Several days later.
Night had deepened, and beneath the cliff wall the campfire crackled and popped.
The two of them had only just finished another battle. Blood still stained their bodies, and now they were taking the chance to rest while tending to their blades.
After nearly ten demon attacks, Xiaxi's Breathing had already approached the threshold of Level 3.
On top of that, he still had quite a surplus of achievement points.
He decided it was finally time to raise Wind Breathing again.
A thirty percent loss did not matter anymore.
Ignoring the airheaded girl roasting fish nearby, Xiaxi directly called up the panel.
System, it is time for you to witness the results of my hard work.
Allocate points!
A single achievement point—condensed from the very essence of Xiaxi's effort—was投入 into the Wind Breathing panel, instantly transforming into an invisible current of heat that pushed the experience bar upward at high speed.
In only a moment,
everything he had put in was crystallized into real growth.
[Wind Breathing Lv.2 → Lv.3]
[Moderately Proficient → Effortless Mastery]
[Progress: 13/2000 (+325)]
[Power Level: 37 → 54]
┣ Body: 17 → 26
┣ Skill: 9 → 15
┗ Mind: 11 → 13
[Your mastery of sword forms has increased!]
[Character Skill Unlocked: Total Concentration]
[Total Concentration: Forcefully draws massive amounts of oxygen into the lungs, instantly and drastically enhancing cardiopulmonary function, allowing the blood to carry immense oxygen in a short period of time and unleashing physical abilities beyond human limits.]
Oh?!
Level 3 even came with a bonus derived skill?
After reading the description carefully, Xiaxi instantly understood.
Second Gear?!
A classic ability from the old hot-blooded manga The Great Nautical Empire—he got it immediately.
At the same time, he also formed a guess about the experience required for future levels:
Level 1 needed 500 EXP, Level 2 needed 1000, and now Level 3 needed 2000.
If the pattern remained unchanged, then the next would be 4000, 8000, 16000... bringing a skill to Level 10 would require about half a million EXP in total.
And if each level started counting again from zero,
then roughly... roughly...
After scribbling some simple calculations on the ground with a stick,
he came to the conclusion that from Level 1 to Level 10 would take 500,000 EXP...
Converted through Wind Breathing's point rate,
that meant roughly 1600 achievement points.
Hmm...
And that was only for a single Wind Breathing skill.
If he tried to cultivate multiple skills at once, relying solely on ordinary training, he probably would not finish before the test server shut down.
As expected, the final destination of all effort was still cash spending.
He began calculating cost performance: Level 10 needed 1600 points, Level 9 needed 800, Level 8 only 400.
Who knew whether this game had four hundred different life skills hidden in it?
So in the end, training a breathing style better suited to him was the proper path.
After all, once the game reached its later stages, every extra 10% of compatibility could save him dozens of achievement points.
If possible, it would be best to dual-train at least a few other breathing styles as well.
Spending a small number of points to level up other breathing styles would also feed back a little extra attribute growth.
And as everyone knew, even a mosquito's leg was still meat.
As for this newly unlocked character skill—
based on his many years of gaming experience, as his breathing style leveled further, more skills would definitely continue unlocking.
He was honestly curious what they would all do...
While Xiaxi was thinking about this, Seiko, sitting across from him, silently held out a grilled fish.
"Jiuche-kun, I don't really understand what you've been thinking about. But just now, in that instant, you seemed... different somehow. Mm, probably stronger?"
After several days of real combat, Yukihashi Seiko had indeed grown much steadier.
But she still had not shaken off the air of a somewhat timid girl.
"Did these past few days of actual battle sharpen your breathing style and swordsmanship even further?"
Xiaxi did not deny it. "That's right. These past days of fighting and training let me level up... I mean, let my strength break through a little."
This NPC's intuition was surprisingly sharp.
Could it be that raising a skill level triggered special hidden dialogue?
"Hey, Jiuche-kun."
"Why did you join the Demon Slayer Corps?"
Resting her cheek in one hand, the girl tilted her head as she looked at Xiaxi.
The soft firelight painted a faint blush across her youthful face.
"Me?"
"Probably to kill every demon. Or maybe to kill the strongest one."
He had no idea yet how the main quest would develop later, but action game plots were usually not that complicated.
Xiaxi bit off a piece of fish and chewed.
The fish had not been roasted very well. Too much char, no seasoning, no marinade.
He really should have done it himself. At least then he could have leveled Cooking a bit more.
"Kill... all demons?" A trace of astonishment crossed the girl's eyes. She lowered her head slightly, her tone turning complicated. "That's wonderful... A swordsman as talented as you, Jiuche-kun, might really be able to do it."
"And you?" Xiaxi asked back casually as he felt his hunger meter gradually climbing back up. "What about you? Why did you join the Corps?"
"You looked pretty nervous before. Didn't mentally prepare yourself before coming in?"
The girl's expression gradually dimmed.
"How could anyone ever be completely prepared..."
"It's just that, even if I wasn't ready, I still had to do something."
"Because my family... and my little sister, were both killed by demons."
"I want revenge."
At the word little sister, Xiaxi fell silent for a moment.
He remembered the background template his own character had rolled. It seemed to overlap with hers.
Both of them had the same whole-family-sacrificed avenger template.
But he quickly realized this was probably the most common story inside the Demon Slayer Corps.
A survivor of a demon attack, wagering their life on training, then charging at inhuman monsters with nothing but a human body.
Clichéd.
But clichés endured for a reason.
Xiaxi's gaze softened, and for once, he did not skip the cutscene.
"Um, Seiko, right... You'll do it."
"You'll kill all the demons and get your revenge."
"And even if you can't, that's fine. Because after you fall, there will be wave after wave of swordsmen after you, one after another, striving toward that same goal."
"And even if all of them fail..."
Xiaxi smiled.
It was an incomparably confident smile, and a convincing one too.
"I'll do it."
This was the confidence Xiaxi had as a player in his own ability to clear the game.
Huh?
Seiko raised her head in astonishment, unable to believe that this boy who always seemed absent-minded would say something like that.
Emotion welled up in her chest, and the corners of her eyes began to grow warm.
"Th-thank you... for the encouragement, Jiu... Xiaxi-kun."
Xiaxi smiled. "Before that, though, you need to fight like hell. Your own revenge is best taken with your own hands."
"With a human body, challenge the lofty gods, buddhas, and demons above."
"This is humanity's battle song—and also a hymn to courage."
The girl nodded solemnly.
"I will do it."
The boy answered brightly,
"I'll be watching."
Yukihashi Seiko finally smiled as well.
The confusion and wandering that had long weighed on her gradually faded.
Xiaxi-kun really was a special person.
The campfire burned quietly, illuminating two young faces.
Without thinking, she used the stick in her hand to poke at the flames, sending sparks dancing upward.
"When we pass the selection," she said softly, "I want to go eat a big steaming bowl of udon first."
"With two soft-boiled eggs on top."
"Want to come with me?"
After briefly imagining the taste of udon, Xiaxi decisively shook his head.
"No. Let's eat grilled meat instead."
"And if possible, maybe I can also learn a bunch of cooking techniques while I'm at it."
He had long since discovered that the better the food he made tasted, the faster his Cooking proficiency rose.
And when Seiko heard him refuse, she did not look disappointed at all.
Instead, she covered the corner of her mouth with her fingers and laughed softly.
"Then we'll eat grilled meat first."
"Oh, if you're paying, I'm in."
"Sure."
And just as the warmth of the campfire was gradually driving away the cold, the howls of demons and the shouted battle cries of swordsmen suddenly rang out in the distance.
Both of them fell silent at once.
Their hands tightened around their swords, and their eyes sharpened.
Brushing the dust from her skirt hem, the girl stood up. "Looks like break time is over."
Xiaxi also rose neatly to his feet, rolling his shoulders and neck.
"Let's go," he said. "Time to keep farming EXP."
Though Seiko did not understand the second half of that sentence,
she more or less grasped what he meant, and nodded as she followed after him.
"Don't forget our promise."
Xiaxi replied, "If I forget, I'll treat you to udon."
Seiko smiled. "With two soft-boiled eggs!"
(Yukihashi Seiko)
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