Since the next demon he had to take down was a Kizuki, Akimi thought for a moment, then decided to first go find Haganezuka and see if he had anything that could further enhance the Nichirin Blade.
However, when Akimi arrived on the 7th Floor and explained his purpose to Haganezuka, the blacksmith tilted his head back, looking at him through the "wise" eyes of his fireman mask, and said with a tone of disdain:
"Instead of improving yourself, you're trying to get clever with the Nichirin Blade? Hmph, giving you this sword was a waste—
There are only two ways to strengthen a Nichirin Blade: either increase its enhancement level, or perform a special enhancement. There are no shortcuts."
Although Akimi had already been mentally prepared, he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed upon hearing this.
After all, compared to leveling up or improving his proficiency in Water Breathing, strengthening the Nichirin Blade really was the fastest way.
Just then, while swinging his hammer and striking a piece of metal on the anvil, Haganezuka said bluntly:
"Instead of coming here hoping to get lucky, you'd be better off finding a Water Breathing trainer to drill that sloppy, half-baked breathing and sword forms of yours…"
Before he could finish, Haganezuka paused for a moment, wiped the sweat that had trickled down his fireman mask to his chin, then continued:
"Oh, that's right. You're a half-baked swordsman who started halfway, without a trainer—and even your Nichirin Blade was picked up off the ground. No wonder."
Akimi rolled his eyes and replied irritably,
"Yeah, yeah, I'm half-baked, nothing about me meets your standards… So where's this Water Breathing trainer? Introduce me to one."
Ignoring his sarcastic tone, Haganezuka kept striking the metal and said without looking up:
"He's on the eastern outskirts of the 35th Floor's labyrinth area—the Lower Moon demon on that floor is one he captured.
He's been wanting to kill it for a long time, but the demon's ability gives it extremely strong vitality, so he's never succeeded."
"Is that so?"
"…You didn't catch the important part—" Haganezuka slid the half-formed blade into the oil bath beside him, then said,
"The point is… if his swordsmanship makes a breakthrough, he might kill that demon before you do."
"Huh?!"
Akimi froze on the spot—taking down a demon was already hard enough, and now there was someone trying to snipe his target?
"…So why are you still standing here, kid?! Go find the trainer, train hard, and kill the demon! And stop bothering me while I'm forging!"
With clear impatience, Haganezuka shouted, then pressed his right hand against Akimi's shoulder.
His firm, muscular arm suddenly exerted force, shoving Akimi out of the courtyard before shutting the bamboo gate behind him.
And just like that, Akimi—completely unprepared—was pushed out.
He staggered a few steps and nearly face-planted.
Scowling, he turned toward the courtyard and flipped it the middle finger.
But just then, the bamboo gate opened again.
Haganezuka poked his head out, and Akimi quickly retracted his hand, covering his mouth with one hand like a shy scholar, and let out two dry chuckles.
Not sure whether Haganezuka didn't notice or just didn't understand what Akimi's gesture meant.
But he simply said calmly, "That little girlfriend of yours hasn't learned any breathing techniques yet, right?"
Akimi nodded nonchalantly, then asked in return, "Why? Is there a problem?"
"You can have your little girlfriend follow you to a trainer and learn a breathing technique—though I'm not sure if she's suited for Water Breathing… But you're definitely not suited for Water Breathing!"
"Damn it…"
Bang!
Hmm, just as Akimi was about to refute Haganezuka, the bamboo door was slammed shut.
Well then, it seems Haganezuka does know what flipping the middle finger means.
Although Haganezuka's tone wasn't exactly friendly, this was without a doubt good news.
After all, the usefulness of breathing techniques was undeniable—just the boost to Strength and Agility stats alone was already ridiculous.
However, Akimi wasn't sure if Asuna could adapt to the sword forms of Water Breathing.
From his perspective, it would probably be difficult.
After all, Asuna had always used a rapier, and most rapier techniques were thrusts, with only a very small portion being slashes.
Water Breathing forms, on the other hand, were almost all slashes, with the only thrust being the Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust.
Not that one has to use the sword forms that come with Water Breathing, but in terms of effectiveness, the forms provided by breathing techniques would definitely outperform the system's sword skills.
After scratching his head, Akimi stopped thinking about it and decided to let Asuna choose for herself.
When Asuna learned about the situation, she also found it hard to decide—so, despite being someone who normally acted decisively, she decided to wait and see for now.
----------------
On the afternoon of June 16th at 3:30 PM, after wandering around the outer area of the labyrinth for quite some time, Akimi and the other finally found the trainer's house—no choice, the labyrinth was just too vast, and the vague description of "eastern outskirts" wasn't very helpful.
But that alone didn't explain why Akimi spent so much time searching.
The main reason was a special feature of the 35th-floor labyrinth area—the Maze Forest.
The Maze Forest was composed of densely packed giant trees arranged side by side, divided into hundreds of grid-like sections.
The catch was that one minute after stepping into any section, the connections to adjacent sections would randomly change.
This made Akimi mutter a bit in frustration.
What kind of annoying design is this?
And why couldn't Haganezuka just give him coordinates?
Well... naturally, because the coordinates would change along with the shifting sections.
The trainer's house wasn't very big.
From the outside, it looked like a simple, clean countryside bungalow.
Around the house, besides the standard wisteria flowers, there were countless bamboo stalks.
The slender, deep-green bamboo stood out a bit oddly among the vast dark-green forest, yet somehow added a perfect finishing touch to the scenery.
In the front yard, an old man with wavy patterns on his clothes was sitting on a stone bench, sipping tea.
Though his hair was already silver-white, his demeanor showed no sign of old age.
Beneath his serious expression was a face that looked very gentle, creating a strong contrast.
However, a fierce scar running from the corner of his left eye to his nose bridge somewhat diminished that gentleness.
"You must be the young men who unexpectedly inherited the Demon Slayer legacy from Haganezuka, right?"
The old man looked up slightly, fixing a scrutinizing gaze on Akimi and his companion standing at the door.
After examining them for a moment, he continued, "Haganezuka has already told me about your situation, so I have a rough understanding. From now on, I will train you properly."
With that, he slowly stood up and said to Akimi and Asuna, "Come inside."
Then he fetched three bamboo swords from the doorway and handed them out—one each to Akimi and Asuna—before continuing, "My name is Urokodaki Sakonji, and I am currently a trainer of the Water Breathing technique—"
As he spoke, Urokodaki Sakonji raised a bamboo sword and assumed a ready stance.
"First, let me see your swordsmanship."
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