Elandor stood there, serious, amrs crossed.
"You both need focus," he said calmly.
I exhaled through my nose. I have been focusing. Since I got reborn, actually. Elariel tilted her head slightly and smirked. "Look who suddenly needs focus now."
I pointed at her. "Hey– don't start."
Blaze, sitting on my shoulder, let out a quiet snicker. Even the cat beside him looked like it was judging me.
Elandor didn't react at all.
"That confidence is useless if it breaks under pressure," he said. "Meditation is not optional. It stabilizes your mana flow."
Hours passed.
Honestly… it was annoying. But it worked.
By the time the sun shifted slightly in the sky, both me and Elariel managed to hold our mana constructs steady without them collapsing or exploding. Small wins, but still.
Elandor finally nodded once. "Good. You can maintain control." Then he raised his hand slightly. "Now. Attack me." I grinned instantly.
Heh. Finally.
I gathered mana into my palm, compressed it, and fired a quick blast straight at him. It wasn't even close.
Elandor tilted his body slightly–barely even moving and the attack passed right beside him like it was nothing. Before I could even react–
*THUD*
His fist hit my stomach. Not hard enough to cripple me… but enough to make me fold forward instantly.
"Gah–!"
Elariel barely had time to react before–tap.
Elandor lightly tapped her forehead with two fingers. She stumbled back, blinking. "W-what was that for?!"
Elandor finally smiled a little. "I didn't say I wouldn't attack back."
I groaned, clutching my stomach. Blaze was straight-up laughing now. Byakuren is next to him looked like it was trying not to laugh too.
Elandor walked slowly between us. "First rule of battlefield," he said, voice calm again, "don't expect your enemy to do nothing." That hit a bit harder than the punch. Because… yeah. My dad said something similar before. Always keep your guard up.
And here I was already slipping. Elandor continued. "You are fast. Both of you. Agile too." He looked between me and Elariel.
"But in combat… speed means nothing without timing..and your enemies are aiming for it too.."
He turned slightly. "Now. Sword combat."
I blinked. "Wait, what?" He pointed. "You. Against the princess."
I glanced at Elariel. "…You use a sword?"
She smiled sweetly. "Of course I do."
That answer made me more nervous than I expected.
Elandor tossed us both wooden swords but the moment I caught mine, I felt mana embedded in it. Not wood anymore. More like steel wrapped in magic reinforcement.
"Don't let her appearance fool you," Elandor said. "I have trained her since she was four."
Four?! I stared at Elariel. "…You elves start that early?!" She shrugged. "Depends on the family." I sighed. "Of course it does."
Then–
She moved. No warning. Just gone. A blur of motion rushed in from my side. I barely twisted my body in time, her strike cutting through the air where my ribs were a second ago."…Fast," I muttered. But my body already adjusted. This felt familiar.Not her him.
Dad.
That same sudden burst of movement, like stepping through space instead of running.
"Thanks to my perception…" I muttered, dodging backward, "I can keep up."
We exchanged blows. Strike. Dodge. Parry. Step. Neither of us landing a hit.
Elariel wasn't just fast–she was precise. Every swing had intent. No wasted motion.
But I wasn't slow either. Mana reading, body instinct, My unique skill copy trying to analyze her rhythm mid-fight.
We clashed again and again. Wood against wood. The sound echoed through the training field. Blaze yawned loudly. "This is boring."
"Shut up!" I shouted mid-dodge. Elariel laughed slightly while attacking. "You talk too much in fights!"
"And you don't talk enough!" Another clash. Neither of us landing anything.
Then–
Elandor raised his hand. "Stop." We froze mid-motion. "…What?" I said, breathing a bit heavier. He looked at both of us. "You are both… good."
A pause. "Not excellent. Not refined." Just good. Then he added: "Now use magic."
Before I could respond–
BOOM.
Fire burst from my hand instinctively. Elariel responded instantly with a water barrier. Then earth spikes shot up. Then wind blades sliced through. For a second, it wasn't sword training anymore. It was chaos.
And suddenly–
Elandor sighed. "…You both dropped to D-rank control again." I froze. "…Wait, what?!" Elariel blinked. "Huh?" He just turned around like it was obvious. "Back to basics." And somehow… that sounded way worse than getting punched.
Before training resumed, I looked at Elariel while we were catching our breath. "One question." She raised a brow. "What now?"
I pointed my wooden sword at her. "If you're that good with a sword… why did you run away from the bandits?"
The moment I asked it, her expression changed. The playful look disappeared.
She lowered her head slightly. "…Because it was my first time leaving the kingdom."
Her voice was quieter than usual.
"My first time seeing the human lands… my first time seeing bloodshed… violence…"
She clenched her hand. "I was overwhelmed."
I stayed silent.
"There were more than fifty of them," she continued. "Only a few managed to chase me after the attack… but by then, I was already panicking."
For once, I didn't joke back. I understood that feeling more than she knew. Skill and courage weren't always the same thing. I scratched my cheek and smiled awkwardly.
"Don't worry."
She looked up. "From now on… I'll protect you from bad people." Her eyes widened for a second. Then her face turned red and she looked away fast.
"Then get stronger!!!"
I laughed. "Y-Yes, princess."
"Don't call me that right now!"
Days passed. Then weeks. Training became part of life. Meditation. Sword drills. Mana control. Spell compression. Footwork. Reaction timing. More meditation. More pain.
Somewhere along the way, we changed.
My mana felt sharper now. Cleaner. Elariel's movements became even faster, like silver lightning with a sword.
Even Blaze stopped laughing as much.
"…You two are becoming less pathetic," he said one afternoon.
"That's basically a compliment from him," I said proudly.
"It wasn't."
Then I had a brilliant idea. Terrible, dangerous… brilliant. I pointed at Elandor.
"Hey, uncle." He turned and said "That feels weird coming from a human...but I'll allow it."
Then he smirked.
"Are you in for a duel against the two of us?"
He looked at me. "Are you now?" He asked.
"You bet!" Beside me, Elariel nearly dropped her sword. "W-Wait! Are you sure?! I don't think we're ready yet!"
That only made me more confident. We took our positions. I drew my blade. Elariel formed magic circles around her. I released my mana at full force..well, full force under the limiter.
Still weaker than what I once had. But progress was progress. I was ready. Then Elandor sighed. "Impressive." He slowly drew his sword. "You both are now near top B-rank adventurers."
My grin widened. Then his eyes sharpened.
"Now… try to withstand this." The world changed. A wave of pressure crashed over us. My knees locked. My chest tightened.
It felt like standing in front of a monster wearing a man's shape. The air itself screamed danger. My instincts were yelling at me to run.
No–worse. I couldn't move. Beside me, Elariel trembled. Her magic circles shattered instantly. Sweat ran down my back. "…What… is this…?"
Elandor stood there calmly. "This… is only ten percent." My eyes widened. Ten percent?
He continued walking toward us like nothing was wrong. "The first time we sparred, you thought you were following my speed didn't you? Well you're not wrong.."
His gaze landed on me. "But that was just my five percent released state." It felt like someone punched me harder than any spell ever had. "You were never near my level, boy." Not mocking. Just truth.
"I was testing whether you truly had the ability to save the princess… or if you were simply lucky." My teeth clenched. So that was the gap. This was the wall I couldn't even see before. Maybe my dad was actually holding back to at the same extent everytime we train.
All that confidence…All that pride..Compared to this, I was still standing at the entrance. My hands shook. Then slowly… I gripped my sword tighter.
"If I…" My voice trembled. "If I really have to become strong…" I forced myself upright.
"…Then not for myself." I thought of my old world.
A life where I drifted. Working, surviving, regretting. Feeling like I never became anything that mattered.
Then the truck. The child. The one moment I chose to act. And then this second life. My parents. Blaze. Elariel. Everything I had now.
I looked straight at Elandor. "I want to become strong for the sake of those around me." My breathing steadied. "Everything that matters now… and everything that will matter later."
The pressure was still crushing me. But I didn't look away. "I don't want strength for some selfish reason."
I raised my sword. "I want strength to protect what I have… no matter what kind of struggle stands in front of me."
The training hall went silent for a moment.
Then the pressure vanished. I nearly fell.
Elandor caught my shoulder before I hit the ground. For the first time in a while…
He smiled openly. "That," he said quietly,
"…is a worthy reason."
End of chapter.