Jaden's world shifted, and he found himself back at the same spot he was at before leaving.

He looked around and didn't see Yuka anywhere near him.

"I was thinking too much..." he mumbled before he began walking towards his dorm.

A few minutes later, he reached the dorm. He pushed open the door and stepped in.

He walked into his bedroom and checked on the devouring pups, who were already asleep after being fed by Navin, before stepping into the bath.

He turned on the shower. The cold water washed off all the dust and sweat that was clinging to his body.

A few minutes later, he walked out of the bath with a towel wrapped around his waist and looked at himself in the mirror.

He stared into his blue eyes as he mumbled, "I have to find a way to get spells and martial arts... if I purchase them from the academy, it may make them suspicious of me. But if I don't buy it from the academy, it would be the same... how annoying."

He heaved a sigh and changed into his nightwear, a dark blue pyjama, before slipping into his comfortable bed and falling into the sweet embrace of sleep.

The birds chirped as the warm sunlight of morning streamed into the training centre.

Jaden had his arms clasped behind his back as he stared at the person before him.

A slight smile appeared on Maria's face. She questioned, "Did you read the manual I gave you yesterday?"

He replied with a nod, "I did, Miss Maria."

"Good. Do you remember what I said a few hours ago?" She asked as she circled him.

"I do," he replied without turning his head.

"Great, so what had I asked of you?" She questioned.

"You had asked me to empty all of my mana so I could train my sword," he replied.

"Do you have any mana in your mana core, right now?" She questioned as she stopped behind him.

He looked at the blue screen before him and replied,

[You have slain an E-rank enemy.]

[Experience +8 (Kill via summon)]

[Ding!]

[Host has levelled up!]

[Host has reached level 22!]

[Host does not have enough mana to continue the summon — Dark Armoured Spider.]

[Host does not have enough mana to continue the summon — Frostbear.]

[Host does not have enough mana to continue the summon — Earthen Boar.]

"I have."

"Alright then, take out your sword," Maria commanded. She raised her hand, and a silver blob appeared on it.

The silver blob rippled before it stretched and wiggled into the shape of a knight's sword.

He looked at the sword, then at her, and asked, "You are going to use that?"

"Yep. We are both going to use our weapons. I did see that ice-like sword when I first saw you, but never asked about it, must've slipped out of my mind," she replied with a faint smile.

His expression hardened at her words, 'I didn't think of that...' he thought sombrely before lifting his hand.

A glistening blue liquid slithered out of his hand and took the form of a knight's sword.

"Let us start," she said as she raised her sword and stepped forward.

He replied in kind and raised his sword, his eyes narrowing in caution.

"Your current sword skills are comparatively better than most second years, but not good enough," she said while circling him with her sword, ready to attack.

He didn't react to her words and focused on the sword while also listening to her criticism.

"Your style is suited to kill beasts. You use magic to appear near them in an instant and throw a heavy blow," she took a step forward and swung at him.

Swish...

He blocked the attack.

Thuk...

She smiled slightly, spun her sword-holding wrist and hit the other side of his sword.

Ting...

He took a step back and saw her take another step forward. He swung vertically at her—

Swoosh...

—but she dodged it by side-stepping.

"Most beasts don't predict attacks, nor do they learn from their predecessor like us. That's why your style may work on them, but it can never work on trained humans," she said and kicked his sword before throwing a horizontal slash at his waist.

Swish...

He swung his sword in position and blocked the attack—

Thk...

—but he was sent a few steps back just from the strength behind the attack.

"It may even work on some nightmares because they like to break us mentally instead of physically, but... it won't work on those who are out to kill you," she said while swinging her sword in an arc at his chest.

Swoosh...

He parried the attack, swung at her left arm, but she easily blocked it and spoke, "Let's start for real."

A frown dragged on his face. He mumbled, "What?"

She smiled and began to attack him without stopping. Vertical slash, horizontal slash, heavy swing, soft swing — she threw everything at him.

Swish... Swoosh... Swish... Swoosh...

He side-stepped at the vertical slash, blocked the horizontal slash with the flat side, parried the heavy swing and dodged the soft swing by stepping back.

Maria continued her attacks, and he blocked a few strikes of hers like that until the tip of her sword rested before his pretty neck.

"As you can see, if I push you hard enough, you won't be able to use your main sword art, which is nothing but a big swing with all of your strength," she muttered before sheathing her sword.

Click...

"But not all hope is lost... no, that would be an exaggeration. There is no problem at all, seeing how much you have improved just from this light spar, I can guarantee that it wouldn't even take you a week to reach the level of other students of S0," she said with a clap.

______

Please! Add a Review so I can know your thoughts about the story.

Goals

• 100 power stones = Extra 1 chapter.

• 100 golden tickets = Extra 1 chapter.

• 100 collections = Extra 1 chapter.

• Golden Castle = Extra 5 chapters.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.