"Hehe~? Looks like I'm pretty amazing after all. Seems I'll have to protect Chang Yuan from now on."
Hearing Hua's words, Airi smiled smugly.
Compared to Airi, who was already ready to graduate, Chang Yuan's progress had not even reached the doorway.
He only knew one stance, and he could even get the point of exertion wrong.
"Still, this only counts as close-range shooting. To truly graduate, you need to shoot from at least a hundred meters away."
"Mm-hm~? Then could I ask you to take me and let me try? I want to know how far I can go now."
"...Alright. Follow me."
Faced with that request, Hua only pondered for a moment before agreeing.
She led Airi to the archery range behind the mountain.
"Starting from here, those targets—the first one is a hundred meters away, and each one after that is another fifty meters. You can give it a try."
"Leave it to me. Let's see just how far I can go."
She nocked an arrow, drew the bow, and fired in one smooth, flowing sequence without the slightest hesitation.
Her first arrow struck the first target at a hundred meters—bullseye.
Seeing that, Hua parted her lips slightly, but ultimately said nothing.
Peerless genius. That was the only phrase Hua could think of to describe Airi.
While she was still thinking, Airi's second arrow had already flown.
The target at one hundred and fifty meters—another bullseye, without any surprise.
Then came the third, fourth, and fifth targets, all the way to the seventh. This time, it was not a bullseye, but a nine.
Yet that was not because of Airi. It was because of the bow. That was the bow's limit; being able to arc the arrow into the nine-ring at that distance was already remarkable.
"...You've graduated."
After a long silence, Hua finally said those words.
There was no choice but to let her graduate. On the path of archery, Hua had nothing left to teach Airi. If anything, perhaps Airi would have to teach her in return.
"Mm-hm~? As expected of me, I really am amazing. But in that case, does that mean I can spend the remaining month watching you train Chang Yuan?"
"...If you want to, then as long as you don't disturb him, you can."
"Hehe, let's go, let's go. I'm going back to watch Chang Yuan suffer."
The two of them then headed back toward the martial arts hall.
Meanwhile, Chang Yuan was still training diligently.
"No, I've been practicing for over two hours. Isn't Hua going to teach me anymore?"
After training for nearly two hours without resting, Chang Yuan felt as though his hands no longer belonged to him.
Good grief, he had never worked this hard even in his previous life. If he had not been afraid of losing even the right to stand beside Airi, he could never have pushed himself this far.
"Hi, Chang Yuan. I brought you a surprise. Want to guess what it is?"
"Umm, no idea."
Lowering his stance, Chang Yuan shook his head.
How was he supposed to guess without even a hint? He was not Apocalypse, capable of seeing the future.
And even if she could see the future, that was only after Apocalypse became a Fusion Warrior.
"Hehe~? I can already hit the nine-ring from four hundred meters away, so in other words, I've graduated.
For the remaining month, I'll just be responsible for watching you train every day."
"...Impressive."
Hearing that, Chang Yuan did not find it surprising at all.
"So you need to work hard too, okay? Try to get back on the road as soon as possible."
Clenching her right hand into a fist, Airi encouraged Chang Yuan.
Thus, over the next month, Airi spent every day eating fruit and snacks beside him, occasionally reading little stories.
Of course, whenever Chang Yuan was drenched in sweat, she would hand him a damp towel to wipe it away.
And after a month, Chang Yuan had only barely entered the beginner stage.
But that was enough. If he wanted to improve further, it would depend on his own daily practice from here on. Everything that needed to be taught had already been taught; he had to walk the rest of the road himself.
"Goodbye, Hua. And goodbye, Uncle Hua."
After packing his luggage once more, Chang Yuan prepared to continue traveling with Airi.
"Hehe, go on. Travel across this world. This is the first time I've seen young ones like you with such ideals."
"...Goodbye."
Hua was not good with words. After remaining silent for a long while, all she could say was goodbye.
"Hehe, Hua, I have a feeling we'll definitely meet again in the future. I'm looking forward to that day."
"...Mm."
After saying their farewells, Airi slung her little pink backpack over her shoulders and followed behind Chang Yuan.
Hua silently watched the two people who could barely be considered her friends leave.
Hua's father was helpless when it came to her like this.
He truly could not understand how his daughter had become like someone with social anxiety.
One year later...
"Hey, Airi, we need to be more careful now that we've arrived here."
"Huh? What's wrong with this place?"
Hearing that, Airi asked curiously.
"Before coming here, I specifically asked around for information. This is Twilight Street. There are many criminals here, and it's a chaotic, lawless place, so we need to be careful."
"Oh~, I see. Then we really should be more careful."
Airi nodded seriously.
In a chaotic, lawless place like this, perhaps a human trafficker could jump out from an alley at any moment and kidnap both of them.
"Hm? Chang Yuan, look, there are so many people over there. Is there some special event? Should we go take a look?"
Noticing a place where many people had gathered, Airi's curiosity was immediately piqued.
Hearing Airi's request, Chang Yuan rationally realized that something was off.
Xuanji began to think hard about what might happen in this part of the story.
Twilight Street, a gathering crowd...
Putting the two together, Chang Yuan immediately thought of one possibility.
And in the next moment, that possibility was confirmed.
"I heard there's an incredibly talented genius magician over there. Everyone, go take a look. I heard they'll even give out little gifts afterward."
"A magician... Could it really be Velvie?"
A magician, Twilight Street, and a genius. Put those three together, along with Airi happening to arrive here at just the right time.
Chang Yuan felt that his guess was probably right.
"Let's go, let's go. Since you're curious, Airi, let's go take a look together."
"Yay, then let's go."
Once Chang Yuan agreed, Airi immediately followed the crowd happily.
Chang Yuan silently followed behind her.
After arriving, Chang Yuan saw the tall hat resembling a magician's hat on the stage, along with the distinctive two-toned afro. Those two details alone were enough for him to confirm her identity.
Before you continue