I am the protagonist

The two stared at each other, simultaneously raising their crimson spears with one hand as if to launch them, and simultaneously calling out the names of their Noble Phantasms.

"Gae Bolg!" *2

The red spears, brimming with magic, collided with each other, producing an astonishing sound that filled the entire enchanted barrier with crimson magic.

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Magician Who Doesn't Worry About Mana Bars

As the raging red magic dissipated and everything returned to nothingness, everyone broke free from the inherent barrier.

Rin and Sakura saw that Archer was lying on the ground unconscious, while Shirou was standing there unharmed as if nothing had happened.

This prompted the two sisters to immediately come to Shirou's side.

"Shirou, are you alright?"

Seeing Rin's worried and nervous expression, Shirou couldn't help but glance at Archer lying on the ground. No matter how you looked at it, the Archer lying there seemed to have more problems.

Why don't you go ask Archer, who's lying on the ground, why are you asking me?

Rin didn't get an immediate answer, which made her a little nervous. In the final moment, she saw Archer and Shirou's projected Noble Phantasms clash. Rin didn't know the final result, but she knew that Shirou's Reality Marble was broken. That alone was enough to worry her.

Sakura's thoughts were similar to Rin's. She didn't know the outcome of the final battle between her senior and Archer, but she saw that her senior's Reality Marble had been dispelled. Considering the Reality Marble, Sakura felt that something had happened to her senior that caused it to be dispelled.

"Sister, I think we should still let the senior check it out."

"Wait a minute, I'm fine."

The fact that Rin and Sakura actually wanted to check his physical condition made Shirou quickly stop them. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him; his magic power was full, and his body was perfectly healthy. There was absolutely no physical problem whatsoever.

"He has no problem with lacking magic power at all, and there is no major physical injury. On the contrary, the one lying over there is in a more serious situation of lacking magic power."

Archer's situation is indeed quite serious. His original world has absorbed most of his magic power, Shirou is controlling the absorption of a small amount of magic power, and Archer's final gamble has exhausted all his magic power. Archer is in a very bad state now.

As a hybrid of a Heroic Spirit and a human, Archer no longer needs to worry about running out of mana and disappearing from this world. Even now, having consumed a large amount of mana and fallen into a coma, Archer only needs a period of rest to replenish his mana.

Rin glanced at Archer lying on the ground and, confirming that he had simply overused his magic power, put him aside.

"Let's put Archer's matter aside for now. Sakura, I'll leave Archer to you."

"Okay, Rider, thank you for your help."

Medusa glanced at Archer lying on the ground, silently mourned for him for three seconds, then walked over, grabbed one of his legs, and went into the Tohsaka residence. There was no need for Heroic Spirits to be cared for; Medusa believed Archer didn't need her care either.

After dragging Archer back to the Tohsaka residence, Medusa simply tossed Archer onto the sofa in the living room. Having done all this, Medusa left the Tohsaka residence without looking back.

"Shirou, we need to have a serious talk about your situation."

With her worries behind them, Rin needed to discuss Shirou's current situation. What Rin was most concerned about was still Shirou's Mystic Eyes. The abilities of those Mystic Eyes remained a serious issue, and now that Shirou had used them, he should have gained some understanding of them.

As for the projection magic, Rin didn't see anything wrong with it. In the past, Shirou was only good at enhancement magic and projection magic, so even though Shirou could easily create a Heroic Spirit's Noble Phantasm now, Rin wasn't surprised at all.

The group returned to the Emiya residence, but after Shirou's battle with Archer, everyone had a completely new understanding of Shirou.

"Shirou, just how much magic power do you have right now?"

Rin was able to analyze a lot of things from the battle just now, but she still lacked a certain understanding of the concept of the Third Law, so she could analyze fewer situations more accurately.

The battle just now was incredibly intense. Archer used almost the same amount of magic as Shirou, but Archer fainted due to excessive magic consumption, while Shirou remains perfectly fine. Given this situation, Rin is very curious about Shirou's total magic power.

"I don't really have a specific idea myself. Rin, you should know that I've only just started learning magic. Even if you wanted me to give a specific number, I couldn't do it."

"Hmm... let's put it another way. How much mana did you expend in your battle with Archer just now?"

Shirou was a mediocre magician before, and now, having lost his memories, he's only just begun to explore magic. It's not natural to give him a specific numerical value right now. However, Rin can find the answer in another question.

"There was basically no consumption."

"...Shirou, are you kidding me? You fought so fiercely with Archer just now, and you even used a Reality Marble once. Didn't that take up too much of your magical energy?"

"Perhaps what I said earlier was inaccurate. It wasn't that I didn't use any magic power during the battle just now, but rather that I replenished all the magic power I had used the very next second."

Rin paused for a moment, then nodded. She remembered that the concept of the Third Magic was that it would grant the person who completed it unlimited magic power. The massive consumption of magic power was followed by its rapid recovery; as long as this condition was met, the consumption and recovery of magic power could be kept at a balanced level.

[Shirou's total mana is still unclear, but if Shirou says he only recovered the mana he had previously consumed in a second, then Shirou's current total mana definitely exceeds the level of the battle just now.]

A Reality Marble is a powerful magic spell that consumes a significant amount of magical energy; maintaining it requires a considerable amount of magical energy. Therefore, to achieve a balance between the magical energy spent and the magical energy replenished, Rin is certain that magical energy is the last thing Shirou has in abundance right now.

"So, Shirou, the thing you have the least to lack right now is magic power?"

"I think it's just as you said."

Shirou had been watching closely how much magic power was required to use magic, but projection magic didn't consume much magic power. He didn't know if it was because the skill level was too high or for some other reason, but the magic power consumed by simple projection magic was basically fixed.

This fixed mana consumption is not continuous; it only consumes a fixed amount of mana from the moment it is created. As long as the true name is not released, there is no need to consume mana.

Then Shirou's MP recovery rate is 500 points/second.

Therefore, the thing Shirou has the least shortage of right now is MP.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Did the Projection Magic Create the Original?

"Ha... The value of a magician really does lie in magic."

At this moment, Rin was filled with countless emotions. As a standard and excellent magician, Rin was quite confident in her magical power. She had a considerable number of magic circuits in her body, which allowed her to generate far more magical power than ordinary magicians.

Even if she had a lot of magical power, it still couldn't compare to Shirou's current level.

The difference in magical power caused by the materialization of the soul is a comparison between finite and infinite values, and everyone knows the answer to this comparison.

"Rin, you are also a very good magician. And according to you, normal magicians cannot be compared with mages. Why are you comparing yourself to me?"

"...That's what they say."

Magicians and sorcerers are not on the same level at all. Rin is well aware of this, but just like many people, when they see someone in the same field who used to be a third-rate person suddenly become a top-rate person, they feel very uncomfortable looking at such a person.

"Are you still feeling uncomfortable emotionally? Well, it's not hard to imagine how you feel right now."

Shirou had experienced this kind of conflicted feeling before. Even though he was just a small cog in the machine of society, he still felt uncomfortable when he saw another small cog suddenly rise to the top.

If this kind of success is due to one's own hard work, then that's fine, even acceptable. Society isn't a charity; if you don't have the ability, you'll be stuck at the bottom. Only those with ability and hard work can climb up.

But if the same small gear climbed up because of the CEO of the company on the list, it makes people feel very uncomfortable.

Shirou believed that this was Rin's current feeling.

However, Shirou couldn't explain why he could materialize his soul; it was a feat he had painstakingly accumulated over an entire world. Could a normal person believe such a thing? Shirou thought that even if Rin was a magician, she would think he was talking nonsense, so it was best for him not to explain.

Rin shook her head, ignoring what had just happened; there were still some things she needed to clarify.

"Shirou, how did you project the weapon just now? Saber and Rider both said that your projection magic is more realistic than the weapons Archer projects."

"Actually, I don't know either. After my eyes saw the weapon in that guy's hand, I felt that I could create the exact same one. It only took a little magic power to create a weapon just like his. I don't understand what you mean by 'closer to reality' either. But Rin, didn't you say that projection magic is just magic that looks good but isn't?"

"...That's what I did say, but I'm only uncertain because there are people who have used projection magic to subvert the concept of magic."

After studying magic for over a decade, Rin can say with certainty that projection magic is all show and no substance. This kind of magic is extremely inefficient. Not only can the projected object only exist for a very short time, but sometimes the projected object will even collapse prematurely due to the imagination in one's mind.

Normal magicians would not delve into projection magic, which is an inefficient magic trick.

However, someone has actually used projection magic to create Noble Phantasms, a practice that completely overturns the concept of projection magic. Knowing this, Rin wasn't sure if Shirou could do it, so she only recommended it to him with anticipation.

“If Archer can do it, I believe Shirou can do it too. It’s just that your situation has exceeded my initial expectations. I thought you would gradually improve in projection magic, but who knew that you could create a Noble Phantasm immediately and even complete a Reality Marble.”

Rin could hardly believe that Shirou had mastered this level of magic in just one sparring session.

"Actually, I find it incredible myself."

[If it weren't for those two skills, I believe I wouldn't have been able to do that so easily.]

Shirou knew that the Real World he created and the Reality Marble were completely different concepts.

While the difference in the amount of magic consumed may seem small, the underlying concepts are completely different.

The only thing that the Heroic Spirit Shirou Emiya could create was a barrier. A barrier is, in the end, just a barrier, and it is something that is very easy to collapse. This is the biggest difference between a barrier and the world.

Maintaining the barrier requires a large amount of magic power every moment, but the world does not require a large amount of magic power to maintain at all times. The only thing needed is the large amount of magic power used when the world was initially created.

In other words, the duration of a Reality Marble depends entirely on the user's magic power, but the duration of a Reality World depends entirely on the user's mood.

"That weapon too, it comes with weapon usage experience along with the projection. Even though you've never used it before, you can quickly get the hang of it."

The combat experience inherent in the weapons is also quite novel. The two swords and the red spear all come with a wealth of combat experience. Just holding those weapons is like having used them and fought before.

"That's a novel idea. Shirou, are you still able to recreate the spear?"

"It's easy."

Shirou slightly opened his hand, and a crimson spear appeared in his grasp.

Rin took the spear from Shirou and examined it, then solemnly handed it to Saber.

“Saber, you and Rider, take a look at this spear.”

Saber took the spear and gently gripped it; her expression immediately changed.

"This is... the original text?"

Before, seeing it from a distance made it less meaningful, but now that she'd seen it in person, Saber could finally understand why Shirou's weapons looked so realistic. It wasn't just realistic; it was the original!

"This is a replica created by Shirou using projection magic; it is not the original."

"However, this gun is exactly like the original."

"Yes, it is indeed quite close to the original... but this is also a gun projected by Shirou."

Rin had just tested the spear with magic. Anything made of magic would break down if the magic level exceeded a certain threshold. But no matter how she tested the spear with magic, it didn't break down at all; it was completely unaffected.

Rin had been wondering why Shirou's projection weapon was behaving this way, but after hearing Saber's explanation, she understood.

What Shirou projected was not simply a projection weapon.

The weapon that Shirou created using projection magic is a true Noble Phantasm.

Saber's judgment might be flawed, and Rider has never even touched the gun, but Rin knows of a Heroic Spirit who can determine whether the gun is the original.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Rin, do you and Sakura like me?

"Lancer, could you please come to Shirou's house?"

"Don't ask why, just come over here. There's something I need you to confirm."

"Okay, that's how it ends."

The Heroic Spirit Rin, who was still working hard for her part-time job, continued to focus her attention on Shirou. It would take some time for that part-time Heroic Spirit to come over, and she could use that time to ask Shirou about the Mystic Eyes.

"Shirou, before Lancer arrives, let me ask you one more question about your Mystic Eyes. You were able to use them very well just now, so are you experiencing any physical discomfort?"

The eyes that are considered taboo naturally have their reasons for being taboo.

Its abilities are far beyond normal, completely surpassing the level of a normal Mystic Eye. Most importantly, it is dangerous. The abilities granted by the Mystic Eye may be extremely powerful, but using it is also quite dangerous.

Rin's worry was impossible to hide.

This made Shirou unconsciously scratch his cheek. He had experienced this familiar feeling before, as if it was with Chrome.

Could it be some kind of emotional entanglement? It can't be such a coincidence, can it?

Shirou isn't really good at this kind of thing. He had trouble controlling the relationships with Chrome, Yuni, and Aria before, and Koharu and Kyoko are still giving him a headache.

Now, they've arrived in an even more ruthless world.

At the beginning, a pair of sisters have a crush on him, and they seem to have a rather unusual relationship.

"Um, before answering your question, may I ask you a question first?"

"Okay, feel free to ask me anything."

"Rin, do you and Sakura like me?"

The atmosphere in the air suddenly seemed to freeze.

"Shirou, what are you saying?!"

Rin was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her whole body standing on end. The blush on her face seemed to say, "Yes, I like you." Shirou was surprised at his luck; he hadn't expected to be so lucky, that he had actually fallen for her with just a casual remark.

Why would Shirou suddenly ask such a question?

Does this mean he already knew? Or did he already know all along?

Rin's thoughts were completely in disarray at this moment. Even she, who had always been a rational goddess, was thrown into a state of confusion by this sudden attack.

"Shirou, don't get me wrong. Even if I care about you a little, it's just a normal relationship. It's not romantic love at all. Listen carefully, this isn't romantic love!"

"...Your expression doesn't convey that at all."

This textbook example of pretending not to like something when you clearly do is exactly what Shirou has seen before. But isn't Rin's reaction a bit too perfect? ​​Or has Rin always been like this? Or is she completely unaware of how obvious she is?

[Rin's thoughts are so easy to understand, but does she really think she can hide some of her ideas? Hmm, should I play along and pretend I don't know anything?]