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.

his grim look, I shifted the conversation away from

there something else you suggest I take

"Oh."

finally lit up, and he soon

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 bad. Rather, your fundamentals are already at a level that most people won't

for a

thing you haven't mastered. As opposed to the movements, which you seem to have quite the hang of, your basics

retrieved the sword from

Swoosh—!

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

handed the sword back to

"I see…"

his hand and stared

and

sounded easy enough.

"Anything else?"

"No."

He shook his head.

no time. The same can be said for the two other forms of swordplay. The Gravar and Levisha styles. Even

"I understand."

threw the towel to the ground and took

the other two

and I found myself wanting to

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 needed

for a moment

with the fact that I have only lived in this world for about eight

time, then I

A pity I didn't.

Swoosh—!

slashed the sword

***

Thump—!

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

the target in

I really talented

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 for a week and had yet to

rather depressing

This was hard.

"Huh."

a deep

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

'It's still too early.'

deep breath

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

quite clearly. This wasn't a

had always had good

mean anything when she couldn't even hit

Creak—

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

air around her still, Amanda let go of the

Thump—!

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

"…"

target, Amanda felt her

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

"Yeasss!"

she realized she had finally hit the target; it