The Epic Story of the Heroic Spirit of Emiya Giant Warrior

Speed, power, precision – pure, direct violence, a pure stat-based碾压 (Niǎn yā, a Chinese slang term meaning 'to overwhelm').

And this was the result of the other party suppressing their ability scores to make the sparring possible.

Shirou's waist exerted force, his body suddenly tilting to the left, while his arm lashed out like a whip.

"Finally, I succeeded once."

The sparring up until now, or rather, what was called sparring, was more like a playful activity between a young boy and girl: Anya threw a punch, and Shirou tried to respond.

After dozens of attempts and failures, and repeatedly being knocked to the ground, Shirou finally seized this momentary opportunity.

The boy's right fist shot straight towards the catgirl's abdomen.

The corners of the catgirl's mouth slightly lifted.

Then, with unreasonable flexibility and speed, she turned on the spot.

A fluffy something struck the middle of Shirou's abdomen, directly sending the boy flying.

"Anya is so amazing."

"Right? Everyone should admire Anya more, meow."

Looking at Anya, she didn't seem tired at all, not even a drop of sweat.

The gap between a newly blessed Lv.1 adventurer and a high-ranking Lv.4 adventurer was like the distance between heaven and earth.

"Yes, you are."

"I didn't even think that punch just now would hit Anya in a position where she couldn't exert any strength, meow. Was it on purpose?"

"I'm not reconciled..."

I was clearly here first. Shirou-kun clearly asked me first. Why, why did it turn out like this?

However, I completely messed up. I almost seriously injured Shirou with the first sparring session. I have no face to bring up becoming an instructor again.

Whether as a waitress or as an instructor, Anya is completely better than me. Moreover, Anya can even get discounts from the boss by acting cute when she goes to buy groceries, while I've been blacklisted by the stores for being mistaken as someone collecting protection fees.

The elf girl's mood was so gloomy that Syr saw a hallucination: "Ryu, Ryu-chan, don't turn to ash!"

Ryu sat on the ground, her legs bent, her arms around her knees, her bare feet stepping on the grass in the courtyard, her slender toes slightly gripping the ground.

Anya revealed a conflicted expression.

Shirou, Syr: "......"

"Moreover, moreover, Ryu has a lot of strength, meow, and she's very fast, and Ryu is an elf, so she must be very good at magic, meow..."

No, it's not like you can just break down "strong combat power" into many advantages!

"Shirou, I really am useless. Speaking of which, I used to be called 'Good-for-nothing Elf' by everyone..."

"Of course, Shirou's cooking is delicious."

He said, "No one is good at everything from the start. Syr and Anya are the same, right?"

"Ah, Anya still often brings the wrong dishes to customers even now."

"A person's maturity is slowly accumulated in the process of 'growth'." Shirou said, grasping Ryu's hand again, "Moreover, I think it's amazing that Ryu-san is good at fighting."

"Eh?" Ryu was stunned.

"Ryu-san, this isn't something to be ashamed of, but something you should be proud of." Shirou said earnestly, "You are strong, and you have used this strength to save and protect many people. I think that's amazing!"

Because Anya is too lively and cheerful, it's hard to feel respect for her, and people subconsciously call her by her first name, but in Ryu's case...

"Ryu."

Grumble~

The elf girl's stomach rumbled again inappropriately.

People get hungry if they don't eat, that's an absolute truth!

"That's right, Shirou, the grilled fish feast you promised me, I want to eat it." Anya tugged at Shirou.

"It's okay, Anya will sneak into Mia Mama's kitchen, meow~".

"Mm..."

"I'm also very grateful to Ryu, you know." Syr held Ryu's hand; Ryu's body didn't reject it.

"This is all Ryu, the credit of you heroes. So, just like Shirou-kun said, hold your head high and be proud of it!"

"Wow, what a fragrant smell."

"Wow, great! I'm already tired of Mia Mama's breakfast. Eh... Mia Mama, when did you come...?"

"Shirou-kun went to the Familia early in the morning. It seems he has a lot of work today."

Shirou certainly couldn't cook for everyone, but making a pot of miso soup before leaving was no problem; all the ingredients were readily available.

"Ryu, Shirou-kun's cooking is really good."

"Mm... I want to eat Shirou's miso soup all the time in the future," the elf girl said softly.

Girl C: "Too bad, Shirou-kun isn't here~".

Ryu tilted her head: "?"

The "Good-for-nothing Elf" of the 【丰饶的 女主人】(Hōjō no Megami, Hostess of Fertility) once again displayed her lack of social skills.

"Are you catching a cold, or is someone talking about you~".

Maintenance, repair, polishing, recycling... You need to understand these things first to have the foundation to become an excellent blacksmith.

The Hephaestus Familia semi-monopolized the city's market in the field of equipment production and manufacturing, and the internal competition was also very fierce. Basically, only artisans who reached Lv.2 and possessed the development ability 【Forging】 could have their excellent works hung with the Familia's crest and sold in directly-operated stores.

Some artisans worked hard to reach Lv.2, but did not obtain the development ability 【Forging】. If they didn't want to transition into adventurers or continue making low-level equipment to scrape by, the best option was to become assistants for other blacksmiths, hoping to participate in the production of high-level equipment to gain high-level experience and gamble on a future.

"So fast—"

The cat-person girl's fist shot out straight, her movements devoid of any flashy changes or techniques.

Unlike the previous one-sided beating by a high-level adventurer from the Dark Faction, this kind of sparring allowed Shirou to feel the violence of "levels" more intensely.

His fist struck the middle of the cat-person girl's forearm from the inside, slightly deviating the direction of that jab under her slightly surprised gaze.

Whether it was resisting, dodging, or counterattacking, he tried any means to deal with a normal punch from a Level 4 adventurer.

Deflecting the opponent's straight punch, Anya's central gate was wide open, a rare opportunity for a counterattack!

He used all his strength without any reservation—with his level and strength, worrying about hurting her was just unnecessary.

What she could rely on was not only the stats brought by her high level but also the cat-person race's innate racial advantages—far superior dexterity, flexibility, agility, and a flexible tail compared to humans.

Finally, Shirou lost all his stamina, collapsing to the ground, panting, his body covered in bruises.

Therefore, such cross-level battles would also bring significant benefits to Shirou.

"Shirou is also very amazing, not like someone who just became an adventurer," Anya praised, "Have you practiced martial arts before, meow?"

"It's mainly coincidence and luck."

......

On the other side, Ryu was so frustrated that she was biting her handkerchief.

She clearly wanted to become the boy's mentor, just like her former companion had guided her; if that were the case, wouldn't her deceased companion feel a little comforted?

"Ah, wait, if that's the case, aren't I completely inferior to Anya?"

Moreover, Anya is also a top-tier Level 4 adventurer.

Not only that, but Anya also has furry ears and a tail!

Ah~ No, this is a complete failure. Anya-sama, I'm sorry I couldn't let you enjoy yourself......

"Shirou..."

"Ryu-san?"

"Shirou... I'm completely a useless elf..."

"Don't think like that, Ryu-chan," the enthusiastic Anya quickly comforted her.

"Although you're clumsy at doing things, your expression is cold and hard, which scares customers, your brain is also inflexible, and it's not good that you don't let cats touch you, but your combat power is very strong, meow!" Anya said, clenching her fist, "And... and... and... Ah?"

Syr: "Okay, stop talking, Ryu is about to shed little pearls."

"Ryu-san, do you think my cooking is delicious?" Shirou sat down in front of Ryu and said softly.

"I wasn't good at cooking from the start either."

The boy said, "I remember the first time I cooked, I completely burned it, and my father ate it with a helpless expression, resulting in diarrhea all night."

"Syr also breaks plates from time to time, meow."

"Ryu-san is only best at fighting because she's always been fighting, right? And Ryu-san's fighting must be to protect everyone, just like when she saved me back then," Shirou said.

The figure of the boy in front of her overlapped with her past companion again.

You guys, do you think so too...

"Ryu-san..."

"Call me Ryu."

"What?"

"Shirou calls Anya by her first name directly, so call me 'Ryu'."

"Ryu-san..."

"Call me 'Ryu'."

Shirou once again witnessed the stubborn nature of the elf race.

"Shirou, I—"

That's right, today I messed up too many things, and I'm not in the mood to eat dinner at all.

"Ugh..."

The girl's face flushed red again.

"Now? But there's no fish now. I was planning to buy some tomorrow."

"How is it? Staying here was the right decision, right?" Syr sat down next to Ryu.

"When the Dark Faction was rampant, everyone who came to the tavern to eat had gloomy faces," Syr turned her head and looked at Ryu, "But now, there are more smiles."

Chapter 10: Forging and Projection

"You're awake. Shirou-kun made soup for everyone."

"Speaking of which, where's Anya?"

"She was caught stealing fish and hung on the clothesline by Mia Mama."

"Shirou isn't here either."

"I'll cheer for Shirou-kun."

The morning at the [Hostess of Fertility] tavern was still noisy, with the girls chatting while eating breakfast.

He felt a strange sense of calm when doing housework and cooking, a state that was perfect for organizing the day's plans.

The surroundings were quiet for a moment.

Girl A whispered, "This is a proposal, right?"

Girl B: "It's a proposal."

Syr gently patted Ryu's shoulder: "Ryu-chan, you should pay a little more attention to the way you speak in the future."

·

"Achoo!" Shirou touched his nose.

"Probably not..."

At this time, they were in Tsubaki's workshop, and Shirou was learning the basics of forging.

Tsubaki's workshop was very large. As the strongest member of the Familia and the strongest blacksmith in the city, her workshop occupied an entire floor of a building. Including Shirou, there were six assistants, including three Level 2 blacksmiths.

Works that don't reach this level either flow into lower-level shops or are handed over to the Adventurers Guild for disposal at a low price—by the way, the Guild seems to often deceive new adventurers into buying inferior equipment at high prices, but that's the Guild's problem.