I snapped my eyes open. My room's ceiling above me.
"Master... are you alright?" Artoria asked, sitting on a chair beside me, having dragged it from a corner.
"I'm fine." I spoke, digesting what I had witnessed. Someone had banished me from my own mindscape.
The possibility of something like this happening was infinitely close to zero. I had micro-level control over my own psyche and mind. For someone to push me out of it, they would need to be more familiar with it and possess even greater control over it than me.
Not yet... Hope. That man had said.
My thought processes split into two parallel streams. One thought stream continued unimpeded, deducing how that spiky-haired man could exist within my mind. The other focused on my immediate surroundings.
My fingers had dug into the mattress. I hadn't told them to do that.
"Master." Artoria's voice cut through. A statement. She was telling me she was there.
I looked at her. She had curled her fingers in her lap, her eyes locked on me from her seat.
Medusa stood on the other side of my bed, her blindfolded face turned toward me, expression stoic.
I glanced at both of them and wordlessly rose from my lying position.
"Master. Lay back down." Artoria's hand landed on my shoulder, pushing me back down with gentle pressure.
"Stay." Medusa's hand pressed against the back of my neck, guiding my head back down.
They're worried about an external threat. The one I'm thinking about was already inside.
"Let go. I've found a solution to heal my magic circuits." I spoke. They did not listen, pressing my back against the bed once more.
"Master, we want you to rest first." Artoria spoke in a firm tone, her hold tightening on my shoulder.
"Only some of my magic circuits are barely functioning currently. Both you and Medea are greatly weakened right now. If Archer or Assassin attacks again, things would become grave." I said, looking into her green eyes.
"That is not for you to worry about, my Master. I won't let any harm come to you." Artoria spoke, her eyes dropping to my chest, a faint tremor running through her at the injury there.
... Medea, come here. I went silent and reached for Medea through our bond.
I'll be there in a moment, Master. She replied instantly.
The room's door opened two seconds later. Medea walked in with a glass beaker of green fluid in her grip.
"Master, you called?" She asked while stirring the beaker.
"I need you for something." I said, and was about to continue when she spoke.
"Master, wait a moment. I made this for you." She said after finally halting her stirring. The green fluid inside that beaker had turned golden-green from her action.
"Caster, what kind of food is this? You said you were going out to cook. It does not look edible." Artoria pointed at the beaker in Medea's hand, her gaze shifting to the golden-green fluid inside.
"Master, this is why I tell you we don't need this simple-minded knight." Medea did not reply to Artoria, instead looking at me as she spoke.
"Caster! Are you trying to sow discord between me and Master?" Artoria's voice hardened.
"Where does this look like food, Saber? This is a healing potion I specifically 'cooked' for Master." Medea spoke, a small curve forming at the corner of her mouth.
"Master, you shouldn't keep someone who plays with words close to you." Artoria did not relent, looking at me just as Medea had a moment ago.
"You knight, dense as a castle wall!" Medea's voice rose, eyes practically billowing with challenge.
"You lying witch!" Artoria's grip tightened around nothing, eyes full of fighting spirit.
"Hmph. Ignore her, Master. Here, have thi—huh?" Medea turned her face away from Artoria while tightening her grip and realized that it was empty.
Her potion was gone.
She looked around and froze. Her eyes constricted.
Medusa had her healing potion in hand, the beaker already open, and was applying that potion to my chest injury.
Before Medea could fully react, Medusa silently put the beaker to my lips and made me drink any leftover potion.
Medea's ran toward us, her face twisted.
"You slippery woman!"
...
..
.
Some minutes later.
My chest injury had been healed by Medea's potion. Blood vessels rewove themselves beneath closing skin, cells multiplying at a visible pace until the wound sealed shut. Though most of my magic circuits remained damaged. [Avalon] was still working on them, but they wouldn't be restored to their pristine state anytime soon.
"Alright, enough. I called you here for something, Medea." I spoke, looking at Medea quarrelling with Artoria while taking occasional jabs at Medusa in between.
Medea snapped straight at my tone. It had become an instinctive action by now. She could discern my seriousness even from my generally monotonous voice.
"I have already found a solution for healing my magic circuits. It won't take long." My hand reached to the side of the bed and grabbed a pen and paper sitting on a nearby side table.
I began to sketch a magic circle on the page. It consisted of three interlocking circles, each built up of complex runes—similar yet distinct from the ones Lancer had used during our battle.
"Master... what are these?" Artoria asked while leaning close, her eyes unfocusing as rune upon rune overlapped one another. It might look complex from the outside, but in actuality, it was a single rune I was carving in different variations, threading it through three magic circles.
"Are those primordial runes, Master?" Medea asked from my other side, her eyes widening.
"Unfortunately, it's a derivative of a single primordial rune. I was able to deduce its structure. Its only use is restoring something to its original state." I replied, my strokes not pausing.
"Where did you even get something like this, Master?" Medea asked, her eyes glued to the paper.
"I got a basis to work with from Lancer. I deduced it from there."
Medea's mouth opened, then closed. She stared at the half-drawn circle as though it had personally insulted her lineage.
"That's..." She trailed off.
"Master, even with an original rune in hand, most magi couldn't parse its structure in a lifetime."
"I am not most magi. Though this is merely a counterfeit. A single original one would have been enough to restore my magic circuits otherwise." My words made Medea's eyes brighten. Even Artoria's shoulders dropped a fraction in relief.
"Master, then... would these be enough?" Artoria asked, her eyes snapping to my face.
"...No." I replied, voice blank.
"Then, Master... how do you plan to do it?" Medea asked while Artoria continued to look toward me for my reply.
"I've already found a path. But I'll need the help of you both." I spoke after finishing the blueprint of a compound magic circle made up of runes.
"I'll help you with whatever you need, Master." Artoria replied after a second.
"I'll set this circle up promptly." Medea did not simply affirm—she took that sheet of paper from my hands and peered at it with a serious face.
Medusa silently tapped on my shoulder from behind Medea.
I turned my face toward her.
"Anything... I can help with?" She tilted her head, blindfold trained on my face.
A magic circle flashed near Medea before I could reply. A wounded familiar materialized from it.
Medusa's posture shifted. Artoria's muscles tensed.
"Master! I think I found Assassin's hiding spot." Medea exclaimed, eyes flashing with murder.
I glanced at her, then looked back at Medusa and replied.
"Yes you can."
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
Another day. Another chapter.
I've got a interesting idea about how his magic circuits, nearly 70% of which are destroyed, can be restored to their pristine state. I had another idea all together before, like Izuru creating a mystic code similar to Sukuna's tatoos to act as pseudo-magic circuits, but to create something like that, following the logic of Type-Moon is nearly impossible. I mean, it could be done but it would become too complex for an average reader to enjoy. That's why most authors write system stories, just give them anything you want from the system, no justifications needed.
Though it would've been dope ngl.
Anyway... have a wonderful day everyone!