Chapter 78. Prelude to Forging: The Meaning of a "True Name"
Inside a room at Twilight Manor, Shirou Emiya stared at his right hand, lost in an unprecedented philosophical contemplation.
The hand currently existed in a delicate balance between being and non-being. Pale golden light particles flowed like silt from his fingertips, only to be forcibly pulled back by some invisible law of causality. Although the sense of touch had regained its weight and solidity, under the light, Shirou could still clearly see the blue patterns of the bedsheets through his palm.
This physical-layer transparency bug—caused by a "failed graphics card driver update"—was likely the price of forcibly using a hyper-dimensional Holy Sword patch in a low-fantasy world. As a qualified faker, Shirou deeply understood the meaning of "hardware failing to keep up with software."
He sighed and tried to clench his fist. An explosive force far exceeding anything prior raced through his magic circuits; it was the surging power of a true Lv. 4. After the existential reconstruction in the 60th floor's "Abyss of Emptiness," his body was no longer a simple carbon-based organism but was evolving into a conceptual entity known as a "Sword."
Knock, knock, knock.
A rhythmic knocking interrupted Shirou's self-examination.
"Come in." Shirou suppressed the faint glow in his hand.
The door opened. Pushing the meal cart was not the expected supporter Lili or the fox-girl Haruhime, but Riveria. The noble Elven royalty was dressed in simple white casual clothes, her emerald eyes betraying a hint of fatigue she couldn't hide. Clearly, to study Shirou's unprecedented level-up case, she had likely spent the night running between the library and the alchemy lab—perhaps even having a shouting match with a certain unreliable blacksmith god.
"Since you're awake, drink this bowl of Bitter Root Soup first." Riveria walked to the bedside, her tone carrying the unquestionable authority of an elder. "Though your flesh completed its physical reorganization in the deep floors, your mental will and mana frequency are still in a state of 'incompatibility.' This potion will help stabilize your soul and repair your stomach, which is currently as full of holes as a sieve."
Shirou looked at the liquid. It was green, faintly bubbling with purple froth, and emitting a scent reminiscent of chemical toxic gas. His throat hitched.
"Um... Vice-Captain, I feel like my stomach's defensive line might not hold against a biochemical attack of this magnitude. Can I apply for plain congee instead?"
Riveria gave a cold huff, her staff lightly tapping the floor with a crisp thud.
"A man who dares to forcibly project Ea is actually afraid of a mere potion brewed from thirty-two types of deep-floor herbs? Shirou Emiya, if you don't drink it, I don't mind using Binding Magic to assist with a physical-layer infusion. Trust me, that experience won't be any more pleasant than a punch from the Executioner."
Under the "Nuclear Peace" pressure of the High Elf, Shirou could only pick up the bowl and drain it with the tragic heroism of a man heading to the gallows. In that instant, he felt his soul dance a frantic tango in his mouth, but immediately after, the constant feeling of "peeling away" in his right hand lessened significantly.
"Feel better?" Riveria took the empty bowl.
"Much. I feel like I could go to the back mountain and hand-forge a hundred magic swords right now," Shirou replied with a wry smile, wiping the green residue from his lip.
Riveria put away the cart, her expression turning serious.
"Finn is waiting for you in the briefing room. It's regarding Freya's formal declaration of war and the 'hardware upgrade' plan for your right hand. Shirou, the commotion you've caused has completely thrown the balance of Orario out of control. The Guild has already raised your danger rating to the same level as a Floor Boss."
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Twilight Manor, War Room.
When Shirou entered the room, he found the atmosphere even more solemn than expected. Finn, Gareth, Bete, and the Tiona sisters—who had just returned from the Dungeon—were all present. Most strikingly, Loki sat at the head of the table; her eyes, usually squinted shut, were cracked open, revealing a flicker of red divine light.
"Yo, has our 'Red-Haired Princess' finally decided to get out of bed?" Loki was as sharp-tongued as ever, but her eyes held a trace of concern she hadn't even noticed. "How is it? Has that feeling of being torn in half disappeared?"
"Loki-sama, please stop giving me those strange nicknames." Shirou sat in an empty seat and looked at Finn.
"Captain, what's the situation? I saw the bulletin boards at the Guild practically covered in Freya Familia rosters."
Finn rubbed his thumb, his tone low and calm.
"It's not optimistic. Freya's 'server-wide announcement' has caused panic across the city. The Guild wants to mediate, but since this involves a formal contract gamble between primary gods, they have no right to forcibly terminate it. Right now, all of Orario's betting odds are
leaning toward the Freya Familia. After all, they have the Lv. 7 powerhouse Ottar and that silver army known as the 'Goddess's Private Guard'."
Finn paused, his gaze falling like a blade on Shirou's transparent right hand.
"But the most critical issue isn't external. Shirou, your body right now is like a divine sword that hasn't been properly sharpened, yet has been forcibly stuffed with high-tier data. While the foundation is terrifyingly good, you lack the support of a core material. If you forcibly release a Noble Phantasm of that scale again, your soul will burn out like an overloaded wire. Your current Lv. 4 is just a fragile shell."
Riveria added:
"Based on my emergency consultations with Hephaestus, the reason your right hand cannot fully materialize is that the laws of genkai cannot recognize a 'Mystery' that transcends eras. You don't need ordinary supplies or healing; you need a reinforcement called 'True Name Confirmation.' You need to forge a physical vessel in this world that carries your will."
"True Name?" Shirou blinked. "You mean, I don't just project... I have to truly 'create'?"
"Exactly." Loki tapped the table, her voice echoing in the room. "The things you projected before were all someone else's secondhand goods. They're powerful, but they are someone else's 'History.' If you want to defeat Ottar in the 'Wedding Heist' war three months from now, you must forge a True Name Weapon that belongs only to you, Shirou Emiya, constructed from the highest grade materials of this world. The Ancient Dragon Remains of Valley of Dragons. "
"The Valley of Dragons..." Shirou repeated the name softly. "If I remember correctly, that's a forbidden zone in the northern surface, right?" K
Gareth spoke up from the side, his voice like muffled thunder.
"It's a wasteland on the surface. Since the Great Hole was sealed a thousand years ago, surface monsters have decreased, but the Valley of Dragons is the exception. It's piled with the remains of generations of dragons. The thick mana there can even interfere with a God's 'Divine Eye.' If there is anything in this world that can carry your complex soul frequency, it is likely only the marrow of an ancient dragon."
Shirou stood up, the confusion gone, replaced by a resolve to find life within death.
"I'll go. If this is the only way to get stronger, and the only path to protect everyone, I have no reason to back down. Since fate wants me to be a blacksmith, I'll forge a blade that can even cut down Gods."
"I knew you'd say that." Finn showed a predicted smile, but he immediately held up three fingers. "However, to ensure the power balance for the war in three months, you cannot take the main force of the Familia. Ais needs to stay in Orario for final extreme training; she must
break through the Lv. 7 barrier before the finals. Riveria is responsible for the entire team's mana amplification barrier. Therefore, I've arranged special companions for you."
Just as Finn finished, the heavy wooden doors of the conference room were pushed open again.
A woman wearing a black eyepatch and a red outer robe walked in with a boisterous aura.
"Yo! Emiya-lad! I heard you're going to the surface to raid a dragon's nest? How could you not invite Orario's number one blacksmith for something this interesting?" K
"Captain Tsubaki?" Shirou looked surprised and happy.
Tsubaki Collbrande, the leader of the Hephaestus Familia and Shirou's close friend in the world of forging.
Not just her; behind Tsubaki, an Elf wearing a green cloak with eyes as cold as ice walked in silently, clutching the short sword Shirou had personally repaired.
"Emiya." Ryuu Lion looked at him, her voice calm but carrying a reassuring strength. "Captain Finn believes the environment of the Valley of Dragons shares conceptual similarities with the 'Labyrinth of Large Trees' on the 19th floor. As a gale-force scout, I can help you avoid those ancient traps. Besides... I don't want to see you lose another hand."
"Shirou-sama! I'm going too! My... my 'Level Boost' will definitely be of great help in collecting the Dragon Remains!" Haruhime peeked out from behind Ryuu, her golden fox tail wagging uneasily with excitement.
Shirou looked at this incredibly balanced and powerful expedition team: Tsubaki's top-tier forging skills, Ryuu's combat and scouting experience, Haruhime's tier-support, and himself, the all-around "cheat" character. This setup didn't look like a desperate mission to the Valley of Dragons; it looked like a picnic.
"Alright, then I'll be in your care." Shirou took a deep breath.
Before leaving, Loki stopped Shirou privately.
"Hey, kid. Remember what I'm about to say." Loki lowered her voice, a rare chill creeping into her tone.
"Freya's state has been a bit off lately. She's set up a massive chessboard at the top of Babel, and you're the only Red Knight on it. She's serious this time. If you run into some weird, unsolvable crap in the Valley of Dragons, use that communication scroll I gave you. Don't always try to be a lone martyr."
"Understood, Loki-sama." Shirou smiled and waved to his primary god.
Leaving the room, Shirou saw Ais waiting for him at the corner of the long corridor. K
"Emiya."
"Yeah?"
Ais stepped forward and pulled a sachet embroidered with a crooked little rabbit from her robe, clumsily stuffing it into Shirou's hand.
"Riveria made it. She said it wards off evil. It's filled with herbs from the 18th floor."
Shirou took the sachet. He could smell a faint scent of herbs mixed with Ais's own cool fragrance.
"Thank you, Ais. Don't train too hard while I'm gone. Remember to eat on time, and don't just eat fried potato puffs."
Ais shook her head, her golden eyes staring fixedly at Shirou's transparent right hand, then whispered:
"Wait for me to come back. If you've become weaker... I'll be angry. I'll use my sword to 'beat you awake' myself."
"I promise. I'll come back with a true sword." k
Under the gaze of the Familia, this special search-and-rescue team led by a Lv. 4 officially began their journey to the surface's forbidden zone.
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Day One of leaving Orario.
The world outside wasn't as desolate as Shirou had imagined. With the spread of civilization brought by the descent of the Gods, the surface living environment had improved greatly. However, in those borderlands where mana intertwined, the absurdity and wildness of the ancient era remained.
Tsubaki swung her wine flask as they walked down the road, curiously eyeing Shirou's right hand.
"I say, Emiya-lad, can this hand of yours really perceive the 'breath' of metal just by touching it? I heard Lady Hephaestus mention that your 'Structural Analysis' ability is basically a cheat code all we blacksmiths dream of. Did you sign some secret contract with the Leylines behind our backs?"
"I can do it, but the price is heavy. Every time I analyze high-tier materials, it feels like needles stabbing my brain." Shirou used mana simulation to let his right fingers grasp the air, feeling the minute resistance caused by the rejection of the world's laws.
"Miss Tsubaki, do you have experience in heat-treating Dragon Remains? I heard those bones can't even be melted by lava."
Tsubaki grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.
"Experience? That's a legendary material from the age of myth! I've only seen it in the tattered pages of ancient books. But don't worry, I brought my baby, the 'Black Iron Hammer.' Even if it's the bone of a God, I'll beat some brilliant sparks out of it! The romance of a blacksmith lies in challenging the impossible, doesn't it?"
Ryuu, walking on the flank, maintained extreme vigilance. Her pointed Elven ears twitched occasionally, catching every rustle of the wind on the plains. Although they had left the Dungeon, she knew well that surface monsters, free from the constraints of floors, often understood ambush and coordinated hunting better than those in the labyrinth.
"Emiya. Stay focused." Ryuu spoke suddenly, her gaze like lightning. "The mana concentration ten kilometers ahead is climbing exponentially. We have officially entered the outer gravity influence zone of the Valley of Dragons. This pressure will limit our agility."
Shirou nodded. With the boost of "Clairvoyance," he could already see the end of the horizon. It was a valley covered in eternal thunderclouds. Countless massive, white-shimmering skeletons lay across the land like continuous mountain ranges. It was a graveyard for fallen dragons and a forbidden zone for the living.
Just as they prepared to speed up, the shadows beside the peaceful road suddenly twisted eerily.
A grey figure appeared abruptly in the middle of the road, blocking their path.
"Miss Syr? Why are you here?" Shirou stopped, his right hand instinctively reaching for the phantoms of Kanshou and Bakuya at his waist.
Standing before them was Syr, the waitress from the Benevolent Mistress. Or rather, the Goddess wearing Syr's face, hungering for his soul.
Syr smiled slightly, her grey eyes swirling with a divinity that could eclipse all things. She walked gracefully to Shirou, ignoring Tsubaki and Ryuu's weapons which were nearly out of their sheaths. She took a ruby ring radiating a cold aura from her robe and placed it gently in Shirou's palm.
"This is an amulet a passerby asked me to give you. Please accept it." Syr's voice was ethereal and gentle, yet carried an indescribable sense of fate. "Shirou Emiya, the Valley of Dragons hides not just bones, but the buried memories of this world. Please take care. I wouldn't want to win a soul-less husk three months from now. That would make me very sad."
Shirou looked down at the ring. It was engraved with an intricate cross pattern—the unique mark of the Goddess Freya.
"Thank the 'passerby' for me. I've received her kindness." Shirou did not refuse. He could feel that this ring contained a pure divine power capable of temporarily neutralizing the spatial toxins he had picked up in the Abyss of Emptiness.
Syr gave him a deep look, then vanished like smoke scattered by a breeze, silently disappearing at the end of the plains.
"That girl... who exactly is she?" Tsubaki broke into a cold sweat. The pressure that nearly stopped her heart was something she wouldn't even feel before Lady Hephaestus.
"Who else could it be but the Goddess of Beauty herself. Emiya, your creditor is truly troublesome." Ryuu gripped her longbow, her eyes full of deep concern.
Shirou pocketed the ring, hanging it around his neck. He knew Freya was telling him in this way: she had never left this gamble for his soul.
"Let's go, everyone. Don't keep the bones of the 'old-timers' waiting too long."
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Three hours later, at the entrance to the Valley of Dragons.
The area was shrouded in an extremely heavy gravitational field. This pressure didn't come from gravity magic, but from the massive residual life energy (Od) of generations of dead dragons deeply integrated with the Leylines, creating a physical suppression.
"This pressure... even breathing is difficult." Tsubaki felt her knees trembling slightly.
"Haruhime!" Shirou called out in a low voice.
"Yes! Shirou-sama! I understand!"
Haruhime raised the specially made redwood grimoire high, her golden fox tail wagging violently in the gale. Two rays of sacred, dazzling light instantly crossed space, enveloping Shirou and Tsubaki.
"Grow large! Uchide no Kozuchi!" K
[Level Boost! Lv. 4 → Lv. 5 (Pseudo)!]
Feeling the mana surging violently again due to the level increase, Shirou stepped into the valley covered in white bones.
BOOM!
As his foot landed, the mountain range of dragon remains that had been silent for a millennium seemed to suddenly wake up. Countless mountains of dragon scales began to rub together violently, emitting a resonance like the clashing of ten thousand metal blades.
At the deepest part of the valley, a phantom of a dragon, pale blue and composed entirely of skeletal structures, rose slowly. It was the Guardian of the Valley of Dragons—the residual Ancient Dragon Soul.
It had no fleshly body, yet it radiated a massive Dragon Fear capable of instantly suffocating an ordinary high-level adventurer. It was the aura of an absolute overlord of the surface's ancient era, something that never appeared in the Dungeon.
"ROOOOOOOAR—!!!"
The Dragon Soul let out a roar that shattered the earth. Immediately after, blue dragon breath turned into a tidal wave of fire, instantly sealing the entire valley entrance. The temperature was so high that even the rocks on the ground began to crystallize. K
Shirou stood before the group. He swung his transparent right hand forward, and golden light particles condensed frantically.
"The so-called True Name Weapon? Before that, I'll use your bones as the foundation for my 'Unlimited Blade Works'!"
"Trace — Start!"
Vwooom vwooom vwooom!
Dozens of massive magic sword projections with dragon-slaying concepts expanded in mid-air, their tips pointing in unison at the skeletal dragon.
The battle erupted instantly.
This time, Shirou Emiya was not running for his life to survive. In this domain representing death and honor, he would use his blood and fire to ring the first bell leading to his own summit.
In the cold wind of the Dragon Valley, the red-haired youth's silhouette was stretched long by the firelight, appearing both lonely and resolute.
The prologue of the True Name Reconstruction officially began amidst this ancient roar.
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