Fate/Zero: A Different Path

Chapter 15

"Ït is, yes, but-" The protest died on my lips

Before I knew it, she had taken a grasp of my hand, grasping it in a gentle, yet firm hold

"Then please take some more rest. It is imperative that you regain your full strength before continuing with the war"

"I'm the Master in this relationship" I quipped, and sighed exasperatedly "Beside, I've slept plenty. To delay things more would just be procrastination. Efficiency is a crucial thing to victory, you know?"

"And so is patience" The knight pointed out, squeezing my hand "You've prepared this much for the war. Doing anymore might just lead to you exhausting yourself for the upcoming fights, so just use this chance to rest"

Another sigh escaped my lips

Of course. She's right. Rushing things is never a good strategy when it coms a large-scale war like this. Considering I've just summoned her, it would be best to plan things out first

"Then we'll spend the day resting. I suppose the war can be left for tomorrow"

"..."

"..."

"You can let go of my hand now"

"Oops" Artoria released her hold on my right hand with her A+ Strength 

"Apologies, Master. I was simply entranced by the shape of your...Command Seals"

"Is that so?"

Replied I while lightly shook my hand from pain.

I chose to ignore the odd feeling on her concerning behavior, ultimately chalking it up to something people in her time often do as per their custom.

My head turned around to check for anything that I might have missed

"Though I say today's off, we won't spend the day entirely lazing around" I turned around and adressed her seriously

"I am aware" Saber smiled, crossing her arm "We still have plans to discuss and strategies to mull over. That's what I was about to suggest, actually"

"Excellent"

I pulled a chair for myself and seated across from the blonde swordswoman. She sat down facing me

"To start with, there's a fault with your summoning that disable you from going into Astral form" I started "Yesterday, I realized there's another inconvenience in keeping you in your Grand Servant mode"

A finger raised

"For one, it costs too much Mana. Even if I have 100 times the normal Magus's worth of Magical energy, I won't be able to keep you on for the entire duration of the war"

Another one raised

"For two, it seems as though your handling of increased Parameters are not the best. You tend to overexert yourself in certain activities, which may further deprive me of my Mana"

The third one raised

"Lastly, your overabundance of energy will make other participants of the war focused on you"

That's why I have chosen to take out El-Melloi, Velvet, and Uryuu out first due to their troublesome presence

"Any Master worth their salt would see through your true stats easily. The enemy Servants, while unquipped to do so, can also glimpse at them with Clairvoyance or alternate means of ability gauging. If they encounter you in a fight there's a chance you'll be targeted by multiple of them and lose in the process"