[Altair Brando]
For a few seconds, I simply couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. My situation at that moment was, at the very least, surreal.
How was this possible?
Even after rubbing my eyes over and over, the sight didn't fade: an entire city engulfed in flames.
It was a completely apocalyptic scene of ruins and blazing fires that dominated my entire field of vision.
Contemplating the flames devouring the metropolis, only a single word escaped my lips:
"Fuyuki!"
Even buried under flames and ruin, it was unmistakably the city from Fate/stay night.
Although my knowledge about this franchise that turned historical legends into beautiful heroines was limited, I would still recognize this burning city with my eyes closed.
Before I could finish the thought, my head began to throb. Biting my lip, I raised my hand and massaged my temple. It was as if someone was prying open my skull and carving knowledge into my mind.
This won't make me any dumber, will it?
My body convulsed in spasms, forcing me to hug myself in pain.
Strangely, the memories of a certain monkey king who had defied the heavens in the name of his freedom began to intertwine with mine.
This is serious…
A pained smile formed on my lips as my eyes fell upon a shard of broken mirror beside me. I saw my eyeball being tinted gold while my pupils elongated, splitting into incandescent cracks.
Hypnotized by my own golden eyes and crimson pupils, I felt the pain dissipating as if it had never existed.
Perspiring, I parted my lips and murmured: "This is me..." I raised my hand and passed it over my eyes, which now possessed a golden coloration resembling liquid gold, while my pupils glowed red, marked by concentric crimson rings.
Observing my reflection in disbelief, I moved my hand, running my fingers through my long, soft black hair, with a few strands falling over my face. Upon my head rested a diadem in the form of a white metal ring that simulated a crown.
Looking at my reflection and touching the diadem, a name escaped my lips:
"Sun Wukong..."
I had reincarnated as the Monkey King — the very same one from the classic novel "Journey to the West."
My eyes fell back on my hands. I opened and closed my fingers slowly.
His existence was so intertwined with mine that I could even visualize his memories, although they were only fragments.
Among these fragments, I managed to grasp the memory of an insubordinate monarch to the heavens who faced the celestial army in the name of his freedom, and was persecuted for refusing the title of Buddha.
Sketching a slight smile, I let myself drop backward, falling to the ground.
It was something comically cosmic that a failed arts student like me had reincarnated into the body of a monkey god who had achieved enlightenment, becoming the Victorious Fighting Buddha.
Meanwhile, I was nothing more than the son of a prostitute who was almost aborted and possessed a slight personality disorder. I wasn't special, except for having a little sister with psychological instability…
Discarding some unpleasant thoughts, I simply rose from the ground, letting out a light sigh.
Why are all theater students melodramatic?
Sketching a slight smile, I stood up completely.
There was no use dwelling on the past... neither mine nor the monkey king's.
Although technically I was him, I was still myself, just with some fragments of his memory and traces of his personality.
I guess I should thank some existences for this body.
Taking a deep breath, I moved my hand, adjusting the black jacket with golden details over a white shirt. There was also, on the back of the jacket, the engraving of a golden dragon.
As they say, clothes make the man, however wild he may seem.
Massaging my neck, I moved my leg from side to side, getting used to the long black pants covered by yellow fur.
Well... this jacket should be the armor that the Monkey King received from the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea.
How did I know this?
Obviously, I had bits of information etched into my mind.
I raised my hand, poking my temple.
I had knowledge about various things regarding this body, although much of the Monkey King's past was fragmented.
But there's no point in thinking too much about it, is there?
Sketching a dry smile, I closed my hand, pressing my nail against my skin.
Along with that sensation came the realization that I was now a Servant.
At least something close to that.
Servants were heroic or divine spirits summoned for the Holy Grail War.
But if I were a servant, I should possess a Saint Graph.
As if to agree with my thought, a blue screen appeared before me.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Servant Statistics]
Name: Sun Wukong
Title: Great Sage Equal to Heaven, King of Monsters, Monkey King
Class: Berserker
Type: Divine Spirit
Region: China
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Attribute: Heaven
Armament: Ruyi Jingu Bang, Monkey King Robe, Gourd
[Parameters]
▸ Strength: A+
▸ Endurance: A++
▸ Agility: B+
▸ Mana: B
▸ Luck: E-
▸ NP: EX
[Class Skills]
▸ Riding: A++
▸ Mad Enhancement: B
▸ Divinity: B
[Personal Skills]
▸ Great Sage: (Ex)
▸ Hair Clones: (A++)
▸ Mystic Transformation – 72 Forms: (A)
▸ Divine Core (Primal): (B)
▸ Fiery Golden Eyes: (B)
▸ Pseudo-Perfect Immortality: (B-)
▸ Instinct: (C+)
▸ Musical Deafness (D)
[Noble Phantasms]
▸ Ruyi Jingu Bang – The Golden Staff that Supports the Heavens [Locked]
▸ Kinto'un – Cloud that Rides the Heavens [Locked]
▸ Gourd – Gourd Capable of Sealing the Heavens [Locked]
▸ Loop of Binding – Tiara that Imprisons Against the Heavens [Locked]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Before the blue screen, I blinked with my blood-red pupils.
Am I really a servant?
Hmm... but strangely I didn't feel like a servant.
Apparently, my class was Berserker. For a start in a new world, this wasn't bad at all. Especially because, if I'm not mistaken, Berserker was one of the strongest classes in this universe of servants.
Leaving that aside, my status was that of a first-class servant... Why was my luck so low? Was I, by any chance, a damned Lancer?
Although my luck wasn't the best, I hoped at least that the monkey king's luck could balance things out a bit.
Apparently, the stone monkey wasn't exactly the world's luckiest being either.
The strangest thing was this ⟨Musical Deafness⟩ skill. I couldn't believe that my amusia — basically a brain disorder — had become a skill.
This was a bit unbelievable.
But leaving that aside, there was a small doubt: what was this ⟨Great Sage⟩ skill?
Although most of the information about my skills was stored in my mind, this thing could have a manual...
[Answering: I am a skill sealed within the user's soul.]
"Eep!" I let out a light grunt, startled by the voice that suddenly echoed in my mind. I quickly looked around with my face slightly red, praying with all my might that no one was noticing my startled sob.
Wiping away a drop of sweat, I furrowed my brow and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Who..." Even though I had a slight idea that it was the manifestation of my ⟨Great Sage⟩ skill, I still wasn't sure who she really was.
[Hehehe! Sorry for startling you, master.]
I raised my hand, running my finger over the diadem on my head. "You didn't startle me, that was just a performance of a country boy scared by the big city." I sketched a smile, waving my finger from side to side.
[I see...]
The smile on my lips widened even more seeing that she had believed it. These days, tricking the voice inside your own head has become surprisingly easy... Wait, I'm getting off topic.
"Who are you?" I asked again, focusing my goldfish attention span on the voice in my head.
[Very pleased to meet you, master. I am Buer, but you can call me Nahida, if you prefer!]
"Hmm... Nahida..." I murmured, running my fingers over my chin. Wasn't this name from a character in a certain cursed gacha game? A bit surprised, I opened my lips, asking curiously: "Weren't you the goddess of wisdom from Sumeru?" I blinked my eyes curiously.
From my memory, Nahida was the goddess of one of the seven nations, known as the lesser goddess of wisdom.
[Not exactly... my existence, personality, and memories are completely based on her, but even so, I am a skill created to assist you!]
I widened my eyes a bit. How powerful must the existence that summoned me to this world be to be able to create a skill based on the goddess of wisdom from Sumeru?
I massaged my head, thinking that this kind of thing made my two neurons hurt. I think I'll just ignore this for the sake of my mental sanity.
"Cough! Cough!" I let out a cough, calling the attention of the voice in my head. "Pleasure... hmm... I'll call you Nahida. I am... Altair Brando!" I sketched a slight smile.
[A beautiful name, master.]
"Thank you, mademoiselle Nahida." My French wasn't great, but I could at least get by the surface of the language of this country that likes revolution and burning cars in protest.
I think I should thank my Franco-Italian nationality for that.
"By the way, is everything okay with you, Nahida? It doesn't sound very pleasant to be a skill." I moved my head, tilting it to the side.
[Don't worry about me! Actually... it's quite interesting to see the world through your eyes! It's as if I could experience so many new things I would never have seen alone!] Her melodious voice echoed softly in my mind, laden with youthful curiosity.
"Nahida, something is bothering me." I crossed my arms over my chest.
[What, master?]
"This... you don't need to call me master. It seems a bit strange."
[How should I address you?]
I raised my finger, waving it from side to side. "Ufufu! That's simple, mademoiselle Nahida, you can call me however you feel most comfortable."
[Sure... Al.]
Al!?
I wasn't expecting that. It's quite a cute variation of my name.
Sketching a smile, I opened my lips. "Alright, then it's just the two of us on an apocalyptic route, Nahida."
[Seems like a good outing.] Nahida said with an amused tone. [Almost as if we were two little seeds dancing in the wind before finding the perfect soil to bloom!]
"..."
I tilted my head to the side.
I don't think I understand that metaphor.
But leaving the strange metaphor aside, I was well served in this world, with a goddess of wisdom possessing exceptional intelligence, vast knowledge, and strategic insight, serving as a skill.
I couldn't help but sketch a smile. However, my smile was broken the next moment by a scream that echoed through the ruined city.
"I'm not exactly a genius, but that was a scream, right?" I furrowed my brow.
[Absolutely!]
I narrowed my eyes, naturally activating the ⟨Fiery Golden Eyes⟩, which allowed me to see evil, see long distances, detect lies, and track the flow of magical energy.
Upon activating this skill as if it were part of me, I managed to feel my magical energy flowing to my eyes, which glowed in intense shades of gold and red, like a drop of blood mixed with molten gold.
With my vision expanding approximately six hundred meters, I managed to see a white-haired girl running, pursued by a horde of armed skeletons.
"I guess this makes for a good introduction to the first act." I moved my hand, adjusting the Monkey King Robe on my body, sketching a slight smile.
The protagonist always arrives at the last second on stage, doesn't he?
I bent my knees and jumped with explosive force, cracking the ground beneath me and launching myself toward the white-haired girl.
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A / N: It took a little longer than I expected, but I finally managed to post the new version of my fanfiction. For those who have read the first one, just a small note: this new version will be quite different.
Don't forget to throw power stones and leave a review or drop a comment to motivate me.