A week passed by just like that.
Waking up in the morning, exercise, daily task, and then sword practice until night before going to sleep again.
Repeating the same routine for a whole week, I then began to actually get used to this world.
It's now been 24 days since I arrived in this world.
After days of getting beaten up by Kim Jaesuk, we then started sparring with each other as well.
Of course, we didn't know any fancy technique or whatever, so we just swing our swords at each other trying to hit the other's sword.
After observing us for days, captain Morris told us our biggest weakness, which is that we always close our eyes every time our sword clashed in front of our face.
Of course, I admit that since it's true.
It's hard for me not to close my eyes when I thought that something is about to hit me, kinda like a reflex.
He then said that aside from not letting go of the sword, it's equally important to not close your eyes no matter what happen, because in that split second that you missed, a lot of things could happen in a real battle.
I tried to not close my eyes when such situation occur, but it's not as easy as I thought.
The fear of something hitting my face always makes me closes my eyes.
After that, we kept practicing until today.
Just like last week, today we'll be sparring against the sibling(?) Ars and Sutra.
When me and Kim Jaesuk arrived at the barrack, both of them are already there with captain Morris.
Just like last week, Ars is still looking at us with clear contempt while Sutra is just showing a slight smile.
"Tch... making us wait like that, how great you guys are..."
Hearing that, I then talked back
"So? did I ask you to wait for us? I don't think so. Complain to captain Morris if you want kid"
"Wha- you!"
Ars then glared at me while captain Morris just shake his head.
"Alright all of you, get into position. The lineup will be like last week, Alex against Ars and Jaesuk against Sutra. Unlike last week, we'll start with Alex against Ars first"
Getting into position, captain Morris then started the spar.
"3... 2... 1... start!"
The moment, captain Morris said start, Ars dashed towards me like last week, just as I predicted.
But instead of blocking his sword, I evaded by leaning my upper body slightly to the back, before swinging my sword at him, which knocked him back even though he blocked it.
He clearly looked surprised at my reaction, before getting angry and dashed towards me again.
But as he's dashing towards me, I too dashed towards him and we both swing our sword at each other.
The moment our sword clashed, I can feel my hand going slightly numb already.
Even after practicing for a few weeks, I still can't imagine being able to clash our swords several times at each other with full power like this.
After a few clash, I got pushed back because of how intense my opponent are.
(clank clank clank)
And then just a few seconds after that my sword flew.
(thud)
And I too, fell to my butt.
"..."
Without saying anything, Ars walked away and stood a little behind next to captain Morris.
Kim Jaesuk then walked to me and pulled me up from the ground.
"Good job"
He said while smiling
"Yeah, you too good luck!"
I said while walking to a distance to watch his spar against Sutra.
"Okay Jaesuk and Sutra, get ready. 3... 2... 1... start!"
When captain Morris announced the start of the spar, none of them move.
They just hold their sword still and looked at each other while moving slightly to the side.
Kim Jaesuk is the first to dash toward Sutra swinging his sword, while Sutra blocked it with ease.
Sutra's not staying still while Kim Jaesuk's pushing him back either.
He began to fight back making the fight quite even, but it's clear that Kim Jaesuk looked more tired while Sutra is still looking fine.
"Alright that's it!"
Despite how Kim Jaesuk's getting pushed back, He's able to hold his sword for five minutes before captain Morris announced the end of the spar.
"Huff... huff..."
"You've improved a lot since last week. Good work"
Sutra said to Kim Jaesuk.
I wonder why can't Ars be like that too instead of showing that kind of attitude towards me.
"Yeah, you too. Thanks"
Kim Jaesuk replied.
"Alright, its clear that you both improve significantly since last week, especially you Jaesuk. You might have a talent in being a swordsman"
Hearing that, can't say that I'm not jealous.
"What do you think, Sutra?"
"Hmm, Kim Jaesuk is definitely improving a lot in using the sword, but in Alex's case it's different"
"Explain"
"Yes, sir. Kim Jaesuk's sword technique is definitely better and so is his sword handling. But in Alex's case, he relied more on predicting his opponent's next move to react accordingly, even though his sword handling is a bit rough"
Hearing that, I got slightly surprised because He correctly guessed how exactly I fought with Ars.
"I see, you're correct. I think the same"
Captain Morris then elaborated more
"He's right Alex, your fighting style is a bit too rough to the point that you've wasted a lot of stamina. That's why you got tired easily during fight"
"..."
"Try not to waste too much energy when avoiding the opponents' attack. I'll teach you something new tomorrow, so let's end it here for today. Get a rest and reflect on how to improve"
After saying that, He told us to disperse.
Everyone then left except for me and Kim Jaesuk.
Just before Kim Jaesuk leave, I hold him back and asked him to spar with me.
"Hey, let's spar"
"Now?"
"Yes, spar with me for a moment"
"Sure"
Taking our stance, we then sparred against each other.
After few minutes, the spar ended in my lost.
"Huff.. huff... it's so tiring"
"C'mon, let's go back"
He said. Looking at his back, it's not as sweaty as I am.
I then realised that just as I was getting stronger, Kim Jaesuk too, is improving in a rather faster pace than me.
I can't help but feel slightly down, even jealous.
'How envious..."
The moment that thought came into my mind, I shuddered.
'No... I can't think like that. He's my best friend and I should be glad that he's improving too...'
Sealing up my thought, I followed him back home.
---
"Adrian, how's your training going?"
At dinner, grandpa asked Adrian how he's doing at the pharmacy.
"I'm doing well. I kinda liked doing this, mixing and experimenting stuff..."
He then told us what he's been doing at the pharmacy.
He memorised a lot of herbs rather quickly and it seems that even the alchemist got impressed and decided to teach him a few formulas.
He's not able to create a healing potion, which he said is very bitter but is more potent in healing a small wound instantly than the common one.
"Whoa, so you're gonna become alchemist soon?"
Kim Jaesuk asked.
"I'm planning to become one, so yes"
"You gotta make us potions when we suffer injuries then hahaha"
I said jokingly.
Adrian then smiled evilly while saying
"Hahaha of course, if you can say that after trying out my potions then sure..."
"Is there any grades in potions and stuff?"
Kim Jaesuk asked.
"Yes, there is. Potions are divided into a lot of categories, which is Recovery Potion, Strengthening Potion, and Attack Potion"
"What? I can understand Recovery and Strengthening Potions, but what the heck is Attack Potion?"
I cut him off while he's explaining, which makes him glares at me.
"I'll explain, okay? Just listen"
"..."
"So, Recovery Potion literally means what it said. Recover your stamina and magic power, heals your wound, etc. Strengthening Potion can be used to strengthen yourself, be it your strength, stamina, magic power, and even agility to above your limit. Lastly, Attack Potion. For example, there's this bottle filled with liquid. When I throw it, it will explode a few seconds later"
"Ohh..."
"Basically, an Attack Potion is one that alchemist uses to defend themselves. Teacher said that there's many more category but these are the ones that I need to focus on first"
"It sounds rather hard"
"Not really, I'm a fan of this kinda things so I enjoyed it"
"Good for you..."
After dinner, we all went to our room.
At my room, I checked my status once again to see my increase in attributes.
- STATUS WINDOW -
Name : Alex Stone
Age : 21
Race : Human
Attributes
Strength : 12 (from 10)
Constitution : 16 (from 15)
Dexterity :10 (from 9)
Intelligence : 4
Luck : 8
It seems that my dexterity has finally gone up too.
I wonder if its because I've been doing reflex training for a while now.
'But why the heck my Intelligence is still at four points? Since I'm able to predict my opponent's move doesn't it means that I'm smart? Why's it not increasing? Am I just dumb compared to other?'
Shaking my head at that thought, I closed my eyes to sleep.