Unlasting World

"Look, I get that you are healing at a very fast rate… But you shouldn't be wasting that health! You have to be careful, Rize..."

Klane yelled at me, and I knew exactly what she meant. But really, it was nothing.

I'm currently sitting at the bottom of the stairs… where I fell. And Klane is right in front of me, yelling. Behind her, Jrake is walking towards us from the back arena.

"I know, I know. I just... got dizzy. I tried reading a book..."

"For how long??"

"The whole time...?"

So I fell down the stairs, but so what? It's not like I can't go back up.

And now here I am, being yelled at for the best sick person award by one of the two only people that I knew here. Jrake was the first to find me at the bottom of the stairs, and he immediately went to find Klane. He then left to find some medical equipment while Klane yelled at me.

While Jrake is placing the cold foam and bandage on my heavily bruised left arm, Klane let out a long sigh.

"Ugh... Should we send someone to watch over her, Jrake? I'm really starting to get worried."

"Well, you aren't the only one."

"Hey! I'm an adventurer! I can handle it. That was just a slight mistake."

I barked at them, but the two immediately glared at me with demeaning faces. 

God damn it, stop that.

Also, my left hand felt really painful. It was the first to crash to the sharp corner of the second step of the stairs, which caused it to hurt badly. Not sure if it's close to breaking, but I can feel a weird tingling sensation on my bones.

Thankfully, the cold foam that Jrake put on me was helping. It removes that weird tingling sensation, which allows me to ignore the pain easily.

"Yeah, right. Before you can even do a single mission, you fell down the stairs."

I put my hand on my face after what Klane said. It was such a good comeback to my argument, and I can't really fight that.

"Looks like you won't be able to train with this…"

Jrake said while studying my left arm, which made me panic.

"W-What!? No, I'm fine. This is okay!!"

"Are you sure you are fine? We can't continue with the training unless I'm sure you are-"

"I'm fine, it's only my left hand. I can still use my right hand, which is my dominant!"

Klane and Jrake looked at each other. Klane then waves her hand in the 'I don't know anymore' motion. 

They are a lot like my new parents here, I like it. But at the same time, I also don't want to skip training. I must convince Jrake.

Jrake took a deep sigh, and spoke again.

"Does it really not hurt?"

"It doesn't. I can train."

"What if something went wrong, and it made your pain even worse? Like… a bone fracture?"

"That doesn't happen. If it does, I'll be the first to know."

"... Hah… I can't believe I'm allowing this."

I grinned at his surrender, and he turned towards the arena. I followed right behind him giggling.

"By the way, earlier after the test ended, one more contestant came. He said he was too late for the test."

"So, did you let him take the test?"

"I mean, of course. The test is only to see if someone is capable of handling various missions from the Red ranks. After all, Red ranked missions don't have that many dangers to them.

So I just need to be there to watch his capabilities."

"Right… Red rank doesn't have any monsters."

"That's true. But, it doesn't change the fact that you might come across a monster that was not reported."

"... Huh?"

"You see, being the lowest rank of all, Red rank is the 'safest' rank of all. But, that doesn't mean you can't die during the mission. There are still chances where you are gathering herbs and suddenly get attacked by a dragon."

Jrake explained as we entered the arena, and I laughed while imagining.

Laughing was all I could do on the outside. On the inside, I thought about what I would do if that were to happen to me.

I would become insane instantly…

"Klane told me that those things actually happened quite commonly to Red ranked adventurers. The most recent one was a group of Red ranked adventurers who died just by gathering a few bug-eating flowers. They were attacked by a high ranking monster, a giant King Serpent. A Blue ranked monster, and it is considered one of the most dangerous ones on that rank as well.

The King Serpent was then killed by a group of Blue ranked adventurers. They had to kill it, or else more Red and Gray adventurers would die."

"Ahh…"

Blue ranked adventurers… how strong would they be?

"Ah, right. Here is the part that I wanted to tell you."

Jrake pointed his finger to the arena, and I couldn't believe what I'm looking at.

It's like there was a huge amount of flames hitting the ground and the walls. There are burn marks on the shape of a long line, as well as explosion craters on the floor. Whoever was doing this must've been really good at burning stuff, because almost the entire arena is just black from coal.

"He was a powerful light magician."

Oh?

It was said that there are multiple types of magic a magician can handle. The most common ones are fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, shadow, and light. It was said shadow and light are the most powerful of all magic, and they are rarer than the other five.

An absolute shadow magic can guard from any attack, and a huge blast of light can wipe out a whole army. Klane explained last night that only high ranked magicians can do high ranked magic, so it will be rare to see a really powerful shadow magic or a huge blast of light magic from someone. 

I can easily tell, the one right in front of us is not caused by someone simple.

"If only I didn't flinch, I would've lost a limb. If it was anyone else, they could have died."

Jrake said grimly, which made me worry as to what kind of person this test taker was like.

"But you're strong. There's no way you wouldn't flinch."

I said that with a sense of pride, which made Jrake chuckle while facepalming. Seeing him doing that is making me a little anxious about my social speaking ability.

"What I'm saying is… that guy is surely amazing. Aside from his annoying personality, that is."

What an interesting fellow.

"What did you rank him?"

"Purple. He was stronger than me."

Hearing that, I became widely surprised.

A test taker that skipped two ranks, even entering the middle ranks immediately. Purple is right below Green, and Green is right below Blue. A Blue ranked adventurer is already considered a high ranking, and that guy was only two ranks away from the Blue rank right when he became an adventurer.

Without a doubt, in the future, I might come see him. He might be famous, one day.

But, so will I.

"Anyways, let's continue the training."

Jrake suddenly said as he walked to his blade on the bench, and I nodded. I went to the weapons rack to pick my weapon up. And during the walk, I was deep into my thoughts.

I still don't understand how training can raise my magic points this much. Could it be the battle spirit? Like, I just need to 'feel' the battle stress? What exactly caused the magic points to rise?

Once I find out what caused the points to rise… then, maybe…

I can strive to become the strongest.

I arrived right by the weapons rack, and I stared at my own sword for a little bit. In silence, I grinned.

My right hand moved towards the handle, and without putting much energy, I lifted my blade up from the weapons rack.

ZRINGG!!...

I lifted the sword high, with only one hand, pointing the tip to the skies above me. And with a big grin on my face, I chuckled.

It was even lighter now. This is nuts.

I began moving it around, swinging it randomly and sliced the air continuously. I can even spin my wrist and move the sword in the air, as if I was playing with a long stick.

It feels like holding a metal stick now. A light metal stick that poses no problem with cutting things. 

Seeing this growth, I grinned at the sword.

"You really have gotten better at holding it, haven't you?"

Jrake said as he approached me from the bench, and I turned to him.

"But, it's still not enough for a complete heal. I'm still far from the 'acceptable' mark, and I'm not stopping even then."

"That's true. I am very curious as to what kind of person you will be, once you reach a high number."

Jrake said to me, which made me wonder about that as well.

I have never thought about that. I'm currently still below what the normal is supposed to be, but I was able to tackle a guy so easily. It felt like I'm faster than I was before, and I can tell that I can only get better from now on.

It's like I'm continuously leveling up. And despite other people having a higher level than me, I'm still better than them.

Almost like… I'm cheating.

"Guess I have to get serious now, too."

Jrake said while lowering his sword from his shoulder, and I turned my gaze back to him coldly, but with a grin.

I lowered my body and pointed my sword towards him with my right hand, with the sword being right next to my head. As always, I moved my bandaged left hand forward as a form of balance. I know this stance after seeing multiple fencing matches back in the day, which is the stance for long range fast stab.

"Hoo…?"

Seeing my pose, Jrake lets out a little sound of amazement. 

From his expression, he is really curious to find how much I have progressed. Within just a few hours of practice and a long watching session of him sparring, he can tell that I have definitely grown from who I am yesterday.

Let's show him then.

I gripped even harder, and I burst into running. As my blade cut the air, I threw away my first quick swing at him.

FTANG!!!!!!!!!

Of course, this is Jrake we are talking about.

It was my current fastest swing, but he can still easily read them and block with his large blade.

But, that doesn't mean that this swing is meaningless. The change in his expression is priceless. The sudden change of my speed caught him off guard, and even that speed alone was so much faster than what he expected out of me.

How was it? Well, I'm not done!!

I hit his sword with that first swing, but I was already prepared for a second one. I know for sure that Jrake would block my swing, which is why I need to be able to quickly react to that.

FTANGG!!!

TAANGGGG!!!!!!!!!

Continuous rapid swings, but it gets powerful the more I swing. His super long giant sword is there, guarding him by holding it diagonally. 

The regular stance of defense that he showed me during the test spars. I know this, of course, so I didn't just stop. I kept on swinging, looking for holes in his steps.

I can fight normally now, though I'm not sure if I can beat my opponent. After all, this is Jrake.

I may have gotten better, but it's still impossible for me to beat him. However, if I can maybe put dirt on his face…

Then maybe I can prove to him exactly how good I am currently.

I realized now that Jrake's total defense was extremely good, so there is no point for me in continuously attacking. I began to make some space, and Jrake understood the assignment. 

He began to turn offensive mode, and I quickly moved back to dodge his attack. His big sword swung through the air, creating ripples of air as it went.

And as he swung his massive blade that beautifully ripples the air, I saw it.

Once again, it felt like time had slowed down for my eyes, and I was able to see things much more clearly. I focused towards the left side of his body, and I learned one thing.

His right hand is swinging the sword forward, but his left side is clear like a day. 

Such a big sword definitely requires a lot of momentum to swing, right?

I just need the right timing. I decided to use this weakness against him, and tried moving around to find the opening.

But as he kept on swinging, the more pissed off I became. His sword is so massive, but he swung them so quickly. He is so quick in swinging, that it made me wonder how heavy that sword really is.

Gah!!! Why can he swing so fast!!?

After a while, I was able to adjust to his fast movement. Big and mighty, his sword may be. But at the end of the day, the user is still a human.

I just needed to be faster than him. Much… much faster.

He swung his sword diagonally from top left to bottom right, and I dodged to his right. From there, he swung very quickly horizontally to the right, and I ducked just in time as the blade wooshed above me.

I then moved to his right, and swung my sword at the left side of his body.

Checkmate!!!

But as I swung the sword to him, I felt something wrong. But I kept on going, and continued moving forward with a swing on my right hand.

As soon as the sword was going to cut him, I turned my eyes to the left. Time slowed down once again, and I watched in slow motion as Jrake's right hand moved.

The way his fingers let go of his sword…

And how his right hand immediately made way to my left cheek at the speed I can't imagine.

What is--

BAAKKKK!!!!!!!

"Fuak--!!!!!"

I fell on my butt after being punched in the face that quickly, and I quickly lifted my head back up while holding my very surprised and bruised face.

"Y-You let go of your sword...??"

"I let you see that clear chance on purpose. Thinking you would go crazy looking at that opening."

T-That was what he was proud of??

His hand moved so quickly…

"D-Damn..."

I should have expected it. His right hand can swing such a massive sword so easily and very quickly, there's no way his hand movement was any less faster without holding the sword.

That move just now was only possible because he wasn't holding the big ass sword. Which made me realize something rather annoying.

Jrake without a sword is so much faster than Jrake with a sword, and that alone was already enough to beat my ass, no matter how fast I tried.

"Damn… it's my loss. Looks like you are still very far away from the current me."

"Hah!! Yeah, right! You're currently still below normal. I'm very worried as to how dangerous you would be once you reach the normal amount of magic points. You'll pass me in no time!!"

"Hahah…"

I slowly stood up, but somehow, my body wasn't feeling fit. I went back down to the ground, with my body not being properly balanced. Jrake saw something was wrong, and immediately rushed towards me.

"Wow, hang in there, little lady…"

"Hah... I guess I still have a limit after all."

I said while lifting my right hand that it was no longer holding the sword, and I saw it shivering uncontrollably. My body also felt slightly cold, and cold sweat also began to roll down around my body.

"That's right. Don't overdo your body just because you got a little bit better. Remember, you are still below normal."

Jrake helped me get up and walked me to the bench.

"Hah... This is really annoying."

"But hey, at least you are getting better faster than normal. So that's something. Even now, you are actually better than those adventurers at the test before. Don't worry, you'll be able to go on missions in a little bit."

Right. I can grab herbs and flowers soon and repay the debt I owe Klane and Jrake. I just… needed to get better.

As I was sitting down on the bench catching my breath, Jrake was practicing swinging on his own. I was practically deep in my own thoughts, so I wasn't watching Jrake practice. Which surprised me when he suddenly called me.

"So tell me, little lady."