Seeing Xia Xi's expression, which practically said, Master, can you actually do this?
Several veins bulged on Kazami Kōgi's forehead.
(▼皿▼#)
"You little brat..."
"I've used Wind Breathing since I was young, so naturally, I don't know how swordsmen who use derivative styles developed their Breathing Styles."
"But I doubt it's all that complicated."
"Probably... just taking the basic training methods of the five main Breathing Styles and removing a few things, adding a few things?"
Xia Xi: ≖_≖
Listening to you was like listening to someone say absolutely nothing.
And could you sound just a little more certain, old man?
Even as a player, he knew that randomly combining skills and changing their parameters without understanding the game's underlying mechanics would probably end in disaster.
Breathing Styles refined through centuries of actual combat and passed down through generations might not necessarily be the strongest.
But their stability and broad applicability would definitely far surpass some genius's spur-of-the-moment modification.
Making random changes without understanding them might make a style easier to use in the short term, but that wasn't necessarily true of its long-term potential or ceiling.
He might even weaken the Breathing Style instead of strengthening it.
Besides, this game's realism was frighteningly high.
What if he not only failed to learn it, but ruined his character in the process?
Kazami said, "Ahem, don't look at me like that."
"Still, I do know someone."
"He's stronger than I am, and he created his own Breathing Style."
Xia Xi's eyes lit up. "Please tell me, sir."
"Igarashi Usen."
Xia Xi looked utterly blank. "Who?"
Kazami Kōgi knocked him on the forehead in exasperation.
"You brat! You don't even know your own senior fellow disciple!"
"Haven't I told you plenty of times? The Demon Slayer Corps' current Mist Pillar is also a swordsman I trained!"
"That makes him your senior fellow disciple."
Xia Xi covered his reddened forehead, looking a little embarrassed.
Perhaps, possibly, maybe... he had skipped the dialogue when his bargain-bin master mentioned it.
"So his Breathing Style was derived from the five main styles?"
Kazami said, "Exactly. According to him, he developed Mist Breathing by adding his own insights and adjustments to Wind Breathing to suit himself."
"Then, sir, do I have to use Wind Breathing to create a derivative style too?"
Kazami said, "Hmm?!"
"To be honest, I'd like to try the other Breathing Styles and see which suits me best."
"If possible, maybe I could even combine them into a Five Elements Unite version of Breathing..."
Thump!
Another hard knock landed on his forehead. Kazami's beard practically bristled skyward.
"You're dreaming big, aren't you? Don't you know that someone who chases two rabbits catches neither?"
"A single Breathing Style already takes a swordsman a lifetime of striving to reach its peak."
"And you want to practice two?"
"Do you have that much time?"
Xia Xi: (°◇°)
I do. I just need to spend points.
Xia Xi thought that he hadn't said he wanted to master the other Breathing Styles to any great degree.
He only intended to learn them to level 0, unlock the system skills, and check how well those Breathing Styles suited him.
It wouldn't take much time.
When Xia Xi didn't immediately agree, Kazami could only sigh.
He knew his disciple.
A stubborn one.
"Fine. The Demon Slayer Corps has no rule restricting a swordsman to practicing only one Breathing Style."
"I'll write you a few letters of recommendation."
"You can visit them one by one between missions."
Xia Xi said, "Sir, I only want to learn from them for reference. I'm not planning to abandon your tutelage!"
"Enough chatter!"
"You're thinking of abandoning my tutelage now?! You little brat, are you itching for a beating?"
Only after Xia Xi ran away clutching his forehead did Kazami lower his raised right hand.
"I do have a few connections in the Demon Slayer Corps."
"Tell me which Breathing Styles you want to learn, and I'll write the letters."
Xia Xi ventured quietly, "Can I pick all of them?"
Kazami said, "Huh?"
The brat was certainly talented and hardworking enough.
But wasn't he being a little too greedy?
After another round of chaos, Kazami Kōgi finally went off to write the letters, still glaring.
Actually, even if Kazami couldn't introduce him to other powerful swordsmen, he wasn't entirely without options.
His fellow examinees from the selection had more or less covered all five Breathing Styles.
He could always trouble them later to teach him the other schools' Breathing Styles.
After all, he only planned to learn them to level 0.
It would just take a little longer.
Watching their Breathing Style demonstrations didn't trigger a successful system check every time, and even when it did, it added very little progress.
Judging by his progress over those two days...
He gained progress at only one-fifth the rate he had when first learning Wind Breathing Style.
Perhaps the system judged that he could learn far less from newly graduated rookies than from a powerful, experienced trainer like Kazami Kōgi.
After Kazami left...
Xia Xi didn't sit idle either. Once he cleared away the dishes, he quickly resumed his grand plan of grinding skills.
When Kazami Kōgi returned to the training hall that evening with five letters of recommendation, he froze in the doorway.
Had this place... been renovated?
The floor was spotless, the equipment neatly arranged, and even the dust in the corners by the windows had been wiped away.
The kitchen fire was blazing in the distance, sending out enticing waves of stewed meat aroma.
Outside the door sat several neatly stacked bundles of split firewood.
Even the vegetable patch he hadn't had time to tend that morning had been loosened and thoroughly watered.
Huh?
The old man blinked as he watched Xia Xi bustle around the kitchen.
Wearing an apron, he deftly worked the spatula.
How had this child become so hardworking after just one trip away?
Before long, dinner was served on the low table beside the sunken hearth.
[Wild game and vegetable-braised pork bones]
[Pan-seared salmon belly]
[Seafood and pork bone miso soup]
How...
Lavish it all was...
Come to think of it, where had the brat gotten pork and salmon?
Kazami Kōgi lifted his wooden bowl and took a small taste.
"Unexpectedly delicious..."
He looked up at his disciple, who was once again staring absently at the flames, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes softened.
The old man nodded in satisfaction. "You little brat, with cooking skills like these, you're sure to marry a good woman someday."
Xia Xi said, "Huh?"
He had been looking through his life skills.
LV2 [Physical Training] [Cooking] [Running] LV1 [Suburi] [Camping] [Fishing] [Woodcutting] LV0 [Foraging] [Cleaning] [Farming] Achievement points: 8 [Wind Breathing LV.3 (427/2000)]
Honestly, he hadn't expected Cooking to reach level 2 before Running, which had gained progress from all his traveling.
"Here are the letters of recommendation I wrote for you. Keep them safe."
After dinner, Kazami handed him several letters of introduction.
Five in all.
[For Mr. Sakonji Urokodaki's eyes only...]
[For my friend Matsuyama Daimon's eyes only...]
[For Ms. Nikaido Mei's eyes only...]
[For Mr. Shinjuro Rengoku's eyes only...]
[For Igarashi Usen's eyes only...]
"For senior swordsmen of the other four main Breathing Styles, and for your senior fellow disciple." With a complicated expression, the old man patted Xia Xi's head. "You little brat, it seems you intend to take quite an extraordinary path."
"Set out tomorrow."
"Visit Mr. Urokodaki on Mount Sagiri first. Water Breathing is the most accommodating Breathing Style, after all."
"I'll also write to Oyakata-sama to explain."
"Perhaps you'll have already learned the basics of Water Breathing before Oyakata-sama's mission and your uniform arrive."
Seeing Xia Xi looking distracted again...
Kazami pressed harder and vigorously ruffled his hair.
"Be polite when you meet these seniors. Don't spend all day spacing out."
"And if you run into any trouble later..."
"Write to me or your senior fellow disciple."
"We'll find a way to help you."
Seeing Xia Xi nod rather blankly...
Kazami sighed helplessly.
"Keep your wits about you. And stay safe on the road."
Xia Xi: "Okay, Master." (*・ˍ・)
Before you continue