"Wake up, sleepyhead!"

I roughly shake Chis awake.

Chis: "Just five mo-

"Yoink!"

I forcefully pull the blanket from over him. He started frowning and slowly rubbed his eyes.

Cylob: "Sorry, but no sorry. For the time I'm here, your body is going to know nothing but training."

I watched as he slowly got up and started putting his clothes on.

He yawned and looked at me with sleepy eyes.

Chis: "Why so early? It's only sunrise."

Cylob: "Early? Yeah, I guess it is early. Well, you better get used to it, cus you're gonna wake up this early for the next 3 days. Now, come on! We have running to do!"

I slap him on the back for motivation.

I follow him close behind as he walks through the kitchen and opens the door to the outside.

He exits the house, and I am already there to greet him. His eyes widen.

Chis: "Eh?"

He looks back inside at me and back outside at me. His eyes were open so wide that it was comical. Well, it was no wonder. I am in two places at the same time right now, after all. And not only that, both of them were the normal size, not chibi.

It was a new trick I learned. I forced my cells to only occupy the outside. This meant that both of me were hollow on the inside right now. It made them weaker, but it was very fun.

The me that was inside the house melts into slime and joins together with me.

Cylob: "Now, shall we run?"

The confusion of Chis immediately gets replaced by dejection. It seemed like he really didn't like running.

Too bad.

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After a couple of circles around the village, we were back at where we started.

Chis was down on the ground, his chest heaving up and down.

I focus and sense all the possible mana in the atmosphere. This was going to be difficult.

Cylob: "Hey, while you're recovering, hold this."

I throw a small orb at him.

He barely manages to catch it with his exhausted body.

Cylob: "Hold it close to your chest."

The moment that the orb makes contact with his chest, he grimaces from the pain. At the same time, I Beelzebub all the mana possible in the atmosphere.

"Kh!"

After a moment, the pained expression of Chis goes away. The orb in his hands was now glowing with two colors. Blue and brown.

Chis: "What *pant* was that?"

Cylob: "This orb is a special mineral that is very susceptible to mana. The moment it is given the command, it quickly absorbs all the mana around it. It is normally used to disable spells or to make magic restraints, but I can use it for something different."

I take the orb away from Chis and look at it intently, the two colors reflecting in my irises.

Lucky bastard. Two affinities. This is not at the level of talented anymore, but at the level of broken.

Chis: "What *pant* can you use it for?"

Cylob: "Well, you see, since I can eat mana, I can just have a person hold the orb, eat all the mana around the person, and the orb will naturally absorb the mana of that person. This allows me to find out their affinities. Normally this wouldn't work due to all the mana in the atmosphere, but I can take care of that problem."

The mineral is really expensive though.

In fact, all the money I gave to Shurua yesterday wouldn't be enough to buy even the small orb I was holding, since it was of a very high purity.

This might make it seem like it's not worth it, but remember, I can eat mana. This orb is reuseable for me.

It's very difficult to get rid of the mana inside the orb, yes, but it's not impossible. In a pinch, I could use it against a spell, or I can find out the affinities of even more people.

This could even become a business opportunity.

I was too busy for that right now, but maybe somewhere in the future I could be paid by nobles (and commoners) to find out their or their children's affinities. It was definitely something to think about.

Chis: "So... you know my affinity now?"

Before I could realize it, Chis was already on his legs and looking up at me with sparkly eyes. How did he recover so fast? I have no idea.

I Beelzebub the orb and look at Chis.

Cylob: "Yeah. In fact, you have two affinities. Water and earth."

Chis: "Two... Two affinities?!"

He exploded with excitement. He started jumping around with a stupid smile that went all across his face.

Chis: "When can I start shooting spells?! Can I shoot icicles just like Torin?! Please teach me how!"

Torin was the only villager who could use magic in Obuch. He was pretty bad at it though, and his mana pool wasn't big either. Below average is what you would call him.

Cylob: "Too bad for you, Chis. I can't teach you any of that. Hell, I can't cast even a single spell myself. Right now, focus on sword training. The information about your affinities is more for your future tutors than me."

I wasn't sure how Shurua would find someone to teach Chis - they lived in a remote village for Christ's sake - but I was sure she would. She has the determination and I gave her the means. She just has to think a little bit.

Well, 'a little bit' is underselling it, but you know what I mean.

Chis was downcast. He wanted to shoot spells really badly, it seemed.

Cylob: "Wasn't your dream to become a knight? Why do you even care about magic?"

Chis: "But magic is strong, isn't it?! And I wanna be strong! I wanna be the strongest knight in the world, so that I can protect my mom and sis!"

Ah, right. Being strong is the root of his desire, becoming a knight is just a proof of strength for him.

Cylob: "Well if you wanna be the strongest, then you better not forget to run! And talking about running, let's go for the second round!"

Chis: "Eh?"

Cylob: "What? Did ya' think this was going to be over with just one round? Of course not! Come on! Run again!"

I slap him on the back for motivation. His eyes become even more sullen than they were in the morning.

Ah, how nice it is to bully- Teach! I meant teach! How nice it is to teach Chis!

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After the third time round, it was finally time for breakfast. I refused to eat and instead worked on making a suitable place to spar. I had already started doing this last night, and now it was the perfect time to finish it.

After seeing through my chibi clone that Chis finished eating, I pointed him through that clone in the direction he should go.

Once he arrived, he saw three different fields. One was a completely flat plane, the other was a plane filled with trees, and the third one had weird wooden blocks scattered all around.

There was a steel sword stuck into the ground right in front of him, and I was sitting in a cross legged position just behind it.

I look so cool right now.

"Now, shall we start the actual training?"

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I desperately tried to block the attacks that came my way, but I was always just a little bit too slow and a little bit too weak.

But! Just a little bit more!

If I struggled just a bit more, I could see myself landing a hit! If I just! If I ju-

"Wrong decision."

I didn't manage to hold out. A blunt object hit me in my shoulder and I fell to the ground.

Cilob: "*sigh* How many times do I have to say that you have to know when to disengage? Step back or run away until you get into a better position. Allowing the opponent to corner you is the worst thing you can do. Hell, even recklessly attacking to momentarily apply pressure is better than allowing yourself be caught in a dead end."

Cilob was right in front of me, he was exactly my size, not bigger nor smaller. He said something about a sword made of his cells that could change form, and that was what he was using against me right now.

I look at my shoulder. Even though the sharp edge of the blue sword hit me there, all I felt was a blunt object.

If it was any other teacher, I would've gotten cut.

Chis: "Hai! I will not repeat the same mistake!"

I stand up and raise my sword, but Cilob just stares at me, lost in thought. After a small bit of silence, he nods.

Cilob: "Alright, let's change it up a bit. Now, I'm going to show you what it means to be nasty."

He raised his sword, but didn't move in to attack me. We continued standing, with no movement from either of us.

Cilob: "Come on. What are you waiting for? Attack! Not every person will proactively attack you. Sometimes, you'll have to be the one starting the engagement."

I blink in confusion for a bit, but quickly recover and start rushing in.

He takes on my attack, but...

I'm winning.

I was clearly stronger than him. Following his teachings, I keep applying the pressure. If I was stronger than my opponent, than I had to make sure not to give them any breathing room.

I'm faster and more skilled too.

Each of my strikes were more polished too. Cilob was being driven into a corner.

Finally, he blocks my attack and fully loses his balance. I slash with all my might at his head. He had no way to block it, I had won.

Or so I thought.

Surprisingly, he raised his left arm to take on my sword. It went halfway through his arm, but didn't go through. Then, while my sword was stuck in his left arm, he used his right to stab at me.

At the end, his sword stopped just a millimeter from my chest. If this was a real battle, Cilob would've pierced my heart.

...What?

I was stronger. I was faster. I was more skilled. My moves were sharper. My footwork was more fluid and stable.

But I... lost?

Cilob: "A real battle isn't about being better, it's about taking and making opportunities. This'll be more apparent in our next field, but you should learn this right now. I made an opportunity by sacrificing my arm and won. Just like a single mistake can make you lose, a single opportunity can make you win."

With that, he lowered his sword, and I did the same.

I looked at the cut I made... more acurately at where it was supposed to be. There was no sign that Cilob had been cut there. Even the clothes got repaired.

If it was any other teacher, they wouldn't be able to continue.

Chis: "So it doesn't matter whether you're strong or not?"

Cilob: "What? Of course it matters! It's much easier to make opportunities if you're stronger! You just have to understand that being stronger doesn't inherently mean you'll win. Just that being stronger makes it easier to win."

I nod. This was a little bit too complicated for me to understand, but I could get the general idea of what Cilob meant.

Being stronger doesn't mean I'll win. And being weaker doesn't mean I'll lose.

Cilob: "Now, go home and eat. Come back here after you do."

Chis: "Hai!"

I thrust the sword into the ground and start running back home. When I looked back for a moment, Cilob was staring at the sky with empty eyes. He looked very deep in thought.

I just continued running back home.

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I came back after eating. This time around, Cilob was standing right in front of a plane full of trees.

Cilob: "Alright, this'll be our next training ground. You'll go into the field, and I will come for you after 5 minutes. Remember, you have 5 minutes before I come for you."

I nod and run into the small forest.

This is... problematic.

Unlike the flat plain, the trees here would limit my movement quite a bit. Wide swings would become unusable and I would have to always be aware of my surroundings. After all, if I take a step back without knowing where I'm going, I might hit a tree and would completely lose balance.

But there was a good thing. Cilob would come here after 5 minutes. If I carefully study the placement of the trees around me, I would be able to fight with no problems.

After running for a good 45 seconds, I stop and start studying the trees around me. I make sure to make a mental map of the forest and carefully note down the position of every tree.

Before I knew it, the 5 minutes were up.

I take a stance and face the way I came from. But I also make sure to focus on the sounds in the forest. There was a good chance Cilob would attack me from behind, and I had to be ready for that.

Before long, I hear a small rufling of grass behind me.

But it's too little.

The sound of footsteps of a person are different. This more felt like a branch being thrown.

I was correct. Cilob attacked me from the front.

Cilob: "Good job!"

He attacked me and I moved in to block, but-

He's too fast!

Cilob was fast. Way too fast. I still managed to block his strike, but when I did, I could feel the air being taken out of my lungs.

So strong!

This was way too unfair. Before, he would only be a little bit stronger than me, but now he was a whole league higher!

How am I supposed to win?!

No wait, calm down. Remember what Cilob taught me. Even if I'm weaker, it doesn't mean that I'll lose.

But what opportunities can I even make?

I think about my situation as I barely parry another one of his strikes.

What kind of advantage did I have? And how do I use it to win?

Got it!

I slowly start retreating while blocking and parrying his slashes and thrusts.

Then, I jump back. Cilob rushes in and slashes with full power, but his sword gets caught in a tree. His slash wasn't fully stopped, but it was significantly slowed down.

I jump forward and slash at him from a certain angle.

He takes a step back, but bumps into a tree.

I slash at his chest and-!

"Good. Very good."

He blocks it.

I miscalculated his speed a bit. He just barely managed to slip in his sword before I cut him.

"Hk!"

I jump back, but it was already too late. After falling for a feint, his sword was right at my neck.

Cilob: "You did so well that I'm actually impressed. You truly took my words to heart. I'm very proud of you as your teacher."

He lowered his sword while saying that.

Chis: "Unfair! Too unfair! What was that?! You were way too strong!"

Cilob: "I was, right? Well, no matter. Let's go back outside the forest."

While we were walking out, he randomly attacked me a couple of times. I reacted every time, but it was pretty annoying.

Never lower your guard.

This was the advice I had took to heart the most.

After we left the forest, Cilob smiled at me.

Cilob: "Okay, this time, the roles are going to be reversed."

He places a weird object on the ground. It had numbers going from 1 to 12 in a circle. He does something to it and then looks at me.

Cilob: "When this thing rings, you go into the forest, okay?"

He touches my shoulder, after which I feel a burst of energy.

This is...!

Cilob had casted a Yang enhancement on me. I could feel myself being much stronger than I was before.

After that, Cilob casually runs into the forest.

In the 5 minutes I had, I got used to my new strength. I now felt much more powerful. In fact, I was just as powerful as Cilob was when he attacked me.

So he meant it when he said the roles were going to be reversed.

Did that mean that Cilob would be a whole league below me now? If so, how was he going to win?

With that thought in my head, the weird thing on the ground finally rang.

I ran into the forest, careful to be as silent as possible.

When I saw Cilob from afar, I made a small detour to attack him from behind.

When I came closer, I noticed something strange.

The entire ground is filled with leaves.

The ground was completely filled with leaves in a large radius around Cilob.

So I can't sneak up on him.

Walking on the leaves without making any sounds was impossible. I could try to jump from tree to tree, but that would also make sound.

In that case, rushing in with speed would be better.

I gathered all the strength I could in my legs and shot at Cilob.

He managed to react to me and jumped back as soon as I slashed at him.

I took a step to continue applying pressure, but my leg hit air.

Eh?

I started falling, momentarily confused. Cilob didn't lose that chance and attacked me.

I blocked and regained my senses. I shifted my center of gravity to the leg that wasn't falling and used it to stand up.

Cilob attacked me a bunch of times, and I barely managed to block them while standing on only one leg.

I finally managed to raised my other leg out of the pit and put it on the ground. Once Cilob saw that, he retreated.

So there are holes in the ground here. Cilob knows all their positions, but I don't. I have to be careful.

This time around, I carefully walk forward instead of running. This way, my balance wouldn't be comprimised nearly as much.

Cilob also walked back, keeping a certain distance away from me. He could move much faster and with more confidence due to his knowledge of the holes positions.

I wasn't dumb though. I started memorising the coordinates of Cilob's feet. Those places were definitely safe.

Once I got close enough, I started running at him, using the places where he was stepping as guides.

He could not outrun me with his inferior physical capabilities, so I was going to catch up sooner or later.

After I got close enough for him to be in range of my sword, my foot once again hit air.

EHHH?!

This made no sense. Cilob had definitely placed his foot there. How could it be a trap?

Before I could think further, a tree was already falling on top of me.

Huh? When did that happen?

I definitely didn't see any chopped trees around here. And Cilob didn't have the strength to chop one down in one go.

Still, I wasn't losing just yet. Once again, using my other foot I jumped backwards and barely dodged the falling tree.

I wanted to jump on top of the fallen tree. That way, I wouldn't have to deal with random holes beneath my feet. But Cilob was already standing on top of it.

I slashed at his legs, forcing him to jump off the tree.

But he didn't jump backwards. He jumped forwards at me.

Then, his left hand moved and threw dirt at my face.

Bad. This is really bad.

I was in a bad situation right now.

If I jumped backwards, I would avoid his attack and the dirt, but I would risk falling into another hole. Not only that, I didn't remember the layout of the trees behind me too well, which would put me at a disadvantage.

If I stayed in my spot, no matter what I did, my vision would be compromised and I would have to guess where Cilob would attack.

...Let's stay. This is an opportunity.

I raise my left arm to shield my eyes from the dirt, this way, my field of vision was compromised, but I wouldn't be forced to close my eyes. Then, I raise my sword, preparing for an attack.

And just before the moment I get slashed at, I attack the spot where Cilob is. After all, if you're in the air, you can't change your path. So I knew exactly where he was.

My sword hit him. I could feel it. But I could also feel something hitting my neck.

How...?

I attacked Cilob right in the neck. Not only that, I attacked with so much power that even sacrificing an arm wouldn't be enough to stop it. I didn't see a conclusion in which Cilob's neck was still connected to his body.

When I finally lower my left arm, I see the situation.

Cilob was holding his sword in his left arm, which was touching my neck. My sword was stuck deep inside his right shoulder.

I see!

He slightly raised his right side, so that my sword would enter his shoulder and not his neck. Not only that, he switched to using his left arm since his right arm would be completely unusable right now.

To think that Cilob could win against me even when he was that much weaker...

I had seen a lot of things in my life, but this was perhaps the most impressive one.

For such a weak person to win against someone much stronger than them... I had never thought that something like this could be possible.

I lowered my sword and stared at Cilob... no, Cylob-sensei in amazement.

...

I... I see!

To think that strength could be so different from how I expected it!

I thought that being strong meant that you could cut down a whole forest in one swing, but it meant something completely different!

To be strong... means to be able to fullfil your goals!

Cylob's goal was to win, and he did just that.

Even though he wasn't physically stronger than me, he used everything he had and managed to win.

He used his brain, his environment, his time for preparation and made his goal come true.

And this thinking made another thought appear in my mind.

Will I ever... be able to win against Cylob-sensei?

Sure, I would probably become stronger than Cylob in the future. Everyone said that I held immense potential, and even Cylob himself told me that I would be stronger than him with enough time.

But... would I be able to win?

I... couldn't see myself winning. In fact, the more I thought, the more I despaired at the thought of fighting my sensei.

Cylob already managed to win against me when I was a whole league above him. And this was with an improvised weapon, a body size that he wasn't familiar with, and without using any of his weird powers that I've seen him use.

If he was in peak condition and not afraid of using his powers...

Just how many leagues above could he win against?

Even if someone was two leagues above him, I felt like sensei would win. Even three didn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

I visibly shivered.

Cylob-sensei might call himself weak... but he seems scarily strong right now.

I stare at Cylob in... fear? reverence? I couldn't tell.

...

Cylob: "What are you staring at me like that for?"

Chis: "N-nothing, Cylob-sensei!" I salute on reflex.

He cocks his head to the side and raises an eyebrow.

Cylob: "What? Are you going to pronounce my name correctly from now on or something?"

Chis: "Y-yes!"

Cylob: "Well that's definitely not weird at all..."

As he was staring at me in confusion, I remember something I was curious about.

Chis: "Cylob-sensei! May I ask something?"

Cylob: "Of course."

Chis: "Well, at one point in the fight, you stepped on a certain spot on the ground, but it had a hole right beneath it. How did you not fall in?"

He smiles.

Cylob: "Very good question. You see there are two reasons. First, that hole specifically is one I had reinforced. It had strong branches above it, ones that would require our full weight to fall. The second, is that I made sure to not stand on that leg alone. If you think back a bit, I had actually jumped back to get to that spot. And I landed on two feet, not on one. This allowed for the branches to not fully break."

Chis: "I see! But what about the tree then? I didn't see it being hacked at all."

Cylob: "Why don't you see for yourself? Try to slash at that tree right there."

I walk up to the tree he had pointed at. I didn't have the Yang enhancement anymore, so I was back to my normal strength.

Then, with the experience of doing hundreds of thousands of slashes, I slash at the tree.

I managed to cut all the way through the tree and the spot where I slashed... it wasn't visible at all.

I blink in surprise for a bit.

I see. My technique is so good now, that when I slash, it doesn't leave any marks.

Now that I looked closer, I could actually see the mark, but there was no way I would be able to see something that small in the middle of battle.

I then walk around the tree and slash from the opposite side. Now, the tree was disconnected from its stump. I give the tree a small push and it starts falling.

It crashed on the ground with a loud *BOOM*.

Chis: "I... didn't realize I was that powerful."

Sure, I had trained with a lot of effort and for a very long time, but I never actually tried to cut something. No, more accurately, I couldn't cut anything with a wooden sword.

So being able to bring down a tree with just two swings... I was surprised I could do that.

Cylob: "Impressed by how strong you are, right? Makes sense, since the only thing you have cut is my body."

He starts ruffling my hair. I look at my hands in amazement.

A short silence of realization washes over me.

I'm... actually becoming strong now.

...I clench my fists. I was happy, but this wasn't enough. I had to be even stronger, so that I would be able to protect mom and sis without fail.

Cylob: "Now that we're done here, let's continue on to the third field. That one... is perhaps the most useless one to you right now, but one that I hope you will never stop practicing in."

He starts walking and I follow him close behind, careful to step only where he stepped.

After a short silence, only broken by us stepping on leaves, Cylob turns to me.

Cylob: "By the way, I've been meaning to ask, but how exactly did you know it was me when we met yesterday? I understand that you just felt like it, but could you explain the feeling bit better?"

Chis: "Hm? Well... I can't really explain it. Cylob-sensei just feels like Cylob-sensei."

Cylob: "Am I the only one like that?"

Chis: "What? Of course not. Mom feels like mom, sis feels like sis. Every person has a certain feeling attached to them."

Cylob furrows his brows. He looks forward and keeps mumbling something to himself.

Cylob: "Is it something to do with souls? Can he feel the souls of people? Or, I guess it's Od here, right? So he has the divine protection of being able to feel Ods... or something similar. Does that mean that he can attack Ods? There are some techniques that mess with a person's Od in this world. Will he be able to do the same? Jesus Christ. Just how OP is this boy going to get?"

Whatever Cylob was saying right now, I could not understand it. It was way too complicated.

Cylob looked at me with a weird expression.

Cylob: "Have I ever seen anyone else as talented as this kid if I don't count Reinhard?"

I couldn't understand what was going through his mind at all in this exact moment.

Cylob: "...And how do I make sure that his talent won't become shackles for him?"

With determination burning in his eyes, Cylob looked away and calmly continued walking.

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This time around, we were in the field full of weird wooden blocks.

Chis: "So, what is the point of this field?"

Cylob: "You see this block and that block and that one?"

I nod.

Cylob: "All of these wooden blocks are people."

I open my eyes wide.

Now that Cylob said it, I could clearly see that every block was about the size of a human.

The weird thing is, some were standing upright, but some were on the floor, almost like they were laying on the ground.

Cylob: "The purpose of this field... is for you to be able to fight in a place full of civilians. Of course, this isn't the best representation of it. Humans will move, panic, scream and all that stuff. All these ones can do is stand in place, but it's better than nothing."

He gets into a sword stance.

Cylob: "Now, shall we dance?"

Chis: "Mhm." I nod resolutely.

Our fight started, and I immediately started feeling the problems of this field. Unlike the other fields, in this one, Cylob decided to be just as strong as I was, but it was still much harder than any of the other ones.

Even though the wooden blocks were spread around quite widely, so moving around wasn't a problem, the problem was the way in which I had to fight here.

After all, not only did I have to be careful not to hurt the blocks myself, I also had to make sure that Cylob wouldn't do that either.

Because of this, I was forced to constantly be near Cylob, applying pressure. The moment I gave him even a second to breathe, he would just kill one of the innocent bystanders on the spot.

And even though my movement was not nearly as limited as it was in the forest, it was still problematic sometimes. I would have to dodge awkwardly in order not to step onto a block on the ground or recklessly push Cylob back so that I wouldn't disturb the block behind me.

After a five minute battle, Cylob suddenly stopped.

Cylob: "Not too good of a situation, eh?"

Indeed, the situation wasn't good. I had multiple small cuts on my body and several blocks around us were dead.

But, I had managed to hold out. Cylob didn't manage to inflict even a single fatal wound on me. Or, more accurately, we would've stopped earlier if that happened.

Cylob: "We'll stop here. By now, all of the civilians would've escaped already."

Chis: "Okay."

I lower my sword.

Cylob comes up to me and starts applying a weird blue liquid to my wounds.

Actually, now that I looked at it, Cylob specifically targeted parts of my body that were naked. None of my clothes were torn, so that was a relief.

I was only relieved at first though. When I realized that Cylob had the leeway to only target naked parts and was still able to kill so many civilians, I felt horrified.

So a true enemy would've killed even more civilians... this is shaping up to be much harder than the previous two fields.

Even though the danger to me was worse on the other two fields, this one had danger to the people around me. And that was much more problematic to take care of.

Once Cylob finished treating my wounds, he looked around one last time.

Cylob: "Normally I would've switched roles, but... you wouldn't want to be the villain, right?"

I shake my head as fast as I can.

Cylob: "Right, guessed so. Well, time to eat. Come back here once again."

Chis: "Hai!"

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We were back to the flat field, but this time around, something was very different.

Chis: "Um, Cylob-sensei... What are you doing?"

I was surrounded by about five Cylobs right now. It felt pretty weird.

But what was even weirder, was how the Cylobs were moving around.

They constantly tripped, and couldn't do even one proper swing.

Cylob: "Right... Too early... for this..." His voice was really strained. It was clear he was pushing himself.

In but a single moment, all of the Cylobs disappeared, leaving only one.

Cylob: "I was hoping that you would get experience of fighting multiple people... but I can't do that right now. I can feel my brain, or I guess cells in this case, frying."

I nodded. Fighting against multiple opponents was probably much different than fighting against one. Getting that kind of experience would definitely be good.

Well, Cylob-sensei might be strong, but he's not all powerful. Even he can't be multiple people at once.

Cylob: "Right. Since I already expected this, I've prepared something else for us to do."

Suddenly, the sword in Cylob's hands transforms into an axe.

He swings it around for a bit and gets used to it.

Cylob: "Well, I don't know how to use an axe, so this'll be fun."

Then, without any warnings, he dashes at me with full speed.

I get into a stance and prepare to recieve his hit. Considering his speed, he had decided to be a little bit stronger than me, so I had to be prepared for that level of power.

When I recieved the hit though, I visibly stumbled.

Heavy!

The axe was much heavier than the sword was.

Defending and parrying are much harder against an axe. But-

Cylob raises his axe to attack and brings it down. I step left and avoid the strike entirely.

-dodging is easier!

I retaliate, but Cylob blocks my hits with the hilt.

We trade blows, neither of us doing any real damage to the other. I manage to cut him a little bit, but nothing significant.

He does a wide swing and I am forced to step back, but he was now open!

I step forward and-

No!

I take a step back instead.

Cylob grins in pride.

So it was a trap.

He would've probably just sacrificed an arm, let go of the axe and broke my neck with the free hand.

I raise my sword. Getting impatient here would mean death. If I slowly made him accumulate wounds, he would eventually falter.

It doesn't matter how I achieve my goal and how long it will take me, as long as I achieve it.

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I was laying in bed, completely exhausted from today's training.

In the end, I ended fighting against an axe, a hammer, a spear, a mace, a bat, duel-wielding swords, duel-wielding daggers, a bow, a scythe, a whip, a greatsword, a combo of a shield and a sword and barehanded.

After all of that and three rounds of running around the village, it was finally time to sleep.

I'm so exhausted.

To say that today was a hard day would be an understatement.

Everything that could be wrung out of me was wrung out of me.

Every muscle that I had in my body was screaming.

But even through all of that... I felt happy.

For the past months, I have had to train on my own. To finally be training under Cylob-sensei again felt like a miracle to me. The pace of my improvement skyrocketed since Cylob-sensei came back.

The way in which he taught was also completely different to every other person I've seen. Most people focus on techniques or proper moves, but Cylob-sensei doesn't care about any of that.

Battle is unpredictable. Techniques won't always be possible to perform. A uniform way of fighting would become useless in unforseen circumstances.

All you have to know how to do, is how to slash well. Everything else has to be thought of in the middle of battle.

...Or at least, that's what Cylob-sensei said. And since Cylob-sensei was the one who said it, it must be true.

As such, while most of the training today made my moves were polished, their real purpose was to improve my way of thinking.

By battling in different circumstances and against opponents with different fighting styles and weapons, my whole view on fighting was broadened.

And - of course - the most impressive thing was his fight against me in the forest.

That completely changed my perspective on what it meant to be strong.

The field full of blocks even further questioned what strong meant. After all, even if I could cut a mountain in one strike, or defeat any opponent in a single swing, it didn't mean that I would be able to save real people.

Thinking is key.

Battle is not a competition between who's stronger. Battle is a competition of who could use what they have better.

And to be good at using things, you have to think a lot.

With that kind of thought, my mind drifted off to sleep.

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betoranx special, I guess.

I watch as Chis goes to his room, swaying lightly from being too tired.

After he closes the door, I breathe a sigh of relief while simultaneously feeling someone glaring at me.

Today went well.

I still had a lot of things to do with Chis. The most pressing issue was the fact that he didn't listen to his mother. Maybe that'll be what I focus on the day after tomorrow.

Yeah, I'll do just that. -Was my thought as I saw someone puff their cheeks in the side of my vision.

I think over my game plan. Tomorrow was my birthday and I wasn't going to let anyone or anything ruin it. Even if the whole Witch Cult attaks Obuch, I was going to deal with them... Maybe... I'll try.

Someone "hmpf!"ed in the room.

...Alright, I couldn't ignore it any longer. Carol was very jealous right now.

Cylob: "What is it, Carol?"

Carol: "You have spent the whole day with Chis! We didn't even eat together!"

Cylob: "Yes, I know, and I'm sorry. You know how much I worry about him, and I haven't seen him in months. Is it really that bad to give him these four days?"

Carol: "But still! I don't like it!" She puffed her cheeks.

Cylob: "What are you, a kid?"

She opened her mouth to retaliate, but stopped. Her face curled into a mischevious grin.

I don't like that look.

Then, she extended her arms and made a grabbing motion.

Even though she had never done that before, I could clearly understand what she meant by that motion.

Hell no!

I shake my head as fast as I can. No way I was going to do that. Absolutely zero chance I was going to-!

-I was stuck in my slime form. Just that would've be fine, but I was being hugged by Carol... in her sleep.

Like, I could literally feel her steady breath on my body. Thankfully, she had a nightgown on.

Pure thoughts, Cylob. Pure thoughts.

I had already tried to slip out numerous times, but Carol would always stir when I moved even a little bit. I couldn't escape at all.

I had even tried making a clone, but even that slight shift was enough to make her uncomfortable.

This was bad, for many reasons. Main one being-

I have a lot of shit to do today!

This was the most important night! The night right before my birthday! I had a lot of work to do!

But I couldn't!

NOOOOOOO!

Goddammit, Carol! Why did you have to do this to me?!

And why do you look so peaceful while I'm on the verge of a panic attack here?!

Alright, calm down. I had to calm down.

Even if I couldn't move, I still had to make the most of the situation.

Right, I still have to think up some more otherwordly products. Not only that, if I go back and review my fights with Chis, I should be able to make a better curriculum for him.

I had everything for the next four days planned out, but that didn't mean I couldn't improve my plans.

Before I noticed it, I was already deeply engrossed in my own thoughts. Even the fact that I was in bed with Carol completely left my mind.

I ended up welcoming my birthday together with Carol.