The training room was bigger than what Shiba expected.
When the man in his twenties had taught the others some self-defense, they decided to help him made that training room by saying that it was for everyone, but in the end, he had been the one to use it. Saying that was for everyone was just to make him accept their help in making it.
He liked training despite knowing that he would never be anything more than an expert on martial arts and swordsmanship. For someone at the Mortal Rank, that was the limit.
"Someone will bring food for us later. Now let's see if you have some talent for martial arts or not."
He planned to teach Shiba anyway, but he really hoped to find someone who could go beyond the basics.
As for the food, his cooking skills were so bad that the neighbors were used to bring him food. The neighbors were his uncles, and since the parents of that man died, they had been taking care of him.
His parents died when one day, the beasts attacked the town. It wasn't usual that something like that happened, but a lot of people died that day. He had gone to travel alone some months after that incident.
Once the fight started, Shiba quickly noticed how good his opponent was, but he still managed to avoid all the attacks.
The man wasn't going serious from the start, and Shiba's agility was far higher than that of the man.
"You are good at dodging, but that is just because the state of your body surpasses mine. Martial arts should let you surpass those with a stronger body than you. If you find an opponent at your level and stronger, you won't be able to rely on your body alone."
He could see that Shiba was far ahead of the limits for a Level 1 Mortal, but in the case that both parties had the same power, relying on that wouldn't work.
Once the man started to fight seriously, Shiba got hit. He wasn't harmed, but he was unable to avoid a lot of attacks.
"See. With enough skill, you can surpass levels. If I wanted, damaging your body isn't impossible."
Of course, if Shiba was a few levels higher instead of just one, the martial arts alone wouldn't be enough to cross the gap, but it was just one level, and Shiba didn't know how to battle.
"Continue. I won't let you hit me for too long."
Shiba was motivated when he saw the potential of martial arts.
"You have confidence. I like that!"
The man attacked again, but that time Shiba avoided it and managed to counterattack.
"So quick?"
The man avoided the counterattack, but he couldn't believe the huge change in Shiba.
What he didn't know was that once Shiba spoke, the system had started giving him instructions on how to battle. Shiba didn't manage to hit because he wasn't able to react quick enough to the system's instructions. However, just following them, his battle prowess improved a lot.
After that, the man saw how Shiba improved greatly after each attack. He was getting used to following the system's instructions, and he was gaining some insight from the practical experience.
[Disciple Shiba reached the apprentice stage on martial arts.]
Shiba wasn't sure what that meant, but he felt that he had improved a lot after hearing that notification.
"Already at the apprentice stage? This speed... It seems that you are a real genius. A pity that you are still Level 2 Mortal at your age."
The man didn't feel that Shiba could reach Rank 1 before turning sixteen. Although he felt that Shiba would be able to become an expert in martial arts, that was the limit in the Mortal Rank. He already felt a pity not being able to improve more due to that restriction, so he felt that Shiba was just like him.
Of course, Shiba could reach that level before the time limit since he hadn't surpassed it yet, but based on what the man saw when traveling, Shiba would need a lot of luck for that.
However, that man didn't know about the Legacy System. Although there was no way to guarantee that Shiba would be able to reach Rank 1 in time, it wasn't something that needed to rely purely on luck with the system there. It would depend on Shiba's efforts.
"Apprentice stage?"
Shiba muttered once he heard the same the system had said.
[The apprentice stage is the most basic stage one could obtain in martial arts, swordsmanship, and other practices. After reaching the stage limit and crossing the turning point, one can reach the expert stage.]
The system was the fastest to reply to Shiba's question. He wasn't trying to ask the system, it had been an unconscious mutter, but he was glad to have a reply.
"Once you become good enough, you reach the apprentice stage like you just did. Your body will be slightly improved when using martial arts. You should aim to the expert stage, you won't be able to improve in the expert stage at all at the Mortal Rank, but just reaching it will be really useful to you."
The man didn't know that Shiba had already got a reply, but the part of the small improvement wasn't something the system mentioned.
That was because the improvement was so small that the system didn't consider it worthy of mention.
"I see. Thank you."
After speaking, Shiba and the man continued their battle.
For the next week, they followed the same routine.
Shiba and the man trained together in their free time, while they helped others with Earth Step at the hours, it was safe for everyone to be outside. Of course, they slept properly since they weren't strong enough to train continuously without sleeping.
After that week, the man finally mastered Earth Step and reached Level 2 Mortal.
He was the first to learn the skill and the first to master it, but he needed far more time than Shiba, who mastered it the same day he got it.
There was a small celebration that day, but nothing too fancy since they didn't have the resources for that. They just ate dinner earlier than usual and on the outside with all the town together.
Shiba was already used to live in that town. Although he didn't plan to stay there forever, he felt that the training battles he had against that man each time he had time were very useful for him.
Thus, he was waiting until feeling that he couldn't improve more there before leaving.
He didn't know if people in other places would be that friendly, but he wasn't putting his hopes on that, and he was still too weak at that moment.
The fight after dinner was more intense than usual since the man was excited by his breakthrough, but since he didn't have any remaining energy of a powerful expert or something like that, he wasn't stronger than before.
However, based on how diligently he trained each day, it was just a matter of time.
The man had been needing to give his all to avoid losing against Shiba.
Shiba's battle prowess increased a lot, and with the difference in strength, he wasn't an easy opponent for that man like before.
The problem was that Shiba felt that he had already reached his limit.
"This probably means that you have hit the limit of the apprentice stage. You are learning quite quickly. Now, you reach a turning point to reach the next level. I can't give you advice on this matter. However, if you want, I have a pair of wooden swords. If you can't progress with martial arts, what do you say about practicing swordsmanship?"
Martial arts were easier to practice since there wasn't any need for a weapon, so that was what he usually taught.
However, since Shiba reached his limit, he felt that a good change of pace would be good. Anyway, he was satisfied with how much Shiba progressed. He believed that the matter about the expert stage couldn't be forced.
The system didn't offer any answer to what Shiba needed to do, but not because it didn't know. The system said that Shiba needed to find the answer for himself.
Shiba had learned martial arts mostly thanks to the system's instructions, so his improvement speed had been incredible, but he lacked the experience to reach the expert stage.
"Alright, let's put the martial arts aside for now. I wonder if I will be able to battle properly using a sword."
Shiba really liked the feeling when he was in battle. It wasn't that he liked harming others because he never hurt his opponent, but he liked the feeling of having the power to defend himself.
As for swords, he always thought that they were cool, but there was no way he had the chance to touch one before. Not even a wooden sword.
"The talent in both areas are different, but I bet you will be able to use a sword properly. You seem to have good instincts. Take this wooden sword. I only have one real sword, but I have several wooden swords, so you can keep it for yourself if you want it."
That was the first time he gifted a wooden sword, but since he had several, he felt that it would be good that Shiba kept one.