"Something's not right here."
The purple-haired girl in a red and white shrine maiden outfit spoke gently as she helped the white-haired girl in front of her correct her improper sword-swinging stance.
"But it feels so awkward doing it like this."
The white-haired girl had little patience and couldn't help but pout and complain coquettishly to the girl instructing her.
Faced with her childish act, the purple-haired girl still felt a bit shy, though ever since the day they met, the girl before her had always interacted with her in this way.
And surprisingly, she didn't dislike it.
But she still hadn't gotten used to it either.
"Mei, help me again, okay?" The girl put down her sword, and, using her usual trick, wrapped her hands around Raiden Mei's arm with an eager look. "Just one more time—I'll definitely get it this time!"
"That's the third time you've said that today, Kiana…"
Raiden Mei sighed softly.
She had a good impression of Kiana—she didn't dislike her little desire to get close—but seeing no progress at all in her teaching made Mei start to doubt whether she was really fit to be a teacher.
Kiana was excellent in every way, and she didn't seem like the type who couldn't learn. So, the problem must lie with her own teaching.
"I'll demonstrate it once more."
Mei placed her hand on the wooden sword's hilt, calming her breath as she entered a one-sword style stance.
Teaching hand-in-hand hadn't worked. Guiding Kiana's hands through the motion didn't help either. Maybe if she demonstrated her sword style directly, letting Kiana comprehend it on her own—it might yield better results?
It wasn't a spar or a battle, so she had enough time to adjust her breathing and raise her focus to its peak.
Body and mind as one—grip, and strike!
The perfected sword strike flashed like lightning, too fast to catch even a trace of afterimage. There were no flashy movements or showy flourishes—only pure mastery, skill honed to its very pinnacle through swordsmanship alone. Mei once again showed Kiana the peak of her one-sword technique in her normal state.
Kiana's blue eyes widened slightly in awe. "As expected of Mei. No matter how many times I see it, it's still amazing!"
To have honed her swordsmanship to such a near-transcendent level in a world without Honkai—truly worthy of being Raiden Mei!
This was a world without Honkai.
And Kiana herself did not originally belong to this world. Her name wasn't even Kiana.
She had transmigrated into this parallel world of Honkai Impact 3rd several months ago. The body she now possessed wasn't her original one either, but a new body provided by the system after crossing over.
Her name, too, was given by the system.
Kiana.
A Kiana without "Kaslana."
"As long as you keep working hard, you'll be able to do it too."
There was no false modesty in her words—her swordsmanship had already reached the level of menkyo kaiden, full mastery, long ago.
And even in her spare time outside of managing the shrine, she had never slacked off in her training, constantly learning from other schools of swordsmanship and improving herself.
When it came to swordsmanship—
There were few who could surpass her.
"I'm kind of dumb, you know." Kiana scratched her head sheepishly. In truth, she wasn't that interested in swordsmanship; it was merely an excuse for her to get closer to Mei.
Not long after arriving in this world, she had seen Raiden Mei at the shrine. And the moment she saw her, she immediately understood what kind of world she had transmigrated into.
This was absolutely the Honkai world!
Where there was Raiden Mei, there was Honkai. That much was undeniable.
But this world seemed to have no trace of Honkai at all. The Raiden Mei before her wasn't the heiress of ME Corp nor a renowned scientist—she was just an ordinary-looking shrine maiden.
During their time together, Kiana had once asked Mei why she became a shrine maiden. Mei's answer was simple: because this was her family's shrine, and after her father disappeared, she had inherited it.
And this shrine enshrined Narukami.
Although this Narukami was not that Narukami—the shrine worshiped only a blade named Narukami—Kiana still immediately thought of the girl's counterpart in Teyvat and the Herrscher of Thunder from the Honkai world.
So yes, this was indeed the Honkai universe. Even in a parallel world, Raiden Mei still had an inseparable connection with Narukami.
There is no Mei who doesn't play with lightning.
"No, you're actually well-suited for martial arts."
Hearing Kiana call herself stupid, Mei couldn't hold back the thoughts in her heart any longer. With a hint of disappointment, she said, "It's my fault. I've already forged my own path in Hokushin Ittō-ryū, but how far one walks in swordsmanship seems unrelated to being a good teacher."
Skill doesn't always mean the ability to teach.
No matter how she tried, she couldn't get Kiana to learn—and Raiden Mei was beginning to doubt her own teaching ability.
If it weren't for that strange feeling stirring in her heart, that unwillingness to see Kiana leave, she would've already bowed and apologized, telling Kiana to find another teacher.
"That's not true at all!" Kiana grew anxious. She didn't want Mei to start doubting herself just because she'd been slacking off. "Mei's been teaching me so seriously. It's me—I'm the one who hasn't been listening properly!"
The slightly disheartened Raiden Mei froze on the spot, staring blankly at the girl in front of her.
She had doubted her teaching ability, doubted whether her understanding of swordsmanship still had many shortcomings—but she had never once doubted whether Kiana might just be goofing off.
Mei's gaze was filled with such shock and confusion that Kiana began to feel guilty under her stare.
"But Kiana… didn't you come to me because you wanted to learn Hokushin Ittō-ryū?"
They had met three months ago. Kiana, who had come to deliver goods to a convenience store, saw Mei's impressive swordsmanship and began pestering her to teach her the style.
Raiden Mei had refused at first. But in the end, she couldn't withstand Kiana's relentless persistence. And over time, she realized Kiana was a pure-hearted girl, so she finally decided to pass on Hokushin Ittō-ryū to her.
Kiana hesitated.
Was her persistence still not enough?
So, after all these months, Mei really hadn't suspected that she had ulterior motives?
Kiana fell silent for a moment. Did she really have to blurt out something shocking like, "Mei, I want to drink your—" just to make Mei realize she wasn't here for swordsmanship, but for her?
"I just want Mei to teach me a few more times…"
She had endured the dull, repetitive basics all for this moment—to spend more close time with Shrine Maiden Mei.
What she wanted most was for Mei to guide her hand-in-hand!
If she learned too quickly, mastering everything in one go, wouldn't all the dull effort she endured just to get closer to Mei have been for nothing?
So that was the reason.
Was she simply trying to experience more, to build up and release later?
Mei convinced herself with that explanation.
She handed her own practice sword to Kiana, her expression unusually serious—just like the strict Mei from half a month ago. "Use your full strength, Kiana. Show me how much you've learned."
Kiana took the sword Mei had used. Before she could think too much, Raiden Mei spoke again with solemn sincerity. "Use all your strength. Trust me—even if you've already mastered what I've shown you, I'll still teach you more, help you continue improving."
"Alright."
Kiana didn't even know how much she had truly learned. She had only ever practiced sword techniques within the shrine, and before Mei, she had never once swung her sword seriously.
Because all her focus was on Mei—her mind filled with thoughts of how to unlock more close-contact poses.
Mimicking Mei's earlier stance, Kiana took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and recalled Mei's breathing and movements in her mind.
Steady your breath. Focus your spirit. Then—draw and slash!
Kiana opened her eyes, her swing perfectly matching Mei's earlier arc.
It was Iaijutsu.
With that single strike, Kiana suddenly felt an illusion—
That with the sword in her hand, there was nothing in the world she could not cut.