The morning air was crisp and cool, the gentle rustling of leaves filling the quiet space around our home. As I stepped outside, I saw my father standing in the open yard, arms crossed, a knowing smile playing on his lips.

  "Freed, you may be a genius at controlling mana and aura," he began, his deep voice carrying a certain weight, "but there’s one more crucial thing you must learn to become a true adventurer. Do you know what it is?”

  I thought for a moment before answering, "Is it footwork?"

  Dad raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Oh? So you already knew?”

  "Yes, Dad. I've been watching you train my sisters for years. I’ve seen how they move, how they step, but… I don’t know the details."

  "Good," he said with an approving nod. "Then let me explain it properly."

  His stance shifted slightly, and I suddenly felt a strange pressure in the air.

  "Footwork is the art of movement, the rhythm of battle. It unlocks your full potential, regardless of whether you wield a sword, cast spells, or fight barehanded," he explained.

  "No matter how refined your techniques are, they’re useless if your strikes can’t reach your opponent. Likewise, a mage's magic means nothing if they’re struck before they can finish casting. In battle, whether you are a swordsman or a mage, what becomes your greatest shield and your deadliest weapon?”

  His weight shifted, and in the blink of an eye,

  Dad vanished.

  My eyes widened as I instinctively spun around. A second later, I felt a hand ruffle my hair.

  "Dad!?"

  He was behind me.

  I hadn’t even heard a single footstep.

  "Footwork," he answered, his voice laced with amusement. "It can make you more aggressive, more defensive, or simply allow you to move faster than your enemy.”

  I turned back to face him, my heart still racing.

  “What was that…?” I was astonished.

  I had often watched my sisters train with him, but seeing Dad move like that up close was entirely different.

  It was almost like… he had disappeared for a moment.

  "If you want to survive real battles, footwork is more important than anything else. Even a simple sword thrust without aura can still be lethal with the right application of footwork.”

  “Footwork…”

  I clenched my fists, excitement coursing through me.

  This was what I lacked in my previous life—true combat experience.

  I had read about footwork in novels, seen it in anime, but truly understanding it? That was another matter entirely.

  "We’ll start with the Breeze Footwork, an art that mirrors the grace of the wind." Dad said, his body suddenly becoming lighter, more fluid.

  His movements became smooth, almost like he was swaying with the wind itself.

  I held my breath.

  The Breeze Footwork.

  It looked… effortless.

  His feet glided over the dirt, each step as soft as a whisper, yet brimming with controlled energy.

  He was dancing with the wind itself.

  "The Breeze Footwork is all about fluidity. It allows you to read the flow of battle and adjust accordingly. Watch closely," he instructed, stepping forward and weaving to the side in a swift, natural motion.

  Despite his calm steps, it was impossible to predict where he would move next.

  Then, suddenly—he pivoted.

  A blur of motion.

  A sharp turn executed so flawlessly that it almost looked as if his body was floating before settling down.

  "Now, try to replicate it," he said, stepping back and gesturing for me to begin.

  I exhaled slowly.

  Alright. Let’s do this.

  I mimicked his stance, letting my body relax.

  Then, carefully, I took my first step.

  Right foot forward—

  The air brushed against my cheek as I advanced.

  Left foot followed, smoothly gliding ahead.

  I focused on the wind, feeling it move around me as I shifted.

  The first form, Entwine, was meant to be a seamless advance—flowing like a breeze slipping through gaps.

  Then came the second form, Storm—a sharp pivot to evade an attack while countering in the same breath.

  I executed the movement, twisting my body to the side and stepping into an imaginary strike. The dirt beneath me shifted slightly, but my balance remained firm.

  It was strange.

  I had never moved like this before, yet…

  It felt natural.

  Like my body already understood the rhythm, the flow, as if I had been practicing this for years.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Was it because of Learning Acceleration?

  The moment I completed the sequence, I turned back to Dad, expecting some pointers on what I had done wrong.

  Instead, I found him staring at me, one hand shielding his eyes from the sun as he let out a disbelieving chuckle.

  “Haha.. Crazy…”

  I blinked. "Did I do well?"

  Dad exhaled, shaking his head with an amused smile. "More than that. It seems you've already grasped it.”

  I tilted my head. "Really?"

  "Yes, Freed," he said, his expression both impressed and slightly exasperated. "There are a few things to refine, but your execution was nearly flawless. Even your sisters took three whole days to partially master it. But you…"

  He crossed his arms. "I’d wager you could fully master it within a day, no, a few hours if you keep going.”

  I grinned, a sense of pride welling up inside me.

  "Hehe! Thanks, Dad! Your explanation was really clear, so it was easy to follow.”

  Dad chuckled, then ruffled my hair.

  "No, Freed. I taught you the same way I taught your sisters. This is entirely your own skill. You learned it by simply watching. That’s no ordinary feat," he said warmly. "You really are a genius, Freed. Dad is proud of you."

  "However," he continued, his expression growing firm, "even though you've learned it, that’s only the first step. Repetition is key. You need to ingrain this into your body until it becomes second nature—something as instinctive as breathing.”

  “Got it!”

  "Good. Now, repeat it. I'll correct your postures this time."

  "Yes!"

  And so, I spent the rest of the morning practicing under Dad’s watchful eyes.

  Every step, every shift in weight—he corrected every small mistake, refining my movements until they were seamless.

  By the time Mom called us in for dinner, my legs burned with exhaustion, but my heart soared with accomplishment.

  During the meal, Mom, having heard about my progress, smiled and cupped my cheek.

  "As expected of my son," she said proudly. "You really are a genius."

  Her praise made me feel even prouder.

  Before heading to bed, she asked me to deliver some clothes to the Persian Store tomorrow.

  But before sleep could claim me, a familiar voice echoed in my mind.

  【Master, you've acquired a new skill. Would you like to inspect it?】

  A new skill?

  I sat up in bed, my fatigue momentarily forgotten.

  <"Show me.">

  ? STATUS WINDOW ?

  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

  Name: Freed

  Age: 6

  Race: Great Human

  Title: Otherworlder

  State: Normal

  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

  ? Essence ?

  Mana: 50/50

  Aura: 30/30

  Vitality: 40

  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

  ? Attributes ?

  Strength: 35

  Magic Power: 45

  Mental Power: 43

  Agility: 70

  Dexterity: 30

  Magic Resistance: 37

  Mental Resistance: 36

  Status Points: 0

  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

  ? Element Affinity ?

  -

  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

  ? Skills ?

  — Active —

  Immortal Bonds, Appraisal (1)

  — Passive —

  Language Comprehension,Breeze Footwork(4)

  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

  ? Innate Talents ?

  Immortal, Double Natural Growth Rate, Status Manipulation, Elementalist, Learning Acceleration

  My status has significantly improved since I began training last week.

  There, I saw a new passive skill.

  <”Breeze Footwork? Aza, show the details.”>

  ? Breeze Footwork ?

  ?Lv. 4?

  Move like the wind. The footwork that can feel the flow of the wind. You can feel the wind better. Your agility slightly increased. The more you grasp this footwork, the better the effects you gain.

  Level 4? Already?

  The description is somewhat vague.

  While I understand the part about my agility slightly increasing, the notion of "feeling the wind better" eludes me.

  <”Feel the wind better? What does it means?”>

  【Based on analysis, it’s about your perception towards the wind. For instance, when someone is hiding nearby, you can sense the altered flow of the wind around them. This allows you to detect someone in hiding.】

  <”I see. It’s like a form of detection, isn’t it?”>

  【Exactly. Although it may be inferior to skills specialized in detection, there are still more benefits to sharpening your perception towards the wind.】

  <”It’s better than having nothing. So, why did it start at level 4?”>

  【Thanks to your Learning Acceleration talent, you instantly learned Level 1 upon seeing your father’s demonstration. Then, during your first practice, it leveled up to 3. Finally, after refining your postures, it increased to Level 4.】

  <”What is the highest level?”>

  【Level 10.】

  <”... Quite a way to go. I thought I almost fully grasped it. How high is Dad’s level?">

  【Based on analysis, your father should be at level 6.】

  I exhaled in amazement.

  I had almost matched Dad’s level in a single day.

  <”I see... So, I've almost fully grasped my dad's skill level rather than reaching the maximum level of the skill itself. It makes sense since I only observed his footwork.”>

  Following this, I began my nightly routine of training my mana and aura before exhaustion threatened to overcome me.

  Aza reassured me, stating that aside from temporary exhaustion, no harm would befall my body, and it would recover after a night's sleep.

  Driven by the desire to grow stronger swiftly, I persisted in this nightly routine.