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!

in the air. By my side, an empowering red hue expanded from Kevin's body.

guys planning on using your strongest techniques? Good, good, I

Monica's

—Swoosh! —Swoosh!

see if you guys

sword in the air as if showing off,

"Ready?"

"Never been readier…"

around Kevin's body became especially empowering, Kevin looked at me.

"Let's go…"

muttered as

VUUUUAM!

Monica's direction. A powerful energy could be felt from the

both hands on the sword, so he's already reached that

of the Levisha style. Not

"Still…"

of the

to be outdone, after finally charging up, I took a stance. Moments after, the world around me turned dark and I found

"Huh?"

to do. Taking advantage of the opening I created,

quickly able to

"Not bad…"

with my and Kevin's

—Sha!

her neck to the side, to my horror,

avoiding my attack, Monica casually swung her sword down

—Craka!

made out of paper, Kevin's sword beam

"Haa…haaa…this is so unfair"

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

‘Damn it'

and an [S] rank was huge, I didn't think

like children. She made it seems as though our most powerful attacks were nothing but child's play in

"I'm impressed"

finger on the scar left behind by

guys were this strong. You guys were almost as good as me

Monica's shameless boast,

you be more

I had designed Monica to be this way. If I had to

"Here, take this"

in my direction, Monica casually

"This…"

too much at first, but my eyes

its contents, my heart started

===

[★★★✰ Quick-slash style]

With one quick draw, the user gains the ability to kill an opponent without them noticing anything had happened. Created

===

"Is this for me?"

trembling hands, I looked at

to hide your sword art, I decided to give you a little gift. The sword art is three and a half stars, but given the criteria, this was the

her sword away, Monica nodded

"You don't like it?"

it. There's no way

quickly shook my

not like

how popular Grandmaster Keiki was, the idea of someone trying to imitate his sword

there were many sword arts similar to the Keiki style in circulation at the

them imitations was already a compliment. They were not even

This, however, was different.

far off from the Keiki style, visually it wasn't. Meaning that the techniques

‘That's right…'

sword art, I could now use the Keiki style whenever I wished

would only limit me to the basic movements, this made

what to say, thank

since I am your instructor I'll

the side, I could see Monica's ears turning red. She was trying her best to hide

she was

be, Monica was

was enough to set

perform badly, I'm going to look bad so I must

hide her embarrassment, in a stern tone Monica

actually

heart. Had I actually said it out loud,

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