[Arc 1]Chapter 6

Ryu Lions' POV

It's been a whole week since my encounter with my student - Phaes - and my continued tutelage.

If I were to describe Phaes Urian as something, then it would be a sponge. He is both hardworking and determined, and also has the talent.

On the first day of his tutelage, he already knew how to properly swing his sword and if I'm to be honest then I would definitely say that it shocked me. However, there's something I noticed when he showed me his training routine. It's too textbook.

His swordsmanship was too mechanical and it was like he was an automata, to be honest it felt like he was wasting his talent. There was only one way to solve this problem and that was experience.

My student, Phaes, relied too much on the technicalities and this led him to be too easy to read. So, I showed him his inferiority by dueling in the gardens.

Mia gave me permission to use the garden that wasn't fully built, because she saw what was in his eyes. It was a fire.

Phaes was determined, almost too determined. This level of will inspired even me to train even harder, however this may have been Mia's plan. Mia loves money, it's a given fact. However, her letting us use the gardens as something like a public training grounds for only him and me made me curious, but then I realised why. It was the spectators.

On the first day, it was just a couple of drunkards. On the second day, it was a small group. On the third day, it was a crowd. On the fourth day, it was a whole familia. On the fifth day, it was 3 familias. On the sixth day, it was 5 familias, and on the last day it was 10 familias.

Too be honest, it was too crowded. There were many types of people who spectated our training. The jealous drunkards, the inspired kids, the astonished civilians and the grinning adventurers. He attracted so many people that even bards began to gather.

However, I knew one fact. This was probably Mia's goal. She said I could only train him, if I trained him in the garden. I trained him in the garden and then what happens? Money happens, that's what. We are getting more customers than usual due to them all wanting to spectate Phaes' growth.

I usually wouldn't complain, however having this much spectators makes me nervous because I don't want anyone to realise my true identity. I would at the very least like to wear a mask, however Mia clearly stated that I could only train him in our bar's uniform.

Now then, back on topic to Phaes' growth. At first it took him a while to forget his mechanical habits, however when he ditched his mechanical habits, he was a force to be reckoned with.

He fights like a true adventurer. He's always analysing my next move, he kicks when he feels there will be no casualties, he makes his decisions on the spot, he switches attack patterns to not be read and the best thing about this? He has an unflinching poker face.

He somewhat reminds me of Ais, he has an undying fire in his eyes and he can contain that blazing hot fire. Very similar to Ais, indeed. If you told me he was Ais' long lost brother, then I could only do nothing but agree.

On the third day of his training, I wanted to know if he could incorporate any [Magic] in his fighting style. He nodded and summoned a spell called [Lightning Clad] and contrary to its name, it's an attributeless spell. If you ask me, a more accurate name for [Lightning Clad] would be [Mana Clad] as it can change element if he obtains the ability of another element.

At first he was absolutely terrible beyond words, at incorporating his [Magic] in his fighting style - to the point I wanted to tell him to forget [Magic] altogether - however after a whole day of training he was finally getting the hang of it.

Remember when I referred to him as a sponge? Well, this is the main reason which leads me to believe that.

No matter how many times he gets knocked down he'll always stand back up with an everlasting fire, and learn from it. It's as if he has a clear goal in mind that he's not willing to forsake. To be honest, I frequently wonder what motivates him.

His appearance is slightly comedic, though. I mean, his eyes are that of an old cat however his will power is that of a lioness trying to protect its cubs.

Ah, this may be late to mention however I'm also educating him. Turns out his amnesia had completely wiped even his knowledge of the basic affairs, such as how much valis is worth. His literacy, mathematics, science, theory and so on were off the charts, however his general knowledge, geographic knowledge and knowledge of history were in utter shambles. His manners were limited to simple 'hello' and 'good bye', so I had to teach him etiquette and the female spectators were teaching him how to dance in his free time. His schedule was absolutely packed. I need to remember to give a reward, don't I?

I also had to teach him dungeon knowledge, cultures of different races, magic swords and various other things. I didn't teach him about... um... sexual matters, I don't have the will power to even attempt. Especially while looking at his innocent face.

Hephaestus usually comes to spectate every now and then. Also, while we're off topic I'll explain how he uses his free time.

In his free time he commutes with the citizens, obtains tips and advice from adventurers, gives tips and tricks on how to make food taste even better to May - our cook - and personally I think he's the person who's truly understood May the most, because May is depressive and shy however she earnestly worries about what people think of her cooking.

Oh, back onto the topic at hand. He also gains information from the housewives and listens to what bards sing, and is fond of various stories. There was one story that he felt was odd though, and that was the story of Argonaut.

According to him, he says that it feels like the story is intentionally missing lots of the important information and tries to make his tale into one of comedy, rather than one of tragedy.

There was some truth to this as it did feel incomplete, and the purpose of this tale was to ignite hope and determination into the hearts of people.

After all, he was called Argonaut - The Dawn, as he was the one who started the era of heroes and rebellion against the monsters.

Other than that, he also trains on how to be a smith according to Goddess Hephaestus because he now has the muscular strength to hold a hammer.

From what I've heard, his workmanship is rated above average, however I'm sure, no, I believe that with his hard working nature he can become the best of blacksmiths.

There is one question that I still can't erase about this old - but youthful - cat.

'What's his goal?'

Like this, three months passed by.