Fate Of A Gamer

It's night now, and everyone's mostly asleep, with one or two remaining awake. We'd all eaten some prepared bento boxes I bought from the [Item Store], talked some more over what had happened in my one week long sleep, and then Gilgamesh brought in some wine, and then all hell went loose.

Of course, Shirou and I aren't really affected. Shirou has Avalon, while my [Abnormal State Resistance] kinda makes getting drunk painfully hard.

Nevertheless, hearing Francis spill out stories after stories was fun on its own, so it's all good!

Now, I'm sitting on the beach chair I made a day ago, alone on a secluded island not too far from where everyone is. Just need some silent and alone time, you know?

Of course, I'm never truly alone. Someone will always appear close, no matter what.

"Ne, Shirou?" I hear Shirou hum beside me, silently asking. "What do you plan to do now?"

He goes silent for a moment. "...Wherever you go, I'll follow."

"And leave the rest behind?" Shirou turns to me, obviously confused by what I mean. I sigh. "Shirou, not everyone will go to where I'm going. Francis wants to go explore the world, Caster wants to fully research and teach Waver, Saber and Gareth wants to go back to Britain to see where Camelot once stood, and so on. Not everyone's willing to leave and go to a strange unknown world with me."

At that, Shirou goes silent, contemplating. He clearly looks hesitant, reluctant to not follow me, but the fact that he's even considering it brings some relief knowing that he isn't completely dependent on me.

"...Then, what should I do?"

"Go with Saber and Gareth, maybe even bring your family." I say simply. "It'll be a nice way to relax with your family, right?"

"They're not my family." He says with a frown.

I turn to him. "They aren't, if you don't let them." It's my turn to frown. "Look, Shirou, they're clearly unsure on what to do. You're technically Kiritsugu's son, Illya already calls you her big brother, Irisviel's been asking you to call her 'mother', and even Maiya's interested in knowing you better."

"They're all trying their hardest to get to know you. Will you push them away, Shirou?"

He goes silent again, thinking of what to do.

But I don't worry, because I know he'll go with them. For as weird and different everything has become, Shirou is still a part of the Nasuverse. He has connections here, anchors that are still alive, and new things he never knew he had. He has Saber back, Kiritsugu's back, even if different than he remembered, he has a new mother, a new sister, and Maiya, who I'm guessing will be the aunt.

As for me?

I was never truly a part of this world, a mere soul who drifted into this universe and was thrust into the perils of this moonlit world.

And that's fine.

"Besides, I can go to you at any time, so there's no rush, right?" I say with a smile, and Shirou nods slowly.

We spend the rest of the night in silence. .

~~~

In the end, Shirou (albeit reluctantly) agreed to go on a trip with his newly acquainted family. They rid on Francis' [Golden Hind] before they're discreetly dropped off in Britain.

After that, Francis, together with Caster, Astolfo, and their masters travelled to the Clocktower, mostly so that Caster can finally restock on materials she'd been sorely lacking throughout the entire time she's been back on this earth.

Which leaves me and Gilgamesh, and since Gilgamesh wished to return to where Uruk once stood, I decided to tag along, you know, just for fun.

But then a wave of magical energy came from Mesopotamia, one belonging to a certain familiar troll-loving vampire, and I had no choice but to hop on Gilgamesh's [Vimana] and travel to Uruk.

Because, hey, ignoring Zelretch would do you no good. Better get whatever he wants done with before the headache starts coming.

So now here I am, casually sitting on Vimana's deck as I soar through the skies, brushing past the clouds and feeling the wind waft all around me. It's quite a nice feeling actually, just feeling the cold breeze fly you by. I guess it's something I've picked up over my many hours spent flying through the air with no regards for my own safety.

As for Gilgamesh,

"Hmm, what an interesting thing you are…"

She's currently having fun with a PSP I bought from the Item Store the night before. The selection of games there isn't all that wide just yet, but I'll slowly fill it up as I go, just in case I get a bit too bored.

Anyways, while I'm still on transit, I might as well plan for what I'll do next.

Which, obviously, is to go back to [Yuriele]!

I mean, I could go to the Clocktower or something, but I don't plan on doing that just yet, especially if they know that I was heavily involved in cleansing the Holy Grail and becoming its winner.

That aside, I'm planning on dropping into [Dun Stadia] this time, not just to see how things there have changed, but also to check in on how Wanda's doing. Last I saw her she was an ample level 6, so I'm quite eager to see how she's improved.

But first, with the ship beginning to lower from the skies, it's time to step foot on the lands of Mesopotamia, and find a certain lurking troll.

"Ah, I'll be back soon, Gilgamesh!" I say as I ready myself to leap off the ship. Gilgamesh, still caught up by the PSP, gives me a half-hearted wave, and I simply smile as I jump off, activating [Morningstar] and flying off into the distance, following where the burst of magical energy was several minutes ago.

As I near the ruins of what seemed to be an ancient city, I begin to descend, ready to turn around the corner.

"Hello there, Hanami-chan."

"Gah!?" I quickly bring myself to a stop, halting myself from crashing onto the man that'd just appeared out of nowhere.

A seemingly elder man, one who's reached the later years of life. Wearing a neat coat adorned by lines of silver and gold, holding a small amused smile, he looks like a polite, if somewhat rich old man.

But appearances are deceiving, and especially so for beings living in the moonlit world. He may hold that mask before the normal masses, but before my mystic eyes, I can begin to see the depths of his power, and even that small fraction I can comprehend completely overtakes everything in the surroundings, energy ebbing and pulsing outwards in controlled rhythm.

Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, the wielder of the second true magic, [Kaleidoscope].

"Gosh-, don't do that, please."

"And why shouldn't I, Hanami-chan?" He asks, grinning, and I know he's going to be doing that several more times in the future. I sigh, lamenting what my future holds before turning back to the dead apostle.

"So, what's up?" I ask, "What do you need me here for?"

"Hmm…" He stares at me for a moment, his eyes peering deep into me, before he smiles. "As expected from the [Gamer], nothing truly fazes you."

'Ah, right. Of course he knows about the [Gamer].'

"It just takes a bit to rattle me." I say with a shrug. After all, it's true, you know? I haven't become truly scared for a while now, so much so that my [Stoicism] skill isn't even gaining any Exp.

Well, that, and [Enlightenment of the Sacred Fig] is awesome.

"I suppose so!" He says with a cheer that's strangely infectious, and I find myself smiling as well.

"But you truly are unique." He then says, returning to his usual sly grin. "Countless universes exist, and yet each copy of you holds a different fate, a different path taken, and each of your selves reach endings far differing to the others."

"...Shouldn't there be identical copies of me though?" Isn't that how it works? Like, if there are infinite universes, wouldn't there be another copy of this version of 'me'?

"That is how it normally goes, but not with you." He leans closer, his red eyes glowing slightly. "Whether because of your Origin, or because of your inability to be tied down by fate, every single version of you differs."

...Huh. That's interesting to know. So I won't ever meet an identical copy of me?

Hmm, I wonder how the other 'me' all out there are doing. Did they partner with Shirou? With Rin maybe? Sakura? Perhaps even Kirei?

Gosh, now that I think about it, had I done something different on the first day I came into the Nasuverse, things would've gone very differently.

I can't really picture myself wearing a suit like Kirei's though…

"Well, it's been a pŀėȧsurė meeting you, Hanami-chan!" He says, a grin stretching across his face. "I'll be waiting for when you'll join me through the dimensional gap."

'Wait, Dimensional Gap? Isn't that-?'

"Oh, and take this." Pulling out a folded scroll, he tosses it to me, and I scramble to quickly catch it from falling.

"What's this?"

"Just use your [Observe], Hanami-chan."

Hearing someone else say [Observe]'s rather strange. I blink the thought away, and activating my mystic eyes, I cast [Observe] onto it.

[[Remnant of Skypiea] ID Scroll]

A book to unlock the [Remnant of Skypeia] ID. The ID will be accessible by [ID:Create] when the book is used.

[Use book? Y/N]

"...Eh?"

"See you later, Hanami-chan~" And just like that, Zelretch blinks away, disappearing with hardly a sign that he was ever even here.

At least that's what it looks like through the nȧkėd eye.

But I saw the way space curved, the magic twisted the fabrics of reality to tear a hole for him to jump into. It was beautiful, like a spiralling burst of rainbow light that collapsed into a single point to punch a hole through space-time.

I guess that's why it's called [Kaleidoscope] in the first place.

Going back to the ID Scroll, I eagerly press [Yes], and the scroll breaks apart, shattering into motes of light before it fades into my ċhėst.

[ID [Remnant of Skypiea] has been added!]

Nice, now-

Holy shit, this thing's recommended level is 105!? That's over 40 levels above mine! And this is one of those [Special ID]s as well, so once I go out, I'll need to wait a couple days for it to allow me to enter again.

Am I still going to enter?

You bet I am!

Not yet though. I need to tell Gilgamesh that I'll be gone for a few hours or so.

So I fly back, retracing the path I took to go back to Vimana. Soon, the flying ship comes into view, floating idly just under the clouds, and I make my way there to see Gilgamesh slouching on her throne, still playing the PSP.

Well, it's only been 10 minutes or so, so I guess she hasn't finished the game yet.

"Gilgamesh, mind if I disappear for a couple hours? I have something to investigate!"

"Do not worry, I won't be going anywhere." She says with a nod, before she narrows her eyes at the portable console in her hands. "Not until I beat this infuriating mongrel blocking my path."

So she says, but she's smiling, so giving her the PSP to amuse her is a definite success! I just need to make sure she doesn't become a complete hermit. Now that might be harder.

Well, time to go!

~~~

[Entering [Remnant of Skypiea]]

[Reminder. Once you leave, the ID will be closed off for [Two Days]]

~~~

...Woah. Now this is cool!

It's a bit hard to explain how this entire ID looks like, but it's somewhat like an ascending set of floating islands, each connected by hundreds of magical threads, rising from the dirt like ground and attaching themselves onto the bottom of the islands above. And from threads dig to the surface, out the dirt on the island, and then rise to the islands above that one.

The islands are mainly dominated by long stretches of dry dirt, with the occasional short tree and shrubs here in there.

The sky around me is the coolest thing though! From where I'm standing now, it almost looks like I'm inside a giant sphere, with the edge painted as a morning sky. Lines of gold and silver stretch over the circumference of the spherical sky, shining with magics from when the gods still roam the land.

And lastly,

"Grrrr…"

Slowly, I turn around to see a monster, a being created from what looks to be a lion, a bull, and a snake, tied together into one being. It's body is shining, burning with intense magic that pushed out against the air around it.

[Ancient Chimera Lv 155]

HP: 25,000,000/25,000,000

MP: 10,000,000/10,000,000

Stamina: 88%

An ancient form of the [Chimera], a hybrid creature created by fusing several animals into one. Unlike its modern counterpart however, the beasts it came from are phantasmal beasts, and their latent magic has been combined into one.

Note: [Ancient Chimera] is the Boss Monster of [Island Tier I]. Defeating it will grant you access to [Island Tier II]

It growls at me, its red eyes burning with ferocious anger. At its presence, I merely scoff.

25 million HP, is it? 10 million MP, is it?

Fool! I've fought against Ryoji, a being with 50 million HP, one that can throw miniature suns like it's nothing, and lived!

And I've become stronger since then! You think I'm backing down from this!?

"[Prana Rocket Propulsion]!" Lightning up my feet with prana, I burst forward towards the chimera. The distance between us is crossed in a second, and with the chimera still too shocked to move, I bring out an ordinary sword from my inventory and deliver a powerful upwards slash, creating a large gash across the chimera's lion-like face.

It growls and swipes its claws down, but I quickly jump back. The claw digs deep into the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust on impact.

Now, normally, I would've just used [Morningstar] and forced the chimera down or something, but not now. If I keep using things to make my battles easy, I won't improve.

And this guy, even though he's a nice level 155, it doesn't really mean much. Ryoji and the Tainted Heart I fought had an HP pool much larger than it, and their levels were unknown, meaning that my [Gamer] system can't actually classify what their true power is.

It may be over 90 levels above my level.

But are its stats higher than mine?

The chimera opens its mouth, and from it comes a wave of fire. It doesn't do much against me, my [Reinforcement] coupled with [Abnormal State Resistance] making the fire's effect near nothing, and I simply run through the fire without much worry. The chimera reels back, disturbed by my lack of damage, and my mystic eyes flare to life.

Within the chimera's body exists hundreds of weak points, each a bright star illuminated by my mystic eyes.

With my arm fully reinforced, my blade moves, swerving and dancing through the air at speeds no normal human would be able to see. Deep gashes are made across the chimera, each slash connecting between the hundreds of weak points my mystic eyes had spotted. The beast roars in pain as blood explodes into the air, bursting from the hundreds of wounds I'd created.

[Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Criti-]

I quickly shut down the burst of notifications, sending one final downward slash before I run past the injured beast. The chimera leans left slightly, but it stays standing, slowly turning to me with its teeth bȧrėd in anger.

But I'm not done!

"[Nine Lives: Bodily Absolution]" At my words, the many wounds I had created on the chimera light up with bright blue light, before the leftover prana my sword left behind violently explodes, digging deeper into the chimera and destroying even more of its body and depleting even more of its HP.

[HP: 12,231,984/25,000,000]

Hah, nice.

Still, even 768 Vitality isn't completely enough, huh…

I wince slightly at the ache in my right shoulder. It's nice that I didn't wreck my body completely like I did the last time I used this, but to still feel the effects of it now? And with the added benefit from [Reinforcement] as well?

What kind of a monster had Hercules been to be able to execute something like this without breaking a sweat?

Well, the chimera's still kicking, so let's end this, shall we?

Turning around, I crouch down, making my right leg step forward as I close my eyes. With my sword at my hip, I draw in a misty breath, [Voltaic Charge] snapping through my body and filling my lungs, enhancing every part of my body. Gathering my breath, I bite down, letting gusts of steam escape as lightning courses through my system.

"[First form:"

Gently opening my eyes, I burst forward.

"Thunderclap and Flash]!"

The distinct clap of thunder sounds as my sword is struck forward, leaving behind a giant scorching wound on the chimera's already riddled body. I land on the other side, landing softly on the dirt just in time to watch the chimera's body fall into two, the part where it'd been cleaved still steaming against the cool air.

[You have slain [Ancient Chimera]! 800,000,000 Exp gained]

[You have gained [Large Synthesized Soul Chunk]!]

[The path leading to [Island Tier II] has been uncovered!]

800 million Exp from that boss fight, huh? I guess that's a suitable reward for killing something like that. Well, I guess others would've struggled a bit against that, but I didn't, so whatever!

Now, it's time to grind!

~~~

By the time I came back to the real world, nearly two hour had gone by. Most of my clothes are burnt, and it's only thanks to [Reinforcement] that they didn't outright disappear from all the fire, poison, lightning, wind, and other wonderful things that my clothes went up against. The ordinary sword I'd been using is now missing a blade, the only thing remaining being its hilt. I'm hurt, sore, tired, and everything else rolled into one.

Overall, I'm pretty roughed up.

Well, except my scarf that is. It's only lost 1% of its durability through all the chaos it went through.

Seeing as Gilgamesh is still too taken into her games, I drop face-first onto Vimana, uncaring for the slight pain it caused. With a sigh and shaky fingers, I open my equipment and switch out my burnt clothes for a new identical set. My troubles sated, I turn to face the afternoon sky and smile.

Despite how painful and tiring this kind of stuff is, it's worth it. I leveled up 4 times, got some of my skills leveled up, and found some neat treasures along the way.

But that's only one side of the coin. One the other side,

[Shards of Revenant]

The broken pieces of the [Revenant Armor], one that broke when their durability hit 0. They're as good as useless now.

There's this.

It's...actually something I completely forgot about until the notification popped up. I mean, when was the last time I actually saw the armor I wore? It didn't help that I can hide the armor too, which all culminated with the armor breaking mid-battle, creating quite a significant dip in my stats and making it a much harsher experience all around.

But it isn't all that bad really. The armor was good, but it wasn't amazing. If I'm going to go up against stronger enemies, I'll need better armors.

And, hey, what do you know? I have [Magical Weaving] to act together with [Blacksmithing] now, so I think it's ample time for me to make a new set of armor, and maybe another set for Shirou to wear.

I'll need to keep Shirou's armor light though, since he can't just place it into his [Equipment] slot like I do nor can I make a [Party] to give him access into the system. I mean, I know that my version of the [Gamer] system isn't like the others in the wide multiverse, but the incapability of forming a [Party] is the one that hurts the most.

But, what can I do, right? I've survived this long, so might as well continue onwards with it.

Either ways, Gilgamesh is still playing with the PSP (How is it still on anyways? Isn't the battery dead?), her mind too occupied to realize that she'd moved so much until she was sitting upside down, her legs risen and her back placed on the bottom of the throne. I can't quite help but laugh slightly as I watch.

"Quiet down, Hanami! The ending of this tale is near!" She shouts, an excited grin on her face as she watched the cutscenes play. I blink, slightly surprised that she was about to finish what was around a 60-hour experience in about 4 hours, but this is Gilgamesh I'm talking about here, so normal limitations don't apply to her.

Well, as she says herself, she's a bit busy right now, so I'll simply move on to [Yuriele] to see how [Dun Stadia] is doing.

'And what if she completes the game before I come back?', you might ask, but time flows slightly differently compared to the real world, so I don't think there'll be any problems.

~~~

[Entering [Yuriele]]

[Set Location: [Dun Stadia]]