Clank!
Parrying a single attack from a Jun-Ninja was already difficult. Fighting two of them at the same time would kill me.
I regret progressing to the second trial, thinking it would be as easy as the first.
And boy, was I wrong.
Crack!
Kanshou shattered under the relentless assault of the two Jun-Ninjas. They didn't give me a single moment to breathe, much less the time needed to conjure a stronger Noble Phantasm.
What made it worse was that I couldn't even spare a second to construct a weapon capable of penetrating their defenses.
Clank!
I raised the sword in my left hand and parried the incoming strike from my right side. The impact traveled through my arms, forcing my muscles to tense just to keep the blade from slipping out of my grip.
"Tsk!"
I clicked my tongue in annoyance when I saw the other one preparing its attack. Her blade-arms crossed into an X shape, the same stance as before. My Mind's Eye immediately warned me.
Dodge.
I jumped into the air without hesitation.
But the second Jun-Ninja had already anticipated the movement. It vanished and reappeared in front of me midair, its blade thrusting straight toward my stomach.
I twisted my body and raised Byakuya just in time to deflect the attack.
Clang!
The force pushed me backward when I landed. My shoes scraped across the metallic floor of the carriage.
Once again, I projected Kanshou into my right hand.
"Trace-On."
Blue circuits flickered beneath my skin as the black blade formed. Sweat rolled down my forehead.
Two of them.
And both were moving just as fast as the first one.
No it's much faster but it felt like the same speed maybe because my stats increase.
Let's put 100 stat points into Magic and 150 into Luck.
[From upgrading your Mana, you gained the following skills!]
[Mana Manipulation – Better control of mana, reducing spell cost and improving spell efficiency.]
[Spell Amplification – Increases the power of all spells you cast.]
[Mana Regeneration – Your mana recovers faster over time.]
[Elemental Affinity – Easier control over elemental magic (fire, ice, lightning, etc.).]
[Arcane Insight – Allows you to understand and learn magic faster.]
[From upgrading your Luck, you gained the following skills!]
[Lucky Drop – Higher chance for rare items to drop.]
[Critical Fortune – Increased chance of critical hits.]
[Danger Sense – Lucky intuition that warns you before danger.]
[Fortune Twist – Small chance to turn bad situations into good outcomes.]
[Treasure Finder – Higher chance to discover hidden items or secrets.]
[Due to your high Magic and Luck stats, you have gained the following skills!]
[Arcane Fortune – Your spells have a chance to deal critical damage or trigger random magical effects.]
[Blessing of Probability – Spells have a chance to ignore cooldowns or mana cost.]
[Miracle Cast – A very small chance that a spell becomes massively stronger.]
I don't have the time to see the skills I got.
They didn't waste time observing me either. The moment Kanshou fully formed, both Jun-Ninjas dashed forward simultaneously.
Fast.
The one on the left swung horizontally while the other lunged from the front.
Clang!
I crossed Kanshou and Byakuya to block the first strike, but the second one immediately followed, its blade piercing toward my ribs.
I twisted my torso and narrowly avoided the stab, feeling the cold edge pass just inches from my body.
These things aren't just fast, they're coordinating.
The moment I pushed one back, the other moved in to close the gap. Their attacks overlapped perfectly, leaving almost no opening to counterattack.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks scattered across the carriage as steel clashed repeatedly. Every strike carried enough force to numb my arms.
If this keeps up, my weapons will break again before I can do anything.
I jumped backward, creating a small distance between us.
Both Jun-Ninjas stopped at the same time.
Then they lowered their stances.
Cross-blade posture again.
My Mind's Eye flared.
A combined attack.
"Trigger-On."
Blue light surged through my circuits as my magic circuits activated in sync.
Reinforcement strengthened my body while projection calculations ran through my mind.
"Sword Barrel."
Several points of light formed behind me in a semi-circular formation. Projected swords materialized one after another.
"Fire."
The blades shot forward.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Jun-Ninjas deflected most of them, their blade-arms moving like rotating shields, but the barrage forced them to slow down.
Good, now next is Kaboom.
I raised my hand, clenched my palm, and said, "Broken Phantasm."
A chain explosion occurred, but the two only had some small wounds.
Just how tough are these zombies?
Although it bought me a few seconds.
My mind immediately began constructing another weapon formula.
Kanshou and Byakuya are good for close combat, but they're not enough to break their defenses quickly.
Even it's effect against nonhuman being isn't effective at them at all.
If the two of them are attacking simultaneously, I need something that can hit both at once.
Prana gathered inside my circuits as the blueprint of another weapon formed in my mind.
A pair of weapons.
Twin blades connected by a chain.
Hrunting… no.
Not ideal in close quarters.
My circuits heated up as calculations continued.
Then a different design surfaced from my memory.
I thought increasing my mana would make me regain what I had already used, but I was wrong. It stayed the same, but it increased my capacity by a lot.
"Trace… On."
I intended to project the spear I had created yesterday. The image of its shape was already forming in my mind, the structure of its shaft and blade slowly assembling within my thoughts.
But then-
Another image appeared.
It forced itself into my mind without warning, clear and overwhelming.
It was not something unfamiliar. In fact, the opposite was true.
I knew it.
I knew it so deeply that it felt as if every layer of its existence was laid bare before me. Its history, its structure, the mystery contained within its form, everything felt close enough to touch, yet at the same time far beyond my own understanding.
It was as if the weapon had always existed within me.
As if my very soul was urging me to recreate it.
Just as that thought surfaced-
[Arcane Insight has been Triggered!]
A sudden clarity burst through my mind.
The principles behind the miracle I was attempting to reproduce unfolded before me like pages of an ancient book. The laws governing the weapon, its concept, its purpose, the magic woven into its existence, became clearer.
Not fully understood.
But enough.
[Spell Amplification has been Triggered!]
The mana circulating inside my body surged violently. The spell formula stabilised almost instantly, the probability of failure shrinking to almost nothing.
The projection that should have been nearly impossible was suddenly within reach.
[Elemental Affinity has been Triggered!]
Another layer of understanding settled into place.
The elemental logic behind the weapon, its alignment, the nature of the power it carried, was now something my mind could grasp. The structure of the projection grew more complete as the final pieces of its composition locked together.
Then-
[Blessing of Probability has been Triggered!]
Something strange happened.
The usual drain of mana never came.
Normally, projecting a Noble Phantasm would consume an enormous amount of magical energy, enough to leave most magi exhausted. But this time…
Nothing.
It felt as if I wasn't projecting at all.
Instead of recreating an imitation, it was as though I was pulling something that already existed within my imagination and forcing it into reality.
Like shaping existence itself.
From pure thought.
Mana gathered in front of me, spiraling into form as light condensed into a single shape.
I slowly spoke the name that surfaced in my mind.
"Oath Judah."
A radiant cross materialized in front of me.
The projection completed without resistance, its presence solid and undeniable, as if it had always belonged in this world.
I don't know why, but something was telling me that this was a spear.
As if responding to my will, the corner of Oath Judah suddenly opened. From within the cross, a spear shot out at incredible speed.
Before the Jun-Ninja could even react, the spear pierced straight through it like butter.
[You successfully defeat Jun-Ninja 2x]
[You level up!] 5x
I stood there, motionless, staring at Oath Judah. Its details appeared before me: Oath of Judah.
But how in the world had this weapon hijacked the process of my Trace-On?
Yes. It hijacked my magecraft. Normally, there are a series of steps needed to fully perform Trace-On on a weapon, but somewhere in the middle of the process, it overtook the projection I had planned.
The spear I intended to trace and project didn't wait. It created itself.
Out of Nowhere, I reached out and touched the cross. A blinding light engulfed me.
Almost without realizing it, I reached out and touched the cross.
The moment my fingers brushed against it, a blinding light engulfed me.
_______________________
(3rd person POV)
A small crowd had gathered around the young man lying beside the train tracks, whispering among themselves as they stared at his motionless body.
"Excuse us," a guard said as he pushed through the crowd. Noticing the young man collapsed on the pavement, he quickly called for the medical team before turning back to the onlookers. "Please disperse. Give the patient some breathing space."
The people slowly began to move away.
Just then, the young man stirred.
He shifted slightly before pushing himself up and slowly standing, looking around in confusion at why so many people had been surrounding him.
"Oh, you're awake," the guard said as he looked at the young man. "Just sit over there and take some rest. Do you remember your name and home address?"
"Yes, I'm Emiya Shirou. My address is in xxx," Shirou answered.
A member of the medical staff arrived shortly after and wrapped a blood pressure cuff around his arm to check his condition.
Shirou opened his mouth as if to say something, but stopped himself midway.
'I shouldn't stop them, he thought. Maybe they'll let me go once they're done.' He thought looking genuine baffled.
After a lot of questioning, he finally managed to leave.
"Just my luck…" he muttered, looking up at the sky with a sigh as he made his way home.
Once on the way, he opened the notification of the Gamer System and stared in disbelief at all the new skills he had acquired, baffled by just how strong they were.
Once again, he looked at the sky, his fists tightening. Tears of joy welled up in his eyes.
"Ah… I can finally spam my magecraft like the Gate of Babylon, as long as I don't let my habit of experimenting with the properties of my Noble Phantasms get out of hand."