Awkward.
Extremely awkward.
Just a moment ago, Raiden Mei had been worried that Leo Ash, this swordsmanship amateur, would be accidentally hurt by her.
It was precisely because of this worry that she hadn't been completely serious, not using one hundred percent of her strength to fight him.
But after one move, Raiden Mei realized she might have been overthinking things.
Leo's posture still looked full of openings.
However, that single strike had indeed sent the weapon in Raiden Mei's hand flying.
Only after her weapon was knocked away did Mei feel a pang of pain in her hands.
But this was just the force transmitted through the weapon.
Fundamentally, Leo's strike, while sending her weapon flying, hadn't injured her body at all.
Extrapolating further, although Leo was an amateur in swordsmanship, his control over his strength and the precision of his attacks far surpassed Raiden Mei's.
Recalling how Leo had stacked those malicious classmates like sandbags this morning, she finally came to a complete realization.
Just now, I was thinking of going easy on Leo... Am I an idiot?
He's an amateur in swordsmanship, that's true.
But in terms of overall combat ability, I'm simply no match for him.
"Just as I thought."
After knocking Mei's bamboo sword away, Leo didn't press the attack. Instead, he looked at her and said slowly.
"Even after your father was imprisoned, you still haven't realized what your problem is."
"I..."
Mei, who was about to argue, looked into Leo's eyes, which were even colder than before, and obediently chose to shut her mouth.
"As a swordswoman, you can be gentle in daily life, but in battle, the sword in your heart must remain sharp."
"But right now, I can clearly feel that the sword in your heart has become dull, and is even on the verge of breaking."
"As a swordswoman, if you can't keep the sword in your heart in its sharpest state at all times, then when you face an enemy, you won't be able to make the necessary decisions in time."
"Combat is something where a single opening revealed in an instant can be enough to change the tide of battle. If you don't even understand that, then with your skills alone, you'll sooner or later die at the hands of someone else."
"But..."
Listening to Leo's words, Raiden Mei's expression turned a bit strange.
"Leo, while what you're saying is true, but... Nagazora City is usually quite safe, isn't it?"
"Fighting and killing... that kind of thing doesn't happen here very often."
After saying these words, Mei, who was being unnerved by Leo's icy stare, immediately regretted it.
Oh no, did I say something wrong again?
His gaze... it feels even more terrifying than before.
"Ha... As expected, you still haven't realized the gravity of the situation."
After saying this, Leo stared at Mei without immediately speaking.
From Mei's perspective, Leo was disappointed in her and hoped she would figure out the right answer on her own.
But the reality was...
Ah, why is she so hard to fool at a time like this?
She makes a good point. Let me think, how should I put this?
"Forget it, I'll just be direct."
"Although your father, Raiden Ryoma, has fallen, he was the president of ME Corp for so many years. He must have some trusted subordinates."
"The people who brought your father down will definitely come after you in the future. Once they have you, even if your father's loyalists want to cause trouble, they'll be hesitant to act rashly for fear of your safety."
Seeing the dawning realization on Raiden Mei's face, Leo's tone immediately became deeper.
"Those people were able to frame your father, so they naturally won't have any moral bottom line when they come for you. After they make their move, your life might even be in danger."
At that moment, Mei suddenly felt a huge shift in the aura around Leo.
If before, Leo merely felt cold, now, that coldness was tinged with something that shouldn't be present in a high school student.
Killing intent.
There was a faint trace of killing intent emanating from Leo.
And this killing intent wasn't just radiating outwards; it was directed straight at Raiden Mei.
"If you're going to maintain this careless attitude, then rather than letting someone else kill you in a future battle, it would be better if right now..."
!!!
Executing an emergency dive to the floor, Mei dodged Leo's sudden attack.
"I give you a painless death right here."
Leo... he's serious!
Rolling and picking up her bamboo sword from the floor, Raiden Mei saw that Leo's strike had shattered the floorboards. She no longer dared to have any careless thoughts.
And looking at the tensed-up girl, Leo knew he had achieved his goal.
Making Raiden Mei's will stronger was one of his most important objectives.
To put it bluntly, the stronger Raiden Mei's main personality's will, the smaller the chance of the Herrscher Personality awakening.
And the smaller the chance of the Herrscher Personality awakening, the greater the chance that he and the other unlucky souls in Nagazora City would survive.
The Third Eruption was bound to happen.
But if he could get Raiden Mei to awaken in an uninhabited area, at least the millions of people in Nagazora City could be spared from disaster.
Of course, this future was something Leo could only dream of.
He could barely protect himself right now and could only use the methods he came up with to delay the Honkai's outbreak and help Mei suppress the personality that could awaken at any moment.
And while using this method to force Mei's heart to become stronger, Leo, using Mind Like Still Water, could also use this battle to learn a few moves of Hokushin Ittō-ryū from Mei.
He had the [Intermediate Weapon Usage Skill], that was true, but having the skill didn't mean his proficiency was high from the start.
In fact, during his fight with Bronya, he could feel that he had the skill in name only, but his proficiency was practically nonexistent.
It was fine for bullying rookies, but against experts among ordinary people like Bronya and Mei, his skill wasn't enough.
To be blunt, without Mind Like Still Water, if Leo were to fight Mei using only [Intermediate Weapon Usage Skill], he'd probably get his head bashed in with ease.
Because of this, even learning a tiny fraction of a move was nothing but beneficial for the current Leo.
Finally, the lecture Leo gave Raiden Mei seemed very reasonable, but only he himself knew the truth.
He wasn't just saying those words to Raiden Mei.
Those words were also for himself.
In battle, someone who cannot keep the 'sword' in their heart sharp, who cannot make timely decisions, is simply not worthy of being called a warrior.
And such a person would, sooner or later, bring harm to themselves and those around them due to their own immaturity.
By taking the opportunity to make Raiden Mei stronger, Leo was also admonishing himself through this event.
As for the killing intent—of course, he was faking it.
If he didn't project some killing intent, Raiden Mei would probably still think he was just playing house with her.
But, looking at Raiden Mei's character profile template now, Leo felt a bit confused.
After he started exuding killing intent, he saw Mei's affection for him drop by ten points with a *kachak*.
But a few seconds after dropping ten points, her affection for him shot up by twenty points with a *shua*, instantly jumping to 80.
Seeing the system add a note of (Ready for hehehe) after the 80 affection, Leo felt that something was off.
Um, Miss Mei, although I'm faking it, I'm currently beating you up while pretending I'm about to kill you.
Why is your affection for me still rising at a time like this? Do you really not think there's something wrong with this????