“You are… an elf.”

“Hm…? Elves were destroyed and disappeared from the world a thousand years ago.

Even the longest-lived humans shouldn’t know about elves.

It seems you’re quite knowledgeable.”

Time returned to that year, the fourth month Anyi had been hunting monsters in the forest.

He saw a green light streaking across the sky and falling to the ground.

Like a green shooting star, with a glowing tail.

In Anyi’s memory, there was nothing like this in the game.

Perhaps a randomly dropped item?

With this in mind, he decided to take a look.

Traveling alone, he didn’t have any external assistance. If he could obtain a powerful item, that would be best.

But…

Among the broken branches and fallen leaves, it wasn’t an item or a weapon.

Of course, Anyi didn’t know at the time what it was.

It was something even more valuable than an item.

It was an elf.

She didn’t look as neat and beautiful as those depicted in movies and TV shows, breathtakingly beautiful, but… remarkably disheveled.

Her body was covered in large and small wounds, her tattered clothes almost torn to shreds. Her left arm was gone, as if it had been violently ripped off. Her right eye was missing, just a deep wound.

Her body was covered in blood, her features obscured, only a crimson pool of blood on her face.

To determine that she was an elf, only her long blonde hair and her pointed ears, though damaged, were visible.

Then, the conversation began.

“You are… an elf.”

Anyi stood before her and said calmly.

“Hm…? Elves were destroyed and disappeared from the world a thousand years ago.

Even the longest-lived humans shouldn’t know about elves.

It seems you’re quite knowledgeable.”

Her voice was melodious. Although she looked disheveled, she wasn’t completely incapacitated.

Even though she was severely injured, she was smiling as she spoke to Anyi.

“But you should leave immediately, human.”

Having said that, Audrey closed her eyes and chanted something in Elvish that Anyi didn’t understand.

【Intermediate Healing Technique】

At this moment, a green light enveloped her body. The wounds, which were almost impossible to find an unbroken patch of skin, rapidly closed.

However, her severed left arm didn’t regenerate.

Anyi immediately realized that this was the 【Intermediate Healing Technique】, which could restore a certain amount of health, but couldn’t repair injuries like severed limbs.

If it were the 【Basic Healing Technique】, there wouldn’t be such a rapid healing effect.

Then, ignoring Anyi’s gaze, she tore off her already tattered clothes and, with some difficulty, used her teeth and right hand to bind her severed left arm.

Anyi silently watched her: “Even if I’m here, you don’t intend to ask for my help.”

Anyi was in full plate armor, with a backpack on his back, fully equipped.

If she only needed help with her wounds, Audrey could have asked if he had bandages.

Audrey quickly tore the cloth with her teeth, then smiled: “No need, I can handle it myself.

Thank you for your kindness, but you should leave.”

“I understand.”

Without hesitation, Anyi turned and left.

Some people need solitude.

Like him.

If he were in her situation, he definitely wouldn’t want anyone touching him.

It’s better to die in solitude than to survive out of pity.

At this moment, several dark shadows streaked across the sky from afar.

Audrey, supporting herself against a nearby tree, stood up from the ground: “Really… they don’t even give me time to breathe.”

“Swish swish swish—Bang!!”

An ancient long sword flew from somewhere, landing in front of Audrey.

But Anyi, who was about to leave, stopped.

He looked up at the black light in the sky. The images and data of several Class 6 monsters appeared in his eyes.

“What, you’re not leaving?” Audrey looked at Anyi, who had turned his back to her, puzzled, “Monsters will be here soon.”

I’ll give you some important information, and you’ll owe me a debt of gratitude.

Giving you this information makes me your savior, right?

So, heed my advice and leave here, consider it repayment.”

“Telling me that monsters are coming does make me owe you a debt of gratitude.

Because you told me something good.”

Anyi said calmly.

As soon as he finished speaking, a white light flashed in his hand, and an ornate sword appeared.

It was a trophy he had obtained after killing a monster lord.

“Therefore, I’ll also give you some important information.

I’m staying here.

This is good for you.

I’m stronger than you think.”

“You mean you’ll protect me?” Audrey chuckled.

“No.

I’m here to hunt monsters.

If you think I’m protecting you, then so be it.” Anyi said.

“That doesn’t count!” Audrey gripped the sword planted in the ground, “I don’t need protection.

And I don’t like being seen as someone who needs protection.

But… don’t protect me later, otherwise, after repaying my debt, I’ll owe you again.”

“You should run.

Staying here might hinder me.” Anyi tilted his head and glared at her.

“Boom!!”

Monster attacks arrived from afar.

Ten minutes later.

The battle ended.

Having consumed nearly 95% of his mana, Anyi took out cooking utensils from his backpack and began cooking.

The ingredients were the monsters he had just killed.

This was the first time he had encountered so many Class 6 monsters in monster territory. The opponents were more difficult than he had imagined, but the rewards were also rich.

“Unexpected, humans are so strong. Have humans evolved like monsters over these thousand years?” Audrey exclaimed.

If she were to fight multiple Class 6 monsters in her current state, she definitely wouldn’t be able to win easily and would suffer more injuries.

But, as that human said, his presence was beneficial to her.

Although neither of them had suffered any apparent injuries, their injuries were minimized by each other’s presence.

“I’m Audrey · Celeste, an elf. What about you?”

“Sword Hero, Anyi · Carl.”

“Sword Hero? What is that…

Wait, having heard my name, don’t you remember anything?” Audrey said.

“I don’t know much about elves. What’s your status among the elves?” Anyi asked while cooking.

Audrey looked at Anyi with interest: “Nothing.

If I were some kind of noble, I wouldn’t be chased by these low-level monsters, right?

I’m just a normal elf, really.

Speaking of which, I think your swordsmanship had significant flaws!”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Tell me.” Anyi said casually.

“I can sense that you don’t have much mana left.

You’re not using your sword correctly.” Audrey chuckled.

“Then how should I use it?”

“Cook with me, and I’ll tell you!”

“Spicy food?”

“What’s that? Is it delicious?”

“You’ll know after you try it.”

“Okay!”

“…” Anyi tossed a chili into the pot.

...

“Waaaaaaa

My mouth hurts! But it’s so delicious…

Waaaaaaa…” Audrey cried, tears streaming down her face, while stuffing food into her mouth.

She had braced herself for the potentially bad taste, as the chili was extremely pungent.

As soon as the meat entered her mouth, Audrey almost spat it out!

What is this?!

But she hadn’t tasted proper cooked food for countless years, so she endured the burning sensation in her mouth and ate it hungrily.

Through the spiciness, she could barely discern the flavor, but that was enough.

“Monster meat is pungent, we can only rely on spices, using spiciness to cover the smell.” Anyi explained while eating.

He wasn’t afraid of spicy food, because spiciness was pain, and he would immediately recover after swallowing the food.

“Glug glug—”

Audrey raised her hand and tilted her head back, water gathering in her hand, then cascading into her mouth like a small waterfall.

Feeling slightly better, she stuck out her tongue and panted: “Ah… Ah… My mouth is so hot! It hurts! I wish I hadn’t eaten your ‘spicy’ food!

Ah… Ah…”

Spicy food wasn’t in the Elven menu, this was a new experience, but clearly not a good one.

“Then I’ll make you a non-spicy dish.” Anyi said.

“Aren’t you eating?” Audrey looked at the meat in Anyi’s pot.

“I am.

But I have another one.”

Saying that, Anyi took out another pot from his backpack.

Audrey looked at Anyi gratefully: “Thank you! You’re such a good person!”

“As a reward, teach me how to use a sword.” Anyi said.

“Okay!!” Audrey nodded forcefully.

Just now, Anyi had witnessed Audrey’s swordsmanship.

She had been seemingly on the verge of death, but when she fought the monsters, she had completely transformed.

Her swordsmanship was extremely violent and swift. Just watching it made one feel breathless, like…

A storm.

Even severely injured, missing an arm and an eye, she still displayed terrifying combat prowess. It was unimaginable how strong she was at her peak.

Anyi wanted revenge on the monsters. His immediate priority was to increase his strength as quickly as possible.

Whether it was swordsmanship or magic, learning from her would be much faster than grinding experience.

And he could get her guidance in exchange for just a few meals, he was clearly getting the better deal.

“Sniff sniff sniff…”

Eating the non-spicy monster meat, Audrey shed tears of gratitude.

Whether it was pungent or foul, it was still meat!

It might smell bad, but it was delicious!

After a satisfying meal, Audrey suddenly remembered something:

“Monsters were chasing me earlier, you cooked here, weren’t you afraid that the pursuing monsters would appear?”

Anyi, who was still eating, said: “Not afraid.”

In this area, these monsters are probably the strongest.

If they were to send several Class 6 monsters to pursue you, Class 5 monsters would only get in the way.

And other monsters wouldn’t notice their deaths quickly.

“Ho, I didn’t expect you to know so much about monsters.

You know about elves, you understand monsters, and you’re this strong, are you really human?” Audrey was very interested in Anyi.

“Yes.

Times change, there are many people like me among humans.” Anyi said.

“There’s such a thing?!” Audrey was awestruck.

She had assumed that after the destruction of the major races, the world would be helpless against monsters.

Although humans were an intelligent race, they were one of the weakest.

No one would expect these humans, who could easily be crushed, to resist monsters.

But unexpectedly…

These humans, whose strength and mana were so low, had actually stood up?!

If there were many humans with strength comparable to Anyi’s, counterattacking the monsters wouldn’t be impossible!

Although, in Audrey’s opinion, Anyi was currently less than 1% of her peak strength.

But both elves and humans would grow stronger!

If possible, she wanted to gather these strong individuals and teach them how to fight monsters!

But…

Let’s start with teaching a human.

Conveniently, he also uses a sword!

Audrey’s expertise was swordsmanship.

Wait, how can this human eat so much?

Audrey watched him finish off a large monster’s arm.

And his mana was recovering at an incredible speed.

“You can convert food into mana?!” Audrey suddenly realized.

“Yes.” Anyi didn’t hide it.

Elves, like monsters, could sense mana, there was no point in hiding it.

“Amazing!” Audrey’s eyes were full of admiration, “How did you do it! Can you teach me?!”

If she had this ability, she wouldn’t have been so miserable!

She had been constantly consuming a large amount of mana in battle, and her recovery speed couldn’t keep up, leading to her being hunted by Class 6 monsters.

If her mana recovery was a little faster, these low-level monsters wouldn’t even be considered mosquitoes in her eyes.

“I can’t teach you, it’s a gift from Kami.

Many humans have received similar gifts from Kami.” Anyi said.

“This… alright.” Audrey sighed.

That’s right, they had just met, how could he easily teach her such a powerful magic?

As for Kami… it was just a convenient excuse.

“I’ll go wash myself behind that tree, don’t peek.” Audrey said with a smile.

“Ah.” Anyi replied casually.

Peeking?

Was that important compared to eating?

Quickly, he heard the sound of rushing water. Although there was no river nearby, she could use water magic to cleanse her body.

Then came the sound of wind, probably drying her hair.

When Audrey finished washing and came out from behind the tree, her clothes were gone, replaced by leaves covering her body.

Anyi hadn’t finished eating yet.

He glanced at Audrey. As expected, she had a beautiful face, but unlike human beauties, she possessed an indescribable ethereal beauty.

Her face had been covered in blood earlier, obscuring her features.

Her face was injured, but surprisingly, there were no scars.

A leaf covered her right eye, and her broken ears were visible, giving her a unique, incomplete beauty.

Earlier, she had been injured, and her clothes were torn, so Anyi hadn’t noticed her surprisingly graceful figure.

From her appearance to her body, she was exquisitely beautiful.

“You really didn’t peek, you’re such a good man, or perhaps elves don’t appeal to you?”

Audrey was very confident in her appearance!

Anyi: “Why would I peek at a disabled elf bathing?”

Audrey: “Uh!”

...

Thinking back to his encounter with Audrey, it was pure luck for both of them.

If Anyi hadn’t been in that forest, he wouldn’t have met Audrey.

And Audrey might have died shortly afterward.

If they hadn’t met, Anyi might not have learned his first swordsmanship in this life…

【Sword of the Rage】

When fighting the Slime King, Anyi’s earliest skill, 【Wind Elemental Sword】, wasn’t swordsmanship, it was merely a skill branch.

Without a distinctive style, all skills were unremarkable.

His commonly used 【Fire Elemental Sword: Fire Sword Technique】 was his swordsmanship.

The style of 【Fire Sword Technique】 was “burning”, using various large-scale flame slashes to incinerate everything.

There was also 【Blazing Iron Sword Technique】, which concentrated heat on the blade, 【Void Fire Sword Technique】, which manipulated flames, and 【Ascending Flame Sword Technique】, which maximized heat.

Naturally, Wind Elemental Sword also had different techniques.

Besides 【Sword of the Rage】, there were 【Gentle Breeze Sword Technique】, 【Frost Wind Sword Technique】, 【Wind-Reward Sword Technique】, etc.

Among them, 【Sword of the Rage】 was the most brutal.

Its key was…

No rules!

“For you, what is ‘wind’?”

By the empty lake, Audrey asked Anyi.

Anyi: “Wind is a natural phenomenon caused by the movement of air. The degree of air movement is called wind.”

Audrey: “…”

She scratched her head. She had taught dozens of students and had never heard such an answer.

“That’s… wrong!

I’m asking if you feel that wind is gentle or violent.” Audrey continued.

Anyi: “It depends on the situation.

If the wind is caused by solar radiation… Solar radiation increases the temperature of the ground, the heated air expands, becomes lighter, and rises. The hot air rises, and the cooler air…”

“Stop stop stop!! Don’t say things I don’t understand!” Audrey interrupted.

Anyi: “…Therefore, the wind’s strength depends on the situation.”

“Fine, stop…

I’ll just tell you the answer!

Before learning swordsmanship, you must know that wind can change according to your will.”

Audrey said seriously.

She wanted to cross her arms but realized she was missing an arm, so she awkwardly clasped her fist to her mouth and coughed.

“For example, this is a gentle breeze.”

Audrey extended her hand, and a gentle breeze blew from afar, passing over Anyi.

Then she waved her hand.

The gentle breeze suddenly became violent, ruffling Anyi’s clothes, and blowing his hair wildly.

“This is a violent wind.” She said.

“I don’t know magic.” Anyi scratched his windswept hair.

He really didn’t.

Unfortunately, his base Prana attribute was 0, indicating that he had no talent in this area.

First, he had never been exposed to it, and second…

He believed in science!

Audrey wagged her finger: “No, no, no, as long as you have mana, you can use magic.

But, the fact that you can’t use magic is actually a good thing.”

“How is that good?” Anyi asked.

“Because elves can innately sense mana, they’re easily affected by other mana and elements.

And your swordsmanship… it’s purely about using your sword to manipulate mana, and…

Incredibly stable!” Audrey said seriously.

Anyi: “…”

Could the system’s release be unstable?

What it released was exactly what it said it would, and the release of skills wasn’t affected by his own condition.

For example, using Fireball, an elf might experience a decrease in power due to headaches, stomachaches, and mana fluctuations.

But for heroes, as long as they had mana, they could release the skill with a thought, and the power would be consistent.

“This means you have strong mana control.

Therefore, you don’t need magic. You just need to…

Control mana, stimulate the elements, then control the elements, and use them in your swordsmanship.” Audrey said.

Anyi: “Ooh…”

Completely unexpected!

“But first, let me show you my swordsmanship without using mana or elements.

Even though I’m missing an arm, it shouldn’t affect your understanding of the essence of swordsmanship.”

Saying that, Audrey waved her hand, and an ancient long sword flew into her hand.

Then, she began to demonstrate her swordsmanship.

Her speed wasn’t fast, but each move was precise and swift, as if she wanted Anyi to see every technique clearly.

She was deliberately slowing down. If the speed were increased ten or a hundred times, the swordsmanship would appear extremely violent and fierce!

The entire swordsmanship almost lacked any large-scale movements, inflicting maximum damage with minimal movements.

Anyi watched silently, then suddenly thought of something.

Could the system record these movements?

He had used this method when learning Goblin.

In an instant, Audrey finished demonstrating her swordsmanship.

【Unlocking martial art: Sword of the Rage】

「View Skill.」

【Skill: None】

「View martial art: Sword of the Rage.」

【Martial Art: Sword of the Rage

Description: The swordsmanship hasn’t been fully learned yet, skills cannot be unlocked.

Learning Progress: 33%

Learned: Footwork】

Audrey sheathed her sword and returned to Anyi: “After seeing my swordsmanship, tell me what you think.”

“The momentum is strong, but the movements are small.

It’s quite different from how you fought the monsters earlier.” Anyi said.

Small movements meant low Strength. Hearing 【Sword of the Rage】, Anyi had imagined a large-scale, violent sword technique.

Unexpectedly, it was a “wind-slashing” technique.

“It seems you have some talent in swordsmanship.” Audrey smiled, “You’re right, it looks that way.

But when you add more to the swordsmanship…”

Having said that, Audrey picked up her sword and walked to the lake.

She stood by the shore, the water not reaching her ankles.

“Now, let’s imagine an angry wind…

Random collisions, tearing, merging, and then breaking.

Like… this.”

“Boom!!”

Suddenly, a violent wind rose, and Audrey’s long hair whipped around in the wind, swaying like seaweed in a violent storm. The leaves covering her body were blown away.

Audrey’s voice reached Anyi through magic;

“In this raging wind, you don’t need to control, you don’t need to think, you don’t need to overcontrol the wind.

Just… cut.”

Audrey’s eyes changed, and she unleashed her sword technique—

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!”

Powerful gusts of wind erupted from her sword. Her sword techniques were a hundred times faster than before. The gusts of wind sliced long gashes across the lake surface!

The speed was so fast that the water couldn’t recover, spreading outwards, instantly leaving a several-meter-wide and high “path of wind” on the lake!

Instantly, Anyi understood.

Why were there no large-scale movements in the swordsmanship?

Because the raging gusts of wind were already powerful enough!

And the user only needed to swing the sword!

With minimal movement, swinging the sword at maximum frequency!

【Martial Art [Sword of the Rage] Unlocked 100%!

Learned: Footwork, Magic, and Mental Techniques

Unlocked Skill:

Sword of the Rage, First Form: Wind Fury】

“Okay, I’ve learned it.” Anyi said.

“Whoosh—”

Ripples spread across the lake surface. Audrey stopped and turned to Anyi.

“What… what did you just say?”

“I said, I’ve learned it.”

“?”