Chương 29: Chapter 28 Training to Rival Apostles of God

As the training began, I started with mock battles with Selen to gain more experience. My experience was still shallow, as I only reached my current swordsmanship after training for just a year and a half with Selen. Selen now intended to drill the experience of swordsmanship into me quickly by constantly sparring with me to make me realize my mistakes and correct them. As I continued, I learned about weird habits I had that I did not even realize were there.

It took a long time to correct the minor ones, as the larger habits were too deeply ingrained to change in a short time. By correcting my small habits, my sword started gaining more power and speed, which had previously been limited by my poor posture. Every single day, I had to get up early and spar with Selen until I passed out from exhaustion, as this was the only way to force my body to learn through pain and ingrain muscle memory deep into my body.

After two months of this tiring routine, a system notification popped up: Level Up [EX] Swordsmanship (Lv. 5) I became able to do new things with this level up, as the strength and speed of my slashes increased significantly. I was still far from strong enough though, so the routine kept going. Every day I was constantly injured and collapsed from exhaustion, only to repeat it all again the next day.

As the months passed, I improved greatly as I fixed my habits, learned new sword techniques, refined my skills, and increased my endurance. A full two years after I came to train, I could finally imitate a certain portion of what the goddess Trisha did when she attacked the mountain back then. My slash was far weaker, and the distance was far shorter.

Regardless, there was progress, and when I let out the strongest move I could currently output, I managed to slice an entire hill in half without needing to use magic. I took it even further, doing it consecutively to turn the hill into perfectly cut cubes as small as a pebble. With this milestone, my skill leveled up on my system window: Level Up [EX] Swordsmanship (Lv. 10) Observing my progress, Selen then told me, "You have now reached a point where me teaching you will not give you any more benefits.

In the next phase, you will have to figure out your next steps yourself. I am satisfied, and you should be strong enough now, so you can go back." I asked, "What is wrong with you teaching me further? My swordsmanship is still far behind yours." Selen replied, "At your current skill level, you have built a solid foundation. If I continue teaching you, it will just result in an exact copy of my skill, and you would never surpass mine.

Instead, you should develop your own skill so that you can reach further than just a copy." I could not argue with what Selen said, as any further instruction would just be me trying to imitate her moves. I was uneasy, as I did not know how to navigate my own path forward. Nevertheless, I agreed with Selen and knew it was time to part ways. Selen then waved me away and disappeared, seemingly heading back to her platform to become a statue again.

I then left the place, as it had been a long time and I did not know when the goddess Trisha would start her attack on us. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. After a day of traveling, I arrived back in the human kingdom, which had now been renamed the Kingdom of Equality. I looked around and was amazed by the changes, as everything was so technologically advanced.

It seemed that since this was our kingdom now, Shiro Yuki had put her technological skills to use and redesigned everything. The quality of life had improved, and the civilians seemed to have gotten used to it. The large building that now served as the residence for the ruler of the country was well built and visually pleasing. The girls had put a lot of effort into constructing this place. As I walked in, wanting to ask what had happened, I arrived at the main office room.

I went in to see Sophia and Shiro Yuki talking about something. They turned their heads to see me and quickly came to greet me. Sophia said, "Quickly come sit down. You must be curious about what happened while you were gone, right?" Shiro then noted, "We will tell you everything in detail, as you might have seen my handiwork already." As I sat down, the two began informing me about what had occurred. Sophia began, "Originally, the humans very much disliked us for taking over their kingdoms.

As the months passed and they got used to our new policies, they started to realize the benefits we brought." Shiro then continued, "I then started to slowly introduce new technology to raise the standard of living. Some tedious tasks are now automated, which made the brutally long workday shorter and gave many people more free time in their day." Sophia elaborated, "Suzune and Himari then explained some forms of entertainment from your home world, and we introduced those as well.

The civilians loved them and now fully accepted our policies." I then asked, "Is this the same for the Demonic Continent?" Sophia replied, "The demons were even more averse to us taking over, but after Lucy started bringing resources from the Human Continent, they quickly started to accept the situation. The biggest problem was a supply shortage, so now that it was solved, Lucy calmed the masses of demons."

Shiro also noted, "I then spread-out surveillance technology to make sure no conflicts happened as we opened a trade route between humans and demons. Now, with the bishops and knights acting as a policing force, we have kept things peaceful, and the humans and demons are now used to each other's presence. Though there are still conflicts, they are much more minor than before." I was very satisfied with the result.

In just a mere two years, they had achieved so many results that I never would have been able to achieve on my own. This was the result I wanted but could never achieve before due to a lack of power. I then wondered why the goddess Trisha advocated for war when such a peaceful outcome was possible. I then asked, "Has anyone come to invade at this time, such as the goddess Trisha?" Sophia replied, "There have not been any invaders, and things have been quite peaceful.

We have been alert for the goddess Trisha's revenge for two years now, but nothing has happened yet." I was relieved and started to inquire about other matters. I had many things explained to me and learned more about the current affairs of the kingdom. After several hours of explanation, Sophia took me to a room set aside for me. It was now nighttime, and I was exhausted from traveling from so far away. I rested for the rest of the day.

Over the next period, I started involving myself in kingdom management whenever I was not training. My swordsmanship skill had hit another wall, as I could no longer improve it and simply did not know how to advance further. I started helping with management to have something to do while I looked for inspiration. The days passed peacefully, as nothing of note was happening in particular. Then, half a year after coming back, something finally happened.

I felt a strong surge of magical power outside the kingdom, which was almost as fear-inducing as the goddess Trisha's descent. I then heard a voice from far away: "I am the apostle of justice. The goddess Trisha has sent me to cleanse you sinners who have strayed from the path of light. Surrender to the light and return to the correct path." As the voice finished, Sophia and Shiro rushed toward me, as they too had heard the voice. Sophia started asking, "Should we go together? This person feels very dangerous."

I then said, "Do not worry, I have been preparing for this fight for a long time now. Just support me while I fight this apostle off." As I was showing my confidence, Shiro interrupted by saying, "You two do not need to worry about fighting the apostle personally. I have not been idle these past two years and have finished that weapon I was working on. I refuse to believe an apostle can survive such an attack." I was surprised to hear what Shiro was saying.

I remembered the task I had assigned her a long time ago to make a powerful weapon. Now that it was done, rather than using it on humans and demons, we were going to use it on an apostle of god. I found it strange how much life had changed and how quickly things had transformed. What I was most surprised about was how fast Shiro had built the weapon. I then asked, "Are you sure it works and can be used right now?" Shiro replied confidently, "Do not worry.

Just stand back and watch how I easily defeat this so-called apostle of god."