Chapter Eleven:Status Update

"Goddess, I'm here."

"Oh~ Shirou-kun, are you here to update your status?"  

"Yes."

"You are so patience, most of my familia, when they first receive their blessing, can't wait to update their status every single day."  

"This was Tsubaki-san suggestion. She said that even if you don't update your status, the experience gain will still accumulate in the body. And right now, I'm at the best period for honing my skills. Hastily increasing my stats might not be the best long term decision."

It's similar to giving a novice a first class weapon right from the start—most of the time this will hinder their growth. The status update boosts physical abilities and capacity, but improving technique is another matter altogether.

A common example is that an adventurer with a high 'Dexterity' stat often can quickly learn archery, but in actual combat, their performance is still far inferior to elf with similar 'Dexterity' stats. 

This is because the latter are usually already skilled with bows before receiving their god's blessing, possessing skills beyond what is shown on their status.

"Yes, that's true. However, after a status update, you can gain higher endurance and magic power, which allows for longer training sessions," Hephaestus explained. "Both approaches have their advantages. It's just a matter of striking a balance."

"Yes, Tsubaki-san also thought it was about time for me to update my status."

This is one of the benefits of joining a large Familia—the valuable experience of both the god/goddess and the familia high-level adventurers. Even something as simple as whether a newcomer should frequently update their status has been carefully studied.

"Well then, Shirou-kun, let's see how much you've grown in the past half a month."  

It had been fifteen days since Shirou received Hephaestus blessing. 

During this time, he had lived a fulfilling life. Every day, he learned forging in the Hephaestus Familia, currently, captain Tsubaki was focusing  on crafting the magic sword, in the meantime Shirou had to patiently studied with the other smiths.

The older members of the Hephaestus Familia were all very kind to him. Of course, this might have also been because they knew Shirou was Tsubaki's favored disciple, so they never hide anything, generously passing on their knowledge to Shirou, who in turn, learned everything quickly.

After finishing work at the Familia, he would return to the *Hostess of Fertility*, usually buying a fish on his way back, and then at night, he will spar with Anya (though occasionally he will find himself at the mercy of a very eager Ryuu).

The more he spared with Anya, the more amazed he became at her strength. The cat girl's overall base stats placed her among the strongest in the Lv 4 tier. Shirou often wondered what happened, why did she give up being an adventurer and choose to work at the tavern instead.

After training, he'd grill fish in the courtyard for Anya, Ryuu and Syr would always join them. However, 80% of the grilled fish would always end up in Anya's stomach.

Shirou also discovered that Ryuu liked to stargaze. 

One day, after Tsubaki visited the tavern for dinner and hugged him, Ryuu started watching him closely from a distance, though Shirou had no clue why.

Before bed, he'd practice projection magic until his mana was depleted, then fall asleep.

Day after day, Shirou lived a productive and fulfilling life.

It wasn't until Tsubaki judged that Shirou's forging skills had reached a stable level that she sent him to their goddess for an update.

Shirou removed his shirt, revealing a body that had been clearly transformed, with muscular lines becoming more pronounced. Not only his physique, but Shirou also felt like his height had noticeably increased over the past half a month.

"Shirou-kun, your body is getting better and better, it's not as skinny as when we first meet." Hephaestus commented as she skillfully pricked her finger and smeared divine blood onto the boy's back.

Shirou Emiya

Lv.1

-Strength: i0 → H110  

-Endurance: i0 → G204  

Dexterity: i0 → F332 

-Agility: i0 → H104  

-Magic: i0 → G258

Development Ability

Magic

  - [Unlimited Blade Works]

Skills

- [Oath under the Snow]  

- [????? (Roadless Valhalla)]

"Wow." Hephaestus couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration.  

One of Shirou's skills still remained undecoded, which was to be expected. However, the dramatic improvement in his basic abilities was beyond normal. 

His total stats increased by over 1000 points, with each ability increasing by over 200 on average, and his dexterity and magic both increasing by a whopping 300 and 250 points, respectively. Even accounting for the rapid growth that comes from starting with i0 stats, this growth rate was astonishing.

But after giving it some careful thoughts, it became more reasonable.

Living at the *Hostess of Fertility* meant that Shirou had access to at least two top tier Level 4 adventurers with a bunch of free time for daily sparring and training. Withstanding the attacks of a high level adventurers through sheer skill and willpower  would naturally result in significant experience gains. 

His magic increase, meanwhile, likely stemmed from him using Unlimited Blade Works until his mana runs dry, that magic is very suitable for training, unlike most offensive magic that might cause serious collateral damages or magic that required a target.

As for the considerable jump in dexterity, his involvement in Tsubaki's forge probably played a major role. Helping a Level 5 blacksmith like Tsubaki in creating a powerful magic sword would have granted him an abundance of experience, especially since he was able to meaningfully contribute to the process.

This wasn't even considering the amount of time Shirou spent on learning from other blacksmith. 

Another reason for his accelerated growth might be due to his skill, Oath under the Snow, which boosts the rate at which his basic abilities increase. However, since the activation conditions were quite stringent, the skill probably hasn't even been trigger yet.

"Honestly, if this were any other familia member, I'd be more worried than pleased."

Hephaestus mused, this wasn't the first time she had witnessed such growth.

In the past, a child had lost all his loved ones in an attack from Evilus.

He began to train obsessively and grew quickly, leveling up in record time. Two weeks after his level-up, his stats had increased by over 800 points. 

But his final ending was, he set up a trap using magic swords and kaenseki.(bomb), as a Level 2, he perished in a suicidal attack against a high-ranking Level 3 Evilus member who was responsible for his loved ones death, taking them down with him.

His name was immortalized in history as a hero in the fight against Evilus, but Hephaestus didn't want to see that fate befall on anyone else.

Such abnormal growth might indicate incredible talent, but it could also mean that they were pushing themselves beyond their limits.

However, Hephaestus wasn't worried about Shirou. With her divine eye, she could tell that this boy was different. 

He had a clarity in his eyes—as if he understood what he wants.

"Shirou, are you ready to start exploring the dungeon?"