Both of them stared at the chick hovering above the sky, flying around the tree where its nest was situated.

"You see, if you are reliant on someone else's all the time, you won't have any room to grow at all. Sure, you can help others and watch over them, just like that mama bird protecting its child while learning how to fly!"

"But you should let it experience the hardships without others constantly helping them, to overcome those problems on their own and in order to be strong, both mind and body."

"Just like those kids in their school! There are teachers that'll teach them manners and discipline, but they should do it by themselves without their teacher's constant reminders. Not just inside the school, but even at the public and home. Doing that will help them grow to be fine adults, just like me!"

Even though I'm really not...

Soru didn't utter a single word and simply stared at her. His mother realized that her words were simply incomprehensible to a four-year-old child like him.

"W-Well, you won't understand it. You're still a child, after all..."

Soru's mother looked back on the chick as it completely vanished in the clouds, never coming back again. Soru also watched the scene and saw the mother bird flew from her nest.

"When you grow into a fine young man in the future, you will understand it."

Her mother looked at him with a smile and patted his head. She stood up and reached out her hand to Soru.

"Come on, let's go home. It's getting dark out here..."

...

Remembering those memories made Soru relate them to what Reika told him earlier. Soru began to realize why Reika wouldn't need his help constantly. He concluded that he shouldn't bother her while she's growing to be strong enough to protect those people she cares about the most.

As an individual, Soru is incapable of understanding someone else's feelings and actions, despite knowing what emotions were shown in front of him. He only does what he thinks is efficient and concludes what he deduces is right. 

With the likes of Reika reminding him about morals and ethical responses, only minor mishaps would happen when it came to him dealing with other people.

It was already an hour before midnight when Soru realized that the villagers had gone to their houses. Only he was left outside, with the dwarves and Silas sleeping soundly inside their rooms.

With nothing else left to do, Soru went inside his room and saw Reika sleeping soundly beside Veylir.

Soru walked slowly to his bed while staring at her face in silence. With the flickering light of the candle, Soru suddenly saw a vision of his mother's face in Reika.

Even though they were transported to another world, Soru doesn't worry about what his mother would think of his sudden disappearance. Despite the fact that she's his mother, he viewed her more as an individual that he grew up with to this day. 

Hmm... That's strange...

Seeing his mother's image on her made him wonder if his mother somehow misses him. But he dismissed that idea immediately, knowing that she could manage to live on her own even without his presence. He concluded that adults can live with themselves even without someone else beside them.

Soru lay on his bed and stared at the window, where the night sky was peeking out. With each second passing by, Soru slowly closed his eyes and went to sleep.

...

"...Oi, Völun! Hurry up, will you?"

"Alright! Just gimme a... secoooond~"

"You...!"

SMACK!

"Ow! Hey, what was that!?"

Soru heard Aeden and Völun's loud voices on the other side of the wall, which made him wake up. He opened his eyes and saw that it was early in the morning.

Soru stood up and walked past Reika's bed, which he saw snoring with drools coming out of her mouth. He went on the window and saw that the people were getting busy with the preparations for the upcoming monster wave.

He went outside and was greeted by Völun, who was still yawning.

"Oh, good morning, Mister Soru!"

"Good morning."

"Aeden will begin to train those who volunteered with some basic combat techniques. Wanna come?"

Soru nods his head in agreement.

"Sweet! Then, come along with me."

While the two of them were walking towards the training grounds, Völun noticed something on Soru.

"I may be rude to ask you this, but why aren't you changing your clothes? Ever since I saw you days ago, you're still wearing that same, strange clothes of yours."

"These are the only clothes I brought upon arriving at this place. I have nothing else left to wear besides this," Soru replied.

"Hmm... You can borrow from those humans, you know? Even us dwarves were given some clothes from those kindhearted fellows, and Miss Reika also wears those clothes that she borrowed from that human girl named Sylva."

Soru looked at his uniform, which is still as clean as new thanks to his power.

"I'm okay with this."

Völun looked towards him and stared on his clothes.

His clothes were surprisingly neat, and he smells okay too. Perhaps he's washing them while he's bathing and using them after he's done? But it won't dry that easily, though...

Suddenly, Völun's eyes widened.

Oh! Maybe he used his ability in order for them to dry faster! That makes sense!

Although Völun was somehow right, he was wrong about Soru using his ability to dry his clothes faster. Instead, he uses his ability to prevent the dirt from accumulating in his clothes by transferring them to someone else's.

Upon arriving at the place, the two of them saw Aeden gathering those who volunteered to train with them.

Out of the seventeen families that relocated to the new settlement, a total of twenty-one men volunteered for the training.

Soru and Völun went beside Aeden. Aeden noticed their presence and sighed.

"Finally, you've arrived, Völun! What took you so long?"

"Hahh... Can't you see I brought Mister Soru with me? Of course I was delayed because I accompanied him." 

Knowing that Völun's reasons were somehow valid, she rolled her eyes.

"Whatever..."

Aeden faced the group and observed them. Then she nods her head.

"Since all of you volunteered to train in order to prepare for the upcoming monster wave, I presume that all of you were ready, both mind and body, to face the impending threat that will bring harm on this settlement."

"YES, MA'AM!"

"I don't want weak-willed people in this group. If you are prepared to lay your life in protecting this settlement, then you should strengthen your will to fight them to death. Am I clear?"

"YES! WE ARE PREPARED, MA'AM!" 

Aeden could see a sense of fear and hesitation in their eyes, but she knew that they were determined to protect their settlement for the sake of the people that they protected behind them.

"Since you are fully prepared to face the threat with such determination, then we shall begin our training. Pick up your wooden swords!"

Aeden began to teach them some basic swordsmanship skills. The village men followed her as she swung the wooden sword in the air. Meanwhile, Soru and Völun sat on a wooden log, not far from Aeden's position. They observed the villager as they trained their sword.

Soru noticed the old man, Silas, approaching them. He was carrying a sheathed sword in his hand.

"Sir Völun..! Here's the sword that I mentioned yesterday."

"Thanks for your help, Sir Silas," Völun replied as he received the sword from him.

"I apologize for that. That sword was given to us by someone as a gift at our small wedding. I hope it'll help you, since it has no use to me..."

Völun unsheathed the sword from its scabbard and saw its blade, which was still sharp after years of not using it.

"It's alright. We'll handle it with care for you."

"Thank you, Sir."

Silas excused himself and left the scene. He went to the other group, who were busy preparing to barricade the perimeter of their settlement. Völun stared at the blade of the sword. He saw his reflection on it.

"To think that it was well-maintained after all these years... that old man truly values this sword despite having no interest in wielding it."

Suddenly, Völun sighed while looking at the sword in his hand.

"Hah. We've acquired a sword, but there's only one at our disposal. With so many people training there, only one would be able to wield this."

"If there's a way to obtain as many swords as them..."

"How many swords do you want?" Soru asked him.

"Based on their numbers, we need twenty more of this."

Suddenly, Soru reached out his hand to him.

"Give me that sword."

Baffled by his actions, Völun gave the sword to Soru.

"Okay...?"

Upon receiving the sword, Soru closed his eyes. Völun was curious about what he'd do with it. Suddenly, Völun saw that the sword had vanished from his hand.

"Eh!?"

Several clanking noises followed after the sword's sudden disappearance. Völun then noticed several sheathed swords lying on the ground.

"What the...?!"

Soru stood up and took one of the swords from the pile and gave it to Völun.

"There's a total of twenty swords on the ground, excluding that one."

Völun couldn't answer immediately, as he was surprised at what he saw. He took the sword that Soru gave him.

"H-H-How?"

"I used the sword you gave me and duplicated it."

Völun immediately went to the pile of swords and checked them.

He's right... There are actually a total of twenty swords lying on the ground!

Völun stood up and stared at him while holding a sword in his hand.

What Sir Alguis said to us the other day was true... He can duplicate objects too!

"T-This should be enough to arm those villagers with swords. I should tell Aeden about this!"

Völun ran towards Aeden, who was still at the middle of her training with those trainees. 

Soru saw the two of them discussing each other. He noticed that Aeden's eyes widened and immediately ordered the trainees to stop their training.

The two dwarves ran in his direction and went to the pile of swords. Aeden was shocked upon seeing them on a closer look.

"This..."

Aeden looked towards Soru.

To think that he can pull this off with his ability. It seems that Sir Alguis wasn't kidding when he told us that he could duplicate objects too...

Without hesitation, Aeden called the trainees to gather in front of her.

"Due to some unforseen circumstances, we managed to obtain twenty-one swords, thanks to Mister Soru. You should give him thanks for his efforts in providing each of you with a sword to wield!"

All the trainees bowed in front of him.

"Mister Soru, thank you for these swords you gave to us!"

Soru also bowed at them as a response. The volunteers felt excited and tried to take the swords, but Aeden stopped them.

"Hup! I didn't say that you can use these swords right away. You need to prove yourself first by honing your swordsmanship skills to the extent."

Upon hearing her order, their expressions drastically changed.

"Aww man..."

"Hahh... I thought I could wield a sword right away."

Aeden heard their murmurs and smirked at them.

"Pft. Did I just witness you guys sulking?"

Aeden grabbed one of the sheathed swords and pointed its handle towards them.

"If you want to acquire one of these, then you shouldn't slack off and persevere with your training!"

Suddenly, their mood went back to normal. They were motivated to train in order to receive their swords in the future.

"Yes, ma'am!"

As the trainees went back to their previous positions, Soru noticed that Völun was sneaking on his way out of the training grounds.

"Since Aeden will personally train them, I guess my being here would be pointless—"

Völun suddenly halted when someone grabbed his shirt from behind.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Hearing the familiar voice that spoke behind him, he turns around and sees Aeden, staring at him with a serious look.

"Y-You can handle their training on your own, right? If that's the case, then my help won't be needed here—"

"Should I tell Sir Alguis that you were slacking off and neglecting his orders?"

Völun jolted upon hearing her threat.

"Ghk...!"

Aeden picked up one of the swords lying on the ground and threw it at Völun. He grabbed the sword and stared at her.

"W-What shall I do with this sword?" Völun asked while unsheathing the sword from its scabbard.

Aeden took a glance into his eyes and simply smirked at him. Without responding to him, she turned back and faced the trainees.

"Since I'm done teaching you some basic swordsmanship skills, this time you'll watch a demonstration about the application of the techniques in a duel."

Völun heard Aeden and was surprised by her bold order.

"You...! A real sword? Are you kidding me!?"

Aeden swung the sword in the air, slipping the scabbard from the blade that it was hiding.

"H-Hey Aeden, how about we teach them a little bit more? Showing them a demonstration seems a little bit early, no?"

"Since you didn't help me earlier, you have no right to refuse this. Or do you want me to tell Sir Alguis about your negligence right away?"

Fearing that Alguis would scold him, he couldn't do anything but abide by her words.

"Sigh... When it comes to reasonable threats, you are simply unmatched..."

Both of them took a stance and waited to see who would strike first. Miraculously, both of them charged at the same time.

The trainees watched in awe upon seeing their swordplay. Being just a villager in their entire life, they were lucky to witness a technique they only thought was a dream.

Thirty minutes had passed since they began their duel. Even though the two of them knew how to wield a sword, a slight disparity between their skills was visible. Throughout their duel, Aeden was slightly superior compared to Völun.

In order to end their duel, Aeden decided to make a decisive blow.

"Hyaaah!"

Völun could see the direction of the strike, but he wasn't fast enough to dodge it completely.

"Urk...!"

Völun took a glance at the trainees, who were anticipating the climax of their duel.

Losing at her was nothing for me, but losing while having an audience is a different matter...

Seeing the sword strike approaching closer to him, Völun immediately thought of a bold decision to save himself from humiliation.

It's now or never!

Völun raised his sword in order to parry Aeden's blade. When her blade managed to hit his own blade, Völun immediately felt the heaviness of her strike.

"Rrrghhhh!! It's too heavy!"

Suddenly, Völun quickly released the sword from his hands, which made Aeden lose her balance.

"Woah!"

With a swift move, Völun grabbed the handle of his sword using his right hand and immediately closed his distance towards her.

"Hah!"

Everyone saw the conclusion of their battle. Völun held the sword like it was a dagger, running its blade on Aeden's neck.

"Hahh... Hahh... I-I won?"  

Völun noticed that something was tapping his waist. He realized that Aeden's blade was also aimed at his waist. If it were a battle to the death, his abdomen would be cut in half.

"Woaaah!!"

All of the trainees clapped their hands after witnessing such a spectacle. In the end, their duel ended in a draw. The two of them retracted their blades and faced each other.

"You sly bastard... I couldn't believe you managed to pull that trick. I almost lost!"

"Hah... I have no choice. You're simply too powerful that I resorted to such trick!"

Both of them shake hands to announce the end of their duel. The trainees were amazed, and they began to praise them.

"Miss Aeden's swordmanship is awesome! She moves like a pro!"

"Hey, don't underestimate Sir Völun! His tactics were noteworthy and precise!"

Aeden and Völun smiled when they heard the comments of the trainees. Aeden was glad to know that they were observing their duel carefully.

"Alright. Since you've rested well enough, I will assign all of you to pair with each other and do a joint sparring session. Are you ready for it?"

Filled with excitement after seeing their duel, the trainees stood up and agreed to her orders.

"We are ready, maam!"