Proofreader: Future Me

I was surrounded from all sides, although it wasn’t the professor dupes, but my classmates. After witnessing my state of being, a sigh of relief escaped most of their mouths.

Serina glared at the man fiercely, “Professor, that was beyond necessary.”

She had begun a one-sided lecture with one of the clones, it was embarrassing to watch. In contrast, Erin, Uriel and Ash stayed with me, while the others began training with the clones.

“I- I was really worried!” Uriel had let out her concerns.

“Uh, yeah,” She was holding my hand tightly as I was still down on the grass.

“Your body looked far past death,” Erin commented, “I thought I’d have to cancel our plans later.”

Uriel leaned in closer with a suspicious expression, “Plans?”

“The Hero’s Bout, Luke needs training,” Erin explained calmly.

“Hero’s bout-?” Her face formed an O shape.

She definitely forgot.

“Th- then- Isn’t this impossible? He’s only a first-year!” A reasonable response came from Uriel, but it would only be met with the stubbornness that is Erin Villaine.

“Is that a problem? Luke has a potential which outmatches almost anyone else’s,” Erin had crudely reasoned, “I can train him to become stronger than that waste of a paladin.”

“E-even if that’s true, there’s not enough time!” Not even Uriel denied Klaus’ pathetic behaviour.

I watched the two of them bicker, eventually meeting eyes with Ash.

“I see your troubles,” Ash murmured before leaving, “Come to me if you need further help.”

Was he that easy to become friends with? I guess without his protagonist's perspective, he was pretty isolated.

“Let’s get back to training, alright?” I finally got up and tapped their shoulders.

“Luke, You need to get out of duel!” Uriel grabbed my arm urging me to give up.

“It’s fine, I need a stepping stone to work from,” I took back my arm and shrugged. “Also, Erin was the one who beat the guy senseless yesterday.”

“B- but!”

“We’ll be training after school, and if you’re really that worried, just join us then,” I offered a sound solution.

“I- I… fine!” She added, “But you can’t start without me.”

I had finally appeased Uriel’s worry, as she left with a huff toward the clone assigned to her.

“Hmmm… considering the time dilation in this room, we probably have a couple of hours left,” I calculated the remaining time I could muster for training.

From behind Erin curiously asked, “You could tell that as well?”

“…” I kept my silence on the matter, “Go back to your professor, he’s giving us glares for messing around.”

Seeing her walk off with a scoff, I could engage in refining my current sword technique with the man in front of me. While the rest had already begun sparring, here I was, standing in anticipation.

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It was about time I got some action, even if I had ‘died’ a minute ago.

“Are you ready?” He gauged my reaction standing with his sword, “Just as you survived being stabbed, you can’t die while I’m here…

So be prepared for a pain worse than death.”

“Gulp-“ I was incredibly tense.

Schwing!

His body lunged toward me at inhuman speeds, but I could see. My Outer Eyes granted me omniscient sight, however the question was whether I could react accordingly. Even if I couldn’t block the attack, I could at least redirect its strength and take less damage.

“Nice parry,” He acknowledged my feat. “But how long can you continue this?”

Bartholomew swung with precision in every action, although the power was manageable. Through his mastery, there was nothing I could do but stay on the defensive.

But… I wanted to become stronger.

Every strike, and every swing, my eyes had seen it all. An overwhelming feeling had taken a presence within me.

Maybe, just maybe I could replicate just a little of his swordsmanship, just enough to find a gap in his immovable offence.

His wonderful movements, with no wasted movements, had become more predictable. The dominant strokes he used to bait my defence, now became obsolete.

Yes, I could grasp it. Even if he was holding back, this was my win.

“What!?” A surprised yelp resounded from the professor.

For just a moment, we had interlocked swords.

“Don’t get cocky!” He broke off the stalemate, ducking underneath my overstretched arms.

My vision slanted and a force was delivered to my stomach. I looked upwards as I lay down on the floor, his eyes were screaming at me.

Screaming for me to get back up.

It was a nostalgic feeling. It was the same as when my former master had always taught me. I laughed at the coincidence, that I would once again be put through tribulation to escape the struggles of weakness.

“This is surprisingly fun, isn’t it sir?” I found solace in the fact that I was getting stronger.

[Basic Swordsmanship (E) (8.7% -> 15.3% Proficiency - Evolution Possible)]

Simply understanding the principles of a stronger technique let me grow.

“…”

Once again he charged forward, and I was ready to meet his sword.

I felt that I was taking the first step toward a better future.

-x-

“Fuck!” My voice was letting out unadulterated pain.

‘Toward a better future?’ To hell with that!

I had become battered over and over again with bruises and cuts. However, this demon had healed me each time through his game-breaking pull and push magic. It was practically a torture that wouldn’t end.

At one point my elbow was dislocated, just for him to strike it back into place, literally. He even used his sword to fix it…

Without a doubt, he was an instructor from hell.

“The three hours are over, you may begin your next class.”

Simultaneously, the clones all spoke to their respective pupils, beginning to collect into one human being. The process was just as disgusting as before so I refused to watch.

“Luke,” A disfigured voice said, “I’m impressed.”

The pile of reconstructing flesh- Bartholomew had approached me.

I shrugged off his praise, “Yeah, yeah, I gotta go sir.”

But he wouldn’t let up.

“I doubt you’ll lose to the bumbling idiot, Karlos.”

Haha, It seemed even this guy had trouble with that senior.

“Of course, I won’t,” I sent my goodbyes to the abomination.

Walking out the door, Fen wrapped his arm around my neck. At this point, I had gotten used to it.

“Luke, you were out there with that! Like how’d you live!” He excitedly exclaimed, “Seriously though, what was that?”

“Let’s just say I got a really good deal,” I answered his excitement with mystery.

Fen held a confused tone, “Why or how would you even know to do that anyway?”

“He has a point,” Erin agreed with his rambunctiousness.

“Whatever,” I sighed knowing the repercussions of revealing my knowledge. “We have Magic Studies again right?”

Fen answered with a thumbs up.

Mary’s voice would soothe me to sleep. What were the developers taking when creating this cast of teachers? The time wasted was incredibly discomforting.

I just wanted to start the practice sessions with Erin ASAP.