RYUU KUSARI NO ORI -KOKORO NO UCHI NO 'KOKORO'- Chapter 1: 1, a 13 tzameti fanfic

Solminati Academy is a gathering place for youngsters with dreams, hopes, ambitions, and various thoughts. There was a boy here who entered the school to support his beloved's dream. However, the boy's ability, which he had only thought of, did not improve, he was laughed at by the people around him, he had no friends, his lover was separated from him, and his steps stopped. However, he meets an old woman, and that encounter triggers a gradual change in the boy. This is the story of a boy who has stopped moving.

Chapter 1.1

Solminati Academy, a gathering place for youngsters from all over the continent with dreams, hopes, and ambitions. The place where people who did not reach certain grades were mercilessly overthrown by the perfect meritocracy. The second-year I came to this place, I, Nozomu Bountis, on the sunny roof during lunch break recalled what I had experienced.

I came to this school two years ago, left my hometown with two of my childhood friends, and came to this place. One of them is Ken Notis. Unique friends since childhood. The other is Lisa Hounds. A beautiful girl with a reddish ponytail. She was my most important person, my lover. She was always a victorious child and was the culprit who one-sidedly quarreled with the country boy "General". I met her when I was eight years old while I was fishing in the river near the village.

"Hey, are you free now?"

It was a chance for her to speak. A reddish shortcut hair with triumphant expression, my face gradually heated up ... I fell in love at first sight.

Her parents used to live in different countries, but when her father died on the way, she decided to stay in my hometown. When she was a child, she was often naughty and irritable, but she wasn't hated, and she was a girl who would never forgive. The kids in the village who were the most disappointed with her were the boy "General" and me for some reason.

Three years ago, I couldn't control my feelings for her and confessed my feelings. Love at first sight, I've always loved her. She was shocked and opened her eyes wide to my impulsive confession, but she accepted my feelings with tears. At that time, I decided to go to Solminati Academy with her to support her dream. It was inspired by a dream she shared when she was young.

"I want to see the world like my father"

I know she missed the outside world when she heard from her mother about her late father. At that time, I decided to enter the Solminati Academy.

If my loved one wants to make her dream come true, I want to help. With that word in my heart, I firmly vow to support her back. She hugged me with tears in her eyes, said, "Thank you ... I'm happy."

In the middle of dozing off, the bell that indicates the end of the lunch break rings. I got up, loosened my body, and headed to the classroom for the afternoon class. Forcibly cut off the vow from my head that I can no longer fulfill. My class is the 10th class and the lowest class in the 2nd year. Among them, I am at the bottom, the so-called dropout. When I entered the classroom, contempt and ridicule from the surroundings greeted me.

"He's here again. The lowest"

"I wish you could just disappear"

"I wonder if you can just drop out already"

I'm afraid of those heartless voices, but I try to ignore them and sit on my own seat. When I got to my seat, three schoolboys gathered around my seat.

"Did you come to the bottom class without any purpose?"

Mars, the big man in the middle, talks to intimidate me.

"I wish you could give up on this futile thing."

"It's annoying because they will see me at the same level as you."

The other two who were beside the big guy also joined to swear.

"Well, He was abandoned even by his childhood friend, Red Hair Princess, shouldn't He stop dreaming already?"

The surroundings begin to laugh at the mockery of the three, but no one tries to stop it. In the end, the three didn't stop swearing at me until the homeroom teacher entered the classroom.

Yes, I was dumped by Lisa in the summer of the first year. As soon as she one-sidedly said goodbye, she turned around and left. I don't know what happened, but since then she's been looking at me as if she's looking at filth.

"It's because you cheated on me."

Lisa is a woman who is called "Red Hair Princess" because of her appearance and ability. On the other hand, my appearance is normal and my grades are not good. I was dating such a girlfriend, and I was a target of mischief, but the fact that I was dumped by her suddenly lowered my evaluation from the surroundings.

All my friends were gone and turned to ridicule me. Even so, I took classes seriously at the school and did not neglect self-discipline. Someday if I keep my vows ... I had that feeling.

Meanwhile, I learned that she started dating her best friend from an early age. She smiled happily with him walking beside her. In training, they show amazing combinations and beat other pairs, and I am forced to understand that I have no place beside her.

2:00 pm

"Hah!"

A dummy sword shot at the side of the imitation sword that the automaton swung. When the dummy sword that was shot down was returned and aimed at the doll's neck, the technique inside the doll is activated and the doll is automatically stopped.

After the lecture in the classroom, it's now time for practical training at the training ground. Apart from the training ground, there were several facilities such as a magic experiment site in this school, and students were studying their abilities in each facility. The training ground is divided into multiple areas so that multiple classes can handle the same practical training.

Today, it is mainly training for interpersonal battles, and each of the students has a battle with an automaton with a simulated sword. This automaton is one of the magical tactics, and it is a puppet that performs autonomous battle by infusing magical power into the puppet's magic formation. However, the automaton provided to the 10th class is not very good in quality and has only certain movements, so they are mainly used for preparatory movements.

" is a mock battle in pairs. The combination will be decided here."

When Ms. Anri Var, the 10th class teacher called, the automaton stopped, so everyone stopped and waited for the combination to be decided. Ms. Anri has long wavy brown hair and gentle eyes and her face is beautiful.

However, this teacher is not suitable for this meritocracy school because she is saying and acting as if a few screws on her head are missing. Many believed with this personality, the teacher which is entrusted (or being forced) with the 10th class, which is the lowest from the same year, does not understand the meaning of being in charge. However, it is clear from the fact that she is a teacher in this school so her abilities must be considerable.

Finally, the combination is decided, and each of them starts a mock battle with their respective opponent, but importantly my opponent is ...

"Hey, the lowest. This is bullshit."

It was Mars who cursed at me before.

"Let's get started since you are a waste of my time."

Mars pulls out the greatsword on his back. Mars is a rough man, but his ability is considerable, and he is in the 10th class because of his usual bad behavior.

I also pull out the imitation sword that is attached to my waist. My weapon is a sword of the eastern island nation called a katana. Katana, which specialized in cutting, was said to be able to cut through iron easily if a master swung it. However, due to the high skills required and the rarity of the sword itself, it had not spread to the continent yet. It is the most suitable weapon for me who cannot rely on power for some reason.

"Then, start ~~~"

The mock battle started with Ms. Anri's relaxed voice.

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"Uoriya ah ah ah"

Mars swings down his greatsword with a loud voice.

I parry the big attack with my katana.

Mars's sword deviates and struck on the ground with a high-pitched sound.

"Hah!"

In the gap after Mars's attack, I stepped in and aimed at the neck, and drew a slash.

"It's late!"

Mars uses the gauntlet on his arm to prevent the slash. The imitation sword does not show the original sharpness of the sword and is repelled by the gauntlet.

Mars tries to hit my face with a gauntlet, but I bow my head and avoid it.

I try to slash him again, but Mars forcibly swings the greatsword with one hand. I was forced to retreat and restart.

Mars, who is slashing with a greatsword, and I, who is trying to get inside the gap between the big slash, fight for a while.

"Do I need to crush it?"

When Mars mutters, his intimidation grows.

"Qi"

A technique that originates in the eastern part of the continent and increases the vitality of the person and reveals various phenomena.

Mars stepped in at once. The speed is unmatched.

This is the result of the physical strengthening by Qi.

When the prey in front of him is trapped in time, the greatsword is swung downwards.

I also used kijutsu to avoid it, but the greatsword I avoided rolled up the soil with a roaring sound.

"Chi! Did I hesitate?"

Mars is frustrated, probably because he couldn't end it with one blow.

He pulled out the greatsword that had sunk into the ground and started to swing it again.

Handle the greatsword that is swung around using physical strengthening by kijutsu.

The sound of iron colliding tells of the fierceness of the battle, but its contents were one-sided. Mars's physical strengthening is much more effective than my physical strengthening, but the effect of my physical strengthening is so low due to my peculiarity.

Mars is bad at doing things, but his ability is high in the class. Mars's enhanced sword techniques couldn't be dealt with by an ordinary person, but my physical strengthening as far as the sparrow's tears made it possible. It gives me the minimum physical ability to handle the greatsword that is swung down by power.

"Crush it!"

Perhaps because I, who he thought could be crushed immediately, resisted unexpectedly, Mars's frustration further increases, and he attacked with even more energy.

"Goo, I can easily crush it!"

I desperately tried not to get caught up in the opponent's speed. Although the power of the slashes increased, Mars's attacks became monotonous, and it is not impossible to handle them due to their monotonous nature.

However, I can't fight back because I can only hold it.

And if you can't fight back, you know the outcome.

Finally, the limit is reached.

I couldn't handle Mars's blow and my posture collapsed, and I didn't have time to recover the collapsed posture, and the blade returned attacked me.

"Die!"

I was so out of shape that I immediately put my sword between Mars's greatsword and my body, but I couldn't stop the opponent's strengthened sword, and I was blown away and slammed into the wall of the training ground.

The impact suffocates me and my field of vision becomes pitch black.

"Hey, maggots fight in vain."

I lost consciousness as I listened to Mars's words.

"It hurts!"

The pitch-black field of vision and the vague consciousness in it awaken with back pain.

Nozomu is now lying on a bed in the infirmary.

"Oh, are awake?"

A woman in a white coat with glasses is working at a desk in the infirmary.

She is Norn Altina, an intelligent beautiful woman who is the school's health doctor

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When she comes here, she moves her finger in front of him to check his state of consciousness.

"Okay, your consciousness is clear. Is there any other place where you feel pain?"

"I have a slight backache and headache, but nothing else."

"Okay. I've already applied some medicine to your back, but if you feel any pain, come anytime. It's bad if you put up with it and get worse."

She says with a smile. The expression is different from the intellectual atmosphere, and it feels like a reliable older sister. She's not only cool, but one of the caring and dependable teachers, and she's quite popular at school, regardless of gender.

At that time, there was a figure entering the infirmary with a delayed voice.

"Norn ~~~, how is Nozomu-kun ~~~~"

It was Anri-sensei, who was in charge, who entered the infirmary.

"Anri. This is school. Act like a teacher."

"Eh ~~~, there's nobody here, it's okay ~~~~"

"He's here too, you know"

Both of them are from this Solminati Academy, and they are good friends even if they kept it private, and it seems that they are close friends since their school days.

"Nozomu-kun is fine right. Nozomu-kun is alright ~~~?"

Ms. Anri looked at Nozomu anxiously.

"That's why ... never mind. He's fine, just a bruise on his back and a little concussion."

"Yes, it is okay"

"I'm happy ~~~. I'm worried. It would be bad if anything happens to Nozomu-kun."

She smiled when she said that.

It looks reassuring and you can see how worried she was.

"It's okay, Anri. He won't retire at this level."

"Norn is cold."

"I know what he's doing. It's ok to worry, but don't go too far, Anri, you have to trust your students and let them grow."

Even though they arguing with each other, Anri-sensei's tone is stronger than usual, and Ms. Norn spoke with a somewhat loose feeling. You can see the relationship of trust between the two when you see them talking in a different way than usual.

Looking at such a situation, Nozomu knew that the sun had already set after school and that the usual training time was approaching. He hurriedly packed up his belongings, prepared for his return, and greeted the teachers.

"Thank you, dr. Norn and Anri-sensei! Excuse me!"

He jumped out of the infirmary.

When dr. Norn saw him leave in a hurry and come out of the medical room, she called her best friend.

"Is he the one who was gossiped about? I see, those rumors are unreliable."

"That's right~~~"

Her best friend smiled happily.

Norn's POV

Nozomu Bountis.

The dropout from the second year.

Rumor has it that when he was in his first year, he was Lisa Hounds' lover, a childhood friend and one of the best in the same class, but he cheated on her. His grades weren't high, so he was immediately ridiculed. But when I took care of him today, I found that he was by no means a sloppy person.

When he was brought in, I took off his clothes to check on his physical condition, but at that time I was so shocked. His body was covered with trained muscles, and I thought it was lean and close to a finished form.

The most surprising thing was that the body was never natural. Just like the

sword he used, his body had been trained to the point of being terrifying. It is impossible for a person who is drowned by greed. No, no one in the second year now trains to build such a body. Moreover, his body had countless wounds, which may have been comparable to veteran adventurers.Perhaps the rumors are due to a complex intertwining of his peculiarities and Lisa Hounds' lover.

His peculiarity.

It's the "Skill" that he developed during his first year.

Skill

This is a general term for abilities that can be expressed regardless of race, and when developed, the person can receive various benefits depending on his abilities. The contents are diverse, such as improving the aptitude of magic and improving physical ability, and there are innumerable types.

Nozomu's skill is "ability suppression".

When it manifests, it suppresses the person's ability so it does not grow beyond a certain level. The ability to be suppressed varies from person to person, but in his case, physical power, magical power, and morale are suppressed, which is a big handicap for him. Although it is an extremely rare ability to manifest, it has no benefit to the person, but rather a dragging ability. His ability could be enhanced with items, magic, and qi, but the effect was lower than that of a normal human. This further lowered his grades and made him the lowest in the same year. He was able to advance to the next year because He added up his written test results, but even so, when He got promoted, He took two additional tests.

"I understand why Anri cares for him."

"Maybe ~~~. Everyone says bad things about Nozomu, but He did his best.

I want him to be respected ~~~"

Anri is usually clumsy and unreliable, but the important thing is that she sometimes shows a very keen eye for observation. She only heard bad rumors about him in everyday life. Perhaps she felt a slight sense of discomfort between the rumored and the real person.

I don't know why he's going so far, but he's working really hard. I certainly want to support him as a teacher and as a human being, like my best friend.

Chapter

1 Part 2

Academic

City Alcazar

The

city where the Solminati Academy was founded and is well known on the

continent as a city of education. The

school is located in the center of the city, and a spiderweb-like road is

built around it. In the northern part of the city, there are

political institutions such as the administrative agency that controls the

politics of the city. Those political institutions are managed by

aristocrats from each country.

The

eastern part is a civic area, where many students' dormitories and ordinary

citizens live, and the southern part is a commercial area where goods from

various countries are gathered, making it the economic center of this

city. There are also

adventurer guilds where students can get jobs depending on

their rank.

The western

part is a craftsman district where many craftsmen gather, and craftsmen

who utilize each country's techniques such as blacksmiths, doctors, etc

compete on a daily basis.

The

road stretched north, south, east, and west outside the city, and dense forest

spread out beyond the road, blocking the entry of people. Various monsters appear in

this forest, ranging from monsters that even ordinary people can win to

those that veteran adventurers have trouble with.

However,

powerful monsters live in the depths of the forest and do not appear

around towns and highways.

A hut

was built in such a forest to keep an eye on it. A boy and an

old woman exchanging blows in the yard of the hut. One of them is

Nozomu Bountis, a school dropout. The old woman's name is Shino. The match

is overwhelmingly won by the old woman. It is not comparable to the

match with Mars at the school. He was

able to outperform Mars's slash, but the match with the old

woman is even more one-sided, and Nozomu is

like the old woman's toy.

During

the 3 times the exchange occurred, his posture was lost and he

was hit. The old woman immediately pursued the rolling

Nozomu and swung her katana without hesitation.

Nozomu

focused his attention on his feet and exploded. One of the

Qi techniques, "Instant Move". He accelerates in

an instant, but the old woman immediately used the same

technique to accelerate and deliver a slash. Going

around behind the retreating Nozomu and slashes with a sword technique. He

can't stop because of the momentum, so he turns his body around with one

leg to counter the slash, but his posture collapses greatly.

The pursuit by the

old woman approached there. Against the old

woman's Power, Nozomu slanting his katana, deliberately relaxing his

legs, and dropping his body. The old woman's pursuit does not hit his

body, she slips and turns over with her laid katana. However, at the

same time, the old woman's kick struck.

Nozomu

judges that it is impossible to avoid it when his body is dropped. He puts

power into his legs, flies back, simultaneously tries to repel it

with katana's handle, but his body gets blown away. Nozomu, who was

lying on the ground, didn't have time to regain his posture, and the old

woman chased him and thrust her katana into his neck.

"...I

give up"

"Hmm,

there's still a long way to go.

The old

woman said so and put down the katana.

This

old woman, Shino, is Nozomu's swords technique mentor. She met

him when Nozomu was training in the forest. At that time, he

was abandoned by Lisa and desperate for not being able to

fulfill his vows, and he trained hard.

It was

not training but escape. He tried not to think of his

lover by training until his body was ragged. It all started

when the old woman called out because she couldn't stand the

harshness and meaninglessness.

"It's about

time for dinner, Nozomu, prepare it."

"Yes,

Shishō"

Nozomu

answered the old woman's voice. Although his voice seems tired,

he prepares for dinner with a clear expression.

(It's still

dragging, but he is growing.)

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She looked

at him and muttered to herself.

When she

met him, he was practicing in the forest, but he was in a very

bad condition. His

muscles were thin and his cheeks were burning from the repetitive

exercises that didn't give him time to recover from the accumulated

fatigue. The skin of the hand holding the sword was peeled off, its

joints were inflamed, and his body was in tatters. It was so

terrible that she tried to interfere, but there were no signs of

stopping it. His

face at that time was as lifeless as it looked, and behind his eyes were

negative emotions that were even darker than he

looked. When she saw herself

in his eyes, she was very disgusted and immediately left

the place. She decided

to ignore him at one point, but over time she worried

about him.

Karma

flashed through her head, even if she tried not to think

about it, and when she went to see the situation, he was

attacked by a demon beast.

It was

a Wild Dog that was attacking. It is a demon beast that lives all

over the continent and usually acts in groups. The rank as a demon

beast is low and could be subdued by ordinary adventurers, but it was

a threat equal to a dragon to him who had reached the limit of exhaustion.

Nozomu's

consciousness was stunned, his body was injured and bleed all over. He had

no one around him to help. An ordinary person would give up in that

desperate situation, but he did not. He fought the stray dog,

even though he lost enough blood that he could have died of blood loss.

don't want to die"

"Don't

give up"

Swordsmanship

and tactics were still immature. However, his eyes, which had

dark emotions, glowed with a clear and strong desire to "live" before

he knew it. When She saw

him, she was cutting up the Wild Dog that

was attacking him. A week

later, in front of her hut, she saw a boy holding

a katana, not a sword.

Nozomu's

POV

After

dinner and cleaning up, I sit on the opposite of Shishō who is drinking tea

after meals, and I also drink the tea.

I met

Shishō and studied swordsmanship, and I learned various things until this

day. I felt like I could see the light while struggling in the darkness.

Dumped

by Lisa, I couldn't fulfill the vow, and no one around me. Escaping by

continue doing absurd training every day, attacked by Wild Dog

until tattered. In the border between life and death, I felt that "I

didn't want to die" rather than the feeling that "I wanted to

die" anymore. The feeling of "I don't want to die" became

the feeling of "I want to live", and it became the feeling of

"I will not give up".

I was

saved by Shishō, became her disciple, and continued to practice.

hurts to remember Lisa anyway. But now I feel lighter than before.

It may

be because there is Shishō now.

With

that in mind, I see Shishō chewing on confectioneries with a

big smile. I feel like smiling to see the appearance of Shishō who

has demonic power, which is unsuitable for her age.

"Why looking at

people's face. Are you in love with me now?"

Immediately, I counterattack

the cheerful Shishō.

"Please

think about your age first before speaking. No matter how old I

am, Shishō's age range is a bit too much!"

A shock

ran down my spine when I said something like

that. Shishō clenched her fist like a punch and fired a

shockwave. What's more, this is the first time that the

confectionery on the table didn't even blown away.

"Nozomu, What

did you just say!?"

Shishō

looked at me with an expression of a hidden dragon. I run for

self-protection called apology, reflexively.

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"No, It's

Nothing, I just fascinated by Shishō "

Shishō

unnecessarily shows off advanced techniques even though she is only

Tsukkomi. She retires in a place like this, but her ability is

undoubtedly one of the best on the continent. I

remember when Shishō saying, "Line up with the best

swordsman in school."

By the

way, the best swordfighter in the school is Jihad Roundel. He is an

S-ranked knight and a well-known swordsman on the continent. Such

a person who is the same rank as Shishō. I wonder

what kind of person is he.

While

immersed in such a sea of thoughts, it is time to finish drinking

tea and eventually, return to the dormitory.

"Then,

Shishō. I will return to the dormitory."

"Um,

see you tomorrow."

"Yes,

good night Shishō"

Shino's

POV

looked at Nozomu's back and returned to the hut.

became stronger. He is unaware of it because his physical

abilities were suppressed by his ability suppression, and his

sword skills have not yet reached my level, but he is quite close. Truly,

it seems an unreachable place.

It is

abnormal considering the growth in the past year.

From

the start, he was more suited to using a curved sword than the straight

sword used on this continent.

Rather

than smashing with the power of his arm, he used his entire body to cut.

It was

the efforts that made him stronger than anything else. Even if it comes

from an escape from reality. In the beginning, He only did simple swings

all day long and ran through the forest earnestly.

Naturally,

he was attacked by a demon beast, but he managed to do it on his

own. As expected, I took care of the leftover opponents so that He

would not notice it.

mock battle. Naturally,

I devote all my skills on him to the point of not dying. He was knocked down

without any help, and fractures, vomiting, and fainting were

common. Now He can handle it, and it is unlikely

that He will have a serious injury such as a broken bone. He has

endured the training I imposed. An average guy would quit in less than a

week.

With

his current skills and without his ability suppression, there is

no doubt that he will be able to beat me. Even so, the fact that she

couldn't win mock fights and his grades at school didn't improve was

largely due to his ability suppression. Limited in strength and energy, almost

no magical power that even beginner magic couldn't be used. Strengthening with Qi and items

has almost no effect, and enhancement magic was unusable.

order to fill these flaws, He refined his skill and Qi control, but the skill

He uses is inevitably one-point concentrated high power, and the killing

ability is extremely high, so He can't use them in school

simulation battles.

Muscular

strength, which requires instantaneous power, is severely restricted by

ability suppression, but fortunately, the person's basic abilities such as

motor nerves and endurance do not seem to be suppressed, so He was able to

train.

However,

since the effect of strengthening such as Qi is so low, the effect will

not be visible, and if the opponent strengthens, the opponent will surpass

even his unsuppressed ability.

doesn't work very well.

Another thing

to worry about is that his future goals have not been set.

It is

"for life", might be good, but it may not be like that

in the future.

If you

say "what makes you stronger", you need a "core in your

heart". If you using power without the "core of your

heart", you will eventually be swayed by that power.

His

core has already broken once.

I don't

know what he will do in the future, but I will teach him everything.

Don't

let him regret it, like me.

Chapter

1 Part 3

Nozomu is attending school as usual.

Upon

entering the classroom, a student who had already arrived saw him but

immediately gave him a stupid look. Slandering is written on his desk, and

the surroundings giggle as Nozomu cleans it up.

This

school, whose basic policy is a thorough meritocracy,

distinguishes winners and losers very clearly. Students in this

class, 10th class, are undoubtedly the latter and are treated as the

lowest in the grade. Such losers usually find someone even weaker

than themselves and throw their dissatisfaction on him.

He is

treated as a tumor in this class and they ignore him thoroughly when he

speaks to them. The only person who talks to him is Anri Sensei, who

is the teacher in charge, or Mars, who is a problem child. However, Mars

is only thinking about abusing him thoroughly.

"That's

right ~ That woman has a great body ..."

A trio

of Mars and his two friends came while conversing stupid story. When Mars

notices me, he comes with a grin. Mars is tall and has a good physique.

His

face isn't bad, but his ridiculous expression ruined everything.

"Hey,

Drop Out. Did you come to the school to do something useless? I think it's

better to clean the toilet anyway because it's still good for us."

"Hey

Mars, stop it. No one will use toilet cleaned by this guy."

"Well,

what about our training dolls? It will help you to test your weapons."

Nozomu

says nothing. It was the usual mockery, the usual ridicule, and

the beginning of the usual daily life.

Today

is a magic class in the morning. The instructor is Norn-sensei, a health

doctor.

"As

you know, magic is a technology that brings forth the energy (Qi) in

the body by using mental power and technique to manifests various

phenomena, the energy to be brought forth is not only from its own body

but also the outside world, that is, energy in the atmosphere.

When

using large-scale magic, you almost always use magic elements from the

outside world. This is called ceremonial magic, and it originated from

the Shinto ritual, praying to spirits and gods. Many people pray in the

same way, which is also the basis of modern chanting. That is ... "

She

goes on with the lessons without wasting time. Anri-sensei's class has

a relaxed atmosphere due to her trait, but Norn-sensei's class has a quiet

and tense atmosphere.

I took

notes of what the teacher said. The written test is a lifeline for me, who

cannot get the point of practical skill as expected due to the

Ability Suppression. In the practical skill-oriented exam of the end-of-year

exam at the end of the first year, I managed to advance due to the written

exam added to the supplementary exam. A written test will be added to

the practical test, so it will be an additional blow for ordinary

students, but it is the last line for me.

With a

chime at the end of the lesson, class time ends and practice time begins.

The

whole class moves to the training ground with the call from Norn-sensei.

Arriving

at the training ground and watching everyone use their own magic,

I just

absorbed in the training of my beginner magic, that is I could only

do, just feeling the magical power inside me and manipulating it.

The

humans of this continent have considerable magical power, but my magical

power is very low. It wasn't too low at first, but after the manifestation

of my Ability Suppression, even beginner magic couldn't be used.

That's

why I only repeat beginner training and increase my control.

Seeing

that, the students around me started laughing again. Mars influenced by

the students, came to me and started cursing at me.

"What's

this, still training the first-year lesson? Soo low. I think there's

a baby walker here. Hahahaha."

Ignore those ridicule and immerse myself in training. In the first place,

I couldn't hear their voice at this time.

If you

concentrate on training, you will not be able to see your surroundings.

This

was especially noticeable during basic training and was in this state when

I met Shishō.

"... Hey,

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what are you ignoring?"

Perhaps

He is frustrated because I didn't listen, Mars's atmosphere suddenly

became dangerous.

Originally

he is a person with a strong desire to show his power.

probably thought he was ridiculed by me, the lowest. Still, I can't

hear him. I was completely trapped in my own world.

Suddenly,

I was shocked from the side and was blown away. Mars blew me away with

wind magic. The magic released is a type of "air burst"

style magic that blows away the opponent with a shock wave when

the compressed wind is released.

It's

not settled yet, Mars continues to try to release magic. But before

that, Norn Sensei's magic went through Mars's feet.

"That's

enough, any more than this, I will take the necessary measure as

a teacher."

The

magic released is "Air Arrow". Although it is a beginner wind magic,

the casting speed is faster than Mars, and the accuracy and power

are comparable to single intermediate magic. It was clear that her

air arrows were better than Mars's air bursts.

"Oh,

I understand."

Mars

left as if throwing away the rope, and the surrounding students returned to

practice.

"Are

you alright"

Norn

Sensei called me.

"No

problem"

answered immediately. I've always been blown away by Shishō, so my defense

has improved a lot. This is one of my few special skills.

Immediately

resume the training. This is the usual thing. That's why,

"That

kind of guy can be a hassle. Anri is also worried about you. Come and talk

to me whenever you need to."

couldn't receive the words head-on and could only give a vague reply.

The

next day, the school closes for the day, and the students spend

their short vacation in their minds.

Nozomu

came to a part-time job in a commercial district today after accepting a

job from the Adventurer's Guild. The Adventurer's Guild has jobs in

various cities, and this city is no exception. If his rank is high, he

can conditionally subdue weak monsters, but his rank is low, so he can

only receive chores. His job is to carry simple luggage. Since a

lot of cargo arrives in the commercial area from each country, it

is better to have as many carriers as possible.

When he

arrives at the collection point where he collects items, He greets his

Boss and receives the items he has to bring with him. Place the

received load on the carriage and bring it to the destination with his

companion.

Today's

cargo is a tool shop in the commercial district and a doctor in

the craftsman's district. It seems that they buy things to use at the

store in bulk, and there is a lot of loads, but since there

are only few destinations, it will end early.

"By

the way, Nozomu. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Nozomu

instinctively gets stuck in the answer to the sudden question and

its contents.

"Well

... I don't. What happened suddenly?"

The

color of the eyes of the other party changes whether he got

some confidence in the situation.

"No,

somehow. I wonder if there are people who like you, whether she

exists or not. Tell me."

companion is bright and not bad, but on the contrary, he is

ignoring other people's feelings, and he asking these kinds of

stories persistently.

Nozomu's

POV

Whenever

I hear the word "loved ones", her shadow flashes by and

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it becomes painful.

I was

often asked about this kind of thing, but no one questioning

my circumstances any further.

Na naa naa, tell me whether it's a beautiful woman or a cute girl."

"...

I will go"

Nozomu

immediately advances the horse. My companion asks persistently but

I ignore it. On the surface, he was pardoning his companion

asking questions throughout his work, but his expression was clearly

tense.

When it

is over, I received a salary from Boss and immediately

returned home. Since my parents are ordinary farmers, so I cannot

expect the remittance of my parents, so this is indispensable for my life.

The

tuition fees at Solminati Academy are reasonable compared to the size of

the school, thanks to the support of each country. Securing

human resources lost in the great invasion 10 years ago is a matter of

life and death in each country, and it can be seen that each country

expects and supports this school.

How

good human resources can be secured at this school will be a major factor

in determining the superiority and inferiority of each nation in

the future.

Therefore,

each country is eager to attract excellent human resources to their own

countries and comes to scouts with various favorable conditions.

Especially

in my grade, there are so many excellent students that I have never seen

before. Five students have set foot in rank A. Rank A is a rank owned

by top adventurers and knights of the guards, and if you think

that students in their late teens have reached this rank, you can

understand their excellence.

On the

way home, familiar people walked from the front. Ken Notice and Lisa

Hounds. My former lover and my childhood friend. The two

are probably in the middle of a date. Ken laughs happily, and I

can understand that Lisa looks very happy.

When

Ken looks at me and notices me, he raises his hand. Lisa also notices me,

but she is frowning and looks gloomy.

"Hi

Nozomu, this is weird."

Ken

spoke openly. I couldn't see his disgusted expression. Ken talked to

me openly even after I broke up with Lisa. It's complicated to see him

dating Lisa, but I'm a little relieved that he treats me like

before.

"Oh,

that's right. How long has it been?"

"It's

been about 3 months. Didn't have the right time."

"It

can't be helped. Unlike me, there's a lot of work to do right."

"Yeah,

I asked Jihad Sensei to practice before, and I got a fever."

Ken

talks with a bitter smile.

If you

are a first-class student, the expectations of the school are high,

and you will be treated accordingly. Besides, Ken is a student who

has reached A rank, which is rare in the school. Therefore, He

can get personal guidance from the famous continental personage.

When I

was talking to Ken, Lisa, who was next to him, interrupted

the conversation.

"Ken,

let's go"

When

she says so, she takes Ken's hand and starts walking. She doesn't want to

see my face, She doesn't even try to.

"Ah"

I try

to stop her, but her face clearly rejects me.

After

all, I couldn't say anything to her, who pulled Ken's hand and left, and I

just petrified.

When I

got home, my heart didn't calm down. Why she started rejecting me.

I still

don't know the reason, and my feelings remain dangling.

It's

not usually that much, but when I find Lisa at school, I want to ask about

her feelings. As I thought, I still did not get away from my

self-consciousness.

remember when she dumped me. She looks at me with cold eyes. She turns her

back, saying "goodbye". She left in front of me. Without telling

me the reason.

Since

then, my feelings have stopped.

Chapter 1.4

Nozomu is working part-time at the commercial district depot the next day.

There is no companion today, and the Boss is asking him to organize and record the cargo in the depot area. After confirming the cargo that going to be transported, he reported to the Boss, the Boss has something to tell and called Nozomu,

"By the way, Nozomu, have you heard of a hunter seeing a dragon in the forest the other day?"

"Dragon ...?"

Dragon.

The strongest existence on this continent.

It is one of the spirit species and boasts tremendous power.

It seems that some people who once defeated the dragon had gained its power.

This existence called dragon slayer does not exist at present time, and it only remains in history textbooks and legends.

"But, what is a legendary dragon doing near such a city?"

"I think so, perhaps the dragon is just a misunderstanding. Well, you often go to the forest, you should consider it even if it's "Lóng" (TL: Chinese Dragon)."

When He said that, the Boss laughed with a smile.

Unlike Dragons, "Lóng"s are a type of demon beast.

Its power is not as strong as the dragon, and the intelligence is low, but it is a very big threat to humans.

Its power is definitely one of the highest in the category of demon beasts.

Certainly, no matter how I think about it, I can't win.

"I understand. I'll be careful."

I thanked the Boss and went home to go to Shishō's place.

Nozomu goes home, prepares his sword, and heads for his master's hut.

He uses minimum clothing of demon beast skins that don't hinder movement, a knife and a pouch attached to the belt, a set of treatment tools such as potions in a pouch, a smokescreen ball, a sound ball, and a deep charge ball.

As the name suggests, the smokescreen ball generates a smokescreen, and the sound ball makes a surprisingly loud noise, and hopefully, weak monsters can be repelled. Finally, a deep charge ball. This is a thing that shoots thunder that is comparable to the upper-tier magic around the thrown area, and the price is correspondingly high.

Since He has such low basic ability, and the number of times he can use powerful Qi technique is limited due to his Ability Suppression, so he bought it just in case.

Even if the effects of strengthening items that affect him are suppressed in this way, the power of items that do not depend on one's own abilities is not suppressed, so he always brings it with him when he goes to the forest.

On the way to Shino's hut, the fog came out, so he speeded up a little.

The fog gradually became thicker and could not see even 1 meter away.

"This is bad."

Nozomu muttered, and when he saw the compass that he had on hand did not point in a certain direction, he turned around.

"What does this mean."

There are certainly many demon beasts in this forest, but they don't have the characteristics that would make the compass go crazy.

When He feels impatient with the abnormal situation, He took a deep breath and calmed down, and looked around again.

The trees are overgrown and he can use them for hiding, but it is not a place where he can rest with peace of mind.

"Is it unavoidable to stay here for the time being?"

For the time being it is necessary to secure a safe place, so he walked around marking the passing trees with a knife so as not to get lost.

After a while, he seemed to go through the forest, the trees were gone, and he came to an open place.

It seems that the fog has gradually begun to dissipate.

As he was relieved, the surrounding scenery suddenly became distorted.

"Eh?"

The next moment, he is standing in a strange place.

Surrounded by mountains, it is a barren land as far as the eye could see.

Definitely not around Arcazam.

A huge shadow covered him who was confused.

The moment he wondered what was going on, Nozomu become speechless.

A huge black object covered half of the sky.

It has 6 large wings with 5 colors and it flaps firmly.

It has jet-black scales, and its profoundness seems to symbolize the years it has lived.

Its eyes embraced the darkness of the abyss and stared at the tiny man on the ground.

It is all the embodiment of despair.

"Dragon King Tiamat"

A heretical dragon among the feared heretics who even eat the dragons of the same race.

It was a legendary dragon that disappeared from the ground more than 5,000 years ago.

Nozomu stood with a stunned expression.

He can't understand his current situation.

If you think about it normally, no matter how many demon beasts appear, you never think of encountering a legendary dragon right in front of your eyes and nose in the city where you live.

He is confused, but in fact, this space is a tentative world between the real world and the spirit world (where the spirits live), created to seals Tiamat using the continental veins.

However, Tiamat possesses extremely powerful power, so this temporary confined world power becomes fluctuate.

The fluctuation passes through the ley line, and due to the connected ley line, it may be connected to somewhere on the continent and make a path.

The path is much smaller for Tiamat to pass through, but most creatures such as humans can pass through it.

Nozomu passed by without knowing the way and came to this confined world.

Tiamat faced Nozomu. In his eyes is pure joy of finding his prey for the first in a long time. As the jet black dragon folded its wings, it descended directly towards Nozomu. Nozomu shroud his whole body with Qi, kicked the ground, and left the place instantly.

Immediately after that, Tiamat descended with a roaring sound.

The dragon's weight and the impact of the drop caused the ground to turn up and scatter with a shockwave.

Nozomu is knocked over by the shockwave, blown away, and slammed to the ground.

There are no visible injuries because he was taking a defensive stanceinstantly, but there are wounds in several places due to scattered stones and rock fragments.

He immediately decided to retreat.

He throws all the smokescreen balls he had and escapes to the forest at full speed among the smokescreens that have been generated.

He thought that if he hides in the trees of the forest, he would have more time to escape.

However, the idea is too good to be true.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

As he ran between the smoke screens, all of the smokescreens disappeared with a tremendous roar.

Not only that, he is blown away again by the shock wave that struck.

Looking at Tiamat, he isn't moving at all, it seemed just a simple roar and the accompanying shockwave has blown away all the smokescreens.

When Nozomu was dumbfounded, Tiamat opened his mouth wide, and huge black flames gathered in his mouth.

The flame is chaotic black with various colors mixed in.

Nozomu's alarm bell instinctively started ringing at the maximum and withdraw his feet as fast as possible.

The exhaled huge flame passed by him at a very last-minute and landed in the forest.

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The next moment, the sound disappeared from the world.

When he noticed, he is flying in the sky.

Swimming in the air for the first time in his life, It felt so unreal, but seconds later, the impact of being hit on the ground forced his consciousness to return to reality.

Check the body that was injured in the fall, take the potion out of the bag, and drink it.

While feeling the healing potion heals his body, He saw the forest and the surrounding area and becomes speechless.

The forest is completely burned down.

At the point of impact, there is a crater that seemed big enough for Solminati Academy to enter it, and its existence had completely vanished.

The trees around the crater had been blown off and carbonized without retaining their true shape, perhaps because it was burned out in an instant.

The barely burnt trees were all knocked off of their roots by the shockwave.

Looking back at Tiamat with a stunned expression, the jet-black dragon spread its five colored 6 wings.

A photosphere colored in innumerable five colors is created on the wings.

"Spirit magic"

Magic used by spirit species that summon the power of the world. Unlike other spells used by non-spirit species. Spirit magic, that do not require a process that interferes with the outside world, is activated the moment he decides to use a spell, enabling overwhelming haste compared to other spells.

Countless photosphere is heading his way while giving trails of light. The amount is innumerable and fills most of his view.

Nozomu cuts off the photosphere with his katana while retreating with all his might, but he is easily swallowed by the swarms of light in too large of quantity.

Still, he resists with all his might to avoid fatal injuries.

When the rain of light stopped, there is Nozomu, pierced all over the body.

He took multiple potions and drink them all at once.

"Guuuu!"

He looked at Tiamat who slowly approached him while he moans as the potion forcibly healed his body.

It is impossible to escape if you look at the state of the forest.

The forest that hides him is burned down, even if he can hide, it will be blown away all at once again.

He only has one choice, and the battle of despair began.

"Uhhhhhhh ..."

It's been more than ten minutes since the battle started.

No, it wasn't a battle.

A battle is only possible if there is an enemy, but for the jet-black dragon, such a thing is not in front of him.

Nozomu is just his toy dispel his boredom.

The jet-black dragon can kill Nozomu in a blink of an eye, but for the dragon, this is not a battle but a play.

Just like a cat playing with a mouse.

However, for that reason, Nozomu survived this eternal ten minutes.

Still, there is only despair await beyond that.

He can't even injure the scale with all-out slashes and Qi technique he shoots without thinking ahead.

Even if he dodged Tiamat's swinging arm, He would be blown away by the shockwave.

It is impossible to escape due to circumstances.

There are no tools on hand that can penetrate the scales of the dragon.

He ran out of energy, and the physical strengthening by Qi technique has almost reached the limit.

In such a tightrope walking situation, the limit finally came. He doesn't know how many times, but the impact of being blown off and hitting the ground numb his body. The effect of Qi has expired. He swallowed the last potion with trembling hands and managed to get up.

Tiamat raises his arm like a tower again to Nozomu.

Nozomu cannot avoid strengthening his arm by Qi technique.

In the face of the inevitable death, Nozomu remembered what he has been doing like a revolving lantern.

In a vague consciousness, a magic lantern ran in front of such desperate situation, and He looked back at his own past.

The smile of his parents in his hometown.

"Come to think of it, I'm not giving filial piety enough."

They were good parents.

They didn't say anything to him for wanting to support Lisa, and even though their lives weren't good, they sent him to school.

He met Lisa and fell in love at first sight.

"Come to think of it, it was my first love, it was said your first love would not come true, but is it really the case?"

At that time, he confessed, and one day he was able to convey his feelings.

But in the end ...

He wants to support Lisa's dream. With that oath in his heart, he knocked on the door of Solminati Academy with just that thought.

"I want to support Lisa's dream. I hope so ... but still ..."

Ability and grades did not grow as expected, impatience was solicited, and although he struggled, the path was closed due to the manifestation of ability suppression.

Lisa suddenly said goodbye and He was isolated from the school.

"I was ... bad, why, why ... I wonder why she didn't tell me anything ..."

His heart is still hurt even now.

He wonders if his existence was such a big deal for her.

He met Shishō, and a little light flashed.

"I'm glad to have met Shishō. She's a wild woman, but she is clearly a good person."

It was a hellish day of training, but she definitely thought about him.

At first, She wanted to ignore him, but she helped him while complaining of being attacked by the Wild Dog.

When he thinks about it now, He was able to return to his former self.

To himself when He was laughing and angry honestly.

The next moment, a shock struck him, erasing his memories with his awareness.

Tiamat's arm reached the ground in front of Nozomu. After that, he is thrown and rolled on the ground unsightly.

Tiamat is clearly playing. His expression looks amused and completely doesn't pose a threat.

Tiamat opens his mouth wide. Chaotic flames gather inside. Is it tired of playing with him, or Is it trying to see how much he can tolerate?

In any case, he had no way to resist now.

"Gugu, Aguje ..."

Nozomu already raised an indescribable voice and stared at the flame.

Almost unconscious, he could no longer even think of the past.

The magic lantern has passed, and only a dense, cold sign of death wrapped around him.

"Die"

He faced the dense of death and became rigid.

"Die"

It is more "death" than when one person was attacked by a Wild Dog in the forest.

"I don't want it"

He almost has no ability to think clearly, and develops his instinctive thinking.

"I do not want to die"

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It becomes a strong thirst for life and burned the last life in him.

"I don't want to give up"

It is a manifestation of the strong will to live that Shino once saw.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

The next moment, he screamed insanely and roared at the giant dragon who played with his life.

Nozomu steps towards Tiamat with a roar that burns his last life. Its speed is so fast that it's hard to believe it's a dying human.

However, it was slower than when it was fully recovered, and the flames were released without being able to get close to Tiamat by half the distance.

"Slow"

Nozomu's thoughts are focused only on eliminating the threat in front of him in order to live. His extreme concentration extends his sense of time many times over. In it, he was frustrated by his slow movement.

"Why am I so slow !!"

With this, the huge flame of death approaching in front of him cannot be avoided.

When He looked at his body, suddenly a chain that he had never seen before tied him up.

"Is it because of this !!"

He is convinced that this chain is his shackle and touches this chain to tear it apart.

If you think about it normally, you can't easily tear the chain apart. But he was confident that he would break the chain for some reason.

"It's in the way ... Aaaaaaaaaaaaa !!!"

He pulls the chain by force and the chain break with a collapsing sound.

The next moment, he accelerated in an instant and passed under the huge flame.

Tiamat lost sight of him for a moment due to too much acceleration.

Nozomu puts all his energy into this opportunity.

At this time his body vitality and blood are not yet recovered, but his body reacts instantly to his thoughts.

His physical ability is clearly jumping above the state at the time of full recovery.

He draws the katana out while running. Send his energy to the drawn sword.

Extremely compressed the energy he sent. Pulls out the katana with his screaming fighting spirit.

Qi technique "Phantom"

Qi, which is thinner and sharper than the hair, flies at the same speed as the drawn sword. He cut both eyes of Tiamat with a single slash.

Tiamat roars and lifts his neck in response to the unthinkable counterattack.

"Phantom" is a simple technique that shoots a slash with the compressed ki of the blade, but it is difficult to see the extremely compressed ki, it flies at the same speed as the high-speed drawn sword, and if it is within 10 meters range, it is very difficult to avoid because it lands almost instantly.

Moreover, this extremely compressed Qi is a technique with extremely high killing ability, there is no denying it is difficult to defend against whether it is a steel shield or a magic barrier as it landed in both directions.

However, since it is necessary to extremely compress the Qi, it is necessary to prepare for half a second to several seconds, and in a situation surrounded by multiple enemies, it exposes a large opening.

As he rushes toward, Tiamat lifts his forefoot and slammed it into the ground many times.

The huge forefoot hit the ground over and over again, and each time the ground shook, causing a local earthquake.

Nozomu hurriedly breaks away and moves away from the last-minute forefoot, but is overwhelmed by the shockwave.

He can't move as it is. However, the next moment, the ground collapses, and the giant Tiamat entered the hole.

Apparently, Tiamat has stepped through an underground cavity.

Tiamat is trying to get out, but it doesn't work because his eyes are closed.

Nozomu took out all of the things in the pouch while closing the gap with Tiamat, and threw something into his head.

It was a sound ball that was thrown. It explodes near Tiamat's face, causing a strong sound to reverberate around.

Tiamat, who was hit directly by a sound ball from close range, averted his gaze for a moment and slowed down.

If this was a spirit, it would not have been so much affected.

Although a dragon is a kind of spirit species, it has a physical body even though it is a mass of elements, and has an aspect as a living thing.

Because they use physical sensations, they can be affected by unforeseen circumstances that can be lost or confused.

Of course, dragons are spirit species even though they are easily affected by physics. While wearing the paranormal sensations he deserves, Tiamat, who has too much power is unable to sustain most of his reasons, therefore it is completely confused by a series of impossible situations.

Tiamat has completely stopped his movement. Nozomu rushes to Tiamat at full speed.

The aim is the dragon's neck. The reason he aimed at the neck was that he wasn't confident that he could break the skull of the dragon's head.

The dragon has a physical body. In other words, if the body can be killed, it can be killed.

The important thing is to kill his body.

However, it is not easy because the dragon itself has an extremely strong body.

Nozomu jumps towards the lifted dragon's neck. Send attention to the katana that's about to be drawn again, and extremely compress it. He pulls out his sword and his sword flashes.

The Qi technique "Phantom" cuts through the scales in Tiamat's throat, and the compressed Qi explodes inside. The erupting Qi flicks the jet-black scales from the inside, exposing the soft skin.

Furthermore, Nozomu's pursuit is released.

Qi technique "Phantom -Return-"

A return blow is released as if tracing the unannounced trajectory that flashed earlier.

The blow cuts through Tiamat's neck deeply, and a large amount of blood spouts like hot water.

However, normally, even if it receives a fatal injury, it is not enough to defeat the jet-black dragon.

Nozomu uses the momentum of the return blow to make one full turn.

Combine the power of rotation and the momentum of jumping to pierce the wound in the neck that has just been torn.

The sword pierces the giant dragon's neck deeply, and the blade passes through his throat and reaches near his brainstem, but suspends on the air with the sword he stabbed as support.

"Gugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

However, the dragon still does not fall.

The roar that shakes the earth echoes, and it rampages to shake off Nozomu.

The sword is buried in the flesh and cannot be pushed or pulled. If nothing is done, it will be shaken off and bloody red flowers will bloom on the ground.

Nozomu squeezes his last power and reaches for the pouch on his waist.

The last remaining depth charge ball is taken out.

He hits it against the blade of the sword with all his might.

The next moment, thunder struck with a dazzling light. The thunder, which is comparable to the upper-tier magic, passed through the sword and the nerves of the neck and burned down the dragon's cranial nerve cells.

But the thunder also burned his body and completely robbed him of his remaining power.

The dragon's giant body is collapsed and thrown out. The dragon's body is moving slightly, but his eyes no longer have the brilliance of life.

Eventually, the giant dragon collapses and becomes particles of light, soaring like a tsunami.

Nozomu could no longer think of the particles of light soaring into heaven, he is just watching.

He is full of wounds, has limbs, but nowhere is safe.

Eventually, when the particles of light gathered in the sky above him, they fell toward him with rage.

Beyond the limits and unable to move, he was swallowed by the looming torrent of light and lost consciousness.

Nozomu's consciousness awakens slowly.

His consciousness in the dream reminds him of the battle with Tiamat.

Severe pain hit the whole body when he forcibly raised the upper body, and when he looked around, he is in the forest on the outskirts of the city.

"Unknowingly ... come back ... haven't I."

In an incomprehensible situation, the pain running all over the body tells him that the previous battle is not a dream.

"Anyway, to Shishō ..."

He doesn't know how conscious he is, but it's not a good idea to stay here.

Judging that, Nozomu forcibly moves his aching body and heads for Shino's hut in a vague consciousness.

He didn't even realize that he had become a "Dragon Slayer" which is only a few people in history ...

Chapter 1.5

He is dreaming. Nozomu doesn't know where he is, but at least it turns out to be a dream. He is the only one standing in a pitch-black space. There is no ground in this space, and water spreads all over like a shore of a lake.

There are no people around, just water, even the wind isn't blowing. There are no waves on the surface of the water, and no sound can be heard.

When he looked down, he saw something huge in the water. A jet-black giant and 6 wings with 5 colors. Tiamat, the King of Destruction.

The giant dragon stares back at him. Nozomu didn't know what the emotions behind his eyes were.

After staring at each other silently for a while, the surroundings gradually became brighter. Apparently, He wakes up.

He looks at the dragon again, feeling a little relieved that he is still alive.

The dragon is still staring at him, but He still can't read its expression.

Nozomu is swallowed by the white light with a tinge of anxiety.

"Oh, are you awake? "

"Woah!"

The wrinkled old woman's face is reflected in front of his eyes, and Nozomu unintentionally shouted and jumped out of the futon. The next moment his face got hit with a strong fist. He is full of injuries and the impact echoed in the wounds, he writhes in pain without making any noise.

"Shishō is terrible ..."

"Which one is terrible! Even though I brought you from the forest and took care of you for three days !!!"

Bandages are wrapped around his whole body, and the scent of medicine is floating. It seems she has really treated him.

"I'm sorry, Shishō. Thank you very much."

Shino still has her cheeks inflated, but her eyes look very happy. She seemed to be very worried, and when Nozomu thought about it, his chest felt warm.

"Well, You've been treated all night for three days. Can you tell me why you were lying down full of wounds in such a place?"

The atmosphere worn by Shishō changes. Swallowed by the atmosphere of Shishō who has reached expert culmination, his spine spontaneously tensed up.

"... I understand. I will tell you everything."

In a tense atmosphere, he began to talk about his story.

A few hours later, after talking about all the details, only silence remained.

"... Follow me."

Shishō took the katana and headed out of the hut. Nozomu also picks up his katana and heads outside.

When going outside, each one held the katana, silently. Each one prepares the drawn-sword stance. There are bandages wrapped around him and countless scars on his body are still painful.

"Whenever you're ready!"

The wounds inflicted in the battle with Tiamat hurt, his shabby body is painful just by holding the sword.

The next moment, Shino stepped in an instant. Focused on the pain of his wounds, he is clearly slow to respond. He pulls out his sword in a hurry, but from his experience, he can't make it in time.

However, contrary to Nozomu's expectation, Shino's katana gets hit by his katana with a high-pitched sound.

"Eh"

He makes a dumb voice.

He couldn't parry the current attack until now.

"As I thought"

"What do you mean, Shishō"

Shino is convinced. In response to that, Nozomu asks. He is obviously confused.

His abilities limited by Ability Suppression have a great influence on his behavior. Since his muscles are lacking in instantaneous power and the amount of energy is limited, simple actions cannot prevent unexpected hits.

Therefore, for that reason, he was training his sword technique to move according to the situation, but Shino's sword attack this time makes him could not afford to make a move, and he just responded with a simple sword technique.

Normally, He couldn't make a move in time and should be cut down, but for some reason, He was able to parry it. The reason is,

"Your physical abilities have improved. "

The reason why he parried Shino's attack,

"But I "

"It is true that your physical ability does not improve due to Ability Suppression. However, dragon slayer inherits the power of the dragon and becomes stronger. That must have happened to you."

"I am ... a dragon slayer..."

Nozomu is in a whirlpool of further confusion. Naturally, dragon slayer is a legendary existence. Even the newest dragon slayer lived hundreds of years ago, and now it doesn't exist.

The strongest successor. An embodiment of tremendous power. Some use magic that cannot be explained by now existing magic, and some have awakened to extraordinary abilities. There is such a fairy tale.

"It doesn't seem to have been strengthened much, though ..."

"Eh!!!"

Nozomu is even more confused by Shino's remarks that could deny the legend.

"I think the influence of Ability Suppression is still great. By the way, it seems that you released the ability suppression during the battle with Tiamat, but can you still do it?"

Shishō's words remind him of the battle. Certainly, at that time, He had a chain that bound him and a feeling of tearing it apart. And the feeling of liberation after that. He unleashes a steel wedge and remembers the sensation of being able to go anywhere.

Nozomu imagined a chain that bound him. Then a chain wrapped around his body emerges.

"Ah"

His voice rises unintentionally.

"It looks like you can do it."

Nozomu nods to Shino's words.

"So ... what are you going to do?"

"What should I do ..."

"That power is extraordinarily powerful, and strong power attracts various things. Position, honor, power, jealousy, there is no end to it ... I'll ask you again, what do you want to do from now on?"

"..."

Nozomu cannot answer. Until now, He hasn't thought about the future. He only thought about it now.

No, He still can't see it. He is still obsessed with her in his past.

"I've always thought. You have no reason to be stronger."

"Well, that's ..."

Shino refutes with a strict attitude and expression to Nozomu who is trying to find an excuse.

"Is it for your lover? That girl is no longer your lover. Even if you want to support her, there is already another man next to her. There is no reason for you to become stronger... You must have already known that. "

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Shino's words mercilessly dig into Nozomu's heart. He is forced to open the lid and face what he has never tried to think unconsciously.

Nozomu couldn't say back and had no choice but to look down. Because he knew himself.

He may not have a place near her now, or he may no longer have a place in the school.

"... It would be impossible to decide what to do for now. Now, you should concentrate on healing your wounds."

"You'll be forced to make a choice", Shino said so and finally returned to the hut.

"... It's impossible to go back to the city because of that injury, so it's better to stay for today."

Seeing Shino entering the hut, Nozomu followed Shino unconsciously. His expression remained cloudy.

"Well, I don't know what to say."

"??? "

Shino turned to him again, but Nozomu didn't know what to say.

"... Welcome back. You have worked hard"

She looks very happy. Even though her face looked tired, she was relieved from the bottom of her heart.

She took care of him all the time. Her deep love gently melted her heart which had frozen since she came to this city.

Her sight is distorted by her heartfelt love for the first in a long time.

"I... am... back"

Shino's POV

In an empty forest, a voice fades, and eventually, it becomes sobbing and crying.

By the side, I am rubbing his back. He is crying.

Rubbing Nozomu's back who's sobbing in front of me. He's like a little child.

... Maybe it's not unreasonable. I also have experienced ridicule and contempt from people who were believed to be my friends and lover.

I am not a person from this country in the first place. I'm from an island country at the eastern end of the continent.

The territory of the country is not large, but it has developed its own culture, Qi technique, and sorcery.

The high mountains and the sea are adjacent to each other, and it is difficult for a huge army to move in battles for the subjugation of demons, and victory inevitably requires an individual or a small number of people with high capability and ability to respond to situations.

Among them, our clan was proud of outstanding martial arts. Speaking of swords technique, my clan is undoubtedly the strongest, and I was born into the world as the second daughter of that clan.

I was forced to practice katana from an early age because I was born into a distinguished family of swords master, but I took it for granted. Thinking it's a natural thing to do as I didn't doubt it.

I was talented, I immediately stand out. My parents seemed to be proud of me as I raised my skills, and my older sister was as happy as I was.

That's why I became more and more absorbed in swordsmanship. I can't help myself.

I kept raising my skills, and finally, no one in the clan could beat me.

Being the best swordsman in the leading clan of swordsmanship means that I am inevitably the best user in the country.

Therefore, many disciples study under me, and many influential people were begging for the subjugation of powerful demon beasts.

Because I lived only for the sword, I didn't dress up like a woman, and I wasn't interested in makeup or love.

My parents were shocked and forced me to hasten the matchmake, but only my sister was on my side.

At that time, my older sister was so kind that I could admire her, and all the famous families from all over the world approached her about marriage.

However, it seems that my sister had a determined person, and she stubbornly refused to accept the marriage.

One day I spent those days, I met him.

He came up to me, who was practicing with my sister.

Gentle eyes and gentle smile. His body is smaller than the average adult boy, creating an intellectual atmosphere.

He is the third son of a sorcerer in this country, and he seems to have snuck into the carriage when his father, who is the head, comes to our house.

And my sister also colluded and said that he was secretly invited to the mansion.

He pleaded with a serious expression.

"You are Shino. Actually, I have a request for you. "

His request was to teach him swordsmanship.

He had almost no magical power, and he was a dropout out of school among sorcerers, and he had nowhere to go.

That's why he practiced martial arts independently in order to be recognized by his family, but it still to no avail.

At that time, he had known my sister through country leaders dinner and heard about me.

Looks like my sister can't refuse his request.

With his enthusiasm, I tried teaching him, but it didn't work at all.

Because of his style, He had a strange habit, and the original sharpness of the sword was not utilized at all. His appearance is also bad, his legs, hips, and arms are not linked at all.

At first, I refused to talk, but he was too persistent and I couldn't refuse my sister's sincere request, so I ended up teaching him swordsmanship.

"No! The handle of the sword is the opposite !!!! If you want to learn, come after knowing the basics !!!"

"What's that slender waist! The old man with mochi is still more powerful !!!"

"You can cry and scream! You are my practice puppet! I will teach you the real slashing!"

... Well, when I think about it now, I was a little sour, so maybe I did a little too much.

At first, he couldn't even get the basics, but gradually he was getting stronger.

My sister was very pleased with it, I couldn't show it but I was also happy.

The disciples that I had trained from the beginning became stronger. There is no reason not to be happy.

From around this time, I started thinking about him from time to time.

When eating, sleeping, bathing, or practicing.

Eventually, I remembered him no matter when or where I was, and I consulted with my sister.

"Everyone has such a time, you don't have to worry about it, it will be subsided soon."

However, instead of subsided, it became bigger and bigger, and it couldn't be helped.

The maid of my family who saw such a situation asked.

"Shino-sama, maybe, are you in love?"

That word turned me upside down.

"This is love?"

"Yes, that is love. As I thought, Shino-sama is in love."

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"B... but... love..."

"Shino-sama. Love comes to everyone, and no one can stop it, because even God can fall in love."

While listening to the maid, I was completely aware of my love.

And when I became aware of it, I became conscious of him so much that I couldn't help myself.

His standing figure and eyes when he devotes himself to training sincerely.

Even the stiff story during the break and the smell of sweat from his training clothes makes my heart excited.

I didn't like such myself, I met him when I tried to avoid him.

"Why do you avoiding me?"

He asks me

"... I'm not"

"It's a lie. You don't even look at me like you used to."

"... It's misunderstanding"

"No. There is no misunderstanding."

"I'm very confident."

"I've been watching you for a long time, long before you knew me. Only you."

"...What?"

I felt something deep in his words and asked him back.

"... I've always admired you. Boasting the best sword technique in this country, with a noble heart and clear eyes like that sword. I don't think it's appropriate for me to say something like this ... I love you. More than anyone in the world "

It's definitely a love confession.

My heart burst from my chest, my face turned redder than the sunset, I couldn't see his face and turned my back on him.

"... Are you an Idiot? You like someone like me who can't even dress like a woman."

An ordinary man would prefer a feminine person like my older sister over me.

"Maybe, but I loved you. No one else ... Would you please go out with me?"

"...Idiot Idiot... This is foolish... You... Idiot..."

"Yes, I'm an idiot. So can you give me the answer?"

"... I have certainly received your feelings. I am still inexperienced, but I look forward to working with you for a long time."

I vowed to go out with him at this time.

The relationship between me and him soon became known, and in the meantime, the date of the wedding was decided.

The marriage between a master of martial arts and a master of magic was announced extensively, and my parents were pleased.

However, my sister seemed to be ill and often stayed in her room.

And on the day of the wedding, that incident happened.

A man suddenly declares to me in front of the relatives who gathered that day.

"She is having sexual intercourse with another man, even though she has a vowed partner. This wedding is full of filth !!!"

The man was one of the men who once proposed to my sister, who had been rejected.

The place of the wedding was noisy due to the sudden event, and everyone was confused. I asserted that the man was lying, but he confidently said:

"Then I should check her room."

And, in my room, He found a man's underwear that I didn't remember.

This made the groom's relatives angry, the weddings were broken, and I was blamed by my parents.

I desperately appeal to my innocence, but I wasn't heard, and he just turned his cold eyes toward me.

I was excommunicated for committing adultery and was put under house arrest.

And one day, about a year later. My older sister came to me and said:

"The man at that time, I sent it."

"...Eh"

"At your wedding, I told him, I'll rethink the marriage proposal. Then that man was overjoyed and got on the story."

"W...hy... Why 'Aneue'?"

My sister approached me with an angry look. I was afraid of my sister's expression, which I have never seen before, and I backed off.

"Because you robbed him from me, I found him first! I've been watching him for a long time !!!"

Her expression was just like a demon. My sister grabs my hair and spits out her cursed words.

"I will never forgive you !! I will take away all from you !!! Status, honor, everything !! You will never be happy as a person again !!!"

My hair was torn and it's painful, I begged like a child, but my sister never stopped.

"In any case, you no longer belong to this clan. No one will listen to you and will not help you. See you Shino. Rest assured, I will live with him for a lifetime."

When she says so, she returns and goes out of my room.

I couldn't do anything, I could only cry.

In the end, I left home. The story of my weddings was so well known throughout the country that there was no place for me in the country as the story continued to flow and arrived at my place.

"You and I are surprisingly similar."

Abandoned and Thrown away in the same way. At first, I hated looking at him in the past, but now he is an irreplaceable disciple.

When I noticed, my disciple fell asleep, probably because he was crying.

His expression broke my face ...

"Gu~ !!"

My field of vision is suddenly distorted, My head is stunned, and it seemed that consciousness could not be maintained.

"Ei! This good for nothing body!"

If I manage to connect my consciousness, my vision will become clearer.

(... Recently, the interval is getting shorter. It's not long anymore.)

"Sleepness Disease"

A disease in which the person's spirit gradually declines and dies. The cause has not been identified, and it is an extremely difficult disease to cure completely.

There are only a few cases that have been cured, and the reason for their recovery has not been identified.

The disease gradually fades away from the body and eventually dies like sleep.

However, there is no fear of death on Shino's face, and there is only regret.

(I wanted to talk to you more. Teaching you more sword technique...)

Watching Nozomu sleep on her chest, she strengthens her decision.

(Finally, there is something I need to tell you. At that time ... with all my might...)

Chapter 1.6

It's been about 3 weeks since the battle with Tiamat. One way or another, thanks to Shishō's treatment, I get to live my usual life.

Shishō's medicine seems to be her original, and although it does not have the rapid restoration of a potion, it seems to be a medicine that reasonably enhances the healing ability of the body.

Aside from places like the battlefield where immediate recovery is required, it is a very reliable medicine in the city where you can rest slowly.

However, I couldn't move for the past 3 weeks, and I was absent from school for 3 days without notice, so when I attend school for the first time in 3 days, I was pressed considerably by Anri-sensei and it becomes a difficult situation. But surprisingly, the absence without notice for 3 days and 3 weeks to recover the injury did not make much racket at the school.

After 3 days of absence, I attend school for the first time, Mars saw the wound on my body.

"What? Did you walk down the road and get hit by a carriage? It's just too lame."

Like always, He made a fool of me, and since the people around were in tune with it, that's why it became unsettling.

One of the reasons is that I didn't deny it either.

However, Anri-sensei was not deceived, and she called me for a sermon course in her staff room.

"Nozomu-kun, what are you hiding ~~~. To have such an injury after being absent without notice, It's not normal ~~~"

"No, it's not a big deal. I just got hurt while I was working ..."

"That's a lie. Nozomu-kun entered the forest, right ~. A dragon will come out is just a rumor, but even so, a powerful demon beast in the depths of the forest may come near the highway ~ "

...I'm sorry. It was really a dragon. Moreover, as a result, I defeated it.

I couldn't say that, after all, I insisted that there was an accident at work and I was involved in it.

"Then why absent without notice~? Nozomu-kun lives in the dormitory so you can contact the school~."

"I had a fever and fell asleep because of my injury. And there are no classmates in this school who care about me ..."

... I feel a little sad when I say it myself. Indeed, I don't have any friends, and I can't really tell the truth.

I tried to escape from here somehow,

"... Hic"

Anri-sensei started crying.

I'm confused by the sudden thing.

"Eh, what happened suddenly?"

"E~~n! Nozomu-kun doesn't believe me ~~~ !! Such half-serving reliance ~~ !!"

"E, eh. No, it's not like that. Why does the story become like that!!"

"Because you didn't tell me the truth ~~~ !! Those wounds are battle wounds by any means, I didn't hear about any accidents in the city, and the medicines used for treatments are not available in this city~~!!"

... It seems that it was impossible to deceive.

But I can't tell her the truth. The battle between me, who is trying to deceive her, and Anri-sensei, who is trying to ask me while crying, continues for a while. ... Rather, Anri-sensei's crying face is a foul.

A beautiful woman staring at me with tears in her gentle eyes. And she's just worried about me.

If a guy see that expression, that guy will probably listen to anything she's saying.

... or rather, this person is the type who naturally makes a man swoon, and it's even worse because she isn't aware of it.

"Nozomu-kun ... Can't you tell me?"

That's foul! !! !! !!

Speaking of the results, the bell of the beginning of a lesson ended the Anri-sensei's teary-eyed attack sermon. I left the staff room to escape. But after all, Anri-sensei seemed dissatisfied and was angry all the time during the morning class.

... Forgive me, Sensei.

"Nozomu-kun! Don't solve this question without using Baud~!"

And I become the center of target intensively during class.

... Anri-sensei, how much more are you immature ...

In the afternoon, a combat technique class. It is the same simulated battle class as before. My opponent is ...

"You again? the lowest"

It's Mars again.

"You're out of luck, continue to accompany me like the other day. Well, whoever your partner is, you will not necessarily win. Hahahahahahahaha !!"

As usual, I ignore Mars who makes a fool of people, stand in my own standing position, and confirm my own condition.

Looks like the injury is okay. It has healed properly.

The katana is also ok. Although it is an imitation, it feels almost the same as my own.

Ability Suppression ... It seems that it can be released.

But ... I will not release it.

I dreamed of Tiamat, and I felt a bit of anxiety at that time. And I have a feeling that something of me will be broken by releasing it.

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I hesitated to release the chain.

"Then, start ~~"

Mars approaches me with the shout of Norn-sensei.

Maybe He is going to crush me from the beginning, it seems this time He has already used physical strengthening by Qi.

Keep an eye on the rushing Mars and use Qi to improve my physical strength.

"Crush it !!!"

Mars tried to swing the greatsword down from the top and changed it to sideways.

I rotate my body to gain momentum and swing my katana up under the launching greatsword. The katana launches and deflects Mars's greatsword.

Marus immediately corrects the trajectory of his sword and swings it down.

I turned my wrist back and held the katana diagonally against Mars's greatsword. At the same time, relax my legs to absorb the impact and parry the greatsword.

By being a dragon slayer, the slightly increased physical ability made it possible to parry Mars's slash without destroying my posture.

With that opportunity, I step forward and brandish the katana.

Mars prevented it with a gauntlet like last time, but I already consider it.

At the moment of the slash, I deliberately relaxed. The katana can be defended by the gauntlet, but by being relaxed, I can immediately move on to the next action.

Using the momentum of the katana that was swung, with one step further, released one hand from the katana, and put the momentum of the step into the fist, and a severe fist is hit into Mars' abdomen.

"Gat!"

Mars's face is distorted in agony. The body posture breaks.

Then, holding Mars's head down, hitting a knee kick into his face.

Mars staggers while spewing nosebleeds.

I tried to make more attacks, but ...

"This... This traaaaaaaaassshhh!!!"

A large amount of energy erupted with Mars's screaming.

Pushed by the randomly released Qi, I temporarily stepped back from our respective distances.

Mars glares at me with an angry look.

The unexpected counterattack from the weak me who had just crawled sometime ago. He is completely angry.

"Kill! This damn guy !! I'll definitely kill you !!!"

Mars sent his energy to the greatsword while in rage. The poured Qi becomes a blade of fierce wind and clings to the big sword.

Qi technique "Rift Blade"

It is a technique of chopping an object with a wind-enveloped sword.

Also, the wind around the sword blows off the opponent's defense, so there is no choice but to avoid it with enough strength or prevent it from being blown off by the blade of the wind.

Marus swings the blade of the wind-down to me.

I see through the trajectory of the blade and dodge it, but Mars fires a series of attacks as it was.

I keep dodging the blade. With my strength, even if I try to parry the current Mars's slash, it will be repelled by the surrounding wind.

However, Mars's sword attack, which is dominated by anger, is more monotonous than during the previous mock battle, so there is no problem in continuing to dodge.

What made this possible was a slight increase in physical ability.

Under the situation where Ability Suppression is effective, my current physical ability is still inferior to other students.

Even so, the slight increase in ability had greatly expanded the range of my fighting style.

Until now, there was no choice but to parry it off, but now it is possible to somehow dodge Mars's slashing by strengthening my body and concentrating on evasion.

While feeling my own growth, I started preparing for the next move.

"What's going on!"

Mars was obviously perplexed by my movement which is different than before.

"Why can't my slash hit him !!!"

Until now, I couldn't move like this.

When I received the greatsword, I staggered, and the only way to dodge it was to roll on the ground.

Recently, I moved so well, even so, the outcome is not any different, and eventually, I just rolled on the ground again.

However, currently, He couldn't see such a movement.

The movement itself is slow compared to before, but it is an extremely accurate evasion. Not only his slash but also the sword-enveloped wind seems to be left behind.

When he suddenly saw my face, my facial expression doesn't show any impatience, but confidence instead. Confidence I have completely seen his sword.

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Mars's POV

"Such thing !!! It's impossible!!"

He is at the bottom of the second year. But I am superior in practical skills confrontation.

I am confident that my ability will work even in B rank.

I Suddenly remembered his skill.

"Ability suppression"

A skill that reduces the ability of the person below a certain level. Certainly, he must have been limited in power, energy, and magic.

I wonder how strong the guy who was seen through my sword with such shackles would have been. And how much training did he have to improve his physical ability even with such shackles?

"... I can't accept it. How can I accept it!"

Emotion killed my sense of danger that calmly judge his hidden ability.

That was the cause of my defeat.

Mars is always confident in his power. He was born with a lot of energy, a good physique, and became stronger immediately, so no one around him could beat him.

He is still in the 10th class, but he is capable. Such pride in his power clouded his eyes.

Nozomu was slightly out of shape due to Mars's slash. Mars swings his sword down, but it's Nozomu's trap.

Nozomu, who seemed to have collapsed, instantly regained his position and jumped backward, Mars's sword pierced the ground, and the wind blade wrapped around the sword rolled up the soil around him, obstructing his view.

"Daaaammmnnn !!"

The impatient Mars releases the wind blade enveloping his sword in the direction in which Nozomu is believed to be now.

Qi technique "Splitting Hammer"

The blades of the wind become a mass of wind and rush like a battering ram.

This move happens to blow away the smoke around him and secure Mars's view, but the sight that shown into his eyes points to his mistake in his choice.

There was no Nozomu before the Splitting Hammer was released, and he was already next to Mars.

When the smoke covered Mars's field of vision, he instantly moved his legs, prepared his katana, and sneaked around to Mars's side.

The lines of sight of the two intersect. Nozomu has already completed the sword-drawing position, and Mars's action is slightly delayed.

Judging that He cannot avoid it. Mars tries to defend it with the gauntlet, but his position collapses, and his actions are slightly delayed.

The moment when Nozomu's sword is pulled out.

Go ~~~ n, go ~~~ n, go ~~~ n

"Oka~y ... the match is over~~. This is the end of today's class, but everyone should review it ~~."

The bell at the end of the lesson rang, and with Anri-sensei's orders, the classmates who were released from the tension of the lesson began to talk about their thoughts.

Nozomu returned his heels as he put the sword he had drawn halfway down.

Mars just stares at Nozomu's back leaving the training ground without saying anything.

Mars's POV

"Hey, Mars. How was it, today's match?"

"It looks like he's safe today. Mars, how many times you have cutting corners, he's too bothersome isn't it!"

The two people around him were saying something, but Mars couldn't hear the word at all.

He is definitely getting stronger. No, was he originally strong and we just didn't notice?

At least his sword skills would definitely be better than mine. The results of today's mock battle show that.

"... What is this feeling of sickness ..."

I feel uncomfortable. Anger rises from within my chest ... why.

Because he hides his ability?

...Wrong. At least I don't get angry when I think about him now.

Then to whom ... I see ... to myself?

... I have never been so angry with myself.

... I am proud of my strength. At least I hate those who are weak and can't do anything but do something in the shadows.

And I hate more, those who were trampled and just accept it without resisting even if it is getting further.

Until now, my feelings towards him are exactly that. Even if he is treated as the lowest of the year, he accepts it without changing his facial expression.

He was exactly the one I hate the most.

But how is it actually?

He was more resistant than anyone else. I don't know why, but He was trying to get stronger.

And that effort would be a level that I couldn't even imagine.

I have never heard that humans with Ability Suppression go beyond the limit.

What have we done to him who tries so hard to resist? I think he has been trampled and ridiculed.

While feeling a strong resentment towards myself, I kept watching him leaving the training ground.

Chapter 1 Part 7

It's been a few days since the mock battle with Mars.

Today, Shishō told me to come to the hut after class, so I returned to the dorms immediately, then I headed over to Shishō's place.

Actually, the end of the year exam is near, and there are only two days left before the exam.

The exams at Solminati Academy are difficult, no matter how much you improve. If it is a year-end exam, it will be even more difficult.

In particular, I managed to advance with the written exam, so to be honest, I wanted to concentrate on studying for the exam.

Normally, I refrained from training just before the exam and concentrated on the exam, but for some reason, I was reminded by Shishō that I definitely must come today.

"What happened to Shishō? Why I definitely must come? "

I was a little worried about Shishō's circumstances who was reminding me.

Unlike usual, she told me with a serious expression,

"You should come, alright?".

Upon arriving at Shishō's hut, she is drinking tea normally in the hut.

"Oh, did you arrive Nozomu?"

She's the same as usual, always looks excessively exhausted

"Shishō, what's going on? It's about time for my exam, so It'll be bad if I don't prepare for it."

To be clear, it is a serious problem. Now that I've improved my physical strength a little, and now I can use techniques that I couldn't use in battle before. I've expanded my fighting options, but it's still difficult.

"Now, now. Accompany me for today. If you don't accept the invitation from such a beauty, you're not a man."

... What is this person saying ...

"... Shishō. Do you drink alcohol in daytime?"

"That's not the case! Do you even respect your master?"

"I do respect you. Unless Shishō says something with a terrible lie."

"Who is the liar! And when did I say something like that !!!"

Shishō, all liars are saying so.

"Shishō a beauty is, of course, a lie! Well, it's an ex-beauty!"

"... Stop there"

Shishō puts her hand on the katana in the form of a demon. Visible murderous intent rises from her body. Wild birds around the hut fly all at once and flap their wings to get away from this place.

... It's scary. No doubt, Shishō's hair is standing ... Considering her hometown, it should be called Yasha.

But I can't lose. Always throwing petty jokes and Tsukkomi here and there, then release a technique equivalent to a high rank.

She is able to adjust her power for killing or not, but she probably can't adjust it to match the situation at all.

I have to teach her to adjust the power and fight the law of equivalent exchange considerably.

... Otherwise, I will never be able to break out of the idiot woman's circumstances and become the target in everyday life !!

"I am too, always saying something unreasonable. I'm not saying anything, Shishō is always beautiful."

... I could not do it.

... Shishō, please refrain from hitting the katana to my neck with bloodlust.

Then Shishō began to talk about particular things without stopping. The thing about her home country, family, and things since she came to this continent.

She wanted to listen to my story too, so I told her. The thing about my home village, my parents, about Lisa, what happened at the school, when I met Shishō, and what happened after that is hellish training.

Shishō already knew it, but she still wanted to hear it.

She nodded many times and listened happily even though she spoke only for a moment.

... As if to engrave herself so that she would never forget it.

As I was talking, the scenery turned red. It seems that it was evening before I knew it.

Shishō glanced at the scenery and muttered.

"Then, let's start the final training."

Shino's POV

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Exchange words with Nozomu. The content is very common. Where is your hometown? How about your family? What do you like?

Such a normal conversation. Until now, I haven't had many such conversations. Teaching is about katana, talking is also about katana.

Katana, katana, and katana.

I've only taught him that, and that was the only thing I can do.

So now, he talks about very ordinary stories which are very refreshing, and

I'm very happy that he changes his facial expression when he hears my story.

I thought that I would never exchange words with people like this anymore.

... No, I think I was intentionally avoiding it. Just as Nozomu unknowingly escaped from reality that he was "dumped by his lover," I escaped from reality that I was "betrayed by my family," avoiding people, and halted.

... I'm a fool.

With this, there is no qualification for me to say anything about my disciple...

This guy longed for such a bad teacher. It feels nice to be depended and trusted on.

If I was born decades later ... I'm sure I wanted to live with him.

However, the bond between us is not of a lover but a teacher-disciple.

That's a little disappointing, but there's still one last thing I can leave in his heart.

For me, that's enough. Next... Let's give him something that he can live on with.

Nozomu's POV

"Then, do you want to start the last training?"

Shishō spoke those words as if she was going to go.

"Shishō, that's. The last..."

"As I said, this is the last training I can do."

It's the usual easy-going Shishō. In that atmosphere, the next word she said is ...

"That's why! The last training is ... Seriously killing each other with me."

"...He"

I couldn't understand what Shishō was saying.

Kill each other? Me? With Shishō?

"What are you talking about! What do you mean !!"

Shishō stands up in the garden, she prepares the katana in the scabbard.

She is ready for battle already.

"Shishō !! Answer me, Why killing each other without reason? What's the meaning of my visit then? Shishō! !! !! !! "

His mentor's eyes color is changing, and he can feel the heavy courage from her body. She is clearly serious.

I still try to ask Shishō.

"It's obvious! What do you mean by the last !! To kill each other ... What are you thinking !!!"

"..."

She says nothing. She has shown in her actions instead.

When I thought that Shishō's body had shaken for a moment, a fierce murderous intent is struck at me.

The next moment she is already in front of me. The katana that had been put in the scabbard is pulled out by a sudden stance toward my neck.

I roll on the ground to escape. Shishō's katana snarls just above me, but as it is, she shoots a roundhouse kick.

I received the kick with my right arm, but the kick that was strengthened by Qi was so heavy that I was blown away and slammed into a tree.

"Kuhat ... "

Even though I am in pain, I immediately got up with the movements I had learned from my training and regained my posture. Instinctively pulled out the katana and prepared for the next strike.

"Shishō! What on earth do you want to do!"

Shishō said nothing and pointed her katana at me.

Her eyes declared "I have no intention to speak".

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... Shishō is always like that. She did not allow any questions during training and declare something unreasonable one-sidedly and let me do double training.

Apparently, she won't tell me anything if I don't fight.

But this time Shishō is obviously strange.

In both the training and the mock battle, she did something that could kill me, but she didn't actually try to kill me.

But now she's piercing me with a dense murderous intent, and She suddenly aiming for my neck. She is obviously coming to kill me.

The appearance of Shishō has blurred again. And murderous intent is released from the side.

I lift my katana with the body strengthening sword technique. The lifted katana miraculously blocked Shishō's katana, but she shoots her slash in rapid succession.

She is slashing, left, right, left, a storm of flowing movements and precision slashing are shot.

I intercept the slash while slightly lowering it. The knees, hips, and arms are all linked without waste, and parry Shishō's katana.

Still overwhelmed. It's the same style of swordsmanship, but the skill, physical ability, and experience are all superior!

Although I tried to resist by withdrawing with a quick dash, Shishō immediately chased and caught up.

Collide each other katana while moving at high speed.

The twilight is gone, and while the darkness enveloped the surroundings, only the trajectory of the katana illuminated by the full moon reflected the existence of the two.

The movements of the two are not the typical straight line, they are moving as clinging while drawing curves with each other.

Qi technique "Instant Move -Curve Dance-"

Deployment of the Qi technique "Instant Move". A technique that links the movement of the knee and the movement of the center of gravity that accompanies it, as well as the movement of the trunk and the movement of the shoulder, enabling complex curve movement in the instantaneous move, that normally can only move in a straight line.

It's easy to say, but in reality, it is required to have strong legs and hips that can completely control the momentum of the instant moves, and the flexibility to link the movements of the whole body without waste.

If you don't have strong legs, you will lose your posture and hit the ground with the momentum of the legs, and if your whole body movements are not linked, you will lose your balance and also hit on the ground.

It is an extremely difficult advanced technique that requires strength and flexibility.

After all, Shishō is still the best at the exchange of blows in "Curve Dance". Instant Move -Curve Dance- is a development of instant move, but its movement speed is still related to the ability of the user.

Shishō's Instant Move -Curve Dance- clearly exceeded that of mine. I gradually became left behind, and finally, I got stopped by Shishō who was ahead of me.

"Sh*t !!"

Although I stopped and had a confrontation with Shishō again, the situation is still overwhelming.

Moreover, Shishō's attack is not limited to swords.

"Ku !!"

After handling the slash, Shishō swings the scabbard with one hand. The scabbard reinforced by Qi can easily break human bones.

Before I knew it, Shishō's attack became a dual-wield which are katana and scabbard. Made it possible to attack even more densely than before, although the power was reduced, this jaw would surely eat me up.

Her way of fighting is a comprehensive fighting technique that blends not only swordsmanship but also scabbard and physique, and this is her original way of fighting.

I also changed my fighting style to dual wield with a scabbard. Judge the intensifying attack of Shishō.

However, I was pushed by the difference in natural ability and skill, and eventually, my interception was not in time, and the blow by the scabbard caught me.

"Gua !!"

Shishō's scabbard hits my upper arm which is holding the scabbard with a dull sound. Fortunately, the bones did not break and the scabbard was retained.

Shishō flashed her katana without missing the gap of my slow movement for a moment.

The interception with katana was not in time, and I managed to dodge by relaxing my body, again Shishō's kick flies again.

Decided that I couldn't avoid it, I jumped back and reduce her kicking power.

By jumping backward, I was flung away and an opening was revealed.

It's like a repeat of the previous exchange, but it's actually different. I whip my aching arm while being blown and put my sword in a scabbard.

The moment I hit on the ground, I took a passive stance and bounced back to get up and send attention to the katana, resulting in extreme compression.

A half-baked technique will not reach Shishō. Due to my circumstances, the number of times I can use it is limited, but I bet on my most reliable technique!

Qi technique "Phantom"

The extremely compressed Qi blade flies at high speed. Shortly after, it landed on Shishō ... it was supposed to be, but the reality is different.

"Na~ !!"

Suddenly there was a bursting sound just halfway between me and Shishō.

The extremely compressed air diffuses and scatters around.

When I saw Shishō, She was swinging the katana in the same posture. I am stunned by the unbelievable situation.

Shishō did not miss such an opportunity.

Shishō roared here with a quick move. I try to intercept in a hurry, but obviously, I can't make it in time. I put the scabbard in the path of the slash, but she ignores the scabbard and swings her katana.

Qi technique "Phantom -Recurrence"

Drew the katana with a reverse trajectory, and tore my body diagonally from the shoulder.

Chapter 1 Part 8

Blood gushed from the torn wound.

"Ack ... Guh!"

With so much pain and loss of blood, I lost strength from my legs and I knelt on the ground.

What Shishō did was very simple. She offset the phantom I released with the same phantom.

But ... Is that possible?

Phantom is extremely difficult to see due to its characteristics.

In order to intercept with the same phantom, it is necessary to accurately release the same orbit as the phantom that I released without any deviation.

Shishō did something much more difficult than forcing a string through a needle.

The difference in ability between me and Shishō is clear. Her skill, ability, and experience are all superior to mine, and there is nothing I can win.

As I was trapped in the thought that "I can't win", the words of Shishō echoed to me,

"Nozomu, release your Ability Suppression"

(Eh)

"You should understand. The only way to beat me is to release the Ability Suppression."

(Sure, I might be able to beat Shishō if I use that)

That is the only way to beat Shishō. I quickly realized that it was the only possibility I had.

However, that dream is in my mind.

Tiamat was inside the lake of my dreams and I felt a bit of anxiety at that time. The eyes of that guy I saw in my dreams certainly had a will to live.

Is it the characteristic of a spirit species? Perhaps the body is dead, but the soul remains alive.

And the Ability Suppression unexpectedly suppressed his power, and even his soul, isn't it?

(If I release the Ability Suppression, he may be released ...)

"..."

... I can't make a decision. I can't do it. It is necessary to release Tiamat so I can win against Shishō who is willing to kill. Then I will die anyway!

"Are you still lost?"

Shishō is slashing again. I raised my sword to parry it, but my movement is clearly slow due to the wound that was cut earlier.

I managed to parry only the slashing that hits directly, but Shishō mercilessly hits with the scabbard and kicks into my body in that gap.

"I, ku, guaaa!"

Shishō's attack caused pain all over my body, and combined with the unstoppable bleeding, I felt my consciousness becoming hazy.

"Will you die here?"

Maybe because the other party is Shishō, the strong desire to live, which had been overflowing in my heart until now, did not gush forth and the feeling of resignation "It's okay if it is Shishō" began to dominate.

At that time, Shishō's face suddenly came into my sight. Her face is distorted in agony for some reason.

"Why do you look like that?"

When such a question came to my mind, she said with a crying face.

"Nozomu, I'm going to die. It won't be long."

Shino's POV

I'm sorry, I'm going to attack Nozomu.

I'm sorry to do such a thing suddenly.

I'm sorry to hurt you so much.

But this is the last, so the last selfishness.

While desperately hiding such thoughts, she was hitting Nozomu with an attack, but suddenly his face jumped into her eyes.

Nozomu's eyes did not have the strong will to "live" like he did when he fell into a crisis so far. He had an eye for accepting the coming death.

Wrong! That's not it! I have something to tell him, I want him to accept ... I don't want him to look like that!!!

I almost cried for my thoughts that I couldn't convey.

I have to tell him ... I have something I want to tell and accept, for that reason...

"Nozomu, I'm going to die. It won't be long."

Nozomu's POV

"Nozomu, I'm going to die. It won't be long."

That words stopped my thought.

Die? Shishō? Why?

"It's Sleepness Disease. It's a disease in which you gradually lose your Qi

and eventually run out of it and die."

"Na~! Then, we should immediately treat it."

"The treatment method is not specified. And I only hold Qi for one more night. "

"If I had restrained my body's Qi, I would have possessed a little bit more."

"Then! Why don't you do that !! If you have a little more time, you might be able to do something !! !! !! "

Shishō ignores the question and proceeds with her story. But the next words completely blocked my question as I tried to continue.

"I came here because I was betrayed by my family ..."

"Eh..."

"I was framed by my sister, abandoned by my parents, the surroundings spit on me, so I fled to this continent."

Then, what Shishō told me was a story about Shishō that I had never heard before. I had heard about her family, but she never told me that such a thing happened. Truly, I didn't feel it at all.

When Shishō talked about her family, she looked very happy and found out that she loved her family.

"You and I are surprisingly similar. Betrayed and ridiculed by others and ran away."

It may be as Shishō says. After being dumped by Lisa, I trained to escape, and Shishō actually fled the country.

"I didn't mind dying anymore. That's why I retired to such a place."

Shishō strikes the length of her own hearts. I was just silently listening to Shishō's words.

"I have nothing left. But I met you. At first, I was frustrated as if I was looking at my own alter ego, but unlike me, You didn't give up on living. And I felt you had something that I didn't have."

"Nozomu, this is my last selfishness ... I have something I want to convey, this is the last time I'm running away."

She said so and begged me with a crying face.

"Please, my last wish. Will you accept it?"

... Shishō's words woke me up.

In the end, She wants to decide her own path in front of me.

... It's easy to talk to Shishō here and persuade her to live. But isn't that a twist on her will? She said that she had to tell him even if she cut her last time.

... I admit it, I've been running away all the time. From everything that surrounds me at the school.

Run away, run away, "escape" from reality and run away...

But ...

When I saw Shishō's face, her face seemed to overflow with tears, and she looked like a lost child.

If I escape from Shishō's wishes here, I will never be able to face her again.

Above all, I don't want Shishō to look like that! !! !!

Place my hand on the chain that binds me. If I release the ability suppression, I may be eaten by that jet-black dragon.

But if I escape here now, I will regret it for the rest of my life! !!

I tore the chain and released my true self for the first time.

The next moment. My view went dark.

I'm on the shore of the lake I dreamed of. A black giant stands in front of me.

"Dragon King Tiamat"

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When he saw me, he lifted his forefoot and came to crush me.

Jump back and lie down on the ground at the same time as landing to pass the shock wave. But the next moment, the tail of Tiamat which was swept away to the sideway is approaching in front of me.

It's obviously faster than the last confrontation! !! !!

The tail hits directly without hesitation.

"Ah !!!!"

I got thrown into the air and my whole body is broken, and my consciousness flew with severe pain.

With my good defense, the impact of being hit on the ground restores my consciousness, but my brain has exceeded the ability to handle pain.

My whole body is so hurt that I don't even know if I still have a body, but I manage to get up by overworking my whole body muscles. Tiamat is opening his mouth and trying to release his breath. Unlike before, He comes to kill me from the beginning!

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

With a roar, I thrust towards Tiamat!

Considering the difference in ability between him and me, I fell short on time. But, more importantly...

"I'm not calling you! My opponent is not you !!"

I can't see you right now! !!

Tiamat breath is released. The huge flame approaches my eyes, I try to avoid it by twisting my body, but I cannot avoid it with this tattered body, and the right half of my body that the flame touches disappear.

However, I don't mind it and jumps with my left foot. I plunged into Tiamat while receiving roaring sounds and shock waves behind me, but there he is opening his mouth.

As soon as I jumped in, his mouth is closed and his fangs tore me.

My lower body is cut off and my head is half-scraped. Penetrating my whole body, my body has become a bloody lump of meat.

However, perhaps because of the spiritual world, I feel conscious of the injuries that I was supposed to be dead. Even if it's ephemeral.

While my whole body is messed up, I observe the front, it glowed in my bloody field of vision.

The light is colored in 5 colors of black, red, blue, green, and yellow. It's small but I could feel tremendous power through it. Perhaps this is his power.

I reached for the light and touch it. The lower half of my body has already been lost, and my internal organs have been drained.

My right arm was lost, my left arm has also been cut with fangs, and it is half torn. I am almost unconscious, and only a moan is heard from my mouth.

Still, I reach out. When my torn hand touched the light, the light overflowed and my vision dimmed again.

When I noticed, I returned to where I was.

"Guu !!!"

Power overflows from my whole body. The power is too great and will erode my spirit.

I have no time. If I prolong it, I will be eaten by this power, or at worst I will die out of control!

Looking at Shishō, she looks so happy there.

Holding the katana. Blood still flows from the wounds cut by Shishō, but I don't mind it.

"Here I come!!!"

"Come !! Foolish disciple !!!"

Shishō holds a katana and releases more energy than ever.

Accept all of Shishō. With that intention in mind, I confronted Shishō again.

The two of them activate the "Instant Move -Curve Dance-" again and collide with each other. Draw an intricate curve in the dark night and let the moonlight sparkle the sword flash.

The speed had reached an area that even top-notch warriors could not follow with their eyes.

Each other's appearances were as intertwined with each other as before, but the superiority and inferiority were distinctly different.

Nozomu's blow numbs Shino's arm, Shino's attack is parried by Nozomu, and on the contrary, it is likely to be blown away.

Although Shino's skill lies in her skill, Nozomu's physical ability, which has no restraint by releasing his suppression, clearly surpasses her.

Shino gradually became inferior. A trace of bitterness comes out of her mouth.

"Ku! Can't you be a little more gentle on a woman! This foolish disciple!"

"What are you talking about! At least there is no frail girl who has never been kind in front of me !! Think about your own age !!!

"What did you say! A woman is a woman no matter how old it is! A guy who doesn't understand a woman's heart, no wonder he's abandoned by his lover, this is a mess!"

"Na! What do you mean !! I don't want to be told by a hikikomori in such a place !! That most likely lacking in social skills! This naive !!!

"What do you mean by lack of social skills! What did you say to your master !! Get over here! I will beat that guts!!!

"Bring it on! I was fed up with your tantrum! You struck me with kijutsu because of a petty joke !! How many times do you think I died !!"

"I've been properly going easy so you're not going to die! Just barely return from the Sanzu River !!"

"That's not the problem! Why do I keep dying just because of Tsukkomi !!!"

"Don't worry about every detail! It's okay because you came back!"

"It's not good!"

Fight while blurting out bad things about each other. It is an extremely advanced exchange of skills and an extremely crappy war of words.

The high-speed battle with "Instant Move -Curve Dance-" has exceeded Nozomu's physical ability, and Shino changes her hand, perhaps because she thought it would be bad as it is.

"Chii! I can't purge this boy as it is !!"

"Cho! You said to purge me just now !! I'm gonna kill this grandmother !!!"

"It's obvious !! I already said that at the beginning !! It's a good idea to reflect in hell for the crime of smashing a maiden's heart!"

Shino puts her hands on her hips and compresses her Qi. Her compressed Qi is released as she pushed out her hands.

Qi technique "Cannon"

It is a technique that releases the compressed Qi in one direction and blows away the opponent.

Shino chased after Nozomu, who was thrown by the Cannon.

"Take this! Maiden's enemy !!!"

Shino unleashes a technique she had prepared before.

Qi technique "Phantom".

Nozomu is already in a stance to intercept, An extremely compressed Qi is ready to be released,

"That's a remark of fraudsters !! Age fabrication and violence are crimes !!!"

It is the same Qi technique "Phantom" that is released. The two techniques collide in the middle of each other and cancel each other out.

As Nozomu did earlier, it was the concentration to the utmost limit that made it possible to offset the phantom with the same phantom.

When he once fought Tiamat and was dying, he was so focused that the time around him seemed slow. Thanks to this concentration to the utmost limit, the sword slash of a super-class swordswoman named Shino was completely cut off.

The two cuts through the remnants of the Qi scattered around and connect it to the next technique.

"Remember the greatness of your master !!!"

"I'll overthrow you !! Natural criminal !!!"

Qi technique "Phantom -Recurrence-"

The extremely compressed air blades collide with each other, causing the

surroundings to bloom again with Qi and sparks.

The two then connect to the next technique.

Use the momentum of the return blade to rotate the body. While delivering the sword, point the sheath butt at the opponent and hit it at the same time as the sword is delivered.

Qi technique "Breaking Strike"

An internal destruction technique that destroys the opponent's body by simultaneously driving Qi and shock waves into the opponent's body. If It hits properly, the internal organs will be messed up.

Each other's skills are canceled with a banging sound.

The impact of the techniques colliding with each other slightly separated them from each other, but it led to the next technique as it was.

The two turned around and sent their Qi to the hand that did not hold the katana.

The enveloped Qi was so enormous that it could not be compared with the previous kijutsu.

The fists of each other hit and sent a lot of Qi to the ground. Then the central ground between the two exploded, and a pillar of light erupted.

Qi technique "Light of Extinction"

The Qi that hit the ground is released at the feet of the enemy, the opponent is launched into the air, and destroyed by the torrent of light.

It has the maximum range of effect and high annihilation power among their skills.

The two rushed through the ground and collided as they were. Push each other on the ground as it was.

"Still a long way to go!!!!"

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"Of course!!!"

The two connect their skills further. They thrust into the other party with their katana delivered to each other, and engage in a physical battle using their limbs.

Use fists, legs, elbows, and any part of your body to hit as if they were dancing.

Their form is similar to each other.

Eventually, changes appear around the two. A grain of light appeared, and it began to gather in a spiral.

Actually, they were already activating an existing technique.

Ritual body technique "Rinne Kaiten"

There is a magic called ceremonial magic. As the name implies, it is magic that is activated by performing a ritual and interfering with the spirits of the outside world.

As Norn Altina said in the magic class, the origin of ceremonial magic is the ritual of praying and giving offerings to the gods and spirits.

Originally, "Dance" was dedicated in the same way during the Shinto ritual.

Utilizing this, the ritual technique was created by fusing "Dance" and "Martial Art".

Attacking the opponent while offers it as a "Dance" to establish a ritual, and interfere with the surrounding spirit. Deploying ceremonial magic.

This "Rinne Kaiten" absorbs the surrounding spirits and repeatedly strengthens the body. The more you dance, the more powerful you will be.

However, since the ritual physique is inevitably tied to a fixed pattern, there is a possibility that it will become inferior as soon as the pattern is cut off.

The clash between the two, who had been repeatedly strengthened eventually caused the surrounding trees to tremble with a shockwave.

The dance of the two continues nonstop, and the light of the spirits gathered around them to honor the dance.

Shino's POV

Qi suddenly falling out and the vision became dark.

To counter the extraordinarily strong disciple, she had to use all of her Qi and magic, and use all of her skills to push the limits.

Even so, somehow her hands are full just to make it par.

The loss of Qi that exceeded the limit caused the sleep death disease to progress at once. The recovery and loss of Qi are reversed and will not recover anymore.

My death is settled.

(Well ... It's okay)

Looking at my last disciple while thinking of such a thing as if it were

someone else's problems

... He becomes stronger. This kid has really gotten stronger. Only a few people on this continent can beat this kid when he unleashes the bind.

Even those people may be overthrown in some cases.

This child confronts the enormous power hidden within himself at his own will.

A powerful force that can easily crush such a small child. An ordinary person would go mad with fear. Or swallowed by that power.

For the last request of such an old woman, he faced the power and fought it.

This will be the last, but ... Thank you. Nozomu.

Nozomu's POV

He clenches his teeth and endures the force that is likely to burst. He can't release it for a long time. His reason is scraped off, and his body is rattling due to too strong force.

This ability is overwhelming, but I can't attack. Repeated attacks are balanced and only time passes.

The movement of the surrounding spirits accelerated further, and the dance is approaching the end.

Feeling the end approaching, the things that have happened since I met Shishō come to my mind.

A chance encounter in the forest.

Hell-like training.

Pointed out that I was running away.

She said, "Welcome back".

The place where the master was, definitely a "place to return".

But, it will be gone soon.

It is very sad ...

It seems that the inside of my chest would be torn apart with sadness...

It was the last request of Shishō!

I can't show her my unsightly appearance. Soon, it will be the last one, but ...

Thank you, Shishō.

"Dance" has finally come to an end. Two kicks that have been strengthened

to the limit collide.

The surrounding ground is rolled up by the shock wave and blown away.

The big trees were bending and screaming.

Using the impact of the collision, the two rotate their bodies like a spinning top.

Simultaneously, returns the katana to its scabbard, and send all of their Qi to the scabbard and compress it to the limit.

Qi technique "Phantom -Flash-"

A technique that releases one's fastest battōjutsu (drawn-sword technique).

A technique that just puts their own feelings into it.

The katanas carrying the thoughts of the two people crossed.

The silence has returned to the forest.

Nozomu's katana has only a handle left.

The drawn-sword collided at the center of the two, and at that moment. Nozomu's sword was shattered.

Immediately after, Shino collapses on the spot.

"Shishō !!!"

Nozomu rushes to Shino and hugs her, but her face is pale and lifeless.

"... Nozomu. Hey, You've become stronger ... I don't think I can teach you about sword anymore ..."

"Shishō ..."

Even Nozomu, who had no knowledge as a doctor, understood. She is dying already.

"I am happy. Accepting the last request of such an old woman. ... Please accept my feelings."

The inner corner of his eye became hot. In the face of an unavoidable farewell, Nozomu couldn't control his tears.

"Nozomu, just remember this"

"Even if you run away. Even if you stop. Don't avert your eyes to the fact that you've run away, you've stopped. If you forget it, you won't be able to move on as I do."

Perhaps she can no longer see with her eyes, her gaze swims in the air, and her body gets colder and colder.

"Even if you run away, even if you stop. If you don't forget it, you should be able to move forward someday..."

"...I, yes. Shishō..."

She smiled as if she was relieved to hear Nozomu's words.

"I'm glad ... I'm satisfied with this."

She looks up at the moon. It is a peaceful and gentle moon to watch over.

"Nozomu ... I'm a little tired ... I'm going to sleep ...Someday again."

"... Yes Shishō ... Good night."

She is satisfied, slowly closes her eyes, and falls into a deep, deep sleep.

To a deep sleep that will never wake up.

All that was left behind was the voice of someone who repressed his voice and sobbed.

It's been a week since then. Nozomu was promoted to the third year.

His promotion exam was just barely as usual, but ...

Nozomu thinks about himself now.

He's still halted even now. About Lisa, about the school. About himself.

He may run away again. He may remain halted.

But it's over if he looks away from that fact.With the teachings of his master and the sprout of his new determination, he set out for the gates of Solminati Academy.