Rin Tohsaka watched as the Servant calling himself Morpheus casually opened the fridge, pulling out various ingredients before heading to the kitchen.
"Surprisingly, your kitchen's got a bit of everything," Morpheus commented, setting the ingredients aside and starting to prepare them with practiced ease.
"You know your way around a kitchen?" Rin asked, slightly surprised. She knew the Holy Grail imparted modern knowledge to Servants, but she hadn't expected this level of familiarity.
"I do, actually. I'm quite skilled in cuisine... especially British and French styles. Italian's decent too, but I haven't been there often enough to master it."
As Morpheus spoke, he whipped up a simple dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and started boiling some noodles.
While cooking, he glanced at Rin. "By the way, want some, Rin?"
"It's two in the morning!" Rin snapped, her expression shifting. She suddenly grabbed her hair, completely abandoning her refined demeanor. "Argh, I forgot! That clock is an hour slow, so it's not two... it's one in the morning! That's why my summoning went wrong!
"I planned everything perfectly, Dad! What kind of mess did you leave me with?!"
Seemingly convinced she'd found the reason for her summoning mishap, Rin vented her frustration.
Morpheus ignored her outburst, cooking about three ounces of noodles and putting the rest away.
"I'll assume you're not eating, then."
The sweet aroma of the food filled the air, and Rin couldn't help but swallow hard. Forcing down her growing appetite, she asked, "Are you a Caster?"
"Caster?" Morpheus turned, blinking. "Is that what you want me to be?"
"What's the point of what I want? You've already been summoned, and the Grail must have assigned you a class. I was hoping for a Saber... don't tell me you can just switch to Caster?!"
Rin's tone was laced with exasperation. Talking to this guy was exhausting. He was supposed to be a Servant, yet he kept saying things that made him sound like a complete novice!
"Is my luck really this bad? Did I summon a Servant who doesn't even know about the Holy Grail War? No way... the Grail's supposed to impart that knowledge to Servants. Is everything I learned wrong?"
As Rin teetered on the edge of self-doubt, Morpheus divided the dish into two portions... one large, one small... and split the noodles similarly. He handed the smaller portion to Rin.
Rin froze, then put a hand on her hip. "I said I'm not eating!"
"Did you?" Morpheus blinked. "I thought I said that. You didn't confirm either way." A slight smirk tugged at his lips. "Your throat moved, you know. Your body's pretty honest."
Rin's cheeks flushed as she snatched the bowl from his hand. She sniffed it lightly... the aroma was undeniably enticing.
"It's just a small portion, enough to taste. Won't make you gain weight, don't worry," Morpheus said, continuing with remarks that made Rin roll her eyes. He sat down and began eating with obvious relish.
Watching Morpheus, brimming with protagonist-like energy, Rin sighed. She found a spot to sit, eating the noodles as she pressed, "So, you still haven't answered me. What's your class?"
"I already told you. Whatever class you want me to be, I can be. If you want me to be a composite of Saber, Lancer, and Archer, I think that's doable."
Rin felt her hopes of fulfilling her family's dream and claiming the Holy Grail grow even dimmer. She was pretty sure she'd summoned an idiot.
Finally, she sighed. "Are you serious?"
"Absolutely. No magician worth their salt would think all they need is long-range bombardment. A true magician should be proficient with swords, spears, axes... everything. The more skills you have, the better you can handle complex situations.
"For example, if I were a Caster, I'd excel at territory control and crafting items, with lower combat strength... that's the common perception. But with my top-tier magical ability…" Morpheus glanced at Rin's expression and corrected himself. "I mean, my top-tier magecraft ability, I can use unique magecraft to enhance my body, boosting all my parameters. I can wield weapons and fight hand-to-hand with warrior classes, even overpowering them with superior strength.
"That's when my skills with spears, swords, and blades come into play."
"I get it," Rin said. "I can also use magecraft to enhance my body for close combat, even surpassing a regular boxer. But there's a limit to reinforcement. No matter how much you enhance, you can't outmatch a true Saber or similar class!"
To her surprise, Morpheus gave her a cryptic smile.
"Who says there's a limit? If you mean temporary restrictions, sure, those exist. But in truth, there's no real cap."
His confident words gave Rin the impression he was invincible, but she knew that was impossible. She bit into her noodles harder, channeling her frustration over the failed summoning into each chew.
"Why? Why did I summon him?!"
She muttered under her breath, feeling utterly wronged.
Morpheus glanced at the girl, then at the transparent jewel hanging from her left wrist, and smiled.
"Maybe you summoned me because it was fate's choice."
That was the spiritual gear he'd created, imbued with the power of the Moon and Archangel Gabriel. To burst the Gate of Space-Time, Morpheus had used it as a one-time tool. Though it hadn't been destroyed, it was swept into the chaotic currents of space-time, its whereabouts unknown... until now, when he saw it here.
He'd drifted through the chaotic space-time currents, subjectively for about a month, but in that region where time was utterly disordered, no one could say how long he'd truly been there.
Thanks to the clay pot given to him by Hestia, filled with never-ending milk, Morpheus hadn't starved. But the prolonged ordeal was uncomfortable, not just physically but mentally.
If he hadn't been able to study the nature of space-time itself, deepening his understanding of its authority, Morpheus felt he might have gone mad.
At that moment, he heard a call... a force that seemed to pierce through space-time, guiding him toward a direction!
That call anchored him to a specific point in space-time, pulling him out of the endless currents and into normal space.
He felt a momentary connection to the Root, then it severed, as if rejecting him. But it didn't matter... he was like a foreign entity, hijacking the channel and emerging in the girl's home.
The Fifth Holy Grail War, in Rin Tohsaka's house!
He could connect with the girl through the Command Spells on her hand, granted by the Holy Grail's power. But unfortunately for the Grail, it couldn't suppress or control him, so the spells only established a connection, not authority over him.
As for the identity the Grail assigned him, it was Archer, taking the place of the red-clad Archer who should have been summoned... the original future protagonist. Morpheus had become the substitute.
And as for why the girl summoned him, Morpheus understood the moment he saw the jewel pendant on her wrist.
It was, after all, his holy relic…
Moreover, it contained both the power of the Greek Moon Goddess from this world and the Archangel's power from another, giving it the ability to connect across space-time. That seemed perfectly reasonable.
Looking at the sulking Rin Tohsaka, Morpheus decided to stop teasing her. "If we go by the Grail's classification, it designated me as Archer. Looks like your luck's pretty good, Master."
"You're an Archer?!" Rin's eyes widened as she looked him up and down. "You don't look like an Archer at all!"
"See for yourself!" Morpheus pulled out a bow, gleaming with radiant light that gradually softened into a gentle white glow.
Staring at the ancient, ornate bow, Rin's mouth fell open.
This guy actually carried a bow!
And judging by its glow, it was his Noble Phantasm!
This finally made Rin start to accept the possibility that he was an Archer, but his next words made her want to roll her eyes again.
"A gift from Apollo. Pretty cool, right?"
"Apollo?!"
"Yep, from Apollo, the God of Light. Well, you probably know him best as the Sun God."
"Look, when you say it's from Apollo, can't you at least act a bit like an ancient Greek? Your appearance, your clothes... I can't see a trace of ancient Greece in you…
"And your name doesn't sound Greek either. I may not know much, but I can tell you're British... very obviously British.
"I get that you're trying to boost your status, but I'd like you to be honest with me. To win the Holy Grail, we need to be open with each other."
Rin felt her words were sincere, but Morpheus only paused for a moment. Just as she wondered if he was considering being upfront, he said, "I'm thinking... what do I even want with the Holy Grail?"
Rin felt her breath catch. She desperately wanted to yell, "If you don't want the Grail, why did you answer the summons?!"
***
If you enjoyed this story, don't forget to drop 5 stars and your power stone. And if you want to read more than 70 chapters in advance, feel free to visit: pat reon . com / KangTL