Ikki skill general

At the same time she used Shouha Suiren, Ikki invoked Ittou Shura. He jumped from the third-floor atrium, making a decisive surprise attack from above Bischof's head.

"Tch! They had people above too!?"

But Bischof was a terrorist who had struggled through many extreme situations. Noticing the surprise attack immediately, he quickly made a countermove, reaching out toward Ikki's Intetsu with the same left hand that had caught Stella's Lævateinn before. The Judgment Ring that seized every single attack as sin―his left hand activated the ability that had rendered Stella's earth-shaking blow powerless.

Ikki's sword was only faster than Stella's sword; it was several times less powerful, so it couldn't penetrate that ability. The surprise attack must have been a blunder. Ikki's blow would surely be taken as sin and returned to him as penance―if Bischof's left hand could capture Ikki's flashing blade!

"…Huh?"

In that instant, Bischof saw something unbelievable: his own left arm flying in a spray of blood.

No matter how well Bischof's left hand rendered attacks powerless, it had no way to catch an attack Bischof couldn't see, and what Bischof couldn't catch, he couldn't stop. Ikki swung Intetsu with a speed that far exceeded human motion perception, so quickly that Ikki's own body couldn't track. It was an invisible slash, one of Ikki Kurogane's seven original sword techniques.

"The seventh secret blade―Raikou."

「I'll deal with the smaller fish, so Ikki, please incapacitate their vulgar monkey of a boss.」

Ikki did exactly as Arisuin said. With the invisible slash Raikou, he cleaved Bischof's sin-stealing left arm and sent it flying, then with a returning stroke he severed the right arm as well.


- Volume 1, Chapter 3
[IKKI'S RAIKOU IS A BLADE SWING SO FAST THAT IKKI HIMSELF CAN'T TRACK IT, SOMEHOW]
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"Of course. My Onii-sama is the most fantastic person in the world, to the point where those realizing it now can be considered way too slow. But still, things have really changed in the past month. There are a lot of people coming to the lunch break lecture nowadays."

"Certainly. I was so surprised when the third year sempais also came."

The lecture they were talking about was the one Ikki was forced to start giving, being pestered by his classmates. It was a martial arts class. Ikki gave classes on various martial arts. Of course swordsmanship was included, but there were also kodachi techniques, spear work, and even archery.

Only Ikki could do it. Being well versed in many martial arts after analyzing so many techniques of different enemies, he was a universal martial artist.

- Volume 2, Chapter 1
[Ikki can copy martial arts of archery, spearmanship, etc, not just swordsmanship]
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And it wouldn't be strange if one of those girls misunderstood Ikki's actions. Stella and company frowned at that possibility… but Ikki didn't think it was like that either, because from the gaze on his back, he didn't feel any malice but neither did he feel something like affection.


If he had to say, it felt more like being photographed with a camera.

"If it was something like being idolized then I wouldn't mind, but for someone to try to undeservedly lay her hands on my Onii-sama, well we can't have that can we. It's torture time."

"What are you going to do with that feather duster, Shizuku?"

"Isn't that obvious? I'll catch the stalker and have her go thorough tickle punishment."

"…It doesn't suit you, that cute way of punishing someone."

"…Well, the thing being tickled will be the eyeballs though."

"""THAT'S REALLY SCARY!"""

"…Well, since all this anticipation is built up and I don't know what's the answer to this situation but, well… let's directly ask the culprit shall we?"

Saying that, Ikki turned around towards the stone path they just passed through.

"Ikki, could it be that even now…?"

"Yeah. Ever since we finished jogging this morning."

The gaze that has been on even for a week, as if observing him. That gaze was coming from a thick bush on the other side of the paving. After lightly sighing once, Ikki called out.

"Hey, the person who's hiding there. Seems like you've been following me for a while now but, do you need something?"

He loudly called out to the stalker who was currently hiding in the bush. As so―

"Hyawaa! Ou―"

*Pyon*

As if flipping, the stalker hiding in the bush came out.

Even though there was no malice, following someone around for a week was definitely not normal. After all this, Ikki prepared himself to see what kind of snake would come of the bush but… to his great surprise; it was a black haired Yamato Nadeshiko[3]. In both hands, she held some tree branches.

- Volume 2, Chapter 1
[IKKI DETECTING A STALKER, ALSO DETECTING MALICE/AFFECTION?]
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Rather, he felt quite attracted towards the strange swordswoman he met today. And moreover, she was the daughter of the Last Samurai. Just what kind of techniques did she use? He was extremely curious.

"Erm, Ayatsuji-sempai. If it's okay with you, would you please train with me after this?"

"―Eh?"

"We're both sword practitioners. Maybe we could counsel each other. And besides, I want to experience the sword of the Last Samurai first hand. Just seeing it has its limits."

"Is that really alright!?"

Ayase immediately jumped off the bed and grasped Ikki's hand with both of hers, and smiled like a blooming flower.

"Thank you very much!! I'm really happy!"

The confused pure eyes she had a moment ago now looked straight at Ikki. But she soon realized what she was doing, and immediately she separated and backed away about three meters.

"Ah, S-Sorry! F-For me to grab your hand like that, such rudeness…!"

"Ahaha, you don't have to be startled just because you grabbed my hand―"

After all, there were younger sisters out there who'd kiss their brother at their reunion, and princesses who would trespass into the bath wearing a bikini―

"Then shall we train together from now? The matches today are already over, so we have time until dinner."

"Yeah, I'll be in your care… and could you talk to me casually? Since I'll be the one learning, it will feel weird for the teacher to be the one using honorifics."

"That's, I'm not so amazing to be called a teacher you know."

"That's not true. A while ago Kurogane-kun said we could counsel each other, but honestly, I don't think there is a single thing I can teach Kurogane-kun. Thus the disciple here is actually me."

Ikki showed a bitter smile at that. It was as she said, even though Ikki could teach her stuff, there was nothing she could teach him in return. He could steal most of her techniques just by seeing them. More humility would just be sarcastic.

Confirming that, Ikki accepted Ayase's suggestion.
- Volume 2, Chapter 1
[THERE'S NO POINT TRYING TO TEACH IKKI MARTIAL SKILL BECAUSE HE CAN REPEAT IT AFTER SEEING IT ONCE ANYWAY]
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After performing the initial warm-up, he branded Intetsu and started swinging it. After tracing the form, he began image training, creating a shadow map in his head where enemies are around. Besides him, there was also Stella who was practicing with her Lævateinn. A little further away was Arisuin and Shizuku who were using a kind of unique clay to create shapes, a special form of magic training. During that time, there was almost no conversation between the four. Stella and Shizuku, who usually fawned over Ikki, were also very serious during this period. This was the scene where these four trained.

[CAN IMAGE TRAIN]
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Volume 2, Chapter 1 - Stella skill feat kinda, Ikki thigh touch feat but not that great
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Because she had time, she had also tried to do that training Ikki mentioned. She had held her breath, and had entrusted her body to the water.

It wasn't painful. Stella's lung capacity actually surpassed that of even Ikki's. If she tried, she could even stay underwater for 10 minutes. She was already on a superhuman level.

…It's so quiet.

It wasn't as if there weren't any people at all. There were other customers who were swimming, and the merry voices of the children echoed around. But underwater, there was nothing, When she looked up, the surface of the water felt far… as if the world itself was in a faraway place.

On the other hand… she could hear her own pulse. The sound of her pulse that she couldn't hear outside because of all the noise and racket, the flow of her blood, her neural tracts; she could grasp all these much clearer now that she had shut out the random thoughts and noises.

「When you're underwater, you will feel much closer to yourself.」

This was what Ikki had meant. And for a knight as strong as Stella, she could understand this even without him saying it. To be able to understand this sensation, being able to feel your consciousness pass.

For example, the action of swinging a sword. That would be a combination of swinging the hand that was holding the sword, connecting the movements with the fingers, signals in the neural tracts, the expending of physical strength, swinging the sword is the same of ‘willing' all of these. In other words, this could make a huge difference. If she couldn't control these minutes… no, nano-seconds worth of details and actions of her body, then she wouldn't be able to use them in real battles.

But Ayase couldn't do it. If she could, then she wouldn't have forcefully tried to use that artificial form in the first place. That was obvious. She would have realized where the stress was born from, and where the loss occurred. Before, the reason why her condition got better was because Ikki had corrected her form. However, the condition of one's body changes every day. When that happens, the only thing that can be done is to assimilate with that properly. When one is able to do that, only then can they reach their true potential.

For that reason, this training was certainly productive for Ayase. But for Stella, it was unnecessary, because she was at a level where all of that would be done automatically by her subconscious. That's the reason why all her swings were adjusted to the very best possible form the other day, even though she was purposely trying to mess up.
- Volume 2, Chapter 2
[Stella is so skilled that her body subconsciously adjusts movements on the nano-second level to achieve perfect forms, which is why she can't swing badly even if she tries to - for skill scaling Ikki dominating her]
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While pressing down her nose, Stella cursed her incompetence. Even though she dived so deep in her consciousness, she could still hear voices. That was enough proof that her training wasn't nearly enough.

Ikki could block his sense of sight and hearing with his sheer will.

Rather, if she could control herself to that extent, Ittou Shura would just be a joke. Once again, Stella realized how far the place she was aiming for was.

- Volume 2, Chapter 2
[Ikki can block his sense of sight and hearing with sheer will.]
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In the next moment, another person appeared, but this one had an aura that couldn't be more obvious. Even though it was inside the shop, she carried a parasol, and wore a hat with a huge rim. The tall woman's eyes couldn't be seen because of the large hat, but her chin line was visible and with the glistering blonde hair, her figure could be made out. She wore a pure white ball-line dress, like a noblewoman, that glimmered in their eyes.

Even though she had a pure white figure, both Ikki and Stella felt a fleeting, incomparable feeling of disgust. What she wore was complete white, yet, her presence, for a moment, felt more like thick fresh blood.

And why would that be? Ikki knew the answer. In her presence, there was a veil of dense blood fragrance that could not be hidden no matter how much perfume she wore. …There was no mistake, this person was the real deal.

Toutokubara Kanata, otherwise known as 'Scharlach Frau'. She placed second in the inner school ranking and was a B rank knight. While being a student, she was summoned under special circumstances and was allowed to fight in real battles. She had a record of destroying many organizations and bases of the Rebellion army. She was indeed a superior student knight with real battle experience.

- Volume 2, Chapter 2
[Ikki can sense when someone is an accomplished killer]
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And to the confused Ikki, Ayase replied with that mocking tone.

"That's why this is my reply. No matter what I have to do, I'll take down my enemy. No matter what."

In her right hand, she materialized the vivid red sword Hizume.

The shriek of a sword cutting through something echoed into the night sky.

"―!?"

Ikki prepared himself upon hearing the sound of the sword. Without a doubt, Ayase had used some kind of ability right now to cut something.

…But exactly what did she cut?

Ikki raised his caution level to the highest. He collected his consciousness and in return for cancelling out the sense of colors and sound, he put the maximum amount of concentration in situation recognition.

He noticed the strangeness immediately.

In front of him was Ayase. Behind her, the fence for some reason was collapsing backwards. Why? Because the hooks of the fence were cut.

There were no sounds. Without a doubt she had used some kind of ability.

- Volume 2, Chapter 2
[Ikki can cancel sound as well as colour to boost his perception even more. Automatically does it in response to something happening.]
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A windless night, but the sound of the blade swaying in the wind could be heard. It was a beautiful form of training, as if dancing.

But that movement suddenly came to a stop.

"Stella?"

The silhouette… Kurogane Ikki turned towards the entrance of the recess while wiping his sweat and asked. He felt a presence there; as expected, a girl with glossy fire-blonde hair stood there. It was Stella Vermillion.

She frowned a bit, but asked frankly.

- Volume 2, Chapter 4
[Senses Stella's presence]
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After Ikki's match with Ayase yesterday, Ikki and Stella heard everything from her. From the beginning till the end, and what happened two years ago.

How Ayatsuji Kaito, the Last Samurai had been beaten.

And after hearing everything, Ikki firmly promised Ayase that he would duel Kuraudo tomorrow betting the dojo. Tomorrow… a battle even harder than today's might be waiting. Then the wisest decision now would be to rest. Ikki also understood that, but he couldn't calm down.

"…Was it a shock?"

"Well, yeah… For me, Kaito-san might've been something like an idol."

For Ikki who was abandoned by the adults of the Kurogane house, people like Kaito were the same as a swordsmanship master for him. Watching their matches, he stole, analyzed, and practiced their techniques over and over again. It was something which became the foundation of the current Ikki. So hearing the past events from Ayase was a shock to him. Decayed by disease, in a match with no magic… in other words, in a match not between knights but swordsmen, he was one-sidedly beaten.

- Volume 2, Chapter 4
[Copied styles from old videos as a child - Taskmaster tier pogpogpog]
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No, if it was simply precipitous, then for Ikki and Stella who regularly trained their bodies, it wouldn't be anything special, but―

"Huh, again?"

Ikki caught in his left hand a shadow that leaped from the thickets with a crunching sound. It was a pit viper with its fangs bared.

This was already the third time. The ruggedness of the trail aside, for surprise attacks to continue like this was a little tiresome.
- Volume 3, Chapter 2
[Ikki casually catching pit vipers sneak attacking him over rough terrain]
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Ikki set Stella down, and confronted the rock giant with Intetsu in his hands.

"Are you going to fight? Will you be alright? A sword won't be very effective, you know?"

"I'll be fine. I have a technique for dealing with this kind of opponent, more or less."

Saying that, Ikki raised his left hand closer to his blade, and drew the right hand that held Intetsu back with all his strength. It was plainly a stance for thrusting.

But the stone giant didn't care―no, as if it didn't have any will of its own, it lunged with its stone fist mechanically. A monotone attack with such sluggishness couldn't possibly get through the Worst One.

Ikki turned toward the rock giant, and with superhuman strength granted by Ittou Shura, he rushed forward as if flying. He just barely crossed right beside the stone fist as it passed.

―With the right hand that he was drawing back with all his strength, he unleashed a forward stab. A flash of steel that broke the sound barrier took flight.

It wasn't an ordinary thrust. Arm strength, leg strength, charging power―more than Ikki's superhuman body mastery, the vector of all of his power was focused on the point of his sword, a technique that forced out his highest offensive ability. This was the secret technique that boasted the strongest offensive ability among the Worst One's seven secret swords.


"The first secret sword―Saigeki!"[4]


Ikki, who charged as if flying, without decelerating, made his body into a bullet and pierced the rock giant's chest. The impact of the penetration struck the giant's body, and from the huge hole bored into its chest, the giant made from joining rocks collapsed while making a clattering noise. The rocks being joined together fell apart, and returned to rubble having lost the humanoid shape.

- Volume 3, Chapter 2
[Ikki's first sword, Saigeki, allows for all of his bodies power to be put into a single thrust. One shots a giant (5-metre) rock golem with it. Said golem could destroy shacks and uproot many trees at once, and its movement was also said to be monotone and thus had no hope of every tagging Ikki]
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"Ikki! Behind you!"

Reacting to Stella's shout, Ikki cleaved off the stone hand that was coming at his back to strike him. With a clang, Ikki's arm fell numb from the recoil of hitting his sword against hard rock. A small crack appeared in the stone doll.

Like I thought, if I don't use Saigeki, I can't deal with it…!"

But Saigeki had a lethal flaw. It was a charge technique, so it required him to set up an opportunity. As one would expect, in fighting dozens of stone dolls at the same time, there was no leisure time to set up such an opportunity.
- Volume 3, Chapter 2
[Saigeki's flaw is that it's a charge attack and thus needs setup. Ikki's regular attack can't break much smaller dolls, so Saigeki effectively multiplies his offensive ability several times over when he uses it]
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He couldn't protect himself, and blood sprayed from Ikki's brow after he took a stone hand to his head. He had warded off the stone hand with Ten'i Muhou, but there were too many enemies, unfortunately. An attack he couldn't parry and cut through had come.
[Ikki blocking giant stone fists with Ten'i Muhou (move he used against sword eater that dodges through minimum movement]
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"Misogi-san, behind you!"

Ikki cried out at that impending danger.

But Utakata pasted a smile on his face, and didn't move his body one bit at what was happening behind him.


―The stone fists, they blasted away everything above Utakata's neck.


"Wh…!"

"Eek…!"

At that sight, Ikki and Stella widened their eyes and became speechless. With the strength of the stone fists, Utakata's skull had been smashed like a tomato. His small headless body fell into the storm-dampened mud, without moving a twitch. That was the decisive ending that anyone could see.


"Too bad, but that was a trick, you know?"


The next instant, Utakata who should be dead was sitting on the shoulder of the stone doll that had killed him.

"Aha~☆ I tried to tell you about this, didn't I?"

"…Huh? E-Ehhh!?"

Utakata smiled giddily as if nothing had happened. At that sight, Stella raised her voice in confusion. And while Ikki didn't raise his voice as well, he was equally confused. Certainly, he saw Utakata's skull being crushed with his own eyes. The pink brain matter had been scattered, slightly mixed with white bone tissue. The grotesque image was still etched onto the back of his eyelids. It was an unmistakable reality.

It had to be, but then it disappeared. Cause and effect had been wound back. …There was only one power that could induce this kind of unrealistic phenomena.

"A Noble Art―is this an ability from the causation manipulation system?"

"Correct."

Utakata nodded to confirm Ikki's words.
[Ikki instantaneously figuring out that Utakata's noble art involves reversing cause and effect]
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Thinking that, Ikki closed his eyes and focused his thoughts. What appeared on the inside of his eyelids was the face Stella's father, the king of Vermillion. Because Stella had showed him a picture once, he could remember it. The same blazing hair as Stella. A lion-like majesty that could be felt from a gigantic stature close to two meters tall, with sideburns linked to a beard.

When he recalled that vision and opened his eyelids―before his eyes, there was no doubt that man was standing there.

Of course, the real thing wasn't there. It was only a virtual image brought forth by Ikki's concentration that had been honed to the utmost. Picturing the image of the supposed other party, and then practicing a paired kata. It was a basic technique for a practitioner of martial arts. This was a practical application. However, if it was an expert like Ikki, the image would have a gaze, heartbeat, and temperature unlike a normal image. It would have an overwhelming realism even to the point of an audible pulse. With that realism, it would even shake the spirit of Ikki who had created it.

- Volume 3, Chapter 3
[Ikki's mental image training is so good that the target somehow has a heartbeat and temperature]
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