Two whole days had passed inside the story.

From the day Leon accepted the Swordmaiden's offer to teach him her sword art, he had been sighted outside the cave most of the time.

Swinging his sword one thousand times, three times a day, made him realize one important thing.

"Fuck swords, guns are better!"

Leon growled as he delivered one slash after another, swinging his blade vertically.

With each strike the sword generated a faint whistling sound from the air resistance. Though the sound was far from what Leon heard when Lumina swung her blade.

He wiped the sweat from his neck before turning his focus around.

Snow stretched below his feet, surrounded by icy mountains. This was the place where Lumina used to train.

It was not far from the cave either, and because of its high base, this spot could be used to monitor the region below.

'Eula must be watching me right now…' he thought, glancing upward.

"Wait…"

Suddenly a thought clicked in his mind as his pupils narrowed.

'If Eula can see everything Alice and I are doing, then…'

He recalled his first day here, when he took a bath in the pond inside the cave.

"This thought never crossed my mind before…" he muttered.

Since all of his clothes had been soaked in chimera blood and stench, he had no choice but to enter the pond in full commando mode.

There was a high chance she had seen all of his manly pride.

"..."

Though Leon was one hundred percent sure she had been absorbed in one of the books she was reading in the library.

He just wished that was the case.

He sat on a nearby boulder under a dried-up palm tree.

Relaxing his posture, he placed his sword against the trunk and massaged his arms for a minute.

"This still hurts."

Even though every fiber in both arms ached, he was not very fazed by it, as if the pain did not bother him.

Maybe it was because of the constant training, or perhaps his muscles were simply getting used to it.

Glancing around, Leon searched for Alice and Miss Lumina.

They had not arrived yet. After giving Leon his training goals for the day, they had gone somewhere else.

'Alice sure does get along with her…'

It was surprising. Alice was the type who only had respect for her grandpa, and also for the second and third princess.

Toward them, she never used any of her creative vocabulary, and neither did she show any disrespect.

And right now, her behavior toward the Swordmaiden was pleasant. She was literally accepting every word Lumina told her.

Just this morning, Lumina had asked Alice to sweep away the dead monsters from the entrance, and Alice did it without a question.

If anyone else had given her such an order, she would have cursed their entire generation.

'Maybe it was because of me…?'

Leon had told her to act properly in front of Lumina before they met her. And knowing Alice, who had a strong interest in magic, mana, and formulation, she had no choice but to accept if she wanted Leon to share his papers.

'Using a nerdy person to my advantage is getting easier lately…'

Leon sneered, picturing Alice in a Japanese high school uniform, sitting in the first row with thick glasses.

"Heh."

She would look like any typical, annoying, studious chick back on Earth.

Taking up his blade, he traced his fingers along its edges.

The blade was rugged. The sharpness uneven.

Leon frowned. He didn't remember using it on any chimera here.

'How did it receive such damage?'

He narrowed his eyes and noticed something else.

"Hm? That's weird."

The sword was supposed to be heavy, but for some reason it didn't feel like he was holding anything at all.

"Was it always this light?" he muttered, gripping the silver twin-edged blade. He ran his fingers across the worn-down sharp edge in a smooth sweep.

Slick!

A shallow cut appeared on his finger. A clean red line. But no sting, no pain.

His hands weren't numb either, so why couldn't he feel it?

Confused and a little excited, Leon repeated the action with his other fingers.

"...?"

Sure enough, all ten fingers bled lightly, but none of them felt a thing.

His curiosity spiked.

He activated Analysis on the weapon.

[Item Name: Twin Silver Blade]

[Material: 3-star Mythril]

[Endurance: C]

[Stability: C+]

[Durability: B-]

[Unique Effect: None]

"Special effect… none?"

Leon read the words twice.

He had been sure it was some hidden ability of the sword that was numbing his pain receptors. But with no special effect listed, it became clear. It wasn't the blade. It was his body.

Maybe swinging it thousands of times had pushed his body past its limit, granting him some sort of pain-nullifying state.

But when he opened his status window, there was no new skill to be found.

Frowning, Leon recalled Lumina's teaching.

'While you swing your blade, try pulsing your best affinity with every whistling sound the sword makes.'

He had never heard of such a method before. It wasn't in the game either.

This was something Lumina must have created on her own.

And judging from the results, everything pointed back to one cause.

The brutal thousand-swings-a-day training.

"Interesting."

Leon leaned back, trying to piece it all together. Why was this happening, and how were the two things even connected?

"The Swordmaiden hasn't come back yet…" he muttered.

Curiosity was burning a hole through him now.

He wanted to ask Lumina directly. He wanted to know how she had discovered the link in the first place.

Because no matter how he looked at it, this felt too precise to be an accident.

A bug.

This had to be some kind of bug, a hidden one the developers had overlooked, now unknowingly exploited by the Swordmaiden.

"It could be possible…" Leon thought, though still skeptical about the whole 'bug' theory.

A game was one thing, but this was no longer a game. This was a real world with living, breathing people.

How could a glitch exist here?

As he was lost in thought, a voice called out from the side.

"Rest is not allowed."

Leon's head turned. Two familiar figures were walking toward him.

The Swordmaiden's sharp gaze bore into him, her presence enough to make Leon shoot up from where he was sitting.

"I just sat to drink some water, that's all," he muttered, avoiding her eyes.

"Uhhh… at least lie properly."

It was Alice who said that, grinning, a big bucket slung over her shoulder.

Leon shot her a glare.

'This psychotic bitch…'

"What? Got something to say? Then spit it!" Alice snapped, picking up on his glare immediately.

Leon rolled his eyes before standing.

Alice dropped the bucket with a thud and stepped closer.

"I can tell you were resting all this time before we arrived…"

"Huh?" Leon raised a brow. "I am not like you."

Alice laughed loudly. "Hahaha, oh please, you could never become like me."

For some reason, Alice was acting even more annoying than usual today.

'I know now… why I wanted to delete her.' Leon thought back to his CEO days. 'She's a bitch, and a bitch deserves to be disposed of.'

"You're a psychotic bitch," Leon said. The words came out sharp.

Alice froze for a moment, then raised her brows. "What?"

"You heard me."

"Say that again, and I'll—"

"You're a psychotic bitch."

Leon said it casually this time.

"..."

"..."

They stared at each other for three whole seconds.

Then—

Alice barked a laugh. "Shut it, fucker, or I will shove this bottle up your ass, and every morning you'll remem—"

"Cough. Cough."

Lumina's throat-clearing cut sharper than steel.

Alice froze mid-threat, her mouth still half-open.

"Enough," Lumina said firmly.

"But—he—" Alice tried, pointing accusingly at Leon.

"Alice, you poked him first. Apologize."

Alice's mouth opened, closed, then opened again. Crossing her arms, she muttered,

"Yeah, fine, sorry."

"Alice," Lumina repeated, this time with enough authority to make Alice flinch.

Alice sighed, arms dropping. "Alright. Sorry." She shoved a pouch into Leon's hands, grumbling, "Here. Got you some refreshment."

Leon glanced at the pouch, then at her. He blinked.

"Ooh~ someone learned etiquette."

Alice's face twisted. "Shut it, fucker, or I will—"

She stopped cold at the weight of Lumina's glare.

Dropping the topic, Lumina turned to Leon.

"Tell me your progress."

Leon focused and told her everything: the rugged blade, the strange whistling sound, and how he no longer felt pain from cuts.

Lumina listened attentively, nodding as he finished.

"Great work," she said, adding,

"That pain nullifying is the result of your training. It's proof you've been swinging your blade seriously, without slacking."

Leon still didn't understand how she had 'pulled' this bug to real use.

Curiosity won over, and he finally asked,

"Miss Lumina, who taught you this training method? Swinging a sword thousands of times while pulsing mana with each whistle? I've never heard of anything like it."

Lumina paused for a moment. Then, with a pleasant smile, she answered.

"It was a technique discovered by my lover, Shin."

Her lips curled into the most beautiful smile as she said his name.

"Shin was my kingdom's honorary knight. He was considered the most talented individual in the entire realm."

Alice and Leon listened in silence as Lumina went on.

"At just twenty-seven, he was given the title of Sword Master."

A subtle flare lit her eyes as she added,

"I wanted to follow the same path. To become like him. To stand as his equal. And to one day become just like him."

Alice tilted her head, whispering, "Like… a Swordmaiden?"

"Hmm?" Lumina's eyes softened, and then she chuckled.

"Hehe, of course. If something like the term Swordmaiden even exists, then I would like the world to call me by that name too."

.

.

.

[A/N: This arc is long, but it's an important arc and will have a great influence on the overall story plot! Just few more chapters, and will move to Academy arc completely!]

Hopefully, I can do another long chapter today; let's just wish my classes end soon! Thanks for reading, and supporting me with power stones and Golden tickets, we only need 26 GT to reach our goal of 100 GT for 2 extra chapters!]

[PS: I added this A/N after uploading, so the price of the chapter won't increased!]

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