Shirou decided to learn the Sword God Style, using ultimate speed and ultimate offense as his way to fight enemies in the future. He also wanted to figure out how to study it more deeply and create his own unique, perfect skill.
Unlimited Blade Works was a powerful ability that let him have copies of all the swords in the world. But because of this, it lacked a truly unique weapon, especially one as good as the Sword of Rupture.
After his fight with Ainsworth, Shirou made up his mind to create a power that was better than the Sword of Rupture.
He would spend his whole life chasing this power!
"Sword God Style, huh? A pretty classic choice," Paul said, with a slightly complicated look on his face, after hearing Shirou's words. "The Sword God Style is pure skill, constantly seeking the limit of technique. I also considered using it as my main sword style and studying it to become the strongest Sword God Style Swordsman in the world. But sadly, because the Sword God Style is too pure, it's easy to hit a wall. To keep my skills from getting worse, I chose to train in the other two sword styles to an advanced level..."
Paul seemed to be remembering his past as he spoke, and he slowly shook his head. "But if it's you, Shirou, you might really be able to take the pure skill of the Sword God Style to its limit."
"Why do you think that, Paul?"
Shirou was confident in his talent, believing that having the soul of Servant Emiya meant he naturally had great sword skills. But he was also curious why Paul thought so highly of him.
After all, Paul didn't know him that well. They had only been father and son for two years.
"Before I answer that, Shirou, why don't you answer a question for me first?"
"What question?"
"Why do you swing your sword?"
"..."
Shirou was suddenly stunned by Paul's words. He remembered his past, and all those memories mixed together, leading to one single thing—
That was his sister Miyu's face in the moonlight.
Shirou felt a certain understanding in his heart because of it.
Paul didn't push him for an answer, but started talking to himself: "The Sword God Style is about pursuing ultimate technique, so for the Sword God Style, the reason for swinging the sword is more important than anything else! Because it will be with a Swordsman for their entire life. The sword can only be drawn for that one reason, and any other thoughts will affect the speed of the swing and the judgment of the attack. I couldn't answer my sword teacher's question, so he said I couldn't reach the peak of the Sword God Style. I didn't believe him then, but looking back, my shallowness was clear from that moment."
"But you still have a chance, Paul."
Seeing Paul's slightly disappointed look, Shirou didn't offer empty words of comfort. Instead, he calmly said, "After all, you probably understand the reason for swinging your sword better than anyone now, right?"
"Heh, you little..."
Paul couldn't help but show a complicated expression at Shirou's words, which sounded like they came from an experienced swordsman.
But it was true that Paul had only just understood the meaning of swinging his sword.
Although it was late for a Swordsman, it meant he still had a chance to improve further on the path of the sword.
"Hmph, Shirou, don't underestimate me! I will always surpass you, old man!"
"Yeah, yeah, but before you make promises you can't keep, teach me the basics of the Sword God Style first."
"Heh, just don't cry later because the training is too hard!"
"That sounds pretty exciting."
And so, Shirou began his formal sword training.
Because the influence of Servant Emiya's soul still remained in his body, his fighting techniques were almost beyond any skill from the very beginning.
But as they say, you must break down before you can build up.
Since Shirou wanted to create a skill that surpassed Servant Emiya and Unlimited Blade Works, to create his own unique, perfect skill, he had to abandon Servant Emiya's limitless fighting style. He had to give up the kind of technique that was purely developed from killing in order to win. He had to start from the beginning and learn a more classic, more powerful technique.
This was definitely difficult, like a right-handed person forcing themselves to do things with their left hand, or a person with normal eyesight pretending to be blind.
Because of this, Shirou's sword skills improved extremely slowly at first. He even had to practice some basic movements for a long time before making any progress.
Paul was quite surprised by this. He thought that Shirou's talent would allow him to improve quickly in swordsmanship and soon surpass him.
His ordinary performance, like that of a normal child, made him feel strange, but he couldn't help but feel a bit relieved, like he was saving face as a father.
Time passed quickly for half a year.
Shirou hardly ever skipped his Sword God Style training. He put all his energy into practicing swordsmanship.
Since the Sword God Style was about pursuing ultimate skill, Paul mostly just taught Shirou some basic sword techniques at the beginning. After that, he hardly paid attention to him. All he did was spend some time sparring with him every day to test his feel for combat.
Shirou completely gave up Servant Emiya's fighting style and only used the basics of the Sword God Style to fight. This made his performance in combat quite average, but it also allowed him to steadily improve. His sword skills weren't improving at an incredible rate, but they were definitely developing naturally.
In just half a year, Shirou basically reached the level of a low-level Swordsman. Even without relying on Servant Emiya's power, he could use pure sword skills to block Paul's attacks.
"With your current level, Shirou, you can take care of some ordinary monsters," Paul said suddenly one day after finishing training. "Our family is the lord of Buena Village, so it's our duty to protect the village. In the future, when you have time, go patrol the village for me."
"Patrol? What do I need to do exactly?"
"Simply protect the safety of the village. If you see monsters or bandits, try to get rid of them... Of course, our Fittoa region isn't near any dangerous places. Only the forest not far away might have some wild animals. Overall, it shouldn't be dangerous."
"I see."
Realizing that Paul wanted him to train his abilities by patrolling and going out, Shirou nodded, agreeing with his words.
He returned to his room, packed his things, and prepared to patrol the village.
As he left the house, he noticed Rudeus looking at him through the window from the third-floor attic of the Greyrat house, his eyes filled with a complicated look.
Shirou paused slightly, then smiled and waved at Rudeus.
"Rudy, I'm going out."
"..."
Rudeus was taken aback by his energetic attitude, then shrank back as if embarrassed, afraid to look at Shirou anymore.
Shirou was a little helpless about this, hoping to improve his relationship with Rudeus, but he also knew he couldn't force it. He could only carry his sword on his back and leave the Greyrat house.