"You? You're alive?"

"Belfry?", Mother raised an eyebrow at my question.

"You know, you're supposed to say "It's you!" and I'd go "Yo. The name's Billy. Nice to officially meet you, kid."", He sarcastically remarked, looking at me with teasing eyes. When I didn't respond to his joke, his smile was replaced with a disappointed frown.

"You really were expecting me to die, huh?", He knelt down, meeting me eye-to-eye.

"According to this fine gentleman, you were in the bewildering forest earlier this afternoon.", Mother smiled, but I could feel nothing but malicious intent behind that. She was extremely pissed off.

I grimaced; already weary from the earful I'd be getting after this interaction.

"Well, if he wasn't there, I'd have died earlier so please go a little easy on him.", He scratched the back of his neck while pleading on my behalf. He then faced me intently. "Earlier, you kids wanted me to train you in the art of the sword, right?"

"Eh?" When the hell did I ask for that?

"Oh my.", My mother put her hands over her mouth as she gasped, shocked. "My son, a great swordsman. Just like your father. Maybe then Roland-"

"Sorry, it seems you've misunderstood something.", I raised my hands, putting a stop to all of this before anyone got any stupid ideas.

Both of them looked at me confused faces.

"I didn't ask to be trained in the sword. It's Lesley who did. If you're feeling like giving anyone lessons it's him."

"Hm? So you don't want to learn the sword?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'm quite satisfied with learning magic at the moment."

Since he already knew of my magic, there was no point in hiding it from him.

"That so?", He put his hand to his chin in deep thought. "Well, in that case, I've got a condition to train him."

I knew where this was going, but I simply couldn't hold myself back from asking the stupid question.

"What's it?"

"The name's Belfry, right?", He asked, slowly pointing his index finger at me. "You'll join in the training. Should you refuse, I couldn't be bothered to even try."

"H-Huh? Why me!?"

"Y-You want to teach Belfry how to use a sword that badly?"

"Yeah. And don't worry about having to pay me in any shape or form, since he saved my life earlier, I'm indebted to me."

"Huh? T-That doesn't matter! You should teach Lesley, not me!"

"Belfry! Accept the kind man's offer!"

You don't even know who he is!

**********

"And dat's how ya ended up 'ere?", Lesley asked, fanning himself with his palms.

"Yeah. That scumbag just dragged me into this bullshit.", I swung my wooden sword down, then raised it, only to bring it down again.

We'd been performing swinging practice for the past 10-20 minutes. I'd lost track of the time. I felt this was absurd for first timers, but Billy's requirement of 200 swings was near impossible for me.

"399!", I yelled, struggling to bring up the wooden sword.

"Ya coulda just stopped at 100, ya know?", Lesley said, leaning back on the tree, seeking shade from the hot summer sun. "Billy said we could stop at 100 if 400 was too much."

"To… hell with what that guy says! ARGH!", I grunted, putting my all into my last swing, finally completing my quota.

"Hahaha, yer real interesting, Bel.", Lesley just enjoyed himself, relaxing under the shade. My wooden sword clattered to the ground, as my hands were physically incapable of still holding them. "Why'd ya even push yerself this hard?"

"Cause I like sweating." I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

I'd always been extremely talented and everything came easy to me. There was a strange euphoria that came to me when I actually struggled to achieve something. It felt like a great pay off rather than a mundane task. The best way I could explain it was I simply loved to see my sweat after doing an arduous task. It was proof that I was actually working towards something.

"What?", I noticed Lesley staring at me with a blank expression. "You don't like sweat that much?"

Kind of hypocritical considering this was the same kid that would be rolling in mud when playing with his friends.

"Well, that's quite the response.", Billy's hoarse voice came through from behind me. He held a bunch of sticks in his arms as he walked to put them in the little shed that served as his place of work and temporary home. "I didn't think a kid that could do magic would enjoy sweating like the rest of us meat bags."

"What's that supposed to mean?", I asked, glaring at the scumbag ruining my perfectly good afternoons.

"Don't think much about that. It's good for a kid to have that kind of mentality.", He ruffled my hair then pushed Lesley out of his spot, eventually taking his place as his own.

"Honestly, I don't really feel like teaching you both how to fight.", His face soured, as he looked away, unable to meet us in the eye.

"Huh!?", Both Lesley and I guffawed at the man's sudden switch in demeanour.

"The hell do ya mean by that!? Eh! Speak up, ya shit bag!", Somehow, he brought out my inner delinquent. I was readying to chunk a boulder at his head, but he raised his hand up to stop me.

"I'm a pretty emotional person, so don't mind me when I say things like that.", He explained, then threw two sticks at us. "The wooden swords you swung are heavier than regular swords. Honestly, I'm surprised you could even do 100 of those, let alone all 400. I'm sure both of you are exhausted, whether you're showing it or not."

I felt my fingers, palms, biceps and triceps, all bulging violently. My palm was beet red and my veins had snaked out. I then looked at Lesley. He showed no visible signs of any fatigue, but somehow, I could feel his arms were also screaming for rest. This sort of rush strangely enough, simply invigorated me.

"So for today, I'll have you both fight each other with sticks to see how well you can fight."

I looked at the crooked sticks, then at him. This was an absolutely stupid way to teach sword fighting. Making two people who just pushed their muscles to the absolute limit do this would reveal absolutely nothing.

Lesley quietly picked up one of the sticks.

"This is-"

"Hap… don't talk back. Just do it."

"Bu-"

"Hap-hap!"

"Y-"

"Hap-hap-hap!"

"Don-"

"Hap-hap-hap-hap!"

"Ugh.", I grunted, snatching the stick off of the ground.

I took ten steps away from Lesley then pointed the stick at him.

"Begin." With a bored smile on his face, Billy started our duel.

The results after a mere two swings were a no brainer. Lesley beat me into the ground easily. I growled, feeling frustrated, but with there being nothing I could do about it, I chose to accept the facts.

"Again."

"Huh!? What's that gonna-"

"HAP!"

"Gaah!"

Again, I moved away from Lesley, then pointed my stick at him. And again, the fight resulted in me being beaten after only 2 swings of Lesley's sword.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Again."

"Oh come on!"

Before he could silence me, I decided to move quickly. This went on until I was physically incapable of moving. That was about 27 matches in total. 27 matches that I stood absolutely no chance in.

He returned me to my house that evening. I expected Lisa to go on a tirade, berating Billy for my condition, but when she saw me, all bruised up and worn out, she simply laughed and picked me up. They both joked about it and that was the end of the matter. I'd be starting again the next day.

What sort of mad alternate reality had I been sent into? Wasn't this the same woman that was hesitant about leaving me alone with Lola? Now here she was, joking about actual injuries with a man she only just met the other day.

Something was way too fishy about this.

**********

"Again.", Billy cried out, yawning.

This was the 26th duel for the day and the results were the exact same as yesterday. This whole event was starting to feel pointless. I'd learnt swordsmanship before, so the ideas were in my head. The only thing hindering me at the moment were simply Billy's absurd training conditions.

Admittedly, the backlash was 100% my fault as I was constantly going the extra mile to actually accomplish his goal, but I didn't care. Lesley was also doing the tasks without uttering a single voice of complaint! I couldn't let a brat upstage me!

"Haha, this is getting kind of boring, boss." Lesley said, turning to Billy.

"You're telling me? Both of you are so boring." He stood up, coming over to pick my collapsed body from the ground. "We'll continue again tomorrow."

"N-No! O-One more!", I begged, but my request was eventually turned down.

My muscles were sore and my body was hot, but whatever medicine mother fed me made me feel a tad bit better. Lola really did have the best remedies for practically anything. I needed to pay her a visit one of these days.

**********

Both of us ten steps away from the other, my gaze analysing his every move, I huffed out a load of steam. It had been one tenday since we started this stupid training. It was the 27th match of the day. Usually, this would be the final match, but I was sick and tired of losing every single time.

Lesley repeated his usual formula, jumping in to close the gap. I did the same and we both came within a simple 2 step distance, and he brought his stick down from above. Normally, my body would be too tired to allow me to react to this, but now that I was getting used to it, I could dodge it.

I sidestepped, swinging around in an arc to bring in my stick from the side, but Lesley reacted quickly enough, jumping back. I on the other hand was carried away by my swing and sent tumbling to the ground. Lesley then wacked me on the shoulder as I laid on the ground.

"That's enough.", Billy said, coming to pick up my body.

"Damn it!", I cursed, punching the ground. "I thought I had you this time."

"Yes, yes, maybe next time, precocious.", Billy taunted, lifting me up like the dead weight I was.

With it being a complete tenday, mother wanted to receive some updates over dinner. It was an awkward dinner that night, with mother trying her hardest to be welcoming, but Rosine glaring daggers at him throughout the whole night.

**********

About two more tendays had passed, and we were nearing the third month of summer, Orask. And I could confidently say we had learned absolutely nothing from this useless bum who wasted our entire month. All Billy ever did was make us fight duels each day, perform exercises, and gather up firewood. My frustration had broken through the roof a long time ago, but when I voiced my issues, both Billy and my mother laughed at me.

The only ones who agreed with me were Lesley and Rosine, and even then, Lesley just told me to push through in silence. I was really annoyed, but I gritted my teeth and did as I was told.

Both Lesley and I picked up our sticks, ready to start our daily duel, but then Billy interjected.

"You don't need to fight. I've seen enough." He clapped his hands, then yawned from underneath the tree he usually lazed about all day. "Come over."

We did as he said, stopping just a few feet from him. He then reached out his hand, his eyes pointing to the stick in my hand. I automatically handed it over. "You two can sit down."

After we sat down, he started to scribble on the ground.

"In this world, there are two types of people. Enhancers and Emitters,", he started. I eye-rolled, already exhausted by his explanation. "Emitters create wonderful effects we call magic. All the tales of sorcerers, witches, and the like you've heard are most likely true. With the ability to raze entire cities to the ground and to manifest enough power to threaten kingdoms, when you think about it, sorcerers could possibly be gods."

Gods? Sorcerers were that feared in this world? That was new to me.

"Well, they would have been, but just like how the Cruel father was born to counter the Undying Mother's goodness, so were enhancers created to keep emitters in check."

He has my attention now. I leaned forward, quite invested. It seemed he noticed this, because he smirked.

"Emitters absorb the mana in the air, then convert it to usable mana before now having to chant a spell to create their magic. Enhancers, on the other hand, simply generate the necessary mana to make ourselves stronger and faster. In terms of combat, enhancers are most definitely beating emitters."

'Hmm.'

"Oh, so because enhancers move faster, they can end the fight instantly." Lesley pointed it out, his eyes gleaming brightly.

Basically, it was a matter of who could make the first move. That was a fair point, but for someone like me who could cast a spell without chanting, it was pointless. I had the raw destructive capabilities of a mage as well as the speed advantage of emitters. In a sense, I'd already cheated the system, though I was still too weak at the moment to actually beat people.

My interest was starting to wane.

"Good observation, but no.", Billy chuckled. He scratched the back of his neck, still scribbling. "If all enhancers had was the speed advantage, we still wouldn't be enough to beat a lot of mages. Look here."

'Oh?'

My gaze shifted to his drawings on the ground. It was two people, one surrounded by some weird shape, and the other shooting something out.

"Even if we had speed and a tougher body, if the sorcerer survives the first hit and manages to launch their offense, we're likely to die in the first hit, if not badly injured. I have a few scars to prove that. Never toy with a mage's heart, kids."

At the last bit, I grimaced, getting some ideas about what he might've been talking about.

"Enhancers generate mana. Sometimes, we generate so much mana that it leaks out of our body and becomes something sort of tangible. Like an invisible wall that separates us from everything surrounding us except for air."

Oh. I knew where he was going with this now.

There was a similar concept in the world I was from. However, where I came from, this thing wasn't the result of mana. It was the result of someone's intensity and willpower taking form. We called it...

"Aura. It's every enhancer's cheat code for emitters. With it, the spells emitters throw at us hit an invisible wall and have almost no effect on us. This is how we can fight back."

He raised his left arm to us. Just then, I could see it starting to glow purple.

"Lesley, hit my arm with the stick, using all your might,", he ordered.

Lesley, without a moment's hesitation, swung the stick down so fast that it took me a moment to catch up.

The stick stopped about an inch above Billy's bare wrist. Lesley gritted his teeth as he tried to force the stick down, but he couldn't move any closer.

"There's three types of aura. This is Defence Aura. And this…", With a slight push, Lesley's stick was sent flying away. Billy swung his arm right above our heads. The trees behind us creaked painfully as they slowly fell backward, crashing into the ground. "... is Attack Aura."

Oh. In my previous world, we didn't try to differentiate between the two. We simply called them aura.

"The combination of the two brings forth the third type called Battle Aura, which focuses on both aspects, allowing for an enhancer to defend and attack with great efficiency. This is how enhancers match up against emitters."

This was interesting. However, even if an enhancer did this, someone like me could still find a way to counter. In fact, there had to be a reason why, even though the number of mages in the world was less than enhancers, mages were still more revered.

"But even if you have aura, wouldn't a smart mage who understands your abilities well still find a way to counter it? Maybe an Aberrant?"

"Ugh. You're kind of annoying, kid. Can't you just get excited like regular kids? You just ruined my epic explanation."

I clicked my tongue, suddenly remembering who I was conversing with.

He put his hand on his chin.

"Well, I guess there's a fourth type, but... never mind that. With aura, the only thing missing is some sort of weapon mastery to assist you. Thank goodness for you two that sword schools exist."

"Hey, hey. Go back to the fourth type.", There was no way I was allowing him to let such interesting information go untouched.

"That's not important and it's too confusing to explain to you, so when you get older.", Like the average adult, he brushed it off.

"What? I'm old enough now."

"Anyway, there's a lot of sword schools in the world."

"Hey!"

He ignored me, going about like I was never there.

"For instance, the Dancing Viper style to the south was widely practiced by members of the Great Ahmar Empire. A style of sword that focuses on evasion, disarming, and stealth attacks. There's the Absolute Blade Style in the Artoria Kingdom and the Rising Sun Style that's generally practiced around the continent. There's a lot more sword styles out there, and normally I'd recommend one that suits your physical abilities and personality."

He stood up and stretched, his bones popping.

"Over the past month, I've made you two fight a total of 27 days consistently, telling you to go all out on each other." His gaze was locked on Lesley. "For you, Lesley, you had the size, speed, and strength advantage, and you absolutely never wasted it. Whenever Belfry came up with a new idea to trick you, you easily compensated with your speed and instinct, never wasting a movement and ensuring you won each and every single time."

Lesley usually showed no reaction, but I could see him stifling a grin. He was excited by the praise he was getting. He deserved it. Everything Billy said was true.

"For someone with your physical abilities, the Absolute Blade Style would fit, but your personality's a bit too cold for it." Lesley's eyes widened at that. "I've got the perfect sword style in mind for you."

Well, I wasn't expecting that. Lesley's personality being too cold was definitely not what I thought I'd be hearing.

"As for you...", Billy's tone turned grimmer when his attention turned to me. "Against Lesley, you are smaller, slower, and weaker. Yet, all you did was simply hold back."

"Excuse me?"

"You don't have enough drive to win. You shout about wanting victory, but you never once truly tried to acquire it."

I growled, frustrated.

The hell did he mean by I never truly tried to acquire it? I fought till my palms bled sometimes. I moved until my legs simply collapsed. In the past month, I pushed my body to extremes it'd never known, only for some obnoxious brat to say this about me. I wasn't going to take this sitting!

"See? You were holding back in your fights."

"What the hell are you going on about?"

"Look around you.", Confused, I looked around and noticed that the wind was twirling and howling in my eyes. In my anger, I'd lost my cool and summoned twisters. "Your magic. You never once used it in combat."

"But you said we should just use the swords!"

"No, I said you should duel. I never gave you any other rules. If you really wanted to win, you would've used your magic."

"That's cheating."

“Is that what you believe?”

“There’s no point in fighting a person who fights dirty! There’s no honour in it.”

"Only losers think like that." Billy then pressed the tip of his sword against my neck. When he drew it and when it came into his hands, was a mystery to me. "If I were truly trying to kill you here now, would you tell me that it'd be cheating to use magic?"

Terrified and nervous, I simply conceded his point. After all, there was an element of truth to what he said.

"While Lesley already has the mindset and physical abilities for this new style I'm about to teach you, you lack all the necessary components for it." He sheathed his blade. "So, rather than just teaching you about it, I'm going to beat this mindset into your heads. I'll give you the survival instincts of a winner."

He kicked me in the stomach. Before Lesley could react, he already had his blade against Lesley's neck.

"For the next month, I will be hunting you two in this forest. If you try to run home, I will kill anyone you ask for help. If I catch you two before the end of the month, I will kill you. If you manage to make it to the end of the month, you get to live, and I will teach you this sword style."

"H-Hey! We don't... agree to this!", I forced myself, gasping. He broke something that wasn't supposed to be broken. It was getting harder to breathe. I couldn't keep my eyes steady. My vision blurred as my head got heavier.

Before I realised it, everything had dissolved into black.