My Pet Is a Holy Maiden 73 Struggling

It was early morning when a loud

bang

sounded in the neighborhood.

That sound did not happen just once. It continued rhythmically for a countless period of time.

This rhythm was sometimes disrupted. Itd stop for a while, and just when you thought it finally stopped, the bangs would go even faster as if to spite you.

If the sound had to be better described, it would be the sound of wood clapping together. Except louder.

It was the sound of grueling training with a wood sword, shield, and jo.

1

The user of the sword was, of course, Tatsumi. And, Calcedonia was the one using the jo.

They were training in their frontyard. As it was once the house of a wealthy man, the yard was fairly spacious. There was plenty of space to practice their skills. Moreover, there was a small stable left to the side of the yard. Though there werent any mounts being captivated there.

Although Calcedonia was a rearguard, it didnt mean that she had no skills of a vanguard. At the very least, she was miles ahead of Tatsumi.

Calcedonia swung the jo that was taller than her. It whistled through the air as Tatsumi prepared to defend against it.

Then, the tip of the jo painted a confusing picture using the space between the two as a canvas. Countless feints were made, countless skills were used, all in preparation to attack Tatsumi with his wooden sword and shield.

Tatsumi somehow read Calcedonias intention of aiming for his legs to unbalance him. He slipped his shield to protect his legs as the jo came in.

He felt the massive crash of the heavy wood banging together from his shield. He used all the power in his lower body to brace for the impact so he wouldnt fall over.

But, Calcedonias strike was too strong, and she was too fast. Tatsumi had no time to react when Calcedonia readied her jo for the second time. This time she thrusted the jo like a spear, and Tatsumi tried to parry the stick of hardwood speeding at him.

He was a step too late.

The bluntness of the jo point hit his right shoulder like a train.

Ugh!!!

He unintentionally let out a voice of agony. Yet, he shouldered the pain in his right shoulder and smashed the shield in his left hand with all of his remaining strength.

This desperate last strike was in vain. Calcedonia had readied her jo at lightning speeds and used the jo as a prop to dance in the sky.

She used the same trick that pole-vaulters did. Of course, her approach run was almost nil and her jo wasnt nearly as long as a pole-vaulters, so she couldnt soar that high into the air. Nevertheless, it was plenty to avoid Tatsumis attack.

And then, while in above in the sky, she brought her jo down at the opening presented at Tatsumis crown.

Tatsumi, feeling the attack drawing near, frantically tilted his head to dodge.

The falling jo lightly grazed his ear but smashed into his left shoulder.

Tatsumi dropped his sword in pain and fell to the ground. Calcedonia saw him in clear pain

I-I apologize! I accidentally put in too much strength! I-Ill heal it immediately!

After she squatted down beside the fallen Tatsumi, she started casting the aria of her healing magic without any delay. When the magic was complete, the sharp pain he was feeling had entirely vanished.

Ah, f*ck. I cant ever beat you, can I?

Calcedonia consoled apologetically, No, Husband has advanced quite considerably. Its because Husband has gotten so strong that its hard to tell how much strength to use Like now

Of course, there was no anger between them; it was just early morning training.

Tatsumi still had a zero percent chance of beating Calcedonia, but he became stronger like she said. She wasnt lying when she said it was becoming harder to tell how much strength to use.

As things stood, Tatsumi would soon surpass Calcedonia in mele combat.

However, your school of arts what would you call it, phantasmagoric? Seriously, its amazing.

Back in Japan, there is a school of martial arts called Shinto Muso-ryu. The school had a saying that described it, which was A yari lunges, a naginata slashes, and a tachi cuts. A jo is all of these in one.

2

There are even more techniques involved in the jo than a sword; it was not at all worse than the sword.

Calcedonia, using healing magic on the other places hurt besides his left shoulder, stood up. When she did, she picked up the dropped sword and held it out to him.

What shall we do? Continue training?

Of course. Ill show you my victory this time!

Yes, thats the spirit.

The two of them took their weapons and readied them. And then, a light tap of both of their weapons instead of an on guarde preceded the vehement smashing of wood on wood.

A something was starving.

It was already an eternity since it last saw food.

The something would not extinguish from something like hunger, but satisfying its hunger was what it wanted to do above all else.

Dizzilyno, lightly, it drifted among the densely packed trees. The something was looking for food.

Days upon days. While drifting among the trees, the something was looking for an existence that could satisfy its hunger.

And then.

And then, the something had finally found it.

A huge body was lying amidst the trees. That other something was also eternally starved.

Hunger was a primeval desire, one of the strongest desires grounded on the instinct to survive. And to the other something boiled in that desire, the something slowly approached.

As it got closer, the something softly entered into the other something.

Just then, a violent desire attacked the something. The strong desire called hunger violently jolted it.

The something was taking the desire from the inside of the other something, bit by bit. Its hunger was becoming satisfied.

Relishing the food, food it hadnt had in a long time, the something greedily slurped the desire.

However, the other somethings desire did not stop flowing, even with the intensity that the something devoured it. The hunger the other something held was that strong.

It that had filled its appetite after one gulp shook from the excess of happiness that it got from the endless desire.

This strong desire would make the something satated forever. And, it would obviously encourage this desire, and collect the food, the desire, that would become more and more delicious.

Thinking that, it touched the seething hunger.

The other somethings huge body shivered. And then, its azure eyes changed to a shade of sinister red.

Moving its strong jaw, it revealed its sharp fangs.

It pushed its legs, legs that were furnished intimidating claws, against the ground, and its large wings unfurled.

It flapped its wings, and a wave of air erupted. It was in the sky. Its thin, long tail slowly revealed itself.

Black armor covered its entire body. The giant eyes that were dyed a deep red of the thing scanned the sky for something that would satisfy its hunger.

Looking at all those

beneath

it, it found a giant among the dense forest.

It was a giant to humans, but to the thing, it was but a moderately large meal.

Grinding its teeth, the thingthe thing called a sky dragon in the world of mendived down at killed the beast in one breath.

From below, Calcedonias jo whistled through the air before knocking Tatsumis wood sword up.

Tatsumi already seen this trick of Calcedonias a countless number of times. Next, her jo would thrust like a yari at his chest.

He put his strength into his raised arm and swung his sword down to parry Calcedonias attack.

Before her jo could hit his chest, the sword blocked it. His plan was a success.

Yet, this move was predicted by Calcedonia, or maybe her reflexes were just that fast. Once she nimbly pulled back the jo, she once again prepared to thrust with the jo.

Block the jo with the shield before it got enough momentum to hurt him. Tatsumi, thinking that, quickly took a step towards Calcedonia before she had enough time to lunge at him

Calcedonias jo could not use the full force of a thrust with the distance between them being point-blank. That kind of jo hit Tatsumis shield.

And, when the jo brought its power into the shield, Tatsumi skillfully slanted his shield so that the jo went off-track.

One more step forwards. Tatsumi was right in front of Calcedonia.

Her jos range was wider than his swords. So, he needed to step forwards another time to get in range.

It might have been only a single step, a small step forwards. But to him, it was a huge leap.

However, her jo was out of