11-Dimensional Chess Piece, a fate/stay night fanfic

Tutorial

Many are under the false impression that Gaia and Alaya hate each-other: one for the other ruthlessly destroying the environment and thus its power-source; the other for the former trying to erase its power-source, Humanity, in kind. What many also are misinformed about is that Gaia is the 'Will of the Planet Earth': if this had been true, Gaia would have manifested as a TYPE and erased Humanity long ago; and Alaya is often mistaken as the 'Will of Humanity' when in truth the 'Will of Mortals' would be more, though not entirely, accurate.

If one were to give them truly accurate titles: Gaia would be 'The Akashic Manifestation of Nature and Order' (making all beings ruled by instincts its domain), and Alaya would be 'The Akashic Manifestation of Evolution and Chaos' (making all free-thinking beings normally capable of reproduction its domain). They are often thought to be existences limited to their single universe, but in actuality they exist simultaneously across all of time and space in the entirety of the Kaleidoscopic Multiverse. They have been, are, and will always be… and as with any being that knows and have experienced 'everything' they often find themselves bored.

They often cursed their progenitor Akasha (The Akashic Manifestation of Endings and Existence) for cursing them with such emotions, but Akasha knew that they had to have them in order to efficiently handle their domains.

As a result of this boredom, Gaia and Alaya decided to play a rather pointless game of '11-Dimensional Chess' as some humans would call it, in order to nudge their counterpart into the domain of Death (The Akashic Manifestation of Beginnings and Nonexistence) by having their 'pieces' battle each other across the multiverse, gaining pieces by 1) Coaxing them into the Throne of Heroes (Gaia) or the Counter Force (Alaya), 2) Surrendering a universe to the opponent to obtain a 'Monopoly' on a single individual and all their alternates across the multiverse (monopolies can be gained for other things as well using this method), 3) Capturing the opponent's piece in their respective 'armory' (Throne of Heroes and Counter Force) and either converting it to their side, or trading it for a mere chance to obtain one of the alternates of said opponent's 'monopoly' pieces (on the conditions that the captured piece had some significance to the core existence of said monopoly piece, and that one also gambles a single 'use' of their own monopoly; be they pieces or otherwise).

Alaya has been very successful with obtaining powerful pieces' monopolies, most notably being Arturia Pendragon and Shirou Emiya. Gaia had managed a master-stroke in reply and could not help but laugh when the 'Land of Steel' was lost to Alaya as well soon after Gaia surrendered it in exchange for a monopoly of Gilgamesh.

Gaia also traded a captured minor piece of Alaya's (Kiritsugu Emiya) in exchange for a chance for Shirou Emiya; manifesting in Counter Guardian EMIYA being summoned during the 5th Holy Grail War. This worked brilliantly as EMIYA's presence managed to convince many his younger alternates not to follow in his path. Unfortunately it worked TOO well and these versions of Shirou Emiya kept falling just short of reaching the Throne of Heroes. Gaia was not fond of Alaya's smug grin at that as she was forced to hand over an Archery-focused alternate of Hercules.

This brings us to the present (figuratively speaking) where Gaia has just captured a Magical Girl variant of Illyasviel von Einzbern that merged with a copy of Counter Guardian EMIYA. Gaia is taking the form of a 8-Months Pregnant Dryad with a Wolf's Head, Snake's Forked Tongue, Unicorn's Horn, Stag's Antlers, Mantis Shrimp's Eyes, Gorilla's Paws, Goat's Hind Legs and Hooves, Dragonfly's Wings, and a Dragon's Tail; and Alaya is in the form of an ever-shifting amalgamation of every person of every sapient species in the multiverse.

"You want to trade her for what…?" Alaya asked, amused and annoyed simultaneously.

"Another chance at Shirou Emiya." Gaia replied curtly and with little emotion.

"Gaia… you do realize neither of us have ever attempted to steal the same piece twice, right? You failed, so let me keep my favourite in peace." Alaya sighed, even more annoyed and amused.

"Shirou Emiya has far too much potential to not have at least one in my armory." The manifestation of nature replied in the same tone as before.

"… Very well. What monopoly do you bet in exchange, and in what circumstances will the theft be attempted?" was the reply in a slightly exasperated tone.

"The monopoly will be the Gamer Ability I am ever fond of after stealing it out from under your nose; and the circumstances are that I will grant the ability to a single alternate of Shirou Emiya upon his survival of the 5th Holy Grail War's fire, and we will both offer him a single perk of our own design at the end of his 'tutorial'. These perks must be effectively equal to each-other, yet emphasise different advantages. He will choose the perk he likes best, and the one who made that specific perk will get him as well as the ability to micromanage his Gamer Ability to our individual tastes in how it should work." Gaia explained with no emotion showing on its face, but with a tone of goading challenge to the few existences that could tell the minute difference.

Alaya was very annoyed when it found out that Gaia had been listening to Alaya's future rantings and had heard of the 'Gamer Ability' idea that Gaia had taken a monopoly of, causing Gaia to do exactly that before the Manifestation of Order realized what a wonderfully chaotic and powerful ability it was (as proven with its test-run with one Han Jee-Han). This had caused Alaya to vow not to talk about any of its ideas out loud until after it had gotten monopoly over them… after it had finished ranting over losing the potential of such an ability. After all, if an idea is claimed as a monopoly in this realm outside of time, it was always a monopoly since before the beginning of time; and as such cannot be stolen even by viewing the future in this place where the concept of 'future' does not truly exist.

Confused yet? Good, that means that you are not all-powerful and all-knowing; and thus are not likely to start hoarding 'pieces' yourself to stave off boredom.

Needless to say, this deal was struck very fast (theoretically), and one instance of Shirou Emiya was going to become stupidly powerful very fast in this grand game of bored aspects of reality.

oOxOo

The first thing he saw upon waking up was a blue box hovering in his vision. The second thing he saw was that he was in a bed in a pure white room with strange beeping equipment around him. Lastly he noticed it was Night, not that such a thing had any meaning to him at this point.

He turned back to the blue box and read it, not realizing that such a thing being in his vision was not normal.

Congratulations, you have been chosen to receive the Gamer Ability. This ability allows one to treat Life as though it were a Game, with all the Pros and Cons of doing so. Reality itself will twist, bend, and rewrite itself (to an extent) to accommodate this ability. Do you understand so far?

( Yes / No )

The boy thought he got the gist, so he pressed the Yes button.

First and foremost to explain to you are Levels. Levels are a way of telling the general (but not absolute) strength of yourself and/or others. A level 11 being is stronger than a level 10 being, but a level 10 being can still defeat a level 50 being under the right circumstances. One levels up by obtaining Experience (EXP). You are currently Level 1.

( Next )

The button was pushed.

Stats are the next thing to explain. Stats are a being's base ability given quantified form. The average being has 10 (F) in all stats. As you can logically guess, a stat of 20 is twice as powerful as a stat of 10. One's stats correlate to the average of one's age, gender, race, species, and other determining factors; not the average of all beings period. If you were to have 20 STR, then you would be twice as strong as the average of others with the exact same determining factors as you; however, if you arm-wrestle someone with the exact same stats and determining factors, but you are 8 years old, whilst they are 13: you would lose due to the age difference making their averages to go up. When viewing the stats of others, their stats will be in relation to your averages. Stats can be increased through repeated actions involving their use (the lower the stat, the easier it is to increase), or by allocating stat points gained by levelling. The different types of stats are as follows:

Strength (STR): Affects one's ability to lift and carry weight, one's ability to cause physical damage, and the size of one's muscles. Muscles will be bulkier and slow one down the more STR one has, and as such balancing this stat with AGL is recommended; as doing so will cause muscles to become denser rather than bulkier. Extremely High (EX) amounts of STR (1000+) can allow one to cause minor tremors through the earth by hitting the ground, shockwaves through the air by punching, or lift and throw entire buses.

Dexterity (DEX): Affects one's reflexes, one's finesse, one's stealth, one's accuracy and precision in actions, one's hand-eye coordination, and one's control over their own body. EX amounts of DEX can allow one to shoot the wings off a fly with an arrow from 100 paces without killing it, be unnoticed whilst right in front of someone's face, numb injured areas of the body, control one's metabolism, slow one's heartbeat to a death-like state, and even allow one to keep their blood pumping without a heart at all for a few minutes if need be.

Constitution (CON): Affects one's Health Points (HP), one's endurance, one's fortitude, and one's toughness. EX amounts of CON can allow one to have weapons fail to damage them through sheer toughness of skin, or to lose limbs and barely even notice beyond acknowledging a flesh wound.

Agility (AGL): Affects one's speed of movement, one's ability to perceive time, and one's litheness of body-shape. Balancing this stat with STR is recommended; as doing so will cause muscles to become denser rather than bulkier. EX amounts of AGL can allow one to run at speeds faster than sound, and perceive time at a 1/100 ratio.

Intelligence (INT): Affects one's memory, one's speed of thought, and one's control in casting spells. EX amounts of INT can allow one to have an Eidetic Memory, to think at 1/100 the speed of talking, and to cast magecraft without the need for structured spells.

Wisdom (WIS): Affects one's understanding of knowledge, one's strategic thought, one's creativity, the quality of one's Magic Circuits, and the quantity of one's Od. Od is the magic energy within living beings, and when mixed with the magic energy in the surrounding area (Mana) at a 1:1 ratio; the energy needed to cast spells (Prana) is created. Prana will be calculated as MP. EX amounts of WIS can allow one to be able to plan 100 steps ahead of an average being.

Charisma (CHA): Affects one's force of will, one's interactions with others, one's confidence, and the strength of one's spells. EX amounts of CHA can allow one to say absolute nonsense and have average beings believe it to be absolute truth without question.

Luck (LUK): This is a unique stat, in that increasing it is both good and bad. The higher your LUK, the more extreme your good and bad luck will increase; whereas low amounts of LUK will keep one's good and bad luck more mild. Some like to think Fortune Favours the Bold, whilst others prefer to make their own luck and keep their natural luck mild. LUK affects Loot drop rates, likelihood of finding one's self in 'interesting' situations, and generally how 'extreme' one's life will be.

At each new rank for stats that you reach (starting at E), you will gain a single perk relating to that stat. Ranks are as follows: 10 (F), 100 (E), 200 (D), 300 (C), 400 (B), 500 (A), 1000 (EX). A + sign after a rank designates being 100 above the aforementioned rank; A++ for example would be 700. A - sign after a rank designates being 50 below the aforementioned rank; B- for example would be 350. No signs are used on the EX rank, as anything above 1000 are EX.

( Next )

The boy was having some difficulty wracking his brain over that deluge of information, but again feels that he got the gist of it and hit 'Next'.

It is now time to determine your stats. You have 3 choices on how to go about this:

1) You could have your current natural stats be quantified and used as your starting stats.

2) You could have 80 stat points to distribute amongst your stats as you see fit (with a minimum of 3 in each stat).

3) You could take a gamble, and be given 8 randomized numbers between 3 and 18, and place one of those numbers as each of your stats.

( 1 / 2 / 3 )

The boy felt a lot of pressure with this choice, but remembering that lower stats are easier to increase and as such wouldn't be crippling; he made his choice.

(A/N: I physically rolled 3 different 6-sided dice to get each of these numbers)

The randomized numbers you have been given are the following:

How would you like to allocate these stats?

The boy cursed his luck, over half were abysmal, 2 were barely above average, and 1 was decent… ah well, he would have to make do.

You have chosen to allocate your stats as the following:

STR: 5

DEX: 7

CON: 6

AGL: 5

INT: 11

WIS: 14

CHA: 11

LUK: 5

Are you sure? You cannot change this choice once it had been made.

( Yes / No )

The boy hit yes, after having allocated his stats by which he thought would be easiest to build up through repeated action. What he wasn't expecting was to actually feel himself getting weaker after pressing the button, it was not a pleasant feeling.

Next, skills will be explained. Skills are Active and/or Passive abilities that you have at your disposal. Skills can be learned from teachers, skill books, repeated actions, or quest rewards. Passive Skills are always active, whilst Active skills must be consciously activated. Skills level (LV) up with use and become more powerful. There are 3 classifications of skills: Basic (B), Advanced (A), Exotic (EX). Exotic skills are usually one-of-a-kind skills that can only be gained under completely unique circumstances. You currently have 2 skills:

Gamer's Mind (Passive, EX, LV: MAX): Allows one to always think and act in a detached and logical manner, as though you were merely a player controlling a character in a game.

Gamer's Body (Passive, EX, LV: MAX): Allows one to interact with reality as though they were a character in a game.

( Next )

The boy thought that one was rather straight-forward, and went on to the next one.

Titles are next on the list. Titles are more or less what the name implies, with some differences. One's titles will instantly be known by any being one comes in contact with that is in tune with their instincts. Many, but not all, titles will also grant minor bonuses and/or demerits to various aspects of one's life; from stat bonuses, to skill demerits, to bonuses to damage against a certain class of enemy, to demerits against relations with a certain species. Titles are gained as quest rewards, and by completing significant actions. You currently have no titles.

( Next )

The boy hit the button.

Now are the Perks. Perks are permanent positive traits that give major bonuses to various aspects of one's life. Some perks give demerits to things incompatible with the perk in question. You currently have 4 Perks:

Incarnation of : In having both an Origin and an Element of , you are a living . Grants a 100%EXP bonus for all actions involving , a 75%MP cost decrease for all spells involving , a 50%MP cost decrease for all spells involving and a 200%MP cost increase for all spells not involving or .

Mental Corruption: Your mind has become distorted, and as such you perceive the world in a way unlike any other. Allows for the development of a , and allows for particularly innovative and 'out of the box' ideas. Makes you more likely to not follow Common Sense.

Natural Magic Circuits (Inactive): You have been born with 27 magic circuits within you. Upon activation, these circuits allow one to access their Od, and from there access the Prana needed to cast spells. These circuits are currently at F quality, and only allow 1 Od per circuit to flow through them.

Child of █████ ██████: In a desperate last-minute attempt to gain a body, █████ ██████ failed and instead made you. 9900%EXP increase for actions taken to start the ██████████, E Rank Divinity gained whilst taking actions to start the ██████████.

( Next )

The boy wondered what was up with all the censoring of his perk's descriptions, but hit next immediately anyway.

Drawbacks are the opposite of perks, being permanent negative traits that give major demerits to various aspects of one's life. Some drawbacks give bonuses to some things, but this is rare. You do not currently have any drawbacks.

( Next )

The boy was happy to read that as he moved on.

Status Effects are similar to both perks and drawbacks in that they give bonuses and/or demerits to various aspects one's life. The difference, however, is that status effects can get stronger, weaker, and/or disappear altogether depending on the circumstances. You currently have 3 status effects:

Weak Body: You are physically weak in every aspect. 50%EXP decrease to improving physical stats.

Survivor's Guilt: In surviving where others did not, you feel the need to help and save others no matter what; even at the cost of your own health and wellbeing. Vastly decreased sense of self-worth, vastly more likely to perform potentially suicidal actions to help others, and vastly more likely to ignore advice concerning your own wellbeing.

██████, ███ ███████████ ██████ (Passive, Inactive): You carry within you the legendary Scabbard of █████████ , and have had your Origin and Element changed to accommodate it. Gain 1% HP regen per second.

( Next )

The boy's happiness at the lack of drawbacks vanished. His earlier gamble really had not paid off, and then this 'game' was insulting him to his face! 'It's not wrong to want to help people!' he thought, not realizing that there's normally a limit to how much one being would try to 'help'.

Now for the Inventory. This is a sub-dimensional space where you can hold any non-sentient material things, such as loot (items obtained by defeating enemies, performing special actions, or completing quests). At your current level you have 8 inventory slots; and each slot can hold a single item, or up to 64 copies of a single item stacked in a single slot. At level 10 your inventory will increase to 16 slots, then 32 slots at level 25, and then finally 64 slots at level 50. You can also equip items such as weapons and armour directly from your inventory.

( Next )

'Incredibly useful' the boy thought, before moving on.

Reputation is how an individual being, or a group, thinks of you. Reputation can be changed by taking certain actions, being affiliated with certain beings or groups, or as the result of quests. Reputations go from: Hated, Disliked, Neutral, Liked, and then Exalted. A being must consider you Liked or Exalted before you can pursue a romantic relationship with them. Your current reputations are:

█████████ █████: Neutral (999 / 1000)

█████ ██████: Neutral (0 / 1000)

He wondered who these 2 are, but shrugged it off and moved on.

Lastly to explain are Quests. Quests are missions you can choose to take on, and you will obtain various rewards for completing them; from loot, to skills, to EXP, to titles, to many other things. Quests are split into 2 categories: Main and Side. Main Quests must be taken, and often will have negative effects if failed. Side Quests are optional, but rarely will have negative effects if failed.

( Next )

'So it's a good idea to go on many quests' the boy decided before once more moving on.

There are countless more aspects of the Gamer Ability that could be explained, but it is generally accepted that those should be discovered by the 'Gamers' themselves. Congratulations, you have completed the tutorial, you now get to choose one of 2 free perks. Choose wisely, as once chosen this choice can never be taken back, for better or for worse.

'That's not foreboding at all…' he thought and moved on to read the perks themselves.

1) Prodigal Mastery: You have an uncanny talent for mastering advanced skills, allowing you to master them far faster than many others are capable of. 400%EXP increase to leveling advanced skills. Unlocks title.

2) Master of Hard Work: You keep working hard at things others think of as useless, and as such master them beyond what any have seen before. Increases the Max Level of basic skills to 200, allowing you to master them beyond that of what any others are capable of. Unlocks title.

( 1 / 2 )

The boy could see the significant merits of both, and thought long and hard about his choice. In the end, he selected the perk that would help more in the long-term. Upon selecting his choice, he could now see the censored titles: Prodigal Mastery came with the title 'Champion of Alaya' (Gives a 900% reputation increase with other Champions of Alaya, a 400% reputation increase with Followers of Alaya, and a 900% reputation decrease with Champions of Gaia), and Master of Hard Work came with the title 'Champion of Gaia' (Gives a 900% reputation increase with other Champions of Gaia, a 400% reputation increase with Followers of Gaia, and a 900% reputation decrease with Champions of Alaya). The boy did not know who Alaya and Gaia are, but he felt an almost alien smugness flow through him as he made his choice.

Congratulations, in choosing this perk, you have chosen your patron for the rest of your existence. This patron now has control over the functionality of your Gamer Ability. You have made a wise choice, take 1 WIS.

You have gained 1 WIS.

( Next )

'… I suppose that explains the smugness I felt…' the boy thought.

Your character sheet is now complete. To see this sheet, you need only say or think the word "Status" with intent. All aspects of the Gamer Ability can be control through thought in this way.

( Close )

The boy closed it, and immediately started thinking the word 'Status'. He did so several times and nothing happened. Getting frustrated, he tried once more; willing it to work.

Name: Shirou (Age: 7)

Alignment: Neutral Good

Titles: Champion of Gaia (Gives a 900% reputation increase with other Champions of Gaia, a 400% reputation increase with Followers of Gaia, and a 900% reputation decrease with Champions of Alaya)

Level: 1 (0 / 500EXP to Next Level)

HP: 60 / 60 (0.6 HP Regen/s)

MP: 0 / 54

Stats:

STR: 5 (F)

DEX: 7 (F)

CON: 6 (F)

AGL: 5 (F)

INT: 11 (F)

WIS: 15 (F)

CHA: 11 (F)

LUK: 5 (F)

Perks:

Natural Magic Circuits (Inactive): You have been born with 27 magic circuits in your body. Upon activation, these circuits allow one to access their Od, and from there access the Prana needed to cast spells. These circuits are currently at F quality, and only allow 1 Od per circuit to flow through them.

Drawbacks:

N/A

Status Effects:

Weak Body: You are physically weak in every aspect. 50%EXP decrease to improving physical stats.

Survivor's Guilt: In surviving where other did not, you feel the need to help and save others no matter what; even at the cost of your own health and wellbeing. Vastly decreased sense of self-worth, vastly more likely to perform potentially suicidal actions to help others, and vastly more likely to ignore advice concerning your own wellbeing.

Skills:

Gamer's Mind (Passive, EX, LV: MAX): Allows one to always think and act in a detached and logical manner, as though you were merely a player controlling a character in a game.

Gamer's Body (Passive, EX, LV: MAX): Allows one to interact with reality as though they were a character in a game.

Reputation:

█████████ █████: Neutral (999 / 1000)

█████ ██████: Neutral (0 / 1000)

Gaia: Liked (0 / 2500)

Champions of Gaia: Liked (0 / 2500)

Followers of Gaia: Liked (0 / 2500)

Alaya: Disliked (0 / 2500)

Champions of Alaya: Disliked (0 / 2500)

Followers of Alaya: Neutral (500 / 1000)

'So… my name's Shirou then?' the newly-named boy thought to himself, only now noticing that the sun has started to come up, and there are footsteps coming closer to his door.

Author's Notes: Hey guys, it's been a while since I've written… anything really… my motivation's a bitch and my muse ran off with her. I've wanted to write a Gamer fic for a while now as they seemed fun, and I'm a major fan of the Nasuverse… and this site needs more gamer Shirou; so here it is! Here's hoping that actually writing something will help kickstart my motivation for writing. I've also got a job now, so that's another thing to delay chapters… ugh…

For fans of Promises of Hearth and Home: it is absolutely NOT abandoned, and I've actually written some of chapter 2; but I've hit a writer's block on how to have the Olympians react without being completely Out of Character.

And lastly, for those wondering what Shirou's stats would have been like if he quantified his natural stats:

STR: 11 (F)

DEX: 13 (F)

CON: 14 (F)

AGL: 8 (F)

INT: 9 (F)

WIS: 6 (F)

CHA: 10 (F)

LUK: 666 (A+)

And no, that's not a typo.

Hoping to spew more chapters in your general direction shortly, Nihatclodra.

Edit (June 18th, 2017): Fixed issues with censoring of one of the perks disappearing for no reason.