I Ren someone who once considered himself talented have watched Adria over the last two months. I am now fully healed.

And I have doubts about my victory if I were to fight Adria. This is not unusual for a sword master to doubt his chances against a warrior class the difference between the two is too small and yet large. Most of the time being master class puts you somewhere between king and warrior class but it's no secret that most people who make master class are closer to warrior than king. But what I feel towards Adria is not doubt but fear. She has grown too strong too fast. But there is someone else I must warn you off. It's the man who taught her. He gone from a level above me to completely beyond my understanding.

He doesn't sleep and your starting to see it in his eyes. It's just all the time he trains or we travel and Adria is the same.

I also wish to make a guess… Varon is not right in the head. I mean with Adria all you need to do is watch her eating habits to understand how insane she is… but Varon is a different breed of crazy.

I once sat in and listened to one of the rare moments when he actually taught something to Adria instead of just beating her.

He said “Time is a construction built by the mind. It is a useful tool, but it is that a tool that you will use. All things have rhythm but no time. But in time all things turn to dust. All things break on their own. Because they have been convinced that time exists. They have been lied to by the world we live in. You will break that lie and free them the only way possible. Death.

For you know this thing called time is a lie and their for you will not break given it passing. You are the outsider that stands beyond it. They will fear you. For you see there are none but you who time will not break. Only you can escape time. All things will die in time. Even death itself will not be safe forever. But my teaching you are to become the anomaly. I am going to teach you a martial arts call the Outsider. And throw my teaching and technique you will become the master of nothing. For all things break in time. This is your lonely path. But know I stand with you always. Until the day time finds a way. But that day will never come for it is today’s tomorrow but only if you make it so”

What you like contradicted yourself many times in that little speech their Varon. It even more terrifying that the little girl got an enlightenment out of it. Enlightenments are things of legend that result in massive growth from coming to understand fundamental principles that results in them gaining some form of control of them. It’s the stuff of legend that I have only heard of. Most scholars think it isn’t actually real.

But since that day she's been able to boast her speed through bending time itself just to give her a little edge. She also learned how to slow down her enemies. And then there's her technique. I will warn you know. It’s overpowered. It the most bullshit ability in history and the way she uses it like it makes sense.

And in a single mouth she has entered the warrior class as a swordsman. She is using some blacksmith hopes and dreams that she had me steal in the last town back their. As for me although my growth speed is monumental and Varons originally random phases have become profound to me.

He still looks at me with disappointment saying that at this rate the most I will achieve is the strength of a dragon. Does he realise what he just said.

That I have the potential to equal a dragon. And the worst part is he is right. I also believe that if I keep this pace I will reach the strength of a dragon and I get happy. Then I look at Varon and Adria and it gets scary. How high can someone like Adria reach. And as for Varon I have no doubt that he will be a legend. Just his techniques alone are superior to anything I have even heard of.

Even the technique taught to me has profound ideas and concepts that borderline insane conspiracies at some points.

If I continue at this speed I will make king in ten years. Then dragon in a few hundred. But thats all.

If Adria continues at this speed she will be a sword king at 19 to twenty. She twelve now and will turn thirteen on this trip. Varon said something about raiding an elven village as a birthday present.

And Varion will be a sword king in one to two years. I don’t know Varions age but he can’t be younger than seventeen or older than twenty. How did he not become one already.

That's fucking stupid. Even the youngest sword king in history of the dark elves was 38. I will become a legend as the youngest dar- no high elf of any of the elven races race and yet these two spit on that record. Original pure elves held the title of strongest among elven races but I might be single handedly able to change that to dark elves. But then I think to myself. How much will Varon do?

And what worse is that Varon told me that it’s ok that my growth is so small at the moment the first step of this technique has more difficulties than the second but a higher gain than the second and third step combined. Its call the claws shadow. But the thing is that my current growth is practically unheard of and yet I know that. Its talent and dedication. I am aware that Varon and Adria are not playing around and that Varon has not slept on this trip. They have done nothing but practice. Even going round about way to track powerful monsters and people once they left their territory behind. Varon massicared a dojo and Adria kidnaped a small village worth of people so far.

Thought this kidnapping of people Varon and Adria seem to be having a strange father daughter bonding moment ever time Adria kidnaps a person and they cook him together. Dam my morals have been thrown out the window because I get a nice warm feeling everytime I see this.

But both mine and her techniques also come with powerful martial arts that make use of the gains we get from the technique.

Adria has taken to this martial art with a almost fanatical worship constantly practicing every free chance she gets. Yesterday we ran into some warriors of the tribe meaning we have made it to the land of the giants and Adria cuts through them with ease. But it wasn’t like she was killing no her face made it look like she was cutting grass. It was also the first time I saw what her technique really does.

The martial arts is a speed and defence based with a focus on finding and targeting weak points but making use of you opponents rhythm to doge and block as well as strike the rhythm itself to throw the opponent off. It was beautiful like watching me but seem to hold a different feel to it. I am a beautiful person but when she danced among corpses and the screams of the fallen it look like an act of nature. It was more like a beautiful flower than any type of woman.

And this was deeply emphasised by her technique. They simply started to turn to dust halfway through or the ones closest to her began to shiveral and when they collapsed they look mummified almost.it look like a corpse that had been dead for hundreds of years.

I couldn’t understand but a clear see through wave of aura washed over them and they turned old and brittle. Some fell dead others simply become too weak to fight her amd where slane by her blade. But those who tried to flee. The moment they saw that they could not win they turned to sand. And that sand moved through the air in small lines that seemed to flow against gravity and it visibly acted like a much stronger aura of hers but it snakes its way out wards often in secret attaining and mummifying those in the distance. The mane difference between mana and aura is that aura is stronger but it breaks down the further away it is from the body. While mana doesn't but the sand seems to change that. Not only does it not get weaker with distance it even converts all it touched to more sand and the effects only grew in power the more she used her technique. It like the longer the fight last the stronger she becomes.

After the fight Varon explain to me that the moment one emitted defeat they would simply die if they came before her aura. I asked him what that sand did and the crazy fool laugh at me saying “ Have you ever heard of the sands of time. The is the physical embodiment of time itself. Of course it is impossible for someone to be the survive exposure to it. It's time itself. Although it won’t kill most things instantly eventually all things die so its impossible to withstand.”

He also told Adria to collect that sand. He said she wouldn’t be able to make it on her own if she wasn’t at least master class and even then it would be in small amount so the easiest way was to collect it from the corpses of cowards. He also said that while we were at it we should learn one of life's important skills. The art of corpse looting. Adria got a simply one handed sword and I got a small cluster of broken or rusty knives. We also collected money that he gave to Adria and would send her into trading stations to learn how to react to normal people.

If Adria’s sand touch something it like poison but just completely not curable unless Adria wishes. It will simply disintegrate them after a few seconds or one minute if their at her level. Despite this Adria was sad that she couldn’t eat any of the corpses. So Varon said we would body snatch some poor fool soon. Is it a problem that i’m looking forward to human flesh.

I asked him how we were meant to fight Adria should she turn on us.

Then he said “Then just don’t touch the sand it is as simple as that. You think the technique you are learning is any less powerful. Also why do you assume I cannot use my own techniques? Of course i’m immune to the sand even if I cannot use it. Besides you haven’t reached the point where you are capable of using your technique which is why it’s difficult for you to match our growth considerably your corresponding martial arts would seem to make no sense. But I will tell you now that your ability is just as broken as Adria’s is” It was at this moment It all started to click. I was not traveling with humans but monsters wearing human skin and it was also the moment I decided that I wouldn’t be left behind by these freaks. That in the end I would be a monster to. Seem like their were far more benefits to it anyway.

******

The next day Ren unlocked his new ability and he became aware of what Varon was saying. His was awestruck by how broken it was. He felt his was in fact even more powerful than anything else although Adria would disagree.

He didn’t doubt his chances anymore.