Haru had more or less forced Asia to stay behind, too worried for her safety as he rushed up to the chapel in time to see something that made his stomach do flips. The doors had been smashed open, but it was lay outside the church that made him want to vomit. Gore and mutilated bodies were lying atop each other, creating pools of blood that brought a putrid stink that caused bile to rise up his throat.
"W-What… what the fuck is this...?" he asked, trying to turn his head away from the carnage but unable to find himself able to. "W-Who could have done this? Was-was this Archer's...?"
"No, dipshit! I'm not letting that skank take the credit for my buddy's hard work!"
Altera's eyes narrowed as two figures entered the church, both familiar to everyone. It was Freed and Assassin, though both were significantly covered in blood. Thus, it was no question behind the cause of the bloodshed.
"Since I ain't no proper magus or some shit like that, I had to feed Assassin somehow! Thankfully, my good old pals were just ripe for the picking!"
"I should have known..." the Servant of the Sword calmly seethed. She immediately put herself between Haru and the two, aiming her multi-colored sword at the pair. "If you value your life, I suggest you turn and leave. Otherwise, I will destroy you both."
Assassin laughed. "Oh, that's just funny!" the homonculus laughed, holding his stomach. "Master, do you hear what Saber's saying?! It's so hilarious! Oh, it just makes me wanna see her insides and rub them against my face! In fact, can I? I've always wanted to see what a gorgeous woman's insides look like! Can I?! Pretty please?!"
"Oho, there's no reason for you to ask!" Freed grinned madly as he held up his hand, which bore the Command Seals. "In fact, lemme help ya! Assassin! Murder that fucking bitch and bring me that slutty nun Asia Argento!"
"I won't let you!" Haru growled, his body moving before the fear could register in his mind. He manifested the Boosted Gear and blocked the doorway to Asia's room. "Not a chance in hell you sick bastard! Saber! Deck this asshole!"
In tandem, the two Masters' Command Seals glowed. Haru, because of his inexperience, was virtually unaware of what actions would cause the Command Seal to act accordingly. When he used a Command Seal the first time, it was for the sake of protecting himself and Asia. This time, however, he acted with clear purpose, uncaring of the fact that he now only had one Command Seal left. Freed, on the other hand, had been quite conservative. Given how well he and his Servant fit together, there was no need to make Assassin obey him through force. Thus, the man wasted his first Command Seal.
Regardless of the fact, however, the two Servants radiated with power. And the first to strike was Assassin, leaping into the air with a mad laugh and throwing fiery knives straight at Altera.
The King of Destruction remained nonplussed as her sword moved in a blur, cutting down every single knife that was aimed at her. She then leaped forward and the ray of light that was her weapons blade elongated and bent to strike the enemy. It was like a whip, dancing around in various directions as she continued to charge without interruption. When she reached Assassin, she weaved her sword and slammed it into his scissors. With a push, he was thrown back and sent into the wall, though he landed perfectly on his feet before grinning, swiping his arm and creating several flaming knives.
The homonculus giggled before flinging them right at the approaching swordswoman. Altera effortlessly weaved through the assault and struck down any knife that came too close. She would not be impeded by Assassin's tricks.
Mephistopheles clapped in glee at his opponents tenacity. He grabbed his scissors to block another sword strike.
As the sparks began to fly, Haru found himself fighting for dear life, harder than he felt before. As he backed away from a swing, Freed's sword of light cut into his cheek, creating a sizzling burn that nearly brought him to tears and clutch it in agony. It felt as if he had come into contact with a hot branding iron. He brought up Boosted Gear, blocking a strike from Freed's leg, though it left him open for a kick to the stomach, knocking him to the floor. Groaning, he looked up to see Freed right over him, holding his light sword above his head.
"Shit!"
Quickly, he rolled to the left, evading having his head stabbed. As he scrambled to his feet, he felt power beginning to seap into his body following Boosted Gear's gem shining.
[Boost!]
No. Not enough. Haru thought wearily as Freed straightened out his back, giving the redhead a sickening grin while licking his lips. 'lEven if I just use this thing, I don't know how to actually use it! C'mon, think. That spell auntie Ilya taught me! What was it?! What was it again?!
Yesterday…
"E-Eh? A spell? Haru asked, surprised that his aunt had brought it up so suddenly. "But... I thought you said I might not have the aptitude for magic. Or magecraft or whatever."
Illya shook her head, sighing as she put her hands on her hips. "I never said that. I said, you can't learn magecraft properly until we can find out what your Origin and Element are."
"Origin? Element?"
"Another time. However, I can teach you a fairly simple spell. In fact, it's one of the few skills Onii-chan had." At this, Haru became much more attentive, causing Illya to smile. "Even though he was, by magus standards a third-rate mage, his skills were exceptional. Those skills being Reinforcement and Projection. The one I'm going to teach you is Reinforcement."
"Reinforcement? Is it like a buff?" Haru asked in video game terms.
"Yes." She replied easily. "As the name implies, it augments anything you choose. For example, you can reinforce a staff to be harder, a blade to be sharper, fire to burn hotter, and so forth. The only risk of using this spell is if you reinforce your own body."
"Why is that?"
"By reinforcing an object, you strengthen its existence. For example, by reinforcing a knife's existence to cut something, it becomes much sharper. Ordinarily, you'd be able to use it to cut butter. When reinforced, it can cut through a solid steel beam." Haru gaped at that. The image of an ordinary housewife swinging a knife and cutting through her own house somehow came to mind, leaving him very much confused how he came to that. "However, it is difficult to reinforce a living being. Not impossible, but not recommended. By nature, all living creatures resist the invasion of magical energy. Thus, you run the risk of killing a person unless you know exactly what you're doing. Ordinarily, it would be impossible for a novice such as yourself to use reinforcement with your own body. You'd likely kill yourself just by attempting it." A wide smile touched upon her face as she aimed her finger at his left hand. "However, Boosted Gear will simplify things greatly."
"But how, exactly?" He was confused, but really wanted to know. He was going to need every tool at his disposal for the upcoming battles, and he would appreciate to learn of a way to use them without killing himself.
"As I said, living creatures will resist magical energy trying to invade their body. However, Boosted Gear has the power to increase the effects of anything it can deliver power to. In a way, Boost is no different than Reinforcement. Now, if you were to use those two together..."
"Then...I can use magecraft to reinforce my body slightly… and use Boosted Gear to make it complete while staying safe?"
"Now you're getting it." She clapped proudly. "Of course, it isn't an exact science. Now then, shall we start our first lesson?"
Dodging a swing from Freed's sword and getting as much distance as he could, Haru closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. Okay, come on. Remember what she taught you. Breath in. Out. Picture the concept in your head. Hold it...!
In his mind, he visualized a circuit pattern along her body, making it slightly stronger than before like when he had during the lesson. He focused on the image and held it in his mind. Once it was locked, he linked it with his Sacred Gear.
The gem shined again, though this time with a different announcement.
[Transfer!]
A second later, and Haru felt his skin burn. It felt like someone stuck serval hot rods onto his flesh. He grit his teeth and endured the pain. When it finally subsided, Haru felt power. Just in time, too, as Freed lunged at him. "Die, Shitty Master!" The sword came down upon him, but he grabbed it with his gauntlet. He could feel the intense heat burning from it, seeping through the metal claws before he delivered a headbutt to Freed's chin, pushing him back. "OW! Yho mahf mhe bhide mha thnue!"
"Your tongue is the least I'll do to ya, bastard!"