Koshiro pushed aside his thin blanket and swung his legs out of bed. He reached for his glasses on the bedside table, put them on with a slight yawn, and padded quietly out of his room.
He intended to head outside to wash up, but stopped just past his doorway. He saw Kuina crouched behind one of the main support pillars of the walkway, peering intently at something in the practice yard below. Curiosity piqued, he walked silently over to her.
Just as he was about to speak, Kuina turned sharply, pressing a finger to her lips in a hushing gesture. "Father, quiet," she whispered urgently. "Don't disturb Big Sis Selene!"
Following her gaze, Koshiro peered around the pillar. Down in the yard, bathed in the soft glow of the rising sun, was Selene. Sweat streamed down her face and soaked her simple training gi, each droplet catching the light like a tiny prism. The faint outlines of developing muscles under her clothes spoke of strenuous effort, a certain raw beauty in her exertion. Koshiro, an experienced swordsman himself, could see the profound fatigue settling over her. Her breathing was heavy, ragged gasps tearing from her lips, yet the rhythmic motion of her practice sword, a simple wooden bokken, continued without pause.
"What's gotten into Big Sis Selene?" Kuina murmured, her voice filled with wonder. "I've never seen her train this early, or this hard, before!"
Koshiro offered a faint, knowing smile. He didn't know the specific catalyst either, but he recognized the sheer, unwavering focus radiating from Selene – an intensity he hadn't witnessed in her before.
"Let her be," Koshiro instructed gently. "Find somewhere else for your own practice this morning."
Kuina nodded, her eyes shining with newfound determination. She clenched a small fist. "Big Sis Selene is pushing herself so hard... I can't afford to slack off either!"
Selene, meanwhile, was almost completely lost in her own world. Physical exhaustion had washed over her in waves, leaving her mind blessedly blank, almost numb. She wasn't consciously directing her movements anymore; her body was operating purely on instinct, on the muscle memory ingrained through countless hours of practice. She had long since lost count of how many swings she'd completed.
If left undisturbed, she might well have continued until she simply collapsed. However, the pre-dawn quiet was abruptly shattered by a loud, indignant yell.
"Hey! That's cheating! You started training without me!"
The shout jolted Selene from her trance-like state. She blinked, turning her head slowly. It was Zoro, standing nearby clutching two bamboo shinai, glaring at her with undisguised annoyance.
Sweat dripped from her chin. Selene wiped her brow with the back of her hand, still panting heavily. "Cheating?" she managed between breaths. "I don't recall needing to wait for you."
Zoro stared hard at her for a moment, then abruptly pointed one of his shinai at her. "You're strong too, aren't you? Fight me!"
This kid is obsessed with challenges, Selene thought wearily. She really didn't have the energy for this right now and intended to ignore him. But Zoro, taking her silence as refusal perhaps, let out another yell and charged forward recklessly. Seeing his aggressive posture, a deeply ingrained reflex took over. Selene reacted without conscious thought, bringing her bokken down in a clean, simple arc.
Crack!
The sound echoed in the quiet yard. A direct hit, right across Zoro's face. It was an almost perfect mirror image of how Kuina had defeated him the day before.
Zoro stumbled back, clutching his face. His nose, which had likely just stopped aching, immediately started bleeding again.
Currently, setting aside his ferocious tenacity, Zoro was a complete novice in swordsmanship. It was hardly surprising that Selene, with her years of foundational training – however lackluster the original Selene might have been – could defeat him so easily. But in the instant her bokken connected, Selene registered something startling. Her own strike, though purely instinctive, had felt... different. Faster, more precise, the power perfectly focused. It felt right in a way her previous movements hadn't.
Even more startling was the distinct ping that sounded within her mind.
[Opponent Defeated. EXP Gained +50!]
Her eyes widened slightly. She quickly accessed her internal status display. Not only had her [Basic Swordsmanship] proficiency jumped significantly from the morning's intense training, but she had actually gained Experience Points!
She knew the system had levels, which naturally implied EXP, but she hadn't figured out how to acquire it before now. Practice only seemed to raise skill proficiency. So, defeating an opponent grants EXP...
It made perfect sense in hindsight. She had always lost against Kuina in their spars. And she couldn't bring herself to truly fight the much younger, weaker junior disciples, even in practice bouts. Master Koshiro, likely sensing her reluctance and Kuina's need for a challenge, had always paired the two of them for serious sparring. Consequently, Selene had never actually won a real match before. No wonder she hadn't known how EXP was gained.
While Selene was mentally processing this new information, Zoro was fumbling with his nose again. The angry red welt from yesterday's encounter with Kuina hadn't even faded, and now Selene had added a fresh one right beside it.
"Damn it! First that woman, now you!" Zoro growled through gritted teeth, trying to stuff makeshift cotton plugs (likely torn from his clothes) up his nostrils.
Selene mentally shrugged. Was it my fault you charged like a madman?
"Just you wait! I'll surpass both of you! You'll see!" Zoro shot Selene one last furious glare, then stomped over to a clear patch of ground nearby and began swinging his two shinai with a vengeance, channeling his frustration into raw, uncontrolled power.
Great, Selene thought with a sigh, looking down at her bokken. Now I'm officially on his rivalry list. She hadn't expected her first significant interaction with the future Pirate Hunter to involve smacking him in the face.
Watching his wild, inefficient movements, she couldn't help but call out, "You idiot! Are you trying to rip your shoulders out? Stop swinging with all your might on every stroke! Learn to control the force, especially on the recovery!"
Zoro, being completely new, hadn't received any formal instruction from Master Koshiro yet. His current "practice" was pure, unrestrained hacking, utterly devoid of proper form or technique.
He paused, looking genuinely confused by Selene's critique. "Huh? Then how am I supposed to do it?"
Selene sighed again. She walked over, placed a hand on his back, and pressed firmly near his waist. "Straighten your spine! Tuck your hips slightly, head up, chest out!" She gently took one of the shinai from his grasp. "And put the other one down. You haven't even begun to grasp the basics of one-sword style; don't even think about using two yet!"
After correcting his stance, Selene demonstrated the proper basic swing, the same fundamental movement Master Koshiro had drilled into her countless times. As the dojo's eldest disciple – the Da Shijie or "Big Sister Disciple" – it was technically her role to help guide the juniors. Now, she found herself instructing Zoro, the newest, most troublesome addition.
To her mild surprise, Zoro's innate talent was truly remarkable. After watching her demonstrate just once, he seemed to internalize the movement, and his subsequent swings immediately looked far more controlled and purposeful.
"Alright, keep practicing that form. Slowly. Focus," Selene instructed, leaving him to it. She desperately needed to wash up. Her muscles screamed in protest with every step, and she felt grimy and smelled strongly of sweat.
Later, while soaking in a much-needed hot bath, Selene reviewed her status again. Her [Basic Swordsmanship] proficiency had climbed impressively to just over 28,000. The focused, intense training this morning had yielded far greater results than weeks of regular practice – five points per swing instead of the usual one.
It makes sense, really, she mused, scrubbing her aching arms. Mindless repetition versus mindful concentration... of course the results would differ.
Her gaze drifted to the Card Shop interface in her mind's eye. And then, her breath hitched. The countdown timer for the free card draw... it had finally reached [00:00:00]!
It's time!
She could finally draw her very first card! All this time, she'd been agonizingly curious about what these cards actually did, how they integrated with this world, but she'd had no way to verify anything. Now, finally, the chance had arrived.
With trembling anticipation, Selene mentally selected the 'Draw Card' option. A system notification popped up immediately.
[First single Card Draw guarantees a 3-Star (Purple) rarity Card. First 10x Card Draw guarantees a 4-Star (Orange) rarity Card. Confirm Single Draw?]
Selene let out a silent, wry chuckle. Figures. Exactly like those predatory gacha games. First-pull bonuses, multi-pull guarantees, even the star and color-coded rarity system... it was painfully familiar. A 10-pull was a pipe dream; it cost a million Beri, an astronomical sum she couldn't even fathom possessing right now. For the moment, this single free draw was all she had.
"Confirm Draw!" she commanded mentally, her heart pounding.
An image materialized in her mind: the ornate back of a playing card, pulsing with faint light. As she confirmed, a complex, mystical star pattern blazed across its surface. Then, in a flash of purple light, the card flipped over, revealing the artwork on its face.
It depicted a warrior with striking, handsome features and long dark hair tied back severely. He was clad in elaborate, deep-red samurai armor that looked like something from Japan's Warring States (Sengoku) period. In his hands, he held a gleaming katana. But the most arresting detail, the one that drew Selene's eye immediately, was the large, unnervingly realistic eye embedded in the back of his right gauntlet. It seemed to blink slowly.
Below the portrait, text appeared:
[You have obtained 3-Star Purple Card: Akechi Samanosuke Hidemitsu!]