Liens opened his eyes in the carriage, his mind still replaying the scene of the instructor forcefully cutting down his blocking longsword and splitting him in two.

That scene was truly too shocking.

With just that one sword, a diagonal slash from his right shoulder down to his waist, he was directly cut in half.

Liens could even feel his vision slowly tilting and sliding, and he hadn't died even when his upper body hit the ground.

"What powerful strength,"

Liens exclaimed in his heart.

He had died under the instructor's sword once again, and as for how many times this had happened, he was too lazy to count.

Although the software had improved, the gap in hardware was still insurmountable.

Despite his significant improvement in Sword Style, he had managed to hold on for a considerable time under the instructor's sword, even putting the instructor in a difficult position at one point.

But when the instructor truly exerted his strength, his ultimate fate was still death, and a death in such a shocking manner.

"So, is the instructor an extraordinary person, similar to a mage?"

"This physical quality is truly too much stronger than an ordinary person's; a several-hundred-pound Wind Wolf's pounce and bite are far inferior to that one sword from the instructor."

Liens muttered to himself again.

Although he had anticipated he would lose, he hadn't expected the instructor to show him the gap between them in such a direct and clear way.

Even if he accurately predicted the trajectory of the instructor's attack, he still couldn't block that sword imbued with immense power.

"You're awake."

"How was it… did you sleep well?"

Ben, sensing the movement behind him, turned to look at Liens, who had opened his eyes.

"Very well, better than ever."

Liens smiled, responding to Ben with a cheerful tone.

Although his first battle after completing the "Sword Style" ended in defeat at the instructor's hands.

This did not diminish his excitement at the moment.

Both the improvement in his Sword Style and the accomplishment of a long-sought achievement filled him with unprecedented satisfaction.

So, after the battle with the instructor, he immediately exited the instance.

He wanted to share his inner joy and uncontrollable excitement with his friend.

At this moment, Liens somewhat understood those people who chatted and talked about everything in the carriage.

Some joys can only be expressed to fill the heart with greater joy and satisfaction.

"Seeing you so happy, it seems you had a good dream."

Ben, seeing Liens's smile, also started to laugh.

"Yes, it was indeed a good dream, a good dream where a goal is about to be realized, a good dream representing a beautiful future."

Liens used parallel sentences to emphasize his excitement.

Although "dreams" had not appeared since he came to this world, it did not prevent him from using them to express his feelings.

The completion of "Sword Style" meant that he had finally stepped through the door of swordsmanship.

This was a realm he had learned about from the instructor on the very first day of training.

Now, he had finally entered it.

It had taken nearly five months, during which he had experienced countless battles, deaths, and struggles.

All of this had become the steps for him to enter that door.

At the same time, the significant improvement in his Sword Style also meant that his strength had further improved, and his hope of gaining freedom had increased.

So how could Liens not be excited?

"Is that so? Perhaps this is a prophetic dream, indicating that our future is about to be bright."

Harriman, who was beside them, also jumped in to express his opinion after hearing Liens's words.

Liens hadn't intentionally lowered his voice just now, and Harriman was sitting right next to him and Ben.

So, he wasn't surprised that Harriman heard him.

In fact, because he was in a good mood, he didn't even mind Harriman interrupting.

"That's right, our future will definitely be bright."

Liens's smile did not fade as he responded to Harriman with a laugh.

Although a large part of the future was still shrouded in darkness, the light of hope had already taken up the sword of light.

How could he say anything discouraging at this moment to lower his confidence?

"Perfect, Liens, you woke up just in time, otherwise, I would have had to wake you up in a bit."

"Liens… we're back in Kara City."

Ben, with a joyous expression, announced the happy news to Liens.

Returning home always leaves people with a deep impression.

No matter how many flaws Kara City had, no matter that they were captured as Slaves there, no matter that they had only been away for less than half a year.

It still couldn't hide Ben's longing for this place.

Because this was his hometown, and it held almost all of his memories.

Family and friendship, joy and sorrow…

Ben had too many things left here, in this perhaps not-so-beautiful hometown.

Compared to Ben, Liens showed no particular reaction to returning to Kara City.

Mainly, his impression of this city simply couldn't improve.

Both "his" memories and his experiences at the Slave Exchange made Liens feel disgust and even contempt for this place.

His memories from his previous life made him clearly aware of the city's sins and filth.

Nobles and merchants held sway, controlling all the economic lifelines of the city.

Ordinary people had to put in immense labor, or sell their daughters and sons to become servants of nobles or merchants, just to have the means to survive.

And these were only those who could survive, while others who couldn't survive due to various reasons still accounted for a significant portion of the city's population.

Just like Liens's previous identity as a vagrant, they were the people who couldn't survive here.

Even their desire to leave this city was sometimes a luxury.

Because the city's gangs always guarded outside the city, waiting for "prey" to fall into their trap.

For such a city, how could Liens feel any joy about "returning home"?

It might also be one of the cages that trapped his freedom.

However, Liens could see Ben's excitement, so he suppressed his inner disgust and responded to Ben with a smile: "We're back."

Liens knew what this place meant to Ben, as Ben had mentioned his experiences many times in the stories he told.

Ben had told him those beautiful things in the form of stories.

"Yes, we're finally back."

Ben, in his state of joy, didn't notice Liens's forced smile and continued to smile happily at Liens.

The genuine article resides on M|V|L&EMPYR.

Liens said nothing more, just continued to smile at Ben.

He slightly pushed open the carriage door, creating a small gap so he could see the outside world.

The Training Camp hadn't locked the carriage, probably because the instructor felt his threat was sufficient.

As light poured in, the outside scenery began to appear before Liens's eyes.

A wide flagstone road, continuous shops on both sides, street vendors loudly hawking their wares, and hurried pedestrians carefully navigating around approaching carriages.

Although nearly half a year had passed, he still had a strong impression of this place.

This avenue was an important main road in Kara City.

Entering from the Outer City gate, and walking inwards along this bluestone-paved road, the final destination was the gate leading to the Inner City.

"He" had even slept by the side of this avenue, only to be later driven by the city guards into dirty, cramped alleys.

"So, I, a vagrant, am finally going to cross that 'sacred and inviolable' gate?"

Liens mocked himself in his heart.

Thinking back half a year ago, he didn't even have the right to approach that gate, but now he could be led by a noble through it into the Inner City.

Truly… fate is fickle!