041. Diligence and Hard Work!

"Starting tomorrow, I'll be waiting for you here every morning at nine."

Fiore's expression seemed calm, but there was a rather complicated look in his eyes.

After teaching them for the whole day, he'd already realized that his two unexpected VIP students both seemed to have remarkable talents.

Yol looked soft and delicate, but her physical strength and flexibility were extraordinary. Her raw strength was also a little frightening.

Merlin seemed "ordinary" at first glance, but there was an indescribable wildness about him. His physical agility, explosive power, and control over his muscles were all exceptional.

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Both of them had already learned the three swordsmanship frameworks well enough to perform them convincingly.

Was this what people called a genius?

Were they even more talented than his own gifted son and daughter, whom he was so proud of?

It was hard to believe. Even after saying goodbye and watching them leave, he still looked dazed.

Merlin watched Fiore leave, then looked at the practice katana in his hand. It had no edge.

The three styles of swordsmanship they'd learned today each had a different strength, corresponding to power, agility, and balance.

The greatsword style was broad and forceful. Each swing carried tremendous weight, and its advancing and retreating footwork was like a tiger pouncing down a mountain, overwhelming opponents with an imposing presence.

When Fiore demonstrated this style today, he'd given Merlin the impression of a mountain that could not be moved.

The rapier style was nimble and unpredictable. It emphasized technique, focusing on speed, precision, and ruthlessness in every swing, with explosive power to spare.

However, Fiore himself didn't seem especially skilled at this style. He simply demonstrated speed, precision, and ruthlessness.

As for the final style, the one that used a katana, Fiore's demonstration seemed rather ordinary. To Merlin, it felt awkward, as though it simply combined the techniques of the greatsword and rapier.

It lacked the immovable presence of a mountain.

Still, there was no denying how well he taught the fundamentals of all three styles.

"Are we going home?"

Yol wiped the sweat from her forehead and walked over to Merlin with a greatsword in hand.

Merlin glanced at the darkening sky, then at Monde, who was still diligently practicing the fundamentals with a long katana nearby. He told Yol:

"Take Lami home. I'll practice for a while longer. As for dinner, you can buy something outside.

Don't worry about me. I'll find somewhere to eat."

Yol was helpless, but she nodded.

"All right. Do what you think is best, but don't practice too late. You have to take things one bite at a time."

If she hadn't been worried about letting Lami go home alone, she would've stayed and practiced with Merlin.

Yol left.

Merlin gripped his katana and continued practicing the basic sword swings.

Swordsmanship in this world was incredibly broad in scope. There was no strict distinction between a sword and a katana.

A katana was a single-edged sword.

A sword was double-edged.

During their lesson today, Fiore hadn't explained the differences between swords and katanas. He'd only taught them three different ways to use a sword.

Merlin had also learned from him that, throughout the seas of the Old and New Worlds, the term "swordsman" referred to anyone below the level of a swordmaster. Swordsmanship was simply the skill of using a weapon proficiently.

As for the swordmaster level of swordsmanship—

Fiore hadn't gone into detail. He'd only said he would explain it once they had mastered the fundamentals.

Merlin wasn't particularly eager to find out.

It was simply a matter of progressing from the realm of physical technique to that of the mind and will.

And Merlin doubted Fiore could help him all that much with that step.

What he needed to do now was make the techniques for using this weapon second nature.

As he swung his katana again and again, Merlin's mind settled. His gaze focused as he recalled the techniques Fiore had taught him for generating power, carefully sensing his own body.

He swung again and again.

With each swing, he tried to draw on the strength in his muscles.

He coordinated his movements with his advancing and retreating footwork. Power began in the ground, flowed from his ankles to his calves, rose through his waist, traveled along his back to his shoulders and arms, then swept out through the katana in his hands.

He recalled the movements he'd seen Fiore make earlier that day, recording them in his mind with his keen eyesight.

A lynx was never short on patience when hunting.

Merlin was no different now.

He held the katana in both hands, raised it above his brows, and slowly gathered strength throughout his body. He stepped forward with his left foot, brought his right foot along naturally, and let the raised blade fall in a downward slash.

He stepped back.

Then he raised the blade once more and stepped forward, slashing down again.

Merlin's movements were precise. He gazed straight ahead, eyes bright, and repeated the downward slash over and over.

After an unknown amount of time, Monde stopped his practice and caught his breath. He looked over at Merlin, curiosity written across his face.

After Miss Yol left, Monde had assumed Merlin would leave too. He hadn't expected him to stay and practice alongside him.

So Monde had occasionally watched Merlin out of the corner of his eye.

Practicing by repeating the same move over and over? The teacher once said that if you weren't especially talented, you could focus on mastering one move by practicing it hundreds of thousands of times.

Why is Merlin doing the same thing?

Isn't he incredibly talented?

Monde couldn't understand it. His talent for swordsmanship was only decent.

But he loved swordsmanship, so he kept the teacher's words in mind and made sure to put in extra practice by himself every day.

He glanced at Merlin and gritted his teeth, then resumed swinging his katana. He was learning the katana techniques.

His arms were sore and swollen.

They tingled with numbness and pain.

A dull ache began to spread through his entire body. Every time Merlin swung his katana, he drew on the strength of the muscles throughout his body.

That put his body under an unusually heavy strain and made him use his muscles at an extremely high frequency.

He'd reached his physical limit.

If he didn't stop, it would normally affect his training the next day.

But Merlin didn't stop. He gritted his teeth and kept swinging. As time passed beneath the moonlight, his vision began to blur and his mind could no longer stay completely focused. Then, at a certain moment, as the katana fell, a warm current welled up from every corner of his body. His hazy mind instantly cleared.

Feeling this strength, as if it had been squeezed out from deep within his body, Merlin let a faint smile of satisfaction touch his lips.

Breathing lightly, he finally stopped moving.

But then Merlin began to bounce gently in place. He used his body to perform a series of complex, difficult stretches, loosening the joints and muscles throughout his body.

He crouched on the ground like a lynx and began to twist from his hips, each section of his spine rising in turn from the base of his tail.

The joints throughout his body cracked one after another. He tilted his head back, slowly expanded and contracted his chest and abdominal muscles, and breathed in a steady rhythm.

[Lynx Body Tempering Technique]

Monde's eyes slowly widened. He rubbed them hard, then let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, he'd thought Merlin had turned into a giant cat.

He gave an awkward laugh.

Maybe he was just too tired.

Before long, Merlin got up from the ground and stretched. A series of crisp cracks came from his joints and bones.

He let out a long breath.

Then he looked at Monde with a faint smile.

"What's the matter? Why are you looking at me so curiously?"

Monde hesitated when Merlin spoke to him, but he still walked over and couldn't help asking:

"What was that just now?"

Merlin smiled and answered casually:

"My family used to have a cat. Cats move so nimbly that I started copying their movements to stretch and relax my muscles.

Is there a problem with that?"

Monde opened his mouth and stared at Merlin, completely dumbfounded.

"Huh?"

Merlin smiled and didn't explain further. Instead, he said:

"By the way, can I get another set of training clothes from the dojo? It's inconvenient having only one set. Once they're soaked with sweat, they might not dry completely by the next day, even after washing."

Monde smiled and nodded.

"Sure. We're allowed to get a new set of training clothes every quarter.

If you want one, I can take you to register for it now. I don't have anything else to do, and I was planning to head back to the dorm and rest."

"Thanks. By the way, I'm going out for dinner in a bit. Want to come with me?

Come on, it's my treat."

"Hehe!" Monde gave an awkward grin. "Oh, you really don't have to!"

Merlin smiled and motioned for him to leave with him.

Before long, the two of them went to the supply room and got three more sets of clothes for Merlin, including sets for Yol and Lami.

Merlin changed in the dressing room, then left the estate with Monde.

They had a hearty meal at a restaurant in town, then bought some drinks at the commercial street.

After saying goodbye to Monde,

Merlin returned to the villa. The lights were on inside, and warmth filled his heart.

This is what home feels like.

He didn't have his key with him, so he called for Yol to open the door. But Lami came to open it instead, grinning at Merlin.

"Sister Yol's taking a bath!"

Lami eagerly took the things from Merlin's hands, and they went into the villa together.

In the living room,

Lami blinked at Merlin and giggled.

"Brother Merlin, could you get rid of the fatigue that's built up in my body?"

Merlin rolled his eyes at her, but didn't refuse.

"We'll do it together in a bit. I'm going to wash up first. Lami, put the bottles of alcohol I bought on the living room's liquor rack."

Lami nodded happily.

Merlin went to his room to wash up.

Beneath the showerhead, cool water ran over his body. Merlin felt the aches and pains lessen, so he focused his thoughts. Black flames flared up all over him, and the fatigue, strains, and swelling that had accumulated in his body throughout the day began to peel away as disasters.

After all, if these negative conditions weren't dealt with, they might build up and eventually become lingering injuries.

Disaster Absorption was also a form of healing.

After his shower, he felt only a little tired and, all things considered, quite refreshed. Before long, he absorbed the fatigue disasters from Yol and Lami in the living room.

Merlin looked at the brighter red hue of his right index finger. These were all disasters born of the same kind of physical pain, and such related "bullets" could be fused together.

Sitting on the sofa,

Yol, dressed in a nightgown, stretched her graceful, curvaceous body. When she finished, she smiled warmly at Merlin.

"Your technique is good. That felt great."

Merlin rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm going back to bed. You two should go to bed early too."

With that, Merlin left the living room on the first floor and went upstairs.

A smile appeared at the corner of Yol's mouth.

"Good night, Merlin."