He spent a pleasant day with his little student.
Night fell.
Aoki sat in the yard, waiting quietly.
Kanae had reported his offer to spar with the Pillars, and they were all very enthusiastic.
Tonight, the first Pillar would arrive.
Thump thump thump.
Heavy footsteps sounded, growing clearer.
Soon, a very tall young monk walked in.
Aoki looked up. "Oh? The heaviest hitter first?"
"Sorry for the wait! Amen!"
Gyomei put his hands together.
Gyomei Himejima, the Stone Pillar, was the strongest Demon Slayer of this generation.
He was a true genius, with no weaknesses in body, mind, will, or understanding.
He was one of the few who had mastered the Transparent World.
If Space Traverse hadn't been so effective against him, Aoki wouldn't have won so easily in their previous fight.
"Please teach me!"
Aoki stood up, taking his Aoki Style stance, without wasting words.
Whoosh!
Gyomei took out his weapon, a broadaxe and meteor hammer connected by a long chain.
Kanae, Shinobu, and Kanao appeared quietly, watching from a distance.
Thud!
They moved at the same time.
Gyomei swung the chain, and the axe slashed at Aoki.
Aoki pushed off the ground, twisting his body to avoid the axe, and charged at Gyomei.
He didn't plan to use Space Traverse.
He was sparring with the Pillars to improve his fighting skills.
Using Space Traverse to bully them wouldn't be fun.
With his strength and the Transparent World, Aoki still easily overwhelmed Gyomei.
But he controlled his power, not ending the fight quickly.
Gyomei had mastered Stone Breathing. His techniques were refined, and his fighting sense and skill were flawless.
He was a great person to learn from.
Aoki gradually became absorbed in the fight, increasing his power and making his techniques sharper.
Gyomei struggled.
His techniques were seen through as soon as he used them. No matter how he changed them, he couldn't fool Aoki's eyes.
He was using more and more energy.
Suddenly, a fist pierced his defense.
Thud!
Gyomei flew away, spitting blood.
"Today..."
Aoki came to his senses and was about to speak.
Ding-dong!
The familiar sound rang in his mind.
Aoki froze.
What was happening?
He hadn't killed a demon or leveled up. Where did the system notification come from?
[Congratulations, you have obtained the class "Martial Artist"!]
"Huh? A new class?"
Aoki was excited. He quickly opened the system, and a new page appeared.
[Martial Artist]
[Quality: ☆]
[Level: lv1 (0/100)]
[Skills: Martial Heart (Not Learned), Combat Instinct (Not Learned), Body Control (Not Learned), Unyielding Will (Not Learned)]
"Martial Artist!" Aoki thought.
When he only had the Hunter class, he had considered getting many classes to farm skills and stats.
But after becoming an Aberrant Demon, he had given up on that idea.
Hunter was a half-star class. Other classes, like doctor, teacher, or soldier, were probably half-star too.
It had taken him over half a year to level Hunter to max, gaining 2 free stat points.
Aberrant Demon gave 2 stat points per level.
With the stats from Demon Blood, one Aberrant Demon was worth dozens of half-star classes.
Compared to Aberrant Demon, the effort and reward of half-star classes were terrible.
The skills weren't very useful either.
Half-star class skills were limited.
Hunter's skills had helped him a lot in the early days of being an Aberrant Demon.
But as he grew stronger, they became less effective.
For example, Eagle Eye's vision boost was a fixed value, not a percentage increase. The boost was almost useless now.
Of course, that wasn't always true.
Hunting Instinct, which increased his ability to track prey, was still useful for scouting.
But spending a lot of time and energy to get a half-star class for that small boost wasn't worth it!
So, he hadn't tried to collect half-star classes. He had focused on Aberrant Demon.
Demons weren't permanent.
If things went as they should, demons would be destroyed in four years.
Without demons, he couldn't level up. The two-star Aberrant Demon class would be useless!
Getting many classes for skills and stats was a good idea.
But he shouldn't aim for half-star classes. He should aim for extraordinary classes!
Like demons, like Breathing Style swordsmen.
Of course, after maxing out Aberrant Demon, devouring Muzan, and bringing peace, he could try collecting half-star classes.
Two stat points were still an increase.
He wouldn't turn them down.
He welcomed classes like Martial Artist, which he got automatically without effort.
And the name of the class was intriguing.
Aoki studied the Martial Artist skills, his eyes growing more excited.
All four skills were passive.
Martial Heart increased his talent for learning and creating martial arts techniques.
Combat Instinct helped him make better decisions in battle, increasing his fighting talent.
Body Control improved his control over his power and increased coordination and flexibility.
Unyielding Will gave him a strong will, making him stronger in battle!
Like Hunter, Martial Artist's skills didn't directly increase his martial arts. They increased his talent, giving him a higher ceiling.
Comparing Hunter and Aberrant Demon, Aoki understood something.
"Half-star classes don't involve extraordinary power. Their skills focus on improving techniques."
Martial Artist was the perfect half-star class for him.
Compared to Akaza and Gyomei, who were masters of technique, Aoki's fighting sense and skill were still weak, even though he had started building his fighting style.
Akaza had trained for hundreds of years. The Pillars stood on the shoulders of their predecessors and had trained hard for a long time.
Catching up to them wouldn't be easy.
Now he had a chance.
Martial Artist's skills, especially the first three, were made to improve fighting skills.
There were differences even among half-star classes.
Martial Artist would boost his strength much more than Hunter.
---
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