And just like that, it was settled.
Ren would simply find himself something to do—if nothing else, he'd play city lord.
Machiyoi was delighted: her Yu had grown up.
Kaguya was even happier. She believed in her father-on-earth; she was practically rubbing her hands together.
A war on the moon? This humble one is absolutely set on it. Even if Eirin comes, she won't stop me.
So she declared.
Life, however, went on as usual.
Ren's days were still the same three points on a line: train, calm the mind, study.
Worth noting,
Kaguya lived up to being a princess of the Lunar Capital; her theoretical knowledge was vast. She answered countless questions for Ren, cleanly and clearly.
In particular, his old meditation method—something Oba-san had cobbled together—got a full upgrade from his daughter: more standardized, more complete, covering both spiritual power and yokai power,
with concrete ways to accelerate their growth.
Days passed.
Half a month went by in a blink.
One day,
Ren was as usual throwing punches, sweat streaming, and he could feel it—he was close, closer—like he'd reached the threshold.
"Father, today's the day," Kaguya sang.
In half a month, she had gone from porcelain doll to a five- or six-year-old, rosy-lipped and bright-eyed, ankle-length black hair cascading down, draped in a gorgeous twelve-layered kimono—the very picture of a refined young princess.
"Fuu…"
Ren let out a long breath, then shook his head. "Kaguya, I have to keep going. I can feel it—any moment now I should…"
Before he finished, he drove a fist forward.
In an instant—
his mind exploded like thunder. A flood of knowledge poured in.
Fistwork, swordwork, bladework…
Body arts, grappling, submissions…
Everything he'd ever learned seared into his mind at once.
In that instant,
it all melted into one.
[White • Basic Fist Technique: LvMAX]
His guess had been right: any single Trait capped at Lv 9.
Only—
when Basic Fist hit its cap, it drew in everything else he'd studied, as if swallowing it whole.
Aside from the Traits for spiritual power and yokai power,
all the rest began to converge.
Moments later—
[Purple • Mastery of All Arms: Lv 3 (Growth)]
"…Did it work?"
It took a full cup of tea before the stabbing in his skull eased.
He still hadn't quite processed it.
Who would have thought—
the first Trait to max out would cause this kind of chain reaction?
"Mastery of All Arms?"
"Growth-type?"
"So then…"
Ren wasn't slow on the uptake. A child of the information age, he could read the room in a few words.
Every fist, sword, and technique he'd ever learned…
all of it
had been consolidated into a single Trait.
And this new Trait could keep rising so long as he kept feeding it.
"In that case…" He hesitated only a moment, then started testing again.
"Hm?"
Watching her father box, Kaguya had been about to step in when he suddenly zoned out—but thinking it might be important, she held back.
Then he moved again—and her eyes widened.
"Integration…?" she murmured. "Is that… reasonable?"
At that moment,
Ren's every motion was no longer locked to a set form. Empty-handed, he ran through a chaos of lines that were somehow perfect,
as if prepared for any change, any time.
"Fuu…"
A moment later,
he stopped and breathed out turbid air. "Right now, it feels like I've been reborn."
"Father."
Kaguya had already risen and glided over. "What happened?"
"Everything I've learned fused into one whole," Ren said, not hiding it. He was already thinking of having Kaguya help analyze and benchmark it.
"I see…"
Kaguya thought a moment. "Then Father, this humble one and Eirin will fetch you some texts from the age of gods. Study those and see how far you can push this."
"Works for me," Ren nodded.
His daughter never stopped trying to push him up to the Lunar Capital to wage war and toss her 'Father' up there into a basement as a plush ball.
What else could he do?
He had to get stronger.
"Come on, Oba-san should have dinner ready."
Ren took Kaguya's smooth little hand. "We can also ask when the kappa from the Lake of the Black Tortoise will arrive."
"Mm."
Kaguya followed sweetly.
As for more questions—
she didn't ask.
The faster her father-on-earth grew, the better.
"By the way,"
Ren asked as they walked, "Kaguya, in your judgment, what's my current level?"
"Combining spiritual and yokai power with Father's Mastery of All Arms, you can defeat a typical mid-tier yokai," she said. "You can also beat weaker upper-tier yokai."
"But Father should be careful: mid-tier yokai with special abilities could force a double KO."
Kaguya knew he wasn't reckless, but a warning was still a warning.
Don't push and blunder. Growth takes time—you really can't rush it.
(End of Chapter)
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