The air in the training ground was a little heavy.
Andrew, who had just stepped on a metaphorical landmine, crouched off to the side, not daring to speak, terrified that he might carelessly wander into the minefield again.
As for Hoshimi Miyabi, she knew full well that verbal guarantees were the most powerless form of persuasion — every promise depended on how one actually followed through with real action later — so she said nothing more.
And so, because no one spoke, the entire training ground fell silent just like that.
Even the Felyne who had been standing by on standby covered her mouth with both paws, terrified of making any sound that might shift the group's attention onto herself.
Looking at the group before her, whose every movement had turned so cautious.
Kairu, having gathered her emotions again, couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips into a faint smile, and then took the initiative to break the mood, saying:
"There, there, don't put on such heavy faces — this all happened a very long time ago, meow."
"Besides, in the end that guy only lost the strength in his left hand — it's not like he died. A result like that was already very lucky, meow."
Looking at the somewhat blank eyes of the two before her, who hadn't yet caught on.
Recalling how, back then, while all the Felynes waited anxiously, that guy's very first words upon waking had been to ask what there was to eat — Kairu couldn't help but let out a sigh.
She said helplessly:
"What's more, once that guy learned that after retirement she'd no longer have to drink tea and eat dango every single day just to guarantee enough stamina in battle, she was overjoyed beyond words, meow."
"After receiving the pension the Guild handed out, she immediately started figuring out how to open a restaurant in the village, meow."
Remembering the utterly genuine, joy-filled look in the other's eyes back then, Kairu felt that this was probably what the other truly wanted to do all along.
So Kairu took the initiative to change the subject:
"Lord Andrew, I remember you once said, on the road back to the base, that next we'd be heading straight to another world to be stationed there, meow."
Bringing this up, Kairu asked somewhat uncertainly:
"Then... then the reason your partner, Lord Meow-Da, didn't come back with you this time is because he stayed behind to be stationed in that world — is that right, meow?"
Among the reasons Kairu had failed to recognize Andrew's true identity back then, the absence of Meow-Da at Andrew's side accounted for a solid eighty percent of it.
Compared to the Guild's abstract portraits and descriptions of Hunters.
A Felyne's coat coloring — utterly convenient whether in an illustrated catalog or a written record — was without question the fastest means of identification.
At Kairu's sudden question, though a little puzzled, Andrew still nodded earnestly and said:
"That's exactly right."
Hearing this, Kairu's eyes lit up once more, and she asked, suddenly a little impatient:
"Then... then could I learn other hunting techniques besides the Barrel Bomb alongside Lord Meow-Da, meow?"
Kairu's goal was crystal clear.
Becoming the partner of a Hunter she recognized was not the end of her goal, but merely the beginning of it.
The New World was different from the Old World. In the New World, a Hunter couldn't have each Felyne specialize in a single skill and then, before each outing, pick a different Felyne as a partner based on the commission's content, thereby forming comprehensive coverage of whatever support skills the situation demanded.
The Old World's operating model was in fact a kind of disguised shortcut, one that lowered the quality requirements placed on each individual Felyne.
But the New World was different.
In the New World, where one human and one cat had become the norm, if she wanted to be a Hunter's sole partner, then she — as that partner — absolutely had to become as all-around and masterfully skilled as her idol Meow-Da!
True, this exclusivity had the Guild's backing.
But the rules' requirements were no reason for her to stagnate; a self proficient only in the Barrel Bomb had no way to fully support her new partner under every circumstance.
And learning under her own idol was precisely the best opportunity to shore up her other shortcomings!
Naturally, Andrew had no reason to refuse Kairu's request, and he immediately nodded, agreeing on his good partner's behalf.
"Of course. I'm sure Meow-Da would be more than happy to teach you."
"That's wonderful, meow!"
Hearing her request granted, Kairu instantly bounced up with joy.
But then she immediately realized her lapse in composure, and facing Andrew's mirth-filled gaze, Kairu's face flushed red all over again.
She hurriedly changed the subject, stammering a little:
"D-don't let my business make you forget what the whole point of us making this special trip to the training ground together even was, meow."
"W-weren't we here to test out the new equipment, meow?!"
At this point, even Kairu couldn't help but let a trace of curiosity slip into her eyes as she said:
"This is master-grade equipment crafted by the very hands of the Second Cohort Commander himself! It's my first time seeing master-grade weapons and armor up close with my own eyes, meow."
Seeing that Kairu was already trying so hard to change the subject, Andrew suppressed the urge to open his mouth and tease her a little.
After exchanging a glance with Hoshimi Miyabi, Andrew nodded and gestured as he spoke:
"Miyabi, you go first."
Looking at the Velkhana Tachi on Hoshimi Miyabi's back, which already seemed to be ceaselessly converting Ether energy into a radiating chill, Andrew said:
"After all, I've been in contact with Ether energy for far too short a time, so when it comes to the conversion and application of Ether energy, you're still a bit stronger than me."
"This also gives me a good chance to observe up close, in careful detail, how this equipment makes use of Ether energy."
Hearing Andrew's reasoning, Hoshimi Miyabi didn't refuse.
After all, she too was extremely curious about the ability the Second Cohort Commander had described earlier — the one that could take her ice attribute to a whole new level.
After all.
The Fierce Frost attribute she now wielded was itself a brand-new attribute formed by taking the ordinary ice attribute one step further.
If she could go one step further still...
Without hesitation, Hoshimi Miyabi immediately gripped the Velkhana Tachi with both hands and slowly drew it from its sheath with force.
"Shing—"
Accompanied by the ringing hum of the blade sliding free of its sheath, the two-handed tachi known as the Severe Frost Blade was drawn by Hoshimi Miyabi from the sheath on her back.
The mere act of taking it in hand caused Hoshimi Miyabi's arms to dip slightly under its extraordinary weight.
The originally enormous, long and narrow blade had been further scaled down proportionally from the original version to suit Hoshimi Miyabi's height and arm span; the crystal-like, ice-blue blade shimmered with a deep, profound light in her hands.
And the tachi's edge looked as though it had been sheathed in solid ice and then further polished, radiating a dazzling brilliance under the sunlight.
A single glance was enough to make one feel its incomparable keenness.
Its porcelain-elegant form gave the impression that this blade was nothing more than a fragile ornament meant for decoration.
But anyone who truly understood, or possessed a discerning eye, could sense the boundless killing intent hidden beneath that perfect appearance.
However.
Even though this tachi had been shrunk down several grades to match Hoshimi Miyabi's height, the weight it carried absolutely could not be underestimated.
But such a problem was no problem at all for Hoshimi Miyabi.
Don't forget.
Hoshimi Miyabi's power — power of the Void Hunter class — had never been for show.
A weight this heavy, enough that most ordinary people couldn't even budge it, sat, for Hoshimi Miyabi — who had become a Void Hunter through pure martial force — right at the very limit of the range she could wield with ease.
And this perfect calibration of weight and size was the most flawless state, designed and adjusted by the Second Cohort Commander according to Hoshimi Miyabi's physical attributes.
This, too, was the true meaning of master-grade equipment.
However, as Hoshimi Miyabi gripped the two-handed great tachi and gazed at the artwork-like blade in her hands, a trace of confusion surfaced on her face.
Why couldn't she feel that so-called special ability?
Could it be...
Recalling the Ether magic circuits the Second Cohort Commander had mentioned during his introduction, Hoshimi Miyabi already had a guess forming in her heart.
Since they were Ether magic circuits, then surely they'd require Ether energy to function.
With that thought, Hoshimi Miyabi directly mobilized the Ether energy within her body and, using the very same method of channeling Ether energy she'd once used with Wuwei, poured it straight into the tachi.
And the reality was exactly as she had anticipated.
Under everyone's watchful gaze, as the Ether energy was injected, the Frigid Blade — sensing the Ether energy within Hoshimi Miyabi's body — lit up as if activated, circuits like blood vessels glowing to life one after another.
Before anyone could react, in the very next moment these circuits faded away once more.
And these glowing patterns were, without a doubt, the Ether-version magic circuits the Second Cohort Commander had spoken of.
Within Hoshimi Miyabi's perception.
Although these magic circuits no longer glowed, the circuits within them had not actually stopped running.
Rather, before Hoshimi Miyabi's astonished eyes, from the moment of that initial Ether energy injection, they began on their own to draw all the Ether energy within her body along this line, surging it into the tachi.
And this tachi, like a bottomless abyss, accepted every bit of the Ether energy that came surging in, without exception.
Only when it had nearly drained Hoshimi Miyabi's body of Ether energy did the Velkhana Tachi's blade — as though completing the final step of forging into a treasure tool — fully merge with the Ether energy into one.
This Frigid Blade, in this moment, became a treasure tool belonging exclusively to Hoshimi Miyabi.
And as the Frigid Blade was fully activated as a treasure tool, the Ether energy that had originally surged into the tachi immediately flooded back into Hoshimi Miyabi's body in an even more turbulent state.
This unique sensation made Hoshimi Miyabi instinctively close her eyes.
A faint chill spread gradually throughout her entire body, following the roaming of the Ether energy, yet this chill did not feel biting.
On the contrary, it was refreshing — like stepping into an air-conditioned room on a scorching summer day.
The Ether energy flooding back into Hoshimi Miyabi's body flowed and circulated through the Frigid Blade's circuits, and finally returned into her body through the palms in contact with it, fully merging into the Ether energy circulation within her.
And Hoshimi Miyabi's first sensation was that her body had gained an extra organ.
Even though it was an enormous two-handed tachi, Hoshimi Miyabi felt as if this massive blade had already become an extension of her own arms.
Though the influence brought by its weight had not disappeared.
The convenience granted by this unique sensory extension was, in the very instant of taking it in hand, enough to let Hoshimi Miyabi perfectly control the weapon in her grasp.
However, this could at most be counted as a bonus that came with the weapon after it had been turned into a treasure tool.
The truly crucial part still lay in the Ether energy that had returned into Hoshimi Miyabi's body after all that circulation.
"Ssss... s-so cold, meow!"
Kairu's startled cry made Hoshimi Miyabi's eyes fly open at once, and the instant she opened them, she was stunned by the scene before her.
The coolness she had assumed it to be revealed its true might in this very moment.
Snow-white frost had blanketed everything within a radius of dozens of meters centered on Hoshimi Miyabi; the wooden barrels casually placed nearby and the wooden posts used for training had none of them been spared.
The extreme chill made it seem as though this entire area had, for the first time, plunged into an unprecedented dead of winter.
And the cause of all of this before them...
was merely the consequence of those minute traces of Ether energy that had instinctively leaked out, because the earlier backflow of Ether energy had been far too turbulent.
"Th-this is..."
Hoshimi Miyabi stared in astonishment at everything before her.
Hoshimi Miyabi, who already commanded the power of Fierce Frost, could of course easily accomplish what lay before her using her original strength.
But it was absolutely impossible for her, as she was now, to blanket such an enormous stretch of area entirely in frost relying solely on that sliver of leaked-out energy.
If just a wisp was already like this, then if she were to go all-out...
Looking at the astonished Hoshimi Miyabi before him.
Andrew — who had taken part in the defense of Astral Outpost, and in the time since had hunted more than one such beast together with Meow-Da — carefully discerned the frost-ice attribute contained within it.
"Mm..."
Andrew rubbed his chin and said to Hoshimi Miyabi with certainty:
"So when the Second Cohort Commander said he could take your ice attribute one step further, what he meant was directly using the Ether magic circuits within it to tint your attribute with a measure of the Velkhana's attribute power."
Of course, the material Andrew had wrangled off the Sapphire Star this time was definitely not from the same beast as the one before.
"Velkhana?"
Seeing Hoshimi Miyabi's puzzled gaze, and knowing that her understanding of the various monsters was still somewhat lacking, Andrew took the initiative to explain:
"The Sovereign of Cold, an Elder Dragon that freezes all things, commanding a mighty frigid air that can flash-freeze even large monsters into blocks of ice in an instant, freezing even the moisture in the air on the spot — a powerful Elder Dragon that bears the title of 'Noble of the Magnificent Silver Disc.'"
"And this tachi was forged from the materials of that very Elder Dragon."
Watching Hoshimi Miyabi carefully savor the utmost frigid cold emanating from within the tachi, Andrew continued:
"Although without a Dragon Jade it can't be used to directly manipulate the Velkhana's cold, for Miyabi, who already commands the Fierce Frost attribute, enchanting her existing attribute in this way is actually all the more fitting."
At present, the effect of the Ether magic circuits upon the Frigid Blade...
was in fact to directly convert the ice-attribute damage — which originally only took effect when it struck a monster's body — into an extra bonus layered onto the Fierce Frost attribute Hoshimi Miyabi already possessed.
Looking at the Frigid Blade's effect, which had already far exceeded expectations, Andrew nodded in satisfaction.
He said:
"Not bad at all. With this, the chill within your Fierce Frost can surely be taken to a whole new level, Miyabi."
To be honest, the boost the Velkhana Tachi gave Hoshimi Miyabi somewhat exceeded even Andrew's expectations.
And this was still a Frigid Blade without the Velkhana's Dragon Jade or the fusion of Safi'jiiva materials; if it were the complete version — the Frost Spirit Radiant Blade — its boost to the ice attribute...
would inevitably be even more terrifying.
However, at that level it would likely surpass the degree Hoshimi Miyabi could control, and Andrew had no desire to turn Hoshimi Miyabi into a walking source that spread frigid cold in all directions.
If that were to instead place Hoshimi Miyabi in danger...
Such a result was not one Andrew wanted to see.
____
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