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nThen again, training was always intense, especially for him, but that was what they were here for– to train and improve each other to survive in this world.

nNo hard feelings.

n“Hey…but don’t you think it would be better if we played some card games instead? Didn’t you say you love playing them? We can invite Paimon and Lumine over to play the Magic collection set again…What do you say…?”

nHe asked, taking a step back from her to get away from his initial spot, which was now obliterated by her relentless swings.

nHis hands were clenched and his body tensed, as if he was waiting for her to strike him out of reflex and attack him again.

nHu Tao pouted at his words, “Don’t try to bribe me! We’re training now! No distractions!”

n“But it’s a date!”

nYomite exclaimed with a protest, fully knowing she didn’t care.

n“What’s the difference?”

nHu Tao blinked, taken aback by another one of his shouts.

n“Just…leave it…it’s nothing…”

nYomite gave up reasoning with her, and readied his body into one of the stances she taught him.

nHu Tao put her hands on her hips with a frown.

n“I can’t understand it if you don’t explain it to me!”

nYelling, she threw her hands up in frustration.

nHu Tao’s voice was shrill and sharp as a knife against the quiet stillness of the forest.

n“…”

n“Date this! Date that! I don’t know what it is! Is it that hard to explain it in detail so that I can understand!?”

nThe air between them crackled with tension.

nThey stared at each other, eyes narrowed, taking a deep breath.

nIt happened a few times before…Those instances where both of them were losing their temper and got into arguments over nothing.

nYomite was trying to keep his own calm at this point but it didn’t seem like it would do him much good either.

nThey both had to release their pent up anger and frustration somehow.

nIf they couldn’t talk it out, they would fight it out!

nSeeing that he didn’t plan on explaining, Hu Tao frowned.

n“You are so unbearable sometimes…”

nShe lunged at him once more, raising a cloud of dust in her wake and disappearing from her spot.

n(I knew that I wouldn’t be able to talk her out of this…this muscle headed freak…)

nYomite sighed and dodged Hu Tao’s slash from her spear by tilting his upper body.

nHe rotated using his right foot as the axis and kicked her flank while he was turning around.

n“Ayaya!”

nAlthough he didn’t hold back with that kick, she didn’t seem to take much damage…

nIf it was a normal person or even someone like Lumine or Fischl, a hit like that would cause intense pain that made it hard for them to breathe.

nHowever, this was Hu Tao he was talking about…

nShe simply carefully took distance from him without looking pained at all.

nShe did feel the strike, however, she could take on many hits like that.

n“Not bad Assistant…You’ve grown…I guess I’ll have to take you…more seriously now.”

nShe said the words in a monotone, eyes looking right through him.

nHe felt his heart sink to the ground but he didn’t dare blink or show any signs of weakness as she could disappear from his view at any moment and decide the match.

nIn all of these four months, Yomite wasn’t able to land a solid hit on her, up till now. Or rather, he wasn’t trying to, simply because he knew that he wouldn’t beat her either way.

nBut now…even if it was a fluke or a lucky moment, he managed to do it, even though it didn’t seem to have any visible effect.

n(She seems pissed…what a great date this is…!)

nYomite internally screamed.

nEven though she was hit with a blow that might have left a bruise, far from writhing in pain, Hu Tao stood tall and acknowledged his improvement.

nAt the same time she had to recognize that she could no longer go easy on someone like him, as he was steadily growing in all departments.

nYomite wasn’t a genius, but his improvement wasn’t mediocre either.

nHe went from a Barbarian or a Brute who only thought about using his strength and his sword as a large chunk of metal to brute force fights without a care in the world, to someone who could regulate his breathing during a battle, think of openings, use stances, and many other things.

nHe wasn’t just an amateur anymore. Four months of hard work went into this.

nShe accepted reality, yes, but even so, that didn’t mean he was going to beat her.

nNot in a million years!

nShe needed to show him who was the one in charge.

nHu Tao bent her body forward and slowly built up her strength by putting her weight behind her spear tip.

nThen like an arrow that was fired from a bow that had been drawn to its limit, she flew toward Yomite at groundbreaking speed…

n(What the!?)

nYomite’s eyes opened wide in amazement at the extremely swift thrust. It felt as if she was a completely different person from before with this attack.

n(She was holding back by this much!?)

nThis was a feat that was achieved by continuous training and talent that Hu Tao was born with.

nStill, now that she went all out, she was bound to tire out sooner as she no longer conserved her energy…

n…Right?

n“I would be careful if I were you!”

nWith those words as the signal, Hu Tao’s spear approached with a speed that even the eye couldn’t follow.

nSpeed, power, angle, step…everything was perfect in this Little Director’s attack.

nYomite believed that in Mondstadt, only a handful of people could face her while holding their ground.

nStill, Yomite somehow succeeded in barely dodging her blows using his instinct that had experienced her attacks many times.

nThe only difference being that it was much faster than ever before, forcing his brain and instincts to go into an overdrive, making sure he stayed alive.

nHu Tao stared at him with a slight frown and swiftly thrust her spear again.

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