“Is everything clear?” Isla asked as she stood up.
“Yes, seems simple enough,” Herculia replied as he stretched his arms. Isla had explained everything they needed to do tomorrow and how they should go about doing it. She didn’t leave any possibilities behind, being as thorough as she could be.
“It’s going to be a little tricky for sure. I don’t mind it, a little more thrill for me.” Arthur smiled. He knew that even if they knew what their opponent wanted to do, actually guiding the conversation where they wanted it to go was going to be very hard. After all, they weren’t dealing with a nobody.
“Hopefully things go well and we don’t end up in a bad situation,” Emmy replied as she rubbed her hands together. “Something tells me we aren’t going to have it as smooth as we want.”
“We just need to get the best we can out of it. It doesn’t have to be the most optimal situation.” Danny shook his head.
“…”
They all knew that they weren’t going to have it their own way the entire time. The other side certainly had their ways of trying to make the situation go in their favor. They were perhaps going to offer them things they couldn’t find anywhere else, financial support, a strong connection with the Last Empire, or even better things.
Seeing the solemn looks on his group, Arthur sighed inwardly. He knew that they were deeply worried about what could happen tomorrow. After all, this step was sudden and extremely crucial for their plans of becoming a strong power in the Divine Realm.
Their entire families await these results and any mistakes could change the outcome drastically in the favor of their enemies. In other words, they didn’t have that much leisure to make mistakes.
‘I can’t understand how hard that is on their minds. But, I can’t let my guard down either.’ He thought to himself as he shifted his gaze away from the group to one particular person sitting on their own.
Sora was silent the entire time they were there. She sat on a chair, holding her hands together tightly as she kept looking down. She seemed lost… Almost terrified for some reason. Arthur frowned when he noticed that and decided to approach her.
“Hey, are you ok?” Crouching down to her level, he asked.
“Huh?” The girl was seemingly perturbed by the sudden voice and she flinched visibly.
‘Why is she looking pale? Did something happen?’ Arthur asked himself. The girl hadn’t been particularly comfortable the entire time she was here, but she looked extra worried at that moment.
“Are you good? Do you feel sick?” Arthur asked.
“… No, no… I, I’m fine…” She tried to play it normal and replied as if nothing bothered her. But, Sora wasn’t good at pretending.
‘There is definitely something wrong with her. Is it related to what we were talking about?’
“Are you sure? You can tell me if there is something wrong. I can help you.” He said.
“… No, I’m really… Fine.” The girl pursed her lips and replied.
“…”
Arthur didn’t find the words to persuade her anymore. She seemed adamant about remaining silent. So, he looked at her for a few seconds before he stood up and walked to the table again.
Then, secretly, he whispered in Isla’s ear.
“Keep an eye on Sora. She’s hiding something.” He said.
The girl didn’t turn around or react to his words, but she still registered them quickly. She already had a hunch that the girl was hiding something and she was keeping an eye on her the entire time. Which is why Isla had helped her shower and buy some clothes herself.
Apart from wanting to aid this small child, she also wanted to watch the girl, and how she acted and precisely see what could be hiding within her mind. She tried to strike a conversation with the girl on their trip, but she didn’t gather much information about her background.
“Ok, this should be it for now. We will gather tomorrow before going to the Colosseum. For now, just focus on our previous tasks.” Isla said. “Arthur, did you not find new armor for yourself?”
“No… I really looked around. Didn’t find anything eye-catching.” He said.
“You should get the best thing you can find.”
“I know, I know. I’m working on it. Anyway, I’m leaving now. I have stuff to do. See you later guys.” Arthur said.
It has been already a few hours since he logged in and he still didn’t do much of what he intended to do. He only had a few more hours before logging off and heading to the Academy.
After bidding everyone farewell, he left the hotel and headed into the heart of the city. This time, he didn’t go looking for a weapon shop to buy new gear but instead headed straight toward one particular location.
Near the area’s biggest plaza, there was one particular location he had put his eyes on the moment he found it.
Stopping in front of the massive building, he read the sign. “Training Grounds.”
This was Arthur’s intention the entire time, to continue practicing what he learned with the sword that day. The information was still vivid in his head and his body was eager to engrave it forever.
“It seems to be open even though it’s very late at night,” Arthur muttered as he noticed the doors open and the light coming from inside.
So, he decided to walk in. The interior of the building was rather calm and relaxing. There were some people inside but not too many. Most of them were sitting on the sofas, relaxing after what seemed to be a very tough training session.
Ignoring them all, Arthur walked straight toward the reception desk where he found a young lady waiting. freewebnoveℓ.com
“Excuse me.”
“Hm?” The girl heard the voice and looked up. “Oh! Good evening, sir! Are you here to book a training room?”
“… Yes, please.” He said. “How much is that?”
“Two silvers per 30 minutes.”
‘God! That’s expensive!’ Arthur almost blurted out. The fees were way above what he expected. Luckily, Arthur had sold all the items he didn’t need so he had hundreds of silvers he could spare with ease.
‘I have no reason to convert these coins into real-life currency yet. Everything I need is taken care of by the academy.’
Pulling out 12 silvers, he handed them to the girl. “3 hours.”
“Understood. Three hours…” She wrote down some things and then handed him a key. “The 30th room to your right.”
“Understood. Have a nice day.”
Then, Arthur walked away without looking back. However, the girl stared at his back silently. “He is cute. I’ve never seen him around.” She muttered. Then, she realized what she just said and blushed visibly. “What am I even saying?”
***
“30th… This one!” Stopping in front of the room, Arthur opened it then walked inside and closed the door.
Immediately, Arthur was met with a surprising sight. The room was quite large in size. It’s not as large as the Training Realm but still considerably vast. Its walls were thick and solid, looking unbreakable and the ground was smooth and yet also good for grip. On the farthest wall, he could see a few archery targets while many mannequins stood in the middle of the room.
To the side, Arthur noticed a few long seats next to a large container filled with weapons of all kinds.
“Hmm, very nice.” After a few moments, he moved toward the weapons to check them. As he expected, they were all pretty average and normal with no special features to be mentioned.
“Should I use the sanguine blade or this one?” He muttered as he rubbed his chin. ‘The sanguine blade is the one I’m most familiar with but it’s very strong on its own. I want to focus on my technique first.’
Eventually, he decided on the cheap sword. After adjusting his grip on the sword, Arthur walked to the training target and took his position. Then, he closed his eyes and recalled what Theodore taught him exactly.
His improved memory was able to easily recall every single detail from a few hours ago. It didn’t take him long to find the correct stance. When he was certain of it, Arthur opened his eyes and launched forward, slashing down powerfully.
*BANG*
The sword hit the doll’s head, shaking it visibly.
“Not good enough.” He muttered as he took a step back and got ready to try again.
*BANG*
“No, it’s not good enough. I’m not using my entire body as he said.”
Even though the hits were very precise and powerful, Arthur wasn’t satisfied at all. He kept slashing and then repeating again and again and again. Hit after hit, slash after slash, he made small adjustments, trying to find the perfect balance he was looking for.
He didn’t care about each failure and simply focused on what he did wrong and tried to improve it in the next attempt. His immense focusing abilities made it possible for him to pinpoint the mistake and fix it.
With that, minutes passed slowly as a lonesome figure continued swinging the sword in an empty room.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3