The morning sun pierced through the rose petals on the window sill, casting dappled light and shadow on the living room carpet.
Dago sat on the sofa, then took out a silver metal box, about the size of his palm, from his storage ring.
He placed it in front of him, controlled his mental energy to seep into it, and then, with practiced ease, began to decipher the rune lock on the box.
This was a mysterious metal box obtained from Jodes, and the rune lock on it required the mental energy of a Formal Wizard to break.
"Thump, thump, thump~~~"
A crisp knocking sound broke the long-lasting silence in the inn room, and a girl's voice came from outside the door.
"Sir Dago, your breakfast is here."
Dago withdrew from his work on the rune lock and put the metal box back into his storage ring.
"Please come in."
The doorknob turned, and the owner's freckled daughter quickly pushed a dining cart into the room.
First, she laid a clean and tidy tablecloth on the table, arranged the knives and forks, and then set out today's breakfast.
"Sir Dago, you may begin your meal."
The girl respectfully greeted Dago.
He nodded and sat at the table.
Today's breakfast was buttered bread with bacon, mushroom soup, and a small plate of mixed fruit.
Dago ate very quickly, and while eating, he could clearly feel the freckled girl's eyes constantly fixated on him.
As he was about to finish, he finally couldn't help but say, "My pretty girl, I'm the type who can't pee when being watched...."
The freckled girl's face visibly reddened, and she turned her head away, no longer staring at Dago.
During this time, Dago also asked many questions about her. The freckled girl's name was Linda, and she was the only daughter of the owner of the Rose Inn.
Her father had always hoped that Linda could marry a Formal Wizard, even if it meant being a mistress.
Especially with a young talent like Dago, he constantly urged Linda to seize this opportunity of him staying at the inn to attach herself to Dago.
Dago pouted, thinking, it seems I'm quite the catch; everyone wants a piece of me when they meet me.
"Linda."
He suddenly, out of the blue, called out the freckled girl's name, startling Linda greatly.
"Yes, I'm here, Sir Dago."
Linda stood stiffly in place, "Do you have any commands?"
"Everyone has their own life, hobbies, pursuits... No one should be everything in another's life. I am just an unexpected part of your life; even without me, you can still live well in places you don't know about."
Dago put down his knife and fork, picked up a napkin, wiped his mouth, and said.
Linda pondered his words, and although Dago's words were profound, her father's words also made a lot of sense.
Once she latched onto a Formal Wizard, she would never have to suffer or toil again in this life.
"Don't force your way into circles you don't belong in; you'll only hurt yourself in the end."
Dago felt speechless and directly broke Linda's unrealistic fantasies.
Linda's face paled at Dago's words, but soon her eyes darted around, and she bravely said to Dago, "Then can I continue to bring you meals every day? I'll personally cook every dish for you."
"Is the strategy of 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach' popular in this world too? Unfortunately, I come from a culinary nation, so how can you capture my stomach?"
Dago grumbled inwardly, feeling speechless.
"Alright."
Five minutes later, Linda pushed the dining cart out of the room, her mood greatly improved.
Dago looked at her with a hint of amusement, thinking, "Am I a scoundrel?"
Soon after, he also left the room and went to the front desk, where he saw Stu Ao already waiting for him.
"Good morning, Sir Dago."
Stu Ao respectfully performed a wizard's salute to Dago.
"Morning, Stu Ao."
The two then walked out of the Rose Inn. Dago told Stu Ao that he wanted to go to a local swordsmanship dojo to learn some swordsmanship first.
With Stu Ao as a living map, they soon arrived at the entrance of an ancient dojo.
"Basic Swordsmanship?"
The middle-aged master of the dojo's eyes flickered when he heard Dago's request. After a brief thought, he replied, "Are you planning to take the close-combat wizard route, Your Excellency? This style is quite uncommon, but it's not impossible to accommodate."
After paying a tuition fee of one intermediate magic stone, Dago was led to the training ground, which was filled with many wooden dummies flickering with runes.
After changing into light and comfortable training clothes for swordsmanship, the middle-aged master taught Dago the basic techniques of swordsmanship.
The first was 'cut', striking the target with the blade, which could be divided into: Kesa-giri, a diagonal slash from the left shoulder to the right abdomen; vertical cut; and horizontal cut.
The second was 'thrust', a direct stab with the tip of the sword, mainly targeting vital points such as the opponent's throat and chest, emphasizing speed and precision.
The third was 'block', using the blade to block or deflect the opponent's attack. The fourth was 'counter', a quick counter-attack technique after blocking, emphasizing that defense is also offense, immediately launching a counter-attack while deflecting the opponent's attack.
The fifth was 'draw', a technique of quickly drawing the sword and attacking simultaneously. The core was to use the instantaneous speed of drawing the sword to create a surprise attack and defeat the enemy in one move.
There were also some comprehensive techniques such as methods of exerting force, footwork coordination, and breathing techniques.
Although they did not involve the supernatural, when practiced to an advanced level, ordinary people could still slay magical beasts, demons, orcs, and other powerful creatures.
"Hah!"
With a powerful shout, Dago raised his wooden sword, stepped forward, and with all his strength infused into the sword, he brought it down with full force towards the runic wooden dummy in front of him!
Yet, he couldn't even cut into the dummy's skin.
The middle-aged master observed for a while, then shook his head repeatedly: Dago's forehand was unstable, his off-hand lacked power, his footwork was loose, his joints were stiff, and not a single movement was proper.
The master took him for a wizard's passing fancy and turned to leave the training ground.
Dago's system light screen flickered in his eyes, 【Detected improvable skill: "Basic Swordsmanship." Do you wish to improve it!】
This was the result he wanted, the long-awaited new skill prompt.
Ever since he became a Formal Wizard, the system had become increasingly picky about spells; not every spell could be integrated into it.
Because with his current total mental energy, any low-level spell in his hands would only take him one day to max out and reach the transformation stage.
However, skill-based techniques like swordsmanship, which were unrelated to mental energy, could be accepted by the system as improvable skills.
Moreover, he had a skill that, after transformation, required swordsmanship cooperation, which was why he had a sudden urge to learn swordsmanship today.
With a wizard's draw, even immortals would find it hard to resist.
However, the progress value for Basic Swordsmanship was harder to obtain than Dago had imagined; he had to invest his full attention to complete the five steps to gain a single point.
It seemed that swordsmanship training emphasized the unity of mind, body, and technique, with concentration being paramount.
According to the master, one should rest briefly after every five sword strokes, stop and relax muscles after every fifty strokes, and complete one training session by performing a thousand sword strokes within two hours.
"Hah!"
"Hah!"
"Hah!"
Ten minutes later, some of the students in the training ground could no longer suppress their anger and looked at Dago with displeasure—in just a short ten minutes, the students had only heard Dago swing his sword dozens of times, without any breaks in between, which was simply reckless.
It was understandable for the students in the training ground to be angry; it was like being in a serious examination hall, and a new student suddenly received the paper and started answering without even looking at it.
And while writing, they would say things like, "Is this all there is?" and "Surely no one actually can't do this," and so on.
However, just as some senior students were about to warn Dago, they realized they might have been mistaken.
Although Dago's movements were still rough and novice, every action strictly adhered to the requirements of Basic Swordsmanship. Every sword stroke was infused with his full attention and strength, and sweat dripped from his forehead down the bridge of his nose; he was definitely not just practicing carelessly.
Moreover, compared to ten minutes ago, Dago's swordsmanship had made noticeable progress; his wooden sword could even cut into the surface of the runic wooden dummy.