Twilight Street, Genius Magician, Two-Tone Pompadour, Like You, Big V Teacher!

"Hmph hmph~? It seems I'm quite capable after all. It looks like I'll be the one protecting Chang Yuan from now on."

Hearing Hua's words, Airi chuckled triumphantly.

Compared to Airi, who had already graduated, Chang Yuan hadn't even entered the door in terms of progress.

He could only manage one stance, and even got the point of force application wrong.

"However, this only counts for close-range. To truly graduate, you need to be at least a hundred meters away."

"Mhmph~? Then could you take me to try, Hua? I also want to know how far I can go right now."

"...Alright, follow me."

Hearing such a request, Hua only pondered for a moment before agreeing.

She led Airi to the archery range behind the mountain.

"Start from here. Those targets, the first one is at a hundred meters. Each subsequent one is fifty meters further. You can try."

"Leave it to me. Let's see how far I can go."

Drawing the bow, nocking the arrow, the entire sequence was fluid, without any hesitation.

The first arrow shot out, hitting the bullseye of the hundred-meter target.

Seeing this, Hua's mouth slightly parted, but she ultimately said nothing.

Prodigy. That was the only word Hua could think of to describe Airi.

As she was thinking, Airi's second arrow had already been loosed.

The hundred-and-fifty-meter target was hit with a bullseye, no surprise there.

Following that, the third, fourth, and fifth targets were hit. It wasn't until the seventh target that she didn't hit a bullseye, but a nine.

However, this wasn't Airi's fault, but rather the bow's limit. It was impressive enough that Airi could hit the nine ring with a parabolic trajectory.

"...You have graduated."

After a long silence, Hua finally spoke those words.

She had no choice but to say it. In archery, she had nothing more to teach Airi. In fact, it was possible that Airi would have to teach her in return.

"Mhmph~? As expected of me, I'm amazing. Speaking of which, does that mean I can just watch you train Chang Yuan for the remaining month?"

"...If you wish, you can, as long as you don't disturb him."

"Hmph hmph, let's go, let's go! I want to go back and watch Chang Yuan suffer."

The two then headed back towards the martial arts hall.

Meanwhile, Chang Yuan was still training diligently.

"No, it's been over two hours. Isn't Hua going to teach me anymore?"

Having trained for nearly two hours without rest, Chang Yuan felt like his hands no longer belonged to him.

Good grief, he had never worked this hard in his previous life. If he wasn't afraid of not even having the right to stand beside Airi, he wouldn't have worked this hard.

"Hi, Chang Yuan, I brought you a surprise. Do you want to guess what it is?"

"Ummm, I don't know."

Chang Yuan retracted his stance and shook his head.

Without any hints, how could he guess? He wasn't like Apotheosis, who could see the future.

And even if she could see the future, it would only be after Apotheosis became a Valkyrie.

"Hmph hmph~? I can now hit a nine ring at four hundred meters. So, in other words, I've graduated. For the remaining month, I'll be responsible for watching you train."

"...Impressive."

Hearing this, Chang Yuan wasn't surprised at all.

"So you need to work hard! Strive to embark on your journey again soon."

Airi clenched her right fist and cheered Chang Yuan on.

And so, over the course of that month, Airi spent her days eating fruits and snacks nearby, occasionally reading little stories.

Of course, when Chang Yuan was drenched in sweat, she would hand him a wet towel to wipe himself.

After a month, Chang Yuan had only just begun to grasp the basics.

But it was enough. To improve further would depend on his own daily practice. After all, he had been taught everything he needed to learn; the rest of the path was his to walk alone.

"Goodbye, Hua. And Uncle Hua."

Having repacked his belongings, Chang Yuan prepared to continue his journey with Airi.

"Heh heh, go ahead. Go explore the world. This is the first time I've seen young folks like you with such ideals."

"...Goodbye."

Hua was not one for many words. After a long silence, she only managed to say goodbye.

"Heh heh, Hua, I have a feeling we'll definitely meet again in the future. I'm looking forward to that day."

"...Mm."

After saying their goodbyes, Airi, carrying her small pink backpack, followed behind Chang Yuan.

Watching the two, who could barely be called friends, leave, Hua remained silent.

Hua's father found his daughter's behavior quite perplexing.

He really couldn't understand why his daughter was so socially anxious.

One year later...

"Hey, hey, Airi, we need to be careful now that we're here."

"Huh? What's wrong with this place?"

Hearing this, Airi asked with some curiosity.

"Before we came, I specifically inquired about this place. This is Twilight Street. Many criminals are here; it's a place of chaos and disorder, so we need to be cautious."

"Ehh~, I see. Then we really should be careful."

Airi nodded seriously.

A place of chaos and disorder. In the next second, a human trafficker could jump out from an alley and snatch them both away.

"Hmm? Chang Yuan, look, there are so many people over there. Is there some special event? Should we go take a look together?"

Suddenly noticing a place where many people had gathered, Airi's curiosity was piqued.

Hearing Airi's request, Chang Yuan rationally realized something was amiss.

Xuanji began to earnestly think about what might happen in this part of the story.

Twilight Street, a gathering of people...

Combining the two, Chang Yuan immediately thought of a possibility.

And in the next second, that possibility was confirmed.

"I heard there's a very powerful, genius magician over there. Everyone's going to watch. I heard there are small gifts afterwards too."

"A magician... Could it really be Velvie?"

Magician, Twilight Street, and genius. Combining these three, plus Airi happening to arrive here.

Chang Yuan felt his guess was about ninety percent accurate.

"Let's go, let's go. Since you're curious, Airi, let's go see together."

"Yay, let's go then."

Seeing Chang Yuan agree, Airi immediately followed the crowd happily.

Chang Yuan also silently followed behind her.

Upon arriving here and seeing the person on stage wearing a tall hat resembling a magician's hat, along with the iconic two-colored puffy hair, Chang Yuan could already confirm their identity based on these two points alone.