3 Chapter 2: New World, New Abilities
A generic field somewhere in Japan:
Saber opened her eyes, welcomed by a vision of a cloudless sky. Around her the others lay on the ground unconscious.
"I suppose I better wake everyone up before explaining what has happened."
Saber got up and began to rouse her companions to consciousness.
Several minutes later:
"Let me go over everything I think you just said just so I can be sure my hearing isn't acting up." Rin stated with a look of tiredness on her face, with the others except for Saber nodding in agreement.
Saber responded, "Go ahead."
"First, Shirou managed to completely replicate a weapon and that act caused a hole to be torn in the universe with all of us and Gilgamesh being dragged through."
"That is correct."
"We all landed in this same location and Shirou managed to kill Gilgamesh while the rest of us were out."
"Also correct."
"This world is still in the Age of the Gods and you and Gilgamesh count as gods."
"The proper term is Heretic Gods but yes."
"In killing Gilgamesh, Shirou has now become a 'Campione', of which only four others exist, with the effects including but not limited to: immortality until killed, magic resistance equivalent to the rank of A+, magic circuits that dwarf those of an ancient Dead Apostle, prana capacity to match, a body with base physical stats of B rank, and unique powers known as 'Authorities' to boot."
"And a boosted comprehension rate of all languages."
"And this was done to Shirou by his new adopted 'mother', Heretic Goddess Pandora."
"You have understood everything that I have said."
"Alright, given that the only other explanation that I can come up with is that I'm dreaming, let's continue on. What authorities does Shirou now have?" Rin's face clearly displayed the fact that she had a headache developing.
"Before we continue, just know that most of the authorities that Shirou got are... irregular."
"You say that like it is a surprise," Rin responded.
""Indeed,"" both Sakura and Illya followed with.
"Why is that not a surprise," said Shirou with an upset look on his face.
The only response he got was a flat stare from all the others present.
"Continuing on, the first is [Gate of Babylon], it is irregular due to combining with Shirou's Reality Marble. Shirou can now use the original weapons and his traced copies are now almost indistinguishable from the real things. All the additional treasures can be accessed as well and any damage to anything will be repaired with a maximum repair time of one year. Please note that both Ea and the Chains of Enkidu have restrictions on their use. The second authority is called [Fellowship of the King] and it is completely passive in nature, a first in authorities according to Pandora. It causes all those who are in an intimate relationship with the holder, including family and close friends, will be granted near-complete immortality and a boost to their capabilities by a full rank. What I mean be near-perfect immortality is that both your body and soul would need to be destroyed in order to kill you as long as Shirou lives. Currently the only person here not under its effects is Shirou himself. I recommend that we tell nobody about its effects, ever."
"Are those it?" Sakura asked curiously.
"No, those are merely the ones gained from Gilgamesh. There are more but first we have to discuss what myself being bound by [Fellowship of the King] has set in motion."
"What do you mean?" Shirou was the first to respond.
"What you have to understand is that the gods here are not entirely like the gods in stories. A heretic god can be any character in a legend and they are compilations of their stories as they progress through time. An example would be Mordred of the Arthurian legends. If you trace his legend back, he was once known as Mars, and Ares before that."
"Sounds convoluted," said Illya with a look of focus on her face.
"It is. In my case, I should have manifested as the heretic god known as the 'King of the End' and before you ask, I can't tell you the true identity due to an ancient ritual which prevents anyone from speaking of that subject. What makes the King of the End special is that he specializes in slaying Campione. Throughout history there has been nearly 300 Campione and the King of the End has killed more than 250 of them. He awakens, slays all Campione and Heretic Gods of the era, then he disappears. The Arthurian legends are based upon him slaying a Saxon Campione shortly after the fall of the western Roman Empire. Due to myself and him being the same existence, as long as I exist, he cannot manifest, much to Pandora's joy. She has been trying for many millennia to protect her adopted children and has failed every time he manifests himself."
"Anything we have to worry about on that front?" Shirou asked, a focused look on his face.
"I'll get to that later. But for now, the authorities gain by the "defeat" of the King of the End are [Man of Steel], which boosts your magic resistance even higher and gives you physical resistance of the same level, and the [Sword of Divine Salvation], a combination of a subordinate god and authority that is capable of easily giving Ea a run for its money at its strongest state."
The others could only look at Saber in wide-eyed shock after hearing what she said about the third and fourth authorities that Shirou gained. They were ridiculously overpowered!