Interested Master
Whoosh!
Thump!
Swoosh!
Thump!
After a quick meal of snacks, Rachel arrived at the training ground with Elden and was engaged in a practical sparring session.
The training was not much different from the first one.
Since it was learned through physical practice rather than theory and explanation, practical training based on sparring continued.
What was different was:
‘…Last time’s attacks didn’t work at all.’
Elden was blocking every attack of the same pattern, and even the occasional unconventional attacks were narrowly dodged.
Even more, his eyes shone unnaturally as if waiting for a chance to counterattack.
His fists, which had been recklessly thrown before, now knew when to wait, and his shoulders, which had been stiff with force, had become flexible.
His straightforward steps, previously only advancing, were now stepping in various stances.
It was strange.
I had never seen him practice or train separately after our first sparring.
There wasn’t even time for that since he was reading.
I had seen it countless times.
Him, fighting with thugs almost every day.
And I had thought,
‘《He isn’t improving much.》’
Just like how one naturally gets the hang of grilling meat over time, fighting should naturally improve one’s skills.
Just as a baby eventually runs as it learns to walk, it is natural for skills to improve the more one practices.
But Elden Rapellion defied that natural order.
He had been involved in mindless brawls all the time.
Of course, he wasn’t stagnant.
Compared to the frequency of his fights, his improvement was excessively slow.
Therefore, the current situation made no sense.
Moreover, I hadn’t particularly taught him anything.
The first training was just a single bout to gauge his level.
It was a sparring session intended to truly educate a disciple who had insulted the master by performing literature like a play.
Had he learned something from that brief sparring session?
‘What is it.’
What could it be?
With this level of skill, he could feasibly compete and aim for victory in an amateur fighting contest.
The skills and the look in his eyes had changed significantly in just a few days.
What had happened?
Could he have taken some sort of miraculous drug?
It was only now that he was at a level that he could start jumping, but the rate of improvement from walking to jumping was astonishing.
Perhaps.
‘…Is it a matter of will?’
Maybe.
Maybe the one who had been fighting mindlessly now harbored a will to [learn], and his innate senses and talents were merging with it, showing a drastic improvement.
Of course, it was too early to conclude.
Whether it was a relative quickness due to a low baseline or an absolute rise without limits still needed to be observed.
Anyway.
‘…It’s quite interesting.’
With low aptitude, where others would roll a few dozen times, I had to roll hundreds of times.
The Purple Knight.
It had taken me ten years to earn that single title.
Despite enduring hundreds to thousands of times more hardship than others, I could not become the greatest warrior in the kingdom.
I hadn’t thought it was because I was ‘a woman’.
Physical frailty could always be compensated for with magic.
It was simply that I lacked natural talent.
The only natural talent I had was ‘tenacity’, so I couldn’t rise beyond the Purple Knight, and I had to be content with that.
The absence of talent cannot be covered by effort, I had realized how foolish it was to struggle to cover it.
Maybe that’s why.
‘…If he does well.’
Elden, who fought mindlessly.
Myself, who had jumped into battle mindlessly without any natural talent.
The combination of two humans, different yet similar, who were more influenced by practical experience than theory, seemed like it could produce something useful.
‘Perhaps…’
Maybe Elden could share the thrill of breaking through the limits that I had had to surrender to, harboring a vague hope.
Of course, it remained to be seen whether his growth would pass by like a lightning bolt in a dry sky or persist like summer rain.
Whoosh!
“Re, Rachel?”
Thump!
Swoosh!
Rachel, unaware of her own strength.
Her fists swung lightly but became significantly heavier, and the speed inversely faster.
Lost in deep thought, her dark pupils lost focus.
The destructive power grew merciless, and although Elden called out in confusion, Rachel’s ears were closed.
“Over there?”
Swoosh!
Thump
!
“Ma, Master?”
Swoosh!
Bang!
“Kuh!”
Eventually, the uncontrollable power pierced through Elden’s defenses, and he was struck squarely in the chest, flying back and sprawling on the ground.
Thud!
Even then.
Rachel’s eyes still couldn’t find focus.
Pain.
And a lot of it.
It had started off light.
It was meant to be a review of the first sparring session.
However, at some point, the punches became heavier, and at the end, Rachel had thrown a ‘serious punch’ with all her might.
Due to that, the guard was shattered, and a massive shock was felt right in the center of his chest.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself sprawled on the ground.
Thankfully, the sparring had taken place outdoors, so the clear sky was visible.
A spotless, bright blue sky.
‘But I held up quite well.’
More important than the pain like being hit by a rhinoceros, was the fact that I lasted 3 minutes longer than the less than a minute from the first sparring.
That’s probably why.
Despite the pain that made it hard even to breathe, a smile appeared.
My body was soaked with sweat, but the sky felt exhilarating as if I was flying.
During the first sparring, I was too busy floundering.
I was too busy defending to think of anything else, but perhaps because I had faced the opponent before, this time I found some leisure and even spotted opportunities for counterattack.
It felt like significant progress in a short time.
Of course, I had tried not to forget what I felt during the first sparring, but the output seemed disproportionately high compared to the input.
I propped up my upper body.
Rachel, half dazed, was visible.
“Master, isn’t it too much to do this to a novice disciple?”
The newbie’s complaint finally made the veteran sit down and look at the newbie on the ground.
“Ah…, sorry. I got carried away without realizing.”
“Were you perhaps possessed by a god?”
“No.”
She raised one arm.
The throbbing chest and shaky legs made it hard to stand.
“If you’re sorry, could you at least help me up?”
“…”
Even though she regained her senses, Rachel remained silent.
As I tried to stand up on my own, she approached.
“Ah, yes.”
Two beats late.
What could she possibly be thinking about to behave like this?
As Rachel approached and firmly grasped my hand to help me up.
I grinned bitterly.
“It’s revenge. Master.”
During the first sparring, the She had said.
Never be complacent.
Always be prepared because you never know when or where an attack will come from.
Just showing that I hadn’t forgotten that valuable lesson.
Surely, the greatest joy for a Master is to see their disciple properly using what they’ve been taught.
Of course.
She hadn’t expected the newbie’s blatant tackle.
Rachel’s reflexes were beyond human, after all.
Just packing a tiny bit of the desire to vent against the veteran who had gone all out in a PvP with a newbie, I immediately stood up and tripped Rachel.
But.
“…Huh?”
Contrary to the expectation that it would end in a feint, the trip was successful.
Rachel didn’t react.
The tackle had already started and couldn’t be stopped, and I hurriedly tried to let go of Rachel’s hand.
It seemed like something untoward might happen if I didn’t.
But, Rachel didn’t let go.
Our eyes met.
…Two beats late, finally realizing the situation.
Immediately after, her hand let go, but the situation had already moved towards its conclusion.
“Whoa.”
Like that.
Thud.
Rachel and I fell together.
……
My body overlaid above Rachel.
Rachel’s brow furrowed as she realized the situation.
Close enough to hear each other’s breathing.
A squishy, or rather touching, moment as the teacher and disciple looked at each other.
“Please keep your distance.”
“How am I supposed to protect you if I’m that far away?”
“I can do it from afar.”
“I’ve said it several times, but I really didn’t know you would fall for it.”
“I understand.”
“And it was you who didn’t let go of the hand. I definitely tried to let go and dodge.”
“Yes. I understand.”
…We argued all the way back to the guest house.
I had said it countless times, but there was no intention.
Of course, because I thought she would dodge.
And the moment she got caught by the leg sweep, I tried to let go and roll to the side.
It was just that my hand didn’t come free.
It’s unfair.
Somehow, since the first sparring, there have only been things to justify.
“I just carried out what the Master taught me.”
“I never taught you to feign a mistake to satisfy a desire.”
“There’s no such desire.”
“Yes. I understand.”
……
The conversation went in circles, and eventually, I gave up.
Who could win against the stubbornness of the unsmiling teacher, Rachel?
With Rachel taking extreme care even to close the gap of 1CM between us, we arrived at the guest house.
The evening sun was setting.
A tiring day despite doing nothing.
Now it would have been perfect to take a refreshing shower, have dinner, and fall asleep reading the novel recommended by Ariel.
Regrettably.
Old man Rendler seemed to have been anxiously waiting as he rushed over.
“Sir…! You weren’t at the training ground, where have you been?”
“Ah, I was at the outdoor training ground today since there was no training for the guards. Why, is someone waiting for me again?”
Judging by Rendler’s expression, it seemed something had happened at the guest house while I was away.
So, I asked him in a somewhat joking tone.
“Princess has been waiting for a while, and she left this note and went away…!”
“…What?”
My brow furrowed involuntarily at Rendler’s reply.
I took the note he handed me.
Fortunately, the sealed note hadn’t been drastically altered.
It was a new note, carelessly folded.
As if reflecting the mindset of the writer, it was just hastily folded.
“…What’s this?”
“I was just ordered to deliver it….”
I unfolded the note.
[Northwestern end of the Grand Duke’s castle, Perennial Snow Garden]
Hmm.
Is this.
A challenge?
les go