Shirou Emiya Cannot Refuse

Shirou Emiya had long considered how to strengthen himself.

Under the integration of Divine Blessings, his various abilities had become tied to his level.

Both Projection Magic and Unlimited Blade Works required his level to increase for them to improve, and could no longer be enhanced through other means.

But Shirou Emiya was already content with this. After all, his counterparts in other timelines couldn't improve these two abilities any further.

Even with just a three-level increase, Shirou Emiya had surpassed the original version of Archer Emiya in both Projection Magic and Unlimited Blade Works, reaching a more profound realm.

Not to mention the Magic Power that had been increased through Divine Blessings.

In his past life, Emiya had once heard an evaluation of Shirou Emiya.

"Don't overestimate Shirou Emiya's Magic Power, nor underestimate his Projection Magic."

As long as he had enough Magic Power, Shirou Emiya had no absolute counter; he could use corresponding weapons to break through any situation.

He was practically a bankrupt King of Heroes.

But as the saying goes, the same thing that helps you can also hinder you. Divine Blessings had improved Shirou Emiya's two abilities, but they also made it impossible for him to enhance his power through short bursts of intense training.

However, besides these, Shirou Emiya still had an ability he could improve: Illusionary Collapse.

The principle behind Illusionary Collapse was to detonate projected Noble Phantasms to achieve area-of-effect attacks.

But this method was becoming less effective against monsters on lower floors.

As their levels increased, the monsters' Endurance grew stronger, and this pure Magic Power could no longer inflict much damage.

Furthermore, as his Projection Magic ability improved, the Magic Power Shirou Emiya needed to project Noble Phantasms decreased, which further reduced the damage of Illusionary Collapse.

This was quite troubling.

But Shirou Emiya wasn't without a solution; he found inspiration from his own title.

"Sigh, a custom-made magic sword?"

Putting down the forging hammer in his hand, Tsubaki looked at Shirou Emiya, who had come to visit, and asked in confusion.

After all, the damage of magic swords came entirely from the magic released, not the item itself.

Therefore, no one had ever spoken of customizing magic swords.

"That's right, I want to commission a top-tier magic sword. The weapon's appearance should be an arrow, and its internal magic should be of the fiery explosion type. There's no need to consider its duration or release, as I plan to shoot it out like an arrow."

Yes, this was the solution Shirou Emiya had come up with. Since the power of exploding Noble Phantasms was no longer sufficient, he would use arrows specifically designed for explosions to attack.

Were there any arrows more suitable than magic swords?

In this world, magic swords were equivalent to magic scrolls, except they existed in the form of weapons.

Each magic sword had a limited number of uses; once that number was reached, it would turn into fragments.

When Shirou Emiya first arrived in this world, he had already wondered if there was anything more suitable than a magic sword to be his arrows.

After all, the magic in this world was equivalent to the Noble Phantasms in the Type-Moon world.

In other words, he was about to transition from exploding Noble Phantasms to shooting Noble Phantasms – the power increase wouldn't be small!

Moreover, he could also detonate these magic swords himself.

A double explosion, the power of that was truly exhilarating.

"Shoot it out like an arrow? I see, you're going to live up to your name!"

After careful consideration, Tsubaki understood Shirou Emiya's intentions and already had a general plan in mind.

Seeing that Tsubaki had agreed, Shirou Emiya quickly expressed his gratitude.

Tsubaki waved her hand; she naturally showed preferential treatment to Shirou Emiya. After all, in a sense, he was her disciple.

"What about the time? Are you in a hurry to use it?"

"As soon as possible, if possible. I'm going on an expedition in a week."

"An expedition? No wonder!"

Understanding the situation, Tsubaki stood up and threw a forging outfit to Shirou Emiya.

"This is?"

"Of course, it's for you to help out! We'll talk about other work later; I'll forge the magic sword for you now."

Hearing Tsubaki's words, Shirou Emiya was deeply moved.

He quickly put on the forging outfit and chased after Tsubaki's retreating figure.

"Master, let me show you my progress during this time. I guarantee you'll be surprised."

"Haha, I'll be looking forward to it."

"Ah! So tired!"

Shirou Emiya yawned slightly and returned to Loki Familia, looking exhausted.

Three days had passed since Shirou Emiya commissioned the magic sword. It took a full three days to complete the top-tier magic sword he had commissioned.

During these three days, Shirou Emiya had little rest. Besides helping Tsubaki, he spent most of his time secretly learning the techniques of magic sword forging.

Even after the magic sword was forged, Shirou Emiya would have plenty of opportunities to read the experience attached to it.

But learning skills was never a matter of simply knowing them.

Just like how, among the Noble Phantasms Shirou Emiya projected, there were those whose wielders had reached a divine level in skill during their lives.

But had Shirou Emiya's own skills reached a divine level?

Of course not. Knowing was one thing, but learning was still necessary.

That's why Shirou Emiya wouldn't let go of any opportunity to learn; he would learn any skill that could enhance his own strength.

Because of this, he had barely slept for the past three days.

"There are four days left until the expedition. That should be enough time for me to reforge my own equipment."

At this moment, Shirou Emiya, who desperately wanted to integrate the skills he had just learned into his equipment, looked at Twilight Manor with exhaustion and hurried inside.

All he wanted now was to rest.

He walked to his room door familiarly, opened it familiarly, and threw himself onto the bed familiarly. Shirou Emiya quickly sensed something was wrong.

Was his pillow always this warm?

He struggled to lift his head, and in the dim room, Shirou Emiya's eyes met directly with those of the blonde-haired girl.

"Ais, why are you here?"

Shirou Emiya quickly got off the bed, only to realize that he had just been resting his head on Ais's lap.

"Using the key you gave me before, I've been waiting here for you for three days."

Hearing Ais's explanation, Shirou Emiya finally remembered that Ais had a key to his room.

He had promised her before that she could come get snacks anytime, but Shirou Emiya was often not in his room, so he eventually gave the key to Ais.

After all, there was nothing important or private in his room.

But none of that mattered now. What mattered was that she had been waiting for him here for three days.

"Did you have something important to tell me?"

"I want to learn sword fighting."

"?"

Shirou Emiya was completely bewildered. You want to learn sword fighting? You're the Sword Princess! Who could possibly teach you sword techniques?

Seeing that Shirou Emiya didn't understand, Ais said urgently, "I want to learn the sword technique you used to defeat Goliath that day."

Huh?

She wants to learn "Arrow Through the Hundred Beasts"?

Good eyesight, girl, but unfortunately, I don't know it either.

"Sorry, I haven't mastered that sword technique myself yet."

Hearing Shirou Emiya's apologetic response, Ais's small face pouted, looking incredibly cute.

Looking at Ais's expression, Shirou Emiya, knowing she had misunderstood, was about to explain when he suddenly heard the girl's clear voice: "Brother!"

Huh?

What does she mean by that?

"Since Brother often teaches Lefia, please teach me too!"

Shirou Emiya, finally understanding, desperately widened his eyes and shouted inwardly.

The relationship is reversed! Besides, it's not that I don't want to teach you, it's that I don't know how!

Even so, Shirou Emiya couldn't bring himself to refuse again.

That's right, Shirou Emiya couldn't refuse.