Age of Heroes, 10-game winning streak

Fighting... is instinct!

She had no vision, which undoubtedly meant she had thrown away an important weapon, but when she held the sword in her hand, she seemed to feel her senses expanding and extending.

The violent recoil force every time the sword clashed, the sense of touch, hearing, smell... all these different senses combined to form an unclear picture in the mind.

Although she couldn't see, she could hear and feel.

Her skin could feel the murderous intent emanating from the Shadow Sword Ghost, the kind of chilling murderous intent that was enough to make her arms covered with goose bumps.

Moreover, Amamiya Mahiru also discovered that not only she was facing death, but the young man on the other side would also make mistakes and die due to the increasing intensity.

The number of shadow ghosts increased from one to two, from two to four, and now to sixteen.

Even the most rigorous graduation examination at the dojo of the top swordsmanship school, Hokushin Ittoryu, only involves ten regular disciples fighting against one testee... If the latter wins, it is called a "ten-part fight."

There are now sixteen sword ghosts... If they rush forward at the same time, Amamiya Mahiru will definitely not have the confidence to get through, so he relies on the young man on the other side to share the pressure.

This is a trial.

And since the two of them were the ones undergoing the trial, it could be said to be very fair.

Both sides will die, both will be defeated and killed due to lack of strength, and then stand up again and continue to fight.

As the number of deaths increased, Amamiya Mahiru had to get used to leading the charge and keeping a hand in reserve for emergencies. She could even pick up a severed hand and wield it like an extended sword without batting an eye.

Once you get used to death, rebirth means endless trial and error.

She made rapid progress in the battle, and her vision changed from blurry threads to gradually fuller lines.

More importantly, she can wield the real sword in her hand without any pressure and use it to perform various sword techniques she has learned throughout her life.

Swordsmanship is not the kendo that children learn, it is a serious fighting skill. In this dangerous world where one's future is uncertain, even the shogunate cannot protect the safety of everyone in Fuso. Fuso is a country that values martial arts and strength. People from samurai families always carry swords when they go out. After the shogunate's reform, samurai have changed from a class to a profession. Demon slayers and demon hunters no longer draw their swords against daimyos or common people, but against disasters one after another that have emerged from the shadow world. The only thing that has not changed is that the swords in their hands are still the basis of their livelihood.

Compared with Daxia, which has implemented compulsory education for all and is efficient and honest, Fuso's ghost hunting profession is still mostly inherited directly from the former samurai families. It has a strong class nature and family characteristics, and is inevitably influenced by local tyrants. The dojos of the major swordsmanship schools have become the most popular places.

The dojo where Amemiya Mahiru learned swordsmanship was the Shinkage-ryu dojo of the Yagyu family.

In the past, the Shinkage-ryu served as the swordsmanship instructor to the shogun, which shows the high level of skill of their swordsmanship school.

She had never tried to hold a sword in person. In fact, when the swords collided, she realized that she had made too many mistakes. The feel of wooden swords and bamboo swords could not compare to that of real swords. Moreover, some mistakes in the force and attack sequence during training, and even subtle habits that were not easy to detect, would become fatal flaws that caused her weapons to slip out of her hands.

She looked for mistakes in death, adjusted, made amends, and improved.

After trying out various Shinkage-ryu sword techniques, she began switching to Kashima Shinto-ryu.

Just as she chopped off the shadow ghost's head with a single blow, she flicked the sword with her fingers, but could not sense any more hostility or murderous intent through the echo.

"Is it over?" she asked in a low voice.

"Well, it's over. All sixteen shadow ghosts have been defeated." Bai Yu shook the weapon in his hand.

This time he used a baseball bat instead of a rifle.

A spear is actually easier to use in this environment, but a baseball bat is more useful. After all, it is a blunt weapon with a heavy front and a light back. An ordinary samurai sword cannot withstand a blow from it.

And there is no particular style of moves, the key is just one word - smash.

Hit hard and accurately.

Bai Yu had a deeper understanding of the actual use of the Lionheart Cane. It was an ever-changing weapon, so why should it be restricted to just one form?

In the middle of the game, he replaced it with a physical holy sword, which also killed one enemy with one move, very steadily.

Next time I'll change my spearmanship to my martial arts... Who says martial arts must be confined to one weapon style? It's a smart thing to learn to restrain each other.

Mahiru asked, "It's over, should I go back?"

"Don't worry." Bai Yu looked at the warrior in armor sitting on the wall of the gym: "There is still a boss to fight."

As soon as he finished speaking, purple flames ignited under the empty shell of the samurai's armor, filling the empty armor. The samurai burning with purple flames grasped the swords on both sides.

Dual sword flow.

Mahiru opened her eyes in surprise. Although she couldn't see anything, she could still show her surprise and astonishment.

"First-level extraordinary."

Bai Yu glanced at the level above the other person's head. Level 13... not very high.

But after all, he has entered the extraordinary level, which has the effect of suppressing the two rookies who are stuck at level ten.

"Don't worry, Wuming." Bai Yu said with the tone of someone who has experienced it, "You should be able to survive even if you die seventy or eighty times. It won't restore its health bar, so you can grind it out."

"You consider this a consolation?" Mahiru said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "It's fine if you torture me, but why do you torture yourself too?"

"If I just stood by and watched, you'd get a little upset, so I had no choice but to go on stage myself." Bai Yu spread his hands and said, "Although I have great magical powers, I'm starting from scratch. At least we're on equal footing."

"What a mess..." Mahiru exhaled, then smiled faintly: "But I seem to understand you a little, Mr. Destiny."

"No, it's better to call me Editor." Bai Yu complained, "The name Destiny gives me an ominous feeling of being strangled and hanged every day. Besides..."

"Besides what?"

The young man raised his hands and stood in a handsome posture that the other party couldn't see at all.

"—I am here to weave destiny, not to become destiny."

Bai Yu switched weapons and picked up the Lionheart Spear: "Now we need to hone our tacit understanding. This is not a boss that can be taken down by one person. Let's attack together, Wuming Ghost!"

"My name is Amemiya!"

Amamiya Mahiru emphasized again: "I don't like the name of Mumeiki - please remember this, Mr. Fate."

"You asked me to remember it, but you yourself didn't remember it at all..." Bai Yu complained.

Amamiya Mahiru adjusted her breathing and raised her sword silently: "Go!"

The warrior in armor burning with purple flames charged forward and leaped up, slashing down with his sword, creating a gorgeous purple waning moon.

The show begins.

……

"ha--!"

As if his lungs were broken, Amamiya Mahiru seemed to float up from the water and exhaled a large breath of foul air.

She felt like she was having a nightmare.

A nightmare whose memory is extremely clear.

The feeling still lingered between her fingers. At that moment, she had indeed pierced through the warrior's armored chest and severed the phantom.

She remembered it too clearly for it to be a dream.

After killing sixteen Shadow Sword Ghosts, the Samurai Armor Samurai General's attack power and desire to attack were far stronger than the former. The purple fire wrapped around the sword made it impossible for her to connect the blade. If touched more than three times, the sword would become extremely hot and almost impossible to hold.

She and the editor had died countless times, perhaps a dozen times, perhaps dozens of times, but definitely not more than a hundred times.

Thanks to the perseverance of the two, they finally wore down the general.

In the end, she had almost no emotional fluctuations, just executing her moves coldly, and just when she swung the last knife, she seemed to feel that she had touched a threshold.

At that moment, the entire world became incredibly transparent. Everything invisible became tangible lines displayed in my mind, a vision beyond sight...

Although it was only for a moment, she felt that it must be...

"extraordinary……"

she whispered.

After experiencing death hundreds of times, she finally touched the thread that she had longed for but had never been able to reach.

She couldn't help but wonder, if it happened again, again, would she really have a chance to catch it?

At that moment, that instant, in the blink of an eye, the incomparably transparent world was truly beautiful...

It is because we see the light that the endless darkness before our eyes seems so unbearable!

"Patience, Mahiru, patience..."

She murmured, warning herself, comforting herself.

Amamiya Mahiru whispered, "The opportunity will come. It will definitely come."

She still remembered the last words the young man said when she left the deep gym, and the smile he showed in the transparent world for a moment.

"Congratulations, Miss Amamiya... From this moment on, your destiny has changed dramatically."

He waved his hand and turned through the open door.

"That's all for today. We'll see you another day."

'Goodbye', these two words were so pleasant to the ear... They easily soothed her anxiety about returning to the cage, and made Amamiya Mahiru inevitably start looking forward to tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow... She didn't know how long she would have to wait, but she would definitely look forward to meeting him again.

This was a feeling and mood she had never experienced before.

She never looked forward to the arrival of the next tomorrow, because for her, that meant one step closer to a broken and unknown future.

She cannot grasp the future, cannot control her destiny, and everything before her is pitch black without a single firefly to stop for her, so she feels terrified.

However, if she realizes that her destiny and future are in her own hands and are within her reach, she will be overjoyed and hope for a good result.

Even though she knew it might be an illusion.

But it was so beautiful that for her, it was a ray of light breaking through the long night.

"The composer of fate, Mr. Fate..."

The girl murmured, "Whether you like this name or not, for me... it's fate's favor."

It's like a sinner in hell grabbing a spider silk hanging from the human world.

That is the only chance in this life.

Chapter 65: Fast Rain of Swords

[Cleared the beginner level of Katori Gym]

[Fate Points +30]

[Bond level increased; current bond level 1 (10% team experience bonus)]

[Received the clearance reward - 'Katori Shinto Martial Arts Ancient Book: Sword and Halberd Chapter']

[Obtain Shadow Fragments x6; Bronze Treasure Chest x1]

【Skill level improvement】

[Confirm that the character level has reached the current peak, please upgrade as soon as possible]

"Do you think I don't want to be promoted? It's not that easy."

Bai Yu complained, it's not like playing a game where you can get promoted by collecting some materials and eating them like potato chips.

I clicked on the clearance reward and checked the items I got.

[Ancient Martial Arts Book of Katori Shinto Ryū - An ancient martial arts book that records the techniques of Tenshin's Katori Shinto Ryū. The Sword and Halberd section records three types of martial arts: swordsmanship, sword drawing, naginata-jutsu, and spearmanship. It covers 90% of the martial arts at the catalog level, but does not include secret and oral traditions.]

"Well, this is probably equivalent to..." Bai Yu thought for a moment: "A martial arts secret manual or something like that."

What was taken out from the inventory was not a complete book, but a scroll.

Because the ecological environment in the real world does not exist in the shadow world, it does not appear to be corrupted, and appears to be very complete, as if it was preserved in a vacuum environment.

This item has hundreds of years of history. Once it is circulated, it will be scrambled for by many martial arts families and schools.

Because Tenshin Shinden Katori Shinto-ryu is the starting point that many modern Fuso schools can trace back to.

For example, the sword master Tsukahara Bokuden of the Warring States Period, his school was Katori Shinto-ryu, and later the Shinto-ryu school revered him as the founder.

For example, the sword master Kamiizumi Nobunaga, who never lost a single battle in his life, also studied in Katori Shinto-ryu in his early years and received instruction from Tsukahara Bokuden. In his twenties, he founded the Shinkage-ryu. The most famous of his disciples was the Yagyu family, so the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu became even more famous and is still a powerful samurai family in Fuso today.

I think taking out such a scroll would be enough to make the Fuso people fight each other until they were bleeding.

Regardless of whether this martial arts origin can be traced back to the current martial arts schools, its existence itself is equivalent to a strong claim to be an orthodox successor.

For example, this scroll has a similar status in Fusang as the Dragon Slaying Sword and Wu Mu's Testament.

In martial arts novels, killing and silencing people in order to fight for the most precious treasure is a common occurrence. In this world, it is also normal.

However, this is only a part of it, and does not include secret and oral teachings...the top-level secrets cannot be learned.

Bai Yu touched his chin, thinking that this world was a modified version. Maybe the secrets and oral traditions would be some extremely exaggerated moves that could not be learned unless one reached the extraordinary level.

I put the scroll away again and will study it later... Actually, if I really want to learn martial arts, there is no need to go far away and study it on my own.