Vol 1 Chapter 5: Unmeasurable Strength
"Rui!"
...
"Rui wake up!"
...
Who's calling my name this early in the morning?
"You're going to be late!"
?!
I forgot! Today's Monday!
"Damn it!"
I quickly looked at the time on my mobile phone
"..."
"Did that wake you up?"
"Seriously, Mai?"
"Hehe, ain't you glad?"
I couldn't even get mad at her, especially since she saved my whole career from getting destroyed...
The girl who just woke me up is the caretaker's daughter, Mai, 19 years old. A young and beautiful girl. We've known each other since we we're kids. Ever since the caretaker died, she overtook her grandfather's apartment
...and the reason why she barged in on my apartment, is because it was the very first day of my new work
"If you're gonna wake me up, at least be gentler with it!"
"Hm? I can't do that"
"Huh? Why?"
"Today's a special day for you right? Its your first day of training with Mr. Shin!"
"Huh? Who's Shin-"
?!
...
Wait...I remember now!
I quickly looked at her with a shock on my face
"H...how did you know?"
"..."
She turned her back on me and said
"Say...when we'll we meet?"
"What...?"
"Tell me"
"..."
This is a dream...right?
"You can't just left me and not tell me!"
"..."
"Say it. When?"
I don't even know what to say to that...
"When???"
"..."
"TELL ME!"
?!
...
This time, I woke up, from a smack that I got from Shin. It was then that the pain finally registered through my brain
"OUCH! What was that for?!"
"You were taking your sweet ass time sleeping! Did you forgot today was the start of your training?!"
"Uhh..."
I just had a good night sleep...that's all
"*Sigh*, sounded like you had a nightmare earlier, what happened?"
"...Nothing"
Even if I told you, you probably wouldn't understand...
"..."
...
"Alright, come outside when you're done washing your face at least"
He said, while carrying something with him as he went outside
"Is he gonna torture me with that or something?"
I hope not!
...
And what was with that dream that I had just now?
...Mai...I wonder what you're doing right now...
...
After washing my face and all, I went outside to face the training once, and for all
"About time you showed up"
"Uhuh..."
"First off, I want to assess your strength"
"My strength?"
"We can't go own with the training if I don't even know if you can at least lift a sword or something"
"..."
Surely I'm not that weak...right?
"For starters, lift that longsword behind you"
"Behind me...?"
There was only one sword behind me, that was pierced under the ground
"Use that sword"
But isn't it gonna be hard to pull it out?
...
Might as well try...
I walked up to the sword and tried to pull it out with both of my hands...
...
...Surprisingly enough, it wasn't hard to pull it out. Even though the sword was dug pretty deep, it was easy for me to pull it
"?!"
I wonder if I can pull it out with just one hand?
...
Oh! I can!
As I raised up the sword that I pulled out from the ground, I had the biggest smile on my face
"That was easier than I thought it would be!"
"..."
I looked at Shin, who had a dubious look on his face
"Something wrong?"
"Nothing, It just looked like to me that you didn't even break a sweat lifting that thing"
Is he mocking me again for being scrawny?
"It wasn't that hard, I can even lift it with just one hand"
"I said as I swung the sword one time"
"..."
"What?"
"You might be stronger than you look..."
"..."
I did get transported here, so maybe my strength does have to do with it?
"Now that I know that you can at least lift a sword, we can keep going on with the training"
"And that is?"
"Holding the sword properly"
"Huh?"
In isekai animes, they usually start off with swinging the sword right off the bat...
"In a sword fight, the first one who looses their sword from their hands loses. A swordsman without a sword is like a knight with no armor, vulnerable and susceptible to any attacks"
"I get the reason behind it, but is it really that important Shin?"
"That's Master Shin to you!"
He said, with a mighty look on his face
"...Is it really that important, Master Shin?"
"If you're doubtful about it, how about we give it a try?"
"...?"
"Hold your sword the way you want it to, I'll try to get it off from your hands. Once I got it off from you, you lose"
"Okay..."
He then go farther away from me, keeping a big distance between me and him
With his instructions, I held the sword the way I think its supposed to be held
"Are you ready?"
I nodded
"Here it goes!"
He then picked a random stone, and throw it at me
...
Is this a scene where I can underestimate a pebble getting thrown at me, but-
"?!"
...
...I knew it. This is another world after all, should've expected it...
"That was fast!"
I didn't even know how I was able to held my sword with that kind of impact
As you might have guessed, the stone that Master Shin threw at me, instantly closed the gap between me and him, leaving me little to no reaction. If it weren't for my sword blocking it, I would've had a hole in my chest right now
"...Your sword"
"Huh?"
"Your sword...didn't flew..."
"Oh, right..."
I guess he was expecting something else to happen
"As I thought, you're interesting!"
He said, as he suddenly enveloped the aura with a dark aura of his
"Uhh...is this still training?"
"It is"
"But from the looks of it, it looks like you're trying to kill me!"
"Try your best to block it, kid"
"I-I think we should stop for today-"
It was late the moment he himself already closed the gap between us
"Hmpf!"
"?!"
...
...
...
After the dust started to clear off, there can be seen me and Master Shin, standing face to face...
...with the sword no longer in my hands
"...It flew off..."
"Heh...seems like you lost"
Sounds to me that you don't want to lose!
"Yeah yeah I lost, now what?"
"Now you know the importance of proper sword handling. With the proper way of doing it, you can prevent your sword from flying off in such scenarios like this"
"Uhuh..."
I was doing so well before you came at me earlier!
"Now less talking and more training! Grab your sword and do it again!"
"*Sigh*...alright..."
"No lunch for you until you get it once!"
"What?! Don't you think that's harsh?!"
"Oh? Does that mean you wanted more?"
"I meant the opposite of that!"
He just turned his back on me, waving his hand to signal me to get it on with it after
...
Meanwhile...in Shin's perspective...
...
"This kid..."
He turned once again to look at Rui
"Right after I tried to kick his sword away, there was a hint of struggle for me to do so..."
He tried to peered into Rui's abilities with his 'Reading Eye' skill
...
...Still no luck...huh?
...
"Just who exactly is this kid...?"
In this world, people here, even the creatures as well as heroes, have abilities or skills that can be seen by the skill called "Reading Eye". Although the reading eye is useful to assess an individual, its usefulness depends on your strength. The higher your strength is, the better your reading eye will be...
But in Shin's case...
"I tried to check his abilities and skills...but my reading eye doesn't show anything..."
...and that could only mean one thing
"Which means...he's more powerful than me..."
Shin shivered at the thought
"If I don't raise him well...he might end up as a big threat to me"
and a big threat to this world
...
"I don't know where he belonged, or if he even knows himself"
...
"But he's not someone even hundreds of heroes can defeat..."
Because...
"If I can assess the heroes' skills and abilities but I can't do the same to him..."
That means...
"He's stronger than them..."
...