CHAPTER 64: CHAPTER 64: TRAINING ARC [1]

The Shadow Viper guildmaster raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Tell me."

"Right now, you’re looking for an opponent to train with, right?"

"..."

Kaede didn’t say anything, but her eyes wavered slightly.

Kael had guessed correctly.

’That’s in-game information after all.’

"All the other guildmasters are good choices. But unfortunately, they’re too busy to participate in your game."

"...Go ahead."

The fish had taken the bait.

"But I have someone who’s perfect for that position. He’s strong, and most importantly, he’s free."

"Who?"

Kael gave a friendly, yet extremely evil smile.

Then, he looked to his right.

Where Hans was sitting, and listening to the conversation seriously.

Feeling Kael’s gaze, he tilted his head slightly.

"What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"..."

He didn’t respond.

That only made the protagonist more nervous.

"Hey, say something! Don’t do that to me! Hey! Hey!"

Cold sweat began to flow from all over his body.

Finally, Kael opened his mouth:

"It’s Hans Varun."

But what he said didn’t reassure the protagonist at all.

On the contrary.

"No! No! No way! You’re kidding, right, Kael?"

As a natural reaction, he shook his head vigorously.

Like the bamboo pinwheel of a certain blue robot cat.

"But you listened to all that information I gave you?"

"..."

Hans was completely speechless.

"I didn’t say they were free, did I?"

Kael really should go scam.

"What information?"

Kaede, who was sitting opposite, spoke up curiously.

"You don’t need to know, honorable guildmaster of the Shadow Viper guild. So, what do you think of my goods and offer? Is it worth considering?"

The woman rubbed her chin, pondering.

"I don’t know... A person can’t be that strong in such a short period of time."

His smile became even more sly.

"Hurry up, miss, we don’t have all day here. You can refuse, and I can also go take someone else as my master."

"Hmm..."

The guildmaster of the Shadow Viper guild frowned.

In the end, under Kael’s urging and sweet words, she agreed.

"Alright, but I’ll only teach you for a month."

Perfect.

That was all he needed.

"And I won’t teach you too much, just some simple fighting techniques."

Damn it!

Could Kaede read Kael’s mind?

Because why was she so damn accurate?!?

Beside him, Hans was still sitting there, not understanding what the hell had just happened.

Like a lifeless corpse.

Or an idiot.

The protagonist muttered softly:

"...Why do I feel like I’m just a commodity to be traded?"

Because that was the truth.

’The reason I brought you here was for this, Hans. And now, your mission is complete.’

Good luck, Hans Varun.

’God bless you. Don’t die too soon, my friend.’

***

11th Floor.

Bamboo Forest.

As the name suggested, a giant forest of only bamboo.

At Kaede Shirayuki’s base.

Rustle rustle.

From deep within the forest, the guildmaster of the Shadow Viper guild stepped out, with quite a few injuries on her body.

The injuries weren’t too severe, but there were a lot of them.

It showed that a fierce battle had taken place.

"Hehe, how is it?"

Kael, sitting on a nearby wooden chair, smiled kindly.

He already knew the answer before he even heard it.

After all, just now, the sound of the battle had shaken the entire bamboo forest.

Even someone like Kael couldn’t ignore it.

Kaede didn’t answer that question.

"What is your reason for wanting to become my disciple?"

Instead, she went straight to the point!

"Don’t worry, just answer. This is just a ritual."

"Reason? It’s simple, I just want to become stronger, so that I can face future challenges. I realized that sometimes, Ability isn’t that stable."

"...The answer is more boring than I thought."

She sighed.

Although half of Kaede’s face was covered by that mask, he could still feel her disappointed expression.

Kael clenched his fists.

’Calm down... Calm down...’

"Stand up."

She commanded.

And he did as he was told.

Then, Kaede threw him a weapon.

"Do you know what it is?"

"A sword?"

Kael looked at the iron sword in his hand.

"Do you know how to use it?"

"I only know how to use a dagger."

"...Well, I guessed it."

She didn’t even bother to feel disappointed anymore.

+

First lesson:

1000 slashes a day.

Muscles forget, but blades remember.

+

"Huh? Why?"

Kael asked again, but he started swinging his sword.

The first slash.

The second slash.

By the tenth slash, his movement had already started to slow down.

Less powerful.

And started to become horribly out of sync.

"If you repeat this, the next time you fight, your body will act automatically without thinking."

"But isn’t 1000 slashes a bit... too much, master?"

30th slash.

31st slash.

"Not at all. My previous two disciples had to swing their swords 10,000 times a day."

35th slash.

"If you continue to complain, you’ll have to swing your sword 10,000 times instead of 1,000 times."

39th stab.

"..."

Kael was completely speechless.

...

1 hour later.

At this moment, his body felt as if it wanted to eat itself.

All his muscles were tense.

To the point where even a slight stab of a sharp object would cause him to explode.

Like a bomb.

"998..."

Whoosh!

"999..."

Whoosh!

"1000..."

Whoosh!

Clang!

Without hesitation, Kael threw the sword to the ground.

But just as he was about to sit down and recover his strength, Kaede appeared out of nowhere.

"Are you done?"

Kael, although he didn’t want to reply, still had to give her a response:

"Yes, Master... I’m tired, so can I rest for a while?"

The voice was filled with anticipation.

Tiredness, too.

Nevertheless, the next words from the guildmaster of the Shadow Viper guild were like a bucket of cold water poured over his head.

"No."

"..."

Kael became desperate.

The light had disappeared.

+

Lesson 2:

Practice slashing at a large wooden stake.

If you want to slash a strong person, first slash a person who doesn’t fight back.

+

"..."

And so he continued.