Unlike my expectations, the sword hadn't ged mu appearas bde was as beautiful as before, with the only signifit ge being its hilt. The wooden hilt now had a carved image of a tiger on it.

  I wondered about the reason behind this.

  Now that I think about it, does the sword's appearance have something to do with its abilities?

  "Tigers are fast animals, and this sword has an ability that increases the user's movement speed."

  And it's a passive ability! But sihe sword also has the "Magic Boost" ability at level three, I wasn't losing too much magic.

  Just ora level was enough to double the effect of the ability.

  "I'm never using that old swain." This one is much better.

  But thinking about it, this ability doesn't have a ranged magic attack. Oher hand, the sword I had been using had the "Lightning" ability, which was incredibly useful in my first battle against a boss.

  Besides, this sword was made of iron, not mithril. That means its magical ductivity isn't great.

  "I'll have to use it for a while to test it." I started swinging the sword.

  The passive ability "Movement Boost LV3" was already taking effect. It was as if I was using the "Quick Ssh" skill stantly. Every movement of my arm was incredibly fast.

  Excited, I approached the training dummies.

  I pced three of them around me and took a deep breath. I got into position, ag like I was in a movie, surrounded by multiple ehen, I swung my sword, slig the dummy in front of me with a cut.

  After that, I spun around, sshing through the other two dummies and easily cutting them in half.

  I moved so fast that the tops of all three dummies fell at the same time.

  My heart was rag. The ers of my lips curled into a smile as I looked at the sword in my hand.

  After that, I started running around the room to test my speed.

  As I was doing so, I heard a voice.

  I had been too distracted to notice the door opening.

  "What are you doing?"

  Hearing the voice, I stopped running, struggling to slow down because my movements were out of trol. When I turned, I saw Tsubaki standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed.

  "You look like you're having fun." She fshed a grin. "Since you seem so full of energy, I think we start your training right now!"

  Only then did I remember the training Hephaestus had mentioned.

  And I also remembered that I had agreed to train to bee stronger.

  I eechless for a moment before scratg my head. "'t we eat something first?"

  ####

  *Tsubaki's POV*

  Wheered the training room, Eryk was running around like a lunatic. He hadn't even noticed me ing in, so I just stood there and watched for a while. He kept running bad forth.

  Tired of waiting, I finally asked, "What are you doing?"

  When he heard my question, Eryk stopped running—though not without difficulty. He fell silent, unsure of what to say. I gave him a wide grin, showing my teeth.

  "You look like you're having fun. Since you seem so full of energy, I think we start your training right now!"

  Hearing my words, Eryk scratched his head. "'t we eat something first?"

  At his question, I thought for a moment before answering. "Fine, but dooo much. It'll interfere with your training."

  I left the house with Eryk ao a nearby restaurant. I ordered just enough food for him to be satisfied. Once he had eaten, we were finally ready for training.

  "Where are we going?"

  "We're heading bae. You need a on, don't you? You left your sword at the fe."

  "You should've told me I'd . I would've brought it with me."

  "That doesn't matter. Let's go."

  I picked up my pace, leaving Eryk behind. That speed he had earlier? Gone. He struggled to keep up and almost started running. I ughed but didn't slow down.

  I waited outside while he went io get his sword.

  When he came back out, he was also wearing armor. I looked him up and down and asked, "Why are you wearing that?"

  "Isn't it important? I need defense."

  "Are you kidding me? I'm with you—do you really think you need armor? Take that crap off before I lose my patience."

  "Alright, o get mad."

  I wasn't actually angry. I was just ag that way to gain respect. If a student doesn't respect their teacher, they won't learn anything.

  Eryk went baside and quickly returned without the armor.

  "I'm ready."

  "That's better. Let's go."

  "We're going to the dungeon?"

  "What kind of question is that? Of course we are. First, I o see how you handle yourself before I start training you."

  "..."

  "What? Not feeling fident?"

  "That's not it. I just think it's unnecessary. Just teach me how to use a sword, and that's it."

  "You'd better shut up if you don't want to piss me off. Just follow my instrus."

  "Alright, master."

  "If you call me 'master' one more time, I'm leaving. Just call me Tsubaki. Now hurry up and move faster!"

  This time, I practically started running. To my surprise, Eryk mao keep up with me fairly easily. So, I increased my speed, sprinting toward the tower.

  I gnced back, and Eryk was keeping up effortlessly, his expression calm.

  He doesn't even seem like the same person from a few minutes ago.

  Is it the sword?

  When he wasn't holding it, he had trouble walking at my pace. But now that he had it equipped, he could keep up with me just fine.

  Iing.

  ####

  Wheered the dungeon, I kept walking while Eryk followed right behind me. After walking for a few minutes, he asked, "Are we staying on the first floor, or are we going deeper?"

  "There aren't many monsters here. We should go down a bit. How far have you been?"

  "I reached the fifth floor."

  "That's pretty far for someoh no experience. Was it because of the sword?"

  "I'd say yes… But I also put in some effort. It wasn't as easy as it sounds."

  "You should stop relying so mu your swords. I know the ones you fe are incredible and have powerful abilities… But what will you do if you don't have a sword?"

  "If I don't have a on, I just run away."

  "You won't always be able to run. I'll help you with that, too. You o learn how to fight with your bare hands."

  "I already have some experience. I trained a bit before ing to Orario."

  "Oh? I'm surprised. Holy, I'm more curious to see you fight without a sword than with one." I said as I looked around for the first moo test him.

  After a few minutes, we finally found some.

  A group of three goblins.

  But just as I was about to speak to Eryk, two men appeared and killed them.

  The men wore simple armor and wielded ons bought from the Guild. They took out the goblins quickly.

  I sighed and walked past them, ign them pletely.

  They ughed at us before disappearing further into the first floor.

  "Those idiots won't st long."

  "Don't say things like that," Eryk said.

  "People like them die fast. e on, we o find more monsters. Oh, and give me your sword."

  "What? Why?"

  "First, I want to see you fight without it. Here, use mine."

  I handed him my sword and took his.

  As soon as I grabbed it, I felt a surge of energy course through my body.

  "hat is this?"

  "It's the sword's abilities. I fed it today," Eryk replied. "But your sword… It seems way too simple."

  "It is simple. It has nothing special about it. That's the point. Let's go."

  We kept walking until we found moblins. This time, there were only two.

  I crossed my arms and watched as Eryk approached them.

  I immediately noticed his weaknesses.

  His stahe way he held the sword… Everything was wrong.

  But ohing stood out—he didn't show a single hint of nervousness or hesitation. To him, fighting these monsters seemed simple and effortless. His mi was good.

  He had a lot of fidence.

  Then, Eryk attacked.

  He swung his sword sloppily. Since we were on the first floor, he mao kill both goblins, but it took lohan I expected.

  "You're terrible at this."

  "But I killed them!"

  "That doesn't matter. Everything you did was wrong."

  ParodyGirl