Ordinary swordsmen

Natsumi watched the demon he had cut down begin to disintegrate.

Xia Xi went over the fight in his head.

Honestly, the art in this game was excellent.

Not a single character asset was reused.

Every enemy that appeared had its own model, along with several sets of unique attack routines and templates.

They even had different AI dialogue routines.

In any other game,

Only named bosses and Elite Monsters would get that treatment.

As for the trash mobs?

Forget dialogue. A different color or texture would already count as generous.

Could all three demons he had encountered have been Elite Monsters?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

There was no way the three enemies he had one-shot right after the tutorial could be story Elite Monsters.

But setting the art aside,

Xia Xi would describe it as a mixed bag of crap.

The good parts were the realistic physics engine, satisfying combat feedback, and assist systems that greatly improved the experience.

The bad parts were stats apparently entered with someone's feet, and monsters with no interesting mechanics beyond basic attacks.

Sure, their stats were high, and they even had percentage-based healing.

He couldn't just mindlessly trade blows with them.

But what kind of enemy had vastly higher stats than the player and not a single special skill?

All they knew how to do was charge in, howling.

With gameplay that bad, forget ranked matches in other games-even casual matchmaking players would beat them senseless.

At best, they were medium-difficulty bots.

It was clearly a hardcore role-playing game, yet its monsters were designed for a stat-driven grindfest...

While Xia Xi was grumbling inwardly, a rather timid voice came from beside him.

"Um... sir..."

He looked back.

[Yukishiro Seiko (power level: 25)] [Water Breathing LV.1]

Low power level, low skill level, run-of-the-mill Water Breathing.

Oh, a friendly trash-mob NPC.

Apparently oblivious to the look in Xia Xi's eyes, she asked a little awkwardly, "Could I travel with you for a while?"

"This place is more dangerous than I imagined."

"If you don't mind, we'd be much safer looking out for each other!"

Then she added, stumbling over her words,

"It's definitely not because you're strong!"

She had chosen the name Seiko for herself after deciding to join the Demon Slayer Corps, taking its meaning from the word "oath."

She hoped it would help her overcome her fear of those monsters, and constantly remind her of her hatred over her family's murder at the hands of demons.

She had spent more than six months training under a cultivator.

She had already grasped the basics of her Breathing Style and learned half its sword forms.

Even her body was stronger by several orders of magnitude than her formerly frail self.

She had thought she would no longer be afraid when facing demons now, but, but...

"Sure."

The boy before her, who might not even have been as old as she was, agreed almost without hesitation, as casually as sharing a rice ball from his lunch.

This was something as serious as the Final Selection.

She had already braced herself for rejection.

"Huh?" Seiko's already fidgeting hands suddenly had nowhere to go. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

"An extra teammate to pull mobs... uh, draw fire isn't bad," Xia Xi said. "I'm Kurumazuka Natsumi. What's your name?"

The girl breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward to walk beside Xia Xi.

"I'm Yukishiro Seiko, and I use Water Breathing. But I'm nowhere near as good as you. I saw you fighting that demon just now. You were incredible! That was Wind Breathing Style, right? You swept all those demons away like a raging wind..."

Perhaps having a teammate had allowed her to relax.

Once Seiko started talking, the words came pouring out.

"Draw your sword."

"Huh?"

"If you're a fighter, act like one. Monsters could spawn anywhere around here."

Xia Xi glanced at the Nichirin Blade still hanging at her waist and continued,

"How are you going to react in time with your sword sheathed?"

"Or is Water Breathing's specialty an Iaido quick draw?"

Seiko blushed, then fumbled to draw her sword.

The two chatted as they headed deeper into the mountain forest.

Xia Xi figured monsters were more likely to spawn near the center of the instance.

Although Seiko seemed rather timid, when it came to killing demons, she lived up to her chosen name and wouldn't shy away.

There wasn't much conversation along the way.

Aside from the occasional faint battle cries from other hills, the most frequent sound was their clothing brushing against branches.

Whether it was because they were traveling together or because the demons had been lured away by others,

they went ages without encountering another demon.

Instead...

After cutting another section off a branch in his path, Xia Xi checked his panel.

[Woodcutting LV.1 (1/500)]

He had unlocked another life skill, bringing his achievement point balance to seven.

If his compatibility with Wind Breathing Style hadn't been a little low, he would have already raised it to level three.

Converting achievement points would waste almost a third of them.

Honestly, that stung a little.

Maybe once I've earned enough experience, I should splurge, waste a point, and level up my Breathing Style for some instant gratification?

Ah, I'll have to move up my plans to learn other Breathing Styles.

"Trash mob... Seiko, right? How long does it usually take to learn Water Breathing?"

Caught off guard by Xia Xi's question, the girl paused. "I've been learning for almost a year, but my cultivator said my talent was average."

"I think talented swordsmen could probably grasp the basics in a few months?"

Xia Xi considered that briefly. "Show me a set of Water Breathing forms?"

"Huh?" The girl froze. "Here?"

She glanced around uneasily.

The moon shone bright among sparse stars, and shadows loomed in the woods. Who knew whether other demons or people were watching from within?

"Isn't that a bad idea?"

Despite saying that, she found a relatively clear patch of level ground and obediently

began her demonstration.

The girl took a deep breath, the shyness and unease gradually fading from her face.

A faint white mist spread from between her lips.

[Water Breathing]

[First Form: Water Surface Slash]

For an instant, a thin layer of moisture seemed to gather on the cold edge of her Nichirin Blade, rippling outward with a simple yet crisp slash.

[Second Form: Water Wheel]

She charged forward, sprang off a tree trunk, and somersaulted through a full rotation, carving out a smooth wheel of water.

One move followed another.

Seiko began demonstrating each sword form she had learned over the past year before the boy.

Water Breathing.

Supple and accommodating as flowing water, ceaseless as the tides.

Compared with Xia Xi's Wind Breathing, it had less killing intent and ferocity, and more adaptability and calm.

Overall, it was a somewhat gentler style of swordsmanship.

Unfortunately, its wielder still needed work.

Her forms lacked refinement, her movements had plenty of openings, and the transitions between moves were stiff.

Xia Xi held his chin, silently considering.

Unfortunately, no system learning prompt had appeared.

"Kurumaji, that's all the Water Breathing I know," the girl said, slightly out of breath. "Compared with your Wind Breathing, I've barely grasped the basics."

"True. But could you show me again?" Xia Xi asked.

"I feel like your Breathing Style is a little different from other people's."

Though somewhat puzzled, the girl demonstrated her Breathing Style again as requested.

Soon, the system in Xia Xi's vision began responding.

[Observed: Water Breathing Style, Water Breathing sword forms]

[Through studying incomplete Water Breathing]

[You gained a slight insight. Learning progress +1]

[Water Breathing (not mastered) 1/100]

So there really is a success rate. That's more like it.

Only then did Xia Xi smile, making the girl opposite him feel her cheeks grow warm.

It was just like his earlier training under that bargain-bin master of his.

Observing and practicing the Breathing Style and sword forms would build up "learning progress."

Once it reached one hundred,

the system would naturally judge him to have mastered the first step of the Breathing Style.

In other words, it would unlock the skill at LV.0.

Then he could use the point-allocation preview to check his compatibility with the Breathing Style.

In a much better mood, Xia Xi spoke far more gently. "Persimmon-chan, you actually have a lot of potential. Could you demonstrate it for me again?"

The affectionate nickname and praise made the girl's cheeks flush even redder.

"Kurumaji... I'm really not that..."

Her voice cut off abruptly, and her pupils contracted.

She had spotted a bloodthirsty black shadow hurtling toward Xia Xi from behind.

"Watch out!"

[Water Breathing]

[First Form: Water Surface...]

Her blade was only halfway through its swing when the demon was swallowed by the storm from Xia Xi's sword.

[Sixth Form: Black Wind Mist Haze]

[Wind Breathing LV.2 (401/1000) +24]

Putting away his Nichirin Blade, Xia Xi said without any change in expression, "It's fine. Keep going, Persimmon-chan."

The girl swordsman stood frozen before him.

Watching from a distance earlier and experiencing it at arm's length now

were two entirely different levels of shock.

"...A-amazing. So amazing."