Ascension & Ria's Training [2/3]

'Its begun to snow…'

Ryker stared up at the cloud covered sky.

Snow gently began to fall, caressing their bodies while on its flight towards the ground.

After severing the contract, Ria had felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Ryker knew that the burdens she bore were immense and large In number, thus he didn't rush her and the two just shared a passionate, yet meaningful kiss before she settled into his embrace.

Feeling a sense of freedom after so many years of being bound by the chains the world had placed upon her, Ria had deeply imprinted this moment into her mind. She knew though that they couldn't stay like that forever so after a while she reluctantly broke off their embrace.

Giving her a gentle, loving smile, Ryker decided to get down to business.

Seeing the serious look on Ryker's face, Ria too donned a serious expression as she paid close attention to what he was about to say.

"Now that you're no longer bound, and being sustained by the world there are some things you need to be aware of. Firstly, you are bound to me and your existence is directly linked to my own for the time being. This means that, should I die, you two will follow not long after. Though it sounds dangerous, there are very few things which can kill my in this world, but it is always better to be safe then sorry.

In correlation to that though, you technically are immortal. Should you die, you can be brought back almost immediately through me. Know that there are ways around this, so its best to not take any risks.

Lastly, your strength previously had been locked according to the [World]'s standards. Now that you're bound to me, you now no longer are restricted by certain hidden laws and can theoretically increase your strength without limits. Of course, doing so will be hard and will take a lot of hard work but I trust you of all people would know that.

Any questions so far?" Finishing up, Ryker turned his attention back to Ria only to notice a stupefied expression on her face.

Ria had been paying close attention to everything Ryker said, yet the more she listened, the greater the sense of astonishment grew. She felt as if Ryker was talking about someone else rather then her. It wasn't until he finished that she snapped out of her bewilderment and realized that she wasn't the same as she used to be.

This thought caused her to feel slightly scared, but knowing that Ryker did all of this to allow her to live happily caused her fear to diminish greatly. So with a renewed sense of determination, Ria asked any questions she had regarding the process.

The two talked for a while, with Ryker answering any questions she may have had. Once Ria no longer had any worries Ryker decided to move onto the next thing on their agenda.

Now that Ria was no longer bound by the [World]'s contract, they could officially begin their training.

"The first thing I want to cover in your training is something I've mention before, your sword."

Realization dawned on Ria as she thought back to the time Ryker told her that she had been strangling her sword by concealing it. Yet she still couldn't understand why or how such a thing was possible.

Seeing her confused look Ryker smiled softly before speaking, "Mind you when I say 'strangle through concealment' I do not mean your Noble Phantasm; [Invisible Air]. Your [Invisible Air] can be a huge boon during combat and the fact you have been able to take a C-Rank Noble Phantasm so far is a testament to your skills and understanding.

Veiling your sword gives you an edge due to your opponents not being able to see your weapon, but the 'concealment' I spoke of is related to your mentality."

Ria couldn't help but ask, "My mentality?"

Nodding Ryker continued, "Yes, you wield one of the greatest swords history has ever seen, only Ea and Gram can hold a candle to it. Yet you are so focused on keeping it hidden that you fail to realize the pain you cause it. Excalibur is a Divine Construct, the pinnacle and strongest of holy swords. It is one of the ultimate god-forged weapons, a Last Phantasm. It is the crystallization of the wishes of mankind that were stored and tempered within the planet itself. It was born and raised in the inner sea of the planet, allowing it to only exert its true power when an enemy that threatens the planet emerges. A sword of this magnitude is close to gaining sentience and all it needs is one final push."

Speaking until here, Ryker brought out something from his [Heavenly Toybox] before presenting it to Ria.

When she saw what he had held out to her, Ria couldn't stop her eyes from widening as she reached out with shaking hands.

Taking it into her hands, Ria spoke softly to herself, "…Avalon…but…how?" she asked not taking her eyes away from the sheath.

"It was the catalyst used in your summoning. I got it from Kiritsugu the other day in preparation for today. The reason it was kept from you was because Kiritsugu believed it would be more beneficial to hold onto it for emergencies, I managed to convince him that the sheath could only display its true powers in your hands, so he relented and passed it over." Ryker said gently.

Hearing his words Ria felt upset that Avalon was kept from her but she also understood the reasoning behind it. To mortals a relic like Avalon was priceless and if she was given the sheath then it would be once more linked to her. Should she parish during the grail war, Avalon would go with her.

Still she was happy that Ryker had managed to get it for her, causing her to finally peel her eyes away from the sheath and look at her fiancé with loving eyes.

Seeing her look, Ryker smiled gently before continuing, "The reason I gave you Avalon is for two reason, one because it deserves to be with you, and second because it is needed for you to reach your full strength."

Ria knew that now wasn't the time to get lost in sentiments, so she called out Excalibur before sheathing it, in its rightful place. She might have been mistaken but when Excalibur was sheathed in Avalon she could have sworn she heard a noise akin to a cry or joy.

Ryker hearing the cry smiled mysteriously before speaking once more, "As I was saying, you place to much emphasis on hiding your identity that you restrict yourself in multiple ways. Battles between Servants can also be called a process of gradually shaving off the magical energy that forms their bodies. Attacks that consume a great amount of magical energy will inflict a massive amount of damage on the opponent, but it will also weaken the attacker in the process. In order to inflict a great amount of damage with minimum expenditure of magical energy, it is necessary for Servants to collect intelligence regarding the enemy and assault their weakness.

The best way to do this is to discover their True Names as they can reveal certain traits about their abilities, allowing for specific countermeasures. There are many famous heroes that had met untimely deaths in life. Those killed by poison will be more susceptible to it, those shot down by arrows will be weak against them, those with weak spots will be severely disadvantaged if they are targeted, and those with traits like being weak to monster-slayers or dragon-slaying weapons can be specifically damaged in accordance. Thus people believe it is best to hid ones names at all cost.

Things are different for you, however, as one glance at Excalibur is enough for a heroic spirit to identify you as King Arthur. So while it isn't wrong of you to hide your identity, you should instead make strides to improve your weaknesses, that way should your identity be exposed, which it will be, you wont be put in a bad position. In my opinion there is no need for deception as it is not where your strengths lie. Instead use the time we have before the grail war's start to improve yourself."

Ria understood now where he was going with this and why he had said he was 'strangling' her sword by concealing it. What he had meant was, 'why focus so much on hiding when its not my strong suit? I can just become strong enough to the point where I didn't need to fear anything.'

Seeing the realization in her eyes Ryker continued, "So while I'm not saying to 'give up' [Invisible Air], as it can still prove very useful in battle, instead work to improve your sword play and connection with Excalibur so when it needs to be relieved to the world, it shines its brightest light."

"I understand now, but how should I go about improving?" This was the thing which confused Ria the most. She had worked as hard as she could during her life to reach her current strength but she knew Ryker wouldn't bring it up if he didn't have a better way for her to improve.

Chuckling mysteriously to himself, Ryker said only one word. Yet that word was filled with a power unseen, as the laws which governed the world seemed to be set in motion just by its vocalization, "Ascension."

"Ascension?" Ria asked confused. She had no information regarding Ascension's but she had felt something deep inside her stir when she uttered the phrase.

Not making her wait to long, Ryker answered her question. "Ascension is a reform for Servants to become stronger. Once one undergoes Ascension they become closer to their 'starting point of conception', or in other words your most ideal form."

Understanding that he wanted her to experience this 'Ascension' Ria couldn't help but ask, "So, how does one go through with the 'Ascension'?"

"Leave that part to me, for now though hold Excalibur out on front of you parallel to the ground." Once she had done so, Ryker placed one hand on Excalibur, while the other hand was on Ria's forehead. Channeling power from his Akashic Record he began initiating the Ascension ritual.

Soon a golden, holy aura began to emit from Excalibur before spreading across Ria's whole body. Once her entire body was covered by the holy aura, it began to grow in brightness before their surroundings were encased in a 'field' of light.

When the light subsided, Ryker turned his attention to Ria, yet froze as soon as he laid his eyes on her. He couldn't help but be stunned by the changes in Ria even though he had been expecting it.

The woman who stood before him resembled an older version of Ria. Although she still looked as if she was in her late teens, she had a more mature, yet also a vastly more feminine look to her. Her blonde hair had become closer to an off shade of white, while at the same time becoming much longer, to the point where it ended around her mid back, as it was no longer in a bun. She was still wearing similar armor to what she wore before but this one had visible less blue and more white and golds to the fabric while the armor itself was silver. Her green eyes seemed even more pronounced and seemed to glow with power and wisdom.

Ria wasn't the only thing that had changed as Excalibur had as well. Rather then the previous golden glow, the blade now possessed a blue tint to it. The blade, guard and hilt had all grown longer, but narrower. As for its sheath Avalon, it had also reshaped itself to match the blade, while the previous blue bands which decorated the sheath had turned into a lighter shade of blue, resembling the beautiful blue sky.

Noticing Ria had also began to study herself, Ryker asked "How do you feel?"

Finished taking in her new found appearance, Ria turned her attention to Ryker and a beautiful smile donned her face, her smile alone seemed to draw all of the light from the surroundings due to how radiant it was, "I feel great, its as if power is coursing through my entire body. I'm glad my body changed though, I had wanted to look older ever sense I had found out I would stop ageing when I acquired Excalibur."

Releasing a smile himself, Ryker said, "You must have had a strong enough desire to take on a more mature, feminine look. As I said after the Ascension you will take on your ideal form, meaning this currently is your ideal form. Something I'm confused on though is why did your hair change its color and length? It looks great but did you not like your hair or something?"

Ria's smile cracked slightly as her mouth twitched while a deep blush coated her face. In a stuttering voice that was closer to a whisper she spoke, "..I…I…had wa..wanted to look more like Iris…"

"…Pfft"

"D..Don't laugh!!" Ria hollered becoming even more flustered and feeling wronged by his laughing.

Seeing her growing angry Ryker tried to stifle his laughter while saying , "Sorry, sorry, you were just to adorable I couldn't help it."

"Muuu!" Pouted Ria.

Attempting to escape the mad lioness Ryker said, "Alright, lets get back on track. Now that your Ascension is finished we can begin the next phase. Working on your sword technique, while getting used to your new powers."

Ria decided to drop the matter on the outside but inside she was planning how to punish him later. She knew though at the moment they needed to focus on their reason for being out there in the first place.

'Show me what you can do, Excalibur.'

She thought while tightening her grasp on the sword.

As if answering her resolve, Excalibur cried out once more, this time though Ria could hear it clearly as she realize what Ryker said must have been true, and the Ascension may have given her blade that last push it needed.

Sinking her awareness into her blade, she felt it.

A spark.

A tiny, almost negligible spark.

Yet Ria knew, that seemingly insignificant spark.

Represented newfound life.

-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-

(Author's Note: This chapter gave me some serious writer block for some reason and took way longer then it was meant to so i'm sorry it took me so long to post it. I am still working towards making up the chapters i missed, so don't worry I didn't forget. Ria's new form is NOT her lancer form by the way. Imagine an older version of her Saber form with long platinum blonde almost white hair similar to Iris'. (A good example would be Illya as her hair isn't as white as her mother's and has a shade of blonde to it.) I'll try to warp up their training in the next chapter even if it proves to be a long one. Also the next 'chapter' whill be a poll, but it wont be an official chapter. I will try to make sure tomorrows chapter is out at the normal time, know things like yesterday and today are exceptions but most chapters will be out around 11am (EDT). Thanks again for the support and patience.)