In early December, the sun slanted across the sky, and distant winds brought a touch of chill.
In the leaf-strewn woods, Xilutaiya stood with her eyes closed. She held a sword in one hand, leaving the other free, fingers hanging loosely from her sleeve and slightly parted, as if she could feel the gentle breeze filtering through them.
A blunt-tipped arrow whistled out from the distant trees, speeding toward the young girl. Her blade swept around in an upward arc from below, striking the incoming shaft with pinpoint precision.
Yet that was only the first. Soon, more arrows struck from different angles, sometimes even fired simultaneously from two directions.
Xilutaiya shifted her footing, the sword in her hand moving in concert. Again and again, she struck down the incoming arrows, growing ever more proficient.
After a long while, the volley ceased, and several familiar figures emerged from the trees.
Kailun approached the girl holding a longbow in one hand, looking down at the scattered arrows on the ground.
"A total of thirty practice arrows, and Tiya dodged or parried every single one." She sounded rather curious. "Tiya, did you learn the 'Sound Positioning' ability?" That was an ability belonging to the hunter path.
"No, but when I advanced to First-Order Emerald Honey, I received an enhancement related to my perception." She opened her eyes to answer, then bent down to gather the arrows around them, collecting the ones that were still reusable.
Mick glanced at the broken arrows. He picked one up and examined the break. The cut was quite clean, proof of the swordsman's exquisite skill; even during rapid reactions, her edge alignment had remained true.
He gained a newfound respect for the young girl's swordsmanship.
"Tiya, can we have a sparring match?" His hands itched to give it a try.
Before, she had always been guiding him in theory, but the two had never actually sparred in real combat.
Before Xilutaiya could answer, Kemiya bounded over and loudly objected.
"No way! Mick, you're at First-Order Blood Law now, and you're so strong! What if you hurt Tiya?" To her mind, a girl's appearance was the most precious thing; if she were injured in training like this, it would be an absolute shame.
"How about I use a thick wooden sword?" Mick mused.
"A thick wooden sword probably won't do either," Kemiya cut in again. "Don't you remember that match with Suolin? You snapped your wooden swords the second you clashed!"
Having cultivated the Breathing Method to its third stage, combined with the strength enhancement from the Blood Law attribute, Mick could now easily shatter an ox's skull with a full-force punch. Kemiya's concern was entirely justified.
"Sigh, if I'd known, I would've sparred with Tiya before advancing," Mick said with regret.
Listening to the two of them, Xilutaiya pondered for a moment and gave a slight shake of her head.
"Probably not today. I don't have a suitable weapon." The short sword she had been using all along was a gift from Captain Frien; by now, it felt a bit too light for her and was no longer adequate.
Under the reinforcement of the Breathing Method's third stage, ordinary iron swords could easily snap in intense combat, leading to accidents.
"Now that you mention it..." Mick looked down at the battered iron sword at his waist and agreed that it was time for a replacement.
His sword was on the thicker side; to put it bluntly, it was barely more than a lump of pig iron beaten into the shape of a blade.
Because it hadn't cost much to make, he never felt bad whenever it chipped. He would just grind it down occasionally and make do with it.
"What about you, Kailun? I see that ash longbow of yours is getting pretty worn too. Want to get a new one?"
"I maintain it fairly well, so I'm in no hurry to replace it." Kailun shook her head.
"What are you guys talking about?" Kemiya came over with Lei, setting down the armful of arrows they were carrying.
"I was wondering if I should replace my weapon." Mick rested his hands behind his head.
"Weapon?" Kemiya glanced at Mick's ragged iron sword and couldn't help stifling a giggle behind her hand. "Oh goodness, I'm amazed you aren't embarrassed to carry that thing around, tee-hee."
"That's how it is being an adventurer. You have to pinch pennies on everything," Mick said with an unbothered shake of his head. "If you took a good sword worth over fifty silver coins and used it for hunting and all kinds of odd jobs, it'd be ruined in less than a month. That'd be a massive waste. So ordinary adventurers usually keep several weapons on hand—cheap junk for chores, and the real deal for when their lives are on the line. Brother Jieluo's sword is forged entirely from black steel. Not only is it exceptionally heavy, but it's also remarkably sturdy. Ordinary steel can't even put a dent in it."
"Black steel... that stuff doesn't come cheap," Kemiya recalled. "My dad once went with the merchant association's representatives to Stoneforge City to negotiate a deal for two hundred ingots of black steel. They had to haggle with the blacksmith guild there for ages and promise all sorts of extra conditions before they finally secured them."
"How much was it?" Mick was somewhat tempted to buy a sword forged of black steel.
"Very expensive. One ingot of black steel costs almost five gold coins, and an ingot is smaller than my hand," Kemiya remembered. "If you forge a sword using black steel—even if you only use it on the edge and keep ordinary steel inside—it'll still run you six to seven gold coins or more."
"That much?!" Mick groaned. It seemed he definitely couldn't afford one right now. "Looking at it that way, aren't blacksmiths raking in a fortune? That sounds way better than being an adventurer," he mused.
"Of course. Blacksmiths are usually the wealthiest households in a village, followed by tailors and physicians," Kemiya sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead in exasperation.
Suddenly, a thought struck Kemiya, and she glanced at Lei.
"Lei, I think you'd make a fantastic blacksmith." Lei was burly and possessed immense strength, perfectly suited to the demands of smithing.
Hearing this, Kailun and Xilutaiya also agreed it was a fine idea.
"I don't know how to do complicated things," Lei said, lacking a bit of confidence.
"A blacksmith shouldn't need to be that smart, right?" Kemiya pondered. "Actually, Lei isn't dumb at all, it's just..." She cast a glance at the dark-haired girl beside them. It was just that this girl was so brilliant she made all of them wonder if they were born dull-witted.
Before meeting Xilutaiya, Kemiya had been renowned among her peers for her sharp wit and stellar memory.
Their conversation drifted from sparring to finding the right weapons, from black steel to blacksmiths, and from blacksmiths to their plans for the future.
"I'm going to become a hunter." Kailun had known her path from the very beginning.
"I'll probably become an adventurer, though the urge isn't as strong as it used to be." As he gradually absorbed more knowledge and broadened his horizons, Mick had slowly realized that being an adventurer was far from an idyllic profession.
"Lei says he doesn't know, but after hearing our suggestion just now, he says he'll visit Stoneforge City next year to see if he can learn the craft of a blacksmith."
"As for me..." Kemiya leaned against a tree trunk and gave it serious thought. "Honestly, I just love having fun. I have no idea what I really want to do in the future. In any case, I'll learn some interesting and useful things first, then travel around. What about you, Tiya? Do you have any plans?"
Plans... Xilutaiya leaned against the trunk and tilted her head back to gaze at the dense leaves fluttering in the wind, listening to their gentle rustling in the autumn breeze.
In truth, because she lacked the memories of this current life, there was nothing she held particularly dear or clung to.
While this admittedly left her lacking a sense of belonging, drifting like a dandelion seed, the flip side was that she was unburdened by shackles and free to try many things.
For once, she possessed talents unimaginable in her past life, allowing her to soak up this world's wondrous and novel knowledge like a sponge and master all manner of crafts.
Back on Earth, constrained by environment, birth, and endless rules and restrictions, the vast majority of people could hardly call their lives free or smooth. Many grew numb and anxious under the ceaseless onslaught of internet information; even if they harbored dreams, it was nearly impossible to hold onto them against the battering of conflicting ideals and harsh reality.
"What kind of life do I want? How should any mortal soul choose to spend this fleeting existence?" That was virtually the ultimate root of all contemplation.
At that thought, Xilutaiya shook her head slightly. It was still too early to dwell on such grand questions.
Still, having the chance to see a wider world and experience more of its splendor, wouldn't it be too great a pity to let it slip by?
"I will probably study beside Scholar Haide and my teacher for a while longer. Once I am ready, I'll set out to travel and try to further advance my attribute rank."
"If that's the case, heading to the Hidden Woodland seems like a great choice, Tiya," Kemiya reminded her.
"That place..." Xilutaiya recalled Scholar Haide's description.
It was said that many schools had established footholds in the Hidden Woodland. Young people who entered could gain access to the introductory occult arts of various schools. If one met certain qualifications, they could apply for a school's examination, and upon completing the various assessments and trials, they could join that school and gain access to authentic inheritances.
These transcendent schools were formidable organizations far surpassing ordinary nations. They possessed branches all across the continent and served as the backing forces behind many countries; when the Raygas Principality was founded back in the day, it had relied on their aid.
Without going to the Hidden Woodland, it was exceedingly difficult for ordinary folk in the outside world to come into contact with higher-level transcendent knowledge; what was taught within the various trade guilds rarely went beyond the third-order attribute.
Analyzed this way, going there was indeed the best choice, allowing her to reach an even broader world.
Since there was no reason to rule it out, she would make heading to the Hidden Woodland her future goal. Xilutaiya quietly made up her mind.
Chapter 61