A few hours passed. Dinner had passed yet the two hadn't talked properly…
…up until now.
The two beds are separated with a desk. Kiana sat cross-legged on it as she faced Shi Tian. The ceiling lights dimly lit the room. The gusts of wind mixed with snow could be heard outside the window.
“Where did you go?”
“I met up with someone.”
“Ah?”
Kiana is stunned. She did not expect him to outright say it.
“When we were cleaning up the zombies last night…”
Shi Tian narrated the events that led to his meeting with Tesla.
“...I asked them if we could have your dad’s location.”
“What did they say?!”
“It’s not possible.”
Kiana took some time to calm down. She wasn’t as uneasy as Shi Tian had expected. Instead, she mulled over the fact he met them for her sake. She might be stupid and reckless (sometimes), but she can still see the facts clearly.
“...Sorry about earlier.”
“Hm?”
It struck Shi Tian.
He did not take Kiana’s reactions seriously. He thought she felt awkward and whatnot. He did not know she actually felt guilty about it.
“There’s no need to say sorry. I didn’t think much about it earlier. I knew it was embarrassing.”
“But still…”
Seeing Kiana not being able to speak, Shi Tian was at a loss. He hasn’t encountered this situation even in his previous life. Having three best friends, all guys, meant everybody said what’s on their mind.
As for girls?
That’s out of the question.
‘I need to reassure her. A favor she owes?’
He could not decide in the end.
“What about this? You owe me a favor.”
“Um! That’s okay!”
Just like that, the tense atmosphere returned to normal.
*****
I take back things.
It is currently midnight. 12:30 AM. Kiana is happily spending time on the dreamland.
Scanning my ‘Shen’ dantian, I saw it progressing slowly. The [Xinhai Sutra] that trains my mental strength is alright. Although it trains the mind and not spiritual qi, it serves as a boost. My Sword Heart acts as one, too.
The problem is the time-consuming [Ten Directions Body Art]. It takes around an hour and a half to complete one session. Even now, my body grows stronger with one session a day.
However, the increase is not as exponential as when I first opened up the ‘Jing’ (Body) dantian.
It seems like…
Yup.
It’s better to skip it now. It’s very time consuming with lesser rewards than other things.
Three qi cultivation sessions in the morning, taking up forty minutes each.
Forty sessions of [Toushen Manual] in the afternoon, taking up three minutes each.
Then, spread out nine qi cultivation sessions within the afternoon.
This routine takes ten hours.
There’s also the typical training (i.e., tag) and utilization of my Sword Heart, which takes two hours in the afternoon.
Finally, there’s three hours’ worth of eating and resting. The remaining two hours are free time saved for the easy [Toushen Manual], [Xinhai Sutra], or other things.
Overall, I will spend fifteen hours on my entire cultivation routine. As long as I maintain it…
Four months should be enough to complete the late stage of Qi Refining. Add to that the drugs (i.e., spiritual plants), this time can become shorter.
Speaking of Sword Heart…
I don’t know why, but after waking up this morning, it became stronger. I am supposed to spend five months in the late stage, but my Sword Heart directly accomplished one month’s worth of cultivation, hence the current four months.
It grows stronger with a better state of mind. What the hell did I inexplicably do to cause this?
Beep-!
My phone’s vibrations broke off my thoughts. When I opened it, I was greeted by Tesla’s message.
[April 2nd. Ten o’clock in the morning. The combat test will last three hours. Are you available?]
[Noted.]
[Thanks.]
After replying, I thought of our agenda for tomorrow.
I promised Bronya to teach her “martial arts”, though I planned to give her a qi cultivation technique. I already knew from Tesla and Einstein that they saw me as a B Rank Valkyrie with a Battlesuit, at least in terms of physical prowess.
This is just Qi Refining. Once I reach the power spike in Foundation Establishment, I might be able to contend against S Rank Valkyries—in terms of physical combat, that is. Their supposed hacks (i.e., Battlesuit abilities, Divine Keys, Pri-ARMS), as well as their Global Time Fracture… I am at a loss as to how to fight that.
I will figure it out one worry at a time.
*****
Thankfully, Kiana did not sleepwalk again. We ate breakfast for about an hour in total before returning to the orphanage.
To my surprise, it was not just Bronya who was present near our meeting spot. This is the place where I stored my chopped trees. With a little bit of help from my spells, I am able to create a small cave to store them all. A little bit of seasoning from the town’s local lumber shops and drying with spells (again) turned them into usable firewood.
It’s one of the things I thought of to prevent waste.
“Hello, Seele.”
“Um. I-I want to watch you fight.”
“That’s fine.”
It was not just her. Even Kiana who was beside me looked interested.
I directed my gaze to Bronya.
“You attack and I defend. If I move from this spot, I lose. You can use anything.”
Bronya gave me a skeptic look. Still, she nodded. I created a distance of no more than five meters.
Once I signalled her to attack, she did not rush immediately. She squatted and took a snow-covered rock from the ground.
Swoosh-!
I moved my head to the right. The whistling sound barely grazed my ear.
Damn.
Bronya kept on doing just that. She found small rocks covered with snow. Whenever she throws a rock, snow will be shaken off. It forms a cloud of snow dust that makes it harder to distinguish where the rock is.
Unfortunately, my physical body’s reaction time is far beyond a human’s. Both my hands are kept to my back. I can either move my head or twist my body to avoid them.
“...How did you do it?”
“That’s what I can teach you.”
Much to my surprise…
“The Bronya admits defeat.”
…she gave up directly.
It is clear in her eyes. She wanted to know when I would begin teaching.
“Since there’s nothing more to do, I will begin teaching you. It is related to my sect’s teachings.”
“Sect?”
Hearing Seele’s question…
I forgot to explain things again.
I did an impromptu briefing on my imaginary background. Hidden Sect, here we go...