Shido woke up lazily from his bed. However, it would be more appropriate to say that he ' got up ' rather than ' woke up ' , considering that he hadn't slept. He never slept as a matter of fact. His body had no need for necessities like food , oxygen, or sleep as long as mana was supplied to it. Of course, sleeping did help even the members of the cursed bloodline to relax , however considering his circumstances, it was a complete impossibility for him at least. Besides, the horrors of reality were enough for him , he had no interest in experiencing the horrors of dreams once again, at least not after all that had happened….

       He shook his head to dispel the useless thoughts. However, soon a new thought arose in his mind. It was a simple one, one that would have arisen in anybody's mind ,  " So anyway, I just blew up a solar system…." Okay, maybe it wasn't that common of a thought, but so what ?! He still couldn't believe that he was chosen as the next Sharangadhar. He was still having a hard time believing that he had completely destroyed a solar system with this ease. Sure , he had destroyed a planet in the past , but that took the power of the entire Bloody sun along with the souls of all of Humanity ! This time, it was easier for him than snapping his fingers ! 

        Because of this, multiple complex emotions were stirring inside him. After witnessing the sight last night, he felt…. He felt…. Excited ! He had never witnessed something like this before ! The sheer magnificence and awe inspiring sight of the explosion was still in his mind ! Not only that, it was an entirely different explosion than what he had witnessed upto this point ! He had spent the entire night researching about Sharanga. He had roughly written down five thousand seven hundred and twenty one pages ( and yes , by pages he meant actual physical papers , not digital ones. While he did create digital backups, he preferred noting down all of his research with a paper and quill instead of a computer. He didn't even like using pens.  He only used quills and ink for writing. Or blood in case ink wasn't available ) worth of research papers on the capabilities and scenarios with the Sharanga . 

       He researched and formulated everything, from how to increase the strength of Sharanga ( ultimately concluding that while it was possible, it would render the weapon useless. ) , to what would happen if instead of channeling energy through the bow , he used and fired a divine weapon from it , say for instance a divine sword like Caliburn or if he really wanted , Excalibur ?! And while it would be a fool's errand to destroy such a powerful and great divine weapon, did it really matter to him ? He had several of those, what's the problem with losing one ?  Of course, it would be devastating on a scale never before seen, but it would most certainly defeat any threat in front of him.

     He then sighed internally, considering that despite its amazing strength, he could never use it on earth , much less against the polluters. Hell , forget about earth , he couldn't ever use Sharanga in this universe. His dimension just didn't  have the capacity to endure it . The moment he used it in this dimension, the entire fabric of space-time and reality would fall apart, in a fashion similar to what would happen if someone ignited a matchstick inside a room made up of nitroglycerin ( which he had tried once by the way )  . A sight to behold for sure , but not something you want to be caught up in or even be in the vicinity of. 

       Mulling over his thoughts, he finally came downstairs. Before he could approach the kitchen, he heard faint noises coming from it. He was alarmed and angry . If it was something like a burglar, whoever that idiot was , he had just lost his living privileges. However, he was both relaxed yet surprised when instead of a thief , he saw in front of him, Ellen, who was busy cooking food. 

        She was wearing a simple apron that he normally wore and had tied her hair with a cloth. And while he would normally refrain from making comments like this, but he had to admit, she really gave some intense 
' waifu material ' vibes. She looked both cute and beautiful on it , so much so that he was momentarily entranced by her. He however, quickly regained his composure and said while fake coughing and getting her attention, " May I ask why you are here so early today Ellen ? " 

      Ellen let out a cute yelp as she was surprised to see Shido.  She said while slightly stuttering, " Erm, eh , you see, I kinda thought that I should just cook food today for everyone, nothing more. There's nothing wrong with me cooking for everyone, is it ? " Saying this, she quickly turned around and faced away from Shido. Shido sighed . He then did something that Ellen wasn't expecting, he held her in a tight hug from behind,  wrapping his arms around her waist and said calmly to her , " Ellen, tell me. What is bothering you ? " 

       Ellen surprised by this, composed herself by taking a deep breath and recovering from the shock of his hug and asked , " How did you - "  Shido quickly interrupted her and said, " Because you only cook when you need to distract your mind from something. We both know how much of a perfectionist you are in your own tasks and as such, when you're engrossed in cooking or any task for that matter, you nearly forget about everything else. So tell me, what is it , that's bothering you ? " 

       Ellen stayed quiet for a few moments, before finally sighing and replying , " It's...about yesterday…."  Shido was slightly taken aback by this as he said while scratching his cheek nervously , " Ah, sorry about that. I got a bit carried away. I can understand if you didn't like the proposal. If you - "  Ellen released herself from Shido's arms and turned to him and said, " That's not it ! The proposal was perfect ! It was even better than what I could have ever imagined ! "  Shido was once again surprised by this as he said, " Um , if my behaviour caused you any embarrassment yesterday, then I sincerely apologize for it …" 

        Ellen once again protested and said, 
" That's not it ! You were extremely polite and well mannered ! " Shido sighed and said, " It's not ' It ' and also it's not ' It '.... Look Ellen, we can either play the pronoun game until we run out of all pronouns in the English lexicon, or you can be honest with me and TELL me what's going on. " Ellen fiddled with her fingers for a moment before finally giving up and saying, " Fine . It IS about the proposal yesterday, but not because it was bad in any way, it far exceeded my expectations. However, I'm worried because……"  Shido got close to her and stared in her eyes and asked , " Because what ? " 

        Ellen blushed and said, " Because what if you stop loving me someday ?.... " Hearing this, Shido burst into a small laugh. Ellen fumed at him and said, " It's not funny ! I'm serious ! " Shido stopped laughing and calmed himself and said " I do want to ,Ellen . But your reasoning is ….." Ellen sighed and said, " I've known for a while now that you loved me. I'm sure that you too must have known that I too love you. But now that you have formally confessed to me , I can't help but be self conscious about every action of mine. What if you don't like some dress that I wear ? What if I have some behaviours that you might not like ? What if I do something stupid and get into an argument with you , and , and ….." 

      Shido embraced Ellen in a tight hug once again. As her face was buried in his chest, he gently ruffled her hair and said in a soft tone , " Tell me Ellen, is that how much faith you have in me ? Is that how much faith you have in my love that you think that something like a petty argument will lead me to abandon you ? "  Ellen muttered quietly while still having her face buried in his chest and said, " Of course not. I don't doubt you or your love for me. You literally faced against multiple demigoddesses and a true Goddess just to save me.  What more can someone do to prove his love ? " 

      She seperated herself slightly from Shido , though Shido still had his arms wrapped around her. Small tears were starting to form in her eyes as she said, " I don't want to lose you. I really don't. Even after I snapped out of the mind control and joined Ratatoskr, everyone else was maintaining distance from me and were even against me. Yet only you were the one who stood by my side and in time , even convinced others to understand me...…. " 

       Shido began to wipe the tears from her eyes. Ellen continued speaking and said between sobs , " I….. still remember my time under the mind control. I remember at that time my realizer pumping drugs into my body , distorting my thoughts and ideas. At that time, all I wanted to do was defeat and kill others. Finding strong opponents and defeating them, that was all that mattered to me . I felt chained and trapped in the darkness….." 

      She then looked towards Shido and gently cupped his face and said, " And then you came into my life. You were my light. You saved me. You stood by my side. So I don't want to lose you. I really don't….. "  Shido kept ruffling her hair while rubbing her back. He felt enraged at himself for not realising her pain sooner. She was having so much bottled up emotions and he had done nothing for her. All of the Cosmos's knowledge and yet he was still ignorant of the thing that most mattered to him, his family. 

     He cupped her face and said, " I promise you Ellen, no matter what happens, I'll always protect you. My love for you will never fade away, no matter the circumstances. "  Ellen was genuinely happy on hearing this. For her , those simple words mattered more than whatever destiny had in store for her. For she  held absolute trust in him . She suddenly pulled him towards her and engaged in a deep kiss with him. While she did feel a little guilty about this , feeling that she was taking advantage of the situation, all of the guilt was dissolved as soon as she engaged in the kiss. And one thing was sure , Shido was a damn good kisser. But perhaps this was to be expected of him considering that it used to be part of his job. 

        Their private moment was suddenly interrupted when they heard the clicking sound of a camera. Shido immediately recognised it and understood that and thought ,  " It wasn't the clicking sound  of a real camera , but rather something that one's mobile phone would ma- ! Shit ! "  And Shit was indeed the only word that could describe his situation, for standing in front of him were all the girls, with Reine at the front with her phone in hand and a look that was part jealousy, part disapproval and a whole lot of anger. 

      He immediately separated himself from Ellen and asked nervously, " Ah , um , good morning everyone ! So …   what are you doing here ?! " While he certainly was trying to put up an outwardly cheerful appearance, internally he was scared shitless. He feared no man , but these women , they scared him…. 

     Reine put the phone inside her pocket and said, " I think WE should be the one to ask you that question, isn't it ? Especially you Ellen, what exactly are you doing here so early in the morning ? I found you weren't on the Fraxinus so it traced your phone and here you were, engaging in…….. improper conduct with Shido….."  Ellen was completely silent and tongue tied on hearing this. Shido tried to reassure Reine, bit before he could speak, Reine interrupted him as she began speaking again and said, " And I came across something interesting in the morning. I found that you came late at night after the date. Not exactly a suspicious thing on it's own, but I found something else too. I found a reservation under your and Ellen's name in a LOVE HOTEL.  Mind explaining that ?! " 

         Shido immediately screamed , " This isn't what it looks like, believe me ! " All of them then turned to Ellen and saw that her face was completely red in embarrassment as she was still embarrassed by the kiss and the proposal last night. The girls, of course took it as a confirmation on her behalf for having gone to the love hotel.  All of them screamed in a chorus , " How could you do this Shido / Why didn't you invite all of us too darling ?! " All of them immediately turned to the one outlier in the group, miku . Miku however, merely scratched her head sheepishly and said, " I mean, if darling was going to do it, he might as well should have invited all of us you know ? " 

       All of them collectively sighed and decided to not pay heed to it. Turning to Shido, kurumi said, " I never really expected you to take such drastic steps, Shido-san. You have been acting quite bold recently. I think you should learn a few manners , don't you think ? " Shido nervously looked towards Ellen and said, " Ellen, now would be a really good time to help me. Please ! " Reine, now having slightly calmed down, turned to Ellen and said, " Ellen, tell me honestly. Did you go to the love hotel ? " 

      Ellen blushed furiously and said, " Of course not ! We just went to the beach where he proposed to me and kissed me….."  Shido hurriedly spoke up and said, " That's true ! We only shared a kiss , nothing more, believe me ! "  Reine looked suspiciously at Shido and asked, " Really ? Are you SURE that's the only thing you did ? " Shido nodded his head furiously , while Ellen muttered quietly, " The love hotel was something Ike did on his own. Don't worry, I'll straighten him afterwards." 

       All of them sighed upon hearing this. Mukuro spoke up in a worried tone and said, 
" Nushi-sama, please do not scare muku like this. You should speak with muku and everyone else before taking any step. " Reine nodded in agreement and said, ". Agreed. You should not take any hasty steps and be carried away in your desires. " Shido spoke with an annoyed tone and said, " Oh come on ! Have some faith in me ! You're talking like I'm someone that hides secrets from you and can get easily carried away in lust. You're acting like I have a secret wife and child hidden away from all of you ! " 

       Reine sighed and said, "  We do have faith in you. However, at the end of the day , you're a man. And throughout history, men have always tended to get carried away in lust even with the simplest of seductions by women. As such, we want to protect you from any other woman that comes near you. That's the reason why one of us will always monitor you during your training sessions with Chiyome. " 

       Shido facepalmed on hearing this. However, he chose not to say anything, considering that whatever he said , it would just fall on deaf ears. Sighing, he said, ". Alright, enough shenanigans for the morning. Ellen was kind enough to prepare the breakfast for us , so let's have an early breakfast today , after which I'll make the lunch boxes for everyone. " 

       After the antics in the beginning, everyone soon seated themselves on the table, enjoying the breakfast. Shido looked at tohka and said, " Considering that we have a day off at school, how about we have a date today ? " Tohka's expression brightened up on hearing this as she said, , " Umu ! But I'll choose the place, okay Shido ?! " Shido smiled at her. He then turned to the others and said, " Well , afterwards, I'll be having teaching sessions in the afternoon. However, I should be free for the evening. So I think I could take one of you for a date in the evening too. " 

            Miku spoke up cheerfully and said, " I have no concert today , so can we go on a date darling ? " The others would probably have protested or atleast felt jealous, however considering that miku had a hectic schedule as an idol and she had gone through the trouble of making time for Shido , they let it slide. Nia spoke up next and said, " Hm, there is a comic convention being organised the day after tomorrow. So maybe we could have a date there ? " 

        Shido happily signalled her with a thumbs up. For anyone else, a date at a comic convention would be weird, but to these two otakus, it was nothing short of heaven. He then turned to origami and mukuro and said, " As for you both, does tomorrow sound good ? " Both of them nodded at this. Origami however spoke up as she said, " I want a love hotel for the date spot / Rejected.  " She was completely surprised when Shido had spoken as soon as she started speaking and denied her. She spoke up once again and said , " Then a nudist beach / Once again Rejected . "  Just like before, Shido had spoken in a chorus with her , as if he already knew what she was going to say. 

         She tilted her head slightly and asked, 
" How did you know what I was going to say ? " Shido sighed and said , " I know you well enough that I already had a fair idea about the kind of spot that you would select. Sure , I didn't know the exact spot, but I think my estimations were pretty on point.   That aside, if you want, we can go to a normal beach in the afternoon. " Origami nodded and agreed to it , however she still looked somewhat reluctant. 

      He then said to mukuro, " Is it okay with you if our date tomorrow is at night ? I already have a place in mind, but it's only during night-time . " Mukuro calmly replied by saying, " As long as Nushi-sama has no problems, muku too doesn't have any complaints. " He then clapped his hands and said, " With that sorted, all of you quickly eat your meals. Cold meals never taste good ! " 

      Hearing this, all of them ate their meals in relative peace. Shido truly did cherish these small moments of happiness, no matter how fleeting they may be in the long run…..

                   -------------X--------------

Location : Itsuka residence 

Time : Afternoon 

         After the breakfast, some of the girls had already left. Reine and Ellen had gone to the school, as a holiday was only for students, not the teachers.  Nia had retreated onto her home and holed herself up.  She really wasn't an outdoor person, was she ? Regardless, he was patiently waiting for tohka , so that they could leave for the date. However, before he could call out for her , she stepped downstairs carefully, with her usual cheerful smile on her face. 

          What intrigued him ( or rather excited , as unwilling he was to admit ) was the fact that she was wearing a maid outfit. He asked her nervously , " Um, tohka ? Why are you wearing that ? Don't you want to go on a date with me ? "  Tohka confidently replied , " Of course ! But you said I could choose where our date would be , right ? " Shido , still confused about everything, said in an unsure tone , " Erm , yes ? "  A bright smile appeared on tohka's face as she said, " Umu ! So for our date , I want it to be held at our house ! And I want to learn to cook from you so I can make delicious food for you ! " 

      Shido scratched his head. Sure , it was certainly an endearing thought that tohka was doing it for him but one question still remained in his mind. He spoke up and asked , " Then why are you wearing a maid outfit ? " Tohka tilted her head sideways cutely and said, " Miku told me that this is something that women wear when cooking . Is that wrong ? " Shido had a conflicted expression on his face. On hand while he was slightly against miku tricking tohka , it was also true that she wasn't exactly wrong and as much as he hated to admit, tohka looked simply breathtaking in that outfit. 

        He mentally slapped himself to bring his thoughts on the right track. He thought 
mentally , " Stop it Rhadamanthus. You know you are a 130 year old virgin , but you don't need to let the whole world know through your actions. " His thoughts were interrupted when tohka hugged him enthusiastically and said with a sad expression on her face and said , " You …. Won't teach me , Shido ?..... " Shido mentally cursed. Damn , this was unfair. This sort of look was too powerful ! Regardless, he fake coughed and said, " Of course not. I'll teach you, okay ? " 

       Tohka's face immediately brightened up. With a cheerful hop , she proceeded towards the kitchen. He followed her and wore his apron. He turned towards tohka and asked her , " So what do you want to make ? " Tohka immediately replied without hesitation and said , " Kinako Bread ! " Shido chuckled softly as it was expected for tohka to choose it. 

      He removed the ingredients from the shelves and lined them in front of tohka. He then took out two large metallic bowls and placed one in front of him and the other in front of tohka. Turning to her , he said, " Now follow my instructions, okay ? " Tohka gave him a confident nod on hearing this. He spoke calmly and said, " First , we add the bread flour in the bowl. " Tohka immediately picked up the flour box on hearing this and was about to empty it in the bowl before Shido stopped her hastily by saying , " Stop tohka ! That's not how you do it ! " 

        Tohka asked him with a confused expression and said, " But you told me to add the flour, right ? "  Shido sweatdropped and said, " Yes , but you can't just add it blindly. " He then took out two measuring cups and placed one in tohka's hand and said , " We have to add the right amount, or the recipe won't work properly. This is a 100 gm measuring cup. We need two hundred grams of bread flour. So we have to add two cups of the flour. " 

       Tohka listened to his instructions intently and did so accordingly. Shido smiled and placed the other measuring cups in front of her and said, " Now we add 40 grams Cake flour, 18 grams Kinako flour , and add two tablespoons sugar and two tablespoons brown sugar. Also , we have to add a pinch of salt. Be careful, so as to not add excess salt. " Listening to his words , tohka carefully followed his instructions and completely mimicked all his actions. 

        He then said, " Now we add a small amount of dry yeast , so that the bread becomes fluffy. Be careful to use it in moderation. Now add two large tablespoons butter and one cup milk. " After tohka had followed his instructions, he said, " Now all that's left is to mix it. Pay attention that it is mixed properly untill it no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. After that, we'll have to keep it aside for a while until the dough rises. " 

        After both of them had put aside their bowls , Shido began to make preparations for the tea. As the water had begun to bubble and boil, Shido hummed softly and tenderly dropped a few tea leaves inside the water. He then took out his own special spice mix for the tea. All chefs had their own special mixes , custom made to their preferences, with different proportions of each ingredient. It was funny how with just four simple spices like cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and ginger , something so amazing could be created. 

       Tohka , who was watching him from the sidelines, asked him curiously, " Um, Shido ? Is that all there is to the recipe ? It feels too simple…"  Shido raised a brow and said, " It is. Kinako Bread isn't that difficult of a dish , and as long as you follow all the instructions perfectly, anyone can make it. "  Tohka asked him nervously, " But I once heard on TV that a good chef must always inno- innvo- "  Shido clocked his tongue in realisation then said , " Innovate ? "  Tohka beamed happily and said , " Yeah ! That ! Innovate ! " 

        Shido smiled and said , " While it is true, never forget that innovation comes only after you have mastered the three P's . Perfection , Practice and Perseverance. Only after you have followed these three things to the letter can you truly Innovate something on your own. " Tohka had a confused expression on her face on hearing this. Shido chuckled softly and said , " It means that only after you have done something multiple times without giving up, can you make something new. " Tohka had a look of realization on her face as she said, " Umu ! I get it now ! " 

      After the tea was ready, he poured it into a thermos and placed it aside. It would remain warm for a while. He then took out the doughs and said , " Now we have to shape it. First spread some flour over the board so the dough doesn't stick. Afterwards, do exactly as I do. It's fine if the shape is a bit imperfect, it won't matter that much. " Tohka did as he said, and he was pleasantly surprised when her dough shapes were honestly not too bad for a beginner. She could certainly improve, but it was far better than what someone like kotori or kaguya could make. 

      He then took out the baking tray and buttered it. Placing the doughs on it , he then placed it in the oven which was already preheated. He then said, " The oven was preheated at 200 degrees. We just have to wait for ten minutes. But do remember to keep a eye on it though. "  Tohka sat down on chairs , waiting patiently for the breads to finish baking. He on the other hand was already busy chopping vegetables for the lunch preparation. He still had to worry about the training routine today. Truth be told, he was still slightly nervous about the prospect of teaching Chiyome. Technically speaking, he had trained Edmond before, but he was different from her. Still, it was useless to mull over it now. Keeping aside the vegetables and the other prepared ingredients, he grabbed a pair of mittens and removed the tray from the oven . A delectable scent wafted through the air as tohka began to drool a bit. 

      Seeing her reaction, he smiled and placed a few of the rolls aside for others while placing the remaining in two plates, ensuring that tohka had the larger share while he only had a single bread. He then poured the tea into two cups and placed the plates and cups on the table. Tohka immediately dug into them , seemingly not bothered by the fact that they were piping hot. He quietly ate his roll in silence, stealing glances at tohka at regular intervals. After he took a large sip of his tea , he found that tohka was staring at him with a sad expression.

      He asked her curiously, " Is something wrong tohka ? " Tohka replied quitely,
" Shido ….  You have only one bread …." Shido smiled and said, " It's fine. It's more than enough for me. Besides, I enjoy watching you happy more than I enjoy eating. For me , the joy of cooking is more tied to watching others enjoy my food rather than eating it myself. " Tohka , seemingly not satisfied by his answer muttered , " Still……  Oh, I know ! You can have my share  ! " 

      Saying this, she placed a few of the rolls from her plate into Shido's . Along the rolls was also one half eaten roll , which she just had started to eat. Shido wanted to object, but with the puppy dog eyes she was giving him, he quite literally found it impossible to construct coherent noises , much less sentences. So he begrudgingly accepted. Seeing this, tohka's face lit up once again to a smile as she resumed her eating along with Shido. While her date may not be as fancy as the other girls, she still enjoyed it nonetheless. 

                    -------------X--------------

Location : An open field, Outskirts of Tengu city

         Shido currently stood in an open field with Chiyome in front of him and natsumi under the shade of a nearby tree. The place they were in was owned by Issac, so no one would disturb them here. Shido had a shinai in his hands. On the other side, Natsumi was nervously fidgeting with her fingers, clearly feeling out of place. Chiyome on the other hand, had a confident look on her face. He turned to Chiyome and said, " While I have seen you fight, I feel it would be better to see your actual skills, not the ones influenced by adrenaline rush. " 

       Chiyome smirked and said, " Sure thing Sensei. " Of course, Shido could clearly see that she wasn't calling him Sensei out of respect, but rather as a formality. Regardless, he chose not to ponder over it and payed close attention to her moves. Chiyome swung the shinai in her hands, making actions as if an imaginary opponent was in front of her. And while truth be told, her strikes weren't too bad from the standards of normal humans, Shido was neither normal nor human. 

        After a few seconds of swinging, she stopped and turned to Shido. However, instead of seeing surprise or admiration as she had expected, she saw something else. His eyes were twitching rapidly and while he still tried to maintain a smile on his face, it was clearly visible that he was failing miserably due the how his lips were contorting and straightening back and forth. She was honestly unnerved upon seeing this. Hell, she could swear she heard the distinct sound of bamboo snapping. 

       Shido replied with a slightly trembling tone, " Miss Chiyome. Please listen to my advice and die. " Chiyome's mind came to a sudden halt as she was confused by this. She merely uttered " Eh ? " Shido still continued to speak with that unnerving smile on his face and said, " Yes. Please die. With technique like that , you are better off killing yourself than dying at your enemy's hands. Those sword swings were so pathetic that I could feel every swordsman in history rising out of their graves only to fall back and die out of the sheer disgust after seeing it ! This is what passes as swordfighting for you ?! " 

       Chiyome momentarily stepped back after hearing this. She never had been insulted like this before. She had been subjected to praise , envy and admiration, but never humiliation before. She fumed in anger and said, " What do you know about sword fighting ?! " As soon as the words left her mouth, faster than she could see or even notice, she felt a sharp pain on her forearm. A ' Thwack ' sound resounded through the air as Shido stood right in front of her, seemingly having crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. 

     Both Natsumi and Chiyome had their mouths wide open in surprise. None of them had expected this outcome. Chiyome said in a trembling tone, " You…. You hit me….."  Shido , seemingly not caring about it, said with a serious tone , " Yes I did. You asked me to prove myself. I can stand you insulting me, but I will not stand having my blade insulted. If I have proved myself to you, can we begin our training now ? " 

      However, contrary to what he had expected, Chiyome seemingly was in daze as she muttered, " You hit me…. Not even my own father has ever hit me…..  Not even my own father has ever hit me ! "  She rushed towards him in a mad dash and tried to strike him. However, Shido had swiftly blocked her strike without ever so slightly flinching. She began to attack him from different angles to try to get a single hit on him but it was all in vain. Shido himself did not move from his spot, but he still blocked each and every one of her attacks with his shinai. 

     While it was true that his body didn't, his wrists did. This was the essence of the
' Dwarpala's Swordstyle '. It focused on defense, not offense with minimalistic movements. It even advocated minimum movements of the arms and upper body and moving from a fixed spot was out of the question. He commented while still engaging in a deadlock with Chiyome, " Hmm… Your strength has increased but what traces of skill existed before have completely disappeared. Your anger may empower you , but it may also lead to your defeat. " 

      Saying this, he pushed Chiyome's shinai sideways in a single jolt which caused her to be momentarily stunned. While she still had her shinai in hand , she had to take a moment to regain herself. However, Shido was not going to give her that moment. In a single instant, faster than she could even blink , his sword had stuck her leg below the knee. By the time she registered pain and was about to stumble, the blade had already made its way to her neck and hit her on the right side. The blade immediately retracted after that . However, contrary to her expectations, the blade was swung overhead forming a crescent arc , in what was the only large swing she had seen Shido execute. 

      As soon as the sword struck her head , it seemed to break slightly from the impact as she staggered and fell down, screaming in pain. Shido had an uncaring expression on his face as he said, " As you may see , you are still lacking. However, I have taken responsibility to train you and I will not shirk from it. As such, I WILL TRAIN YOU !  Even if I have to hammer the concepts into your head then so be it ! " He then turned away from her and said, " You have ten minutes to recuperate from your injuries. We will continue with our training afterwards. " 

        As Shido walked away from her towards natsumi, Chiyome had understood one thing. She was in for a bad time….

                  ---------------X--------------

Location : A medical room, Aboard the Fraxinus

       Shichirou made his way hurriedly towards the medical room. Behind him were Reine, Ellen and kotori, Nia and kannazuki, all of them having a worried expression on their faces. As he entered the room , he found that Chiyome was asleep on the bed , having passed out of exhaustion. Shido was sitting in the other corner of the room , mixing some kind of thick paste , which appeared to be a medicine of some sort. As Shichirou took a look at Chiyome, he could clearly see multiple bruises at her neck and limbs. 

       Shido got up and said calmly in a monotonous voice, " She is fine, just passed out due to exhaustion. She has a few bruises, but no bones are broken. She is a warrior, even without usage of Qi , her body is naturally stronger than normal humans. " Shichirou turned to him and said, " I will come straight to the point , Itsuka. I personally saw the footage of the training. Why did you hit my daughter ? " 

      Shido calmly replied and said, " It was necessary. Your daughter was not taking the training seriously. And while I don't completely blame her for not taking a normal human seriously, it is nonetheless my job as her teacher to educate her . Not only that, she doubted my ability to teach her and asked me to prove myself. As such, I did just that . " Shichirou retorted by saying , " By beating her up ? " Shido's response to this was quick and firm as he said , " Yes. " 

        Shichirou asked him once again and said, " While you may have defeated her , do you truly believe that your skills are better than her ? That your techniques are above her ? " Shido calmly replied by saying , " No. " However, before anyone could say anything, Shido spoke up once again and said, " I KNOW that my technique is better than her. " Shichirou smiled calmly and said, " Do you know that the swordstyle that I taught her is a family heirloom ? I myself am no warrior, but I have faith in my skills with the blade. While my magic was taught to me by my mother , my father taught me the swordstyle of my family. And certainly, while I may not be able to execute the techniques due to not having Qi , I still have faith in them . As such, by insulting the skills of my daughter, you're insulting my teachings. Do you think I'm a bad teacher ? " 

      Shido immediately replied by saying, " I know that you are a pathetic teacher. I have no doubts about it. " As the words echoed through the small room, everyone was shocked. Reine was the first to scream in horror as she said, " Shido ! Do you have any idea what you're saying ?! " Despite her strength, making an enemy out of a Grand Magus like Shichirou was not a good idea. And Shido had did just that. 

        Shichirou smiled and said, " I must say, if nothing else, you are quite the brave person to say something like this to my face. " Shido calmly replied by saying, " I do not care for facades, especially when it is a matter of swordsmanship. Answer a question of mine Shichirou-San. And answer it honestly. If the answer is yes, you may throw me off the ship right now. We are thousands of feet in the air. Even efreet's regeneration won't save me. " 

       Reine wanted to say something but Shido stopped her with his hand motion. Not breaking eye contact with Shichirou for a second, Shido said in a firm tone, " No Reine. I'll not allow you to interfere in this. " Shichirou nodded towards him. Shido took a deep breath and said , " Do you truly believe that you have taught your daughter well ? Right now, if your father were to appear in front of you , could you stare him in the eye and say with pride that you have taught his granddaughter to the best of your capabilities ? That you have not showed the slightest of leniency, that you have taught her as faithfully as your father had taught you ? Can you say yes to that , Yagyu Shichirou ? " 

        Shichirou was caught completely off guard by this. He wanted to say something, but no words came out of his mouth. His mind said one thing, but his heart and conscience had already given him the truth. Seeing his situation, Shido smiled. However, Shichirou could easily tell that it wasn't a smile of mockery or arrogance, but rather one of pity and sympathy. Shido spoke in a somber tone and said, " Yes. Your heart knows the truth. I have not known you for a long time, but from what I have seen, I can confidently say that you are a good father Shichirou-San. I'd even say that you are a doting father. However, in that lies the crux of the problem. Your love has clouded your vision and has prevented you from being harsh on your daughter. You have failed to educate her properly. " 

      As Shichirou hung his head down , Shido continued speaking and said with a small chuckle, " Your daughter is rash, overeager and hotheaded. She rushes headfirst into battles. Her techniques are flawed, her swings too wide , her stances all incorrect and she is full of openings. However, I can say with certainty that she holds promise. She has talent. Had she not , she wouldn't have lasted a single moment in front of me, even if I was going easy on her. That aside, I can understand that why you might be feeling rage over the fact that I , a man , hit your daughter, but I assure you that my intentions were pure. In the battlefield, there is no distinction between man and woman. Most won't even think of their enemies as human. As such, she should be ready to face difficulties, rather than being sheltered. " Shichirou sighed and took a deep breath and said, " Never in over thousand years of my life would I have ever thought that I would be lectured and given this rude of an awakening to truth by someone so young. " 

     The tension in the room eased up as Shido said with a smile, " And never in my life did o think that I would be teaching a cultivator swordsmanship ,yet here I am. " Shichirou asked in a humble tone , " Will still be teaching her ? " Shido replied calmly and said, " Of course. I took that responsibility upon me. And while I did punish her today for her mistakes, I'm not an unreasonable man. If she does make improvements, I'll reward her. " 

     Shichirou smirked and said, " So you want to train her like that ? What do you think she
is , my daughter or my dog ? " Had someone else been in Shido's position, he would be startled and scared, but Shido merely scoffed and said, " Teachers , especially those who teach how to fight have employed this method for years. Pavlov just demonstrated it with dogs. Besides, I'm sure that even your father may have done the same. " Shichirou clicked his tongue in annoyance. However, it wasn't malicious, but rather something more along the lines of friendly banter between two old men. 

       For a while, both of them remained silent, before chuckling which soon turned to a full fledged laugh . Shichirou was the first to speak as he said, " I must say, I should have expected this sort of bravery from the man who went against multiple demigoddesses ! Still, even I was surprised when you said that I could kill you if you were wrong ! " Shido smiled and said, " Eh , it's not that big of a deal. I had faith in your honor and it wasn't misplaced. That aside, Reine, here is the medicine I've prepared from a few herbs. Please apply it over Chiyome's bruises. It will speed up the healing process. " 

       As Reine took the bowl from his hands and was applying the medicine, Chiyome woke up. Shichirou rushed to her side and said, " Chiyome.  Are you alright ? "  Chiyome rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath and looked around her. She then said, " Yeah , I'm fine dad. " She then turned to Shido and said,
" Still, I didn't think that you would be this hellish of a teacher sensei …" 

        Shido shrugged and said, " And yet after learning your lesson, you did persevere till the end of the training session. " Chiyome sighed and said, " Of course. I understand now that I'm far from your skill level. So I'll learn from you. But still, I really felt like I was going to die you know ? " Shido scoffed and said, " Even if you did , I would gladly descend into hell and beat the devil with my shinai and drag you back until you finish your training. You aren't going to get rid of me that easily miss. " 

       Chiyome groaned and said, " Had someone else said this , I would have laughed. But considering the kind of person you are, I'd even believe that. You know, you become a completely different person once you start fighting …." Shido calmly replied and said , " Of course. The battlefield is no place for antics . If you are truly engaged in a formal duel, you must be serious about it. " 

       Shichirou interrupted him by asking him in a curious tone , " Forgive me, Itsuka-san , but a question has been nagging me since a while now. If you don't mind, can you answer it ? " While Shido was confused on hearing this, he still nodded in affirmation. Shichirou took s deep breath and said, " As you may have noticed, my family name is Yagyu. And it is no mere coincidence. The truth is, I am the descendant of the swordsman , Yagyū Tajima No Kami Munenori, the founder of the Yagyu Shinkageryu school of swordstyle. And while it is certainly a popular and well known style, our family still holds many secret techniques unknown to the world. And I myself have lived long and have traveled all over the world. Yet not once have I seen a swordstyle as strange as yours . What exactly is it ? " 

       All eyes were at Shido now. Each of them was curious to know the answer. Ellen spoke up and said, " Yes , I too am curious. I am no warrior, but I'm fairly confident in my skills with a blade . Yet , even I can't say for certain that I could stand a chance against that swordstyle. I was analysing every move of your , but there were quite literally no openings. And those movements…… Those weren't just inhuman, but quite literally unnatural….." 

       Shido sighed and said, " The swordstyle that I used is called the Dwarpala's Swordstyle. It is a swordstyle that focuses not on offense, but rather defense. It's name literally means the swordstyle of ' He Who Guards ' . As such, it has zero mobility as it advocates not moving from a fixed spot. And while it isn't that good of a technique for defeating someone due to a heavy lack of offensive techniques, it focuses more on protecting someone. It puts emphasis on either incapacitating your opponent gradually, or tiring them out while you yourself are in a better position due to lack of excessive movements. If Chiyome does indeed perform well , I will pass it down to her. And certainly, I have no intentions of belittling or insulting Yagyu Shinkageryu, my techniques can certainly add up on her arsenal. Even if she doesn't master them , just knowing them may benefit her someday. " 

        Shichirou had a surprised expression on his face as he said, ". I see. I agree with you and I'm truly grateful for your consideration. But still, a technique that focuses on absolute defense with no openings. What a terrifying swordstyle. Still, it must be a heavily safeguarded technique , considering that I have never once heard of it…"  Shido shrugged and said, " Of course you haven't. It's because no one in the world does. After all , I invented it." 

      As soon as Shido spoke , there was complete silence in the room. After a few moments, Reine spoke up nervously and said, " Come on Shido…..  This isn't the time to joke around…." Shido looked at her incredulously and said, " And I'm not joking. It's the truth. " All of them wanted to say something, but strangely, Nia interrupted them and said, " All of you wait a minute ! I have a solution to finding the truth. " She then turned to Reine and said, " Reine , you said that Rasiel is connected to something called the Akakshic Records and it draws knowledge from there, right ? " 

       Reine took a deep breath and said, " Yes. It is something like the library of the cosmos. As such, it's knowledge is always true. The body control aspect was something of a small magecraft that I added, and it's so weak that a strong enough cultivator can break free from it. "  Nia then summoned Rasiel as it appeared in the form of a book in her hand. She then questioned by writing in it , " Who invented the Dwarpala's Swordstyle  ? "  

         Soon , a single name appeared in it which shocked all of them. It was of course, Shido. Shido smirked with an expression that said, ' I told you so ' . And it was the truth. He had invented the swordstyle. However, the problem was , no one could get information about him from the Akakshic Records due to him being an existence beyond it due to being the Abhorrence of the Paramount Dao. However, luckily for him, his ' All Father's Eyes ' were connected to the Akakshic Records just like Rasiel. As such, he could use them to seize control of Rasiel and make it display whatever he wanted , which in this case was the truth. ( It was similar to hijacking a television broadcast in a certain sense. ) 

      Ellen was the first to speak, or rather scream as she said, " How the hell is this possible ?! " Shido shrugged and said, " Hey , I was telling you the truth, but you guys simply refused to believe me. " Reine spoke up next, with fury evident in her tone as she screamed , " A swordstyle isn't a dish that you just invent for fun ! It's a lifetime's worth of dedication, perseverance and insight of a person. And even then, it is upto the succeeding generations to refine and hone it ! This thing's too refined to be considered as a first 

iteration ! " 

        Shido sweatdropped and said, " Oh come on, it's not that big of a deal. But I must say, I'm surprised that you found out so easily. You're correct, it's not the first iteration of the swordstyle. It's actually the eighteenth iteration. But yeah , I still believe that maybe it can be improved . Who knows . " The sheer nonchalance that Shido had spoken with was enough to make everyone shocked. Shichirou was the most affected, considering his heritage. Eighteen iterations. That meant that the boy , no swordsman in front of him had done the work of what would have easily required eighteen at the minimum, or god knows how many generations of work. It was not an easy feat to rework a swordstyle.

         At times, the swordstyle would remain stagnant for multiple generations until a peerless genius just happened to show up and he would improve it. And Shido had done all of that on his own Eighteen times. He had expected from the tone of Reine that entering the Formless Realm was indeed a huge deal and from the abilities she described, he was sure that his ancestor , Yagyū Tajima No Kami Munenori too had entered the Formless Realm. But this ? This was incomprehensible. Not even his ancestor had been able to do something like this. And while he had invented his own swordstyle, it was based on previously existing ones. And even then, multiple changes and improvements were done in it throughout the years. Was it possible that the boy in front of him surpassed his ancestor ? While his heart didn't want to believe it , it was difficult to deny the truth in front of his eyes …..

      His thoughts were interrupted when Reine screamed as she said , " What the hell is wrong with you ?! And when did you invent it ?! Wait , don't tell me you invented it to fight against the spirits ?! " It was now Shido's turn to scream as he screamed, having been completely caught off guard by the question, " Like hell I did ! I had invented this swordstyle years ago ! " Shido paused as he realised what he had just said. And while it wasn't wrong , he more than understood the implications of his words….

      This was another bombshell that was dropped on everyone. Creating your own swordstyle was one thing. Having improved it till the point where you were currently on the eighteenth iteration was another. However, to create a swordstyle with eighteen iterations, especially in your teen years was a whole other ballgame. It meant that at best, Shido created the swordstyle when he was twelve or maybe thirteen. However in the worst vases scenario, it was completely possible for him to have created the swordstyle while he was ten. After all, from what they had heard from kotori, it was around that time he was dedicating himself to kendo. 

      Shichirou let out a nervous and fearful chuckle as he said, " I must say, in the beginning, I lamented over the fact that a talented individual was born without the ability to use Qi. However, now that I look back , a part of me is glad that you don't. With capabilities like this, if you were a cultivator, even in lower Realms, even a Grand Magus such as me would keep distance from you….." 

       And his words were certainly true. If Shido had done all this despite being a normal human, just what could he have done if he was a cultivator ? Reine shuddered internally. If Heaven ever found out about this, they would not even hesitate to deploy the might of every sect in existence to lay claim over him……

       Shido on the other hand, scratched his cheek in embarrassment. Of course, inwardly he was cursing himself in every language he knew. And considering that he had devoured the Akaksha ( Root ) ,  he knew a LOT of languages. Reine spoke up in a fearful tone as she said, " Shido , promise me that you won't demonstrate your skills unless absolutely necessary ! " Shido understood her intentions. He felt guilty for making her worry. 

     He took a deep breath and said, " Alright. I give my word. Without your prior knowledge, I will only use it during training and in situations of life and death. Happy ? "
Reine nodded yet she still had a nervous expression. Ellen herself was deep in thought. She wondered what would have happened if Shido had actually demonstrated his skills the first time they fought on Arubi island. Sure , she was a Supreme Magus, but at that time, Shido had tohka's angel , Sandalphon in his hands. Had he demonstrated his skill with that , she was sure that nine out of ten times, she wouldn't make it alive.  

      Shido on the other hand was feeling a slew of complex emotions. Sure he had promised that he wouldn't use his swordstyle without Reine's knowledge except in scenarios of life and death, but he was alright with it. Besides, despite creating it , he didn't like it too much nor did he have too much of an affinity for the swordstyle. Hell, given a couple of centuries, he was confident that the kid Edmond would surpass his current skill with the ' Dwarpala's Swordstyle '.  He still preferred the 
' Slaughterer's Path ' . It was the best swordstyle for him. 

     Shaking his head, Shido thought that he had more important matters to focus on. That being he had a date with miku in about an hour. He quickly informed Ellen about it and rushed his way outside, leaving behind a strange sense of fear , nervousness and a tinge of envy in everyone's hearts…..

And with that, the chapter's done ! Sorry for the extremely long delay, but as I announced, I had an important test. But I'll probably be getting on track from now 
( At Least until the next tests ) . That aside, the next chapter will be a date with miku. Oh, and also , the story passed over 1K reads ! So thanks a lot for that ! It means a lot for me . So once again, feel free to ask any questions or any suggestions for the story. 

Word count : 9140 words