****(POV)

I am weak.

Far too weak.

They tell me that I am strong, but I know it.

They are going easy on me.

Sure I can take three of them the way they fight now.

But they are being careful not to injure me.

There is a huge difference between practice and a life and death fight.

For instance, we are only doing short bouts.

This is to my advantage.

After all, beast kings are extremely resilient and endurant.

My only chance to win in real combat is to kill them expediently.

I know that I far from being able to accomplish that.

At least I am able to dodge better than before.

I can feel them.

It is hard to explain.

In the beginning, I was relying on my senses to figure out where they were attacking from.

Now I'm using my instinct.

I'm not sure how it works myself.

Perhaps I am unconsciously guessing it?

Perhaps it is related to my will becoming stronger.

The clear application is to increase the power of the sword.

I'm not sure but I believe there may be more subtle benefits.

Like a sixth sense or something.

*Sigh*

I really wish the master that carved this tree was here.

He must have been some incredible personage.

Somehow, he managed to do it so cleanly.

Whenever I try doing the same, I realize that I leave traces.

The only way this is possible is if this master has perfect control.

Using 100% of his energy for the slash.

None wasted.

Whenever I think about that I get extremely excited.

It feels as if I have seen the door to an entirely new world.

One that I am nowhere near reaching.

Yet just the remnants, the scraps, are enough to transform me.

From a weakling to …I'm still weak actually.

It's just that before I didn't know how ignorant I was.

This opportunity is all thanks to the sectmaster.

The beasts here are his subordinates.

Honestly, I am not sure if he is human anymore.

Looking at how the creatures act talking about him…

He is definitely some transformed beast ancestor.

Still, it doesn't matter.

My allegiance will go to the sect.

I will have to find the unknown sword master at some point.

He has unknowingly been a teacher to me.

I simply hope it wasn't some sort of secret art.

It is too late to worry about it either way.

Enough thinking.

I address my protectors.

"Let's train some more!"

Some of them are complaining.

About the effort it requires.

Funny how extremely powerful creatures just want to laze all day.

Fearsome creatures that can annihilate entire sects easily.

How did I convince such dignified beings to help me?

I still can't believe it myself.

Barbecue.

Simple barbecue!

I don't even have to start a fire.

The Flame Boar King will roll on the side and let us cook on him.

He doesn't seem to care much about the smell even.

Smelling of barbecue should be shameful, but he likes it.

The others will also join at some point.

The first time this happened I was shell-shocked.

By now, I am used to it.

There is something going on about them for sure.

The weird hype the Sectmaster has toward pies and meat.

Well, they seem to share it.

One thing for sure I am never letting them taste my mom's pies.

How troublesome would it be if they got addicted?!

It would require an army to cook for them daily.

The hunting business in town would have to change to hunting and cooking.

I could picture them bullying the residents too.

Asking for daily offerings.

If I remember correctly the hunter's guild master had been looking down on our leader.

I wonder how he would react if he saw this scene.

*Sigh*

Anyway, I resume my training.

Every day I fight as much as possible.

My goal is to stay in this forest until I am able to take on all the beast kings at once.

Even the huge wolf.

This one should be related to Wolfie somehow.

It is weird realizing that the giant wolf is actually weaker than the tiny one.

Also remembering that we had a powerhouse under our roof for so long haha.

It is on such a normal training day that the mantis tells me something.

Something incredible.

At first, I am grumbling about how my sword seems to be showing some damage.

Not anything big, but I can definitely feel it.

That is when he asks me why I am even using a sword in the first place.

In the beginning, I think there is some sort of misunderstanding going on.

I explain to him the concept of weapons.

He simply gives me a weird look.

I'm wondering if there was anything complex in that explanation of mine.

Then he starts telling me a story.

About the sectmaster.

How he had beaten him a lot.

Just as I'm wondering where he is going with it...

He tells me the crux of the story.

The Sectmaster was fighting with sticks.

Random ones he would pick on the ground.

The mantis doesn't understand why I don't simply do the same while training.

That I could preserve my sword for real fights.

That is when something clicks in my head.

I finally understand.

That legacy I have been observing all along.

I always assumed it to be done with a sword.

It probably was.

But what if it wasn't a physical one?

What if whoever did it had a sword will so powerful that…?!

It would explain a lot.

I have been wrong all along.

I need to stop being dependent on my weapon.

I need to become strong on my own.

I know exactly what I have to do.

From that point on I start training even more intensely.

Except that between every training session, I take a bit of time to meditate.

I am trying to find my own sword.

The one that will represent me.

The one I will be able to easily generate out of will only.

The one that will let me show incredible prowess.

It is as much training as it is soul searching.

I ask the fox for advice.

He uses shadows as weapons.

Before long I manage to progress.

That is when I figure out a path for growth.

I need to listen to each of my companions and draw inspiration from them.

That is when I remember all the times the sectmaster kept talking about finding one's own path.

I finally understand.

I couldn't before.

But now I can.

I need to watch, listen and learn.

Then I will show the world.

How far an unarmed swordman can go.

They will all get to know Zero of The Unnamed God Sect.