Chapitre 21: Hanna
"It's been four months ever since that day..."
Four months ago, a wide disastrous earthquake strikes affecting most of the kingdom located on the eastern region of the continent. One Kingdom that took intense damage was the Kingdom of Liffos. Many structures fell down, the road were cracked, and several parts of the royal castle were destroyed. The recovery took 3 months to get back on a stable state. The cause of the earthquake was the explosion coming from the demon forest where the thick deadly smoke of an explosion can be seen from afar.
The crimson stone protected me from that explosion, and on that time, someone came to rescue me and guided me to get out of the forest. His name was Benjamin, he is an Elite Noble Warrior, and one of the head-administrator of the region.
That time, he asked me to live at his Kingdom and be a Liffian with my new name I came up with myself when he knew that I was exiled from the Kingdom of Mirosolis.
(Note: "Liffian" refers to someone who were born and live on the Kingdom of Liffos.)
Right now, I became an apprentice of a professional swordsman that trains me every single day to make me stronger. The schedule of my training with my mentor always lasts for four hours without break. He started to train me three weeks ago, and we always train in an uncrowded zone inside the Royal Academy.
The name of my mentor was Hanna, he is a graduate from this royal academy who receive many awards in the past and accomplish numerous difficult achivements that no one has ever done before. Benjamin was the one who made Hanna to instruct me to learn sword fights.
The Royal Academy of the Kingdom is located not very far from the royal castle. Mostly, nobles are the ones who are commonly can be seen in this place, as for commoners, they hate to walk towards the route where nobles always walk into, so they always take alternative route to get pass and can't be seen by countless nobles.
The Royal Academy prior mission is to provide the students their strength and power they need and used it for their desire, develop their pride, and to protect or defend what they own and precious to them. The education in this academy is very efficient as teachers tend to be more strict to the student when it comes to learning crucial lessons that will help them to strive and achieve their personal goal. The academy have it everything: mostly are magic lessons, swordsmanship, marksmanship, and the others are communication, politics, mathematics, and more. Though I still find something lacking about this education, after all, it's not the same thing as it was in a world I lived before.
For the goal I have before when the time I didn't able to find the Spirit Magic Stone because of some powerful creatures we have encountered after we made it inside the demon forest, and a devastating explosion that also made an earthquake. At this time, even from after Benjamin saved me, I am kind of stuck on double thinking if I should still find that Spirit Magic Stone. I still have the desire to have a possesion of magic, and I am not planning on giving it up. But one thing, as I've felt and thought it before, a strange feeling of this "over-excitement" getting to the demon forest is something I can't explain. That "laugh" I've heard before, and a "laugh" that I am the only one can hear it was probably just because of my exhaustion that time, however I doubted that it was just that exhaustion, few days after hearing that laugh, I've heard it again for some times. I am still not convinced whether if I am having hearing or brain issues for hearing something that no one can hear except me. But after several days, that's when the time that I have finally realized that someone must be using a magic known as "Telepathy", it's a rare magical spell and is hard to master its execution. I've asked people about this kind of experienced I am having. But I have only one question I have thought… "Who could have used telepathy on me?" Was he trying to scare me with that villaineous evil laugh?
Putting that aside, Lux Solis, he is a smart person who likes to discover something that no one has ever been able discover. Back then, he was very curious about word spells that I mentioned before. The "HEAT" which basically means when something is hot, and I remembered that I lied to him about where did I hear this word. Lux died as Benjamin said that he got caught in the explosion and his body was nowhere to be found and it is believed that his body had turned into dust, however, Benjamin mentioned that the Demon who caused the explosion is still alive. There's no way that a demon will just go ahead die along with the victim. But I never believed that Lux really did died, it's only a feeling, but I am still sure that Lux was still living somewhere.
Elm, or Efren Lima was actually a "Liffian" he lives here in this Kingdom, and I never knew that he lives here, I thought Elm lives on the neighboring kingdom which is the Kingdom of Vesperum where Lux lives with his parents. Right now, Elm is working as a royal guard inside the royal castle where royal family lives. The kingdom's ruler is the 94th crowned king name Chrysan Themum, he is a willful, and always known to be a determined person, with his kindness to his civilians living in his nation, the Kingdom becomes one of the happiest nation in the continent of Rasia.
Today 12th month 6th day year 3051, peace is everywhere, happiness of people can be felt through the air, and the smell of a fresh wind giving me a relaxing mood around the Kingdom of Liffos.
"May, it is time, rise up and let's start your training."
"Yes! I'm coming!"
Right now is my training session, Hanna thought me a variety of movements and techniques in using a sword to an enemy for past three weeks.
"Alright May, draw your sword and I am going to show you something. Charge at me with all your strength."
"Yes Instructor!"
I charge at her without any hesitation. At first, I hesitated very much on my very first training, not with Hanna, but with my friends from back then, I was afraid that I might hurt them or possibly kill a person, because of my fear drawing sword to a person, Lux thought me something: "Listen May, if you fear to fight a person with a sword, you're not going anywhere. You have to…"
"Ha!"
At the very moment when I am about to swing the sword to her, I wonder for a second, why is she not moving?
Hanna always dodges my attack, and I always trust her movements from the very start, I can predict them even if it is monsters movement. I killed numerous monsters before, and even monsters can dodge my attack as well but I can predict what kind of move they are about to make next.
After swinging the sword…
"No!"
That feeling came back to me again. Yes, the fear of fighting a person with a weapon and its bad result when I mess up. I've done swinging the sword with my eyes closed because of what happened. When I opened my eyes, she is not there.
"Huh?"
I trembled as I fear that I did killed a person literally.
"I see… May, I've never seen you closed your eyes during our training. Was it because I am just standing there doing nothing?"
I answered to her, and she's right. What she did is something I've never predicted, I always thought that an enemy must also protect themselves, and yes I know, Hanna did protect herself, but how did she do it?
"That is your weakness, May. You trust your opponent's movement that you didn't know you are being decieved by a technique just like what I did. You thought that I would do nothing, but the fact that is the opposite."
"But how?!"
I am very curious what kind of technique or move did she made to prevent getting hit. After I swing the sword to her, she was right at my back, the sharpness of the blade of the sword was on my neck very close.
"Well because, I activated this."
"The green stone?"
"Forget about the green stone, I need you to learn something. Have you ever fought an enemy before? Specifically a human like us."
"Not in deadly battle, but only in training."
"I see… That means, the one who trained you didn't want you to learn about it from him. He wanted you to learn it by yourself."
Huh? Learn it by myself? What is she talking about, I know I have been training for three weeks, and getting stronger as well, but what is it? Does Lux and Elm were expecting something from me?
"Anyway, let us continue our training."
"Yes."
From this point, Hanna constantly using the same trick that she has done over and over, and as for me, I still closed my eyes right before I swing the sword to her. It might seems, I need to overcome this.
Alright, Hanna said that I am letting myself get deceived by her moves, which means, I'll have to predict her fighting pattern like gambling before a second comes after. She have been using the same movement again and again, this time I need to know what she's going to do next. I have seen some drama before, about sword fighting in my previous life, their movement to attack and defend were perfectly planned. When something fails, then proceed to a next plan. And that is, what I am going to do now.
Focus on the opponent's movement…
Hanna: "Huh?"
"Ha!"
As expected, Hanna still uses the same trick. As of right now, I am feeling like I am free to do something. It's as if I don't really see the problem why I am facing an opponent face to face. I did not closed my eyes when I swing the sword because of this feeling.
Now that she dodged my attack, then I'll have to swing the sword again. Turn back and slash immediately!
"Heyah!"
Unfortunately, Hanna see that coming, she dodged my attack. With that, the next thing to do is to predict where is she going to position after I swing the sword on her current position. Before the second comes after, I turned back again to where I am facing on my first swing. Then I immediately slash!
But then, after swinging my sword for the third time, she wasn't there. I predicted that she might be standing behind me before I turned back for the second time. So my prediction was wrong, then where is she standing now?
"That surprises me a bit May…"
"Huh? When did you…?"
I was also surprised by the fact that she standing behind me, how did she do it? I thought she would go on another position. She was still there after I swing the sword for the second time after I turned back swinging for the first time.
"Don't forget that feeling, May… You realized that don't you?"
I definitely felt that, that feeling when I execute my attack is something I've never felt before, it is exhausting but I still want to go on.
"Let's do it again, Instructor."
This time I want to predict her moves. Just like before, she may be going to do it again, but I think she had another plan for defending herself. Hmm… What would it be.
"Ha!" First slash. – Dodged
"Ughh Ha!" Second slash – Dodged
"Huaaa… Yah!" Third slash…
*strip*
"Ah!?"
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone