Chapter 270: An Arsenal Of Illusions.

Looking at Lyra’s face, Kael could immediately see the determination in her eyes. He loved it, he’d always wished for her to grow stronger, and now that she was truly determined, this felt like the first real step.

But he didn’t say anything about it, simply nodding instead.

Then, just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, by the way."

Lyra looked at him.

"I’m planning to host a housewarming party here in a few days. I’ll invite a few acquaintances over. Hope you don’t have any issues with that."

Lyra shook her head.

"Of course not."

She glanced toward their mother before looking back at him.

"In a situation like this, we should be thankful for any good thing that comes our way. Even something as simple as a housewarming party."

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"So why not?"

Kael nodded.

"Yeah. That’s true."

He turned toward the door.

"Alright, that’s cool."

With that, Kael stepped out of the room and gently closed the door behind him.

His footsteps echoed softly through the hallway, but he didn’t head straight for his room.

Instead, he headed first toward the large kitchen, where he pulled the shopping bags out of his Inventory and began unpacking them, one by one. Pots, pans, utensils, ingredients, and all the other kitchenware he’d bought were carefully arranged until there was nothing left inside the bags.

Once he was satisfied with the arrangement, Kael left the kitchen and made his way toward his room.

His bedroom required a similar process.

He unpacked the clothes and everything else he had bought that day, arranging them properly instead of simply leaving the bags lying around. It took some time, but eventually everything had its place. Kael looked around the room after finishing and nodded in satisfaction.

"Much better."

With that taken care of, Kael stripped off his clothes and walked into the bathroom.

He first filled the bathtub with warm water before taking out several products meant to help relax both the mind and body. He added them to the water one after another, mixing everything together until the contents were properly dissolved.

Once everything was ready, Kael stepped into the tub and slowly lowered himself into the warm water.

Almost immediately, a pleasant scent drifted into his nose.

His tense muscles gradually loosened, and the exhaustion that had accumulated throughout the day seemed to fade little by little. Even his mind began to calm as the soothing fragrance filled the bathroom.

Kael closed his eyes.

"This is quite magical."

He could noe understand why products like these were considered luxuries.

"No wonder even Vice President Jonas was only willing to part with a few of these."

Kael relaxed for a few moments, but his thoughts inevitably drifted back to the day’s training.

The Sword Saint.

More specifically, the techniques he had displayed.

Kael wasn’t only interested in learning the One-Breadth Evasion Technique.

He also wanted to replicate the strange footwork technique the Sword Saint had used.

He had already obtained countless footwork techniques from Varek’s memories, but none of them truly suited him.

The problem wasn’t that those techniques were weak.

Quite the opposite.

Many of them were extremely powerful, but they had been designed around specific combat styles that didn’t completely match his own.

Kael’s combat technique was different.

His entire fighting style revolved around using his body as though it were an arsenal of countless weapons.

His knees, feet, palms, shoulders, head, and even the smallest movements of his body could be turned into weapons depending on the situation.

He was essentially a jack of all trades.

Because of that, his combat style required something beyond simple speed.

It required unpredictability.

Surprise.

The ability to make an opponent believe they understood what attack was coming, only for Kael to turn that expectation against them.

Speed was certainly useful.

There was no denying that being faster than an opponent could provide a massive advantage in combat. But most movement techniques primarily focused allowing the user to move more efficiently.

That wasn’t enough for Kael.

Even if a technique allowed him to move several times faster, it wouldn’t fundamentally change how his combat style functioned.

What he needed was something that could make his opponent misread his movements.

And that was exactly what the Sword Saint’s footwork provided, illusions.

His movements seemed to contain multiple possibilities at once, making it difficult to determine what he was actually going to do until the final moment.

Kael couldn’t help but imagine how useful such a technique would be for him.

Imagine an opponent seeing a sword coming toward their throat.

They would naturally focus their attention on the incoming blade and prepare to defend against it.

But what if that sword wasn’t the real attack?

What if Kael’s movement made the opponent believe the attack was coming from the front, only for his actual strike to come from behind?

Their defense would already be in the wrong position before the real attack even arrived.

That was the kind of technique a jack of all trades like Kael needed.

And if he combined it with the One-Breadth Evasion Technique, things would become even more troublesome for anyone who fought him.

The One-Breadth Evasion Technique allowed him to remain within an extremely close distance of his opponent while continuously avoiding their attacks. Instead of retreating away from danger, he could stay close enough to strike at any moment.

Combine that with footwork capable of creating false movements and misleading an opponent’s perception.

Kael’s lips curled into a faint smile.

He could already imagine the confusion on his opponent’s face.

Kael leaned back against the tub, letting the warm water settle around his body once more.

"That might actually work."

He began running the simulation in his mind, imagining just how much more dangerous his fighting style could become once he’d mastered what he’d learned today. It wasn’t something he could pull off yet, but somewhere down the line, he could see it working.