Chapter 84 Learning

"Ahh…. Just what did I do?"

A girl with red hair threw herself on top of the bed she had in her tent.

"I am too embarrassed to look at his face right now."

Burying her face into the pillow, she talked with a muffled voice.

'But, he smelled so good.'

'Hehehe, he said I am cute … His eyes were really sincere. It is the first time someone said something like this to me.'

'Ehehehe…. Touching him felt too good too.'

She thought while sniffing her pillow while licking her lips.

'But I didn't make it awkward, right? It feels like I suddenly barged into his bathing session. He won't think I am weird, right?'

'But, I really wanted to confess my feelings. He is so talented, and his serious face is an art to look at.'

'I did the right thing, right?'

'It felt like he was going to leave me if I didn't take the first step. He seemed like someone with experience, too; maybe there is another person he had a relationship with beforehand?'

'Was she a girl with good looks? Father said Callius was probably a noble; maybe he had a fiancée that was talented?'

/CLECNH/

With her hands clenching hard, a weird expression bloomed on her face.

'Why do I feel suffocated? What is this feeling I am getting when I imagine him being with another girl?'

"Mooo, I don't know. I don't know anything. I don't know what to do."

"I always feel like biting him from his neck when I see him, and I want to mark his pure white skin with my teeth. Is this weird?"

Slightly touching her cheek, she closed her eyes.

"His touch was so gentle…."

"Hey, Aliya. Are you ready?"

/JUMP/

"Heh? Father?"

"Yes. We are leaving. Are you ready?"

"Ah, yes. I am coming right now."

"Hurry up."

"Okay, okay. Just a minute."

Saying that Aliya started grabbing the things she had prepared beforehand.

'This place. I won't forget it.'

Engraving every bit of detail she could see around in her mind, she left her tent and pressed a button, making it shrink in size.

And then headed towards the convoy….

***

After the hot bath session I had with Aliya, I left the place, heading towards the convoy. Since I had prepared everything beforehand, the only thing left for me to do was dry myself and grab my clothes.

"Callius, you are here."

Seeing me, Wayne said greeting.

"Yes, captain."

"How are you feeling?"

"Hmm… Good?"

"I mean, how is your condition? The way you fought was a bit disjointed compared to before."

"Ah… I am pretty refreshed. With the last fight being long and I had just broken through, it was weird, and I couldn't adjust to my new strength at first. But now I am okay."

"Good. Although the elves have recovered most of their strength, I don't want to waste too many resources while dealing with the mobs. So, I will be counting on you."

"Understood."

"Good, good. I like your attitude. Have Akira talked with you?"

"Why do you ask?"

"So, he has."

"Well, he did."

"He is a very talented swordsman. Be sure to listen to him well."

"You sound like you know him very well."

"I do. We have been friends since our young days.

"I didn't think you were old friends."

"Ahaha…. You are not attending drinking parties too much. It is pretty normal. We are keeping it professional during our working hours."

"Wow, is this how a veteran works?"

"Nah. Not everyone does that."

"So you are special."

"Well, you can say so. Most of the time, it is the attitude that makes the difference."

"I see."

"Well, enough with the chit-chat. Let's get going."

Seeing the remaining members were coming, Wayne stood up walking towards the convoy.

"We will keep the same formation. But be alert. We are now entering a more dangerous route. Everyone knows the monster population and pattern around this place, right?"

"Yes. I have informed everyone."

"Okay, let's start moving then."

Just like that, the party started moving while keeping the same formation as before.

****

After traveling for a day without stopping, we found a good place to rest.

Setting up another camp, the dinner was prepared.

"Callius. Bon Appetit."

"Thanks."

Sitting beside me, slanted eyes swordsman greeted them while grabbing her stew.

"Are you tired?"

"Well, you can say I am."

"But, not fully right?"

"Yes. The monster repellant was working enough."

"Good. I won't keep the talk too long. After the meal, we will start with the training. Is that okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. Since, for the time being, the route won't be too hard, we can focus on your training, maybe in the mornings as well. We will see."

"Understood."

"Now, I will be waiting on this open field half hour later."

Saying that he left, walking towards his own tent.

'It seems my life will get busy again, huh?'

Thinking that, I kept munching my food while looking around.

'Heh, she is like a scared rabbit… How cute.'

I thought while looking at the red-haired girl who was averting her gaze but still couldn't stop throwing glances at me.

'But, I wonder, can you really keep yourself from me for a long time? We will see.'

With a slight smile, I kept munching my food.

****

Grabbing my sword and a light clothes, I headed towards the open field where Akira was waiting.

"You are here, right on time."

"I am a punctual person."

"We will see that."

"Is that so?"

"Now, from his point on, I will get serious, so make sure to be respectful while talking to me."

"Hmm?"

"Clear?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now, let's begin with your basics."

/SCHLINK/

Pulling out a long curved sword from his scabbard, he took a position holding the sword vertically.

'Just as I expected, this is how we will train. Pretty much simple.'

I thought.

How do you train your sword, your magic, or your close combat skills?

You do it by fighting with others. That is pretty much simple as that.

/SHLINK/

Grabbing the handle of my Nihil from its handle, I pulled it out, taking my distance.

"Are you ready? I will limit my strength to match yours as much as possible."

"Yes."

/SWOOSH/

With a fast speed, he bolted towards me with his sword raised.

/CLANK/

'He is fast.'

/CLANK/ /CLANK/ /CLANK/

Blocking the strikes coming to me with my sword, I was looking for an opening.

/CLANK/ /SWOOSH/ /CUT/

'Huh?'

But, suddenly, after I blocked the strike of the chain attacks, he changed the pattern on the following one, attacking me from my navel and cutting me.

Feeling the slight pain in my navel, I looked up at him.

"Just as I expected, you are good, but."

"But?"

"But you are still lacking. It seems the way you learned your sword is different from normal?"

"What do you mean?"

"You have learned it by yourself, right? By observing others and implementing their techniques."

"…."

"Although your body is trained, it feels like something is missing."

"Like how?"

"To explain simply, your body and your mind are a bit disjointed. The way you are moving your body, it feels like your body is not on the same page as your thoughts."

"….."

"You are closing this disadvantage with your innate talent at fighting and analyzing, but this won't work when you face an enemy that is the same as you. At that time, using your brain will not be fast enough. In most cases, the fight is determined in one move, like this one I did."

"…."

"If I decided to move my sword even a bit deeper, your stomach would have been cut, and you would have had a fatal injury. And do you know why you couldn't follow my movements?"

"Why?"

"Because you are trying to move your body remotely in everything. This is not how it works."

"Remotely?"

"Yes. How do you ride a horse?"

"How do I ride a horse? By pulling the reins?"

"Yes. That is right; you do it by pulling the reins. But, the thing is, you don't pull reins every time the horse takes a step, right? The horse moves on his own, and you pull the reins when you decide to change the direction or increase the speed."

"Ah…. I see now. Then the thing we need to do is train my natural body movements and make my body move on its own while fighting."

"Yes, that's right. We will train your body responses. The speed of your response, the depths of your unconsciousness, we will train those basics first."

"My body responses, huh?"

"Indeed. And don't worry, this won't be only effective on your sword fighting, but will be effective on other types of fights as well."

"Understood."

"But, this will hurt. So be prepared."

/SWOOSH/

Just like that, with his sword grabbed with both hands, he dashed towards me, swinging his sword.

Just like that, a new type of training started….

-----------Author Notes----------------

Here is the chapter hope you enjoyed it.

Now he will learn how to use his sword from the basics with a proper instructor while deepening his interactions with others, even though he was already good enough with swords.

Although I don't want to keep the pace too slow, it feels a bit waste not to show how he interacts with other members too. Let me hear your thoughts about this one.

Do you like this arc, or do you prefer making things faster and making him enter the academy?

Some of you might like magic more than swords or close combat, and his focus will be mainly on magic at the academy. But still, you will see how learning swords will be handy in some cases.