The first few weeks at the academy passed like a blur. Finn spent his mornings spying on the swordsmanship and magic classes, his afternoons reading up on magic theory and anything he could find on the hero of legend, and his nights fighting to the death in the middle of a warzone.

Yet, after all this time, effort and pain, his successes were close to nil. Despite everyone’s bows being upgraded three to five times, the archery class was still unable to get past the spiders. Despite having Reina and Annie’s help, as he searched through the entire library, all Finn could find about the hero of legend were vague tales of his deeds and achievements.

‘There is no mention of his abilities other than that he was a magic swordsman and the strongest of his time. That bastard either destroyed the records or killed anyone who saw him fight.’

Inside the dorm’s basement dining area, Finn slammed his head on the table. Sleeping four hours per night was making him increasingly grumpy and pessimistic. To avoid the conflict between the warrior’s breath and crystal magic, he had started fighting without it, lowering his spider kill count below even the likes of Kyle and making his abilities stagnate.

‘If I don’t figure something out soon, I may fall behind for good.’

While biting his palm for comfort, Finn directed what little brain power he still had to Mr. Andrei’s swordsmanship class. Unlike normal, the students had abandoned the sandy area filled with dummies and had gathered on the grass instead.

“Today’s lesson is very important,” said Mr Andrei while the students grouped up in pairs of two. “For the past month, you have improved your stance and increased your stamina. However, technique is only good if you can apply it on a moving target.”

“Are we finally having a sparring session?” asked Natalie.

“Yes.”

The girl grinned.

“After we run some drills.”

The entire classroom let out an audible sigh, but the teacher ignored it and explained the first exercise. The swordsmanship class practiced parrying for an hour, feints for two, then all manners of strikes from unusual positions until finally, almost six hours later, Mr. Andrei said the magic words.

“Good job. Next up, we will start sparring.”

“Yes!!” Natalie gripped her wooden practice sword and her muscles bulged three fold. Steam escaped from her veins as they showed themselves all across her body.

“Teacher, when are we going to learn that?” someone asked while pointing at her.

“In the second trimester, after we have gone through the basics. Now, take your stances. Your injuries will heal after each match. Are you ready? Begin!”

Obviously, a good chunk of the classroom was not ready. Natalie sliced through opponents like a knife through butter, as if trying to set a record for the shortest bout yet.

After several matches and countless injuries, Mr. Andrei had to separate the students into two groups: The majority who did not know the warrior’s breath, and around 21 students who did.

Even then, the redhead dominated most spars and pushed even the strongest of students to a standstill. Eventually, she was paired up with Tommy, and her grin threatened to reach her ears.

“Let’s see how much you’ve improved.”

“Yes, no hard feelings.”

Tommy took on a short stance and lifted his sword high above his head. Steam was bursting out of his body, and his skin was turning slightly red.

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“Begin!”

As soon as the teacher shouted, Natalie bolted forward and aimed for the boy’s legs. Tommy took a step back, dropped his weight and delivered a heavy blow from above.

Natalie dodged to the right and countered with a series of strikes. Her low blows were countered from above, her thrusts were parried with a side step, and when she tried to swing for his chest, Tommy closed the distance, forcing her to retreat.

“You’ve improved… Your timing is flawless.”

“Thank you, it means a lot coming from you.”

Again, Tommy took a tall stance, this time with his wooden sword pointed towards the ground. Natalie wanted to strike, but she hesitated as she couldn't think of a solution.

‘If I go for the head, he will cut me from below; if I attack the legs, he will advance and overpower me; If I wait for him to strike, he is stronger…’

Suddenly, Tommy looked much taller than he actually was, like a mountain Natalie could not hope to overcome. She felt a drop of sweat roll down her forehead.

‘Shit…’ Natalie let out a battle-cry and charged at her friend. She swung her blade without a pattern, adapting on the go and trying to overcome him with speed.

‘Why are you so fast?’

No matter what she tried, Tommy had an answer for it. No matter what trap she laid out for the boy, he kept seeing right through it.

‘This is not fair.’

Slowly but surely, Natalie was forced to step back. Tommy twisted his longsword so it would strike from unpredictable angles, every time towards where her defense was weakest.

‘I’ve worked so hard…’

Despite her best efforts, Tommy’s blows became harder and harder to block or avoid. Natalie retreated orderly while trying to find a gap in his defense, but the sheer difference in skill and reflexes was overwhelming.

Eventually, Mr. Andrei ended the spar, but the result was clear. Tommy returned his breathing to normal, but he had barely broken a sweat. On the other hand, Natalie could barely stand up. Her form was in shambles, and she had pushed her body to such limits that her vision was starting to blur.

‘How…’ “How did you improve so fast!?”

Everyone turned to stare at her, while Tommy shrugged before lowered his gaze.

“Miss Thompson, take a break,” said Mr. Andrei.

“No! If he can fight, I can too. I want a rematch.”

Andrei hesitated for a moment, but he then decided to approach. “Miss Thompson, it is an unfortunate fact that size and strength are very difficult to overcome. Mr. Carlstone is tall even for a boy and his body is adequately built.”

“So?”

“Humans cannot defeat giants, Miss Thompson.”

“Bullshit!” Natalie threw her wooden sword on the grass. “Only one of the five generals is a Giant. Are you saying none of the others can beat General Gryla?”

“Hmph,” Mr. Andrei crossed his arms. “I know for a fact that General Siegfried has defeated Gryla on at least two separate occasions. However, we cannot compare the prowess of the great generals to simple swordsmen, Miss Thompson. According to the data which I have personally collected, the males in my classes have always improved faster than the females.”

With a frown deeper than a canyon, Natalie retrieved her sword and took a stance in front of Tommy.

“Mr. Andrei, I wish to continue sparring. And with all due respect, I do not care about your data.”

“Hmph, a warrior must know her limits.”

“With all due respect, Mr. Andrei, I do not have limits.”

Annoyed by her unreasonable response, Mr. Andrei turned his back and signaled for a new round of sparring to begin. Once again, Natalie and Tommy clashed, and once again she was defeated.

By Finn’s estimates, if everyone were fighting to the death, Tommy would rank first in class with Natalie a close second. While sipping tea inside the lonely basement, the boy tapped his cup with his fingers.

‘Mr. Andrei is too blinded by his own theories to see the obvious: Tommy did not win through physical strength alone, and if we go by the size and strength of everyone in the swordsmanship class, Natalie isn’t even in the top 20.

Although, I can’t say I’m surprised with the results. Tommy and Michael learned the warrior’s breath in four days, five if I count Mr. Griffin’s lesson all those years ago. It took Natalie five months to do the same, and another seven to teach me.

If there’s one superpower I seem to possess other than math, it’s attracting ridiculous prodigies. Still, if Natalie is already starting to fall behind, then how screwed am I?’

With a sigh, he allowed his head to fall on the table in front of him. He watched his friends finish their classes while forcing his brain to go through all of the information he had gathered thus far.

Unfortunately, he could not come up with a solution.

‘I’m missing a vital piece of the puzzle. If only I could talk again with Loki or with the hero one on one…’