Chapter Fourteen: Emiya’s Combat Style
In his previous life, Shirou Emiya and his adoptive father, Kiritsugu Emiya, dedicated their entire life traveling the world, searching for a way to save it.
Their world, due to the depletion of its magical energy, was on a path of impending doom, civilization was plunged into chaos.
Drug lords, mafias, cults, and terrorists etc.—various "outlaws" from all different walks of life joined in on the global madness
These people became obstacles on the Emiya's family path to salvation.
As a result, at a young age, Shirou had witnessed his father wielding a submachine gun gunning down an entire cult gathering. Kiritsugu even taught him how to use an RPG, with his practice target being an escaping drug lord's plane.
He didn't feel much remorse taking others life, even though some innocents may have been caught in the crossfire. It didn't matter to him. After every successful mission, Kiritsugu would praise him, Shirou felt a mix of joy and emptiness….
It might seem strange, but perhaps this was just one side of the apocalypse.
Through his travels and battles in his past life, Shirou had developed his own combat philosophy.
Swords were essential. Some beings, especially those that had a connection with magic, could only be dealt with by swords.
But when swords weren't necessary, he will use anything at his disposal, some methods were much more clean and efficient than engaging in close combat.
If a gun could solve a problem, there was no need for a sword. If a sniper rifle could take care of it, why risk getting close?
High-powered explosives were an effective means of breaching an enemy's defenses, and making good use of heavy vehicles often worked wonders.
Thus, swords had their place, but guns were just as crucial. Only by using both could one well-round their arsenal.
The same logic applied in the dungeon.
Any enemies that can be killed with a bow, shoot them dead on sight, any enemies that got too close, killed them with a sword, that was Shirou's fighting style.
"That's…it?" Looking at the goblin corpse scattered across the ground the Pallum spearman was surprised at how quickly it all went down.
Goblins were monsters found in the upper floors of the dungeon, and they were considered the weakest, with the lowest stats among all dungeon monsters.
These small, ugly humanoid monsters were weaker than an average adult human male with no blessing. Their threat primarily came from their numbers, ambushes, and the psychological horror their grotesque appearance caused to new adventurers.
But even the weakest monsters could become dangerous when attacking in groups, especially to rookie adventurers. However, for a well-balanced party like theirs, a few goblins were no challenge.
The only difference was that compare to seeing a vanguard warriors smash them to death with a great sword or a spearmen stab them to death in combat, Shirou casually dispatching them before they could even get close gave others a completely different experience.
Even Raul, a Level 4 adventurer, couldn't help but be a bit astonished. While he could easily slice through hundreds of goblins if they charged at him, there was something distinctively elegant and clean about Shirou's combat style that took him by surprise.
"Goblin magic stones aren't really worth collecting. Just leave them for the scavengers. Let's get moving."
Koni, the team's leader, order after a brief moment of awe.
The magic stones within goblins were very small—mere fragments. For a party comprised of Orario's top Familia, it wasn't worth their time or effort to collect such tiny magic stone and waste inventory space.
In the upper levels of the dungeon, there were scavengers—usually lower level or retired adventurers who lacked the courage or ability to fight—who specialized in collecting unwanted monster corpses for their magic stone, like the alcoholics of the Soma Familia.
The team continued forward, following the path marked by the guild toward the second floor. Along the way, they encountered another group of goblins, and once again, the outcome was the same.
The goblins were eliminated in a blink of an eye, the battle ended before the two frontline could even raise their weapon.
"In the upper levels of the dungeon, especially from the first to the fourth floor, bows have an overwhelming advantage against monsters like goblins and kobolds," Shirou explained as he lowered his bow.
"Monsters in these floors have extremely low defense and endurance."
Goblins were creatures that even a group of farmers with iron hoes could easily take down. Even a Level 1 rookie adventurer could easily one shot them with a solid blow.
At these floors, an adventurers' damage was usually overkill, that means the usual drawback of a bow being useless up close was not that big of a deal.
However, as you delved deeper into the lower floors, where stronger monsters like Orcs and Minotaurs—creatures with high endurance and tough defenses, who can tank the damage and closed the distance—awaited, the weaknesses of the bow would become more apparent.
Against such monsters, powerful slashes and magic were often much more effective.
"No, even if this is the upper floors, most adventurers can't pull off stunts like that!" Lefiya thought. "And isn't your attack speed and accuracy unusually high?!"
In this world, the bow was often associated with elves. With their naturally superior physical attributes, exceptional balance, and dexterity, elves easily became excellent archers.
To the elves, a weapon that could kill enemies from a distance was considered an "elegant" form of combat, aligning with their refined sense of aesthetics as children of the forest.
So when a human claimed to be an archer, Lefiya's outward expression remained neutral, but inwardly, she was somewhat dismissive.
Though she wasn't an archer herself, she believed that the best archers come from the elven race.
This human was probably someone who would shoot a few arrows at random and then charge in with a sword.
However, Shirou's archery far exceeded her expectations.
"He must have a skill related to archery!" The elven girl concluded.
If Shirou had known what Lefiya was thinking, he would have only thought, "How could elven archery compare to that of a Heroic Spirit?"
After all, Shirou had inherited the skills of a Heroic Spirit who was classified as an Archer, able to hit target four kilometer away.
The third wave of enemies the party encountered were Kobolds—dog-headed humanoid monsters. They were like goblins, with no particular strengths or special abilities, with slightly higher stats, but was still one of the weakest monsters in the dungeon.
Shirou shot an arrow, piercing the last Kobold through its eye socket, ending the battle.
"Make sure to check if they're playing dead. Shooting them in the eye doesn't guarantee an instant kill." Shirou reminded the group.
"Understood," The Pallum spearman replied, immediately stabbing the fallen Kobold in the neck. "Too bad, still no drop item."
In the dungeon, monsters could drop valuable items in addition to magic stones. Goblins, for example, could drop "Goblin Fang," while Kobolds could drop "Kobold Nail."
"The value of drop items is far higher than magic stone fragment, but the chances of getting one are pretty low." Raul lamented.
Since the Kobold's magic stone wasn't worth extracting, the group continued onward, soon enough they reached the entrance to the second floor.
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(TN:I saw a Chinese meme that goes something like this"An Archer that doesn't know close combat is not a good Caster.
Emiya, an Archer, fought Cu Chulainn one on one in close combat, using projection magic.
Gilgamesh, an Archer, wielded a freaking axe in his caster form.
Chinese nickname for Grand Caster or Grand Caster Candidate
Merlin, Britain Holy Sword Saint, Gilgamesh, Uruk Axe King, Solomon, Israel King of Fighters.
Caster Vs Archer, half way through they both switch to close combat.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=64kC7GzxbnU&pp=ygUQQXJjaGVyIHZzIGNhc3Rlcg%3D%3D
Shirou with a gun
https://www.reddit.com/r/fatestaynight/comments/vkq8z0/new_fatetype_redline_and_prisma_illya_with/#lightbox
Kiritsugu first hand experience
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wtZtLoDuZaA&pp=ygUPS2lyaXRzdWd1IHBsYW5l