Chapter 374 - Takemikazuchi

*clack clack clack

Her footsteps rang out as the passage seemed to be endless. Having walked for quite a while, Shiro couldn't help but wonder if she should turn back.

'Maybe it's a trial of patience.' She wondered to herself while examining her surroundings somore since she had nothing else to do.

The passage was crafted from smooth stone and had metal stands that held torches.

Grabbing one of the torches, she started to flip it in the air while continuing down the path.

"Hmm… how long is this place." She muttered tiredly.

Looking back, she saw that the entrance had long disappeared.

Shaking her head, she looked forward once more but frowned when she realised a slight inconsistency.

Previously, she had taken the torch from the wall so realistically, that empty stand shouldn't be seen again. But right now, in front of her, she could see the same stand once more.

"Hmm… tch so it's this kind of thing." She clicked her tongue.

Pressing her finger against the wall, ice started to spread out. Making sure that the ice freezes in front of her, she closed her eyes and sensed the position of the furthest piece of ice. That way, when the path is repeated, she'll be able to sense the ice suddenly appearing behind her.

As the ice continued to spread, she felt it appear behind her and knew that she had discovered the loop point.

Walking over to the loop point, she created an ice dagger that was enhanced with Celestial Path.

Scraping it against the walls, she looked for the magic circle so that she could break past this loop quickly.

"Bingo." She smiled when her dagger felt some resistance.

Pushing mana into her dagger, she swiped at the location with her full force.

*PING!!

Tearing the loop apart, she saw that she was only a few meters from the actual entrance.

"Miss Nytri!" The director called out in worry. From his perspective, she had started to walk before suddenly disappearing from his sight. Since he couldn't enter the passageway, he wasn't able to check out her condition.

"Hm, there was probably a teleport and illusion trap set up here." Shiro muttered while examining the walls.

Shaking her head, she decided to be a bit more careful.

"Don't worry director, just a minor setback." Shiro shouted back as she started to walk down the path once more.

This time, since she was on guard, she had been able to cancel out several spells before they could even activate. Finding herself at the top of a staircase, she walked down with caution.

Thankfully, there weren't any more traps and she proceeded down the stairs safely.

After walking for a while, she saw a giant set of doors at the bottom.

". . . what a waste of stairs. They could have literally just had this door above the staircase if there were no traps right?" Shiro furrowed her brows as Nimue agreed.

Pushing open the door, Shiro felt a bit irked that there were only a single pedestal and a book in the centre of this huge room.

Ignoring the blatant waste of space, she picked up the book and looked at its contents.

The book or rather, manual was called the Takemikazuchi Sword Technique.

"Takemikazuchi, the god of thunder as well as the sword god in Japanese mythology. To think that there's a technique based on this guy. I wonder if it's authentic." She mused to herself curiously.

After all, one can name a technique anything despite the contents being mediocre.

Reading through the contents, she got a general gist of what the technique was about and she had to admit that it was quite good.

The main essence behind this skill was to strike fast like thunder and with the finesse of a sword god.

At the first stage of training in this manual, you'll experience a growth in attack speed. If the user has lightning attunement, the manual has a section on how they should manipulate their mana in a way that benefits this technique greatly.

As you continue to train in this manual, you'll be able to strike several times despite looking as if you haven't moved a single muscle.

With a technique like this, it was perfect for a sneak attack.

"You know what? I doubt the creator of this room would think anyone would leave the manual so I'll just take it." Shiro shrugged her shoulders and took the manual. She was going to give it a proper read through when she had time.

Making her way back to the entrance of the passageway, she saw that both Hideo and Lisandra were waiting by the side.

"Yo." Shiro smiled.

"Miss Nytri, you've finally returned. If you don't mind me asking, what's at the end of the passage?" The director asked curiously since he had no knowledge of this place at all.

"Just another manual I earned for clearing the test. I won't tell you what it is though since it's a secret~" Shiro grinned.

"Anyways, can we go to the mage section now? I've chosen my manual for the fighter section." She said while pointing at the Mystic Sensory Arts.

"Ah right, sure." The director nodded since it wasn't his place to inquire about what she had got. Sure it was in the facility but if the creator decided to gift it to the person who completed the test then it was her's by all rights.

Showing them to the mages section, he took them to the B ranked area since she hadn't completed the test for A ranked. There was a huge dividing line between B ranked and A ranked so unless she does the test again, he wasn't allowed to show her the A ranked manuals.

However, Shiro didn't mind too much since she wasn't a proper mage to begin with. She just wanted to see how they trained in terms of manuals.

Looking through a few of the manuals, she realised that most of them were just techniques to reinforce your mana circulation and circulation patterns that enhance certain parts of your spell.

Losing her interest, she set the manuals aside since she already had skills that can help with that. She was more curious about the Takemikazuchi Sword Technique.

Saying goodbye to the director, Shiro and Lisandra left the dojo immediately after making copies of their chosen manuals.

###

"So what kind of manual did you choose Lisa?" Shiro asked curiously while they were making their way out of the city.

"What manual? Oh I chose Sun God's Fury. It's a manual that increases my swords lethality and speed. If I have affinity to light or fire, its effects are enhanced.

"Hou… interesting." Shiro nodded.

"What about you mum?"

"Me? Well for the S ranked I chose Mystic Sensory Arts. Compared to the other manuals, it may not be as impressive but having enhanced senses is very beneficial." Shiro smiled.

"I see…"

"Are you not curious about the other manual I got?" Shiro raised an eyebrow.

"I am but if you don't talk about it, it's probably something I don't need to know. Either that or it's best that other people don't know. Kind of like your 'Sub-class'." Lisandra smiled.

Hearing this, Shiro couldn't help but grin and hug Lisa from behind.

"Ah why are you so much better than your sister? All she knows is to empty my wallet with food." Shiro praised. Of course, this was just a joke since no matter how much she reprimands Yin about her food intake, she will still indulge her.

Smiling wearily, Lisandra let Shiro hug her.

"Anyways, we'll be making our way to Mount Fuji during the day and at night, I'll be training you in refining your senses." Shiro smiled.

Once they left the city, Shio made sure that they were away from public sight before pulling out a motorbike.

"Eh? You had such a thing?" Lisandra asked curiously since she didn't expect Shiro to be someone who has a vehicle like this.

"Yup. I made it when I was in New York a while ago. Though I'm going to give it some minor upgrades since I've improved quite a bit." Shiro replied.

Reinforcing and enhancing the components to her motorbike, she increased its speed and handling along with a few combat capabilities.

Changing her clothes into jeans and a sleeveless shirt, Shiro tied her hair into a low ponytail so that it didn't smack into Lisandra's face.

"Hop on." Shiro smiled.

Nodding her head, Lisandra sat behind Shiro as she felt a little strange to be sitting on such a vehicle.

"Now, make sure you grab on tight since this thing goes ''quite'' fast ok?"

"Ok. Though I'm sure I'll be finNNEEEEE ARGGGGG!!!!!!!"

Cutting off her sentence with a burst of speed, Lisandra did not expect the acceleration to be so quick.

Leaving an echo of screams, of which confused the hell out of anyone who heard it, the duo left the city of Kyoto.