“HA! HA! HA...”

“No need to keep swinging your sword that much, you will waste your strength, you might need it later.”

“With all due respect ma’am, this is my daily routine, I must practice in order to become stronger.”

“Doing a consistent exercise is a good habit….but it can only take you so far.” The Knight of Combat, Raina Nockser brandished her sword, it was almost as long as her body, shining with a brilliant light as it reflected the rays of the sun.

She usually carried her sword strapped on her back, after all that was the only good way to carry it since no belt could bear the weight of the sword.

But in her hands, the huge sword seemed to be as light as feather; Livon had to resist the urge to ask her to try to hold that sword in his own hands.

Yet, he knew perfectly well that if he were to try to lift up her sword, he might fall down and make a fool of himself. If he did that, the other knights in this squad might think lesser of him.

Everyone already calls him a lost cause due to his lack of talent, so Livon wanted to attract as little attention to himself as possible.

“You can only gain true strength in a battle. If you would like to, I can be your sparring partner.”

“But, ma’am …”

“Stop it with that weird name calling! Just Raina is fine, I am only 21, not that much older than you….say, how old are you?”

“19.”

“See, just think of me as a big sister Raina, ok?”

“But Miss Raina, I am merely am a knight; I am no match for a hero like yourself.”

“I see, so real swords are a no no, all right, then wooden swords it is!”

Apparently she carrier a lot of weapons with her, Knight of Combat is known as a weapons specialist among the heroes. Rumor has it that she has mastered nearly every type of weapon made for hand-to hand combat.

Her title as the Knight of Combat was well-deserved indeed.

“Catch!”

She threw him a wooden katana; he proceeded to catch it in his hands.

“This should be more useful to you than plain exercise!”

She was eager to spar, that was for sure.

For someone who loved to fight, being deprived of what she enjoyed the most was like a slow torture.

‘Am I going to be ok?’ Livon Clave felt as though he was a tiny mouse staring into the lion’s jaws.

* * *

“Ouch!”

As the Knight of Combat rubbed a cloth dipped in alcohol upon his black eye, Livon couldn’t help but yelp.

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It was a total defeat.

He ended up being smacked around so many times that afterwards he ended up on the ground, with everything in his field of view spinning.

It was not like he did not try to fight her to the best of his ability.

She was simply that strong.

“You did rather well.”

“If you say so, my lady.” Livon couldn’t help but sulk, his body was hurting all over.

‘So that’s the difference between a knight and a hero, huh’

“No, you truly did put up a praiseworthy fight, just a little more and you will be at the level of a holy knight.”

“Really?” Livon seemed to liven up all of a sudden at a mention of reaching a higher level of strength.

“Yeah, though you will need to master an air slash before that.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that, Miss Raina.” Once again, Livon’s expression grew dark.

No matter how much he trained, he could not achieve an air slash, a skill that meant the difference between a knight and a Holy Knight.

“Worry not, with persistence and endeavor, anything is possible, in due time.”

“Miss Raina!”

“Yes?”

“Please tell me how to perform an air slash! No matter what I do, I just can’t do it, I tried nearly everything, but nothing worked.”

“Hoh? Is that so?” she grabbed hold of Livon’s hair and proceeded to rub it playfully.

“Please, Miss Raina.”

“All right, since you are asking my help, I might as well give you an advice.”

She removed her hand from his hair and now stared into the distance, it was obvious she was in deep thought.

“As far as the body goes, you have all the requirements covered, even more than necessary in fact, but you are lacking one thing, the heart.”

“The heart?”

“Do you think of swordsmanship as mere play with sharp metal toys? No, swordsmanship is an expression of the inner being of the swordsman, a conduit for the heart to express itself. Your body swings the sword, your soul guides it, and your heart fuels it. If you lack even one, you cannot master an air slash.”

“The heart…How do I obtain the heart?”

“Silly…You already have one, don’t you? Now you just need to use it. Let your emotions, your feelings, fuel your heart to push you forward, and when you have mastered it, it shall be what makes the biggest difference.”

“Emotions to fuel the heart” Livon muttered.

He was very confused at Knight of Combat’s advice, but chose to take it nevertheless. After all, a hero like her surely knew better.

* * *

“Well, at least that was a valuable experience, right?”

“Everything hurts all over…”

“You didn’t have to take over my shift duty, you know? Take time to rest and heal up. I can probably last another couple of days…”

“No, I insist.”

“Well, suit yourself, Clave”

This knight was in the same squad as Livon, Poring was his name, a suitable name for a knight who seemed to resemble a fat pig. His physique was very full, not much muscle, and a large belly that could fit Clave in it.

Feigning reluctance, he was actually overjoyed that Livon was going to take over the guarding duty; after all, Poring’s second most favorite activity after eating was sleeping.

It was rather obvious he came from a noble household, but due to being the third son he was sent to be a knight.

“Keep my eyes moving, must not fall down, don’t lock my knees or I will pass out…”

He patrolled the section of the camp for several hours without an incident.

But sometime during the night, he heard strange noise.

Brandishing his sword, Livon prepared for the worst as he approached the source of the noise.

Parting the bushes, he saw what appeared to be a small black bird.

“Oh, it was just you? Did you hurt your wings? I have an ointment on me that might help… Do not worry, I will not hurt you.”

He tried to talk to the bird, fully knowing that it would probably not understand.

But to his surprise, the bird confidently climbed onto his hand.

“Oh, you don’t fear humans? You must be very brave…”

As his eyes made contact with that of the bird, Livon looked down and realized that the bird had a metal band on one of its legs.

It looked almost like a ring.

“What is this…?”

Before he could do anything more, the bird’s eyes now looked directly into his soul, and Livon felt as though he was in the presence of something otherworldly.

Suddenly, a form emerged out of the bird’s body and proceeded to force its way into Livon’s body through his chest.

Livon didn’t even have time to scream as his body was momentarily wrapped in luminous light.

Flexing his fingers and cracking his neck from side to side, the new occupant of the body smiled.

“Take over complete. Now for the phase two of my mission.”