Fate/Apocrypha

Chapter 1.5

"Thank you, Fiore. Be assured that, as your Servant, I will not bring shame upon the name of Chiron."

"..."

Fiore became silent, appearing somewhat perplexed, and looked at Archer's face.

"Are you troubled?"

"Oh, no. You really are Chiron, aren't you? I know that you are, but..."

"Hard to believe, is it?"

Said Archer without ever losing his smile. Fiore gave a small nod.

"As it would. By my nature, I ought not to have been summoned in the form of man."

Chiron - a sage among the Centaurs, and teacher of many a great hero beginning from Heracles.

Half man and half horse, Chiron was born of Cronus, patron of the harvest and the earth, and the deity Philyra, thus being an entirely divine spirit. However, after being hit by an arrow treated with Hydra poison, he abandoned his own immortality in order to be released from the agony. It was then that he lost his complete divinity along with his immortality, and became an existence that could be summoned by the Grail.

Of course, there would have been no problem with being summoned as a Servant in his Centaur form...

"...however, one will be able to guess at my true name by my appearance alone. I hope you are not taken aback."

To anyone who saw the form of Chiron, the Centaurs would immediately come to mind - narrowing it down to the more famous heroes, his would be the first name to appear, all the more given the bow in his hand. After all, Chiron is the Heroic Spirit who became the model for Sagittarius, the Archer in the sky.

As such, when Chiron was summoned, he took the form of a human. This costed him a lowering of rank for some of his parameters, but would not particularly affect his skill with a bow.

"Yes, of course. I understand."

Flustered, Fiore nodded. It is true that, aside from his somewhat archaic style of dress, he looked only to be a gentle man, with nothing to reveal his identity as the great sage Chiron.

However, now that she was talking with him directly, it took all the strength Fiore had not to be overwhelmed by the air Archer exuded. His presence is like that of a massive forest, its cool and clear air engulfing her miniscule existence...

"But it is all too simple to ask for your faith and trust. I am Servant Archer; watch for my bow on the field. There you will find proof that I am suited to be your Servant."

"Yes... I'm expecting great things, Archer."

Fiore dipped her head, looking embarrassed, and left the chamber with Archer.

"We're leaving too, Berserker. Go into spirit form, okay?"

"...aaah.... uuuuh....."

With a moan of something close to agreement, Berserker turned into specks and vanished.

Caules wiped the sweat off himself and sighed with relief. It had apparently been quite consuming for him. Truly, all the gifts of the Forvedge family had gone to his sister instead.

Unfortunately, while Caules himself possesses poor aptitude for being a Master, the Berserker he summoned - the man-made creature, Frankenstein - is a relatively new mystery, such that even with her parameters raised through Mad Enhancement, nothing about her particularly stands out. Then again, her true worth lies in a unique, innate skill of hers.

To be frank, Darnic simply does not expect much from Caules or Berserker. To begin with, the Berserker class does not accept any order once combat begins. It is their fate to rage about on the battlefield in their madness, and eventually fall. With good use of the Command Spells, she should be able to bring massive destruction to the field, making it possible to strike at several of the enemy's captains in the confusion. He simply needed to watch carefully for the right time.