~Shinji Matou POV~
When I regained consciousness, I noticed that I was outside of the mirror world. I also noticed that I felt completely refreshed and full of energy.
Sitting up off the bench I was lying on, I looked around and saw that Miyu, Rin, and Luvia were looking over Illya, who was lying on another bench.
"Master Shinji!" Kunzite said as he floated up to me.
"Hey Kunzite, did everything go smoothly?"
"Yes, Master Shinji. The Saber class servant has been defeated, and the class card has been retrieved along with the Caster class card."
"That's good," I said while releasing a sigh of relief.
"Matou-san! You're okay!" Miyu yelled as she ran up to me with concern in her eyes.
"Ah, there's no need to be all concerned, Miyu. I'm completely fine."
"Yes, I want to ask about that, Matou-san. We followed Kunzite's instructions and gave you that bean, and you healed completely without a single scar in a matter of seconds, despite the severity of your wounds. So what I want to ask you is, What was that?" Rin asked with crossed arms.
"Damnit Kunzite, while I appreciate the sentiment, please don't reveal my trump cards to people I don't completely trust."
"Sorry, Master Shinji, but I don't have fingers, so I couldn't grab it for you."
"It's fine; just be more careful next time." I sighed before turning to Rin. "Since you already saw it, it's called a senzu bean, and as you have seen, it heals whoever eats it, as well as recovering their energy and filling your stomach enough to be full for ten days."
"How did you acquire something like that? I've never even heard of something like that before!! Luvia asked in shock.
"Because they don't know it even exists. And you won't be telling them either, or else." I said it with a glare as I stood up. I wouldn't let these two even think about selling this information to the Mage's Association. They would abuse that thing to hell and back, and I didn't want to even think about helping those mages. It sent a shiver down my spine.
"And you're going to stop us?" Rin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Please, I can take you both out in an instant without either of you even being able to fight back." A grenade from point blank would take you both out in an instant, Rin, and if you don't even know it's there, you'll be dead.
"Rin-san, Matou-san, please stop," Miyu said while coming between us.
"Fine, just as long as she doesn't do anything stupid, I won't do anything either," I said with a huff. "Anyway, if there isn't anything else, then I'm heading out," I said while walking away.
"Wait, Matou-san, what was that transformation you did during your fight? And Illya did the same thing to take down that servant." Luvia asked, stepping around Rin, to look me in the eye.
"It's the true use of the class card; that's all you need to know for now," I said before walking away. "Oh yeah, right here." I said while tossing a bag to Luvia, "Use those to contact me if you need me."
[***]
"Miyu, what are you wearing?" I asked Miyu, who was wearing a maid's uniform, while trying to hold my laughter in.
"No! Not you too, Matou-san!" Miyu said it with a blush on her face.
"Anyway, what are you doing here? Are you not going to rest today?"
"Um, well, Luvia-san was having me clean up her mansion when Illyasviel called me through Sapphire. Then she asked me to come over."
"Well, then you're in luck, Miyu. I was about to head over to Illya's place as well," I said as I walked up to Illya's home and knocked on the door.
After waiting several seconds, the door was opened by Sella, I believe, since her eyes were focused and she was as rigid as a board.
"Hello, ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you," I said with a smile before bowing. "Sorry for coming over unannounced; we were friends of Illya."
Sella blinked in confusion before bowing as well. "It's a pleasure to meet the young miss's friends. Please come in."
"Thank you," I said while walking inside, taking my shoes off as I did so, followed by Miyu.
"Any Miyu, go on ahead. I want to ask the lady here something before I head up and see Illya."
"Um, okay," Miyu said while heading up the stairs after asking Sella where Illya's room was.
"So what did you want to talk about, young man?"
"My name is Shinji, Shinji Matou, and–" going down to my hands and knees before performing a dogeza. "I would like you to train me in both magecraft and martial arts." The fight yesterday showed that I was way out of my depth, as I was barely able to win against a mindless, weakened servant, and as time goes on, I'm going to have to fight people with the intelligence to back up their skill. So I'm going to need to get stronger.
I had no idea how Sella would react to this request, but I had to at least try to learn something.
"Right now we're doing something really dangerous, and I need every advantage I can get. I'm not a genius like Illya and Miyu, so I need to take advantage of everything I can."
"...So you're the one who forced her seal open yesterday."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I knew I wasn't strong enough to deal with the enemy we were facing, so I forced her hand since she would have a better chance at defeating the enemy than me."
We were both silent after that. I had no idea what she was thinking as I kept my head planted on the ground and I couldn't even see her face.
"You will tell me everything that is happening, and then I'll decide what I will do," Sella said with a huff.
"Alright, then I'll tell you what has been happening in the city then," I said before sitting up and explaining what had been happening.
"So that's what happened, huh. What was the young miss thinking, getting involved in something like this?"
"Well, she seems to think it's a game. And while I could say something to her, if she doesn't go through anything, she'll continue to think this is a game. Which I don't want, but it's needed."
"Yes, that sounds like the young miss," Sella said with a sigh before looking at me with tired red eyes. "But back to your question, Matou-san, if this training can help you help the young miss, then I'll start training you in two days."
"Thank you, Sella-san," I said with a smile before standing up and heading toward the stairs. "Now I'm going to go check on Illya."
I followed Sella's instructions and opened Illya's door, deadpanning at what I saw. "I swear this world is one giant hentai plot." On the bed was Miyu being bent over by Illya, who was behind her.
"Ah! I'm sorry, Miyu-san; something just came over me." Illya said while backing away from Miyu.
"It's fine, Illyasviel. After all, I knew you had no ill intent."
"Also, are you okay, Shinji? You left before I woke up, so I didn't know if you were okay." Illya said with concern.
"I'm fine Illya is just a little sore, but I'll be fine by tonight," I said with a laugh. "Well, it seems you're fine now, Illya, so I'll head out and see you guys tonight," I said while waving goodbye and leaving as fast as possible before I got pulled into the legal situation that was in that bedroom.
[***]
It was now nighttime, and I alongside the girls were preparing to go into the second-to-last mirror world.
"Okay, just saying this now before we go in, it could either be Berserker or Assassin, so be prepared for an ambush if a Berserker doesn't come charging at us."
"If it's an Assassin, these woods won't do us any favors," Rin said with a sigh. "Illya, be prepared.
"A-alright, Rin-san," Illya said before taking a deep breath.
Once she had finished me, Miyu and Illya activated the mirror road spell, bringing us into the mirror world.
Damn, I can't sense anything, so Assassin it is then. Using Kunzite, I raised the physical barrier to max output while preparing for an ambush.
"Mmm… this is a little dull. Let's act more like magical girls by reducing this entire area to an A-rank magical blast!" Ruby said with excitement that scared me at what that little thing could and would do.
But I ignored Ruby in favor of narrowing my eyes to see the black blurs going between the trees.
"Dammit, we're already there!" Before I could continue, something flew at me from the treeline, and I had to stop talking and deal with the object in question with a bastardized version of the mana burst I copied off of Saber, but instead of using pure magical energy, I used my water element to create a barrier of water. The barrier easily dealt with the dirk thrown my way.
Once the barrier had dropped, I released a crest wave of water that sliced through the trees, revealing the dozen of Assassins. So it's taken the form of Hundred Personas; good that things are still following canon.
*Boom*
Looking out of the corner of my eye, I saw Miyu had released her own beam that decimated a part of the forest as well. Damnit, even when I gave the warning, Illya still got hit. I guess it's just a stall game until her seal breaks again.
Jumping back I was now back to back with the others'. "Be careful, there's more than one!"
"Damnit, and I can't even sense them. And they're even aiming for our vitals!" Rin said while pulling out some gems from her pocket. "Don't let your guard down! One mistake and you're dead!"
Looking at Illya, I saw that her expression was that of fear, which was to be expected given her age. While I would like to reassure her now, this would help her grow as a person to see that this isn't some game but a life-or-death situation.
Damn, these are some pretty bad assassins. I thought mirthfully as I stared at the army of assassins that surrounded us in a matter of seconds.
"Break through their formation! If we stay here, we'll become mere targets! Come on, Illya, Miyu, and Matou! Focus your power on one point!" Luvia yelled as she dashed alongside me, Rin, and Miyu.
But in any other situation, I would have been paying attention to the enemy in front of me. I was more focused on Illya, whose magical energy levels were steadily rising.
In less than a second, almost half the assassins threw their dirks at Illya. Of course, I wasn't just leaving it up to chance, as if those disks got too close and it seemed her seal wouldn't break, the wires from Cross Tail were already set up ready to defend her.
It happened in an instant as her magical energy exploded out and the sounds of chains snapping filled my ears.
Quickly, I turned around and activated Kunzite's magical barrier to its maximum output, activated my reinforcement to its maximum, activated my mana burst (water), and finally made another barrier of water in front of me before Illya went off blinding me.
My body, despite having all my defensive measures up, still felt the stinging pain all over it. After a couple of seconds, my vision was restored, and I was able to see the giant crater that Illya created that killed all the assassins. Looking off to the side, I saw that Miyu was able to defend herself along with Rin and Luvia with only superficial wounds.
Looking down at Illya, she had a look of horror on her face as she stared at us. She seemed to say something before using Ruby to leave the mirror world. The others tried to talk to her, but she didn't listen and just left.
With a sigh, I went down to the crater and picked up the assassin class card. "Rin, you should go see Illya tomorrow once she calms down." Without waiting for her response, I activated the mirror road spell. "And remember, Rin, she's a normal girl that you brought into this world, so treat her as such."
[***]
"So this is the assassin class card," I said while standing in front of my home. I had already bound it to myself; it was just finding out who I was most compatible with. Unlike the other class cards, which had a set heroic spirit, the assassin card was like the Fuyuki Grail system, with the name Hassan acting as a catalyst for the summoning, giving the user the power of the Hassan they are most compatible with.
"Install!" The circle matrix wrapped around me, changing my form. Once the transformation was done, I was now wearing a black robe and a black veil that covered the lower half of my face. "Holy moly crap, I hit the jackpot!" I said in excitement as I mentally went through the abilities I had, the one standing out the most being Zabaniya: Phantasmal Pedigree. "With this, I have an even better chance of killing Darius before he becomes a problem."