What?! Was all of that just a warm-up?!

Shiki caught my wide-eyed expression and heavy breathing. He made a sound that’s akin to a kettle releasing steam. Good thing that his face was literally a mist filling an empty samurai helmet, lest… I didn’t even want to imagine how he must have looked.

“Well, then. No time to dally, my liege.”

Even though he kept calling me his liege, he didn’t bother cutting me some slack. As proof of that, black light started forming on his hands. A black portal that looked like a blackhole appeared a few inches away from his fingertips. Similar to how Bria retrieved the potions, a shining black blade with silver hilt appeared on each of his hands. Without batting an eye -- he didn’t have any, after all -- he threw one of the blades towards me. The blade spun in mid air and pierced the ground a foot away from me.

“Catch your breath, my liege. I will show you a skill, Crescent Slash. Watch and ingrain the image to your mind. Memorize the stance, motion, and feeling.”

Shiki stood still, feet together, and held the blade exactly at the middle of his chest, neck, and face. That view ridiculously seemed like a cover of a video game. However, I didn’t dare even blink. Actually, it was more that I couldn’t blink. Some unexplainable, unseen force forced my sight to be glued on him. My instincts screamed that something amazing was about to happen.

Shiki stood still for a few more seconds, then the same black aura began to cover the blade. In one smooth motion, he swung the sword sideways without moving a single step. His movement seemed like it was in slow motion, but for some weird reason, I couldn’t follow it. All that registered to me was an after image of the black blade.

Even though he was standing five meters away from me, I could feel a slash passing above my head. True enough, a few centimeter-long pieces of hair fell down. I caught myself in complete awe. My mouth was agape, eyes were wide, and breathing was momentarily halted.

“A-amazing, Shiki!” I couldn’t help but exclaim. “That was really cool! How can I do that?”

Even I myself didn’t know that I could be that excited over anything. However, I couldn’t help but get excited after experiencing such a magnificent skill first hand.

“Hearing your praises are truly a pleasure, my liege, but that demonstration was not to entertain you. That was the only time I would show you that skill.”

“What?! You’ve gotta be kidding, Shiki!” During the time I was drooling over Shiki’s demonstration, I somehow regained some energy. I stood up and protested, “I couldn’t possibly perfectly remember it in one try!”

“And why not? A warrior must possess unrivaled concentration. A moment of hesitation can result to your death, my liege,” Shiki replied like a patient teacher lecturing a dumb student.

After that, I spent a few more exchanges convincing Shiki to show me Crescent Slash, but he was adamant not too. I pushed on and even went down to my knees to beg him to show it to me one last time. Seeing that, he told me, “A warrior’s knees are worth more than gold, my liege. It must never touch the ground. Stand tall and put your chest high. I will show Crescent Slash again, but this will be the last time.”

I frantically nodded. Although I found his lines a bit too cheesy, I did my best not to show how much I was cringing inside.

True to his word, Shiki showed me Crescent Slash one more time. This time, I did my best to remember everything down to the smallest flick. Alas, I still couldn’t grasp anything the moment he started to move. As much as I want to catch as much as I could, absolutely nothing registered. After a moment of pondering, I gave up. I figured trying to figure out something I couldn’t even picture in the first place was useless.

I decided to grab the blade and copy what Shiki did. Hopefully, my muscles remembered more than what my eyes could. But when I tried pulling the blade out of the ground, the blade didn’t even budge. I tried using both hands, but there wasn’t any difference. I then tried using my entire body, feet, and even diving at it, but to no avail.

Seeing my pitiful self, Shiki shook his head. “My liege… your strength seems to be greatly lacking. I’m afraid using a blade is not within the realm of possibilities just yet.”

My shoulder sagged. That much should’ve been obvious. Why did I even bother getting all excited? The world that felt so bright and cheerful suddenly became stormy and dark. I felt like an ant threading a mighty storm. I was a small, irrelevant being.

“My liege, hold your head up high. A warrior could lose everything, but never his courage. Weakness is but a rock on your path.”

Weirdly enough, his words somehow gave me some sort of ease. I stared at Shiki. The glaring black samurai armor with no hint of flesh made me wonder how a heartless -- quite literally -- thing understood the depths of one’s heart.

I pushed those thoughts back. That wasn’t important. What’s important was that what Shiki said was true. I stood straight, traced the sculpted grooves on the blade’s silver hilt. “Then, what should I do to learn Crescent Slash, Shiki?” I mustered the most courageous voice I could, but it came out as a pipsqueak trying to act tough.

“To train, my liege.”

Even though only black mist came out under Shiki’s helmet, I was certain he was grinning at me when he said that.

***

I groaned every time I even as much as slightly moved. It was then that I fully paid attention to the cushion’s softness. As bruised and battered I was, the cushion caved to accommodate my figure. I didn’t feel any resistance, which my bruised skin and strained muscles heavily thanked. At that point, even breathing was a tad bit painful.

After Shiki told me that training was all that I could currently do, his character took a complete 180 degree turn. From a wise, genuine master, he turned into a draconian slavedriver. His right hand glowed once more, but a black whip came out instead of the black wave. Although I called it a whip, it barely resembled one. It was entirely black from tip to tip. Also, it didn’t have a handle. The point where the handle was supposed to be was attached to Shiki’s glove. The moment I saw that, chills ran down my spine. I knew that something bad was about to happen.

A quick flick of his wrist snapped my attention back to reality. I was lucky enough to dodge the first strike, but a barrage soon followed. Basically, I had to run for my life, literally. Shiki nonchalantly whipped behind me as if he was taking a stroll. On the other hand, I ran until it felt like my feet were coming off and every breath felt like fire.

After that, Shiki grabbed a tree branch and made me swing it again and again… and again… I probably swung it hundreds, no, thousands of times. Just thinking about it made me squirm.

At that moment, the rustic wooden door creaked open. A silver head peered in, a wide grin plastered on its face. A bad premonition.

“So, Kaito, how did training with Shiki go?” Bria seamlessly strided closer without missing a beat. Just right she finished her sentence, she was standing beside the bed.

“Oh, ah, it’s fine.” I figured badmouthing Shiki’s draconian training regimen to another demon teacher wouldn’t bear any good fruit. “So, uhmm… Are we having lessons again?”

Bria’s eyes lit up the moment she heard the word lessons. She put her hands on her back, completely obvious that she was trying to hide her excitement. “Yes, Kaito. But before that, did you realize your special talent? Awaken any skill? Discovered anything new?”

After every question, her face came a few inches closer to mine.

Her excitement made my heat sink. In reality, there wasn’t such an awakening. I merely beat myself black blue, although forced. The time spent still and lying made me ponder about my situation. In my original world, I was ousted and unwanted. Everyone was busy minding their own business. Honestly, lack of any sort of connection with my classmates was nothing. What broke my heart was the fact that even my own parents didn’t seem to bother about my existence.

When I realized that I was summoned into this gamelike world, a budding seed of hope inside me sprouted. This could be my ticket for change. To be significant. To be wanted. However, fate was truly cruel. Not only was I not summoned by the Demon Lord Lureschka, which, according to countless fantasy stories I read, was the vilest race. More so, my lack of any relevant talent.

I placed my hand below my chin and gently caressed it despite how painful it was. “Thinking about it, I did level up today.”

Bria’s eyes brightened even more, which I didn’t know was even possible. “Oh, really?! What happened after you level up?”

Bria didn’t bother to breathe in between her inquiries. She smiled at me like a child and gave me heavy expectant looks.

“Well, I somehow gained 2 additional points on all my attributes. Also, Shiki’s drac-- strict training schedule somehow increased my agility by 5 and strength by 4.”

“Understandably, every attribute could be raised by training. However, why did you receive attributes simply for leveling. Plus, isn’t it a bit too fast even for a hero to level up this fast. At least, that’s what our database recorded.” Bria muttered to herself.

Seeing the serious expression she was wearing, I prodded a bit. “Bria, is this not good?”

My question seemingly got her out of her thoughts. She made a face that looked like I just insulted her face to face. Like an innocent child being accused, Bria grabbed my shoulders, shook me, and responded in a deep, serious voice, “No! Definitely not!”

Hearing that made me heave a sigh of relief. I had too many shortcomings from the previous world and in this one. Hearing that somethin about me was at least not bad was a very welcome change of pace. Bria continued, “Actually, we might have found your talent. Reaching another level almost always took a week at the very least. Of course, the higher the level means the harder it is to level up. Some even take years to gain an additional level. Except maybe the lowest levels taking a few days, but leveling up in a single day was practically unheard of. However, you did so twice within a day. Even if it is from the lowest level, that is still unbelievably fast. In addition to that, typical level up should only give an additional attribute and not two.”

I stared at her, completely oblivious of what she was talking about. Seeing my confused look, Bria straightened her back, looked me in the eye, and said, “Simply speaking, Kaito, you are currently very weak. However, your growth speed and additional attributes are of another level. Your gift may be lying on your potential. Whether it’s your talent or a common thing, only time can tell.”