Human Realm, Norland Calus North Empire of the Northern Empire, northern border, Rulid Village.
After a grueling year... no, two and a half years of special training, Kirito and Eugeo had finally built their physical abilities up to a certain level.
About half a year earlier, they had once again traveled to the end of the Flaint Mountain Range, using food as bait to lure out several large Goblins from the Dark Territory and successfully kill them.
It was also because they had slain those Goblins that Kirito and Eugeo's levels and attributes had risen, allowing them to successfully wield the Blue Rose Sword and cut down the Demon Tree, Gigas Cedar.
The collapse of the Demon Tree shook all of Rulid Village. Before the villagers' eyes, Kirito and Eugeo successfully changed their Divine Duty to "swordsmanship" and set off for the Imperial Sword Academy in North Centoria.
The top ten students in each class's swordsmanship rankings at the Imperial Sword Academy were awarded the honor of Senior Swordsman.
Senior Swordsmen could then choose one new student as their Attendant Swordsman.
When Kirito and Eugeo entered the Imperial Sword Academy as new students, they respectively became the Attendant Swordsmen of the second- and third-ranked Senior Swordsmen.
The reason the two had entered the Imperial Sword Academy was partly to hone their swordsmanship. The other reason was that they had heard Senior Swordsmen at the academy had a chance of becoming apprentice Knights of the Axiom Church after graduation.
Although the appointed time had not yet arrived, Kirito and Eugeo had thought it over. Since they intended to rescue Alice from the Axiom Church, they naturally needed to gain a certain understanding of it.
Their plan was to graduate from the academy with the rank of Senior Swordsman, then infiltrate the