Ch.112Extreme

Whoosh-!

The sword aimed at my neck sliced through the air with incredible speed.

The strike carried significant power, and the blade moved with remarkable quickness—impressive force for a beginner’s sword.

However, despite the sword’s power, the path it followed was completely sloppy.

“Your movements are too exaggerated.”

“Kuhak…!”

That’s why my kick, though slower than his sword swing, reached Luca’s stomach first.

Thwack-!!

Struck in the stomach by my kick, Luca briefly floated in the air before flying far away and crashing into the ground.

Though I heard quite a painful impact sound from Luca, I continued with my instruction without concern.

“You’re putting too much tension in your body. You need to relax a bit. I’m not saying to be completely loose, but when your body is too tense, your sword path becomes unnecessarily wide.”

“Cough.. cough.. I understand…!”

Luca got up after coughing a couple of times, but his wobbling body showed he was reaching his limit.

Since it was about time to end anyway, it seemed appropriate to conclude today’s training.

Besides, the other dirt warriors had already stopped moving and collapsed on the ground some time ago.

“Let’s end here for today. Thank you all for your hard work this week.”

“Thank you for taking the time to teach us.”

“No, well… I didn’t have anything particular to do this week anyway.”

With Kitsune suddenly getting supplementary lessons, we unexpectedly gained a week of free time.

For me, a week was an awkward amount of time in many ways.

A week was too long to just rest, but too short to search for hidden pieces.

Besides, there weren’t any hidden pieces I absolutely needed to collect right away, so there was no need to go through unnecessary trouble.

For these reasons, I chose to oversee others’ training rather than venture outside the kingdom during this week.

‘It was perfect timing to establish fundamentals for the dirt warriors and Luna, so it wasn’t bad at all.’

I largely agreed with what Ninianne had said before.

Learning advanced techniques is fine, but if the foundation is flawed, everything built upon it will easily crumble.

For this reason, fundamentals are the most important and essential part.

That’s why during this week, I focused on eliminating bad habits rather than teaching them something new.

While it would be difficult to eliminate all bad habits, I could at least say that I had firmly established their fundamentals.

‘If they have a baseline to return to even when bad habits develop, that should be enough.’

Since I couldn’t set up a sword training hall and teach them 24 hours a day, I could only hope they would manage well on their own from now on.

“Sigh, come to think of it, even I can’t keep getting by with just adequate swordsmanship…”

[That was adequate swordsmanship?]

[From what I saw, it was close to divine skill.]

“Ah, welcome. Seems like you’ve recovered from the trauma of having your childhood beliefs shattered.”

[I just decided to accept that she’s special because she’s a queen.]

After a week of complete silence, Lumia had apparently come to terms with reality and continued speaking in an extremely tired voice.

It seemed that the existence of a large fairy was quite difficult for Lumia to accept.

[So what was that about swordsmanship, Frey?]

“Oh, that? It’s nothing special, but regardless of my skill, the swordsmanship I’m currently using is quite ordinary, isn’t it?”

[I’m not sure if ‘ordinary’ is the right word. Most adventurers would get on their knees begging to learn that swordsmanship.]

“My goal isn’t just to be an outstanding adventurer. That level is far from enough. It might be fine just as swordsmanship, but it has many shortcomings when it comes to reaching the extreme.”

If we were to consider my current sword skills alone, they could be counted among the best in the world.

Though it hasn’t even been a year since I first picked up a sword, my talent for swordsmanship and the Sword Saint characteristic made it possible.

[Honestly, looking at your growth rate, you’d deserve the resentment of every swordsman in this world.]

“I won’t deny that, but there are still impossible things. One of them is reaching multiple extremes.”

Whether it’s swordsmanship, magic, or spirit arts, those who reach the end of something can define their own extreme.

It’s similar to how a Dragon Slayer who has spent their life killing dragons develops an aura that’s advantageous against all dragon-kind.

“The swordsmanship I’m currently using is the Demon-Slaying Sword Style. It’s a sword technique created to cut down creatures like goblins and orcs.”

Therefore, if I were to reach the extreme with this sword style, my extreme would involve the concept of demon-slaying no matter what else I might claim.

So it wouldn’t be wise to try reaching the extreme with just this level of swordsmanship.

“I might become stronger immediately by reaching the extreme, but considering the future, the losses would be greater.”

[Hmm, I didn’t know about that.]

[An ordinary succubus like me doesn’t have much knowledge in that area.]

“Few people ever reach the extreme, so it’s not widely known.”

Among the people I’ve met, if I were to think about who has reached the extreme, Ninianne would be the only one I could name.

Even Lilly hadn’t reached it—reaching the extreme was something different from mere strength.

‘In Lilly’s case, it’s more that she hasn’t reached it for reasons other than lack of ability…’

In any case, one could say that the extreme is when a person walks a path and defines that path.

Although it was through a game, I had already defined the Demon-Slaying Sword Style, so I could still do it now.

But even if I reached that extreme, I didn’t think it would be enough to kill the Evil God.

Also, I doubted that the Demon-Slaying Sword Style alone could produce such power.

‘I’ll learn all the sword techniques I can. And then… I’ll create a sword technique that can kill gods and reach that extreme.’

The Evil God was stronger than I had thought.

Thinking about those who had fought the Evil God in the past made me realize this more clearly.

Simply obtaining the same things I had in the game wouldn’t be enough to become strong enough to kill the Evil God.

‘Just as I awakened Vulcan who hadn’t been awakened before and received the God-Slaying Sword, I need to accomplish something more.’

Only then would I gain the minimum qualification to face the Evil God, or so I thought.

“Well, I can think about the extreme after I acquire more sword techniques. It’s not too late.”

It was about time.

By now, Kitsune’s supplementary lessons should be ending, so it was time for us to depart again.

“Let’s go pick up Kitsune.”

[And… leave Luna behind. What a terrible father.]

[Sob sob, my daughter… I wonder if she can eat properly by herself…]

“You can summon her through the contract, so don’t cry so much.”

I would have preferred to take her along, but the problem was that Luna belonged to the immaterial realm.

Unlike Lilly, Luna didn’t have anything special that would allow her to stay in the material realm for extended periods without harming her body.

* * *

“Waaaaaah…”

“Don’t be too sad. We’ll see each other again soon.”

Luna, sitting next to Ninianne instead of me, was crying mournfully as if asking to be taken along.

This softened my heart a bit, but since it was for Luna’s own good, I could endure it with tears in my eyes.

“I and the fairies will take good care of her, so don’t worry too much.”

“I’m not worried about that. I already know how much the Queen adores our Luna.”

I could easily picture Ninianne coming to give Luna snacks every time after Kitsune’s training ended.

“…Shut up.”

Ninianne spoke briefly with no change in expression, but I could tell she was embarrassed.

Because of her nature, I could entrust Luna to her with peace of mind.

“Then we’ll be going now.”

“Yes, take care. I’ll be counting on you to look after Lilly and Kitsune.”

After teaching barrier techniques for a week, Ninianne seemed to have grown attached to them and asked me to take good care of them.

I was about to say that she could leave it to me, but Lilly interrupted before I could speak.

“That’s not right. You should be saying that to us. Do you know how much Frey makes us worry?”

“Um, Lilly…?”

“Frey, you stay quiet. Okay? Mom, you might not know because Frey has been a bit quiet since coming to the Fairy Realm… but he causes so much trouble.”

Lilly started talking like a girl telling her parents about incidents at school.

Although she had been complaining about not wanting to go to the Fairy Realm before we arrived, it seemed their relationship had improved somewhat.

‘When I think about it this way, taking a week off wasn’t so bad.’

However, our Fairy Queen was always the same cold queen.

“Lilly.”

“Yes?”

“The trouble you’ve caused me is several times more than what you’re talking about.”

Lilly wanted to say something in response, but having no counterargument, she sank into silence.

“Lilly may be an unworthy daughter, but I entrust her to you.”

“She may be unworthy to the Queen, but to me, she’s a reliable partner. Don’t worry too much.”

With that, we left the Fairy Kingdom and headed back to the Magic Tower.

And throughout this situation, Kitsune’s expression showed no change.

No, she was too quiet.

“Oh my, Kitsune… her soul seems to have completely left her body…?”

“The training must have been incredibly difficult. Well, considering the Queen’s personality, it couldn’t have been easy.”

It would be some time before Kitsune’s shattered spirit would return.