Chapter 399

Keith smiled at the nervous young girl who was slightly fidgeting as she stood in front of him.

"I am sorry..." She apologised again for the broken sword and kept her head lowered as she felt really depressed.

Ingvild was the only one who ended up breaking their sword, and that too only on the second day of their training.

It was not that the rest of the girls were doing much better. Most of their Swords were already chipped beyond repair, and some were on the verge of breaking apart.

Since none of them had ever used whetstone before, the girls were very flustered when the first thing Keith asked them to do in the morning was to whet their Swords. It was a real struggle for some.

"A weapon that you hold in your hand must be handled with care. You must always keep in mind its limits." He gently said. "It could decide the outcome of the battle and may very well end up being the defining line between life and death."

"Don't we have our Aura to protect it?" She genuinely asked as she raised her head, and he smiled some more.

"Do you have an unlimited supply of Aura?" He asked back, and she frowned before lowering her head again. "A weapon is always a boon. And no matter how strong you become, you will find people wielding weapons, some of which would be outrageously powerful. However, a weapon would always have its limits, and therefore, the Wielder must always remain conscious about it."

She nodded her head in understanding and then awaited the punishment.

"Your punishment is that you can not train today and will help me pick arrows for my Archery Practice." He said, and she curiously raised her head, wondering how was this even a punishment.

However, Keith did not bother explaining himself and walked to the other side of the Central Lawn, where he had set up Archery Targets for the day.

Ingvild frowned when he suddenly brought out a bow and a single arrow with a star tip, and then he took his position and drew.

*Swish*

Her eyes winded at how fast the arrow left the bow, and then her ears picked up on the sound of it embedding itself in the target, three hundred metres away from their position.

"Fetch." He ordered, and she looked at him in surprise before she realised how cruel of a punishment it was.

She gave him a pleading look, but he narrowed his eyes at her.

"You have ten seconds." He told her, and she was off as soon as his words finished.

The girls, who were practising their Sword felt a little scared at seeing Ingvild being made to fetch the arrow over and over again, and she was pretty much constantly running back and forth between targets to pick up the same arrow.

Hours passed, and poor Ingvild was looking quite worn out now.

"You are cruel!" Qingyue could not help but voice out her dissatisfaction, and her heart skipped a beat when he lowered his bow and turned to look at her.

"Come here." He lightly said, and even from such a distance, she heard him clearly.

She frowned a little, but then obediently walked over to him, glaring at him, and her eyes turned a little misty when she saw him bring out another arrow.

"You will be fetching this one for the rest of the day," Keith told her and turned to aim, drawing the bow and letting it go. "10 seconds." He reminded her.

Now, Ingvild was not alone in her punishment as Qingyue ran back and forth with her.

The cruel him even forbade them to help out each other, and they were only allowed to touch their respective arrows.

Their pitiful predicament terrified the girls who were trying their best to focus on their training, now a lot more careful with their practice and mindful of their Swords.

Keith had already helped each one of them by guiding them a little on their stances, and so, today, they were only working on improving the swing of their Swords.

"I am bored." He thoughtfully pouted before he aimed the arrow at the sky, and Qingyue tried her best to not lash out at him as she understood what was going to happen.

*Swish*

"Catch it, and I will end your punishment." He said, and she looked at him in surprise before she chased after the arrow.

Ingvild grabbed the chance to catch her breath, and they only had to wait for a couple of minutes before Qingyue returned, holding the arrow in her hand.

She was frowning, and it was because she had failed to catch the arrow, and Keith smiled at her.

"Want to try again or do you want to continue playing Fetch?" He playfully asked, and she nodded her head. "Very well." He nodded appreciatively as he took the arrow from her hand and aimed it at the sky again.

*Swish*

This time, Qingyue was off as soon as he set the arrow loose, and she pushed herself to her limits as she tried to keep up with its speed. In the end, she failed to catch it again, but it was a narrow call.

she returned and handed him the arrow, feeling a lot more determined now.

"Again."

"Alright." He chuckled as he set the arrow on its course again, and as soon as Qingyue left, he looked at the little Carmilla Princess by his side, who had recovered a little. "You too." He said as he aimed the other arrow in a different direction and set it loose.

Ingvild rushed after it, leaving a blur behind, and Keith devilishly smiled in her direction.

It took the girls several rounds to finally realise that something was amiss, and why they always failed at the very last moment.

Keith was likely controlling the course of the Arrow, even though they did not know how, and he was manipulating the speeds as well.

"I may have been tweaking the speed a little. After all, you are failing, and I need to raise the punishment." He admitted to it when Qingyue confronted him about it, and both the girls glared at him.

"I am not doing it!" The grey-eyed girl declared, and her heart felt constricted when Keith just smiled at her. "What?"

"You can go and take some rest inside the Palace."

His words made her frown, and she stayed in her place, looking into his eyes.

"I have no interest in teaching disobedient students." He told her, and as angry as his words made her, she only lowered her head and tried her best to control her emotions. "If you want me to teach you, you will do as I tell you to. And you will complete your punishment."

He gave her a few seconds to compose herself and then asked her if she wanted to learn from him or not.

"I will do it." She answered, and looked him in the eyes, not hiding her anger that was directed at him.

"Good girl." He chuckled, and then put the bow and arrows back inside his Storage Ring. "Well then, let's spar." He suddenly said, and both Ingvild and Qingyue looked at him in confusion.

"If either of you manages to tap me anywhere on my body, I will allow you to continue with your Sword Training."

The two were not really thrilled at the idea as they were already very tired. More training was not what they wanted right now.

However, they did not have any choice in this matter if they wished to have him teach them.

"To sweeten things up for you, I won't use my Aura, but you are allowed to use yours."

"Okay." Qingyue readily nodded her head, thinking in her mind that she would teach him a lesson for toying with them so much.

The two girls glanced at each other and then rushed at him, intending to pincer him, but to their disbelief, Keith suddenly jumped high in the air, and when Ingvild tried to follow after him, she was met by an axe kick, which sent her crashing into the ground.

When Qingyue reached him, he gracefully twisted himself in the air, using the force of her punch to manoeuvre himself and get behind her, and then he punched back.

"What?!" She exclaimed when she saw her Aura Defence start tearing all because of the raw strength behind his punch, and then the force made her crash into the ground as well.

"Not fun. Too weak." He nonchalantly said, and neither of them liked his attitude as they rushed at him again.

Qingyue felt humiliated when she realised that even with all her Aura, she could not manage to land a simple tap on him. Today, she finally saw the disparity between their strengths, and needless to say, she did not feel well about it.

For someone who wanted to stand next to him, and become his strength, she was pathetically weak when compared to him.

Ingvild, on the other hand, enjoyed their spar a lot. She was sad at failing at the task, but she was still smiling as she had a lot of fun and did not mind losing. Instead, she was quite excited to get a look at how strong Keith really was.

When the day ended, Keith stood with Qingyue and Ingvild as they watched each girl show them the result of their day's training, and it only made Qingyue feel more low as she realised that they had all improved a little.

"Hmph! You made us an example and forced the rest to do better." She complained, having understood his intentions, and he turned to smile at her before looking at Ingvild.

"Are you upset too?"

"No." She shook her head. "I feel like I have improved on my speed today, and the spar was fun." She excitedly smiled at him, and Qingyue stilled for a moment at her words.

"Your mind is not clear enough, Yue." He told her but did not say anything more to her.

Everyone was extremely tired after the day-long training, but Keith still refused to cook and made them prepare a meal.

And it was the day when everyone unanimously agreed that he was a cruel teacher.

"But I am still a good teacher." He shrugged, not really paying any heed to their complaints. "Wake up early tomorrow." He told them when he left the table after their meal, and Amira and Reina could not hold back their tears at his words.

The two subconsciously looked at Diana, who just got up and smiled at them.

"Good luck, and Good night!"

And she left them feeling betrayed.