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.

grim look, I shifted the

suggest I take note of when

"Oh."

finally lit up, and he soon nodded

course of the past week. You are going to need to keep practicing the fundamentals over and over again. Please don't get the wrong idea; they are not

paused for a

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, and you'll find yourself

hand, he retrieved the sword from the ground

Swoosh—!

there is to it. Keep slashing until you feel as if it's second

handed the sword

"I see…"

took the sword from his

and slash,

sounded easy enough.

"Anything else?"

"No."

He shook his head.

able to make significant progress in no time. The same can be said for the two other forms of swordplay.

"I understand."

towel to the ground and took a

training my fundamentals, then learning the other two sword arts should also be easier.. not just the

sense, and I found

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

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

paused for a

with the fact

I was

A pity I didn't.

Swoosh—!

the sword once

***

Thump—!

a small target approximately one hundred meters away from the location where the

target in

really

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

hit the target for a

rather depressing

This was hard.

"Huh."

took a

No matter how much she thought about it, she didn't feel suited

'It's still too early.'

took another deep breath and calmed

the string a very light pull. As

could see it quite clearly.

had always

she couldn't even hit

Creak—

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

Feeling the air around her still, Amanda let

Thump—!

to see everything that had transpired in that instant, despite the fact that not even

time had slowed down and all she could see was

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

"…"

pierced through the target, Amanda felt her mind

she tried to make sense of what had just occurred in her head. When she finally succeeded, her face became

"Yeasss!"

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