Chapter 143 - You Must Become a Qualified Assassin
When the Zen'in family first discovered Zen'in Maki's 'reverse Heavenly Restriction,' the reality was far from their expectations. Even with the precedent of Fushiguro Toji, which made them aware that someone without Cursed Energy could become a figure comparable to a powerful sorcerer, it only gave her a small amount of space for training and survival. The feeling of disdain still persisted.
This is like a warrior with no magical talent suddenly appearing in a noble family famous for magic—acknowledging their strength is one thing, but granting them a certain degree of respect is another.
Sorcerer families are different from the magician families in novels, but the discrimination remains exactly the same. In comparison, the magus families on the other side might even be better.
Often, the older a magus family's tradition, the more prosperous it becomes, and it also possesses a significant financial foundation in normal society. The family tree is sprawling, but the one who can truly inherit the Magic Crest will only be one.
The losers in the line of succession might take fragments to establish a new magus family, or they might become individuals completely subservient to the magus within the original family. As for those blood relatives who were not born with a talent for magecraft, they would be assigned to handle affairs in normal society and might never know of the existence of magi throughout their entire lives. But in every sense, being a person of high standing in normal society is infinitely better than enduring constant scorn in a sorcerer family, right?
Zen'in Maki's tragic childhood was not limited to herself; it also included her sister at Kyoto Jujutsu High, Zen'in Mai. As sisters, one had no sorcerer talent, and the other had pitifully weak sorcerer talent. Both were figures to be despised and rejected in the Zen'in family.
Due to their shared predicament, the two sisters were quite close in their childhood. Little Maki's drive to become stronger also stemmed from a desire to protect her sister. However, as time went by, the two gradually became strangers, until they eventually turned into their current state of mutual hostility.
However, this sibling rivalry often stems from some misunderstanding during childhood.
After the battle during the last exchange event, the sisters' relationship has eased somewhat, but this does not hinder Maki's ideal when she left the Zen'in family—that is to become a strong enough sorcerer, then return to the Zen'in family with dignity, become the head of that place, and finally, completely change this flawed, cold-blooded environment.
Therefore, after Emiya mentioned this possibility, Zen'in Maki immediately became fully motivated and prepared to put forth her utmost effort in the upcoming special training. She had never seen the true form of the complete 'reverse Heavenly Restriction,' but wasn't it enough that Emiya had?
Zen'in Maki's physical attributes, including power and speed, still have a significant gap when compared to Fushiguro Toji.
This gap can still be filled through later training, but it requires ample time.
What Emiya wanted the other party to learn in a short time was naturally not these basic things, but Fushiguro Toji 's combat skills and mindset.
When facing different enemies, one needs to use the advantages of different weapons to win. The current Zen'in Maki does not possess the varied and powerful Special Grade Cursed Tools that Toji once had, but Emiya can solve this problem.
At the same time, she must also learn that ruthlessness and cruelty in combat... Sneaking an attack when the enemy is exhausted is indeed somewhat dishonorable, but the reality is that only those who achieve victory are qualified to define everything.
Furthermore, the opponents are Cursed Spirits who have no bottom line and target ordinary people? Executing such a combat plan is not dishonorable.
"Have you heard of an Assassin?" Emiya suddenly asked. (Shirou said Assassin in English)
There are enough individuals among the Jujutsu High students who can engage in frontal combat. Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, Panda... every one of them is only suited for the front line.
Therefore, Emiya's short-term positioning for Zen'in Maki is to become a crucial character like an Assassin who can decide the outcome with a single strike. After all, no one ever said an Assassin couldn't be fully proficient in close combat instead of just assassination, right?
"Assassin...?" Even if English is part of the daily curriculum at Jujutsu High, is such an obscure word really something an ordinary teacher would mention?
"The word itself was originally coined in the mid-twelfth century, a term used to describe the mythical figure, the Old Man of the Mountain, and his followers, meaning assassin.
Historically, the Hashshashin cult might have truly existed, and they seem to have only lasted for a short period... but that is not the topic we should be discussing."
The reason Emiya is so familiar with this term is actually because there is also a class called Assassin in the Holy Grail War.
Their power is far less terrifying than that of a normal Heroic Spirit. The normal Holy Grail War seems to only summon supporters of the Hashshashin cult, but this does not mean they lack sufficient combat power.
At the very least, as long as they are willing to hide in the shadows and look for opportunities, it is not difficult to ambush and kill truly powerful Servants.
"My point is simply that I want you to train yourself in the direction of an Assassin, which is to pursue extremely high-efficiency one-hit kills in combat.
The most effective way to ensure your safety is not to improve your strength, but to kill the enemy.
Investigating intelligence, gathering information, and waiting for the opportunity... then using the information one has obtained to launch targeted attacks—this is actually the reason why Fushiguro Toji could become the Sorcerer Killer."
They were never sorcerers, nor were they ever respected by sorcerers, so why should they fight in the manner of sorcerers? From the moment he left, or was driven out of the Zen'in family, Fushiguro Toji had already abandoned all his dignity; otherwise, he would not have changed his surname to Fushiguro by marrying into the family.
Without excessive self-respect, he could naturally use any suitable method to kill his target and decisively escape when he deemed the opponent unbeatable, thus perfectly guaranteeing his safety. Although it is unknown why he picked up the self-respect he had abandoned at the last moment of his life, wanting to challenge the sorcerer's Strongest to prove himself... his philosophy was not wrong, and it truly allowed him to achieve the title of the 'Tyrant.'
"Huh? Wait, assassination... me?" Zen'in Maki had never considered going down this path, even racking her brain, nor did she expect her teacher to suggest she work towards this.
"Of course. To give you a simple example: there is a Cursed Spirit in front of you that is hard all over but has a weakness only on its back. Once it enters full combat state, it will easily cause casualties to Itadori and the others.
Would you choose to hide during your companions' fight, wait for an opportunity to ambush its weakness and kill the Cursed Spirit, or foolishly fight alongside them and watch your companions suffer casualties?"
"..."
"The former, of course, right?"
Unless it's a madman obsessed with martial ethics, why would a normal person choose the latter option? Furthermore, the kind of martial arts fanatic who chooses the latter is usually the type who can easily resolve the enemy.
"Similarly, in large-scale battles where many people are fighting different enemies... in such a situation, mere stronger individual strength is difficult to turn the tide of the battle.
But what if there is a crucial character roving through the battlefield, who can accurately strike the weakness of every enemy, allowing more combat power to be relieved from the intense confrontation to then alleviate pressure elsewhere...
Just such a simple strategic change can greatly reduce our side's casualty rate.
See, things are often that simple... A true team must have such an indispensable character. Moreover, I merely want you to learn to spot and target the enemy's weaknesses; this is not some kind of dirty trick."
In fact, for people like sorcerers, group combat is the exception. Most of the time, they still have to carry out missions alone, or at most with two or three people.
Emiya wants to train Zen'in Maki in that direction primarily so that they can better protect themselves in the battles that may come, though he won't state it this way. But what is certain is that as long as she can perfectly master similar techniques, Zen'in Maki will be quite formidable even in one-on-one combat.
"That does make sense... but you didn't need to explain so much to me, Emiya-sensei.
As your student, I trust your judgment, and I will therefore strive in that direction." Zen'in Maki replied with great certainty.
To have students who trust him unconditionally... Emiya thought this feeling was actually quite nice?
"Rest assured, I will also never fail this trust. Leave all the specialized Cursed Tools to me.
As for how to study weaknesses... for example, for a purely melee, large-scale fighter like Panda, isn't the back a blind spot? For now, it's good to study in this direction. I will try to list a few different types of enemies for your reference later."
Speaking of different types of enemies? Nothing is more classic than the seven Servants of the Holy Grail War.
Assume you are facing an opponent with double A-rank in Power and Speed, and also possesses superb defensive power, and even has an unconditional resurrection ability, where each resurrection completely resists the attack that was lethal last time... How should you confront this enemy?
"Oh, and also, please call Fushiguro over for me." Before Zen'in Maki left, Emiya did not forget to add this sentence.
When she returned to the original team, her gaze never left Panda's back. The uncomfortable Panda subconsciously scratched his butt, only to sadly discover that his hand couldn't reach the area around his tail.
Indeed, Panda, who shouldn't have any worries, still has worries.
Hello everyone! I'm VarieTL
Thank you as always for your support!
I wanted to announce that I posted a new Fanfiction!
Saving the World with Crossovers, starting with replacing Natsuki subaru with Hikigaya Hachiman
Kawata Osamu transmigrated and became a God.
Wonderful start, right? Unfortunately, this world is destined to be destroyed by the Abyss...
The only thing he can do is try to merge many worlds together thanks to the "Children of the World."
If he can show everyone their adventures and evoke enough emotion, the worlds will merge! Kawata Osamu decided to start by replacing Natsuki Subaru with Hikigaya Hachiman!
2nd Arc: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka in Redo of Healer
3rd Arc: Shirogane Miyuki in Inuyasha
4th Arc: Kousaka Kyousuke in Overlord
I have already posted 264 Chapters of this Fanfiction!
Mostly because it's really really good, so I wanted to continue working on it XD
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting