The night was still young. After a hearty dinner and a peculiar conversation with the Ghost, Rama wasted no time and headed straight to the Hunter Training Center. There, he spotted Adrien near the reception desk.
"Sir," Rama greeted.
Adrien looked up from the book he was reading. "Oh, you've come. I thought you wouldn't be here so soon."
"Well, I want to learn faster," Rama replied.
Adrien smiled. "Alright." He stood up and walked towards their usual training area.
Rama grabbed his training sword and prepared for another lesson from Adrien, his new mentor. They began revisiting the lesson Rama had recently learned. It didn't take long for Rama to repeat everything perfectly.
The precision of every move Rama made astonished Adrien. He had only taught him once, but Rama had already memorized it all.
"I seem to be teaching a prodigy," Adrien remarked with a smile.
Rama, unaccustomed to receiving praise, just keeps silent. He had never been complimented before.
"Now that you've mastered the basics of sword training, we can move on to the next stage," Adrien said. "Have you ever heard of any sword techniques?"
Rama shook his head. He had heard a few names of sword techniques used by Hunters during missions, but he had no real understanding of them.
"I suspected as much," Adrien said. "There are many sword techniques employed by Hunters. Some techniques are passed down within Hunter families and are forbidden to be taught to those outside the family. But there are still plenty of techniques you can learn freely."
Rama hadn't known about this, but he had suspected as much as well.
Families of Hunters who participated in the War undoubtedly hold specific powers and techniques that they won't teach to outsiders. Perhaps it's to preserve the purity of those techniques or to prevent others from mastering them better than their own family members.
"I'll teach you a technique that's most commonly used by Hunters. It's pretty easy to learn," Adrien said.
Rama scratched his cheek. "Can't you teach me something more... uh... special than a common technique?"
Rama was eager to learn something new, and all of this was very new to him. If he was going to learn a sword technique, Rama wanted it to be something special, something not possessed by other Hunters.
That's what he desired, but Adrien had a different opinion. He snorted and then chuckled, looking at Rama as if he were the most ridiculous child in the world.
"You're getting ahead of yourself, son. I did say you're a prodigy, but you're not that special. Even the most talented child in a Hunter family takes years to learn a sword technique. There's a lot of talented people," Adrien said.
Rama flushed. He realized he had just said something without understanding anything.
"Don't rush. Learning a sword technique takes patience and a long time. For now, you should learn an easy sword technique first, and then you can learn a more... special technique, as you desire."
Rama glanced up, seeing Adrien's expression as if he thought he was a silly boy.
"I understand, sir," Rama said.
Afterward, they began to learn the most common and easiest-to-learn sword technique for Hunters, known as 'Rookie Slash.'
This technique was an evolution of all the basic sword techniques. With it, Hunters could use the basics they had learned more effectively for both offense and defense.
Rama received a notification indicating that his proficiency had increased while learning the 'Rookie Slash' technique.
< Sword mastery, Beginner Level 8 (33/100) >
Upon seeing this notification, Rama smiled. Despite his sweating face and heavy breathing from fatigue, he had achieved something significantly better.
"You look happy," Adrien said.
"Yeah," Rama replied. "I'm quite pleased."
Adrien smiled and nodded. "Today's training ends here. We need some rest."
"But I don't feel tired at all, sir," Rama said.
"Yeah? Good for you. But I'm old, and I need rest."
"Oh," Rama said. "Alright, sorry."
Adrien set down his practice sword and went to the staff room. Rama expressed his desire to continue practicing, and Adrien allowed him, to think that Rama was indeed a diligent and intelligent young man.
His extraordinary stamina had momentarily puzzled Adrien, but he quickly dismissed the question. Perhaps Rama was born with remarkable stamina, which was why he could still survive with so little as a Supernatural Hunter.
Rama continued to practice what had just been taught to him, his eyes filled with a burning passion accompanying every move he made.
~~~
Meanwhile, elsewhere, someone else was practicing their sword technique. Each of her movements was well-trained, flowing flawlessly and naturally, much like a bird gliding through the air.
Every swing of her sword left behind a trail of blue mist and sparks of lightning. It was a hereditary technique possessed by her family, now passed down to her.
Alysia performed a spinning motion in the air before thrusting her sword forward. From the tip of her blade shot out a rapid combination of blue mist and lightning.
The attack struck a dummy at the far end of the room, enveloping it in a thin mist and blue lightning for several seconds, causing it to tremble intensely. When the lightning and mist dissipated, the dummy appeared scorched and battered.
"Phew..." Alysia exhaled, sweat trickling down her neck and face, reflecting the light of the lamps and making her skin glisten.
Her bosom rose and fell in time with her breath, indicating that Alysia had been training for quite a while, and fatigue was beginning to weigh on her. So, she walked over to the wall and leaned against it, casually placing her sword beside her.
"I hope this is enough to satisfy him."
Alysia gazed at the calluses on her hands, the result of all the training she had undergone thus far.
"Tomorrow is the day. Hopefully, this training will be enough to satisfy my father."
She looked up at the ceiling. Everything she did for her father seemed to be meaningless, as all she received were disappointed glances for not being able to produce the results he had hoped for.
Alysia clenched her fist. She was determined to prove that she was not a failure and that her family's decision to adopt her was not a mistake.
~~~