The hearth fire burned quietly.
The gentle, hazy light gradually softened everyone's expressions.
The conversation between the group slowly drifted from the essentials of slaying demons toward lighthearted daily trifles. They talked about the strange sights and customs from beyond the mountains, anecdotes from within the Demon Slayer Corps, and even some interesting stories from Kuguruma Natsunishi's own life outside the "game."
Although Sabito and Giyu often listened with only a half-understanding, they remained deeply engrossed. Through this, they gained a new perspective on Kuguruma Natsunishi.
The Senior... is truly knowledgeable.
Eventually, the topic somehow shifted to Giyu—specifically his excessive introversion and poor communication skills. Kuguruma Natsunishi was eager to step in, claiming he would personally give Giyu a few "socialization lessons."
However, after hearing Kuguruma Natsunishi cite a few examples that could only be described as textbook "what-not-to-do" scenarios, Sabito smiled and shook his head with polite but firm determination.
The peach-haired youth thought to himself: In a certain sense, Senior Kuguruma Natsunishi's way of communicating has a similar "shock value" to Giyu's. Please, let's not lead Giyu further astray.
It was only today that Kuguruma Natsunishi learned Giyu used to be even more closed off—to a degree that even Sakonji Urokodaki found troublesome. Had it not been for Sabito's patient guidance and that one slap delivered when he'd reached the end of his tether, the current Giyu would likely be even harder to talk to.
Yes, Sabito had once used the "slap pedagogy" on Giyu. Back then, Giyu was so depressed that he constantly muttered things like "I'd be better off dead." Finally, one day, Sabito slapped him awake.
At the time, the peach-haired boy had been deadly serious, staring into Giyu's eyes and saying word for word: "Your life was bought by your sister at the cost of her own. You have no right to give up so easily. If you keep acting like this, I'm breaking off our friendship."
Seeing his past exposed, Giyu silently turned his head away and whispered a small protest: "Sabito, you're mean..."
As for the listener, Kuguruma Natsunishi, he was getting excited. The slap pedagogy. He was well-acquainted with that.
One slap: Tomioka Giyu, are you awake yet?!
Two slaps: What's with that face? What's with those tears?!
The "flavor" was just right.
Kuguruma Natsunishi's gaze involuntarily drifted toward Giyu's cheeks, which still retained a bit of baby fat. His fingers twitched slightly as if he were considering where to strike to best demonstrate his educational prowess. Sensing something, Sabito quickly moved between them, abruptly and swiftly changing the subject.
Whether it was Sabito or Giyu, both had lost everything they held dear to the claws of fate and had felt immense pain. The difference was that Sabito had been adopted by Urokodaki early on, finding a place of refuge. Giyu, however, had endured two heavy blows in succession before finally meeting the old man in the tengu mask.
The person Giyu was closest to, the sister he depended on for survival, had died at the hands of a demon on the eve of her wedding—the very moment her life was supposed to turn toward happiness—all to protect him.
Kuguruma Natsunishi had noticed long ago that the red haori Giyu wore was clearly the wrong size. He asked softly, "That haori... it's a memento from his sister, isn't it?"
The garment was nearly a full size too small; it would need at least an extra panel of fabric stitched in to even pass as a fit. Sabito nodded heavily. Giyu didn't answer, merely clutching the bright red remnant in his arms a little tighter.
Then, Sabito turned his head, looking at Kuguruma Natsunishi with eyes filled with the same sorrow and understanding.
"Senior, you... are the same as us, aren't you? The way you train like your life doesn't matter. Surely... the wound in your heart is still bleeding, too?"
Losing family, having a peaceful life shredded by demons—they knew that pain and bewilderment all too well.
Seeing the expression on the two youngsters' faces—which practically screamed, "It's okay, we understand, we feel for you"—a single character slowly appeared in Kuguruma Natsunishi's mind: ?
Beside them, Giyu curled up by the fire, still holding the haori, and whispered a single phrase: "Your sister..."
He was immediately silenced by a look from Sabito. That was a scar in Senior Kuguruma Natsunishi's heart that would never heal; how could he touch upon it so carelessly? Sabito hurried to apologize to Kuguruma Natsunishi for Giyu's abruptness.
Kuguruma Natsunishi: ...
Crap, am I supposed to play along with this tragic atmosphere now?
A sister? Oh right, I did include a sister in my character background. Sorry, "Kusha Sister" whom I've never met; I'll remember to avenge you.
"It's alright," Kuguruma Natsunishi said, lowering his eyelids and letting his expression sink into a perfectly timed gloom, as if he were reaching through time to touch a wound that would never scab over. "Giyu isn't at fault. And I am no longer someone who will be crushed by the past. As for the demon that killed my sister..."
He looked up, a quiet flame of vengeance seemingly burning in the depths of his eyes. "I will make it understand the meaning of 'an eye for an eye, returned a thousandfold.'"
Silence fell over the room. The air, which had been dancing with warmth moments ago, suddenly felt thin and heavy. It was then that footsteps sounded from outside the cabin. It seemed Sakonji Urokodaki had finally returned from his supply run down the mountain.
The wooden door was pushed open. The old man in the tengu mask swept his gaze across the three people in the room, taking in all the unspoken words and lingering emotions.
"It is late. Everyone, rest. Tomorrow's training will not be easy."
The peach-haired youth and the "Uchiha" both responded. Kuguruma Natsunishi nodded as well. This old man Urokodaki had clearly been listening outside for a long time, yet he chose this exact moment to walk in. Should he call that considerate, or just plain crafty?
...
The next day.
Except for Kuguruma Natsunishi, both Sabito and Giyu stood in the training grounds with bruised and swollen faces. These were superficial injuries from yesterday's sparring. It had been nearly dark the previous evening, so it wasn't very clear, but under today's bright sunlight, the damage was quite obvious.
Kuguruma Natsunishi felt a bit embarrassed. Facing these two strong-willed young swordsmen, he had indeed lost a bit of self-control while indulging in the thrill of combat. After all, it was PVP, and he was basically "smurfing" against newbies. The game experience had been top-tier.
But looking at them now, even he felt too ashamed to keep asking them for more sparring. He silently returned to the hut and took out the ointment sent by Persimmon. Following his memory of emergency procedures from military training, he massaged their muscles to promote circulation and applied the medicine and bandages. He only stopped once both boys were looking quite bashful.
[Medicine LV.0 (10/250)] NEW
Oh?!
The small bit of guilt in his heart instantly vanished into thin air.
"Giyu, Sabito, extra practice tonight! We're continuing the combat training."
Sabito's spirits lifted. "Yes, Senior!"
Giyu, however, caught a fleeting, mischievous glint in Kuguruma Natsunishi's eyes. He had a very bad feeling about this.
Meanwhile, Kuguruma Natsunishi had already started calculating which area of Mount Sagiri had the most abundant medicinal herbs. On second thought, if he wanted to grind his [Medicine] proficiency, he couldn't just keep shearing the "experience points" off these two kids. If he overdid it, wouldn't Master Urokodaki and Master Kazami wring his neck?
Then again, no one ever said "Medicine" was only for humans, right?
His gaze drifted toward the figure of a wild boar flashing through the distant forest. Was Medicine such an inconvenient thing?
...
Over the next few days, the Water Breathing trio clearly noticed that Kuguruma Natsunishi's enthusiasm for cooking and running had cooled down significantly. Instead, he would often mysteriously disappear into Mount Sagiri outside of training hours. Occasionally, before dinner, he would bring back some strange herbs and ointments.
Giyu did notice that the animals in the mountains seemed to be migrating with unusual frequency lately. However, seeing no other abnormalities, he didn't say anything.
And so, thanks to the "selfless contribution" of the many living creatures of Mount Sagiri to the cause of medical science, Kuguruma Natsunishi successfully harvested four new life skills.
[Anatomy LV.0 (79/250)] NEW
[Medicine LV.1 (141/500)] NEW
[Poison Crafting LV.1 (23/500)] NEW
[Pharmacy LV.0 (130/250)] NEW
Remaining Achievement Points: 10
Since the success rate of his "treatments" was rather pitiful, a single "experiment" often required repeated "medical interventions" before an animal could return to being lively. Consequently, his Medicine skill experience actually grew faster than Anatomy. Similarly, Kuguruma Natsunishi discovered that creating poisons from herbs and minerals was much easier than making medicine.
The reason he had paused his training in cooking, physical fitness, and other life skills was that he realized life skills enter a slow experience grind once they reach higher levels. Instead of spending months pushing a single skill to level four or five, it was more efficient to unlock several new skills in the short term and quickly raise them to level one.
But today, he decided to stop all life skill practice. Because...
[Water Breathing (Not Mastered) 99/100]
[Practiced: Water Breathing Method, Water Breathing Sword Styles]
[Through learning the complete Water Breathing, you have gained insight. Learning progress +3]
[Combat Skill · Water Breathing activated]
Simultaneously, the content in another panel changed. The side quest was complete.
[Side Quest Completed: First Sight! A New Breathing Style!]
[Reward: 500 Breathing Style Experience Adaptive Proficiency (Automatically calculated based on the newly mastered Breathing Style type)]
Almost the instant his Water Breathing reached LV.0, a massive amount of experience flooded in. In a flash, it propelled his Water Breathing to the next realm.
The insights from the breakthrough flowed through his limbs like a clear stream, transforming into the most grounded numerical values, etched into every part of Kuguruma Natsunishi's body.
[Energy Level: 59 → 63]
┣ Body: 28 → 29
┣ Skill: 17 → 19
┗ Spirit:: 14 → 15
Compared to the attribute changes when Wind Breathing leveled up, it seemed Water Breathing focused more on the improvement of [Skill].
Kuguruma Natsunishi looked at the skill list; the second combat skill icon had lit up. Unlike the emerald green vortex of Wind Breathing, this new icon looked more like a sliver of crystal-clear, deep blue, like a patch of frozen, still water.
[Water Breathing]
┣ LV.1 Basic Mastery
┣ Progress: 252/500
┗ Sword Style Mastery 4/10: [First Form: Water Surface Slash], [Third Form: Flowing Dance], [Seventh Form...]
Because the training time had been relatively short, he had only mastered four forms. But that didn't matter. He could increase the mastery of all forms later through slow practice or by putting in his "effort" (adding points).
It was time to check the compatibility.
He clicked the plus sign next to Water Breathing. Achievement points instantly transformed into a bright preview on the progress bar.
[Experience +285]
[Caution: Current Breathing Style Compatibility is: 57%]
[Achievement Point Conversion Loss: 43%]
Huh?
Isn't this even lower than my Wind Breathing? This trash Water Breathing—forget about learning it!
Kuguruma Natsunishi.angry_shame.jpg
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