Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Training ground

“It gave you a good hint, didn’t it?” She questioned me based on my reaction after reading it. To what I told her, what it taught me, word by word.

“Hum... that’s awfully vague, but two swords. That would be tough for you,” her index finger aimed at the table, the one that Astal had once showed me, the one where weapons rested on top.

Her hands flowed through the table, stopping on top of a sword.

“Try it,” Sofia handed it to me by extending it horizontally. 

“Alright!” I eagerly received it with my right hand, and when hers slid off from it, my back curved from all the weight it exuded on my arm, quickly leaning, falling with the tip on the floor. Luckily for the wood, it hadn’t come out of its scabbard.

“You have a long way ahead,” she took it out from the floor, returning it to the table.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I was just checking your strength, and that was a long sword almost weighing three kilos. They are the preferred choice by knights. But to be fair, they also have a set of armor on top of them, thus their bodies are used to weight.”

This time around, she extended me a smaller one. 

“How about this one? It’s a short sword. Should be the minimum for your calling to activate.”

After receiving it, this time with both of my hands, my body didn’t curve at all, and it didn’t feel heavy. If I were to estimate its weight, about one-third of the last one.

“I think I can manage this one,” I smiled, doing my best to hold it steady in the air.

“Worst case, you’d go for a wooden sword till your body gained some extra meat,” she smiled gently as her hands made a gesture for me to remove it from its protection.

Therefore, my hands mimicked her, removing it from its scabbard, and placing its shell on top of the table. To my surprise, it had gotten a bit lighter thanks to that. 

The weapon was as long as my leg, not that they were long, but I wasn’t that tall. After all, I was still only fifteen, a young fox with ways to grow.

‘If my legs were as developed as my breasts...’ I compared both, giggling at the possibility of becoming an enormous woman.

I felt a light poke on my forehead.

“Hey Yuki, you’re not paying attention to me.”

“Oops, I’m sorry.”

She swayed her head to the sides and then halted, looking at me with a bit of hair in front of her right eye. Noticing that wild strand, her lips moved a bit, opening a fissure between them where air left with some strength to blow it away. One time, twice, thrice, she stopped, giving up.

I extended my hand, fixing it for her, and placing it behind her ear.

“There you go, much better,” I smiled as her cheeks grew redder, embarrassed by my kind and a lovely gesture.

“Thank you,” she muttered.

“What do I do now?” 

She took a few steps back from me, and then pointed a finger at it, “make use of your calling, swing it.”

“Uh, alright?” Despite not knowing how to use it, I rose the tip of the sword to the air and then slashed downwards, struggling at the end to stop it from hitting the wooden floor. Information flooded my brain once more through a familiar voice.

<A supervisor has evaluated your performance.> 

<Skill slots were unlocked.>

<Do you wish to receive the skill sword inspection?>

‘Sure?’ I questioned myself, unsure of what that would give me, but gaining nothing would surely not help me in any way, and refusing, well. It provoked an unease that I could no longer receive anything in the future, or worse, lose something that could turn out to be good.

<Indexed skill.>

I stared at Sofia, who awaited patiently for my feedback.

“I earned a sword inspection skill,” I quickly noticed her eyes wavering and her expression dulling.

“That bad...” She nodded silently at my comment.

“Check your index and equip it in one of the slots. You need to wait a week till you can replace it with another.”

I shrugged, “might as well check it out.”

Named <Yuki> | Age: 15 Red Moons | Race: Red Fox | Evolution: <Sprout> | Calling: <Sword Dancer> | Aura: <Heat> Innate Traits: Enhanced senses, Night vision, Sensitive tail and ears. Transmigration: Retain memories. Grandmother’s wish: <Time loop #4> Contract Gifts: Timing, Karma. Skill Slots: <Empty> | <Empty> | <Empty> |

“I don’t see the skill I got,” at my confusion, she chuckled.

“Touch on the first empty slot.”

I followed her advice, finding an additional screen with a single skill on it, touching it, and causing the second screen to disappear.

“I think I did it,” my gaze returned to her smiling face.

“Look at your sword and incite its name.”

My hands lifted the sword in the air, followed by my mouth muttering the sword inspection skill.

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Short sword.
<Forged by Lincoln.>
Compatible with sword dancer calling.
Length: Fifty centimeters.
Weight: One kilo.

“I’d need to wield two of these... one in each hand...” I muttered, waving it slowly.

“By the way, Sofia...”

“Hum?” she muttered timidly, approaching me with the rightful scabbard.

“Who is Lincoln?”

“An old man, a smith that works in the creation of swords,” her hands extended it towards my way, to which I carefully stored the steel tip inside.

“Wooden sword it is?” 

“Yes,” she affirmed, smiling gently, placing the scabbard among the rest of the weapons on the table.

“Couldn’t I have gotten the skill with a wooden sword?

“You could have, however, I wouldn’t know about your physique.”

“Makes sense,” I looked around, searching for one, but to no avail.

“Pupils train outside,” her thumb rose to shoulder height, pointing at the exit.

“Sure,” before turning around, I felt the silver gates and the ominous pressure they exuded, making the fur of my tail spike from the eerie chill.

And then, I felt her gentle palm stroking the top of my right shoulder as she passed next to me. 

“Perhaps when you become stronger, you may attempt it.”

I turned my face to her, surprised by such words.

“The members of the royal family enter at the same time. Their goal is the tenth floor. You can leave after each ten, but you can’t abandon it halfway. Thus, if you fail, you die.”

At those words, I gulped.

“This to say that reaching that much would put you in a good position towards having me,” she winked, letting go of my shoulder.

After a few steps, she opened the door, turning her face to me, allowing the wind to blow her long silver hair in my direction.

“Don’t attempt it anytime soon, you’ll die,” her expression was cold, like the chill that entered from the entrance, a warning that I took to heart.

“Understood,” I nodded a few times, causing her to face the exit and leave, giving my feet the will to chase after her.

The plain behind the mansion stretched endlessly. Surprising me more than that, were the walls that kept up with their length. 

I noticed diverse people training, some with wooden weapons, others by running around, and even a few lifting buckets filled with water.

“You have two years to surpass all of them. By then, if you haven’t, my father will use me as a token for a political marriage.”

My hands and heart trembled at those words. There was sorrow hidden in her eyes. Her words conveyed ruthlessness, but also the truth. She could have chosen to hide them from me, to not hurt me. But I recollected that she wanted me to prove my love for her before. In a way, this was but another trial, a realistic one.

“I’ll do my best, Sofia,” I clenched my hands, the tightness exuded my inner pain away. There was no way I would allow anyone else to have her.

“Wait here for Afonso, I have other things to do, I’ll see you at night,” she voiced out quietly, winking at the last part, causing my cheeks to turn red.

“See you soon,” I muttered lowly, preying my gaze on her ass as she walked out of my sight.

I took a seat near a tree by the wall and waited patiently for the old man in black. From everyone I had met, he was the closest one to feel like a grandfather. 

‘How much longer?’ I began running impatiently making me feel like two years was too short of a time to surpass men who likely did this on a daily basis.

Yet, at the same time, it was a good way to digest the food I had eaten not so long ago. I remember back in school, having to do exercise after lunch and throwing up because of it. Ever since that day, whenever I had physical classes, I ate lightly on purpose, always avoiding soup and too much water. Took me a few tries to get the rightful diet, going as far as to eat a simple salad as a tryout.

‘That time, I was hungry for the entire day,’ a smile escaped my lips, finding some warmth in my memories. Most of them were comfortable, and they gave me strength. I had been raised properly, and throughout many things, especially times of war, I was also mentally tough.

Despite my distracted self, my eyes soon stumbled upon the men lining up, like the soldiers of my country once had.

All of them followed it by placing their palm faced to the chest as the young master greeted them. From the information I managed to gather, he had turned eighteen this year. This meant that he was practically a ripped man, ready for marriage. 

There were even some rumors among the maids that his father wanted him to marry someone outside the family. There was a very talented lady that had coveted his golden eyes. 

And he wasn’t as talented as Astal had hoped, so the pressure upon his shoulders was clearly high, possibly the reason why he acted like a beast to others, including Sofia's sister.

‘The talentless have no place in the Aria family,’ I recollected these words from my beloved lips. What she had mentioned contained a grandiose meaning, one that ran deeper than I could possibly comprehend. Yet, I had seen something alike, the death of the priestesses over the generations. 

Sure, there were some differences, since they acted like a wicked cult without any prestige or moral values. Whereas the Aria family was so famous that every noble coveted it, in order to raise their distinguished names.

I sighed, gazing into the sky momentarily. A vast blue remained on top of me, similar to before. At least that hadn’t changed.

‘I can almost feel myself back at home.’

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