The Author's POV

As my sword tore through the air in front of me, I noticed a trickle of sweat running down the side of my face.

It had been a while since I practiced with the sword, and I sort of missed this feeling. The discomfort, which I subjected myself to on a regular basis in order to improve my strength, was not something I particularly enjoyed. I much preferred this to that.

Swoosh—!

It had also been a while since I started sweating during my training.

Swoosh—! Swoosh–!

"I think that's enough for today."

A voice called out from the back, and I stopped.

I turned my head, and as I did so, my eyes stopped on Grandmaster Keiki, who was coming in my direction. He was grinning to himself in a relaxed manner.

"You've been training like crazy for the past few days; I think you should take some time to rest."

He tossed me a towel, and I grabbed it.

I wiped my face and stabbed the sword into the ground.

"You see, I don't really have much time left here."

Matthew's words weren't clear before, but I could feel them now. I had the distinct impression that I did not have a lot of time left to enjoy life in this world.

"I want to learn as much as possible before leaving."

He didn't exist in my world, sadly. If there was a time when I could learn from him, then it was now.

I couldn't afford to waste a single second.

"You're leaving? Where to?"

The news appeared to take Grandmaster Keiki by quite a bit of surprise. It seemed as though he hadn't expected my sudden departure.

'He looks better.'

When I looked at him, he appeared to be in much better shape than when I had first found him, and that made me smile.

"I'm going back home."

"You don't live in Ashton City?"

Thinking of my world, I shook my head.

"No… I live quite far away from here."

A place only I could reach.

"Oh."

Grandmaster Keiki nodded his head reluctantly.

"That is unfortunate. I really wish that you could have spent some time with my family. If only I could, I'd be happy to put you in touch with them, but..."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"It's alright. I appreciate the gesture."

I wiped the side of my face with the towel.

The situation of the three Grandmasters was still a little sensitive. It wasn't so much that Octavious didn't want to absolve them of their wrongdoings; rather, it was more that he found it difficult to persuade the general public of their crimes.

At the same time, the Protector also existed. If he could do it, then it was going to be a long and slow process.

One that may take months or maybe even years, and sadly, during that time, they wouldn't be able to visit their families.

look, I shifted the conversation away from his

you suggest I

"Oh."

finally lit up, and

and over again.

paused for a

just that it's the only thing you haven't mastered. As opposed to the movements, which you seem to have quite the hang of, your basics are the only thing that you don't have a solid grasp on. Just stick to them,

his hand, he retrieved the sword

Swoosh—!

you feel as if it's second nature to you. Once

handed the sword back

"I see…"

from his hand and stared

slash, and slash,

enough. It wasn't

"Anything else?"

"No."

He shook his head.

just keep what I told you in mind, you'll be able to make significant progress in no time. The same can be said for the two other forms of swordplay. The Gravar and Levisha styles. Even though there are some

"I understand."

the ground and

fundamentals, then learning the other two sword arts should also be easier..

sense, and I found myself wanting

was so rushed to increase my power so much, I neglected to train my

terrible—in fact, they were quite good—they weren't perfect, and at this point, perfection was what I

paused for a

than me neglecting them, it has more to do with the

time, then I was sure my fundamentals would've

A pity I didn't.

Swoosh—!

the sword

***

Thump—!

small target approximately one hundred

the target in

really talented

of the target, even though it was far away. It was currently riddled with arrows, but none of them hit the target in

attempting to hit the target for a week and

felt rather depressing to

This was hard.

"Huh."

a deep

validity of his words. No matter how much she thought about it, she

'It's still too early.'

took another deep breath and calmed herself

light pull. As a direct result of this, her gaze became fixated on the object in the far

see it quite clearly. This wasn't

had always had

mean anything when she couldn't even hit the target in the first

Creak—

creaked slightly as she pulled the string. Feeling the wind around her, she waited. Waited for the perfect moment for her to let go of the

Feeling the air around her still, Amanda let go of the

Thump—!

in that instant, despite the fact that not even a second had passed since she let go of

as if time had slowed down and all

through it in the most delicate way possible, before finally coming to rest against the yellow

"…"

arrow that had pierced through the target, Amanda felt her mind go blank for a

blinked her eyes several times as she tried to make sense of what had just occurred in her head.

"Yeasss!"

experienced anything like the rush she felt when she realized she had finally hit the target; it was so exhilarating that she could feel the heat rising in her