Forgetting

"Why was the gap so huge?"

Rienta lay on the ground, questioning his life.

"Why was he so weak?"

Grandpa Fel was a little taken aback too.

"Hahahahaha." Seeing both of them frozen in place, Stark couldn't help laughing.

At the sound of his laughter, Rienta kipped up from the ground.

He casually cast a healing spell on himself, then looked at Grandpa Fel with some embarrassment.

"S-Senior, this..."

Grandpa Fel was silent for a moment before saying, "I have a rough idea of your situation. Let Stark take a turn."

"Okay."

Stark's smile froze. He turned to Rienta as he walked over and said with a pained look:

"Could you cast some Defensive Magic on me?"

Rienta said helplessly, "That illusory sword just now counted as a kind of Defensive Magic too."

"Huh? Have you made more progress with your Special Effects Magic?"

When Stark had sparred with Rienta before, his Special Effects Magic had been nothing but special effects.

"Yes." Rienta was just about to explain when Grandpa Fel called out impatiently.

"Stark, what are you doing? Get your weapon out."

Stark sighed and took the axe off his back.

He walked to where Rienta had just been standing and said, "Here I come!"

With that, he charged straight in.

This time, Stark lasted nearly ten moves before Grandpa Fel knocked him down.

Rienta went over to heal Stark.

He found that Stark was covered in marks from being struck with the flat of the sword.

He couldn't help feeling relieved that he had only wanted to learn swordsmanship.

He wondered who was stronger, the dwarf warrior Grandpa Fel before him or the Monk Kraft he had met before.

Grandpa Fel thought quietly for a moment, then said, "Let's start with Rienta's problems."

"Your approach is good, and so is your magic. You have some foundation in swordsmanship, but you still need more practice with the basics."

"I understand, Senior." Rienta nodded earnestly.

Back in Mount Schvia, Kraft had said the same thing.

He could be said to have almost no talent as a warrior, and on top of that, he also had magic to study.

He had no time to train the way Stark did.

So Kraft had arranged some simple swordsmanship training for him.

After that, Grandpa Fel looked at Stark and said, "As for you, Stark, it's very impressive to have reached this level at your age."

A little flattered, Stark replied, "Thank you, Senior."

"But you have every one of a young warrior's shortcomings."

"Then what kind of training should I do?"

After assigning Rienta his training, Grandpa Fel left sitting on Stark.

Oh, no, he was sitting on a huge boulder that Stark was struggling to carry on his back.

"Does that count as weight training too?"

Rienta swung his specially made longsword in silence. He had deliberately added weight when projecting it.

As for his fighting style, Grandpa Fel had said his approach was workable.

But just because his weapon was a sword, there was no need to think of himself as a melee fighter.

When it came to physique, even if Rienta spent all his time training, he couldn't catch up to a talented warrior like Stark.

Rienta pondered a solution as he swung his sword.

In a world of magic, any problem could be solved with magic.

If it couldn't, that only meant you didn't know enough.

Grandpa Fel had also praised his idea of using Telekinesis to increase his charging speed.

All of a sudden, Rienta thought of the new version of his illusory longsword.

It was an initial combination of Special Effects Magic and Defensive Magic.

It gave Special Effects Magic, which had originally only been able to create visual effects, a certain amount of offensive power.

In any case, casting these spells all used mana.

Their different magical structures simply meant that they focused on different things.

With enough mana, it wasn't impossible to smash an enemy to death with Defensive Magic.

So should he develop new magic for melee or ranged combat from here on?

A week passed quickly.

Rienta still hadn't decided on a direction for his future.

A Sword Immortal

was always a relatively frail glass cannon.

Except for those with cheats.

But after coming to this world, he was inferior to Fern in magic, and as a warrior, he couldn't catch up to Stark even if he tried.

Although he had never stopped training, Grandpa Fel had still noticed his uncertainty.

So he told Rienta to stop training and rest for a few days.

On the evening before they left, Grandpa Fel asked Frieren out for a walk.

The two strolled through the forest. Although Frieren had often chatted with Grandpa Fel over the past few days,

she still had a lot she wanted to say to him.

On the way,

Frieren thought of the two training under Grandpa Fel.

"How is Rienta and Stark's training going?"

Grandpa Fel said with some emotion, "Humans grow quickly. That boy Stark has already gotten much better."

"But that boy Rienta seems to be getting a little stuck in a rut."

"I see." Frieren's voice was soft. She had also noticed that something was off with Rienta these past few days. "I'll find a chance to have a proper talk with him."

With that, Frieren stopped and said earnestly, "I've been very happy these past few days, Grandpa Fel."

"Hm?" Grandpa Fel looked at Frieren in puzzlement.

"You gave me the chance to get to know Himmel and the others."

After saying that, Frieren smiled faintly and grumbled, "But things like Himmel's collection of handsome poses are just a waste of memory space."

It was a promise Himmel had made her after his party met Grandpa Fel.

To carry the memories of the legendary hero Himmel into the future.

Grandpa Fel was silent for a moment, then asked, "Frieren, do you still remember what that hero looked like?"

"Of course."

"What about his voice?"

Frieren said seriously, "Are you looking down on me? Of course I remember it all. Himmel was the reason I came to want to understand humans."

"It's just like the reason you decided to protect this village, Grandpa Fel. They're precious memories to us."

Grandpa Fel said dejectedly, "The reason, huh? But I can't remember anymore. Not her face, her voice, or the look in her eyes."

"And yet I still keep protecting the village for the sake of some precious memories I can't recall."

Frieren was taken aback, then smiled and said, "You really know how to joke, Grandpa Fel."

Neither of them spoke again as they walked quietly through the forest.

They sat down to rest by a cliff.

As though something had occurred to him, Grandpa Fel asked, "By the way, where are you traveling to?"

Frieren said, "Aurevole, the place where souls rest."

"What kind of place is that?"

"Ende. It's where the Demon King's Castle is."

"Is that so?" After hearing her answer, Grandpa Fel fell silent for a moment and looked at the star-filled sky.

Then he asked:

"Are you finally going to defeat the Demon King? I hope an age of peace comes soon."

Frieren stared blankly at Grandpa Fel and said, "Grandpa Fel, the Demon King was already..."

A breeze swept past, and Frieren remembered what Grandpa Fel had just said.

She couldn't bring herself to continue.