The sun has fallen, and the moon has risen. It's the perfect time for me to put things into motion.

  First things first, I need to open this body's Magic Circuits. For an average magus, you would simply put magic energy into them. However, my options are limited. Magic Circuits are Magus's main way of producing Od. The only way to have them open in the first pce is to have energy to begin with. As such, it quickly becomes a continuous loop.

  If I had a Magic Crest, then I would just use that instead, and I don't, unfortunately. If I'm going to stay in this universe long-term, then I need to get one. Shirou’s te adoptive father, Kiristugu, has part of the Emiya Crest within him, and it won't be long before he dies. Knowing him, with enough convincing, he'll part with it easily.

  I'm getting sidetracked. Magic Circuits first before everything else. One possible method is to cannibalize a nerve to make it produce Od, but there are two issues. First, it’s very inefficient, and second, it’s nigh-suicidal. I decided that I would avoid using that method unless necessary.

  Thankfully, I can produce magic energy already. Mana, not to be confused with the power that surrounds this world, is my world's life source. Everything that lives has Mana. To use it, you would need to have been born with lots of it or go through harsh training to acquire more.

  I sat down on the floor in a cross-legged stance and took a deep breath, rexing into a meditative state. I feel power build up within me. After searching for my Magic Circuits, I carefully tried opening them. For a brief moment, I felt a sharp pain as if a needle pricked me all across my body. Then it fades; I sense all 27 Magic Circuits in my body open up for easier access.

  ‘Time to start doing some magecraft or rather, Thaumaturgy, as it is called here.’ I'll practice Reinforcement first since it costs less. I scrounge around for materials to experiment with; I make a mental note to get proper items to test in the future.

  I head outside the estate, grab a leaf from a nearby bush, close my eyes, and breathe. I don't have a mental trigger, but I haven't needed one in the past. I imagine a Circuit activating and its power going inside the leaf to make it better.

  A moment passes, and the leaf feels different. Grabbing it with two hands, I try to bend it with all my might. It doesn't move at all and stays rigid—success!

  Directly after that, the glow fades away. There was too little energy to make it st a decent amount. Still, progress is progress. I just have to keep practicing until I'm comfortable with this level of Reinforcement, and then I'll move on. Continuing the same process on a few more things, I move on to the next spell.

  Structural Grasping/Analysis is a spell that gives its user information on the item used, such as the structure and design; it is almost like looking at a blueprint. One of the items is a dead tree branch. The only times I recall Structural Grasping being used were for man-made objects. This will be a good experiment to see if organic matter can be analyzed. I close my eyes and wrap my hand around the branch. A green glow is emitted from my arm toward the dead tree branch. The details quickly fill my brain as the image flows into my head: how many cracks are on it, the brittleness, and how long it's been dead.

  Some other time, I'll check to see how beneficial it is to Grasp something organic and living. Now for something much easier. I go back inside and grab a knife from the kitchen. With it in my hand, I activate the spell with ease as the information comes naturally to me. After I was finished, I pced it back down where I found it.

  Now for the hard part. I close my eyes and open my hand towards the sky. The image of the knife appears in my hand. I activate my circuits and utter a command.

  "Trace On," I uttered a silent command that triggered the spell. I will repeat this until I’m able to cast without any verbal components. It'll be easier to figure out this time since I've done this before, but fundamentals first.

  I recite the steps in my head.

  Judge the concept of creation.

  Hypothesize the basic structure.

  Duplicate the composition material.

  Imitate the skill of making.

  Sympathize with the experience of its growth.

  Reproduce the accumuted years.

  Excel every manufacturing process.

  Seven steps. This can be made more efficient. Maybe I can make this spell reach new heights.

  Closing my hand, I feel something's presence. With my eyes open, I see the knife in my palm. Twisting it around, it's a perfect copy. You couldn't tell the difference unless you're a skilled magus. I can sense the false bde fading away.

  An idea comes to mind. I don’t even have to think about it to Trace it. I cast it, and a sword materialized.

  The sword is straight as an arrow, the bde is a dull grey, the hilt and pommel are a rusty brown, and vanta-bck chains surround the sword. It's a perfect copy. I flick my wrist, and the true version is summoned. This is my Soulbde. It is a technique I learned as a kid to put your very being into a weapon. It is rare because a) not every wizard fights. b) Many would rather use a crafted one. c) Soulbdes are very all-or-nothing.

  Despite this, I managed to get quite proficient with my sword and shield. At least I used to. Being hit with a divine-level curse whose sole purpose is to cripple you makes everything I do worse. My skill is still fwless, but my weapons are impractical with the unbreakable chains wrapped around them. I could Trace the previous versions of my Soulbde.

  Hmm, maybe tomorrow It's te, and my Circuits are nearing their limit. Besides, this body isn't used to staying awake for this long. I put away all the items and headed to bed.

  Next Day

  I wake up bright and early. Shirou's morning routine is basic; I get it done quickly. Taiga isn't here right now. It seems like she doesn't come in the morning. That'll give me more time to py around.

  I head outside. While reading memories is quite useful in gaining information, actually going out and investigating things is more precise.

  Speaking of memories, from what I've gathered, Kiristugu isn't home. I didn't realize that he tried to save Illyasviel so soon. It's sad to know he'll fail and never save her. I could potentially help, but I know of no other way of breaking through the Bounded Field other than brute forcing it. I can't stop Kiristugu from dying. A curse like that is not something I can cure.

  I do intend to save Illyasviel. Her knowledge and position as the heiress to the Einzberns are too valuable to give up. It will be difficult, both short-term and long-term, but it will be worth it.

  Walking around the town, I noticed points of interest. High points for surveilnce, hidden areas for cameras, where crowds form, etc. If I’m going to be fighting here, I need to have all the advantages I can get.

  I ended up at the would-be location of Fuyuki Central Park and its surrounding area. Currently, it's a barren patch of uneven nd. Searching around here might yield some results.

  I'm not searching for anything in particur, but a pce like this that’s so integral to the coming events must have something. One of my students gave it a good name…

  Oh yeah, Destiny Points was the name given. Well, it's better than anything I would've come up with.

  ‘It seems like nothing important is here.’ I think to myself. There’s too much rubble to make anything out in detail. The remaining malicious energy makes it incredibly difficult to make out any other Mana signatures.

  That was until I felt something. It was faint, like a blink-and-you'll-miss-it type of moment. But it was something. Calming myself, I focus on it. With how the spell is arranged, it’s probably a bounded field.

  Moving towards it, I see another problem. On the surface, it looks like any other pile of cement surrounding me. Inspecting it more closely, I can see a trapdoor peeking out.

  “Trace On,” I quickly utter. I analyzed my body to see what part could be the most easily Reinforced. This is quite a leap in my Thaumaturgical capabilities, but I can handle it. There was a brief feeling of pain that went through my arms as they were strengthened.

  I inhale and exhale. My feet are firmly pnted on the ground. I push. Moving cement manually is not the easiest thing to do, especially with the body of a child. Nonetheless, I moved it enough to uncover the door. When I opened it, a long dder awaited me.

  I climbed down the downward path, and when I reached the bottom, what greeted me was surprising. At first gnce, it seemed to be an underground bunker. I scanned the room more thoroughly.

  The ‘basement’ so to speak looked to be some sort of bcksmith forge. In the back is a furnace that seems well-maintained despite not being in regur use. Near it is an anvil that looked common to a pce like this while not reted to any magic. Nearby is a rack of weapons. It's small, and most of them are katanas, but there are some other Japanese weapons and European swords on it. There's one more rack but with nothing on it. Perhaps it’s still a work in progress? In a far corner, away from any possible fires, is a bookshelf. I walked forward to inspect it.

  "Aaaaaah." Something hissed, alerting me. Before I manifested my Soulbde, I looked to see where the sound was coming from. But when I turned towards it, all I saw was a burnt corpse.

  "Aaaaaah," It gasped out and reached out. Its body nguage wasn't that of someone angry. It was of someone in disbelief and wanting to be proven right. I crouch down and grab their hand. There's an attempt at a squeeze as the person rexes.

  There's a word that comes forward from the back of my head. "Tou-san," Father. This person is Shirou's biological father. This shocks me to an incredible extent. Something like this has never happened before.

  I'm surprised that they managed to recognize each other. The fire happened around a month ago. For him to have not only lived through that event but also for this long is a legendary feat. As I look at him, I realize that this man must have been barely clinging on to life.

  There's also the matter of Shirou. Through my possession, he is unconscious and unaware of what’s going on. I can also read and use his mind to guide my actions. The risk of the second technique is that it risks Shirou becoming aware. However, there's no way he'll break out.

  Suddenly, Shirou's father's arm starts glowing. I can identify what's emitting light.

  A Magic Crest and a high-quality one at that. I immediately realized what he was trying to suggest.

  He wanted to give me his Crest.

  This is a problem. Not that I don't want it, but the things required to transfer it over are not avaible. Or are they?

  I've seen the ritual performed before, and I'm sure I can replicate it well. I've done traditional spells of this nature before.

  But I'll need help doing it. You can't transpnt an organ into yourself even if you know how, right?

  My circuits are nearing their limit. If they're used for this, they'll be overclocked immediately. I'll just have to use my personal mana reserves.

  “Cumutive Technique: Clone,” I decred. Light surrounds my body. It grows, ripples, and brightens. Then it moves off of my body.

  It forms my true body. While it would be good to start practicing with Shirou's body, mine is that of an adult.

  The clone immediately knows what to do. He pnts his hands on the ground. Two sbs of rock shoot up from the floor. This is the best thing I can do for the operation tables.

  The cloning technique started as nothing remarkable; it didn't even begin as something for cloning. More basic abilities like fire, electricity, ice, and the sort all have variations from universe to universe. While it would be an amazing thing to study, I don't have the space or resources to do so.

  But through my minor research, practice, and adaptable body, I managed to figure out how to combine different spells and skills into singur techniques. Of course, the prerequisite is that they have to do the same thing: fire with fire, lighting with lighting, ice with ice, etc. Because of this, I can instantly use superior versions of my abilities without having to debate which one to use or which is better.

  I'm getting sidetracked. My clone has already put Shirou's father on one of the sbs. At least he isn't questioning anything. Many would think working with a clone of yourself would be terrible and lead to catastrophic results. Thankfully, my clones are practically just me, so we'd all work together to achieve our goal.

  I take off my t-shirt and y on the other sb. The first part of the Crest is taken off. I steady my breathing.

  Pain.

  Pain shoots through my arm. It feels like a knife has stabbed me and is being moved around. I doubt that this pain would be felt if I were asleep; the problem is that to guarantee my success, I have to be awake. The reason is my absorption magic.

  An incredibly rare type of wizard to be born, as that is also quite flexible with its uses. Case in point: being able to accept a Magic Crest more easily into my body. Using some of my mana, I push the collection of nerves into my body.

  The pain fades. I sit up and look at my arm. Resting there with a faint green glow is the mysterious family crest—or, at least, a part of it. I try to rotate and move my arm to test the feeling. I look at the remaining Crest. It covers both arms.

  One thing is certain: This is going to take a while…

  Two hours ter…

  The operation was lengthy and torturous, but the Crest has been transferred. My arms are so numb that if I were blind, I wouldn't be sure if I still had them.

  I manage to sit up and move off of the smooth rock without using my arms. I then went towards Shirou's father. He somehow looks closer to death now. As if he were able to sense my presence, he turned to me. There's a content smile on his face. His head falls in a direction, and his eyes close. And just like that, his st breath was drawn.

  Me and the clone both stay silent for a while. I am not of faith, but I hope this man can rest in peace. That is the least of what he deserves. As I am about to leave, my gaze follows where Shirou's father st looked. It's the bookshelf.

  I pull one of the tomes out at random. While its age is clear, there doesn't seem to be any dust or anything. It appears like the books are well-maintained.

  Opening up the book, I realize two things. One is that whoever wrote this has terrible handwriting. The second is that the Japanese used is old, making it take me more time to read.

  After a while, my jaw dropped for the second time today. This family's long-lost ancestor is Senji Muramasa, making Shirou Emiya a Muramasa as well.

  Then again, I did hear Senji Muramasa himself say that Shirou Emiya might be a descendant. In this world where coincidences don't exist, it practically guarantees it. Being able to use the knowledge and prestige from this bloodline will be incredible.

  I put the book back and let my eyes wander across the spines of the books. After sifting through the texts, I noticed one that sticks out like a sore thumb. Inspecting it more closely, I note it isn't a book but a binder. Opening it up, I realize its significance.

  It's an album of Shirou's life before the fire. I almost ughed. Leave it to parents to put a scrapbook with the books of old ancestors. They must have loved him a lot.

  There are many valuable items here. I'm not sure what to start with. But I know for certain that there is one thing I must do.