Shiki, having exited the No Self state, once again placed her hand on the sword hilt, and then a sword light almost identical to the previous one burst forth.
However, there was only one strike. After cutting the straw mat, Shiki remained motionless in her drawing stance.
She closed her eyes and felt it carefully. After a long while, she sheathed her sword.
'Still a bit off…'
That's right, Shiki only unleashed the first Iai strike. She didn't unleash the second Kesagiri strike. She planned to take it one step at a time, first getting the Iai to be the same as in the No Self state.
As time passed, more and more straw mats were cut on the ground, and the cuts became smoother and smoother.
Shiki was still immersed in the straw mat cutting training. Her accuracy and speed were steadily increasing, but there was still a slight difference compared to her strikes in the No Self state.
"Training pause! Time to eat!"
Tejima came out carrying two bowls of rice. On the table, there were already two dishes, one meat and one vegetable.
The shout pulled Shiki out of her training. After moving her shoulders a few times, she realized that it was already noon.
"So fast…"
"That proves your concentration is very high. Also, don't cut straw mats this afternoon." Tejima said while shoveling rice.
"Not cutting anymore? But I feel my arm is fine, not too tired." Shiki said, clenching her fist. Aside from a slight soreness in her forearm, everything else was normal.
"Listen to me first. There are two reasons why I'm not letting you cut straw mats. First, I don't have that many straw mats here. Second, swordsmanship ultimately requires actual combat."
"This afternoon is your sparring with me. Don't just exert your strength on those broken straw mats anymore."
"That's great! Practicing all the time is boring anyway." A slight smile appeared on Shiki's face. Strength was the foundation for survival in Teyvat, so of course she was happy about sparring, which could increase her combat experience.
Then Shiki remembered something, put away her smile, and asked, "By the way, can I use No Self?"
Tejima did not stop eating upon hearing this, only glancing at the girl and saying, "As you wish."
Good Talents do not equate to strong abilities. Geniuses need time to convert their Talents into strength. Tejima decided that in the afternoon, he would show the somewhat conceited girl a thing or two. Besides, he also knew how to use No Self!
"Catch!"
A wooden sword fell into Shiki's hand. The scratches covering the blade symbolized its weathered history.
"Made of pine wood, it has only one advantage: it's sturdy!" Tejima said.
Shiki gripped the wooden sword with both hands and swung it twice. Two faint whooshing sounds echoed in the air. In terms of weight, it was lighter than Kujikanesada, but there were benefits: her sword-swinging speed would increase.
"I'm ready."
Shiki took a deep breath, then closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she had already entered the No Self state.
Her two emotionless, pitch-black eyes were like bottomless voids. Ordinary people would feel a slight fear just by making eye contact.
"You're getting more and more skilled at this. Just attack. Don't worry, I won't use my Vision in this sparring match."
Tejima held the sword with both hands in a middle stance, and a sharp aura emanated from him, transforming him from a gentle, handsome old man into a sharp blade about to be unsheathed.
Shiki took a step forward and charged, simultaneously pushing her hands forward, the tip of her sword thrusting directly at Tejima's throat.
However, Tejima made no move until the sword tip was less than ten centimeters away from him. Only then did he casually parry the wooden sword.
Then, with a speed that Shiki, even in the No Self state, found difficult to react to, he closed in, placing his horizontal sword across the girl's pale neck.
"One round."
"Again!"
Shiki retreated to create distance. This time, she didn't initiate the attack. Her previous blunder had made the girl extremely cautious.
And Tejima also did not initiate an attack, just stood still in a middle stance.
In the silent standoff, the pressure Tejima exerted on her was greater than she had imagined.
Adrenaline began to secrete, accelerating her heart. After tightening her grip on the wooden sword, Shiki, like a nimble rabbit, shot away from her original position.
The wooden sword struck downwards at Tejima. However, the latter's figure strangely slid to the side, and the two wooden swords made an unpleasant scraping sound. Shiki only felt the sword in her hand uncontrollably veer to the right. Fortunately, she was in the No Self state, so the sword didn't fly out.
But this momentary loss of control had already left her wide open.
Although she really wanted to cleave down with one stroke, the tip of the sword against her throat forced her to stop her movements.
"Two rounds." Tejima chuckled softly, retrieving his wooden sword and placing it back in front of him.
...
A month passed like this. Shiki did basic practice in the morning and sparred with Tejima in the afternoon, though she was always the one being trained.
But today was different.
Shiki lowered herself and pressed the wooden sword against Tejima's chest, while Tejima's sword narrowly passed through her hair, almost hitting her neck.
But almost is still almost. No matter how close the distance, hitting and not hitting are two different concepts.
"One round."
The girl's clear voice could barely hide her joy. It had been a month, from losing every single move to having a back-and-forth, and now to a narrow victory.
Indeed, her Talents were very high, but without daily arduous training, even the best Talents could not be transformed into real power.
Shiki exited the No Self state, then sat on the ground without caring for her image. The high-intensity combat had left her exhausted.
Tejima's condition was better than the girl's. He was only breathing heavily and sweating profusely.
"Although I knew this day would come sooner or later, it arrived much too quickly. Your swordsmanship in the No Self state has surpassed mine."
"Honestly, there's not much left for me to teach you. All my sword techniques have been learned by you during our sparring."
"As for the rest, it's not that I don't want to teach, but that I can't. Without a Vision, one cannot master elemental power, and all those techniques require elemental power to cooperate."
Tejima said with some frustration. To be honest, having such a talented disciple was certainly very gratifying, but it was truly a pity that she couldn't learn due to the Vision factor.
"Sigh, honestly, Visions are something that happens by chance. Even if it's an attack with elemental power, I can break it with a single sword strike."
As long as the combat power remains at the level of mortals, Shiki fears no one. The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception will tell them what it means for their time of death to have arrived!
Seeing the girl so confident, Tejima said nothing more, just silently shook his head.
He felt that the girl's confidence was entirely due to not having seen a Vision holder manipulate elemental power.