Edward's POV:

After the boy finished testing 'Swallow', he passed out in the cold, and as usual, a flock of crows came to pick him up.

I would have interfered had it been another beast, but how could I not know it was that brat's uncle?

Although he said he would not intrude on Itami's training, he'd always left a dozen or so crows to watch over the boy.

While I don't condone lying or half-truths, I found how he cared for the boy commendable.

Whenever Itami fell unconscious, during training, he'd carry him to the cave, and whenever he injured himself, he'd treat him.

Sometimes, he'd pace around the vicinity in cold sweats and mutter about the boy.

Seeing the loving duo almost made me shed a tear.

However, this wasn't without its downsides.

In a way, he coddles the boy too much, so he ends up training more than he's supposed to.

Especially with the healing, I think the boy thinks of himself as a superhero now with the risks he takes during the training.

The main reason why he was able to cut his training short was because he could over-train himself and get healed.

**internal sigh**

I have to talk to him soon before he influences the boy to pick up more bad habits.

Third POV:

Once Itami woke up, he was smiling brightly. He had finally completed the training and could imbue his attacks with ether.

He was finally a pawn.

This left him with irreversible joy because he was going down the path he'd dreamed of.

However, now he had a choice to make.

'Should I fight the Illucard now or later'

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Normally, one would think the no-brainer would be fighting the beast when he was more powerful to ensure victory, but Itami was thinking differently.

He was thinking deeply.

3 months ago

Still Third POV:

(On the mountain Itami used to train Swallow at)

Edward is trying to figure out Itami's new training schedule, so he asks the boy about his previous training and battles to better understand his limits.

Once Itami finished talking about his training schedule, Edward shook his head internally.

'I'm going to have to start from scratch with him. It is impressive he has gotten this far without formal training, but he lacks common knowledge that all unranked children should know.'

Thinking about this made Edward annoyed. When he first saw the boy's technique, he thought Itami was part of a good family or clan that taught him entry-level theory but neglected him.

After all, this was commonplace in the big clans and armada.

Often, they'd exalt the talented and bury those who didn't meet their expectations.

This is also why when they find out they are untalented, some run away from their families and change their names.

However, as he got to know the boy more, he understood the boy didn't know anything.

After internally lamenting, Itami depicted his fights with the 2 kings of the forest he'd faced and the saruyuki.

However, It was met with an unexpected reaction.

Itami expected Edward to look at him with praise for all he'd accomplished, but all Itami got was a scornful gaze.

Itami was shocked by the look in Edwards' eyes, so he had to ask.

"Old man, why are you looking at me like that."

"Because you're a coward and will die quickly or limit your potential if you continue to go down this way."

Hearing this, Itami became uncomfortable because he didn't think himself a coward, and never wanted to be depicted as one.

"Me a coward? How could I be a coward?"

Seeing Itami's reaction, Edward became more irritated. so he began to speak.

"When was the last time you felt threatened during a fight."

Hearing this Itami, paused and thought back to his previous fights, and after a few seconds, his face turned from one of deep thought to shock.

Once he saw Itami understood what he was getting, Edward continued to speak.

Slowly, Edward started to depict the biggest flaw in Itami's training thus far.

To put it simply, Itami never fought a tough fight with beings around his level.

Hearing this, someone from the outside might think of the grendel, but that wasn't a tough fight because of the grendel.

It was a tough fight because of Itami.

During the fight, Itami let his guard down, causing him to undergo an assault.

This makes the difficulty of the fight attributed to Itami's foolishness, not the level of the beast.

In a truly tough fight, one's opponent forces them to make a mistake or leave an opening.

Itami's never experienced that, and with his second fight with a "dangerous beast", he trained to the point where the beast couldn't keep up.

This shows Itami's unwillingness to experience danger.

If he continues to avoid fights until he's one hundred percent sure he could beat it.

He'd start doing that with all his fights, and develop nasty temperaments like hiding strength deeply or cowering in the face of adversity.

After listening to Edward's words, Itami wondered where he went wrong.

Then it dawned on him, It was when he had that talk with his uncle.

Since then, Itami had become calculative and avoided dangers around him.

'Why would uncle tell me that then?'

Hearing this thought, Edward chimed in.

" Your uncle said this for two reasons. One, he didn't want you to die, and two, he wanted you to learn the art of retreating. Don't misunderstand me, there are times when one needs to retreat. For example, with the saruyuki. You stood no chance but chose to fight it. This isn't bravery or will but stupidity. More than likely, you misunderstood your uncle's words."

After Itami heard these words, he compartmentalized them because, above all else, he didn't want to be a coward.

Back to the present

(in the cave where Itami stays)

Itami's POV:

After reclaiming my thoughts from that day, I continued to think about the Illucard.

'With my current strength, I should be at its level, but the problem is information. Even my uncle doesn't know what level the Illucard is at. If I rush in there blindly, I might be facing a bishop or knight rank.

No, it's extremely unlikely it's a knight rank. If it was, how could it not have claimed the entire badlands by now?

Thinking about it, this is true for bishop rank as well. At most, it's probably a strong pawn rank.

Regardless of what it is, I'm fast enough to evade anything below a .....

**ahhhh**

You're thinking too much, Itami. Reconicense is good, but over-analyzing the situation is bad. You already know the facts. You've known the facts months ago. You're not getting any more information.

Alright, it's time to become the Illucard-Slayer.'