Chapter 87: A Maid Outfit Chooses Its Wearer (1)

Calling Yurina’s private training ground “private” almost felt like a joke. It was so vast that the word hardly did it justice.

Yurina and I changed into our training gear and finished some light warm-ups.

“Dale, how about a sparring match? It’s been a while,” Yurina said.

“Sounds good,” I replied.

Honestly, I had been wanting to move my body a little anyway. I was also curious to see how much stronger Yurina had become. In her previous life, Yurina had been powerful enough to rank among the top five heroes, even without a blessing. Even though I had watched over her both in her past life and this one, I couldn’t even imagine how far she could go now that she had awakened her blessing and where her limits lay.

“You’re going to use a training sword, right?” she asked.

“No, let’s use real swords.”

At our current level, it didn’t matter whether we used training blades or live steel; the lethality was the same either way. In fact, using a flimsy training sword was more dangerous; the weapon might not withstand our mana and could explode mid-battle.

Understanding the risk, Yurina nodded and drew her sword. “Alright.”

It was the new weapon she had received for ranking first in the midterm evaluation, crafted from the horn of a unicorn. Silver aura shimmered along its razor-sharp blade.

“Well then, here I come!”

Her sword, cloaked in a silver aura, flashed toward me like a bolt of lightning. I raised my weapon and deflected the blinding strike. The training ground trembled like an earthquake had struck, and a jarring recoil surged through my palm.

“Ugh!” I narrowed my eyes as I met her furious onslaught.

Yurina had always possessed an absurd amount of mana, but ever since she had awakened her blessing, it had increased even further. And her mana wasn’t the only thing that had grown. The level of her Sun Sword Style was completely different from what it was when we first sparred.

If I had recalled correctly, she had used the Seventh Form last time. While the Seventh Form numerically seemed like just a single step away from the Sixth Form, the leap in difficulty was on another level entirely. Even Rosanna, who had spent her entire life training in the Sun Sword Style, never reached the Seventh Form. It wasn’t because Rosanna lacked talent. Among all the heads of House Helios, she was considered one of the most gifted. The Seventh Form was just monstrously difficult.

In my previous life, it had taken me over three hundred years to properly master the Seventh Form, even after being personally taught by Yurina. When I faced off against the Demon God, I had barely managed to use the Sixth Form. A single step forward from there had taken me three centuries. Sure, part of that was due to my garbage-tier talent, but even for most geniuses, the Seventh Form was an unreachable realm.

I had recently experienced a sharp rise in power myself, but it was still tough keeping up with Yurina, who had both awakened her blessing and elevated her swordsmanship. Her relentless silver sword energies poured down on me like a storm.

I let out a groan. Unable to withstand her latest attack, I was violently knocked back and slammed into the wall of the training hall.

Yurina rushed over, her face full of concern. “Are you okay, Dale?”

I staggered to my feet and waved my hand dismissively.

“I’m sorry. I’m still not used to controlling my strength,” she said with an awkward smile, scratching her head. “Then let’s end it here.”

“No.” I shook my head and tightened my grip on my sword. “Let’s go another round.”

“But…” She hesitated.

“What? You scared?”

Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and a silver aura reignited around her sword. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I let out a dry chuckle and readied my sword. Undoubtedly, Yurina had made a massive breakthrough. She had awakened a blessing she had never managed to in her past life and shattered a wall, stepping into a new realm.

It was the opposite of what I had feared. She was growing even faster than she had in her previous life. But she wasn’t the only one who had made such progress.

“Ignite,” I said.

The sound of searing flesh filled the air as ashen smoke curled upward.

Her eyes widened in shock. “Wha…?”

I launched myself forward. My sword, shrouded in grey flames, crashed down on her with ferocious force. Just moments ago, Yurina had pushed me to the brink without letting up. Now, she was the one stumbling back, gritting her teeth.

“Ugh!” She groaned.

Flames danced along the edge of my blade. The grey aura, laced with fire, began devouring the silver light of her aura.

“Ahhh!”

Overwhelmed by the consuming flames, which were the Primordial Fire, Yurina couldn’t endure the force and was thrown across the training ground.

Breathless, she stared at me in disbelief. “Hah!Hah! Dale. What is that fire?”

“Well, let’s just say it’s a little trump card.”

I shrugged and leaned against the wall, struggling to remain standing as the deep fatigue of Ignition swept over me. Still, I held out as long as I could, waiting for my body to recover. Once I had regained some strength, I approached Yurina, who was still sitting on the floor, visibly exhausted.

She looked a bit sulky about losing and reached out to take my hand, letting me help her up. “Ugh, if you hadn’t been my opponent, my blessing would’ve performed better.”

“Oh, by the way, what’s the name of your newly awakened blessing?” I asked.

“Blessing of the Moonlight.”

“Oh-ho!”

If it had been back in the days when she was still “Yuren,” things would have been different, but now, the blessing suited her perfectly.

“What kind of ability is it?” I asked.

Yurina suddenly turned red and avoided eye contact. “Well, that’s… I-I’ll tell you later.”

“Huh?” I tilted my head in confusion, but she gave no further answer.

“Ah, more importantly! You know that sword style you use, Dale? I’ve been meaning to say this for a while now, but… it feels very similar to the Sun Sword Style, doesn’t it?”

I immediately flinched without even realizing it. “Does it?”

Yurina rubbed her lips thoughtfully with her index finger, as if recalling our sparring session. “Yeah. I mean, the more you look into it, the more differences you’ll see, but the basic vibe is close. Oh, and well, I’m not sure if I should be saying this, but…”

“What is it?”

“The swordsmanship you use. Honestly, it kind of doesn’t suit you.”

“What?”

The style I currently used was based on the Sun Sword Style, but refined and perfected over thousands of years of solitude. Except for the fundamental core, every move had been adapted to fit me. And now she said it didn’t suit me?

“Ah, I don’t mean it looks bad or anything. It’s just… how do I put it? Kind of inefficient, maybe?”

“Inefficient?”

Yurina nodded. “Yeah. Let me give you an example. It’s like a millionaire with a million gold trying to save a few coins by riding a carriage instead of using a warp portal. You’re not lacking in mana, but it feels like you’re being too frugal with it.”

Her words made perfect sense. It felt like someone had struck me in the back of my head with a hammer. The phrase that I was not lacking in mana was something I had never heard in my entire life. However, what I hadn’t realized was that my mana had indeed increased a lot lately.

Furthermore, it was not the kind of mana artificially inflated through elixirs or Soul Stigmata Amplifier Potion, like how it had been in my previous life. This was pure mana, refined through the Primordial Flame.

“Hah!”

Even though I had enough mana now, I was still saving it out of habit. If Yurina hadn’t pointed it out, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. After all, conserving mana had always been second nature to me, something as normal as breathing, given the constant shortage I had suffered in my past life. Now, rather than always holding back, using a burst of power at the right moment was far more effective for me.

So my past-life experience has become a shackle now, huh? The realization left my mind blank for a moment.

Yurina gave me an awkward smile as I sat there frozen. “Um, was that too presumptuous to say to my mentor?”

“Presumptuous? Not at all. That actually helped me a lot.”

I meant it. Her insight had struck through the rut I had been stuck in, shaped by the inertia of my previous life. I had never imagined I’d still be learning lessons like this. A chuckle escaped my lips, as I was half amused and half embarrassed by my arrogance, the arrogance of thinking I had nothing left to learn.

Yurina beamed with a smile so bright it was almost contagious. “Hehe. I’m glad I could help. Phew!

Now then, should we take a break?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Still feeling the aftereffects of Ignition, I leaned against the wall of the training ground and sat down.

“Hey, um, Dale?” Yurina said.

“Yeah?”

“I-I want to show you something real quick.”

“What is it?”

Yurina looked extremely nervous as she gulped. “Well… J-just wait here, okay?”

She hurried into the changing room inside the private training ground. About five minutes passed, and the door opened cautiously.

I called out to her. “Yurina?”

Yurina stepped out wearing a maid outfit identical to the one worn by the Helios family’s servants. It was the same uniform I had forced Rosanna to wear as an act of humiliation.

Yurina’s cheeks flushed bright red, and she nervously twisted her silver hair with her fingers. “Um, Dale, remember when you dressed my mother in a maid outfit?”

Wait a minute.

Flustered, I asked, “W-what? How do you know about that?”

“I mean, I passed out, yeah. But I was still kind of conscious,” she explained.

I was speechless. She was semi-conscious? That meant she remembered everything that had happened between me and Rosanna.

“Dale, you like maid outfits, don’t you?” she asked.

“N-no! It’s not that I like them or anything!”

“Liar. Then why did you make my mother wear one?”

“That’s…”

How was I supposed to explain? That I had forced her proud, haughty mother into a maid uniform just to see her humiliated, treating her like a slave?

“A-anyway! I don’t even like maid outfits, so go change back already!” I said to her.

“Hmmm.” Yurina narrowed her eyes playfully and lifted the hem of her skirt just a little. Beneath it, her pale ankles peeked out between her pristine white socks. My gaze, before I knew it, had drifted downward.

She smirked mischievously and stepped closer. “For someone who claims not to like it, your eyes sure are honest. There’s no need to hesitate. You protected my soul stigmata, remember? You’re my benefactor. If it’s for you, Dale, I’ll do anything.”

She gently took my hand and declared with confidence, “Go ahead, give me any order, Dale! Just like you did to my mother. You can treat me like your slave, too!”

“No.”

Now, even the daughter wants to be treated like a slave? She makes me sound like an absolute scumbag.

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