To read the next chapters of the book, please visit *patreon.com/Tengri02*
The dark demon-slayer sword was plunged into the ground, and the burning bonfire dispelled the chill of the early morning forest.
"Delicious~" Asta, with a mouth full, didn't forget to praise Bai En's cooking.
The grimoire, emitting a pure white glow, hovered in the air. A warm current entered Bai En's body, merging with his blooming, misty magic power, causing his magic power to increase slightly.
'The feedback from the wishes is not bad. It wasn't a wasted trip to bring him food.'
Asta looked up at Bai En, who was sitting on a dead tree in the forest, staring blankly at the grimoire, and asked, "What are you doing, Bai En? You've been sitting there watching it for so long?"
The floating grimoire returned to his hand, and Bai En closed its pages: "Just studying the magic in the grimoire."
"Oh, ho~ Bai En, can you read the words in the grimoire?" Asta seemed to be learning this for the first time. He rushed over with the dark greatsword and the pitch-black grimoire from the ground, handing them to Bai En.
"Quickly, see what's written in my grimoire. Why do I only have a greatsword for my magic and can't use other magic like Yuno and you?"
Seeing Asta's sincere gaze, Bai En first took his grimoire. The pitch-black five-leaf clover grimoire looked a bit messy, and its pattern wasn't clear.
Opening the cover, the text for the magic wasn't traditional magic script. Bai En guessed it might be ancient magic script or the demonic script of the underworld.
Maintaining his curiosity, Bai En picked up the greatsword from Asta's hand. Its weight wasn't too heavy for him. In the brief moment of contact with the greatsword, a suction force came from the sword, and immediately, all his magic power began to be drawn by the greatsword.
"Clang!"
Bai En let go, dropping the greatsword from his hand.
"The words in your grimoire are not traditional magic script; I don't recognize them either."
"Is that so…"
"But I can tell you about this sword."
"Eh, really?" Asta was a bit excited.
"First, the reason why you can't use other magic," Bai En looked seriously at Asta, saying word by word, "It's simple, because you have no… magic power!"
"How can that be? But I clearly…" Asta raised his grimoire, as if trying to prove something.
Bai En spread his hands, "Don't ask me why you obtained a grimoire without magic power; I don't know that either. Perhaps you're a monster? You never know… After all, you're the only one without magic power in the entire Clover Kingdom."
Hearing Bai En's words, Asta lowered his head.
"I don't know whether to say you're lucky or unlucky?" Bai En pouted, "This book you obtained, and the greatsword within it—the demon-slayer sword—can only be used by those without magic power."
"Originally, they were both useless, but suddenly coming together, they became a genius. How strange."
Asta scratched his head, as if a big question mark hung over it. This muscular person couldn't understand overly complex words.
Bai En chose a simpler explanation, directly introducing the demon-slayer sword: "Because of Anti-Magic, this sword can cut through magic and also reflect magic. Because it repels magic power, only you can use it."
"…Only I can use it?" Asta nodded, beginning to explain to himself, 'In short, Bai En means this sword, no, the demon-slayer sword, is the most suitable for me.'
"There should be a few more swords like this."
"Eh? Really?"
Bai En nodded, and said softly, "However, I don't know where they are. Perhaps in the future, if you're lucky, you might encounter them."
"How about it? Any other questions?"
"Um…" Asta hesitated, looking at Bai En and asking again, "I know Yuno's magic is wind magic, but what exactly is your magic?"
"Why was it water flow one moment yesterday, then flames, and also a strange weapon? Is it really what you call Mikuriya?"
"It's 'Mikuriya', you idiot Asta."
"Most Mages only have one type of magic, but they can use creation magic to make their magic manifest in different forms and effects. This is 'Creation Magic'."
"Is that how it is?"
"However…" Bai En smiled at Asta, "Half of the flowing water you saw yesterday wasn't actually magic. In other words, you can also produce a flowing water shadow with your slashes, just like me. It's just that because of magic, your slashes won't be as sharp or agile as mine in power and appearance."
"Really? I can do that too?!"
Asta straightened up smartly and bowed: "Please teach me, Teacher Bai En! I beg you!"
"Why are you being so dramatic? If you want to learn, I'll just teach you."
Asta looked up, "Great, let's start now!"
"Eh?" Bai En chuckled, "You're really not modest."
"I'll need your help in a few days too. Consider it payment for my teaching."
Asta looked at the faint smile on Bai En's face, always feeling a bit mischievous, but if he could learn that flowing water slash, he would grit his teeth and nod.
"Alright, Asta, listen carefully. What I'm going to teach you next is Water Breathing and its ten corresponding sword forms."
"Breathing?"
"That's right…"
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
The thin fog that covered the morning slowly dissipated as the sun rose. Sunlight became the replacement for the fog, beginning to display its light and heat in all directions.
Hage Village, inside the forest behind the Demon God's remains.
Asta was swinging his greatsword with a specific breathing rhythm. Behind the twisting and slashing greatsword, there was a faint shadow of flowing water.
Bai En, sitting on a dead tree, couldn't stop his mouth from twitching. He suddenly understood why Yami had shown a disgusted expression towards Asta after sensing "Ki"… 'He's truly a monster.'
He had only explained the breathing method and key points, and demonstrated the Water Breathing sword forms once, and this guy had already learned it fairly well. It felt like in a few more days, he would incorporate the Full Focus: Constant breathing method into his daily life.
What if he mastered the Mark and the Transparent World before him, coupled with devil assimilation and the Demon-Dweller and demon-slayer swords… No… I absolutely cannot continue to just idly observe.
And so, while Asta was engrossed in practicing different sword forms with Water Breathing, Bai En slowly got up and secretly slipped away without making a sound.
Outside the church surrounded by a wooden fence, several children were chasing flying butterflies on the grass. Under the blue sky and white clouds, lighthearted laughter was filled with joy.
"Big Brother Bai En?"
Liga saw Bai En and greeted him, but Bai En seemed to be lost in thought, walking straight into the church.
"What's wrong with him?"
Nash also saw Bai En, who was deep in thought, and sighed, saying calmly, "He's probably been discouraged by Big Brother Yuno again. Although Big Brother Bai En is also a genius, he's still a bit behind Big Brother Yuno. Don't worry, I've seen him like this many times."
"Every time, he mutters things like 'Why does Yuno have so much magic power' and so on."
Liga looked at the path Bai En had taken to return and murmured, "I remember he went to find Asta, didn't he?"
"It couldn't possibly be that Asta discouraged him, could it? Although Asta also obtained a grimoire, without being able to cast magic, there's no way he could compare to Big Brother Yuno or Big Brother Bai En, right?"
Nash, with his hands clasped behind his head, pouted, appearing indifferent.
Upon returning to the church, Bai En hid in his room. The room where he usually slept had a desk and a pen. He sat in the chair, picked up a quill, and prepared to write a more rigorous and diligent training plan.
Although he usually worked hard enough, in these six months, he had to completely widen the gap between himself and Yuno and Asta. For this, he would strive tirelessly. Let's compete, my brothers!
Before making a detailed training plan, the first step was to list his advantages and disadvantages separately, and then specifically enhance his advantages and compensate for his shortcomings.
The clean white paper was divided into two halves by black ink marks.
Bai En began to review and ponder. Compared to the muscular idiot Asta, he, having gone through nine years of compulsory education, was clearly better at thinking and self-reflection.
After all… surely no one went through school without ever writing a self-criticism, right?
That would truly be a monster…