Immediately, his legs flinched through the space, coming back to the previous position beneath his stupor. Meanwhile, she spoke once more. “Try to follow in that direction. It doesn’t have to be perfect on the first try, it just needs to be better than before and closer to the goal, is that clear?”

  “Yes, teacher,” he uttered, only for her to wave away with the sword, cutting horizontally through the wind before arriving near his right arm, which held the longsword.

  “Bring it to the same stance as before,” she stated before the man started to flow into motion. “Watch as I do it. Try to imitate me and follow my movements.”

  Nodding sparsely while focusing on his grip, he raised his arms to bring the hilt above his right shoulder and the metal collar, pointing backwards the same way she was doing it with her wooden weapon.

  And almost instantly as his movements became reflected through her eyes, the instructor’s lips twitched succinctly. “Your legs are too far apart.” Aid came through the girl’s tongue, following it religiously a breath after. Moving his feet closer to each other however, the blade hoisted up.

  “Lower the sword,” once again, a correcting voice brushed his ears. “Don’t touch the hilt with your shoulders,” it added on, one mistake producing another without halting down.

  “Good, keep your arms like that,” the girl finally changed her words whilst the other party painted a vague surprise. After a few major mistakes, finally, he was greeted with a compliment from the front.

  “Make sure to keep a close watch of me,” adding swiftly, the man’s sight was caught in a whirlpool, traversing towards the demon obediently. For all the times he kept messing up, she remained in the correct stance, yet the airs around her face hadn’t faltered from normalcy. Breathing steadily, a deeper one came suddenly before his sight broke apart.

  Beneath her stooped stature, the wood fell down soundlessly, cutting the winds with a diagonal slash. Together with the silence of the blade, not even an utter came from beyond her lips.

  Finished just as briskly as the motion had started, his new teacher waited nearly no time to move back to the prior stance. “Replicate the move,” she said, to which the man hesitated momentarily.

  Nonetheless, having glanced enough at the golden gleam, his head turned to the side. Looking at the pale glove, the man focused near the center, where a glow flashed for a fleeting instant. ‘I heard you the first time,’ thinking to himself, he steeled his breath in a similar fashion.

  Turning at the girl anew, the nose battled against the winds whilst his stomach began to inflate ever so vaguely. Recalling her actions one final time, he released the breath before engaging his flesh at the same time, cutting obliquely ahead of himself.

  ‘Huh?’ He pondered strangely, quickly following towards the blank, right hand. Staring as the glove didn’t stand out in the slightest, the man still wondered for a brief moment. ‘No pain whatsoever, and two streaks would have lit up,’ he mused whilst sensing the glyph. Though, his attention was briskly cut short, a tongue from the front catching it.

  “Correct your posture,” she said, continuing on. “Don’t let your attack sway the body. You will be performing a lot of actions in a real battle against an enemy. If you can’t interchange smoothly between the motions, they will cut your head down quicker than you can move back to your position.”

  “Yes, teacher,” speaking back whilst moving at the same time, with a renewed position, another voice quickly crawled up to his ears.

  “You’re too low on your knees.” One after another, he once again delved into a spiral of errors, Still, recovering within a fewer amount of faults, Lutiel brought the sword closer to the shoulder before settling peacefully against the grass.

  Before noticing, his eyes were already glued around her movements, watching the wooden sword in all of its glory. Hovering right before the green blades, the tip swiftly came back to the same position. Then, a sole command came out before the girl watched the man.

  Twitching in the vision, her eyelids began closing mildly, observing as the man in front of her did the same actions as her. Yet, despite not being anywhere close in any area, the lengthened stares made him look twice whilst putting on the stance again.

  “Is there something wrong, teacher? Did I do it incorrectly?”

  “No…” her voice trailed off whilst his face lightened up from the peeking sun. “You’re a quick learner, and not just in magic, it seems,” she muttered under her breath, all while the man stared at her eerily.

  “Are you saying I’m talented?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting. You’ve started to grasp the notion of moving around somewhat, and the slashes themselves aren’t half-bad for a newbie. Are you sure you haven’t practiced with a sword before losing memories?” Asking with a glance constantly upon him, she watched his eyebrows furrow about.

  “No, I think I only fought with the spear,’ he spoke up whilst the mind churned. ‘So, the glyph is working like I suspected. Then, why did you always forbid me to use the sword, Raphael?’ Asking himself, the mental world quickly crumbled apart as her voice pervaded within.

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  “Well, your body seems suited for weapons, so I’m sure you were good with it. However, you chose it yourself. From now on, you will only think about the sword, understand?”

  “Of course, teacher,” he replied with a swift time, keeping the position steady.

  “Alright, continue,” speaking up, she also brought herself into a stance, continuing with the lesson.

  …

  ‘Ugh,’ groaning inwardly, the jaw tensed up at the same time, walking through the stairs as he took one step at a time. One after another, with a leisurely pace, Lutiel fought the stairway. Glancing up onto the peeking, beaming crystals of a yellow shade, his sight followed across the wall of the top floor.

  Quickly lowering his head, just a few steps remained. Beating them quickly enough, a brisk stream of wind rejuvenated his lungs, standing silently for a while before following on. ‘She’s a demon. An actual one,’ gazing down at the wobbly legs and loose arms, he mused to himself.

  Regardless, the thoughts vanished away after watching the familiar double doors move closer with each step he took.

  ‘Couldn’t you have waited one more day if you’re already avoiding me?’ Following a sigh, the question lingered inside before mellowing out once he stood just a step away from the doors. Banging on it with three quick knocks, the lady’s butler simply stood there, in the same clothes he had used during the day.

  No longer complaining however, his silence kept afloat through the corridor, waiting patiently before a reply came inevitably. “... Come inside,” hearing the uncertainty in the tones despite the muffled voice, Lutiel grabbed onto the handle, quickly pushing out before a sight settled in his eyes.

  Completely different to before, or rather, normal in comparison to the last time his feet stepped through the carpet, the slave walked inside confidently, the earlier exhaustion veiled skillfully.

  “You called for me,” he spoke, forgetting to utter their standing.

  Placing herself against the desk, his lady kept her eyes busy on the pages in her hands. Irreverent of the words’ significance, Zyponia seemingly didn’t care for his arrival, glancing sparingly to the side.

  However, as the looks started to increase, her body finally turned around, sitting on the chair whilst facing the butler. In his usual set of clothes, Lutiel stood a few steps away from the lady with his indifferent face, resting the arms behind his back and waiting patiently for the girl’s voice.

  “How did it go with Folvana? Did you like her?” Asking through the blank emotions, she didn’t linger around his face for too long, breaking apart their sight before it could even meet.

  “She is a good teacher, but I don’t know if I will manage to walk by tomorrow,” his voice embraced the room swiftly, easily attracting the girl’s attention.

  “Tomorrow? It was supposed to be every third day,” sinking her finger into the upper lip, her sight plummeted somewhat before sparking up a few moments later. “What happened?”

  “She changed her mind at the start of our session. I will be training with her daily from now on,” he said, making the girl twitch and convulse around the face, questioningly. Even throwing in some glares and doubts, it was temporary nonetheless.

  “You told her, didn’t you?” She asked eventually, looking at him with an unamused, raised eyebrow. And, seeing him nod away slightly, a meek sigh escaped her lips, “How much did you tell her?”

  “All of it,” he said readily, staring at her pink eyes gleaming into his depths for a while. And, witnessing as the lady widened them, she quickly changed back to looking around the space rather than straight into him.

  “I see. Well, it doesn’t really matter. She’s a good friend of mine.”

  ‘Why didn’t you tell her, then?’ A thought sparked inside him, but Lutiel didn’t dare speak it out, simply observing her troubled looks flying past him.

  “Is there a reason you called me?” His question made the girl lock gazes with him, somewhat perplexed by the straightforwardness. Still, she didn’t sour much from his tongue. Stopping at his eyes, she remained silent for a few moments.

  “Actually, I just wanted to talk to you, about how you’re doing and all,” muttering somewhat, she basically whispered near the end, making his eyebrows stutter.

  “Yes? About the training session?” Asking through the puzzle around him, his eyes circled around her soon fidgeting body. ‘Is she nervous?’ The man wondered for a faint breath.

  “Yes, did you learn something from her already?” She questioned him, but the words only delivered a pending silence.

  Despite that, her slave didn’t keep the lady waiting for the sun to arise once again. “I have learned quite a lot already, but is that it? You called me to come over here to ask only that?”

  Shutting herself almost completely, Zyponia sat there plainly, glancing up at the man’s perplexed expression.

  “Is that really all you wanted? Couldn’t you have called Folvana to get more insight?” He pried against the frozen lady, finally melting away some of her. Alas, his face backed down into silent disappointment.

  “Yes, that’s all I wanted to hear. You can go back to your room now,” her voice traveled through the space, weakly. However, it was enough for the man. Turning around briskly, he slowly stepped away from her, his figure disappearing all the way towards the doors.

  Reaching out towards the handle, his movements were the sole sounds in the barren bedroom. Finally, his hand grasped the cold metal, but just as he was about to lower the handle, his body stopped beneath an unclear force. Feeling as though a hand sprawled around his arm, he quickly turned around. Leaning forward with her right arm stretched out, Zyponia promptly went back to her previous position.

  “Please, wait,” her voice grazed him as well, having regained some of its previous vibrance. “It’s not all,” yet, as she continued, her voice heard meekly.

  “What was that?”

  “Ugh,” groaning faintly, the girl grit her teeth before parting the lips again, exclaiming loudly. “That's not all. I wouldn’t call for you just for that when we haven’t met ever since that night,” speaking up, her eyes peered directly into his while locking their gaze firmly.