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

there something else you suggest

"Oh."

eyes finally lit up, and he soon nodded his

fundamentals over and over again. Please don't get the wrong idea; they

for

which you seem to have quite the hang of, your basics

he retrieved the sword

Swoosh—!

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

sword

"I see…"

from his hand and stared at

and slash, and

sounded easy enough. It

"Anything else?"

"No."

He shook his head.

is the extent of the complexity 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 Gravar and Levisha styles. Even though there are some key differences, they are all based on the same principles. You won't have trouble getting the

"I understand."

the towel to the ground and

that if I keep training my fundamentals, then learning the other two sword arts should also be

of sense, and I found myself wanting to face

power so much, I neglected to train

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

paused for a

them, it has more to do with the fact that I have only lived in this world for about eight

I had more time, then I was

A pity I didn't.

Swoosh—!

the sword

***

Thump—!

target approximately one hundred meters away from the location where the source

target in the distance, Amanda

I really

of the target, even though it was far away. It was currently riddled with arrows,

to hit the target for a week and had yet

rather depressing

This was hard.

"Huh."

a

No matter how much she

'It's still too early.'

took another deep breath

string a very light pull. As a direct result of this,

see it quite clearly. This wasn't a

always

that didn't mean anything when she couldn't

Creak—

Feeling the wind around her, she waited. Waited for the

thought. Feeling the air around her still, Amanda let

Thump—!

was able to see everything that had transpired in that instant, despite the fact that not even a second had

time had slowed down

through it in the most delicate way possible, before finally coming

"…"

pierced through the target, Amanda felt her mind go

sense of what had just occurred in her head. When she

"Yeasss!"

realized she had finally hit the target; it was so exhilarating that