"First take a deep breath and then swing your sword."

Koyuki is currently demonstrating the basic swordsmanship, that I need to follow. It's hard because this is my first time training swordsmanship.

My small hands are turning red and numb. Copying Koyuki's attack pattern using the old sword on my hand. I get ready myself and swing my sword vertically.

After having practice swings for quite a while. My hands can’t take it anymore. I lost my grip on my sword. I then left my hand really hot and painful at the same time.

Looking at my palm I saw how red it was.

“If you want to survive in the outside world. You should at least endure something like that.”

Koyuki said.

Master is right, this is just a small part of my training. But still for a small girl like me to have this kind of hardship makes me want to cry.

Still, I can’t just give up.

I stand up and repeat it from the beginning.

Yaya and Nonon came in and bring us some snacks and drinks. Koyuki walked toward them. She takes a glass of fruit juice and takes a sip to quenched her thirst.

The refreshing face she made make after drinking her juice make me feel envious.

"Just keep on repeating Laura… Your body will remember each movement and will get used to it."

I take that as encouragement and keep on the swing of my sword.

The sword that I'm using in training is a real sword, but since it's old the blade barely cut anything.

Koyuki told me that I need to get used to the weight of a true sword and get used to it. Because learning hands-on is the best way to learn something.

Left, right, left, thrust, right, left, right, trust…

I keep on doing the basic attack pattern. My body started to remember each swing and the pattern just naturally occurring in my movement.

After few hours.

"Laura that's enough, came here and have some snacks."

Said Koyuki, then followed by Nonon and Yaya's worried voices.

"Big sis Laura, Mama is right don't overdo yourself."

"Big sis Laura, I made cookies for you."

But their word didn't reach my ear, because I'm too focus in swing my sword.

I continuously repeating and learning the technique.

That's what I want. Like Mayu said I need to be strong to travel around the world.

I don't want to see what happened before. I lost the people I love because I was too weak to protect them. I was too small and fragile. If I was strong enough on those times. Maybe I can still see their smiles.

…

"Mama, Big sis Laura is ignoring us. Did she hate us?"

Asked Nonon.

"No, she's just hardworking, let's just let her and leave her snack here."

Replied Koyuki.

Without noticing the sun started to set. I fell laying to the ground and chased my breath. I smell my clothes covered in sweat and look in the setting sun.

"Thi-this is hard like I expected... Hum hum..."

I turn my glance to the terrace and saw the snack Yaya and Nonon provided for me. The snack consists of cookies and orange juice. I turn my body and get up from the ground. I then reached my hand to the snack and take a bite on it with a serious face.

The cookies are good, but I don’t have time to appreciate it. I was thinking of my errors in the swings. My stance and form. The breathing and movements.

Compared to Koyuki’s swordsmanship. She was able to deliver her swings in a polished way. I can hear the swift sound echoes from the blade.

I'm still failing to copy Koyuki's basic sword pattern. I need to polish my skill more.

Standing up and entering the house I saw dirty-looking myself in the mirror.

I really work so hard… I need to take a bath.

In the following days, I continuously repeating the routine and learn. Once I learn the sword pattern Koyuki immediately teach me a new pattern and I started to practice it.

One by one, step by step.

There is no need to rush, The important thing is the result.

...

Four months passed, I learn all of Koyuki's basic attack pattern.

"That's impressive Laura, I guess I can give you the advance attack, but this time you will not just gonna use your energy. You're going to use your Mana."

Mana? That means magic.

Mana is a common type of energy that is used in spells.

Koyuki put her right arm in front of her and cast a spell.

"Wind spell: Wind blade."

Followed by her chant the sword was then enveloped by wind force. One swing of her sword launched a cutter blade made of wind. With just a single attack a giant tree was cut.

When I was still living in Rum town. I saw adult woodcutters taking days to cut a tree this big. Seeing Koyuki cut it within a second surprised me.

The spell is quite amazing.

"Did you see that Laura?"

"Yeah, that was amazing."

"Then watch this one, This time I won't use the spell."

Koyuki pulled her sword gently and make a fighting stance. She cut another big tree using her sword in a single strike.

This time I felt the force Master put on her swing. The tree was cut in the same way through, but Koyuki sweats after doing it.

I thinking this is the hard way.

"Using your own natural energy is one of the ways to become strong… Magic-user often forgot this and don't practice their own body. They always rely on their magic ability. There are times we’re spellcasters who can’t use magic. For example, When the spellcaster was inside the anti-magic zone."

It totally makes sense. Most people want an easy job than the hard one.

Many people don’t like the second method because practicing using your own body is really a pain.

Maybe that's the reason most of the magic-user is thin and frail-looking. Some have a big body and build-up muscles but they are really quite rare.

Koyuki makes a step backward and gets ready for a second swing.

"Then Laura look in this one... Wind skill: Wind blade."

Skill?

The wind blade came from the sword combine with the natural energy. The wind blade cuts through the trees in a wide area in the forest.

Koyuki cut not just twenty trees, I guess it's forty or more.

I feel sad for the birds and animals living on those trees, but still, it’s amazing.

"Laura that one is called skill... A combination of Mana and Natural energy flowing in our body. Using the natural strength came from the training and power of spell magic. You can create a much powerful ability superior to magic. Since, I already show you that, I will show you your final exam to pass and graduate as my student."

There are still things that I’m processing in my head. Like how Mana and Natural energy are used. Also, How those two are combined in one strike.

I guess I can ask her later.

I followed Koyuki, We arrived at the river bank near the hill.

In the riverbank, there is a huge white boulder stone.

"Laura this in your final exam, you need to cut this boulder in half."

Cut this giant boulder in half? Wait, can I really cut this boulder in half. This boulder is ten times bigger than me. I know that Koyuki presented some awesome techniques to me, but this feels a little bit too much.

I look toward the boulder with a skeptical face.

"Are you afraid?"

Asked Koyuki.

"I'm not afraid at all… If I can’t cut this boulder. Then I won’t be able to cut monsters. Like those monsters that attack my town before… I want to surpass myself and became strong.”

"Good answer, then let’s take some time and I will teach you the basics of spell casting and skill casting.”

Master started teaching me the basic flow of Mana on the body and how it was used. Using natural energy is easily understand because it’s mainly just a physical right from the body. Mana is about the magical power stored in every human's body.

According to Koyuki, everyone is born with Mana on their body. A man without magic on their body exists but they are very rare.

Mana is an important aspect of every mage that has ever lived, as it is their source of magic power 「魔力 」, which is used to cast magic spells. This energy is naturally existing and flowing in the environment and within everyone.

 Due to this, it is common knowledge that everyone can use magic to some extent.

Individuals born with a strong affinity for mana and with exceptional magic power are said to be "loved by mana". At the same time, people who do not possess any mana and are unable to use magic at all are an extremely rare occurrence and are said to be "hated by mana".

Furthermore, when someone uses all of their mana, it could cause them severe exhaustion, render them unconscious, and, in extreme cases, lead to their death.

In nature, the density of mana can be different from place to place. Locations with strong mana can have unusual climates.

Locations with extremely high densities of mana, such as dungeons and Grand Magic Zones, are known to have radically distorted and hazardous environments and are thus very difficult to navigate safely.

Moreover, mana can also be used as materials to mold objects, such as using it to create a huge door within a dungeon.

Magic 「魔法 Mahō」 is the refinement and application of magic power to perform a specific function, or spell. There are three ways that a mage can develop their magical abilities: natural talent, hard work, and experiencing a life-or-death situation.

Spells can be categorized as one of several different forms 「形態 keitai」 of magic. The classification is dependent on the spell's function. For example, a spell that can repair physical damage or relieve exhaustion is classified as Healing Magic. Another example would be Curse Magic, a magic form that has long-term, disadvantageous effects on the victim.

Unlike mana that exists in nature, the mana that is situated within mages has a specific nature to it, known as attributes 「属性 zokusei」. These attributes are one of the aspects that differentiate one mage from another. The attribute that a mage possesses is the one that they are born with.

There are four major elements 「四大元素 yondaigenso」 in the world: fire, water, wind, and earth. All other magical attributes are derived from these four. For example, Smoke Magic is a branch of the wind attribute, and ice from the water attribute. Over the centuries, some cultures have developed unnatural or irregular magic attributes, like chain, steel, spatial, and time.

Some magic attributes are very common, such as fire and water, whereas some other magic attributes are exceptionally rare, such as light and space.

A mage can only have one magic attribute and are unable to use the magic of any other nature. For example, a mage who was born with the attribute of fire is unable to use spells from other types of magic, such as wind or water.

While the average mage cannot use multiple attributes, nothing is stopping them from using their own attribute to perform different forms of magic, such as wind-based Creation Magic or fire-based Healing Magic.

The average mage normally only uses one or two forms of magic, but incredibly powerful mages can use multiple magic forms without a problem.

Furthermore, mages can have different latent abilities corresponding to the element from which their attribute is derived. One example would be mages with an affinity towards wind-based elements having the latent ability of mana sensory. This resulted from those mages having a higher sensitivity towards the flow of mana.

I totally find it hard storing all those information in my head.

My head started to release the steam of smoke.

“Laura? Are you still there?”

“Fried chicken is really good.”

I replied with a dumbstruck face.

…

It's been 2 months and I finally manage to use the magic spell correctly. It's not as powerful as Koyuki's magic spell but I'm glad I can finally use it.

I manage to cut a big branch of the tree using my own magic.

"Wind spell: Wind blade!"

The wind blade appeared and cut one larger branch.

...

The sun started to set. Without noticing and I continue to swing my sword.

The owl started to make noise and the forest started to get scary. I'm still in the forest for training.

I walked back to the river back and check the big white boulder. By touching it I can tell that this is not your ordinary rick, because I can feel mana flowing inside of it. Its sturdiness is also supported by magic.

How can I slice a boulder like this?

For now, I want to test my skill using a rock.

I find a rock not as big as the boulder, but I'm pretty sure that it's sturdy enough to break a sword.

I started concentrating my mana on my sword and attack the rock.

"Wind skill: Wind blade."

The sword bounces back, making me lost my balance and fell to the ground. The vibration the sword made upon landing on the rock. Making my body quiver.

"That was a very impressive sound you make using your sword, but your still not getting the right way to do it."

I heard an unfamiliar voice in the forest. It’s a sweet voice of a girl.