Chapter six: New unlocks and a different view.

"Hey, catch!" Shirou would fumble for a moment, his hands grabbing onto the round object before looking at it.

"Why are you chucking an apple?" Shirou asked, confused.

"Were playing catch!" Ferrari said excitedly. "Now throw it to someone else."

With a shrug, Shirou threw it towards Farrie, with Farrie launching herself into the air. She'd land, the apple in her hand, still smiling. even as she throws it towards welt. The game continued, the apple being caught and thrown repeatedly, until a small fumble from Shirou had the apple hit the gem of his sword. Within seconds the apple was absorbed.

Shirou had fully expected the sword to just appear inside the swords inventory, and yet, a notification was what greeted him.

New sword unlocked!

Apple sword

Agility +1

Apple quality increase (minor)

Shirou looked at the sword. Whilst it wasn't a major stat increase or anything special, what it had just done shocked him.

The party looked at the sword in disbelief even as Shirou spoke slowly.

"That… unlocked a sword?"

"Hey, Shirou? Can that sword absorb anything?" Welt asked curiously.

Shirou kept looking at his sword. "I… don't know. I just thought it could absorb monsters and ores." Shirou looked at the sword, only now fully understanding what it meant.

Whilst Shirou could sort of sense the restraints placed on the sword, whether by a previous wielder or something else, he wasn't sure, he had assumed that all the restraints would be unlocked by monster remains.

This discovery led to a new path. If previous heroes had understood this and had unlocked almost every equip bonus from the weapons they had unlocked through minor upgrades, he could understand why they would be revered as legends. the potential for almost unlimited growth, it would put them on par with a servant in Shirou`s opinion

"Alright! New plan for our traveling! Find everything any anything you can to feed the sword!" Bakta shouted. Everyone cheered before running off to find anything they could to feed to the sword.

The sword was frustrated, to say the least. It could feel the world of blades beside its owner, but it was just out of reach. The blade couldn't copy any of the blades' legends, their histories. It frustrated it to no end, but the sword understood why its wielder couldn't use it.

The sword's gaze drifted back over to the foreign arm. It was incredibly similar to its wielder's biology. suspiciously so, but the sword wouldn't speak anymore on it. It was not it's place to know. All it needed was for its wielder to become stronger, stronger than the waves, and it knew that it could do it. But he needed help. That's why it had begun to merge this 'archers' arm to him. Even if it might come as a surprise to the wielder, he would be thankful when he noticed.

It also helped the fact that the sword would be able to unlock some new forms, which had certainly not influenced its decision.

The group ended up just shoving everything in sight into the legendary sword. From grass, mushrooms, bark from trees, cooked meat and more. Shirou was overwhelmed from all the weapons that had been unlocked.

"Why… Why didn't the help menu say anything about absorbing things other than monster drops or ores?"

The gem would flash in the corner of Shirou`s sight, and he'd be greeted by the description he had read the first night.

Weapons can absorb loot, items and materials to unlock new variations of themselves.

Shirou wanted to shout. He had read it, he had taken the information in, but forgot about basic materials. Rin, Taiga, everyone he knew would be shouting at him for this if they had ever found out.

"I see…" Shirou spoke disappointedly, a small frown forming on him. "Did I miss anything else?" He asks the sword, to the confusion of the rest of his party. The gem doesn't glint again, and no pop up appears in front of Shirou. With a sign, he stands up straighter. "Thank you for helping me with my sword."

Everyone would wave it off.

"It's no big deal!" Farrie would say with a smile on her face. "I mean, we all help each other get stronger, so it was no issue helping you out. Especially since you're one of the cardinal heroes!"

"I know that, but I still shouldn't have forgotten a key aspect of my weapon. I wonder how many other things there are that I have missed out on simply because I didn't know about it…"

The rest of the group would shrug, but Tersia would move forward. "Shirou? I'd like to put some hair into the sword, see if that unlocks anything new."

Shirou would nod. "Sure, feel free to put anything into the sword if you think it might help."

With a nod, Tersia would drop some strands of his hair into the gem of the sword.

New sword unlocked

Companion sword I

Human growth stat adjustment (Minor)

Shiro nodded, equipping the sword immediately. He would be making sure to master this one first. If it helped his party members grow stronger, strong enough to protect themselves, he would do it.

"What did it unlock?" Tersia asked curiously.

Shirou Switched to the blade in question, a rather generic looking blade, if Shirou had to say. its appearance was unassuming, with the only thing marking it as different being the four lines leading to the imprint of a sword on the blades centre.

"it's called the companion sword one. apparently, it will help increase your stats whenever you level up."

the group nodded, with Tersia speaking up.

"That sounds helpful. but what does it mean by one?"

Shirou shrugged. "I assume there are other versions if the sword, considering it only says it is minor stat increases. Before you ask, I don't have any idea on how to unlock the next one."

with that said, the party would continue moving, small conversations being made.

The party would travel for a couple more days, killing every monster they came across with no harm done to them. By the end of their journey to the next town on the path to Conel, they were comfortable with their progress., with Shirou being at level 25 whilst the rest of his party was level 30.

Shirou would check his stats as the party took a break, each of them having something small to eat whilst they relaxed.

Shirou Emiya

Sword hero

Level 25

Attack: 97

Special Attack: 75

Defense 75 (65)

Magic defense 61

Agility: 71

Equipment:

Leather Armor, Avalon, Legendary sword(Bound), Foreign arm (Merging)

Shirou would look at it for a moment, blinking as he took it in. He looked towards archers' arm, then back to his stats and equipment. What did it mean archers arm was merging? Shirou knew what merging meant, obviously, but it was a heroic spirits arm! He wasn't supposed to be able to merge with it!

Shirou sighed, chalking it up to this world, as well as the legendary sword, doing something to let him fight at his maximum capability to help save the world. Would he be able to access the memories inside the arm still? Shirou guessed that he wouldn't know until it finally happened.

Until then, it would probably be best to assume that he wouldn't. it was best to prepare for the worst-case scenario. It was something Kiritsugu had drilled into him from a young age, and it had stuck with him.

Shirou couldn't recall archer using any other blades other than the twin blades, but he'd still have to take a look at his memories, preferably without anyone else present. he'd have to wait for the next town.

Shirou let himself relax, taking a deep breath. At least he was mastering more weapons. He was only ten levels from being able to use the copied blades, and he had a good amount of mastery energy stored up. He wasn't sure how much it would power up the married blades, but it was always good to get more.

He took another breath before standing up and speaking.

"let's get moving again. don't want to waste any more time."

Finally arriving at the next village, the group let's out a small sigh.

"I know camping is nice but sleeping in a proper bed is so much better!" Bakta spoke, the group all nodding at him.

"Yeah, we really shouldn't take that for granted…" Welt says, nearly stumbling.

"Hey, I see something over there!" Farrie would shout, and the group would squint, with the exception of Shirou.

"All I see is some faint outlines. Looks like… people?" Farrie continued.

Shirou would reinforce his eyes, looking into the distance. He'd quickly tell the group what he saw.

"It seems like they are... bandits?

Another slight movement and Shirou continued.

"They`re next to a building, and they`ve got something. I can see sparks..."

Shirou swore. "We need to get there, quickly. they are going to start burning stuff!"

With that declaration, the group would start moving, trying to get to the centre of the town as fast as they could.

Yet, even as they were moving as quick as they could, they could already see the signs of a fire due to the smoke rising into the air. Their only option now was to limit the damage they did from this point on.

They quickly moved into the village centre, with Farrie and Shirou taking the closest bandits by surprise.

Farrie would leap forward, pushing her fist into his chest as he was sent stumbling back and, falling to the floor.

Shirou would slice at them before even thinking, watching as they fell to the floor. A notification would pop up in his vision.

100 Exp!

It made Shirou want to be sick. Gaining Exp from killing people? It made sense, in a sick, twisted way, but he left it for now. He had to focus if he wanted to limit the damage. (Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he mourned the loss of a life. The part of him that still wanted to be a hero of justice, that hated the decision he had made in that forest.)

Even as another bandit rushed at him, Shirou couldn't find it in himself to slash at him, to end his life early. So instead, he manoeuvred himself behind the bandit, dodging and blocking his sloppy attacks, before hitting him in the back of the head with the hilt of the sword. The bandit fell limply, and he turned to face the rest of the bandits.

Shirou looked at Farrie and welt, nodding as they smiled at him. He turned to face where Bakta was supposed to be, only to see Bakta with his hands raised in surrender, as a bandit held a knife to his throat.

"Right!" The bandit barked. "You're going to drop all your weapons, and move back, you hear me!" He shouted, yet it wasn't enough to hide the tremor in his voice. He had just seen his group taken down easily, so it was only natural.

Shirou placed his blade on the ground as well put his axe on the floor. The group took a couple of steps back, and the bandit spoke again.

"Right. Now I'm going to start leaving, and I'll keep this guy until I feel I'm far enough away. I'll let him go then." With that, he started slowly backing away.

Unknown to the bandit, but known to Shirou, Welt and Farrie, Tersia was moving behind him, slinking through the bushes with no noise. Raising his finger to his mouth, he made a quiet motion, and kept moving, positioning himself better.

After a short amount of time, Shirou looked back at Tersia

With a barely visible nod from Tersia, Shirou would step forward, the bandit shouting as he saw it.

"What are you doing! Don't you care about your frie-" he was cut off as a shout of pain escaped him, a knife digging into his back. Shirou launched himself forward, reinforcing his body. As he stepped away from the blade, it disappeared, only to reappear in his hands, with Shirou ignoring the notification that popped up

Bakta took the chance to get out of the man's grip as it awakened, and Shirou bounded past Bakta, his sword pointed at the bandit's neck.

"Now, let's get this sorted."

—

Shirou nodded as the last bandit was put into the makeshift holding cell. "Thank you, sword hero." The village leader, an elderly, yet kind man spoke. "Is there anything we can do to help you?"

"Do you have space at your inn for us?" Shirou asked, but a frown appeared on the leader's face.

"Unfortunately, it was the one building the bandits managed to burn down, so we won't be able to accommodate you at this time." He replied sadly.

Shirou nodded, and Bakta spoke up. "Where are the Knights? Weren't they supposed to deal with this?"

The elder nodded. "Usually, yes. But the Knights have been called back to wait for the wave. I understand the importance, but it leaves villages like ours more at risk to these types of things, with only a few people able to fight back."

"I see. I'll bring it up next time we see the king. If he can leave at least a few behind, it should help make bandits think twice before doing this sort of thing." Shirou spoke, nodding.

The elder smiled. "Thank you, sword hero. I'm sorry that we couldn't assist you, but we hope you find luck in your travels."

That night, Shirou dreamed of the world of blades again.

It was becoming a recurring theme. The more he used the sword, the more he dreamed of swords. But something was different this time.

Shirou could see the man in the distance, the unforgettable silver hair, the colourless eyes, and the red cloak.

"Archer…" Shirou spoke. Was this a side effect of the arm merging?

Shirou stepped forward, even as archer took a step up the hill of blades, even as more blades buried themselves into his body.

And yet, archer found the strength to speak.

"I am the bone of my sword,"

Another step, another blade entered his body.

"Steel is my body and fire is my blood."

Shirou heard the words clearly, like they were engraved into his very soul.

"I have —- over a thousand weapons,"

The words began to mix. He could understand what archer was saying, yet it was so utterly wrong, that his mind simply chose to ignore it.

"Un—- Not kno—-"

His mind was screaming at him. That this was not the path that he had chosen, that these words were not his to speak.

"—-se hands w—- nev—"

The words he could hear overlapped, creating a cacophony on sounds. Shirou fell to the floor, covering his ears in the hopes of drowning out the noise, and yet, it did nothing.

"So—-

—- bla—-"

A light shined from the peak of the hill.

Shirou gasped as he woke up, sweat on his forehead as he took in his surroundings. Taking a quick look, Shirou saw that Tersia was on guard, although he was far enough away to have not heard Shirou. Presumably out next to a river, or hunting something small for breakfast.

The words that Shirou had heard in the throne room, the words that Archer had spoken, they seemed so familiar, so… natural to him. And so, he spoke.

"I am… the bone of my sword."

Unaware to Shirou, the gem on his sword glinted as a wind whipped up around him, not disturbing those who slept nearby.

Inside the hero, a world of blades had started operations.

Elsewhere, outside of Castle town

Naofumi couldn't help but look up at the night sky.

It wasn't the first time he had reflected upon his situation. The young girl, Raphtalia he mentally reminded himself, slept peacefully beside him, having already woken up once thanks to her nightmare. As he looked up to the sky, patting the young girls head, he couldn't help but think back to what had led him here.

He could clearly remember the trial, the false accusation of Motoyasu and that bitch.

Naofumi feels the blinding rage, the anger at them, the ones who caused his misfortune to begin. Then again, from what he had gathered in the trial, it seemed like this world had disliked him off the bat, simply for having the shield attached to him. He had already been tempted to chuck the shield away, to try and separate his life from the cursed weapon, but he just couldn't. The words Shirou had spoken to him on the first day, talking about how he could be a shield for the innocents stuck in his mind, and so, he reluctantly kept it with him

His thoughts drifted back to the sword hero. He knew Shirou wasn't going to be there. He had declared his intentions already, his plans to leave and travel.

What would Shirou have said about the accusations? He didn't know whether it was better or worse that he didn't know. He had spent each day wondering whether the sword hero would have joined the duo in their insults hurled at him or believed him.

In the back of his mind, a part he wanted to ignore, but he had felt getting more and more hold over him whispered darkly. Of course, he would. He'd see you as a rapist, scum. Someone he would have regretted putting his hopes into.

He shook his head. He wouldn't let his faith be misplaced. He had promised to become strong. He'd become stronger than Motoyasu and Itsuki. Maybe then, he could proudly stand beside Shirou. Maybe then, he could feel like his equal.

End of the chapter! Sorry for taking a bit longer to update. I was a bit busy doing other things.

Decided to give some view on Naofumi. He's still going the same as canon, although he's not as angry, due to the belief Shirou had placed in him.

Let me know how you liked the chapter!