Winter was bitterly cold.
Before long, the "Blood Lake" had frozen over.
By the lake, Allen and Paul squatted in poses like they were taking a dump, staring at the holes left by demon beasts in the snow that had been cut open before them.
"There's wind."
Allen held his hand over one of the holes for a while, then looked gravely at Paul.
Paul scratched his head.
"Huh? Is there?"
"Yes. It's extremely faint, but my Flow Sense tells me there really is wind."
Paul's mouth twitched at that.
"I still can't believe your Self-created Arcanum combines one of the Water God Style's five great arcanums. You'd completely mastered it two months ago, even. At this rate, once you learn two more, forget becoming a Water Saint. Wouldn't knowing three qualify you as the Water God? Why not just return to the Water God Style Main Dojo and be crowned Water God?"
Allen glanced at Paul, whose eyelids hung half-closed, and understood that he needed to spout nonsense to distract himself from his drowsiness.
"I came to the Water God Style Main Dojo when I was four. From the moment I saw Reida use Flow Sense, I'd been thinking about and studying it constantly. I don't even know how many times I watched it over the years. Only now have I truly mastered and integrated it. How could it be as simple as Uncle says?"
"By your logic, I had an epiphany about the Soundless Katana too. So why can't I use the Sword of Light already?"
Paul rubbed the dark circles beneath his eyes, feeling that Allen's words made absolutely no sense.
"Huh? I can't even use it. Where would you learn it from?"
Allen's eyes lit up. He bent down and reached into a pitch-black hole at