Never Forgotten Hero.

Her eyes sliver like the moon;

Hair smooth like black silk.

Her smile warm like moonlight.

Never forgotten, the day she struck the tyrannical Wyvern King.

On one slothful day, the Hero fell.

Her flesh torn asunder, her body gone,

Oh-so suddenly leaving us weepers behind.

Never forgotten, Luna Assyra, the Great Hero.

-Folk song of the Northwestern regions

----------------------------------------

“Huh, you’re faster than I thought. Already memorized every character?”

[Hmph. Who do you think you are talking to?] Luna smiled arrogantly. [Mere words cannot defeat me.]

But her smile faltered upon hearing Myr’s next words.

“Cool. But learning words is just the beginning. You need to also learn grammar, formal structures, informal structures, and… social norms. Do you think you can handle it?”

[D-Do you even need to ask?]

Myr eyed Luna suspiciously. She’s going to struggle, isn’t she? Shrugging, she put the books away and stretched her arms. She’d been here for four hours already, and it was approaching dusk. “‘Kay. Let’s end it here for today. Now, are you ready to train me in the way of the sword?”

Luna stood up. She reached her hands out to squeeze Myr’s arms.

Despite Luna being mostly ghostly and transparent, Myr could still feel something pressing against her arms. Granted, it felt like a very thin curtain more than someone actually touching her, but it was still something.

[No. Not yet. You are…weak.]

Kurghhh!

[Your flimsy muscles are unsuited to wield me.]

Eughhh!

[I am not requiring you to be bulging with muscles, but this is just pathetic.]

I know she’s not insulting me, but damn, that hurts…

“S-So, what should I do?”

[It would be too slow if you were to train your muscles now. Instead, I shall change my form to fit the current you.]

Immediately after Luna said that, the sword turned into a light-weighted rapier.

“What the—”

[Do not be too surprised. My blade is made of pure Moonlight. Reshaping and shifting it is no hard task. However, my power is lowered when my blade is not in its original form.]

So she’s saying that it’s just a temporary solution…

Myr picked up the rapier and inspected it. The blade wasn’t that sharp, but she had a feeling that she’d regret it if she tried something with the tip. Holding it in a hammer grip, Myr tried to swing it. However, Luna stopped her with a frown.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

[What are you doing?]

“...Test swinging?”

[It is a rapier. You must thrust.]

And thrust she did. The silver blade split the air apart with its tip, releasing a satisfying sound. “Woah…”

She must admit, there was something exhilarating about all of this. However, her mood soon plummeted as she remembered something.

“Ah, the scabbard!”

[...What are you talking about?]

Myr made her way toward the door and opened it. She grabbed the scabbard, which was leaning on the wall on the other side, and went back into the room.

She watched as Luna’s eyes traced the intricate white moon-and-star patterns on the black scabbard.

[And I was wondering what you did when you excused yourself for a whole hour.]

Myr nodded. Indeed. While Luna was still wrestling with the words, Myr left the room to paint the scabbard. And judging by Luna’s pleased expression, she could safely conclude that she didn’t waste her time doing it.

However, there was one obvious flaw.

“Sorry, but I don’t think this will fit your current form.”

But as soon as she said that, the scabbard suddenly shifted to fit the rapier that Myr was holding. “W-What? Luna, did you do this?”

[I did not.]

Myr inspected the scabbard in confusion. When she couldn’t find anything strange, she decided to infuse Mana into her eyes. Soon, several patterns made of Mana-ink appeared on the scabbard, overlaying her own patterns.

Myr wasn’t a Blacksmith. She didn’t know what the patterns meant. But judging by what happened earlier…

“Wow, Readjustment enhancement? Mr. Ander sure is generous.”

Chuckling, she sheathed the rapier. “How does it feel?”

[Like a comfortable chair. Thank you, my servant.]

“Glad you like it.”

Luna let Myr play around with her for a bit more before commanding,

[Rest. You’ll need it tomorrow.]

.

.

.

.

.

“Urrghhh… Kill me…”

Myr hadn’t even started her training yet. She was merely waking up an hour or so earlier than normal. Yet, it was hell to her.

After groaning some more and lamenting her life decisions, she jumped out of her bed and grabbed Luna. Since her room was pretty spacious, she could practice in there as long as she didn’t accidentally stab anything. Maybe.

[Let us begin. I shall tell you about your training regime. You are to eat nutritious food. I have seen what you ate yesterday. Your muscles cannot develop with mere bread and boiled herbs.]

“But money…”

[You are relieved of your duty to pay for your mother’s hospital fees for a year, are you not? Diet is essential if you want to attain power.]

Myr reluctantly nodded. She wasn’t used to spending money for herself, even to buy good food. In fact, her buying her armors yesterday took a lot out of her. But she could certainly try…

[Next is your physical training. At day, you are to run. I will let you decide when to stop for the day. At night, you shall practice footwork. Six hours of sleep are all you will get from now on.]

“Is that all?”

[For now, yes.]

“B-But I thought I was learning swordsmanship?”

Luna lowered her eyes. [I believe you mortals have a saying for this; “do not put the horse before the cart.” Indeed. Without the basics, you can learn nothing. Did I make myself clear?]

“Yes…”

This wasn’t what Myr had envisioned when she became a Shard owner, but she had to trust Luna on this. She was the expert, after all, being a literal sword and all that.

*

*

*

*

Luna observed her owner’s day-to-day progress for a month straight. Perhaps Luna had underestimated the frail girl too much, but she had exceeded every one of her expectations.

Every single day, Myr ran. She ran until her feet were sore. She ran until her shoes wore out. And she ran until she was out of stamina.

Yet, she kept moving relentlessly. Only when afternoon arrive did she stop.

Of course, the people around her noticed these changes. The weird Wyvern girl had turned even weirder in the eyes of the townfolks.

I don’t know what to call this anymore. Determination? No, it’s more like masochism.

If Luna didn’t know any better, she’d have thought that Myr liked to torture herself like this.

This kind of self-destructive training… She reminds me of her.

Luna’s first wielder. If she hadn’t fallen for the dirty tricks of Vanthea, maybe, just maybe, this stupid war for the Shards would’ve ended long ago.

Luna felt her past memories slowly worming their way back to her. She shook her head to rid herself of such things. It’s all in the past. I need to focus on my current wielder.

Myr’s efforts were rewarded grandly. She was getting stronger; much stronger than before. But not quite strong enough to be able to wield Luna in her longsword form.

This kind of training would’ve continued for a few more months if it wasn’t for Myr’s sudden request one random day.

“Please, Luna, can I take a day off? My Hunter license is gonna get revoked if I don’t take on a Contract…”