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Last night.
After finishing his training, Mika returned home and was approached by Yahweh, who was very interested in his breathing techniques and swordsmanship and wanted to learn more about them. Faced with Yahweh's request, Mika naturally didn't refuse. So in the small courtyard, he demonstrated the ten forms of water breathing to Yahweh and explained the rhythm and some tips of the breathing technique.
The whole process didn't take long and Yahweh left after a short understanding. So Mika didn't pay much attention at that time. But now, in just one night, Yahweh had mastered both Water Breathing and the Ten Forms to perfection, surpassing Mika's expertise in these techniques.
How could this not shock Mika?
"What's wrong, Mika? Is this all you have to show for a year and a half of hard training?" Yahweh said with a smile on her lips. Mika felt as if a nerve in his brain snapped with a "ping" sound.
Mockery!
She's mocking me!
"Heh!" Anger turned to laughter, and Mika quickly took up a fighting stance and attacked Yahweh. In his hands, the sword techniques flowed like water, continuously unleashing various forms of water breathing at Yahweh's vital points.
However, Mika's attacks met with no response. All his efforts seemed to be silently absorbed by Yahweh, who was like a vast ocean. Soon Mika noticed something was wrong. Although Yahweh's swordsmanship was far superior, his basic physical attributes - strength and speed - should surpass hers. As a god who had sealed their holy power, Yahweh's physical abilities should be no different than an ordinary human's. Mika had confirmed this when Yahweh first recruited him into the Yahweh Family because she couldn't escape a trap.
But now, Yahweh's strength and speed were equal to and even better than his own. What was going on?
With another clash of swords, Mika quickly retreated, putting some distance between them. Throughout the battle, Yahweh had remained on the defensive, neutralizing all of Mika's attacks. Still, her defensive stance kept Mika on edge, as he couldn't predict when she might switch to offense.
Given their disparity in swordsmanship, once Yahweh attacked, the duel would end instantly if Mika couldn't keep up. Exhaling deeply, Mika forced himself to stay calm and watched Yahweh closely. Then he noticed an unusual mark on the back of her hand.
"Is that..."
"What is it? Did you find out?" Yahweh said, waving her sword nonchalantly. "Yes. This is the final form of your breathing technique - the Mark."
"It is indeed the Mark. And it only took one night!" Hearing this "expected" answer, Mika remained calm on the outside, but inside he was deeply shaken.
"What's wrong? Are you nervous? Your heartbeat is pretty fast, Mika!" Yahweh teased.
"I'm not nervous... Wait a minute!" Mika, who was instinctively about to retort, suddenly stopped, unable to keep his composure.
"Could it be the Transparent World?"
"Oh, is that what your world calls this state? Quite fitting," Yahweh replied nonchalantly.
"As I thought!" Mika's face showed a bitter expression.
In just one night, Yahweh had mastered the ultimate forms of breathing and swordsmanship from the Demon Slayer world. The ultimate in breathing, the Mark. The ultimate in swordsmanship, the Transparent World. Now, these two powers stood in front of Mika as his opponent.
"What is it? Don't tell me you've given up," Yahweh said, her voice filled with joy.
"Please, we're training, not competing. Don't overdo it, Yahweh-sama!" Mika replied.
"Eh, I guess you're right," Yahweh said, scratching her cheek with a hint of embarrassment.
"Take this!" Yahweh suddenly lunged at Mika.
"Hey, wait, calm down!" Mika focused all his attention on defense while Yahweh quickly switched to offense. If Mika had been unsure of Yahweh's breathing technique and swordsmanship before, he now fully realized their overwhelming strength. This power was unbeatable. Nevertheless, Mika's defense crumbled under Yahweh's onslaught, like a fragile structure in a storm. Yahweh's breathing technique and Mark gave her superior physical abilities. Her mastery of the transparent world allowed her to anticipate Mika's every move.
In front of Yahweh, Mika had no chance to counterattack. In just a few moves, Mika found himself on the ground, defeated.
"How about it? Do you admit defeat?"
"Yes, I admit defeat," Mika conceded, and Yahweh, smiling, withdrew her sword and helped Mika to his feet.
"Shall we go again?"
"Let's go again!" Mika's eyes burned with fighting spirit. After watching Tanjiro and Sabito sparring, Mika returned, knowing that staying there would never allow him to catch up with Tanjiro. Sparring with someone who masters the same techniques brings faster progress than just hard training. So Mika planned to use time and real fights in the dungeon to close the gap.
But now Mika had found a better way to improve - sparring with Yahweh. Like Tanjiro, this was sparring with someone who had mastered the same techniques. However, Yahweh surpassed even Sabito in breathing and swordsmanship, rivaling even the legendary Yoriichi Tsugikuni. To train with such a powerful opponent was an opportunity others could only dream of.
After a morning of intense fighting, Mika lay exhausted on the grass. He had spent the entire morning being beaten. Faced with Yahweh's unpredictable strength, Mika was at a loss. But his suffering was not for nothing. Throughout the morning, Mika's understanding of Water Breathing progressed rapidly, even faster than when he first learned it.
"Ding ding! Lunch time!" Yahweh called. Mika forced himself to sit up.
"Where did the food come from?"
"I asked the others to prepare it. They just delivered it."
"You planned this all along!" Mika said, taking the lunch box from Yahweh and helping Airmid Teasanare up. After a morning of training, Airmid was also battered and bruised, much like Mika had been in the beginning.
Holding the exhausted Airmid, Mika fed her lunch bit by bit. Seeing Airmid's blushing face, Yahweh clicked his tongue in disapproval.
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A month had passed in the blink of an eye.
Lying on the grass at the finish line, Airmid was panting heavily.
Over the past month of training, Airmid's physical condition had changed significantly.
Even though it was only one month of training, Airmid was now able to completely avoid all the traps and mechanisms in the forest.
This progress was much faster than that of Mika and Tanjiro.
Of course, this didn't mean that Airmid was far superior to them in terms of talent.
In reality, Airmid's rapid progress was due to the power of the God's Blessings.
She was able to update her skills every day, which made her improvement rate much faster than Mika and Tanjiro's pure hard work.
It could be said that it was truly a cheat given by the gods.
Gods Blessings, Banzaii!
"Phew, after finishing the forest traversal training, next up is the swordsmanship training!"
Lying on the ground, Airmid rested while thinking about what to do next.
According to the schedule Yahweh had made for her, she would now go to the place where Mika and Yahweh were training to practice swordsmanship.
Just as Airmid was deep in thought, an unfamiliar sound of footsteps suddenly reached her ears.
Someone unknown was approaching!
Airmid's heart trembled and she stood up quickly.
"Who's there?"
"Hello, are you training here?"
Looking in the direction of the voice, Yahweh saw a beautiful girl.
Like her, the girl also had silver hair.
However, her pupils were red.
Judging by her appearance, she seemed older than Airmid.
But what caught Airmid's attention the most were her ears. From her somewhat pointed ears, Airmid deduced that she was probably a half-elf.
This made Airmid relax a bit, since this person probably wasn't too dangerous.
Still, Airmid remained cautious.
After all, Mika had once warned her that one could never truly know another's heart.
"Yes, I'm undergoing training as required by the Familia."
In response to the silver-haired girl, Airmid revealed her affiliation with the Familia to deter any bad intentions.
"I didn't expect there to be a Familia here as well!"
The silver-haired girl sighed in surprise.
Noticing Airmid's vigilance, the silver-haired girl smiled and said, "As you can see, I'm a half-elf who left Orario. I haven't joined any Familia and I plan to go home."
"So you don't have to be afraid of me. Even though I'm a bit older, I'm no match for you adventurers."
"Is that so?"
Hearing the silver-haired girl's words, Airmid's guard dropped a bit.
Curiosity began to set in.
Influenced by Mika, Airmid had many fantasies about Orario.
"You said you didn't join any Familia. Is it because you don't like the life of an adventurer?"
"It's not that!"
The silver-haired girl waved her hand helplessly and said bitterly, "I just haven't found a suitable Familia."
"No suitable Familia?"
Airmid's face showed a puzzled expression.
"That's right!"
Remembering her past, the silver-haired girl sighed and said slowly, "As the center of the world, countless people with dreams come to Orario from all over the world, hoping to make their dreams come true."
"Different people have different dreams. Some want to be heroes, some want to be rich, some even want to have harems. In short, people have all kinds of dreams."
"And my dream is to become a wise man or a strategist."
"To meet someone with heroic potential, join their party as a companion, guide their growth as a sage, devise strategies for the team as a strategist, and finally help the team overcome various challenges to slay world-famous monsters. After I die, my deeds would become songs spread throughout the world.
"This is the kind of adventure life I want.
Hearing the girl's dream, Airmid couldn't help but feel a sense of longing.
"And then?"
She asked curiously.
"And then!"
The silver-haired girl's tone became more bitter.
"Then I failed!"
Seemingly wanting to vent her frustration, the silver-haired girl told Airmid about her experience.
"It may sound arrogant, but I am very confident in my discernment. I can clearly tell if someone in front of me has the potential to be a hero."
"After arriving in Orario, I wandered around the city looking for suitable candidates. Unfortunately, I found none."
"Are you saying that there are no people with heroic potential in a place as large as Orario?"
Airmid asked incredulously.
"That's not it!"
The silver-haired girl waved her hand and said seriously, "Orario is indeed the center of the world, and there are many heroic figures.
"For example, the Freya Familia is full of heroes. There is more than one person with heroic potential there, but I can't stand the atmosphere of that family. I heard that these people often fight each other for the right to spend the night with their god."
"Then there's the Astraea Familia. Although it's also full of talent, the dominant force in that Familia is always the justice of the goddess. I'm not used to that environment."
"Finally, there was my main focus: the Loki Familia."
"The Loki Familia!"
Airmid was very familiar with this Familia.
When Mika first wanted to go to Orario alone, he mentioned that he wanted to join this Familia.
Even after he had decided to wait until they both grew up before they went together, this was still his favorite Familia.
So Airmid was very curious about the Loki Familia.
"At first, I had no intention of joining the Loki Familia, since the core of the team was already established."
"The Brave Finn, the Heavy Artillery Gareth, and the Nine Hell Riveria. The three of them support this familia, with Riveria occupying the position I wanted. So it seemed there was no place for me."
"But later I changed my mind because I met her!"
"Who?"
Airmid asked eagerly, already fascinated by the silver-haired girl's story.
"Ais Wallenstein!"
The silver-haired girl uttered the name seriously, then said excitedly, "Even though I only met her once, I could tell that she would become a famous figure in Orario in the future, even though she had just become an adventurer.
"If I follow her and help her become a legendary hero, I might be able to fulfill my dream."
"Then why didn't you join the Loki Family?"
Airmid asked in confusion.
Hearing Airmid's question, the silver-haired girl's face became visibly depressed.
"The Loki Familia isn't accepting new members right now. They are recruiting high-level adventurers who have already proven themselves."
"Besides, I heard that Goddess of Loki has a thing for girls. All the women in the Loki Family are part of her harem, and I can't accept that."
"And I couldn't find a suitable Familia in the rest of Orario, so I decided to go home for now. Later, I planned to travel across the continent to see if I could find the right people."
"Then, when I passed by here, I saw you avoiding traps and mechanisms in the forest, and I didn't expect to find a Familia in this small village near Orario."
"May I stay here for the night?"
After witnessing Airmid's training method, the silver-haired girl became very interested in the Familia living here. She wanted to see what kind of god this Familia's god was.
It was her habit to explore various things with her own eyes.
"You can, but I have to practice my swordsmanship soon. Would you like to join me?"
"I would love to!"
"That's good!"
Rested, Airmid stood up and led the silver-haired girl to the training ground.
"By the way, I don't know your name yet. I'm Airmid Teasanare. What's yours?"
"Mine?"
The silver-haired girl smiled brightly and said cheerfully, "I'm Mellie."
"Mellie Ambrosius!" ( Female version of Merlin of Fate )
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