With the day having come to an end, I found myself in Isolte's room, which had become the norm over the time we had known each other.
Nothing weird was going on, obviously, as this was just where we studied together, and for the past few months, where I had continued to learn the Beast God tongue.
The language was… odd, but not necessarily difficult.
The main issue was how fundamentally different the grammatical structure was, as many things were left to interpretation.
It was obviously meant to be primarily a spoken language, where you could understand what was happening from the situation, but that kind of made reading difficult.
For example, they didn't really have past tense… though you could make something resemble past tense by saying 'before' for whatever happened.
And as for writing it… that was quite difficult, as they used a form of hieroglyphs rather than an alphabet.
But I was slowly progressing.
I lifted my gaze from the book I was reading, looking over to Isolte who was sitting across from me, looking out of the window rather than at her study material.
She looked… unfocused.
And now that I thought about it, she had been like this for the entire day, and had been off for longer than that.
Not to the point of being a large problem, but if you knew her, it was certainly noticeable.
Hmm…
"Isolte," I said.
I didn't get a response.
"Isolte!" I said a bit louder.
"H-Huh, what?" she asked, finally hearing me as her head snapped to look at me.
Yeah… definitely weird.
"Is… something wrong?" I asked. "And don't say it's nothing. It's quite obvious. Enough that Master has likely already noticed, and is just going to force it out of you soon."
Her face went through a range of emotions before she eventually settled on a small pout.
"It's… really nothing…" she said.
It was not very convincing.
"Isolte…" I said with a warning tone.
"F-Fine! There… just might be something wrong, I suppose," she said, looking away with a sigh. "But… it's just too childish."
"Good thing you aren't an adult then," I said, snapping my book shut. "So, tell me. What's wrong?"
Her eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"You… in less than a year, you learned Mirror-Cutting Current… in less than a year of training… while I'm still struggling with Thousand-ripple Guard," she said as she looked up and give me a smile. "Ah, but don't misunderstand, I'm not jealous. It's just… I guess I'm disappointed with myself… I'm scared."
This was the most vulnerable I had ever heard the girl… a shaky voice, a trembling lip… it was so different from the way Isolte usually carried herself.
And while a part of me was interested in a different side of my friend, knowing it was causing her pain… I hated it.
"Scared… what are you scared of? Not getting stronger?" I asked.
It was kind of difficult to navigate this situation… I mean, I was kind of the direct cause of this.
"That's… part of it, but not the entire thing," she answered, shaking her head. "I'm afraid that if I stop improving… I'll be abandoned. Grandmother, the Water God Style disciples… they treat me well, but a large part of that is because I'm strong. I have potential. I'm expected to lead the next generation as the Water God, benefiting from my grandmother's training."
Her eyes began to water.
"And if I am abandoned from them, when my family has already rejected me… what will I even have left?" she asked, wearing a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Nothing but a failure who couldn't even become a Water Saint."
I shot up from my chair, not caring how it clattered down behind me as I walked up to her side, kneeling down in front of her as I stared into her surprised eyes.
She must have been bottling this up for a while… well, it made sense, since therapy was a completely foreign concept in this world, especially for swordsmen.
Talking about your feelings made you weak, as things should be handled by a blade… that was the prevailing belief.
"Isolte… you're strong. The strongest girl I have ever met, but most importantly… you love the Water God Style, don't you?" I said, watching her hesitantly nod her head. "You love the sword, you smile genuinely when you train… and you have talent and determination. With all of those things together, it will absolutely work out eventually."
She shuddered.
"H-How can you be so confident?" she asked.
Because I knew that she ended up as a Water King by the time she met Eris at the Sword Sanctum… but I couldn't exactly answer with that.
"Because it's you," I answered before elaborating. "I got where I am because of a mix of opportunity, talent, smarts, and determination… and you have all of that as well."
A beat of silence passed after my words, the only sound in the room being our breaths as I let her gather her thoughts.
"But… what if that isn't enough?" she asked.
"Then I'll help," I replied immediately. "This isn't something you need to deal with alone, and as your friend… I'll do anything I can."
Her breath hitched as her fear seemed to diminish, and yet… her gaze was still uncertain.
"But… even after that… if I can't… what then?" she asked, choking through every word.
I reached out to grab her hand.
This girl… she wasn't mentally weak, no… she was strong… but she just needed some stability.
If her path was a tightrope, she could already walk it. She just needed to know that there was a net beneath her in case she fell.
And what kind of friend would I be if I left her alone like this?
"Even if it doesn't work out, and you remain an Advanced swordsman for the rest of your life… I'll still be here," I answered, lightly squeezing her fingers. "I'll support you, even if everyone else throws you away… I won't abandon you."
"W-Why?" she asked, responding with a light squeeze of her own.
"Isn't it obvious?" I asked, standing up as I still held onto her hand. "It's because I'm your friend."
Her previously averted eyes returned to stare at me, still wide and watery, yet much better than before.
"A-And when you say you won't abandon me… then what does that mean?" she asked, holding her breath in anticipation.
Now how to answer this… well, if I was going this far, I might as well make sure there's no doubt in her mind.
"Well… I said I wanted a slow life, right?" I said, scratching my cheek with my other hand. "I would just have to take you with me. We could open a dojo together outside the capital. Even if you stay an Advanced swordsman, which I doubt you will… that's more than enough skill to teach."
Her eyes widened as her cheeks instantly flushed a deep red.
"O-Oh…" she muttered, bringing her other hand to caress her cheek.
Hmm?
I suddenly realized the meaning of my words, and why it had prompted such a reaction.
Uh… wait.
What I just said… couldn't that be taken as a confession?
It was meant to be innocent, with the two of us working together as partners, but with me saying I wouldn't abandon her for the rest of her life… that was basically me proposing, right?
"Vincent," Isolte suddenly said, her firm tone snapping me out of my thoughts. "Thank you."
I was momentarily stunned by her relieved smile, stunned enough that my worries of her taking my words the wrong way had vanished into nothing.
It was unlike anything I had seen before… the genuine emotion, unrestrained from fears and worries… it truly was…
"Beautiful…" I muttered, my mind catching up with what I said as I stammered to explain. "A-Ah! Y-Your smile, I mean! It's… beautiful."
Yeah… I probably just made things worse with that, didn't I?
Well… if I was this far gone, I might as well be truthful… even if it made things more complicated.
"T-Thank you…" she said, averting her eyes as her cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of red.
The air between us became awkward, not helped by the fact that we were still holding hands.
Was I supposed to leave now, and leave her alone with her thoughts?
No, I don't think so… but it felt weird to just stand around like this…
I needed a distraction… no, we both did.
"Isolte… here, follow me," I said, pulling her along towards her balcony. "I want to show you something."
I led her outside, the two of us taking in the pleasant, warm night air of spring.
"W-What is it that you wanted to show me?" Isolte asked, still a bit flustered from the earlier exchange.
Ah, and our hands too… well, she was holding mine pretty tightly, so it would be rude to try to let go.
"To stargaze," I answered, looking into the night sky.
Even after being here for eleven years, I was still enamoured by its beauty.
Here in Ars, where the streets were dimly lit by magical lamps during the night, there was some light pollution that muted the night sky… but it was still blanketed in stars and the cloud of whatever galaxy this world was part of.
I planned to meet with Nanahoshi in the future, at least to secure working toilets… but I would need to make sure she didn't introduce electricity that could ruin this view.
"Stargaze… why?" Isolte asked, looking up along with me.
"Well… isn't it beautiful?" I asked in return, smiling softly as I looked over to her face that was bathed in the moonlight.
She really was pretty… even if I messed up by going too far and basically performing a confession, if it ended up with me getting with her… well, maybe it wasn't a mistake at all.
No, wait, what are you thinking?
Even if she's technically older than you right now, she's still a kid.
But… she wouldn't always be a kid… so-
"It is," she answered, snapping me out of my daze.
She was smiling again… that was good.
Ignoring my thoughts that seemed to be heading towards a weird direction, I continued.
"Yeah… did you know? All those stars… they're just like our sun, but just farther away," I explained.
"Really?" she said, surprised.
"Yes… but personally, I prefer making shapes and stories out of them, than thinking about the science of it," I said, pointing to the north. "Do you see those six bright ones? They look like a crown… a crown worn by the first King of Asura, which he placed in the sky after founding the nation, so that everyone knew of his magnificence for eternity."
"That… actually happened?" she asked, eyes wide.
That was adorably gullible of her.
"No. It's… just a story I made up to go alongside it," I said, moving closer to her as I pointed directly up, ensuring she was following my gaze. "And do you see that cluster? If you connect them with lines, they almost look like three people… those could be three swordsmen that founded the great styles."
"Really? Wait, which ones?" she asked, seemingly more interested.
I should have expected the mention of swordsmanship would get her excited…
"That one as the starting point, and then going there…" I explained.
"Oh! I see it!" she replied, eyes wide with wonder. "And the five stars above them… it almost looks like a sword!"
"It does," I replied with a nod.
We continued adding possible constellations, as well as the stories that accompanied them, long into the night as we lost track of time.
Long enough that we only realized how much time had passed after the maid came in to check on us, ensuring that we weren't doing anything… improper.
But I didn't really care about the slight embarrassment.
After all, thanks to our sky mapping activity… I think it made Isolte feel much better.
And by the time we met up the next day, it looked like a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
Yeah… she looked much better when she was her usual happy self.
— Isolte Cruel —
It was strange, how people could change so quickly.
Or rather, how I had changed so quickly.
Just last week, I had been wallowing in despair, afraid of having hit a wall in my development and being abandoned by everyone.
And of course, I was focused on my swordsmanship, the thing that had been most important through my whole life.
But now… after that night with Vincent… everything changed.
I no longer felt afraid.
After all, Vincent believed in me, and I had all the tools to improve.
And even if I never became a Water Saint, he would still be there with me, and would never abandon me.
Then… there was my focus.
Of course, I still loved swordsmanship, and I intended to pursue it for the rest of my life… but now, I couldn't say that it took up the most important part of my life.
No… that belonged to something else.
Or rather… someone.
Vincent.
I liked him.
No… I loved him.
I was sure of it.
Because if these feelings weren't love… then I wasn't sure what could be.
Vincent… I had been interested in him ever since he arrived here at the dojo.
After all, I hadn't had any friends my age due to my skill, my position, and my dedication to training… but those things didn't stop him, and as a result, he quickly became the closest person to me aside from Grandmother.
Then, there was my admiration of his many abilities.
Whether it be in the sword, magic, or academics… well, to put it simply, Vincent was amazing.
And he was kind too, like when he helped that boy when we went to the festival… not to mention that he was a bit handsome… and how Grandmother relentlessly teased me about us…
But that was it. I was simply interested in him, and my feelings ended there.
I liked him as a friend, and while I could see myself being with him in the future… I never really cared about it, instead being focused on living up to my expectations and honing my swordsmanship.
But after that night… that was no longer the case.
He cared for me, Isolte the girl, not Isolte Cruel, the granddaughter of the Water God.
He wanted to support me, not because of my swordsmanship or my family name, but simply because I was me… he promised to never abandon me and always be with me… he said he'd help me and showed me the beauty of the stars…
When I thought of it like that, it was no wonder I fell for him.
It was almost terrifying, how fast I had fallen.
Even now, even just the thought of looking into his warm red eyes sent shivers down my spine.
I could already picture it… him being tired after a round of training, resting his head on my lap as I ran my fingers through his dark brown hair before trailing down to caress his cheeks and that handsome face of his…
Indeed, it was terrifying, but in the best way possible.
I loved him.
I wanted to marry him.
And while there was that girl he knew back in the Sword Sanctum, Nina… I wouldn't let it get in the way of my new goal.
But… I also recognized that my dream was something meant for the future.
I did want to marry him and be together, but I didn't want it to be due to his promise to stay with me.
After all, not only did I want him to love me without the pressure of keeping a promise, but I still wanted to become the Water God.
And so, I needed to get stronger… and thankfully, my love had already told me exactly who to go to for help.
"Vincent… how did you do it?" I asked him.
He brushed his brown hair out of his sweaty face, looking at me with those red eyes that I had recently found it difficult to stare into.
Wait!
No…! Don't think about that now, Isolte… that can wait for tonight.
"How did I do what?" he asked, tilting his head.
"Just… how are you better than me?" I asked.
We had just finished one of our spars, and as usual, he had defeated me.
If it was with the Sword God Style, I would understand, but no… he had bested me using only the Water God Style, the style that I had been training all my life, while he had only recently started training it seriously.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't a bit jealous and annoyed, but those thoughts quickly dissipated after they appeared.
After all, I knew that Vincent wasn't a competitor or an enemy.
Instead… he was my greatest ally.
"Hmm… well, your technique is at the same level as mine, so… it would probably be my battle aura control," he answered.
Battle aura… right, he was amazing at it.
Even Grandmother said that he was a prodigy that had more talent in it than even her, who was called one of the strongest Water God since the first one, and had even founded her own Secret Art.
Of course, she said that he still needed some experience and training, but once he got that… well, there might be a new swordsman who would be known across the world.
But as for how it would help me…
"Then… how can I get better?" I asked.
He furrowed his eyebrows.
"I'm not sure… I just did constant practice, but my mana manipulation helped," he said, tilting his head. "Here, why don't we try something?"
"Sure," I answered.
"Go into sword stance, I'll guide you," he said, walking over to me. "It probably won't be perfect… but maybe it will give you a hint."
"O-Okay?" I said, confused.
Guiding me? What was he talking about?
I set myself into a sword stance, just as I had done many times before, and Vincent… he stepped behind me, reaching around to hold my sword over my hands.
I nearly yelped at how close he was.
He was hugging me… he was hugging me really close right now… almost like… almost like a lover-
"Now, spread your battle aura as you would for Flow," he said, his breath brushing past my ear.
"Meep!" I exclaimed.
"What?" he questioned.
"N-Nothing, sorry!" I said, activating my battle aura, just as he had asked.
Dammit, how could he do that like it was nothing!
"Hmm… good, no problems there," he said. "So where are you having trouble?"
Get control of yourself, Isolte! He's helping you!
"W-When I release it into the air," I said, taking a breath to calm myself. "Like this, I feel fine. In control. But when it's in the air, I just… I can't deflect anything. It just… stays there."
"Right… Thousand-Ripple Guard makes a spherical defence around you in the air, deflecting attacks," he said. "I had a tough time with the North God sword throwing technique, but at least that was still a physical object… it's amazing you can use it externally already."
I felt my serious expression threaten to crack at his praise, but that was quickly flushed away as he activated his battle aura, a powerful energy radiating off his arms.
Amazing…
"But I see now. Your issue is activating your battle aura, imbuing an effect into it… I struggled with that as well," he said. "Here, let's keep it within the sword for now. Just follow my lead, and ask if anything is confusing."
I immediately felt it… how his battle aura changed.
It felt different… stronger, more resistant…
"This is all mental, so focus on picturing it. Protection… deflecting any projectile attack… You don't need your battle aura to stop it, just redirect it away," he explained.
And so, I followed his instructions.
We remained like that for a few hours, not even caring about skipping lunch as I practiced 'activating' my battle aura, just as he showed.
And by the end of it, as the day began turning to night… I finally got it.
It wasn't perfect, and not nearly at Vince's level… but I think I could do it now.
— Vincent —
"Isolte… you did it," Master Reida whispered, watching on in amazement as the arrow she shot fell limply to the ground. "Amazing."
It had been a week since Isolte sought my advice, and I was now watching her perform Thousand-Ripple Guard.
I had seen her do it many times during our training together, but now… it was different.
The ripples in the air were strong and stable, and anything that got caught in the storm found itself falling to the ground or deflected away from harm.
The technique didn't have any offensive potential, but in terms of defence… it was definitely an absolute technique, as not only could you protect yourself, but also anyone who was within the sphere of defence.
To think that Isolte had been worried about being stuck in her progress with the sword, and now she was doing something so ridiculous… she didn't realize how incredible she was.
It was honestly amazing, seeing battle aura have such strength while remaining in the air, not connected to any physical object… it was far from what I knew about the limits of battle aura, and honestly, I wish I could learn how to do stuff like that.
But for now… well, I needed to focus on Flow-Divination Eye first.
"You can stop now, Isolte," Master Reida said, the sphere of ripples fading away as Isolte turned to us.
"Grandmother… how was that?" she asked.
But from her smile, I think she was quite confident in her display.
"It wasn't perfect… but it was a proper example of the technique," Reida said, smiling happily. "Congratulations, dear granddaughter. You can now call yourself a Water Saint."
Isolte's face lit up, blossoming into her beautiful smile as she began walking… right towards me.
"Vince… thank you. For believing in me, and helping me…" she said.
"No, it was all your own-"
I paused as she leaned close, pressing her lips against my cheek.
Uh… what?
So soft… and warm… wait, no!
"Consider that your reward," Isolte said, lightly patting the very cheek she had just graced with her lips. "But if you want another one… well… fufu!"
I backed away as I felt my cheeks flare in warmth.
No, not warmth.
It was hot. Burning hot.
How… how was I getting teased by a kid?
Or rather, how was it working?
"Hahaha! Well, that's quite the sight. To think I would ever see a flustered look on your composed face, Vincent," Reida chuckled, shaking her head with a mirthful grin. "You look like a noble girl who just received her first love letter."
The teasing didn't help, Master…
And Isolte… please stop looking at me like that. You're just making it more embarrassing.
"Alright, while that was fun, that's enough out of both of you," Reida said, clapping her hands together. "Isolte."
"Yes, Grandmother?" she replied, the teasing expression vanishing from her face.
"Thousand-Ripple Guard is weak against single, powerful attacks, so you'll need a technique to defend against something like the Longsword of Light," Reida said. "And so… you'll be learning Mirror-Cutting Current next."
"Understood," Isolte said.
I was a little bit surprised that Isolte wasn't going to learn the other Secret Art that made up Deprivation Sword Kingdom first, but Master Reida's reasoning made sense.
"Good… ah, and also," she said, leaning down to whisper into her ear, but loud enough for me to hear. "Keep yourself under control until you're at least sixteen. I don't want any great-grand babies just yet."
Needless to say, even without being the main target, that made my embarrassment quickly return.
But at least now, with Isolte averting her flustered gaze to stare at the ground, she seemed to be feeling something similar.
—
Once again, I found myself deaf and blind as I stood still, my sword held in front of me, as I waited for the incoming attacks.
A surge of battle aura erupted to my left, causing me to turn and face it.
Before, it would be just a faint knowledge of it being there.
But now… I could see Teacher Kale's entire body, the cloaked battle aura outlining his form and sword.
When he said that battle aura didn't lie… I think this is what he meant.
This way, even if he had a concealed blade, as long as it was coated in battle aura, I would be able to see it.
He raced forward, and as I watched battle aura flare across his blade, I prepared myself for a horizontal strike.
I parried it.
Not with Flow, as this exercise wasn't about actually sparring, but simply reacting properly to all his moves.
He transferred his momentum and angled his blade, aiming for my chest with a quick stab.
I blocked that too.
And then another… and another.
Once his flurry of attacks ended, all without me getting hit once, Teacher Kale stepped back, lowering his sword as the intensity of his battle aura faded.
He then reached out to tap my shoulder twice, signalling that I could remove the beeswax earplugs and the cloth, which I promptly did.
"Alright… I think it's fair to say that you've learned to properly sense battle aura now," he said, giving me a smile. "Well done."
"Thank you… but I still can't predict what you're going to do," I said, wiping the sweat off my face.
"Perhaps… but that wasn't the point of the exercise. While it helped you learn how to predict actions from flares of battle aura, the point of this drill was to make it so you can see an opponent in their entirety through just their battle aura," Kale said, smiling. "And now… you'll learn how to predict from reading an opponent."
He was right… my battle aura perception had increased to the point where I could fight blind most of the time… which wasn't the main function of the Secret Art, but was still a good skill to have.
And as I had learned, with battle aura and mana being similar energies, I was also able to sense mana much better than before as well.
It was interesting to see the mana that was in the city walls with more detail, with many magic circles and spells being placed in it for defence of the city.
Not that I could understand what any of those magic circles did, of course… though perhaps, once I was fluent in the Beast God language, I could focus my studies on that.
"Now, reading battle aura is best used against the Sword God Style, since it is used openly and powerfully, and it's useful against Water God Style users since we use it a lot in our techniques… but with the North God Style, you'll have to be careful," he said, his eyes narrowing seriously. "The North God Style can mask their battle aura… they can make your battle aura perception useless, and if they're truly skilled, they can even use it against you through deception."
Wait, what?
"I've never heard of the North God Style being able to do that before," I said, confused. "I mean, I know they can conceal themselves, and even completely eliminate their presence… but not deceiving with their battle aura."
I mean, how would that even work?
"Really? Well… it's not my place to teach you about other styles, but it's true," he said. "You'll learn more later, as I believe Master has arranged something."
I was curious as to what exactly Master Reida had arranged, but before I could ask, Kale moved on.
"For them, you can only rely on reading their body and the environment, so that is what we will be learning next. If you can master this, it will not only help you in combat, but outside of it as well," Kale said, chuckling as he rubbed his stubble. "I can't tell you how often it saved me when dealing with my late wife… it's quite the invaluable skill, if used correctly."
So… for reading people's emotions?
Yeah… that would definitely be useful.
"I see… and what will we do next?" I asked.
"Well, the basis of prediction comes from time and experience. Nothing can change that," he said, smiling. "But there are ways to make it go faster… so, to do exactly that, we'll be looking at some examples."
"Examples?" I questioned.
"Indeed… come with me, we're going to watch the others during their training," he said, leading the way out of the grove. "We'll be studying their moves and their body, and you'll attempt to guess what happens in every exchange before it does. Are you prepared?"
So I was just going to be watching the other students… well, it sounded boring, but with Kale guiding me, I hope that it will be a little bit interesting.
"Yes, Teacher Kale," I replied, following behind him.
And so, a new part of my training began.