Ability Update and Forging

The narrow dungeon, a maze of twisting corridors.

With a single sword stroke, Shirou Emiya cleaved the last monster in two, then sat down on the ground in exhaustion, leaning against the wall as he gasped for air.

It had been a long time since he entered the dungeon. With no way to judge the exact time underground, he decided to head back to the surface.

He had gained a lot from today's battles. Just in material gains alone, the backpack behind him was already half full.

As for combat experience, he was growing more and more composed.

The experience he had learned from Archer Emiya before was all about fighting humans. But the battles in the dungeon were almost entirely against monster-type creatures.

A full day of fighting had enriched his experience even further.

"Time to go back!"

Feeling the mana in his body drop to only twenty percent, Shirou Emiya decided not to fight any longer.

He was both dependent on mana and not so dependent.

Dependent, because his weapons were all projected by consuming mana—without it, he had no arms.

Not so dependent, because if he only projected weapons, it didn't actually cost much mana. And once projected, they could be used continuously.

But this wasn't good for training his mana.

If he used only one weapon for an entire day, his mana growth would be very slow, making it hard to keep up with the improvement of his other attributes.

That would drag down his leveling speed in the future.

That was something he couldn't allow.

After quickly cleaning up the battlefield, collecting the Magic Stones and dropped materials, Shirou Emiya headed back.

Nothing unexpected happened on the way back, and he returned to the surface smoothly.

"It's already evening? Looks like I was really absorbed in the dungeon battles."

Walking out of the cave, Shirou Emiya looked at the sunset and couldn't help but chuckle softly.

He unexpectedly liked this pace of life, so completely different from his past.

"First, I'll go to the Guild and exchange the Magic Stones for Valis."

After a moment of reflection on his feelings, Shirou Emiya headed to the Guild. At the exchange counter, he turned all his Magic Stones into Valis, earning a total of twenty thousand Valis.

Looking at this sum, which matched a fifth of his starting funds, Shirou Emiya sighed, "As expected, being an adventurer is a profession that makes you rich overnight!"

"But it's also a profession that spends money very fast."

Remembering the scene he had seen at the Hephaestus Familia's weapon shop—where even a basic weapon cost tens of millions of Valis—Shirou Emiya sincerely appreciated his own magic.

It was great not having to buy outrageously expensive weapons.

"Still, it seems I'll need to learn smithing techniques too."

Walking back toward his Familia, Shirou Emiya couldn't help but ponder his future.

According to the effect of [Hundred Refinements], the stronger his Blacksmithing Trait, the faster his growth and the stronger his weapons would become.

This skill could be called his core skill—it would be the foundation for him to become a top-tier powerhouse.

But the Blacksmithing Trait could only be obtained by a blacksmith. So he needed to learn smithing techniques.

Since it affected his growth speed, he had to learn smithing as soon as possible and acquire the Blacksmithing Trait at Level 2.

"So where should I go to learn smithing?"

Carefully recalling the information about the DanMachi world in his mind, Shirou Emiya finally decided to ask his Familia for an introduction and learn smithing from the Hephaestus Familia.

The Loki Familia and the Hephaestus Familia had a very close relationship.

Not only were their two main gods on good terms, but the Familias themselves had an extremely tight cooperative partnership.

In the future, to counter the monsters that corrode weapons during dungeon expeditions, Tsubaki, the captain of the Hephaestus Familia, even brought the Familia's top smiths along.

From this, one could see just how close the two Familias were.

"It looks like I'll have to properly ask Loki for a favor when I get back tonight."

Thinking this, Shirou Emiya couldn't help but smile wryly. He felt like Loki had been taking good care of him.

That evening.

After dinner, before Shirou Emiya could go find Loki, she called him to the Gods' Chamber first.

As soon as he stepped inside, Loki urged him over and pushed him onto the seat for updating Divine Blessings.

"Hurry up, take off your clothes and sit down. I want to see just how fast your growth really is."

Never having seen an accelerated growth skill before, Loki was very impatient. As she eagerly pressed Shirou Emiya into the seat, she didn't forget to complain.

"Let me tell you, we're a big Familia. Lots of people come every day to update their Divine Blessings. On average, each person only gets an update once a week."

"If everyone weren't out on expeditions, how could you possibly get a chance to update your Blessing just three days in? With such a good opportunity, you still need someone to push you."

Loki scolded Shirou Emiya while updating his stats.

Soon, his ability values were refreshed.

"How is this possible, what kind of growth rate is this?!"

Staring fixedly at Shirou Emiya's back, Loki exclaimed in shock, "At this rate, you'll probably meet the prerequisites for becoming LV.2 in less than a month!"

Even though Loki was already flustered by Shirou Emiya's growth speed, she still remembered to translate it into common tongue, print it on paper, and hand it to him.

[Name]: Shirou Emiya

[Level]: LV.1

[Ability Values]: Strength: I67 | Endurance: I51 | Dexterity: I58 | Agility: I63 | Magic: I86

[Development Abilities]:

[Magic]:

"Unlimited Blade Works"

· Projection Magic

· Reality Marble

· Structural Analysis

· Chant:

[I am the bone of my sword]

[Steel is my body and fire is my blood]

[I have created over a thousand blades]

[Unknown to Death]

[Nor known to Life]

[Have withstood pain to create many weapons]

[Yet, those hands will never hold anything]

[So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works]

""

""

[Skills]:

"Hundred Refinements"

· When wielding a weapon forged by oneself, weapon attributes are enhanced.

· Self-forging accelerates growth.

· Affected by the Blacksmithing Trait, the above effects are greatly increased.

====================

"Isn't this basically no change?"

Shirou Emiya naturally knew about his terrifying rate of progress, but seeing Loki's shocked expression, he couldn't help but tease her.

Sure enough, upon hearing Shirou Emiya's humblebrag, Loki shrieked, "You call this no change?! Do you have any idea what kind of impact this progress will bring?!"

"An adventurer's basic abilities are divided into ten ranks from 0 to 999: I, H, G, F, E, D, C, B, A, S. And as long as a basic ability reaches C or above, you qualify for a level-up."

"Don't underestimate that the upper limit of a single basic ability is just 999. You know, the fastest person in all of Orario to reach LV.2 was our Ais-chan, and even she took a whole year to succeed."

"But look at yourself—after just one trip to the dungeon, your total stats have risen by over 300 points, and your Magic stat alone went up by over 80 points. At this rate, you'll probably become LV.2 in a month!"

"When that happens, all the gods in Orario will be stunned by you. And who knows how many schemes might spring up around you."

"And you're still complaining that there's no change?!"

Watching Loki's agitated expression, Shirou Emiya said with a smile, "What, are you scared?"

He knew full well that Loki would never care about schemes or conspiracies. Saying that meant she definitely had something else on her mind.

Sure enough, hearing Shirou Emiya's question, Loki's shocked expression suddenly twisted into a very sinister grin. "Scared? I'm Loki! When it comes to playing dirty, I've never admitted defeat to anyone!"

With that, she patted Shirou Emiya on the shoulder and said with a laugh, "Shirou, you've done well! I'm very satisfied with this growth rate. I remember your skill needs the Blacksmithing Trait, right? I've already talked to Hephaestus. You can go learn forging techniques from her anytime."

Seeing that Loki had already arranged everything for him without him even needing to ask, Shirou Emiya felt a warmth in his heart.

"Thank you, Lady Loki!"

Hearing Shirou Emiya's words of gratitude, Loki hooked her arm around his neck and laughed, "Don't be so formal! Remember, we're family!"

"You just need to grow well and shock those gods for me. I can't wait to see the jealous looks on their faces."

Watching Loki's exaggerated expression, Shirou Emiya said seriously, "Yes, I understand. I'll work even harder."