Xu Fu

A Taoist (sorcerer) who served China's Qin dynasty. After Qin Shi Huang ordered her to find an elixir of immortality, she assembled three thousand young men and women and set off for Japan. Though she reached her destination, she never did manage to return to China. Legends of Xu Fu endure in various corners of Japan to this day, where she is said to have introduced pharmaceuticals, ceramic techniques, and more.

Height/Weight: 163cm, 41kg

Origin: History, Xu Fu Legends, Nihon Shoki, Chinese Mythology

Region: China and Japan

Alignment: Chaotic-Balanced

Sub-Attribute: Human

Gender: Female

"Huh? Historical records say I'm a man? Eh, I guess that's fine for now! We can correct that later, once I'm not so busy! Just fix that up whenever you see the mistake!"

"You still haven't corrected my gender in those historical records? Oh well, whatever. The important thing is that I can still get work done!"

Personality/Attitude Towards Master

Although she's definitely on the gloomy side, she's a surprisingly good communicator, and is unafraid to speak her mind to anyone except Qin Shi Huang. She's also much more confident in her own abilities than you might expect from her obsequious-seeming attitude. The fact that she's downright cowardly about taking part in combat that's not in her narrowly-defined wheelhouse only makes her more charming (according to Xu Fu herself, anyway).

She can be decidedly rude, even towards her own Master, making her seem more like a bad influence type of friend rather than a Servant. However, she does behave noticeably differently towards Yu Mei-ren, whom she greatly admired, and Mash, whom she considers something of a living treasure.

Settlement Creation: EX

Never mind just territory; this skill lets Xu Fu whip up entire villages unaffiliated with any country where plenty of people can live. Even if her Bounded Field creations, rule plans, charisma, and so on aren't up to the level of a real nation, making a real village on her own is no small accomplishment.

Item Construction: B+

A magecraft skill that does exactly what it says. In Xu Fu's case, it provides an extra bonus when constructing anything having to do with immortality.

High Servant: D

Xu Fu attempted to incorporate two Divine Spirits into her Spirit Origin when she first materialized as a Servant. One was a Japanese god of tenmoku (a kind of dark ceramic glaze that resembles oil spotting) and the other was a Chinese god of agriculture (the immortal emperor of grains). However, she only incorporated a part of their abilities, so it's really more like she borrowed their power rather than making it her own. This is why she doesn't have any Divinity skills.

Debuff (Yu Mei-ren): EX

Xu Fu became something of a Yu Mei-ren fanatic after they met while she was still alive, which now gives her some very strong debuffs when facing Yu Mei-ren in battle.

Five Grain Praise: B

Protection granted from the five types of grains Xu Fu brought to Japan from China, and derived from the borrowed power of the agriculture god in High Servant. It restores her HP, cures status ailments, and so on.

Taoist Arts (Out): A

Xu Fu is a Taoist arts (fangshu) specialist. They enable her to do anything from create Bounded Fields to exorcise evil spirits.

In this context, Taoist arts are essentially a kind of thought-based magecraft, but are treated as a separate skill from Thought Keys due to their limited connection to the memory space.

Legend of Xu Fu: C

Xu Fu traveled from China to Japan as part of her search for an elixir of immortality, and she brought all manner of items and cultural practices with her. There are numerous regions throughout Japan to which Xu Fu is said to have given something of great importance (ironworking, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, etc.), and these legends are still celebrated today in various Japanese shrines. As a Servant, this skill enables Xu Fu to more easily incorporate various Divine elements.

『I Present the Elixir of Eternal Life <Lie>』

Rank: C++

NP Type: Anti-Personnel

Range: 1

Maximum Targets: 1

A Noble Phantasm that recreates the elixir of immortality...or at least, the closest possible approximation. Suffice to say, don't expect this NP to keep you either eternally young or eternally alive.

It has different effects depending on whether Xu Fu takes it herself or administers it to someone else. When Xu Fu takes it, it heals her, but when she gives it to someone else, it's harmful.

『Immortal Slayer <Failure>』

Rank: C+

NP Type: Anti-Personnel

Range: 1

Maximum Targets: 1

A secret Noble Phantasm that was never completed. Although it can't kill an immortal, the massive number of deadly things gathered within certainly lets it impart death on living organisms by whittling down the myriad possible ways they can survive. However, it has very little effect on those with no ties to death, or those with close tie to the underworld.

Persona

Despite what historical records may have you believe, Xu Fu is a woman. She once served Qin Shi Huang, but her driving motivation changed on the day she happened to meet Yu Mei-ren. Xu Fu soon fell head over heels to Yu Mei-ren's charms, and when she learned how much trouble Yu Mei-ren's immortality was causing her, Xu Fu decided to find a way to kill her and put her out of her misery. It was actually for this reason that she asked Qin Shi Huang to send her on a search for the elixir of immortality.

Upon arriving in Japan, she built a settlement and quickly got to work. Although Xu Fu is a first-class Taoist practitioner capable of creating lifelike dolls for human testing and memory-erasing Bounded Fields, she was still unable to arrive at an immortal killing solution in her own time, and had to entrust her work to be carried on by later generations. After continuing their research for almost two thousand years, the settlement itself withered away, with Xu Fu's goal still unmet.

Some time later, Xu Fu was summoned as a Servant and created a Singularity centered around her old settlement. Yu Mei-ren was part of the team who came to the Singularity to repair it, though she had no idea that Xu Fu was working behind the scenes to try and finally complete her immortal slaying solution...

And so, for one sweet summer, Xu Fu's dream of killing an immortal ironically gained new life.