After dropping off the woman at the capital, Kai had to explain the circumstances behind what happened. Needless to say, he forged a lie- one which was seen through by Erina immediately. All of his lies prior were half-truths, they weren't lies but they weren't exactly the truth either, this helped him guard against Erina's magic eye but one thing was different from his other life.
"She never had that magic eye in the other life."
Kai muttered to himself while resting on his bed.
"You're telling me that even though you spent more time with her in your other life, she had either never told you or doesn't have the magic eye altogether?"
"I'm confident that she never had it. She's always had keen intuition but never did she possess a magic eye to see through the truth. I know her body from head to toe, a magic eye couldn't surpass my detection."
If it was only the magic eye, Kai wouldn't be so troubled. What if there were also differences? Minor differences such as what Villager A wore during Day X on the year XXXX wouldn't change a thing but what if it was a major event? Take an example from Earth, what if many historical figures from Earth's timeline never existed and many items were never invented? The modern-day Earth may very well be devoid of any electricity or materials that make daily lives easier such as cars.
In this world, Erina didn't hold the magic eye but still was a key figure in the war. If she held the magic eye, would the tides of war still be the same? Kai held many questions about this but no matter what, it already happened. Right now, he had more pressing matters to worry about. What if there was another change in history? Such as the primary instigators of the war never existing or the key figures of the rebellion never stood up to protect everyone? Kai couldn't even imagine the consequences.
"...The war happening in three years- no, I can't say for certain how near it's going to be anymore. The war that's going to happen in that time would make the great war look like a small-scale battle. If even one variable were missing, I won't be able to gain an advantage."
Kai did many things since he got his memory. He gained funds through the use of Superbia, a wide-scale market. He trained his disciple, Angelina the dragon slayer even further. He gave the Sword Prodigy, Wake an early awakening. He even gave the members of Memento Mori a huge power-up before the war which they were only supposed to awaken during the said period.
He did everything he could to bolster his side's strength but what if an unknown variable were to interfere? It could very well ruin his plans.
Since Reo had returned, he always stuck with Kai. Kai didn't mind telling him this information, even more so when Reo found out about the woman who Kai had just talked to.
"But still... a world-scale war involving Gods, the Demon King, and even the fallen hero?"
"Hard to believe but they're all facts. The dimension that Gods and Demons fight in was ripped apart by the hero and the world was brought to chaos. Humanity took up most of the planet but with the arrival of the Demons and Gods, they were reduced to a mere twenty percent. In that twenty percent, only three percent had the power to fight against them. This is why humanity was in such a dire state."
Reo fell silent in contemplation for a few seconds before responding.
"What's your plan? To stop the war before it happens, to win the war despite the casualties, or to let it go through the same path it had before?"
"I'll tell you when the time comes. I doubt I'd be able to do it if I told anyone else."
With those words, the two of them fell into deep silence until the morning came.
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Immediately after school, Kai and Yoko trained.
"[Twin Shadow Assault]."
Yoko used her daggers to try and slice apart Kai's defenses but Kai destroyed her technique with sheer power.
"This is your weakness. All of your attacks rely on the opponent having lowered their defenses or if they're caught off-guard. As you stand, you can do nothing in the face of power."
Saying that, Kai immediately did a straight kick. Yoko twisted her body and dodged it, then she tried to snap Kai's leg with her own knee.
DING CRACK
"Ugh."
Yoko's kneecap was broken.
"...I guess that's also one of your weaknesses. You don't take advantage of the opponent's advantages and disadvantages. You already know that my leg is made of a nearly unbreakable metal."
Kai sighed and began healing her. It was already the fourth bout. To this bout, Kai hadn't unsheathed his sword even once and limited his power to A-class. The only reason Yoko was able to defeat Mariko Yoshino was because the others were there.
Yoko stood up and brandished her daggers again.
"One more!"
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Kai didn't respond and simply held a stance, this time he took out the scythe.
"[Twin Dragon Assault]."
With the vigor of two dragons, Yoko's body looked like she was wrapped in a dark hurricane. Kai swung his scythe and with just the wind from the swing, Yoko's technique was canceled. But Yoko didn't stop her attack, she jumped backwards and used the wall as leverage.
"[Twin Dragon's Rage]!"
Yoko vanished and appeared behind Kai with both daggers being stained in blood.
Dozens of wounds suddenly appeared on Yoko's body as she gripped on to the edges of her consciousness.
In the instant Yoko attacked using such high speed that even she herself wasn't able to follow, Kai used his superior perception to redirect Yoko's attacks, each of her cuts were directed towards herself by moving her arms. Yoko felt Kai's attempts at moving her but she couldn't do anything at that speed.
The difference between her and Kai when it came to speed would be their ability to process information. Yoko at the limits of her speed could definitely move faster than the human eye by many times over but if asked if she could process all the information, her answer would be a no. In the end, Kai could process information and move many times faster than Yoko.
Kai immediately began healing her. Her enchanted daggers were coated in poison that would be enough to kill an elephant.
"That was insanely reckless."
Yoko clicked her tongue.
Kai had given her a handicap earlier, he wouldn't heal himself nor would he use any element other than darkness.
But it wasn't only Yoko's training that was going badly.
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Angelina's Mansion
Natsumi focused and shot three arrows. The entire place was dark and there were targets set all around her. The darkness wasn't a problem to her whose eyes were very sharp but the fact that there was also something lurking in the darkness was quite troubling.
Each of the three arrows would've reached a target but before they could, they were snatched out of the air. At that point, Natsumi leapt to the side and three arrows were embedded into the ground she had just stood on. This has been going on for at least an hour. Angie was equipped with a bow and took the arrows Natsumi shot to attack.
(A/N: I'll refer to Angelina as Angie in narrations now. I actually planned to do since Kai called her by the nickname but I kinda forgot.)
With Angie's superior speed and senses, Natsumi hasn't hit a single target and had several cuts on her body but the fire in her eyes didn't die down. In fact, they burned even brighter. The determination to complete the task was immense.
Natsumi shot two arrows, both directly aligned with each other.
"[Wind Drill]!"
Just as Angie was about to grab the first arrow, the second sped up and spun, the wind surrounding it made it into a drill. Angie simply destroyed the arrow instead of grabbing it, this allowed Natsumi to attack without dodging.
"[Wind Arrow Volley]!"
Natsumi's hands blurred and dozens upon dozens of arrows were produced from her bow. Angie increased her speed and grabbed as much as she could but it was enough, none of the arrows hit the target. They hit the walls and floor but Angie managed to stop the ones heading for the targets.
As expected of the strongest Diamond rank adventurer.
At that moment, Natsumi shot more arrows. Angie took the dozens of arrows from Natsumi's attacks and turned them against her. Natsumi wasn't that good at dodging from the start so with this, she was injured in several places but could still continue.
Their exchange lasted hours before ending with Angie's overwhelming victory.
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Wake's House
"Ugh..."
Kei was a mess, his body was covered in wounds.
"Ouch."
Kazuki by his side wasn't exactly in top shape either but he was better off than Kei who was barely standing. Kai told them to study Wake's sword but they couldn't sit idly by, they asked Wake to train them to which he complied to immediately. Something about 'Maybe I'd reach new heights if I train others' was the reason for accepting in his head.
"What's wrong? I haven't even used the Formless Sword yet!"
Kazuki prided in being able to wield a great sword like a long sword and the fact that his long sword was as swift as the wind but in front of Wake, all of his confidence was shattered. Not a single strike from the two of them were able to scratch Wake.
Kei, though not as good as Kazuki when it came to wielding a sword, he still had a lot of confidence in using one better than the average knight. His personality was also quite rash and relied on instinct when it came to battle. There was only a single time in his life that he felt the words 'absolute defeat' when facing an enemy, that was against Kai. But now he experienced it for the second time, his instincts knew that he wouldn't be able to win against Wake right now no matter what.
Kazuki and Kei relied on sword techniques to fight Wake because the latter was extremely weak when it came to magic but even if they did, both of them felt they had no chance.
Kei and Kazuki looked at each other's eyes. After discerning the other's intentions, they brandished their weapons once more and roared. Both of them charged forward from the front, they didn't rely on tactics. Right now, they were going to fight on pure instinct.
"HAAA!"
Kazuki swung his great sword upwards but Wake dodged it with a half step backwards. Kei took that as an opportunity to thrust his long sword forward but Wake half stepped to the side and used his sword to grind against Kei's own sword. Kei was forced to step back as Kazuki launched another attack, a side sweep. Wake countered it with an equal force which left his other side open. Kei leapt forward once more and sliced towards Wake's neck.
If Wake were to remove his defense from Kazuki, his torso would get hit but if he were to continue defending against Kazuki, his neck would be in danger.
"Oof."
Wake released the sword from Kazuki which prompted the latter to roar and slash further. A slash from the bottom and the top, Wake was cornered.
""It's our win!""
Kei and Kazuki yelled out at the same time with one of them expecting to hit Wake but contrary to their expectations, their attacks only sweeped by air. Wake had gone in the middle, he made his body go horizontal, just enough to fit the gap between the two swords and used Kazuki's arm as a leverage.
"Nice try."
Using the blunt side of his blade, Wake knocked both Kazuki and Kei out by hitting their solar plexus.
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"..."
At the moment, Kai was sitting in front of everyone with the exception of Erina, Amelia, Aya, and Angie who were by his side. Everyone other than those mentioned had downcast expressions on their faces.
"Kei and His Highness, result: 0 out of 5 bouts won. Natsumi, result: 0 targets hit. Yoko, result: 0 out of 15 bouts won. Date and Arata, result: no bouts, only practice. Umi, result: no progress."
Kai said all this with a monotone voice.
"Well, that wraps up today's training. I'm expecting more progress in the coming days."
"Eh?"
Natsumi blurted out with a confused voice.
"What? You want me to scold you or something? It's only the first day, I didn't really expect anything. In fact, if any of you won a single bout or at least had progress, I would've been seriously impressed. Well, who wants to eat? On me, of course."
Nobody had words, not even Erina and Amelia.
At that moment, everyone's hearts connected together through some mysterious force as they all shouted at the same time.
""""""""Learn to read the mood, idiot!""""""""