“Haaah… haaah…”
Smack, smack, smack!
A lonely figure stood in the middle of the dilapidated dojo with two shortswords in hand. He was a young man with messy black hair, a clean-shaven face, and a skinny body.
Sweat dripped down his shirtless body and fell to the cracked floor. His body was skinny, lacking any masculine muscle tone. If there was anyone watching, they would wonder whether he was intentionally starving himself.
“Ha!” Ambrose shouted and slammed his shortswords into the wooden dummy. He then reeled back his swords and slashed repeatedly into the wooden torso of the dummy as if it were his mortal enemy.
‘Slow, sloppy, and weak.’
Words echoed in his ears.
“I don’t need speed. I need strength!” Ambrose shouted and slashed one more time. This time, he left behind two tiny scratches on the dummy.
He breathed heavily and plopped down on the floor.
“It has been five days since I started training using my left hand, but I really can’t tell if I have improved. I am still clearly more dominant on the right hand.” Ambrose took a white towel and wiped his face.
It had been five days since his training, and during that time, he visited the forest several times, eventually reaching level 17. Now, he was taking a break and decided to focus on training against the training dummy.
He purchased the training dummy for 50 silvers and also bought new clothes, finally getting rid of the basic outfit. 𝑜𝓋𝒩xt.𝒞𝑂𝗆
“I guess I should go meet him. I have delayed it long enough.” Ambrose thought aloud, grabbed his towel, shirt, and swords from the ground, and ran upstairs.
After hanging the towel from a hook, he put the shirt on and stored his swords in his inventory. He then checked himself in the mirror.
He wore a white linen shirt and black trousers with a belt around his waistline. Two of the linen shirt’s buttons were open, exposing his skinny neck more than he wanted to.
Ambrose slowly buttoned the shirt and looked at his dull eyes in the mirror. He then put on a pair of black leather boots, which fit the black trousers perfectly. He would look great if he were only taller and had a bigger body.
He then walked out of his room and left the dojo after locking the wooden gate.
The weather was brilliant, with a bright blue sky and a light breeze blowing through the trees. The sun proudly hovered in the middle of the sky, while clouds kept it company as they drifted by.
The laughter of children and the lingering scent of food filled the air. It was worlds apart from the scene six days ago.
Amaterasu had returned to its peaceful state, but a memorial was built in the middle of the marker square to honor everyone who had fallen.
Funnily enough, his name was also printed on that stone tablet. He, after all, died in the battle, even though it was not a permanent one.
After a while of walking, Ambrose arrived at Rich’s dojo. He saw students of the dojo training eagerly in the yard. The memory of the crows attack was still vivid in their minds. It reminded them of their weakness, and next time, they wanted to protect the city.
Ambrose entered the yard of the dojo but didn’t see Rich anywhere.
“Hey, it’s you. Are you looking for Rich?” A student of the dojo stopped training for a moment after seeing the black-haired youth.
“Yes, is he inside?” Ambrose asked.
“He is in the backyard.” The student said and continued smacking his sword against the training dummy.
‘Backyard…’ Ambrose thanked the student and entered the dojo. He crossed the main room and exited the dojo via another open entrance.
The backyard of the dojo had flourishing grass and a small pond with fish swimming. There was a small garden, and next to it was a white table with three chairs.
Ambrose soon found Rich meditating before the pond. He seemed harmonious, as if he were connected to the world around him.
He didn’t dare interrupt him, and he went to the table to sit down.
Rich squinted his eyes as if he were having a terrible nightmare. He clenched his fists and looked like he wanted to punch a tree into smithereens.
“Inner Power… Inner Power…” He gritted his teeth, and his face muscles morphed into something unrecognizable. He looked like he was exploding from inside!
A few seconds later, Rich exhaled a long breath and loosened his fists. His face returned to its normal state, and only the sweat-filled forehead was a reminder of the strange scene that just happened.
“What am I lacking…” Rich looked at the swimming fish and tilted his head. He imagined himself swimming in place of the fish. He then shook his head and stood up.
After turning around, he saw someone sitting in the corner of the backyard. He recognized him immediately.
“Ah, it’s you!” Rich walked to the table and also sat down. “Why have you come here? I am afraid I am unable to teach you anything now.”
“It’s not that.” Ambrose waved his hand to dismiss that idea. “I have actually… Created my skill already.”
Rich covered his mouth in shock and looked at him with disbelief.
“I see… How did you do it?” He intertwined his fingers and looked at him seriously.
“I don’t know. I just imagined myself fighting against a certain someone, and a picture of my skill appeared inside my mind. Then, the skill scroll accepted it.
“I have now received another skill scroll, but no luck with it. Maybe I was just extremely lucky, haha.”
“Lucky…” Rich shook his head. “I don’t think luck has anything to do with it.”
Ambrose shrugged his shoulders.
“Can you… show me the skill?” Rich asked with a desire to see what kind of skill the person he gave the skill scroll to managed to create.
“Sure, I can try.” Ambrose scratched his head. He had found a way to train his Kill, but it was rather expensive. He could use it against the training dummy and fight it till it was destroyed.
Therefore, he had to purchase a second training dummy as well. In total, he had spent 200 silvers in the past few days, but he was now trying to save silvers for the future.
Rich and Ambrose entered the dojo with one training dummy already standing in the middle of the dojo. It was mostly made from wood, but it had fake armor made of wool, making it look more exquisite than Ambrose’s own training dummy.
Rich stepped to the side, crossed his muscular arms, and watched intensely. He didn’t blink even once, as he wanted to see the skill without missing even a split second.
Ambrose took out his swords and stood in front of the emotionless training dummy. He wrapped his fingers around the hilts and brought the swords closer to his chest.
He breathed coldly and whispered. “Kill.”
Rich’s eyes widened in shock as heavy killing intent seeped into his bones. He was too afraid to move even a muscle because if he did, he might die!
Ambrose shot forward, and with burning rage, he slashed through the training dummy. The dummy fell to the ground with a thud, now in two pieces.
The two blades shone under the light of the ceiling as they reflected the might of his endless killing intent.
Ambrose let out a deep breath and lowered his swords. He then glanced at the shocked Rich, who was rooted in his spot.
“Uh, how was it?”
“It was…” Rich woke up from his stupor and let out a shocked laugh. “Definitely something…”
Rich walked to the dojo altar and opened a cupboard. He grabbed two items from there and walked back to Ambrose.
“Here, take these.”
“These are…?” Ambrose accepted them and looked at them with a raised eyebrow.
“These are shortsword scabbards. I have seen you pull out your swords from nothingness, but that doesn’t seem very effective.
“If you are ambushed, you might not have time to reach your hands there and take your swords out. That’s why you might need scabbards, which hang from your waist and you can unsheathe swiftly and easily.”
“Oh, thank you.” Ambrose accepted the brown scabbards with red lining with a smile. He slipped both of his swords inside the different scabbards and then hung them from his waist.
He tried unsheathing his weapons, and he agreed with Rich. It was very effective and easy.
“Next time when you visit, I can teach you some quick-drawing skills. But for now, I need to go teach my students.”
“Alright, sorry for keeping you here.” Ambrose bowed respectfully and left the dojo.
Rich watched as the black-haired youth left and turned his gaze to another training dummy in the dojo. He unsheathed his sword and glared at the dummy. He then brought the sword closer to his chest and whispered.
“Kill.”
He shot forward and slashed across the chest of the wooden dummy. However, not a single scratch appeared.
“Indeed, it is a skill above my level. It is impossible to be learned, as only insane people with the desire to become the absolute power can learn this.” Rich sighed and sheathed his sword. “I guess I am lacking that mentality.
“Perhaps he will be able to learn the Inner Power.”