Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"Hmm, let me see how to modify it..."

"First, it's about... enhancement!"

Drawing upon the magic power within the Holy Grail, the most basic enhancement magic was unleashed.

Don't underestimate these basic magic tricks. As the cornerstone of modern magic, each basic magic trick has its extraordinary significance.

Enhancement magic is mainly used on props to improve the properties of materials, strengthen vulnerable parts, and so on.

A high level of enhancement can elevate an existing social class, much like a mediocre knife becoming a masterpiece. It can also enhance physical strength, etc.

In general, the enhancements used by ordinary magicians and advanced magicians are vastly different.

Ordinary magicians' enhancements can only be done literally by strengthening materials and increasing the strength of a certain aspect.

The enhancements used by advanced magicians can conceptually upgrade the essence of something.

Of course, not every high-level magician has such abilities. After all, everyone has their own expertise. It would be difficult for a high-level magician who does not specialize in this area to achieve this level. Even some magicians who specialize in one area cannot do it.

It's obvious that Xia Yu is just as half-baked as Emiya Shirou on the path of becoming a magician.

After all, he joined the group halfway through his journey. Although he had obtained the basic principles of magic from Chaldea, he didn't have much time to study them.

Aside from a few geniuses, it takes at least several decades to master a magic trick.

That's a whole system after all; Xia Yu has only had these magics for a few years.

But he has the Holy Grail! With the Holy Grail's ability to turn the rotten into the miraculous, it's entirely feasible, conceptually, to forcefully drive magic of this level using magical power.

He picked up Maria's armor and began to inscribe a magic base on the inside.

Calling it a foundation isn't entirely accurate; if you asked a magician from Type-Moon to look at the foundation he depicted, he would be completely baffled.

Because this is a system unique to him, designed by Dr. Roman of Chaldea and Leonardo da Vinci.

To activate magic, one must initiate a magic formula. For example, to ignite a fire using magic, one needs to make contact with a magic base that has been pre-engraved in the world, activating the magic formula that causes the "ignition" phenomenon.

Terra doesn't have a system pre-printed in the world, but that's okay, the clever Da Vinci provided a solution long ago.

It was a bright and sunny morning. Xia Yu was comfortably lying on a vine-woven deck chair next to her treehouse, studying the magic trick she had gotten from Fujimaru Ritsuka.

But he had a problem: having never been exposed to magic before, he had to study magic without a teacher... His efficiency was quite impressive.

At this rate, he'll probably have finished fighting Tiamat before he even finishes studying basic magic.

But where is he supposed to find a teacher in this desolate wilderness?

We can't rely entirely on Chaldea, since they are nominally enemies. Although Gorgon is easy to fool, we can't expect him to go to the doctor and Leonardo da Vinci for tutoring every day, can we?

But it's okay! There's a saying that goes, "There are still more good people than bad in the world!"

Take Chaldea, for example; they are incredibly kind people!

After learning about Xia Yu's difficulties, Da Vinci and the thoughtful Never Sleeping designed a method for him to use magic based on the Holy Grail.

Mom no longer has to worry about me not being able to perform magic tricks!

Then Fujimaru Ritsuka came to them again, and was pretended to be tied to a rattan chair. Mashu, on the other hand, was unsurprised and offered them the method they had researched, and then left with her senior.

Xia Yu's gratitude to Leonardo da Vinci and his doctor was heartfelt.

Oh, I've digressed. Let's get back to the present.

To activate a magic formula, one must first generate magic power, which is generated by transforming life force using magic circuits.

At this point, magic is roughly divided into two categories based on whether it utilizes the magician's own life force existing in the inner world (small source = Od) or absorbs the life force of nature from the outside world (large source = Mana) and then transforms it into magic power.

The generated magic power is sent to the magic base plate through the magic circuit, immediately activating the magic formula. In a narrow sense, the phenomenon caused by the magic formula is called "magic".

Furthermore, regardless of whether the source of magic is a large or small source, the activation magic formula remains the same.

For example, whether it's a self-powered generator or a windmill-powered generator, the fact that "electricity" is generated (regardless of the amount of electricity) remains unchanged.

Maria naturally doesn't have magic circuits and can't generate magic power.

But it's okay, it's just a little bit of magic, no big deal.

Xia Yu has spoken!

Now that he's rich and powerful, he wouldn't care about that little bit of magic. How much magic can he use with a single enhancement spell?

It's just a drop in the ocean.

In reality, the method devised by Leonardo da Vinci and his doctor was purely brute force, relying on the powerful magic of the Holy Grail to forcibly drive the magic.

If a modern magician saw this method, they would be astonished and exclaim that it was a waste of talent. With so much magic power, if you were to learn it systematically, the magic power required to perform the magic trick using that method would be enough for a modern magician to perform at least five of the same tricks.

But who can blame Xia Yu for having the Holy Grail? In the Absolute Demonic Front, the Holy Grail's magic power is inexhaustible, so he doesn't need to worry about such trivial matters.

So neither Leonardo da Vinci nor his doctor paid much attention to the consumption.

Upon arriving in Terra, as the Holy Grail's magic power gradually recovered, Xia Yu was once again able to happily fly around with her powerful bricks.

However, although he could certainly continue doing things this way, he still planned to study the magic theories of Type-Moon properly.

He had a feeling that these things would come in very handy later.

Xia Yu's idea was to transform the armor in front of her into a magical costume.

However, unlike Type-Moon's Mystic Codes, Maria cannot charge this thing, so in the end it still depends on Xia Yu.

It's hard to say whether it's good or bad, since this thing is essentially something you can wear and use as soon as you're allowed to, comes with advanced enhancements, is definitely strong enough, and doesn't require its own power source...

This is something so many people dream of.

The more powerful a Mystic Code is, the more magical power it requires to activate.

Advanced enhancements are magic that can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, and they are on a completely different level from ordinary enhancements, making them highly sought after by many magicians.

Its drawbacks are equally obvious: without Xia Yu's permission, this thing is just a plain piece of armor.

Even if you try to force it with your own magic, you might not succeed.

After defining her own core foundation, Xia Yu looked at the brand-new armor before her.

"Well, let's draw one first and see how it goes," he nodded in satisfaction, then picked up the armor and walked out of the living room.

168. This armor?

"Stand firm and watch your rhythm."

As Zofia spoke, she continued to attack Maria, who was struggling to hold on.

clang!

Maria, panting heavily, leaned on her sword and asked for a pause after once again managing to parry Zofia's sword.

"Ten minutes, not a single counterattack," Zofia stood there without batting an eye, looking at Maria's disheveled appearance, and couldn't help but sigh.

"I still only used one hand."

"Someone like you wants to participate in the Knights' Tournament?"

"Uh... you say you can fight me with one hand, but isn't your sword meant to be used with one hand too?" Maria retorted, unconvinced.

"If you go all out, your other hand won't be idle either. Want to try out the Letanian's fighting methods?"

Zofia's eyes were full of laughter as she reached out and struck a pose that Maria had never seen before.

"I've heard that knights from different countries have very different styles... but Zofia can even do that!? Isn't that bullying!?"

Upon seeing this, Maria was completely deflated.

"I was just copying what others did. I didn't lose that match without any preparation."

Zofia's expression darkened as she spoke.

That's what caused her to lose back then.

"Um, Zofia-neechan?" Maria asked cautiously, noticing her expression. "Are you... alright?"

"So much time has passed, I don't really care anymore."

Zofia looked up, made a relieved expression, and said, "But you... at your current level, you'd really just be cannon fodder on the field."

Maria fell silent upon hearing this.

Having grown up with Zoffy, she naturally knew that Zoffy was left-handed, her dominant hand was her left hand, and she had always used a left-handed sword.

But ever since that injury, her left hand has been unable to hold a sword and fight.

And now, she's beaten herself up like this with just her right hand...

"Alright," Zofia said, raising her sword as she looked at Maria, who had suddenly fallen silent. "Let's continue!"

"Okay, okay, but could you wait another half a minute? My legs are shaking," Maria pleaded, managing to force a smile.

"If you can't even stick to this, then I advise you to give up on knightly competition."

Zofia said calmly, "...Do you know about team free-for-all competitions?"

"The most exciting competition format in the Knights' Tournament is that each Knights Order sends one representative, but in your case, you are competing independently."

"Then, in a huge artificial arena with ten to dozens of people, scores are determined by the number of times the armor is hit, and finally converted into competition points."

"Of course... if you are knocked down or lose your ability to fight before the time limit ends, you will be eliminated immediately and your score will be zero."