Chapter 9: Embers and Enhancement
Even so, his current strength was still far too weak.
On the battlefield, anyone below chūnin level was basically cannon fodder. Only jōnin could truly protect themselves in combat. Of course, if you ran into someone at Kage level… then just wait for death. Don't worry—no one would laugh at you.
That said, even though Chizuki had mastered the powerful Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, without the Uchiha's Fire Release bloodline, he couldn't turn it into some overpowered, cheat-level fireball. And with his current chakra reserves, after spitting out two or three of them, he'd collapse before anyone else even needed to attack.
Clicking his tongue, Chizuki suddenly remembered—he had a side mission earlier: escape the Mist-nin pursuit.
Not only had he escaped, he had even killed them all.
The reward should be pretty good, right?
Thinking of this, Chizuki quickly called out to the system in his mind.
"System, is my mission complete?"
"Ding. Mission complete. Would the host like to claim the reward?"
"Claim it—of course I'll claim it."
"Ding. Calculating mission rewards. Host successfully escaped the Mist-nin pursuit, reward: Ember ×1. Killing three genin: Ember ×2. Currency ×10,000. Killing one chūnin: Magic Crystal ×1. Killing one jōnin: Summon Ticket ×1. Congratulations, host. Distributing rewards… distribution complete."
Like a diligent steward, the system immediately processed everything upon receiving Chizuki's request.
"Oh right—I almost forgot. Aren't these Embers used to enhance Servant levels? What are they for here?"
As soon as the rewards were issued, Chizuki couldn't wait to ask.
"Ding. Previously, Embers were used to enhance Servant levels. However, in this world, the host may use them to enhance both their own and their Servant's attributes."
"Attributes? What attributes?"
"Ding. The attributes displayed in the host and Servant status panels—Strength, Endurance, Agility, Chakra, etc."
"I see… then can Luck and Noble Phantasms be enhanced too?"
At Chizuki's question, the system's cold voice carried a faint hint of mockery.
"Negative. Luck cannot be altered unless the host obtains special items or triggers special energy conditions. As for Noble Phantasms, they are intrinsically tied to the Servant and cannot be enhanced."
Despite the tone, the system still provided a clear answer.
It turned out that the attribute rankings of Masters and Servants were closely tied to the ninja world's power scaling:
E-rank → Genin
D-rank → Chūnin
C-rank → Special Jōnin
B-rank → Jōnin
A-rank → Elite Jōnin
EX-rank → Kage-level and above
Of course, there were also variations like A+ or A−, but that was normal—no need to overthink it. After all, there were cases where a chūnin could suddenly explode in strength and kill a jōnin.
However, Noble Phantasms didn't follow the same logic.
A D-rank Noble Phantasm wasn't necessarily weak… but an EX-rank one—
Yeah, that was definitely terrifying.
"So with these rewards, I now have three Embers… which means I can enhance three times."
Chizuki narrowed his eyes, beginning to think.
There were four types of attributes he could enhance. Right now, he needed all of them.
Except for Agility, which was already E, all his other attributes were E−.
He wasn't sure how much an Ember could improve—but there was only one way to find out.
After deciding, Chizuki chose to use one Ember to enhance Strength as a test.
After learning the method from the system, he summoned an Ember from the interface and selected Strength enhancement.
Despite the name "Ember," it didn't look like fire at all—it resembled a glowing candy pellet.
Chizuki glanced at it casually… then popped it into his mouth.
The moment it dissolved, a violent surge of power exploded within his body, forcefully "cleansing" him from the inside out.
The sudden pain made his body jerk reflexively. Gritting his teeth, he endured it.
The pain quickly passed.
In its place, a warm current emerged, flowing through his blood vessels and muscles, nourishing his bones and cleansing his meridians…
After the agony came a soothing warmth that made Chizuki let out a low, comfortable sigh.
In an instant, sweat soaked through his clothes, and black impurities seeped out from his pores.
But Chizuki didn't care about that right now. He immediately called up his status panel.
――――――――――
Master Status:
Name: Mitarashi Chizuki
Gender: Male
Chakra Attributes: Fire, Earth
Strength: E
Endurance: E−
Agility: E
Chakra: E−
Luck: C
Noble Phantasm: None
Inventory: Magic Crystal ×1, Summon Ticket ×1, Ember ×2, [Emergency Treatment] ×1
Evaluation: Very weak. A rookie just starting out.
――――――――――
Chizuki ignored the system's evaluation—accurate as it was—and focused on his Strength.
"Incredible… it went from E− to E. And I can feel the difference—my body's full of strength now. These Embers are really useful."
"Since that's the case… I'll enhance Endurance and Chakra next. At the very least, I need all my attributes to reach a basic standard."
After some consideration, Chizuki settled on a plan.
He was only six years old—specializing too heavily in one area wasn't suitable. If one attribute became too high while others lagged behind, his body wouldn't be able to handle it.
For example, if his Chakra suddenly jumped to C or B rank, his body alone wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Besides, he didn't yet know the limits of these Embers.
Balanced development was the best path forward.
With that decided, Chizuki took out the remaining two Embers and swallowed them just like before.
This time, however, the process was different.
The pain was even more intense, followed by an unbearable itching that spread through his entire body.
When it finally ended, both his Endurance and Chakra had risen to E rank.
Now then—
"Grrr…"
The sudden sound interrupted Chizuki's thoughts.
He swallowed, only to realize a powerful hunger rising from his stomach.
Turning his head, he saw Jack sitting nearby, resting her face in her hands as she watched him.
It was obvious—she had been observing him for quite a while, curious about what he had been doing.
Chizuki's face flushed slightly. He coughed awkwardly and took out two portions of dry rations from his ninja pouch.
He had taken them from the Konoha camp when he left—enough to last three days. He also had two soldier pills from his clan.
"Um… Jack, I've got some food here. We've both gone a whole day without eating—let's have something together."
"Mm! Thank you, big brother—ah… mmm~"
At his words, a gentle, elegant smile appeared on Jack's pink, delicate face. She took the ration and took a big bite.
Seeing this scene, Chizuki's brain nearly short-circuited.
Shaking his head quickly, he turned his face away and took a fierce bite of his dry biscuit—trying to force all those strange thoughts out of his mind.