The Author's POV

"Fuuuuuuu...."

Inside of a dimly lit bedroom, a young boy let out a long breath as he sat crossed-legged. A white glow pulsated around his body. Increasing and decreasing constantly.

Focusing my mind, I tried to feel the mana around me.

After having listened to Gilbert's lecture I managed to grasp the missing key to my roadblock.

Mana control.

I needed to have better control of my mana. More precisely, I needed to have better control of wind psyons.

Since the [Keiki style] required me to harness wind psyons, in a way that it coated around my sword so that it could propel it forward, I needed to have a better understanding and control of them.

By having better control of wind psyons, not only would I become more efficient, but I would also be able to increase the speed of my sword movement.

Evening my breathing, I focused entirely on my surroundings.

I slowly felt the mana circulating around me. The more I focused the more I felt like I was underneath the sea, surrounded by water. It felt boundless.

"fuuuuuu...."

Sucking in my breath, I channeled the mana around me into my body.

Slowly the white glow around me increased, extending out from my body.

Closing my eyes, I focused on grasping the concepts of wind.

What was wind?

Wind referred to the movement of gases from high pressure to low-pressure areas.

High pressure

Low pressure

Slowly the white glow around me brightened.

-Shuam!

After a couple of minutes, abruptly opening my eyes, I reached for the sword that sat next to me.

Standing up, I positioned myself into my sword stance and focused entirely on what was ahead of me.

The world around me disappeared and all that was left was an empty white world with me in the middle.

The second movement of the [Keiki style] : Horizon splitting slash

-Shuuuua!

Like a lightning bolt, a bright white light enveloped the room. It left as fast as it came. Instantaneous.

Opening my eyes, a satisfied smiled appeared on my face...though it didn't last long as a long horizontal scar appeared on the wall.

"...crap!"

Hurrying over to the wall that I had just slashed with my sword, I traced my finger along the long horizontal scar that I left on the wall. Feeling how deep it was I couldn't help but curse out loud.

There went a couple of thousand U.

Damm it.

Originally, I was supposed to go to the training grounds to practice, but because I needed to hide the fact that I practice a five star module, I was left with the only option of practicing in my room.

The commotion of my breakthrough would've just been too big.

Moreover with all the cameras installed, hiding what I was doing was impossible.

In the end, I could only lament the fact that I didn't have my own personal training ground.

Shaking my head, I slumped back on the ground as fine droplets of sweat dripped from my forehead.

Laughing bitterly, I looked at my status.

===Status===

Name : Ren Dover

Rank : F

Strength : F

Agility : F

Stamina : F

Intelligence : F -

Mana capacity : F

Luck : E

Charm : G

--> Profession :

[Swordsmanship lvl.2]

The degree of understanding of the sword has evolved to the next level. User will find it easier to understand concepts that were previously harder to understand.

--> Martial Manual :

[★★★★★ Keiki style] - Minor realm of mastery

Sword art created by Grandmaster Toshimoto Keiki. A five-star module that focused primarily on reaching the apex of swordsmanship and speed. Upon mastery, the sword art becomes so fast that before an opponent could even think about their next move, their heads would already be rolling on the ground.

--> Skills :

[{G} Monarch's indifference]

A skill that enables users to erase all emotions, and act as a supreme monarch that only calculates the best option regardless of circumstance.

==========

Looking at my stats, my brows involuntarily twitched due to one of the attribute's refusal to increase.

On the bright side, I had finally managed to reach <F> rank.

I had originally thought that I still needed a couple of weeks to a month before getting promoted to <F> rank, but it seems like my breakthrough had also helped me increase my stats.

Another factor that contributed to my sudden rise in rank was probably Melissa's potions.

Since they were made by her, the quality was probably on the higher end of the spectrum compared to what was sold on the market. This probably contributed to my sudden increase in rank.

I could now proudly say that I was at least within the top 150 if not top 100 in our year.

Though I was still not in the top ranks, I was slowly catching up to the others.

It didn't matter how long it took, all I needed to know was that I was slowly achieving it.

One day, I would slowly but surely become strong enough to overcome any challenges I faced. I didn't want to be helpless again like the time I was in the dungeon...

Looking back at my status window, I couldn't help but notice that my swordsmanship had leveled up to 2.

As my understanding of the sword increased, so did my profession.

The higher the profession level, the higher the understanding you had of the profession. Moreover, the more your profession level increased, the easier it was to understand previously daunting problems. It was like my comprehension had been increased.

With my newfound knowledge, I was instantly able to find the flaws of my current fighting style.

Despite how good the [Keiki style] was, I was currently too weak to wield it.

Looking back at my previous fights, I remembered always finding myself in a pickle after not being able to finish my opponent on my first hit.

...I only knew how to attack but not defend.

Once I attacked I wasted too much time trying to regain my stance.

Because I was still a newbie with the [Keiki style], I wasted too much time transitioning from one stance to the other...this in turn allowed the enemy to regain their bearing, completely removing the element of surprise.

Moreover, from my experience, I found that in between the time that I was switching stanced I was basically helpless.

I needed something that created synergy with the [Keiki style]. Something that bought me time so that I could regain my stance.

My first thought was obviously getting another skill, but considering how expensive and rare they were I could only discard such thought.

My next thought was whether I should buy an artifact.

If I bought an artifact that created a shield around me after every attack, it could easily solve my problem...but in the end, similarly to skills, I couldn't afford it.

Despite the fact that I had 6 million U with me, it was not nearly enough to purchase an artifact that met my precise requirement.

In the end, I was left with one option.

Learn another sword art.

This was probably the easiest method and most appropriate method. There was more than one reason as to why this was the most appropriate choice, but the biggest of them all was that I was in urgent need of a sword art that I could use in the absence of the [Keiki style]

For obvious reasons, if news were to spread that I was in possession of a five star manual, I could kiss my daily life goodbye as I would be hounded by greedy bastards left and right.

It was fine if they were just targeting me, but since I had parents, my every action had to also consider them in the picture.

I was no longer alone.

Thinking thus far, I knew that I had to mask my real sword art...and what better way to hide that fact than by practicing another one.

This way, I could hide my strength from everyone's sight even better. The fewer the loopholes, the better.

Plus, if I chose a defense-orientated sword art and if I could use it alongside the [Keiki style], my strength would see another boost.

It was simply a win-win.

...now all I had to do was find the appropriate sword art.

A couple of ones came into my head, but they were either too hard to get or were too expensive. The academy also provided them, but you had to have a certain amount of merits in order to use them.

I currently had zero.

After a long time of me trying to rack my brain over this issue, I decided to leave it for later. It'll eventually hit me. There was no point in trying to think of the solution to a problem in my current circumstances.

I was already exhausted from breaking through. There was no point in thinking when my brain capacity was currently at its limit.

It'll eventually hit me.

Laying down on my bed, I picked up the mysterious red book that I had gotten from the package my mom had sent me.

Things have been quiet on Kevin's side. Nothing particularly exciting happened apart from the slight conflict he had with Gilbert at the end of the lesson.

I was too immersed in my own enlightenment to witness the conflict. But what essentially happened was that Kevin and Gilbert had a verbal dispute with each other at the end of the lecture. It was a tit for tat.

It didn't escalate to a full-blown fight, but it certainly increased the enmity between the two. Especially Gilbert who already hated Kevin with a passion.

Looking through the book and seeing that there was nothing particularly exciting, I closed the book in my hands and prepared to sleep.

Regarding the book, one more thing I found out about it was that it couldn't be stored inside of a dimensional space. This was a bummer because it meant that I would essentially have to carry it with me everywhere from now on.

Though I didn't use the book much, if the situation called for it, I was always ready to make use of its future alternating properties.

...but as of now I only used the book to see how Kevin and the story were progressing. There just wasn't a need for me to use it as of now.

I mean, although there were some hiccups here and there, the plotline was proceeding as it should be, and because Kevin still didn't have any major conflicts I didn't really feel the need to use it.

-Ding! -Dong!

Just as I was about to close my eyes and sleep, the sound of my doorbell ringing could be heard.

'...Hm? Who could it be?'

Sitting up on my bed, I looked in the direction of the door in confusion.

I don't recall ordering anything...

Frowning, I tried to remember if I had a prior engagement, but I soon shook my head. I wasn't expecting any packages nor expecting someone.

Maybe my parents ordered something for me?

...But I don't recall them ever mentioning anything about this.

A myriad of questions entered my mind as I headed for the door. In the end, because I was too tired, I thought nothing of it and opened the door. I wasn't popular enough to have someone actively looking for me.

"How can I hel..."

Halfway through my sentence, I froze.

"..."

Standing in front of me stood a stunningly beautiful young girl with glossy black hair that gently fell down all the way to her waist. Her black crystal clear eyes looked directly at me and though she wasn't as tall as me, we could see each other at eye level.

After a moment of pause, she said

"May I come in?"

"..."

No words came from my mouth.

I was so shocked at the moment that I just stood there dumbly.

I was totally caught off guard.

"...?"

Tilting her head to the side, and seeing the state I was in, the young girl without waiting for me to respond entered my room.

It was evident that such a situation was within her expectations.

-Clank!

Snapping me out of my daze was the sound of the door closing as the young girl entered my room.

Turning around, a complicated look appeared on my face.

'Why would Amanda suddenly show up in my room? '