Ancient swordsmanship

The three people actually didn't live in the same district and walk on the same road. This time, for taking books in Shin's home, they took the tram first to accompany Yuma to his home. After seeing Yuma staggering into his house, they headed to the Shizaki residence together. Haruka's skills were indeed impressive: the precise target of her sudden thrusts were flawless. Yuma had only taken a fall, and although he was still a bit unsteady on his feet, it was expected that he would be fine by tomorrow.

Kazuya followed Shin to his home. When he disembarked, he noticed they were in the Minami Ward of Nagoya, an area with luxurious villas that emerged after the city's expansion—a wealthy district. It seemed that Shin's family had a good financial standing.

Shin wanted to invite Kazuya to his house, but he declined. He chose to stay at the station while Shin went back to fetch the items. Shin kwen that Kazuya didn't want to disturb his family. He went home directly to retrieve the items. Once home, without a word, he headed straight to Kanae Shimazaki's room, clearing out the materials and books she had collected over the years. Besides, he took her training sword bag—a bit of a payback for his impersonal sister, teaching her the important lesson that it is difficult to guard against a thief within one's house.

He packed everything into a cardboard box, carrying it to the station and handing it over to Kazuya. After expressing his gratitude, Kazuya bid farewell and headed home.

Getting off at the station near his house, Kazuya noticed a elementary school student wearing a dome hat, carrying a red backpack and holding a black garbage bag. The child was diligently searching through a recycling bin, struggling a bit due to her height. She kept an eye on her surroundings, cautious like a recently fledged animal, occasionally hiding when someone approached to throw rubbish. She continued extracting empty beverage bottles and placing them in the black garbage bag. Once done with one bin, she dragged the bag to the next, taking advantage of her small stature to navigate through the crowd and evade the station staff.

Observing this scene while holding the box, Kazuya couldn't help but feel a sense of discomfort about the societal conditions in Japan. Even elementary school students had to collect trash to make a living. Trying not to dwell on these unrelated matters, he shouldered his backpack with the sword bag and embraced the heavy cardboard box filled with books.

After a sweaty journey, he finally arrived home. Taking a moment to rest, he first opened the sword bag, extracting the bamboo sword from within. Staring at it for a few seconds, small text appeared next to the bamboo sword in his vision: [Item: Bamboo Cutting Sword]. He then focused on the "+" sign behind it, unfolding the detailed description.

[Bamboo Cutting Sword]: High-quality, three feet eight inches in length, crafted from four pieces of bamboo from the same stalk, with sheepskin covering the front end, and fixed at both ends and the middle with first-grade leather, hilt leather, and center knot leather, respectively. When equipped, it provides minor damage.

Minor damage... considering it's sports equipment, having any damage is acceptable.

Setting the bamboo sword aside, he took out some equipment from the sword bag. He could tell that Shin didn't approve of him self-learning swordsmanship, but even so, he made an effort to prepare the necessary practice tools. It seemed this person was worth getting to know. If he truly wanted to avoid trouble, he wouldn't have bothered with such meticulous preparation.

Of course, there was a reason for his insistence on self-learning. Without the game, he truly wouldn't have achieved anything significant by self-learning. However, with the game, as long as he could obtain skill books, he could become a master swordsman. He opened the box, reaching in and pulling out a book. Gently rubbing the cover, he saw the title " The Book of Five Rings", a modern printed book authored by Miyamoto Musashi.

He murmured softly, "Hope it's a skill book." Saying that, he opened the cover, and immediately his vision darkened. After a moment, a semi-transparent dialogue box appeared.

"Do you want to learn the skill [Swordsmanship: Nitenichi (two heavens as one)]?"

"Yes!"

"[Swordsmanship: Nitenichi] has been learned. Current level 1. Passive effect obtained: [Dual Weapon Grip]."

Kazuya sighed in relief. It worked! This game finally didn't let him down. Previously, when he tried using books on physics or chemistry, it didn't work. He almost thought they could only be used to learn languages.

He activated the skill [Swordsmanship: Nitenichi]. Countless images naturally surged in his mind, displaying numerous scenes of duels.

Closing his eyes, he savored the sensations for a moment, feeling a bit unsettled. Nitenichi involved using two swords, but could he use two bamboo swords in a Kendo match? Whether it could be used in Kendo matches was quite important. He thought Haruka probably wouldn't give up easily. Of course, if she stopped bothering him, he would consider it a self-defense skill learned. But if she continued to provoke, she would likely exploit the advantage of having practiced swordsmanship, and he needed to be prepared for that.

He emptied the box of books, but looking at the messy pile, he felt uncomfortable. Hastily, he stacked them neatly one by one, then opened each one to find skill books.

Kashima Shintoryu, founded by the sword master Tsukahara Bokuden, belonged to the Shinto school of swordsmanship. The technique emphasized basic training, and the special move "Itto" involved cutting a wooden stake 6,000 times daily to master, with each strike possessing lethal power.

This seemed good, but go ahead...

Shindo Isshinryu, Kashima Shinden Jikishinkageryu, was once active on the battlefield, known for its extreme fierceness. During the Meiji Restoration, the Satsuma army used this school to slaughter Tokugawa loyalists, causing rivers of blood to flow.

This might be awful for the modern world...

Yagyu Shinkageryu, originating from the Yagyu school, its core philosophy is "Do not kill others. We win by not being killed."

What kind of swordsmanship is this?

It had to be said that Kanae Shimazaki did indeed love swordsmanship, collecting a vast amount of information—official prints, photocopies, even handwritten copies. It's unclear how much time and effort she had invested. Unfortunately, she encountered an annoyed younger brother, and now all these benefits went to Kazuya.

After a while of pondering, he chose Kashima Shinpo-ryu, directly using the book to learn the skill. However, there was an prompt in his mind: "This skill can be merged with [Swordsmanship: Nitenichi] to form [Ancient Swordsmanship]. Do you want to merge?"

Kazuya was momentarily stunned. Originally, in-game skill fusion was a paid feature that allowed similar skills to share experience points. He had never used it before, having never spent money. Unexpectedly, now that he had crossed over, he could merge similar skills for free.

He chose to merge, and the game immediately prompted: "Skill [Ancient Swordsmanship] generated. Current level 1. Passive skills obtained: [Dual Weapon Grip], [Sword Mastery]."

Initially concerned about spending too much time learning multiple skills, now with this benefit, Kazuya no longer hesitated. He proceeded to pick up the books one by one from the box. Encountering skills related to swordsmanship, he merged them into [Ancient Swordsmanship]. Finally, he grabbed the bamboo sword, swung it in the air, and a line of green text appeared in the lower-left corner of his vision: [Ancient Swordsmanship] Experience +1, current experience 1/100.

Feeling satisfied, Kazuya continued his focused practice until he could no longer swing the bamboo sword. Exhausted, he lay on the floor, opened the status panel.

Name: Kazuya Matsuoka

Occupation: Student in Hope Peak Academy

Title: None

Vitality: 3/100

Strength: 9

Agility: 11

Stamina: 10

Intelligence: 15

Charm: 20

Skills: Japanese LV 7, English LV 5, Ancient Swordsmanship LV 2

Passive Effect: Neat Handwriting, Sword Mastery

Active Effect: British Accent, Dual Weapon Grip

Available Skills: None

Equipment: Crude Casualwear, Bamboo Cutting Sword

Owned money: ¥79,980