Chapter 149: Cheerleading Squad (5)

Sion doesn’t take elective classes.

She already completed a lot of elective tasks at the beginning of the semester and earned her credits.

For her, most classes are either uninteresting or subjects where she’s more of an expert than the teacher, so she doesn’t feel the need to attend them.

Mana, likely understanding this, never interfered with Sion’s decisions.

So, what does Sion do with her time after the regular classes end at 2 PM?

It depends on the day.

Sometimes she goes to the library to read, and other times she locks herself in her room to develop new spells.

Occasionally, she works on improving her physical strength without relying on magic, focusing on physical training.

Either way, she doesn’t waste time idly.

In the midst of all this self-development, the only time Sion invests in someone else is during her regular training sessions with Lancia.

Like most people who reach a certain level, Sion enjoys offering advice, especially when the person takes it passionately and makes rapid progress.

Because of this, Sion genuinely enjoys teaching Lancia.

Watching her absorb her teachings like a sponge and grow quickly reminds her of the time she spent training her youngest daughter, and it brings her a sense of satisfaction.

That’s why, even though she pretends not to care, she secretly looks forward to their one-on-one lessons.

“She’s late today,” Sion muttered quietly, standing alone in the empty training hall.

“She usually arrives 30 minutes early, so what’s going on? Did something happen?”

-“Yeah? She doesn’t seem like the type to break time commitments.”

Lancia always looked forward to their sword training sessions just as much as Sion did.

It was clear from the way she showed excitement about her growth after every lesson.

But now, she was late.

What could have happened?

Sion clicked her tongue.

“I guess I’ll have to go look for her. I can’t waste time here forever.”

With that, Sion left the training hall.

Finding Lancia was easy.

A simple scrying spell was all it took for Sion to locate her.

She saw her sitting on a bench in a park, not busy with anything, just idly passing time.

“What are you doing here, Princess?” she asked.

“Hyahhh?!!!”

Lancia jumped in surprise, almost as though she had seen a ghost or a murderer.

Her voice trembled as she responded.

“L-Lady Sion?! W-Why are you here???”

“Why? It’s the regular sword training time today. Did you forget?”

“Ah…!”

Lancia blinked a few times, as if she had truly forgotten.

“I-I’m so sorry! I’ve been really busy with other things lately, and I lost track of time…!”

Lancia apologized, bowing repeatedly, looking up at her with a nervous expression.

She was clearly worried that Sion might be upset with her.

Fortunately, Sion wasn’t the type to get angry over something like a late arrival.

She brushed off her concern casually.

“It’s fine. When you’re busy, sometimes you forget what day it is. So, are you okay to train now?

Or would you prefer to reschedule?”

“No! I’m fine! I’ll do it now!”

Lancia responded hastily, her voice filled with enthusiasm.

Her eagerness seemed a little excessive, but Sion didn’t mind and let it go.

After all, a little too much enthusiasm wasn’t a bad thing.

Thus, their training for the week began.

The method was simple.

Sion would deliver a series of controlled sword strikes, and Lancia’s job was to defend.

That was all.

Sion’s philosophy was that a solid defense was essential before moving on to aggressive attacks.

While it sounded simple, it was incredibly difficult.

Sion had once been the strongest swordswoman in the demon world, and even now, there was no one among humans who could rival her.

From her perspective, she was just swinging her sword lightly, but for Lancia, each strike was a potential fatal blow.

If she wasn’t completely focused, she couldn’t block them.

As a result, up until now, their sparring sessions usually ended in about five minutes with Lancia either collapsing to the floor or being struck by Sion’s wooden sword.

However, it was never guaranteed that someone would remain stagnant forever.

“Hah, huff…”

Today, Lancia seemed to be in better form.

Whether she had grown stronger or was just particularly focused today, she was managing to deflect Sion’s strikes with ease, even going past 10 minutes.

Sion’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

‘Hoh. She’s really grown, hasn’t she?’

Being good at something from the beginning doesn’t make you a genius.

A real genius is someone who, after receiving one lesson, can expand it and absorb it as if it were their own.

From what Sion saw, Lancia was exactly the kind of person who fit her definition of a genius.

A girl like metal, who gets tougher and harder the more you strike her.

She’s truly the type of person who makes you want to teach them.

You always want to give them something more when they’re like this.

“Uh, M-Master…!”

“?”

At that moment, while Sion was lost in thought, Lancia suddenly let out a sound of discomfort.

Sion stopped her thoughts and looked at her disciple. Lancia was clutching her chest, panting, seemingly out of breath.

“Ah, the power in the sword has been too strong since earlier… My arm feels like it’s going to break…”

“Oh, I see? I’m sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment.”

It seemed that, in her admiration for Lancia’s progress, Sion had unintentionally poured more magical power into her strike, making it much stronger than intended.

She needed to be more careful. Even though it seemed like a small enhancement to her own strength, for Lancia, it was as if the dagger had turned into a large sword.

“I’ll be more careful in the future. Shall we start again?”

“…….”

Lancia stopped moving for a moment and looked up at Sion.

Her eyes were shaking and wandering.

“M-Master… Do you… by any chance… know?”

“What? Know what?”

“…Ah, never mind! It’s nothing!”

Lancia turned her face bright red and looked away.

‘What was that? That was strange.’

Sion briefly furrowed her brow but quickly dismissed the thought.

From her attitude, it seemed like she had something on her mind, but it wasn’t her place to interfere.

Lancia would solve it herself.

Instead, she thought, this might be the right time to move to the next level.

“Princess.”

“Y-Yes?!”

“Don’t be so tense. I’m about to say something good.

Seeing you accept my sword today, it looks like you’re ready to graduate from the basics.

You’ve worked hard and grown quite a lot, so it’s time to move on to the next stage.”

“Next stage…?”

Lancia said nervously. There seemed to be more fear than joy in her expression.

Sion nodded and spoke.

“Yes, from now on, I’ll be using some stronger techniques. Try your best to dodge or block them. Don’t worry, you won’t die.”

“What?! Wait-“

“Here I come.”

Sion slowly gripped her wooden sword with both hands, focusing her mind to project the image of Lier’s stance within her memory.

The Warrior’s Sword Technique, First Strike.

“[Vital Strike]!”

Whoosh!

With a sword swing that was completely different from the casual ones she had been using, a true strike filled with sincerity was unleashed from Sion’s fingertips.

The power contained in the strike was so overwhelming that the air itself seemed to tear apart with a sound like cracking.

The Vital Strike was a single, rough swing that contained such immense power it could send even a giant flying into the sky.

“!? Ahhhhhhhh!?”

Lancia, suddenly hit by the unexpected blow, reflexively twisted her sword to try to deflect the shock, but still ended up flying about 10 meters through the air, crashing to the ground.

She rolled backward, kicking up a cloud of dust as her body tumbled.

Waving her hand to clear the dust, Sion slowly approached.

“You got it wrong, Princess. When an attack has this much overwhelming power, you need to focus on dodging rather than blocking.

The movement beforehand is easy to see, right? Now, quickly get up.”

This was the same tone Sion always used, although there was a hint of scolding in her voice, she was still teaching her disciple.

But Lancia, who was hiding something deep inside, interpreted the words completely differently.

Instead of getting up, she collapsed to the ground, bowed deeply, and shouted.

“I’m sorry!!! I was wrong!!! In the heat of the moment, I got swept up in my desires and…!!! I won’t do it again!!! Please forgive me, just this once!!!”

“???”

A lot of question marks appeared over Sion’s face.

What’s going on with this person? Why is she acting like this?

“Why are you doing this? What did I do wrong? I don’t really know what’s going on, but please get up.

If you keep lying there, it’s going to interrupt the flow of practice. We were in such a good rhythm.”

“Haa… Hwaang! I’m sorry! I really made a mistake!! I’ll never do it again!! Please, just show me some mercy!!!”

Lancia begged for forgiveness, crying uncontrollably.

It was understandable.

To her, the hero’s current behavior seemed like she was ignoring her and taking the frustration out on her.

It’s like the thief being caught red-handed.

She already felt guilty, which led to the misunderstanding, born from fear.

“What’s going on? No, seriously, what happened?”

Sion, who had no idea what was going on, just stood there with a confused expression.