The next morning, as Dio and Nobu enjoyed Ramen together for breakfast- they were in a digital world, who cared about calories- he found himself scrolling through the System shop and looking over some items and skills and debating what he'd like to buy.
In the end, he settled on a few things.
Basic Polearm Arts, uploaded by Shadowheart. While Dio could use any weapon and Master it instantly, the spear was not only one of the easiest weapons to learn but also one of the most versatile. He was curious on why Shadowheart had Polearm arts rather than Spear Arts, but he found it when scrolling moments later. It seemed she was trained in several basic weapon arts by her enclave as part of her training.
He ended up taking Spear Arts as well, since both polearms and spears shared many similarities in technique. Since he had the ability, why not merge them into one?
He didn't buy the Demonic Power that Seekvaira had uploaded. His reason was because he didn't want to add Demonic Power to the mix while he was in the Moon Cell. He could hack the Moon Cell to do a lot, but he wasn't sure how the Moon Cell would react to something like Demonic Power being added to its Systems- it might even react violently.
While it wouldn't be able to erase him thanks to Buddha's Enlightenment, it might be enough to revoke his Grail War qualification.
He also avoided Shadowheart's Cantrips and Cleric Spells for the same reason- it was simply too risky to use them while in the Moon Cell, he didn't want to take risks.
However, he did purchase a few things like Yumeko's sleight of hand abilities, Julie's throwing expertise, and some Bakugan and the cards.
Since the Bakugan and cards were physical objects, he could hack SE.RA.PH to accept them as NPCs or Formal Wear. It might not even be necessary given the Bakugan cards stopped time outside of Vestroia- the home planet of the Bakugan- and even SE.RA.PH might not detect anything wrong.
As long as he kept them in their room, they should be fine without any need of hacking- hopefully. If not, the System did have an inventory he could keep them in.
"So, what's the plan for today?" Nobu asked between slurps of her noodles. "We already have the first Cipher Key, after all."
"We'll investigate our opponent to see if we can find out who his Servant is," Dio told her. "Knowing the enemy will give us an advantage."
"And if they learn my identity?" Nobu tilted her head.
"You're chaos incarnate- even if they learn who you are, they'll never be able to predict you," he said confidently. "And besides, you definitely aren't planning to hide who you are. I mean, look at you. You're covered in the Oda Clan's symbols."
The Archer merely laughed in amusement. "Hahaha! I'm glad I have someone who understands me so well! How refreshing, most people would try to restrain me! But you're so willing to let me run free!"
Dio merely smiled. "You can't contain Chaos. Better to let it run free."
After finishing their meal, she astralised and he stepped out of the room.
He barely made it to the stairs before he heard that annoying, smug voice from behind, "Well, well, well," Shinji Matou smirked. "If it isn't my first around opponent."
He sighed and turned to face him. He saw Shinji blink in surprise and then scowl in annoyance, clearly angry at Dio's good look. "What do you want, Matou?" He asked him.
"Why so hostile, aren't we classmates?" He asked mockingly. "Honestly, you should just do yourself a favour and quit now. I'm the Asia Champion, you know! You don't stand a chance against me; you should just save yourself heartache and walk away now."
"You don't scare me, Shinji," Dio responded. "The Holy Grail War is more than just a game. You don't know what you've gotten yourself into."
"Pft!" Shinji snorted. "Don't tell me you believe that tripe about it being life or death? Oh please, it's just plot! Lore! Something to hook you in!" He chuckled and walked right past me. "Don't say I didn't warn you..."
Dio just watched him walk away; no doubt heading to the arena to ambush him and try to eliminate him before the time for their duel.
SE.RA.PH would allow about 3 minutes of battle between Heroic Spirits in the Arena before it forcibly broke up the fight and prevented them from continuing to battle. It was more accurate to say it would give three minutes of 'warning' before it finally stepped in.
"He's really underestimating me if he thinks that all he needs is three minutes," Dio murmured in annoyance.
"Well, that's probably how long he lasts in bed," Nobu jeered.
"He's eight," Dio responded as he walked down the stairs.
"And so, my point is proven."
Dio snorted in amusement but didn't head to the arena right away. Instead, he headed down to the Nurse's office to see Sakura.
The A.I looked up as the door opened, her eyes lighting up slightly. "Ah, Dio-senpai," she nodded at him. "I wasn't expecting you to come and visit."
"Well, I thought you might be alone here," he told her, taking a seat at the table. "How are you doing?"
She smiled slightly. "I'm doing fine, merely fulfilling my duties as the Healthcare A.I. Do you need help at all, Senpai?"
He shook his head. "Nah, I just wanted to talk a bit."
Sakura merely nodded. "Oh, I almost forgot," she reached into her pocket and pulled out a glowing white object. "Here- every week, every Master who comes to see me gets a healing item just in case. If you want more, you should visit the Cafeteria downstairs."
"Does it only work on Servants, or does it also work on Masters? You know, just in case a monster sneaks up on them."
"It should work on both Masters and Servants, though it can only do so much. If your Spiritron Body is damaged or the structure is messed up, you'll need to come here for deeper treatment."
"Thank you, Sakura," he took the glowing object from her and pressed it against his terminal- causing it to vanish.
"Not a problem at all, Senpai," she smiled warmly.
The two of them shared a smile... It was very easy to forget that Sakura was just an A.I sometimes...
Come to think of it, Sakura's expressions were more genuine than other A.I that he'd seen- almost human.
He just softly shook his head, pushing the stray thought away as he stood up. "Right, I should head down to the Arena," he told her. "I'll make sure to stop by again."
She nodded and stood up. "Thank you. Good luck in the war, Senpai. I hope you win."
That made Dio pause as he looked at Sakura a bit more closely.
The A.I in the Holy Grail War were meant to be unbiased. People could form friendships and the like with them, but everything about their personalities was simulated- programmed. Taiga had probably asked a few students to get her Kendo Stick; Dio had just been the only one who agreed.
More than anything, however, they were not supposed to overstep their bounds and show favouritism. They could hand out rewards for fulfilling requests, but they weren't supposed to actively support or help any person over the other in the Grail War.
However, Sakura had just said it- she hoped he won.
Such a thing was contradictory to her own programming. That shouldn't be possible...
He just smiled at her and nodded before he stepped out of the Nurse's office, closing the door behind himself before he finally allowed a frown to come to his face.
Something about Sakura nagged at him. Obviously, she was familiar from other corners of the Fate Franchise, but that wasn't hat was nagging at him. He really felt like something about Sakura- in this world in particular- was meant to be important. However, even as a Buddha, it was hard to just summon memories on a whim- especially from his past life. Like there was something on the tip of his tongue that he couldn't quite spit out.
Finally, for the moment, he gave up trying to figure it out. He knew doing so was a bad idea, but he really couldn't remember and trying to force it out would just make it get even further away. It was better to let his mind relax and, maybe, he could recall it later on.
"You seem quite smitten with the nurse," Nobu teased. "Gonna enjoy that A.I? I wonder how an A.I feels compared to a human..."
"It's all a digital body anyway," he told her. "And besides, SE.RA.PH doesn't approve of relationships like that. Servants who get too uncomfortably close to their Masters. Masters who try to coax and mess with A.I. Such things are disproved off by the Moon Cell, which runs itself on absolute logic and doesn't leave much room for emotion."
The only reason SE.RA.PH hasn't shown up the previous night when he and Nobu got in bed nude together? He'd hacked his own room, turning it into a blind spot in the Moon Cell's eyes using Data from the Dark Sector where Altera was hiding- a place even SE.RA.PH couldn't look into casually. With his Hacking Skills, taking control of a small amount of Dark Sector Data to turn his room into a blind spot was easy.
"Feh, how stingy," Nobu sniffed in distaste. "Well, I suppose I'll just obliterate whatever gets in my way as I've always done."
Dio merely smiled wryly and shook his head before the two made their way into the Arena together.
As they stepped in, Nobu materialised beside him with a serious look on her face. "I sense the presence of a Servant- that Matou boy really is planning to fight us in the Arena and take us out early... How arrogant."
The two walked together, quick blasts from Nobu's musket obliterating the weak monsters in the early stages of the Labyrinth, before they finally came upon the blue haired master standing together with his servant.
She wore white pants and thigh boots, with a red coat that showed off her impressive bust- not hiding her cleavage at all. Her long reddish-pink hair flowed down her back; a scar marked on her face as her blue eyes gleamed with amusement. In her hands, she held a pair of flintlock pistols.
El Draque - Francis Drake. The Pioneer of the Stars, who led the way to the Age of Discovery in Britain. The second person who circumnavigated the entire globe in a single voyage, but the first who did so as the captain from start to finish.
'The enemy servant is Francis Drake, a Rider Class Servant,' Dio informed Nobu through their connection, the Archer's eyes lighting up with interest. 'Her Noble Phantasm is her Armada - The Golden Wild Hunt. She's able to summon a fleet of ships and unleash a bombardment of cannon blasts straight at her target. It's an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm. It's led by the Golden Hind- her personal vessel.'
Nobu merely nodded, not questioning how Dio had obtained this information just by looking at Drake. He was her Master and, even if they'd only known each other a day, she trusted him.
"You kept me waiting," Shinji said in a mocking voice. "Really, I don't even know why you came- you're no match for my Servant."
"Is that so?" Dio raised an eye at him, not impressed. "Your servant is yours. My Servant is mine. I'm superior to you so, of course, my Servant is also better than yours."
Drake laughed. "Hahaha! Well, I don't blame you for looking down on Shinji, but he is my Master. Looking down on him is the same as looking down on me, so I won't allow you to insult him. Only I can do that."
"Yeah, you tell him- hey, what do you mean only you can insult me!?" Shinji looked offended.
Francis Drake merely smirked and Shinji and stepped up. "While I'd love to chat, you can already guess our purpose here- to eliminate you from this Grail War before the seventh day."
"Y- Yeah," Shinji quickly regained his composure. "You should lament, Dio, that your first enemy was me!"
"Oh? It seems I am being underestimated..." Nobu stepped forward, cracking her neck as she grinned viciously. "I am Servant Archer - Oda Nobunaga, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven!" She aimed her musket at Drake. "I don't have any particular wish on that Grail... But my Master desires it. And so, I'll crush anyone on my path to it."
Shinji's eyes widened. "Wha- what the hell!? Why did your Servant reveal her identity so easily!?"
"It doesn't matter if people know her identity or not," Dio told Shinji. "You can't control Chaos- so just ride with its flow."
Drake laughed in amusement. "Haha! The Demonic Warlord who unified a country, is it!? Very good, very good! This just got more interesting! Let's see what you can do in these three minutes, Fool of Owari!"
Nobu just grinned as flames licked at her feet. "Oh, you're going to see exactly what I'm made of!"
And with that, the two Servants charged in and began their first battle.
***
I'm a Moron who forgot to set this chapter to auto upload on WebNovel. I apologise. And I am an idiot.
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