“I ask you, Raven.”
“What is it, Mizuho?”
“What does that wager mean to you?”
“It means making Yuan Qing face his talent.”
“Did he face it?”
“He’s fighting monsters.”
“Did he face it?”
“He’s sparring with a Magical Girl.”
“Did he face it?”
“He’s running with Sundae, very hard.”
“So?”
“So I get it, okay? I admit I’m inadequate at teaching him in this regard.”
“What about that special training you previously devised, the one targeting Hifumi?”
“It will still proceed, and it will only become more intensified.”
“Are you determined to drive him to Hifumi no matter what?”
But, as for the me of now…
Early the next morning, before the sky was fully light.
Yuan Qing stood in a deserted park, facing a medium-sized monster that looked like a beetle magnified countless times. Its six legs gouged deep furrows in the ground, and viscous fluid dripped from its mouthparts.
“Today,” Raven perched on Yuan Qing’s shoulder, “the special training is upgraded.”
Yuan Qing didn’t speak, just flexed his wrist.
“Starting today, when you fight monsters, I will interfere with you using my Raven Feathers,” Raven flew up from his shoulder, its wings flapping. Several pitch-black feathers detached from its body and hovered in mid-air. “It will be the same during sparring. You must deal with both the monster and my attacks simultaneously, and you still have to last the full three minutes.”
Yuan Qing looked up at the hovering feathers.
“Let’s begin,” he said.
The monster charged.
It was fast, its six legs moving alternately, leaving a trail of deep claw marks on the ground. Its mouthparts opened, revealing several rows of serrated teeth, aiming straight for Yuan Qing’s chest.
Yuan Qing sidestepped to avoid it. At the same time, five of Raven’s feathers shot towards him from five different directions, their angles tricky, their speed extremely fast.
Yuan Qing’s body twisted forcefully in mid-air, avoiding three. He blocked one with a hardened Raven Feather, and another grazed his arm, leaving a tear in his black cloak.
“Too slow,” Raven said.
Yuan Qing ignored it.
The monster’s second attack followed immediately. It thrust out one of its legs. Yuan Qing drew his wings in close, blocking the strike with hardened feathers. The impact pushed him back half a meter, and simultaneously, Raven’s second wave of feathers had already arrived.
This time, there were ten.
Yuan Qing dodged, blocked, and retreated between the monster’s attacks and the feathers.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, but his rhythm remained relatively steady.
“Two minutes,” Raven announced the time.
The monster’s speed began to drop as the intensity of the fight increased, but Raven’s feathers became faster and faster.
“Your reaction speed is still too slow,” Raven said from mid-air, the frequency of its wingbeats increasing. “Hifumi’s blades are much faster than my feathers. If you can’t even dodge my feathers, what are you going to use to fight her?”
Yuan Qing did not respond.
His body weaved through the漫天飞舞的 black fragments, sidestepping, ducking, sliding, and pulling back his shoulders.
“Three minutes are up,” Raven said.
Yuan Qing began to counterattack.
One punch struck the monster’s head, cracking its carapace. One kick landed on its joint, throwing its body off balance.
Simultaneously, Raven’s feathers were still shooting towards him, forcing him to continue dodging even while attacking.
The monster crashed to the ground, its body beginning to disintegrate.
Raven retracted its feathers and landed on Yuan Qing’s shoulder.
“Three minutes and eleven seconds,” Raven checked the time on its phone. “Slower than yesterday.”
Yuan Qing shook his hand. “Because you were interfering.”
“Hifumi will also interfere with you,” Raven said. “Her blades are denser, faster, and more accurate than my feathers. You have to learn to make judgments amidst interference.”
Six forty AM, the second monster.
Raven’s feathers increased from five to ten, then from ten to fifteen. Yuan Qing’s body constantly shifted position amidst the feathers and the monster’s attacks. Several more tears appeared on his black cloak.
“Too hasty, too hasty!” Raven cried from mid-air. “Wait another half-second, wait for the monster’s head to turn before you strike!”
“…”
Seven twenty AM, the third monster.
This time, Yuan Qing’s movements included a judgment process before attacking. When the monster’s claw swung at him, he didn’t immediately dodge. Instead, he first judged its trajectory, speed, and landing point, then moved.
He treated Raven’s incoming feathers the same way—judge first, then act.
“Three minutes and five seconds,” Raven checked the time. “Faster.”
“Hah… Hah…”
Yuan Qing was breathing slightly heavily.
“But not fast enough,” Raven added. “You need to achieve near-synchronization between judgment and action to be considered qualified.”
“Understood.”
Eight AM sharp, the fourth monster.
Yuan Qing stood at the edge of the warehouse district, watching the monster scatter with the wind. His black cloak flapped loudly, the feathers on his wings swaying slightly, bearing a few new scratches, but nothing serious.
Raven lay on his shoulder, somewhat exhausted from multiple teleports and the continuous output of feathers.
“Four in the morning, more in the afternoon,” it said. “For the afternoon sparring, even though we only managed to book two Magical Girls, I will still interfere with you using my feathers, and I’ll be even more relentless.”
“Mm.”
Nine AM, a Magical Girl-exclusive training ground somewhere in Tokyo.
Yuan Qing stood in the center of the arena, waiting for today’s opponent. Raven lay on the spectator stands, using its feathers to hold up a phone, the camera aimed at the arena.
But today, its feathers weren’t just the few holding the phone. More feathers hovered around the arena, dense and numerous, like a swarm of black insects waiting for prey to appear.
The first match began.
The opponent was a girl in an orange combat suit, wielding a short blade in each hand. Her attacks were extremely fierce, the twin blades swinging alternately, creating an impenetrable defense.
Yuan Qing weaved through the flashes of blades and the Raven Feathers, sidestepping, ducking, sliding, pulling back his shoulders. Raven’s feathers shot at him from all directions. He not only had to deal with his opponent’s attacks but also dodge these black fragments.
“Opening on the left!” Raven shouted.
Yuan Qing immediately pulled back his shoulder. A feather grazed past it.
“Right side!”
Yuan Qing sidestepped. Another feather shot past his ear.
“Half a second too slow!”
Yuan Qing never answered.
“Three minutes and fifteen seconds!” Raven called out. “Next, please!”
Second match.
The opponent was a girl in a white combat suit, wielding a slender sword. Her speed was even faster than the previous two. Yuan Qing dodged amidst the sword flashes and feathers, his rhythm unbroken.
Raven’s feathers became faster and more numerous, increasing from ten to fifteen, then from fifteen to twenty.
“Your legs are shaking!” Raven shouted. “Your breathing is off! If you can’t even dodge my feathers, what are you going to use to fight Hifumi?”
The girl in white suddenly struck, her slender sword thrusting straight at Yuan Qing’s chest. Yuan Qing sidestepped to avoid it while his right hand shot out, his five fingers clamping onto the blade. With a sharp twist, he wrenched it.
The slender sword flew from her grasp, embedding itself in the ceiling.
“Three minutes and seven seconds,” Raven said. “That’s about enough for today’s stream.”
Raven ended the stream, flew down from the spectator stands, and landed on Yuan Qing’s shoulder.
“Recent streams have been very short. Fewer and fewer Magical Girls are willing to spar with you,” Raven said with a hint of helplessness.
“Approximately how many monsters are left for the afternoon?”
Yuan Qing paid no attention to what Raven had said.
“Go fight them yourself and you’ll find out, won’t you?”
“Mm.”
Six PM, the final monster at Tokyo Bay fell.
Yuan Qing, having already de-transformed, stood on the shore, watching the sunset sink into the sea, setting the entire sky ablaze in an orange-red hue. The sea surface shimmered, flecks of shattered gold rising and falling with the waves before gradually dimming.
Raven lay on his shoulder, so exhausted even its feathers looked wilted.
“Enough rest,” Yuan Qing turned around. “It’s about time to run back.”
“Wait a moment…” Raven panted slightly. “I’ve already…”
But Yuan Qing paid no heed to Raven and started running on his own.