บท 34: You're a beginner again

The cold spring air fills my lungs and gives me energy. A whistling sound is heard in the air. My wooden sword perfectly cuts through the air, creating a light column of air on the ground, which raises dust and snow.

It's been a month since Hitogami's last visit. We're now in mid-spring, and I've continued with my training as Sword Emperor.

Apart from that, there hasn't been any notable moment so far.

Regarding Eris and Ghislaine, since that day, I have limited myself to simply training Eris and guiding her in what is wrong.

On the other hand, with Ghislaine I feel that I have become closer to her, now I could consider myself a friend of hers, and in addition, she treats me with a lot of respect since I defeated her.

It was no joke that the Dedoldia respect strength.

Also, she gets anxious when she sees me, as if she wanted to tell me something but refrained, I guess I'll wait until her mating season, huh?...jejeje...

After a whole hour of swinging, I take my well-deserved rest, today was one of the days when I train outside, the view of the sea from this cliff is just as impressive as always.

"I guess it's time to head back..." I muttered to myself.

I didn't know why, but I already wanted to go back, it was just a little over noon and I was already returning.

"Then I'll return to the dojo..." I spoke in a low voice as I walked through the forest.

...

The trip back to the dojo was quick, considering I jogged all the way back, but I still had energy left.

I could see some sword saints training at the entrance and they greeted me respectfully when they saw me.

And it is that me, Dad, and Samuel, we are the only Sword Emperors in the world, It is a title that certainly evokes a lot of respect.

With my wooden sword in one hand and the Phoenix Dragon on my waist, I entered the dojo quickly.

"I'm back...eh?!" I muttered looking at Gull Farion only to be left in shock.

Next to Gull was an old woman of about 60 years old, on the ground were Eris and a woman with pale blue hair and in the middle of them was Nina who was out of breath.

Nina looked at me and smiled but I could only stare in amazement at the scene before me.

"So...this is it?" The old woman murmured.

No...this is not just any old lady...it's Reída Reía!!!

Vete ala verga!!!

"Yes, my son-in-law and star student," Gull said with a smile.

Reída raised an eyebrow and looked me up and down.

"Gull...what happened here?..." I muttered as I walked towards him.

"Oh yes, this wrinkled old lady here is the Water God Reida Reia, She looks old and is in her later years, but that doesn't make her any less powerful," Gull said with a mocking smile and Reida grunted grumpily at this.

"I see...nice to meet you," I said, bowing in respect.

He was silent for a few moments and then looked at the woman lying on the ground.

"Eh... could you be so kind as to explain to me what happened here?..." I muttered.

"Ah yes, Reída is coming to train you, Nina and Eris and I will train that girl instead...what is her name?" Gull murmured.

"Isolte" Reída replied dryly

"Yes, she did, and what happened is that they had a test match, Isolte defeated Eris and Nina defeated Isolte" Gull explained.

I looked at Nina and nodded and she smiled at me blushing.

"I see..." I said as I helped Eris up.

"So this is your star student huh? And I noticed that you also called him son-in-law." Reída muttered while looking at Gull with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah yes, that's it, my daughter and he are in a relationship and they have my blessing, it's nothing out of this world" Gull explained broadly.

Reida looked at me with and I could see a growing interest in her.

"I see...and you say he's already a Sword Emperor?" She murmured.

"Yeah, it was a month ago actually, surprising huh?" Gull said with a mocking smile.

"Would you mind if I try out his skills?" Reida said.

"...okay, but the kid is almost as strong as me, don't get too confident," Gull said with a smile and Reida looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

By this point, Eris and Isolte were already leaning against a wall with the help of Nina.

Laughing, she walked towards the center of the building while looking at me and then unsheathed her sword.

The pommel of the sword was golden in color as was the edge of the steel blade.

I unsheathed my own sword in the same way and got into an attack position.

There was a moment of silence between us before she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you're not going to make this old lady move first are you?" Reida asked.

"You want me to teach you some techniques of the Water God right? You have to attack so I can show them to you and see if you're fit for this style" Reida declared solemnly.

"Y-yes! Sorry!" I said as I concentrated my touki on my legs, letting the sky explode as I jumped forward, my sword pointing at Reida's right arm.

A slight surprised face appeared on Reida's face and a mysterious energy was generated in front of her, like some kind of mirror.

And as soon as I reached that screen, there was a crash, I was stopped... no... my speed slowed down but I kept moving forward, I could see a face of shock flooding Reida, my sword slowly advancing to his wrist.

"ngg..." Reida muttered with effort and when my wooden sword was only centimeters away from her hand...

Everything was reversed...

my sword, my touki, my body...I flew backward before I could realize what had happened, a deep cut on my wrist, right where I was aiming at Reida...

blood quickly came out of my arm while covering my hand...what the fuck?!...

"uff...uff...that brat...was the Ocean Mirror," she said while sweat came out of her forehead.

"It's like trying to walk between the waves of a beach, everything comes back to you and makes you do somersaults no matter how much you try to fight against it, pretty cool huh? That's one of the five secret techniques of the God of Water, although...it almost passed my defense...Gull certainly doesn't brag, huh?" Reida said as she looked at me curiously but I only felt the enormous pain in my wrist...

Ugg...it almost touched the tendon and the floor was dirty with my blood...at this point, Nina was already by my side and bandaged my wound.

"But Mrs. Reida... should I really be showing these secret techniques right here?" I asked as Nina healed my hand. "Ah, no problem, Gull is a Water Emperor, he definitely knows all that, so there is no need for there to be any secrets between us," she said without taking it seriously.

Ah yes... Gull is emperor in God of Water and North... no problem...

"Come on boy! This time you don't need to move, so watch carefully" she said

And so, following her exact words, I watched intently, a wave of Touki flowed towards me as she... created a ring around me?!...

I didn't quite understand it, but when I stood up to move, I felt it.

I was... slower...

a lot slower...

and I could feel it... if this was a serious fight and not a training... I'd be dead already.

A Touki barrier?

One that affects me physically?

That seemed useful, if a bit passive.

"You got it?" Reida asked, waving her sword as the Touki dissipated into the air.

"That's Rainfall Waltz, like a downpour, it surrounds your opponents and ends the fight as soon as you catch them, after all, no matter how fast you are, you can't dodge the rain right?" Reida said with a smile.

"I got it" I nodded and Nina moved out of the way, she had gotten better at bandaging wounds that's for sure.

"Alright, this is Churnig Tide, it absorbs power and Touki in one hit before cycling it, amplifying it through the user's sword before returning it to the initial attacker, so needless to say, unless you don't want to die, don't attack me too hard," Reida said in a sarcastic tone.

"Alright," I said, readying my sword and then taking a deep breath.

I took a step forward, closing the distance in an instant as I lunged towards her sword.

Our swords clashed, I felt my momentum stop as my Touki drained from my sword, Touki flooding into its blade, thrashing and twisting along its blade before gathering at the tip, and in an instant, I felt a pain in my chest as I was sent flying backward for the second time, falling backward as blood sprayed through the air.

Shit...I haven't been hit this hard since my father sliced my chest.

"Gino!!" Nina cried out in worry as she went to help me, I looked at my wound and it was a little smaller than the one my father gave me, but that didn't mean it was small.

"I'm... okay..." I said as I felt the blood fall to my stomach.

"And I told you not to attack so hard, you dumb brat," Reida said kicking my rib.

I gritted my teeth at the overwhelming pain and saw that Nina had already left to get more bandages while Eris looked at me with concern and Isolte looked at me in amazement.

"Did you feel it?" Reida said while looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, my touki was drained and it reflected like a mirror..." I muttered while covering my wound.

"Heh, you have talent kid, are you sure you want to learn the techniques of the Water God? With your power you can already defeat an Emperor in my style" Reida said while looking at me.

"Yeah, I would like that, otherwise I would retire Gull early," I said with a grimace of a smile from the pain.

"I heard that brat! You better teach him, Reida!" Gull said irritatedly.

"Don't be a cry baby Gull, it's okay child, from today you are a beginner of the Water God Style" Reida responded and I bowed in respect while still on the ground.

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Hello! Would you be so kind as to comment on what you thought of the chapter and give me power stones, my friend?...