After the intense battle, Ryner quickly pulled Grey out of the training room and went outside the guild barracks, leaving Jurgen behind to discuss some issues with the queen. They both went to a wide grassy open area far away from the main village and lay on the soft grass with their heads facing the clear and sunny sky.

"That was an interesting battle. You fought pretty well." Ryner commended the boy, proudly grinning.

"It wasn't much of a deal." Grey replied, shrugging off the conversation. He quickly averted his gaze and met Ryner's eyes. "Why bring that up— No, the question is 'why bring me here?'" He curiously asked, looking at him with confused gaze with his brows wrinkled.

Ryner just gave him a smirk and then got on his feet, "That sword," He took his time looking at Grey's sword wrapped in safety bandages before blurting. "I wanna see how you swing it."

Hearing it got the boy's eyes widened. He wasn't expecting such a statement. "W-What?" Grey asked for clarification and also rose on his feet.

"I wanna see your stance, form, and style. Earlier you couldn't fight Johan with a sword because of the explosions caused by his sword touching yours. " Ryner bluntly stated, before moving several steps away from Grey. "Now I wanna see you swing it." he added, almost sounded like an order.

"O-Okay." Grey can't do anything but to obediently follow. He held his sword with a confused expression as he slowly peeled away the safety bandages wrapped around it.

"I want you to do it like you naturally would." Ryner said with a serious expression, looking at Grey position himself and his sword parallel to his body.

Grey raised his sword over his head, blade pointing outwards. He inhaled deeply, and after Ryner got out of the way, he did a powerful swing. The mana inside the sword reacted and soon after his sword touched the ground, an arc of energy flew and left a cut onto the grassy field. "That should be enough right?" He asked, looking at Ryner.

'Was it 0.8 second?— No, I think it's more than a second.' Ryner seemed to have been thinking about something and was unable to give a response, driving Grey impatient. After awhile of drowning in his thought, Ryner said, " The destructive power was good, if it was a battle of raw magical power, you'd practically win. But still, I think you're doing it the wrong way."

The statement shocked Grey, to the point that he was confusedly looking at the man while being speechless. 'What?' The only question that occured to his mind after hearing it. He suddenly got the urge to ask and said, "What do you mean by that?"

"It's simple, I have some other ways of using mana in a more convenient way." Ryner walked towards a giant tree as he speak. He slowly draw his newly-polished sword and let out a sharp sigh. Quickly after, he swung his sword parallel to the ground, blade facing the giant tree. He was several steps away from the targeted tree but the moment he swung his sword it was instantly cut down.

"A slash should be something like that." Ryner said, proudly smiling.

On the other hand, Grey was left staring in awe. 'Amazing, he managed to cut it down in a blink of an eye. That's something I cannot do even in my previous adult body.' He took a glance at excalibur that Ryner was holding. "But what makes it entirely different from my swing earlier?" he asked curiously.

"You didn't get it, do you?" Ryner teased him with a smirk before spilling the beans. "The thing is, my swing was in the same speed with your swing earlier. But the way I cut my target was a completely different case. The energy released by my sword traveled faster than yours. Do you know why?" he asked.

"Well... honestly, I don't." Grey replied, scratching his chin and awkwardly smiling while averting his gaze away from Ryner.

This leads to Ryner chuckling a bit before he said, "Of course you don't, that's the reason why you keep on doing what you've been doing."

Confused as he is, Grey slowly scratched his head as his patience slowly crumbles away. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"First, can you tell me what are you visualizing everytime you release that arc of energy from every swing?" Ryner eagerly asked, interestingly grinning and was already expecting an answer from the boy.

Grey took his time pondering and then said, "I visualize it as exactly what it was— an arc of energy being fired from the tip of my sword's blade."

"That's exactly the problem." Ryner uttered before looking at the boy and then at his sword. "You've used this sword's special ability: the changeable length, right?"

"Y-Yes," Grey hesitated to answer. He quickly remembered using it earlier in his battle and was now wondering how it was connected with the arc of mana he was trying to fire.

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"Then, instead of visualizing an arc of energy, imagine that mana as an extension of your blade. Let it coat your blade." Ryner explained, looking at the kid's obviously shocked expression. "You know, mana is faster when it's particles are not too densely packed, so make sure to make the mana particles thinner. That way, you could make your attack like an unstoppable pickaxe that cuts everything it touches." He smiled and proudly looked at the kid. "It's a simple yet advanced mana arts that you need to harness before fighting with anyone much more train with the old man."

After hearing it, Grey was already excited to try it out. 'Like an extension of my sword?' He said to himself before closing his eyes and began visualizing while still on his feet. He breathed in and forcefully swung his sword. This time, a short delay occured before the arc of energy a little bit thinner than before was fire at the field. It was strong, however, the moment it came in contact with the ground, it immediately vanished leaving a small cut on the grassy soil.

"0.6 second delay and the shape of the energy was unsustainable. Do it again!" Ryner screamed on his ears. He was blissfully watching the child with interest and was seemingly enjoying the show, causing Grey to look at him hopelessly.

"This guy sure is noisy." The boy whispered. He then followed his order and took another swing which lead to another and another.

A few minutes have passed and sweat started dripping down the kid's little body. Grey knew he had to do it to get rid of his weaknesses so he stood on his feet and keep on swinging his sword while Ryner was still screaming "Do it again" everytime he fails to sustain or stabilize the energy's form.

"That stubborn old man would definitely kill you with his intensive training. I had to make sure that you're well prepared just in case. I don't want you to end up like me." Ryner shouted, before extending his arm in a chopping motion and said, "Now, repeat!"

For the sake of getting stronger, Grey kept going until he spent all the mana he had stored in his pool. All the energy from his body were spent and he was now panting on his knees as his clothings are soaked in sweat. Given the hot temperature outside the open area, his throat feels dry from all the exhaustion. Two hours have passed since he started and yet he still couldn't do it perfectly. He never felt this struggled to do something in his previous and current life since he's always been so talented.

"Let's call it a day." Ryner uttered, trying to stop the young wizard from reaching his limits.

"I... think so." Grey replied while catching his breath. Unable to stay on his feet, he couldn't do nothing but ask for Ryner's help.

"You couldn't even stay on your feet." Ryner quickly lent him a hand before they both walked home while laughing uncontrollably to their hearts content.

It was afternoon when they both got their feet back to the town. The moment they stood in front of Jurgen's house, they both saw two human figure standing in front of the doorway, unimpressed.

Grey quick recognized them and said, "That's... mom and... gramps?" He blurted the last word and it sounded like a question. He was unsure whether the other person beside his mom was really his grandpa since it was unusual to see that stubborn old fart waiting for someone on the doorway.

But when they got closer, the picture got clearer and the person was really Jurgen. 'Well, that's strange.' he thought.

"And where have you been, Grey Crossford?!" Emily said. She made sure to say every word with clear pronunciation with a hint of anger, leaving blank expression on their faces.

For Grey, it doesn't look so good when his mom mentions his full name. And as much as he knows, his mom was probably worried about something... again.

"Well, miss Emily. If you'll excuse me." After bowing his head, Ryner quickly dashed out of the scene. He made sure to escape early and not be in trouble with the Grandfield family. As much as he remembered, Emily was just like her dad when it comes to discipline so it was a best idea to go before she got him into the hot spot.

'That guy ran away.' Grey hopelessly looked at Ryner dashing away from them in a hurry. It was quite a laughable scene to watch but he couldn't laugh because of how his mom glared at him.

Emily kept giving him a piercing glare as if waiting for an answer. She looks calm though so he decided to answer her question.

"I went out to train."

After the words escaped Grey's mouth, Jurgen let out a rather long sigh of relief, wiping the sweat building on his forehead. He had such a relieved expression, almost wanting to scream for some reasons.

"I see," Emily uttered and slowly averted her gaze at Jurgen. "I thought you've gone somewhere and fought a 'dangerous' battle." She doubtfully glared at the old man for a few seconds before she returned her gaze at her son. "By the way, you didn't had your lunch didn't you?"

"Well, since I'm out for almost six hours, I guess I'm..." Grey rubbed his tummy while it made an awfully loud noises like some kind of hungry monster. "... starving?" He finished his statement before going inside the house without removing his pair of boots he has been wearing.

Upon stepping in, Grey saw his uncle Reynold fixing something below the shelves while his father was assisting him. This caused the boy to wonder and asked, "What are you doing?"

"We're sorting some spell books." Reynold stated, gently flipping some pages of the old book he was holding before putting it into the shelves.

"Do you even need these?" Edward said, throwing some old and dusty books with torn pages into the open area of the living room. He also went to dig a box full of books, he found an interesting book inside.

Grey quickly recognized the book and uttered, "That's 'The theory of mana manipulation and arts'." His eyes are shining with stars the moment he laid his eyes on it.

"That's right, you have good eyes." Jurgen said, almost giggling. He casually walked to the kitchen and pulled Grey's arms. "But forget that, let's have our meals first."

Hearing him clearly, Grey did nothing but obey. Upon sitting on the dining area, he quickly stuffed his mouth with large chunks of meat he didn't know he could eat. Well, he was so hungry that he could eat a horse. Without letting a minute pass by, Grey finished his food. After gazing around to see everyone's surprised expression, he casually walked out of the dining area like nothing happened.

"That kid's appetite was unbelievable." Jurgen commented, before slicing a piece of meat and then slowly putting it into his mouth, savoring it's juicy taste.

With his already worn out body, Grey quickly hopped to his bed to take a nap. Hoping that he will wake up a few hours later, he fell asleep the moment he closed his eyes.