Chapter 95: The Consequences of Teasing an Older Single Woman
[Congratulations! You have obtained the item: Key of Domination: Xuanyuan Sword!]
[Key of Domination: Xuanyuan Sword — A Divine Key forged from the core of the Tenth Herrscher. Its blade is composed of Soulium, a nanomachine-based material.]
[Attribute: Strength +20]
[Activation Status: Inactive]
'Xuanyuan Sword?'
Rovel stared at the system notification, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He knew this weapon well. The Xuanyuan Sword wasn't just a simple blade; its most unique characteristic was its need to connect with a user before its true power could be unleashed.
Without that resonance, it was little more than a finely crafted, exceptionally sharp sword, no different from a common weapon. In its current inactive state, it was arguably less useful than the Prototype Pulse Katana already in his possession.
The Xuanyuan Sword was a weapon of many forms, a fact Rovel was well aware of. He recalled the legends of Fu Hua's seven disciples; all but one, Cheng Lingshuang, had comprehended their own Sword Intent, and in their hands, the Xuanyuan Sword had manifested in different shapes.
Beyond them, there was the form known as Ruoshui, wielded by both Xiao Yun and Cheng Lixue. Fu Hua herself commanded the Tai Xu Grip, and Ji Lin had once wielded the Ancient Sword: Xuanyuan. Each transformation was intrinsically linked to the user's personality, their abilities, and the very essence of their soul.
Rovel had no idea what form the legendary blade would take in his hands.
He found a quiet corner in a nearby cafe, the aroma of roasted coffee beans hanging in the air. With a subtle gesture, he materialized the Xuanyuan Sword, letting it rest in his hands as he examined it with focused curiosity.
The sword was approximately seventy centimeters long, its double-edged blade a brilliant, shimmering gold. complex, dark gray patterns snaked across its surface, giving it an air of ancient mystery. When he lifted it, it felt almost weightless, yet the edge was so keen it seemed capable of severing a single strand of falling hair.
Rovel tightened his grip on the hilt. In the next instant, the world sharpened around him, his perception becoming preternaturally clear as he activated his Clear Mirror Sword Intent.
But the Xuanyuan Sword remained inert, its golden sheen unchanged.
He shifted his approach, channeling his Tai Xu Sword Intent, then the crackling energy of his Lightning Sword Intent. He even tried to activate all three simultaneously, a torrent of conceptual power flowing from him into the blade. Still, nothing. The sword offered no response, no flicker of acknowledgment.
'Could it be... I'm not compatible with it?'
Rovel blinked, a hint of disappointment settling in. He sat there for a long while, turning the sword over and over, studying its every detail, but no new insights came. With a quiet sigh, he dematerialized it, returning it to the silence of his system inventory.
It wasn't a major loss. His Prototype Pulse Katana was still more than serviceable; it hadn't yet reached the point of obsolescence.
"I'll have to find some time to test if Yae Sakura's Stigmata power can activate it," Rovel murmured to himself, taking a sip of his coffee.
Come to think of it, he still hadn't unraveled the mystery of why Yae Sakura had transformed herself into a Stigmata to aid him back then. It was a question that lingered at the back of his mind, a debt he didn't know how to repay.
Just as he was lost in thought, a shadow fell over his table, and a figure slid into the chair opposite him.
"Yo, kid. What's a guy like you doing hiding in here, drinking coffee all by your lonesome?" a familiar, teasing voice drawled. "Weren't you supposed to be on a date with Mei? Don't tell me you two had a fight."
Himeko had spotted him looking dazed from across the street. She sauntered over, her tone laced with playful curiosity. As a qualified teacher, she considered it part of her job to keep a timely watch on her students' emotional well-being—or at least, that was her excuse.
"Why do you sound so happy at the prospect of us having a fight?" Rovel retorted, arching an eyebrow.
"That's not it at all," Himeko said, waving her hand dismissively, though the smirk on her face betrayed her. She leaned forward conspiratorially. "So, did you really have an argument?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, Himeko, but no." Rovel gave the older single woman a pointed glance.
"Hey, kid, where are your manners?" Himeko's brows shot up in mock indignation. "It's Sister Himeko, or Teacher Himeko! At the very least, you could call me Major Himeko. What's this business of using my name directly?"
"Politeness is a two-way street. I don't particularly enjoy being called 'kid'either," Rovel replied smoothly. "You could at least call me Rovel. Or Fang Ruobai. Or, at the very least," he paused, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips, "you could call me'darling.' I could barely accept that."
While uttering such an outrageous suggestion, he calmly took another sip of coffee, his expression perfectly placid.
A slow, meaningful smile spread across Himeko's face. Her eyes glinted. Was he... teasing her? It was a rare experience indeed. She was usually the one doing the teasing, but today, the tables had turned.
"Darling? Hehe," she let out a low, dangerous chuckle. "You should know, kid, that triggering the marital aspirations of an older single woman can have very, very serious consequences."
"I'll take my chances," Rovel shot back, refusing to be outdone. "Besides, as a young man, I have a virtually endless supply of energy."
"Oh? Is that so?" Himeko's smile widened, turning predatory. "Then let's go test just how vigorous that energy of yours really is."
Before Rovel could react, her hand shot out, grabbing his wrist in an iron grip. Without another word, she hauled him out of his seat and dragged him from the cafe.
A few minutes later, the two of them arrived at... the training ground.
"Darling," Himeko purred, her voice dripping with mock sweetness as a triumphant smirk lit up her face. "Why is there a hint of disappointment on your face?"
"So Auntie Himeko is all talk after all," Rovel said with a theatrical shrug, though he had expected this outcome all along. "Deep down, you're just a shy little girl."
The air suddenly split with a powerful roar. A gust of wind whipped past Rovel's cheek as a massive greatsword, weighing well over a hundred pounds, flew past his face, shearing off a single strand of his hair.
CLANG!
The greatsword slammed into the ground with brutal force. The training ground floor was made of a reinforced composite far tougher than ordinary concrete, but even so, the blade Himeko had thrown carved a deep, ugly gash into its surface.
"Be a good boy," Himeko said, her smile now strained and tight, "and call me Sister Himeko." The sharp crack of her knuckles echoed in the sudden silence. Someone was clearly getting agitated, and it wasn't Rovel. "Since you, young man, have so much energy, your big sister is going to help you vent some of it."
In a blur of motion, she lunged forward, a powerful straight punch aimed directly at Rovel's face. He threw himself into a backward flip, the punch whistling past where his head had been.
Himeko used her forward momentum to smoothly wrench the greatsword from the floor. With an unstoppable, ferocious aura, she brought the massive blade crashing down toward him.
Dust and debris exploded into the air. Rovel, already in motion, used the flat of his Prototype Pulse Katana to slightly deflect the trajectory of the devastating blow. The sheer, terrifying power behind the swing was a stark reminder of his first battle against Siegfried.
But Himeko's assault was even fiercer. She fought with almost no regard for her own defense, sealing off all her paths of retreat. Every attack was a fearless, all-in charge. This meant that even if Rovel wanted to counterattack, he would have to be prepared to trade injury for injury.
She left openings everywhere, so many that they felt like blatant invitations. Under the clarity of his Clear Mirror Sword Intent, he could see them all perfectly. But he also saw the truth behind them: if he struck at any of those apparent weaknesses, Himeko would be hurt, but her momentum wouldn't be affected in the slightest. The greatsword in her hands would, in turn, slam into his body with its full, unmitigated force.
It was a fighting style born of long experience, a reckless dance on the edge of oblivion that reminded him of the combat thrill sought by Kalpas.
With Rovel's comparatively slight frame, a single clean hit would be the end of the match. He wasn't quite ready to give his "first blood" to Himeko just yet.
And so, for the next several minutes, Rovel found himself being chased all over the training ground. He relied on the subtle shifts of Dissipating Force and the predictive clarity of his Sword Intent to constantly maneuver, dodging, weaving, and parrying the relentless storm of steel.
"You brat... you're slippery as an eel," Himeko finally panted, planting her greatsword into the ground and using it as a support while she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
She had originally intended to use her overwhelming strength to establish a bit of authority, to put the cheeky young man in his place. She never expected that from start to finish, she wouldn't even manage to land a solid hit.
If she donned her Vermilion Knight: Eclipse battlesuit, she was confident she could catch him. But sparring with her own student while wearing a full Valkyrie armor set? That was just too cheap.
Even with Himeko's thick skin, she was too embarrassed to stoop that low.
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