Chapter 132: Kissing Riveria

Ais's whole body tensed, and relying on intuition, she quickly sidestepped, dodging the incoming Bakuya. However, at that very instant, the longsword in her hand met the incoming Kanshou. Blades crossed, the sound of metal colliding rang out, she shattered Kanshou, black fragments scattering and falling through the air.

[Spirit and technique, flawless and firm]

However, it wasn't over yet. Just as Ais shattered Kanshou, Bakuya in Emiya's hand was once again thrown. At the same time, the previously thrown Kanshou that had flown behind Ais reversed direction and returned, forming an attack from behind.

[Our strength rips the mountains]

Ais sensed danger approaching and once again relied on her sharp intuition to dodge the Kanshou attacking from behind, but immediately after, a flash of cold light passed before her eyes. Bakuya attacked again, and she quickly swung her sword to counter, shattering Bakuya. However, in this exchange, a strand of golden hair was gently sliced off by the blade and floated to the ground.

[Our swords split the water]

Emiya didn't stop, projecting Kanshou and Bakuya for a third time, his figure surged forward violently along with the thrown swords.

[Our names reach the imperial villa]

The black and white twin swords moved like two nimble swimming dragons, slashing left and right at Ais's body full of openings. Ais tried to defend, but this time the charge was too fast, the offensive too fierce.

[The two of us cannot hold the heavens together]

At the final moment, the black and white swords halted. Kanshou's blade stopped at Ais's waist, and Bakuya's blade stopped at the side of her neck, the sharp edge nearly touching her skin, the cold transmitted from the blade made her freeze instantly.

That single strand of golden hair that had been sliced off only now gently floated down, like it was dancing in the air with the last lingering note.

Clap! Clap!

At this moment, a round of applause suddenly came from behind, breaking the brief silence on the training field. Emiya and Ais turned their heads to look, and saw Riveria standing there, a blush on her cheeks.

After sending Ais over, Riveria didn't immediately leave, but instead stood quietly to the side to observe.

After the applause, Riveria took a clean towel from her satchel and gracefully walked over to the two of them. Ais, seeing Riveria walking toward her and Emiya, was stunned for a moment and took a few steps forward with slight confusion.

However, Riveria didn't even look at her, blatantly ignored little Ais, and walked straight to Emiya's side.

The elf princess stood before Emiya, gently raised the towel in her hand, and softly wiped away the sweat from his forehead.

Little Ais: "???"

———

[Triple Winged Crane Wings], this is the strongest usage of Kanshou and Bakuya. By projecting three pairs of mutually attracting couple swords, Emiya can continuously throw and slash, forming an unavoidable and guaranteed-hit combo.

This technique is the masterpiece of reaching the limits of Skill.

In this sparring match, it was the first time Emiya used this move since his reincarnation.

One reason was because [Triple Winged Crane Wings] is essentially a sword technique designed for anti-personnel combat, and in the dungeon, Emiya's main opponents are mostly monsters.

These monsters don't possess the physical structure or movement patterns of humans, so using [Triple Winged Crane Wings], such a highly precise anti-personnel sword skill, does not meet the combat requirements.

Another reason is that the current Emiya does not rely on "skill" as much.

This move that pushes skill to its limits, from a certain perspective, also reflects the user's deficiency in "strength," "speed," and "magic power," thus needing to use skillful techniques to make up for these shortcomings.

The power of [Triple Winged Crane Wings] is beyond doubt, but if it were a Heroic Spirit like [Son of Light] Cú Chulainn(Lancer), he wouldn't even need such extreme skill enhancements. Just relying on his own overwhelming strength and speed, he could unleash or throw an uncounterable lethal spear, directly suppressing the opponent with absolute power.

The reason Emiya doesn't use [Triple Winged Crane Wings] much now is because he has mastered even more powerful means beyond just skill.

In fact, among all his ability stats, the highest is not dexterity, but magic power.

Besides Ais, most people in Orario don't associate Emiya with swordsmanship. Even though his sword skills have reached near-divine levels, what truly made his name known was his extraordinary magic and skills.

Emiya gently waved his hand, dispelling the projection, "That's it for today's sparring."

Knowing when to stop, not overdoing it, ending the training now is enough. Little Ais can gain many insights from this battle and needs some time to digest it all.

Ais panted, sheathed her sword, slightly nodded, and respectfully said, "Thank you, Master."

The girl turned to look at Riveria beside them and asked after a brief hesitation, "Riveria, are we going back to Loki Familia now?"

Riveria smiled gently, "Mm... you go back first. I have some things to talk about with Shirou."

Ais was slightly stunned and couldn't help thinking to herself, 'Am I getting in the way here…'

Though confused inside, she didn't show it, only nodded slightly with a bit of puzzlement.

Riveria looked at Ais and then said, "Oh, right, Lefiya, you go too. Right now, there's no point in training with Shirou. The gap between you and him is still too big. It's better to follow Ais and continue practicing the basics of close combat. Building a solid foundation is most important."

Lefiya: "Huh? I have to go too?"

The two girls looked at each other, and their gazes seemed to say, 'Looks like we're kind of extra here…'

Riveria's expression turned serious, and she said solemnly, "Shirou and I have serious matters to discuss."

Though Ais was a bit unwilling, she still nodded and said to Emiya, "Master, then we'll take our leave."

Emiya nodded, "Alright, you both did well in today's training. Make sure to get plenty of rest. If you have any questions, come find me anytime."

Lefiya also bowed to Emiya, "Thank you, Mr. Emiya."

Riveria watched the two girls leave, then turned around and walked toward Emiya. Her expression changed from gentle to serious, and a hint of complex emotion flickered in her eyes.

"Shirou, regarding [Blessing of the End (Round of Avalon)], there are some things about this skill that I need to explain to you."

Emiya and Riveria walked toward the workshop and ran into Tsubaki on the way. Seeing them together, Tsubaki showed a smile as if watching an amusing scene, with a hint of teasing and mischief.

Riveria, under her gaze, became a little uncomfortable, turning her head away, not daring to meet Tsubaki's eyes.

"Take care, Shirou," Tsubaki laughed and escorted them all the way to Emiya's workshop door. She said something meaningful, waved her hand, and then turned and left.

The lighting in the workshop was soft, quiet and tidy, with the scent of metal and tools lingering in the air. After Emiya and Riveria walked in, the workshop door gently closed behind them, shutting out all the noise of the outside world.

Having just finished sparring with Ais, Emiya's stamina was greatly consumed, especially from using the high-intensity technique [Triple Winged Crane Wings]. The intense movement during training made him sweat a bit, but as Riveria approached, she smelled a fresh scent of gardenia, it was probably from the shampoo.

She couldn't help but close her eyes slightly, savoring that elegant fragrance. At the same time, a faintly warm sensation mixed in. It was the youthful vitality and heat unique to a young man, rising and falling with every deep breath he took.

Riveria felt an inexplicable nervousness inside, as if affected by that aura. She subconsciously swallowed, and her heartbeat involuntarily quickened.

She lightly fiddled with her hair with her fingers, a subtle action that was a natural response to her inner nervousness. Riveria took a deep breath, calmed her emotions slightly, and then raised her head to look at Emiya.

"Shirou," She softly said, "Next, we need to talk about those magic spells."

A hint of confusion flashed in Emiya's eyes, but he quickly understood what Riveria meant. He knew she was referring to the three Rank-4 spells granted by [Blessing of the End (Round of Avalon)].

Riveria's expression carried a trace of awkwardness as she spoke softly, "The goddess Loki and I discovered that without you, those spells are nearly impossible to use, or at least very hard to activate normally."

Among the three spells, the offensive and defensive ones had already been unlocked, while the healing spell remained sealed.

"When we were at the Loki Familia base earlier, I tried the defensive spell [World Beyong the World]."

Riveria continued, "At that time, you were nearby, so I could successfully cast it. The effect was very good, and everything felt normal. But once you left, I tried to cast the spell again, and found I couldn't use it at all."

In fact, she had already identified three different conditions for the spells.

The first condition was when Emiya wasn't around, and Riveria wasn't wearing the [Tiara of Avalon], in this case, the spells were completely unusable, as if their power was entirely sealed.

The second condition was when Emiya wasn't around, but Riveria wore the [Tiara of Avalon]. In this case, she could cast the spells, but the mana cost was extremely high, far exceeding normal spellcasting.

Not only that, the effects seemed weaker than when Emiya was present. The area of the defensive spell was clearly smaller. Moreover… during the mana flow, Riveria even felt a hint of pain.

After hearing this, Emiya asked, "Pain? You mean discomfort during mana flow?"

Riveria nodded, "Yes, that mana is too powerful and violent. When it flows through my body, I feel like I can barely withstand it."

"So, so—", Riveria hesitantly extended her hand toward Emiya.

"I will assist you whenever you need it," As Emiya spoke, he unhesitatingly held Riveria's hand.

Their gazes met.

Riveria gently touched her rapidly beating heart with one hand, and at the same time, slowly leaned closer.

Emiya didn't dodge, and the two of their lissom lips gradually overlapped.

[Effect of "Innocent Monster" activated]

[Attack power greatly increased against elven females]

[(An unanalysable hidden effect is also present)]

.

.

.

A few minutes later, Riveria's breathing grew heavier, but at that moment—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The workshop door was knocked. Tsubaki shouted, "Shirou, [Gale] came looking for you."

———

Emiya and Riveria came to the reception room, and upon pushing open the door, they saw Ryuu sitting there waiting.

"Shirou… ah, Princess Riveria," Ryuu instinctively stood up upon seeing Emiya, then noticed that Her Highness the Princess was also present, and habitually gave a polite bow.

Emiya and Riveria exchanged a glance, then Riveria nodded slightly as a response.

However, her state was clearly somewhat unusual; her emerald green hair was loose, the ends slightly messy, and her eyes were a bit unfocused and wandering.

Ryuu, because she had something on her mind, didn't notice these things.

"Ryuu, why did you suddenly come? Something about the goddess Demeter's side?", Emiya opened his mouth and asked.

"Lunoire and the others are with the goddess, they will take care of her safety. As for me, I suddenly thought of something, so I hurried over…"

Ryuu paused for a moment, and her tone became serious, "Regarding the enhanced species of monsters you encountered in the dungeon."

When this matter was brought up, a trace of undisguisable unwillingness flashed in Ryuu's eyes, she too longed to go on adventures with Emiya, to fight alongside him.

However, she couldn't fulfill this wish for the time being. Ryuu bore the responsibility of protecting the goddess Demeter, and couldn't enter and leave the dungeon freely like before.

Ryuu looked at Emiya and opened her mouth, "Shirou, regarding those enhanced species of monsters, I thought of…"

Before she could finish speaking, Riveria asked, "Do I need to excuse myself?"

Ryuu shook her head, "No, please let Princess Riveria listen as well. I thought of a certain possibility [Beast Tamer]."

Emiya: "Beast Tamer?"

Riveria pondered for a moment, then opened her mouth and said, "Beast Tamer… this is a profession not commonly seen among adventurers. Nowadays, in the labyrinth city, those who truly pursue this profession are likely only some members of the Ganesha Familia."

She paused briefly, then continued, "Those Beast Tamers generally do not delve deep into the dungeon for adventures, but instead rely on the protection of other powerful adventurers to capture monsters and tame them."

Emiya thought for a moment, then suddenly recalled something, "The flying dragons we rode before… were also tamed by them?"

"That's right, those flying dragons were indeed monsters tamed by Beast Tamers," Riveria nodded, "However, the Beast Tamers of the Ganesha Familia can mostly only tame monsters found on the surface."

The Beast Tamers of the Ganesha Familia generally have low strength, most of them are Lv.1 to Lv.2. The targets of their taming are also mostly those degraded monsters found on the surface.

These creatures, rather than calling them "monsters," would be better referred to as "animals." For example, the flying dragons are the main product of the Ganesha Familia's Beast Tamers.

Ryuu looked at Emiya, her gaze revealing a trace of solemnity, "Now, people's impression of Beast Tamers is basically that of a support or production-type profession. But once, Beast Tamers in Orario were not just such an existence."

Her voice lowered slightly, and a barely noticeable gloom flashed in her eyes, "The Beast Tamers from the Evilus factions were completely different from the Beast Tamers of the Ganesha Familia… each and every one of them were extremely dangerous and troublesome opponents."

Riveria also nodded in agreement, "Indeed, during the peak of the Evilus factions, the capabilities of Beast Tamers far exceeded imagination. They 'tamed' large numbers of powerful monsters from the dungeon, using these monsters as tools for their battles."

The monsters of the dungeon, because of their innate savage and chaotic nature, were almost impossible to fully control. These creatures, from the moment of their birth, were filled with hostility and aggressiveness; they knew no fear and could not be tamed into obedient battle companions.

However, even if they couldn't truly control these monsters, it was not too difficult if one only wanted to guide them into destruction.

"Those people could, through various means, manipulate the behavior of monsters, making them even more violent and deadly. To us back then, these Beast Tamers were often more troublesome than the enemies on the surface," Riveria spoke as she recalled, "And among those Beast Tamers, one very famous individual was the [Slave Cat] Jura Halmer of the Rudra Familia."

Ryuu spoke in a low voice, with a trace of suppression in her tone.

Jura Halmer, he was the main culprit responsible for the destruction of the Astraea Familia.

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