Although Sebastian had finally broken

  through to the second stage of his Sword Art, albeit at a Low

  proficiency, he didn’t stop his sparring sessions with Oren. They simply

  pivoted. Instead of trying to develop a new stage, he worked on

  mastering more Techniques.

  Oren was also benefiting tremendously from having someone

  strong to spar with. He had stopped charging Sebastian after the first

  year. They both enjoyed the training, as well as the results, too much

  to quit, and Oren didn’t feel right continuing to take Sebastian’s money.

  He even used Sebastian as an occasional teaching

  assistant for his students. He didn’t do much, though. Mostly Oren just

  sent droves of kids to attack him in the schoolyard, and he defended

  himself. Sebastian enjoyed it. It helped teach the kids teamwork, and

  even though they were young and weak, Sebastian also gained some good

  experience in dealing with large numbers.

  The students of the school were divided into two classes: Junior and Senior.

  The juniors were kids between the ages of 8 and 13 and

  the seniors between 14 and 18. Typically, the year they turned 18 was

  when they graduated. Students could enroll to the school at any age but

  had to gain the necessary

  Skills to be eligible for graduation, however long that took.

  It was primarily the juniors who Oren set loose on

  Sebastian, with some added incentive of some snacks for anyone who could

  land a hit. No one ever did. Sebastian wasn’t above depriving the kids

  of rewards when the alternative was getting beat with wooden swords,

  even though they technically couldn’t hurt him even if they did hit him.

  Celder wasn’t a big town by the standards of this world,

  but it still had a population upward of a hundred thousand people, which

  in Sebastian’s eyes would mean it was actually a proper city, but there

  were far more people here than on earth. That meant that there were

  several thousands of potential students across the town. In a fairly

  remote town like Celder, however, swordsmanship wasn’t the most popular

  choice. Most families prioritized sending their children down more

  practical career paths, which usually meant learning the family trade.

  Celder had the Silvervale Woodlands, which they called

  the Dark Woods, nearby, however, so there was always a batch of

  prospective students every year. Some families sent their children to

  train to be hunters and others hoped to send them onto the path of a

  warrior.

  In total, there were about 25 - 30 students in either

  class of the sword school. So once in a while, every few weeks or so,

  Sebastian had about two dozen adolescent students armed with wooden

  swords doing their very best to crack him open like a pinata.

  It was actually good training. Since Sebastian couldn’t

  actually fight back, he had to either avoid the horde or somehow direct

  it. For the first few times, he mostly jumped around the schoolyard not

  letting any of them get close. Then, gradually, he began to wield his

  [Intergalactic Sword Art] to redirect incoming swings. Even at their

  young ages, the kids were still practically superhuman compared to kids

  back on earth, which was a good thing because whenever Sebastian

  redirected an attack, the kid who threw the attack was sent flying.

  Sebastian was practically juggling junior students around the schoolyard on a regular basis.

  It was as good practice for his swordsmanship as it was

  fun, which was very. None of them were seriously hurt but none of them

  escaped unscathed.

  Seeing kids bruised and scraped afterwards did always

  make Sebastian feel slightly guilty, but they did worse to each other

  whenever they had spars.

  Watching kids beat each other bloody took some getting

  used to. It would never be allowed back home. In a world where magic

  could heal just about any wound, however, people had a different outlook

  on safety and how far to push their training.

  For the seniors, Sebastian occasionally helped with

  actual teaching. He was no expert in the ways of the [System], but with the second stage of his Sword Art he was officially an expert swordsman.

  Oren handled the Skill aspect while Sebastian helped by providing his unique insight and held proper spars with each of them.

  Most of the seniors only did what was required to pass

  the class, but there were a handful of them who actively pushed

  themselves. They continuously challenged Sebastian to spars. Because his

  Sword Art was so different from the style they had learned, they

  actually preferred to spar with him over their own teacher. Especially

  because Sebastian’s abilities allowed him to be far more flexible. He

  could change up his swordsmanship to make them feel like they were

  fighting different swordsmen with every spar.

  He rarely used his Sword Art beyond the absolute surface, though.

  The students, even the older seniors, were all under

  level 20. Sebastian’s physical cultivation, even before he arrived in

  Celder, allowed him to rival someone over level 50. At least in terms of

  strength, endurance, and speed. And at this point his actual estimated

  level had climbed even higher than back then. Even if he let them hit

  him, they couldn’t pierce his skin if they wanted to.

  Sebastian used that in his teachings. Especially with Safi, one of the more dedicated students.

  She was exceptionally talented. She had gained the

  [Soaring Dawn Sword Style] Skill at only 15—which was rare even in the

  school’s founding institution, the Crimson Dawn Sword Pavilion. Even

  with all that talent, she struggled with the idea of fighting, or more

  specifically, hurting another person.

  Even now, at 16, she still flinched and hesitated

  whenever she sparred, especially when she was about to make contact with

  her attacks.

  While the rest of the class were doing drills with Oren, Safi had asked Sebastian to spar.

  They stood in the sparring ring. Safi had a steel sword in her hand while Sebastian stood unarmed.

  “Are you sure, Mr. Moore?” Safi asked. “What if I hurt you?”

  Sebastian chuckled. “Don’t worry, Safi. You couldn’t hurt

  me no matter how hard you tried.” Sebastian raised his arm and

  straightened his hand to use in place of a sword. “Now, don’t hesitate.”

  Safi steeled her gaze. Both her violet robe and her long,

  pitch-black hair, which was tied up in a long pony tail, swayed in the

  wind as she pumped herself up. She prepared her mind to swing her razor

  sharp sword at another human being, a person she had grown to admire at

  that.

  After a moment of hesitation, she dashed forward and

  swung her sword vertically at Sebastian’s head. He casually flicked his

  wrist to knock the sword to the side.

  “What was that?” Sebastian asked. “When I said don’t hesitate, I did mean don’t hesitate. A half-hearted attack like that wouldn’t do anything against a goblin, much less a proper opponent. Go again.”

  “I’m sorry, I—“

  “No need to apologize, just go again.”

  She nodded and got back into position. For her second

  attempt, she dashed forward and swung diagonally down, this time with a

  great deal more power and resolve.

  Clunk

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  The sword struck Sebastian’s forearm and Safi flinched at the impact.

  Sebastian held up his arm and showed her the mark, or

  rather the lack of a mark, left by the steel sword. It was a lesson

  which he was uniquely qualified to teach, Oren was strong but not nearly

  as physically durable.

  “See, nothing. Even if I were weaker than I currently am,

  swords need to be more than just swung to do anything, at least once you

  get up to a decent level. They need to be imbued with your intent. You

  need to demand your sword to go through your target, force the world

  itself to obey your will. A true expert of the sword literally can not

  hurt someone by accident. There’s no need for you to worry or hesitate.

  Decide and act.”

  Sebastian took to the attack and used his hand like a

  blade to imitate her own attack, a diagonal slash. He took great care to

  move slowly and to match Safi’s own level of strength. She blocked it

  with ease by falling into a defensive stance of the [Soaring Dawn Sword

  Style] she had gained from Oren’s teachings.

  Sebastian smiled. “That was the equivalent of what you

  did. A simple display of the movement without any intent behind it.” He

  moved back to his original position. “Now, let’s try again.”

  He performed the exact same attack, a simple dash and

  diagonal slash. All while matching the speed and strength of a level 12.

  Even then, his movements were so smooth and silent that Safi could

  barely react in time to put her guard up. When his hand made contact

  with her sword, she was pushed back several steps.

  “See that, Safi? That wasn’t force, that was intent. Even

  though I moved slowly and barely put any strength into the attack, my

  intent forced the world to comply.”

  “I think I understand… maybe?”

  Sebastian chuckled. “Don’t worry, you’ll get it in time. Now, come at me with everything you got!”

  The two continued their spar, Safi threw attack after

  attack and Sebastian blocked them all with his bare hand. Every now and

  then he would throw in a simple counter-attack to be blocked in turn.

  Sebastian couldn’t spend too much time individually with

  any one student though. However dedicated Safi was, she wasn’t the only

  student vying for his time.

  Once Sebastian had spent about 30

  minutes sparring with Safi, a young man eagerly strode over to the ring.

  Just like all the other students, he wore the violet robe of the

  school.

  Sebastian ended his current spar and sent Safi off before turning to the young man.

  “Gawen, I guess you’re up.”

  “Finally!” He jumped up into the ring before Safi even

  had time to step down. “Today’s the day I land a hit.” His hair was

  short and dark brown. He was tall. Sebastian could be called tall in

  most situations but this student was almost a head taller still.

  Sebastian walked over to the side of the ring and picked

  up a wooden training sword. Gawen didn’t need the same kind of spar as

  Safi. Each student had their own obstacles to overcome, and Gawen’s

  certainly wasn’t timidness or squeamishness.

  The lesson Gawen needed to learn was to take a step back

  at times, to reflect before steam-rolling ahead. Sebastian’s idea on how

  to teach him that was by overwhelming him, to use his [Fleeting Cloud

  Step] to silently move around the ring to confuse Gawen and force him to

  use his brain rather than just mindlessly fight.

  Wooden sword in hand, Sebastian turned around to face Gawen. “Ready when you are—“ Gawen’s sword was inches from his face.

  He dashed to the side with his [Fleeting Cloud Step] and

  landed behind the student, making him stumble and lose his balance as

  the swing missed.

  When Gawen regained his footing and turned around in

  surprise, Sebastian tapped his head with the tip of his wooden sword.

  “You could at least let me finish my sentences before you attack.”

  Gawen rubbed his forehead. “Sorry, just figured that was my best bet.”

  “You’re not wrong. In a real scenario a surprise attack can often times be your best option.”

  “But…?”

  “But, this isn’t a real

  scenario. You’re here to train and learn, not just get a hit in for sake

  of getting a hit in. Let’s go again, properly this time,” Sebastian

  said as he raised his sword.

  During their spar, Sebastian acted like a raid boss from

  some video game. He set up about a dozen different patterns in his mind

  and stuck to those.

  Duck, duck, counter-attack.

  Diagonal, diagonal, thrust.

  The idea was for Gawen to—hopefully—notice the patterns and actually think his approach through.

  Gawen was a couple of years older than Safi, but none of

  the students had any experience hunting or properly leveling. Most of

  them were somewhere around level 10–12. They only really gained

  experience through accomplishments, which was something Sebastian had

  heard about back in Luxendorf but never really had the time to think

  about. He had more important things to worry about at the time. Now, he

  was at a point with his cultivation that he was strong enough to let his

  mind wander while also keeping up with Gawen and the patterns.

  All the students reach about the same level by the time they graduate, 14–15.

  It’s strange, they seem to gain like… 6 levels from gaining the

  [Swordsman] Title. Another two or three from gaining the school’s Sword

  Style Skill and then about a level or so per Attached Skill. They

  usually also gain some levels as kids for various basic things they

  learn and gain growing up.

  I remember back in the gorge, when I

  began my cultivation, I gained more levels than expected just from

  finishing my meridian system, at the time I figured it had something to

  do with cultivation stages and spirit density or something but maybe

  that was just the only [System] accomplishment that counted? Or not, I

  don’t actually have any way of knowing.

  Cause I’ve never gotten levels for

  accomplishments after that. I guess I moved on to liquid essence at that

  point, maybe that did it? Or the Cultivation System messes with it. No,

  surely it’s the same System with just different… things?

  “Teach, I yield!”

  “Hmm—?” Sebastian stopped his horizontal slash inches

  from Gawen’s stomach. Gawen’s sword lay on the edge of the ring and he

  held his hands up in surrender. “Oh, uh… Well fought!”

  Sebastian’s comfortable life of training, cultivating, and teaching at the Violet Dawn Sword School continued for years.

  It was honestly the best years of his life.

  In spite of the comfort, and the joy of seeing new

  generations of swordsmen grow and develop, a nagging feeling had been

  festering in the back of his mind. While his Techniques and Sword art

  were growing stronger here, his cultivation progress had slowed to an absolute crawl. He dedicated several hours each day to his cultivation, but that just wasn't enough.

  The others, the heroes—they weren’t

  slowing down, Sebastian knew that much. He couldn’t afford to continue at this pace. No matter how much he loved

  it here, he couldn’t stay. He had to be out there, hunting and

  struggling to climb even higher. It was the only way to compete with the

  others and to actually accomplish his goals.

  Sebastian stood on the back porch of the school, leaning

  on a support pillar, looking out over the schoolyard filled with a small

  crowd of family and friends of the graduating students. There weren’t

  many graduating. The senior class had about two dozen students but most

  had years left of their training. In total, only 4 students were

  graduating, including Safi.

  The ceremony was fairly simple. It began with a

  demonstration. A spar between the graduating students to display what

  they had achieved. Then they moved on to a more formal ceremony. Rather

  than getting a diploma though, it was a sort of mix between an old

  English knighting and a Chinese full kowtow of a student to their

  master.

  Oren stood before the kneeling students as they pledged their loyalty to both Oren, as their teacher, and the school.

  They also had to do the same to the Crimson Dawn Sword

  Pavilion as the true source of their swordsmanship. It was one of the

  conditions required for those who wanted to create their own schools

  after graduating from the Pavilion.

  Once the ceremony was over everybody cleared out. Safi

  decided to hang back and asked her family to wait in front of the

  school. She marched up to Sebastian and got down to both knees. A kowtow

  to pay her respects to Sebastian as half-teacher, as they called it

  here.

  Sebastian had volunteered at the school for years. In

  that time, he had helped and taught many of the students but Oren was

  the true instructor, so Sebastian had never been part of any of the

  graduation ceremonies.

  He graciously accepted the gesture.

  As Safi left, Oren walked over with a smile and placed

  his hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. “I’m glad. You’ve definitely earned

  the respect.”

  Sebastian smiled, with a joy he had rarely experienced. “It’s been nice. Seeing not just her grow, but all of them.”

  His friend sighed. He knew Sebastian well enough by now that he knew what he was thinking. “So, you’re leaving then?”

  “How did you know?” asked Sebastian, almost startled by his friend’s perceptiveness.

  “How could I not, brother. It’s been over ten years,

  after all. You may have your secrets, but I know you, probably better

  than you know yourself if we’re being honest. The news coming from

  Lumeria has made you antsy.”

  Sebastian sighed. “Yeah, it’s time. I need to get stronger.”

  “You’ll be missed, but I understand. Any idea where you’re going or are you open to suggestions?”

  Sebastian looked over and raised his eyebrows. “I take it

  you’ve got a suggestion to offer. I’m not just open to it, I’d

  appreciate it.”

  “Give it a few months. With the war reigniting in the

  East in full, various mercenaries companies will be making tours around the

  federation to enlist new recruits. There’s one coming here in a couple

  of months that has a pretty good reputation, the Wandering Wolves Corps.

  It might be worth considering applying. They tend to stay out of war

  business, so you can travel the federation and grow, all while keeping a

  low profile as I know you prefer. As far as mercenary companies go,

  they’re supposedly pretty good guys. They mostly take out bandits, clear

  out monster hordes and the like.”

  Sebastian gazed out toward the horizon and the greater world beyond it. “A mercenary, huh? Why not!”

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