As the darkness of the night gave way to the light of dawn,
-Yaaaawn
The group prepared to get back on the road to reduce the distance between them and their destination.
Meanwhile, Mystic who had spent the whole night instructing Devon had a second sleepless night.
The only one who was most worried was none other than Noha who watched him yawn while he tied his bag to the saddle pad on the back of his demonic horse.
"Milady, are you okay? You haven't slept all night."
"I'm okay, don't mind." As always, Mystic's response was categorical.
'That guy turned out to be more hopeless than I thought; to think he doesn't even know the basics of the basics.' She sighed inwardly as she mumbled.
Claudia's eyes lit up when she saw Noha getting 'rejected' for the second time.
At least, that's how she interpreted Noha's actions, who wanted nothing more but to help her mistress.
"Huhu~, the brave knight is getting excited again." She didn't hesitate to take advantage of the situation to tease him again.
"Please Miss Claudia, keep it shut." Noha's face was still red despite his efforts to keep calm.
"Hehe, how hell can I do that? Your reactions are so cute though."
At these words, even Ivan couldn't help but grin.
'...Since when did these guys get so close?'
Mystic peeked at them with baffled eyes as she asked herself, but still, she kept quiet.
Now that everyone was prepared, Nikolas led the way to their destinations.
The second day of the journey proved to be more relaxing for the group who had hardly encountered any mutant beasts brave enough to stand up to them.
Mutant horses were also powerful beasts capable of intimidating their fellows by their mere presence.
The only one annoyed by this news was Devon who failed to collect any gains.
Although he wanted to pursue these beasts for the sake of evolution points, he was only an extra on this team.
Not to mention him, even his master had no say in the matter at the risk of annoying Nikolas who seemed to be in a hasty state of mind.
At night, as the mist raised, Mystic also got up.
However, the distance previously allowed by Nikolas was reduced by half.
Instead of a hundred meters, Mystic was not allowed to go further than fifty meters.
The reason for this is that...
"The further we venture into this forest, the more dangers multiply, so do not disobey!" Nikolas was very strict in his words.
"Understood, Sixth elder."
After this answer, Mystic brought Devon with her.
"Maybe I should go spy on them... ah no, watch over them, I'd say."
"Stay here, brat."
For the second time, Eleanor's attempt failed due to her cold father's order.
"...Sigh, okay, you won."
...
Fifty meters away from the group, a long distance for an ordinary human but short for Mystic who, due to her bloodline, could still hear the others' conversations although faint.
She shakes her head and focuses on Devon.
"Last night, you didn't survive a single movement, that's why I'm going to go easy with you this time."
"..."
As a response, Devon channels his aura and materializes it into a one-and-a-half-meter sword.
Mystic smiles, but sadistically.
"Heh, I like that look you have there."
Upon saying those words, she firmly tightens her grip on her sword's hilt, bringing it close to her shoulder.
With determination, she arches her body and adjusts her right leg slightly further forward, preparing to take action.
At this sight, a chill ran down Devon's spine as he recalled the hell he lived last night.
'…Somehow, she's more frightening than those mutant beasts.'
As he muttered these words, he also put himself on guard, copying his master's posture.
The second that followed, Mystic's silhouette vanished before Devon's eyes.
'Damn! Did I hear wrong when she said she wanted to go easy on me?'
Despite his complaints, he still managed to perceive Mystic's shadow that fluttered around him without attacking him.
This difference, however small, is probably what Mystic was talking about.
Last time, Devon didn't have the luxury of seeing her.
'She's coming!'
In a fraction of a second, Devon tightened his grasp on his sword that he urgently placed in front of the trajectory of Mystic's, which seemed to split the air in its frantic speed right at the left side of his torso.
He tried parrying the blow by holding his sword vertically.
Mystic didn't cancel her attack, nor change its trajectory, instead, she twisted her hand and gave the fake side of her blade that slid all along Devon's sword!
'Crap!' He exclaims in shock and tries to back away when he sees Mystic pierce his defense so easily.
Quite unexpectedly, Mystic also took a step to close the distance and continued her powerful breakthrough!
However, the point of her blade stops just an inch from Devon's sternum.
Following her sudden stop due to her inhuman control, Devon felt slightly shaken by a draft due to the monstrous force that accompanied Mystic's sword strike.
"Guessing the trajectory of an attack is a good thing, but without knowing how to do it properly, it will only be a disadvantage." She whispers these words before moving away from Devon.
After ten steps back, she stops and puts herself on guard.
"To make it clear to you, try to attack me this time."
Devon obeys her request.
With his sword in both hands, Devon rushed at her with incredible speed and attempted the same piercing attack that he had just suffered.
'His learning speed is quite impressive.' Mystic couldn't help but praise his perception of things as he watched him copy her previous pattern with a precision bordering on perfection.
However, she didn't react like Devon, instead, she waited until the tip of Devon's sword was inches away from reaching her.
Only then did she react by striking Devon's blade with flexibility but imbued with questionable strength!
Then she followed up with a repulsive attack aimed at Devon's neck.
"That's how you are supposed to act against a piercing frontal attack. Parry is not effective against a frontal attack, only against attacks coming from the sides when you're a rookie."
After these words are expressed in an impassive tone, she backs away a second time.
Devon raises his sword close to his face as he thinks…
'That seems more difficult than…
"Good."
Mystic didn't give him time to think.
"Now that you seem to be in harmony with the weight and size of your sword, we will proceed to the first step, the parry and the repulsion."
Last night, after realizing that Devon had no control, she let him swing his sword until morning.
Even after exhausting all his reserves of spiritual energy, she did not let Devon take a break.
With Devon's current body, things like bodily fatigue, and the need to sleep or feed himself are no longer part of his basic needs.
However, while this body allows him to be an inexhaustible soldier, his mind consumes energy to keep his consciousness clear.
As a result, instead of being physically exhausted, his mind had almost given up after several hours of doing the same movement.
'Parrying, …only against attacks coming from the sides. Otherwise, Dodge and repulsion are the best way for a rookie like me.'
Devon kept every word pronounced by Mystic in his mind as the training session kept going.
Today's training proved to be harder to endure than the previous night's.
But Devon didn't give up.
To survive, he had to be strong; the stronger he was, the greater his chances of surviving.
"No, don't hesitate! Be patient and lurk at the right opportunity before acting."
After each mistake on his part, Mystic stopped bullying him and corrected him either with words or with a demonstration.
And after reassuring herself that Devon understood correctly, she started attacking him once more.
Even after spending more than forty-eight hours without closing her eyes, Mystique remained strong and full of energy.
Each blow she placed was of incredible flexibility and dominant force.
Devon remained passive by countering her direct strike, from the side, below, or even those that came from above with his sword.
Mystic didn't allow him to change weapons throughout his training sessions.
"No! Not like that way! What I said earlier!? How many fucking times I've to said don't only lay your force to parry my strikes!? Use dodge, it'll help you to save your stamina, especially against enemies that far exceed your force!"
After hours, she yells at Devon as he parries one of her blows that came from above.
Devon didn't get angry, he just nodded before putting himself on guard for the umpteenth time.
Mystic watches his posture with fierce eyes.
'I'm amazed, no matter how many times I see him absorb my knowledge with so much ease and speed. He's like a sponge in water.'
Although inflexible outside, Mystic constantly praised Devon, which she saw become more and more powerful as she instructed him.
After such words, she continued her ferocious attacks while using tricks a few times.
Devon felt like she was preparing him to fight against humans instead of beasts.
But that didn't faze him, not at all.
Where he comes from, humans are the most feared, he wouldn't be surprised to learn that fact in this world too.
Therefore, he continued diligently to learn from her.
Around 04:00 in the morning, Mystic finally stopped.
The most impressive thing for Devon was to realize that she hadn't even broken a sweat during those long hours of training.
'Her endurance is truly phenomenal. I was lucky I didn't attack her before.'
As he recalled the times he had almost attacked her, shivers of fear ran down his body.
'However, this world has much to teach me. Stats are just points meant to increase strength, agility, and spiritual energy.
Unlike experience that sharpens my senses and feeling the instinct of danger, it is not the most important.
Without experience, the body cannot move in accordance even if it sees danger coming.
And without strength, experience can only palpably guess the direction of danger. The two go together.
Even if I become strong, I must inquire about experience to master this power that acts as a complement to my skills.'
After these words, he looks at Mystic who is cleaning her naked body with a hankie like she did last night.
'I think I'm starting to understand this girl's personality. Although she may seem silly, cold, cunning, or sometimes even insane, all these seem to be part of her.
Like a naive girl who, over time, became cold through her lifetime.
Her eyes seem to hide an anger and hatred that she barely lets out. A desire for revenge, perhaps?
Anyway, she's sometimes crazy, like when she gets naked like that in a forest packed with danger or like the time she spent half an hour swimming in a lake full of mutant fishes.
Sigh, I'm starting to get used to her. For her to build a character with so many contradictions, I start by being curious about her life experience.
With a little hindsight, I'm perhaps the most naive; how to judge somebody when you barely know her?
Most humans wear masks, and although few of them wear the mask of cruelty while having angelic hearts inside, most of them do the opposite.
Stabbing in the back of those they take for granted... How familiar it feels to me, the loneliness she hides in her eyes.