Book 3: Chapter 15: Lord: Big Bad Mentor
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*Parry* *Parry* *Parry*

I have been sparring with these two for quite a long time. I use a simple training sword while the girl also uses one, and the boy uses his fists. It’s a 2 on 1 at the moment and I barely have to put in any effort. I’ll just keep this up until they’re at least a bit of a challenge. Would be nice if I could know my katana or nodachi, but the Japanese kids will definitely know how big of a red flag it is. 

“You two are showing promise, but you could certainly adapt better than that I’m sure” I commented as both sides are a few meters apart.

“Hah… Ha… Ha…” The boy breathes heavily as his eyes narrow and stand at attention still. I haven’t really taught him any martial arts just yet, I know some but it’s not a lot, and for the girl is the sword going to be enough?

“Say, boy, do you think martial skills will be enough against the Demon Lord? I think you should pick up a weapon in case it doesn’t work” I asked the boy who stood firm still, while the girl stood there watching this conversation not doing anything.

“I’m alright with polearms at least” He replied. Well that’s a relief.

“Good, well after a while I’ll see how skilled you are with it. For now let’s try out some bare hand combats” I responded while dropping my practice sword, then turn to look at the girl.

“As for you I think you should sit back or go see the sword guy for now” I instructed her and she silently nodded and left.

“Now then… ready?” I take stance and look at the boy. 

“Yes!” He replied firmly.

*Dash*

 

#####

 

*Stirke*

Whoops, I struck at his side and almost broke his bone probably. He collapsed quickly but thankfully doesn’t scream or freak out in any way.

“[High Heal]” I chanted and let the attack healed up quickly. He tried to move but the pain prevented him from doing so.

“Stay still for now. I think you’ve done well keeping up, but let’s end our training for now, I’ll go fetch the girl” I instructed then walked to find the girl.

*Parry* *Parry*

“You’re not bad for a girl!” The boisterous man commented as the girl did a pretty good job keeping up with the guy. The girl is panting slightly.

*Parry* *Parry* 

Swinging wildly left and right, her attacks aren’t the most graceful but at least it works. Her attack doesn’t make her balance breaks immediately, but continuing the assault might end up with her losing her footing. 

She certainly doesn’t have the skill just yet but she’s adapting quickly, the weird nature of crossing worlds probably has something to do with that.

*Parry*

One parry later and both sides stopped, then both of them along with everyone else nearby noticed me. 

“Sorry, I came to check her up, I’m done with training that boy for now” I explained myself.

“Sure, nothing wrong with that, go on girl” The sword guy said to her.

“‘Course I will” She replied and walked over to me. I gestured to her and both of us walked over to our own spot.

…That boy sat nearby watching us while rubbing his side, yeah it was a bit accidental on my part, feeling a bit bad honestly, but let’s not dwell on that.

“Well it’s time for a one on one training with you again, but this time I want to ask you something” I began speaking to her.

“What is it?” She said, feeling a bit curious.

“Well I already talked with that boy about any alternative means of offense, but what about you? What could you do?” I asked her flat out.

“Oh! Right, well I was thinking of using magic as well, if you can teach me that” She answered. Well that’s neat I supposed.

“Good answer, I guess you could go… Actually since you’re aiming for sword and magic couldn’t you go ask that two guy who used both, you even interacted with one of them just now” I replied and then asked. I was being pretty inconspicuous with my capabilities with them all so far yet they chose me anyway.

“Well I think you look a bit too important honestly. I’m a bit savvy I guess” She replied. A rather absurd reason but it sure works.

“What about you?” I turn to look at the boy sitting down.

“I got a feeling” He responded very briefly. Guts feeling for both it seems.

“You two pick well, anyway since you want magic then that’ll be what you’ll get” I said to the girl while smiling in reassurance.

“Okay… So how am I supposed to use magic?” She asked ready to learn already.

“Honestly speaking it’ll either be a struggle or not. Not everyone is good with magic. Hey fist boy how confident are you in magic?” I replied with a statement while asking the boy as well.

“Not at all” He replied, rather confidently I might add, as if fully aware of it.

“Well what about you?” I then turn around to ask the one wanting to learn magic in the first place.

“I think I’ll do fine” A slightly confident if humble way of saying it, usually a person’s instinct should be pretty good in picking up how good their capabilities are, so maybe she might not take that long to at least pull off a spell.

“I see. Well let’s get started shall we?” I said with a small smile.

“Yeah! What do I need to know? I saw you all chanting and stuff happened, obviously more than just that right?” She immediately asked for how to use the spells.

“Well before that what is your conception of magic and spells? The fundamentals and all that” I asked her first to see if I can simplify it in a way she could understand.

“I have barely heard about the thing! There’s like magic points, it’s needed for a spell, and then knowledge to cast it? That’s about it” She replied not sounding very sure about it.

“You got the very barebone basic down at least. Yes there is mana and you can cast spells. Now how do you use mana to cast spells? Any idea?” I asked to see if she’ll figure out anything herself.

“Concentrating? Something like that I’d imagine” She replied with a rather short answer. Well she’s not wrong at least.

“One of the key components, aside from that you need to be able to make a clear image in your head of what your spell will be. Another thing to take note is to actually be able to sense mana, you can’t exactly use something you can’t even see or feel after all” I explained the components. She doesn’t look too lost thankfully, now I just have to help her acclimate with mana and then it’ll be baby steps from there. 

“There’s a way to push one’s mana into another person’s. That should make the whole process easier” I suggested then walk over to her before she could respond. I touch her arms and…

“Urk!” She let out a pained voice as I tried to stimulate her body with mana. I walked away and looked over her moving her arms about.

“So can you feel something there?” I asked with my hand on my chin looking over her. She moved her arms about and looked a bit bewildered.

“Yeah… Is that supposed to be mana?” She replied still rather bewildered.

“Exactly, now try concentrating it into a spell. You have seen some demonstrations of spells have you not?” I answered which she seems slightly satisfied with and has a look of someone in thoughts.

“Spells… spells…” She muttered. I guess she’s thinking of a spell she wants to try? Or at least try out first?

“[Wind]!” She said a simple word as a clear command for the mana to obey.

…Nothing happened.

“I suggested using more words and clearer command than ‘wind’” I calmly suggested not sounding like I’m criticizing her at all.

“Okay…” She replied sheepishly. That was clearly embarrassing for her even if no one was laughing, or maybe that just makes the whole thing even more embarrassing? Possibly.

“[Wind to Gust]!” She chanted and-

*Blow*

Very much a gust of wind takes place, even if it isn’t particularly strong. Certainly a good start.

“Great. If it takes you so little time then using magic for combat shouldn’t be far off” I complimented her. Now after this initial point the best thing to do is to let the girl try out things on her own, as technically speaking everyone craft their own spells, but it’s not a bad idea to show some spells of your own to give one’s pupil some ideas, and with their ability to perceive mana they can understand the construct and the image better.

“Thanks… Is there more to this? There should be more to this” She replied with another question. Usually one either moves on since the basic or continues to be under someone’s tutelage, guess she’s not aware that this covers the basic just yet.

“Well unless you wants to see what kind of spells is possible, there’s really no reason for you to consult me on this, I think you should try things out on your own for the time being, the boy needs my training more than you at the moment” I answered her honesty and gesture at the boy to come over here. 

“Okay then, guess I’ll just… Well should I go to the other guy?” The girl asked, not looking that sure.

“Well you could watch him perform some spells if nothing else, the best way to go about it is to try things out on your own after seeing some demonstrations” I answered her question which seems to satisfy her enough, she nodded and looked at me thoughtfully.

“Thank you, teacher” She thanked me and walked off. The boy now walked over and stood roughly where the girl was just moments prior.

“Well now. I believe it’s time for polearms… I guess there’s a training spear around here most likely… Oh wait you already got it , nevermind. Anyway before we go on any further I think you should demonstrate to me how good your grip actually is, swing it around a little, try thrusting, all that” I instructed the boy who must’ve found a training spear while I wasn’t looking.

*Swing* *Thrust*

His movements are already pretty great without considering the most likely case of his lack of experience.

“Not bad, now see how I do-... Actually considering how different we are in physical abilities… maybe not, just keep trying and I’ll see if there’s anything wrong with your performance” I changed my plan considering the vast power difference, with difference in power came different ways to best use the weapon after all, can’t exactly do that.

“Very well” He replied so, very short reply-

*Swing* Thrust* *Spin*

Before he began quietly trying out the spear and some approaches. Gonna be here a while I’d imagined.

 

#####

 

“You’re doing pretty great so far, maybe after a while getting a bit stronger I could show you how I did it” I commented with a side of clappings. Walking over to him I look at him with a confident smile.

“I appreciate the compliment, teacher” He replied politely. Feels like it has been a while, what time is this?... Oh it’s almost over, alright then. I wonder what else could I do today, training these kids is one thing, but I’d like to enjoy myself during my free time and not conspire anything. I think I should go see Rosia, wonder how she’s doing in no doubt a stuffy environment of the castle, not even sure what the royals think of letting someone share their home with them, someone who historically probably wouldn’t care about such a thing. Well let’s just tell him about the time for now.

“Oh by the way, the time is almost up, you’re probably a bit tired so I’d suggest rest for now and wait for the meetup at the end” I said to him and walked elsewhere, to see how everyone is doing, observing and all that.

 

#####

 

Everyone now gathered where we all started. That woman isn’t here but that’s fine, she can go do whatever as long as she doesn’t try to break sequence, which would lead to us improvising everything. She’s certainly not the most goodie two shoes out there thankfully, otherwise this whole thing would be a mess already, still she’s still quite a problem, need to deal with her somehow. I look over everyone here with the adventurers behind me.

“Alright everyone, I believe you all have a great time practicing magic and weapons, no doubt you all are nervous as it is your first time trying such a thing… Tomorrow we shall go outside and battle, I know it seems sudden, but the quicker we get you all to be able to fight the better, who knows how things will go in the future” I announced the plan for tomorrow with a few of them looking nervous or incredulous. I turn to look at the man who is in charge of their group and stare at him for a while.

“You shall take your leave with your students. You all can go now, thanks for today” I said to him and the people by my sides. 

 

#####

 

Everyone dispersed and now I’m on my way to the castle, while it’s a few kilometers away considering just how naturally strong I am it’s not even remotely a problem. That encounter with that woman was certainly unexpected, I think I need a few glasses of blood to chill out. 

I wonder if I could simply run and no one would notice anything wrong. I mean technically speaking even if people are freaking out I did pull that stunt two days ago that already convey how ridiculously fast I can travel in a short time.

Yeah I might as well.

*Dash*

I’m not completely sure how fast I am going at the moment but the sight of the castle came close quickly in just a few seconds, I think just a few seconds of running and I’m already at the destination.

“W-Whoa!” As I quickly reduce my speed to zero and the guards who patrol the gate are taken aback by my speed and a few actually raise their weapon.

“H-Hold on! She’s the Hero’s companion! What are you all doing!” One of them pointed out and a few said things to similar effect. Eventually everyone lowered their weapon and let me in. Don’t mind if I do.

 

#####

 

“Rosia! There you are” I said finally catching the sight of Rosia, walking over to her relieved to see her again. There is a small glimpse of her smile right there as both of us walked over to each other.

“It’s certain been a while Maova. How are you?” She greeted me with a nice inquiry of my situation, considering how harsh she can say things to me, which while sometimes funny I like this breath of fresh air.

“Been doing fine I’d say, so how about we go talk to each other? Let’s go to our room… Eh? What are you doing there… the prince isn’t that right?” I was talking to her then realized of a presence near us, I looked over Rosia to see a guy standing there looking at us. His appearance and the little demeanor I saw from him standing still suggest some sort of class, and him having slight similarity to the princess suggested relation, the same shade of hair color, so him being a prince isn’t that far fetched.

“So you are the two who have been talking for a while here. His Majesty and my sister have certainly been mentioning you two quite a bit” He said walking slowly over, looking a bit cautious as he’s eyeing us.

“Indeed” Rosia replied.

“There are understandable circumstances behind that of course” I added. He doesn’t seem particularly friendly, but at least he isn’t trying anything just yet.

“And the mess in the throne room as well, what was meant to be mine sooner or later. I want to make sure you two don’t even have a chance of trying anything stupid” He said as if threatening us. What is with the high horse he is on? I mean by the law of common sense two suspicious individuals being in the same room as you ought to make you feel a bit territorial and paranoid, but antagonising them immediately ? A bit much yeah?

“As if, we’re trying to prevent something stupid from happening to be real here” I replied sounding bored. He certainly isn’t the good boy prince it seems, Yuria would’ve been a better candidate if she’s not how she is now.

“This whole legend deal is just ridiculous, really what are people thinking believing such a baseless thing” He muttered. Guess he’s not a believer, a bit of a problem there, that certainly would make it hard for him to be convinced the easy way.

“Ha ha, I think you’re taking the wrong approach there prince. What we’re faced with at this point cannot be relegated to the legend, I suggest you continue your duty as the prince, and everything will work out as intended” I responded with a smirk on my face. He is glaring at me but it’s really like a small bug trying to appear intimidating, you can’t even see what it’s doing in the first place with how small it is.

He left without saying a word, and we both are left to ourselves.

“Let’s get to our room shall we?” Rosia immediately suggested.

“Very well” I said, waiting for her to take the lead…

“The other one, I mean” She replied… Ohhh, I get it.

“Well let’s go to that place first shall we?” I suggested. She quietly nodded with a hum and took the lead.

 

#####

 

*Zoom*

Soon we’re back in our living room with its peaceful scenery.

“Any reason we’re back here?” I asked, feeling a bit curious. There’s no need to come back here just yet, but here she goes suggesting so.

“I think… I should try to train my affinities. I think I’ll train with Kaa-san for the day, if that’s alright with you” She answered. Training with her of all people. If she tried to have Kaa-san train her seriously then she might even able to catch up to me, but if it’s just for a spell or two then I don’t see it taking too long for her or anything, Kaa-san and her space and time magic could easily stretched out the time possible, if not infinitely, not that I’m completely sure of how that’ll work at any rate.

“Of course, if you want to train then sure… Just come back to me before bed okay?” I responded with a gentle smile, she smiled back and warmed my heart back as well.

“Certainly, I can’t possibly resist such a time” She said, sounding almost teasingly. She walked off and out of the room. 

Guess that’s how this day would go now, I think I should chill for a while. Letting myself relax and ready for whatever to come next in this event I’ve created...

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