Besides Arturia, there were several others that he had transported into his in-game residence before the developers of YGGDRASIL would close down the game. They were the other NPC's he had created and programmed using the memories of their personalities stored within their weapons.
It was a capability of his that stemmed from the very nature of his magecraft, Tracing. Not only could it recreate any weapon he had ever seen and store it within the separate space of his inner world, but it recorded the history of the weapon's wielder.
Hardships and happiness, struggles and ambitions, he understood everything.
Which was why, he alone was the most suited to creating the NPC's of the heroes whose honours and glories were fully known to him.
He stared at Arturia for a moment longer and then sighed before prompting her and the rest of the NPC's behind her to follow him down the hall.
He had created the other NPC's in fits of nostalgia and purpose.
The bosses of Camelot for example included the Knights of the Round Table created on behalf of the memories he had shared with Arturia in her rule as the King of Britain. Even if it was only a game, he wanted to recreate the glory of the memory Arturia had of the Holy City of Camelot and her faithful Knights.
It was just that he didn't expect that players would assume that she was a dungeon boss and begin attacking. Then again it was his fault for tampering with YGGDRASIL's settings and giving Arturia boss-level parameters to allow for certain stylistic designs.
Expectedly, he couldn't bear watching her die by other players and intervened by maxing out her stats and equipment; going as far as to replicate certain effects of World-Class Items and tacking them on to her designed equipment.
Inadvertently, he had created new World-Class Items which many players would then understand on a more personal level due to the number of times they were probably killed by it.
Holy Sword Excalibur became one such hated item.
Gae Bolg more so for undead players attempting to clear the Land of Shadows.
He smiled wryly at those memories, Arturia's example used when he made the other dungeons and bosses in tribute for other famous heroes. Being a participant of the Holy Grail War really did influence him, as he saw first hand the motivations of past beings of great respect.
He couldn't help attempting to recreate them, for his dream itself was to become a Hero like them.
An Ally of Justice.
For it was in this dream that he could find the will to keep walking forward, to one day meet her again when his duties were fulfilled.
Yet his journey was too lonely, too painful that even those around him could feel his sorrow. It was why a colleague of his during an assignment suggested YGGDRASIL to take his mind off of things.
At first, he wasn't exactly too interested, but when YGGDRASIL first launched and Zeltrech had given him a Dive-Device, he didn't really have much of a choice. It was just that he became addicted from the moment he had discovered YGGDRASIL's customization system, and the fact that in the virtual world, he could see her image again at any time.
He hadn't stopped playing since.
And now it was all coming to an end.
This was why he had brought together all the NPC's he had ever created to his in-game base, a mausoleum made of hard granite and orichalcum, a common ore found in YGGDRASIL. The interior of the mausoleum had a wide space with an alter set at the middle which he used to rest on while staring at the NPC's he had dedicated days of time and effort to create.
On the stroke of midnight, he would be forcibly logged off as YGGDRASIL officially shut down. It was just that until then, he had decided to spend every moment he had left to stare at the faces of those he would never be able to see again.
There was only five minutes left.
And from then it became two, then one.
His eyes closed as he gradually waited for the familiar sensation of logging off in game, yet it never occurred. Instead, his brows knit together in agitation when he felt of wave of energy surround him and the environment.
Magic?
His eyes immediately shot open, trying to assess what exactly had occurred. He wasn't originally a gamer, but a magus who walked alongside death. Therefore, he was highly sensitive to magic as he was known for another name in the Magi community, the Second Magus Killer.
He couldn't count how many times he had been actively hunted by other magi hired by prominent families, but it was enough to develop a sixth sense.
Something big had occurred, and he was inadvertantyl involved in it.
His gaze scanned the surroundings, and that was when he first realized that he hadn't been logged out of YGGDRASIL.
Everything was still the same.
He felt confused on the matter but was certain that something did occur.
It was then that he noticed.
All of the eyes staring at him, facial expressions no longer set in flat data pixels.
His breath hitched, his mind going blank. Even in YGGDRASIL it was unheard of for players or NPC's to have any type of facial expressions. It was simply because facial expressions and artificial intelligence were not supported due to a lack of technology. Then how was it possible for the NPC's in front of him to stare at him with such fervour.
No, it didn't matter.
What did was that his attention was fully concentrated on the woman in front of him.
A woman with refined features and eyes the colour of the deepest teal.
Her lips parted, her mouth saying the words he had not known in years as his body trembled.
The words once spoken to him before.
The line he had once included in her settings.
Arturia stared at him in the face.
Her expression revealing her earnesty for an answer she already knew yet would ask anyway.
"I ask of you, are you my master?"