Months ago, the battle against the Special Grade Cursed Spirit was the first time Eiji had to fight for his life, and it was also the first time he lost a companion.
Even though Divine Dog: White was later resummoned through the External Technique: Holy Grail, Eiji never wanted to experience that heart-wrenching feeling again.
Since then, Eiji has been striving to become stronger.
From his Innate Technique, the Ten Shadows Technique, to the External Technique, the Holy Grail, Eiji has spent these past months re-examining all his abilities and constantly exploring ways to grow stronger.
First, the Holy Grail. Months have passed, and the Fate/stay night series is more than halfway through its broadcast. The discs, novels, and games have all begun to be released.
After the Fate/stay night game was released, the game department hasn't been idle. They are currently developing Fate/Extra.
With a series of promotions, the Illusionary Power of Heroic Spirits has been continuously absorbed by the Holy Grail.
However, the speed is still too slow because information dissemination in this era is too limited.
If this were the future internet age, Eiji might have even been able to start summoning within months.
But this era is different. The primary means of spreading information in this era are still traditional methods like newspapers and television.
Sometimes, even if you catch a glimpse and feel a spark, you can't find the anime, and you have to wait a week for the next episode.
Is he supposed to just wait around for over a decade?
Impossible, absolutely impossible.
Although the complete summoning of a Heroic Spirit still requires at least another year, Eiji has actually researched something.
Shadow of the Spirit Foundation.
It's an incomplete manifestation of a Heroic Spirit, more advanced than a Shadow Servant. Although the duration is short and the power is incomplete, it is still a Heroic Spirit.
A brief introduction to Heroic Spirits:
Heroic Spirits: They are beings who have ascended after achieving great deeds, such as humans or demigod heroes. Their true forms are recorded in the Throne of Heroes.
Servants: These are avatars of Heroic Spirits summoned from the Throne of Heroes using the Heroic Spirit Summoning system. They are a weakened version of Heroic Spirits, akin to Naruto and his shadow clones.
Shadow of the Spirit Foundation: This is a method developed by Chaldea to partially manifest Heroic Spirits by collecting and recording information about the Heroic Spirits who have fought alongside Chaldea.
Servants are avatars of Heroic Spirits, while the Shadow of the Spirit Foundation is an incomplete Servant summoned by Chaldea through imitation of Servants.
To put it metaphorically, if the information volume of a Heroic Spirit on the Throne of Heroes is 100GB, the main unit of the Heroic Spirit Summoning system can only hold 10GB, so the summoned Servant is weaker than the Heroic Spirit. Chaldea's main unit can only hold 1GB, so the Shadow of the Spirit Foundation summoned through this method is even weaker and can only appear for a short time.
However, this world does not have a Throne of Heroes. The Holy Grail that Eiji currently possesses temporarily fulfills the function of the Throne of Heroes.
Although the specifications of the two are vastly different, this is not a place where world-destroying powers appear at the drop of a hat, so it's sufficient.
After realizing that he couldn't strengthen himself through the Holy Grail in a short period, Eiji turned his attention to the Ten Shadows Technique.
The reason was simple: the system provided detailed information about the Holy Grail, giving him a clear direction to work with. However, the system didn't provide any information about the Ten Shadows Technique.
Therefore, it was only natural for Eiji to research the Holy Grail first.
Fortunately, there wasn't a complete lack of research direction for the Ten Shadows Technique.
Chimera Beasts.
In the original story, Sukuna's Chimera Beast, Jaws of the Beast, created by fusing the powers of five Shikigami, was qualified to participate in the battle against Satoru Gojo.
According to Satoru Gojo, Jaws of the Beast was a fusion that inherited the Nue from Orochi, Tiger Grave, and Nue, along with Divine Dog: Umbra.
The fact that it could participate in the battle between Satoru Gojo and Sukuna was enough to demonstrate the immense power of Jaws of the Beast.
With a target in mind, Eiji began to practice with Toad of the Well.
Toad of the Well is a winged frog created by synthesizing a Toad and a Nue.
Its function is similar to that of a Toad, which is to restrict the enemy's movements.
However, with wings, it is more agile.
It was also when Toad of the Well was successfully fused that Eiji discovered a new characteristic of the Ten Shadows Technique.
Partial Fusion and Complete Fusion.
Partial Fusion refers to taking a portion of a Shikigami and fusing it to create a smaller Shikigami with more comprehensive functions.
As long as the original Shikigami used for fusion still exists, it doesn't matter if the Shikigami is destroyed; more can be fused.
Conversely, Shikigami fused this way are weaker and lack intelligence, requiring complete manual control.
It was also after fusing Toad of the Well that Eiji understood why Megumi Fushiguro could summon so many Toads of the Well.
At the time, Eiji wondered if there was only one Nue, so where did all those wings come from for these little frogs? Was it a new Shikigami?
This characteristic of the Ten Shadows Technique made Eiji realize that although it's called the Ten Shadows Technique, its ultimate potential is certainly not limited to ten. Perhaps in the future, Eiji could expand it to a hundred shadow techniques.
In the subsequent Chimera Beast experiments, he relaxed his mind because he could first explore through fusion experiments without worrying about accidentally ruining a Shikigami during fusion and then having to spend great effort to separate it.
Eiji first extracted a portion of the Cursed Energy from nine Shikigami and then fused them in pairs and triplets.
Through countless attempts, Eiji obtained his first Chimera Beast: Qiongqi.
It was also Eiji's first Shikigami with Special Grade strength.
Incidentally, Divine Dog: Black, which inherited White's power, is at quasi-Special Grade. Black possesses claws and fangs that can easily injure a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, but its physical body is relatively fragile, making it a typical high-offense assassin.
Qiongqi, fused from three Shikigami, reached Special Grade levels in both Cursed Energy and physical strength.
Tiger Grave's body was already formidable, and after merging with Uroya, its physical capabilities ascended further. Its explosive muscles made onlookers tremble.
To power this massive form, Eiji focused on enhancing Nue's flight capabilities during the chimera process. Combined with Tiger Grave's ability to ride the wind, Qiongqi's flight speed became incredibly fast.
Tiger Grave was now an all-around Shikigami. In close combat, it possessed a powerful physique, fangs, claws, and the sharp horns on its head.
For one-on-one combat, it had precise lightning strikes. Even if the opponent wasn't killed by the lightning, its paralyzing effect would render the enemy temporarily defenseless, allowing Tiger Grave to finish them off with a single blow.
For area-of-effect attacks, it unleashed a storm that could tear apart everything, capable of crushing and shredding anything within hundreds of meters.
It also had a special move derived from Uroya's characteristics.
Eiji was very satisfied with his new Shikigami. Having heard that Suguru Geto planned to hunt a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, he decided to bring it out for a test.
After accelerating for several kilometers, Qiongqi's head horn fiercely pierced Rainbow Dragon's body. Purple lightning erupted within Rainbow Dragon. The Rainbow Dragon, which had just broken free from Snow Woman's ice, was electrocuted and trembled uncontrollably before it could even resist.
Qiongqi continued its straight flight, its immense power pushing Rainbow Dragon all the way to the sea.
*BOOM!*
Qiongqi, with Rainbow Dragon, crashed onto the beach.
When the dust settled, a crater hundreds of meters in diameter appeared before the three of them.
The scene in the center of the massive pit gradually came into view.
Rainbow Dragon, split in half from the middle, and Qiongqi, shaking its head and struggling to stand steadily nearby.
"Hey, Eiji," Satoru Gojo pointed at Qiongqi, who had stars in its eyes and looked dazed, "Doesn't that winged tiger look a bit dim-witted?"
"That's Qiongqi," Eiji rolled his eyes and silently drew some Cursed Energy from the Holy Grail to replenish himself.
Qiongqi's attack had spanned several kilometers. The immense power had not only left Qiongqi dizzy but had also nearly drained Eiji's Cursed Energy.
However, he was very satisfied with the power. Rainbow Dragon, which had high defense even among Special Grades, was now in two pieces. Excellent, truly excellent.
Moreover, now that he knew the amount of Cursed Energy consumed and the resulting power at different distances, this move would be easier to use in the future.
Suguru Geto, on the other hand, felt a pang of heartache. Rainbow Dragon had been so magnificent and cool, and now it was in two pieces.
Fortunately, it was split horizontally in the middle, not vertically like in the original story when Toji Fushiguro cut it. Otherwise, Rainbow Dragon might have been completely destroyed.
Silently subduing and absorbing Rainbow Dragon, Suguru Geto's inflated confidence from obtaining a Special Grade Cursed Spirit subsided considerably.
At the same moment, both Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were mentally evaluating Qiongqi's combat prowess.
There was no need to find this strange. Even among close friends, there was a competitive spirit.
Anyone who had lived in a university dorm would understand this feeling. Almost everyone wanted to be the "king" of the entire dorm.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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