Chapter 5: No, I Want Tokiomi Dead
After turning on the light inside the civilian residence, Su Xiao sat on the living room sofa, with Bubu Wang nearby and the dying Matou Kariya beside him. As for Matou Sakura, she was sitting next to Bubu Wang.
Su Xiao attempted to check his own Servant attributes, and a series of text appeared.
Servant Name: Bai Ye
Gender: Male
True Name: Su Xiao
Class: Berserker
Alignment: Neutral · Chaotic · Evil
Source: Reincarnation Paradise
Strength: A+
Endurance: A+
Agility: A+
Mana: B
Luck: E- ~ C+
Noble Phantasm: A
Class Skill: Mad Enhancement (C)
Note: This skill is nullified by Blade Grandmaster LV.30's additional ability, "Mind Blade."
Innate Skills:
Law Annihilation (A++)
Mind's Eye (C)
Blade Grandmaster (A++)
Firearms (B+)
Magic Nullification Constitution (B+)
Spirit Shadow Constitution (B++)
Devouring Core (EX)
...
Seeing that Devouring Core was judged as EX-rank, Su Xiao narrowed his eyes. A possibility occurred to him.
Servants were composed of energy. If a Servant's energy could be absorbed, then defeating a Servant would be far more valuable. However, there was considerable risk involved, as it meant competing with the Holy Grail for energy.
Although Devouring Core didn't devour souls but rather energy, whether it would trigger backlash from the Greater Grail was still unknown.
Just as Su Xiao was pondering this, a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Entering World: World Difficulty: 5.2% World Source,
World Introduction: Legend has it that the Holy Grail is a treasure capable of granting the wishes of its owner. To pursue the power of the Holy Grail, seven mages each summon a Servant and engage in battle for its possession. This is the Holy Grail War.
Mages: The daily lives of mages are mostly occupied by "research." Those who use magic for purposes other than research are a minority, such as using magic to replace labor.
Those who use magic as a tool rather than for research (e.g., assassins using magic) are called "magus killers" and are looked down upon by mages.
Even among mages, few use magic in daily life. This is the "concealment of mystery." Failure to follow this rule may result in the Mage's Association taking extreme measures to prevent the world from learning about magic. For example, using magic in public could lead to elimination.
The strength of a mage is determined by the number of Magic Circuits within their body. The number of Magic Circuits is fixed from birth and cannot normally be increased through external means. Therefore, mages accumulate bloodlines over generations to produce descendants with bodies suited for magic, granting them more Magic Circuits innately.
Servants: Only "heroes" whose great deeds have become legends and objects of faith after death can become Servants. Normally, Servants are summoned by the world as forces to protect humanity. Servants summoned by humans are called "Followers."
Main Quest: The Holy Grail.
Hunt Quest: None (No Violators in this world).
Warning: Do not mention anything related to "Paradise" in this world. If the warning is ignored, forced execution will occur!
Note: Detected that the Hunter does not know the language of this world. 100 Paradise Coins have been consumed to automatically learn the language of this world.
...
Just as Su Xiao finished reading the world introduction, another notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Detected that the Hunter has met the prerequisites for the Talent Awakening Quest. Activating Talent Awakening Quest...]
[After the Talent Awakening Quest is activated, three opportunities will be granted. If all three attempts fail consecutively (the Talent Awakening Quest is issued once per derivative world), the talent will be permanently unawakenable.]
[The difficulty of the Talent Awakening Quest exceeds the Hunter's current level. The Talent Awakening Quest is extremely dangerous, with over 50% of Contractors unable to complete it.]
[Warning: Any matters related to the Talent Awakening Quest must not be disclosed to outsiders. Violation will result in forced execution!]
[Talent Awakening Quest has been activated. The Hunter may view it freely.]
...
The notifications related to the derivative world were white, while those related to the Talent Awakening Quest were blood-red.
Su Xiao had been wondering earlier why he had never heard a single word about something as important as talent awakening. Now it was clear—this was normal.
Disclosing any related information would result in forced execution, showing just how significant talent awakening was.
Su Xiao opened the quest list. The first thing that caught his eye was the main quest.
[Main Quest: The Holy Grail]
Difficulty Level: Lv.???
Quest Brief: Touch the Greater Grail in any way.
Quest Info: The Greater Grail will appear at the final moment of the Holy Grail War.
Quest Time Limit: 15 Natural Days
Quest Reward: 5000 Paradise Coins + 6 Attribute Points.
Quest Penalty: Forced Execution.
...
[Talent Awakening Quest: Arrive at Ryuudou Temple]
Difficulty Level: Lv.3
Quest Brief: This is the first ring of the Talent Awakening Quest. The quest has three rings in total, with difficulty continuously increasing. The upper limit of the final ring's difficulty is Lv.???
Quest Info: To ordinary people, Ryuudou Temple is just a local historical site. But to mages, this temple is an exceptionally excellent spiritual ground.
Quest Time Limit: 4 Natural Days
Quest Reward: None
Quest Penalty: Deduct one Talent Awakening opportunity. No further Talent Awakening Quests can be accepted in this world.
...
Su Xiao sat on the sofa, staring ahead as if deep in thought.
Given the current situation, the main quest didn't need immediate attention. Focusing on the Talent Awakening Quest was the priority.
For Su Xiao, even failing the main quest this time wouldn't matter—he had one exemption from main quest failure.
The good news was that there were no Violators in this derivative world. The main quest plus the talent quest were already enough to give Su Xiao a headache. If the Hunt Quest were added, he'd be overwhelmed.
If Su Xiao encountered a Violator like Jester in this derivative world, completing the Talent Awakening Quest would be a pipe dream.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
As Su Xiao pondered, a violent coughing fit came from Matou Kariya, who was spitting up blood.
At this point, Matou Kariya was already very weak. Unfortunately, Su Xiao didn't have any potions usable on outsiders. No. 1 Potion could only be used by him personally.
But even if Matou Kariya died, Su Xiao had other alternatives—like Matou Sakura.
"Today is your 'lucky day.'"
Su Xiao crouched in front of Matou Kariya. Matou Kariya's pupils were beginning to dim. His will to live was weak, after all, Matou Zouken was dead, and Matou Sakura had regained her freedom.
"Sakura is fine... cough, cough."
As he spoke, Matou Kariya coughed up another mouthful of blood. Matou Sakura sat calmly beside Bubu Wang, watching him with no visible emotional fluctuation.
"Doesn't it matter that your childhood sweetheart was taken away?"
Su Xiao's words directly ignited Matou Kariya's anger.
"That was Aoi's own choice. I..."
Su Xiao smiled and turned his head to look at Matou Sakura.
"She was tortured by that old worm for a whole year. That was Tokiomi's choice. Maybe one day, for the sake of magecraft, the Aoi you speak of will face the same fate. Biological children don't matter to him, let alone a wife."
After Su Xiao said this, the dying Matou Kariya began to tremble. He automatically conjured an image in his mind: a naked Aoi thrown into a pit of insects, struggling and wailing within.
"No! It's all Tokiomi's fault! If it weren't for him, Sakura wouldn't have suffered this!"
Matou Kariya roared, almost screaming.
"So, do you want to take revenge on him?"
"Of course... I do. Kill him. I have to kill him. For Sakura, for Aoi, for Rin."
Under Su Xiao's instigation, Matou Kariya, his mouth full of blood, gritted his teeth. Witnessing this, Matou Sakura curled up.
"You're in luck today. If you can hold on and not die, maybe you'll have a chance to take revenge on Tokiomi."
Su Xiao didn't want to drag along the frail Matou Kariya—he'd be a burden. So he decided to modify him. If the man died, it would just mean his fate was sealed. If he survived, he might be able to disguise himself as the Servant Berserker, while Su Xiao himself would pose as Berserker's Master.
"Alright then, let's begin."
Su Xiao took out several test tubes, each containing: diluted Hashirama Cells, Lancelot's blood (in a Mad Enhancement state), and an ultra-high concentration of RC Cells (Ghoul cells).