April 11, 2xxx –
I left the building again before dawn, Azula was once again waiting at the entrance ditating, she opened one eye.
"I thought He-Taylor and Ruby would get together," Azula corrected herself, I humming lightly before smiling at her.
"They're kinda tired, they were up really late." Azula raised an eyebrow at , I rolled my eyes "it's not that, we were watching movies, musicals until 2am." Azula paused montarily before letting out a laugh.
"Revenge?" she asked playfully.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I laughed with her, she shook her head while smiling.
"I'm glad I went to my room then," Azula huffed.
"Now, now, you're my fiancée too, you'll have to endure marathons of musicals." I smirked at her, Azula grimaced.
"Too late to take it back?" she asked dryly.
"Too late," I replied playfully and she sighed.
"Well, I guess if I can put up with the works on Ember Island I'll be fine." She mutters to herself and I almost burst out laughing, oh goddess, I had to go to the Fire Nation soti!
Our gaze was diverted when the door to the building opened, Taylor and Ruby sleepily exited the building and approached us.
"I hate you Izumi." Taylor yawned, Ruby imdiately caught on and yawned too.
"My dreams had songs and dances," Ruby said with a pout. "I can still hear them." I burst out laughing.
"Alright, since we're all here Azula, an introduction, I won't be teaching you Hinokami Kagura-" Azula seed about to retort "-yet." I cut her off, she closed her mouth and frowned "first there's sothing I want to teach you, the Full Concentration Breathing." Azula blinked in confusion and I smiled at her before explaining what exactly Full Concentration Breathing was, when I finished Azula looked incredulous.
"That... sounds like pure nonsense that my uncle would say," Azula said incredulously.
"That's what I told him!" Ruby yawned once more.
"And so do I. " Taylor added with a shrug, she seed more awake, but had tears in the corners of her eyes from blinking away the sleep too much, "but it exists, it works, I was able to learn it." Azula looks at her for a few seconds before nodding.
"...it's okay... it's not like it's any worse than my ditation and breathing training with Lo and Li." Azula shrugged, Taylor grimaced but didn't say anything.
"Okay, next, do you want to use a sword?" I asked Azula, she frowned.
"Do I have to?" she asked almost childishly, I shrugged.
"Not really, I'm just asking to know what training to follow, for example, adapt a style that uses swords to Ruby's scythe." I pointed at Ruby who had her eyes closed before suddenly opening them.
"Huh? What what? " she asked confused with slightly glassy eyes.
"Thunder Breathing." Ruby now seed more sober.
"Oh yeah! It's amazing! Even without having mastered full concentration breathing, it helped enormously! "I'm still trying to get the hang of it, but it's amazing! " Ruby said excitedly, now more awake than before.
"Thunder Breathing?" Azula asked confused, I nodded.
"Breathing Style, these are fencing styles that I created, you need total concentration breathing to master them, hence the na," I explained, "each different style imitates sothing from nature, the one you want to learn is Sun Breathing, the first style I created and the progenitor of the others, the other styles are derivatives of Sun Breathing."
"That-how many styles are there?" Azula asked incredulously.
"Now? 14 of my creation, there is a 15 that was created by Kazuto, my brother that I ntioned before." Azula looked at almost horrified.
"And people called a freak prodigy," she muttered in disbelief, Taylor chuckling hollowly.
"Don't even ntion it, I was the sa way, the worst thing is that I have to face all of them to get used to different types of fights, it's torture, the worst thing that works." I rolled my eyes, how dramatic.
"From Sun Breathing are derived the 5 fundantal styles, Fla, Water, Wind, Stone and Thunder Breathing, each one imitating the elent by which they are nad."
"Wait, there's a lot I want to ask in that, but most importantly Fla Breathing? Is there any difference with Sun Breathing? "
"Too much, Fla Breathing was created when I realized that Sun Breathing was too strong, it is so powerful by nature that it is very difficult for soone to master it, and you... you can't do it." I looked seriously at Azula.
"What the hell does that an?" Azula growled defensively.
"I can see inside bodies, it's hard to explain how now, but I can see organs, blood vessels, nerves, muscles, everything, you're in good shape, but you're not at your peak, I can notice the disuse of your muscles, you recently started exercising again and they're not up to Sun Breathing, you won't be able to master it even if I teach you." Azula gritted her teeth, but didn't deny it, being locked up in an asylum for almost 4 years has its disadvantages.
"As soon as I get better I want you to teach Sun Breathing." she demanded, I smiled.
"Of course, I'm really curious to what extent you can improve." I told her honestly, she nodded visibly calming down, she was still slightly tense but not as angry as a few seconds ago.
"As I was saying, then there are the styles that are variations of the 5 fundantal styles,
Flower and Serpent are derived from Water, Insect is derived from Flower, Love is derived from Fla, Sound is derived from Thunder, and lastly, Beast and Mist are derived from Wind."
"You missed 1." said Azula wrinkling her nose.
"Moon, I don't consider it one of the 5 fundantals, but it is derived from Sun." Azula sighed.
"Of course you have Moon Breathing." Azula looked at Taylor "I suppose you learned Insect? " she asked and Taylor grimaced.
"No... Water." Azula opened her eyes confused, Taylor sighed "It's... complicated." I rolled my eyes
"No, it isn't." I replied, "though I admit that it is my fault for… creating that style like that." I lied lightly with a grimace. "Insect Breathing imitates insects, but specifically their stings and lethal movents, all of its movents, techniques and skills include stabbing, thrusting, and making superficial cuts to blood vessels, only… for the style to be complete the blade must be coated in lethal poison." I grimaced.
"I don't see the problem." Azula said with a shrug, Taylor groaned.
"And there wouldn't be any if it weren't for the fact that all of their moves are the sa, I can't just go around poisoning everyone." Taylor said as she massaged her temple. "I already have too much poison from my bugs normally so I can't use them to attack, the point of learning how to use a sword was to have another option and not limit myself in the sa way." Taylor explained, Azula looked at her for a few seconds before nodding. "Plus, since it's all just superficial cuts, it's too weak to use against monsters, whose poison is useless against them." She sighed tiredly.
"And it was… Thunder for Ruby right?" Azula asked, Ruby nodded excitedly.
"Yeah! I'm still in the first form though." Ruby pouted.
"And you will continue to be until you master total concentration breathing, it is the basis of the entire style," I said firmly. "Although... I was also thinking of teaching you Flower or Sound, both are also based on speed, maybe it will help you."
"You can learn and use more than one at the sa ti?" Ruby asked innocently as she tilted her head.
"Of course I do, I use all of them." I snorted in amusent, Taylor grimaced, "If I have them, why not use them? They may actually be weaker than Sun, but it would be a waste not to use them." I shrugged, "So yeah, you can use multiple if you want to learn more than one, you can swap them in between, you can fuse them, you can literally use them at the sa ti, or better yet, create your own." I smiled widely, "Kazuto created Speed Breathing when Sound and Thunder didn't suit his fighting style."
"That sounds amazing!" Ruby said excitedly, I nodded.
"Now, back to the beginning, so Azula? Sword or no sword? " I asked once more, She grimaced.
"... what do you recomnd?" she asked with a hurt expression, I could almost see how she suffered in asking that, I almost burst out laughing.
"I'll always be partial to swords." I shrugged. "We can learn both and see which one suits your fighting style better in the end. Having a sword is always a good resource. Monsters and other people may be resistant to fire, so having other options is always good." Azula grimaced but nodded. "Then it's decided. Here." I tossed her my nichirin sword. Azula blinked.
"And… this?" she asked confused.
"A sword." I said amused, she rolled her eyes.
"Wait, she gets a real sword from the start?" Taylor asked almost indignantly, snorting derisively.
"Taylor, my dear, when I first t you, you barely knew how to throw a punch, you would have stabbed yourself if I gave you a sword." I said amused, Taylor blushed slightly and looked away, "plus, Azula has sword training, nothing formal really, but she knows how to hold it." Azula nodded slowly.
"Swords are more… my brother's thing, but I had so lessons on how to use them." Azula explained as she pulled the sword out of its sheath, Ruby gasped.
"A black sword ." Ruby muttered in disbelief as she quickly approached the sword and looked at it closely, her eyes widened "this-this is Scarlet Ore?" Ruby asked in surprise, I looked at her in shock.
"I'm surprised you know the material just by looking at it, even more so by its color change." Ruby nodded excitedly.
"Oh yeah! I've worked with Scarlet Ore before! That's what my sister's gauntlets are made of! Ember Celica!" eh, curious.
"Does the sword have a na?" Taylor asked confused.
"No, this particular sword was never given a na, although I always called it the Nichirin Sword." I said and Ruby blinked.
"Sun Sword? That's not a good na." Ruby puffed out her cheeks as she turned back to the sword "Does it say 'Slay' here? " Ruby asked looking at the inscription, the other pair looked at the inscription, nodding.
"It seed appropriate," I said simply.
"How does it compare to the ito?" Ruby asked excitedly, humming lightly.
"mmmm, in terms of quality it's definitely better than a Skillful Grade, but not enough to be a Great Grade."
"What are ito?" Azula asked confused.
"What is Scarlet Ore?" Taylor asked.
"ito are weapons that have earned a na for themselves and have superior quality capable of having a designation among the Graded Blade, there are 4 grades, Supre, Great, Skillful and Grade, from best quality to worst quality."
"Oh? Interesting, any swords you know?" "Are they all Japanese swords? " Azula asked interested.
"Not at all, for example, Mihwak's Yoru and Roger's Ace." Azula whistled in awe, really, those were so pretty well-known impressive swords, Mihawk, she is a National Level Hunter living in Romania while Roger passed away almost 25 years ago, she was a National Level Hunter of Portugal, it was proof that even National Levels could die from terminal illnesses.
Fun fact, the National Hunters have been around longer than Kamish, it was during the first breach of Babel almost 70 years ago, when Behemoth, Leviathan and Black Dragon escaped. The titles were awarded when the first two were killed and the third scared away.
Ryoma was Japan's first national hunter, Japan practically cried when he announced his retirent after Kamish, although the bastard had still decapitated that thing at 80. Shusui and the rest of my swords by pure coincidence.
"Oh, oh, oh! Do you think my Crescent Rose could ever be inside the ito?! " Ruby asked excitedly, humming softly.
"I don't see why not," I shrugged. "ito don't start out as ito, they just get into it when they're recognized by their owners' actions, though… I certainly don't recall any that have chashift."
"Then Crescent Rose can be the first!" Ruby said excitedly, I smiled slightly before looking at Taylor.
"Now, Scarlet Ore is-"
"It's a solar mineral from Aincrad," Azula interrupted . I looked at her and raised an eyebrow in her direction.
"You also know about Scarlet Ore?" she snorted.
"Every hunter with a fire quirk knows Scarlet Ore." she replied. "Scarlet Ore is a mineral that is collected in Aincrad, the floors of Aincrad have their own bio, there is a level with a mountain where the sun never sets, the Scarlet Ore is perpetually bathed in Aincrad's sunlight all year round, making it extrely resistant to heat, sothing welcod by people with fire quirks, lting weapons is a pain." Azula explained and I nodded.
"Exactly, the Nichirin Sword is made from Scarlet Ore and Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand." Taylor nodded at the explanation, "and they have a nice skill."
"Wait, Scarlet Ore has other properties besides being fire resistant?" Ruby asked curiously. "I thought it was relatively cheap for simply having strong durability and heat resistance." I nodded at that before taking the sword from Azula's hand.
"They have a property of absorbing sunlight, so they like to be unsheathed during the day, and they have an effect of working similar to sunlight when it cuts soone's body." I explained, the trio looking confused.
"I an... would it work for demon dungeons? Those that are weak to sunlight? " Azula asked curiously and I nodded with a smile, it really was weird that the demons from Kitsu no Yaiba existed as dungeon monsters.
"Exactly, if you can cut the demons' necks they will turn to ashes."
"Amazing! So far the best way to deal with them is to just burn them completely! " Ruby said surprised and I nodded.
"and then there's when the sword turns Bright Red." I grabbed the handle of the sword and pressed down hard, the edge of the blade began to glow red "if you have enough strength, grabbing the sword and applying imnse pressure produces a localized heating effect and then it spreads throughout the rest of the blade."
"So cool!" Ruby squealed as she reached out to touch it, only to pull it back. "Ouch! It burns! " She brought her fingers to her mouth.
"I said the blade heated up, what did you expect?" I asked dryly, she just pouted, "In this form, the most notable effect is that it hinders or even completely nullifies any monster's regeneration by burning away cells at a cellular level when wielded." The trio stared at the sword in disbelief, I chuckled as I loosened my grip, the sword slowly turning back to completely black, "But you need a lot of training to turn it red." The trio fell silent before Ruby gasped and pointed her finger at .
"You lied to ! You have a flaming sword! " she said as she accused , I blinked before bursting out laughing.
"It seems so." I said amusedly, she pouted before looking back at the sword.
"And how did it turn black?" Ruby asked excitedly. "I heard that it's very difficult to turn a sword black! Since there are only a few in the world! They increase their strength and durability, I think the ito book ntions Yoru and Shusui! " I nodded.
"No idea, Ryoma blinded one eye of the Black Dragon of Babel, and then decapitated Kamish, possibly with one of them-" Taylor's eyes opened wide "-Yoru, I have no idea, but Mihawk is a great swordsman, so it's not strange, now, this sword is... peculiar." I said simply, the trio looked at confused, I sighed.
"The Nichirin swords, since they are the only ones there are, theorize that they change color the first ti the user touches the sword. Depending on the color it changes to, it depends on the affinity of an elent of nature you have."
"... and what does the black one represent? What is my... affinity? " Azula asked as she looked at the sword.
"Will it change color if I hold it?" Ruby asked almost bouncing, I shook my head.
"It only changes color once, then it's permanent, you'd have to get a newly made sword, and black represents the sun."
"Of course." Azula snorted, smirking.
"I have other colors theorized, but nothing proven." I shrugged, I couldn't really tell them I was completely sure about the colors.
"Wait, if I know what the best style to use is, why didn't I get a Nichirin sword instead of Sh- instead of the one you gave ?" Taylor asked while making a face, I raised an eyebrow.
"Taylor, the Nichirin Sword is worth 10 million yen, do you have that money?" The three girls froze and turned completely pale.
"Sorry, I think I heard you wrong, could you repeat that?" Taylor asked awkwardly.
"I stuttered? 10 million yen." Taylor closed her eyes tightly.
"I want to know how much the sword you gave is worth?" Taylor asked miserably, I smiled widely at her.
"Before its previous owner? The sa as the Nichirin sword, maybe more expensive, after him? I'd say its price increased at least 30 tis." Taylor looked at with a suffering expression while her eyes were glassy.
"300 million yen," she muttered into the void, "more than one and a half million dollars."
"What kind of sword did you give her?" Azula asked incredulously, she looked at Taylor and raised an eyebrow, Taylor woke up from her daydream and sighed.
"It's... Shusui." Taylor murmured, Azula's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets and Ruby looked like she was about to faint.
"Shusui like... the sword that decapitated Kamish?" Azula asked incredulously, Taylor sighed and nodded.
"the sa."
"Can I see her?!?" Ruby asked almost madly "Can I touch her?! Please, please, please?!! ? Ruby asked almost desperately as she begged next to Taylor, Taylor sighed but nodded, it took a few seconds too long where Ruby bounced in place as the swarm brought Shusui flying.
Once Taylor held it in her hand, both Ruby and Azula approached, Taylor unsheathed it and both gasped.
"She's beautiful," Ruby murmured as she moved closer in rapture, her hands and fingers moving restlessly, as if she wanted to take her but was resisting it, Taylor realized.
"Here." Shusui offered to Ruby, Ruby instead of lunging at the weapon as expected, took it almost reverently.
"It's perfect ." Ruby said as she looked at the weapon and moved it back and forth. "It's... extrely sharp, it's very well maintained, are you in charge of the maintenance?" She asked Taylor without looking away from the sword.
"Yes, Izumi showed it to when she gave it to ." she said simply.
"You're doing a good job," Ruby praised happily. "But… why is it so heavy? I thought it would be more… balanced? " Ruby asked, moving Shusui back and forth.
"Not all ito are the sa as each other, even within their range." I corrected Ruby. "Shusui is heavy and very durable, it also has the distinctive trait of increasing the destructive power of the wielder, it causes too much destruction when cutting." I explained easily.
"Wait, Shusui has that trait? Is it heavier than other swords? " Taylor asked confused, she sighed tiredly.
"Yes, it is heavier, you didn't notice because Shusui was the only sword you used, it was better for you to get used to it from the beginning and yes, it has that trait, in fact, that's why it's my favorite for single sword styles."
"Huh? And why did you give it to if it was your favorite? " I shrugged.
"I have another sword at the sa level or higher than Shusui to replace it, so I don't really mind." Ruby gasped.
"Swords superior to Shusui?!" Ruby exclaid, looking at with shining eyes, "Which ones!? Can I see them!? " she asked excitedly, I snorted.
"no" Ruby's devastated look made laugh "no, now, we have to train and if I show you my swords we'll never do it" Ruby groaned.
"But promise! I want to see your swords! " I burst out laughing.
"Of course Ruby." I smirked at her before tossing a respirator mask to Azula.
"Put that on and let's run, you too Ruby and let go of Shusui already!"
"noooooo!"
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