Chijō Kana changed into a new set of clothes in her room.
What she wore now resembled the Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy uniform—white top, crimson hakama—but the ends of both long sleeves were tied with red cords, each holding a small bell.
Even the knot on her waist sash had two bells dangling from it.
As Chijō Kana stepped into the courtyard, the four bells tied to her sleeves and sash jingled with each movement.
"Sensei, the bells on this outfit are so noisy," Chijō Kana said, raising her hand and shaking the bell hanging from her sleeve.
"This is the dojo uniform of the Katori-ryu Dojo," Katori Nanatsuki explained with a smile. "Now that you've learned Shun Strike, you've reached the first stage of controlling your Reiatsu."
"But Shun Strike is just the most basic sword technique of the Katori style. To learn the more advanced ones, you'll need a higher level of Reiatsu control."
"From now on, you'll need to continue training your control over Reiatsu."
"These bells on the dojo uniform are designed for that exact purpose."
"You need to achieve one goal—no matter what you're doing, do not let the bells make a sound."
"Don't let them make a sound?" Chijō Kana looked confused. "But they don't listen to me. How am I supposed to stop them from ringing?"
"These are specially crafted bells. Try injecting a bit of Reiatsu into them," Nanatsuki said with a gentle smile. "Just be careful not to use too much."
Hearing this, Chijō Kana cautiously infused Reiatsu into the bell.
"I think I can control the little ball inside the bell?" she said, realizing that after infusing her Reiatsu, she could influence the axis ball's swing inside the bell.
"Exactly. As long as you can control the ball's movement and prevent it from hitting the bell walls, you can stop the sound," Nanatsuki nodded. "So when you're practicing Flagfish Suburi, you'll need to control all four bells on your body and keep them silent."
"That's way too hard! I have to control four at once?" Chijō Kana's face fell. She had just tried shaking her sleeves and found that it was extremely difficult to stop the axis ball from hitting the bell while moving.
Right now, she had no room to think about anything else—she was fully focused on struggling with the four bells. Her entire body tensed up as she stiffly inched forward, only to realize the bells were incredibly sensitive. Even the slightest movement made the axis balls start to sway.
She quickly became flustered. Just as she managed to control one or two, the others would start ringing again.
After a whole hour, she still hadn't made it from the backyard to the sword training hall to pick up the Flagfish Wooden Sword.
"This is impossible!" she wailed.
"You don't need to control all four right away. Start with just one," Nanatsuki said kindly, patting her shoulder. He recalled how torturous this training had been when he was her age and encouraged her gently. "The key is to stay calm and composed—don't rush. I believe you can do it."
In the end, Chijō Kana gave up on trying to control all four bells at once and decided to follow her teacher's advice, beginning with just one.
Nanatsuki no longer hovered over her, letting her practice at her own pace. He turned his attention instead to correcting Muguruma Kensei's power generation. Kensei had a habit of relying solely on arm strength rather than using his whole body.
Under the buff effect of the Patient Guidance trait, Muguruma Kensei's talent was boosted to S+.
Nanatsuki truly felt the difference talent enhancement made in today's training.
Kensei quickly grasped the correct way to exert force—his wooden sword instantly pierced through the target dummy's head!
A prompt appeared to show his training quest had progressed.
[Disciple Muguruma Kensei has learned the sword technique: "Shun Strike"]
[Guided Muguruma Kensei to complete a sword technique training (Completed)]
Nanatsuki focused on the completed training quest.
[Disciple Muguruma Kensei has completed a sword technique training. Reward calculating...]
[Reward obtained: 5000 General Ability EXP]
[Reward obtained: Sword Technique – Crimson Tide (Beginner Level)]
Looking at the Status Interface, Nanatsuki saw a new beginner-level skill listed under his sword techniques: Crimson Tide.
When he focused on Crimson Tide, more information appeared:
Crimson Tide: Crimson waves split thrice, blazing and oppressive. The blade is imbued with fire, bringing scorching calamity.
Crimson Tide, like Wave Break, wasn't purely a sword technique—it fused swordsmanship with Kidō.
Nanatsuki invested 4000 General Ability EXP into his Reiatsu, raising it to level 63.
The remaining 1000 EXP went into Shunpo, pushing it to level 29.
"Kensei, have you felt anything different these past few days?" Nanatsuki asked.
"Different?" Muguruma Kensei scratched the back of his head, pausing for a moment. "I guess I've just been feeling really good lately—energetic, like I can do anything."
The Patient Guidance trait was performing outstandingly. Though Kensei was already near mastering Shun Strike, Nanatsuki had estimated it would still take him two or three more days. He didn't expect him to finish it by this morning.
"Keep refining your Shun Strike. Focus on shortening the charge-up time. Once it's fast enough, you can use it in actual combat," Nanatsuki instructed.
"Yes, Sensei!"
Nanatsuki then had Hirako Shinji begin Shun Strike training as well.
He also gave guidance to his newest disciple, Kobane Jin'emon, starting him on the Flagfish Wooden Sword training.
For Kotetsu Isane, Nanatsuki's guidance wasn't limited to swordsmanship. As her first teacher, he also had to teach her the foundational basics across various disciplines.
Especially since Kotetsu Isane was very interested in Kaidō, Nanatsuki also had to teach her medical knowledge.
As a result, the one who currently required the most time and attention was actually the youngest—Kotetsu Isane.
But she was undeniably talented in Kaidō and picked it up quickly—much faster than she did swordsmanship.
Three new training quests appeared on Nanatsuki's Status Interface:
[New Quest Added: Guide Chijō Kana in Advanced Reiatsu Control Training (In Progress)]
[New Quest Added: Guide Hirako Shinji in Sword Technique Training (In Progress)]
[New Quest Added: Guide Kobane Jin'emon in Basic Swordsmanship Training (In Progress)]
With the new quests activated, the Patient Guidance trait boosted Chijō Kana's talent to S+, while Kobane Jin'emon's rose to A-.
After assigning training tasks to each disciple, Nanatsuki began his own training. With a rare two-day break, he planned to polish his sword techniques.
He now possessed a powerful trait that significantly aided his sword training:
Swordheart Clarity: You have grasped the true essence of swordsmanship and can always find the most optimal strike. In combat, sword skill level +5. Learning sword techniques becomes much easier.
The sword techniques of the Katori-ryu weren't limited to what was displayed on his Status Interface—those were just the ones he'd already mastered. Several more techniques were still unfamiliar and hadn't yet been added to the interface.