Translator: Haruto.

Double Release.

Afterward, Kaito and I carried Asuka and Amane on our backs down the mountain.

We recounted what had happened to our master and he told us—with quite a scary look on his face—that our training would be getting a lot tougher, and then he simply disappeared.

Thus, the hellish training that would last more than three years began.

“You at least got to enjoy your summer break, right?” you ask? Nah, as soon as we completed our summer assignments, we went back to training.   

And the same went for all other seasons; we were fully immersed in our training.

Because of that, I missed the opportunity to see Amane wearing cute outfits such as her swimsuit, her swimsuit, and lest we forget, her swimsuit.

With that being said, discarding our private lives for the sake of training did allow us to get a lot stronger.

So much so in fact that after only the second year our master had to give us sealing amulets.

They kept our unusual strength from arising any suspicions by forcibly matching it to that of a regular person whenever we put them on.

I got to enjoy the school sports festival plenty thanks to them. After all, there’s nothing better than a close match, am I right? Although, I still snatched first place in the running race!

More importantly, though, Amane was now just as strong—or weak—as any girl her age!

It’s hard for a man’s protective instincts not to kick in when faced with such a cute and fragile girl…

So, in case you might forget, Amane is the cutest!

Also, I think this goes without saying but we did take the amulets off during training.

At any rate, our brutal training continued, and it focused on three main points: physical strength improvement, life energy control, and regular-weapon mastery.

One of the things that make our divine arms so special is that no matter how big they are, the user can wield them without much difficulty.

Regular weapons, on the other hand, are not that easy to wield. I couldn’t even carry, let alone swing, ordinary weapons that were similar to mine.

Therefore, we had to master other weapons aside from our divine arms in case we ever find ourselves in a situation where we can’t use them.

Also, unlike the rest of the group, I was instructed in the art of creating battle skills. And after three years of rigorous training, my efforts finally paid off. By combining Dimensional Slash and Ethereal Beauty, I came up with “Dimensional Transfer.” And by putting Dimensional Slash and Circular Slash together, I created “Full Moon.”

Dimensional Transfer creates an entrance with one swing of my sword, and an exit with another, allowing me to travel through those portals for at least five seconds.

Full Moon is kind of an upgrade of Dimensional Slash in that it creates a void, similar to the original skill, but in the form of a circle as big as a regular Circular Slash. In addition, the void also absorbs the things around it, akin to a black hole.

Needless to say, Full Moon’s force could never rival that of an actual black hole, but it’s still capable of wiping out its intended target quite quickly.

And so, once the first three years of my training were coming to a close…

“I think it’s time,” says my master.

“For what?”

“It’s time I tell you my secret.”

“Secret?”

“Yeah, I’ve kept my divine arms hidden from you all this time, haven’t I?”

“Now that you mention it, yeah, you have.”

“Well, here they are.”

My master takes out his divine arms and…

“Dual Blades?”

“Uh-huh. They’re called ‘The Water Blades of Genesis.’

“Now that you’ve mastered the basics, you’re almost ready to learn the Shikiryuu Dual Blades Style.”

Dual Blades are regarded as the weakest divine arms, and yet this old dude still managed to rise to the top and become the strongest purger. It’s nuts.  

“Now then, here’s a question for you: How can we measure destructive power?”

“By multiplying the attack’s density, volume, and speed, right?”

“Correct. Next, why do you think the heaviness of an attack is so highly valued among purgers?”

“Um, because it equals strength?”

“To make a long story short, purgers prefer to focus on the heaviness of an attack because of three main factors: one’s lack of speed can be solved to a certain degree using life energy, divine arms are easy to wield which allows you to use more force and the fact that an attack’s volume can’t be altered.

“However, the Shikiryuu Style will allow you to use your life energy to augment your attacks’ density, utilize your body like a tool to artificially increase their volume, and finally, exploit everything you’ve got at your disposal to max out your speed.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just focus on increasing my attacks’ heaviness to get stronger?”

“While it can certainly make you stronger, there’s a limit to how much strength you can gain with it. Meanwhile, you can always continue getting faster and faster, and the higher the speed you reach, the more powerful your blows become, similar to a matchlock musket’s bullet.”

“Maybe you should use something more modern as an example, like a pistol or a revolver.”

“Alright then. I assume those pistols, revolvers, or whatever, are also quite fast and pack a lot of power despite being small enough to be held in your hands?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Perfect. The speed-focused Shikiryuu Style follows a similar concept.”  

“Could you be a little more specific…?”

“You’ll basically be moving as fast as one of those handguns’ bullets.”

The bullet of a regular handgun can reach speeds of 400 to 600 meters per second.

And he’s telling me to go as fast or even faster…

“Are you insane?”

“Do not worry! I know you can pull it off!”  

“No way.”

“What a stubborn guy. Well, just listen to what I have to say, okay?”

“Haa, fine…”

“In order to reach that kind of speed, you’ll have to accelerate the transmission of nerve signals in your body. That’s where life energy comes in. You’ll pour it into your nerves the same way you pour it into your bloodstream to strengthen yourself.”

Hold up. How did he find out about Divine-Blood Strengthening?

It seems my master knows that’s what I want to ask him since he offers me an explanation right away…

“It’s leaking?”

“That’s right. Unlike most purgers who cover their bodies with life energy, you’re making it flow inside yours, but I only managed to sniff that out when I noticed that you were letting some of it leak out.”

“In other words, my technique still needs some polishing, huh…”

“You could say that. Anyhow, like I said, the method is pretty much the same. Just pour life energy into your nerves instead of your bloodstream. Now, go for it!”

I guess it won’t hurt to give it a try.

I fill my nerves with life energy and make it flow around.  

“Haah!!”

I throw out a punch and…

“Huh, you’re even slower than usual.”

“Why?!”

“Isn’t it obvious? Your life energy isn’t even reaching the average speed at which nerve signals are transmitted.”

“So what you’re saying is…”

“Your life energy will have to be faster than a regular nerve impulse!”  

“You’ve lost your miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind?!!”

Nonetheless, after two months of practice, I finally mastered that technique.  

“Next, I’ll teach you how to concentrate your power!”

“Concentrate my power?”

“Yes! You’ll learn how to properly concentrate your power into one attack.”

“So, like this?” I say, and I begin to concentrate my life energy in my right hand.

“There’s no need to do it for that long, and you shouldn’t accumulate your life energy only in your arm unless you want to lower the force of your attacks. You must learn how to bring out all your life energy in your body and focus it into your attack in that split second when you’re about to make contact with your target.”

“Come on, get up! We’re just getting started!!”

“Noooooo!! I’m beat!!”  

But, alas, my days of training were far from over…

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