After half a day of… excitement, Mira and Maria lay on the bed covered in a thin layer of sweat. Both had pleased, content smiles on their faces as the latter snuggled up against Mira’s side.

She had wrapped her tails around them like a protective blanket while Maria drew small circles on Mira’s chest.

“…You were pretty intense this time around.”

“…” Mira’s expression remained as impassive as ever, but Maria could read the hidden meaning behind her eyes.

‘As if you didn’t like it.’ Was what she was saying.

Maria chuckled playfully, “I even went in with a plan, yet it still turned out like this.”

“…”

“Well, that’s okay. I’m more than satisfied with beating you once. It’d be greedy of me to want more.”

Mira’s jaws clenched, but she remained silent.

‘…A loss… is a loss…’

No matter how badly she wanted to use her Scythe Manifestation, she held back. However, when that thought came, she cooled down as if realizing something important.

‘That’s all I had left, huh?’

Then, considering how Maria limited her strengths and capitalized on her weaknesses, she couldn’t even guarantee a win with that. Of course, she wasn’t going to try. Getting caught up in her Scythe Manifestation was equivalent to a death sentence.

The core of her desire, the essence of her Scythe Intent and Manifestation, was ‘death is inescapable’. There was no way she’d use something like that against Maria just to eke out a win.

All of this pointed toward the fact that her repertoire was severely limited. Sure, she had other ‘techniques’ she could use, such as [Frozen Terrain Change] and [100 Glacial Warriors], [Paragon Wings] and [Calamity’s Embrace], but the former two wouldn’t be of much use, and the latter two weren’t fast enough to hit Maria.

They were moving at such speeds that unless she nuked the surrounding hundred kilometers or so, such large-scale attacks were useless. However, doing something like that was not only incredibly wasteful but took too long to charge up.

On the other hand, [Glacial Mirage Steps] were faster than any speed [Paragon Wings] could ever achieve.

By now, Mira had almost entirely put the matter of their bedtime battle behind her and focused on reviewing their duel.

‘The three techniques I made played their role perfectly. The only problem is they lack synergy.’ She immediately concluded. ‘[Explosive Ice Fist] is hard to use in the midst of both the movement and scythe techniques. At the same time, [Cyclone of the Frozen Moon] is more focused on fluidity and momentum, while [Glacial Mirage Steps] is more about deception and speed.’

By themselves, they were all great techniques, but together, they were a bit incompatible.

“What are you thinking about?” Maria finally interrupted, seeing Mira had reached a lull in her thinking.

“…That you’ve become quite strong.”

“Hehe~ Is that so?” Maria blushed a little, not used to the unexpected praise. “…But, you’re not entirely right.”

“Hm?” Mira tilted her head, staring down at Maria.

“Well…” The blonde scratched her cheek. “Like you said, I have become much stronger. My control and understanding of the Light Element had taken a substantial leap. However, almost everything I’ve worked on since we separated, and even more so after the beast Secret Realm, was created for the sole purpose of defeating you.

While that battle art would certainly be useful against others, it was created to counter you.”

“I see…” Mira nodded. That made sense. Thinking about it now, it did seem like Maria was more focused on exploiting her weaknesses than exploding with strength. However, that didn’t mean she wasn’t strong. “…But what about this Battle Art?”

“It’s not really anything special. Battle Art is just a term used to describe a series of techniques that either synergize well or are part of a bigger whole. Think of a set of sword techniques where each move, each technique leads to the next.”

“Hmmm…” Mira hummed thoughtfully. “And how would you go about developing a ‘Battle Art’?”

Maria took a moment to think about her answer before she said, “It differs for everyone, but… the way I came up with mine was understanding my needs, what I have to work with, and the limits of my capabilities. From there, it was all about using my findings to create ways to counter you.”

“…” It sounded simple, but Mira could only imagine the amount of time Maria spent researching and theory crafting while simultaneously pushing herself to the limits.

What she displayed during their fight wasn’t something the ‘before-her-parents-died’ Maria could display.

‘Seems like the key here is understanding one’s limits.’

If she didn’t know what she could do, how could she create the most suitable technique?

However, those thoughts begged the question:

“How do you think I should develop my own Battle Art?”

“…”

Maria paused. That… was truly a difficult question.

The two were fundamentally different. The process she went through likely wouldn’t help Mira. It wasn’t just a matter of different affinities, either. Though, that did play a part.

Mira was simply an entirely different being compared to her and almost every other human.

“This… I’m not sure,” Maria answered, but when she saw Mira frown, she hurriedly explained. You’re simply too versatile. You can use all eight major elements, with some even being variants. Your physical and soul strengths are off the charts. Your Qi reserves are beyond normal. You have both martial and Scythe Manifestations.

And you can even transform into a beast!”

‘Ah!’ That reminded Mira of something. She could’ve transformed into her Progenitor Form! ‘Dammit! I completely forgot about that!’

In fact, she thought that wasn’t the only thing she had forgotten, but she decided to put that on hold as Maria continued.

“Your limits… I can’t see them. Rather, do you even have limits?” Maria asked, but Mira shrugged.

“Right… Anyways… Normally, this isn’t a problem, but a Battle Art is all about narrowing down what you can do and maximizing it. In a sense, it’s a way to compensate. However, you don’t need to do that. If your ice lacks something, you can make up for it with another element. If it’s not strong enough, just swing harder or add more Qi. If you need more destruction, you can literally add more.

Battle Arts are supposed to be about synergy and adding complementary elements, but you can simply brute force your way through everything.”

“…You’re not wrong,” Mira muttered.

The entire point of using techniques was to make one’s power output higher. However, it was difficult to strengthen something that already seemed maxed out.

‘Though, weapon and movement techniques are a bit different.’ They were more fundamental, requiring finesse, control, and experience to improve; there was only so much brute forcing could do in a battle between equals.

After a long moment of silence, with both of them wondering how to proceed, Maria hesitantly spoke up. “….I don’t know if this’ll help, but I think you should just focus on what you’re good at and expand from there.”

“So, ignore everything but ice?”

“Mm, let me rephrase that… I think, instead of seeing your other affinities as separate, you should try to incorporate them into a singular whole.”

“What do you mean?” Mira’s brows furrowed slightly.

“I don’t know. It just feels like you have a predisposition toward all your elements. Earth is for defense, Fire is for explosions, and ice can do everything with enough Qi. Something like that.”

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“You’re pursuing the Absolute Ice Dao, right?”

Mira nodded.

“And from what I’ve seen and heard, you can ‘dominate’ the other elements via ice, right?”

That wasn’t exactly correct. It was more like they were interconnected, with Ice as their ruler, but Mira nodded nonetheless.

“Then, why view them as separate? With your capabilities, shouldn’t you be able to make it so that earth is ice, fire is ice, light is ice, and so on?”

“…”

Toward the end even Maria didn’t know what she was saying. What did something like ‘earth is ice’ mean? Not to mention, viewing the elements not as separate concepts, but a singular one under the banner of Ice?

To any rational thinker, that was nonsense. The elements were different for a reason. They had different properties, interacted with the world differently, and played separate roles. Some could do similar things, such as Wind and Light being able to increase one’s speed. However, the process was fundamentally different.

But Mira was an irrational being. She couldn’t be viewed through a normal lens, and Maria didn’t intend to do so.

“That’s why, instead of jumping straight into creating a Battle Art, you should sit down and experiment with what you really can and can’t do with your ice. Stop trying to shift your focus between ten different things and focus on one. Because that’s all you really need.”

“…”

Mira’s face scrunched up as she fell deep into thought. The more she listened, the more things seemed to click.

‘Right. Why haven’t I thought of that?’

When she evolved, her connection to the elements changed, but on the surface, it remained the same. Rather than it being a certain inclination–an affinity–it was more akin to using ice as a medium to access the other elements.

She didn’t know if that was the correct description, but she knew that her ice affinity was at the center of everything.

“Mm. Good.” Mira’s face lit up with a light smile as her eyes shone with intensity. “Let’s go see if your words are true.”

“Wh-What?! Now? Can’t we stay in be–and she’s gone.”

With a sigh, Maria put on her clothes and walked outside.

‘Tch. Me and my big mouth.’ She grumbled, but a smile bloomed on her face.

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