After they left I found myself too curious to study properly and went down to the training room. A few duos were sparring with each other in the open space, while a couple others were practicing on targets. I approached the door leading to the training dungeons that I had seen the day prior, only this time there was someone standing before it that I hadn’t noticed. She was a tall woman dressed in casual clothes, a blouse with some nice looking flowy pants. She held no weapon on her that I could detect with my [Detect Metal] skill. I had mostly learned to deal with the constant influx of knowing where metal was around me. It was similar to how [Portent] took a long time to get used to, having overwhelmed my brain with information. After the past few days being around people in the guild, and even walking into Orvacks and Krickets, I had figured out how to mostly ignore the influx of knowledge.

  Still, I found it shocking that the only metal on her was a necklace, earrings, and a few rings. I approached her a bit shyly as she looked up from picking at her nails.

  “Name?” She asked in a bored voice. “And which dungeon do you plan to use? For how long?”

  “Ah, Sorry. My name is Alexilios. I wanted to train with swords and how long can I?” I tilted my head, not entirely sure how the dungeon worked.

  From seemingly out of nowhere she produced a piece of parchment and appeared to go over it. She looked the list up and down then frowned. “Do you have a reservation?”

  “I didn’t know I needed one. If so, can I set up a reservation for another day?”

  “Nonsense, the Hero of Linden needs no reservation Tilda!” Perry’s voice boomed from behind me. I hadn’t noticed him but when I turned I saw he came from a corner of the dungeon where three warriors were panting and sweating. “I was wondering when ye’d finally start training again!”

  “Please stop calling me that, I hardly did anything Perry!” I protested the use of my title as a few of the practicing pairs turned my way and Tilda gave me an appraising onceover.

  “Of course guildmaster, I’ll be sure to remember his face for the next time so there’s no confusion. As for how long you can be in there, you can use the dungeon for four hours total each day. Because of the time difference that’ll only be two hours out here but as we can only allow five people in each dungeon at a time, we do need to make time for others to use it as well.”

  “What do you mean time difference? Wait, is there an enchantment to change how time is perceived? Is that something I’d be able to gain access to?”

  “Don’t get too ahead of yourself boyo. I’ll see if I can’t get you in contact with the one who designed these dungeons so you can ask them all these questions yourself, though he may be unwilling to share his techniques as most craftsmen are wont to do.” Perry clapped me on my good shoulder then shoved me toward the door. “Now get training! I think you’ll be impressed with yer trainer!”

  With Perry laughing behind me I entered the door, tabling all of my questions. I should start a list. Both for Perry and Miamora when he decides to visit me again. I thought to myself as I passed a few other doors labeled with a different training room. The rooms were all adjacent to each other. The sword dungeon was six doors to the right and when I found the door I was a little disappointed. None of the doors were special in anyway. I had hoped they'd be adorned by carvings or something to signify their significance but they were just simple, plain, wooden doors. With a sigh I pulled it open and entered the glowing, swirling, purple portal behind it.

  Once again I was disappointed by the lack of nausea or feeling that came from passing through it. It was as though I had simply stepped through the door into a different climate, and different it was. The training room had been temperate and controlled, if a bit dry. The area I entered, by contrast, was humid and warm. It wasn’t enough for me to begin sweating right away but it was heavy and noticeable. But not quite as noticeable as the figure sitting across from the portal meditating in the grass. She opened her eyes as I stepped through but did not make to move.

  She was pretty, with fair skin marred with scars that magic hadn’t fully healed. Her hands were covered in callouses. I was a bit shocked by her attire as, save from some people showing a little leg or cleavage, I hadn’t seen anyone show much skin. In contrast the woman before me wore a loose crop top and some form fitting leather shorts that cut off around her knees. She had a shawl over her shoulders made of a glittery orange fabric and I could see bandages acting as a sports bra under her top, but otherwise she was barefoot and wearing next to nothing. Certainly not the armor I had been expecting a sword trainer to wear.

  I walked toward her and offered a slight bow, expecting her to say something as she stared at me blankly. I waited a few more moments before deciding to introduce myself. “Hello ma’am, my name is Alexilios or Lios for short. I came seeking your tutelage in the art of the sword.”

  She gave me a once over, her eyes lingering on my lost hand. “You fight with a single hand? Couldn’t afford a healer to fix it? I suppose not. Alexilios, was it? You will refer to me as Master and nothing less. Show me your status so I can see what we are working with.”

  Her voice was lighter than I expected but still carried a command of respect on it. She still sat, not bothering to rise up so I decided to sit as well, cross legged and placed my sword in front of me in the grass. I hesitated to show her my status and levels. Mostly, I hesitated to share with her my class unsure if the information would stay here.

  “Worry not, I am oathbound to never share this information with anyone aside from a few... special individuals. Namely, the real me, anyone bearing an order passed from the king, and the guildmaster if you were to need to be hunted for some reason. The guildmaster is only able to access the information if you were to commit a grievous enough crime and if they had proof such a crime had been committed, and I’ve only had the real me look for information once in the past two hundred and eleven years. So don’t be shy, and show me your information.”

  With a heavy sigh I finally brought it up, mentally wincing as my classes appeared before her. I watched her carefully as she read the skills, her expression never changing. She finally sighed and stood up, a sword appearing in her hand as she did so. She made a hand motion before drawing the sword from its sheath.

  “Well then, let us start then Bladedancer.” Was all she said before lunging at me and forcing me to parry with my sheathed sword. I knocked her blade away and quickly drew the blade, tossing the sheath behind me as it didn’t appear I’d have time to reattach it to my belt.

  Without words she swung her blade just fast enough for me to keep up, to dodge and dance around it. I blocked several strikes in succession, not having any time to counter her. Her movements were fluid, dangerous. She was like a viper, striking faster than most would be able to register and wasting no movement to do so.

  “Well, are you going to dance or will you simply parry and dodge? Show me what you’re made of Bladedancer!” She laughed with exuberance. “Fight back, I need to see what you can do!”

  Her expressionless face had shifted to a grin the moment she attacked me. Still on the back foot, I started pushing mana out of my heels into the floor beneath me. I started weaving a flame wave spell while she came at me again, her sword - a longsword as was typical within Jorial - clashing into mine with force that nearly made me drop my own. Her eyes flashed and she twisted with my block in an attempt to disarm me. Even with only one hand I was able to hold onto my blade if only just. I blocked the next slash that was aiming for my side as I etched another rune into the ground. An overhead strike followed, forcing me to dodge to the left as I recognized with one hand I’d be unable to stop it. I was given just a moment to lash out at her and I attempted to cut into her hand. Of course she saw the move coming and turned to dodge it with a counterattack of her own. She pressed me with an easy thrust, not even sweating as she assailed me.

  I let loose my aura as she neared again, coating my blade and myself with the flames of Ignium. Immediately after it was ignited, however, it was quenched. Her playful smile shifted into a frown and she glowered at me as our swords slammed against each other. “No, nononono. Only use your own skills and abilities. No enchantment skills.” Her voice ended in a slight growl and she backed away.

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  I chased after her, grunting my assent. I attempted to finish the last rune as I sped her way only for her to drive her foot through the circle at my feet and disrupt the spell. I gasped as it was dispelled, my mana connecting to nothing. I took a step back but she pressed the advantage of my distraction with a wide grin once again adorning her pretty face. Still, she showed no sign of exertion even as she caused me to stumble back and fall to my rear, her blade pressed against my chin.

  “Has no one disrupted your spell before? You looked so shocked and it completely disrupted your rhythm during our fight.” She sighed heavily then went to sit back down on the grass. The swordswoman's sword disappeared and she sat fiddling with something that appeared in her hand. “You seem to be fairly talented. How did you learn the Runedance? I haven’t met any who knew the skill to dance with runes aside from myself.”

  “Well, I was self taught. I wanted runes to enchant things, and learned to dance to help my sowrdplay. Then when I was nine or so I had the idea to try to make some quick enchantments by forming runes while I fought. I still only have a few basic spells, nothing crazy, but each one is helpful in its own way.” I shrugged trying not to get too excited about meeting another runedancer, especially one who was powerful enough that I didn’t feel even the slightest chance at even touching her during a fight.

  It was different from when I fought with Elric or Adrien. Although it was rare that I could land a hit on either of the higher leveled swordsmen, I still coil. With this woman I felt it was nearly impossible for me as I currently was. Her movements had been far too smooth, too fast for me to react properly and that was with her continuously holding back as we sparred. Her sword moved quicker than my eyes could react and it was only because of [Portent] and [Detect Metal] that I was able to register her attacks.

  “Am I right then, in assuming that you are Rhosha? Or rather an effigy of her?” I asked cautiously, watching the woman carefully.

  “Did you not know that prior to arriving in this dungeon?” her question came with an expression of confusion.

  “No, I seem to be pretty poor at researching dungeons before I enter them.” I chuckled at myself sheepishly.

  “I see. Then yes, I am a copy of Rhosha. You say you developed your spells yourself? I would like to see them. Please perform each of your spells so that I may get a better understanding of your style to help you tomorrow when you return.” She nodded and gestured for me to rise, indicating my break was over. She stayed seated as I stood and readied my sword.

  I watched as her eyes glowed a bit before I started the wave attack sword dances that I had grown so accustomed to using. It took a few mere seconds before the spell was ready to use, the same one she had disrupted. “Miss Rhosha, you may wish to protect yourself or move back.” I warned before I released the spell using my sword as a focus. White flames roiled around me, spreading through the grass for dozens of feet and leaving a massive patch of scorched earth with me at the center. Rhosha, who hadn’t moved, had a patch of green grass still behind her and her hand raised to form a shield of some kind.

  “Fairly impressive even if it was bolstered by your blade. Next spell.” She said calmly, tilting her head slightly.

  I had hoped for more of reaction so I began the next dance, one for a wind blade, and shot the wind blade out into the distance. It only moved about forty feet before dissipating and fizzling out. Receiving a similar prompt I quickly moved through the next few spells, all of my five mana spells including the haste one. Thankfully these didn’t contain much mana overall and so I was hardly sweating by the end of them, having alternated between the blade and wave style spells.

  “Okay, lets try something more powerful now. Surely this isn't all that the self made runedancer has created for himself.” Rhosha taunted as she yawned.

  “Yes master.” I used the title she had told me before.

  I moved to start the “Flash Step” spell, recognizing that it wasn’t my strongest spell anymore and had turned into one that was only useful in very specific situations. It was still a powerful tool for [Compendium Actualization] to make use of, but it wasn’t nearly as versatile as my haste type spells that Kricket and I had worked on. It took me about fifteen seconds to perform the twentyfive rune dance and once I finished it I rushed past Rhosha in a flash and attempted to land the bolt of lightning on her, to her surprise and consternation. Her sword flashed into her hand as I passed her, barely perceiving my own movement, and deflected the bolt of lightning as an aura sheathed her weapon. The lightning crashed directly in the center of the patch of grass I had stood in when casting my flame wave spell, showing her o-bviously top tier level of control.

  “That was better. You were quick. But it takes far too long to cast it. Do another.” She commanded, still sitting but this time she kept her sword in her hand instead of fidgeting with whatever had been in her hand.

  “Yes Master,” I agreed while standing in the same spot. I started to move, the motion bringing to light the soreness that “Flash Step” as well as the five rune haste spell brought on. My muscles ached from the exertion, and I knew the next spell would be my last for the day. I began to weave the runes for ‘Conflagration of the Self’ as I’d decided to name it. Trying to make my spells sound extra fancy was half the fun of becoming a wizard, in my mind.

  I danced for a solid fifteen seconds, flame mana pouring out from my feet and into the world, creating a new spell circle. As it all clicked into place I grinned and activated the spell, feeling my muscles bulge and skin redden. Casting it through the sword made the feeling expand, causing the flames that started to surround me to go from red to white. I felt the overflowing power in my flesh, my muscles tensed and ready to explode into motion the moment that I thought to move. I walked toward Rhosha, my sword in hand.

  “This one lasts a few minutes, would be a shame to waste the mana without seeing what its capable of, aye Master?” I teased a little bit, trying to get the powerful sword wielder to combat me once more.

  “I suppose it would. Is this a challenge then?” She rose to her feet, brandishing her own simple longsword. “Come at me then Alexilios.”

  I needed no other prompting and felt it prudent not to waste time, this spell would stay active for about five minutes and that was plenty of time to show Rhosha more of my skills. I burst into action, my feet digging into the soft soil as I pushed toward her. The instant I moved forward I clashed against her sword, having moved to slash at her side. She reacted just as quickly as I had moved.

  I jumped back before she could counter, dodging the whirling blade, before following up with a counter of my own. I attempted to perform a disarming strike to her wrist, but she deftly avoided my enflamed blade. Still, as she twisted to dodge the attack I continued to press the advantage. I had no doubt she was fighting at the same level as she had earlier, meaning she was still holding back, but I felt it was only because the dungeon matched her to my level in strength.

  Wordlessly, we exchanged blows for several minutes until I felt the heat in my body subside and the ache of my muscles, though reinforced by my spell, rising. I panted with sweat dripping down my face, getting into my eyes and stinging a bit but it wasn’t bad enough to distract me. I sheathed my blade and took a seat across from Rhosha as she herself sat back down.

  “Very good. I liked that spell, its different from what I’ve done. Now. We should discuss your training regimen.” She paused and looked me in the eyes, her serious expression back now that she wasn’t fighting. “First, I will not teach you any spells. We use different languages, and also I’m sure you’ve come to understand the potential of your class. I cannot take a risk as a simulacrum that could cause the deaths of thousands or more should you have a bad day. That will not stop me from teaching you swordplay. You will return for a session every day for the next two weeks where we will work on your ability to dodge and deflect.

  “One of the issues I most noticed is that you haven’t fought with a single hand for very long. You held up fine but if you were to attempt to block a strong opponent the way you did with me you’d be overwhelmed instantly. They have the power of a second hand, you don’t. You lost a bit of control by losing the appendage.” She glanced pointedly at my missing limb and I nodded gravely, realising she was right. With less support my blocks could become more detrimental than helpful.

  “Understood. Dodging and deflecting.”

  “Good. The next thing we will work on is your actual technique. It’s like you’ve mastered the basics for a few different styles but have never learned an actual sword style. I recognized some moves from the Imperial Knights sword style, but they were not fully developed. Were you trained by a knight or did you just observe and replicate?”

  “Oh uhm. I spent a fair amount of time training against someone who has trained with a knight, and picked up some of his skills and techniques.”

  “Wonderful. I’ll teach you a whole sword style to use with that bastard sword. Next, when you were demonstrating spells I noticed you did so with five separate mana affinities. Do you have any more and which ones are most powerful for you?”

  “I am most proficient with lightning, then wind and fire, then earth and water magic. Water and earth magic I haven’t made many spells for as of yet but I’m working on it.”

  “No. For now you should focus on lightning, flame and wind magic. Once you have say... Four powerful spells for each of these elements and a weapon for each you may make spells and weapons for the others. Until then you should focus on your specialties. I assume you also made that sword in your hand? Are you making one as a focus for each of your magics?”

  “I am, yes. And understood. I’ll continue working on some new spells. Would you consider the spell I used last to be a powerful one?” I wanted clarification on what she would consider worthy of this assignment.

  “Yes. Twentyfive runes is powerful for your level. Try to develop some more flame based spells over the next few weeks to work with your weapon. Hmm... Something with range, something that can help you to defend, and one that can take out at least a dozen enemies if needed. Needs to be better than your wave spells as those are only going to be capable of defeating weaker enemies. Now, enough talk, lets begin your training in earnest!”

  She rose and indicated I should do the same. “This time I won’t hold back so you’d best dodge. I may not be able to be harmed in here but you surely can be.” She didn’t give me any time to prepare as she lunged forward, ready to hammer into me the importance of dodging.