The lessons in mental cultivation came to an end. Fiore had finished teaching them all the key points, and from here on, the two of them would have to study and train hard on their own.
Time passed.
By noon,
Yol went home during the midday break and brought back her rapier, Fine Snow, along with Merlin's katana.
She found a moment to hand them over to Fiore.
The manor.
In the first-floor hall,
The two swords lay unsheathed before him. A flicker of surprise crossed Fiore's eyes.
"I have to say, both of these are excellent weapons. All right, then. That settles it.
"Once your swords are forged, I'll come and get you."
Merlin and Yol thanked Fiore, then said their goodbyes.
The two of them left the hall and continued on to the training ground to practice.
They didn't waste time chatting.
Merlin gripped an unsharpened katana and moved around the training ground, practicing the basics as he swung it in time with his footwork.
Yol, meanwhile, sat cross-legged beneath the ginkgo tree at the edge of the grounds. She began breathing to a special rhythm, trying to figure out how to cultivate her mind.
Merlin had told her to first construct the outline of something to visualize in her consciousness, then gradually fill it in over time.
With that in mind, Yol followed the rhythm of her breathing. Her consciousness began to grow hazy, then slowly faded to blankness.
Vaguely, it felt as though she had entered the prayerful state that had been etched into her bones long ago.
A peculiar stillness took hold.
Images appeared one after another in her mind.
The peaceful life she had once led as a nun.
The unease of suffering from Lead Platinum Disease.
The shattered White City, consumed by flames of destruction.
The sudden appearance of a familiar boy.
The carefree life in the forest.
Swordsmanship practice at the dojo.
She and Merlin spent every day together, swinging their swords tirelessly. Before she knew it, the sword had become a part of her life.
She could use it to help him, to protect him.
Then...
In the pitch-black depths of her consciousness, bright outlines quietly began to appear, taking the shape of a greatsword.
At some point, Merlin had silently come and sat cross-legged in front of Yol. She was deathly pale, her brow tightly furrowed, her expression pained. He could hear her heart pounding violently.
"You're pushing yourself too hard!"
As he spoke softly, wisps of Black Flame appeared in his eyes.
[Calamity Vision]
He could see different kinds of negative "calamities" quietly emerging around her heart and lungs.
Suddenly, Yol's breathing rhythm faltered. Her breaths grew ragged, and she began retching violently.
Seeing this, black flames surged from his left hand and fell onto her shoulder, spreading across her body.
Disaster Absorption.
Before long, the abnormal symptoms disappeared from Yol, and her breathing eased.
A thoughtful look crossed Merlin's eyes. He knew Yol was practicing something. Now, the calamity carried by the Black Flame in his hand flowed into his own body—not absorbed and stored, but released onto himself.
In an instant,
His breathing turned ragged, his heart pounded violently, and pain wracked his lungs. His consciousness went blank.
Merlin sat on the ground, struggling to breathe. But thanks to the Lynx's boost to his endurance,
he didn't lose consciousness. Through the haze, he thought about what he wanted to visualize.
Suddenly, a figure entered his consciousness: a lifelike, agile lynx.
It crouched low, its mouth open in a roar.
Its gaze was fierce and cunning,
its body poised to pounce.
That pose appeared instinctively in Merlin's mind.
Merlin met its gaze, studying it closely and picturing it in his mind.
Its limbs were long, sturdy, and agile, with shorter forelegs and longer hind legs, all in balanced proportion. Its face naturally carried an air of authority.
A lynx.
Though this was his first time visualizing it, its image was already etched deep in Merlin's mind, impossible to forget.
The lynx in his consciousness breathed slowly, its chest and belly rising and falling. Deep in its throat, a low, hoarse rumble vibrated.
The muscles and bones of its body moved to a distinctive rhythm,
as if it were honing its body with an unusual form of tempering.
In the outside world,
Yol soon came to. When she saw Merlin's pained expression, worry immediately crossed her face.
But then she noticed him lying face-down on the ground. Panic seized her, but she soon realized he wasn't unconscious. Instead, he was breathing in a strange way.
A low, rumbling vibration came from his throat.
"Lynx Body Tempering Technique?" Yol knew about the technique Merlin had developed, so she wasn't unfamiliar with it. Merlin had even taught it to her, though she still hadn't learned it.
Seeing this, she breathed a sigh of relief.
After a while, when Merlin showed no other troubling signs, she stood up, picked up the four-and-a-half-foot silver greatsword from beneath the ginkgo tree, and walked three meters away.
She planted her feet. With each breath,
she stepped forward, raised her sword, and brought it down.
The sword whooshed through the air.
The sound rang out beneath her blade.
As time passed,
a beautiful scene unfolded.
Beneath the golden, flourishing tree,
a beautiful woman wielded a silver greatsword, raising it and bringing it down again and again beneath the glittering leaves drifting from the branches.
Her movements were full of strength and grace.
Beneath the tree nearby, a black-haired boy lay face-down. His chest and belly rose and fell, like a young tiger dozing.
The scene was beautifully harmonious.
The sun sank toward the horizon.
At some point, Merlin had gotten up. With his katana in hand, he stood beneath the tree, two meters from Yol, and swung his sword alongside her.
Merlin's gaze was bright and focused. With every swing, the muscles throughout his body were being trained as well.
Then Merlin stopped.
He walked to the nearby pavilion and returned the katana to the weapon rack.
He clenched and unclenched his fists, then relaxed his body and shook out his legs,
loosening the muscles throughout his body.
A bright blue interface appeared before him. He focused on [Lynx], and then...
[Synchronization Value: 18%→21%]
It had still been 18% that morning, but not long ago, he had successfully visualized the [Lynx].
Now, his first practice session was over.
And now...
"Did it go up by 3%?"
With the visualization complete, it felt as if his synchronization with the lynx had progressed from the physical level to the mental one.
Body and mind were gradually drawing together.
His Synchronization Value with the lynx had now reached 21%. A glint of anticipation surfaced in Merlin's eyes as he sensed his own body.
Vaguely, he felt a strange connection, as if his bond with the [Lynx] equipment was nearing some kind of critical point.
"Soon? A special trait..."
A smile flickered across Merlin's eyes. He breathed steadily through his nose and mouth, relaxing both body and mind.
He glanced at the sky. It was growing dark.
"Yol, want to head home?"
At Merlin's call, Yol stopped and lowered her sword. Then she turned and walked over. When she reached the pavilion, curiosity showed in her eyes.
"Aren't we going to train more today?"
"Work hard, then rest hard. I'm in a good mood today. Let's go home, change, and take Lami into town for something delicious."
A smile appeared in Yol's eyes. She let out a light breath and tilted her head toward the side.
"Then let's go!"
Before long, the three of them were walking home together. Lami walked between Merlin and Yol, holding one of each of their hands.
Though tired, she was in high spirits, humming a cheerful tune.
"Are you really that happy?"
Merlin shot her a look and asked.
Lami turned to him, a bright smile on her young face.
"Of course! It's been over a week since Lami last went out with you two!
"Now that we have the chance, of course I'm happy!"
Merlin smiled. Yol's lips curved slightly upward as she blinked at Lami. "Then what delicious food does Lami want to eat later?"
"Hmm!" Lami thought it over, then grinned. "Let's go have Korean barbecue! I remember the meat at that place tastes really good."
At that, Merlin burst out laughing.
"I wonder who burned the meat last time and ate it in tears."
Lami's face crumpled with misery. "Can you please stop bringing that up? Just thinking about it makes me feel awful."
"Hahaha!"
"Hehehe!"
Merlin and Yol both burst out laughing. Lami turned away with a pout.
Before long, they got home, washed up, changed into clean clothes, and headed into town.
They got to enjoy the delicious barbecue at that restaurant.
After finishing their meal,
the three of them strolled along the street.
They also bought the two girls several pretty, warm outfits for winter.
Ever since Fiore had taught them the "real stuff," he had told them their foundations were in place and that from then on, their training was up to them.
From that day on, he had stopped showing up at the same time every day.
And because he had taken on the job of forging swords for Merlin and Yol, a whole week had already passed without a trace of him.
Clang!
In the VIP training room, two figures sprang backward in unison as their weapons clashed and rebounded.
Merlin's feet struck the ground repeatedly, dispersing the tremendous force transmitted from Yol's hands.
He stared at Yol ten meters away, his expression grave. With her powerful body and increasingly polished swordsmanship,
the threat Yol posed to him grew greater by the day.
Feeling the numbness in his hands, Merlin didn't use his ability to absorb it. The next moment, he pushed off the ground and shot forward. In the span of a breath, he was upon Yol, his right hand swinging the katana in a sudden upward slash from his side.
Yol's expression turned solemn. The greatsword she gripped in both hands, held upright to the right of her body, came crashing down as she spun.
Clang! Clang-clang-clang-clang!
The two agile figures clashed violently in the open space, swinging their weapons at each other.
Merlin darted around Yol, relentlessly slashing at her, but she was like a turtle tucked inside its shell, blocking his attacks with her greatsword at the smallest possible angles.
And her physical strength far surpassed Merlin's. For the moment, he really had no way to deal with her.
At the same time, Merlin's eyesight and agility were far superior to Yol's. That was why she had always relied on defense and counterattacks.
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