As the two walked forward, Yaana couldn't help but quickly grow speechless. Let along letting her face danger, Ryu didn't even let her lift a finger. Every snow beast that formed was instantly annihilated by him with a point.
At first Yaana thought it was just a coincidence, but as time passed, she realized that Ryu really didn't want her to fight. It left her in a state of not knowing whether to laugh or cry, at the same time, she too found it adorable.
Of course, if Ryu knew that Yaana thought he was being adorable, it was hard to tell how he would react to it all. That said, he was far too engrossed in 'protecting' Yaana, so he didn't even notice the funny looks she was giving him at all.
He continued to pull Yaana along, a wide smile on his face. Eventually, realizing that she wouldn't get a chance to do much of anything, Yaana started to pepper Ryu with questions. She found it fascinating that he had actually reincarnated and she wanted to know everything about it.
The more she learned about Ryu's life, the closer she felt to him.
For Ryu, it had been a long time since he had actually told anyone about these things. The last person was actually Elena. Of course, when it came to things between him and Ailsa, nothing needed to be said. She could know anything she wanted to know about his first or second life with a single thought. But, the act of actually saying these things out loud felt novel and different.
For some reason, dealing with the snow beasts didn't even seem all that difficult anymore. Ryu plowed through them one after another. Though it was a shame that one of his hands was occupied by Yaana so he couldn't use his bow, he still felt as though he was rapidly improving.
Ryu's pupils suddenly constricted.
At that moment, Ryu came to understand. He was focusing too much on the bow itself whereas it was just a medium for a marksman.
The bow had unique quirks of its own that would allow a projectile to display various flight trajectories of its own. But, it wasn't unique in the way a spear would be from a sword, or a sword would be from a rod.
Ryu had become so used to normal weapons that he thought of the bow in the same way. He had been chasing after a unique and special way that a bow should be used when the reality was that he should have been chasing the essence of marksmanship itself.
To put it simply, the essence of using a spear was different from the essence of using a sword or a saber or a dagger. However, the essence of using a bow, or a crossbow, or any weapon that used a projectile was the same.
The power output might be different, the method of activation might be different, the strength needed for said activation might be different, but all the core components were the same.
Reading your opponent, the important of your eyes, guessing the next move you enemy might make, accounting for the wind and environment… All of it was the same.
By the same token, Ryu stretching out his finger and sniping the snow beasts as they came, coupled with how calm his heart was right now… It was also a form of marksmanship, and it was even beyond what he had been previously displaying with his body.
At that moment, Ryu's body lightened again as he crossed into the Impose Realm.
She of course sensed what had just happened, but she didn't understand how anyone could make such a casual breakthrough. The only other person she had ever seen do such a thing was… well… Herself.
Yaana's master had never told her exactly what she was, but after talking to Ryu she understand that she was part human and part Elemental Faerie. Specifically a rare Spatial Elemental Faerie. Space loved her and she loved it.
Whenever she made a breakthrough in that regard, it was as casual as it could be. But, even she felt that it was slightly more difficult than what Ryu had just done. In fact, Ryu had been in the middle of telling her another one of his childhood stories, so how had he suddenly broken through like that?
In order to break through Mortal Endowments, most needed to enter seclusion. A very rare few could break through in the middle of battle. But this was the first time she had heard of someone breaking through while having a leisurely chat.
Yaana realized at that moment that maybe just finding Ryu wasn't enough. She needed to continue to work hard, or else if he continued to advance , there would come a day where she would be left far behind by him again.
"… Didn't you say you hated him? Why do you think he's a friend now?"
Ryu smiled. "Well, I don't know if I can consider him a friend. What I do know is that if there was anyone even close to being such a person to me, it would be him. Unfortunately, I have no idea if he's alive or not."
Yaana blinked. That was right, almost a billion years was a long time. To geniuses, it was nothing. But, this person Ryu was speaking about was from one of the weaker Clans of the Blossom Plane. It was hard to say if he would reach such a level.
"Then after we leave here, we should go find him!" Yaana said enthusiastically.
Ryu felt a headache coming on just hearing this. Even if he was going to reunite with this person, he most definitely couldn't be the one to go find him. And, he most definitely couldn't be allowed to know that Ryu thought of him as a friend until he admitted it first.
What would he look like going to find that man after so long? He'd be laughed into oblivion.
Also, if he managed to survive so long, he had probably had some great fortuitous encounter and his strength would probably be beyond his own now.
Unfortunately, Yaana kept chatting away, clearly not seeing the regret on Ryu's face for having told her such a thing.
Suddenly, Ryu's gaze narrowed.
The forest of crystal trees came to a stop. Up ahead, all that was left was a stretch of flat snow to the base of the mountain…