Part 108: Update XCIV - Absence of Saber

Update XCIV - Absence of Saber

This update covers the events of Update IX to XI.



Music: School IV


Hi Shinji.





I check the Arena door before talking to Shinji to check if Archer calls him a girl too.

I ended up finding a JP version of Extra just to see if this was in the original text, but it turns out it was a consistent translation goof with gender neutral pronouns.





Whatever the case, this might be a good chance for you to practice. Hurry, let's go after him.



Music: Fear




But this might be a golden opportunity to get some info on them. Let's track them down before they leave. Oh, a lot of extremely random stuff can and will happen while you're in the Arena. Also, you can only enter the Arena once a day. Make sure you thoroughly explore it before exiting.



You can't predict how these meetings will play out, but maybe we can get some insight into their strategy.





Oh hey, Drake's set to use wildcard commands in this fight!





Music: First Chimeric Lunar Sea - First Floor


Although dangerous, the encounter was certainly educational as we now know his servant uses a gun. I'm not sure by any means, but if she uses a projectile weapon her class may be Archer, just like me.





A good strategy is the key to survival here. You'd do well to keep that in mind.



As long as you follow my lead, all will be well. This war is also a race against time. Chances are that we may not see the enemy again tomorrow. Some info is only available on certain days, so you should try to hit the Arena every day.



Gain a level.



The only similarity to previous wars is the seven classes.

Talk to Archer.



So this is a Trigger. Kotomine said that there are two per round, so do not forget to obtain the second one.

Get the Trigger.



Grind out another level since I was already close.



Leave.



Music: School III


Now that you've got the jist of getting information, think you can pick up more tomorrow?





Music: School IV


For that reason, you've got to drain the campus of information every single day. When you enter the Arena, you forfeit any further investigation for that day, understand? Humans do not replicate their actions, so what you miss one day is gone forever. So make a habit of investigating campus and listening to others before entering the Arena.



I understand.

I see. Good. Then let's begin the investigation.



Get the first part of this scene.





Then go get an optional chat.

A shame we aren't in the real world. Oh well, at least this will go towards your spiritual growth, as it were. Unfortunately your physical form won't benefit at all from your exertions here.

Well, there's no use worrying about that. Just continue to wander the SE.RA.PH like Kwai Chang. If you keep adding to the distance you cover, there might come a day where you'll be rewarded.

The requirement for this one is taking around 1000 steps.



Get the second part of this scene.







The guy's an idiot. Anyway, you can find information in both the Arena and on campus. From now on, be sure that you don't sleepwalk through your investigations, okay?





Be sure to thoroughly search the Arena and campus for clues. It's better to be obsessive than dead. There will be information that is only available on certain days, so pay attention at all times.



In.



Out.











Music: Down to Dawn


Archer's first yellow chat is today, same as every other Servant.



I can only assume you feel the same, but I have a strange affinity for places like this. With the exception of myself, this place must be a nightmare for most Heroic Spirits. It's most likely coincidence, but the choice of venue could be intentional. As a soldier, I hope it was a fluke.



You have something against school?

Not at all. Whether it's an imitation or the real thing, contact between humans makes for forced civility. Also, you're always required to be in class at a specific time. Perfect for those who can't plan for themselves. A society without an educational system is doomed to fail. The ability to learn is what makes one human. Well, that would be the answer you'd find in a textbook, anyway... Honestly, I can't see why you'd care about whether I liked school or not. A Servant's abilities won't change just because they're into institutionalized pedagogy.

Archer snaps his mouth shut, almost as if saying out loud: "This conversation is over." Archer's reply is brutally matter-of-fact and leaves no room whatsoever for argument or rebuttal. ...It's not like I have anything to add, but his attitude irks me to no end. I didn't really care about the answer per se; I was just hoping to start a meaningful conversation.



The other two choices have a different end result.

What's with the attitude?

My complaints to Archer are met with silence. As my Servant and ally, I want him to change his attitude.



However, sarcasm is an indelible part of my nature. Remember, we Servants are but recreations of past persons. Our abilities may be enhanced to a degree, but our personalities remain as they were, perhaps more so. You might as well resign yourself to the fact that you're saddled with a snide, cynical Servant.

~

...Fair enough, silence it is.

...But if I lose my temper with him, the abuse will only get worse. I can imagine Archer saying, "Instead of wasting time talking shouldn't you be at least trying to get stronger?" I don't think I could take the humiliation. I should take a break and prepare for the fight ahead.

~~

What do you mean, "intentional"?

Archer mentioned something about this setting being intentional. Could there be a deeper meaning in making the stage for the Holy Grail War resemble a high school?

No, it's not so much the appearance of the stage itself as the motivations of whatever created it. If the Holy Grail created this place of its own accord, then I'd write it off as coincidence. But if someone's using it for their own purposes then there's more to worry about than just winning the war.

Holy shit, actual foreshadowing for Twice!

Some unknown person using the Grail— Could it be that priest?! He seems uncharacteristically evil and manipulative for a man of the cloth...

A brilliant bit of deduction, but unfortunately way off the mark. The priest is nothing more than an NPC. This is only my personal opinion, but no one could be using the Holy Grail or manipulating it. That'd mean that the Grail has been claimed by someone. If that was true, the Holy Grail War could not happen.

Followed up by some dramatic irony, as an NPC messing with the Grail that can't fully claim it is exactly what's going on.

That's right. I guess my suspicions led me to read too much into Archer's words. —However. Ignoring everything for the moment, why does Archer suddenly look so smug and self-satisfied?

Err...what? I find it amusing that you'd call a man devoted to God "evil and manipulative." You're lucky you don't know the truth. The real thing is far worse and it seems I'm stuck with him for eternity.

Archer shrugs his shoulders in resignation. It seems that he had met the priest before becoming a Servant. If he knows the priest who is overseeing this Holy Grail War, then maybe he knows about the original war for the Grail.

~

By "soldier" you mean yourself...?

By "mere soldier" is Archer referring to himself? After taking out that Effigy in the Arena as well as all of the other enemy programs, he's proven himself to be more than a "mere soldier." His diminished skills are my fault. As my powers as a Master are weak, he can't access his true abilities.

Sorry to disappoint, but it's the truth. Even if I was at full strength and regardless of past achievements, what you see before you is merely the shell of a common soldier. Most Heroic Spirits are figures of renown who are either revered or reviled. I, however, am an exception. ...I don't want to get your hopes up, so I should tell you that I'm not all that powerful of a Servant. So don't set your expectations too high. And anyway, I'm just a weapon by proxy and have no say in battle. Whether we live or die is up to you. A heavy burden for one so young, but there's no turning back now. From now on, you'll have to find your own reason for going on. Never forget that it's all on you.

"You're not responsible for the weak." The words that Archer said to me before come back to me. I have to get stronger. In his own way, Archer was pointing out that his true strength would be meaningless if his Master is weak.

That's all I have to say. Concentrate on your own future and stop worrying about your Servant's past. Remember that the war has just begun. All that you should be thinking about is how to win the first battle.

~~



...And the conversation ends. By Archer's standards, that must've been the equivalent of idle banter. The look on his face as he silently contemplates the situation is enigmatic at best.

But— Why a school? Outside of the Arena, I don't see the need to have a place for magi to mingle. ...Then again, maybe this place isn't for the Master's benefit, but is something the Holy Grail requires. Master, are you aware of the one obligation that all intelligent beings are required to meet?

Minimum obligation...? Why didn't he ask about the definition of intelligence...? Mankind developed their intelligence and bent the world to their will. They created organized societies and mighty civilizations, some which still exist. But what obligation is humanity required to fulfill...?

The one obligation of all intelligent beings is to reject stasis and complacency. If humanity just wanted to exist, it'd be easy to live like animals and let natural selection run its course. But humans in general do not think like that. The abandonment of rational thought... It'd be like devolving back into man's primate predecessors. No matter the circumstances, humans will always be inventive, progressive living beings. And regardless of how things will go in the future, they can never be satisfied leaving things as they are.



In one conversation Archer foreshadows Twice and also gives the exact argument Hakuno will end up using against Leo at the end of the game.

The man is nothing if not efficient.

The Holy Grail holds that aspect of humanity in the highest regard. Thinking along those lines, maybe this setting is supposed to remind Masters of what makes them human. *Sigh* I don't sense any evil intent, but that makes me even more suspicious. I don't think it's the fight itself that interests the Holy Grail. Rather, I think it wants to observe how humans would confront one another in a real life setting.



That's it for the conversation.

For comparison: Tamamo talked about the T Regulations for her first yellow chat, and Nero nearly reveals her true name and mentions her bisexuality.

Hell of a change in tone.



Time to hit the chapel!



Archer is special, in that we're getting not one...



...but two Skills in one go.



Statwise, I'll be going with Tamamo's early leveling split of a 2:1 Strength:Defense ratio, but I'll be sticking with this for nearly the full game. Archer doesn't have the natural bulk of Nero, and his eventual defensive option is a lot harder to use than Tamamo's, so he'll need the extra durability.

And yes, this does mean that Magic only matters for a single Servant, and Agility/Luck are dump stats for all three. What a riveting use of RPG mechanics.











So, why does Archer get two Skills so quickly?



Because Pre-Projection is the core of Archer's gimmick, every use of it will build a stack of Projection, up to 5. Projection stacks will enable most of his other Skills and empower others. If he got his second Skill at 20 SP like Tamamo and Nero, he'd have nothing to actually use Projection on for another three levels.



Case in point, Red Hound - Weaken needs one stack to work, otherwise it just fails completely.

It also showcases Archer's gimmick compared to the others. Nero smacked things, Tamamo stunned things, now Archer gets to nail the enemy with stat debuffs.



Music: First Chimeric Lunar Sea - Second Floor




It'd really suck if they ambushed us as we returned to campus, so we should just deal with them now. Master, we should try to find that book before that little punk and his Servant find us.



Archer even gets an exclusive tutorial about Projection!


Also, different Skills require that Projection be at a certain level, otherwise they cannot be used. And the higher the Projection level the more powerful the related Skill, so be sure to increase its level when needed.



Music: Battle - First Chimeric Lunar Sea


Oh hey, this is actually a perfect pattern to test Archer's new Skills on!



Pre-Projection, followed by Red Hound - Weaken.



With Red Hound's required stack of Projection, I'd say Archer has the roughest early game on NG. He has more MP than Nero, sure, but he's forced to burn 10 MP and an action if he wants to brute force an unknown move.

However, I've long since turned on a command reveal cheat for normal fights, and even if I didn't the sheer amount of info I have from the two prior runs means I regularly get 5-6 revealed moves for most enemies in the game, so that doesn't matter.







And Red Hound's damage is about on par with Archer's normal attacks, but the debuff will give him a sizable boost overall.

And as a bonus, Extra's lategame skill spam means keeping the debuff on will be a cakewalk.



Let's try two stacks of Projection.





On one hand, the damage is the same, so maybe Red Hound is just excluded from getting a bonus from Projection.

On the other hand, Extra's damage variance is a bitch so maybe I just got a low roll.



Let's get back to this another day.



I gain a level on the way to the book.

Music: First Chimeric Lunar Sea - Second Floor






It looks like it'd be worth the time to root through that box over there.





Very, very interesting. I can see why the boy wanted to hide it so badly.







It's lecture time, Master. Using my blade I will show you the consequences of giving away information.



Drake's still using wildcards here, but not as many as before.







First off, that book must be his Servant's. And it appears to be a ship's log... And judging by the ship's battery that Servant just unleashed on us- Her prowess with vehicles is really advanced; that means that without a doubt she is a Rider.



Well, now that we've got what we came for, I don't see a problem with us taking off now. Although we could go track down the Trigger right now, too. Stay and search or go and rest; it's up to you.

Next time: We kill Shinji for the last time.