"Have any of you ever seen 'true talent'?"

Everyone was gathered here, Memento Mori, Angelina, Amelia, and even Aya. Everyone looked at each other and all of them began pointing at Kai.

"...What I have isn't talent. You don't know how many times I've trained to perfect my techniques and skills. The only talent I have is the speed I cultivate my mana and magic power and blacksmithing. My techniques and weapon masteries are things I've spent years under the tutelage of deities and spirits."

Everyone felt like those words were total crap. His mastery of weapons couldn't be learned in 6-7 years with hard work alone. A normal person with no prior knowledge with swordsmanship would only take a few months to spar like an amateur but to become a master swordsman was different. Some spend their whole lives without truly mastering the sword. Kai didn't truly become a 'master swordsman' in the truest sense of the word but without a doubt, his mastery wasn't something that could be learned in ten years with simply hard work.

The fact that he could wield all of the weapons he had in his arsenal with efficiency and skill was enough to vouch for his talent. Not to mention his magical techniques, Abyssal Wolf was a technique witnessed by all of them save for Aya. The power of that move and the principle behind it couldn't be understood without great perception.

"Though if you all call me talented and a monster, then the person we're about to meet is a God- no, he's above a God in terms of talent."

"Above a God...? What kind of person is that?"

Kazuki muttered.

Erina and Amelia who heard that furrowed their brows. The others obviously had no knowledge of Supreme Beings but the two of them did. Kai was a Supreme Being-level talent, is there really another person like him in the same generation? No, even in the past generations there were no recorded talents like him in the past three hundred years.

"I heard that Gods govern the elements so there must only be a few of them, but nobody said that they created the elements."

"...That's true."

Date and Kei asked each other.

They were all gathered because school had just ended, it was already the afternoon but they had plenty of time before nighttime. Kai invited them all to meet a single person, Erina and Amelia would agree without a doubt and since Kai also said that person was strong, Yoko accepted immediately. Natsumi went along under the condition that Kazuki would accompany them because the siscon couldn't allow her to be alone with Kai, completely unaware of the events that had transpired the night before. And about those events...

"Kai, what is that slap mark on your face?"

"..."

Kazuki asked Kai who remained silent.

"Umi, you should stay with Date or Kei for the time we stay there. That guy has a thing for blue haired girls. Even if it was on the level of the most beautiful girls in the world like Erina and Amelia, they wouldn't even enter his eyes unless they had blue hair."

Erina turned slightly red while Amelia accepted the compliment with a relaxed smile. Natsumi became displeased though.

"Though the only thing more important to him than blue haired girls is swordsmanship. He prides himself in the fact that he can cut anything. Even I wouldn't take a sword swing of his head-on. If we relied on skill alone, I wouldn't even be able to graze him."

Could a person like that really exist...?

Everyone had the same thoughts flowing through their heads. Kai was stronger than all of them whether it be skill or pure strength, but now he admitted that someone completely beat him in terms of skill, how would they feel?

"There it is."

Kai stopped in front of a small house fit for a family of three.

"You guys can head over to the back door, I'll go in through the front. All of you stay on your guard and keep up defenses."

Although everyone had question marks floating on top of their heads, they followed his advice.

There was a small courtyard in the back, the door was open as if the person inside was prepared to receive them beforehand though the moment they entered, all they saw was the walls and ground filled with cuts, someone frequently practiced swordsmanship here and didn't bother to care about the surroundings.

They all looked around and found many interesting things like metal being cut cleanly in half and even parts of the wall were cut through so smoothly that it felt like a hot knife cutting through butter. None of them could cut so smoothly but it was true that all of them had the ability to destroy a wall with a sword.

"...I can sort of see what Kai means now. I've never seen him really cut a wall with a sword but to have a slice as smooth as this..."

The one who said this was Kazuki who had fought Kai before. Just as Erina was about to respond, she sensed something and quickly turned around. The others followed soon after while Amelia had already been looking since they entered.

BOOM

Through the wall, a body was blasted through and landed on the edge of the courtyard.

"Kai!"

Umi shouted in surprise. Kai clicked his tongue at the graze on his cheek and prepared his sword, the snake blade, Deceit.

"Attacking out of the blue, as expected of the battle maniac."

Kai said so with a mocking tone.

"Hahaha! You expected it as well, didn't you? You already had that blade out when you entered the door."

The voice of a nonchalant youth could be heard through the dust from the broken wall.

Stepping out of the dust was a youth taller than Kai at about 180 cm, he held a normal great sword over his shoulder. His white hair and eyes made him accompanied by his white tuxedo made him look like he just came out of a painting. His face was levels above the norm, a lot better looking than Kai and Kazuki so the great sword on his shoulder really didn't fit him. The great sword was rusty and looked like it could snap at any moment.

"Wake Illeon, is this how you greet people?"

"I don't care for that and neither do you, now let's get to fighting."

Kai shrugged at his useless query and charged forward. The snake blade extended and twisted itself but Wake countered it easily. Kai retracted the blade and twisted his body while extending the sword, the blade was a lot stronger than when normally used because of Kai's spin but Wake didn't feel threatened at all and countered it again.

In that instant, Kai's eyes sharpened and he dodged by leaping backwards. The floor in front of him was cut open.

"Your eyes are as sharp as ever."

Everyone was watching the battle closely. Only Kai and Amelia were able to see the trajectory of the sword. Erina wasn't a fighter to begin with; she only learned the important parts of swordsmanship required for nobles.

But the strangest part was that Wake hadn't taken a stance. He had slashed down leisurely but everyone felt their instincts screaming danger.

"You told me that if I defeat you, then you'd listen my orders for a while right?"

"...I recall that happening. I would gladly do that though. Anyone stronger than me in swordsmanship has earned my respect and I'll follow them until I've bested them!"

Kai switched weapons from the snake blade to a katana. He inhaled deeply then exhaled. Raising his sword overhead, Kai spoke a few words.

"Null Distance Sword: Shorten the Path, Reveal the Exit."

Kai stepped forward once while slashing down and he appeared in front of Wake. The distance between them was at least twenty meters but none of them managed to follow Kai. The sword that was slashing down was directly on top of Wake.

"Wow! That's so cool!"

Wake said while blocking Kai's sword.

"Not a single swordsman in the kingdom would've been able to block that, you monster."

"Hahaha! It was really close though, I almost had my arm cut off."

Almost as if it was waiting for his words, the cloth on top of his shoulder was cut but no wound could be seen.

"...Formless Sword."

Wake muttered, Kai immediately stepped backwards but he still remained in sword reach.

"Sei!"

Kai yelled as he thrust his sword forward. Wake immediately counterattacked with a thrust of his own but Kai changed. A ghost-like silhouette accompanying his thrust changing it into a slash. Wake switched to defense but just as he did so, Kai's body turned ghost-like once more and he slashed from another direction forcing Wake to jump backwards.

"Amazing!"

Wake yelled in joy.

"Shut up, battle maniac!"

...

Everyone other than Wake had the same reaction.

Like hell you could talk!

"Formless Sword: Hecatoncheires."

Wake slashed out and Kai immediately used Null Distance Sword to block Wake's attacks but he immediately changed course and Kai changed into a ghost-like figure to block it but just as he was about to hit it, Wake once more changed course.

Kai didn't know what or who a Hecatoncheires was- but he came here prepared.

"Fifty heads, a hundred hands."

Kai described the creature from which the name came from.

"Null Distance Sword: Asura."

Kai released a bloodthirsty aura along with a ghost-like form. Wake attacked as if he had a hundred hands with two hands holding a sword each while Kai had 4 ghost-like arms along with his normal two.

The scene was insanely surreal. It was as if war gods had descended into mortals and fought. One of them had three heads and six arms while the other looked like a beast with fifty heads and a hundred arms.

It was obvious to who held the advantage... but unlike the beast, Kai imitated a demon.

Relying on his eyes, Kai deflected each and every attack while Wake relied on his instinct to counter Kai. If Kai used magic right now, he would win. But the two of them are only using sword styles. Kai's ghost-like figures required a lot of mana while Wake's technique relied on pure swordsmanship.

Soon, Wake's assault ended. He ended up with no wounds or cuts while Kai was injured all over.

"...You win."

"Heh!"

Wake smugly raised his head.

"Though you improved greatly since our last battle and it seemed as if you know what technique I was going to use but I'm fairly certain I've never used it against anyone before."

Kai shrugged his shoulders to avoid answering and went back to everyone as his wounds healed. It was a funny sight to see that all of his wounds were healing but the red mark on his face stayed.

"...Kai, you can heal that now."

Erina said so which Kai immediately complied to. Kai summoned golden flames and held it to the side of his cheek while walking with Wake.

"Now everyone, guess how long Wake has wielded a sword."

"...since he could walk?"

Kazuki asked to which Kai shook his head.

"Ten years?"

This time it was Kei to which Date shared the same opinion.

"Umm... five years?"

Umi asked but before anyone could answer, Wake vanished from his spot and appeared next to Umi while holding her hands.

"Will you marry me?!"

"Huh...?"

Umi was too shocked to answer. Kai vanished and grabbed Wake from the collar of his shirt and dragged him back towards their previous spot.

"Let me go, Kai! I have to marry that girl! She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen! Look at that blue hair, so vibrant and natural... Kai!"

Wake struggled as if his life depended on it to which Kai sighed.

"Anyway, this degenerate might be like this but he's actually very insanely talented. The first time he wielded a sword was four months ago, just before I enrolled into school."

"...Huh?"

Kei who loved the sword greatly had his mouth open. Kazuki who prided himself with the great sword had eyes wide open.

"K-Kai, don't joke with us like this..."

Arata laughed while scratching his head. Kai sighed and showed them Wake's hands.

"See any calluses?"

All of them looked closely but the calluses on his hands... were obviously new.

"He's only practiced swordsmanship when I threw a sword at him four months ago. He's the greatest swordsman in the continent, even more skilled than that Rein but because he was quite lax before he wielded a sword, he's only D-class."

At that point, everyone was shocked. When Kai spoke about true talent earlier, they never really believed him completely. But now that they saw Wake... they completely believed Kai's earlier words.

"Things have changed and I can't allow you all to stay weak. I will introduce you all to your respective trainers and/or training places. Kei and Your Highness, you will stay here and observe Wake's swordsmanship. You don't need to use the Formless Sword because it's this guy's original sword style but you can at least grasp how to wield a sword from him."

Kai looked at Date and Arata.

"You two are next, let's go."