The Author's POV

June flew by and July was nearing. Summer had already approached and the temperatures were starting to rise.

Inside of a training ground.

—Clank! —Clank!

The heavy sound of metal resounded across the room.

"Ren, cover me!"

Shouted Kevin as he quickly moved right of me. As his foot tapped on the ground, his body suddenly shot upwards.

"Huup—!"

—Swoosh!

Right as Kevin's foot touched the ground, I drew a circle in the air and pointed my finger towards a certain spot in the distance. In the same direction, Kevin was headed.

"Thanks!"

Twisted his body, Kevin quickly arrived before my ring. Putting his foot on the ring, he propelled his body towards the center of the room where a young girl leisurely stood.

"Haaa—!"

Arriving before Monica, Kevin let out a shout and slashed his sword down.

"Hmm, not bad…"

—Clank!

Lifting her sword with one hand, Monica easily blocked Kevin's attack.

"…but still not good enough"

BAAAM—!

"Guuuh—!"

"Khhuu!"

Casually swinging her sword and parrying Kevin's attack, Kevin was instantly pushed in my direction.

Because of how fast he was going, I wasn't able to stop him in time and we soon both crashed against a wall.

"Kuegh…this is so unfair"

I muttered as I laid down on the ground. My back hurt like hell.

"I agree…"

Supporting his body with one arm, Kevin weakly stood up. Raising his sword, he glared in Monica's direction.

"Oh, you're not done? I like your fighting spirit"

"Ren, stand up. It's not over yet"

"Ugh…"

Lifting my head, I let out a groan.

‘Damn it, I just want to lay down on the ground for another minute. I'm the one who took the brunt of the attack, not you!'

Why couldn't he let me rest?

Putting my hand on my knee, I stood up and stretched my neck. My eyes soon interlocked with Kevin's.

"Seriously?"

Without him even telling me what he wanted to do, I understood what he meant.

"Alright…"

"Good"

Nodding my head, I placed my hand on the grip of my sword. Kevin on the other hand raised his sword with both hands.

"Huuu…"

Taking a deep breath, I channeled all the mana inside of my body. A white hue shrouded my body.

Kracka! Kracka!

the white hue were blue bolts of lightning that repeatedly crackled in the air. By my side,

using your strongest techniques? Good, good, I

the front, Monica's eyes

—Swoosh! —Swoosh!

you guys

the air as if showing

"Ready?"

"Never been readier…"

became especially empowering, Kevin looked

"Let's go…"

as he

VUUUUAM!

powerful energy could be felt from the sword beam as a thick scar traced the path of the

Kevin's attack, I thought, ‘Slashing down with both hands

could now perform the fifteenth movement of the Levisha style.

"Still…"

the [Keiki style]

stance. Moments after, the world around me turned dark and I found myself standing

"Huh?"

a second didn't know what to do. Taking advantage of the opening I created, I aimed my

was quickly able

"Not bad…"

Kevin's attack,

—Sha!

neck to the side, to my horror, Monica easily dodged my

Monica casually swung her sword down and

—Craka!

if made out of paper, Kevin's

"Haa…haaa…this is so unfair"

breaths. On the other side of the room, Kevin slumped down on the ground and supported his body with

‘Damn it'

between me and an [S] rank was huge, I

us like children. She made it seems as though our most powerful attacks were

"I'm impressed"

her finger on the scar left behind by Kevin's

strong. You guys were almost as good as me back when I was

shameless boast, my

you be

be this way.

"Here, take this"

Monica casually threw a

"This…"

didn't think too much at first, but my eyes soon shot wide

its contents,

===

[★★★✰ Quick-slash style]

ability to kill an opponent without them noticing anything had

===

"Is this for me?"

trembling hands, I looked at

your sword art, I decided to give you a little gift. The sword art is

away, Monica nodded

"You don't like it?"

it. There's no way

quickly shook

can I not like this? It's

popular Grandmaster Keiki was, the idea of someone trying to

there were many sword arts similar to the Keiki style in circulation at the moment, but after a quick skim through, I would just

imitations was already a compliment. They

This, however, was different.

off from the Keiki style, visually it wasn't. Meaning that the techniques looked exactly like the

‘That's right…'

practiced this sword art, I could now use the Keiki style whenever I wished without arousing

basic movements, this made things much easier for

what to

am your instructor I'll naturally

could see Monica's ears

right, forgot she was weak

shameless appeared to be, Monica was

enough to set her

going to look bad so I must do my best to make you guys stronger for when the

her best to hide her

no one actually knows you're coaching

Had I actually said it out loud, given Monica's personality, I would be in for another

looking forward