School is currently off for the fall break. I have managed to rope the girls into visiting the Tokyo National Museum with me. We all had our own reasons.
Sakura just wanted to go there with me. She is sweet like that.
Rin came along because I promised to buy her more Jewels for her magecraft; apparently, her guardian's business skill is bad enough to cost her a good chunk of her fortune, and so she is more than happy to receive a gift without any attachment. I felt bad for her and, with a very suggestive tone, told her that if something happens, I will take responsibility. Her face flushed crimson, and she looked ready to faint. After regaining composure, she fired Gandr at me till she ran out of prana. Then she decided that those Jewels were her tuition fee, and I kept my mouth shut.
With Tiga, the conversation went like this: "Hey, Fuji-nee, I have learned a new recipe." That's all it took to get her to come with us. She would have come even if there was no food involved.
As for me, I had two goals. One is to take the girls on a relaxing vacation, and the other is to improve my magecraft.
If you're wondering how this trip will help me with magecraft, we have to check my recent findings. Firstly, each object I Structure Analyze it gets copied as reusable data in my Inner World, providing me with crucial data for tracing magecraft. Then, my new skill "Eye Of Mind", which can be considered broken in the sense that it can predict what moves someone might make during battle by using the battle data the user acquired previously. This skill only appears in people who have spent a considerable amount of time on the battlefield. Normally, I would also need to spend a lot of time fighting to even make it useful. But here my Inner World came to play, it had recorded a considerable amount of weapons from the time I analyzed Avalon, even though most of them are incomplete, some even an empty shell, only holding their physical form due to Imaginary Number Data. But still, whatever proper battle history they have can be used by Eye of Mind. It gave me the idea to analyze older weapons, and what place is better to find old weapons than a museum? So, I brought them here along with me.
We came yesterday evening and checked into a hotel with four rooms for each one; otherwise, Tiga was ready to nail me to the pillar of shame.
After eating breakfast, we went there at 9:30 AM.
The whole visit can be summarized as an interesting experience. Due to several theft attempts, some older artifacts had been replaced with forgeries. While real ones are shown during private exhibits that you need money and connections to watch. Indeed, that's an interesting method to ensure safety from some petty theft.
Still, they seem to have missed a Muramasa blade, maybe because it doesn't look like an antique. It is a fine blade, but ultimately discarded. That guy had a crazy obsession with making swords. If someone tries to inject mana into this sword, they might also inherit this obsession. While it won't help me in a fight, the forging knowledge contained in it is worth the trip.
---------
At night, I lie on the bed as I think about my gains for the past month. Every seven days, I fought the Old Man of the Mountain and collected the character quest reward, which helped me level up to level 19. Then refined my fighting against shadow servants. Now I can reach wave 7 without any problem.
The main reason for my success lies in my new technique, Voidblast.
I made it by copying Tohsaka's Jewel magecraft principles. Since my mana output is limited, not the capacity. I decided to store it in something when I am not using it. Since Rin does that with her Jewels, I decided to give it a shot, but I learned very quickly that it was inefficient to do so with my mana.
Due to my element and origin, my raw mana is tainted with the element of sword with void or imaginary number, which made the infused jewels very volatile, as they may blast if you look at them wrong. So, how did I fix that? I started making a sword with a hollow structure and poured a shit ton of mana into it. They managed better than jewels.
But I wanted something better, so I tried many different types of sword architecture. The breakthrough came from Avalon. As it had housed one of the greatest swords of all time, I managed to get Excalibur's physical dimensions and some of its characteristics that don't depend on Fay technique. And it can hold mana pretty well, except trying to fight in close combat with it will break the structure and blow it on your face. How did I know, don't ask.
Remotely canceling the projection without draining the mana or breaking it causes it to blow up around a 100-meter radius, enough to wipe out a city block. And currently, 18 of them are sitting in my inner world.
I had to fire them from a bow, as normal methods are ineffective.
During these days, I also managed to purchase some interesting items from flash sales, one of which was a 10-kilogram rod of plutonium. Its main usage is as the fuel for a nuclear bomb. But it won't explode due to a collision. It is exploded by compressing it into its critical mass, then it starts a fission reaction, releasing a high amount of energy. The Fat Man bomb had only 5 to 6 Kg of plutonium charge; the rest of its mass came from the necessary material to compress the plutonium for the fission reaction.
I made a new arrow by projecting a hollow Excalibur around a 1kg rod of plutonium. Then reinforced its shell so most of the blast goes inward and hopefully starts a fission reaction.
It's made from half-baked knowledge and tied together by hopes and prayer, and I plan to test it on a shadow servant.
-----------
While I was planning my next big move, my room's door slowly crept open. Sakura came into the room, heavily panting, face flushed. She walked towards my bed and groaned, "Sempai..." with a pained expression. I immediately held her in my hand and realized that she was burning with fever. I took her to the bathroom and washed her face with water. Then wiped her body with a wet towel while doing a structure analysis on her body to check her condition. What I found in her body managed to shake me to my core.
Her fever is not due to any virus but magecraft.
Her body is infested with crest worms. I saw her hardship and pain from them. Normally, I don't get much data from living beings. But those worms are modified to the point that they no longer resemble any living being. They are more like tools made to control her. It was made by Zouken, her grandfather. He put it into her body when she was first adopted by him. The worm in her heart contains a portion of his soul. When she is low on mana, it agitates her body and forces her to find a mana source. In that house, it is her adopted brother Shinji who torments her regularly during those times. But here she is out of mana, which forced her to this state.
Every person has an innate resistance to other beings' prana, but it can be bypassed partially by making a direct connection to their circuit or using bodily fluids like saliva, blood, or semen. I got that knowledge from the Kama Sutra. I am not sure what effect my mana would have on her, so I kissed her and, while infusing mana into my saliva. It seems our mana is quite compatible; most likely, we have similar elements. While she is busy drinking my mana, I took her back to bed so she can lie down properly. After taking mana, her fever subsided, and she fell asleep while hugging me.
I decided to let her sleep like this and start planning what to do with that worm and her brother. At my current level, if we fight, that worm might escape or use the one in her heart as leverage. Since his nature is closer to undead, the Tears of an Useless Goddess might work on him. I would have to check the system's mall items and flash sale items to find any solution for her. I would have asked for help from Rin, but I don't know how many eyes he has around us.
------
The next day, we returned home. I started searching for a solution to the worm problem.
"System, what should I do about the worm?" I asked.
["Host at your current level, if you attack, he might survive. Try to see if you can find any spell that does damage to the soul from the flash sale. You can also try to level a kilometer around Mauto Mansion, but it might expose magic."]
Both of the methods are highly unreliable. Flash sale items are random, while the other method will get me chased around the world by enforcers.
"System, start Enuma Elish nullification quest. I want to check how much damage my atomic arrow can cause."
["Okay, host"]
[Ding~ Starting Side Quest: Enuma Elish Nullification ]
------
I quickly progress through the waves and reach wave 7.
It has a big wyvern that summons smaller ones after a certain time. I test Voidblast on it, and it's immediately vaporized.
At wave 8, I took care of three shadow servants, two sabers, and a caster supporting them. I took care of the caster first and then killed the sabers one by one.
At wave 9, there was an Archer with 100 Enforcer Knights supporting him. I disengaged the enforcer knights while avoiding his arrows. After reaching a sufficient distance, I shoot two VoidBlast swords at him. Then finish off the others slowly.
Wave ten turned out to be the final wave.
Here we find three shadow servants. One of them is a child, another looks to be an adult, and the last one looks like at his midlife. The smaller one is wearing casual clothes and has a chain in his hand. The adult is wearing very expensive-looking armor, and the last one is wearing an open mage robe with a tablet in one hand and an axe in the other.
I analyze their armor and weapons and armor and realize they are Gilgamesh, also known as the king of the heroes at different ages of his life. Even as a shadow servant, their power is undeniable.
The smaller one attacks me with the chain. It extends and tries to wrap around me. The older one opens a golden ripple behind him and throws some low-quality weapons from there. The mage started firing powerful spells at me.
I run around while blasting them with multi-projection. That seems to piss off the older one. Now he opens more ripples behind him and shoots my projection in the air.
With three of them in the offensive, my Mind's Eye works overtime to keep up with them. While my weapon arsenal is increasing, I am also losing my health at an alarming rate.
So, I made a plan very quickly. Since they are shadow servant, their parameters should be weakened. I reinforce myself to limit and take the battle to close range. The first one I try to fight is the child Gilgamesh, with a Voidblast Excalibur, and I accidentally drop it when I get attacked by the mage. The one throwing weapons at me doesn't take me seriously at all.
I quickly disengage them, but they make no move to follow me. Seemingly content to watch me run. From a safe distance, I activate Voidblast. The kid version is gone.
Now the other two take me more seriously. The one throwing weapons increases his output quality and quantity. While the other one prepares more powerful spells.
Damm... I just wanted to test the nuclear arrow, but it's impossible to deploy one when everything gets shot down midair by them.
Since even if I die in the quest, I won't die in real life. I decided to throw all caution to the wind and project my bow. and bring out the arrow while dodging. I notch the arrow and shoot it at them. I really needed a better bow; this one can't handle arrows this heavy. The bow snaps.
Watching the arrow targeting them, the sword shooter tries to intercept it. Before that, I let Voidblast part explode.
First, there is a small explosion. Then, magically reinforced plutonium starts fission. Then there is a huge explosion.
I was already on the run even before the first explosion. While I still hadn't learned Void Space Travel, I could open a space channel to them, so I did that .
But the explosion shatters the space channel in a few seconds. It saves me from immediately dying. The skill Type-ORT gives me passive immunity to radiation. So, I didn't have to worry about it. Except for very low health and poor body condition, I am pretty well.
The quest is complete, and I will be transported back in a minute. So, I took my time checking the damage.
There is a massive crater on the ground where the arrow exploded. Normally, there should be a mushroom cloud with ashes in the air. But magically charging the payload had pushed everything a long distance. I also take note of the Imaginary element affecting the space around here. Analyzing soil reveals that less than it has a very high concentration of plutonium, meaning low yield. I have to find a way to improve the efficiency.
Then the countdown ends.
------
[Ding~ You have completed a quest]
Side Quest:
->Unlock Enuma Elish Nullification
[Calculating rewards...]
[Rewards:
1,000,000XP,
All Param +1 Rank
10 SR-tickets,
50,000 points,
Skill: Anti Divinity(E)
Skill: Eye of Mind True(E)->Eye of Mind True(C)]
["Do you want to receive the rewards, host?"]
"Receive"
["You will be taken to ????? for the next stage, do you want to continue?"]
"Where?" I asked.
["Host, do you remember where you met me first? I will take you there."]
"Continue"
-------
I am back again at the white void. This time, there is at least a sofa. I take a seat there. The rewards are being accumulated quietly in the background while I chat with the system.
["Shirou-kun~ I am impressed you haven't eaten any of the girls yet, even with the puberty demerit. Do you perhaps swing the other way around?"]
"Don't talk nonsense. It's hard to enjoy myself when too many issues to solve. Like, what is that spider?"
["That one, that is a lifeform from the Oort Cloud. You know the one at the edge of our solar system."]
"By the way, you don't talk too much outside of this space. Why is that?"
["If I talk to you too much while you are on earth, Gaia might find my trace, and you don't want to find out the consequence. You are really too stressed, Shirou-kun. You should take a break and maybe do some proper mana transfer with the Sakura girl."]
"You seem to be very interested in my romantic life."
["It's entertaining, and you should really fuck her."]
"Why, Sakura, though? Why not Rin?" I can't help but ask.
["No. Your first one should be Sakura. I will even give you a special gift if you do that."]
"Can you at least, please, tell me why specifically her?"
["Nope~ Just do as I say. It will be good for you."]
I wanted to argue more, but the accumulation completes. And the System kicks me out.
Background:
[Accumulated xp-> 1,000,000
Absorbing For Level Up:
19[1000000/55000]->
20[945000/60000]->
21[885000/65000]->
22[820000/70000]->
23[750000/75000]->
24[675000/80000]->
25[595000/85000]->
26[510000/90000]->
23[420000/95000]->
24[325000/100000]->
25[225000/150000]->
26[75000/200000]->
Upgrading: Eye of Mind True(E)->Eye of Mind True(C)... Complete
Adding Skill to Spirit Origin: Anti Divinity(E)....Complete
Increase All parameter: +1 Rank
Placing10 SR-tickets and50,000 pointsin inventory...Complete]
-----------------
I take a look at my updated spirit origin
[Spirit Origin:
Name: Shirou Emiya
Title: The Gamer
Level: 26[75k/200k]
Class: Foreigner
Alignment: Neutral ・ Evil
HP: 36k [regen 3600 per min]
MP: 9.7k
SP: 5.2k [regen 2600 per min]
ATK: 3.4k
Points: 52,536
Params:
STR: D->C
END: A->A+
VIT: A->A+
AGI: E->D
MP: EX
LUK: E- ->D
NP: ??]
At least now I won't die immediately.
I look at the quest system that has given me,
[Ding~ New quest received]
Main Quest:
-> Do a proper mana transfer with Sakura Matou(Fuck Her). {rewards: 5,000,000XP, 1,000,000 points, Skill: Phantom Flame, Book: Idiot's Guide to Reality Marble}
[Hint: Phantom Flame attaches to a soul and burns it until the caster stops the spell or they run out of mana]
"System, you really want me to do that?"
["Yes, host, absolutely"]
At least now I can ensure Zoukens' Death.
["Since you have reached level 25 familiar companion has been unlocked in the gacha system. Do you want to check it out?"]
"Not now, I want to collect enough gacha tickets for a 10 SSR-ticket exchange," I replied
It's daytime, but I want to sleep; maybe when I wake up, it will start to make sense.
==================================================================
[A/N: Should I try to write the smut? Let me know in the comment]
[Spirit Origin:
Name: Shirou Emiya
Title: The Gamer
Level: 26[75k/200k]
Class: Foreigner
Alignment: Neutral ・ Evil
HP: 36k [regen 3600 per min]
MP: 9.7k
SP: 5.2k [regen 2600 per min]
ATK: 3.4k
Points: 52,536
Params:
STR: D->C
END: A->A+
VIT: A->A+
AGI: E->D
MP: EX
LUK: E- ->D
NP: ??]
[Skills:
[Gamers Mind-EX]
[Gamers Body-EX]
[Sword of Void-EX]
[Type ORT-EX]
[One Radiant Thing-EX]
[Imaginary Number Magecraft-A++]
[Seven Deadly Sins-A++]
[Perpetual Puberty-A+++]
[Kama Sutra-EX]
[Observe-EX]
[Pain Tolerance-EX]
[Avalon-EX]
[??????????????-E~EX]
[Archery-A]
[Cooking-A+]
[Technician-C]
[Magecraft-D]
[Eye of Mind-C]
[Anti Divinity-E]
Spells:
[Tracing]
[Reinforcement]
[Refresh]
[Flash Air]
[Clone Jutsu]
[Voidblast]
]
[Quests]:
World Quest:
->10 months and 4 days left
Main Quest:
-> Help Sakura and Rin Reconcile. {Rewards: exp +10000, 90% off voucher for system mall, 2 SSR-tokens, points +5000, Advanced healing magecraft knowledge.}
-> Kill Zouken Matou. {Rewards: 500,000xp, 10,000 points, skill: Anti Evil(passive), SSR-ticket *2}
-> End Sakura's suffering. {Rewards: 100,000xp, 25,000 points, Expert Level knowledge of Imaginary Number magecraft, SSR-ticket *1, Unknown(Depends on how you end her suffering)}
-> Do a proper mana transfer with Sakura Matou(Fuck Her). {rewards: 5,000,000XP, 1,000,000 points, Skill: Phantom Flame, Book: Idiot's Guide to Reality Marble}
Character Quest:
->Increase your physical fitness
->Increase your magical fitness
->Increase your knowledge of the world and beings living there {knowledge about powerful beings yields better results}
->Learn/Improve skills
->Learn more about people you already have a relationship with {friends and foes, both are counted}
Side Quests:
->Unlock Immunity to Mystic Eye Of Death Perception
->Upgrade Skill: Type ORT
->Find what happened during the Fourth Holy Grail War. {reward: 25,000XP, ???}
->Find what happened to Irisviel von Einzbern and her daughter. {reward: 25,000XP, ???}
-> Find Tohsaka Tokomi's killer. {rewards: 10,000XP, 1000 points}