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 conversation away

is there something else you suggest I take note

"Oh."

finally lit up,

You are going to need to keep practicing the fundamentals over and over again. Please don't

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

his hand, he retrieved the sword from the ground and slashed

Swoosh—!

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

the sword

"I see…"

the sword from his

slash, and slash, and

enough. It wasn't

"Anything else?"

"No."

He shook his head.

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

"I understand."

to the ground and

training my fundamentals, then learning the other two sword arts should also be

lot of sense, and

so rushed to increase my power so much, I

were quite good—they weren't perfect, and at this point, perfection

paused for a moment

to do with the fact that I have

I had more time, then I was sure my fundamentals would've

A pity I didn't.

Swoosh—!

the sword once

***

Thump—!

the air and landed with a thud on a small target approximately one hundred meters away from the location where the source of

in the distance,

really talented

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

been attempting to hit the target for a week and had yet to

rather depressing to

This was hard.

"Huh."

a deep

validity of his words. No matter how much she thought about it, she didn't feel suited for

'It's still too early.'

another deep breath and calmed herself

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

could see it quite clearly.

had always

anything when she couldn't

Creak—

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

Feeling the air around her still, Amanda

Thump—!

the fact that not even a second

was as if time had slowed down and all she could

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

"…"

had pierced through the target, Amanda felt her mind

had just occurred in her head. When she finally succeeded, her face became flushed

"Yeasss!"

felt when she realized she had finally hit