As Edward stood in the Void, he felt relieved that things went smoothly this time. He looked at the world before him, deep in thought. The Akashic Record warned him about directly entering this world, telling him to be careful and possibly expect rejection.
Edward was about to anchor his city before sending a projection when Morgana suddenly appeared, "Emergency—"
"What happened? Are we under attack?" swiftly asked Edward; he knew how dangerous the void was.
"You didn't let me finish my words," Morgana replied. "I was going to say an emergency message."
"Oh, is it from home?"
"No, it's from the spies in the Samsara Hall."
Edward's eyes immediately lit up. During his trip to the Naruto Universe, he trained a few spies to infiltrate a God Space, hoping to steal that person's weapon.
"What did they say?"
"The first step of infiltration was a success." Edward smiled after hearing this. He needed an identity in whatever version of Earth these people originated for and lured the Purple Robe Daoist into choosing him into his space.
He theorized that the bastard should be monitoring the entire planet, but his focus should be on his home —China— and the so-called main enemy of his country — the US. So, he made his clone with this idea in mind.
He was born in South Africa and displayed an extremely high IQ at a very young age, which allowed him to attend Oxford University and graduate with many degrees. However, he soon became a laughing stock of the world of Academia because of his unprovable claim that supernatural powers were possible in the universe.
After years of rejection, sneering, bullying, and ridicule, he became a drunk and disappeared from the world's view, becoming a paid hacker for the underground. Such an obsession should get into the Purple-Robe Daoist's radar and receive an invitation.
"I hope things proceed smoothly from now on," muttered Edward. He provided the team with all the ways to create an identity for him, including written records, people's memories, personal relationships, published papers, and even countless videos taken from public cameras. He even gave these spies a few Luck Potion vials to ensure nothing goes wrong.
"Alright, let's get back to business." Edward sent his projection to the world.
…
"The Akasha was both reasonable and unreasonable," complained Edward as he appeared in the middle of a magical circle. He looked at the young girl with twin tails before him:
"You must be my master."
"Yes, that's me," replied Tohsaka, "Are you a Caster?"
"Unfortunately, an Archer."
"Then, why do you have a wand?"
"I am a mage, but my class is Archer."
"I see. So, may I ask who you were? Is it someone I would know?"
"Probably not," replied Edward. "Give me a moment to get acclimated with this body." Although an odd request, Tohsaka nodded. Through the projection, Edward convinced the Akasha — a metaphysical space that contains the sum total of all events, possibilities, and knowledge in all the multiverse.
However, the latter agreed with the condition that he would become a servant and participate in the Holy Grail War. His real body could not descend to this world, so he needed to create an avatar.
Regardless of the limits, he was happy he could enter this game as he had two primary objectives: Gilgamesh and Eniku's Noble Phantasm, [Enuma Elish]. Gilgamesh's ability takes the form of a weird-looking sword, but the main thing is its ability to revert things to a state of genesis or creation — the weapon is a pure manifestation of destruction, bending the world to a level that is considered manipulating the truth. If he could get his hands on it, Edward was confident he could build a powerful Tier 11 weapon to deal with the Time Guardian.
Meanwhile, Eniki's Enuman Elish manifested in the forms of chains called [Chains of Heaven], and its main ability is to bind all things in the universe. The thing had the ability to hold the Heavens(Multiverse) from falling apart. What interests Edward the most about this thing is the Gods were created purposely to restrain them, so it was a perfect weapon for the Time Guardian.
Of course, these two things were not the only thing of interest to him. This world contained Primordial Runes, and Edward wanted to get his hands on them to begin his project of synthesizing Void Runes by analyzing and combining Primordial Runes from many different worlds.
"Your stats," said Tohsaka, not hiding her shock. She was initially disappointed after seeing the C (Average} Rating for things like attacks, defense, luck, and even agility, considering the latter's class was an Archer.
Then, she saw the EX (exceptional and beyond human limits) rate for Mana. But that was not the end. She saw his skills: Combat Expert (A+ or excellent), Extreme Senses (A-), Magic Mastery (EX), Rune Magic (EX), and Noble Phantasm (EX).
"Are you a mage from the Age of Gods?" asked Tohsaka.
"Something like that," replied Edward. In this world, it is irrefutable that the older and more ancient the magic, the more powerful it is. Most modern mages pursued the power of the ancient, but sadly, magic is slowly deteriorating.
"So, can you use True Magic?"
"Yes and no."
"My class is still Archer, so I'm limited by many things."
"Is that why your Magic Immunity is only B-(Above Average)?"
"Exactly," nodded Edward, finishing reorganizing his thoughts. "We have a lot of work to do." While creating this Heroic Spirit, he successfully learned about this world's magic or Magecraft.
The mages in this world use mana to change the world around them, but they are limited to Magic Circuit, similar to Magic Veins back in the Empire. However, Magic Circuit does not run through the physical body but the soul.
Ancient mages were much more powerful because they did not have to use a Magic Circuit to interact with the world. Magical energy was abundant and easier to wield back then.
"Work? What work?" asked Tohsaka.
"We don't have much time for me to train you in the old ways of magic, so I will need to modify your Magic Circuit: improve it, if you will."
"What? Are you crazy?" If something happens to her circuit, she will never be able to use magic ever again; she would rather die than accept such a fact.
"Little girl, despite my high mana capacity, I'm still limited by your mana reserve. You must improve if you want me to use all my abilities."
"But, I've never heard of increasing Mana Circuit besides marrying the right person and hoping the descendants inherit higher circuit numbers."
"Of course, you haven't heard of it since it involves Soul Manipulation?"
"Manipulating the soul? This kind of magic should be very close to True Magic and may even be one."
"You're correct?"
"And you can use this kind of magic?" asked Tohsaka.
"It will take some effort in my current form, but there should be no problem."
"Why are you willing to go to such extreme lengths to help me?" Tohsaka asked, not hiding her skepticism. "Do you have a wish to ask for the Grail?"
"I'm not interested in this thing since it's a fraud. But if used correctly, I can have a real body and return to the world."
"What do you mean by fraud?"
"Don't worry about that for now."
"No, tell me now, or I will use one of my commands," replied Tohsaka, showing the stigmata on top of her right hand. Edward's lips twitched. All Masters have three absolute commands to use against their Servant, and his heroic spirit avatar is not immune to this rule.
"Calm down, girl." He did not want to experience what it's like to be controlled.
"Then, tell me the truth?"
"Alright. Since the Fourth Grail War, the Holy Grail has been tainted by negative emotions. Anyone who uses it will have their wish twisted into a malevolent one."
