The three fully minted Masters, led by Mash in her Demi-Servant form and followed by Keziah, all went to the Simulator, where Saber and Archer had already seemed to be waiting for them, the two of them seeming to have finished a conversation as they arrived, with a sizable distance between the two sides.
"Welcome. You all listened to what I said. I've no intent to make small talk, so let me get to the point: I brought you all here to train for the upcoming battles ahead, and as such, I've got a proposition for you: Archer, Alter Ego, and Shielder, all up against me, to gain some semblance of experience. Understood?"
Ritsuka and Rika both took up her challenge, each with a shockingly confident smile on their faces. "You're on!" "Let's get this started!"
Irenaeus looked at them and shrugged, "Sure, whatever." Meanwhile, Keziah was studying him intensely, seemingly trying to gauge if there was anything more to what he had said, seeming somewhat… bored by his barely committal response.
"Very well then. Let's set an appropriate battleground for this fight."
Immediately afterwards, the scenery changed to that of a dense forest, the very same one that had been the site of their fateful first fight, marking the beginning of their new journey. But alas, everyone knew it was a facsimile of the actual location, yet still, the Fujimarus and Keziah couldn't help but gawk, while Irenaeus raised an eyebrow, the spectacle seeming unnerving to even him.
Archer moved over to the side of the other two Servants and the Masters, assuming a fighting stance, two blades in his hands. Keziah and Mash followed suit, their own positions seeming not as rigid, betraying the fact that they had only fought one single fight prior.
Saber, for her part, assumed her own fighting stance, which in contrast, while hardened, was relatively softer than theirs
Irenaeus grimaced, while the other two nodded resolutely.
The whole scene resembled something akin to a Mexican standoff, one side tensed up and overeager to attack, and the other side calm, collected, and calculated. Upon hearing Saber say "Now!" The scene immediately shifted from tense standoff and became a massive blur, with Saber immediately on the offensive, leaving very little time to react on the Masters' side.
In a blur, Irenaeus had Keziah descend upon Saber, the Alter Ego's own fists parried by the dark metal of her blade, and her own body pushed away by the sheer overwhelming Mana of her sparring partner, sending her flying midair
Ritsuka, galvanized by the show of tenacity from Keziah, decided to capitalize on the distraction she was making, focusing his mind on Archer in an attempt to speak to him.
"Archer, can you provide supporting fire?"
Archer, switched out his blades for a black bow and a sword with a business end that resembled a corkscrew than any sort of regular sword, and cocked it in the bow. Keziah, seeing what he was planning, immediately moved out the way; Archer immediately firing after she had done so. Unfortunately for them, the sword was parried in mid-air by Saber's own, and swatted away as she made her way towards Keziah, only for Mash to step up, and try to defend her, the two clumsily but earnestly trying to work in sync with one another once more. Mash's shield would frequently be blocked by Saber's Excalibur, while Keziah's fists, and fleeting speed would still be ineffective to do anything, the both of them actually seeming to get her to budge.
'Keziah, try letting Mash land some hits instead. The worst comes to worse, I can heal you up.' Irenaeus tried to persuade Keziah, trying to see if Shielder would make a difference
'Very well then.' Keziah looked at Mash and nodded, "Let me take this from here." And used her fist to knock her shield away from Saber's blade, and immediately used both her palms to grasp a vertical swing from her, whilst Mash smashed her shield on the side of Saber's head.
'Archer, now!' Ritsuka "said", taking advantage of her distraction, with Archer repeating the same trick with the conjured blade and this time actually landing the shot, an explosion immediately following afterwards. But even after that, Saber seemed only amused and not truly worse for wear. Meanwhile, Keziah and Mash were somewhat exhausted, and Irenaeus was tapping his foot at the whole spectacle, but was intently focused on Saber while holding his hand to his chin, Rika was grinning like a buffoon at the sight of the fighting, while Ritsuka just stared, he too in deep contemplation.
"Impressive. You're actually getting better." Saber remarked.
Ritsuka had been attempting to see if Mash could exploit another weak spot, so that he could use the Enhancement function of the Mystic Code and deliver a decisive strike. Keziah attempted to attack from behind and it seemed as if she could distract Saber for long enough… Until Saber took out the two of them in one fell swoop as well as managing to deflect Archer's projectiles. As the fight seemed to progress, it seemed obvious that Saber, without even trying to do so, would win by sheer attrition. Archer gave the three a knowing look.
'Keziah, let's use the thing.' Irenaeus declared to Keziah
'Are you certain?'
'Completely. Let's try it!'
'... Fine then.' She seemingly sighed while "saying" that. "Noble Phantasm, limited activation."
Upon the declaration, Keziah rushed off to Archer, an arm stretched and a finger pointed outwards. Mash, in an attempt to help her stall, tackled Saber with her shield, buying Keziah just enough time to finish the job.
Archer smirked and chuckled, "You didn't have to tell me twice. Hey, Shielder, you might wanna move." At that, Mash leapt back as Archer summoned 2 swords, and threw them, and then summoned another 2 and did the same thing and conjured up yet another pair and then as if in the blink of an eye, all 3 pairs of blades seemed to be back in Archer's hands as he struck down Saber in a decisive strike.
"Hmph. Not bad. I will give the victory to you lot then." Saber said, raising her hands up in the air.
Ritsuka and Rika both high fived each other, while Irenaeus slowly and shakily rose and stood to the side, taking the whole intensity of the fight all in, when Archer took him aside to speak to him, a look of concern on his face as Irenaeus started to try and hobble out of the simulator
"You okay there? I get that this might be new to you and all, but you're taking this worse than they are."
Irenaeus looked at him and faked a smile "I'm fine. Actually, this is less painful than the last time I ever fought, haha…"
"Just be more mindful. You can't afford to be nearly collapsing on the battlefield; it puts you and everyone else at risk."
"Understood, I'll try to be more mindful of that." Irenaeus nodded, but the whole time, both of them didn't actually fully believe in his reassurance, while Keziah stood off to the side, a vaguely guilty look on her face.