Fate: Holy Grail

[3rd POV]

The young man has died, but his soul, carrying the remnants of his will, lingers in the present world.

He relied on his indomitable spirit and lingered in this world by virtue of his will... all he desires is to live.

However, his memories begin to fade from his birth, past experiences... even how he died.

He wishes to grasp his last sense of existence but cannot hold onto it either... he has nearly forgotten everything!

Without a physical body to anchor him, the soul of the deceased began to decay, and his spirit started to dissipate. 

At this moment, the young man suddenly heard a strange voice. 

[Do you... want to live?]

The voice is neither distinctly male nor female, deep and heavy. 

He couldn't determine whether it was the voice of an old person or a child and could barely understand the meaning of the words.

"Of course!" 

The decisive and forceful response only highlighted the young man's helplessness.

He now has no choice, and his desire to survive began to strike deep within his soul, pushing all unrelated thoughts aside.

Only those who have truly stepped into hell understand how terrifying death can be. 

The feeling of watching one's will dissipate bit by bit, yet being powerless to do anything is too terrifying!

"I want to live..."

Right now, he can only trust the deep murmur in his mind.

[Very well. You need a little help.]

With these words, the young man's soul began to solidify, and his will started to gradually recover. 

[There is a price to pay to live because there is no free lunch in this world.]

"Then... what is the price?"

He asked nervously. He didn't even dare ask the other's name for fear that it might disappear, causing him to lose hope of living.

[Participate in a sweet game.]

The voice seems to be laughing. 

[No matter what you do, as long as you achieve the final victory, you can be resurrected.]

"I agree." 

He responded without hesitation.

[Remember, in this game, countless people will try to kill you, try to stop you from living. If you encounter them, show no mercy and raise your butcher's knife.]

"Why?!" 

The young man felt his heart pounding, but he knew he had no heart now, just a soul.

[You don't need to question; just answer. Tell me, can you do it?] 

The voice sounds quite interested, completely unconcerned about the time wasted.

"I can!" 

He shouted with all his strength.

"Very well... then come and participate in the Holy Grail War."

The Holy Grail War?

The memories that had been dissipating suddenly surge back with this familiar word. 

He knew the Holy Grail War very well, but he was just an ordinary young man. 

How can he participate in the Holy Grail ritual—a feast that only heroic spirits can attend?

"I can't do it..." 

He answered very honestly. He knew that let alone confronting heroic spirits, he didn't even have a chance against magicians.

"You need just a little help, like this..."

As soon as the voice finished speaking, the world before him suddenly changed color. 

He found that the space around him had turned dim and dark, with no vision, no sound, and no sensation... It felt as though he was submerged in nothingness.

"Start customizing your attributes, 'Hero'."

In this pure black world, a screen suddenly appeared. 

It seemed to be projected directly into his mind. He could clearly see the options even in the void of darkness...

Strength: E

Endurance: E

Agility: E

Magical Power: E

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: None

Skills: None

There was no doubt that these were the attributes of an ordinary person. 

Only the most ordinary individuals would have such low base attributes, after all, these attributes are used to describe legendary heroes. 

However, the young man was nothing more than a mere mortal who hadn't gotten into the world yet.

[These are the attribute points granted to you...]

Six attribute points suddenly appeared, just like adding points in a game. Then, he quickly understood what this meant.

After looking at his attributes, he didn't hesitate and focused his attention on Luck. There was only one really annoying attribute, and that was Luck at E. 

"Increase Luck by one level." 

He wasn't sure how to use it, and tried speaking, and his Luck immediately changed from E to D. In that instant, he understood what he needed to do.

The six attribute points had now turned into five. He didn't have much choice. He was familiar with the Holy Grail War and knew the purpose of these basic attributes.

The young man's most urgent desire was to survive in the Holy Grail War, and power was the first to be ruled out.

Without agility and endurance, strength was useless.

Moreover, he didn't have enough attribute points to upgrade every attribute to a level where he could compete with other heroic spirits. 

He could only choose to max out one attribute.

The only best options were agility and mana, but he couldn't use magic, which meant that agility was the only choice.

At the very least... he could run if he couldn't fight back.

Agility meant speed, and speed meant explosive power and killing potential. 

He understood this and made his decision.

"Increase Agility by one level."

He decided and continuously upgraded his agility until he consumed four attribute points. 

In an instant, he realized he had failed when he chose to give the last attribute point to agility.

[Your attributes are insufficient. You need three attribute points to raise Agility to A+.]

There were six attribute points, but five had already been used, leaving only one remaining.

Moreover, in order to break through the A-level limit and reach A+ or higher, it required three times the number of attribute points.

Since he didn't have enough, he began to carefully consider how to use his last remaining attribute point.

The young man's goal was to win the Holy Grail War, and he needed to be capable of killing heroic spirits to do that. 

With such low power, even with enhanced speed from agility, he wouldn't be able to pose a threat to heroic spirits. 

Therefore, he said, "Increase Strength by one level."

With his last attribute point, he raised his strength to D. At this point, all of his attribute points had been allocated.

[Remember, you will earn an additional attribute point each time you kill a servant.]

[Now, the moment of luck has arrived. You will receive a random Noble Phantasm and a random skill.]

He first chose the Noble Phantasm as it was the most anticipated item. 

The combat power of heroic spirits was largely attributed to their Noble Phantasms. 

If he could obtain a top-tier Noble Phantasm, like the Holy Sword, the path to holding the Holy Grail would be much smoother.

"You have obtained a B-rank Noble Phantasm — For Someone's Glory: Not For One's Own Glory."

The young man's memory of this Noble Phantasm was very vague. He could barely recall that it was a disguise-type Noble Phantasm belonging to the Knight of the Lake, Lancelot.

This servant had lost his sanity due to the madness condition. He could only use this Noble Phantasm to conceal their identity and attribute values in this frenzied state.

"This Noble Phantasm isn't that great." 

Sighing at his bad luck, he placed his hopes on the skill.

"You have obtained an A-rank skill — Mind's Eye (Fake)."

This was a high-level version of the Mind's Eye. 

He vaguely remembered that it wasn't a particularly useful skill. However, at least with his high agility, it would give him some ability to resist when facing a heroic spirit.

[Remember, if you survive a Holy Grail War, you will gain an additional skill or Noble Phantasm.]

"Survive?" 

He knew that the Holy Grail War was always a fight to the death. He either lived to claim the Holy Grail or died and vanished back to the Hall of Heroes. 

[When you successfully kill a servant, you will receive an entry ticket for the next Holy Grail War. If you fail to achieve any results, you will be lost forever.]

He understood but was still skeptical. 

In short, he could still join in the next Holy Grail War as long as he killed one servant.

[Based on the disguise feature of the Noble Phantasm you acquired, you have gained adaptability to the Assassin class.]

Strength: D

Endurance: E

Agility: A

Magic: E

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: B

Skills: A

[Alright, the game has begun.]

With the rise and fall of the voice, he held his breath in anticipation.

[You have been summoned as an Assassin class servant by Kirei Kotomine. You have acquired the B-rank skill Presence Concealment as part of your class, and as a result, your agility has increased by one level. Additionally, due to your Master's qualifications, your mana has increased by one level.]

Agility: A → A+

Mana: E → D

[Goodluck.] 

To be continued...