Eris was stunned for a long time, then she suddenly came to her senses and looked up at Ghislaine's face with a slightly annoyed expression.
She felt like she was being treated like a child.
But what met her eyes was Ghislaine's still-serious expression. She was squinting slightly at the four people talking in the distance, her expression stern.
It reminded her of how strict Ghislaine was during their swordsmanship lessons.
Ghislaine's unique, cool voice sounded again.
The same sentence.
"Alan is strong."
She looked down at Eris's face. Having been with her for several years, Ghislaine knew exactly why Eris was reacting this way.
"Eris… do you feel that your image of Alan…"
She chose her words carefully, pausing for a moment before continuing.
"…has been shattered? Is that why you can't accept it?"
Eris raised her eyebrows.
"Hah? Shattered? What does that mean?"
"You thought Alan was incredibly powerful, but his performance just now didn't meet your expectations, so you're angry, aren't you?"
For once, the young lady was speechless, her face flushing red. She wanted to argue, but she was intimidated by Ghislaine's stern expression and couldn't get a word out.
Ghislaine looked at Eris's expression and answered her question.
"Alan is strong. You can continue to hold that impression."
Eris let out a sigh of relief, then heard Ghislaine continue.
"His foundation in swordsmanship is extremely solid, and he has his own unique understanding of the Sword God Style, which allows him to execute a very distinctive Silent Sword. I admire that very much. I understand how you feel."
"But when he executed the Silent Sword for the first time just now, I was a little puzzled. Logically, with the talent for swordsmanship he has shown, even with Paul as his teacher, his Silent Sword should be nearing perfection. But in fact, that's not the case."
"His Silent Sword still has room for improvement, especially in terms of speed. It's not fast enough."
"This was unexpected, and I was very surprised."
"But at that time, there was one other person on the field who was just as surprised as I was."
"Do you know who it was?"
Eris frowned at Ghislaine.
"Hah? Who?"
Ghislaine cut her off.
"It was Alan himself."
"Why was he surprised?"
"Because the fact that his Silent Sword had become slower was just as unexpected to him."
"As for the reason… I tested it in the subsequent spar, and sure enough…"
"He still tried to block my blade with the Silent Sword according to his old habits, but he failed. He could only hastily block with the Water God Style, which is how he was accidentally sent flying by the wind from my blade."
"It's not that he hasn't fully mastered the Silent Sword. It's that his sword has become slower, just within these past few days. And from the looks of it, he might not have even realized it himself before this."
Eris was stunned, trying to process this information. She subconsciously asked, "His sword became slower?"
Ghislaine looked down at Eris.
"I had originally planned to tell you this after you reached the advanced rank, but this is a good opportunity, so I'll take the chance to tell you now. Perhaps this will be the trigger that pushes you further in the Sword God Style."
After this, Ghislaine's tone shifted, and she asked a question completely unrelated to the current topic.
"Do you think the swordsmanship you've mastered can stagnate or even regress?"
Eris frowned like a little lioness.
"Of course! Haven't you always made me practice my swings? Just like you said, what was it called… right! A swordsman needs to practice diligently! If I stop practicing swordsmanship for one day, I'll definitely get worse!"
Ghislaine nodded.
"Then what do you think about the Sword God Style's ultimate techniques—the Silent Sword, or the Sword of Light…"
"Can they regress?"
Eris was stunned again. She subconsciously wanted to say no, because it seemed obvious that once you learned an ultimate technique, you had learned it. How could it regress?
But at that moment, Ghislaine's description of the spar flashed through her mind.
"It's not that he hasn't fully mastered the Silent Sword. It's that his sword has become slower."
She looked up in shock.
"Are you saying that Alan's Silent Sword has regressed?!"
Ghislaine nodded, trying to make her words easy to understand.
"That's right. And the reason his Silent Sword has regressed points directly to the core of advancement in the Sword God Style—desire, or you could call it obsession."
"Desire? Obsession?"
Ghislaine caressed the scabbard of Heimun.
"For a Sword God Style swordsman, once they can no longer keep their desire burning, at best, their strength will stagnate. At worst, it will regress."
"Just like Alan's situation right now."
"I don't understand! But! Th-then what should he do?!!"
"You don't need to understand too much, Eris. This stage is still very far off for you. So for now, you just need to watch."
"Just watch?"
Ghislaine looked at Alan in the distance, who had resumed his normal expression and was chatting calmly with Sylphie, Rudeus, and Hilda.
A smile touched her lips.
"Yes, just watch. I'm not sure exactly when Alan will be able to reignite his desire, but there's no doubt that…"
"He will get back up."
"And then, he will swing an even sharper blade at me."
"At that time, what you will see will no longer be the Silent Sword."
"But…"
"The Sword of Light!"
Eris's eyes immediately widened, and she looked at Ghislaine.
Ghislaine's smile didn't fade, but grew even wider.
At this moment, as Rudeus, Sylphie, Eris, and Hilda were each lost in their own completely different emotions, worrying about their own thoughts… the one person on the scene with the most confidence in Alan was not his yet-to-be-acknowledged mother, lost in worry; nor his friend whose life he had saved; nor the lover who had not yet confessed her feelings; nor the little sister filled with admiration.
It was Ghislaine.
This one 'bystander' saw things very clearly. Because she was objective enough, had done a detailed investigation of Alan's talent, understood it very well, and had also been stuck at the threshold of the Sword of Light for many years herself. She could even relate Alan's current situation to her own past experiences of her Silent Sword advancing and regressing.
So she understood Alan.
And she believed in Alan.
Ghislaine flicked her finger against her scabbard.
The scabbard hummed.
It woke Eris from her state of shock.
"Eris, do you know how many years it took me to master the Sword of Light and officially become a Sword Saint?"
Eris shook her head.
"One year!"
Ghislaine shook her head with a wry smile and replied, "Five years. So, how long do you guess it will take Alan to cross that threshold? To become a Sword Saint?"
Eris crossed her arms and thought for a moment.
"If it's Alan… he should be the same as Ghislaine… fi—"
She paused, involuntarily remembering the scene of Alan being sent flying by Ghislaine's strike just now.
She said with a lack of confidence, "Then… s-seven years! What do you think, Ghislaine?"
Ghislaine reached out and stroked Eris's head, smiling helplessly.
"I don't know, but…"
"You can watch, Eris. Watch and see just how long it takes him to unleash that Sword of Light."
Eris pursed her lips and looked at Alan again, a new light igniting in her eyes.
"Mmm!"
They were silent for a moment.
"…Um, what does desire and obsession mean! I don't get it!"
Ghislaine looked down at Eris, who was now intently staring at Alan, having instantly started her 'watch.'
She couldn't help but chuckle.
She looked up, glancing at Alan in the distance.
She looked down, glancing at Eris beside her.
Her words fell.
"The day the Sword of Light shines…"
"is the day you will ignite your own desire."
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