Three o'clock in the morning, in the basement workshop of the Matou family.
After completing the task of cleaning the sewer, Shinji went back to his room, took a shower and changed his clothes, then sat in front of the laboratory table, carefully examining the silver liquid in the test tube.
The viscous liquid with a faint glow has a high viscosity, and even a slight shake will not produce visible ripples like most solutions.
As Shinji shook, strands of dark red spots floated to the surface from the bottom of the opaque liquid, adding a touch of disharmony to the pure-colored liquid.
Shinji picked up a piece of gauze with two runes drawn on it from the lab table and covered the mouth of the test tube, then tilted the entire test tube 180 degrees. The silver liquid in the test tube flowed down, easily passing through the gauze and flowing into the flask below. The dark red spots remained on the gauze, and were gathered into blocks by the activated runes.
The collection of spots that seemed to be only as thick as a hair in the test tube turned into a piece larger than the palm of your hand when it was on the gauze.
"Master, what is this?" Shinji put down the gauze and looked up to ask Scathach who was watching on the other side of the operating table.
"This is a high-level compression magic in fluid manipulation. It uses pressure to reduce the volume of the fluid. This magic is often used in the production of special magic costumes and the preservation of precious materials." Scathach pointed to the bookshelf in the corner of the workshop, "Your Matou family also has similar magic. If you are interested, you can try to learn it in five to seven years."
"Forget it, I'd better master all the runes first." Shinji pulled the corner of his mouth, no longer thinking about things he was not qualified to touch, "By the way, Master, I want to hear your opinion on 'Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid'."
The silver liquid that Shinji filtered was naturally the magic gift "Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid" that Kenneth was proud of. Scathach spent dozens of seconds collecting it from the ground and brought it back after Emiya Kiritsugu left. Although fluid compression is an advanced magic, it is just a piece of cake for a magician of Scathach's level.
"'Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid'; that's a good name."
Scathach stretched out her left hand and gently hooked it. The liquid in the flask seemed to be signed by some invisible force, pulling out a bright silver line and forming a silver ring around Shinji.
"The liquid is based on special mercury with a high affinity for magic, and has been refined through at least three major magic levels. It contains more than ten high-level magics and more than thirty low- and medium-level magics. The structure of the magic formula is efficient and reasonable. The only drawback is that the magician lacks combat experience, and the self-discipline program constructed is too simple and easy to be cracked. Overall, it is a very excellent magic gift, and even in the Age of Gods, it is a rare treasure."
Scathach's evaluation was far beyond Shinji's expectations: "So exaggerated? The magicians of the Age of Gods were much more powerful than modern magicians. Is this thing really that powerful?"
"That's not an exaggeration at all."
As Scathach spoke, she tapped rhythmically on the experimental table with her bent fingers, and the mercury ring surrounding Shinji kept changing its shape as she tapped.
"The reason why magicians in the Age of Gods are so powerful is that the origin of magic, the Great Source, is hundreds or thousands of times more active than modern magicians. Magicians in the Age of Gods did not need to connect to the Great Source through the Small Source like modern magicians do, but could perform magic directly from the Great Source, so the effect of magic was naturally much higher than modern magic."
There are two types of modern magic: magic based on the power of the "big source" and magic based on the power of the "small source".
The Great Source is the life force that fills the outside world, and is also manifested as the life force of the planet, the life force of the atmosphere, etc. The Small Source is the life force that the magician possesses. Although the two have the same nature, there is a decisive difference in quantity.
The amount of small source is very limited, but because it exists in the body, it is easy to use and manipulate. Many magicians use small source to generate magic power, that is, to convert life force into magic power through magic circuits. Since it is at the cost of life force, it is conceivable that excessive use will have adverse effects on the body. Therefore, magicians usually generate magic power little by little and accumulate it in their bodies. The amount of this accumulation varies from person to person, and the better the magician, the more it has.
In contrast, the amount of large source is almost infinite, but it is much more difficult to absorb and utilize than small source. Moreover, the amount of large source that a magician can transform into magic power at one time is limited by magic circuits, so no matter how much is around, it cannot be used infinitely. In addition, the amount of magic power that can be retained is also limited, so it is not possible to convert large source into magic power in advance and then store it in large quantities.
The magic of the Age of Gods does not have such restrictions. They are not restricted by magic circuits and their own vitality. They can directly use spells, gestures, runes and other methods to convert the great source into magic power and use it to construct magic.
If we compare the big source to a reservoir, the small source to a water tank at home, and the magic circuit to a water pipe, then the magicians of the Age of Gods did not need water tanks or water pipes, they could directly draw water from the reservoir, and use it as needed, without limit. However, modern magicians must first use water pipes to fill their own water tanks, and then use it when the corresponding amount is accumulated.
therefore-
"The foundations and standards of magic in the Age of Gods and modern times are different. I value the structure and design of magic equipment more than its effect. I am sure that Lancer's Master would be an excellent magician in the Age of Gods. The 'Moon Spirit Fluid' made with Age of Gods magic is at least comparable to a C-rank Noble Phantasm."
"I see-"
Shinji nodded thoughtfully. Because it is not advisable to ignore the value of technology itself when considering the expressive power of the technology carrier. You can't ignore this material just because "zirconia" is used in ceramic kitchen knives. In fact, this material can also be used to make ultrasonic water wave detectors.
"—So it seems that I made the right move."
What chess
Of course, it is not to collect "Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid", that is just stealing.
Shinji's real goal is Kenneth as a person, or the resources and knowledge he possesses.
Shinji's knowledge of magic has always come from Scathach, Yustisa, the books of the Matou family, and knowledge from his previous life. However, the reference value of these sources is very low.
Scathach is a godslayer who was active in the Age of Gods and lived outside the world. Her level is too high.
Justisa is an android of the Einzbern family. She spent the first half of her life in the castle and the second half of her life in the Holy Grail. She only had a brief contact with the outside world when she built the Greater Holy Grail with Machiri Zorgen and Tohsaka Nagato. The magic knowledge she possessed was limited to Einzbern, as well as part of the Matou and Tohsaka family's system for constructing the Holy Grail, which was an old version from 200 years ago.
The books in the Matou family were not handed down from the ancestors of the Zorgen family. Apart from the water attribute magic that had not been developed for hundreds of years, there were also disgusting variants of water attribute magic, insect magic, which was developed by Zouken himself. There were also some other books, but they were all fragmentary and unsystematic. Under the premise of maintaining secrecy, it was much more difficult to obtain the secrets passed down by other families than to exterminate the other family.
As for the knowledge that Shinji gained from the setting collection and Type-Moon works, they are all common sense and may not be completely correct.
In other words, Shinji and even the entire Matou family lack sufficient understanding of the modern world of magic.