Katori Nanatsuki sparred with Muguruma Kensei to evaluate his swordsmanship fundamentals.
Since Muguruma Kensei came from the Rukongai, he never had a private tutor to lay a proper foundation, so his basics weren't as solid as Chijō Kana's.
So Nanatsuki had him continue working on sword basics—stances and footwork.
However, Kensei's spiritual pressure was slightly higher than Kana's, which meant he was capable of practicing the Flagfish Suburi. Thus, Nanatsuki instructed him to perform Flagfish Suburi after completing his foundational training.
Kensei had no objections and began practicing according to Nanatsuki's guidance.
Meanwhile, for Kana, Nanatsuki was ready to start teaching actual sword techniques.
He brought out two rolled-up straw mats from the house.
"Kana, you'll be using a standard wooden sword to cut through an upright straw mat," Nanatsuki said as he rolled and secured one of them, signaling her to give it a try.
"This should be pretty easy, right?" Kana thought it would be a breeze. Ever since she learned how to control her spiritual pressure, her power had grown tremendously. Cutting through a straw mat? Child's play.
"Haaah—!" Kana gripped the wooden sword with both hands and shouted as she brought it down in a high diagonal slash, aiming with all her might.
But the straw mat didn't split the way she'd expected. Instead, it bent in the middle from the blow, folding into a curved shape. The wooden sword hadn't even cut into it.
"Eh—? I failed..." Kana stared blankly at the wooden sword and the mat. "The sword isn't sharp enough..."
"Exactly. The dojo's wooden swords don't have blades. It's difficult to rely on the sword's sharpness alone to cut through the straw. No matter how much power you use, you'll just end up folding or smashing it," Nanatsuki explained.
He set up the other mat, raised his own sword, and in one fluid motion, cut it cleanly in two.
"How did you do that, Sensei?" Kana rushed over to inspect the cut. "This edge looks like it was made with a real sword!"
"Spiritual pressure doesn't just increase your physical power—it can also make your sword sharper," Nanatsuki said, holding out his wooden sword. "Touch the blade and feel the difference in spiritual pressure."
Kana reached out and touched it. It didn't feel like regular wood. She could sense spiritual pressure along the blade.
But it wasn't just concentrated inside the sword—it was coating the surface. A layer of Reiatsu had formed, creating a sharp spiritual edge.
In other words, the spiritual pressure had become the sword's cutting edge!
"I get it now! I have to shape the spiritual pressure into a sharp edge and coat the blade with it. But... that sounds really hard." Kana scratched her cheek. This technique clearly required much finer control over spiritual pressure. No wonder Nanatsuki waited until she had a grasp of it before teaching her this.
"You'll have to work hard. These are fundamentals. On the path of swordsmanship, nothing comes instantly. Only with a solid foundation can you go far," Nanatsuki said seriously.
"I'll give it my all!" Kana nodded firmly—partly because she wanted to keep getting free meals at her teacher's place.
Two weeks later.
At the Katori-ryu Dojo, both Chijō Kana and Muguruma Kensei were hard at work training.
Kana was still practicing her wooden sword strikes on straw mats. It was way harder than she expected. She had met the Flagfish Suburi standard within a week, but even after two weeks, she still hadn't mastered cutting the straw mat.
Kensei, on the other hand, was off to the side practicing the Flagfish Suburi.
His fundamentals were weaker, and his spiritual pressure control lagged far behind Kana's.
It had taken him two full weeks just to gain a basic grasp of spiritual pressure control.
And today, he finally learned how to distribute his spiritual pressure more effectively.
"Sensei, I'm done. I kept swinging for a full hour today," Kensei said, lowering his Flagfish wooden sword and exhaling in relief.
He had finally reached the benchmark of continuously swinging the Flagfish sword for one full hour.
"Good. From now on, you'll keep doing Flagfish Suburi training daily until your foundation is solid."
"Yes, sir—I'll keep at it!"
Nanatsuki glanced at the system message that popped up.
[You've conducted a training session with your disciple, Muguruma Kensei. Rewards calculated.]
[Received reward: 20 Swordsmanship EXP]
[Received bonus reward: 20 Hakuda EXP]
[Your disciple Muguruma Kensei has grasped basic spiritual pressure control. Bonus reward granted.]
[Received 1000 Swordsmanship EXP]
Teaching rewards increase along with reputation level.
Now that Kensei had a basic grasp of spiritual pressure control, Nanatsuki could earn 20 Swordsmanship EXP per day from him.
Kana's reputation level was one tier higher than Kensei's, so Nanatsuki earned 40 Swordsmanship EXP daily from her.
In other words, higher reputation meant double the feedback rewards.
He glanced at his base Status Interface—his Swordsmanship level had already reached 52.
In addition…
Nanatsuki noticed that while instructing disciples, he occasionally earned bonus rewards aside from experience.
And the bonuses he got from Kana differed from those he got from Kensei.
Training Kana rewarded him with Soul Society currency or extra Swordsmanship EXP.
Training Kensei yielded Hakuda EXP or bonus Swordsmanship EXP.
He also suspected that the chance of getting bonus rewards was tied to disciple reputation—Kana's bonus rate was clearly higher than Kensei's.
"Alright, Kana, take a break," Nanatsuki waved her over from where she was practicing her mat-cutting strikes.
"Sensei, is something wrong? I feel like I'm really close to succeeding!" Kana had tied up the wide sleeves of her robe with rope to keep them from interfering with her swings.
"Oh? Really? Then keep going. I was just calling you for dinner." Nanatsuki smiled.
Training required a balance of work and rest. He didn't want his students to burn out before they could even grow.
"Looks like you're not hungry, huh? Sensei, let's go eat! I'm starving today—Kana's portion is mine!" Kensei laughed and bolted toward the kitchen.
"What?! No way! Don't eat my food!" Kana yelled as she dashed after him.
After tasting their teacher's cooking, Kensei thought the food at the academy tasted like cardboard. Now he even stayed for dinner.
After eating, both students would help with the cleanup before heading back.
They had a clear division of labor now: Kensei cleaned the kitchen, while Kana swept the yard and cleared away fallen leaves.
Originally, Kana was assigned to clean the kitchen, and Kensei was tasked with the yard.
But one day, Nanatsuki noticed she hadn't come out of the kitchen for a long time. When he went in to check, he found her squatting on the floor, gnawing on a raw carrot. She never got assigned kitchen duty again.
Nanatsuki glanced at the new system notification—Kana's training feedback had also been calculated.
[You've conducted a training session with your disciple, Chijō Kana. Rewards calculated.]
[Received reward: 40 Swordsmanship EXP]
[Received bonus reward: 40 Swordsmanship EXP]