I am the protagonist

"Close combat is a subject that has only been added to the curriculum of modern magicians in recent years, and the close combat subjects taught at the Clock Tower are not meant to give magicians the strength to fight against Heroic Spirits. Normal magicians are different from you, Shirou."

Not all magicians are named Emiya Shirou.

Not all magicians can become the Heroic Spirit Emiya in the future.

It is almost impossible for a magician to use projection magic as a weapon, let alone develop it to the point of eroding the inherent barriers of the world.

"Magicians use various methods to enhance their bodies, but such enhancements are usually temporary. Unless forced into a corner, a magician will never resort to physical techniques for close combat."

"That is why high-speed incantations are extremely important to any magician. Every magician hopes to save time on chanting spells and use magic simply by making direct contact with the magic circuit."

High-speed divine words are a very important power for magicians.

If this power could be mastered by a magician, then that magician could immediately create a direct distance between himself and other magicians.

"Simply put, this necklace is pretty well made?"

Is this considered "okay"? This is practically a magician's god-tier outfit.

It increases magic power, mana regeneration speed, and even high-speed divine words, giving magicians a significant boost.

Even though Rin already knew that Shirou's flaw lay in the high-speed divine words, this ability itself was quite special.

To be honest, Rin thinks it's already pretty good that it has any flaws.

"...quite good."

"That's no problem."

"Next time I will pay attention to the craftsmanship of the gemstone engraving, and I should be able to make the gemstones even better."

Shirou had already decided in his heart that he would definitely improve his gold-carving skills the next time he made such a magic prop.

The skill of gold engraving is closely related to the quality of magic props.

Then forging and sewing should also be included.

It seems I'll need to focus on these production professions for a while.

Shirou then took out the other two necklaces, the ones he had given to Rin and Sakura earlier, and these two were for Rider and Saber.

“Saber, this is a gift I prepared for you.”

"...Shirou, I personally don't like accessories."

"Saber, are you also the kind of girl who's quite frugal?"

"No, I just simply don't like wearing these girly things."

Saber dislikes accessories simply because she doesn't like being treated like a young girl. As the former queen of Britain, she bore the responsibility of the entire nation, and the moment she drew her sword, she had already abandoned her identity as a young girl.

"Then... you can consider this necklace not as a girl's accessory, but as a magical tool to enhance your own strength?"

"that's it."

Saber dislikes the accessories worn by young girls, but she can accept them as magical props that enhance her own power. In that case, she can think of them as magical props disguised as accessories worn by young girls.

Saber is really awkward.

Perhaps this is just her personality; despite being a girl, she has always suppressed her thoughts as an ordinary young woman... I can understand that kind of thinking.

"Shirou, what exactly is the purpose of this necklace? Or is it the same necklace that Rin and Sakura wear?"

"No, Saber, you're not a magician. Increasing your magic power and accelerating its recovery wouldn't be of much use. As a Heroic Spirit, you've become half-human, so even without these traits, your magic power and its recovery speed are much faster than a normal magician's."

"This is a power that directly enhances yourself."

"You'll know once you try it on."

"Ah."

Saber didn't think much of it and just put it around her neck.

The green gemstone on the necklace flashed, and a wisp of magic transferred from Saber's body into the gemstone.

“Saber, your necklace can consume a certain amount of magic to accelerate or decelerate time.”

Chapter 53 Shirou, do you think I'm a third-rate magician?

"What!?"

The acceleration and deceleration of time!?

Can the power of time be used by consuming a certain amount of magical energy?

At this moment, Saber could understand the meaning of Shirou's words. This power could really make the necklace she was wearing a magical tool to enhance her own strength. And if it was really as Shirou said, then the necklace's power was much stronger than she had imagined.

"Shirou, could this necklace really possess that kind of power?"

"of course it's true."

As the master of the Law of Time, Shirou has indeed stored the power of time in the necklace. As long as there is enough magic power to consume, he can accelerate or decelerate time.

"However, both the acceleration and deceleration of time require considerable magical power to use."

Suddenly, an ordinary-looking dagger appeared in Shirou's hand.

“Saber, I will throw the dagger at you next. Just pour your magic into the necklace and see what happens.”

"I understand."

"I voted."

Shirou flung the weapon in his hand toward Saber.

Saber also infused magic into the necklace at the same time.

"!?"

Saber felt her magic power dwindling, and at the same time, she saw the dagger Shirou had thrown flying slowly through the air.

"This, this is real!"

With her amazing observation skills, Saber could see that the dagger had left Shirou's hand and was flying very slowly, but the speed was so slow that it was as if it had been put on slow motion, even to an incomprehensible degree.

Saber observed Rin's expression, which showed great surprise. However, in slow motion, she saw that Rin's expression changed frame by frame.

This, after all, isn't the slow passage of time you feel during a moment of crisis.

I can still move, and I can even move faster than a dagger.

Saber immediately sidestepped the dagger's trajectory and stopped channeling magic into the necklace.

After the supply of magic stopped, everything Saber saw returned to normal.

The dagger flashed through the air and embedded itself straight into the wall.

"This...this...it's actually real!?"

At that moment, her time accelerated.

Because her time had accelerated, she felt that everything around her was like a series of frames.

In that situation, she was the only one who could move normally, while time seemed to slow down for everyone else.

"Saber, what, what's going on!?"

Seeing Saber's actions, Rin's pores opened up. Her vision had been unable to pinpoint what Saber had done, and in the blink of an eye, Saber had dodged the dagger attack.

"Time accelerated... Just now I poured magic into the necklace Shirou gave me, and my time accelerated."

"!?"

"Shirou, how... how did you do that!?"

In her emotional state, Rin no longer cared about the family motto of "elegance"; all she wanted now was to grab Shirou and ask him everything.

"It's done using runes. Although it accelerates time, it's just a kind of acceleration of oneself. It's like treating the inside of the body as an innate barrier, allowing one's time to flow faster."

"...Shirou, do you think I'm a third-rate magician?"

Rin was almost driven mad by Shirou's explanation.

As a magician who has studied magic for many years, how could she not know the method of using time that Shirou just mentioned?

"That method forcibly accelerates time within the body, but it has significant side effects. Forcibly accelerating time puts a huge burden on the body immediately. But does Saber look like she's under a huge burden?"

"Don't say that Saber is a Heroic Spirit and doesn't need to bear the burden of her body. Saber is now half-Heroic Spirit and half-human, and she needs to bear this burden now!"

"……All right."

Shirou forgot that such a claim would not work for Saber in her current state. After all, a half-Heroic Spirit and a half-human body also needs to withstand the physical burden of time acceleration. If he were to use the method he just mentioned to manipulate time, even for just a short while, her body would immediately be unable to withstand it.

“Indeed, the necklace I gave to Saber was not such a simple thing.”

Shirou opened one hand, and black mist spread out from it, completely corroding the table that it touched. In just a moment, the table disappeared into the black mist.

"Snapped!"

The table, which had been completely eroded by the black mist, suddenly regained its original shape.

But the table was restored to its original state like a rewind in a movie, returning from its state after being eroded to its state before being eroded.

"This this……"

Rin felt a shiver run through her body. At that moment, she understood just how abnormal power Shirou possessed. She finally understood why Saber's necklace could also contain such an abnormal ability.

"Senior, is this...is this time?"

Sakura also realized just how powerful her senior truly was.

"Sigh... Rin once said that magicians shouldn't let others know their secrets, so I've kept some things from them."

"So this is still my fault."

Everyone looked at Rin.

His imposing aura was instantly shattered by the gazes of so many people.

"...Okay, okay, I did say that, so I guess it's my fault."

Rin, though pouting, wasn't unwilling to admit that it was her problem.

"But Shirou, you also bear a lot of responsibility. You should have told us about something so important beforehand."

"Rin, actually I wanted to say this from the beginning... but you looked so scared when you heard about the materialization of souls, and about my Mystic Eyes."

"At that point, I didn't want to continue talking about the timeline."

Is this also my problem?

Rin is innocent; she genuinely believes she is innocent.

In other words, Shirou doesn't reveal his abilities because he's afraid of scaring himself.

Okay, Rin admits that if she had known Shirou could wield such power back then, she would have been so scared by him that she would have fainted.

"cough!"

"Shirou, now that I'm mentally prepared, you can tell me about the ability you're hiding so as not to scare me."

Just today, just now, Rin realized that she didn't know Shirou well enough.

Now is the time to deepen our understanding.

Rin decided that she had to dig out all the remaining information about Shirou today.

Chapter Fifty-Four: A Confession About Time

"It's better to wait first."

Shirou didn't immediately reveal all his abilities; now was not the time to talk about such things.

"Rider, this is for you."

"..."

Rider was slightly surprised, not expecting that she would receive a gift as well.

The gemstone in this necklace is an amethyst, just like her hair color.

"A little unexpected."

"I didn't expect you to prepare something for me, Shirou."

"Is it really that surprising? We all live together, so why would you think that if I gave it to Rin, Sakura, and Saber, I wouldn't give it to you?"

"No, it's just a feeling I have."