Episode(30)

Episode(30): Training

SOVEOEIGN OF DEATH~(30)

Royal Palace.

In the second palace where the heroes were stationed to reside before getting accustomed to this world. The second palace had a number of 150 rooms and was so extremely large it was able to accommodate and cater to all the heroes with ease.

Thanks to this, there wasn't much issue with accommodations.

Aside from the fact that the girls and boys both had different living quarters and were divided into two sections there wasn't much to complain about.

On the training ground adjacent to the women's section of the palace, Akane Fujimura was hard at work in training her skills.

It was already afternoon yet she had been training nonstop ever since morning and she was completely and wholly focused on mastering her skills. 

Before her, a beautiful knight with long blonde hair and purple gemlike eyes took her attacks one after the other with a calm and contemplative expression on her face. This was Akane's instructor, the commander knight of the royal army Mavis.

Ever since Akane had come to this world, Mavis was scheduled to be her instructor randomly by a draw of lots. 

Since there were a lot of the heroes it'd have been hard to go through a selective process of each of their strength and weaknesses to match them to a respective mentor so the princess just decided to assign the roles randomly.

Either way, when Akane first saw the knight before her and heard of her achievements and status she could only think she had won the lottery.

In an unfamiliar world, she would much rather have a beauty as her mentor than a guy she didn't even know. It wasn't that she hated men, however as a girl who experienced a lot she wasn't too naïve. 

At any rate she was happy to have this lady as her mentor.

Her joy didn't seem to end after that either. That was because Mavis was indeed a proper teacher that analyzed her strengths and flaws and outlined them and ways to correct them. She was even knowledgeable in history and facts that many others couldn't answer at all.

What better could Akane ask for?

She also knew that this world wasn't just a fantasy world like in novels and games. Survival here was key and the only way to do so was to gain strength to make sure you could survive the flames of battle that may erupt at any moment.

She could never lower her guard or the very moment she became a lazy slug some disaster may strike that very moment.

So she made sure to never slack on her training. She would train every day without fail no matter whether it was sunny or raining. To her, slacking off simply meant waiting for death.

This also seemed to give Mavis a better impression of her thus the two became more than mentor and mentee and had advanced to being good friends.

[Haa!!!]

Akane rushed forward with a leap and drew a vertical trajectory slashing her dagger down at her opponent. Her attack was swift and fast and she was sure that in her previous world, even a trained military specialist would have trouble keeping up with her.

Ever since she came to this world and was able to 'level up', it was like she had advanced in existence as a human species. Not just her but all the other heroes. The feeling was surreal and the difference compared to when they were on earth made them feel like they were gods amongst men.

However in this world they were all still weak small fry!

Clang!*

Akane's attack was parried. 

Mavis lightly waved her sword without much trouble even though Akane had given it her all and the sound of metal colliding was deafening to hear. The force alone from the clash caused her to be uncontrollably pushed back and it took some time before she could regain her balance.

Mavis smiled, but then her expression became serious and she shouted.

[Come on Miss Akane, if you want to protect Lady Saint then you have to be stronger. This much strength is hardly enough to protect yourself let alone someone else]

Akane gritted her teeth as she panted heavily while getting back into a stance. She was extremely tired and exhausted from training since morning, but the fire in her eyes never died once.

[I know that much!]

With that, Akane let out a soft breath. She quickly calmed her ragged breathing and looked straight into Mavis's eyes before she stomped on the ground pouncing at her like a tiger. 

Her speed was no less than a hyena and she easily closed the distance. At the same time she swung her arm, the dagger traced through the air towards Mavis without an inch of mercy. This was how they trained.

Mavis felt like the only way for Akane to quickly get used to her abilities and skills was to not hold back. Akane was against it at first but after the first training session where she was beaten to nothing but a heap she agreed to not hold back in her attacks.

At any rate, it wasn't like she could actually hurt Mavis no matter how hard she tried.

Mavis nodded as though she was satisfied, however she still managed to dodge the attack. Akane expected this, the very moment she dodged Akane twisted the dagger in her right hand and slashed up through the air.

However even that was easily avoided. Mavis stepped back gracefully without panic in her movements. Her expression was that of someone just going with the motions as though she didn't even take this fight seriously. 

Akane knew that Mavis wasn't being arrogant, of course with her strength why would she need to take this fight seriously at all? But it was because of that, she had let her guard down! 

Akane stomped on the ground easily abandoning her follow up and stabbed out with the dagger. Mavis had just stepped back and didn't expect for Akane to go for a direct attack, but a smile soon formed on her face.

She reached out and grabbed Akane's wrist before she could even react and the next thing she knew, Akane was gazing up at the sky with wide eyes.

'Huh?'

'What….What happened?'

It was too quick and Akane only knew that she was laying on her back. Pain assaulted her but she was too stunned and ignored it. She leaned on her side and looked at Mavis who returned her look with a smile.

Akane gritted her teeth and felt helpless.

Strong! This woman was too strong! She was at least last boss level strong and Akane was sure that if she was an enemy there was no way she would come out of a battle with her alive.

'Well, she's been in this world training far longer than I have so it makes sense to be that strong'

Right, strength was the main deciding factor to a person's worth in this world. Compared to the peaceful modern earth, this place was a dog eat dog world and only the strong reigned supreme. Comparing herself to a person who lived and thrived in this world was like comparing a toddler to a seasoned warrior.

Akane felt like there was no helping it. If she could instantly gain strength like that there would definitely be something wrong with the world, but gaining strength was a process. One that she had to go through bit by bit. She only had to have the grit to clench her fist and bear the grueling process.

Even so-

'But I won't lose to her!!'

Akane decided in her heart to fight. Down to her last breath in this world she would never allow her determination to stay alive and return home fade.

She once more stood up, her body swayed and wobbled as though she'd fall at any given moment. However when she looked at her opponent, her eyes burned relentlessly with perseverance.

[Aaahhh!!]

She didn't even wait and stomped out. Meanwhile, the dagger in her hands spun and twisted weaving through the air as though they had become a part of her body. If it was her back on earth there was no way she would be so skilled with weapons.

Heck, she couldn't even spin a broomstick properly and she was too afraid to play with knives.

However, her ability 'Dagger Arts' allowed her to wield any dagger as though it was a part of her body. With this skill her ability to wield a dagger seemed as though it had been trained nonstop for years and would stun many people back on earth.

Here in this world however, things like this was normal.

Akane slashed out with the dagger, spinning in tandem with the attack to generate more force. However her swing was a little too wide and Mavis easily took advantage of this gap to dodge as she stepped to the side. 

'Again!'

Akane pumped herself up and twisted counter clockwise while slashing down vertically. Mavis sighed seeing Akane like this and slightly lifted her sword and swung it to the side.

Clang!

The clash of the two weapons reverberated through the air. A heavy force shot up Akane's arm instantly numbing her hand and she couldn't help but take a step back.

[You are a little too eager but I can see improvements!]

Mavis shouted aloud with fervor. She could see parts where Akane left herself wide open and parts where she managed to improve. On the other hand, Akane was so focused that she didn't even listen.

She just continued to rain down a myriad of blows with her dagger and each time she would be pushed back she would quickly get back up and charge straight in again. Mavis was a bit astounded by the perseverance of this child but it made her smile in satisfaction nonetheless.