After introducing Kenshin Himura, Arakawa Akihiro went back to rest, while Su Mu and Kenshin headed to the training ground.
Kenshin Himura took a wooden sword from the weapon rack and looked at Su Mu. "Arakawa Akihiro has already told me about your situation. Let's begin."
Clearly, to Kenshin Himura, the best way to spar was to fight.
Su Mu was not afraid. In fact, he was a little excited. He walked over to the weapon rack, drew a wooden sword, and stood opposite Kenshin Himura.
Without any hesitation, Su Mu gripped his wooden sword and lunged forward, slashing straight at Kenshin Himura.
Kenshin Himura merely took a light step backward and avoided the strike.
Su Mu's slash missed. He was about to strike again when he heard the whistle of rushing air. At some point, Kenshin Himura had also swung his sword, and its tip was now poised before the space between Su Mu's eyebrows.
Su Mu stopped in his tracks, his expression turning somewhat grim.
Kenshin Himura withdrew his wooden sword. "At its core, Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu is a sword style built around explosive power. You either hold your blade or, once you strike, bring together the strength of your entire body and seek to finish it in one burst. You clearly failed to do that."
With that, Kenshin Himura looked at Su Mu. "You're clearly capable of greater speed. Once you strike, you must move as fast as you can."
As a demon, his physical abilities naturally allowed him to move faster than that. If he had used his full strength when attacking Arakawa Akihiro earlier, the man would have struggled to block him, let alone found an opportunity to strike back.
It was precisely because Arakawa Akihiro had recognized this that he felt he was no longer suited to teach Su Mu.
But Kenshin Himura was different. He was clearly much stronger and could withstand Su Mu even if he went all out.
"All right."
Su Mu nodded and struck again. This time, he held nothing back. As a demon, his physical abilities had already surpassed human limits, and the speed he could unleash was naturally beyond an ordinary person's imagination.
As his sword swept down, a series of sonic booms rang out through the air from its sheer speed.
Kenshin Himura's eyes narrowed, and he immediately raised his sword. Unlike Su Mu's blindingly fast strike, which relied purely on his physical abilities, Kenshin Himura's strike briefly concentrated the strength of his entire body. As a result, his blade was faster, more precise, and more ruthless-qualities Su Mu clearly lacked.
In an instant, the two swords clashed in midair.
Crack...
Almost immediately, the wooden swords failed to withstand the impact and exploded into countless fragments.
The instant the wooden swords shattered, Kenshin Himura thrust his hand forward, still gripping the hilt. It practically slid along Su Mu's hilt before reaching his chest.
The force of the hilt against his chest left Su Mu looking rather unhappy.
"I lost again."
Su Mu let out a quiet sigh.
"You're already very impressive. Hah... hah..."
Panting, Kenshin Himura looked at Su Mu, who stood where he was with his breathing perfectly steady. Envy surfaced in his eyes. "What incredible physical abilities."
His health had been poor since childhood, and he had always given people an impression of frailty. That was why his master, Hiko, had changed his name from Shinta to Kenshin. Later, although training under his master had greatly improved his health, his frail body remained his weakness.
Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu, in particular, was a sword style built around explosive power. It could unleash tremendous force in a brief instant, but that power was difficult to sustain. Once the burst ended, a period of weakness followed, making this shortcoming even worse.
"Again."
Su Mu closed his eyes and carefully recalled Kenshin Himura's last strike. Only after a long while did he open them and look at Kenshin.
"Whew..."
Kenshin Himura exhaled and replied, "All right, but let me catch my breath first."
"All right."
Su Mu nodded.
Once Kenshin Himura had recovered a little, the two resumed sparring, fighting one bout after another.
Since the wooden swords broke too easily, they eventually switched to iron swords.
Sparks flew as their blades collided.
Through those repeated clashes, Su Mu's understanding of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu continued to deepen. Kenshin Himura seemed to notice this as well and deliberately guided him during their sparring.
After suffering another defeat, he watched the tremendous power Kenshin Himura's thin body could unleash in a short span of time. He watched how Kenshin seemed to know where his next strike would come from every time, as though he could see the future...
Amid that hazy realization, he suddenly seemed to understand something. Or rather, it was more than merely understanding...
He had...
Mastered something.
So... this was Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu.
"Whew..."
Kenshin Himura stepped back slightly. Seeing Su Mu suddenly close his eyes, he could not help smiling.
Only after an unknown stretch of time did Su Mu slowly open his eyes, a sharp gleam shining within them.
"Congratulations."
Kenshin Himura smiled as he watched Su Mu open his eyes.
"Thank you."
Su Mu inclined his head slightly, joy filling his heart. Yet his attention involuntarily turned to the game-like character panel in his mind.
Name: Su Mu Race: Demon Lifespan: Unlimited Abilities: Immortal body (false), super regeneration, physical prowess Weaknesses: Sunlight, Nichirin Blades, wisteria Status: Hungry, cursed (by Muzan Kibutsuji) Blood Demon Art: None Swordsmanship: Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu Constitution: 3.1 (a normal adult's constitution is 1.) Agility: 3.2 (a normal adult's agility is 1.) Strength: 3.1 (a normal adult's strength is 1.) Spirit: 1.5 (a normal adult's spirit is 1.)
At last, the game-like character panel in his mind, which had never changed before, showed something new. "Swordsmanship" had appeared, and his spirit had risen from 1.2 to 1.5.
The appearance of "Swordsmanship" on the panel was due to his mastery of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu, but Su Mu did not quite understand why his spirit had increased from 1.2 to 1.5. After all, his spirit stat had always remained unchanged.
Could mastering Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu have increased my spirit?
He
murmured inwardly, yet it did not seem quite right. Why had only his spirit increased, while his constitution, agility, and strength had not changed at all?
Even after thinking it over for a long time, Su Mu could not figure it out. Still, he felt that with the increase in his spirit, his mind had become much clearer. Even the craving for flesh and blood within him seemed to have weakened considerably.
Or rather, his craving for flesh and blood had not diminished so much as his ability to resist it had grown stronger, allowing him greater control over himself.
Sensing these changes, he breathed a small sigh of relief. As time passed, he could feel his craving for flesh and blood growing ever stronger. Worse still, he was currently in a bustling town, surrounded by the delicious scents of all kinds of "food." He felt like a mouse that had fallen into a bin of rice. His bloodlust grew stronger with every passing moment, making him worry that he might lose control at any time.
Now, at least, he could find a little relief.