The adventurer's guild training ground was empty at dusk.

Ryujeen and Reynard stood facing each other, each holding a wooden sword.

"You weren't serious earlier, were you? ...Ready to show me your true strength?" Reynard asked.

"Unfortunately, I can't reveal all my abilities... But how much strength I use depends on you. You've had a gap in your training, but I'm a sword novice too, so it's a good match," Ryu replied.

Ryu's time manipulation ability activated automatically and seamlessly depending on his seriousness. However, he intentionally suppressed it for this spar.

He lunged at Reynard, unleashing his full power - the raw physical abilities of a dragon-man. He wasn't using his Divine Eye or time-space magic, but his sword strikes were still at a speed invisible to ordinary humans. An average swordsman wouldn't be able to withstand them.

But Reynard countered.

Normally, two wooden swords clashing at such a speed would likely break. However, Reynard instantly judged the destructive force and tilted his sword slightly, moving his body so the impact wouldn't directly hit his blade.

Ryu was truly surprised. He hadn't expected anyone to be able to parry such a fast strike.

"The 'Sword Saint'... He's probably an S-rank, or maybe even SS-rank adventurer," Ryu thought.

Reynard was also surprised.

"Even in my prime, I've never faced a strike this fast. It's the fastest I've ever encountered. I'm amazed I managed to react," he thought.

But his body felt great. His reflexes were sharp. He could handle this speed.

They exchanged blows several times.

The gap in skill between Ryu, a sword novice, and Reynard, the Sword Saint, gradually began to show.

Ryu's confidence began to waver, while Reynard grew more relaxed.

As his body warmed up, Reynard started getting serious. His sword strikes became increasingly fierce, and eventually, Ryu's wooden sword shattered.

It was unavoidable, as Ryu didn't have the skills to deflect blows that would break his weapon.

But Reynard's wooden sword should have received the same impact. They were the same material, so it was strange that only one side broke while the other remained intact. However, Reynard's sword was unharmed. Did he have a technique that prevented breakage?

The truth was, this was the difference between someone who knew the right way to swing a sword and someone who didn't. It was about the proper alignment of the blade.

To be precise, a wooden sword is essentially a thin sheet of wood. This means it's strong lengthwise, but weak literally. Reynard's strikes were perfectly aligned with the strong direction, while Ryu's blade had been tilted slightly. The difference emerged after their repeated clashes.

Though his sword was gone, both remained unsatisfied and grabbed steel practice swords from the training ground. The blades were blunted to prevent cutting, but being steel, they were far sturdier than wood.

They clashed again.

Reynard felt like he had been rejuvenated after decades and was enjoying swinging the sword again.

Ryu, for the first time since coming to this world, was truly pushing his body's limits. He was surprised and delighted by his dragon-man physique, which moved with an agility beyond his imagination.

However, the skill gap was too large and wouldn't be bridged easily. Eventually, Ryu was struck by Reynard.

Reynard's sword swept past Ryu's torso.

He had gotten carried away and delivered the blow without holding back. He immediately realized his mistake, but Ryu was unharmed because he had deployed a dimensional barrier around his body.

"Impressive," Ryu remarked.

"So you're wearing a magical barrier armor?" Reynard asked.

That meant he could go all out, he thought. Ryu responded by declaring he would shift up another gear. He was currently at dragon-man level 1, but now he was shifting to level 2.

Ryu's speed increased even further, causing Reynard to lose his earlier composure. Still, he was a Sword Saint. They were now at an equal level.

Reynard also stopped holding back and used his full strength, countering with one ultimate technique after another. For him, these ultimate techniques were also his most honed moves. He had never faced an opponent who could withstand multiple consecutive ultimate techniques. But against Ryu, he had to unleash them continuously just to keep up.

Occasionally, Ryu was struck by Reynard's sword, but the dimensional barrier armor protected him. (This was also unbelievable for Reynard.)

Ryu's speed continued to increase as he realized he couldn't dodge every strike. Now at level 3, he was finally outpacing Reynard. He started breaking through ultimate techniques with brute force. And then...

Both their swords shattered.

Even steel swords couldn't withstand the intensity of their fight. At first, Reynard had managed to deflect blows carefully to avoid putting too much strain on his weapon. But Ryu's attacks had reached level 3, leaving him no room for finesse, forcing them to clash head-on.

Both were exhausted. It was time to end the spar.

"Amazing. I couldn't even get a single hit on you," Ryu said.

Ryu had taken many of Reynard's blows, but his sword had never reached the Sword Saint. If it had, Reynard would have been seriously injured. He was sweating bullets.

(Of course, even if Ryu's sword had hit and severely injured Reynard, Ryu could have simply rewound time to heal him.)

"But you still have more 'gears' to shift, right? And you're still hiding your 'abilities'. By the way, what happens when you unleash them?" Reynard asked.

Ryu thought for a moment and then grabbed another sword.

"Let me show you a glimpse of my abilities," he said.

Reynard readied himself.

Ryu's concentration heightened, and he began to deviate from the flow of time.

The unusual aura emanating from Ryu caused Reynard to focus all his senses on him.

But in the next moment, Ryu was behind Reynard, his sword poised at his neck.

When Ryu's time manipulation ability reached its peak, time froze. Even a Sword Saint couldn't dodge a sword wielded in frozen time.

Reynard couldn't understand what had happened.

"...Super speed? Too fast to react... No, it's different," he muttered.

"It's a secret," Ryu laughed.

"I've heard stories about the highest-ranking dragons having the ability to manipulate time and space... So that's it! My body getting younger... it was all because of you?" Reynard exclaimed.

"You surprised me. You figured it out. I do possess the ability to manipulate time and space," Ryu said.

...

...

...

...

Catherine returned to the Adventurer's Guild after her errands.

The sun had already set, and everyone except the guild staff and bar workers had gone home.

As she tried to enter her office, she noticed a presence in the training ground. Peeking in, she saw...

...Reynard and Ryu swinging wooden swords.

"No, it's like this!" Reynard shouted.

WHAM!

"Like this?" Ryu countered.

WHAM!

"Hmm, you're getting much better. But you still need to practice diligently and make it part of your body," Reynard said.

"Practice session?" Catherine asked.

"Oh, Catherine, you're back," Reynard replied.

"I'm trying to learn the Sword Saint's techniques, you know," Ryu chuckled.

"Catherine! You were right, this guy is stronger than me! But he's a complete novice with swords. He needs to start from the basics! What's going on?" Reynard laughed gleefully.

"What happened to your leg, Reynard? And you seem younger," Catherine pointed out.

"His leg was healed by the Sword Saint's willpower," Ryu explained.

"Come on, you can't heal a leg with willpower alone," Catherine said.

"Ryu healed me. I'm swinging a sword with real intent for the first time in years," Reynard explained.

"...Ryujeen. You've been hiding such incredible abilities..." Catherine muttered.

Catherine glared at both Ryu and Reynard.

"Well, alright! The return of the Sword Saint is good news for the guild!" she declared.

...

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...

Next episode preview:

Ryu joins a party of new recruits for a dungeon training mission.

Don't miss it!