That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

Kariya Matou's expression grew even more distressed, and he shook his head, saying, "Is this really appropriate? You and Sakura are both people I want to protect."

"It's not a matter of whether it's suitable or not; we didn't have a choice."

Kariya Matou squatted down and patted Shinji Matou on the shoulder, saying with a wry smile, "Shinji, it feels like you've grown up all of a sudden in just over a year. You're like a little adult. But no matter what you and Father think, I won't give up easily. Consider this my compensation to you. Children should act like children. I will stay in Fuyuki City for a while."

"Uncle Yanye, don't you understand?"

Shinji Matou shook his head helplessly. He wouldn't be Kariya Matou if he could give up on him so easily.

However, with the path of implanting the Crest Worms cut off, Matou Kariya would inevitably be unable to participate in the realm of magicians. With this in mind, Matou Shinji had another idea and advised, "Uncle Kariya, you should know how stubborn Grandpa is. Staying in Fuyuki City will not do you any good. Why don't you leave here and find a way to help? I can only protect Sakura until the end of the Holy Grail War. If I cannot win the Holy Grail War, the only person Sakura can rely on is you, Uncle Kariya."

Keep bluffing, keep bluffing. As long as Matou Kariya doesn't participate in the Fourth Holy Grail War, everything is fine.

Kariya Matou was taken aback, watching Shinji Matou carefully consider his words. They were indeed the best advice for his current situation. The only thing that made Kariya Matou hesitate was Shinji Matou.

Shinji Matou saw through his thoughts, clapped his hands, and easily created a magnificent ice sword: "Don't worry about me, I'm more reliable than Uncle Kariya in the field of magic."

Swish!

Shinji Matou pointed to the wall, and the ice sword shot out like a charged arrow, embedding itself in the wall.

"This is magic..."

Kariya Matou watched this scene in surprise, and after thinking for a long time, he said, "I will seriously consider your suggestion. I'm entrusting Sakura to you. I will come back before the Holy Grail War begins."

“Okay.” Shinji Matou smiled.

The next day, after meeting with Matou Sakura, Matou Kariya left the Matou family. As for where he went, Matou Shinji didn't know either, but in any case, he avoided his tragic ending in the original work.

At this point, Shinji Matou had dispelled all his concerns from before the Holy Grail War and devoted himself even more to the study of magic.

······

A month later, in the deserted back mountain of Ryudou Temple, Shinji Matou stood alone in the center of the open space where the transmutation circle had been drawn, one eye open and the other closed.

The transmutation circle lit up with a blue light, and Shinji Matou slowly opened his right eye. Blood flowed out, and the intense pain caused half of Shinji Matou's cheek to twitch uncontrollably.

When the right eye was fully opened, the pupil was a lifeless grayish-white color, indicating that the right eye was now unusable.

Shinji Matou didn't care. He wiped the blood from his cheek and muttered to himself, "I guess you can't rush the transformation of the Mystic Eyes."

Mystic Eyes are arguably one of the most powerful abilities in the world. There are different types of Mystic Eyes. One type involves modifying one's own eyeballs and implanting magic circuits, transforming the original function of receiving external information into actively influencing external things. This is proof of being a first-class magician.

For example, Aozaki Touko's Mystic Eyes, which were created through magic, are also known as the Magic Eyes.

The second type of Mystic Eyes are innate superpowers, possessed by only a very small number of lucky individuals, such as Ryougi Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and Asagami Fujino's Mystic Eyes of Distortion.

In comparing the abilities of the two types of magic eyes, the latter has an overwhelming advantage.

Mystic Eyes are classified into different levels. The most basic level is the Mystic Eye, which is created through magical modification and is similar to a magical costume.

Above that are the innate magical eyes, known as Nobel Colors, followed by Gold-level Magic Eyes, Gem-level Magic Eyes, and Rainbow-level Magic Eyes. The classification of magical eye levels corresponds to the colors described for each level.

Incidentally, Medusa's Mystic Eyes of Petrification are of the Gem grade, while the true Mystic Eyes of Death Perception are of the Rainbow grade (held by Balor, who is an evil god in Celtic mythology and the progenitor of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception).

Mystic Eyes have a clear price tag in the world of magicians. For example, in the work "The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II", the Nobel Color-level Mystic Eye, the Flame Burning Mystic Eye, is worth ten million US dollars.

The Gold-grade Magic Eye of Plunder is worth forty million US dollars.

The Gem-grade Mystic Eye Bubble Eye is worth five hundred million US dollars.

The worldly price tag is enough to prove the value of the Mystic Eyes. The Origin Awakening granted Matou Shinji a Nobel Color-level Mystic Eye, named Flow, which is in line with Matou Shinji's own Origin. It can clearly see the flow of magic power and exert influence, while also giving Matou Shinji the ability to perform extremely precise control over magic power.

Furthermore, Shinji Matou believes that his Mystic Eyes may be more akin to the Pure Eyes. The difference between the Mystic Eyes and the Pure Eyes is that the former is a physical inheritance, while the latter is a spiritual inheritance.

The awakening of the Pure Eye can be promoted by the transformation of the spirit after awakening the Origin and by Shinji Matou's powerful spirit. The Pure Eye's ability is relatively simple, usually manifested as the ability to see the inner side that is imperceptible to humans, like the existence of the Yin-Yang Eye.

Shinji Matou didn't know much about the Mystic Eyes and considered them one of the magical challenges he had to overcome over the past year. The reason his right eye lost its physiological function was because Shinji Matou had made magical modifications to his right eye, creating a pseudo-circuit that conflicted with the magical circuits inherent in the Mystic Eyes themselves.

Fortunately, the problem wasn't too serious, and with Shinji Matou's understanding of the human body, he could easily repair it.

Shinji Matou was considering how to enhance his Mystic Eyes' abilities. The most practical thing he could think of was to embed transmutation circles into his eyes, making it easier to perform alchemy through visual rituals. The pupils were the best circles needed to construct transmutation circles.

Chapter Nineteen: The Silver Eye

Fuyuki City has four spiritual veins, located at Ryudouji Temple, the Tohsaka family, the Fuyuki Church, and the New Metropolitan Hall. After the Fourth Holy Grail War, the New Metropolitan Hall was destroyed by fire due to the arrival of evil in the world and was transformed into Fuyuki City Central Park.

Ryudouji Temple was the first place where the Holy Grail descended, the Tohsaka family was the second place where the Holy Grail descended, the Fuyuki City Church was the third, and so on, the Shin-Tokyo Metropolitan Hall is naturally the fourth place where the Holy Grail descended.

The change of location is because holding a Holy Grail War requires an immeasurable amount of magical power from a magician. A single Holy Grail War is enough to deplete the magical power accumulated by a veil over decades or even centuries. Therefore, a veil needs to be replaced every time a Holy Grail War is held.

For magicians, spiritual veins are the most precious treasure. The fact that the Tohsaka family was able to produce two magic geniuses is not only due to the excellent physique of their mother, Tohsaka Aoi, but also largely thanks to the spiritual veins.

The spiritual vein of Ryudouji Temple saved Shinji Matou a lot of trouble, as the magical power overflowing from the spiritual vein filled the gaps in Shinji Matou's ritual materials.

"It's almost time."

Shinji Matou looked around the quiet forest, his Mystic Eyes able to see wisps of magical energy converging from all directions toward the transmutation circle.

Shinji Matou set up a ritual barrier around him to gather magical energy, which would then be drawn into the transmutation circle for further refinement.

This is a magic trick that Shinji Matou learned from the magic notes of von Hohenheim Paracelsus, and it is the original text that records how to make the Philosopher's Stone.

The Philosopher's Stone in this world is very different from the Philosopher's Stone in the world of Fullmetal Alchemist. It does not require humans as raw materials. Of course, humans can also be used as raw materials because the Philosopher's Stone in this world is an extremely high-density magical crystal, and humans are one of the best materials for creating magical crystals.

Creating Philosopher's Stones is also a type of gem magic; different levels of refinement will result in different grades of Philosopher's Stones.

The Philosopher's Stone is not a physical substance, but rather a unique technique used by von Hohenheim Paracelsus to refine magical crystals.

Of course, Shinji Matou's current refining technology is not perfect, and the quality of the Philosopher's Stones he produces is not even comparable to high-quality gemstones born in nature.

“Gemstones are the best material for making low-level magic eyes. Although the level of refinement is not high, the Philosopher’s Stone should be able to modify the magic circuits of the eyeball.”

Shinji Matou covered his cheek, blood seeping from between his fingers. Although his right eye was already ruined, the power of the magic circuits inside it was still working. When stimulated, it quickly activated, resulting in the same effect as being hit by the Origin Bullet, accelerating the necrosis of the eyeball.

As for Shinji Matou's left eye, the pupil was a magnificent blue, like a dazzling starry sky, reflecting the strands of magic power gathering at the center of the transmutation circle.

Soon, even without the magic eye, one could see a white light shining from the center of the transmutation array, as the gathered magic power was refined into a magic crystal the size of a grain of rice.

"Finally, we succeeded!" Shinji Matou breathed a sigh of relief.

As the transmutation array continued to activate, the magic crystal gradually grew larger. When the transmutation array completely lost its function, a magic crystal the thickness of a finger grew on the ground at the center of the transmutation array. It looked similar to an ordinary crystal, was pure white, and contained a misty water vapor inside.

Shinji Matou walked over, picked up the Philosopher's Stone, and used his Mystic Eyes to see its internal structure. He muttered to himself, "I used up all the magic power of the gems that were used to set up the barrier to create a low-quality Philosopher's Stone. I hope it's not a bad deal."

The gem used to set up the ritual barrier was brought from the Matou family by Shinji Matou. Gem magic is not exclusive to the Tohsaka family, and gems are a commonly used magic material.

Examining the magic crystal in his hand, Shinji Matou couldn't help but smile bitterly, recalling Caster's performance in the anime: "This Philosopher's Stone, which I spent almost half a month creating, is probably not even as good as the trash that Caster casually made. As expected, I can't compare to the magicians of the Age of Gods. Oh well, it's good enough."

After further preparations, Shinji Matou placed the Philosopher's Stone into another transmutation circle, which resembled a yin-yang symbol. The magic crystal and Shinji Matou were placed at two core points within the transmutation circle.

He infused magic power and activated the transmutation circle. A blinding blue light covered Shinji Matou's vision, and the Philosopher's Stone rapidly melted away, turning into a large amount of magic power that surged toward Shinji Matou's right eye.

Having anticipated this, Shinji Matou severed the tactile nerves in his eyes, closing them completely and obscuring his vision. This allowed his Mystic Eyes to more clearly perceive the movement of magical energy.

Shinji Matou is like an artist who uses alchemy as a chisel, magic as a blade, and eyeballs as materials to carve according to a pre-designed blueprint.

The Elementalist's Magic Sword

The ultimate Mystic Code mentioned by von Hohenheim Paracelsus in his correspondence with Zouken Matou has a blade made of ultra-high density Philosopher's Stone, which is integrated with artificial spirit technology to make it a spirit particle calculator. Its true function is to analyze magic and calculate the path to the Root.

This was the true purpose of von Hohenheim Paracelsus in creating the Philosopher's Stone. At the same time, the magical theory of creating the "Elementalist's Demon Sword" became the foundation for Shinji Matou's concept of modifying the Mystic Eyes. The incomplete technical parts were supplemented with alchemy that had already been accepted by the Root.

"Body Transmutation activated."

"Reconstructing the magic circuit".

“The ritual is embedded.”

"coupling."

The moment the magic circuits connected, Shinji Matou felt as if his consciousness had broken free from the constraints of his body and arrived in an extremely wondrous space, where thousands of stars twinkled, nebulae floated, and starlight converged, spreading to the far, far distances.

It felt like eternity, yet also like a fleeting moment. As Shinji Matou's consciousness returned to his five senses, the surrounding mountains and forests were completely plunged into darkness, and he could see a sky full of stars when he looked up.

"How much time has passed?" Shinji Matou was taken aback, looking around, even though he hadn't felt any time passing.

Shinji Matou hurriedly went down the mountain and found a car parked by the roadside. The rearview mirror reflected Shinji Matou's current appearance. The little boy was pale, with bloodstains around his eyes and cheeks. One eye was blue, while the other eye was a gorgeous silver-white, clear and transparent, just like the Philosopher's Stone that had just been created.

Strangely, Shinji Matou felt that his left eye had lost its Mystic Eye ability, while his right eye, which had been modified, was theoretically no different from a normal eye.

"Do I need to explore this on my own?" Matou Shinji muttered to himself. Concentrating his mind, in the instant his consciousness stirred, Matou Shinji suddenly felt a dizzying sensation, and his body fell uncontrollably.

"Damn it! My magic power is completely drained!" Shinji Matou lay on the roadside, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He focused his mind again, trying to convince himself, imagining a switch in his mind and turning it off, symbolizing the ability to shut down his Mystic Eyes.

It took Shinji Matou a long time to regain his strength and get up from the ground.

Chapter Twenty: Possession and Summoning

In the following days, Shinji Matou basically figured out the abilities of the Mystic Eyes. There are three types: the first is to further enhance the perception and control of magical power based on the flowing Mystic Eyes, and the second is to be able to perform alchemy through visual means.

Finally, there is the spirit particle calculation function, which can analyze and correspond the magical power released by magic, and corrode or destroy it from the inside, while also helping Shinji Matou to perform magic.

Besides the first basic ability, the activation of the second and third abilities each has its own limitations and conditions. To activate alchemy visually, more magic power must be consumed. The analysis of magic by the spirit particle calculation function is largely based on Shinji Matou's own understanding of magic.

If Shinji Matou only has a superficial understanding of a certain magic trick, analyzing it will inevitably be fraught with difficulties.

Shinji Matou was already very satisfied with the Mystic Eyes' abilities, especially valuing the Spirit Particle Calculation function, which helped him decipher the secret magic recorded in codes, greatly accelerating his research into magic.

Shinji Matou quickly absorbed the Matou family's magical secrets, spending most of his time researching them, occasionally taking time to go out with Sakura Matou to get some fresh air.

Sakura Matou has adapted to the Matou family environment and only occasionally acts spoiled towards Shinji Matou. She is used to being alone and quiet.

Zouken Matou remains the same, hiding in a dark place, rarely seen even once a month.

Matou Tsuruno, the apparent head of the Matou family, has been living a life of debauchery and basically ignores Matou Shinji and Matou Sakura.

······

Time flows on, spring goes and autumn comes.

A year later, in the basement of the Matou family's residence, it was dark and gloomy, filled with a foul stench. Not a single insect could be seen or heard. On the ground, a complex ritual summoning circle was drawn with blood.

Only two people were present: the hunched-over old man, Matou Zouken, and the solemn-faced Matou Shinji.

Zouken Matou chuckled and said, "Is it really okay? It's rare for Grandpa to find such a rare relic as a reward for you, and you're just wasting it."

Shinji Matou shook his head: "It has nothing to do with the Servant's strength; I value compatibility with the Servant more."

"Although you have obtained that guy's magical secrets, it does not necessarily mean that he will respond to your call. Before he died, he went to great lengths to set a curse in order to prevent magicians from using necromancy to torture his spirit."

“I think he will respond. As a magician, he has not yet touched the root, and the Holy Grail War is the best opportunity for him to fulfill this last wish.”

"Do as you please. Anyway, I don't have high expectations for you. My sights are set on sixty years from now." Zouken Matou walked to the side and watched coldly.