"Agh."

I get knocked to the ground.

Wilhelm: "You're getting impatient again. Calm down or you won't learn the way of the sword."

Cylob: "I know, I know. It's just..." I scratch my head. "I've never had to work so hard for something before."

Guess it's just like Misumi Makoto said: "It's better to experience failure early on". I haven't experienced failure anywhere so now I'm getting impatient.

I fully lay down on the ground.

Cylob: "The question is: do I continue trying right now or do I take a break? I'm impatient, but how do I get rid of it? Will continuing training make me more impatient or will taking a break make me more impatient? Which one is it?"

Wilhelm: "You should do what you feel is best." He looks at me with a reassuring gaze.

Cylob: "Do what I feel is best... Then I'll go for a walk. Get my feelings in order and all."

I stand up and Predator the dirt on my clothes.

Cylob: "Thanks for teaching me once again, Wil-san."

I extend my hand out to Wilhelm.

Wilhelm: "No. Thank you for letting me teach you."

He shakes it.

This has become our sign for ending the lesson, so as soon as we stop shaking hands I immediately start walking away.

.▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓.

Some footsteps that were getting closer and closer could be heard.

Crusch: "How is he?"

Wilhelm: "His progress is slow, but it's steady and is gaining momentum."

Crusch: "That's good."

Wilhelm: "The problem is: he seems to have something that he doesn't use."

Crusch: "What do you mean by that?" She raises her eyebrow.

Wilhelm: "I've seen his eyes wonder multiple times during battle, almost as if considering different possibilities in which he could proceed in."

Crusch: "But that's completely normal, isn't it?"

Wilhelm: "True, but his eyes wonder too much. I've also heard him mumble "if only I could" multiple times."

Crusch: "...Then why doesn't he use it?"

Wilhelm: "He doesn't seem to want to destroy the environment around him. If we go to a patch of grass that nobody cares about, I'm sure he would use his full capabilities."

Crusch: "I see..." She descends into thought.

Wilhelm: "...I would like to see a battle between you two."

Crusch is extremely surprised at that statement as her eyes widen.

Crusch: "Do you think he's on my level already?" She says doubtfully.

Wilhelm: "No." He shakes his head. "But letting him fight against somebody other than me is going to be good experience for him. And I'm sure his fighting style wouldn't disappoint you either. You will learn something from the fight too."

Crusch: "I see..." She puts on another thinking expression. "...It could be arranged."

A small smile appears on her face as she looks straight at Wilhelm.

Crusch: "Let me see how good the one who caught the interest of the Sword Demon is."

Wilhelm smiles back.

Wilhelm: "I'm sure he won't disappoint you."

.▓▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░▒▓.

I need to get my mind off of the getting stronger stuff.

I was walking through the streets.

I could hear an innumerable amount of voices around me.

Some were just talking with each other. The others were bargaining for prices at the stalls around me.

I could even hear some children playing tag.

The assortment of sounds that didn't go with each other made me calm down.

The sheer liveliness made me calmer as well.

Normalness...

This kind of normalness was exactly what I wanted to protect.

It was the reason I was getting stronger.

I wasn't getting stronger to solely save people's lives, but to make sure that this normalness could go on.

Of course saving people is one of the conditions, so it was still on my list, but that didn't mean that it was the only thing I wanted to do.

If keeping as many people alive was my entire goal, then I would be something like Madara. And we all know how that went.

But as I was calmly walking through the streets, I noticed a familiar helmet glint in the side of my vision.

I turned to look at it, and I saw someone I wasn't expecting to see at all.

That's Al.

I stopped walking and started considering my choices.

Should I talk to him? I mean, I don't really have a reason to talk to him, so why should I? If I talk to him, and that will fuck something up, I will regret it for the rest of my life. There are no pluses in talking to him either.

After not a lot of thinking I decided to ignore the helmeted man.

What good could talking with him bring after all?

So I walked right past him... without any interruptions.

To be honest, I felt like he was going to call out to me or something. You hate cliches when they happen, but you get disappointed when they don't. What a contradiction, huh.

So my calm walk conti-

*bump*

A small boy bumped into me while I wasn't paying attention.

boy: "Ow."

Cylob: "You alright?"

boy: "I'm alright!" He cheerfully started running again.

I look at his shrinking figure.

Kids. So innocent.

?: "No, please! Slow down for a bit!" Someone said while panting heavily.

I look at the person in question.

She was just a normal woman, nothing interesting. If I had to guess I would say she was 26.

Cylob: "That's your son?" I point at the kid that bumped into me.

woman: "Yes. *pant* I don't get *pant* where he gets so much energy *pant* from."

I look at the boy again. He seemed to be around 6.

Cylob: "Want me to catch him?"

woman: "That would be *pant* greatly appreciated."

I quickly run up to the kid, pick him up in a princess carry and take him to his mother.

I carefully put him down, and right after I do, his mother grabs his hand.

woman: "Next time. Don't run away like that." She looks at him sternly.

But he doesn't even register his mother's words as his attention is completely focused on me.

boy: "So cool! You were so fast! How did you do that!?"

Cylob: "Training."

boy: "Can you do that again!? Please!" I could almost see the stars in his eyes.

Cylob: "Do you want me to pick you up again?"

boy: "Yes!"

I look at his mother for permission.

woman: "*sigh* It's fine." She spins the boy around and looks him straight in the face. "But make sure not to run away again, alright?"

boy: "Yes!"

As soon as permission was given, I put the little kid on my shoulders and started running around the city.

boy: "So fast!"

The smile on his face was one of the biggest I've ever seen.

It wasn't surprising. I was running so fast that everything was nothing more than a blur.

I could feel him looking left and right, trying to engrave this moment into his mind.

After a bit of running around I gave him back to his mother.

boy: "Mom, he's so cool! He was like woosh!" He quickly swung his arm to prove his point.

woman: "That's great! And I've got some good news for you! You can go play with Ashley! She's right there!" She points to an ordinary looking girl.

The boy got stars in his eyes as he immediately started running to her.

boy: "Ashley!"

I look at his shrinking figure and at the girl who was now blushing.

Young love, huh. I've never loved anyone in my life, so I don't really understand it, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate it.

Cylob: "Isn't he supposed not to run away?"

woman: "It's fine. We should let children have their fun after all."

Cylob: "If you say so..."

woman: "Excuse me, but... Are you training to be a knight perhaps?"

Cylob: "No. What gave you that Idea?"

woman: "Well you are strong and you have a kind heart, so you seem like a good image of a knight."

I'm a little taken aback by that comment.

Me? A knight? That's impossible. I'm nowhere near noble enough. Knights are supposed to save lives, not...

...

Cylob: "It pleases me that you think of me like that."

woman: "See? You even talk knightly."

...I'm starting to dislike this conversation.

Cylob: "Well, it was nice meeting you, but I shall go now. Goodbye."

woman: "Goodbye."

I start walking away.

boy: "Wait!"

I turn back to the boy, who was now holding hands with the little girl. The little girl was blushing even more, which I could clearly see.

boy: "What's your name?"

Cylob: "It's Cylob."

boy: "Mine's Calob!"

Cylob: "That's a nice name. Sorry, but I can't play with you anymore. Bye." I wave at him.

boy: "It's alright! Bye!" He waves back.

Then I peacefully walk away.

.▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒.

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.▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒.

The hell is this?! Why do I gotta fight against Crusch?!

Let's back up a bit.

It was now the next day and out of nowhere Wilhelm told me that we were going out of the capital to train.

I was confused, but decided to not ask any questions. He would know better after all.

After we arrived at the spot, I noticed that there were knights already there, and in the center of them was... Crusch.

I knew Wilhelm was training Crusch, but he never trained me and her at the same time, so I was plenty surprised.

And then out of nowhere, he said that I would fight her.

That's the position I'm right now.

Cylob: "Hey, hey. You gotta be kidding me. Right, Wil-san?"

Wilhelm: "I'm completely serious."

Cylob: "But I'm nowhere near her level! I know she's good with the sword, but what if she puts too much force in her slash?! That's gonna hurt, you know?!"

Crusch: "Are you saying that I'm not good enough?" She says in an almost moking tone.

Cylob: "I'm saying the complete opposite! I'M not good enough! Why did we even go out of the capital in the first place?!"

Wilhelm: "So that you can fight at full power."

Cylob: "I was already fighting at full power!"

Wilhelm: "Like I already said: This is not battle with only swords. You will use everything at your disposal. I noticed how you had something else, but you hesitated to use it."

Cylob: "But I was training just fine, wasn't I?!"

Wilhelm: "Knowing about this trick of yours will help us polish you in the art of battle even better."

Cylob: "That's!... true... But my ability is dirty! It won't feel fair at all!"

Wilhelm: "There is no dirty in a real battle."

Cylob: "Thats-... I-... I hate how good you are at arguments!"

I rub my temples that felt like they were going to start hurting any second.

Use everything at my disposal, huh.

Cylob: "*sigh* Then I suggest you to constantly be on guard. My tricks come out of nowhere."

Wilhelm: "Of course."

All the knights and Wilhelm started retreating to make a big circle for me and Crusch to fight in.

The radius was about 50 meters and the knights were standing in a pretty weird, but effective formation.

Every other knight was facing inside the circle, while the other half was facing outside.

This way they could be ready for anything that would come from both inside and outside the circle.

But enough thinking about the knights. Let's focus on the person in front of me.

Crusch was already in her stance and she was standing about 15 meters away from me. She was in her battle gear, so I knew she was serious.

I really have to fight her. *sigh* This is gonna be a pain. Please go easy on me!

I get into my stance, turn on my Mana Sense and Thought Acceleration and try to steel myself.

I can feel my hands shaking from the pressure.

I'm finally gonna be able to go all out not in a death scenario. This is a good chance to see how I scale compared to other characters in the verse.

The words in the thought were silly, but the thought itself was very serious.

It was important to know how powerful I was compared to other people after all.

Both of us were waiting for Wilhelm's signal. We were allowed to act as soon as he made any kind of sound with his mouth, so reaction speed was pretty important at the start too.

I stared Crusch right in her eyes and I shivered.

Her eyes were so strong and held such a strong will that I almost felt like giving up.

I don't really have to fight her, do I?

She was much more prepared for this battle than I was, and that wasn't surprising. I mean I'm nowhere good enough to take her on after all.

After seeing how serious she was about this my whole body started shaking.

Is this bloodlust?

I haven't really noticed bloodlust before this, due to me being on the brink of death everytime I could possibly come in contact with it, so I wasn't sure whether this was it, but it damn felt like it.

How did I go from a life of sitting on my butt all day, to fighting a battle-hardened warrior in a span of three months?! I'm not ready for this!

At this point I was about to shout that I give up, but-

Wilhelm: "Start!"

./\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\.

The moment he said that Crusch swung her sword.

I could feel the invisible slash of air, so I managed to dash right in the nick of time to dodge it.

I could see in the corner of my eyes that she now had a small smile on her face, almost as if saying "not bad". But then she quickly abandoned it for a serious expression.

Shit! She's serious now!

She swung her sword four more times, not giving me any breathing room.

I had to dash to the left, duck underneath the second air slash, dash back to the right and jump diagonally to the up-left.

Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to fully dodge them, so I had a small cut on the side of my chest, but the fact that I managed to dodge four consecutive attacks, filled me with hope.

Maybe I have a chance at lasting a good amount of time!

I was still in the air, and I could feel Crusch gathering mana for another slash.

I made it look like I was planning to land on the ground, so she slashed at my place of landing.

But instead of landing, I Enyan-ed a boulder and used it as a foothold to dash right at Crusch.

She wasn't surprised in the least by my action and quickly changed her stance to intercept my blow.

I went for a simple but effective diagonall slash, and when our swords clashed they made an X shape.

*CLINK*

The sound was so clear that all other sounds seemed to disappear from the world at that moment.

Due to being in the air I was blown back and when I landed I already felt an air slash heading towards me.

I noticed that Crusch was already prepearing another air slash, so I decided to go straight for an attack.

Let's go all in.

I dashed right at her and Predator-ed the slash that was coming at me, even if enhanced it's still just air after all.

She was in a vulnerable stance so she quickly jumped back to buy her enough time to get into position, but I wouldn't let happen.

Just as her feet touched the ground, I Beelzebub-ed the ground beneath her feet which made her vulnerable once again.

This is my chance!

Unluckily for me, she gathered a large amount of mana and a heavy windstorm followed.

Due to the amount of mana my Mana Sense was basically useless and the large wind kicked up so much dust and other particles that my vision was completely robbed as well.

I slashed at where Crusch should've been, but my sword sliced air, so I quickly landed on the ground and got into my stance.

I put all my attention on the sounds around me and heard a footstep to my right, so I jumped left out of the windstorm. Unfortunately, the windstorm was so powerful that I wasn't able to land properly.

And then, I immediately saw Crusch dashing out of the already disappearing windstorm, ready to slash at me.

If only I had some stone-bullets with me! I would've definitely made her blind by now!

She was targeting my neck, so I transformed into my slime form to go underneath the slash.

I slid underneath her and transformed back to my human form to do a slash from behind.

But she did a move that betrayed all logic.

She did a 180 turn while in midair and blocked my attack! How the hell did she do that?!

It was at that moment that our eyes met again and I visibly shuddered.

That's definitely bloodlust!

In my fear I instinctively jumped back, which allowed her to get back into her stance.

Our positions were the same as at the start of the match.

To be completely honest, she was insane.

Wilhelm said that I was always bad with body enhancement and now I understand why.

Her blows were so powerful that it genuinely felt unfair.

While it's true that my Yang enhancement is extremely unoptimized right now, so my Yang enhancement probably takes more mana than her normal enhancement, but the amount of mana I had to put into my arm when exchanging blows with her to make sure that my arm didn't break was stupid. It was g-e-n-u-i-n-e-l-y stupid.

That was the main reason I didn't attack from a stationary position actually. My power would be so low that it would feel as a light breeze to her and she would be able to easily counterattack.

She was fast, powerful, resourceful, was able to use magic, had excellent skill and had real battle experience. She even had a Divine Protection for God's sake!

I meanwhile was weak, wasteful, wasn't able to use any magic, barely had any skill and didn't have 'real' battle experience. (Lye was always going easy on me and Regulus wasn't even a fight.) The only redeamable qualities I had was my speed, dexterity, durability and my abilities. Tho I'm sure that if anyone else would've had my abilities they would've used them way better than I do.

Basically, I was either the same or worse than Crusch in every category except hax and durability. Even my stamina was worse due to the amount of mana I was spending compared to her.

I already spent 12% of my mana and I could feel that it was only going to go downhill from here.

No matter what I do, she seems to have a counter to it. Then how about playing defensively and exhausting her? That might be my only chance.

I got into a more defensive stance and waited for Crusch to make a move.

She was much more hesitant than at the start. Probably because I went straight through one of her attacks without taking any damage, so she was weary of any other tricks I could have.

I was looking at her, but I made sure not to look into her eyes. I knew doing that would make me falter.

After a while of nothing happening I decided to take a risk.

How about a fake opening?

I make my whole body shake even more, so that it's clearly visible.

Fake being nervous.

Then I take a deep breath which subsequently makes me close my eyes.

And show a fake vulnerability.

Unfortunately for me, Crusch didn't fall for it.

Dammit. Isn't she too careful for someone so strong?

I try to steel myself, but I can't. The pressure from Crusch was not something I could take with my current mental fortitude. I could feel my whole body shaking and my mind wasn't an exception.

I wanted to give up, but all kinds of factors were stopping me from doing that.

I knew Wilhelm wanted for me to prove myself to Crusch and he would be disappointed if I just gave up.

I also didn't want my three months of hardwork to go to waste. Guess that's the last bit of pride I had.

So no matter how scared I was, I wasn't going to give up. Not a chance in hell!

I open my eyes and start going full battle mode. I abandon almost all thought and start deleting everything from my mind that isn't important in this battle.

The sound of wind shuffling of the grass - gone.

The knights in the corner of my vision - gone.

The all too bright sun - gone.

The clear blue sky - gone.

All that remains is the ground, me and Crusch.

Nothing else matters.

I intently watch Crusch to be aware of every single one of her movements.

I notice her muscles tensing and mana gathering in her sword.

An air slash.

I calculate its trajectory and quickly dodge out of the way.

More on the way.

The onslaught was neverending. I dodged one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

The constant onslaught wasn't too hard to dodge, but I had a feeling that this was just a startup for something else.

Then, as soon as I dodged the ninth air slash, Crusch dashed at me.

Going melee, huh.

I had no choice, but to take the attack head on.

When our swords clashed I felt my arms almost give way, but I forced them to stay up.

After our first clash, Crusch went for a gut slash, I stepped back and parried it.

Like hell I'm taking another hit head on!

She stepped forward and did a diagonal slash from my left hip to my right shoulder.

I took another step back and parried it again.

Every single slash Crusch did was different in one way or another, but my tactic was the same for every one of them.

Step back, parry, step back, parry, step back, parry, step back, parry.

I was getting more familiar with her fighting style, so I started switching up my style.

Step back, parry, step back, dodge, counter-attack, dodge, step back, counter-attack, parry, step back, dodge.

This went on for minutes, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get a single hit on her.

Crusch wasn't getting even a little bit impatient, but I was.

I trained for three months and I can't even get a single hit in?! Really?! How pathetic can I get?! I'm tired of not being able to do anything!

Another gut slash was coming towards me, but even if this one hit, it wouldn't go deep, so I decided to take a risk.

I did a diagonal slash from her right shoulder.

She noticed it and started prepearing for a jump to the left.

She decided to dodge it?

I was pretty confused at the fact that she decided to dodge instead of parying, but I didn't complain. This outcome was actually better.

I blocked her escape path with a boulder, and when she jumped, she slammed right into it. The boulder actually broke, but it did its job anyway, so I didn't care.

Even while midair and in such a confusing situation, she still managed to parry my blow, but in return, her balance got completely broken.

I noticed that she was gathering mana for a wind push to get her back into balance, but I was faster.

My sword was already above me and I brought it down on her with as much force as I could, but in the middle of that, our eyes met.

I'm dead.

My mind went completely blank.

I wasn't sure whether that was killing intent or just more bloodlust, but my fragile mind couldn't handle it. One thing I knew for sure is that she could kill me any time she wanted.

The feeling of being dead in someone's eyes was not a pleasant experience.

When I finally started thinking again, I noticed one thing that was weird.

I couldn't feel my sword anymore.

No... wait.

It's not my sword I couldn't feel...

...

It were my arms.

They were cut from the elbow down.

When I comprehended that, everything started coming back to my mind.

The sound of the wind shuffling the grass. The sky. The knights. The sun.

And most importantly:

PAIN.

"AAAAHH!"

I fell on the ground and got into the fetus position.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!"

I clenched my teeth to the point that I felt like they would break.

"SHIIIIIIIIT!"

I started rolling around as much as I could.

"IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!"

I could hear people talking around me, but I didn't pay them any attention.

"WHY WHY WHY WHY?!"

Then I felt that someone was trying to hold me down. I tried my best to escape, but I couldn't put enough strength into it.

"LET ME GO!"

Then I started feeling somebody mess with my body. I naturally resisted it.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?!"

I kept resisting and shouting, but then I noticed something.

This is... a sleeping spell. Anything to get this pain to go away, I guess.

So I gave in...

.▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓.

The screaming boy was now peacefully asleep. His expression much more calm than it was a couple of seconds ago.

I looked at the perpetrator of his cries.

She had a stern expression, but I could see the guilt in her eyes. Her fists were clenched so tightly, that if she wasn't reinforcing them, they would be drawing blood.

The knights started carrying the boy away, as both of us were left alone.

She bit her lower lip until blood started to pour out, but I knew better than to stop her. The guilt in her eyes started to rise as well.

...

Wilhelm: "...May I ask what happened?"

She stopped biting her lower lip to answer my question, so the blood stopped coming out. In exchange her fists started drawing blood instead.

Crusch: "I got scared."

...What?

Wilhelm: "Pardon?"

Her fists clenched even more tightly.

Crusch: "From the start, I knew I couldn't go too easy on him, and his tricks proved that. But then he suddenly started fighting much better even without his tricks, so I had to step up my game as well. I already almost forgot about his tricks when he pulled another one on me and... I genuinely felt like I could die, so my instincts kicked in. Before I could adjust my power everything was already over."

He stopped using his tricks completely and then used one out of nowhere... not bad. That would throw anyone off guard, but to think that he forced Crusch to go all out... that's beyond even my expectations.

Wilhelm: "...I'm sure he wouldn't blame you for what happened today."

Crusch: "I know. But that doesn't make it better. He's too kindhearted for his own good, so me hurting such a kindhearted person like this... it doesn't sit well with me, especially when it's a child." She hangs her head down and looks at her now open and bloodied hands.

Her face looked... damaged? broken?, I couldn't properly tell.

Wilhelm: "...I'm sure there are some things that he wants to ask of you, but doesn't. So if you want to repay him, then come to him instead of waiting for him to come to you."

...

Crusch: "...You're right. I shouldn't be afraid of hurting him even more. I should just go for it. I shouldn't let a couple fails ruin everything."

She clenched her hands again, but this time it was for a completely different emotion:

DETERMINATION.