Chapter 19: Wearing a Hat Makes You Strong, Baldness Makes You Invincible
Leaving aside whether Ian had the money to draw cards, even if he did, whether he could actually draw what he wanted was another matter entirely.
Because the system stated that all card draws would prioritize matching the host's existing skills! In other words, based on the swordsmanship skills Ian had learned so far, when he drew cards, he would have a higher probability of obtaining character cards that used swords, with a smaller chance of getting other types of cards.
Ian sighed. It seemed there was really nothing he could do for now. Whether Kuina would wake up was entirely up to her.
Snapping back to reality, Ian saw Zoro still staring blankly at Kuina, lost in thought, while Master Koushirou had already left to rest.
"Let's go!" Ian patted Zoro on the shoulder. "Staying here like this won't help. Wait until Master Koshiro returns and gives Kuina the medicine before we check on her again."
Zoro looked up and asked, "Big Brother Ian, will you still train with me tomorrow?"
"Of course!" Ian nodded. "Why do you ask?"
Zoro stood up, clenching his fists. "Master Koushirou is right. Even if Kuina can't wake up now, our promise still stands. I don't want her to wake up and see that I've slacked off. I need to work even harder than before and become the world's greatest swordsman!"
Ian was about to say something to Zoro, but at that moment, the corner of his eye caught movement from the lying Kuina!
He immediately turned his head and saw Kuina's eyelids twitch slightly!
Overjoyed, Ian quickly leaned in and called softly, "Kuina? Kuina!"
He called twice, but Kuina didn't wake up. Ian was puzzled. He had heard that when people dream, their eyelids do move. Could it be that Kuina was just dreaming?
But why hadn't she moved before?
Ian looked up at Zoro. Could it be... that the idiot's words just now had triggered a reaction from Kuina?
"What's wrong, Big Brother Ian?" Zoro asked curiously, not knowing what had happened. "Why did you suddenly call out to Kuina? She can't hear you!"
"Zoro, repeat what you just said!" Ian ignored his question and directly ordered.
"Why?"
"Just do it!" Ian said impatiently. Why was this idiot so talkative at a time like this?
So Zoro had to repeat himself.
This time, Ian stared intently at Kuina's eyes. At first, Zoro's words didn't seem to stimulate her. But when Zoro reached the end and said, "become the world's greatest swordsman," Ian suddenly noticed Kuina's eyelids twitch twice!
That was it! Ian slapped his thigh in excitement. Ivankov was right—external stimulation really could affect Kuina!
As for why it was Zoro's words that did it, Ian found it easy to understand. It seemed that becoming the world's greatest swordsman was Kuina's obsession. Even in her coma, her subconscious still held onto that thought!
And clearly, Zoro also saw Kuina's reaction this time. Although it was very slight, it was indeed observed, and even Zoro became happy.
"It works! Big Brother Ian, it really works!" Zoro tugged at Ian's sleeve excitedly. "It looks like Kuina really might wake up!"
Ian wrapped his arm around Zoro's neck and rubbed his fist into the boy's green algae head, saying, "Who would've thought? You idiot actually have some use!"
Zoro grinned sheepishly, not minding Ian's roughhousing this time.
"Remember, come talk to Kuina every day from now on!" Ian instructed him. "And make sure to mention that line. No matter how long it takes, keep at it until the day Kuina wakes up!"
"Mm!" Zoro nodded solemnly.
So, in the days that followed, the two of them continued their usual training routine. It seemed that Kuina's obsession had influenced them, as both Ian and Zoro trained harder and harder.
On Master Koushirou's advice, they had switched to real swords for practice.
The sword Ian now held was an ordinary katana, forged by the village blacksmith. Its craftsmanship and material were nothing special, but in terms of weight and feel, it served its training purpose well.
Ian pushed hard against the stone hanging from a tree branch, sending it swinging back at a faster speed. He gripped his sword, eyes fixed on the returning stone.
Just as the stone was about to hit him, Ian moved. He quickly raised his longsword in front of him!
With a sharp "clang," the stone struck the blade, causing Ian's body to tremble slightly.
Then, in the next second, Ian moved swiftly! Using the force from the successful parry, he traced an arc with his sword, swinging it upward from below in a fierce slash!
Whoosh! The blade cut through the air with a faint sound, leaving a black streak in his vision!
The swinging stone, under this rapid slash, was cut cleanly in half, the two pieces falling to the ground behind Ian.
Whoosh! Ian finally let out the breath he had been holding. Turning to look at the smoothly cut surface of the stone, he knew he had successfully executed his Parry-Flash!
Over a year of daily, persistent sword training had finally pushed Ian's swordsmanship proficiency to one million, allowing him to advance to Intermediate Swordsmanship. And upon reaching Intermediate Swordsmanship, Ian could now use another skill from the Akechi Mitsumasa card: Parry-Flash!
Compared to the earlier True-Flash, Parry-Flash was relatively simpler to execute, requiring the user to strike the moment they parried an opponent's attack.
At the same time, Ian discovered that after advancing to Intermediate Swordsmanship, he could freely execute Parry-Flash in any stance. Just now, without moving his body, he had concentrated all his Nen into the sword, and the resulting slash had actually cut through stone!
Of course, the stone wasn't the hard, dense type. If it had been granite or something similar, Ian probably couldn't have cut it yet.
But... looking at the sword in his hand, Ian noticed that after this slash, fine cracks had appeared on the blade. A sword like this would probably break after a few more training sessions.
"You... you actually cut through the stone!?" Zoro stared at Ian in disbelief. "Wearing a hat really makes you that strong!?"
"What do you think?" Ian replied with a smile.
"But it still looks stupid..." Zoro said.
Ian couldn't even be bothered to hit him anymore. The brat just didn't know how to talk.
"Wait for me!" Zoro seemed to have an idea. He turned and ran down the mountain. After a while, he came back panting, holding a black square cloth.
Without waiting for Ian to say anything, he tied the cloth around his head, knotting it at the back to cover his green algae hair.
"How about this! This is my hat now!" Zoro said proudly, hands on his hips. "Now I can learn sword techniques too, right?"
With that, he swung his sword a couple of times, saying, "Ah, it really feels different! There's a strange sensation, like everything around me has darkened! Could this be the higher realm of swordsmanship?"
Ian almost burst out laughing. What did he mean by "higher realm of swordsmanship"? The cloth was almost covering his eyes!
This psychological suggestion was really something else.
But what annoyed Ian the most was that this idiot would rather wear a random cloth than put on an actual hat. Had his bear ear hat really given him that much psychological trauma?
Damn it! Bear ear hats were adorable!
Watching Zoro, who was feeling pretty good about himself, begin his journey of "enlightening" sword techniques, Ian's eyes twinkled. He crouched down and looked at Zoro, saying, "So, doesn't wearing a hat make you much stronger?"
"Not bad!" Zoro nodded contentedly.
Ian raised his index finger and shook it. "You might not know this, but wearing a hat to become awesome isn't even the best method!"
"Oh!?" Zoro's eyes widened. "What other method is even better?"
"Baldness!" Ian said with a straight face. "If your head goes bald, that's something else entirely. You'd become invincible!"
"Really?" Zoro looked at him skeptically.
"Truer than pearls!" Ian said. "Invincible! One punch and any enemy is done for!"
Zoro stood there stupidly for a moment, then suddenly flushed with anger. "D-Damn it! Do you think I'm a kid you can fool!? There's no such person!"
Ian burst out laughing, thoroughly enjoying Zoro's expression.
He had almost believed it just now...
Embarrassed by Ian's laughter, Zoro couldn't take it anymore. He charged at Ian with his sword. "Damn it! Let's settle this!"
Ian blocked Zoro's downward slash, laughing as he said, "Alright, until Kuina wakes up, I'll be your opponent! But you'd better be careful—I hit harder than Kuina!"
And so, on the back mountain of Shimotsuki Village, two figures were left clashing and sparring, their sounds echoing through the air...