Ace puked underneath a tree and Aliza just stood there.

—Hurting him as soon as you enter the forest. You idiot Aliza!

Aliza thought to herself, feeling horrible for putting him through something before they even started training.

She went up to Ace and started patting his back.

“I’m sorry, I already messed up...”

“It’s fine, I’m fine, let’s just move somewhere else… please.”

Aliza nodded her head and they started to walk somewhere else.

“This looks like a good place to stop, are you sure you’re fine?”

“Yeah, just give me a few minutes and we’ll get started.”

Ace sat himself underneath a tree, recovering from his churned stomach and his traumatizing memories that returned to him.

“Sorry you had to see that. The memory is still pretty fresh.”

“No, I’m sorry, I only realized where I brought you once I saw you in that condition. Don’t push yourself too much today, you’re still recovering from last night.”

“No it’s fine, my body seems to recover pretty quickly so I’ll be fine.”

After a few minutes, Ace got up and was ready to start his training.

“Let’s start.”

Aliza gave a small, unenthusiastic nod. She couldn’t bring herself to be excited after what she just put him through.

Ace took the dagger out of his bag and rubbed his finger across the gold “Ace” written on the handle.

“Don’t make me use you too much.”

He whispered under his breath, asking his dagger to stay sheathed as much as possible in the next year.

Aliza also took out the sword from under her robe.

It seemed to be standing straight up on her back for her to be able to hide it so well.

Once she fully took it out, he remembered what he thought the first time she took it out...

It really was beautiful.

The blade was shining and matching her perfectly light blue hair.

The handle looked just as nice. There was a small, light blue gem placed on it, matching the one underneath her chin.

She got in a battle stance and said...

“Let’s start.”

Ace nodded his head and gulped at the intimidating sight.

He also got into, what he thought to be, a battle stance.

He bent his knees and got into a stance that felt comfortable.

His right hand holding the dagger was slightly in front of his left hand, and his body was slightly tilted to the side.

“Hahaha, what is that?”

“Shut up... I’ve never done this before.”

“Haha... It’s fine, just as long as it feels comfortable. OK, let’s start. Just start by coming at me and trying to get a hit in.”

Ace nodded his head and started to sweat at his nervousness, finally beginning his training.

He started to run towards Aliza, his dagger in front of him, ready to strike.

He raised his right arm all the way above his head and swung it down at the blue haired traveler.

Before he could fully swing down, his strike was blocked by her sword.

*CLANG*

The dagger got sent flying into a nearby tree.

“Don’t go for a match-deciding strike right off the bat, that’s how you die.”

Ace was standing there feeling defeated, only 30 seconds after starting his training.

“Ok, I got an understanding of your level of swordsmanship...”

“…”

“You seem to have no understanding at all.”

Ace sighed, feeling a slight feeling of disappointment at his powerlessness.

“*sigh* What have I been telling you?”

“I know, but I thought you would have some degree of skill.”

“Whatever, we’ll start with some dagger swings for about an hour. Go grab your dagger and start swinging like you’re attacking something. That’ll make your swings faster and more refined. I’ll give you pointers while you’re doing that.”

“Yes... ma’am.”

He said with his body slumped, going to retrieve the dagger.

---

------

He got the dagger and did what she said, swinging the dagger for about an hour while she coached him on what he was doing right and doing wrong.

“Now, try coming at me again.”

“Got it.”

Ace grabbed his dagger and got into his custom-made stance.

He rushed towards her for the second time...

This time, he didn’t start with a high swing, he went right to her blade to start a series of swings, remembering her advice from an hour ago.

Aliza was matching his dagger’s speed and accuracy, refining his skills even more.

She could’ve hit him at any time but that wouldn’t have helped his training at all.

They continued the swings until Ace got tired and couldn’t go on anymore.

“That’s enough for now, take a quick break.”

*Hahh... hah... Yes.. ma’am...”

He said, relieved that he could take a break.

“You weren’t lying when you said you have fast growth. Your attacks were definitely getting sharper with each swing.”

“But you’re still a newbie so you’re going to need to train your butt off.”

Ace looked at his dagger, thinking of all the possible different things he would need to use it for in the future.

He felt a surge of determination inside of him.

Ace stood back up.

“Let’s go another round.”

“Are you sure? You can rest for a little longer.”

“I’m feeling determined right now, don’t want to lose this feeling.”

“Ok... but don’t push yourself.”

Ace got back into his stance and charged at her.

He repeated the process from earlier, striking at her sword to get into a rally of clashes.

Right *CLANG*, left *CLANG*, bottom right *CLANG*, top left *CLANG*.

He continued to swing at her, improving his abilities with each swing.

A smile came on his face.

—This is fun!

He was genuinely enjoying himself.

You could lose your life in a sword fight, but he didn’t care about that right now, it felt more like a sport to Ace.

From his left leg *CLANG*, right shoulder *CLANG*, left waist *CLANG*, directly from below *CLANG*.

Ace was having the time of his life but... his body couldn’t keep up.

He got tired after a few more strikes.

“Let’s take a break, this is exhausting.”

“Already? Haha, it was starting to get fun.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll continue after a few minutes. I’ll definitely get a hit in, just wait.”

“Oh hoh, you’re going to put a scratch on my maiden body? You’re pretty brave, aren’t you?”

Ace gave a tired smile and sat himself on the ground.

After a few minutes of regaining his stamina...

“Let’s start back up.”

Ace grabbed his dagger and Aliza took back out her sword.

He charged at her once again, restarting the cycle.

They repeated this cycle over and over for a few hours, taking breaks every few minutes.

“Hah, hah... Almost had you there...”

Breathing heavy and sweat dripping from his forehead... Ace felt himself getting better at using his dagger.

“Hah, hah... Don’t get ahead of yourself...”

Also tired from returning his swings, Aliza wasn’t going to let him get a hit on her on the first day.

“You sure you don’t want to stop here? You’re looking kind of tired.”

Ace kept up the competitive mood, challenging Aliza’s stamina.

“Back at you... you’re practically dying.”

She returned the energy, not backing down from a challenge.

“Hah, hah... I’m fine, I could keep going for hou--”

He dropped to the floor.

“—?! Hey, are you okay?!”

“Hey!”

She ran over to him...

“—?!”

She saw the side of his clothes covered in red.

His wound opened back up.

“Why didn’t you tell me, you idiot!”

“Sorry... was focused on the training. Only just realized.”

Aliza slapped her forehead, punishing herself because she also didn’t notice.

She started to put her hands toward the wound, a small light illuminating the red on his clothes.

“What... is this?”

“Healing magic, I can’t use too much but it should be enough to close your wound.”

“Sorry, you even told me not to push myself.”

Ace realized that they had been training for a few hours.

He closed his eyes to check the time.

364 Days

2 Hours

9 Minutes

Map

Support

It was 9:51 PM.

“Return home, return home, return home.”

Ace wanted to make sure that he would go back home today, just in case he passed out and it passed midnight before he could say it.

“Aliza.. please. Wake me up about an hour before midnight.. I need to explain everything.”

Aliza nodded her head, focusing her hands on his wound.

And he passed out.

—

——

———

“A..!”

“Ac..!”

“Ace!”

His eyes shot open, and his body stood up into a sitting position with his legs stretched out.

“Ah!”

His wound stung him from the sudden movement.

It was Aliza.

He closed his eyes to check the time.

364 Days

1 Hours

4 Minutes

Map

Support

It was 10:56 PM.

“Thank you.”

“Get to explaining.”

Ace nodded his head and made his tone of voice a little more serious.

“I know this is going to sound crazy, but...”

Aliza was staring at him, giving him her full attention.

“I’m not from this world.”

Aliza widened her eyes at what he said but, after a few seconds, she responded with...

“…”

“…”

“Ok… continue.”

“—! That’s it?!”

“I’ve already told you this once. You have no reason to lie. You are serious so I will trust everything you are saying.”

“It does sound crazy, but everything else you’ve said has been crazy also, so I was expecting something like that.”

“Ok… I’ll continue…”

“I won’t go into detail about my world but... I’m from a planet called Earth.”

“Planet?”

“Just think of it as another word for world.”

“I won’t go into much detail about it but... it’s sort of one big world populated by only one main species... humans.”

“We don’t have Shuna or demihumans, or monsters like Toriel.”

“It’s just one big human world.”

Aliza just stared at him, taking in everything he was saying.

“I had a proper life there before coming here. I was just a regular boy who went to school every day and went home right after.”

“I had parents and a best friend, I liked spending time with them, I liked playing games, I liked eating sweets... just everything a boy would like to do.”

“Then one day, when I went to sleep, I was sent here.”

“I was confused, scared, and was crying like an idiot when I realized what happened.”

“Once I started crying, I closed my eyes.”

“When I closed my eyes, I could see words in my head.”

“These words told me the time, showed me a map of Felona when I requested it and, there was a word that said support.”

Before he could continue, Aliza spoke up.

“Can you still see these words... or is it only a one-time thing?”

“I see them every time I close my eyes.”

She nodded in response.

“Continuing on... when I focused on the word support, someone started talking directly into my head.”

“He called himself a god and said I could only talk to him for 2 minutes a day.”

“He said I was stuck here for one year and I would die if I didn’t beat the enemy within that time limit.”

“I asked him how I could get back home, and he said there was two options.”

“The two options are beating the enemy and... going back home for one day to say my goodbyes.”

“The latter is what I will be doing tonight.”

“I will go back home tonight for one day then come back here at midnight tomorrow.”

“You will be returning home?”

“Yes... so... if you could wait at Furio for one day and come back here... that would be really helpful.”

“Ok... I will wait... but are you sure you’ll be okay? Saying goodbye to them will be hard.”

“It’ll be hard but... I have to see them. I can’t leave my parents without saying anything.”

Ace gave a nervous smile to Aliza as he thought about saying goodbye and what came after.

“I’ll probably be crying a lot when I get back so... if you could just leave me alone for a few minutes when I get back, I would appreciate that.”

“Ok... I’ll let you cry your eyes out.”

“Thank you.”

After explaining everything, Ace checked the time once again.

364 Days

0 Hours

32 Minutes

Map

Support

It was 11:28.

“I’m still a little tired, I’m just going to lay here for a little.”

Aliza continued to heal him, and he laid down to save his energy.

---

------

After about 25 minutes, he sat back up.

364 Days

0 Hours

7 Minutes

Map

Support

It was now 11:53 PM.

“I just checked the time... I’ll be leaving in about 7 minutes.”

She kept her hands near his wound, emitting the blue light that signaled her healing.

“I’ll continue to heal you until you leave, just stay still for a little. You don’t want to see your parents with your body all beaten up.”

“Thank you.”

Ace lied back on the ground for the rest of the 7 minutes.

---

He confirmed the time once again.

364 Days

0 Hours

0 Minutes

Map

Support

“I’ll be leaving in about a minute.”

Aliza nodded in response.

After about 45 seconds, a robotic-sounding voice transferred into his head.

—10..

—9..

—8..

—7..

—6..

He matched the countdown and started counting down out loud to let Aliza know that he would be leaving.

“5..”

“4..”

“3..”

“2..”

“1..”

Aliza grabbed his hand...

“Stay strong...”

Ace put on a nervous smile and looked in her direction...”

“I’ll try...”

—

——

And his world was surrounded in white once again.