"Faster. And more fluid." Kaiser said mid-combat, carefully avoiding Maya’s attacks. "You can keep your balance well. Use that to your advantage.

The girl complied immediately, spinning around on her toes. The scythe in her hand became a meat grinder, making even someone like Kaiser cautious.

"Good. But you can do more than just spinning."

Maya paused, then leaned forward, standing on her toes from a single feet.

The sudden increase in reach made the weapon arrive before Kaiser instantly. He tilted his head, though the blade still grazed him and drew a faint line of blood on his cheek.

"Good. Continue."

Maya was a bit shaken seeing that he was injured. However, seeing him completely disregard the cut, she did the same.

She couldn’t afford to be distracted.

Her movements became fluid and graceful, leaning at unnatural angles that would bewilder any opponent.

With the sole exception of Kaiser Solace, of course.

He caught the blade of her weapon with two fingers, wiped his blood off it, then released the weapon.

Maya couldn’t help but be astonished by how casual he was with this training.

’I don’t... even pose a threat to him?’

She thought with a bitter smile. However, she was also relieved. This meant that even if someone forced her to, she wouldn’t be able to harm Kaiser.

"Again. Off with the distractions."

He approached by her side, ready to deliver a wake-up hit to her ribs again.

However, Maya wasn’t surprised. Instead, she released he smile and fended him off with her scythe.

"Hoh?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

That was clearly a feint. Luring him into believing she was distracted, and having him come close so she could reach him easily.

"Very clever."

He clapped while smiling, looking genuinely proud of her.

"Now I want to see peak, interconnected movements that are meant to force your opponent into the defensive."

Maya nodded, adjusting her weapon and standing with her legs crossed as if prepping for a cat walk.

Then, she moved. Fast. Kaiser’s eyes traced her movements while his body moved to react.

She appeared by his side, her scythe smashing straight at his head. Kaiser wasn’t bothered with the attack. He was more wary of the sweeping kick she was preparing.

As soon as he parried her scythe, the next attack came.

He immediately jumped back, but she was already onto him again.

Kaiser shrugged off her attacks with the scythe, but he was wary of the girl herself.

Whenever he busied himself with dodging or parrying her weapon, she would use her body to intercept him, continuously forcing him into the defensive.

"Keep it up."

Kaiser said in a calm voice, narrowly avoiding a knee to his gut. He grabbed the blade of her weapon again and threw her back.

However, Maya wasn’t thrown back. She released he weapon and let it slide back, only catching the pole when it was almost out of reach.

By then, her face was directly in front of Kaiser.

Those green eyes stared into his white-wheeled eyes for a moment, then she found herself on the ground.

’Wait, what?’

That was completely illogical! How did she fall just from looking?

Kaiser stood by her side, looking down from above.

The girl was panting and wincing, feeling pain in her abdomen where Kaiser had palmed her.

"Haa... I’m tired."

She complained with a lazy smile, casting her innocent gaze at the boy.

He also sighed, then helped her up. "You have improved. Now this is the kind of training I would want you to continue from now on."

"From now on...?"

"Yes," He nodded. "For the next two weeks, I want you to try this jogging technique I explained earlier, and come here to train with the Level One Automaton for ten minutes. You decide the time you want to do that."

Maya nodded, then looked at him with a peculiar gaze.

"Kai."

"Hm?"

He turned to her, expecting a question. However, he didn’t get that.

Instead, Maya outright hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest.

"Thank you."

He blinked and asked. "Why?"

"For dedicating your time to me. I know you’re probably supposed to be training with your classmates right now."

He shook his head and clarified. "No. There is nothing I can gain from training with them."

Naturally, Maya understood this, so she brought a perfect counterattack.

"Then what do you gain from training with me."

Kaiser was tongue-tied for a moment before he struggled to find an answer.

"Because that means you would be able to pass your Combat Training exam successfully."

Sure hugged him tighter, subtly inhaling his fresh scent.

"Then I’m thanking you for the care."

Seeing her so stubborn, Kaiser chuckled and decided to tease her.

"Is this it? Your sincerity in thanking me is questionable."

"W-what?" She looked up, flustered and confused.

"I mean... do you go around thanking people with a hug? You should treat me to a meal or something."

Finally realizing he was teasing her, she couldn’t help but pout.

"You bully! I’m simply giving you a hug because it’s you."

"Because it’s me?"

"Yes, because it’s you."

"Alright, alright. I appreciate your thanks."

He patted her back with a smile, though his thoughts were different on the inside.

’Ah... isn’t this emotional attachment a bit too fast? If it disrupts her and affects the generation of her color...’

He couldn’t afford that. However, when he thought of the countermeasures to that, such as slowly abstaining from her, he immediately shook his head.

’That won’t work at all. Goodness gracious.... What kind of difficulty level is this? Do I abstain or let her remain anchored?’

While he valued color and freedom of a human more than anything, his conversation with Maya and Hazel had shifted his perception slightly.

’...even if something binds you—if you accept it, then it’s no longer a restriction.’

Hazel had said this to him that time, and he now reflected on it.

Currently, he was seeing himself as a restriction to her blooming. However, what if Maya accepted him? Then, wouldn’t that mean he was no longer a restriction?

Before he could finalize his thoughts, Maya released him, stepped back, and looked at him suspiciously.

"Why do I have a feeling you’re thinking about something related to me?"