[55] The Concept of Hardness and Softness

Hagun Academy occupies a vast area.

Due to its location deep in the mountains, the campus not only has numerous teaching and dormitory buildings but also large stretches of forested areas. Within these lush green forests, there are several open-air plazas.

In one of these open-air plazas, Eiji arrived after finishing his morning training.

"Little junior, have you changed your clothes yet?"

Nene held a high-definition camera she had someone buy for her, her face full of mischief.

"...If you don't give me something a human can wear, I'm leaving right now!"

Eiji hid behind a high wall, rummaging through several paper bags in his hands, his face as dark as a pot.

Loincloth, thong, leather outfit... damn, what the hell is all this?

"Fine, then wear this set!"

With that, another new paper bag fell from the sky into Eiji's hands.

Eiji opened it suspiciously, his expression turning even uglier.

Black fabric as the base, complemented by white lace trim, the overall design was backless, with a pair of black stockings and garters underneath, and a white hairband on top, even thoughtfully including a wig.

Holy crap!!!

"What the hell is this maid outfit!"

"You've worn it before when you were little."

"Laughable, that wasn't me."

"Photos~"

"Ahem... my friend told me he won't dwell on the past, but now he hopes you can provide something normal, he absolutely won't wear this!"

"Tch, here."

With that, another paper bag was thrown over.

Eiji opened it again and finally breathed a sigh of relief, seeing a set of clothes a normal person could wear.

"Ready yet?"

"Coming, stop rushing me."

Eiji muttered softly, stepping out from behind the wall.

He had taken off the Hagun Academy uniform and changed into a brand new outfit.

The top was a wide-necked black tank top paired with a fitted white blazer, revealing his neck and a large portion of his collarbone, occasionally showing off his snow-white shoulders. The blazer's sleeves were only three-quarter length, looking quite enticing.

The bottom was sky-blue jeans, tightly wrapped around a pair of long legs, making the whole look very fashionable and casual.

"Just average!"

Nene wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, clenched her legs, and maintained a calm expression.

Click, click, click!

The camera in her hands was continuously snapping photos, her fingers moving so fast they seemed to leave afterimages.

"It's a bit tight."

"You don't like tight, do you prefer loose?"

"If you put it that way, I'd definitely choose tight."

"Then it's settled."

It made sense, so Eiji didn't complain further.

"If you had such normal clothes, why give me all that weird stuff at first?"

"Just in case?"

"Keep your dreams in the dorm."

The verbal sparring continued back and forth for over ten minutes before Nene finally took out her inherent armed device, fanning it towards Eiji.

In a rush, two to three times the gravity directly fell on him, making his body sink rapidly, as if weighed down by a thousand pounds, like sinking into a quagmire.   

"I think I can still handle it, add more?"

Eiji tried lifting one foot, although it was a bit difficult, it wasn't unbearable.

"This is just right, if you can't move at all, it wouldn't count as training."

Nene clearly had experience with this, shaking her head to reject Eiji's suggestion, then handed her iron fan to Eiji.

"My armed device is for you, as long as Beniiro Ageha is by your side, it can continuously activate the gravity effect, but remember not to stray too far from me."

As long as it's not too far from its master, the inherent armed device can continue to exist, and if willing to continuously supply magic power, it can maintain the magical effect.

"No, wait a second."

Eiji called out to the departing Nene, his facial muscles slowly contorting, barely squeezing out a smile, "Training alone has limited effects, if senior sister has time, why not spar with me, give me more pressure?"

"Oh? Are you serious about this, little junior?"

Nene stopped in her tracks, her small hand under the kimono sleeve pulling out an identical Beniiro Ageha, habitually covering her face with the folding fan, leaving only a meaningful look.

"You want me to spar with you, but I don't hold back when I fight... I might just kill you, you know?"

As she spoke, an unmistakable killing intent emanated from her petite frame, her previously calm eyes turning extremely fierce.

—The nickname Yaksha Princess isn't for nothing.

When she really gets into a fight, she truly doesn't hold back. If her fighting spirit is ignited, her brutality will be on full display, her fiery killing intent making her lose all restraint, willing to do anything to kill her opponent.

Even going on a killing spree isn't out of the question, otherwise, she wouldn't have unleashed 'Hadou Tensei' during the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival over a decade ago, disregarding the alliance's ban.

"Then forget it."

Eiji shuddered, quickly shaking his head.

He backed down so fast that Nene almost didn't react in time.

"Forget it, you must have some worries, why not share them, let me have some fun!"

Nene rolled her eyes, then cheerfully asked Eiji.

"You seek strength, but you're not unaware of the principle of gradual progress. Asking me to fight is a first, do you have something on your mind?"

A familiar conversation.

Just an hour ago, Eiji had asked Ikki the same thing.

"I'm thinking, how can a fragile swordsman cross a mountain range filled with blades."

Eiji didn't beat around the bush, straightforwardly sharing his worries.

"Then of course, find a way to break all the blades."

Nene didn't hesitate, voicing her opinion.

"But that's in my case, if you absolutely can't shatter the blades, then make your body hard, as hard as the blades, or even just hard enough, even if temporarily, no matter the cost."

A temporary hardness?

Hearing this, Eiji fell into deep thought.

His ability is absolute speed, absolutely faster than the opponent, although the target isn't limited to organic or inorganic matter, it only allows him to be faster than the opponent, not to surpass the opponent's hardness—

—No, wait a second!

Inorganic matter?

Hardness?

Eiji looked at the iron fan in his hand, a strange idea suddenly sparking in his mind.

After all, how is it determined what is hard and what is soft?

How is it determined which metal is harder, which is softer, how is this concept distinguished?

"Looks like you've got an idea."

Nene watched Eiji, who had fallen into deep thought, his expression extremely focused, the corners of her mouth curling up high, then silently turned and left.

She turned around and silently left, leaving Eiji alone, continuing to ponder, his eyes growing brighter.

***

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