Chapter 5: His Sword Style

Was this what dying felt like? Because he felt like this was exactly what was going on with his body.

Eugeo thought he knew what pain was. It was something that every person in the world would be forced to experience at some point in life, either stubbing one's toe on the table leg or knocking their head on something. The most extreme of examples would include something like getting stabbed in the body, which was close enough to what he had to go through a few days ago.

He had, after all, almost died from blood loss after taking a damned buster blade straight to his gut—understandably, he kept that a secret from his family, because what person would really tell their family that he almost died? Not him, that's for sure. Sulinea would likely get a heart attack if she ever knew.

Perhaps having experienced one of the worst things ever allowed him to go into Kiriko's training with confidence, believing that there was no way it could possibly be much worse than almost dying. After all, it was just training.

Goddesses, he'd been naïve.

Eugeo fell face-first onto the ground, tilting his head to the side as he breathed out in exhaustion. Every muscle in his body, including ones he didn't even know existed to begin with, cried out in pain from having been pushed through the shredder. He was breathing incredibly hard, he knew, forced to deal with the taste of his sweat on his tongue. Now that he thought about it, water really sounded good.

"Already down, Eugeo?"

"Au-hghaa…"

Someone stepped beside him. He didn't have it in him to even turn his head to look upwards, though for the shadow looming over his figure, he knew they were standing right over him. The sound of shifting dirt was a sign of them lowering themselves into a squat.

"Let's see… That was somewhere around fifteen minutes. Half a minute improvement from yesterday."

"T-That's… ack…"

"Oof, you're not looking good. Also, didn't I tell you to not sit down after a run? At least walk. It's not good for the body," the person sighed. "Get up. I'll get you some water."

With some difficulty, Eugeo forced himself onto both his feet, not even surprised that he felt shaky. Having been jogging for two hours straight would probably do that for anyone—he definitely hoped so. Otherwise, it was just a sign of him being unfit, which would be ridiculous considering his calling.

Then again, those only ever did make use of the muscles in his arms and core, and never his feet.

'I would have never thought about any of this if it weren't for the training…' He thought with a gulp, holding back a gag. 'Oh man…'

Kiriko returned to his side a moment later, holding up a canteen of water. He didn't even manage to say a thing before Eugeo snatched it out of his hands, taking large gulps from his drink. Kiriko might have warned him to be careful not to choke, but at this point, he really couldn't care.

Once he was done, he let the empty canteen drop onto the ground, sighing in relief. "Thanks…"

"Don't worry about it. You needed it, I could tell," oh, he definitely did. The back of his throat felt like a desert mere moments ago, so getting some water in there had done wonders. "In any case, I can tell that you're getting better. Your run time is getting longer, which means improvement in your stamina."

And stamina meant everything in a fight, as pointed out by Kiriko. The thing he noticed about his training was that it was never geared towards duels, but actual combat to the death. He might have been a lot more worried about that particular bit, were it not for his prior experience in such a fight that gave him a deeper appreciation for the need to be a lot more prepared.

Duels were almost always finished with a 'stop before contact' sort of things, with some instances of first blood to really get the people's blood pumping. Duels were designed that way to abide by the «Taboo Index», which forbade the lowering of one's own or another person's «Life».

Kiriko sought to look past that. He wanted to prepare him for life-threatening battles. Somehow, he appreciated that a lot more than he thought he would.

'It's scary, but if it means I can protect myself and the people I care about… Then I'll do it. Better to suffer an aching body now than to die out there.'

He gulped at the thought, but was quick to shake it off. His training with Kiriko would make certain that such an incident would never repeat itself ever again.

"Alright then. I think that's just about it for training today…"

"Eh? Already?" He blinked back, green eyes wide.

"I told you, haven't I? We switch between jogging and swords training every day. If you push yourself too much, you're only going to hurt your body more than you'll help it."

"I-I see," he wasn't too knowledgeable on this sort of thing, so he trusted Kiriko to know his stuff, considering how he had retained some knowledge of his swordsmanship days. "Well, if you say so…"

"And besides, don't worry about rushing things. We just need to take our time."

"I know, you've said that before," he sighed. "I'm just worried that I'm not making much progress."

"What are you talking about? You are making progress," so saying, he reached for Eugeo's arm, the other boy freezing up as gentle fingers traced across his bicep. "See? They're feeling way sturdier than before. So don't worry about it!"

"E-Err, right. Right."

"And besides, building muscles doesn't happen overnight. Everything takes time."

Eugeo sweat-dropped at that. "That's really good advice, but being told about patience from you of all people seems weird."

"Snrk. Well, there's always hypocrisy, I suppose."

He rolled his eyes at that. Still, knowing that he was indeed showing some improvements, slow as they may be, was a pretty good feeling. He supposed that was why people enjoyed exercise and physical labour; exhausting as they may be, the feeling of accomplishment more than made up for it. Healthy body, healthy mind.

Afterwards, the two simply lazed at the Gigas Cedar, their conversation switching from training to talk about food and the like. Their training would always be after he was done with his calling, and he'd alternate between sword training and body-building exercises like today's jogging, or even push-ups and more.

Truth be told, the training was never that bad. He especially enjoyed the sword training, being taught on how to improve his form and a myriad of «Secret Techniques» to use (although, the bigger curiosity he had was on the Aincrad style that Kiriko is teaching him. It was way different compared to other sword styles). Even physical training was fine.

But the thing about Kiriko was that he wasn't a gentle teacher. If anything, he would push him to his limits at every opportunity, and then push him even further. He wasn't sure if that was sadism or a genuine incapability on his part to gauge his limits. And for Kiriko's sake, he was going to assume nothing.

Today had been especially tiring. It was supposed to have been one hour, not two! But Kiriko came telling him to keep running, even if he felt sick and fatigued. Ah well.

"So, any requests on what you want to learn tomorrow?"

"Requests?" He asked back, quirking a brow. "That's new. You never asked me what I wanted to learn before."

"Well, that's because I wanted to help you get the fundamentals down. Now, though, I think it's okay to teach you anything extra. If you want to, of course."

"Extra stuff, huh…"

He pondered on that for a moment. This was honestly a good opportunity to pick up some new knowledge that he'd been curious on. Perhaps they'd come in useful in the future, as distant as that may be. Still, what could he possible ask for?

After some time thinking, an idea came to mind. He looked over to Kiriko, tilting his head. "How about a duel?"

"A duel?" Kiriko asked, making him nod.

"I mean, we've never sparred properly before. I think… if I get to have a small fight with you, you'd be able to gauge my level, and I could learn a lot more through actual work."

"Huh… Well, sure, I don't mind. But you'll have to use the Blue Rose Sword."

"Ehh? Wouldn't that be unfair?"

"I mean, the point of all this training is so that you get acquainted with using the Blue Rose Sword, so you may as well. It'd be a waste not to."

"That's…" At the pointed look he was receiving, he eventually relented with a sigh. "Fine, fine… So, do we fight here?"

"Yep. We'll do it tomorrow, but just to make sure that you'd have your full energy for training, we'll take an hour break after you're done with your calling. Got it?"

"Sure thing."

Without nothing else left to do here, the two eventually packed up their stuff and departed from the Gigas Cedar, chatting about other things as they walked together back to the village. With the light of Solus beginning to dip past the tip of the cliffs, golden rays were strewn about in the sky, and the glowing embers of the torches set up cast the village in yellow glows. A typical sight at this point, since his training often keep them back for a little long.

Bidding farewell to his friend, he split off from him at the village square to head to his own home. He knocked on the door before stepping in, announcing his return. No one answered him, however.

'Probably still out.'

Well, that was fine. He could do with some peace and quiet and catch some sleep, though he had a feeling taking a bath right away would be a lot more preferable; he caught a sniff of himself and faltered at how bad he smelt. Well, he knew what he was doing; bath first.

All in a day's work, he supposed.

"Oh, Kiriko? Right, he told me to pass some news to you. Apparently, he'll be busy today, so he won't be able to join you for your calling and training."

"Really? Huh. Okay then."

Probably running some errands for Sister Azalia. Kiriko once told him that she asked him to do stuff like delivery and helping the gathering party to go collect stuff from the forest. He usually volunteered for that kind of stuff since his calling as swordsman doesn't exactly give him a thing to do, so he was more than happy to help around the village.

"Yeah. But don't sulk, 'kay? He'll be free tomorrow."

"Urgh. Sulinea, I'm not going to sulk."

…Really, he wasn't sulking! He wasn't disappointed that he didn't get to hang out with his friend today. And sure, he was looking forward to their sparring match, which would be their first, but he could be patient when needed!

He sighed. Well, he'd be lying if he didn't say it kind of sucked. Even if it had only been a week and a half at this point, he'd gotten used to having training as a part of his schedule. It was all about being productive, and he liked that. But since he wouldn't be having that today, there would be nothing else to do after his calling. Guess he'll just head home immediately after he's done.

Or perhaps he could try and do some solo training? Shoot. He wasn't actually sure what he could do, though perhaps a run again wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. And he supposedly managed two hours yesterday, so he could try and best his previous record.

He shuddered at the thought, but realized that it was better than doing nothing. 'Might as well make good use of my time.'

"Eugeo, go wake your brothers up. Breakfast will be done soon."

"Got'cha."

After breakfast, he departed for the Gigas Cedar—this time, on his own, which felt really odd. He'd gotten used to having Kiriko accompany him that going on his lonesome made him feel lonely. Urgh. Well, no use complaining, he supposed.

As far as he could tell, the training definitely helped quite a bit—less in the way that it shows and more of how it feels. He was able to keep working on his calling for a longer time before taking a break, and he was working a lot faster than before. That was all the influence of his improved stamina, he could tell.

And he also notices just how much lighter the Dragon Bone Axe is. The improvement in his «Object Control Authority» also influenced that, as well as his muscle growth, definitely influenced that.

Humming in appreciation, he sets down his packed foot a distance away from his spot before standing before the massive gash in the tree. It was almost mocking him, reminding him that he could never cut it down.

But he had a way to do so now. Kiriko had proven to him that the Blue Rose Sword could indeed inflict crazy amounts of damage to it, so felling it was no longer a pipe dream. It was within his grasp.

'But before I do that, I need to make sure I can be confident in my skills as a swordsman. Only then will I allow myself to fell this tree and leave for Centoria.'

Psyching himself up, he took his spot before the gash before lifting the axe behind him. This time, rather than simply surrender himself to repetitiveness, he focuses on his proprioception; on the position of his arms and legs, on the strength of his grip, on the sound of his breathing. Things that he would have never considered before, but now discrete in his state of focus.

Lowering his centre of gravity, he swung back the axe, keeping it high but not enough to lose himself into the swing and overextend. His eyes stare into the cut, taking in a deep breath—

And swung!

The blade of the axe struck true, the reverberation travelling into his bones. He clenches his teeth through it, and it doesn't take long for him to regain his calm once more. He drew the axe back, and sighed.

"It didn't do much, as I expected, but… Well, it felt way better."

It would have felt a whole lot better if the axe actually had an effect on the tree, but oh well.

And so, Eugeo continued his calling. Unlike before, per Kiriko's instructions, he was a lot more focused on keeping track of the number of his swings and his motions, which he could then use to compare with his previous performances to get a better grasp on the little improvements he makes with his training. And they're honestly a good distraction.

…Man, he really never will get used to this. He thought he'd gotten used to being all on his own, which had always been the case before Kiriko showed up in Rulid—being a 'loner', as Jink often put it. And now that he's had company again, it was really nice.

If he was fully honest, the only thing he really disliked about this entire thing was Kiriko not being here. He didn't even mind if they didn't have training here. If his friend was here, it'd feel a lot less boring here.

'I mean, we'd always have so much to talk about,' he thought to himself as he worked. 'He would always ask me about all the littlest things, like the stories behind the goddesses, or the sword styles. And he'd tell me all about his Aincrad style, which is pretty cool in itself.'

Seriously, who would have thought that he'd somehow invented his own sword style? Despite having forgotten just about everything else, guess his swordsmanship hadn't completely faded from his mind and body.

And that begged the question as to whether or not Kiriko was secretly a noble. After all, most of the existing sword styles in the world were created by noble families who held power in the hierarchy, though there were styles invested by minor families too. The Serlut style was one such example.

'Hmm… I'm not too familiar with any mobile families from Southacroith, let alone the entirety of the Human Empire,' he sweat-dropped. 'There just isn't much information about the families. Plus, with our village being so far north, it's hard for information to reach us.'

News would typically reach through a messenger or traders, the latter being their only reliable source of info since the former was usually only for important matters like empire tournaments and royal ceremonies. The last one showed up to inform their village of the crowning of a new emperor of Westadarth—and that had been two years ago.

That meant the only reasonable way to learn of the world was to actually go out there. And, once he completes his calling, he might be able to make that a reality.

His hand stayed. Becoming a swordsman… He wasn't sure why he'd decided on becoming that, of all things. And he should have known that Alice was gone. She'd been taken to Centoria to be executed—Deusolbert, the knight, had said as such that day. He should know better than to hope.

But still… He couldn't let go of that sliver of hope. He had to confirm for himself; had to go there and know, whether or not, that Alice had truly been killed. And if that was the case, then he…

'Goddesses, that's morbid. Why am I even thinking about that now?'

Eugeo grimaced, refusing to cry again. He'd done enough of that in his childhood. He calmed himself down, and continued to work. Another day passes.

"So, you ready for this?"

"I should be, yeah."

Even if he said that, Eugeo was well-aware of his heart, beating slightly faster in his chest. That could be because he'd just been done with his calling a moment ago, but he'd already gotten rest for half an hour. No, it was something else.

Namely, the fact that he was finally going to get that sparring match with Kiriko.

Every time he thought about fighting the crossdresser, he kept thinking back to the fight between him and Jink, which had ended in the most unexpected and spectacular way he could have possibly imagined. He'd shown no openings and no hesitation, making his victory all the more impressive.

And yet, despite his nervousness, he was… excited. It would be a good opportunity to understand his placing now, so he was more than ready for it.

"So, how do we do this? Do you want a first blood or stopping short?"

He was going to answer first blood at first, but knowing that they were working with actual metal here, he decided otherwise. "Stopping short."

"Got it. So, fight until either one of surrenders or we stop short," until one of them surrenders, huh? Eugeo had a good feeling who would be doing that. Still, an opportunity like this wouldn't come all the time, so he was going to give it all. "Alright, let's take our positions."

He nodded back, taking a fair distance away from the black-haired boy, who still managed to make the old-looking sword in his hand (he must have borrowed that from one of the guards) look like a terrifying thing. Eugeo gulped. This wasn't going to be like those goblins; this was a full-fledged swordsman. He couldn't afford to be careless.

Taking a deep breath, he unsheathed the Blue Rose Sword, feeling empowered by its weight in his hands. He brandished it in front of him and stared forth, meeting the steeled gaze of his opponent.

Confident was the word he would use to describe Kiriko, who looked every bit in his element. Even despite the long skirt of his dress and his seemingly dainty figure, he could fight as viciously as necessary if he so wanted to.

'Still, an opening is bound to show itself if I look for it. I need to be quick to make use of it when that happens.'

"I'll start the countdown. The sparring begins immediately when I count down to one, got it."

He didn't bother verbalizing a response, only nodding back. Kiriko took it for what it was, and began counting down.

Instead, Eugeo focused on calming himself. This was a learning moment; that was it. There was no need to be extremely tense. He just needed to focus on the fight, and focus on doing his best.

Breathe… and fight. Nothing more, nothing less.

'Alright… Let's do this!'

"One!"

And just like that, Eugeo was suddenly tanking a powerful hit from the front, eyes going wide as he stared into black eyes.

Panic was the first thing to overwhelm him as he tried to push back, only to slip and stumble backwards from the impact of his opponent's attack, back hitting the ground with the air knocked out of him. The tip of an iron sword stared lazily at him afterwards.

"And that's my win."

"Of course it is… Uurgh…" He groaned out, accepting Kiriko's hand to stand back up. "Should have expected that you'd go for a sudden attack like that. Looking to finish the fight as quick as possible, huh?"

"In a real life combat situation, that's the best option," he shrugged back, unapologetic. "Think of our fight with the goblins back then. We were going up against a lot of 'em, right? When you can finish a fight with one of 'em, you can then focus on the next. And then the next, and the next…"

"Err… That's just the extreme sort of situation. Other times, you'd just be fighting against one person, right?"

"Even then, making the first move is just the right idea to catch them off-guard. It's always good to make them panic, and a person who's busy panicking isn't able to make calm and rational decisions in that moment," his smile grew wide, confidence in his eyes. "Easy win there!"

Well, Kiriko definitely showcased that in literally fifteen seconds against him. He sighed, admittedly a bit embarrassed at having been so soundly defeated, compared to Jink who'd at least held his ground for a while.

But beyond the embarrassment, he was convinced that asking Kiriko for a spar was the right decision. That was one lesson learnt. He was prepared for more.

Mind made up, he raised his sword once more and met Kiriko's gaze, firm. "Can we have a rematch?"

His expression, initially that of surprise, turned into a smile as he nodded back. "Looks like someone is eager. Alright then, yeah. Let's do it."

"Thank you!"

He took up his position and angled himself for a more offensive stance this time, prepared to meet Kiriko's charge with one of his own. He knew he would hesitate even a little, so he would trust Kiriko to beat it out of him at the end of today.

And so, for the rest of the day, the two clashed blades underneath the Gigas Cedar. Metal clashed against metal, ringing across the forests as the critters bore watch to the fights. Even when he dropped to the ground or forced into a surrender, Eugeo never stopped trying.

Such would continue for weeks—under sun and rain—until eventually…

Purpose. Every single human in the world was born with one such thing, which gave them the motivation to see it through until the very end.

In a pragmatic way, Eugeo felt that one's calling was their exact purpose, which was a little disheartening to think of since it would mean cutting down the Gigas Cedar was the only thing he had going on for him.

But now, with the end in sight, he knew that there was a bigger thing out there waiting for him. And he was prepared to take that first step forwards.

"Yosh. You look ready to go!" Sulinea's beaming gaze upon him was a kind of balm on his soul, her smile wide and her energy infectious. "Go give it your all, little brother!"

"Right!"

Stepping out of the house, he was met with a bright and sunny day. Kiriko joined him in the village square, smiling so confidently at him, and the two of them ventured out to the Gigas Cedar.

It didn't feel like he was marching off to war, yet—as he and his friend and mentor walked between the golden fields—he couldn't help but feel like that was exactly the situation they were in. What was to come was going to be one of the biggest moments in his life; making history, if they were being honest. The Human Empire was not going to see this coming.

Nothing has changed. The Gigas Cedar still stood in place, still a reminder of the fact that he was supposed to be stuck here until the end of his days. But today would change that.

"You mentally prepared for this? For what's about to come?"

"Yeah. I am. I've been training for a month now, after all."

How a single month, thirty days, had gone by so quickly was beyond him. Between all the tree-cutting and the training, time had simply slipped him by. Now, the future awaited him.

He paused to take a calming breath. There was no point getting flustered now. He'd worked to get to this point. He just needed to believe in himself and take that step forwards with his head held high.

A punch on his shoulder snaps him out of his thoughts, head turned to meet the grinning expression of his best friend. "You're totally getting nervous there, aren't you?"

"To an extent," he'd admit with a silly smile.

"Well, you don't need to. This is the day! You should be more excited for it!"

"I am, I am. I'm just… psyching myself up for it. I'm totally prepared to do this."

"Good, good. It'd be a shame if you got cold feet and ran off."

"God, no. I don't want to keep this calling any longer," with ease, he unsheathed the Blue Rose Sword. "Let's get this over with."

He wondered what his expression in this moment was. Terrified? Nervous? Or perhaps determined. He hoped it was the last, for he wanted to be here and conscious to witness this moment. He had been stuck with this job for seventeen years, and he was going to see it through to its end.

Before he committed, however, he found his gaze staring upwards to the taller ends of the tree, a wave of nostalgia hitting him. He wasn't sure why he would be feeling such before a decisive moment, only to then laugh it away. Of course he'd be feeling like this now. The tree would be gone by the end of today.

He realized that he had words for what was such an overbearing existence in his life. Felt a little to even consider talking to a tree, but if he never got these words out…

"I… don't think I've ever hated you," he began, pausing to catch a snicker from behind him. When Kiriko was quiet, perhaps giving him the space and respect to speak, he continued. "I think, as a kid, I hated you because you were an impossible job given to countless people, binding them to this village and forcing them to work on you to no end. And without any gain—"

"—But nowadays, I don't think that way anymore. All I ever think of is… is all the time I used to hang out here with Alice. When she would bring the food she made at home for the both of us to eat together. When we would just play here. When we'd sit here, and bask in the shade and enjoy the peace and quiet."

Eugeo's lips curled into a genuine smile.

"Thank you. For everything."

Heart made up, he lowered his gaze back to the gash that he had endlessly hacked away at. He lowered his stance and held his sword off to the side, ready to execute a «Horizontal». All the memories of Kiriko's teachings filled his mind in that moment, his desire to make for Centoria fuelling his unconsciously drawn-upon «Incarnation» as he screamed from the depths of his soul.

Eugeo slashed forwards, blue light flooding the area and reaching its peak when the sword of ice and frost cut right through the demonic tree.

And just like that… as the towering tree slowly crashing upon the ground, witnessed by the various residents of the forest and the people of Rulid Village—

Eugeo, the seventh generation tree-cutter tasked with felling the Gigas Cedar, fulfilled his calling.