Is There Any Point in Learning Boss Moves?

At the same time.

Lu Xiu was beating up a woman... no, challenging her first rare elite, or rather, her first true Boss.

Over the past few days, Lu Xiu had been challenging mini-bosses, honing her skills.

Meanwhile, the dungeon's map mechanics and items were gradually taking shape as well.

She was finally no longer taking an absurd four hours to defeat a single mini-boss. Growth would not only show in the game, but also in this live-action dungeon.

It was like when players first encountered the Chained Ogre. Most of them would still suffer, especially those without experience in action games.

But as the game progressed, their fundamentals became increasingly solid.

By the middle of the game, if players went back to challenge the Chained Ogre, they could basically beat it as long as they had hands.

That was the so-called learning curve.

At the beginning, when Lu Xiu fought the Samurai General, she had essentially only known how to memorize patterns. After learning the basic controls and challenging the same enemy over and over, she memorized all of its moves and could deflect most similar attacks. During that process, she also gained some understanding of how to use Dodge Step.

However, an enemy's moves were not set in stone. The Chained Ogre, for example, did not wield a sword. Take Their Place were grabs, heavy smashes, and flying kicks.

At that point, her experience against the previous mini-boss was no longer applicable.

Lu Xiu had to adapt to the new enemy's attack methods all over again—when to block, when to deflect, when to use Dodge Step, and which direction to evade.

But then the next mini-boss would be different again.

One mini-boss came after another.

Lu Xiu learned to deflect blades proficiently and thought she was already strong, only to encounter enemies capable of relentless combos.

Lu Xiu learned to use Dodge Step proficiently and thought she was agile enough, only to encounter enemies that could pursue her.

Lu Xiu learned to Mikiri Counter thrusts and had just begun feeling proud, only to encounter enemies that could feint.

The whole point was that there was no end to learning.

During this process.

Lu Xiu learned not to get greedy with attacks. She learned to control her body... get hit, remember it, then get hit again, until she stopped making mistakes.

Then, slowly.

She began relaxing when facing enemies. Rather than relying on memorized patterns and rote memory, she started watching their shoulders, footwork, and center of gravity.

Deflecting was no longer luck, Mikiri Counter was no longer a gamble, and Dodge Step was no longer panic.

When she realized that she could even think about other things while fighting mini-bosses—such as what to eat that night.

She felt it was time to challenge a true rare elite.

And so.

Lu Xiu chose Gentle Blade Emma, one of the rare elites on the Shura ending route.

It was not that she bullied the weak and feared the strong. She had to fight every rare elite eventually.

And since she had to fight someone anyway, why not pick a pretty one first?

The top floor of the Heavenly Watchtower.

The bitter wind howled, and the setting sun was blood-red.

The distant mountains were blanketed in white snow, lonely and grim beneath the dusk.

Wind echoed through the empty dojo.

Lu Xiu came to a stop. Not far ahead, a figure stood silently.

Emma wore a dark kimono, her long hair tied behind her head. In her hand was a white-sheathed blade without a guard.

A white sheath was a sword without a handguard, unsuitable for slaughter.

Compared with the enormous, roaring Chained Ogres and Samurai Generals Lu Xiu had faced before, Emma looked far too gentle.

She wore no heavy armor, gave off no savage aura, had a small frame and a light weapon. One look told Lu Xiu she would be easy to bully... no, one look told her she was a speed-type enemy.

"Miss Emma, don't blame me for playing dirty."

Lu Xiu gripped her sword, and the moment her words fell, she suddenly launched a Loaded Shuriken.

This was the second time she had used a Shinobi Prosthetic item recently. The first had been the Shinobi Firecracker, because those bulls had been unbearably annoying.

This time, she did not use the Loaded Shuriken to deal damage. She mostly wanted to tease Miss Emma.

She had fought many strange-looking enemies lately.

It had been truly difficult to encounter someone pretty.

Emma remained expressionless and smoothly sidestepped the projectile. Then her figure blurred, and like a fallen leaf swept up by a gale, she instantly closed in.

Clang—

Lu Xiu expertly swung her sword and deflected.

At the same time, she stepped forward, sweeping Kusabimaru toward Emma.

But Emma's sword was even faster. With a crisp clang, the two blades collided once more, sparks flying everywhere.

Immediately after.

Before Lu Xiu could withdraw her sword, Emma turned with the motion. Her footwork drifted unpredictably as she suddenly arrived at Lu Xiu's flank and swung.

The attack's trajectory was smooth and continuous, unlike the wide, forceful swings of ordinary samurai. It perfectly embodied the word "gentle"... though "unpredictable" would have worked too.

Lu Xiu used a Dodge Step. The tip of the blade skimmed past her side, and she barely evaded it.

Emma did not pursue. Instead, she suddenly sheathed her sword and lowered herself slightly.

Iai Slash.

When Emma's body stilled and she prepared to unleash that signature Cross Iai Slash.

Lu Xiu did not blindly leap backward. Instead, she watched her opponent's center of gravity. The instant Emma leaned forward, drew her blade, and silver light flashed.

In that extremely brief reaction window.

Clang, clang—

Two sharp metallic impacts merged into one.

Sparks burst violently between them.

Lu Xiu's arms tingled from the impact, but she had blocked it... that was growth.

Emma's Cross Iai Slash was forcibly caught, and her flowing offensive rhythm came to an abrupt halt.

How could Lu Xiu let such an opportunity pass?

The first thing she had learned while struggling through hordes of mini-bosses these past few days was—not to get greedy, but never to miss an enemy's opening!

She explosively pushed off the ground. Kusabimaru became a streak of cold light as it stabbed straight toward Emma's center.

But a rare elite was still a rare elite.

Though Emma's posture had been thrown off, she lowered her body. The white sheath in her hand shot out like a Viper striking, somehow knocking aside Lu Xiu's killing thrust despite moving later.

"Impressive..."

Lu Xiu softly praised her, then continued attacking Emma.

Their swords crashed together madly in an instant. Dense metallic clashes echoed across the empty top floor of the Heavenly Watchtower like urgent drumbeats.

Emma did not merely defend.

After deflecting Lu Xiu's attack once again.

She began to dance. Her nimble movements and drifting footwork perfectly embodied the term Gentle Blade.

Whenever Lu Xiu thought she had seen through her move, Emma would twist her body at an unbelievable angle and slash backhandedly.

Soon, Emma began spinning like a top.

One-Handed Kesa Slash, left cut, One-Handed Right Rising Cut, forward rush.

Superhuman Glide Right Slash... Cloud Crossing, left cut, One-Handed Kesa Slash.

Sheathe, Iai Slash, left horizontal Ichimonji, One-Handed Bamboo Cut.

Aikido, Four-Direction Throw, followed by Cross Throw.

"What a troublesome opponent..."

Yes.

This big sister would even sheathe her sword in the middle of a fight and follow up with an Aikido throw.

It was utterly ridiculous.

All Lu Xiu could say was that it truly lived up to being game memories.

Lu Xiu continuously used deflections, Dodge Steps, and Mikiri Counter to maneuver around her. Watching Emma glide around like a war goddess, she squeezed in an attack or two whenever she could.

Suddenly, Emma's body froze. That gentle aura vanished in an instant, replaced by an overwhelmingly dangerous sense of stillness.

Above her head, a huge blood-red danger symbol briefly exploded into view.

The moment Lu Xiu saw the opening motion, a judgment surfaced in her mind in that fleeting instant—thrust!

Emma drew taut like a fully pulled bow, then transformed into a streak of light and charged at Lu Xiu the next second.

In that life-or-death moment, Lu Xiu swiftly sidestepped and twisted her body.

The instant that silver light tore through the air, she faced the deadly blade, raised her right leg high, lightly planted her left foot, and violently drove her body downward.

Bang!

Dust flew everywhere.

Lu Xiu precisely stepped on the blade of Emma's thrusting white sheath, forcibly pinning that killing strike to the wooden floor!

Emma completely lost her balance.

Her already faltering Posture Bar finally shattered under that perfect Mikiri Counter.

Emma's body stiffened, and the guardless white sheath even flew from her grasp and fell to the floor.

Lu Xiu immediately stepped forward and pressed her left hand onto Emma's shoulder.

Squelch—

The next second, Kusabimaru pierced Emma's throat.

Blood spurted out in a torrent.

In an instant, it dyed Emma's dark kimono red.

Emma's body twitched once, then went completely limp.

[Deathblow!]

Lu Xiu flicked the blood from her blade, then looked at Emma's corpse... and felt that she really was a bad woman.

"Impressive. But with only one health bar, it's manageable. She's just too fragile."

The scenery around Lu Xiu gradually collapsed and reformed, and Miss Emma reappeared in the distance.

But Lu Xiu did not fight again.

Because she suddenly realized something. It seemed like she could learn... learn Miss Emma's moves.

Why was she so familiar with Emma's attack patterns?

It was because after finishing Sekiro in her previous life, she had watched content creators analyze Sekiro enemy moves frame by frame.

And among them, Emma's moves had left the deepest impression on her.

Some Bosses might merely act according to her game memories.

Even if Lu Xiu knew how they attacked, she did not know what their moves were called.

But she knew Emma's moves.

If that was the case.

Did that mean she could learn them too?

This [Sekiro] dungeon did not have as many rigid restrictions as Resident Evil.

Players still played as Wolf, but they were not necessarily limited to using only the character's existing moves.

The dungeon setting included skills, but skills were called skills precisely because they were only individual moves. Whirlwind Slash, for example, was simply spinning around once while swinging a sword.

They did not form a complete system at all.

Some were outright magic and could not be learned at all.

In the entire [Sekiro] dungeon, Emma was the only suitable learning target.

After all, everyone else in the dungeon either used broad, forceful attacks or was bizarrely shaped.

Lu Xiu simply could not learn from them.

So, should she learn attack methods from a Boss?

"...It feels like I can give it a try."

Lu Xiu looked at Emma in the distance, feeling tempted.