Chapter 5: Time skip.

In the secluded yard of the Emiya residence, a small workshop, formerly an ordinary shed turned smithy, hummed with rhythmic clang of metal against metal. Inside, a young man with crown braided auburn hair worked diligently, his hands moved expertly shaping glowing metal into the form of a straight blade—a two-sided broadsword.

The forge roared with intense heat as he poured his heart and soul into the sword, channeling the wisdom he's accumulated throughout the years with each precise movement. Sweat beaded on his brow, yet he pressed on, his hands steady and sure as he shaped the broadsword's deadly, yet elegant edge.

Magical energy begun to swirl around the young man's form as his undying desire to cut the intangible was projected into the blade itself, manifesting into something real. The weapon lets off a weak shimmer, capturing his wish, and started to develop an ability of its own.

With a final flourish, he quenched the blade in water, the hiss of steam echoing through the silent space. And as the first light of dawn painted the sky, the young man stepped back, his heart swelling with pride at the sight of his creation.

As he wiped the sweat off his face using a clean towel, an ever familiar screen appeared before his eyes, resulting in a smile to cross his face.

[Enchantment 'Soul slash (fake)' has been added to the item]

"Haha! Yes!" I exclaimed. After many failed attempts, I had finally succeeded in crafting a blade that could rend not just flesh, but the soul itself, albeit imperfectly. Some tweaking still needed to be done for it to be completed. As for why I require such a thing, it's for a certain old magus that refused to die through natural means.

Satisfied with my recent creation, I wrapped a pristine cloth around it and carefully stored it away before extinguishing the dancing flames of the forge. Emerging from my small smithy, I entered the manor and cleansed myself of filth with a hot shower.

After changing into some fresh clothing and donning a red apron upon reaching the kitchen, a single word left my lips: "System."

-Shirou Emiya-

Title(s):

Wanderer of worlds.

Sword Incarnation.

Bearer of Avalon.

Saber-face.

Fuyuki's Helping Hand.

(-Collapse-)

Level: 17

STR: 5.6 (+3)

VIT: 55 (+3)

AGI: 14.5 (+3)

MAG: 6 (+3)

Points: 41

Skills:

(-Expand-)

Quest:

3 days remaining until the next quest.

Five years had passed since my reincarnation into the world of Fate/Stay Night, and a lot had happened during that time. First of, my level; I have reached the 17th level through side-quests alone, and had stalled on it for the past 3 months with little to no progress being done; helping random strangers just wasn't enough anymore. An alternative was needed, but I have yet to find any.

So, I placed my attention elsewhere—blacksmithing. I took up the craft a few years ago and had created over hundred blades with the sole purpose of making a weapon that could strike the soul.

Forging a sword that could hurt one's inner-self was an incredible feat in itself, something most smiths could only dream of, however, I wasn't satisfied with that. My goal was something even more grand—creating a weapon that could dissect the fabric of reality itself. Any swordsmith worth their salt should strive to make a blade that could not only slash the material, but the abstract as well. Unfortunately, that's for another time as my current skills with the forge cannot possibly reach such heights. Perhaps I could even create an item to call my own, something people would associate with nobody but myself in the future.

Second: the newly acquired title, obtained after helping people with their problems for half-a-decade straight. It's effect was pretty easy to understand; my entire parameters sheet receives a slight boost whenever I'm inside Fuyuki. It might not sound much, but that's four whole levels (a level up rewards 3 stat points) given to me for simply standing within the city borders.

On that note. Despite having yet to allocate a single point into my stats, my physical prowess - without the aid of magecraft - already surpassed every normal human being on this planet. Thanks to Avalon's miraculous powers, sleep became nothing more than an enjoyable pastime. Meaning most of my time, excluding school activities, was spent either hanging out with Sakura or honing my abilities from the break of dawn till the dead of night.

Speaking of Sakura, she started going to school as well. I was completely against the idea at first, feeling a sense of doom at the thought of leaving her unprotected, but eventually got over it so she could experience what it was like to be a child. I still watched her closely, picking her up from school everyday, just in case something does happen. Zouken made no attempts on us so far, and this inactivity had brought me nothing but worry. What was he concocting in that rotten brain of his?

Well, no matter. I've already collected everything that was needed to take the old maggot down, all that's left now was to enact judgement. Five whole years was enough time to prepare, and his dismissive attitude towards me only worked greatly in my favour. It was only a matter of time.

Back to whatever I was currently doing. My hands practically moved on their own without my input; the vegetables were cut, the meat was seasoned and perfectly cooked before being plated, a good chunk of it was placed on the side and packed inside a plastic container. Bending forward, I opened the oven which caused hot air to spew out directly into my face, but I remained unperturbed and took out a bunch of freshly baked cookies from within, then arranged them in a small basket. Satisfied, I unwrapped the apron from my waist and headed out of the house with the packed foodstuff in my hands.

After crossing some roads, I arrived at a familiar residential abode—Tanaka Soichirou's home. Without even knocking, I swung the front door open and went in, dropping my slippers off by the entrace. This place was practically my second home at this point with how frequent I've visited here, mostly to deliver Tanaka lunch or dinner. Out of habit, my steps were swift and silent and the magical energy being emitted by my body was so miniscule, a magus would've mistaken it for a random animal.

Inside the common room, the television was turned on, airing some sort of children's show, and in front of it was a child sitting on the ground, about 7 years old, with short black hair and a round face. His ocean-blue eyes were glued to the screen, utterly fascinated by the program.

"Hey, it's not good to stare at a screen all day, it might damage your eyes. You don't wan to have bad eyesight, right?" I strode beside the kid and placed the cookie basket down on the floor, then ruffled his head because why not. "Here, your favorite cookies. It's still hot so be careful. Oh, be sure not to cause a mess or gramps would be mad, got it?" He nodded with a grumble.

I navigated my way through the house with familiarity and ended up in the backyard, where an old man, Tanaka Soichirou, could be seen sitting on a reclining chair. His hair was pure white, reminiscent of the clouds he was observering in the sky, displaying his age. His health, while not as great when we first met, was still in good shape.

"Morning, gramps. Here's breakfast." I made my presence known and handed him the plastic constainer.

"Ah, Shirou. Good morning." He turned from his seat, returning with a warm greeting of his own. He took the food case and opened it, sending a delicious aroma to drift into the air. "How's Ritsuka? Still at that television, I'm guessing?"

"Still at it, unfortunately," I shook my head, "he'll be blind by the time he's an adult if he keeps this up, I just know it. Kids these days, they spend all their days inside instead of going outside to play."

"Careful, now. You're starting to sound like an old man. Let kids enjoy the things available to them. Isn't that the whole point of advancing? to let the next generation live a better life? Stop being a stuck-up brat." Tanaka took another bite of his meal and continued. "Aren't you like, what… twelve? I keep thinking you're older with how you act. You should properly enjoy your early life as much as he is, you might regret not doing so."

"I wish I could. Unfortunately, there's a lot of things in my mind at the moment." The Holy Grail War, and many other variables such as the Mage Association, was constantly on the forefront of my mind, leaking into my everyday thoughts and putting me under great stress. I practically had no time to think about normal things. Hearing my answer, the old man leveled a blank stare at me. Confused, I asked: "What?"

"Ha!" He barked out a hearty laugh. "What's even going in your head, huh? All you think about is helping people around town and scaring other boys from approaching Sakura, you two are practically inseparable. At least you're enjoying your youth one way or another."

Warmth encroached my face, but it quickly died down. "You've got to understand, gramps," my voice lowered to a dangerous octave, "if I ever catch any of those boys do something bad to her, not even God would save their sorry asses from me."

"Goodness, you're sounding like my son whenever he talks about his daughter—his little princess or whatever." Tanaka rolled his eyes, then puts on a toothy grin. "You'll be a great dad one day, you already have the foundations for it."

We continued our talk for a few more minutes until I promptly ended it, saying there's still some stuff for me to do back home.

"Yeah yeah. Can't go on for more than an minute without needing your dose of Sakura. Shoo-shoo." He motioned as if pushing an animal away, then resumed gorging. I reentered the house with a sigh and found Ritsuka, the 7 year old boy, still staring intently at the television screen.

"Hm?" My brows quirked slighly upon spotting an empty basket beside him. It was the same one I gave him earlier, now devoid of cookies. 'Did this kid really just eat all of that in a few minutes? I baked 30 pieces!'

Thankfully, he followed my words and made no mess on the floor, but his cheeks were covered in crumbs instead. I took out a handkerchief and crouched down to clean Ritsuka's face, who didn't give my action much attention, fully entranced by the show he was watching.

"Kids these days, really." I stood back up and headed to the door. "Hey Ritsuka, I'm leaving now. Don't cause any touble, alright?" The dark-haired boy replied with nothing more than a hum as I exited the place.

We met less than a year ago; when he and his parents decided to move in nearby. The two adults were a bright pair, even inviting me to their place to eat several times. As for why Ritsuka's here, he would take shelter inside Tanaka's home whenever his guardians were out for work. The old man had no problems with that and allowed the child wander around his house.

Imagine my surprise when I first learned about his full name—Ritsuka Fujumaru. At first, I couldn't figure out why the name sounded so familiar, but then it dawned on me on the very next day. The protagonist of "Fate Grand Order", a gacha game in my previous life, possessed the same name and appearance, possibly hinting towards Finis Chaldea's existence in this world.

I kept my eyes on the boy, basically becoming an older brother figure to him which I didn't mind. What worried me the most was that if this world were to follow FGO's line of events, then my plans for the future would go down the drain before it even started. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do apart from hope and prepare for the worst.

A couple of twist and turns later, I arrive back home and found Sakura inside the living room holding a broom that's taller than herself. A warm smile was etched onto her lips as she noticed me enter. I tried to dissuade her from doing such menial tasks, but couldn't bring myself to refuse any of Sakura's wishes.

We talked to one another for a short while before splitting off; Sakura resumed sweeping the floor while I walked straight towards the storage room near the end of the hall. Entering, not a smidgen of dust could be found inside the space, I'm fairly certain my diligence in cleaning had turned into an obsession at this point.

Carefully moving a couple crates containing deadly explosives to the side, I unearthed a briefcase that was intricately hidden behind a false wall then returned everything to their original position as to not draw attention to that particular spot. Before leaving the mortal plane, Kiritsugu gave me access to his most deadliest armament yet, which was in my hands at this very moment. I knew it was here, but not once have I touched it until today.

It had been 6 months after Kiritsugu's death, and my training and drive for self improvement had not diminished since his passing. Speaking of him; my feelings for the man was a complicated mix of emotions. Due to my past life's memories, it prevented me from treating him like a proper parent, instead he was more of a mentor to me. That doesn't mean we did not spend time together like how a father and son would, but only on rare occasions as I have not the same interests nor mindset as a child would have.

A click resounded around the room as the case opened to reveal a collection of seemingly regular bullets painted in brass. They were anything but ordinary, of course. Every single one of them was an Origin bullet made from Kiritsugu's own lower ribs. Apart from me, not a single soul on this planet knew of its true power—as everyone who've seen it had perished. There was originally 66 pieces, but 37 had already been used by the Magus Killer in the past; each bullet having successfully killed their intended target.

"I'll try my best to not ruin that streak." With a quick scan of my eyes, Unlimited Blade Works immediately went to work, adding the ammunition to my soulscape. The bullets would take a substantial amount of magical energy to replicate, as it was the farthest thing from the concept of a 'sword', but not crippling.

I closed the briefcase and tucked it inside my sleeping quarters with great care before joining Sakura by the living room to eat breakfast. On the television screen, a news segment about a string of murders that's been happening inside the city was playing, warning us of a possible serial killer on the loose, and repeatedly told everyone watching to stay safe and lock their doors.

This caught my attention, so I shelved the information on the back of my mind and continued eating. A homely atmosphere whirled around the two of us as we engaged in a myriad of topics. Sakura had more or less opened up to me, showing more emotion than ever before, but I could tell she was still repressing them quite a lot.

Truth be told, she was afraid. Afraid that that Zouken might take the little happiness she had left in the world away from her. She didn't want Shirou to disappear, she wanted her grandfather to wisk away, crushed like the bug that he was. A shadow nestled within Sakura's soul fed on her emotions, but it wasn't enough to cause any external reactions.

'Don't worry, Sakura. Just wait a bit more and that old worm is going to die, I promise you that.' I thought to myself.


Later that afternoon as I was leaping from one roof to another, doing my usual patrol over the city, a prickling sensation washed over me, forcing my stride to halt. My nose picked up the scent of blood and decay, catapulting me into a heightened state of alertness.

Following the peculiar smell, I ended up in front of an abandoned warehouse. There was nothing odd about it; the area was silent and the air was calm—from a distance at least. Leaning forward, a translucent membrane emitting a small amount of magical energy could be seen covering the entire compound. At the back of my mind, the urge to turn around and vacate the area arose, but I shrugged the feeling off fairly easily.

Raising my hand, I gave the invisible wall a few taps and quickly concluded that it was a Bounded Field. The entire space was blocked off, preventing civilians from nearing or seeing whatever was happening inside.

Without a second thought, I pushed myself forward and breached through the magical barrier with relative ease, as its main purpose was to simply turn away anyone nearby, and saw the warehouse's true state; mutilated corpses were strewn all around, fresh blood painted the walls and dismembered limbs decorated the ground. A bile went up my throat as an intense wave of rot assaulted my nose. Fortunately, I managed to force it down and took a moment to regain my calm.

With a clear head, I took another look at my surroundings. Despite missing critical organs like the lungs and heart, a few fallen carcasses still moved as if it were alive, dragging themselves across the pavement using whatever was left of them. Their eyes appeared hollow, devoid of substance, not a hint of intelligence could be seen behind them. Seeing this, a single thought crossed my mind: 'Ghouls.'

Ghouls were nothing more than reanimated corpses, their sole purpose being to serve whoever brought them to existence. It was a foul practice most magi would look at in utter contempt due to its association with Dead Apostles—vampire-like beings. Their main strength comes from their overwhelming numbers as an individual undead was no better than the average human. I trained my sight on the trail of bodies on the road, it seems whoever preceded me had already taken out most of them, leaving only a dozen or so to mindlessly scamper around.

While taking stock of the area, a sudden noise caught my attention; the sound of metal clashing against one another reverberated from behind the building, indicating some sort of battle. I swiftly went into motion and marched towards the source of the noise, only for an undead with one missing arm to suddenly block my path.

With a neutral expression, I extended an arm and pulled my conciousness inward. A spark, caused by two blades striking each other, flew across my head. Magical energy begun to coalesce atop my open palm, shaping itself into a sleek and compact firearm adorned with intricate engravings.

A few years ago, using Kiritsugu's old connections, I had ordered a custom firearm that appeared exactly like the "Hunter Pistol" from the video game 'Bloodborne', one of my favorite games ever in my past life. The one in my hand was a copy using magecraft, of course, the real handgun was safely stored back home.

Mana entered the gun's singular chamber, morphing into a silver-hued bullet. Projecting ordinary ammunition, while costing less than an Origin bullet, still required an abundant amount of magical energy compared to a sword. Squeezing the trigger, the hammer at the end snapped forward. A single bullet left the chamber accompanied by a loud bang and traced a straight line directly into the undead's forehead, tearing through its rotting flesh with ease. The living corpse, deprived of its motor functions, dropped with a sickening thud.

[You have slain an undead]

"Oh?" On the status screen, I watched the experience bar increase by a noticeable amount. As expected, much like any other video game, killing monsters was the superior method of raising one's level. A feral grin broke through my stoic facade as I locked gazes with another ghoul that was dragging its battered body towards my position. Whatever problem was happening behind the storehouse could wait, leveling up took priority.

In a manic fit of bloodlust, I eliminated every single straggler I could find within the premises with extreme efficiency, gaining enough experience points to almost level up, but not quite. The amount of EXP I've gained in the last few minutes alone was equal to a week's worth of side-quests. After successfully purging all abominable creatures by the entrance, I made my way behind the structure where a group of men dressed in priestly robes could be seen circling an unmoving body lying over a pool of blood.

The presence of priests was unexpected, surprising me somewhat. So, I'm guessing whatever's been causing the recent murder spree was the same one they've just killed. Their breaths were laboured and a few of them were even covered in wounds, blood having stained their clothing, yet they appeared unbothered by it and continued on like normal.

"Hm?" A tall man with a neatly groomed beard noticed my appearance, in turn putting the his companion's attention on me, then asked in a friendly tone: "What might you be doing here, young man? This place isn't safe, I'd recommend vacating the area immediately."

Feeling the combined weight of their scrutinizing glare, a weak shiver crept up my back. "Ah, I was nearby and noticed a commotion. I came to offer my aid, but it appears it wasn't needed."

A shame, really. I was hoping to earn more experience points by killing monsters, but there was nothing I could do about that. Had I arrive a tad bit earlier, my level would've already risen. Though, there was one thing I could do that will benefit both parties. "I can see some of you had suffered, I could offer my prayers and help quicken your recovery."

This piques the priest's interest. "Are you perhaps a member of the local church?"

Naturally, he did not suspect me of being an ordinary citizen, as only those who has knowledge of the supernatural could bypass the barrier they had erected around the compound.

"Not exactly, but I do go there on a regular basis." While true, my purpose of going there wasn't to seek the Lord's guidance, but had something to do with the System.

"I see." He nodded, mistaking my identity as a deacon. "We're plenty exhausted from the fight, we would greatly appreciate your help, young man."

The group's tense atmosphere loosened up, some sat down on the floor to rest while others opted to remain standing. I lowered my head and held my hands together in a prayer, then employed one of the skills I gained after many days of attending the Lord's home.

As holy energy swirled around us, the priests' eyes widen in shock. The energy combined into a malevolent pillar, casting a radiant light upon my entire figure. The believers dropped to their knees, cupped their hands above their chest, offering heartfelt prayers in reverence. Their wounds, from most grievous to the slightest cuts, swiftly closed, while their fatigue was gently swept away by the warm light.

As they basked under the pillar's brilliance, a System notification appeared before me.

[Skill 'Healing Prayer' has ranked up to C - 1]

Healing Prayer was, as the name suggests, a skill that mended all kinds of wounds dealt to the body and also restored some of the target's vitality. Due to its nature as a holy sacrament, it was wholly unaffected by [Sword Incarnation] as it wasn't a form of magecraft.

After regularly attending church services, I gained this extraordinary ability. Apparently, anything can be turned into a skill if you practice it for long enough, even something as abstract as praying. I wonder if it's possible to gain a skill that could make anything spontaneously explode if I wished for it hard enough?

Anyways, since then, I've been visiting hospitals to heal the wounded. However, I didn't want to turn Fuyuki into a city of miracles, so I decided to only make occasional visits to hospitals to avoid drawing too much attention.

The members of the Church stood in awe of what they had just witnessed. They couldn't believe it—they had just seen the Lord's light in action. The bearded priest had expected some form of healing art or magecraft disguised as a Sacrament, but what they experienced was beyond their expectations.

The Church had always been opposed to the use of magecraft, but they couldn't deny its usefulness. So, some higher-ups in the Vatican decided to select a few specific thaumaturgy methods - such as Bounded Fields - and repurposed them. However, what they were witnessing now wasn't any of that; it was a genuine gift bestowed by the Lord himself. Within the Church, only the most devout followers had ever been granted this power, but it had never been this potent before. Only figures like Martha or Joan of Arc, saints of long ago, had ever received such strong favour from their deity.

For some odd reason, I felt a warm and comforting sensation across my very being, like that of a mother's touch, before it briskly disappeared. I brushed the feeling off, chalking it up to the skill's effects. Having already obtained what I wanted, there was no need for me to stay here any longer. I took advantage of their stunned state and kicked off the ground using all of my strength, vanishing out of sight with a flurry of dust.

"What—where did he go? Find him! We mustn't lose someone chosen by the Lord!" The bearded priest broke out of his trance and exclaimed, then turned to his most trusted person in the group. "George, call the others. The air is still rife with holy energy, have them come here, quickly!"

Little did Shirou know, this little stunt of his would reach the Pope's ears in a matter of minutes, raising a furor all across the Vatican and bringing unwanted attention to himself.

END.