Training

Yue and I spent a few weeks traveling around Ruberios' outskirts, gaining money and information about the world before we moved onto another country.

Despite having received a formal royal education, Yue didn't remember much about countries outside of Ruberios, so I tried to gather as much information as we could through the Adventurer's Guild while taking odd jobs and the occasional monster-slaying quest.

Meanwhile, my own progress was rapid. Utilizing [World Sage] I was able to much more efficiently refine my body and now I looked to be about 16 or 17 years old with my height being around 180cm (~5ft10in). I was MUCH more handsome, so much so that Yue was constantly having to cling to me to keep other women away.

At least, that was her excuse.

More importantly, I dramatically increased my own magicule reserves in a VERY short amount of time. If I were to guess, I'd say I was roughly A-Rank, probably around where Benimaru was in terms of power fresh after being named by Rimuru in canon, if not a bit weaker.

I had also started crafting my own spells using [Ancient Magic Archive] and now had several which could give even high-level Majin a run for their money. Most of them focused on the usage of [Gravity Magic] and [Spatial Magic] to slice up or crush my enemies with ruthless force.

Yue and I had our rank increased to Beginner adventurers from Novice when we brought back proof of having wiped out an entire Orc settlement in Ruberios' foothills, much to the shock of the guild at the time.

I bought a straight-blade sword from an older retiring adventurer shortly afterward with the money. It was a good sword, made even better by the custom enchantments I added to it with [Creation Magic]. I can now say with certainty that this weapon is the best non-dwarven-made weapon in the West. Its got enchantments with spatial magic to cut better and I even added auto-magic-haki to it so I can strike intangible enemies with it. Unfortunately, the weapon is made of only steel, not magisteel, so it's not as good as it could be.

That didn't matter to me though. I was really excited for trying it out, but Yue burst my bubble when she asked if I even knew how to use a sword to begin with.

I did not.

Which is what led us to this place. It's the home of the former local knight's commander. Apparently, she was a fantastic swordswoman when she was younger but she was injured on one of her monster extermination hunts and, for some mysterious reason, refused to fight anymore after that. Since then, she had secluded herself up in the mountains on the outskirts of the Kingdom and hadn't been seen since.

Yue remarked that when she was younger, her mother wanted her to train under this woman due to her unparalleled skill but she retired and secluded herself before Yue was old enough. Yue became powerful enough as it was with just magic, so the issue was never brought back up.

As I walked up the small and well-traveled dirt path towards the cabin in the woods, I couldn't help but notice the overgrowth on the path. Surely no human woman, especially an older woman, would be able to live in complete isolation. She would need to go into town for food or, at least, alcohol.

I stopped halfway up the steps and looked towards Yue who was floating beside me. "You sure this woman is still alive? I know how much old soldiers like drinking, especially when something traumatic happens to them, but this path looks like it hasn't been used in years." I said.

"I don't really know. She may be dead but the villagers said she comes down from the mountain every now and then to get things like nails and arrowheads, so she probably lives a self-sufficient lifestyle. It's possible she doesn't drink at all." Yue replied.

"Well okay then..." I said as I continued forward. About half an hour later we finally arrived at a small wood cabin nestled in a small cliffside with a small, well-maintained wooden fence gate. I could see from the gate that the cabin had a large garden, a small primitive greenhouse, and a sandy training lot with three worn training dummies, all covered in dull dents and nicks from where they were battered during training.

"Hello?" I called out. Other protagonists would have entered the house as soon as they saw it which would probably get them sliced up by the girl if not for their plot armor, but I wasn't so dumb.

I waited a few seconds and heard a shuffling from the home. A shadow brushed past the window before making its way to a door. After a moment, an older woman, probably in her fifties, opened the door.

She had long faded white and grey hair that with pale blue eyes and a tired and leathery face. She was lean and still had a well-built body for her age, but was well past her prime. She was wearing an old and tattered white cotton shirt with tan pants. An ornate rapier was hanging from her waist. She looked at me with a little bit of annoyance as she probably wasn't expecting visitors. I could also tell she was ready to pounce on us if we were a threat from her posture.

"What do you want? I ain't got no money and I don't need to buy anything, so you should just scram before it gets too dark." She said.

"Are you Miss Alice the Sword Maiden?" I asked

Her posture quickly straightened and she became a bit more serious, though she hid her preparedness well. "What of it? I'm retired." She replied

"I thought so. I won't waste any of your time then... Please train my in the art of the sword!" I said while I bowed my head.

She looked at me shocked for a few moments before regaining her bearing. "You look like a good kid, so let me give you a piece of advice. Go home. You don't want anything to do with me." She said with a stern voice.

"Please give me the chance to prove myself to you," I said, still not leaving my bowed pose.

"You're a stubborn one. Tell me, why me? There are plenty of other trainers in Ruberios who would accept you. A lot of women would too, given your appearance." She said.

"If I am going to learn swordsmanship from anyone, then I want it to be from the best. Plus, you have a lot of combat experience besting monsters most swordsmen and women would sooner turn tail and run away from." I said.

She seemed to be in thought for a while since she stopped talking but she sighed and told me "Raise your head." So I did so.

"I won't train just anyone you know. I want my disciple to have some sort of talent with the weapon and have a baseline of strength. I can tell your powerful, more powerful than myself right now, but your nothing compared to my prime. Also, I can also tell you're a mage, so why learn swordsmanship?" She asked

"I wish to become stronger. Strong enough that no one can dictate to me and strong enough to be free of the shackles my weakness holds me to. In order to do that, I must learn more than just magic." I say.

"Hmm... Alright. Draw your weapon. I'll be coming after you with my rapier. If you impress me, then I will train you." She says.

I raise my head and nod in thanks before gripping my weapon. "Yue stay out of this. I want to-"

I am interrupted mid-sentence just as I begin unsheathing the blade, as my instincts scream at me to move, so I tilt my entire body to the left, narrowly avoiding her lightning-fast strike. I flip to the side and fully unsheath my weapon as I land. She decided to not pure me after her first lunge.

"Oy! That was dirty!" I say as I run up to her, not caring about studying my opponent for weaknesses or details. Her battle instincts, which were honed over hundreds of battles, have long since eliminated such weaknesses so there isn't a point. I also want to earn her respect, so it isn't feasible to use my OP Magic to win.

She smirks to me, clearly aware I know why she attacked and happy I didn't use magic. "In battle, your opponent isn't going to wait on you," she says as we cross blades once again.

We exchange several strikes and I am gradually finding my rhythm after a few strikes. She notices this and swaps her strategy by throwing in faints, all of which I fall for as I am too inexperienced to notice. I end up getting cut up from a few shallow cuts before deciding to jump away.

"*Huff Huff* You're strong for an older lady, I'll give you that," I say as I move in to engage once more. I throw a flurry of attacks with steadily increasing aggression and intensity.

'I am much younger than my opponent, so I should use my superior stamina and strength to my advantage' I think as I swing again at the woman who narrowly dodges. She has been seemingly 'dancing' around my attacks, dodging each one with minimal movement and conserving her stamina.

*Clang**Clash**Clang*

We each strike then perry each other's strikes but I am unable to penetrate her defenses or even land a scratch on her. She, on the other hand, has yet to become serious, as evidenced by the fact she was smiling the whole time and taking me lightly.

After another exchange of blows, we are both blown back several meters, but while she slides back onto the oft sandy earth, I slide backward off the side of the hill and stumble a bit. In that moment, I knew the fight was over as she dropped down into a stance ready to pounce.

"<Water Streaming Neddle Dance>" She calls out as she surges forth, water accumulating on her blade and around her in an aura similar to the Kimetsu no Yaiba breathing techniques.

Her rapier soon finds its way towards my head but stops only a millimeter away from my neck. "It's my win," she says a little happy.

"T-that it is..." I say.

Yue runs up to me and begins bandaging my wounds as Alice sheaths her rapier and turns towards her house. "I had fun. You don't have a proper style yet, but you've at least got some good talent." She says as she walks away.

"Does that mean..." Yue asks

"Yes, I shall train you, but you've got to help me with something when your training is complete." She says as she stops.

"So long as it doesn't violate my morals and is something I can do, then I shall do it." I say.

"Good. Come on in. Rest for tomorrow, you won't be getting a good night's sleep for a long time." She explains and I happily follow after her.