Unlimited Blade Works


 * This page is about a Reality Marble. For one of the scenarios in Fate/stay night, see Unlimited Blade Works (route). For the movie see Unlimited Blade Works (movie).

Unlimited Blade Works is the Reality Marble of Emiya Shirou and the Noble Phantasm of the Heroic Spirit Emiya. It is not a true Noble Phantasm that is the embodiment of a hero's existence, but rather high-class thaumaturgy that embodies their internal worlds and imprints them upon the world as a bounded field. It is their one true specialization of magecraft, the result of "Sword" being both their Origin and their Elemental Affinity, and the basis of their projection and reinforcement skills. It is the definite answer obtained by someone whose life was saved by a sword, actually merged and lived with a sword, and acted as a sword all of his life. Emiya has no penalties from the world while utilizing his version of Unlimited Blade Works.

Usage
Once the incantations have been completed, an illusionary fire that doesn't emit any heat spreads out to form a boundary and wall for the bounded field. The bright light fills the vision of those present, and manifests an open, barren desert, with monolithic black gears gyrating in the distance. It is a kingdom of rubble littered with countless swords anchored in the ground like grave markers in a wasteyard. Shirou's version is bathed in twilight from the extended horizon, while Emiya's version has its view opaqued by a thick haze formed from embers and wisps of black smog produced by iron forging rising from the ground. Its purpose is a steel manufacturing factory that produces the countless famous swords without owners that extend into the horizon. It contains all of the raw materials and sorcery needed for the formation of the weapons, and it records and analyzes all weapons and defensive armaments encountered. The number of unique weapons encountered and recorded by Emiya exceeds numerous thousands. Their entire histories, compositions, and designs are all perfectly recorded, allowing for instant proficiency with the weapons by inheriting all combat skills and techniques utilized by their original owners. This allows for the reproduction of Noble Phantasms, which would generally be impossible for a faker. They can also be modified to the user's taste with reinforcement as shown by Emiya's Caladbolg II and Kanshou and Bakuya.

Swords, spears, and halberds are favored, but shields and defensive armaments are also replicable at two or three times the mana cost. Due to Shirou's origin being "Sword", it is not possible to store guns or mobile weapons, as information stored is limited to close combat weapons. Weapons seen and analyzed are immediately stored within the Reality Marble for later use, enabling them to be projected immediately afterward. Shirou is able to instantly recognize dozens of weapons being fired from the Gate of Babylon at an extremely high rate and instantly counter with projections of the same weapons before they can strike. Divine constructs, such as Ea, which cannot be analyzed due to it being constructed from substances not found in the world, and Excalibur, are unable to be replicated, though there may Noble Phantasms with similar abilities stored with the Reality Marble. The analysis of weapons is limited only to the direct use of human senses, meaning that blueprints and materials will be unable to provide the necessary information for a proper analysis. Shared memories, such as dreams shared with a Servant, can allow for weapons to be analyzed and projected, even if they have been lost like Caliburn. The quality of projected weapons will always be degraded by one rank due to humans being unable to fully conceptualize the existence of an object through only one sense, and they will never equal the originals without a technique such as detonating them as Broken Phantasms. The one exception for Shirou is Avalon, which can be projected perfectly due to having been fused with him for many years.

While projecting outside of the Reality Marble, the projections are produced within Unlimited Blade Works and then brought into the world. This greatly lowers the cost of reproducing them and allows for numerous weapons to be prepared at once to be projected. Weapons can be summoned directly to the user's hands, or they can be summoned to levitate within the air and fire upon the enemy as arrows much like the Gate of Babylon. The weapons reproduced once the Reality Marble is first activated will consume prana, adding it to the cost of maintaining the bounded field. The cost of reproducing weapons that did not exist after the bounded field was expanded, or to recreate destroyed weapons, is also very high. Emiya and Shirou have access to a large number of Noble Phantasms that they have encountered during their lifetimes, which include Caladbolg II, Durandal, Hrunting, Kanshou and Bakuya, Rho Aias, and numerous weapons from the Gate of Babylon. Complete Material 3 states that it is impossible to reproduce Excalibur, though Emiya claims that it is possible to reproduce an imperfect version likely to drain the user of all of their prana in a suicide attack. Shirou using Emiya's arm in the Heaven's Feel route states that he would be able to project it if Saber Alter were to give him time, but that the difficulty of doing such a high level projection in battle would make it impractical. He also uses it at the cost of his life during the normal ending to destroy the Great Grail.

The Reality Marble is a natural counter to Gilgamesh, allowing Shirou, a below average magus, to completely overwhelm and defeat him. Though Shirou would be no match against other servants, who have mastered their own weapons to the utmost limit, the fact that both he and Gilgamesh are "owners" of numerous weapons places them on a level playing field. Neither has a specialized weapon with which they can be called a "wielder", so Shirou's ability to counter each and every weapon fired by the Gate of Babylon places Gilgamesh at as disadvantage. Outside of the Reality Marble, Shirou is barely able to keep up with Gilgamesh's assult while he was simply playing around with Shirou. Once within the confines of the Reality Marble, all of his weapons are produced and ready to attack, which means that the Gate of Babylon's slightly slower summoning rate allows Shirou to hone in on Gilgamesh to fight and defeat him at close range.

Other details
They use an incantation to facilitate the invocation of the Reality Marble. It is close to a "Ten-Count" aria, using a poem about the caster as the basis, used to activate high-thaumaturgy. Shirou describes it as a suggestion to change himself and the words that will "connect Emiya Shirou." Their chants differ slightly due to the different experiences in their respective lives. The lines of the incantation can be said at any time without requiring preparation, and Emiya is able to speak casually in between them. The first line is often used in order to strengthen a projection, such as with Emiya's use of Caladbolg II and Shiro's use of Rho Aias. The Fate/Extra version displays a high speed version of the incantation with multiple lines being chanted at one time.

The basis for the world in the Reality Marble is a hill of swords that spreads infinitely in their minds. It is the final illusion Emiya saw on the verge of death, the only pride left within himself, and it is where Shirou makes his vow to uphold his ideals during the Unlimited Blade Works route. The reflection of this inner world depends on their state of mind and their experiences in life, which means that they are completely different and incompatible with each other. If they are to interact, such as when Shirou obtains Archer's arm, he is able to utilize the recorded knowledge of stored weapons, but unable to actualize the Reality Marble due to the difference in their internal worlds. Emiya's is formed from the basis of having been betrayed by everything, including his own ideals, and in the end having only been granted this one single spell. Shirou is able to realize his version upon deciding that his ideals and dreams, while borrowed, flawed, and hypocritical, are still worth striving for and upholding.

The Reality Marble is able to invade Shirou's body in the form of numerous blades during severe trauma. They replace and reinforce broken bones and muscles, allowing him to survive a blow to the chest from Rider's dagger, which is repelled as if it is hitting metal, become only knocked away by a kick that would have gouged his stomach, and he manages to keep from having his entire body destroyed from an attack by Gilgamesh. The ability goes out of control after falling from a building during the "Rafflesia Umbrella" bad ending, where blades burst from his chest and cause a fatal wound. He is completely invaded by Emiya's Unlimited Blade Works after taking his arm during Heaven's Feel, as the blades replace parts breaking down in his body. His joints gradually become harder to move properly, and blades protrude from numerous areas on his skin.