[46] I Am a Very Magnanimous Person

Inside the mall, the group was handling the aftermath.

"Shizuku, could you ask Ikki to treat this guy?"

Ikki pointed at the unconscious Bishou on the ground and spoke to Shizuku.

"People like him don't matter, but since my brother asked, I'll reluctantly save his life."

Shizuku showed little interest but still crouched down, manipulating her water-based abilities to begin healing Bishou.

Shizuku was a water mage.

Water mages were famously skilled in protection and healing, especially with her A-Rank mana control.

For humans, who are largely composed of water, Shizuku had an extremely strong level of control at the biological level.

—With Shizuku's abilities, she could almost achieve healing comparable to a regeneration pod.

Reattaching Bishou's severed arm wouldn't be difficult, but in this situation, reattaching it would only allow him to cause more trouble. So, Shizuku simply stopped the bleeding.

Alice stood guard over the terrorists nearby.

Only now did the situation finally come to an end.

Ikki let out a heavy sigh of relief. Although he hadn't participated in the battle at the open square, he had been deeply worried for Stella and Eiji.

But then again—

"That sword strike earlier was truly brilliant!"

Ikki looked at Eiji beside him and couldn't help but praise him, thinking of the sword strike that had defeated Bishou.

"Oh? Little Kurogane, can you see through the intricacies of Eiji's sword strike just now?"

Before Eiji could respond, Nene looked over with interest.

"I wouldn't say I see through it, but I can guess the principle."

When it came to swordsmanship, Ikki's interest was clearly piqued. His eyes sparkled.

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be derived from the God of War's signature technique, 'Trackless Step.' Eiji integrated the essence of 'Trackless Step' into his own swordsmanship and created that sword strike just now, right?"

Although he spoke modestly, saying he "wouldn't say he sees through it," Ikki was confident in his judgment. Moreover, being able to discern the principle of "Flickering Light and Passing Shadows" at a glance showed his astonishing insight.

'Trackless Step' was the signature technique of the God of War, Torajirou Nangou, a combination of ancient martial arts breathing and footwork.

The essence of this technique lay in using special breathing and footwork to slip into the opponent's subconscious, making them overlook your presence even if they see you.

The human brain has its limits.

The brain cannot process all the information received through the five senses in detail like a machine. Even if the brain can see and hear everything, the consciousness cannot categorize all the information. If it tried to process all the information, the brain would overheat.

Therefore, the brain relegates lower-priority information to the 'subconscious,' while higher-priority information is handled by the 'conscious mind.'

This method reduces the brain's processing load.

For example.

When a criminal points a gun at you, do you notice what earrings they're wearing?

In this example, the criminal and the gun are high-priority information processed by the conscious mind, while details like their clothes or accessories are lower-priority subconscious information.

The 'Trackless Step' footwork allows the user to slip into the opponent's subconscious, making them perceive the user as unimportant subconscious information, causing them to subconsciously ignore the user.

Only when the user suddenly appears before them, posing a life-threatening danger, does the brain abruptly awaken and recognize the user as important information.

But by then, it's too late to block the attack.

This is the footwork known as 'Trackless Step.'

Eiji, with his extraordinary insight, saw through and memorized the principle of this technique the first time his master demonstrated it. After continuous exploration and experimentation, he eventually created the sword technique 'Flickering Light and Passing Shadows.'

Like 'Trackless Step', Flickering Light and Passing Shadows also exploits the human subconscious, slipping the sword into the opponent's subconscious and making their consciousness blur, causing them to subconsciously perceive the sword as non-threatening.

Only when the sword is at their throat do they awaken, but by then, it's too late.

From an outsider's perspective, Eiji had simply approached Bishou in a very ordinary manner and, while Bishou was distracted, severed his left hand with a single strike.

In reality, Bishou's consciousness had been misled. While he was distracted, he misjudged the timing of Eiji's sword strike, failing to activate his reflection in time, and was thus struck down.

Eiji had been practicing swordsmanship for less than a year.

In that short time, he had spent 70-80% of his time on physical training and exploring his abilities. In the limited time available, Eiji had already developed several sword techniques, including Flickering Light and Passing Shadows.

If only he had more time, his swordsmanship could have been even more refined, and his realm even more profound.

"As I thought, my feeling wasn't wrong."

Ikki's eyes also gradually grew fervent.

From the moment they met, he knew Eiji was his kindred spirit. Both were individuals who delved deeply into swordsmanship, walking the same path, sharing the same aspirations.

He even felt the urge to spar with Eiji right then, to understand his swordsmanship, grasp the principles behind his techniques, and validate his own learning.

However, this was clearly not the appropriate occasion, so he suppressed his fighting spirit.

"But why didn't you just use Trackless Step?"

Ikki suddenly noticed a blind spot and, unable to contain his curiosity, asked Eiji.

Initially, Eiji was quite pleased with Ikki's praise, wearing a "stay humble, stay humble" smile.

But as soon as Ikki asked that question, Eiji's smile vanished, and his expression turned icy, as if the question had angered him.

"Right, junior, I wanted to ask too. Since you can create a sword technique like Flickering Light and Passing Shadows based on Trackless Step, why not just use Trackless Step? Or use both together for even better results?"

Nene also expressed the same curiosity.

"Hmph!"

Eiji sneered.

"I am a very magnanimous person."

"?"

Both of them had question marks floating above their heads.

What does not using Trackless Step have to do with being magnanimous?

"My feet refuse to cooperate, so of course I can't force them."

"...?"

"...!"

Both looked confused, then pondered for a moment.

Ikki suddenly remembered Eiji's performance in the judo class earlier. No matter how the teacher instructed, Eiji's hands and feet seemed to be in constant conflict, and after half a day, he couldn't even manage a basic stance.

Ikki had an epiphany.

"I get it, you can't learn—"

—Bling~!

***

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