Dragon Ball: Saiyan's Gourmet Journey

Chapter 686 Miss Ais Wants to Learn the Northern God Style
"Ais, what are you guys planning to do so early in the morning?"

Slightly hungover, Loki heard some noises and went out to check. Upstairs, he questioned two girls below who were wearing equipment and looked like they were about to go out.

“Mr. Broly came to us, saying that Lord Hestia had allowed him to instruct me in swordsmanship. He invited us to the dungeon to instruct me in swordsmanship there.”

The swordswoman looked up and answered her god's question.

"Hey, is that little human guy so efficient? He only said it last night, and he came to our clan's camp this morning to fulfill his promise?!"

Loki was somewhat surprised, but even more surprised that the other party seemed to have persuaded Hestia to allow him to do so.

"When you go to the dungeon, be careful not to get hurt."

Ais had a history of fighting monsters to the death when she was young. It didn't matter when she went to the dungeon with her own clan because someone (Riviria) was watching over her. But when she went to the dungeon with other people, Loki would inevitably give her a word of advice.

"Yes, please don't worry, I'm just going there to receive swordsmanship instruction, I won't get hurt."

After a pause, the swordswoman added another sentence.

"And we won't let Lefia get hurt."

"Lord Loki, I will be careful myself and will not hold Miss Ais back."

The blonde elf girl beside her also assured him.

"Don't be too serious, I was just saying."

Ah, I'm still a little dizzy; I drank too much last night.

"No, I need to go back to sleep."

Loki waved his hand, covered his forehead, and went back to his room.

After lying back on the sofa, the deity suddenly remembered something.

"No, Ais went there to receive swordsmanship instruction, but why did Lefia come along?"

The doubts were short-lived, but the cunning god provided the answer himself.

"Perhaps Ais wanted to take care of the younger generation, so she brought Lefia, who is often nervous when casting spells against monsters, to the dungeon for training?!"

With that thought in mind, Loki wasn't too worried. Although his swordswoman had a strong personality, she wouldn't take the junior members of her familiar family that he often took care of to venture into dangerous dungeon floors.

. . . .

Broly's party was joined by two Loki Familia girls, and the group of five headed towards the central square along the main road of North Street.

On the way, Broly asked the two if they had eaten, and after receiving a negative answer, he led his men up to the Tower of Babel after arriving at the central square.

"You can't skip breakfast; you need to eat a full meal to train properly."

He said so.

"it is good."

The swordswoman did not refuse.

"Oh, thank you so much, Mr. Broly."

Lefia quickly thanked her.

After all, it was someone I had just met last night who treated me to breakfast.

During breakfast, Broly introduced Lilyluka and Bell to the two of them, or rather, to the elf girl.

“This is Lily Luca, and this is Bell. They are my important companions.”

"Miss Lily Luca, Mr. Bell, hello, I am Lefia."

The elven girl greeted them, showing none of the airs of a Level 3 adventurer.

"Hello, Miss Rafia."

Bell responded hastily.

"Don't be so formal, Miss Lefia. We're going down the dungeon together today, so you can just call me Lily."

Lily Luca laughed and said that if she wanted to help Broly win over the girl, she would naturally become her friend first before helping her.

Of course, since it was their first meeting, doing too much would be too obvious, so for now they could only try to build rapport by addressing each other in different ways.

After everyone had breakfast upstairs, they encountered a half-elf lady who was on duty at the Tower of Babel when they came downstairs.

"Good morning, Miss Eina."

Broly greeted the other person and then gestured for Bell to come forward.

“Miss Eina, this is a gift I bought yesterday.”

The white-haired boy took out a fountain pen with a magic stone embedded in the back from his pocket and handed it over.

"It's just a small token of my appreciation, but I hope you like it."

"Eh?!"

Eina was a little surprised; she hadn't expected the boy to be serious about giving her a thank-you gift.

She would definitely refuse any other expensive gifts.

But since it was just a magic stone pen that looked decent, she hesitated for a moment before deciding to accept it.

"Bell, thank you for the gift, I love it."

"Ah, I'm glad you like it. Then I won't disturb your work any longer."

Bell was pleased, waved to Eina, and returned to Broly's side.

"Eh, Fiora and Thousand Spirits?"

Eina noticed the two extra girls in the group and recognized them immediately because of her personal relationship with the Nine Demon Princesses of the Loki Familia. Her eyes widened, but before she could ask anything, Broly and the others went downstairs.

"Loki and Hestia, have those two gods gotten along better?"

The half-elf guild employee was somewhat confused.

. . . .

“That’s wonderful, Bell, Miss Eina has accepted your gift.”

The little girl seemed to be referring to something, and said it to Bell when he returned.

"Yes, I have to thank Miss Anna for this gift; she picked it out for me yesterday."

Bale responded with a smile.

"Public officials will definitely not accept overly expensive gifts. Rather than giving expensive but impractical gifts, it is better to choose thoughtful but practical gifts."

For someone like a guild clerk, who probably does a lot of paperwork every day, a good magic stone pen might be a good choice…

Thinking of how the florist girl helped him choose a gift yesterday, a slight blush appeared on Bell's fair face. It was obvious to the naked eye that he liked the girl mentioned, which made Ais and Lefia look at the boy with a different eye.

It's a pity that Miss Anna wasn't there; otherwise, we might have been able to ship them as a couple.

Yes, there is a couple in Loki's Familia that the other members often ship.

(The extraordinary Raul and the catgirl Angie)
It tastes so sweet when you eat it.

The group of five was not delayed any further and continued down to the tenth floor of the underground city.

Once they reached the tenth floor, Broly began making arrangements.

"Lily, you and Bell are here to fight monsters for practical training."

Miss Ais, come over here with me, I'll give you some swordsmanship instruction.

As for Miss Lefia, I need you to keep an eye on Bell and the others while I'm instructing Miss Ais in swordsmanship.

"Oh, can I help watch over Miss Gu Lili and Mr. Bell?!"

Lefia pointed to her nose, somewhat incredulous, and asked.

“Yes, I heard from Lily last night that you are a Level 3 Thousand Spirit, so I invited you to come to the dungeon today. I was thinking that while I was instructing Miss Ais, I might not be able to keep an eye on the others. So, I asked you to come and help look after my companions. Of course, you only need to lend a hand if Lily and Bell are in danger.”

Broly nodded.

Of course, this was just a pretext. Instructing a girl with Saint-level swordsmanship skills wouldn't be enough to prevent him from looking after Bell and the others, but wasn't this just to invite Lefia out as well?

When Broly invited the elf girl to join his team, the swordswoman didn't ask any questions, and the elf girl readily agreed without hesitation. It wasn't until they arrived at the dungeon that Broly brought up this reason.

Lefia: "..."

She is a Level 3, which is good, but as a member of the Loki Familia, she is still a junior who is somewhat dragging the team down. Even though she joined the Loki Familia at the age of 12 and has been with it for three years, she still can't get rid of her tendency to get nervous easily.

And yet, she, who always needed her companions (Miss Ais) to take care of her, now had to take care of others, which made the elven girl feel a little uneasy.

"Lefia, if you can't do it, don't force yourself."

Just then, the swordswoman spoke, and those few words solidified the elf girl's resolve: "I must help my senior, Miss Ais, who always takes care of me, and have the swordsmanship boy beside her wholeheartedly instruct her in swordsmanship." "Miss Ais, I'm fine. This is just the upper level of the dungeon; the monsters here are all below Lv.2, while I'm a Lv.3 Loki Familia adventurer. Just looking after others in the upper level is definitely no problem. Leave it to me; Miss Ais, you just need to focus on practicing your swordsmanship."

That's what Rafia said.

"Well, that's up to you."

Seeing her companion's confidence, Ais nodded in agreement.

The green-skinned orcs from the white forest came over, and Bell and Lily went to greet them.

Compared to yesterday when they needed Broly's reminder, the two of them seemed much more at ease dealing with the monsters here today.

Lefia stared intently at the two fighting the monster, occasionally chanting magic spells. But once she realized that Bell and Lily were not in danger, she immediately stopped chanting. Her focus was at its peak, or rather, her nerves were a little too tense.

However, despite the situation, Broly only felt that the elven girl was taking it a little too seriously, and did not think that a Lv.3 adventurer would be unable to handle the problem of only Lv.1 monsters in the upper level area.

Therefore, Broly only paid a small part of his attention to Lily and Bell, focusing the rest on the swordswoman in front of him.

“I saw your swordsmanship yesterday. My assessment is that it is quite sharp, but a bit disorganized. It feels like it’s designed for dealing with monsters, not people.”

Broly said.

"Yes, it's for dealing with monsters, because most of my enemies are monsters too."

Ais nodded.

"You want me to instruct you in swordsmanship, and I have two general directions for swordsmanship instruction that I can explain to you..."

Ais nodded and puffed out her chest, looking like a well-behaved child listening attentively to a lesson. Broly then gave the girl a general introduction to the swordsmanship philosophies of the Sword God Style and the Water God Style.

"The Sword God style focuses on attack, relying on instinct and intuition to fight; the emptier the mind, the better..."

The Six-Sided World, the Holy Land of Swords, also known as the Holy Land of Illiteracy, is not without reason. The lower the level of education of the swordsmen there, the stronger their swordsmanship tends to be. Although this is not absolute, it is mostly the case.

"The Water God Style focuses on defense and counterattack, relying on experience and prediction in battle. The more experience you accumulate, the more moves you can predict, making you more adept at anticipating your opponent's moves, and thus making your swordsmanship stronger..."

In theory, the Water God style of swordsmanship is stronger than the Sword God style because it always stands on the shoulders of predecessors. However, once it encounters an opponent who can predict moves better than itself, such as a Dragon God who has memorized the moves, it can easily become a one-sided situation.

Of course, you probably won't encounter this type of opponent in DanMachi.

"There are basically these two directions. You can choose the fighting style you like, and I will guide you based on your choice."

Broly paused here, waiting for the swordswoman's choice.

"Mr. Broly, may I ask what sword technique you used when you fought me?"

Ais hesitated for a moment before raising her hand to ask a question.

"That's the swordsmanship of the Kitakami-ryu school, not belonging to either of these two schools."

Broly answered.

"Hokushin-ryu?"

"That's a practical style of swordsmanship. Some moves don't even qualify as swordsmanship. For example, look, behind you..."

Broly suddenly widened his eyes and pointed behind the girl. Sword Maiden subconsciously looked over and found nothing. When she turned around, she found that the Saiyan boy had already come in front of her and raised his hand to tap her throat.

"Look, this is the Northern God Style. As long as it works and can achieve its purpose, it will use any move."

"Well, I've decided."

Which one to choose?

"Hokushin-ryu."

"Eh?!"

"As long as I can become stronger, I'm willing to learn any technique."

"Uh……"

"Can't you?"

"It's not that it's impossible, it's just a bit unexpected that you would choose this."

The Hokami-ryu style was somewhat of a cheat. Broly had assumed that the girl in front of him liked swordsmanship, so he hadn't mentioned the Hokami-ryu swordsmanship, which was considered somewhat unorthodox by normal swordsmen. But he hadn't expected the swordswoman to choose to learn it.

"Because I have reasons to become stronger."

"May I ask you in more detail, what motivates you to become stronger?"

Broly was a little curious.

"Sure, it's not a secret worth hiding."

The swordswoman paused for a moment before answering.

"My parents and family all died at the hands of a terrifying monster (the black dragon), and I want to avenge them."

The swordswoman, calmly explaining her reasons for wanting to become stronger, had a silent flame of hatred burning in her eyes.

This is something she believes she should do and must do while she is still alive in this world.

At the same time, it was also the only obsession that kept her going in the darkness and cold during that long, dark, and cold period when her life stagnated and then began to flow again.

"I see. Then you are indeed very suitable for the Northern God Style."

Broly nodded, indicating his approval of the girl's choice.

"One last question for you, Miss Ais: would you rather take revenge yourself, or would you be content with simply achieving revenge?"

"What difference does it make?"

Ais winked at the boy and asked in a slightly naive tone.

"The difference is that in the former you do it yourself, while in the latter you can ask someone else to do it."

Broly practically declared he could take on jobs and wanted a speedrun guide.

"If I could, I would like to take revenge myself."

Unfortunately, the swordswoman's answer was not unexpected.

"Alright, then I'll teach you swordsmanship from any school, as long as it can improve your strength."

However, this will be very tough. Are you prepared?

"Ah."

"Alright, let's begin now. Start with the Sword God Style, and start swinging your sword with all your might."

Upon hearing this, the swordswoman glanced at the longsword that someone had temporarily lent her at her waist. Thinking that her full-power swordsmanship would easily break the sword, she hesitated for a moment and asked, "Do you need me to cut down any targets?"

"No need, just swing the sword in the air. I just need to see if your full-force swing has reached your current full strength."

[If I don't need to chop anything, it shouldn't break, right?]

With this thought in mind, the swordswoman used her magic. Her longsword was drawn, and with the wind around it, she swung it forward with great force.

The sword wind was as sharp as a blade, cleaving the white mist of the tenth-level dungeon labyrinth in front of the girl in two, and some unfortunate monsters were also killed by the fierce sword wind.

"That's about right, around that level."

Ais turned around and said.

"Putting aside the power amplification brought by magic, your sword-swinging technique still has room for improvement. It has not yet reached the so-called full power level."

"Please advise me, Mr. Broly."

"My instruction may require me to touch your body and feel the exertion of force in different parts of your body. Would you be willing to do that?"

"Ah."

Having received an affirmative answer, Broly no longer held back and guided the girl to adjust her sword-wielding movements, touching certain parts of her body that she would exert force with his hands.

It wasn't that he was deliberately taking advantage of the other person; rather, this was the normal practice for one-on-one, customized guidance. Otherwise, how could he provide customized guidance without understanding the specific physical condition?

When the swordswoman was touched by the boy, she was initially a little uncomfortable, but after the boy refined her sword-wielding movements and unleashed a more powerful sword wind, she quickly forgot about the discomfort. The genuine improvement in her strength surprised and delighted her.

Of course, the current adjustments are not yet perfect. Even just adjusting a simple forward sword swing requires Broly to feel the girl's strength and fine-tune it many times. Not to mention that after fine-tuning, the girl also needs to memorize the fine-tuned sword swing with her body.

These all require time to hone and practice. The practice of the Sword God style is somewhat similar to the situation where reading a book a hundred times will reveal its meaning, except that it involves wielding the sword a thousand, ten thousand, or even a hundred thousand times.

Of course, the guidance of Broly, a renowned master, accelerated this kind of swordsmanship practice.

If we were to describe it using the concept of experience points, it would be that even if a swordswoman practices diligently, without grasping the essentials, her swordsmanship experience points would only increase by one or two each time she swung her sword, or even not increase at all.

However, with the guidance of a renowned master like Broly, swordsmanship experience points would increase by five, six, or even ten or twenty, and there would be no bottleneck issues.

At least until she reaches Broly's level of swordsmanship, there is no such thing as a swordsmanship bottleneck. The only bottlenecks will be the swordsmanship techniques that the opponent's basic physical attributes can achieve.

(End of this chapter)