We were now in the front yard of the ducal mansion, we were standing out in the open to practice swordsmanship. Apparently the table that was near me was prepared so that I could choose the weapon I liked or knew about.

Ryoko was wearing a more casual outfit, it seems that he doesn’t really like formal clothes, though I can relate with him on that, I don’t like them either.

“So Var, do you know anything about the weapons placed in front of you?”

“No sir, I don’t.”

There were a variety of them placed here, ranging from simple knives and daggers to Greatswords that were almost as tall as me. They were all in pretty good condition.

“Hm~ Okay, then in that case, can you tell me if you’ve ever trained with a sword or anything in that matter?”

“Yes sir, I’ve practiced with shortswords, though I’m not very good at using them.”

“Okay, in that case, how about you try to slash me?”

“What?” I have to slash him? Can I even do that? Even without fighting him, I can tell he’s strong.

“All you have to do is just slash me.”

“Don’t worry, I’m fairly strong.” he had a silly smile, even though he’s powerful, he’s also approachable and friendly, I guess, there are nobles like him too.

“And one more thing, I won’t move my feet, not even a bit.” 

“Okay...”

Taking a deep breath, I charged straight at him without another thought, I held the shortsword with both my hands and performed a simple slash, but he dodged it? What? How? Just by bending his body to such a small degree, he was able to escape my slash.

I pulled the sword back and tried to stab him, but he bent his body and escaped the slash. I swung wider hoping that I’d cover his body, but then, he bent backwards escaping my slash.

And before I could even see it, he took out his rapier from his sheath and held it against my neck.

“Okay that’s all. Anyway, do you know why you lost?”

“I’m not too sure... But if I had to guess, maybe because I didn’t have enough speed?”

“Well, not exactly, but you’re really close. Here’s my opinion, you would actually lose to someone even slower than you, basically, you wouldn’t be able to win even with being faster and more powerful.”

“I don’t understand. Could you please explain further?”

“Oh ho~ You want to learn more, okay fine. You have a lot of unnecessary movements, that’s the problem. And you have no natural talent for the sword.”

“Oh...” I couldn’t help but be sad about that. 

“Butー You’re really fast. You have the potential to be even faster than me. And the swordsmanship you’re using right now isn’t suited towards someone like you.”

“Why is that sir?”

“Because it’s meant for those who are bulkier and those who need a general swordsmanship style. That’s why it doesn’t suit someone like you, since you don’t have a talent for the sword.” He looked me dead in the eye and explained every bit of it. He then continued. “However, you have a talent for the thulwar.”

“Thulwar?”

“My old man would kill me if I explain like this.. But, think of the thulwar as a much much lighter shortsword that carves into flesh with its immense sharpness.”

He then approached the table and took a weapon, it was exactly as he described, the edge of the blade was immensely sharp, and it was a bit curved. 

“I asked them to prepare this especially in case I met someone like you, and it turns out my suspicions were right.”

He held the blade in his hand and just saw the blade lost in thought.

“Sir?”

“Sir!”

“Ah.. sorry. Anyway, try holding it.”

Expecting that it would just be a bit lighter than a shortsword I caught it, only to be surprised by its weight, almost half the weight of the shortsword. 

“What do you think?”

“It’s extremely light... Lighter than I thought it would be.”

“I told you so. Heh.” He had a proud look on his face.

“Sir, could you please demonstrate how you’d use this blade, I still can’t imagine it.”

“Haha, sure.”

He took a deep breath and took a stance, the stance looked strong yet it didn’t feel rigid. It felt like watching a river, a vigorous and angry river, slowly increasing speed until it would destroy everything in its path, each move flowing into the next. I could understand what he meant, and by the time I noticed it, he was finished.

“How was that? Pretty cool, right?”

“Yep, very cool, sir.”

“Heh, I thought so.”

He then explained to me everything. Boiling it down to the basics, apparently it was called the southern sword style, but the actual name was ‘Shuguri’, at least the version he’ll be teaching me. It consists of thirty-two different stances that with enough practice would help someone escape or fight in any situation. It was made for those who had speed but did not have the strength to fight with it.

Although I won’t be learning this for a while, since he says I need to get back to speed and develop my muscles.

It’s been a week since he last told me to do a routine, he’d constantly check for development and once I was exhausted, he’d let me rest, only to make me charge at him and attack him. I still couldn’t manage to land a single attack on him.

As usual I finished training with Ryoko and waited at the lobby today in formal clothes. Since Elena, the mage commander was supposed to arrive today. But it’s been a while... I’m getting really nervous... Maybe I should get some air..?

“Alf, can we wait outside a bit? I'm feeling kind of nervous.”

“As you wish, master.”

Right as I was walking outside, I saw a woman, she had silver hair, and a scar running down her face. She was really beautiful, but it seemed like she was carefree about that. She was wearing a coat the color of the ocean and had a spear with a crystal embedded in it on her back. She also had a tiny little dagger hanging at her waist. 

Unlike Ryoko, she was walking here rather than coming in a carriage, and she was carrying a suitcase with her. She walked in front of me and offered her hand, “The name’s Elena, you are Varkhaz, I presume?”

“Uh- Uhm, yes. Yes, I am.” I then returned a handshake.

“Hey~ Hey~ Look at that, even the ice queen can give a handshake, eh?” It was Ryoko who was still wearing his bath coat and was very clearly intoxicated. When did he even get here..?

“Tsk.” Suddenly the wine glass that Royko was holding exploded. It was then that I noticed that she was pointing her finger at the glass that exploded. This is... Magic. I’ve never seen it before...

“Aw man~ I was enjoying it too. Ah well.”

“Anyway Varkhaz, do you mind if I explain to you what we’re gonna study? And not here please.”

“Uhm yes, sure. I can do that.”

I went near Alf and whispered, “Hey.. Alf, do you know where us two should go..?”

“Ah yes.. Master, I recommend the library.”

“There was a library..?!”

“Understood.”

“Please follow me, Dame Elena.”

“Alright.”

“Woahh...” Unintentionally I shared my voice of excitement to see a library for the first  time. It was so big yet organized at the same time, I couldn’t read but I took the books out and looked at them anyway, tiny-little lines, so these are letters..?

“I guess you don’t remember anything, do you? Vargitz did mention it to me.” Wait, she’s referring to the duke just by his name, are they really that close?

“No, I’m not close to him.”

“How-”

“Your face said it all.”

“Oh...”

“Anyway, since now I know that you know absolutely nothing, how about we start with that, shall we?”