At the training ground, the Penguin Logistics crew gathered to watch the video Exusiai had just recorded of Texas vs. Shirou.
"Whoa! So Shirou, you only beat Texas by playing dirty?"
The fight earlier had been too fast, so Croissant had not caught the details. Only after watching the replay did she understand why Texas had seemed rushed at the end.
It turned out Shirou started by attacking with a two-handed sword style, then suddenly switched to a one-handed style.
A classic first-time "trap" tactic.
"That is called strategy, okay?"
Unhappy with Croissant's wording, Shirou grabbed her horns with both hands and shook her side to side, making her dizzy.
"Stop, stop! I am gonna throw up… bleh…"
Croissant finally escaped by faking a gag.
"By the way, Shirou… your close-combat specialty is dual-wielding, like Texas, right?"
Exusiai, unusually serious, remembered the black-and-white twin blades Shirou had projected before. That was probably his most-used weapon.
And Texas also specialized in dual blades, meaning neither of them had gone all out earlier.
"I guess you could say that. Why?"
Shirou replied after letting Croissant go.
"How about another round and it will be dual blades this time?"
Croissant suggested. Normally she was not that interested in sparring, but it was different when it involved people she knew.
People are always curious about seeing another side of someone familiar.
"I am fine with that."
Texas took a sip of water and agreed. That had been her intention anyway.
"If Texas is okay, I am fine too."
Shirou stretched his arms. He came here to burn energy anyway, so sparring worked perfectly.
"Nice!"
Excited, Croissant set up her phone again. This time she planned to actually watch instead of focusing only on recording.
"Though… it looks like there are only these two training swords left."
Sora checked and realized most of the others were already broken.
"Hmm… how about you project two swords, Shirou?"
Exusiai suggested.
"Then let's use our own weapons."
Texas took out two Originium lightblade hilts from her coat.
"Eh? Is that not dangerous? Someone might get hurt…"
Sora looked worried. Even blunt training weapons made her uneasy and real weapons were worse.
"It is fine. Just be careful."
From the earlier spar, Texas already knew Shirou's swordsmanship was superior so she was not too concerned.
"…In that case, it is fine."
Seeing Texas use her main weapon, Shirou did not hold back either.
"Then let's limit it to two swords."
Texas activated her lightblades. She remembered Shirou's massive sword barrage before, if he used that she would have no way to deal with it.
"That works."
Being able to use Kanshou and Bakuya again was actually ideal for Shirou.
He had only used them twice since arriving, once against thugs and once during testing in the basement.
Neither experience had been particularly satisfying.
"Alright then. Same as before—Sora, countdown."
Texas handed her phone to Sora to record.
"Be careful! Ten, nine…"
Sora warned them loudly while counting down, still worried but unable to stop them.
"Trace on—"
Holding Kanshou and Bakuya, Shirou instantly entered a focused state.
Unlike before, both now held their preferred weapons. Just standing there made the atmosphere tense for the others.
"…This feels kind of bad…"
Croissant swallowed nervously.
Before Exusiai could respond, the countdown ended and both rushed at each other.
"He got stronger?"
Texas immediately noticed either the swords were heavier, or Shirou's strikes had become stronger.
Earlier, she could block his two-handed attacks with one hand. Now, even with two blades, she felt strain and even numbness.
"Do not get distracted."
Shirou did not explain and continued pressing the attack.
Some things were better understood through experience than explanation.
"Tch."
Texas clicked her tongue.
Texas quickly retreated, realizing she had been tricked by Shirou again.
But that was how real combat worked, layered setups that lure the opponent into a trap before finishing them off.
Still, compared to thinking through such tactics, Texas preferred to strike directly at her opponent's vital points.
What she had learned was not really "combat technique," but simply methods of killing.
After that exchange, having roughly understood Shirou's fighting style, Texas changed her approach, this time she no longer chose to clash blades head-on.
"Wow… this is almost completely one-sided. Shirou is way too ruthless, isn't he?"
From initial concern, Exusiai had now turned into a spectator enjoying the show. Even if she did not fully understand, it was obvious Shirou was suppressing Texas entirely.
At least, Shirou still looked relaxed, while Texas was already getting tired.
Rather than sparring, it looked more like Shirou was toying with Texas.
It sounded a bit strange, but from Exusiai's perspective, that is exactly what it was. Shirou was seriously cunning.
In the end, the spar ended when Shirou placed the blunt edge of his blade against Texas's neck.
"Haa… haa…"
As it ended, Texas crouched down, adjusting her breathing.
"Good work."
Sora thoughtfully handed water to both of them.
"Tsk tsk, who would have thought? Shirou, you look so gentle normally, why are you so fierce in a fight? You practically suppressed Texas the whole time!"
Exusiai walked over and hooked an arm around Shirou's neck. Since he was a bit taller, he had to bend slightly to match her height.
"Was I really that harsh?"
Shirou himself did not think so. He had mostly been matching Texas's pace, if he were serious he could have ended it much faster.
But that would not be sparring anymore. Besides, he was curious about Texas's fighting style.
After several exchanges, he had more or less figured it out that Texas did not follow a fixed system.
Even though she seemed to be holding back a bit, Shirou could still tell that what she used were simply… killing techniques.
"Have some self-awareness, okay? But I guess Yith's evaluation was not wrong, your combat skills really are something."
Croissant remembered that Is had rated Shirou's combat ability as "Outstanding."
At first, she thought it was just because of his archery but now it seemed more like the rating capped at "Outstanding" not that he could not go higher.
Like scoring 100 because that's the max, versus scoring 99 because that is your limit.
"Seriously, it was brutal. I could barely watch."
Exusiai added, handing Shirou her phone to watch the recording.
"…Sorry."
After watching himself, Shirou understood why they said that and apologized to Texas.
"It's fine. But why did your strikes suddenly get heavier?"
Having caught her breath, Texas did not care about anything else, she just wanted to know why his strength had suddenly increased.
If it had stayed at the earlier level, she would not have struggled this much.
"That is because of my ability. I can also make myself stronger too"
Shirou explained without hiding anything.
"That ability is way too broken. You are basically the kind of protagonist or final boss you see in games."
Croissant complained.
From what she had seen, his ability was basically a bug completely unexplainable, and now it even enhanced physical strength?
"Can we get a game GM to fix this?"
She could not imagine how she wou;d fight him.
In close combat, maybe she could struggle a bit with her shield and hammer before surrendering.
At long range? Forget it…she could not even survive that "giant mushroom" attack.
The more she thought about it, the more thankful she was that Shirou was on their side.
Having someone this broken as an ally was reassuring, the real headache would be for the enemy.
"Do you not think calling me a protagonist or boss is a bit exaggerated?"
Shirou denied it.
"No, it is pretty accurate."
Exusiai said, letting go of him.
"Yeah, you totally have that hidden character vibe!"
Sora agreed.
"Even you too…"
Seeing all three teasing him, Shirou turned to Texas as his last hope.
"…Let's spar again sometime. I want to learn some of your swordsmanship."
Faced with his hopeful look, Texas simply changed the subject.
Other people's thoughts were too complicated and she did not want to think about it or get involved.
"…Sigh. That's fine."
Shirou gave up resisting.
"Texas learning Shirou's swordsmanship… just thinking about it is scary."
Croissant said.
She sometimes sparred with Texas using blunt weapons and always got completely beaten.
If Texas mastered Shirou's techniques too, Croissant could only feel sorry for their future enemies.
Having to deal with Shirou alone was bad enough, now imagine one trained by him.
"Not necessarily. Our styles are pretty different."
Shirou cautioned.
Compared to Texas, his own style was more conservative. And he was not very good at teaching either.
Though sparring might still help her somewhat.
"That is true."
Croissant agreed. Everyone had their own fighting style, forcing a change was not a good idea.
Especially for someone like Texas, who already had her own system.
Still, there was no problem, at least she would not be the one getting beaten up anymore!
(Of course, she did not dare say that out loud.)
Croissant felt she had become smarter again and decided to reward herself with something good to eat later.
"Anyway, we will talk about that later. I am going to run a bit, we still need to buy ingredients."
Shirou had not forgotten why he came here.
He planned to exercise a little, then head straight to the market.
He still remembered that Jaye had told him there was a fresh batch of good ingredients today.