Chapter 8: An Engagement with Raiden Mei
"Alright, but the Kendo Club's instructor seems to be away on a business trip for the next couple of days," Aoki Yuki said, gesturing vaguely toward the far side of the dojo. "You should probably just speak with the Kendo Club President directly."
She pointed toward a solitary figure practicing in the center of the floor: Raiden Mei. This time, Aoki Yuki made no move to lead Rovel over, a clear sign that she genuinely wanted to keep her distance from the school's idol.
While countless students were clamoring to get close to Raiden Mei, there were just as many, like Aoki Yuki, who preferred to admire her from a respectful, and safe, distance.
Rovel gave a nod of thanks and made his way across the polished wooden floor.
The dojo was filled with the clean, sharp scent of tung oil, mingling with the faint, honest aroma of sweat from rigorous training. It gave the entire space a grounding sense of reality, a detail that Rovel found himself appreciating for the hundredth time.
Whether it was the people or the environment, this world felt indistinguishable from his own. If not for the system panels and data streams visible only to him, he could easily believe this was simply a second life, a parallel reality.
'It's almost too real,' he thought, shaking off the momentary distraction.
He stopped about three meters from Raiden Mei, giving her ample space. "Hello, are you the Kendo Club President? I'm a new student, and I'd like to join the club. My name is Fang Ruobai."
Hearing his voice, Raiden Mei's fluid sword-swinging motion came to a halt. As she turned, a flicker of surprise crossed her beautiful face. Her violet eyes, usually calm and composed, widened slightly, and her gaze lingered on him for a beat longer than polite etiquette would normally allow.
A moment later, she seemed to catch herself, snapping out of her brief trance. A light, almost imperceptible cough escaped her lips as she sought to cover her momentary loss of composure.
"Ahem, yes, I am the Kendo Club President. My name is Raiden Mei," she replied, her voice as smooth as ever. "May I ask if you have any prior experience with kendo?"
"No, I don't," Rovel answered honestly, shaking his head.
"I see... In that case, I'll have one of the members test you first, just to get a sense of your physical aptitude. Sato, could you come here for a moment?"
Raiden Mei didn't elaborate, simply calling over a nearby student at random.
[Triggered E-rank Mission: Kendo Test.]
[Mission Objective: Last for 3 minutes against your opponent.]
[Mission Reward: Acceptance into the Kendo Club.]
Rovel raised an eyebrow. 'A mission just to join a school club? Or is it...'
His gaze drifted back to Raiden Mei. He suspected this "test" was less about aptitude and more of a filter, a necessary threshold to weed out the endless stream of admirers who only wanted to join the club to get closer to her.
Raiden Mei gestured for Rovel to select a practice sword from the rack. He picked one up, its weight and balance feeling unfamiliar in his hand.
[Wooden Sword: A common wooden tachi used for training. Strength +1 when equipped.]
His opponent, Sato, was a Level 4 Kendo Club member. Rovel gave the wooden sword a few experimental swings. It felt lighter than he'd anticipated. Deciding to rely on speed, he held it in a one-handed grip and faced his opponent.
Sato, in stark contrast, settled into a formal Iai stance, his posture perfect and his wooden sword gleaming softly in the light filtering through the dojo's high windows. He was taking this seriously.
"Begin," Raiden Mei commanded, her voice cutting through the quiet hall.
The moment the word left her lips, Sato exploded into motion. His blade sliced downward in a seemingly simple vertical slash, yet it carried a startling amount of force. The air itself seemed to pop and hiss as it was cleaved apart.
To the other students, it was a swift, powerful strike.
To Rovel, however, it was like watching a snail crawl across the floor. His mind seemed to automatically process the attack in slow motion, every nuance of the movement laid bare.
In less than a heartbeat, before Sato's blade had even completed half its arc, Rovel's own tachi had already moved. With a sharp tok, it connected precisely with his opponent's wrist.
Sato cried out in pain, his fingers spasming open. The wooden sword flew from his grasp, tracing a lazy semicircle through the air before Rovel's follow-through momentum sent it spinning away, where it struck a distant wall with a loud clatter and fell to the floor.
The entire exchange was over so quickly that the spectating students had only registered a blur of motion.
[Defeated Kendo Club member — Sato (Level 4). Gained 20 Experience Points.]
Rovel subconsciously glanced at his status panel.
[Level: 1]
[Level Cap: 10 (Requires completion of a breakthrough mission to unlock)]
[Experience: 20/100]
[Race: Human]
[HP: 600/600]
[Honkai Energy Infection Progress: 0%]
[Constitution: 60]
[Strength: 60+1]
[Agility: 60]
[Intelligence: 60]
[Honkai Energy Resistance: 1300 HW]
[Equipment: Elysia's Crystal Flower (Special Accessory), Wooden Sword]
[Inventory: Ultimate Healing Potion x10, Chiba Academy Student ID, Mobius's Scalpel (Epic), Special Communicator]
Each level-up granted 1 point to all four basic attributes and 2 free points to allocate. With his current stats, he was effectively on par with a Level 30 player who had invested nothing in equipment or skills. Dealing with a Level 4 club member had been, as expected, effortless.
"He's... so strong!"
A ripple of surprise went through the watching students. While Sato wasn't a top-tier member, he was far from a novice. The speed of Rovel's counterattack had been too fast for any of them to follow clearly.
[E-rank Mission: Kendo Test, Completed.]
[Triggered Advanced Mission: Kendo Test - Advanced.]
[Mission Objective: Exchange blows with Raiden Mei.]
[Mission Reward: Determined by mission completion rate.]
Rovel blinked. As he looked up from the system prompt, he saw Raiden Mei walking toward him, a thoughtful and intense expression on her face.
"Classmate Fang Ruobai, you are very strong," she said, her voice laced with a tremor of genuine excitement. She gave her own wooden sword a practice swing, and the motion stirred a small gust of wind in the still dojo air. "It seems an ordinary member isn't enough to gauge your level. In that case... how about I test you myself?"
With a deliberate motion, she brought her sword down, a hint of force behind the swing. The tip of the wooden blade scraped against the floor, leaving a shallow but distinct white mark on the polished wood.
The atmosphere in the dojo instantly grew tense. No one had expected the president herself to step forward.
"Alright," Rovel replied, the relaxed ease vanishing from his face. "Then I'll be in your care, President."
Though their base attributes might not be drastically different, he knew he was at a severe disadvantage. Raiden Mei had been trained in the Hokushin Ittō-ryū by her father, the renowned "Homu Sword Saint," Raiden Ryoma. While the style might struggle against colossal Honkai Beasts, it was devastatingly effective in humanoid combat.
Against a master of a dedicated sword art, Rovel, who had no systematic training whatsoever, knew his chances of winning were slim to none.
"Please guide me," Raiden Mei said, her expression becoming exceptionally serious. The aura around her sharpened, transforming from that of a graceful schoolgirl into that of a drawn blade. The very temperature in the dojo seemed to drop by a few degrees.
In the next instant, her figure vanished.
She moved like a ghost, reappearing at his side, her wooden sword already stabbing toward his neck from an unorthodox angle. The sound of the blade cutting through the air was as sharp as tearing silk.
Rovel instinctively threw himself backward, the tip of her sword grazing just past his throat. But before he could recover, he saw Mei's wrist flip with impossible grace. The thrust instantly became a devastating downward slash.
Clack!
He barely managed to bring his own sword up to parry. The impact of wood on wood sent a dull thud echoing through the hall and a jarring vibration up his arm. He was stunned to find that her blade seemed to flow around his defense, its momentum adjusting to his movements as if she had already predicted every possible counter he could make.
Pressing her advantage, Raiden Mei spun on her heel, her body a whirlwind of controlled motion. The sword light unfolded like a fan, a powerful, momentum-driven strike that was shockingly heavy. Rovel felt his entire palm go numb from the force.
His footing broke. The blow sent him stumbling back several steps, his balance completely shattered.
As he fought to regain his posture, he saw that Mei hadn't pursued him. Instead, she stood her ground, waiting patiently for him to steady himself, a gesture of martial courtesy.
The moment he was set, she launched her second wave of attacks.
This time, however, Rovel didn't retreat. He surged forward, closing the distance in an attempt to crowd her and restrict the angles of her sweeping strikes. During their brief exchange, he'd sensed that while her speed and technique were terrifying, her raw strength was relatively normal. Even that powerful momentum-based strike hadn't been enough to knock the sword from his hand.
His only chance was to get in close, to prevent her from building that momentum and slashing so comfortably.
Raiden Mei watched his advance, a flicker of surprise in her eyes, but not a hint of panic. Her gaze was sharp, instantly spotting the opening in his aggressive, unrefined lunge.
With a slight shift of her body, she masterfully angled her wooden sword, not to block, but to deflect. The force of Rovel's downward slash was completely redirected, sliding harmlessly past her.
Rovel transitioned instantly from the vertical slash to a horizontal cut, aiming for her torso.
Mei ducked under the blow with nimble grace. As she came up, her wooden sword became a blur, stabbing out in a lightning-fast, three-hit combo that landed squarely on Rovel's chest and shoulder.
His guard was wide open, his own attack overextended. He had no way to dodge. Three glaring red numbers popped into existence above his head.
[-57 HP]
[-39 HP]
[-22 HP]
"Heavens... is that the President's true strength?"
A collective gasp swept through the students watching from the sidelines.
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