You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

However, Japanese-style Chinese food in reality is rather...unique. It's not that the taste is bad, but rather that the eating habits and food preferences are different from those in mainland China. After all, Chinese people generally don't use fried noodles as a side dish in bread, nor do they make pan-fried dumplings with rice.

Of course, it's much better than Americanized Chinese food that's completely unrecognizable.

If Japanese works can be considered fan works, then American works can only be called "Holy Roman Empire"!

The restaurant that Iori encountered in Romania was a modified version of the Japanese style, which had been "upgraded" to suit local tastes. It felt like, apart from the tofu, it had nothing to do with the original dishes anymore.

Well, ignoring the name and just considering it as a dish in its purest form, the taste is quite good.

Iori is the kind of person who doesn't mind whether tofu pudding is sweet or savory, so she only complained in her mind and still enjoyed her meal.

Unlike him, who was completely absorbed in enjoying the food, Serra was quite reserved. Because she wasn't used to chopsticks, she used a fork to pick up the fried dumplings and eat them in small bites.

She doesn't care about the taste; for her, whose sense of taste is declining, even Mapo Tofu can only make her frown slightly.

Even while eating, she couldn't help but keep an eye on the outside world, like a herbivore on the savanna, afraid that a cheetah might jump out from under some tree.

"Don't worry so much, nothing will happen... Hmm~" Iori comforted her while eating.

Hearing Iori's words, Sera felt much more relaxed, but was still a little nervous: "After such a fierce battle last night, we have undoubtedly entered the sights of the Thousand World Tree. Is it really okay to go out shopping so openly?"

"Precisely because we went through that battle, we don't need to worry about being bothered by the Thousand World Tree for a while."

Iori picked up a tissue and wiped her mouth, then said leisurely, "An Eastern philosopher once said, 'Know your enemy and you will never be defeated.'"

The most important thing in a war is victory or defeat, but the standards for victory or defeat differ depending on one's position.

Before Stalingrad in World War II, if you only look at the casualty ratio between the two sides, Germany was practically a god descended to earth... But if they really had an overwhelming advantage, they wouldn't have shown such a decline just because they lost a battle.

Because the criteria for victory differed for Germany and the Soviet Union. For Germany to achieve victory, it needed to advance relentlessly until the very end, without any setbacks or strategic errors. The Soviet Union, however, sought victory by wearing Germany down; given enough time, a Germany fighting on multiple fronts would eventually collapse.

“Hmm~” Sera nodded. What Iori was talking about wasn’t some profound principle, but something that everyone knew, so she understood it easily.

After all, the Einzbern family itself is a member of the old Berlin family, and as a magic family, they have been rooted in Germany for who knows how many years. If Danic hadn't hooked up with Nacui, Sera might be living as a noble lady in a castle right now!

...Of course, it's more likely she's the young lady's maid.

That said, back when Nagui was powerful, Danic must have made a fortune... No wonder he had the resources to go to the Thousand Gold City to win over so many declining small families, and in just a few decades he had the confidence to challenge the Magic Association.

"Once you understand the Thousand World Tree's position, you will have a certain understanding of their action strategy."

"What stance?"

"It's a position where the trophy was secured at the start of the competition."

Iori chuckled and said, "The Greater Grail is already in their hands. They don't need to risk their lives to come out and fight. They can just sit at home and wait for you to come to them—home advantage is very important."

Especially for the World Tree!

There was some information that Sera didn't know yet, namely that the Lancer of the Thousand World Tree was named Vlad III, and that Servant was practically invincible in his own "territory," fearless of any Servant in siege battles.

In the original work, Amakusa sent out Karna, his most powerful firepower, in order to restrain Vlad III.

Vlad III, as the "King," had no choice but to accept the challenge largely because the Servants of Yggdrasil were generally a level weaker than the Red side, and the Dragon Slayer who was originally supposed to be paired with Sun had committed suicide... Due to the lack of high-end combat power, he had no choice but to take his place.

In the current timeline, the Black faction's Rider has become King Arthur, the Berserker has become Maverick, and other Servants may also change, but overall their strength has increased considerably, and Vlad III can definitely sit in the center.

With such a powerful being around, no one can take the Holy Grail away!

As a result, with the home advantage at home, Thousand Worlds Tree will naturally have to play a more conservative tactic.

Of course, Iori hasn't seen Black Lancer in person yet, and it might have been someone else... But given Vlad III's connection with this land, there's no reason for the magician of Yggdrasil not to summon him.

"I'm more inclined to believe that the battle the night before was something Shuten-dōji did on a whim, wandering around and launching an attack on us."

Otherwise, if three Servants had attacked us from the start, it would have been difficult for us to escape unscathed, and Shuten-dōji would have been half-dead.

It seems like we had to run away, but actually, the most annoyed person might be Yggdrasil, especially the Assassin's Master!

"I see, that explains what happened that night." Sera suddenly realized. "But won't they retaliate?"

"Yes, but we're not a high priority because I'm 'no threat'!"

Iori spread her hands and smiled, "After that battle, the Black Faction should assume I'm a Servant skilled in melee combat and small-scale spells. While troublesome, I'm definitely not capable of threatening the Yggdrasil's castle and the Greater Grail inside."

In that case, they naturally need to focus their efforts on dealing with more threatening Servants—such as Red Lancer, that demigod who looks incredibly cool and is very skilled in siege warfare.

"You always seem so confident~" Sera said, gazing at Iori's confident and composed expression, lost in thought.

"You don't seem like a soldier, you're more like a strategist from the East."

"I know a little bit about it~"

Iori smiled reservedly: "The Thousand World Tree, Amakusa, Shishikage, and us are currently three camps: one black, one red, and one independent."

If I'm not mistaken, Yggdrasil will likely test Lion's Lair and Mordred as well, but once they discover they're independent of Amakusa's faction, they won't commit any more troops—it's the same logic as ignoring us.

"But no matter which of these two camps wins, we will be their next target for elimination?"

"The reverse is also true; we are waiting for them to either both suffer heavy losses or for one to die and the other to be injured."

Iori narrowed her eyes, patiently pondering, and said, "There are still many variables in this war, and it can't be decided by mere words and wishful thinking... It's still unknown who the goddess of victory will favor."

"..."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Iori noticed that Sera seemed to be lost in thought, so she reminded her. The silver-haired girl snapped out of her reverie and immediately looked away, embarrassed.

"Why are you staring at me? Is there something on my face?"

—This man is a bad thing!

Sera was feeling down, feeling unsure how to answer the question, while Iori, though knowing she shouldn't ask, still maliciously asked anyway.

"I just feel like you're a little different... huh?"

The silver-haired girl had only been casually giving a perfunctory answer, but after saying it, she subconsciously felt something was amiss. She turned her head and looked at Iori seriously, her beautiful eyebrows slightly furrowed.

This time, the "seriousness" is different from before. Before, it was about appreciating facial features and expressions. This time, it's about observing and examining the state of the contracted Servant from the perspective of a magician and a master.

However, Iori's specific stats are difficult to interpret. Sera doesn't even know what his Noble Phantasm is yet. Even if she looks closely now, she can't find any specific differences. She just vaguely feels that something has changed.

“Berserker, you… do you feel… is it just my imagination? You seem to have gotten a little stronger.”

"Really? I think it's quite ordinary, nothing special."

Iori smiled calmly and said, "However, strictly speaking, a few trivial things did happen."

"Little things?"

Sera blinked and asked curiously, "Can you tell me about it?"

"It's okay, it's nothing important, it's just that my panel status improved a little."

"what?"

Sera was first taken aback, then her expression changed, and she said seriously, "This is impossible!"

"Ok?"

"No matter how talented they were in life, all Heroic Spirits are 'dead' without exception. The Servants that are summoned are a certain aspect of history. Their abilities and Noble Phantasms are fixed. Except for the Master's aptitude, which can affect them, they cannot be changed in general."

Even if a Servant possesses a Spirit Origin similar to a physical body, they are ultimately not a living person and therefore cannot have the concept of 'growth potential'!

Chapter 117: Finally, we can increase our luck stat!

Sera spoke with absolute certainty that the inability of Servants to "grow" was common knowledge in the Holy Grail War, so she was full of doubt about Iori's statement. Iori, on the other hand, calmly took a sip of tea, moistened her throat, and then slowly began to explain.

"What you said is indeed correct, but that is just common sense. The Holy Grail War and Heroic Spirits are things that transcend common sense."

While magicians can create summoning rituals to bring historical heroes back to life, they are merely exploiting loopholes in the world's rules. They haven't truly grasped the secrets of 'Heroic Spirit Summoning,' and their understanding of 'Spirit Origins' is like the blind men and the elephant.

Sera pursed her lips after hearing this, knowing that what Iori said was true.

While summoning Servants is commonplace in certain gacha games, it is actually a miracle that surpasses even grand magic. It is a self-defense mechanism activated by the Counter Force (Alaya) when faced with a disaster that threatens the survival of civilization, summoning heroes from the Throne of Heroes to prevent the disaster from happening or to eliminate the source of the calamity.

This is also the last line of defense that the Suppressor rarely uses. Usually, they will dispatch their own private henchmen, the "Guardians," to deal with minor troubles.

In other words, the "Summoning of Heroic Spirits" is a means of suppressing forces, and humans cannot master such miracles.

Whether it's the official Holy Grail War of the three starter families or the various pirated sub-species Holy Grail Wars, the Servants they summon are essentially "low-end versions".

According to the setting of "FGO", the Servants summoned by the Counter Force are equipped with Grand Spirit Origins, which can maximize the power of the Servant and are almost equivalent to the original Servant on the Throne of Heroes.

As for ordinary Spirit Origins in the Holy Grail War...

To put it simply, if we consider Servants as pilots, then a Grand Servant's Origin is the Strike Freedom, while a regular Servant's Origin is just a Zaku. A few exceptional individuals might manage to get a "Red Horned Triple Speed."

But that's all; it can't compare to Gundam.

In other words, even with their utmost ingenuity, magicians can only produce the most clumsy imitations; they have never truly understood the ritual.

Interestingly, even so, mages generally tend to look down on Servants, with many regarding them as "familiars." However, every Holy Grail War provides several examples to serve as a warning:

Even the most ordinary Spirit Origin Servant is not someone that humans can easily manipulate!

The more arrogant a magician is, the more tragic his end will be.

Sera suddenly realized that, as an android, she had become arrogant unconsciously, just like any other magician... but perhaps this was a prejudice accumulated over generations of the "Einzbern".

"The stats of a Servant are not fixed. There are several ways to strengthen a Servant, as far as I know."

After thinking about it, Iori decided to rule out the method of strengthening herself by farming monsters for materials in FGO, and she also didn't plan to reveal that she was still "alive".

After all, it's hard to say whether a Shinigami can be considered a living person; it's just that compared to Heroic Spirits, Shinigami have the added ability to grow.

"First of all, there are the relics. Although most relics can only be used as a vessel for 'fate' to summon Servants, some well-preserved relics or those containing powerful mysteries can be used as Mystic Codes or even Noble Phantasms."

Isn't your collection of Rhinegold this type? If you give it to a Servant with the 'Dragon' or 'Dragon Slayer' attribute, their stats will increase—isn't that incredible?

“No…it’s certainly very possible.” Sera nodded, having set aside any notions of common sense and listening intently to Iori’s explanation.

There's another great example I haven't mentioned: Saber from the main Fate series. The relic that summons her is the scabbard, which is also her Noble Phantasm. Arthur with and without the scabbard are completely different in strength!

"Another possibility is that if a Servant possesses a similar legend, it will cause fluctuations in their own strength."

Iori then said, "For example, the Sun Knight Gawain, whose strength is completely different during the day and at night. Similarly, there is Toyotomi Hideyoshi of the Far East, who is known as the Son of the Sun. His life experiences are transformed into a Noble Phantasm, which is a cycle in which his strength increases day by day and then gradually declines."

Of course, there are patterns to follow.

There are also those who are unpredictable. For example, the knight Astolfo has a legend of 'borrowing other people's weapons', so it is possible that he could equip himself with a Noble Phantasm left behind by others, thereby changing his own strength.

There is even our rival—Amakusa Shiro Tokisada.

After receiving a body, the Servant can naturally improve themselves through training. Moreover, that guy has a special physique; not only are his stats constantly changing, but even his magic circuits are in constant flux!

Speaking of Amakusa, he is truly an inspirational figure. After being given a second life and a second body, instead of enjoying life, he went to the Middle East to become a partner of justice, and incidentally, he diligently dug the soil for fifty or sixty years...

Look at that rich guy who also has a lot of flesh, he spent ten years in Fuyuki and turned into a plastic otaku!

"So... which one are you?"

Sera opened her briefcase, took out a small bottle, poured some paint onto the table, and then quickly drew a symbol with her finger. Subtle magical fluctuations spread out, temporarily shielding the area and preventing sound from escaping as if it were separated by a thick layer of glass.

What Iori is about to say is closely related to his strength, and Sera, as his Master, is being very cautious.

"Because I am a wanderer who has been driven from my home, I must do good deeds and establish myself in the world if I want to return to God's kingdom!"

Iori said seriously, "The Holy Grail War can only summon Servants with ordinary Spirit Origins, not beings like gods. You know that, right?"

Seeing that Sera nodded, he continued, "So, although my 'true form' is a chief god, I shouldn't be able to descend. Even if I were to wear a disguise, I would at least have to give up most of my divinity."

After all, this is just the Holy Grail War, not a singularity where demons run rampant, so overly outrageous characters won't be able to emerge.

"However, because of my deeds in life, I received a rather peculiar spirit origin attribute after being summoned."

Simply put, I will descend into the mortal world as an 'exiled one', possessing only a normal spirit origin and a very slight fame bonus.

However, as I engage in activities in the mortal world, whenever I achieve something, my Spirit Origin is further strengthened, and I gain a reputation bonus.

In particular, achievements that align with my life experiences will greatly increase my fame and may even grant me a corresponding Noble Phantasm.

If one can accomplish all the important feats and reach the pinnacle, one can return to the divine realm as recorded in the annals—that is, obtain a powerful spiritual foundation comparable to that of a god!

Generally speaking, there aren't that many opportunities...

In that previous battle, it was because I encountered Shuten-dōji that my spiritual foundation was strengthened significantly due to our compatibility, which is why you noticed it... It's a pity that just injuring her had such an effect; if I could have severed her head, my sword would probably have been able to unleash a beam of light..."

"There are such peculiar Servants?!" Even though Sera had prepared herself mentally, she was still so surprised that she couldn't close her mouth.

"Isn't this just like reenacting an epic hero's story? And Iori, your true form is actually a god?"

"Who knows? Maybe I'm just a mortal warrior who accidentally took the place of a god."

Iori smiled slightly. His increased strength was also due to getting a bond CG from Sera—but there was no need to explain that to her.