The mercenary walked over to the desk, started her laptop and retrieved some sheets of paper, stored in a desk right of her. Those were the tactic reports of other killers, it was a necessity to know the tactics, that others before had used. She might be able to escape traps or use some of them herself. She didn't know yet if she would be able to learn enough in the time given to her, to be able to directly confront a Magus. That's why she needed to train this hard. Every day around five hours of magical training and an hour or two to keep herself fit. The fitness wouldn't be as important to her as it was before she learned to control her Prana, but still it was crucial to be able to fight melee if someone attacked her, or at least be able to flee fast enough.
Only nine more years...She would be going to Fuyuki city and participate in the competition called the Holy Grail War. She wondered who would be her enemies, who she would have to fight against. They already had the names of the other big families, but not a single of the familiars, artificial animals created to observe a certain place or gather knowledge about something. In principle it was no difference to the Homunculi the Einsbern family brought into being, the disparity was their living time. While creatures such as Iri were able to live as normal humans, familiars only had a few hours or days if they were strong to live. They had sent them to observe the Matou and Tohsaka houses. While the latter's house didn't seem to be under a lot of protection, the other one didn't let anyone come near their home. Of course it was crucial to keep the secrets from the other participants. The day she had arrived here the family had magically searched for any trace of Prana and eliminated every single familiar nearby. Susan wouldn't be able to leave this castle until they flew to Fuyuki and even while waiting to do so it wasn't given that they wouldn't find out about her. People had their connections and even the church that had taken over organization of the Holy Grail War was venal. At least parts of it.
The Holy Grail War...Susan still couldn't believe she really had been chosen as one of the masters for the great families. It was nothing she had ever dreamed of, if she would have it most certainly would've been an awful nightmare...A Battle Royal fought by seven Magi competing for an old relic called the Holy Grail, an omnipotent treasure, granting the one winning the war one wish he could do anything with. Every single Magus fighting for the sake of this wish, was provided with three command Seals who had the power to summon an incredibly strong familiar known as servants. The extraordinary about those is, that they weren't just any familiars without a will themselves, but the spirits of heroes that died long ago, called Heroic Spirits. They manifested in the modern world, helping out the Magi they got summoned by, but they didn't have to be hundred percent obedient and that was what worried Susan. She knew she would have three command seals, with which she would be able to give one ultimate command per seal, but she didn't know if that was enough. If a master received a disobedient servant the Grail War was almost over for him already. The competition was cruel and a single mistake could cost a life. That was the competition Susan would take part in, not for the sake of the Einsbern family, but for the sake of the money she should get for her family. That was the Holy Grail War.
