Xu Xiaoyou had never seen the young girl dressed like this before.
The girl seemed to have put a lot of effort into dressing herself before setting out, as could be seen from various details.
It was as if she had transformed from an iron-blooded and impartial investigator into the girl-next-door walking down a summer street.
"Why do you keep staring at me?"
Bai Youyou felt a bit embarrassed by the gaze.
"You look quite good," Xu Xiaoyou didn't hesitate to give her a compliment. "These clothes really suit you."
"As long as they look good," Bai Youyou sighed in relief. "I was worried they wouldn't fit right."
"Why are you wearing this today?"
"Didn't you ask me last night if I was free today, and if I could go out with you tomorrow?"
Xu Xiaoyou thought about it carefully, and it seemed like that actually happened.
"You didn't reply to my message, so I thought you weren't coming out?"
Shifting her gaze, Xu Xiaoyou thought of something. "How did you find me here..."
"I've been following you since this morning," Bai Youyou said with a thoughtful expression. "Let me see. At nine o'clock, you went out with Anya and bought steamed buns from a roadside stall."
"At ten, you got on the tram. At eleven, you were chatting with another girl..."
Xu Xiaoyou quickly waved her hand to stop Bai Youyou from continuing.
Wait, sister, stalking someone is pretty weird. Is it really okay to say it out loud with such a straight face?
And at the thought of the other party floating behind her like a ghost for half a day without her noticing a thing, Xu Xiaoyou felt completely unsettled.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Surely she hadn't been following her like this for the past few days, right?
"Yuzu, don't you have to clock in at the company? I've seen you for the past half month..." Bai Youyou tilted her head and asked.
She really had been following her for half a month!
Sister, do you even realize you have a bit of a yandere streak in you?
This is actually terrifying!
...
Meanwhile, inside a certain office.
"I'm begging you, just say a word. We need to hand over the work, Little Nian," Glos was about to be driven insane by the expressionless blonde girl in front of her.
Substitute: "A word."
...
Xu Xiaoyou calmed her heart and organized her thoughts. "Why didn't you just come out and talk to me..."
"I thought you would remember sooner, so I just kept following you, wondering when you'd think of me." Bai Youyou lowered her head. "In the end, I watched you enter the simulation room, and then it was already afternoon."
"Many places for fun are about to close."
Xu Xiaoyou reached out her hand. "Actually, I wasn't looking for you to go play..."
"I just wanted to come here to practice some self-defense techniques. After all, didn't you say I was being targeted by some criminal?"
"Ah?" Bai Youyou looked disappointed.
"Cough, keep an eye on my movements and see where the problems are."
Xu Xiaoyou hurriedly changed the subject.
She first took a stance, raising the sharp blade in her hand and slashing down fiercely, creating the sound of rushing wind.
"Yuzu, you've practiced basic sword movements before, haven't you?" Bai Youyou said at a glance.
"Yeah." Xu Xiaoyou didn't deny it.
The other party was, after all, a three-winged investigator with extensive combat experience; she could naturally distinguish between someone who knew nothing about swordsmanship and a beginner.
In this regard, she couldn't hide it from her.
Bai Youyou said nothing more. She simply nodded and walked behind her. With a quiet and calm gaze, she gently took Xu Xiaoyou's arm, held her wrist, and pressed her body close against her back.
With the girl suddenly leaning so close, Xu Xiaoyou felt a bit uneasy.
The scent on her was quite pleasant, like the smell of sun-dried clothes.
"Yuzu, don't get distracted," Bai Youyou said softly.
"Stay focused, follow my movements, and step out slightly with your leg."
Bai Youyou's voice seemed to possess a magical quality, echoing in her ears. Xu Xiaoyou snapped back to her senses, her body subconsciously moving according to the girl's words. She adjusted her steps, her focus intensified, and she naturally controlled her breathing.
There was no profound realization; everything felt as natural as water flowing in a channel.
She suddenly felt a surge of confidence. A voice inside her told her she could do it, as long as she swung the sword!
Xu Xiaoyou slid forward and slashed down with the sword!
With only a slight change in the range of movement, everything seemed different. Though there was no target to compare against, Xu Xiaoyou felt that the destructive power of this strike was more than twice what it had been before!
【Your understanding of the way of the sword is deepening.】
【Sword maiden Resonance · Mind's Eye proficiency increased (Entry-level) 3800/10000!】
This single strike triggered a proficiency critical bonus, increasing it directly by 47 points!
47 points! She had never triggered such a high proficiency critical bonus before!
Xu Xiaoyou's eyes widened. She stared blankly at Bai Youyou, then looked at the sword in her hand.
"How was it? Much better, right?" Bai Youyou blinked. "It's an ability of the mind inquisitor."
"I use mental suggestion on you, making your body instinctively follow what I say. Do it a few more times to get familiar with that feeling just now."
"Once you find the feeling, you'll master it very quickly."
Saying that, Bai Youyou held Xu Xiaoyou's hand again and whispered in the girl's ear:
"Relax, relax."
"Just leave your body to me."
"Wait a moment."
The seductive voice made Xu Xiaoyou feel a sudden wave of unease. She couldn't pinpoint the source, but it felt like being peered at in secret.
She gently pushed the other girl away.
"I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable."
Bai Youyou thought for a moment and comforted her:
"Do you have some little secrets you don't want others to see? Don't worry, while a mind inquisitor can forcibly look into others' memories, the process is very painful."
"Yuzu isn't a criminal, so I wouldn't do something like that to you."
Seeing this, Xu Xiaoyou didn't say much more. After taking a few deep breaths, she stopped resisting the girl's contact.
Following Bai Youyou's mental suggestion, she slowly overcame her previous hurdles. Every sword strike increased her proficiency by anywhere from ten to twenty points.
Half an hour later, even without relying on the other party's mental suggestion, her body had formed muscle memory, and her movements became increasingly skilled and natural.
The final strike fell!
【Sword maiden Resonance · Mind's Eye proficiency increased (Entry-level) 5100/10000!】
In half an hour, it had increased by nearly two thousand proficiency points. If she continued like this, she would reach the next proficiency level very soon.
The upgrade for the resonance level of Mind's Eye was now a certainty. Her body had already formed muscle memory and remembered the fine details of the movements; she just needed to find time to practice later.
What Xu Xiaoyou cared about more was that back in the slum, when Bai Youyou had used Fireball Bombardment against those two grade 2 fixers, her body seemed to have felt a faint sense of resonance with the fire element as well.
The timing was perfect; she had to verify the idea in her heart.
"Youyou, is the mind inquisitor a mage-type class?" Xu Xiaoyou asked, pretending to bring it up casually.
"Hmm, yeah, why?" Bai Youyou was a bit confused, but she didn't think too much of it. "Why ask that suddenly?"
"Can you let me feel the sensation of fire elements gathering in your hand? I'm quite curious."
"Oh, that? Of course you can."
Bai Youyou grasped the girl's hand. A scorching sensation rapidly gathered in Xu Xiaoyou's palm, the air shimmering from the high temperature.
A tiny flame flickered in the center of her palm.
In the next moment, blazing flames surged up in her hand, illuminating her entire face.
The violent fire elements were like fire snakes with bared fangs, surging everywhere before suddenly dissipating into the air.
"It's more or less like that, but if you aren't a mage-type class, there's no way to—"
Bai Youyou stopped mid-sentence.
She watched with her own eyes as, after she let go of the girl's hand, a sphere of blazing fire suddenly condensed in Xu Xiaoyou's hand and flew off into the distance with a roar.
Rate on N.U.
