Perhaps events would run smoothly this time, and maybe her wish could finally be granted. These were the thoughts that swum through the minds of the servant that would be known as Caster as the aspect of her being that was recorded in the Throne of Heroes was emulated and fit into the class container most suited for mages. As the grail bestowed upon Caster necessary knowledge of the modern world and the basic workings of the grail war ritual, Caster immediately felt apprehension in regards to the capacity of this ritual. Even though the amount of prana harnessed from this ritual would surely be massive, would it truly be enough to displace her true existence that was nestled outside of the very throne itself? Regardless, there was no downside in participating and trying, and Caster was never one to dwell on trifling subtleties. Her goal was clear: slaughter the other servants and obtain the holy grail. Quite a simple one, and Caster felt from her well deserved pride confidence that she would not strain against but the most splendid of heroes. It was quite the thrilling anticipation to have the opportunity to test the steel of heroes from all ranges of culture and land, and Caster, though she was well versed in the manners of heroes and could be said to have become all too accustomed to greatness, could not turn down the thrilling rush of combat where both mind and body were pushed. She also possessed a distinct pride that lent her towards expressing the fruits of her training with great confidence, and what better stage to perform than on a platform designated for a clash between the cusps of human accomplishment? [hider][img]http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx115/Xenon44/51870047-98d9-4619-afc7-e12ee4744f84_zpstoguncfy.jpg[/img][/hider] As her form materialized in a shower of grainy bistre energy to produce the image of an imposing woman with mellow red hair, crimson colored eyes and a form garbed in a flowing black robe that obscured all of her body aside from her neck and face, Caster immediately perceived the atmosphere around her room was not one in orderly conditions for summoning. There were six other summoning circles, and already there was another servant summoned. As soon as her crimson red eyes locked onto the form of this little girl, Caster immediately tensed her body instinctively, her hands balling into fists as she realized she had no weapon to wield under the Caster class. Would it be prudent to strike down all those in this room immediately? Certainly Caster had the means to do so, discounting that the knight classes did not possess magic resistance of sufficient rank. Even so, the masters around her that were enfeebled in some way would not emerge unscathed, while Caster was rather confident that her trump card would allow her to emerge unharmed. But then again, there was the problem of her own master, who would be caught in the fray. And also such means were not exactly the most appealing to Caster, who desired atleast some sort of battle from this gathering of heroes. Her fate had been sealed long ago, and despite harboring regrets about how it concluded, she did not possess an anguish ardent enough to compel her to seek the grail by any means to alter her fate. The past was finished, but the present was ripe with novelties as Caster would think. Then what she would have to be aware of would be an assault by other servants. Of course, Caster thought with a complete confidence that probably would be thought of as conceit by others that she would be able to hold her own regardless of any situation. However, she was not one to let her mind be clouded by hubris, though her judgement could become skewed in that regard. She still had to consider the burden called her master, and of course, form a contract with him in order to sustain her existence. Imperceptibly sighing at the inconvenience, Caster faced her master behind her and walked up close to him, eyeing his worth. His bearing indicated that he was not one completely devoted to the path of magecraft, so it was reasonable to assume his expertise was either shallow or completely specialized in one or two fields. A quick visual run through of his physique indicated a trained form that had experienced combat, but not one that was particularly exceptional to the point of being beyond human scope in that regard. A well rounded combatant, and satisfactory to Caster as long as his mindset was competent. Towering over Darryl at slightly over two hundred centimeters in height, Caster invoked the line that would seal their master and servant contract. "Are you the one who has summoned me?" __________ Tharana was hard at work preparing the necessary tools to proceed upon her assignment. The exact location of the Ashen Mandrake was not known to her, but enough investigation should elucidate this predicament. Her current workshop was in a dilapidated cottage in the outskirts of Idalia which had housed a natural bounded field that repelled the average person from desiring to tread around the area about the cottage. Nobody had dwelled in this residence, and it had appeared abandoned for quite some time. With the help of a few of her companions, Therana had renovated the cottage to a bare minimum to function as a living place and working area. In the meanwhile, she was hard at work preparing specialized familiars for patrolling. One of her companions had already captured over twenty songbirds, and utilizing her family magecraft Therana had implanted remnants of human personalities leftover by the recently deceased into the birds, brainwashing them into being familiars under her control but at the same time completely inconspicuous. She had already released around five of these birds to patrol her immediate area, but more would be needed to form an active scouting force. She would play an idle and dormant role in this war as she distinctly understood that she would not be able to stand against a servant in direct combat. It would be best to silently eliminate the Executioner without the interference of the masters he had kidnapped. In exchange, Therana herself was a completely unknown presence for now.