Altaïr carried the tea leaves and wall scroll in both hands, while Sajji balanced a large basket of fruit on his head. The man and his Felyne arrived at the door of Amos's home.
After carefully straightening his clothes, Altaïr raised a hand and knocked.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Altaïr knew that although Master Amos was getting on in years, his hearing was still exceptionally sharp. After knocking once, he stood with his hands at his sides and waited silently.
A moment later, the door was pulled open.
Amos, seeing who stood outside, froze for just a second.
"Master Amos, it's been far too long." Altaïr bowed respectfully.
Sajji was much more animated, raising the fruit basket high. "Master Amos! I'm here too, meow!"
"What brings the two of you here?" Amos regained his composure and stepped aside, pulling the door fully open. "Where is Isis?"
"Isis is currently assisting the Guild with a mission and hasn't returned to Dundorma. She asked me to pass along her greetings and tell you she's been working hard and hasn't been slacking off," Altaïr reported faithfully.
"...I see."
A hint of disappointment inevitably flickered across Amos's face, but he quickly gathered himself. "Come in. Find a place to sit; I'll go prepare some tea."
The furnishings inside were exactly the same as they had been a year or two ago, down to the decorative vase on the table sitting in its identical spot.
Altaïr couldn't help but recall those two months spent living and training here. After a brief moment of nostalgia, he hurriedly set down the gifts and went into the kitchen to help Amos carry the tea tray.
Amos let Altaïr take the tray. The boy called him teacher, and Amos, in a way, viewed Altaïr as something of a last private disciple. There was no need for excessive formality between them.
Sitting down on the sofa beside the coffee table, Altaïr first poured Amos a cup of tea, then nudged the gifts on the table a little closer.
"I came straight from the hunting grounds; I didn't have time to prepare much. I just picked up a few things along the way. I hope you don't mind."
Amos glanced at the gifts, then gave Altaïr an amused look. "Bought from the Sterling Merchant Guild's shop, I take it?"
"Uh, yes."
"Don't waste your money like this next time. I've got plenty of this tea at home; Francesca is always sending it over. As for this wall scroll, let me see... How much did you pay for it?"
"A little over 1000z?" Altaïr answered honestly.
"Oh, then you weren't swindled. Hauling it all this way, that's basically the base cost." Amos admired the painting on the scroll. "Did the shop assistant tell you it was the work of a master painter from Kamura Village?"
"Yes..." Altaïr had a sinking feeling.
"The only one in Kamura who could be called a master painter is Master Fugen. This painting, while it does have a... distinct personal flair, is likely the work of another painter.
"Speaking of which, did you two happen to run into Francesca?"
"How did you guess, meow?" Sajji looked at Amos in amazement.
"This batch of paintings is what Francesca brought back from Kamura. She's been trying to convince me to hang one in my home. I suppose she's finally found her opportunity. Well, let's consider it granting her wish."
Amos rose with a chuckle and hung the scroll on the wall.
"By the way, what is this a painting of, meow? A fox, meow?" Sajji looked at the wall scroll and asked curiously.
"No, if I'm not mistaken, that's an Izuchi, a Bird Wyvern-type Monster similar to the Prey."
"Meow meow?!"
Altaïr wanted nothing more than to bury his face in his hands. "I'll prepare a different gift for you."
"Not necessary. I quite like it." Amos seemed to be in unexpectedly good spirits. "Tell me how things have been with you lately.
"In the last letter you wrote to me, you mentioned that Isis has been restless recently. I sent a reply rebuking her, along with my thoughts on those swordsmanship questions of yours. Did it not reach you?"
"Indeed, we haven't been in the city recently." Altaïr recounted the full details of the Estrellian Incident, from beginning to end, for Amos.
The crisis had already been resolved, so Fabius and the Professor had not required them to keep their previous operations confidential. Besides, with Master Amos having been an 8★ hunter before retiring, there was nothing that couldn't be shared with him.
"That fellow Fabius... does he still have the strength to take the field himself? Truly enviable," Amos remarked with a sigh.
Then his gaze sharpened. "A Seregios and a Glavenus. It seems more than just Isis has been restless."
Altaïr hurriedly raised both hands. "The Seregios truly was an accident! Sajji can testify!"
"And the Glavenus?"
"Uh, well, after all, there were experienced seniors leading the team, and also... at the time, I had just received those swordsmanship notes from Isis, which provided considerable inspiration. There were some things I wanted to verify in actual combat.
"Oh, right, Isis mentioned those notes were transcribed by your own hand? That must have been terribly laborious for you."
A blue vein bulged at Amos's temple.
Not bringing this up would have been fine, but the mere mention of it infuriated him!
"Pick up a wooden sword. Follow me to the Training Area. Let me see how much you've improved!"
—--
Over an hour later, Altaïr sat collapsed on the floor of the Training Area, bruised all over and grimacing in pain, while Amos looked thoroughly refreshed and invigorated.
"Not bad. Your swordsmanship has truly entered the realm of proper mastery. No wonder you were able to deal with that Seregios."
Pressing a hand against his ribs with a sharp hiss, Altaïr shook his head and said, "That was mainly Lady Shalan's achievement. If she hadn't intervened, I would have perished in the beast's jaws."
"Shalan? I know her strength well. There's no need for such modesty from you." Amos waved a hand dismissively. "Your current combat ability is roughly on par with a 5★ hunter, though you still lack experience. Continue polishing your skills."
"By the way, Master Amos." Altaïr endured the soreness racking his entire body, pulled himself up, and sat upright. "In Lady Red Blade's swordsmanship notes, I saw a sword technique, but I've never been able to grasp its essence..."
"What sword technique?" Amos frowned slightly. In his view, Altaïr had already grasped quite a number of sword techniques. On the path of swordsmanship, depth of mastery was far more important than breadth.
The more powerful a move was, the harsher its learning and usage requirements tended to be, especially with ultimate techniques and fighting spirit moves. When one's physical conditioning, Spirit quality, and swordsmanship skill fell short of the required standard, additional attempts would only waste time.
"I want to learn the Tempered Spirit Blade." Altaïr's expression was serious. "Offense is my strong suit, and also my combat style.
"But as the Monsters I face grow ever stronger, I've genuinely realized that offense alone isn't enough. I can maintain full aggression, tank hits, and hack a Yian Kut-Ku to death, but there's no way I can just tough it out and hack a Tigrex to death. Tactical actions like rolling and diving, as well as foresight-type techniques like Foresight Slash and Iai, can indeed handle most situations, but there will always be moments when you simply can't dodge.
"That's why I've always wanted to learn a defensive-type sword technique.
"These kinds of techniques are really too rare. Before getting my hands on those swordsmanship notes, I didn't even know the Long Sword could be used for defense.
"If I can learn the Tempered Spirit Blade, I should be able to handle those ferociously aggressive Monsters more easily."
Amos glanced at Altaïr with some surprise.
He had assumed Altaïr would want to learn those flashy and powerful offensive Hunter Arts. The Tempered Spirit Blade, a technique used for parrying and defense? The boy had truly matured.
"It's perfectly normal that you couldn't teach yourself the Tempered Spirit Blade using only the contents of those notes."
Amos pondered for a moment. "Very well. Given your current physical condition and the quality of your fighting spirit, you have the qualifications to begin training this technique. Let me first briefly explain its origins.
"There is a Hunter Art from the East which aims to achieve an extreme state of concentration through calming the mind, allowing the user to deflect a Monster's attack in a single instant and launch a powerful counterattack. This art is named 'Critical Juncture.'
"The training difficulty of this Hunter Art is extraordinarily high. Only top-tier Long Sword users who possess near-perfect precision in controlling mind, body, and Spirit can ever hope to execute it. It would not be an exaggeration to call it the most difficult sword technique to master.
"In this world today, the number of Long Sword users capable of performing this technique can be counted on one hand. Isis's mother is one of them."
A trace of regret crept into Amos's tone.
He himself had once been capable of this technique, but after losing his arm, he could never again reach that level.
"Decades ago, Master Fugen of Kamura Village simplified 'Critical Juncture,' using the Wirebugs unique to the Kamura region as an anchor, thereby drastically lowering the technique's usage difficulty.
"In exchange, the defensive strength and counterattack power of the sword technique also decreased substantially, but this did not hinder its spread among the Long Sword users of Kamura Village.
"Considering that the improved sword technique and the original 'Critical Juncture' were essentially two different moves, Master Fugen named it the 'Tempered Spirit Blade.'"
Altaïr nodded repeatedly, then suddenly reacted. "So the reason I couldn't master this Tempered Spirit Blade is because I lack a Wirebug?"
Could he perhaps borrow one from Nymera? No, absolutely not.
"However." A hint of a proud smile appeared on Amos's face. "Over twenty years ago, Isis's mother spent a period training in Kamura Village.
"She encountered the Tempered Spirit Blade and further refined it, enabling it to be used independently of Wirebugs.
"The training difficulty of this version of the Tempered Spirit Blade falls between the original Critical Juncture and the Kamura Village Wirebug-reliant version.
"She believed this was merely a result built upon the achievements of predecessors and could not be considered a new technique, so she continued to call it the 'Tempered Spirit Blade' and recorded it in her swordsmanship notes."
"Uh, so you're saying that the Tempered Spirit Blade I saw in those swordsmanship notes can actually be used without Wirebugs?"
"Correct."
"Then why have I never been able to grasp its essence..."
Amos shot him a sidelong glance but offered no answer.
Sajji answered in his stead. "That's because you suck at it, Boss, meow."
(Translated by yourtl.app)