Chapter 54: Footwork Specialization - Crane
The four Reincarnators—the Professor, Yanagi, Elizabeth, and Kaito Shirogane—sat in a car on the train to Kyoto. After the recent events, they had reached a basic consensus.
The Professor's original plan had been to lead the Stone and Flower Hashira to Tanjiro's home and ambush the government forces and demons sent to find the [Blue Spider Lily]. This would both grind faction reputation and stop the enemy team from empowering Muzan.
But Kaito had vetoed that plan and proposed a far more "venomous" one.
The Demon Slayer Corps' accompanying [Kakushi] members helped relocate Tanjiro's family and everyone else living on the mountain. Then, Kaito's group used their advanced, modern weapons to rout the arriving government soldiers before setting the entire forest on fire. Aside from a few samples of the [Blue Spider Lily] they had gathered beforehand, everything was turned to ash.
Although Kanae Kocho had opposed this plan, Gyomei Himejima had contacted their Master via his Kasugai Crow, and Master Kagaya Ubuyashiki had approved it. In truth, Kagaya understood this was the only way to ensure Muzan would not get his hands on the flower, at least in the short term. Since Muzan already knew the flower only bloomed in the daytime, it was theoretically only a matter of time before he got it. Kagaya understood this. He didn't see Kaito's plan as cruel; his only fear was that it wasn't thorough enough.
"Since all of us have confirmed our next main quest, and seeing as we are all rookies, it's highly unlikely any of us have an item like a [Scapegoat Doll]. This means for our next operation, we either succeed... or we die," the Professor said, looking at the others.
"I feel it is necessary for us to share more of our information to coordinate our operations. If we run into a powerful enemy like an Upper Rank, we will all be in danger if we try to fight alone."
The Professor was being diplomatic. In his judgment, aside from "Mercenary Tao," who might have a chance against some of the Upper Ranks, everyone else in their group would be slaughtered. The gap between the Upper Ranks and the Lower Ranks was immense. For [Paper]-tier Reincarnators like them, even with their intel advantage, knowledge of Blood Demon Arts, and advanced firearms, the raw chasm in power was impossible to bridge. Speed, strength, regeneration, margin for error—the Upper Ranks held an overwhelming advantage in every category.
Elizabeth and Yanagi knew what the Professor meant and did not object.
Elizabeth, who usually gave off a cold and unapproachable vibe, spoke first.
"Vincent and I are team members under the loose collective [The Salted Fish]. Because it's a loose collective, we have no real resources or support. We're just Paper-tier Reincarnators who can use the team functions to run missions."
"You mean that special collective that's so disorganized its leader supposedly vanished?" The Professor seemed to have heard of this rather sloppily-named group.
Elizabeth nodded. "My own highest attribute is Spirit, at 12 points. I can communicate telepathically within a 10-meter range. And…"
She glanced at Kaito, sighed, and then admitted, "I have an incomplete high-level ability called [Heart Seize]. It can crush an opponent's heart, but because my Spirit stat isn't high enough, I can only use it when I can physically see the enemy's heart…"
As she finished, her voice grew quieter. This tall, strong-willed woman, nearly 1.8 meters tall, actually seemed embarrassed by the limitations of her power.
The Professor nodded without comment. Yanagi then took his turn and began his own introduction.
Only Kaito watched Elizabeth with an unreadable smile, which made her instinctively look away. Kaito was sneering inwardly. Of course. These were Reincarnators. A nest of pathetic creatures who would never feel a moment of true security. He was certain her ability was not what she claimed. Simply crushing a heart would absolutely not be enough to instantly kill a Lower Rank demon.
But this is how Reincarnators operated. Even when sharing intelligence for the sake of cooperation, they would selectively hide the truth. This incomplete information was exactly the kind of thing that would get a team wiped out when facing a strong enemy. But Kaito couldn't criticize the behavior. After all, even he had no intention of honestly revealing the true nature of his own abilities. This kind of loose, temporary alliance was, to him, utterly tedious.
Kaito suddenly braced himself against the side of the train car and yanked the window open. The night wind instantly howled into the compartment. The others looked at him, startled.
Yanagi was in the middle of his introduction. "My name is Yanagi. My highest stat is Strength at 13. I excel in bladed combat, with a proficiency at Lv5, and my chosen specialization is…"
Kaito stepped onto the table in front of him. Amidst the gasps of the other passengers in the car, he launched himself out of the open window. His lips curled into a grin. This Yanagi was so honest it was almost comical.
Kaito grabbed the metal roof-edge of the train car and, with a powerful flex, performed a counter-intuitive maneuver, flipping himself up onto the roof. He waved down at the stunned Reincarnators below.
"You all can play your boring game of house. I'll go take care of the target myself."
The Professor sighed at Kaito's antics but was powerless to stop him. In fact, he felt a subtle sense of relief. Being around Kaito was oppressive; he always felt like he was being completely suppressed, to the point where he couldn't think confidently. Besides, perhaps splitting up was the most efficient way to complete the main quest. To reverse the balance of power, they not only had to kill as many of the enemy's political allies as possible, but they also had to find new strength for the Demon Slayer Corps faction.
A glint appeared in the Professor's eyes. He suddenly realized that in some areas, even "Mercenary Tao" couldn't compare to him.
Kaito sat on the roof of the train car. The trains of this era didn't pass through tunnels. He sat there, feeling the wind rush over the mountains, his mouth and nose painstakingly maintaining the rhythm of [Hamon]. His right hand, he noted, was already almost completely healed.
A crimson light glowed in his hand as he summoned and crushed the [Crimson Drop Card] from Ghost.
[You have opened a Crimson Drop Card.]
[Opening Drop…]
[Calculating target's Slaughter Points. Target's Slaughter Points: 4. Reward tier slightly increased.]
[Calculating your Slaughter Points…]
[Karma Points detected for ID# Ex051: 2. You will receive 1 additional reward choice.]
[Calculation complete. You may select 2 of the following reward categories.]
[A: 30% of target's Dimensional Points]
[B: 2 items from target's inventory]
[C: Gain 10% of target's main attribute, added to your own]
[D: Randomly draw 1 proficiency (capped at Lv3)]
[E: Randomly gain 1 ability (capped at Lv1)]
Kaito noted that the rewards from this card were a bit "shrunk" compared to Evans's. The biggest difference was that when he killed Evans, he had directly received +1 Agility, whereas this kill did not. This meant that the Nexus fundamentally did not want Reincarnators killing each other in cooperative worlds. It was only because of his [Karma Reincarnator] status that he had gained a special "over-authority" to even get a Crimson Card to drop at all.
"I choose C and D."
[You have selected C - Attribute Extraction. Beginning extraction…]
[Your Agility attribute has increased by an additional 1 point.]
[You have selected D - Proficiency Extraction. Beginning extraction…]
[Extracting…]
[You have obtained Basic Footwork Proficiency. Existing proficiency detected. Merging and upgrading skill level.]
[Basic Footwork Proficiency has been upgraded. Current: Lv5.]
[You may now select one specialization direction.] (Note: Specializations can be chosen at Lv4, Lv7, and Lv10. If a Reincarnator possessed this proficiency level before entering the Nexus, the choice is deferred to the next threshold.)
[A: Lynx - Your footsteps will be as light as a feather, making almost no sound.]
[B: Crane - Your steps will be light and agile, granting additional hang time and jumping power.]
~~~
Guys We cross the 400 power stone goal and as promise here the bonus chapter
Next goal 500 power stone,come on guys you'll can do it, good luck.
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 2 extra chapters
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter