"Um, senior... hello?"
The girl called out tentatively.
Only then did Xia Xi "snap out of it." He glanced at the remains slowly crumbling into ash, then turned to the girl.
"You're Kanae, the swordsman who called for help?"
Xia Xi looked over her bloodstained uniform and slightly pale face.
A barely perceptible hint of puzzlement entered his voice.
"Judging by your build and stats, a demon at this level shouldn't have been able to corner you."
With stats totaling over 80 and a LV.3 Breathing Style, she might have been at a disadvantage.
But surely she wouldn't have been killed outright.
After all, her opponent was just a brute with 120 points in raw stats, whose only special mechanic was a defense boost.
She should have been able to put up a fight.
The girl froze for a moment.
Huh?
How does he know my name?
"You think far too highly of me, senior." Though puzzled, Kanae still answered with a rueful smile. "My slashes can barely cut through its steel skin, and there were two of them..."
So this Flower Breathing doesn't focus on strength?
Oh... judging by her panel, it probably branches off from Water Breathing.
And the [Body] stat probably covers a lot of different specializations too, like agility or speed.
So it was a bad matchup.
As Xia Xi pondered this, Kanae raised a hand and pointed toward the other side of the dense woods.
"Senior, another swordsman and a survivor are being chased by another demon."
"We need to hurry over and help them."
Another bundle of experience points?
Xia Xi immediately perked up. He was about to set off when he noticed how battered the girl looked.
He paused.
"Stay here and tend to your wounds."
"I'll go ahead."
"Senior, I'm not some ordinary, helpless girl," Kanae said. "I can still fight..."
"Suit yourself," Xia Xi replied. "I just don't think you can keep up with me."
Looking back over the tracks in the dense forest, the boy settled on a rough direction.
"That's that, then. Don't push yourself. I'm going ahead."
Kanae was a little bewildered.
Although this senior was considerably stronger than her, Thunder Breathing ultimately emphasized short bursts of speed.
Compared to her [Flower], which branched off from Water Breathing, it should have been at a disadvantage over long distances. Why did he think she couldn't keep up?
Besides...
The girl reckoned that, in her current condition, she might not be able to take the lead in battle, but she could still shoulder some of the pressure for him.
She pressed her lips together, feeling a little hurt at being underestimated.
Then she noticed that Xia Xi's breathing rhythm had changed.
It shifted into a cadence bearing some resemblance to the Flower Breathing she practiced.
[Water Breathing]
It was as though invisible currents of water rippled around the boy.
His figure vanished from the spot, becoming a blur that Kanae could barely follow as he swept into the forest.
Kanae's pupils contracted.
Wasn't this senior... a swordsman who practiced Thunder Breathing?
But that clear, flowing aura just now was unmistakably Water Breathing!
Her purple eyes, usually gentle and smiling, were now filled with confusion and disbelief.
Then, as though coming to her senses, she reacted.
She called in the direction Xia Xi had disappeared. "Senior! That demon can imitate other things too, and it's stronger than this one..."
Her voice trailed off.
She realized Xia Xi had completely vanished from sight. She had no idea whether he had heard her.
Kanae sighed softly and followed, using her sword for support.
But the moment she began using her Breathing Style, an agonizing pain flared in her chest. Her steps faltered, and her skirt brushed untidily against a tree trunk as she nearly stumbled to the ground.
As the adrenaline from the fierce battle gradually faded, her exhaustion and injuries finally began to make themselves felt.
It looks like I really can't keep up with that senior.
He looks about my age, yet he's already so far ahead of me?
Maybe Mr. Himejima really was right.
Neither Shinobu nor I are swordsmen with exceptional talent...
But that thought lingered for only a moment.
In the next instant, a stubborn determination rose in her expression.
"If I have no talent, then I'll just train even harder, until I can stand alongside those dependable seniors-or even surpass them."
After quietly encouraging herself, the girl leaned on her scabbard and limped into the dense forest.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
After Xia Xi passed through a thick stand of cedars, a series of muffled explosions and sharp metallic clashes rang out ahead!
He pushed aside the last patch of bushes, and the sight before him made him pause.
It wasn't that the [Kanoto]-rank swordsman, who held the same rank as Xia Xi, had already been killed.
On the contrary, the demon Kanae had mentioned was now at death's door.
A demon-slaying swordsman had completely overwhelmed it.
More accurately, it was practically breathing its last.
The demon had lost both arms, and its sturdy greataxe had fallen who knew where. Its tall, hulking body was propped against a tree trunk as it panted heavily.
Its body, the ground, and even the surrounding tree trunks.
All were covered in slash marks and blast damage.
Its regeneration could no longer keep pace with the swordsman's assault.
Naturally, the one responsible for this was not Kojiro, whom the demon could flatten with a single slap.
It was another swordsman who had come to help.
A tall swordsman wearing some unfamiliar headgear, with unusual markings on his face.
Compared to Kanae, who stood less than a meter and a half tall, this nearly two-meter-tall man towered two or three heads above her.
In a game set in the Far East, he could practically be called a small giant.
And he wasn't merely tall; he was powerfully built as well.
His bulging biceps made Xia Xi suspect that his two Golden Armbands might burst apart at any moment.
He was swinging two specially made Nichirin Greatswords, trailing dazzling streaks of light as he repeatedly cleaved through his opponent's defenses and sent showers of sparks and black blood flying.
Like the previous demon, this one's body gleamed with a metallic sheen, clearly possessing extremely high defense.
Yet in the hands of the swordsman facing it, it was no different from a rag beneath a sewing machine.
Two or three slashes were enough to break through its defenses.
Even when the demon occasionally managed an unusually strong counterattack, the swordsman interrupted it outright with cunningly angled slashes and explosives produced from who knew where.
He's strong.
That was Xia Xi's assessment.
[Tengen Uzui] [Power level: 157 (Body 79, Technique 41, Mind 37)] [Thunder Breathing LV.2] [Sound Breathing LV.1] [Ninjutsu LV.7 (Exclusive skill)]
His Breathing Style levels are clearly low, but his presence is impressive.
So he's a ninja. That explains it.
A ninja???
Xia Xi widened his eyes and opened the panel again to check. This was the first time he had seen someone's panel contain a skill that wasn't a Breathing Style.
This exclusive skill...
Looks like it's a skill reserved for background characters in the story.
But it sounds so cool.
Honestly, Xia Xi wanted to rapidly form a few hand signs too, then deal explosive damage to a demon.
Even if he wasn't using chakra, but secretly tossing out bombs instead.
Watching the battle between the man and the demon, whose outcome was already certain.
Xia Xi couldn't find an opening to intervene for the moment.
After greeting the Kanoto-rank swordsman nearby, Xia Xi even had the leisure to lean against a tree and enjoy the show.
Unlike the crisp, fierce slashes of Thunder Breathing.
The swordsman named Uzui was using an [Innovative Fighting Style] that clearly bore his own personal stamp.
A derivative Breathing Style plus Ninjutsu.
Rather than pursuing the ultimate efficiency of an ordinary Thunder Breathing swordsman, he favored [flowing] combos and a sense of [flamboyance].
When faced with certain attacks, he clearly should have cautiously evaded or parried.
Yet this swordsman would rather take a risk and expose himself to his opponent's attack range than leave his flowing combo unfinished.
Rather than a battle, it looked more like an improvised execution filled with constant displays of technical flair.
Xia Xi pondered.
So this is a ninja?
Is he chasing the thrill of dancing on a knife's edge?
Tengen Uzui seemed to have had enough fun. He crossed his blades and assumed a stance to wind up his next strike.
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
The next blow would surely be a thunderous decapitation.
Xia Xi's expression abruptly changed!
(The Kocho Sisters and the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima)
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