(Arielle POV)

_Welcome to my dojo_

‘Is this the place?’

My previous master, Captain Lloyd Kennedy spoke about this dojo in the Rusa Empire that produces the finest swordsmen on the continent. This nation was a bit far from Colchis and it took me six days to get here by carriage.

The competition for dojos in this kingdom is huge since many aspired knights are picky when they want to enrol in an institute to their liking.

My master says that the quality of the teacher is far more important than the academy or dojo itself.

Rosetta. She’s the only person on the continent that can rival the leader of the White Order in swordsmanship. In fact, she was the master of Iris back when she was still a trainee knight.

‘I can’t wait to meet her.’

I knocked on the large door. As I waited, I looked around the vicinity.

Large trees were all around the huge property of Madam Rosetta’s dojo. The dojo stands out quite a bit even though it’s located in the slums of the Rusa Empire.

The walls look newly built and sturdy for defense. The entire building of the dojo seemed to have been built with expensive materials.

Quiet footsteps approached the door. I readied myself for meeting the woman they call the ‘Tigress of the Sword’ or ‘Fierce Sword God’. Just hearing her name can incite different emotions in the hearts of people that know of her.

Creak

The large door swung open. I didn’t notice it before but it looks like the amount of materials used to build the gate would naturally make it heavy.

But a single woman pushed it open with one hand. She’s–

“…huh?”

I rubbed my eyes when I saw the legend herself opening the door.

“You must be Arielle. Come on in, child.”

The old woman had her hands behind her back as she guided me through the garden. I looked towards my left where people were shouting and saw a bunch of small children practicing their swings.

‘Is this old hag really the legend herself? She has the body shape of a woman in her thirties but the skin of a 70 year old woman.’

“Little Lloyd said you’d come but I didn’t expect you to arrive so early. How has he been lately? The little brat stopped sending me letters.”

I snapped out of my confused state.

“Well–“

Just as I wanted to answer–

SHIIIIRK

!!!!

A long thin blade almost stabbed me in the throat. Luckily I was saved thanks to my instincts.

I deflected the blade with a dagger I had at the back.

“Hoh.”

The old woman retracted her sword and sheathed it. All the disciples looked our way.

“You seem to have disbelief on whether I’m the real master of this dojo.”

“H-How did you…”

I looked at my hands. They were shivering uncontrollably. In that split second, she managed to unsheathe her sword and direct the blade towards my throat.

Is this what it’s like to feel fear?

“Your abnormal instincts saved you today, child. Although, I wanted to cut off a little from your eyebrows.”

She chuckled.

‘S-she really is Rosetta.’

After I saw the strike of her sword, I instantly realized–

‘I’m standing in front of a monster.’

She led me through a huge building that was built in a classical way. I couldn’t help but notice that there were only females everywhere I looked.

“Um, master Rosetta?”

“Hm?”

“Why are there no males?”

“Ah, that. There have been many here before but there were also many complaints from the females about them.”

“What kind of complaints?”

“Assaults. Sexual Assaults.”

What…

“There have been ten cases so far. I personally punished them but the damage was already done. I decided to make this a female only dojo. One of my disciples from the past take in males. He is just as skilled as Lloyd so there’s no worry about the drop in quality of the teacher.”

We came towards the backyard. I already put my bags down in my room. Madam Rosetta pointed to the middle of the backyard. There was a lone girl standing there.

She had black silky hair that fluttered beautifully in the wind. A little bit of her bountiful chest could be seen through her kimono.

She was standing there with her eyes closed.

“She’ll be the one that’ll determine whether you’ll stay or leave.”

“What? There was something like this?”

I never thought I’d fight someone minutes after arriving. My master never said something like this.

‘Could it be that this was meant to be a surprise?’

Maybe this is like the saying ‘Adapt to whatever challenge you may face’. It’s something that is frequently experienced in war or in life itself.

I’ll just think of it as such.

The girl’s eyes met mine. Her pupils were blood red and her eyes were narrowly sharpened. She had a stoic expression on her beautiful face. A beauty mark is above her lip, heightening her beauty.

‘Ugh, she’s so pretty. I should also take care of my appearance from now on.’

I never really cared about how I looked like. My maids dressed me up anyway. I felt bitter as the cool beauty made her way towards us.

She bowed to Rosetta.

“Master.”

“Mmm. She will be your opponent.”

To Rosetta’s words, the girl tilted her head.

“I understand.”

She went back to the centre, after taking out a wooden sword from the racks.

“Go on now.”

I nodded my head and quickly chose a weapon.

I chose a double bladed sword.

“I am Celina. What is your name, fellow disciple?”

She extended her hand for a handshake. I put my hand on hers and felt how hard her hand was. The bandages on her hands must be to prevent callouses from developing on the palm of her hand.

“Arielle Luxembourg.”

Her face twisted.

“I see. A noble.”

She roughly shook off my hand and took some distance away.

‘What was that all about?’

After moving 10 metres away, she got into a stance I’d never seen before.

I also got into my own stance.

“Either win by making your opponent give up or make them unconscious.”

Madam Rosetta acted as the referee.

She then said in a low voice.

“Ki and Aura is allowed.”

Doesn’t that sound too extreme for a practice duel?

I wanted to protest but instantly shut off all thoughts when I saw the Celina girl cover her body in Ki.

It was like a gentle ripple on the surface of a pool of water.

‘Alright then.’

Rumble

Compared to her calm Ki, mine was the chaotic type that focused solely on power and destruction. The aura was the same as violently shaking a glass of water.

She had purple Ki while mine was silver. Her expression remained the same even as I poured all my power into my Ki infusion. All my senses sharpened and a new sense became accessible to me.

A sixth sense.

Normally, young knights like me would need to train for years to be able to get it. But I was training alongside a real prodigy. We fought every time to see the results of our training.

Compared to Artoria, this Celina girl looks like she was holding a wooden stick.

But that doesn’t mean I’ll let my guard down just because this girl is weaker than Artoria.

“Begin!”

Both of us dashed into each other and interlocked our weapons. I was momentarily surprised by the strength behind her sword but quickly recovered.

–Strength isn’t always important in a fight.

Those were my master words whenever I throw a fit during training. He’d pummel me whenever I chose to fight with strength alone without using any techniques or sword skills.

CLANG

TAK

WHOOSH

If I have strength and my instincts then Celina has strength combined with speed. How long has she trained under Rosetta?

Could she be the Dark Sword Maiden my master was talking about? The one that Rosetta saved from a battlefield and raised.

Judging by how everything she’s wearing is black, that might’ve been the case.

‘That doesn’t matter. I must win or at least make an impression.’

I’m ready to go through hell to get stronger. I made a promise with my beloved.

I’ll get stronger. Strong enough that I could protect him.

“What’s important when training your skills with the sword?”

Rosetta spoke as we exchanged blows.

“Is it for strength? No. Willpower? No. Is it perhaps a promise?”

A hit landed in my shoulder since I was too distracted by her words.

“That’s also a no. The truth is there’s no real answer to this question. We can have many reasons as to why we want to become stronger.”

Celina released more Ki as I took distance since my arm was numbed a bit.

“When making up your mind to become a swordsman, you must have the qualifications. And I’m not talking about where you come from or how much money you have. What matters most is what’s in your heart. If your sword and your heart become one, then there’s no telling how powerful you can become with the sword.”

Tak

Tak

“Ugh!”

I finally landed a hit on Celina. Although she quickly dodged my second attack. That girl was really something else.

“Arielle, what is your reason for becoming stronger?”

Celina stood still, seemingly also interested.

I tightened the grip on the wooden sword and declared.

“Power.”

“Kek.”

Rosetta snickered but stopped when she saw my face.

“You’re serious, huh.”

It felt like my senses heightened as we fought for a longer duration. A few more minutes and then this battle would be mine to win.

Celina then shortened the distance and swung her sword in an arc. Her sword may be made from wood but the sound of the air being cut instantly made me heighten my guard.

“The girl you’re fighting is different.”

I couldn’t understand what Rosetta was talking about.

“She has no goal for becoming stronger.”

“What’s the point when I have nothing like a family to protect? Or have no need of power?” Celina spoke after she swung her sword.

The power behind her slash was even stronger than before.

Did Rosetta purposely mention Celina?

“Parents left.”

Her strike aimed for my head but I blocked it, although with a little difficultly.

“The people that said they’d protect me from harm sold me!”

Her eyes glowed a fiery red as her calm Ki began to ripple.

“I had to kill my first person when I was 8! And that person was my father! I hated him!”

My eyes widened.

“Celina. Stop.”

Celina’s sword was inches away from my throat. Her face was all scrunched up and it felt like she was looking at the enemy of her parents.

She gradually lost her anger and glared at Rosetta.

“Please do not play with a person’s feelings by bringing up my past. This is why so many of your disciples hate you when they finish their training here at the dojo. I hope someone kills you in your sleep, you old dog.”

“Kekeke. Impossible.”

Celina threw down the sword and bowed to me after our match ended.

“I approve of her becoming a fellow disciple. She will one day become a strong swordsman.”

Celina cracked a small smile as she walked past me.

She left the courtyard with quick steps.

Only Rosetta and I remained.

“I might have gone a bit too far. Ohoho!”

“…”

This old hag. That’s what I was thinking but there’s no way that I’d say it out loud.

“Let me tell you the rules before you head back to your room.” She held up a finger. “First. You complete whatever training I throw at you no matter what it is. Second. You are responsible for your own breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

“What? So I receive lodging but not food?”

She nodded her head.

“Who do you think will look after you on a battlefield? Let me tell you this now, we swordsmen are different from knights. Knights belong to a certain group. They receive funds while under a contract. And us? We live independently without a lord. We are nomads.”

She unsheathed her sword and swung it. I couldn’t even see it move.

“Take this stray leaf for example.” On the tip of her sword, a leaf was pierced through it. “And look at the tree over there. This leaf is you and that tree full of leaves are the knights I spoke of. Knights protect, we fight to survive this world.”

She then shook the leaf off and sheathed the sword.

“You will catch your own food like I said. There’s a big forest outside the city walls so you have enough food wandering around there.”

She then turned her back on me.

“Oh, right. Lights out at 10 sharp otherwise you’ll be punished.”

She smiled and then walked away.

“This is my life for now…”

I looked at the hand that’s still trembling from my fight earlier.

‘We fight to survive, huh?’

I couldn’t really go along with her reasoning. I guess it was different for me since I have something to protect.