Ritsuka slept soundly that night, perhaps from sheer exhaustion, so deeply she couldn't recall if she dreamed.
Opening her eyes, she washed up briefly and left her room, heading to the cafeteria. To her surprise, it was bustling with people.
"Didn't they say we took a huge hit and were critically short-staffed? Why does it look like there's plenty of people?" Ritsuka muttered, puzzled.
"Senpai!" A voice called. Turning, she saw Mash holding food: bread, ham, lettuce, and milk... simple but nutritious.
Ritsuka grabbed a similar meal and joined Mash at an empty table. Curious, she asked, "How many people are usually at Chaldea? It looks crowded, but weren't most injured, leaving us short-handed?"
Mash replied eagerly, "Senpai, you didn't know? These people were discharged yesterday. They rested overnight and started work today."
Ritsuka's eyes widened. "We weren't in the Singularity that long, right? How'd they recover so fast? Weren't their injuries severe?"
Mash beamed. "It was Morpheus-senpai! He used some special magecraft... no, magic. It instantly healed everyone in the medical bay. Witnesses said it didn't even look like magecraft, more like True Magic."
Ritsuka grew more curious about Morpheus's abilities. "True Magic? Isn't there a big gap between magecraft and True Magic? I thought no one could use True Magic anymore... just magecraft."
"That's true, but Morpheus-senpai said he uses True Magic. It seems real now, and his magic feels… unique, though I can't pinpoint why."
"You feel it's unique but can't explain it?"
"Right. My intuition says his techniques are special, but I don't know enough about magecraft to understand why."
"I see…" Ritsuka nodded, recalling Morpheus's words. "He asked if I wanted to train with him to boost my strength and even enhance a Servant's power. I'm thinking about it."
"That's a rare opportunity! His knowledge is probably unknown to most. Learning it would be valuable, but…"
"But what?"
"You don't have a Magic Crest, and Morpheus-senpai likely won't share his. You might not learn the core stuff," Mash said regretfully, then smiled. "But more knowledge is always great!"
"Who says my magic needs a Magic Crest?" Morpheus's voice startled them. He appeared beside them, holding a breakfast tray and sitting next to Mash.
Ritsuka and Mash glanced at his plate... ham, bread, lettuce, roughly double their portions, but only one glass of milk.
Clearly, Morpheus's appetite dwarfed theirs.
"Your magecraft... er, magic... doesn't need a Crest?" Mash asked.
"Nope. Crests are just tools to simplify casting. Before Crests existed, how did people cast? They didn't just stop," Morpheus said, dipping a finger in his milk and writing a number on the table.
"Look. What's this?"
"6?" Ritsuka and Mash said, confused.
The number 6, written in milk, was unremarkable. They didn't get his point.
"Exactly, just a 6. Now look again... see what's changed."
Puzzled, they looked back.
Their eyes widened. The number glowed crimson, surrounded by intense fire elements!
A simple number, drawn in milk, triggered magic?!
Without any mana-infused tools?!
"How is this possible?!" Mash gasped, glancing around. No one else noticed... likely a barrier blocked their perception.
Ritsuka was equally stunned. "Is magic really this powerful? It's like the magic in novels!"
Mash whispered, "Senpai, it's not that simple. Normally, mana can't be used so casually, but Morpheus-senpai, how…"
"Astrology magic. 6 represents the Sun, tied to Michael and fire elements. By writing it, I activated my internal mana," Morpheus explained, smiling.
"No external mana needed... just internal changes that affect the outside. The 6 is part of a simplified ritual, perfect for beginners."
"Beginners?!" Mash found it absurd. If this was beginner-level, what was advanced?
Even Cú Chulainn, casting runes, showed clear mana fluctuations and consumption!
But until the magic took effect, she felt no mana from Morpheus, as if the fiery glow appeared from nowhere.
"Yep, beginners. Experts can cast with gestures or chants alone, instantly triggering internal mana," Morpheus grinned. "A skilled magus can use every subtle movement... each finger, a fist, footsteps, even step distance... as a casting trigger."
He sighed. "Sadly, I'm not that skilled yet."
Ritsuka nodded, not fully understanding. Mash resisted rolling her eyes. Not skilled? He could overpower Servants!
If this wasn't skilled, what was?
"Maybe if I hit you with a world's weight, you summon the four archangels to counter it, then I counter your world-burning flames, all instantly. That's skilled," Morpheus mused, stroking his chin.
Mash gasped. "Senpai, can you read minds?!"
"Nope."
"But... "
"I just sensed you think I'm impressive, so I explained," Morpheus laughed.
Mash, skeptical, asked, "A world's weight?"
"Yeah, like the entire universe's mass crushing someone."
"And the four archangels can counter that?"
"Yep. Each archangel roughly equals the material world," Morpheus said earnestly.
Ritsuka was thrilled, but Mash felt her knowledge... and common sense... crumbling.
They were fighting to save Earth from apocalypse, yet Morpheus claimed to know beings who could summon four universe-level archangels!
Ritsuka asked, "If I summoned the four archangels, could I save Human Order?"
Morpheus smiled, tapping her head, prompting an "Ouch!"
"Why'd you hit me?!"
"To teach you not to summon such things!" Morpheus said. "The archangels' true forms are infinite, matching an infinite material world. Summoning them fully would burst the universe."
"But you said…" Ritsuka pouted, then paused, recalling his words. "You meant archangels equal an infinitely expanding universe?"
"Exactly."
"But the universe isn't infinite... it's finite?"
"Highly likely. From all I've learned, that's the truth. The universe is finite and will eventually end," Morpheus said, raising an eyebrow.
"Here's a secret. Know Greek mythology?"
They nodded.
"Greek gods?"
They nodded again. Knowing Morpheus's time in ancient Greece, they expected a big revelation.
"A big secret: Greek gods aren't like Earth's others. They're outsiders."
"Outsiders?!" Mash and Ritsuka gasped.
"Yep, from space... not even this universe. Their universe was dying, so Chaos travel across dimension here, sending a fleet to explore Earth."
"Each ship had its own AI and name. The flagships? Cronus and Zeus."
Ritsuka and Mash gaped, speechless, stunned by the bombshell.
Ritsuka finally blurted, "The Greek gods are aliens?! No, advanced AI lifeforms... mechanical civilization!"
Mash, recovering, asked, "But myths show them as humanoid. How could they be ships?"
"Easy!" Ritsuka answered before Morpheus. "With advanced tech, creating human-like bodies is simple... cloning, holograms, nanoclusters, or light-matter conversion. Sci-fi novels have that stuff!"
Mash stared at Ritsuka, lost. A sheltered magus from Chaldea, she knew little of sci-fi.
"Something like that," Morpheus said. "They mingled with humans, protected them, gained divinity, and became Earth's gods. A catastrophe destroyed their ship-bodies, leaving them like natural gods."
The two loved his tale, but breakfast ended, and work called.
At the Rayshift chamber, Olga Marie shouted from the control room, "We're counting on you!"
"No worries," Morpheus gave an OK sign. Ritsuka and Mash nodded, smiling. As they prepared to leave, Olga Marie called out.
"Wait!" Clearing her throat as they looked up, she said, "Thanks for healing everyone."
Morpheus grinned. "No problem. Just didn't want you fading from overwork. You're a ghost now... keep working, no slacking!"
Olga Marie took a deep breath. Morpheus could infuriate her, yet his actions helped her.
Suppressing her anger, she forced a smile. "Get going!"
Chaldea's field team... the trio... set off for the next Singularity!
***
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