The birds keep chirping and the plants are covered with dew drops. The cool breeze hitting my body feels refreshing. The bright and warm sunshine makes my body feels relax.

I took a deep breath to relish this feeling. The weather is really nice. It makes me want to drink a cup of coffee and lie down under the sun.

"Pick up your sword and swing it 1000 times"

A pity a certain demon wasted this nice morning.

"I've just finished running 100 laps! At least give me time to catch my breath, dammit!"

I clenched my teeth and glared at this son of a bitー umm, no. This bastard!

Mom is not a bitch. If I called him son of a bitch, doesn't that mean I'm also a son of a bitch since we have the same mother?

I have to be careful when I'm cursing this bastard. Otherwise I would suffer for my own curse as well.

"If you have the time to complain, it means you have enough stamina to do more exercise. Now do it 1100 times"

"What did you increase it!?"

"1200"

"Fine! I'll do it!"

I had no choice but to do it. Otherwise, he would increase my exercise.

I glared at him with resentful eyes, and yet this bastard is completely ignoring me. He keeps swinging his sword without sparing any glance at me.

I have to admit though, seeing how he swing his sword amazed me.

Every swing was done with incredible precision at the same speed. I can see how much focus and effort he put in his sword training. It's no wonder this bastard was so strong back in the game.

I'm not a competitive person, but seeing him reminds me of my days on earth when I was on highschool. Back then I never skipped morning and evening training. I put my best effort training my swordmanship to be a champion. And yet, I lost.

I quitted the kendo club after that and spent my days on games.

Somehow, I don't feel like losing today. I guess I'll take today's training a bit more serious.

And so I started swinging my sword after clearing my thought.

Swoosh.

1 times. 10 times. 100 times.

I usually keep track until I finished the required counts. But today, I stopped counting after 100 times.

I kept swinging my sword until Ash told me to stop.

It's weird how I feel refreshed instead of being tired after I finished my sets. Maybe it's because I've become much stronger after exploring the dungeon.

"You're doing it better than I thought. It's seems like you're not slacking even without my watch"

Ash said with a surprising look.

"You'll be surprised even more when I beat you later"

I smirked.

"Oh? I'm looking forward then"

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Somehow, I could see stars in his eyes. I won't get beaten up to the point of laying down for a week, right?

I shuddered at such possibility.

"We will spar after 15 minutes of rest"

"We're not doing it now?"

It's weird. Usually he will force me to spar with him as soon as I finished my sets. He said fighting while feeling exhausted is the best way to hone my senses and reflex.

I do agree with what he said. Actually, thanks to his training I did well in the dungeon. There are a lot of times where my rest was interrupted because the monsters found my camp.

Not to mention I have to be on alert at all times. Be it fighting the monsters or escaping, I have to do it regardless of my condition. I would probably die if I'm not used in moving my body while being exhausted.

Usually you need a party of 4 as a minimum to explore a dungeon safely. With 4 people, you can set formation for fighting and rotating the guard duty when resting.

It was truly hard for me since I'm doing it alone. But thanks to that, my growth is fast.

I hate to admit it, but his training methods is effective for dealing with unexpected situation.

As expected from a royal knight, I guess?

"It's time, Rain"

I stood up as I heard him calling me.

"Alright"

∆ ∆ ∆

I pointed my sword upward and channeled my mana to my feet.

"Show me your progress, Rain"

Ash was standing still 10 meters away from me. He held his long sword in his right hand. Judging from his sloppy posture, it was filled with openings.

However, contrary to what he looks I couldn't find a single opening.

He was holding his sword in one hand because he has confidence in his swordmanship. His other hand is used to counterattack and deal with surprise attack.

I've been using cheap tricks just to land a hit on him whenever we spar. It's to the point where he already get used in dealing with my tricks, so feint attack won't works against him.

I took a deep breath and suppressed my distracting thought. Since cheap tricks won't work, then I will confront him head on.

The distance of 10 meters is enough for me to close in an instant.

I focused my mind solely on the thought of defeating him. My mind became sharper as the speed of my thought process increases.

The sound of my heartbeat,, the smell of plants, the cool breeze sensation and the leaves falling into the ground. I sensed all of it clearly.

I feel like I could even faintly sense Ash breathing rhythm.

"If you won't come at me, then I will attack first"

Ash changed his posture and lowered his body.

The moment he changed his postured I kicked the ground and charged at him.

The recoil of exploding my mana increased my speed.

In less than a second I arrived in front of Ash and slashed at his neck.

Clank!

The sharp sound of swords clasing at each other could be heard clearly.

Ash used his sword to block my attack. I could see some sparks flew when our swords clashed.

Although he managed to block my sword, he was pushed away due to my speed burst.

Smokes rises as he was being pushed away leaving dusty trace on the ground.

Ash opened his eyes wide in surprised. He probably didn't imagine he would lost in the first exchange.

Thanks to《Concentrate》skill, I became more proficient in controlling my mana and my magic power increases. Although it's a pity this skill doesn't increase my mana pool.

I didn't stop and rushed towards Ash in order to not give him any time he needs to recover. This time I aimed at his left shoulder and slahed at him vertically.

Clank!

He managed to block my attack again. This time, he used both hands to block my attack. I already anticipated him blocking me, so I took the chance to grabbed his shirt with my left hand and threw him away.

As he was thrown away, he still managed to slashed me.

I barely backed away to avoid the attack as his reflex was so fast.

If my reaction speed was not fast enough, it would have hit me.

He managed to restored his balance in mid-air and landed safely.

"I'm surprised. I never thought you would contront me directly"

"And yet I didn't managed to land a hit on you even when I have the upperhand"

This guys is truly a monster. If it was a normal person, they would have been thrown away and get thrashed by me.

"Since it's seems like you won't be using your cheap tricks today, I will gladly contront you directly. Come, Rain!"

He held his sword sideways and pointed at me. It seems like he is getting serious.

I took a breath and lowered my posture as I entered my drawing stance.

My mind recalled the stance that I've been training for years back on earth since I was 6th grade until my 3rd year in highschool.

Thenー

Boom!

We dashed at the same time.

When we were about to clash, suddenly everything moves slowly in my perception. It was as if time itself was slowing down. I could see his attack trajectory. There was a white line aiming at my neck.

It was the same feelings I had when I was fighting the skeleton warrior on the 5th floor.

Ash slashed at me horizontally aiming at my neck. However, instead of meeting his attack head on, I ducked to avoid his attack and drew my sword at the same time.

I could see a part of his sword is glowing. It was like something is telling me to cut it.

And thenー

Clank!

A sharp metal sound was heard, and his sword was cut into two.