Hero's Trial

Following Tsubaki, Shirou Emiya soon arrived at her private Blacksmithing Room.

After changing into her smithing clothes, Tsubaki fiddled with the furnace and asked Shirou Emiya, "How much do you know about forging?"

"Not much. Just some basic knowledge."

Even that basic knowledge had been learned from the books in the Underground Library of the Loki Familia over the past ten days.

"Looks like you're a complete beginner! But that's fine. Forging isn't as difficult as you might imagine, especially for adventurers."

After heating the furnace and making the preparations for forging a weapon, Tsubaki turned around and explained seriously, "The most important thing in forging is your strength. If you can't hammer the metal, you can't do anything. But for adventurers with a Blessing, that's an easy task."

"The other techniques are simple too. You only need to memorize the specific procedures. When it comes to forging, it's easy for an apprentice to meet the requirements."

"But going further depends on your personal aptitude. At the end of the day, forging is a technique that's easy to learn but difficult to master. The beginning is simple, but how far you can go depends on you."

Taking out some prepared materials, Tsubaki continued explaining, "The forging process can be summarized into five steps: Mold Making, Material Adjustment, Smelting, Casting, and Post-casting Processing."

"Once you've mastered these five steps, you'll be a qualified forging apprentice! Next, I'll demonstrate it for you. Watch carefully."

Shirou Emiya hurriedly focused his attention, putting all his concentration into observing the forging of the weapon.

Although he had learned some basic forging techniques from books, no amount of reading could compare with actually trying it once.

Watching Tsubaki's Hundred Refinements-like technique, Shirou Emiya gradually became absorbed, as though he had been destined to become a blacksmith.

Once a person became absorbed in something, time passed incredibly quickly.

Before long, the weapon Tsubaki had forged was complete. Seeing the dagger gleaming coldly in her hand, Shirou Emiya grew increasingly excited.

"Can I take a look at this sword?"

"Of course."

Taking the dagger from Tsubaki's hand, Shirou Emiya appeared calm on the surface, but grew even more excited inside.

After skillfully spinning the dagger around in his hand several times, Shirou Emiya activated his magic.

"Structural Analysis, begin."

As his Magic Circuits connected, Shirou Emiya gained a complete understanding of the weapon's structure.

"Projection, begin!"

As mana flowed, a dagger identical to the one Tsubaki had forged appeared in Shirou Emiya's hand.

As the Projection took shape, Shirou Emiya read all the relevant experience involved in forging the dagger.

When Shirou Emiya copied a weapon, he could even read the experience of its owner.

If not for the fact that everything he Projected was a Noble Phantasm, lacking the forging experience attached to a genuine Holy Relic, he would not have needed to learn forging techniques from Tsubaki.

The experience he read from the dagger gave him a much deeper understanding of forging and solved many of the questions in his heart.

At the same time, however, even more questions arose.

"Is there anything you want to ask?" Tsubaki asked curiously, crossing her arms.

She had not asked about Shirou Emiya's magic. Tsubaki knew very well that it was Shirou Emiya's personal secret, something he generally would not tell anyone except members of his own Familia.

"Of course!"

Shirou Emiya answered with eager anticipation.

For the next several days, Shirou Emiya studied forging techniques under Tsubaki.

Thanks to his affinity for forging techniques and his cheat-like Synchronization, his progress was extraordinarily fast. In just a few days, he had graduated and could complete a forging process on his own.

Such talent left Tsubaki sighing in amazement. If Shirou Emiya had not been a member of the Loki Familia, she would have done anything to lure him over.

"I've finally finished it—equipment that belongs to me."

Looking at the equipment he had forged with his own hands, Shirou Emiya's eyes were filled with satisfaction.

It was a finely crafted set of Light Armor, somewhat similar in design to the Light Armor Bell had obtained the first time.

The difference was that this set of Light Armor was entirely red.

Perhaps influenced by Archer Emiya, Shirou Emiya also liked this color very much.

The reason he had chosen Light Armor was his consideration of the dungeon's environment. The farther down one went, the more monsters there were, and the faster they respawned.

Especially after the twelfth floor, monsters began appearing in groups.

In that situation, without overwhelmingly superior physical attributes, it was difficult to avoid being hit through technique alone.

He was not yet one of those high-level experts who could withstand monster attacks with his body.

Once he was hit, he would be injured. Therefore, wearing armor had entered his considerations.

In fact, after graduating under Tsubaki, he had resumed exploring the dungeon. He had already begun venturing into the Tenth Floor, Eleventh Floor, and Twelfth Floor, and had handled them with ease.

But beginning on the Thirteenth Floor, the sudden increase in monsters left him somewhat overwhelmed. It was not that he lacked strength—their numbers were simply too great.

Although he eventually dealt with his opponents successfully, he himself had suffered serious injuries.

That was why he had changed his armor, and it was also preparation for his battles to come.

His basic abilities had now reached their limits. Unexpectedly, the upper limit of his basic abilities was not S-Class 999, but SSS-Class 1199.

He could no longer raise his basic abilities. He needed to level up.

In other words, he was about to begin his own adventure.

In the morning, after putting on his equipment and making all the preparations, Shirou Emiya walked out of the Twilight Manor.

He had made every preparation.

On the balcony of the Twilight Manor behind him, Loki leaned against the railing, admiring his heroic figure.

"Is our future hero finally about to begin his adventure?"

Adventure was what the people of Orario called surpassing a Great Deed. To raise one's level, one had to go on an adventure—in other words, defeat dangerous enemies.

These dangerous enemies did not necessarily mean enemies of overwhelming strength. They meant enemies who were dangerous to the adventurer.

A LV.2 monster was naturally stronger than an ordinary LV.1 adventurer. An ordinary adventurer only needed to defeat a LV.2 monster to obtain a Great Deed and become LV.2.

But what about those figures who were like heroes? They could already kill LV.2 monsters when they were LV.1. Could LV.2 monsters still bring them danger and earn them a Great Deed?

They could not.

Put simply, an adventure meant defeating an opponent stronger than oneself. That was also why more than half of the adventurers in Orario were LV.1.

Because they had never gone on an adventure.

Then for Shirou Emiya, what counted as danger, and what counted as his Great Deed?

Loki did not know.

Therefore, toward the battle Shirou Emiya was about to face, she could only offer her most exalted blessing.

"I wish you success and victory."

Walking briskly down the street, Shirou Emiya felt that the wind was especially pleasant today.

He felt no tension at all about the adventure he was about to begin. On the contrary, his mood was extremely cheerful.

To others, an adventure was immensely dangerous and required the utmost caution.

But to Shirou Emiya, there seemed to be nothing to worry about.

Adventure? What kind of adventure could compare with the one he had once completed by breaking through the Holy Grail War in a single night?

Great Deed? What kind of Great Deed could compare with his record of defeating seven opponents in succession?

He was a copy of a Heroic Spirit.

He was also a magus who had surpassed heroes.

A hero was, by nature, a symbol of a Great Deed.

If even he, who had surpassed countless heroes, could not achieve a Great Deed, then who else had the right to accomplish one?

As a copy of a Heroic Spirit, an imagined hero,

Shirou Emiya decided to become a true hero.