The Author's POV

The next day.

"Phew, looks like this is the last of it."

I took a moment to admire the view from my brand-new apartment while I wiped the sweat that had accumulated on my forehead.

'I guess moving out was the right call.'

From where I was standing, I could see the city in all its glory, and the view was simply stunning. There was nothing to complain about.

After returning from the assembly and discussing it with Amanda, I decided to vacate my previous apartment and move into a new one.

This was a must as I was about to perform a dangerous operation on myself.

With that being said, when I said "move out," I simply relocated to the vacant apartment next door.

There was no problem because Amanda owned the entire building.

"Alright, I guess I should get started."

I flapped my tank top, creating a small wind that pushed up my chin and refreshed me.

After that, I went to the beige couch that was perched atop a grey furry carpet in the centre of the room.

I sat down on the couch and took a pair of glasses from my dimensional space and put them on.

It had to be noted that these were special glasses and weren't normal glasses. My eyes were perfect, and I didn't need to have glasses in order to see.

There was a glass table directly across from me, and I swiped my hand over it.

Three books materialized on top of the table the moment I swiped my hand. The books were of three different colours: red, blue, and green.

Engraved on the front covers of each book were two words.

[Keiki style]

[Gravar style]

[Levisha style]

"Who would've thought that I would one day take my time to learn all three of the techniques."

I bitterly thought while I opened the first page of the Levisha style and tapped my glasses, which immediately scanned and copied the information that was displayed in front of me, highlighting the key points in front of me at the same time.

Getting my hands on the Levisha style wasn't actually that hard for me. All I did was exchange the poison flask I found in Immorra for it.

Kevin didn't seem to mind anyway.

The Gravar style, on the other hand, was a bit easier. As part of the contract, I was to be given a copy of the Gravar style, and that was how I had access to it.

Under the terms of the contract, I was not permitted to teach the method to anyone else; that said, I had no intention of teaching it to anyone else in the first place, so everything turned out fine.

"Now... how do I go about this?"

As I had previously mentioned, the Keiki style was no longer useful for me to the same extent it was in the past.

I had already long surpassed its predecessor, and the same could be said for the Levisha and Gravar style.

But that was beside the point.

Developing my very own signature sword style was at the top of my to-do list right now.

I wanted one that was exclusive to me and no one else... and the first step for me to take to accomplish that was to conduct an accurate analysis of the three strongest sword manuals known to mankind.

I intended to combine the various aspects of each sword style—speed, power, and style—into one and create the most powerful and complete sword style out there.

'For that to happen, I need to completely memorize every single detail of these books.'

I tapped on my glasses again, and with a serious expression, I began to examine and break down every single thing that was written in the manuals.

*

flies when one is deeply immersed

clock that hung on the right side of my new apartment, 8

a couple of times, I leaned back on the couch and blankly stared at the white ceiling of

I

no longer able to rely on my mother to provide me with warm meals, instead, I

cook, but cleaning

by their place and get something to

after deliberating over the matter for the next couple of

a wise decision to show up unannounced and demand

I'll just

began browsing the delivery app in the app's menu. My finger scrolled down the page a few

with a dark liquid materialized in front of my

almost forgot

'Suriol's blood.'

the liquid in front

and I recalled how he had described the process involving the gradual

knew the steps by

blood into my body would not only make me more powerful, but it would also give me access to a skill known as "Demon

a very real possibility

hands shook a little when I stared

I, or

I was desperate.

not be involved with the schemes of the other me,

a piece in whatever grand game of chess they

to be free, you

knows, me taking the demon blood might just as well be something that one of them has

with my hand

Fuck...

transferred the liquid

Click!

"Hu?"

sudden clicking sound and I quickly retrieved my hand away and stored the test tube

are you

"Hm?"

head when she spotted me and place her thin brown jacket on the hanger at the entrance of

then took

who

"I did?"

tell me you

Her face was filled with helplessness, and I lowered my head

I think about it, I do recall telling her yesterday

palms together and leaned

forget. My thoughts were somewhat jumbled because of all

"Is that so?"

as she tied her hair into

exposed the moment she attempted to tie her

was composed of a black turtleneck that was neatly tucked inside of her

next to me. A thin purple hairband hung

smiled seductively upon noticing that I was looking

"Like what you're seeing?"

hairband from her mouth and tying the hair

I nodded my head.

"Yes...Yes, I do."

would be a lie if I

when

"Eh?"

"What is it?"

about the sudden

her hand over

***

"What are you doing?"

you're