"She probably showed up cause she noticed something weird going on here."
After shooing away the uninvited guest, Kazami Yuuka gestured toward the golden glow still covering the sunflower field and offered her theory on why Yakumo Yukari might have popped in:
"We were born around the same time. Back when we were weak, we used to help each other out a lot. Even though we eventually went our separate ways, she still drops by now and then... So, wanna keep going?"
"After that random interruption? Kinda hard to get back on the track."
Veyron slid his blade, Bloodwing, back into its sheath. "How about we pick it up tomorrow?"
"Sure." Yuuka nodded, then glanced at his sword. "You always fight with a blade?"
"Pretty much." Veyron nodded. "When I first got into all this stuff, I didn't have much to work with. Compared to guns or fancy swords, blades are easier to learn. Just need to know how to swing. Perfect for someone like me with no teacher or fancy training."
"Swinging alone wouldn't get you this far," Yuuka shook her head with a small smile. "I've seen plenty of people who claim to have been practicing for hundreds of years."
"But their so-called 'swordsmanship' is really just smacking stuff with a sharpened club, relying on brute force and a good enough weapon that won't break."
Of course, whether it was slicing through the air with a wave of energy that clashed with her magic cannon from across hundreds of meters, or clashing steel against her parasol up close, Veyron's blade work had clearly reached another level.
The only catch? That blade work was pretty much the only thing worth praising.
When it came to hand-to-hand combat, energy control, or using Haki, Veyron was all over the place—completely lacking in form or technique.
Veyron's lack of technique wasn't the messy, flailing kind—it was instinctual.
His body reacted before his mind could even catch up, dodging attacks and countering the moment there was an opening. A kind of raw, reactive style without conscious thought.
Yeah, that's how gene-lock works for me.
First-stage gene unlocks boost your combat instincts like crazy. But actually mastering those instincts—making them part of your normal skill set—probably won't happen until you reach stage three.
The third stage isn't about muscle power—it's about the brain.
Unlocking more brainpower means faster thinking, better memory, and the ability to retain those instinctive reactions even when the gene lock's not active.
"Focusing on one path and going all in is fine, but you shouldn't totally ignore the rest," Yuuka said as they walked together.
"If you didn't have any talent in those areas, sure, just keep practicing your blade. But you do. You've got tons of potential."
"I'd bet just putting in a little effort would get your close-quarters combat and energy control to about 80% of your sword skill."
"Then you'd be almost unstoppable—unless someone hits you with some super weird ability."
"You might be overestimating my talent a little…" Veyron chuckled, then gave her a quick rundown of what the first and second stages of the gene lock could do.
"So that's how you managed that crazy speed and power burst," Yuuka said, finally understanding.
Back then, when he suddenly exploded with ten times the strength and multiple times the speed, she figured she'd just misjudged him due to being out of practice.
But no—it was the damn gene lock trait.
Just a glance, and she'd completely misread the gap in power.
"What's your usual strength like when you're not using the gene lock?" she asked, curious.
"Let me give you a frame of reference you're familiar with: magic cannons."
Veyron stopped, lifted one hand, pointed with his index finger, and gathered energy at the tip. A few seconds later, he fired a magic cannon about the size of a fist into the sky.
"Got it," Yuuka nodded with understanding.
That wasn't bad, honestly.
He had solid control—the energy didn't leak everywhere before reaching the target. And it still retained a pretty wild, unstable charge, which meant it could pack a punch on impact.
But compared to his full power while using the gene lock? Let's just say it was night and day. No exaggeration.
"If you're not in a rush to leave, how about I teach you a few tricks for firing a real magic cannon?" she offered.
This is one of those techniques with no real cap—its potential depends entirely on how well you use it.
At its core, a magic cannon is just pure energy launched like a projectile.
The key to using it well lies in two things: Minimize waste + Maximize impact.
Someone who sucks at it might use 100 units of energy and have 99 of those fizzle out before even touching the target. And even that last unit might break apart on impact, doing practically nothing.
But a true master—someone who's refined the technique to perfection—can use the same 100 units and deliver 99.99 of them straight to the enemy's face. Along the way, all that compressed energy could trigger chain reactions on contact, multiplying the damage exponentially.
Kazami Yuuka was one of those masters.
With insanely high-level spirit energy—both in quality and quantity—she basically bombarded her way to her current reputation. Her magic cannons had sent more than a few yokai kids crying home.
Under her guidance… Using the same amount of spirit energy he'd used that night—
Veyron tightened his energy control. What used to be a fist-sized magic cannon was now as thin as a finger.
Before: blow up a rock.
Now: punch through it clean.
Even tighter. Now the cannon was needle-thin.
Could still pierce that rock with no effort—but now it could also reduce it to dust, depending on how he tuned the shot.
[Ding! New Trait Acquired — Energy Release (Lv.1)]
[Energy Release: "The skill of gathering energy and then letting it loose."]