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.

shifted the conversation away from

suggest I take note of

"Oh."

Keiki's eyes finally lit up, and he soon nodded his

to need to keep practicing the fundamentals over and over again. Please don't get the wrong idea; they are not bad. Rather, your fundamentals are already at a level that most people won't ever reach in their

for a

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

sword from

Swoosh—!

it. Keep slashing until you feel as if it's second nature to you. Once you get that done, everything will become much

sword back

"I see…"

sword from his

and slash, and

easy enough. It

"Anything else?"

"No."

He shook his head.

involved. If you can 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

"I understand."

the ground and

then learning the other two sword arts should also be easier.. not just the Keiki

of sense, and

increase my power so much, I neglected to train my fundamentals

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

a moment and

to do with the

then I was

A pity I didn't.

Swoosh—!

slashed the

***

Thump—!

air and landed with a thud on a small target approximately one

the target in the distance,

I really

though it was far away. It

the target for a week and had

rather

This was hard.

"Huh."

a

how much she thought about

'It's still too early.'

took another deep breath

the bow in her hand, she gave the string a very light pull. As a direct result of this, her gaze became fixated

could see it quite clearly. This

always

couldn't even hit the target

Creak—

string. Feeling the wind around her, she waited. Waited for the perfect moment

moment came sooner than she thought. Feeling the air

Thump—!

the fact that not even a second had passed since she let

down and all she could

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

"…"

the target, Amanda felt her mind go blank for a

had just occurred in her head.

"Yeasss!"

rush she felt when she realized she had finally hit the target;