The nature of power

While the two close friends, Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, were having a heart-to-heart, Aikawa Kaze was speaking with the Heroic Spirit he had summoned inside his mental space.

Although the "domain" in reality had vanished when Aikawa Kaze reached his limit, the battlefield scenery of the Wasteland Sword Mound remained within his mental space.

Aikawa Kaze looked at the red-clad Archer standing nearby, gazing at the sunset, and felt a rush of conflicting emotions.

He remembered a fan edit about this man that he had watched on Bilibili in his previous life. It was titled "I prayed to every hall of heroes, but in the end, only I answered."

The red-clad Archer was one possible outcome of the life of "Shirou Emiya" across countless parallel worlds.

In one timeline, Shirou Emiya had lost Sakura, a younger schoolmate precious to him, and had prayed to every hall of heroes, just as Aikawa Kaze had moments earlier.

Yet in the end, only he himself had answered-versions of himself who had become Heroic Spirits in the future and in other worlds had helped him.

Had this Heroic Spirit answered him because the name "Sakura" and their similar experiences had stirred memories?

Or were they simply highly compatible?

Whatever the reason, this Heroic Spirit had undoubtedly saved his life.

"Whatever your reason for answering me, thank you so much for being willing to help."

Aikawa Kaze bowed solemnly, his tone earnest.

"My power may be insignificant, but if there's anything I can help you with, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Ah, there really isn't."

The red-clad Archer shook his head. The rules of the space his summoner inhabited were rather different and apparently did not allow Servants to manifest directly. Instead, he had granted the young man power by possessing him.

Under those circumstances, he could not even ask his summoner to provide room and board. There really was nothing he needed the young man to do.

No, perhaps that wasn't quite true...

Some kind of energy? Talent? Aura? Something about the young man felt very unusual.

A thoughtful look flickered through Red Archer's eyes, but he promptly changed the subject.

"What are you planning to do next? Let me make this clear: I'm not interested in playing babysitter and lending you my power every time."

"Of course."

At Red Archer's words, Aikawa Kaze nodded and gave another earnest bow.

"I'd like you to teach me how to become stronger."

Although he had been fortunate enough to receive help, Aikawa Kaze did not think he was entitled to it.

Both his experience with the summoning and the warning Shirou Emiya had given him made one thing clear: it was better to rely on himself than on others.

Of course, he would not be foolish enough to stop using his ability. But rather than simply borrowing the Heroic Spirits' power, he wanted to find ways to learn from them.

Only what he learned would truly be his own.

"Why?"

The red-clad Archer was not opposed to teaching him.

Despite what he had just said about having no interest in babysitting, he was actually a remarkably kind and softhearted man.

Now that they had formed a contract, he would help wherever he could, provided the other party's Worldview did not clash with his own.

Having noticed something different about Aikawa Kaze during their face-to-face meeting, he was simply curious about what the young man was thinking.

"To have the chance to choose."

Aikawa Kaze thought for a moment, then spoke honestly.

"Whether it's the right to survive, to save someone, or to change your circumstances... those are privileges reserved for the strong."

The weak had no choice.

Aikawa Kaze understood that clearly, and just now, he had come up with what he believed was the best solution.

"My ability is to summon Heroic Spirits, but I can't guarantee that other Heroic Spirits will answer me. So there's only one solution I can think of."

At that moment, the usually gentle young man's presence turned sharp, like a sword drawn from its sheath.

"I'll accomplish a great feat that people will remember, carve my name into the Throne of Heroes, and then summon myself."

Learn, fight, grow...

Until the day his ability could truly serve him.

Because only he himself could guarantee that he would always answer his own call and help himself.

"Thinking about it, those Heroic Spirits were only ordinary humans when they were alive. Some did have special abilities in life, but many more gained their abilities after death, through the sublimation of their achievements and legends."

Aikawa Kaze saw nothing wrong with his idea.

Just take those writers, scientists, and emperors-how many of them had possessed exceptional combat prowess in life?

But a lack of fighting strength while alive did not matter. As long as their accomplishments and great deeds were impressive enough, and people praised them and spread their stories widely enough, they would naturally be strengthened and elevated after death.

The powerful figures among them were no weaker than Heroic Spirits famed for their combat prowess.

By the same logic, Aikawa Kaze felt that if he made a name for himself and his deeds spread by word of mouth, he might well reach the Throne of Heroes and receive an upgrade.

Then his living self could summon his future, strengthened self. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

"That really is a grand plan."

Shirou Emiya chuckled softly. He rather liked the young man's ambition. After all, it was far more grounded and reliable than the fragile, naive "ideal" he had once held.

"I'm not disputing your reasoning, but there's one prerequisite... are you sure the world you're in has a Throne of Heroes?"

"!!!"

Aikawa Kaze froze, utterly petrified.

Right. My summoning seems to... summon Heroic Spirits from other worlds.

Even then, the rules apparently prevented Heroic Spirits from manifesting directly. They could only possess him in the form of a "Pseudo-Servant."

That raised a question: how could he reach the Throne of Heroes from a world that probably did not have one?

If he wanted to leave behind legends of great deeds, would he have to find a way to travel to the Nasuverse, where the Throne of Heroes existed?

"Heh. Of course, your idea isn't necessarily impossible."

Smiling, the red-clad Archer poked the petrified Aikawa Kaze and offered a friendly hint.

"Think carefully about what your power really is. Where does it come from?"

"???"

"Once you've figured that out, I'll train you the next time we meet-your hand-to-hand combat is terrible."

"..."

The red-clad Archer vanished, leaving Aikawa Kaze sitting alone among the swords, still thinking.

His first instinctive answer to that question had actually been, The system-my cheat-gave it to me.

But was it really that simple?

Remembering Red Archer's meaningful look, Aikawa Kaze frowned and went through all his memories again. Suddenly, he spotted something odd.

When he had chosen one of the three abilities, the system had not granted him a power with a "whoosh," transformed his physique with a "snap," or flooded his mind with sudden enlightenment.

Neither his body nor his mind had felt anything unusual. If something really had changed, surely he was not so oblivious that he would have noticed nothing at all?

Thinking more carefully, what had the system actually given him after he made his choice?

Oh, it had used an intelligent AI to generate a summoning chant supposedly best suited to him, then tossed him a summoning manual.

The basics covered drawing a summoning circle. The intermediate material analyzed favorable timing and locations, while the advanced material studied compatibility and modifications to the summoning chant, allowing him to flesh out his custom incantations.

Put that way, what the system had given him seemed less like an "ability" and more like "knowledge."

Wait, in that case...

Could it be that I didn't gain this ability because I chose "Heroic Spirit Summoning," but that "Heroic Spirit Summoning" appeared as an option because I already had the ability?

And rather than "granting" it, the system was "discovering" and "cultivating" it?

Then, considering those original three choices... could I actually pursue all three paths?

Aikawa Kaze's imagination suddenly ran wild. It seemed logical, but he did not quite dare to be certain.

All three abilities were absurdly powerful, downright terrifying if used well. Did he really have that much potential?

Aikawa Kaze, who had always considered himself an ordinary person, was no longer sure.

"But if that hypothesis is true, doesn't it mean cursed energy can actually be used as magical energy?"

Taking that hypothesis a step further...

"Could I build a jujutsu version of the Holy Grail, or even the Throne of Heroes?"

Ultimately, there was no definitive answer to who had created the Throne of Heroes in the Nasuverse. Everyone had their own theories.

But if someone said that Nasu, the author of the Nasuverse, had created it, no one could argue.

Aikawa Kaze did not think there was anything special about himself. Compared with this world, however, he should be a "transmigrator" who had descended from the "three-dimensional" world into a lower dimension.

He, Nasu, and One-Eyed Cat, the author of Jujutsu Kaisen, had once existed in the same world.

Did that mean there was something special about him that even he had not realized?

After carefully comparing his summoning chant with the original, Aikawa Kaze picked out the key phrases.

"The one I summon is a prisoner held within the Cage of Frenzy, a wanderer trapped by the Wheel of Fate, a traveler bound by the Track of the Stars."

"I am the Binder of Chains, the Disruptor of Fate, the Traverser of Time."

As he murmured the modified summoning chant, Aikawa Kaze seemed to gradually grasp something.

"System, there's some being behind you, isn't there? I'd like to have a proper talk."

If his hypothesis was true, then there had to be something special about his power.

When his attempts to summon Heroic Spirits failed, his cursed energy should, in theory, have simply been consumed and wasted. Yet he had still received quite a few interesting and useful items before.

It was hard to rule out the possibility that certain beings wanted his power and were encouraging him to keep "drawing" in this way.

Silence hung in the air. Aikawa Kaze did not feel awkward and continued calmly.

If all the system provided was knowledge, then surely other jujutsu sorcerers could use it too, not just Aikawa Kaze?

"Some things are easy to verify. All I need to do is find someone with cursed energy and have them try the Heroic Spirit Summoning circle, or test some basic magecraft."

Even if they could not summon a Heroic Spirit, he could test a few basic forms of magecraft that required only a tiny amount of magical energy or cursed energy. That would reveal the truth.

"In many situations, cooperation benefits both sides, while conflict hurts everyone."

"I want to find common ground, set aside our differences, and cooperate for mutual benefit, not end up hurting us both. If you refuse to communicate, we can't even begin."

"So, how about we have a proper talk?"