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The benefits brought by the Twin Wings Style were far from minor.
This was an elevation of one's realm, symbolizing that Ryoji had transcended the domain of ordinary humans and stepped into an inhuman realm.
Under the guidance of the Twin Wings Style, Ryoji's control over his body had also improved tremendously, and his other sword skills would naturally advance along with it.
"But compared to Kazuma's true Twin Wings, I'm still far behind!"
Ryoji stopped what he was doing.
In his mind, the peerless elegance of the genuine Twin Wings Sword from the night before yesterday gradually resurfaced.
Because he had stepped into the same realm, Ryoji was finally able to understand it clearly.
The Twin Wings Sword was a truly perfect sword art.
Not a single sound was produced from any of her movements, which meant there was absolutely no wasted energy, allowing her attacks to possess astonishing power.
"And compared to that…"
Ryoji swung his sword, producing a faint yet sharp sound of wind.
The fact that sound was still produced was proof that his control over power was not yet perfect; there was still a considerable gap between his body control and that of Twin Wings.
And that wasn't all.
The true Twin Wings Sword had likely already entered yet another realm.
At present, Ryoji could at most instantly accelerate from 0 to 100, achieving maximum acceleration in a single instant.
But Twin Wings was different.
In those final two strikes that night, Twin Wings not only achieved instantaneous maximum acceleration from 0 to 100, but also managed to bring 100 back down to 0, in other words, complete instantaneous stillness.
Within Twin Wings' sword, not only were acceleration and friction absent, but even inertia itself seemed to no longer exist.
Even Newton's Second Law would be left speechless.
Ryoji had now reached the realm of "instantaneous maximum acceleration," but he had yet to touch the level of "instantaneous complete stillness."
As for Twin Wings, she had undoubtedly already perfectly fused the two together and reached an entirely new realm.
That was why Ryoji said the gap between himself and Twin Wings was still enormous.
"To reach Twin Wings' level, I have to perfectly control every bit of power in my body!"
Ryoji pondered continuously.
The decisive difference between him and Twin Wings lay precisely in mastery over one's own power.
Twin Wings could perfectly control every ounce of her own strength, wasting not even the slightest fraction of it, which was why she had reached that brand-new realm.
Ryoji, on the other hand, still couldn't completely control his entire body, and that was where the gap came from.
In other words, as long as Ryoji improved his bodily control, he would sooner or later reach Twin Wings' level. Their decisive difference existed only in this one aspect.
However, training body control was a matter of slow, painstaking refinement, with no shortcuts to be found, so what he urgently needed now was still time.
"And then there's Master's 'sword technique'…"
Ryoji took a deep breath, his expression gradually turning solemn.
He gathered his mind, body, and spirit, and at a certain moment suddenly hurled the sword in his right hand.
But nothing happened.
The tip of the sword pierced into the tree trunk in the courtyard, the blade sinking completely in, leaving only the hilt exposed. Other than that, nothing at all occurred.
That's right.
There was no phenomenon of spatial stagnation whatsoever.
It was as though the strike he had unleashed during his final battle with Twin Wings had been nothing but an illusion.
"As expected."
Ryoji let out a long sigh.
Without a doubt, this was a technique born after Ryoji witnessed Scáthach's ultimate art and conceived the idea of adapting it into a sword skill.
But the original move was spearsmanship, and one that required dual spears at that. Ryoji's adaptation process had been full of setbacks, and even with Scáthach personally helping him, there had been almost no meaningful progress.
At the very end of his battle with Twin Wings, his consciousness had already been pushed close to its limit, and under such near-hopeless circumstances, his body had instinctively unleashed that strike.
That one time was his only successful attempt.
But because he was still far too unfamiliar with the technique, Twin Wings managed to do it.
And now, trying to reproduce it again was nowhere near as easy.
He could barely remember how he had managed to pull it off at the time.
Back then, he hadn't been thinking about anything at all. It was only through the instinctive urging of his body at the brink of its limits that he had barely succeeded, and immediately after executing it, he had passed out.
"Forget it. If there's a first time, there'll be a second. As long as I keep clearing the path often enough, even a narrow goat trail will eventually become a grand road to the heavens."
Ryoji gave up on dwelling over it any further.
After all, rather than obsessing endlessly over someone else's ultimate art, it would be better to find a way to create a supreme technique of his own, one powerful enough to rival it, and belonging to him alone.
That was what a true swordsmanship grandmaster ought to do.
"Hey."
Just as Ryoji was completely immersed in sword practice, a cold shout suddenly came from nearby.
Ryoji's practice swing paused slightly as he looked up in the direction of the voice.
A Werewolf was walking over from the direction of one of the towers.
He was about the same height as Ryoji. After several months, Ryoji had already grown to around 180 cm, and this man was similarly lean and well-built. He wore a white coat over his body while leaving his muscular chest bare, completely unconcerned with the chill in the air.
At that moment, his gaze was icy cold, and the lightning-shaped tattoo stretching from the left side of his forehead down to his neck gave him an especially vicious appearance.
"Need something?"
Ryoji looked at him, slightly puzzled.
"Hah? You're asking if I need something?"
Bete's eyes widened, his expression becoming even fiercer.
"Don't tell me you've already forgotten that you slandered me in public by saying I'm impotent!"
Oh!
Right, that happened too!
Ryoji suddenly remembered.
Too many things had happened recently, and he had nearly forgotten about it.
Seeing Ryoji looking like he had only just recalled the matter, Bete's gaze immediately became even darker.
If looks could kill, Ryoji would probably have been pierced through dozens of times by now.
"So, you want me to clarify things to everyone?"
Ryoji asked back.
That was fine too.
Bete wasn't actually a bad person. Although he had been furious enough with Ryoji to grind his teeth, he had never secretly retaliated against him. During the expedition, he had always prioritized the bigger picture. It was only his prickly personality and habit of speaking harshly that made him unpopular.
Ryoji's anger had long since faded as well, so clearing things up wasn't really a problem.
"Don't make it sound like I'm forcing you!"
Bete clicked his tongue, his face full of disgust.
"Let's keep it fair, we fight! If you lose, you clear up the misunderstanding for me and apologize to me in front of everyone!"
Who knew how long he had been tormented by the stigma of being called impotent these past days!
He was even having nightmares in his sleep!
"No problem."
Ryoji agreed readily.
"But if you lose, what are you going to do?"
"Whatever you say. As long as it's something I can do, I absolutely won't go back on my word!"
Bete replied arrogantly.
"Deal."
Ryoji nodded without hesitation.
"Then let's do it now!"
Bete spread his legs apart and slowly began stretching, his entire body brimming with fighting spirit.
"If we delay any longer, we won't be able to fight once everyone wakes up!"
(End of Chapter)