Chapter 6

As the knights resumed their training under the watchful eye of the instructor, Hinata and Shizu approached Igarashi, who lightly clapped at their approach.

"You two were strong, I could barely see your movements," he remarked, smiling as he looked towards Shizu. "Shizu-sensei, what's wrong?"

Hinata too hearing this turned towards Shizu, "I know you've gotten stronger, but it seems like you've completely surpassed me."

Shizu laughed softly and reached out, taking Hinata's hand in hers. It was a heartwarming moment between the two.

'A can feel a lot of emotion inside those words.' Igarashi though as he mentally sighed before he noticed Hinata staring at him. "…?"

"So, how was it?" Hinata asked abruptly, catching Igarashi off guard. "...How was what?" he blinked in confusion.

"..." Hinata fell silent for a moment, her hand hovering near the hilt of her sword as she slowly unsheathed it. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"I'm joking, I'm joking!" Igarashi quickly waved his hands in defense, taking a step back. "You're really strong, I could barely follow your movements."

"..." Hinata paused, her hand still on her sword before she sighed and sheathed it. "Good."

Hearing her response, Igarashi looked at her expressionlessly, inwardly joking, 'It wouldn't be good for my health to get involved with her any further.'

But really, what kind of person pulls out a sword when you're just joking around?

[Recording completed.]

[Analyzing events.]

[Events analyzed.]

With the notification from the library, "--!!" Igarashi suddenly felt several flashes in his head, but this time, it wasn't as disorienting as before.

[Acquired: Extra skill: Flame Manipulation.]

[Acquired: Extra skill: Flame Transformation.]

"What?" Igarashi was puzzled at first, but then it clicked. "Ah... I see."

He had already learned how to use fire magic a few days ago, understanding its principles.

So, when the library analyzed their battle, it merged the information of the new skill with what he already knew, granting him the skill.

'So, as long as I understand something, and watch and record other people using it, the library can analyze the skill..."

"...send the newly acquired information into my head, basically teaching me more on said subject, and I can acquire more knowledge to the point it can develop into a skill?'

[Technically, yes.]

[However, there is a small chance of acquiring said skill.]

"Then, this one was a fluke?" Igarashi thought as he facepalmed, grabbing the attention of the two females.

"Igarashi-kun?" Shizu asked with concern as Igarashi shook his head as he mumbled under his breath. "Let's try them."

"Shizu-sensei, can you lend me your sword for a moment?"

Igarashi suddenly, out of nowhere, asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Hinata, but Shizu complied anyway, unsheathing her sword and giving it to Igarashi. He took the sword carefully in hand, inspecting it.

"Even with my untrained eyes, I can tell this is a good sword," he mumbled before holding the sword straight. "Huff…"

Inhaling and exhaling a little, Igarashi's grip on the sword tightened as flames lit up from the rain guard, upwards to the tips of the sword. "Eh?"

"Eh?" Both Shizu and Hinata's eyes widened in surprise as they stared at the lit-up sword in his hand. "So, it's like this, huh? Then what if I compress it further?"

Just as they were in surprise, Igarashi's voice cut through the air again as both women came back to their senses. "Wait, Igarashi—"

However, it was too late.

Igarashi tried compressing the flames around the sword, but before he could do so, it vanished. "Ahh… Not enough magicules," Igarashi lamented.

He had hoped to create something like an aura blade in wuxia.

"It's not that easy to do, huh?" Igarashi then pursed his lips as he looked around, seeing two women staring at him in surprise. "Ah… Yabe."

"Igarashi-kun… how?" Shizu asked, and Hinata nodded beside her, also curious to know.

Igarashi, realizing he couldn't escape, sighed.

"I was studying how to use magic a few days ago. Of course, I found out that it wasn't possible for the inhabitants of this world, as magicules are poisonous to them. But I didn't give up and blindly continued."

"As a result, I was finally able to cast a flame magic. Of course, I was successful in the end, but the flames were too small because of my limited magic power, and they extinguished quickly."

Igarashi explained truthfully, though he couldn't divulge the role his skill played.

While he felt he could trust both of them, there was no harm in hiding a few things. After all, his skill helped, but he had to understand the basics himself.

"Seeing your fight, especially when Shizu-sensei used flames to coat her sword, enlightened me, and I thought I could just do it," Igarashi continued.

"Igarashi-kun, what you just did, not everybody can do this, you know?" Hinata asked, scrutinizing him. However, Igarashi nodded.

"I'm fully aware. I didn't study in the library for a month for nothing."

"Then that's good," Hinata smiled, her lips tugging upwards. Seeing this, Igarashi's eyes widened.

"Hinata-san, it would be better if you smiled a bit more," Igarashi raised his hand as if stating facts.

"Nah, I'm stating facts!" he thought.

Hinata went silent, but Igarashi knew what was coming next. "Shizu-sensei, you'll protect me, right?" he turned towards Shizu, knowing he was cooked, so this was the best he could do.

"I'm sorry, Igarashi-kun, I'm no match for Hinata," Shizu shook her head. However, he could tell under her mask, she was teasing him.

"Ah, Wallahi, I'm finished," Igarashi smiled, accepting his fate, closing his eyes. What happened next was Igarashi blanking out for a few seconds.

Insert Gojo "Wallahi I'm finished" here.

 ☆ ☆ ☆

"Alright, I'll be going now," Igarashi waved his hand to Shizu and Hinata as he headed back to his apartment.

He had already appointed the time and location they'd meet; all that was left was to prepare for the upcoming trip to Ingrassia. 'Yuuki Kagurazaga, huh?'

Apparently, Shizu-sensei's other student was now a guild master in Ingrassia. Hinata did say something about dumping whatever I need onto him.

"Whatever you need, just tell him, we're all under the same teacher anyways." Those were Hinata's words of advice.

Though Shizu was dumbfounded when Hinata said those words, to Igarashi, those words were somewhat bad for him. However—

"—I was slightly worried about this, but depending on how developed Ingrassia is, I should make a contingency plan for things moving forward from now on."

"Can't have anyone beating me to my plan of plagiarizing entertainment in this world."

"If I can really get what I want at Ingrassia, that would mean Ingrassia is developed. This is also good news and bad news. But..."

"…I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Perhaps, we can maybe share some information we know and work together." Igarashi sighed weakly, stretching his hands up in the air.

"Haah, I'm freaking tired."

'Same here, Igarashi, same here…'

—Unknown to Igarashi, he had already caught the attention of the higher-ups in Ruberios. To be specific, he had already garnered the attention of God Luminous herself.

However, it would be some time before they would interact as it would be a meeting between the Strongest Vampire Ancestor of history vs the Omniscient Divine-Human of the future.

Both Luminous and Igarashi after meeting each other: "Nah we'd talk."