Angling herself to him right after the words fell out, he didn’t ponder the matter any longer, focusing on the training for the moment. Grabbing the sword tightly, his grip let out a creak against the leather.

  With concise movements, he moved the arms while lowering himself in the knees, briskly finding difficulties with the terrain.

  Uneven throughout, with lingering roots forbidding his feet to form a proper stance, aid swiftly rumbled along his ears.

  “Don’t be so tight on the ankles or you’re going to break them in the future. Even if the terrain is rougher than usual, make your feet comfortable against it,” she said, watching as a reply came forth swiftly.

  Adjusting himself to the words, he still needed a few more corrections from the lady, but he eventually stood composed on the forest’s grounds.

  Copying her student, the girl’s sword raised itself above her right shoulder, pointing behind her. Then, she followed first, slashing the air diagonally before watching as Lutiel had done it. For countless repetitions, they cut through the air, yet, the man wasn’t nearly as drained as yesterday.

  Smearing away the sweat gathered up around his forehead, he stood with an erect back while the girl finally spoke the words. “We’re done. Let’s go back before it actually sets,” she said to him, watching as shadows started to encroach along the trees.

  “Sure,” he muttered before nodding vaguely.

  Walking through a few trees, they didn’t need to traverse for long before seeing the horse she had tied up to a tree near the road heading to and fro the mansion, though rather than the one to the city, they traveled to the forest set right before the mountains.

  Peering at the peacefully lying horse, it quickly stood up however. Watching as the duo came closer, its pale hair swayed after a neigh crawled out of its mouth. Swiftly, Folvana halted herself a step away from the white horse, caressing the mane for a moment before Lutiel watched her hop onto the saddle in a facile manner.

  Jumping on it gently, the horse felt no tremors spread out as the girl did it rather silently, grabbing the reins and fitting her shoes in the stirrups. Then, Lutiel watched her turn at him. “Why are you just standing there? Get on,” she said, and the student didn’t voice out any objections.

  Putting his foot on the second set of stirrups behind Folvana, he briskly pushed onto the horse. Despite falling quite harshly, the horse let out only a faint breath, signifying its zeal.

  Before they could start truly though, the red-skinned demon turned her face around, watching the man behind her put his palms down onto the saddle.

  “What are you doing? Come closer as before,” she said with stern eyebrows, pulling his arms closer for him to sit pressed against her back whilst wrapped around her stomach. Yet, as she turned her head away, a sudden movement dug into her bottom.

  Looking at the back of her red hair, Lutiel awaited the words from her mouth, only for his eyes to churn when the girl kept silent. No, rather, she tried to fit herself more snugly against his crotch, leaving no room for freedom before moving the horse back on the track.

  Practically clinging to her back, he simply let her guide them back to the mansion, hopefully calming down in the meantime.

  …

  Creasing and rustling against his skin, the fabric smoothly flowed down to the bed. Standing in the darkness, Lutiel let all of the day’s clothes pile up, promptly bringing them over to the desk in one fell swoop.

  Finishing, he walked over to the wardrobe, donning solely the fair underwear. Opening the doors and taking the set for the night, he threw the shirt onto the bed whilst starting to put on the slightly loose pants.

  A breath later, he stood in the center of his room, glaring outside of the window at the stars hanging in the dull skies. Then, his eyelids fell down, inviting the darkness within him. Readying his breath, he exhaled before dropping his torso.

  Plummeting with the torso while his legs stood straight, he quickly grabbed himself by the calves, pulling onto them for his head to touch the shins. Slowly, they started to heat up as he stayed in the bent position, his blood fastening.

  Kept in the position for a while, he finally moved up, only to send a rich kick upwards. Both legs straight as they could be, one showed its sole to the floor while the other to the shadowed ceiling. Keeping his back upright, Lutiel waited for a few breaths before exchanging the legs.

  After also jumping on his feet for a bit, he quickly stood firmly against the panels, his skin starting to glisten out. Moving the arms behind, he clasped them before extending up, higher with each time he started to feel something.

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  Nimbly bringing them over his head, he kept the arms there for as long as he could, breathing out deeply as he finally let them descend. Then, they started moving around in circles, changing directions an equal number of times before doing the same with his hips.

  Raising his chin as he felt his body heat up, Lutiel promptly fell face first at the ground, catching himself silently with his arms. Stretching out the hands, his chest soon threatened to hit against the wooden floor, only for his eyes to widen when he pushed away. Although he staggered for a second, once again, he barely missed the panels with his chest before moving up.

  ‘So easy,’ his eyebrows started to furrow both at the thought, as well as the sensations around his arms. ‘I don’t feel any strain whatsoever,’ he mused, swiftly repeating the motions and almost forgetting himself.

  ‘It must be because of my increased magical energy, whatever it is,’ he thought, slowing the moves completely before releasing a stronger force abruptly.

  Using his arms and legs, he pushed his body off the floor, floating momentarily before catching himself with his hands while the feet were still in the air.

  Lutiel raised the legs steadily, showing his soles to the ceiling before immuring in place, holding still for as long as he could. ‘From Luviene’s words, I must be gaining more of it when just standing next to strong people, but Folvana’s actions seemed as though I receive it from intercourse as well. Is it because my skin is touching theirs directly? I still know so little,” he pondered while droplets of sweat started to crowd his face.

  ‘Should I finally ask someone to teach me about magic? The lessons with Camilla are more or less the same, besides, I still can’t understand most of demonic,’ the thoughts troubled the man, making Lutiel lower his figure before raising it back up.

  ‘Who should I ask, though? Zyponia? Raeyine?’ He couldn’t make up his mind, to which the body finally fell through the space, soon standing on his feet anew. Frozen in place for a while, the droplets trickled down the glistening skin.

  Raising one knee in the air, in an effortless manner, he squatted, touching the panels with his bottom and raising himself back, the same thoughts as before coursing through him. Quickly, he repeated the exercise tens of times, doing the exact motion for the other leg.

  However, as he stood up again, despite the sweat slowly dripping from him, his breathing stayed calm. His eyes soon fell down upon his muscular torso, stretching out the forearms and clenching them. ‘I thought it would take years to come back to my previous strength, yet I've surpassed it within a few weeks. I’m only missing my fighting skills now.’

  Lingering around the veiny arms for a few breaths, Lutiel gradually receded to his casual stance.

  Closing his eyes however, he turned to the right, no longer straight as the left leg came forward, leaving behind the other which started to bend down slightly.

  Putting his hands up with a slight guard, Lutiel stood there, waiting with closed eyes. Yet, they briskly opened as his right leg flinched, flying through the space with rabid vigour. Reappearing around the height of his head, he let it stay there for a while before retrieving it.

  Readjusting his position meticulously, as the glyph glowed for him and told the man, he closed his eyes once again, readying himself with calm breaths. Like the sword that leaned against his desk, Lutiel cut through the room’s air with fiercer speeds than ever. Looking at the three glowing streaks on his right arm though, he shook his head before starting to back away into the initial position.

  The leg swiftly flowed back to the floor, standing practically on the toes. Awaiting with his left leg placed firmly against the wood, the man no longer closed his eyes as before. He stood there patiently, guiding his chest whilst keenly peering ahead of him, never losing focus of the point he had been hitting at since two kicks prior.

  Quickly, the nails brushed against the panels ever so slightly as he gathered up enough speed. Turning the body according to the leg’s position, his hips and torso worked harshly to achieve the best result possible. Changing the tides of the room slightly as his foot hit and stopped against the hovering point, a faint waft moved around, settling just as quickly.

  Regardless, it all seemed like futile efforts underneath the three mellow lights he experienced.

  Still, the man’s face didn’t scream disheartenment. Yet again, the legs found themselves in their prospective positions, ready to be adjusted minutely by the glyph’s guidance.

  The air whistled vaguely as he repeated the move, then, again it whistled. Almost resounding in his ears like the bells of a church once they gathered up over countless breaths, his chest started to falter visibly, trembling incessantly whilst sweat trickled down before being caught by his pants or the floor.

  However, the man never stopped, listening in on the whistles and hearing as they started to abate at every attempt. Tens of kicks played out and his right leg began to wobble, but he pushed nonetheless. Grazing through the floor with the very cusps of his toenails, he started to rotate the hips using his left leg, rapidly arriving at the point before stopping.

  “Haa, haa,” he breathed harshly while remaining in the position, however, he quickly flinched at the darkness formed all around him. Already used to the faint light from before, the utter lack of illumination quickly moved his eyes towards the glyph. With somewhat widened eyes, Lutiel watched the fourth streak light up silently.

  ‘Haa,’ he staggered, this time internally. ‘This,’ Lutiel thought after watching the light increase momentarily, engulfing the whole space. Before he even knew it, a new strength reinvigorated his legs, the rough breathing of his stopping immediately as he felt the forces. ‘It’s the power of the heroes,’ he mused when the glyph staggered back into complete quietude, even the streaks going back into his skin.

  Reverting the leg back to the floor, Lutiel wondered for a while, only to fidget hesitantly as he felt the power slip away into nothingness. His right leg started to wobble anew while he sighed. ‘I had no idea it had a time of use.’

  Still, not mulling on the matter, he let his breath come down to a halt before changing sides. The right leg might have achieved the four streaks, however, the left was still lingering on three. Letting his body rest for a while, he continued soon after, unaware of the stars moving about beyond the window.