Hagun Academy occupies a very large area.
Due to its location in deep mountains, besides having many teaching buildings and dormitories, the school also has extensive forest areas with many open fields built among the lush green woods.
In one of the open fields, Hoshiharu arrived here after his morning exercise.
"Junior Brother, have you changed your clothes yet?"
Nene was holding a high-definition camera she had bought, with a mischievous expression on her face.
"...If you don't give me a set of clothes that a human can wear, I'm leaving now!"
Hoshiharu hid behind a high wall, rummaging through several paper bags in his hands one by one, his face dark as the bottom of a pot.
A loincloth, long pants, a leather jacket... Damn it, what is this?
"Well then, you wear this outfit!"
As Nene said this, another new paper bag fell from the sky, landing in Hoshiharu's hands.
Hoshiharu opened it with a suspicious expression on his face, and his expression turned even uglier.
The base was black fabric, trimmed with white lace. The overall style was backless, with a set of black stockings and ankle rings below, and a white headband on top.
"Damn maid outfit!"
"It's not like you never wore it when you were little."
"Damn it, that wasn't me at all."
"Photo~"
"Ahem... My friend told me not to chase after things of the past. Now I hope you can give me something normal to wear. I will never wear this!"
"Tch, carry on."
As soon as Nene finished speaking, another paper bag was thrown over.
Hoshiharu opened it again and finally breathed a sigh of relief, finally seeing a set of clothes that a normal person could wear.
"Done?"
"Done, this is soul-stirring."
Hoshiharu muttered softly and walked out from behind the wall.
He took off his tattered military academy uniform and replaced it with a new set of clothes.
The upper body consisted of a wide-collared black vest and a tight white jacket, revealing a large neck and collarbone. From time to time, his white shoulders were visible, which looked quite attractive.
The lower body wore sky-blue jeans, tightly wrapped around a pair of long legs.
"That's just average!"
Nene wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, tightening her legs, and looking as usual.
The camera in her hand pressed the shutter button so fast it seemed to leave an afterimage.
"It's a bit tight."
"You don't like tight, you like loose?"
"If you put it that way, then I must prefer tight."
"Then it's all settled."
Reasonable, so Hoshiharu stopped complaining.
"Since you had normal clothes like this, why did you give me those messy clothes?"
"What if?"
"If you have dreams, go back to the dormitory."
The back-and-forth lasted more than ten minutes before Nene finally took out her Device and slapped Hoshiharu with a fan.
Two or three times the gravity fell directly on his body, causing his body to sink quickly, as if he were falling into mud with a thousand pounds of gravity pressing on his shoulders.
"I feel I can still handle it, may I add more?"
Hoshiharu tried to lift one of his legs. Although it was somewhat difficult, it was not unbearable.
"That's right. It's not exercise if you can't move."
Nene was clearly very experienced in this matter. She shook her head and rejected Hoshiharu's proposal, then threw the iron fan in her hand to him.
"I'll give you my Device. As long as Beniiro Ageha is by your side, you can continuously activate the gravity effect, but remember not to go too far away from me."
As long as it wasn't too far from its owner, the Device would always be present. If you want to continuously supply magical power, you can always maintain its magical effect.
"No, wait a minute."
Hoshiharu stopped Nene, who was about to leave, his facial muscles slowly twitching, and he forced a smile, "The effect of training alone is limited. If Senior Sister has free time, why not practice with me?"
"Oh? Are you serious, Junior Brother?"
Nene stopped, and her small hands under her furisode kimono took out the same Beniiro Ageha. She usually covered her face with a folding fan, only leaving a serious look in her eyes.
"You want to spar with me, but I don't care about the weight of my actions... I might kill you, right?"
As she said this, there was no hidden killing intent from her petite body, and her previously calm eyes became extremely fierce.
—The title of Yaksha Princess was not for nothing.
Once she moved, she truly didn't care about the importance. If the fighting spirit in her heart was aroused, her cruelty would be fully revealed. The fiery killing intent would make her lose all worries and be eager to kill her opponent.
Even if she committed mass murder for this, it wasn't impossible. Otherwise, she wouldn't have activated Hadou Tensei despite the League's ban at the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival more than ten years ago.
"Forget it."
Hoshiharu was startled and quickly shook his head.
He gave up so quickly that Nene almost didn't react.
"You must be worried about something, you better tell me and make me happy!"
Nene rolled her eyes, then asked him cheerfully.
"Although you pursue strength, you don't know the principle of gradual progress. This may be the first time I've done something like this. Is there something on your mind?"
A familiar conversation.
An hour ago, Hoshiharu asked Ikki like this.
"I wonder how a frail swordsman can cross a mountain filled with blades."
Hoshiharu did not show any pretense and straightforwardly stated his problem.
"Then of course we should find a way to break all the blades."
Nene spoke without hesitation and expressed her own opinion.
"But in this case, if you can't break the blades, then make the body as hard as a sword. It doesn't even need to be that hard, just reaching a certain hardness is enough. Even if it's temporary, no matter the cost."
Temporary hardness?
Hearing this, Hoshiharu thought hard.
His Noble Art was indeed extraordinary, and he was definitely faster than his opponent. Although his target was not limited to organic or inorganic objects, it could only make himself faster than the opponent, and couldn't gain hardness to surpass the opponent—
No, wait a minute!
Inorganic material?
Hardness?
Hoshiharu looked at the iron fan in his hand, and a good idea suddenly appeared in his mind.
After all, how do you compare who is tough and who is soft?
Which metal is harder and which is softer?
"It seems you have an idea."
Nene looked at Hoshiharu who was deeply immersed in thought and very focused, lifting the corner of her mouth into a high arc, then turned and left silently.
Hoshiharu was left alone, continuing to think, his eyes growing brighter.