"So you really did master it!"
The Tomie who had taken the blade gnashed her teeth in resentment.
She resented others for having what she lacked, resented herself for not having it, and resented even more that she had been made into a lab rat.
The Swordswoman Tomie shot her a glance, tachi in hand, saying nothing, chin slightly raised, her gaze cast off into the distance—the very picture of cold aloofness.
"Tch! So what if you mastered it? You've got a blade in your hand—why not just cut someone down directly, instead of going out of your way to make others feel the phantom pain of being cut? What's the point?"
Tomie's eyes rolled, she folded her arms across her chest, and she scoffed as she spoke.
Though it was meant to chip away at the Swordswoman Tomie's confidence, what she said wasn't wrong either—with a blade in hand, when the moment came to kill an enemy, why deliberately use an illusion to produce the same effect? Wasn't that just wasting effort for nothing?
"Slash!"
A crisp cry suddenly burst forth. Though it was a kiai, it was no deafening roar—rather it was clear and piercing, like the ringing clang of a blade in the instant it leaves its sheath!
The sound seemed to carry an almost physical penetrating force, driving straight into the eardrums of the Tomie opposite her.
At almost the same moment, the Swordswoman Tomie's aura climbed to its absolute peak—not a simple sense of presence, but an intense killing intent and the will to cut.
It could not yet be called Sword Intent, perhaps.
But combined with the timbre the Swordswoman Tomie had mimicked through her vocal skill, that ethereal, intangible aura seemed to transform into a formless blade, hacking toward its target with overwhelming ferocity along with that cry of Slash!
The Tomie marked as the target felt her pupils suddenly contract.
In her field of vision, the Swordswoman Tomie was clearly still standing in place, the blade still sheathed.
And yet, her body, her nerves, the very depths of her brain—before she could even react—produced an utterly vivid hallucination.
Cold light!
A blade-gleam, chill and desolate as the moon, was bursting from the waist of that counterfeit across from her, tearing through the air at a speed the naked eye could scarcely catch, sweeping straight toward her own neck!
Fast! Indescribably fast! Impossible to dodge!
"Gah—!"
Illusion and real sensation blurred together in an instant. Tomie had no time to think, no time to tell herself that it was only a hallucination, that the slash didn't exist at all.
Her body, driven by both brain and instinct, had already reacted reflexively a step ahead of her.
Her whole frame jerked violently backward as though truly struck by a blade, her neck instinctively shrinking down, her hands flying up beyond her control to shield her fragile throat.
A searing phantom pain, as if flesh were being sliced open, transmitted clearly from the skin of her neck, making every hair on her body stand on end and her heart skip a beat.
"Thud."
She staggered back two steps, her back slamming into the wall before she barely steadied herself. Her pale face had already broken out in a sheen of cold sweat.
Tomie raised her hand and felt at her own neck—the skin beneath her fingertips was smooth and intact, exactly as before.
And yet, the sensation of having been cut was so real that her heart still pounded with lingering fear.
The Swordswoman Tomie remained standing in place, her grip on the blade scarcely even changed.
She slowly relaxed her taut body, that terrifying momentum quietly dissipating, and looked at the still-shaken Tomie, the corners of her mouth curling up into a mocking arc.
"Do you think one cannot kill without a sword? The sword—is it truly so inconvenient a thing?"
The Swordswoman Tomie finally spoke, her voice composed, carrying a coldness like the edge of a blade.
"Quit talking nonsense... So that's it. I see now, hmph!"
Tomie snapped back at the Swordswoman Tomie in irritation, but she quickly grasped what had just happened.
That's right—Hypnosis! It was hypnosis and suggestion.
Though the Swordswoman Tomie had not swung her blade, with a blade in hand, even unsheathed, she could make others conjure the association of the blade being drawn and slashing toward its target.
And the Swordswoman Tomie's aura and voice, through the techniques of Hypnosis, amplified that association, implanting a suggestion in an instant that deceived the opponent's bodily instinct and brain, making the target believe—before they could even think—that the blade would come slashing in, and through her overwhelming aura making the opponent subconsciously feel that they absolutely could not dodge that strike.
In this way, the opponent would generate the sensation of having been cut.
Even if they came to their senses afterward, it would already be too late.
"Same as I said—if it's a stranger, and you've got no blade in hand, how are you going to make them believe they'll be cut down? Don't think bullying me proves you're anything impressive."
Tomie said, unwilling to concede.
"Ha! Still talking back? The Consciousness Slash—right now I've only just stepped through the door. I have all the time in the world to refine the Consciousness Slash and my mastery of swordsmanship. Naturally, there will come a day when I can produce the effect of a slash without any blade at all."
Seeing Tomie still bickering, the Swordswoman Tomie spoke with a cold sneer.
Mind over matter—according to Rin, this was part of the underlying logic of this universe. She didn't expect her Consciousness Slash to reach the level of producing actual physical effects, but merely cultivating Sword Intent—surely that wasn't some impossible feat?
"Besides, isn't Rin still researching that whatever-it's-called, self-nature?"
As she spoke, the Swordswoman Tomie revealed a cunning, fox-like smile.
"Even if Buddhist doctrine is garbage, as a finished product, Hypnosis can still be borrowed from for reference. By studying the usable parts of its techniques, my Consciousness Slash can take yet another step forward."
Tomie ground her teeth in jealousy, unwilling to watch the Swordswoman Tomie flaunt herself any longer. She let out a heavy snort from her nose and turned to leave.
Yet just as Tomie had turned and taken two steps, the Swordswoman Tomie's flat but undeniable voice came from behind her.
"Stop. Did I say you could go?"
Tomie's steps halted. With her back to the Swordswoman Tomie, her face fell at once, her jaw secretly clenching. She drew a deep breath, turned around to face the Swordswoman Tomie, and asked in vexation.
"What? Haven't you tested your blade on me enough? I don't have the time to play house with you."
"It's not playing house. It's training."
The Swordswoman Tomie planted the tachi against the ground, hands stacked atop the end of the hilt.
"My Consciousness Slash has only just touched the threshold; it needs a great deal of feedback to fine-tune the details. And I can't be bothered to go find someone else—after all, you're right here."
"Huh? Why should I be your sparring punching bag?"
Tomie's pitch immediately rose, brimming with indignation.
"Why? Do I need a reason?"
The Swordswoman Tomie turned her wrist slightly, and the tip of the tachi's sheath, until then planted in the ground, lifted like a venomous snake raising its head, pointing toward Tomie's leg.
"I don't, do I?"
She cocked her head, speaking as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
You're weak, so I'll use you as a lab rat—no reason needed.
The Swordswoman Tomie expressed her attitude through that simple bit of body language.
Tomie's face was full of displeasure and pent-up frustration, yet she couldn't refute it.
The time that followed was, for the Tomie forced to serve as a sparring partner, nothing short of torture.
She was forced to face that formless, intangible yet utterly real slash again and again, her nerves stretched to the limit, as if dancing on the point of a blade. Each time she was struck, she had to describe the sensation in detail—deception was out of the question. Though the Swordswoman Tomie's means of manifesting her Hypnosis was the Consciousness Slash, her command of Hypnosis techniques was also far beyond Tomie's.
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