“This is terrifying!”

That was the first thought that crossed my mind as I got ready to fight this ice-covered knight.

I had hoped steeling my resolve would help push me forward, but I was still terrified.

Not to mention almost everything Savoncho had just told me went in one ear and out the other. Something I wish didn’t happen since I could really use that information right now!

Even so, if I wanted to get out of this, and maybe even become friends with Savoncho, I had to keep pushing forward and defeat this knight.

Thus, I gripped the icy blade in my hand which was cold to the touch, and took a deep breath.

“Alright. The match will be simple. One round, simple swings, and no aiming for vital areas. Does that work for you?” asked the knight. I nodded in response.

That meant this duel was really happening.

I wasn’t excited using a weapon I was unfamilar with. But even so, I knew I had to do it. Otherwise who knows if we could actually get out of here.

That’s why I knew I had to do this.

“Alright. The battle begins in 3…2…1!”

As the knight announced those words, the two of us charged at each other.

The knight was the first to strike as he aimed his attack at my shoulder.

I tried moving out of the way, but I wasn’t fast enough and felt his weapon lightly dig into my shoulder.

Jumping back, I started muttering a healing spell before gripping the sword once more.

“You need to improve your speed. Move the way you think your opponents gonna move. Otherwise, you’ll always be too late to dodge,” said the icy warrior.

I didn’t like the enemy giving me advice. Even so, I nodded and rushed forward. Trying to predict what this guy was thinking.

However, I couldn’t react in time for his next attack as he stabbed me in the leg. Causing me to jump back and heal myself.

“You’re still too slow. You need to follow your opponent's eyes. Use them as a guide to guess where they’ll strike next.”

Hearing that, I nodded and began following his eyes like he said.

They glowed brightly within his helmet and it made it easy to tell where he was looking. That’s why I was able to notice him aiming for my stomach.

Quickly shifting to the side, I barely managed to avoid his attack.

“Good. Do it again.”

Nodding, I followed his eyes a few more times and while I still wasn’t able to match him completely, out of the forty of so attacks he launched at me, I was able to avoid about eighteen of them.

We continued this for what felt like hours until I was finally used to dodging.

“Good. Now go in for the attack.”

“Right!”

Was it just me, or did this feel more like a training session than a duel? Well, whatever.

Dashing forward, I tried to spot an opening for me to attack. It was then that I noticed a small crack in the knight's armor. Meaning that could be his weak point.

Taking this into account, I tried to pretend like I was striking his left side. And when he moved his sword to that side, I quickly switched directions to strike him on the right. However, just before I could make contact, the knight jumped back.

“So you’re learning how to feint. Good. That won’t work on every opponent, but a good feint can help you win countless battles.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I think it was a compliment.

Pushing those thoughts to the side for the time being, I continued trying to attack the knight only for him to dodge time and time again. Causing this battle to rage on for lot longer than I would’ve wanted.

Eventually, I found myself running out of breath. Making it hard to cast any more healing spells.

Even so, I was ready to keep going. No matter what it took, I had to win.

“Hm. Looks like you’re determined to beat me. In that case, I think it’s about time we turn things up a notch.”

“Huh?”

Grasping his blade tightly, the knight looked directly at me.

“From now on we’re going both offensive and defensive. In other words, try to take me out while I’m attacking you. Understood?”

“R-Right!”

I was still pretty exhausted, but I had to keep moving.

Glancing over to Savoncho who was watching on the side, I noticed he had a nervous expression on his face. Was it because he was afraid I’d lose and he’d end up stuck down here, or was it something else? I had no idea.

But moving past that for now, I dug my feet into the ground while I let out a loud shout before charging at the icy knight.

I couldn’t tell thanks to the helmet, but I thought the knight grinned when he saw me like that.

Then, getting into an offensive position, the knight got into a fighting stance. Ready to take me out.

However, I was the first to attack as I aimed my blade toward the crack in his armor only for him to block it by knocking away my sword with his own.

Not giving him a chance to hit me, I ducked under his blade and quickly picked my sword off the ground, and aimed for his leg to knock him off balance.

Sadly, he jumped up right before my blade made contact and all I hit was air.

“You’ve gotta try harder than that!” shouted the warrior.

Thrusting his sword forward, it was aimed directly toward my chest.

“Grr!”

Letting out a loud grunt, I used the move the knight did earlier and knocked his sword away with my own before using my leg to strike his feet.

It stung a bit, but I managed to knock him off balance long enough to get an opening and push my sword forward, striking right at the crack in his armor.

Crack!

A loud cracking sound echoed in my ear as the spot in the armor I had struck started breaking away bit by bit.

“Hmph. Nicely done,” said the knight before taking a few steps back.

“However, one strike does not weaken an enemy. Keep attacking. Otherwise, you’ll never make it with a sword.”

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

“U-Understood!” I shouted before going on the offensive.

It seemed that it would take more than one strike to that spot if I wanted to defeat this guy. So, despite being unsure whether I could pull off another attack, I focused my mind and got moving. Trying my best to use this weapon given to me in order to win.

Honestly, this fight felt like it had been going on forever.

But even so, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying myself.

As we continued our clash, I managed to strike that weak point a second time by jumping over one of his blade swings aimed at my feet and attacking him before he could raise his sword.

However, I still hadn’t been able to strike him a third time.

Judging from his appearance, he looked like he could collapse at any moment. Even so, I couldn’t let my guard down. So, I pushed forward to get in one last attack.

Gripping his sword tightly, the knight dug his legs into the ground before charging toward me at a speed even fast than before.

Even so, I had grown used to his attacks so dodging them was still fairly easy. Despite that, however, I could still feel myself growing more tired by the minute. So I had to put an end to this here and now.

Thinking of one last move that could either make or break this match, I swung my blade toward one of the cracks in his armor that had grown bigger and bigger throughout the course of this battle.

Prepared to intercept, the knight held out his blade. However, right before my weapon made contact, I shifted to the side and struck him in the same spot as before.

Successfully using a feint to draw his attention away from my real target.

And as my weapon dug into his armor, the sound of the armor crumbling away echoed throughout the room and the knight collapsed to his knees.

“Well played…my young swordmaster.”

Young swordmaster?

“Why…did you call me that?”

I couldn’t place my finger on it, but something about that sounded kind of nostalgic.

“Because…you bested me in combat…just like she did.”

“She?”

The knight nodded as he gazed at the blade in my hand.

“Before being sealed to this icy prison, I was a high-ranking knight in service to the crown. And I even took on a squire who I aimed to take my place one day. That girl looked a lot like you actually.”

“Like…me?”

The knight nodded as the rest of his armor fell away. Leaving a body that was an icy blue.

“She was my pride and joy. She not only picked up on things quickly, but she continued to push herself beyond her limits to reach greater heights.”

“I…see. Well, where is she now?”

“She’s…no longer with us.”

“No longer with us? Did something happen?”

The knight nodded his head.

“It turns out that there was more than just training going on in her life. I didn’t know at the time, but it turns out she was being bullied. Not just by one child, but by multiple people both kids and adults throughout her neighborhood. Calling her a knight suck up and a hag seeking attention.”

“That’s…horrible.”

“Yes. And sadly, I wasn’t aware of any of it. And by the time I finally found out…she…was found lying outside the castle. Dead from jumping off the castle wall.”

I couldn’t help but let out a gasp when I heard that. While Savoncho, who had been silent up until this point, walked over and listened closely.

“Ever since that day, I was angry at myself. Angry that I couldn’t protect the next generation. All because I was too busy focusing on her training to dive into her personal life. And that’s why, while it may not be much, I wanted to find someone who could inherit her will and bring the next generation to new heights.”

Looking at me, tears streamed down the knight's eyes.

“I can tell just by looking at you. You may not know it yourself, but I can see you have the potential to become a great swordsman. And that’s why…I’m entrusting that sword to you.”

As he said that, he pointed to the sword in my hand.

“That was her blade. I’m sure she’d be happy to let you take it and carry on her legacy.”

“Huh? It wasn’t just something you made on the spot?”

The knight shook his head.

“Please…take that sword and become the weilder it deserves…please…I beg…of…you…”

As those last few words left his mouth, the knight collapsed onto the ground. His soul leaving his body and his life coming to an end.

“You…can count on me.”

As I said that, I stood up and started walking toward the tunnel the knight had come out of earlier. With Savoncho following close behind.

I was silent as Ella and I walked through the tunnel.

I didn’t fully get everything that had happened over the last hour, but it was clear I didn’t have any business talking about it.

Watching her walk with that sword in hand, all I could do was scratch the back of my head awkwardly. And after about ten minutes of walking, we came across a tunnel that led us outside.

As we got out, we noticed the sun was starting to set on the horizon.

Without Ella hearing me, I quietly whispered for Sirin to go tell the others where we were before returning to the silence we had prior. That is until Ella finally spoke up.

“I think…I’m gonna take up swordsmanship.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. But before I do, there’s something I need to overcome.”

“And what’s that?”

Instead of responding to my question, Ella took in a deep breath and then turned to me.

“Axel Savoncho. Please accept my sincerest apologies for everything that’s happened up to this point. In all honesty, I’ve had a bad habit of treating commoners poorly for practically my whole life. And I wanna fix that. Starting with earning your forgiveness. So if there’s anything you’d like me to do, name it, and I'll obey without complaint.”

“Obey without complaint, huh?”

This reminded me of all those jokes in anime where people would say they’d go for something like the girl's body. But that didn’t matter to me. Not to mention that would be incredibly inappropriate considering the situation.

So, as I scratched the back of my head, I gave my answer.

“If I had to say anything, I’d you to get to know commoners better.”

“Get to know them better?”

“Yeah. Well, I guess that sounds a bit confusing. Basically, I want you to go out there and hang out with some of the common folks. Get to understand them and try to expand your thinking to help you realize that not all of them are like how you nobles were taught.”

“I see. That seems doable. Is that all you want?”

“I guess. There’s not much else I can think of.”

“Interesting. And here I thought you’d demand my body.”

“Nah. Not when you’re clearly saving it for Roy.”

“Heh. Yeah…Wait a minute!”

Ella's face immediately went beet red when I said that. Causing me to let out a loud laugh. And while she tried making up excuses about how wrong I was, I continued laughing until I finally managed to calm down.

And then, after a moment of silence, she turned to me and said something I didn’t expect.

“Say, could we…be friends?”

“Hm? What do you mean?’

“It's just…all this time I’ve been treating you poorly. And while I might not deserve it, I’d like to be friends with you.”

“Is that so? Hm…”

Now that I thought about it, there were times I caught her glancing at me and Roy whenever we bantered with one another. I guess it was less about jealousy and more about being left out. Interesting.

“Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt. Sure. I’m cool with being friends.”

“Really!? Yay!”

She looked like she was on cloud nine when I said that.

“Thank you Savoncho! Thank you!”

“Just Axel is fine.”

“Understood! Thank you so much, Axel!”

“Y-Yeah. You’re welcome.”

She was a bit too excited just to be friends. I wasn’t sure how to respond to her enthusiasm.

“AXEL!”

Suddenly hearing a familiar voice behind me, I turned around just as none other than Xara crashed into me. Squeezing me tight enough that I felt like my bones would pop.

“I was so worried! Are you okay!? You aren’t hurt on you!?” asked Xara.

“I-I wasn’t before. But if you keep hugging like that then things might change,” I said. Barley being able to speak as the wind was squeezed out of me.

Roy and Flynn walked up. Looking just as relieved.

Walking up to Ella, Roy ignored the strange sword in Ella’s hand and hugged her tightly.

“W-W-W-Wha-!?”

Perhaps not expecting such a gesture, Ella’s face went beet red.

“Thank goodness you’re alright. I was scared we lost you there,” said Roy. Trying to steady his strength so that he didn’t hurt Ella.

In response, Ella smiled and returned his hug.

“We’re fine. Thank you for worrying about us though.”

And with that, we decided to postpone any further adventures for the time being.

Even so, I felt like this adventure was worth something in the end since I got to know Ella better and we even became friends. So all in all, I’d say this adventure was well worth it. And it’ll definitely be a nice story to remember once summer is over.