A soft sound, accompanied by a breath that tickled his nose. Fumiya Jin felt something incredibly soft touch his cheek. It was tender, with a hint of warmth and moisture. But it was a fleeting touch, like a dragonfly skipping across water.
"Hm?"
Nijika puffed up her cheeks slightly, forcing a look of bravado as she huffed, "What, are you the only one allowed to kiss people? Can't others kiss you back?"
Before he could even speak, Nijika pulled out a necklace and pressed it into his hand.
"I don't know if it'll be useful, but take it for now." Nijika lowered her head and said, "I... I didn't have any other plans today, so I thought I'd just make lunch here. I'll make enough for two, so... to not waste food, you have to come back early, okay?"
Listening to the girl's voice, which grew quieter but exceptionally soft, Fumiya Jin's heart melted.
"Alright, I promise." Fumiya Jin nodded. "I'm off, then..."
"Then..." The girl took a deep breath, looked up, and gave him a sweet, gentle smile. "Itterasshai."
Fumiya Jin froze for a moment.
Okay, okay, okay. So that's how we're playing this. First a kiss to tenderize the target, then a defense-breaking strike for direct part damage, huh? Just keep attacking like that. Who could possibly out-damage you?
Fumiya Jin struggled to walk out his front door.
He walked to the roadside, took out his phone, and dialed Yuki Suou's number.
The call connected in less than two seconds.
"Hello? Is this the handsome and dashing Fumiya?" came a very energetic girl's voice from the phone.
"I don't think I've agreed to be your teammate yet, have I?" Fumiya Jin teased.
"The fact that you're calling me now practically means you've accepted my invitation, doesn't it?" said Yuki Suou.
"I'm just starting to consider your proposal," Fumiya Jin said. "Before I agree, I have a lot of conditions to discuss."
"Name your price, as long as I can meet it," Yuki Suou said decisively. "Where are you? I'll send a car to pick you up right now."
Fumiya Jin thought for a moment and gave her the location of that small park, asking her to send a car for him.
"Find a kendo master. I want to meet them before I go into an instance with you. Can you do that?"
"Kendo? That's easy." Yuki Suou laughed. "I studied kendo for a few months when I was a kid. My teacher at the time was Mr. Kazumitsu Hasegawa, a master of the Katori Shinto-ryu school of tachi arts. Though he's almost sixty now, he's still in great shape. Sparring and fighting are no problem for him. If you need him, I can invite him over for you."
"Alright, let's go with that then." Fumiya Jin nodded in satisfaction.
The small park was remote and run-down, and few people came even during the day.
But for Fumiya Jin, this was a good thing.
As everyone knows, when you unlock a new skill, you have to find a training dummy to test it on first. Especially a skill as powerful and unknown as [Pinnacle of Iaido].
Fumiya Jin arrived at the park entrance, looked around to make sure no one was visible nearby or in the distance.
Only then did he walk to the innermost part of the park, draw his sword, and prepare to test what charging to 1.0 would do.
But as soon as he took out the sword, he realized something was wrong.
Because the blade was glowing.
The white jade-like hilt and scabbard radiated a soft sheen, with faint streams of light flowing within them. When he drew the tachi, the cherry blossom patterns drifting on the blade would even float off the steel itself, fluttering near the sword before falling and slowly vanishing.
Fumiya Jin immediately checked the sword's stats.
[A Very, Very Cool Tachi (Unknown Grade) (7/50).]
[Weapon Description: Very, very cool, and not easily damaged. It's so cool that almost no one can see it without gasping in awe.]
[Attached Skill: Watch closely, "This next strike is gonna be cool!"]
[Skill Effect: Shout the skill's name as an activation phrase, and the power of the next tachi technique you use will be enhanced. The degree of enhancement is based on the coolness of the technique, the number of onlookers, and their level of amazement. (Cooldown: 1 day.)]
Fumiya Jin was stunned.
He quickly remembered the special counter that had appeared on the sword after killing the three fish-headed monsters: 3/20.
During last night's final battle, the number of fish-headed monsters killed had clearly exceeded 20.
So the sword had leveled up? But wasn't this name a bit too careless? From "A Cool Tachi" to "A Very, Very Cool Tachi"... It was hard to even know how to react.
But... Fumiya Jin only grumbled internally for a moment before his attention immediately focused on the attached skill.
After reading the skill description, his eyes began to shine.
The cooler it is, the more people are watching, the higher the damage? Isn't this the perfect enhancement skill for a tachi?
Moreover, with this skill, the tachi—which previously had no major use apart from being durable—had finally found its true edge.
Although it still couldn't be sharpened and was essentially a blunt weapon without its innate sharpness, its coolness factor could significantly boost the damage increase from the attached skill.
"So this is what you were waiting for all along," Fumiya Jin said, looking at the exquisite tachi in his hand, unable to suppress the smile forming on his lips.
At the same time, he was also a bit excited to see what effect the sword would have after leveling up again.
However, thinking back on his experience in the instance, killing hundreds, even thousands, of venomous snakes had never produced a counter. It only appeared after killing the fish-headed monsters.
Based on that, it was still unknown whether killing ordinary animals could accumulate the count.
Perhaps he had to kill things with supernatural properties, like the fish-headed monsters?
That was something he'd have to test later.
As for now...
Fumiya Jin glanced around, confirmed no one was there, then sheathed the blade, bent his knees, and took an iaido stance...
One second...
Two seconds...
Three seconds...
A faint light glinted on the sword's guard.
In that instant, Fumiya Jin, who had known nothing about this skill, seemed to gain a sudden understanding.
His body began to move naturally...
He stepped forward, and the blade flashed out of its sheath like lightning.
Horizontal!
Vertical!
Shing!
The two straight lines were drawn almost instantly, forming a cross in the air.
Since Fumiya Jin was deliberately practicing in an open space, this cross slash naturally cut through the air.
But as the blade passed, it trailed a blue light!
The cross-shaped slash of light flew forward and struck the tree he had previously chopped down to a stump...
Zzzzing—
The poor trunk was instantly sliced into four pieces. The top-left and top-right sections fell away to either side. The lower part was also split in two, but since the base was still rooted in the ground, it didn't topple over, merely splitting open into a large fissure.
The slash of light continued onward.
It hit the wall on one side of the park, which was covered in children's drawings, and with a thud, left a deep, cross-shaped gash...
Staring at the result, Fumiya Jin was a little dumbfounded.
He had originally wanted to try charging to 2.0, but now he was hesitant. If he accidentally killed a nearby resident or a passerby, it would be a terrible sin.
He'd have to find a more durable place to test it.
______
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