Chapter VI - Progress (part 1)

"Hey, little lady! Feeling better?"

The tester, Jrake, said to me as soon as I entered the back arena.

He was polishing his gigantic sword, as usual. Right next to him is an empty lunch box, so it seems like he just had his lunch. But then again, so did I.

Just like before, he was naked on top. Seeing his muscles now made me wonder if girls would go crazy as soon as they saw his muscles. His bald head is reflecting the afternoon sunlight so nicely, that I could go blind seeing it.

Does he not have a shirt? Are there no rules about men not covering their tops?

"Yeah, thank you for picking me up from the floor."

I continued making my way towards him while chatting. From the looks of it, he really doesn't mind having me as company.

"Well, no problem there. You are quite light. Besides, I would feel bad if you somehow died just after I left the arena. Haha!"

He chuckled at his own joke. That's dark, dude…

"Well, that's… I won't die just from that."

"Yeah, right. Come over here for a second."

He got up and ditched his sword at the bench, walking towards the weapon rack. I followed right behind him as he picked up a sword from the rack. 

I know that sword. I think that's the sword that I used when I was being tested by him.

"This is the sword you used before, right?"

He gave me the sword, and I had to hold it with both my hands since it was too heavy.

"Umm, yeah?"

"Keep it."

"... Huh?"

I became very confused, but then he gave me an explanation.

"You need it more than the Office does. Aside from that, what's an adventurer without a weapon? Trust me, even if all you do is pick herbs or flowers for your daily missions, it could still save your life someday."

But it's… it belongs to the Office. How can I just take it?

"If it makes you feel better, I'll buy the sword from the Office."

"... I can't have that as well. You're already helping me by allowing me to be here, I can't have you use your money--"

"It's between that sword you're holding or that one."

He said while pointing at the blade on the bench, his very own sword that's two meters long and half a meter thick. The same sword he kept on polishing, that can easily reach hundreds of kilograms in weight.

… I'm definitely not lifting that one.

I turned to him, and he tilted his head at me, wondering if I still wanted to challenge him on this topic.

"Fine, fine... I'll take it."

After I accepted it, Jrake grinned widely. He has completely changed my answer that easily. I'm quite ashamed, but thankful at the same time.

I looked at the sword in my hands again, accepting the fact that it is my own sword now. 

The length of the sword is actually quite perfect for me, it's just unfortunate that it's still too heavy for me.

But with time, I can definitely lift it. By training over and over again, there's no chance that in the future, I'm still having this much difficulty just lifting it.

I gave the sword some thought again, and I turned to Jrake again with a grin.

"I knew it, I still don't feel like taking this..."

Why am I so timid…?

I thought Jrake would explode at me for being so timid. But surprisingly, he instead explained things even better than before.

"Haven't Klane told you anything? All adventurers are family. We are one. So don't feel bad asking for help, or when you are receiving one. Seriously, we did it because we wanted to, not because we were forced to."

His words… are exactly what she said.

"So, take it. You need it more than we do."

"... All right. I'll take it."

"Great!"

This time he laughed louder, which makes me very suspicious as to what kind of person he is. He didn't explode at me for continuously rejecting his kindness, and I wondered if the people here are just so nice.

Other than that… I have one more suspicion.

"Were you by any chance eavesdropping outside of the room?"

I asked him while trying to swing the sword in the air. He just lifted his shoulder and turned around, as if that question meant nothing to him.

He walked towards his sword at the bench and picked it up. He placed it on his shoulder as he turned to me with a grin.

"Wowowowow, wait! What are we--"

"If you want to get that body healthy quickly, we need to get started early. Now, get ready!"

Oh boy… Here we go.

My training to become healthy again… has officially begun.

I tried lifting the sword so that it's straight with my body, on my right. It's still quite heavy, but I can feel myself becoming a knight, so I tried very hard not to overthink the weight.

I focused more on the 'Cool' aspect of this action, rather than how tired it actually is. Surprisingly, this helps a lot, as I won't mind lifting even the heaviest sword just to be cool.

Seeing me forming a pose, Jrake lifted one eyebrow, as if mocking me. The taunting is definitely working, because I chuckled madly at him.

"... I'm ready."

I said to him, and he instantly formed a stance. It took me a few seconds to form my pose, but it took him faster than I blinked. 

"Then, here I go!"

By the time he spoke, he was already dashing at me.

As soon as he got close, he did a long slash with his giant sword. I didn't even have time to think twice, so I hurriedly jumped to the left, evading that huge attack. 

ZRIINGGG!!!!!!

The massive sword destroyed the dusty dirt floor, creating a rather long slash mark on the ground. I couldn't imagine having received an attack like that on my body, because I will just get sliced in half cleanly.

Imagining my body would get sliced in half again made me shiver, but I realize that this is no time to be scared.

Jrake lifted the sword again, and this time, it's a side slash. His move was very quick as well, which did not give me much time to think about what I needed to do.

It is very difficult to do dodging while holding a sword, especially when the said sword is so heavy.

Damn it! Why is this sword so god damn heavy!? I would've dodged it easily if it wasn't the sword slowing me down.

But I have to get used to this. This is my sword now, I will fight with it in the future.

I can't just keep dodging. This time, I will use my sword. 

As Jrake's blade cut the wind towards my neck, I lifted my sword. This is my first time defending against an attack using my blade, so I didn't know how heavy the attack would be. 

I put my right leg back and left leg forward. I also lowered my hip, and leaned my body forward. The stance to receive a heavy attack, as thought by my karate teacher.

FTANNNGGGGG!!!

His blade struck mine with a very powerful force and speed, and I defended successfully. 

But, it was a little too powerful… as I'm flying in the air right now.

I can see everything happening around me in slow motion. How Jrake was landing his foot after the attack, and also how I'm literally in the air, falling backwards with almost no balance on me.

Right foot… Land it!

SHREKK!!!!!

My right foot thankfully was able to land first, instead of other parts of my body. Followed by that was my left foot, and I immediately used the two of them to balance every part of my body.

I successfully landed, which surprised me that I was that athletic. Right in front of me, Jrake looked very surprised that I took his heavy attack perfectly.

"Woah…! You took that hit head on!"

Yeah…? Yeah. I did.

But still, it's pissing me off.

Even with my strongest defensive stance, I still got blown away by his sideways slash. This is bull.

Jrake noticed my movement just now. He knows that being able to tank an attack like that wasn't simple, and he felt that what I just did was amazing. 

His eyes are looking at me widely while his smirk is telling me to come. His pose forms a defensive one, which means he is preparing for an attack.

He is challenging me to attack him.

So, I accepted his challenge.

This time, I'm the one rushing. I ran towards him with the highest speed I could while holding the sword. Once I'm close, I swung my sword.

TANG!!

He defended with his sword just nicely, but he didn't get flown backwards like I did. Which made sense, because his build is literally twice the size of mine.

At least now, this is starting to look more like a sword fight than simply bullying.

TANG!!

FTANNGG!!!

Swing after swing, I tried to land a hit on him. But he defended every single swing of mine pretty easily by moving his sword slightly. If anyone is watching this, they can easily tell that the level gap between the two of us is very far.

A lot of swings later, I'm starting to run out of breath, but I kept on swinging anyway.

I also tried using my whole body during the attacks, to obtain the momentum right. I learned that earlier this noon, when I was being tested by him to become an adventurer. That way, my hits will be multiple times stronger.

As I keep on swinging using these techniques, I can see a slight change. Jrake's sword was moving way more now than before.

During the first few sword clashes, Jrake didn't move his blade that much. All he did was just move it slightly to cover. And now, it's like he is openly trying to defend. 

Is he getting tired? Is something wrong with his stomach?

I knew that something was up, so I decided that we should make some distance so we can talk.

I gave all my energy to this last hit.

FTANNGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!

The strike just now struck his sword powerfully, and Jrake was pushed backwards as a result. Seeing him jump backwards like that made me jump backwards as well, but I nearly lost my balance because I was too tired.

I fell on my butt due to the lack of energy on my legs, and I quickly tried catching my breath.

As I was taking some heavy breathings, I turned one eye towards him.

Why is he... Smiling?

"Why are you... smiling??"

I said while trying to catch my breath. But unlike me, he is breathing pretty easily over there.

"I'm not sure. Why are you?"

… What??

I touched my face with my left hand that I didn't realize was dirty, and I found that my mouth was curled.

I am smiling…? How? And why?

All I did was just hit my swords with someone else's. It's nothing compared to those sword battles I saw in movies. So why am I grinning at these sensations?

"You are enjoying this."

He said as he thrusted his gigantic sword to the ground, and used it to bear his weight.

"Sometimes, when one battles another, they tend to find pleasure in the thrill. People like this... are called 'Battle Addicts'."

Battle addicts… huh?

"So… what? Am I one of... them?..."

As I talked, my arms gave in. I was previously supporting my body by leaning to my arms, but it gave in and my body fell backwards. Seems like this is my limit.

"Maybe... If only you had a healthier body, you might be in a bigger arena right now."

"Huh... Hahah..."

Such a funny thing… If only I'm healthier, I would probably be fighting him for hours with no end. But the reality is, that simple spar just now probably took no more than five minutes.

I turned to Jrake again, and he was already placing his sword on his shoulder.

"That's all for now, let's continue our training tomorrow. Just take it easy for tonight and rest. Check your magic points again in the morning with Klane, then we will train again."

Jrake then walked towards his favorite bench and sat down again. And while I was trying to get up limply, he was studying his blade. From his expression, looks like something was up.

"You did... quite the damage here."

"I… I did?"

I walked closer, and I arrived right by his side to look at the blade. There's a bunch of small dents on his gigantic sword, almost as if his sword just went through a heavy and rough combat. 

Did I really do all of those? How were the weak and fragile arms of mine capable of causing such damage?

"There's actually something that I wanted to ask of you."

He said to me, which made me turn to him.

"Have you truly never wielded a weapon before? Not even a knife, or a sword?"

Hearing his question, I realized that I have been showing a little too much of my knowledge.

While it is true that I have not held a single sword before, it doesn't change the fact that I have seen a lot of action scenes in movies that involve them. Samurai, light sabers, even knights from the medieval era fighting with a similar sword that I am holding.

Despite never holding a weapon before, I am still knowledgeable when it comes to swords and close combat. It was because I have seen a lot of those scenes, that I know some of the moves and tricks that a professional sword master should be able to do.

So… how do I answer him?

"Maybe… it was because I have seen swords in plays before?"

"Where did you see them?"

Ah… crap.

"Um… my home town?"

I answered that a little awkwardly, which made Jrake realize that I am hiding something. Noticing that, he let out a long sigh.

"All right, all right. Forget what I asked."

I left the arena immediately after apologizing to him, because I don't want him to keep asking.

The lobby of the Adventurers Office seemed to be quite crowded, so I hurriedly went back upstairs to my room without meeting anyone, and immediately jumped to my bed. 

God… I'm so wasted.

Right now, I can't do anything. I didn't know what to do, and I had no one to talk to.

I tried meditating, as Klane suggested to me, but it's just not working. I don't even know the first thing about meditating, and even if I know how to, I couldn't get the perfect silence and calmness. 

What I want isn't calm and meditation. I want more sword swings!

Damn, maybe I am a battle addict. Jrake is right, if only I have a healthier body, I would be in a ring by now, fighting like a gladiator. Not sitting around in the room like someone sick.

I ended up staying in the room doing nothing. It didn't take long until sundown arrived, and a loud bell rang from one of the buildings outside.

What the hell was that bell?

It was so loud, where the entire kingdom could probably hear it. There's more than one bell being rung at the same time.

I closed my ears because one of them was actually very close to the office building. And after about half a minute, the bell stopped ringing.

Klane came knocking a few minutes after the bells rang, and she came just in time right before I started to go insane.

And she brought... A book?