"Well, you move as gracefully as a three-legged mule," Ilka continues her relentless assault on my ego. "Your footwork is nonexistent, and don't even get me started on your balance. It's as though you're trying to walk on a rope bridge during a storm."

"Yeah, yeah, keep making fun of me, you ancient one," I retort, exasperation coating my tone. I follow this by offering a dramatic bow, complete with an overly polite tone, "I apologize for my appalling lack of skill, most venerable and wise Ilka."

She does not take my humor lightly. "Mock me all you want, Kael, you're still the one who can't swing a sword properly!" Her spectral colors flare, constantly glowing brighter and darker.

Then, an idea strikes me. I rise from my theatrical bow and point at her, a mischievous grin spreading across my face. "Alright, if you give me a practical tip, I promise to take you to the statue they built for you by the fountain. You can admire it all day if you want."

She pauses, her form flickering with what I can only interpret as curiosity. But then she promptly snuffs it out. "No. I will not help you, Kael. You're an insufferable brat, and I still don't trust you," she retorts in a firm tone.

Defeated, I let out a long sigh and sit down on the grassy field, propping my wooden sword on my lap. The morning sun begins to intensify, and the training grounds slowly fill up with more people.

That's when I spot her.

Isadora, one of my future classmates, is entering the training ground. Her icy black eyes barely glance my way before she moves to a training dummy, her face emotionless. She's an enigma, aloof and isolated from everyone. Without any hesitation, she starts swinging her sword at the dummy, her movements fluid and precise. I can't help but watch from my spot on the grass, her skills clearly superior to mine.

"Even that girl is better than you!" Ilka jeers, her voice brimming with amusement. "She's far from perfect, but she's leagues above you, Kael."

I snort at her comment, rising from my seat. "Oh, really? That's Isadora you know. The best swordsman in class A."

Ilka's spectral form seems to startle at my words, colors shifting in surprise. "No way! She can't be the best! She's still an amateur!"

Unable to resist, I laugh at her shocked reaction. "Ilka, we're not in the same era as you were, things change. We're young, still learning. You can't compare our skills to those of the legendary hero you fought with." What's wrong with her, is she really comparing us to the hero?

Continuing my training, I start a series of physical workouts. I'm more comfortable with this type of training, the familiar burn in my muscles almost comforting. I work on strength building exercises, from push-ups to sit-ups to squats, my body moving with a rhythm that feels natural.

Through it all, Ilka watches me, an amused glow in her spectral form.

In between a set of push-ups, I catch my breath and look at her. "So, Ilka, tell me about your martial arts. How incredible were they? There aren't any records, you know, and I'm just a bit...curious," I already know about her martial arts but I want to confirm.

Ilka laughs at my question, her form brightening with pride. "In my time, despite being a companion of the Hero, I was stronger than all the others. Before my death, I eradicated more than half of the enemy's forces all by myself," she boasts, I do remember adding this, her role was to protect the hero and his other companions. Although she was in their group she wasn't technically part of it, because she was a commoner they couldn't accept her as a companion, so the hero decided to hire her as a mercenary as an excuse.

As I switch to sit-ups, she continues her tale, "I expended most of my ki fighting hordes of demons. Because of this, I couldn't properly utilize my martial arts when fighting the higher-ranked demons. But even then, I managed to slay a handful of them."

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She sighs then, her colors dimming slightly, "I despised the fact that I had to rely on a skill to kill a demon. I've always preferred to rely on my strength and martial arts. Using an external power, like a skill, felt like a crutch."

I raise my eyebrow in confusion, "you don't like using skills?" this is quite surprising, I don't remember adding such a dislike to her character.

Ilka sighs in frustration, "I don't mind using skills on weapons or items but I will never use a skill given to me! It just doesn't feel right, I hated using my skills" Is it because she's a martial artist? Skills can be obtained in a couple of different ways but each of them requires a person to meet certain conditions first.

"But I don't understand, I get that you wouldn't want to use some skills if they were given, but what about those you can obtain?"

Ilka sighs, "It doesn't matter how I earn them, if you become self-reliant on skills you will end up in a grave. Rely on your own abilities, not some third-party support" Her dislike towards skills can clearly be seen on her face, but I guess it makes sense to some extent. There are certain situations when skills are useless.

Deciding to change the topic, her form brightens again as she shares, "Even though I possessed a martial arts technique powerful enough to split dozens of mountains, I never got the chance to complete it. My time was cut short, my journey interrupted."

As I finish my set of sit-ups, I take a moment to catch my breath, wiping the sweat from my brow. While I do, my thoughts tumble around in my head, landing on something Ilka had said earlier.

I tap my temple, catching her attention. "Your martial arts technique is powerful enough to split mountains... but you were a commoner, right?" I ask, "How did you manage to get your hands on such a martial arts technique?"

Ilka's spectral form flares, her colors glowing brighter in her frustration. "How the hell did you know I was a commoner?" she snaps.

I shrug, trying to play it cool. "I saw it on your tombstone." How could I not know, that was the reason you struggled so much growing.

Ilka seems to deflate slightly, sighing before her colors begin to glow with pride once again. "Well, it doesn't matter. I didn't 'get my hands' on anything," she proclaims, "I created that martial arts technique myself."

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "You created it?" I ask, "You're more of a monster than I thought." Most of her statements seem to be in order.

But my surprise only serves to make her glow brighter. "Indeed, I am."

However, her statement raises another question in my mind. "If you created it, why weren't you able to finish it?" I ask. The reason should be that she lacked resources and time.

Ilka attempted to do some movements only to slip, "I had to train the hero while protecting him, do you think I had time to finish it? Perfecting a martial arts technique takes time and effort, I barely had time to improve my movements, I had to use the remainder of my time to train the others.

I listen to her words, shaking my head with a light chuckle. "Well, that's one hell of an excuse."

I don't let her reply, instead, picking up her spectral form by the legs with two fingers. "Let's go," I say, "we should head back to my room."

She immediately protests, thrashing in my grip. "Hey! Let me go, Kael! Turn me over, you imbecile!"

Ignoring her complaints, I begin to walk towards the school dormitory. On the way, I walk by another character I know all too well. Biana. She's another one of the main characters I created in the novel.

Biana, with her long wavy messy light brown hair and vibrant green eyes, stands out, even in her pajamas. Her casual attire, despite the time of day, doesn't surprise me. She was always a laid-back character in my novel. As lazy as one could be, she held a pillow in her arms, half asleep even while standing.

I raise an eyebrow at her, but she doesn't seem to notice me, not even as I walk by her. She's in her own sleepy world. Haha, seriously, I know I made her like this but how is she sleeping like this?

Meanwhile, Ilka watches Biana, her form pulsing with curiosity. "What's wrong with that girl?" she asks.

Looking back at Biana, I catch her yawning widely, making me feel drowsy myself. Suddenly, she turns to look at me. Even in her half-asleep state, she raises a hand, waving at me. "Yo," she calls out, her voice filled with fatigue. "I guess we're in the same class, let's take the year easy, cool?"

Her laid-back attitude is infectious, making me yawn as well. I can't help but chuckle at her, shaking my head in amusement. "Sure, nice to meet you, I'm V." let's see, she should be the easy one to befriend.

She yawns once again rubbing her eyes, "V? What a strange name, my name's Biana, I should take a nap, goodnight." Goodnight? Is she planning to sleep through the day? Damn, despite her laziness she is without a doubt one of the most important characters.

She smiles, satisfied, before yawning once again and resuming her journey towards the dorms.