After his shift was up, Tatsuro once again activated [Life Magic]. This time, he used it to slowly wake Ai up to not ruin her good sleep.
"Hmm… N… Tatsuro? Is it time to switch?" (Ai)
"Yeah, I'll leave the rest to you." (Tatsuro)
"Hmm… Ah, I feel so much better. It's somehow different from just taking a nap, huh?" (Ai)
Ai climbed into a sitting position while stretching her body. Rotating her shoulders in a circular motion, she was surprised that she wasn't as tired as she thought she'd be. Though she never said it, she was certain that Tatsuro used some kind of magic.
"What did you do earlier?" (Ai)
"I was staring at my cute girlfriend's face while she was sleeping." (Tatsuro)
"Why would you even do that…" (Ai)
Ai's face turned red while she made sure that she didn't drool while sleeping. Tatsuro looked at her with a warm smile before telling her what really happened.
"That was a joke. I went into a meditation-ish state while I was on night watch." (Tatsuro)"Meditation-ish???" (Ai)
He summarized his activities over the past two hours, including the fact that he got two skills at once.
Hearing that, Ai responded with "Then, I think I'll try doing that too."
Before he slept, Tatsuro cast [Life Magic] on Ai to help keep her awake.
"Goodnight! Don't forget to wake me up in two hours, okay!" (Tatsuro)
"Right!" (Ai)
With that, Ai's shift has officially begun.
(Calm your heart and just focus on the sounds around me, he says…)
Remembering Tatsuro's words earlier, she started focusing on the sounds reaching her ears.
(I didn't get this from the way he explained but, the sounds here sure are diverse, huh?)
Although it was gradually dropping, Ai managed to retain her(Ai) focus while sitting cross-legged. And when she did this for long enough:
|Skill [Ki Regeneration] acquired.|
"Wha…?" (Ai)
(Somehow, I got a different skill from what Tatsuro said… Wait, don't lose focus. FOCUS!)
And just like that, more time passed.
|Skill [Ki Regeneration] has leveled up to Lv 2.|
(Wai… I can't concentrate like this! FOCUS!)
And time passed once again…
|Skill [Ki Regeneration] has leveled up to Lv 3.|
(This thing… You really won't let me concentrate, huh? That's no good, you know!!!)
More time passed again, and again…
|Skill [Ki Regeneration] has leveled up to Lv 4.|
(Lalalalala…)
Time passed again, and again, and again…
|Skill [Ki Regeneration] has leveled up to Lv 5.|
(T/N: I know that from her [Valkyrie] skill but the way her skill increases is really a big cheat!)
(HAAA… This is IMPOSSIBLE! HAAA… You just killed my meditation spirit… You've been saying Ki this, Ki that since the beginning… What is this Ki anyway?!)
Not knowing where to vent her frustration, Ai booted up her system and navigated to Help.
(What is Ki? … [The Ki that resides in one's body. If one were to use this, they can make their body or the effects of their Martial Arts skills stronger.])
"Hmm… Sounds convenient." (Ai)
(Then how do I use it? … [The first step is to acknowledge the presence of Ki in your body. Next is to visualize making that Ki move according to one's purpose. Once one can do that, they can envelop their entire body or weapon with Ki, making them stronger. Upon mastering that, one can then move on to practicing the release of their Ki.])
Being told something that she doesn't understand yet again, Ai was left with more questions than answers.
(Hmm…? What exactly do you mean by "release?"… [For example, if you envelop your sword with Ki, releasing that Ki will make your slashes fly out. If you use this technique on your fists, your punches will be much stronger and reach a lot further.])
"To think that this kind of thing is possible… Time to practice!" (Ai)
(First is to feel the Ki in me… … … … Ah, is it this thing?)
Somewhere in her, she felt a lump of energy, raging violently as if asserting its place.
(Make it move like how I want it to… Now, please be cooperative… Great! Who's a good girl?)
As though training a wild horse, she continued to tame the chaotic waves within this mass of energy.
If one were to describe the mass of energy, it would be similar to the sphere that appeared when Tatsuro first used his attributed magic just that it was continuously rotating. As if trying to unravel a ball of yarn, Ai slowly allowed the Ki to permeate her entire body, wrapping herself bit by bit with a layer of Ki.
|Skill [Body Reinforcement] acquired.|
(Mhmm. This somehow feels right. I should try increasing the output next.)
This time, she increased the connection between the layers of Ki wrapped around her with the lump of Ki in her.
|Skill [Body Reinforcement] has leveled up to Lv 2.|
|Skill [Body Reinforcement] has leveled up to Lv 3.|
|Skill [Body Reinforcement] has leveled up to Lv 4.|
|Skill [Body Reinforcement] has leveled up to Lv 5.|
|Skill [Body Reinforcement] has leveled up to Lv 6.|
(Oops… Let's stop here for now…)
Hearing the ceaseless announcements in her head, she decided to stop increasing the output of Ki.
(Now, now… It's time for the long-awaited Ki release! I don't have a sword yet so let's just go with the fist for now.)
Using her focus, she reallocated a percentage of the Ki covering her body to her right hand.
The Ki wrapping her fist grew thicker and once Ai felt that she had placed enough Ki onto her fist, she threw a punch upwards.
(Figures… It didn't fly out… How should making it fly out even feel like?)
Repeating the same Ki punch over and over again, she managed to hit [Unarmed Combat Lv 5] as time passed. However, despite all that practice, she wasn't able to release her Ki outwards.
Despite that, it doesn't mean that what Ai did was a waste of time. The basic foundation of Ki release was to surround a part of your body with Ki before releasing it. Ai, who had already learned how to shroud her entire body with Ki and redirect it to one part of her body, was already ahead of the simple focus and release technique of Ki.
(Tsk… If I did it, I could have shown Tatsuro too… Let's keep this a secret for now.)
"Tatsuro, Tatsuro, Wakey-wakey!" (Ai)
"Hmm hmm..? Haaa… Is it time to switch now?" (Tatsuro)
"Yeah." (Ai)
"Did something happen when I was asleep?" (Tatsuro)
"Hn hnn. Nothing at all!" (Ai)
"I see. Ah, I just remembered, did you learn the [Focus] skill too?" (Tatsuro)
"… I forgot about that." (Ai)
—-
(T/N: sorry for the late post)
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