It started as a normal afternoon.? Shirou was at his job as a bartender when the man entered.? The exact details escaped him even now.? It might have been something he said or did, but whatever it was got his undivided attention.? Words were exchanged, wishes expressed, and Shirou felt his world spin out of control.
"Sorry, son." Those were the words he was sure he had heard even as Shirou felt as though his body was burning, as if something deep within himself was changing and growing.? It felt like an eternity, but must have only lasted a few minutes.? Long enough for a concerned regular to ask if he was ok.
Strangely enough, he felt fine now that the odd sensation was over.? Instinctively, he knew something was different, but for the moment, there were patrons to serve.
It wasn't until his shift ended and he returned home that he realized what had changed.? The tool shed had various leftover broken motors and similiar debris from when he practiced his tracing magic to locate the breaks.? He didn't see those anymore.? Instead of piles of scrap, he saw plans.? Thousands of designs lay before his eyes.? Mechanical birds, dragons, and other shapes moving themselves through clockwork.? Animation spells, to give them the ability to reason and feel.
And perhaps the most valuable, the knowledge of how to forge a metal, though difficult to create, proven to be almost impervious against just about any sort of harm imaginable.? The name came to the forefront of his thoughts unbidden, dark steel.
He eventually made his way to bed and fell into a deep slumber.? Meanwhile, an old abandoned mineshaft miles away slowly became infused with prana before syphoning mana back to Shirou's sleeping form.