Chapter 7 – Fate Tracing

"As I mentioned before, our group is very small, so we can't help everyone. Plus, we can't save those who accept the existence of the system. The condition for us to act on victims is doubt and rejection. As long as the victim doesn't trust the system, there's a chance for us to intervene. Like in your case."

"So..."

"Even though you doubt the purpose of the system, you still accept everything it offers. So, the chance we can exploit is very small. That's why I gave you the Eternal Soul. Because it's the only thing that can save you. Even if you're only freed from the system after death. It's somewhat regrettable."

"Did you disguise yourself as the System when giving me this skill?"

"Yes. Ah-! I think it's time for us to part ways. I can't explain further. If you have any questions, save them for our next meeting. Although I don't know when that will be. Goodbye~!"

With that, she gone.

I was left alone again in this Void.

I still had some questions, but what could I do about it now?

I had the chance to ponder over all the sudden information I had just received.

The first thing was whether I could trust the woman earlier.

This was crucial because I wasn't sure if she came to make herself and her group look good. I wasn't sure of her motive, but the possibility was still there.

The basis for make a decision was to see both sides of the story. It was still unclear if what she said was the truth. Even if it was, what would she gain from it? No one acts without some gain.

But still, I lacked information. There were no conclusions I could draw in the current situation.

"Haaah..." I involuntarily let out a sigh. This was confusing.

After a moment of contemplation, suddenly a light formed in front of me.

At first, I thought the woman had returned, but it wasn't her. What appeared in front of me was a book. A book with a yellow cover, about two fingers thick in total. It was quite thick for a book.

At first glance, there was no title or author's name. I wasn't sure even after briefly reading it. But everything became clear after I finished it.

The woman had mentioned earlier about helping others if they were in a situation similar to mine. I wasn't sure how to do that when she mentioned it.

I mean, wasn't I dead right now? So how could I do that? It was strange.

But now everything became clear. No, actually, it still wasn't entirely clear. But I knew what I needed to do.

This book was a Skill Book. The skill stored within it was for tracing destiny. In short, it was to find my existence across various timelines.

It wouldn't be useful on its own, but with the existence of the Eternal Soul skill, which ensured that my soul was unique across all timelines, then its light would shine.

What was expected was to find the existence of the system, but how to do it? This was where this Skill Book came into play.

Fate Tracing. A skill that functioned to find the existence of destiny that aligned with its user. With the addition of Eternal Soul, there would be no destiny the same as that of its user. So, this skill would detect the destiny that was most similar and closest. And that was the System.

With this skill, finding the user of the system would be possible.

"Now... what should I do..." I began to weigh all the pros and cons.

If I did it, it wouldn't be any different from what I experienced with the system provider before. I would still be a puppet following what they wanted. The difference would only be in motive and purpose. If before, I was a puppet without direction and purpose, then now, I was a puppet who knew what I was doing.

Although I still wasn't sure if this was the truth or just another lie.

But for now, I didn't mind being part of this woman's plan.

Thinking that, I activated it.

"For the thread of destiny, I call upon you, Guide me to the path that might be my destiny, Give me insight, let the way be open, Fate Tracing, awake and see." I chanted the spell seriously.

My vision slowly blurred. This was a new feeling for me, the feeling when your body is twisted and squeezed. I closed my eyes to lessen the impact of the increasingly unreasonable visuals.

When I opened them again, what entered my sight was a forest. A forest within some kind of Bounding Field. No, it felt slightly different from the Bounding Field. I wasn't quite sure what this actually was.

But what caught my attention was the fact that I wasn't standing on the ground, but floating in the sky. Looking down on the world beneath my feet.

My body felt weightless. Raising my right hand, I found that it was transparent. I was in astral form.

"It seems my previous theory was not wrong, I have truly become a ghost." I wasn't sure whether to be happy or annoyed.

Setting aside what I was feeling, I observed what was around me. There was only the forest and the ground. There was nothing interesting here.

Moving slowly, I began to explore the place. I wasn't sure why I was sent here, but there must be something important happening here. My assumption was the existence of the system user. But I still couldn't find where it was.

After a few minutes of wandering, I finally found a figure of a man standing still in the middle of a clearing.

But when I realized who the man was, my whole body was shocked.

It was me.

More precisely, Emiya Kiritsugu.

What was happening here? I was truly confused.

Was this Kiritsugu from this timeline? If so, then why was I sent to this place?

Fate Tracing should work by identifying the soul, not the body. So, I shouldn't be involved with another Kiritsugu.

"Same with me..." this was the final conclusion I reached.

The system user was in Kiritsugu's body. Just like what I experienced.

The same case. The same problem.

Truly an extraordinary coincidence.

With the conclusion I had reached, I slowly approached him.

I was currently in astral form, so he shouldn't be aware of my presence.

Approaching him, I circled around and observed him.

"Something's odd." I couldn't help but frown at this. This man was unresponsive. As if he were just a statue.

He stood still without showing any signs of life.

What is this? What's wrong?

I observed him closer. Now there was only about half a meter between us.

That's when I realized what was happening.

His eyes were open, but there was no light in them. As if he were just a lifeless puppet.

I reached out my hand and touched him, trying to check what was wrong.

But that's when everything went wrong. Something emerged and sucked me into his body.

"What!?" a surprised voice came out of my mouth.

I tried to resist and refuse, but it was all in vain. I was sucked in and disappeared into his body.

What greeted me was darkness. But no matter how long I waited, nothing happened afterward. As if it were all just an illusion of unreal lies.

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

Nothing happened. I was in the same forest.

It was confusing. Then what was all that just now? I wanted to curse at the sudden shock that happened.

I looked around, trying to find any anomalies I could find. But there were none.

Trying to fly further ahead, I stumbled.

"Hah...?" my eyes widened as I realized there was something seriously wrong with me.

The shocks kept coming. I was truly unprepared for all of this.

"I entered into this body..." my brain stopped working for a moment.

I didn't know what was happening, but I could roughly guess.

This was the same as the plan before I died that time. Preparing an empty vessel before possessing it. And it worked when I least expected it.

Should I be grateful?

I felt a mixture of emotions. I was doubtful and suspicious of the reality that I found an empty vessel in a random place I didn't know.

This made me wonder if I had fallen into someone else's trap.

"This is getting more chaotic..." I might be a puppet of someone else once again.

And worse, I couldn't fight back.

Finally, I resigned myself to my fate. For now, I thought about what I had. I wasn't sure if I had what I had before. For example, Presence Concealment and Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Both of these skills were my sources of power.

As I thought about the next step, information suddenly filled my mind. Various new and familiar pieces of information emerged.

"Ugh..." it was painful.

It felt like the world was spinning, and my stomach was very nauseous.

But this new information answered many questions.

"Since when did Kiritsugu become a Servant!?" this was the new information I got. Kiritsugu somehow became a Servant.

"No, if I think about it again, there was something like that in the FGO game." I thought uncertainly. I never considered this possibility because of the difference in appearance.

In the FGO game, Kiritsugu had white hair and dark skin. But this time, he didn't actually differ from the original Kiritsugu's appearance. Except for the fact that he seemed younger.

So, I never considered this outcome.

One thing led to another.

Oh, my Noble Phantasm was also different from Assassin Emiya's. Mine wasn't Time Alter, but Antimage. Basically, I had an unlimited supply of Origin Bullets. Not only that, but these bullets also received an upgrade. Magic Destroyer, the ability to destroy any magic circle that touched it.

While the active skills I had remained the same as when I was alive. Presence Concealment EX and Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

Avalon became a passive skill. Its only function was healing. Well, there was no difference from before.

And there was something that caught my attention. Time Alter, I couldn't use it before. Now it remained the same, I still couldn't use it.

Would that skill disappear forever? I didn't know.

"Okay... let's calm down." I sighed and organized my thoughts.

The conclusion had been reached. I became a Servant. But the process was somewhat strange, or rather, illogical.

But let's ignore that for now.

The next question was - Why am I here?

Was there a Holy Grail War happening here? It didn't seem like it. At least I didn't receive any information about the war. It meant this wasn't related to it.

Another question - How could I still remain manifested without a mana supply? I don't know. I didn't feel a connection with a 'Master'. So maybe I was living on my own? I wasn't sure.

I looked at the skills I had before. There was nothing called Independent Action. So, it wasn't because of that either.

As I drowned in my thoughts, a Magic Circle appeared not far from me.

I wasn't sure what was happening, so without further delay, I activated Presence Concealment.

Who knows, I might find new information from whatever comes out of there.

After waiting for a while, four people emerged from that Magic Circle.

"I originally planned to start with the one in the schoolyard, but this place suddenly became turbulent. So, we'll start from here."

"So, what do we do now?"

"We defeat the Servant here, then get their card."

"Defeat?"

"Yes, to get their card, we need to defeat them."

"I don't know we need to fight!"

"Eh? Didn't I mention it before?"

I didn't quite understand what was happening, but I knew where I was.

Seeing the little girl who was basically my daughter, Illya, wearing strange clothes. Yeah, it wasn't hard to guess after seeing their appearances.

Fate/Kaleid.

Somehow, I became one of the Servants here. Now everything became clear.

Why there was an empty vessel of mine here. Because it was a replica of the original Servant, me. But since I came here only in astral form, I ended up taking over my replica.

The four people who appeared were Rin, Luvia, Illya, and Miyu. Based on what they talked about, somehow my involvement in this place caused some kind of ripple. Making them come here earlier.

"Hohoho. As expected from monkeys. Truly unreliable."

"Huh? What did you say, you! Say that again!"

"What? Besides being senile, are you also starting to go deaf?"

"You're the deaf one, your whole family is deaf."

"What. This is why I didn't want to associate with country folks. Truly lacking in manners. Hmph!"

"This annoying woman-"

Before they continued their argument, I released a shot towards them. Those two girls, although like cats and dogs, actually had extraordinary abilities. So, a regular shot like that would easily be noticed by them.

"Illya, get ready!"

"Miyu, take your position."

As expected.

Besides, I wouldn't find any additional information just by listening to them. I roughly remembered the information from the anime. Although not complete, it was enough. Anyway, I didn't remember the whole story in the anime. So, it was understandable.

Seeing the two little girls each holding a magic stick, I realized two things.

First, I missed my little daughter. Although they were basically both Illya, they were two different people.

Second, if I remembered correctly, Miyu was also Kiritsugu's adopted daughter, right? I didn't follow the anime that far, so I wasn't sure.

Well, whatever it was, it wasn't too important anymore. What was important now was what I had to do?