---

  "Has mankind really progressed this far?"

  Zhang Jiao mused aloud, his tone filled with awe as Chihiro led him through Fuyuki City. The sights and teology on dispy were unimaginable from the era Zhang Jiao hailed from. He gazed at modern veniences, appliances, and cityscapes that defied anything ceived millennia ago.

  Particurly notable to him was the fact that nations were no longer ruled by emperors, and power structures had vastly ged.

  "What a pity this isn't the tral Pins," Zhang Jiao remarked with a sigh. "I'd really like to see how things have ged there."

  "Wow, this juice tastes amazing!"

  Red Hare excimed as he downed a gss of carrot juice with enthusiasm. Despite his appearance as a burly man thanks to Zhang Jiao's illusion, his joy was rather childlike, especially when it came to his favorite treat.

  Chihiro couldn't help but wonder how a taur's "human" mouth could open so wide.

  "The real a won't start until tomorrow night," Chihiro expined as he led them to a rented detached house oskirts. He had put siderable effort into finding a pce suitable for their stay, given Red Hare's sheer size. A normal hotel wouldn't do.

  Zhang Jiao's curiosity extended beyond the city's wonders; he found modern appliances fasating. Within a short time, under Chihiro's guidance, he quickly learned how to operate a television and was soon engrossed in watg various programs.

  "It's like magic," Red Hare ented as he observed Zhang Jiao flipping through els.

  As night fell, Chihiro, exhausted, went to bed. Zhang Jiao and Red Hare, however, remained wide awake, enthralled by the endless array of televised eai. Even though the TV signal faded te at night, they mao eain themselves with videotapes they found nearby.

  Chihiro awoke the day to find that his panions had spent the entire night glued to the s, having somehow figured out how to use the old video pyer without any prior instru.

  After breakfast, Chihiro approached Zhang Jiao with a more serious i, to learn the mystical arts.

  Zhang Jiao proved to be quite generous, teag Chihiro many of the Mystic teiques he had mastered.

  "You have no elemental affinity," Zhang Jiao remarked with surprise after cheg Chihiro's magical foundation.

  ---

  In the text of this world, what the West referred to as "magic attributes," Eastern traditions might describe using different terms. The cept of "spiritual roots" iern mysticism could be roughly pared to the magic circuits of Western magecraft.

  In the Western Magic Association, there were five basic magical attributes: earth, water, fire, wind, aher. The attributes iern teags varied slightly: metal, wood, water, fire, ah.

  Some attributes were sidered rare in both systems, with certain gifted individuals possessing multiple or uributes. For instance, Rin Tohsaka possessed all five basic elements, while Sakura Tohsaka was an anomaly with her imaginary tribute.

  Chihiro, however, was an unusual case. Acc to Zhang Jiao's assessment, Chihiro had no natural affinity with any of the basic elements.

  Yet, his magical potential was not limited.

  Despite having no elemental alig, Chihiro possessed a remarkable number of magic circuits—a total of 108, divided into 36 primary and 72 auxiliary circuits. This was a signifit amount, sidering that even someone like Rin Tohsaka had only 70 circuits.

  What's more, these circuits were an i part of Chihiro's body, not something acquired through external means.

  After disc that Chihiro could manipute magic of all elements without difficulty, Zhang Jiao began to uand the boy's uure. While g any specific elemental affinity, Chihiro's versatility enabled him to wield magic of different types without the usual drawbacks.

  Ordinarily, a person with a fire affinity would find water magic difficult to use, and using it would be ineffit and costly in terms of magical energy. versely, they would gain a natural boost when using fire aal-based spells.

  Chihiro, having no elemental predispositions, faone of these restris. He didn't be from any elemental boosts, but likewise, he wasn't hindered by any oppositions.

  Zhang Jiao found it difficult to categorize Chihiro acc to any standard cssification of magecraft. As it stood, Chihiro was an outlier even in the world of Eastern mysticism.

  Furthermore, Zhang Jiao himself didly fit the mold of an orthodox mage.