Chapter 13: Magecraft 101
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Thinking about the previous grail war as well as his situation Shirou walked to school. On the road, he was thinking
< That's it! I have to learn swordsmanship to have basic combat effectiveness. I have to make the sword into mystic codes as Dad did with his guns.>
He reached the school gate and had to interrupt his planning to go to his class.
He sat beside Shinji who was happy for some reason but this gave Shirou a sick feeling in his stomach as if something wrong had happened.
He wished to ask Shinji but decided against it considering it a family matter of shinji. Shinji looked at Shirou and said
"Emiya why were you absent for a week? Did you get sick? I have told you that people like you should be more careful with their health."
Shirou for some reason easily ignored the obnoxious tone of Shinji and translated the question to Shinji being worried about his health. Shinji while passing a note to Shirou said
"Here this is what had been taught during the period you were absent."
Smiling at Shinji`s behaviour Shirou takes to notebook and focuses back on class. During lunch break, Shirou pulls a reluctant Shinji to the rooftop to eat. There he notices the noticeable absence of the twin-tailed girl and her friends.
The school passes by without any issue and Shirou reaches home.
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After getting a wash he heads to the kitchen to prepare some snacks for the expected arrival of Taiga.
After kiritsugu went to teach taiga Shirou went into the dojo and holding the shinai opened his magic circuits. He meditated and tried to feel his od flowing through his circuits and tried to move the ambient mana that he could barely sense alongside his od.
Later that evening kiritsugu called Shirou into the living room and spoke
"I have thought about it and Shirou I can only teach you basic magecraft to practise mana manipulation but I will teach you tactics as well as battle awareness."
"All of these depend on diligent practice over a long period." straightening his body kiritsugu said
"Among the things I know you can learn structural grasp and reinforcements for practising mana manipulation, projection or graduating air for the practice of using mana and I will teach you about bounded fields."
Listening to kiritsugu, Shirou nodded and then asked him about his swordsmanship plan
"Swordsmanship huh! Shirou you have to remember that most mages have mystic codes for close combat or have mage craft effective at that range so it is dangerous to fight them up close."
Replied kiritsugu but looking at Shirous`s solemn expression he added
"But it is a good ability because you need to be proficient in close combat to fight other mages, so I will find a way to have swordsmanship taught to you."
"Now let's focus on structural grasp."
Kiritsugu picked up a shinai and opened his circuits and the ones on his hand began glowing with mana. Looking at this Shirou focused on felling the flow of mana.
Kiritsugu opened his eyes and looked at Shirou who had his eyes closed trying to understand the flow of mana. He shook Shirou to get his attention and spoke
"Now you try. I will guide your mana through the shinai until you learn to do it yourself."
After saying that he moved over to Shirou and put the shinai in the open palms of Shirou.
Shirou following the instructions opened his circuits and tried to focus his mana into the shinai guided by the flow of Kiritsugu`s mana.
It took 3 whole hours for Shirou to learn to properly channel the mana into the object and damage it by making the wood of shinai crack.
After eating dinner the emiya family went to bed early and lying in bed kiritsugu thought
< I will make a simple mystic code wooden knife for Shirou to practise with.>
And fell asleep.
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The next day went by without any interruptions. Shirou woke up exercised and cooked while practising structural grasp on the ingredients. He got ready and went to school along with kiritsugu.
The day at school was calm while sitting with Shinji and having lunch on the empty rooftop.
Shirou made up the deficits from the 1-week break he took for stabilisation of his magic circuits.
At home, taiga came while Shirou was making snacks and he belatedly delivered the snacks.
After she went home kiritsugu called Shirou into the living room and told
"Now that you have learnt the basic control of mana it's time for you to learn a way to utilise your od to simultaneously train your magic circuits as well as to practise performing mage craft."
Opening his circuits kiritsugu released mana and the glow in his hand elongated and transformed into the shinai from last night. Throwing the shinai at Shirou he said
"Take it and tell me how is it different from the original shinai?"
Taking the thrown shinai Shirou began to examine it and the shinai slowly began to disperse into particles and by 5 minutes it completely vanished. Looking at kiritsugu he said
"It's hollow on the inside and the mana used to make it was spontaneously dispersing."
Nodding his head the older emiya said
"Precisely, as I have told you the planet itself resists the use of magecraft so the mana used to make that projection was slowly leaking."
"And to make the projection you have to know the complete structure of the object or have the blueprint in your head. Even then the projected object is very fragile and disappear shortly."
"Hence this magecraft is practically useless except for prctising by apprentices and to make some disposable tools. Hence perfect for you to train."
Kiritsugu then taught his son how to project the image in his mind into the world by using mana. Shirou took just an hour to make a feeble and hollow projection of the shinai.
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Shirou practised both rudimentary magecrafts as well as went on with his life for 2 days. In these 2 days, he had achieved the basic feeling of controlling your mana.
He can now blunt metal in the shape of a knife as well as grasp the shape of a kitchen knife.his days included cooking, exercises and practising magecraft till he was dead tired and talking with kiritsugu, Shinji and sometimes Taiga.
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On the breakfast table of Emiya`s residence, Shirou fresh out of the shower was sitting opposite his father in a black yukata.
They ate in silence until kiritsugu broke it by saying
"Shirou take this mystic code and always keep this to yourself."
Kiritsugu passed a wooden knife about the size of a kitchen knife. The knife was a carved knife that looked like it was a lucky charm or memento. It had a smooth waxy feel and was covered in black ink lines giving it an exotic feel.
The chain attached at its end felt smooth and was unlike metal, this chain made it abundantly clear that this was designed as a necklace. Looking at his son playing with the mystic code kiritsugu said
"This knife is a very straightforward mystic code I made for you, just supply it with mana and the chain will tingly wrap around your arm and the knife will become sharper than real blades."
"Use this to train and feel the magic enchantment on it. This will also be helpful for your plan of making swords into mystic codes."
Hearing this an excited Shirou put the necklace around his neck and tucked the blade part inside his shirt. While preparing for school Shirou was about to remove the necklace but stopped his hands.
He was reluctant to part with the necklace and the necklace also gave a cozy feeling when he held it. Then he remembered the holy grail war and decided to keep it on just for the futile feeling of safety it gave. He thought
So Shirou went to school. The day at school went by without any notable incidents except Shinji's insistence to eat in class because he felt lazy.
Shirou came home and knocked himself out while practising mage craft by expending almost all of his od. Looking at the mystic code lying near his passed-out son kiritsugu shook his head and picked up Shirou.
Placing Shirou in bed kiritsugu went to cook but settled for heating leftovers and eating. while eating he reminded himself to teach Shirou more about caution and felt that Shirou might be becoming more reckless due to the heightened recovery provided by the dormant Avalon.