"I heard Hephaistos actually gave you a Godsmith Card?!"
In the main hall of Twilight Manor, Loki's exaggerated shriek nearly blew the roof off.
"Emiya! You lucky little punk! That's a high-end VIP card I can't even always get! From now on, when you buy weapons at Hephaistos's place, you'll be getting discounts so brutal they'll snap bones!"
"It's fifty percent off, Loki," Shirou Emiya corrected helplessly, setting breakfast on the table.
Today's meal was a thick Western-style omelet sandwich with freshly squeezed juice. The aroma instantly soothed their overexcited chief goddess.
"But I'm not planning to buy weapons for now." Shirou touched the deep-red short sword at his waist—[Otherworld · Kanshou]. "With this, plus Projection magecraft, I'm set for combat at the moment."
"Hmph. That blade…" Finn sat nearby with coffee in hand, sharp eyes sweeping over the sword. "No enchantments, but the material density is ridiculous. Emiya, you're still Level 1—but with that sword and your technique, you could probably handle even large monsters on the 12th floor, right?"
"Not yet."
Shirou shook his head, expression strict.
"My 'Projection' is convenient, but it drains stamina and mana heavily. And… as a Level 1, my physical stats are the hard limit. If I run into something overwhelmingly faster or stronger, technique alone can't bridge the gap between skill and the body that's executing it."
That was the unvarnished truth.
Even with a Heroic Spirit's experience fused into him, his current flesh was still just a human body newly granted a blessing. His reactions could keep up—his body couldn't. That mismatch was his biggest weakness.
"Good self-awareness," Riveria nodded approvingly. "But don't rush it. Once you accumulate achievements and level up, your physical capabilities will leap. Here—Ais, don't just eat. Pour Emiya some milk."
Ais, chewing her sandwich like a hamster, paused and obediently picked up the milk jug.
…
After breakfast, Shirou set out for the Dungeon again.
He'd made a breakthrough in forging, but he hadn't forgotten his true job: adventurer.
To stand in this world—to practice justice—he needed a level and power that matched the ideal.
He left Babel's shadow and crossed the busy central plaza—
"Ah!"
A soft, girlish yelp rang out.
A gray-haired girl in a tavern uniform and white apron—arms full of groceries and odds and ends—charged straight into him as if she hadn't been looking.
Everything spilled across the ground.
"Sorry—are you okay?" Shirou reacted instantly, catching her by the arm before she could fall.
"I-I'm fine… I just wasn't watching where I was going…"
She looked up.
Not breathtakingly beautiful, but carrying a strangely magnetic allure. The moment her gray eyes met Shirou's, a faint, hard-to-catch glimmer passed through them.
Syr Flova—the poster girl of the tavern Hostess of Fertility.
Of course… she was also the lower-world incarnation of the beauty goddess who ruled Orario's strongest Familia—
Freya.
"It's you?" Shirou recognized her. "Miss Syr from the tavern?"
"Ah! It's Mr. Emiya!" Syr looked delighted, then immediately turned sheepish. "I'm so sorry you had to see me being so clumsy."
"It's fine. I'll help you pick it up."
Shirou crouched and began gathering the scattered items.
Vegetables. Fruit.
And a heavy-looking book wrapped in cloth.
The instant Shirou's fingers touched the bundle, the magic circuits inside him jerked—a sharp, involuntary pulse.
"…This is—"
His brows tightened.
Even through the cloth, he could feel the chaotic swell of mana inside the book—like a heart expanding and contracting in violent, irregular beats.
"Oh, that?" Syr blinked, suddenly casual. "A weird customer used it as collateral for tab money. Mia said it looked like some antique, so she told me to sell it as scrap paper… or throw it out."
"Throw it out?"
Shirou froze. "This looks like a Grimoire."
In Orario, a Grimoire was a priceless treasure.
Read it, and the book would forcibly awaken a magic in the "Blessing" system.
Even the most ordinary Grimoire could sell for astronomical sums on the black market—hundreds of millions of valis.
"A Grimoire? One of those headache books?" Syr tilted her head, wearing a face of pure innocence (with something darker underneath). "I don't understand magic at all. If you know what it is, then I'll just give it to you!"
"Give it to me?!" Shirou practically jumped. "No—this is way too valuable! It's worth at least—"
"Ehh, in our shop it's just 'scrap paper' that covers a few drinks," Syr said breezily.
She shoved the book into his arms, hands clasped behind her back, smiling. "And you helped us chase off those troublemaking adventurers last time—call this a thank-you gift! If you don't take it, Mia will yell at me!"
"But—"
"It's settled! I've gotta get back to work. Bye-bye~!"
Before Shirou could refuse, the girl flitted away into the crowd like a butterfly, leaving only a faint floral scent behind.
Shirou stood there, staring down at the heavy book in his arms, mind in disarray.
A thing worth hundreds of millions… handed over like scrap paper?
Was Orario's economy broken?
…
Around a corner in a back alley—
Syr leaned against the wall.
The innocent smile vanished instantly, replaced by a lofty, divine delight—cold, satisfied, absolute.
"Did you take it…?"
Her fingertip traced her lips. In the depths of her gray eyes, it was as if silver flames burned.
Freya's gaze.
"That child's 'vessel'—his body—is still too fragile to carry such a dazzling soul."
"Then I'll lend you a hand… and make your body as hard as steel."
…
Back in Twilight Manor—Shirou's room.
He sat on the bed, face grave, staring at the Grimoire now unwrapped.
The cover was made from some unknown monster hide, carved with twisted, crawling script.
"If it's Miss Syr's goodwill… and I really do need to become stronger."
He'd already realized during his talk with Finn that his greatest weakness, as Level 1, was physical durability.
No matter how strong the sword he projected, it meant nothing if the arm swinging it shattered first.
Shirou inhaled—then opened the book.
HUM—!
In the instant the pages spread, the letters seemed to come alive, becoming streaks of light that surged into his eyes and speared straight into his brain.
Pain.
Agonizing pain.
But it wasn't the tearing of the soul—
It was like every bone in his body was being smashed to pieces and reforged.
The Grimoire was guiding the Blessing inside him, excavating a "possibility" sleeping deep within his soul.
Most adventurers would awaken fire, lightning, wind.
But Shirou Emiya was different.
His origin was Sword.
Across countless parallel worlds, that red-clad guardian had chanted the same incantation again and again—his self-definition, and the source of his power:
"Steel is my body…
and Fire is my blood…"
As the lines echoed in his mind, that massive mana began to scour through his limbs and organs.
Not to attack.
But to arm himself.
If the body was a vessel—
then he would forge that vessel until it was as unbreakable as a Noble Phantasm.
"GRAAAH—!"
Shirou snapped his eyes open with a low roar.
"Trace—On!"
Emerald circuits didn't gather into a blade as they usually did.
They crawled over his entire body in an instant.
From neck to arms to legs—dense magic circuits ignited like luminous blood vessels.
Reinforcement Magecraft · Overload.
No—
In this world, it took a new name.
Crack—crack—
Shirou clenched his fist.
The air itself seemed to ring with a metallic compression sound.
A faint metal sheen surfaced across his skin, and under the stimulation of concentrated mana, his muscle fibers erupted with strength far beyond a Level 1's limits.
"So this is… my new magic?"
He rose, placed one foot lightly on the floor—
Snap!
A fracture line split across the stone.
He could feel it: durability, strength, agility—everything had doubled under this spell.
The heavy body became light.
The fragile skin became tough.
"It's like… turning myself into a sword."
Shirou stared at his reflection—his body wrapped in glowing circuits—and a confident smile tugged at his lips.
Even at Level 1, with this active, his parameters could likely endure hits from Level 2… maybe even Level 3.
But the light faded as he released the magic, and a brutal wave of weakness washed over him.
The cost was enormous. He couldn't maintain it for long.
He picked up a parchment sheet Loki had given him as a backup.
The text updated automatically.
[Status Update]
Shirou Emiya — Level 1
New magic slot: "Structural Reinforcement" (Enchantment)
Chant: "Steel is my body."
Effect: Greatly strengthens Endurance, Strength, and Agility. Converts the body's concept into "steel," granting high resistance to physical and magical attacks.
Side effects: Constant heavy mental strain; after解除, severe muscle fatigue.
"Structural Reinforcement…" Shirou murmured. "Plain, simple—and exactly right for me."
He folded the parchment with satisfaction.
Then rapid knocking struck the door.
"Emiya! You in there?! Why did your room just give off the kind of mana wave that sounds like you're demolishing the building?!"
Finn's voice.
Apparently the cracked floor had reached the captain's ears.
Shirou glanced down at the fracture line, scratched his head in embarrassment, and opened the door with that honest, harmless smile.
"Sorry, Captain Finn. I just… learned a spell that makes me a little more 'sturdy,' that's all."
Finn's thumb twitched.
That oppressive pressure just now…
Was that something a Level 1 should be producing?
This rookie's growth rate was terrifying.
-------
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