Sublimation

Off topic but... Saber is now confirmed to be 12 years old biologically.

Pacing was off in a few parts and fine details like internal thoughts and verse exposition were left out, but that's understandable considering the scope of the verse's details. Second course will be absolutely amazing though with all the major action crammed in there. Unlimited Blade Works, Heracles's 13th life, Lancer Vs. Archer rematch, Lancer's battle continuation, Faker vs. Faker, etc.

So when can I post the timeskip? Should I wait until all servants have been summoned?

Caster had immediately begun to initiate the ritual for her territory when Sora acquiesced. First she knelt down on the soft and verdant grass of the forest floor. The flow of life within nature began to circulate within her. She closed her eyes in concentration, her body becoming incredibly still. It was as if she was rooted the ground. Root shaped silhouettes of bright energy began splintering out from where Caster knelt, growing and growing outwards rapidly. Every tree the roots touched began to immediately form an aura of calming light green, entering the web of life that centered on Caster. Caster herself began to feel the very lay of life itself within the area of nature. Everything inherent to the natural environment from the tallest of trees to the most minute of grass blades began to enter Caster's mind in distinct clarity. She began to analyze and process the nature and fundamental structure of the forest itself. Waves of powerful energy began swirling out from where Caster sat, indicating the immense scale of the territory creation. Once Caster's "roots" touched and inducted a living aspect of nature into her own web, Caster would be able to manipulate the Id, the term for the prana present within the earth itself, and thus warp and manipulate the forest. However, no single person no matter how spectacular would be able to terraform an entire forest through sheer creation of a territory alone. To subvert this, Caster did not create. Rather, she merely converted. By accessing the fundamental composition of the nature around her, Caster could attune every single small aspect of life back into her and change its affinity to a divine composition by drawing from her very life force. The shape of her territory would be provided by Caster's inner world, which reflected the landscape she was to project. No other Caster could likely perform this, as Caster herself was only able to perform such a miracle by essentially becoming a part of Gaia itself. In essence, Caster became what is known as a "World Terminal", a being capable of manifesting miracles with thought alone by being inherently connected with Gaia. However Caster herself was limited only to altering the composition of the area around her, so she could not utilize her temporary status as a world terminal to replicate divine mysteries of anything unrelated to nature itself. Yet the nature of Caster's territory creation was an absurdity in of itself, only possible due to Caster's deep connection with the Earth. The "roots" of radiant energy began sprawling out, covering more and more area to signify the extent to which Caster's territory was completed. After twenty hours, Caster would reach the pinnacle of her territory range, but even before then she would be able to cut her creation short and erect a territory with the area she had covered at that moment. Nevertheless, a minimum of ten hours was required for any sort of reasonable stronghold. Until then, Sora would have to hold off in defending Caster. The immediate area around Caster began to distort and warp ever so slightly. The grass became more lush and greener than ever before, emitting a quaint but light glow of energy. Even the water and moisture in the vicinity was modified, turning into dew drops of crystal sparkling with a splendor that no human alive would have witnessed. Everything became restored to its "origin" state, the moment when nature itself was aligned with the divine. When the territory creation expanded just outside the extent of Sora's protective bubble of water, Caster began to will the growth of her Noble Phantasms. Divine flowers representing the authority of the gods themselves, normally enigmas so rare as to be prized as great treasures but now rendered into mere mundane flowers in terms of rarity as they naturally grew on the pure nature around Caster. The same divine roses that Sora had ingested before began sprouting up from the ground in small quantities. Flowers that possessed more power inherently still had to process more energy to grow, and the divine roses that Sora had produced were in the higher ranges of energy consumption. As of now there were but two roses, and one odd, snow white and sparkling tuberose flower. Caster was completely focused, rooted to the earth as an intrinsic extension of it. Her entire attention was granted to processing the wealth of natural knowledge streaming into her mind. Sora would have to fend for both Caster and himself as of now, but surely the flowers of divine blessing would aid him greatly to the point where no master would be able to challenge him alone.

Caster laughed teasingly as she listened to Sora's command. "Getting forceful now are we?" she said in good nature before assuming spiritual form. Her body faded away from physical view, dissipating in a scintillating shower of teal green sparkles. The true form of servants was spiritual, a body composed of the ethereal and tethered to the physical world by the master servant connection. Other masters would not be able to perceive Caster in this state, but fellow spiritual beings such as other servants would have no issue discerning Caster. The main benefit of the spiritual form was that it cut away the constant prana required by the master to sustain the physical form that would allow the servant to interact with the physical word. In exchange, the spiritual form was able to move about much like a ghost, shifting through surfaces and floating about with unhindered mobility. Caster watched in intrigue as Sora immersed himself in water and sped rapidly down the water, enhanced by the effects of her Noble Phantasm. He possessed an elemental affinity towards water it seemed, which fit his image quite aptly. Caster followed suit, soaring just above the water in invisible form and following her master to the forest's beginning. After around only forty minutes of time, Sora and Caster found themselves staring at the edge of the river walled in by towering and verdant trees and vegetation. It was a beautiful spectacle to watch the Fuyuki forests radiated by the mellow hues of the afternoon sun, a wholly natural sight that stirred Caster's heart with love and admiration. Caster then quickly materialized on the riverbank edge and addressed her master. "It seems as if we have arrived. My territory ritual can be performed in any place in this forest, including right here which would be optimal due to it being near a water source for you. What say you my master? Once I perform this ritual, I will not be able to concentrate fully on any altercations or threats to your life, nor will I be at my full strength. The ritual takes twenty hours master, and after those hours we may rest assured of our safety. Ironic no? It is at the advent of this war that we are at the most risk." Caster sighed as she warned her master, as the real reason why her territory creation took a ritual surpassing the extent of grand rituals was that the nature around her was not strong and pure enough. A herald of the declining state of mystery in this world, and one that impeded Caster now as she was reliant on nature quite heavily. Nevertheless, her territory creation subverted this by superimposing the familiar and divine natural scenery she had known in her life. It was not quite so much a reality marble or superimposition as it was a conversion of the existing to a better new. Nevertheless it warped the fundamental laws of Gaia to accomplish such a task, and due to this fact alone her territory creation was ranked at EX as an anti world phantasm, which was a huge overstatement. Although some would think that an EX rank denoted sheer power or strength, it merely denotes that which alters the fundamental laws of existence or transcends them. If one's alteration achieved nothing, then such an alteration would still be of the EX rank. True power had nothing to do with the ranking of EX in the end.

Caster watched in intrigue as Sora performed a ritual to release the prana stored within the Big Bridge and imbue it within the waters. Prana to object storage was an exceptionally rare ability that very magus possessed, and those that did with inherited conversion traits also. It was quite intriguing to witness Sora utilize a conversion factor to accumulate prana within an object such as the rusted metals of a bridge, which would have been a far cry from the pure state of jewels, which were the best conversion factor stores due to their nature from being from the earth and being in a crystalline shape to hold in prana. Whatever lineage Sora hailed from, it was distinguished at the least. During the Age of Gods of Caster's time, there was little need for such rituals as magecraft was realized not through circuits, but through words themselves. In the days when magic enriched the earth, words themselves had power and mystery, capable of realizing incredible effects through their recitation alone. Nowadays such mystery had declined from the world, and chants are now merely used to trance oneself into accessing circuits to forcefully pump inner prana to cast spells. Although Caster herself was not knowledgeable enough to have sufficient mastery of High Speed Divine Words to have it as a personal skill, she was quite familiar with its workings. Seeing modern magi utilize chants to trance themselves into utilizing their own prana was a novel experience for Caster, who was so used to seeing magicians actualize magecraft by simply uttering words. In a certain way, such a spectacle saddened Caster. It heralded the end of awe, the end of mankind looking to the heavens and nature in reverence, knowing full well that a world of mystery lay before them. The approach of science inclined man to perceive the world in compartmentalized fashion, with all things being logical and explainable to the lowest of minds. Science was the great equalizer of mankind, the ultimate progression that enriched not just a select few like magecraft did, instead allowing every single man to enrich themselves to further benefit. It was beautiful in that Caster witnessed the significance of mankind's change, and yet the sadness of realizing such progression meant the devaluation of nature as that which heralds the miracle of life moved her. Caster herself was closely tied to the earth itself, and so such an observation was all the more poignant. In a more real viewpoint, Caster noticed that the energy poured into the river was massive, easily enough to sustain a full usage of Caster's only offensive attack if used up all at once. However, Caster designated the energy source as the lifeline for her master who would have to rely on it to ensure his safety among the more experienced magi apparent. And yet, experience did not mean anything to Caster. The reason why Caster was mediocre outside her territory was not due to a lack of raw ability, it was simply that her abilities as of now were completely geared towards a support role. For that support role, Caster was a superb candidate. It was such that Sora's own inexperience would not matter due to a sheer difference in raw power between himself and the other magi unaided by their servants who would be incapable of fighting against a master enriched with boosts from Age of Gods authorities. Of course, Sora, no matter how much he had his abilities artificially inflated, would not stand a single chance against a servant. Caster smiled at the clear reflection of the stream showing herself and Sora side by side. She bent down and dipped her left index finger into the water ever so slightly, rupturing the still image with the motion. A droplet of water lay suspended on her finger before streaming down to the center of her palm. Of course, Caster was currently in her shifted form but to activate an aspect of her noble phantasm would force her to dispel the disguise for just a moment. The same ethereal green aura shrouded Caster, obscuring her form from sight for a split second before unraveling to show Caster's original form. She held her open palm towards Sora and drew her free right hand above the palm. With her right index finger, Caster dug deeply into the center of her palm to draw a droplet of blood, which swirled in harmony with the droplet of water already present. The droplet of divine blood and earthen water mixed together and began to glow with a brilliant crimson red radiance before the droplet began expanding its form and outlining the shape of a rose. The outline promptly filled in with color and texture, and there upon Caster's palm lay a blood red rose, sparkling like a jewel. "Consume this master, it shall greatly aid you in defending me against other masters, but do not be reckless and engage servants with its effects. It shall imbue your very blood and essence with divine mystery of a rather low rank, but sufficient enough that you will receive a magic resistance rank of D and Divinity rank of D. Your capacity to hold in prana and process it will also be greatly aided under its effects, allowing you to perform beyond your maximum capacity at all times. With this, all but the most experienced of magus will not be able to affront you. It has no use for me as you can tell, but for you it shall serve as a lifeline." Now the next course of action would be to traverse down the river flow and to the Southern forest where Caster could set her territory. The flower's effects would last approximately three hours, but Caster could easily replicate more in any case. It was one that was to be crucial for Sora as he could not be able to stand inside Caster's territory without the flower.

Caster nodded in reply and began to follow Sora who took up stride to go to the Big Bridge. Unbeknownst to Sora, travelling to the big bridge and from there moving to the southern forests through the path of the river would have been the best choice a master could have made at that moment. Caster herself did not know the lay of the land precisely and had to trust her master on this aspect at least. An expedient path to the forest was the best one at this moment, and if what her master said was true then this course of action was indeed prudent. Whatever business he attended to would also be covered in this trip presumably, cutting down on wasted time more. Pragmatism was always a trait Caster favored, and her prudent and wary nature welcomed rational and methodical thinking, though passion could sometimes bleed into her set efficiency. Caster followed her master and shape shifted into a completely different form upon witnessing a businessman prancing back and forth near the bridge with cellphone pried to his head. Her form shifted and morphed into that of a lanky Japanese man donned in a well pressed business suit with a clean cut, angular face and sharp, conniving eyes. Disheveled but once combed hair struck out in small puffs as if in protest to the curt buzz cut of the man. Now Caster did not even emit a magical signature, for she had replicated the form of a regular human in all aspects. To a master or servant actively attempting to view Caster, she, or in this case he, would appear to be a regular human. Sora and Caster both sauntered under the bridge complex until they were at the edge of the calm and flowing stream of water that divided Miyuki and Shinto so neatly. "Now then master, what is the matter that you were to attend to here?" queried Caster, emitting a baritone and masculine voice that emulated the form she took seamlessly.

Caster shook her head upon hearing her master's response. It was not firm rejection, but it was one that hinted at a strong will that would not easily accept resistance. Fixing her gaze back upon Sora, Caster spoke, "The nature of my territory creation is rare among heroic spirits you see. A witch or shaman may be able to possess an A rank within territory creation to build a "temple" as it is, but you see, they are not creating an actual temple. The rank merely refers to their ability to harness the natural energy inherent within an area and also how much area they can siphon energy off of. Existing temples are usually exceptional spots to pivot a territory upon yes, as they are natural deposits for prana leylines that nourish spiritual energy, but you see, my territory creation is rather incompatible with such tactics. I do not take control over an existing area. Rather, I create an entirely new area by converting existing and compatible area, hence my rank in territory creation being of the highest rank possible. Temples will not do for the most part for they are not deposits of pure nature, but if a forest surrounds the temple you speak of then it is possible for me to place my territory around the temple and for you to inhabit the temple itself as your own base. As for water, you need not worry my master. My territory creation covers for that extraordinarily nicely you see." Caster smiled at her master as she offered information he should know and utilize to his own benefit. For now, there was no friction between their preferences as Caster could simply create her territory around the one that Sora was familiar with in the best case. In the case that this was not possible, Sora had to either rely on a natural territory such as an existing temple, which would be leagues below the one Caster made, or inhabit Caster's own territory. The main problem here was still time. If Caster wanted to enforce her territory, then she would have to cast a ritual that would take twenty hours to catalyze, in which time Caster was susceptible to attacks. A small cost for such grand territory, but a cost nonetheless. It slightly bothered Caster that Sora needed to attend to personal business first, but then again she would have to respect his wishes as her master. It was no good having an indecisive master wracked with internal problems anyway. "Anyways, we must get going. It will be more expedient to attend to your needs first and then get to our preparations later no?" Caster finished her sentence by snapping her fingers, upon which action her body was covered for a split second by a blinding green light. After the light dissipated, Caster stood in an entirely new form. She was now a mirror image of Sora, completely replicating all his physical features. Shape shifting from the Age of Gods that could fool even divine spirits, this would make it exceptionally hard for any master or servant to spy on the pair and determine who was servant or master as well as concealing Caster's identity. Prana and presence were both perfectly suppressed, and Caster even emitted the same amounts of residual prana leak that her master suffered. "This is to conceal my identity and ensure your safety of course. If it unnerves you I may simply shift form to that of the first person we meet." said Caster while laughing gently.

"Servant Caster has accepted the contract" replied Caster with an emotionless voice as if the response was but an automated formality. With these words the link between master and servant was now formed, and Caster and her master could communicate telepathically and sense each others presences among other things. She viewed her master more intently now, her gaze sharp and calculating. From the link established and her innate abilities as a caster, Caster could determine that her master had potential within him. Yet potential was not enough in such a war as this. Although the holy grail war was one rather unimportant in the grand scheme of things, experienced magi would still come, not counting the founders of this mad ritual who would likely cheat or subvert the system through any means to ensure victory. Of course, Caster did not know this. She merely understood that her master would not stand up to a magus with true training, nor could he fully supply her with adequate prana due to the same lack of knowledge in magecraft. His ability to set up workshops and perform basic scrying would also be limited, but such trivial matters would be covered by Caster herself. What was absolutely imperative know was to set up her territory creation which was at such a grand scale so as to warrant a place as a noble phantasm in of itself. With the territory, Caster reached the upper echelons of power, without it, she was a mediocre and niche servant at best. "Your name is Ichiyami Sora? A pleasant name, I shall call you Sora then. My true name would be _____, but you may simply call me Caster. Of course I will help you attain the grail, or else I would not have accepted your contract. I myself am devoid of a wish, but if I can forward the happiness of one with a pure spirit such as yours, I would be happy too. In any case, I myself am grateful for your summoning as it allows me to take in this new world to a limited extent. Also, stop using the word please so many times. It is true you are dependent on me, but so too am I to you, my master." said Caster with a pleasant and warm smile upon her countenance. As Sora had not utilized a catalyst, it was likely that the grail had chosen Caster due to a compatibility with their personalities, which was possibly the only perk of summoning without catalysts. The main drawback was that one could not know how powerful the summoned servant would be, but in the case of Sora, this issue was largely mitigated as long as territory creation was managed. Every second eaten up was an extra second without any sort of firm security in this situation, which Caster realized quite well. They had to establish her territory as soon as possible to cement a solid position in the war. It did not matter that the territory would give away Caster's true name, as it in of itself was enough to cover for such trivialities. "Master, I am sure that you know the extents of my abilities both due to my true name and the servant master connection. It should be apparent that my territory must be established for me to safeguard your life in this war. I am sorry if I am rushing you, but every second here is a second wasted you see, and the territory creation is a grand ritual beyond the scope of a dozen greater rituals, taking me twenty or so hours to fully materialize. Do you have any idea where the nearest forest is? Preferably one extremely expansive and in an area removed from urban clutter" Her tone was urgent, as being caught now would equate to her master's death in almost all cases. Especially if they so happened to encounter one of the three knight classes. Caster could possibly repel an attacker or even kill one for one instance, but such was a risky and prana draining process which she could not sustain without her unique territory.

The call. The beckoning of the vessel known as the holy grail, an inexorable pull to action. The heroic spirit that Sora called to his side was forcefully removed from the Throne of Heroes, the space outside of the linear flow of time that holds the natural phenomena called "heroes" in it's enthrall. It was from this dimensional pocket that she, the heroic spirit in question, heeded Sora's call. Her soul was compartmentalized and placed into a class container in order so that the grail may more easily manifest such a high level mystery known as a Servant. As her presence was quite literally crammed into a class and given form by the grail, knowledge was imparted upon her. Countless streams of information poured into her mind, familiarizing her with the bare bones knowledge to function in the modern world. The purpose and mechanics of the ritual known as the holy grail war were also made clear, as well as the command to seek out and eliminate all other servants. It had appeared that she had been called for quite a troublesome little event, but one that she did not mind partaking of. It was refreshing to be granted a form in the active world after all, especially after almost two and a half thousand years. But first there was the formality of recognizing the person she was to now deem as her master. Her summoner who would have to place his utmost faith in her as his lifeline in this mad ritual. She beheld the current world now, summoned and incarnated fully and perfectly. Instinctively she recognized that her powers were being limited by both the fact that the grail could not manifest an existence as high as that of an earth mother aspect fully and that her master could not sustain her fully. It was no surprise, considering her nature which was a mystery a step above the mundane human. She breathed in and a slight frown graced her elegant complexion: the air was impure and dirty, far removed from the purity which she had experienced in her own time. Nevertheless humanity had compensated by furthering its independence. No more did they seek gods to aid them, and in turn they had devoted themselves to science, a process which had been killing the mystery of magic for many years now. The fact that man was able to achieve such thresholds with his own power could in of itself be viewed as beauty on par with the mystical elegance of life and nature. As the smoke and light from the ritual cleared she gazed towards her master while taking note of her environment with her peripheral vision. A rudimentary summoning circle drawn with blood, a rather unnecessary and likely painful experience. The fact that her master could maintain her existence relatively well indicated that he was not lacking in potential, but the minutiae of the ritual itself determined that her master was likely inexperienced. None of this mattered to her of course, as she could compensate fairly well with both her own power and enhancing her master's power. Now then, to discern her master's nature. She focused her gaze on her master now, staring straight at his face with a steady and confident stare that exuded a neutral tone. One that neither produced cold guardedness nor one that was filled with inviting warmth. Her oriental dress fluttered as the winds from the summoning died down, and with a voice crystal clear that poured forth mellifluously like a stream, she asked, "I ask, are you the master that has summoned me?" Automatic words required to seal the contract between master and servant. It was entirely possible for her to snatch away her masters life at this very moment to become a lone existence not bound to anyone, but such a cruel decision was contrary to her nature both morally and pragmatically. Pragmatially, the decision would end her existence as she would have no method of sustaining herself in the world without prana, but she did have a way to overcome such an impediment. However, morally, she did not once consider the thought of murdering her master at this moment to consolidate an unrestrained presence in this war. Though often known as willful, independent and even cruel by a few, she was no hatred driven figure filled with past predispositions of ill intent.

Alright I'll just be waiting for those master posts.

Woah so its starting today? Hype indeed.

That's just fine, I'll be around to help for any TMoon mechanics and stuff if you guys need.

Yeah I guess .

Also are you guys banning any types of magecraft? I know all five true magics will be banned for sure, but I was wondering if you guys were banning fairy witchcraft. Basically it's magecraft that recreates fairy tale creatures, environments, items etc. into the physical world. The magecraft itself isn't too powerful per say unless your at the level of Alice Kuonji from Mahoyo, but the main problem is that fairy tale creatures cannot be killed by any means other than what is in the fairy tale itself. E.G. Gingerbread man literally cannot be destroyed in any way except by things in the respective fairy tale such as the oven he was baked from. Even if Saber used Excalibur on said gingerbread man, it would do nothing.