Chapter 61: It's All Part of the Plan
Facing Seiko's murderous gaze—a look that could probably pierce an Upper Moon's hide—Kojiro guiltily looked away and muttered a weak explanation.
"I... I actually just came here to thank Senior Kokonoe. I mean, he's saved me twice now..."
Beside him, Dojima stood stiffly, not even turning his head. His tone was as rigid as a board. "Mission reports. I needed to consult with Kokonoe-kun."
As for Natsuya, the man at the center of the tension, he seemed completely oblivious to the subtle atmospheric pressure. He just gave a casual wave of his hand.
"They heard about the special training and wanted to get stronger too," Natsuya said. "I figured training one is the same as training three. So I invited them all."
"Besides, I've got some Breathing Style theories I want to test out on you guys."
Seiko: "..."
Natsuya-kun, you total BAKA!
Natsuya: "You okay with that, Seiko?"
Seiko: "I'm... fine!"
The girl ground her teeth, her answer dripping with reluctant resignation.
Natsuya ignored her and began organizing the training data in his head.
[Yukibashiri Seiko (Power Level: 56)] — Water Breathing LV.3
[Kondo Kojiro (Power Level: 38)] — Water Breathing LV.2
[Dojima Kazuma (Power Level: 84)] — Flame Breathing LV.3
In terms of stats, they were a mixed bag, and their Breathing levels were a bit low for the current "meta." In Natsuya's eyes, a swordsman needed a Power Level of at least 100 to be considered a viable "mid-game" unit.
He was an outlier because of his multi-classing, so he couldn't use himself as a benchmark. But for a specialist, you needed to hit LV.4, which the System classified as [Mastery], to actually be useful.
Natsuya adjusted his non-existent glasses.
Among his five styles, Storm was the lowest, followed by Wind, Water, and Stone. His highest was Thunder Breathing at LV.4.
He hadn't quite reached the "Grandmaster" level of the veteran Cultivators yet, but thanks to his cross-discipline experience and his [Mentorship], [Suburi], and [Insight] Life Skills, he had a massive advantage in theory.
In his own mind, he was a high-level "Backseat Gamer." An Armchair General with the actual technical specs to back it up.
I definitely understand Water Breathing better than Kazami, and I understand Storm Breathing better than Matsuyama, Natsuya thought arrogantly.
The first step wasn't to directly pump their levels. Raw stats and sword mastery only grew through the "Daily Grind"—there were no shortcuts for NPCs.
But there was one area where "Combat Power" could be spiked in a short window: Battle Experience.
On this point, Natsuya's philosophy aligned with the "Crazy Master" Nikaido. Clashing with stronger opponents, facing different archetypes, and fighting in extreme conditions would force their potential to materialize.
"I'm going to focus your training in two directions," Natsuya declared.
"First, I'm going to micro-manage your Breathing Style logic. Based on my observations, I can tweak your circulation patterns."
"It should reduce the stamina drain of Total Concentration while slightly boosting your crit-rate and explosive power."
"Since this is an experimental theory, tell me immediately if your HP bar drops or you feel a 'Burn' debuff."
He glanced at Kojiro, who was looking awkward.
"Oh, right. I forgot you haven't even unlocked Total Concentration yet."
Kojiro: "..."
I... I actually know the basics...
"Kojiro-kun," Natsuya said. "Your priority is to unlock the skill. Period."
His planned "tweaks" weren't full derivative styles yet. He was just doing what Uzui did: simplifying the "Source Code" of the basic styles to fit their specific bodies. It reduced the skill-ceiling but increased the leveling speed.
Based on his HUD scans, Kojiro and Dojima had decent compatibility with their respective styles. The reason for their gap was simple: Kojiro's "Individual Values" (talent) were just lower. If the "Effort Values" and "Species Compatibility" were the same, then it was just a bad RNG roll on the character's base potential.
But Seiko...
When Natsuya's level was low, he couldn't see it clearly. But now that his own styles were all deep into LV.3 [Proficient], he could see the "clunkiness" in her movements.
She lacked the fluidity and rhythm of Water Breathing. Her heart wasn't at the "Still as a Mirror" stage required for the class. Even though Water Breathing was a "Soft" style, she played it like a "Hard" style—all straight lines and brute force.
In terms of class-flavor, she was actually worse at Water than Kojiro was at LV.2.
Honestly, Natsuya mused, Seiko is a bad fit for Water. She'd probably be a top-tier Flame or Thunder user. High explosive potential, zero flow.
He figured that once his own understanding of the engine improved, he could "mod" a custom style for her derived from Water but focused on her explosive bursts.
The System only lets ME bind one custom style, but it doesn't say I can't be a Dev for other people, Natsuya realized.
He particularly liked the [Potential Assessment] prompt that appeared when drafting a style. It was a free, unlimited diagnostic tool. He could run an "Exhaustive Search" through different build combinations until he found a "High Potential" plan for his teammates.
I'll build them a custom 'Deep-Sea-Tide Breath' or something later, he thought.
But for now...
Natsuya dropped the gear he had borrowed from the Storm Hashira onto the grass.
THUD!
Three weighted vests made of specialized dense fabric hit the ground, leaving shallow craters.
Natsuya's [Sewing] skill wasn't maxed out, but it was high enough to resize high-tier gear. As for the measurements... between his months of training [Insight] and his natural "Gamer HUD" eye for hitboxes, he could guess someone's dimensions within a few millimeters.
The two men curiously picked up the vests.
"So heavy! What is this made of?" Kojiro nearly dropped his; it felt like holding a solid lead ingot.
Dojima weighed his in his hand, his expression turning serious. "This single vest weighs as much as a full suit of samurai armor."
"They're reinforced with steel plates," Natsuya explained. "30kg each for you two. Seiko's is 20kg."
The men nodded and put them on. They assumed the Arashibashira was just wealthy enough to have high-end custom gear made for his apprentices.
Seiko, however, noticed something else.
How... how does he know my exact measurements?!
She looked at Natsuya as he continued to bark orders.
Did Natsuya-kun... record my size when he was bandaging my wounds?!
The girl felt her face getting hot again. Wait... have I gained weight recently? Did he notice?!
"Phase Two of the plan: Live Combat."
"The sizes are already optimized for your bodies," Natsuya continued.
"With those weights on, you will spend every second of the next week fighting me. Tag-team, 3-on-1, solos—it doesn't matter. I want you to go all out. Fight me like I'm the Demon King trying to murder you."
The summary of the training was simple: If you aren't dying, you aren't trying.
The better their training results, the more XP I farm for my [Mentorship] skill.
Natsuya looked at Seiko, who was once again blushing for no reason.
"Seiko-kun! What did I just say? Stand up and repeat the orders!"
The girl jumped. "H-HAI! GOMENASAI!"
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you