Chapter 7 ~ Sati’s Intensive Training ①

“But still, big bro, what is this……?”

After being in a daze from looking at the light that he outputted himself, his mind finally returns back to earth.

“I thought it is good to teach you the general magic first.”

Without any prior notice on what is going to happen, he was suddenly capable of using magic. Of course, he couldn’t understand what is currently happening.

“Have you heard about apostle?”

“Someone that God has sent to……wai-!?”

“Masaru is that apostle, personally sent here by the chief God, Itōūsura sama Himself.”

Ann proudly declares.

Previously, I asked Ann for a help to identify the content inside the diary. The answer arrived, and when Ann realized that it is truly the chief God that responded, she burst into excitement. Her loyalty towards me also increased a little.

“So, he wasn’t a Majimon……ah, a hero perhaps? A hero like the one who save our world a while back.”

Hero. That is the standard conclusion. As expected, taking down the Demon King and saving the world in the process bring an extreme fame to your name.

“I’m just an apostle. I’m no hero. Right now, the Demon King didn’t exist in this world, hence there is no world crisis. That’s why currently, there is no hero.”

“But, didn’t you possess the power to save the world?”

“Wonder what they actually are.”

I have no intention to admit it.

“Big bro, dang awesome!”

“Right now, a fragment of that power has been given to you.”

“Ah, so this is……the God’s grace.”

“I will explain things to you in order.”

I like to start Sati special training as soon as I can, but I need to properly conclude things with this guy first.

I hope he will act as one of our forces, but right now he is tied to another party and the current circumstances surrounding us right now is messy. He was coaxed to this side by Lilia, but what now?

“The God bless me with divine protection and brought me to this land. I was born in a faraway land, so far that none are aware of it including people of the Empire.”

“Ah, is that so.”

“Correct. In short, the divine protection is a power that will bestow you the power that you wish for. Of course, there is strict condition that we need to follow. As I said earlier, it is ineffective if you have no trust in me. Plus, it isn’t easier for me to increase the amount of people with divine protection too.”

But I still managed to get 6 of them in the span of half a year. The pace isn’t as bad as I thought?

“That……if it’s not for heroic deeds, then what is this power for?”

“God said that it was a test. I’m required to actively using it and report on how I feel about it. Occasionally, I will receive an oracle that dictates to an immediate job.”

“And it is an undisputed fact that the Elf Country was saved thanks to that oracle.”

“Well, right now I have received no oracle, so I have nothing that will require immediate attention. Basically, I’m free to do whatever I want to.”

“Does that mean you are going to receive another oracle in the future?”

“Perhaps.”

Most probably will.

“And at that time, me too……”

“Not only that……the divine protection that you have received is not limited to that much only. They will get stronger once you start training. Right now, you only know a little bit of magic, but that doesn’t mean you will not grow stronger. Currently, you don’t need to worry yourself about divine protection too much. Just do whatever you feel like doing.”

“When the time comes, please depend on me!”

“Just that……I was in near death situation six times over the last six months. Really dangerous.”

About half of it was due to my carelessness and my own lack of power, but it doesn’t change the fact of how dangerous it is, and there is possibility that it is going to be more dangerous in the future.

“Six times in six months……”

“Hey, since you already know some magic, can’t you return back to your family house proudly now? I can even increase the type of magic that you can use. For all that we are concerned with, we don’t want to bring him to some danger, see? Plus, you said you want to help me, but what about your party?”

“Ah—you ain’t wrong.”

“I will tell you more details once I’m free. In the meantime, go practice with the magic that you already know.”

“Yes, big bro.”

“I think you are already aware, but if this is known outside, things will get rough. It cannot be helped if the knowledge regarding the Gates’ are exposed, but you need to protect the secret of my divine protection with your life. You can tell others that I am the one who taught you magic but my teaching method, keep it in absolute secrecy.”

“Got it.”

“Right now, Sati’s special training takes the upmost priority. Lilia, can you help me call for captain?”

First, we are going to tell them about our participation in the gladiator competition and asked for their cooperation. Afterwards, I’m going back to the village, then to the Elf Country and again back to the village……this is going to be a busy day.

---

The elf who resides in the Kingdom’s capital is borrowing us three of their master swordsmen. Then, their country will send an expert to us and the person are coming tomorrow.

Me. Titus and Patos. Ann, Lilia, Shira and Will. Olba san and Nania san. Then, my battle Golem. The elf security guards in our village also has someone who is proficient with close range combat, so we asked them to participate.

Since I’m going to use Golem, I decided to create a wider ground along the outer wall of our mansion in the village.

We are fully equipped with wooden swords and armours. Sati has decided to use a wooden sword and the first leather armour that she received during her fight in the tournament. Olba san gave me a look, but this much is not a violation to the rule.

I will change it once it takes a beating from the series of the matches. Besides for me and the Golem, I still have multiple of them.

Considering the use of steel sword is allowed according to the rule, the damage taken by the armour will be great. Even though recovery magic is allowed, the core stamina will still reduce after taking a beating, therefore fighting for a long time is an extremely hard thing to do. So, I planned to have this mock battle with wooden sword to make her familiarised with the beating from one to one combat.

“I will go first.”

I take up my sword and shield. I will maintain the air of seriousness. This is unlike the usual practice session with Sati, hence the difference in seriousness. Perhaps it comes from her preparation.

In order not to get hurt, she is practicing avoiding the injury. It takes one to be serious to win. The preparedness to kill. With a mindset ready to die, one can muster their most desperate efforts.

This time, I’m going to win against Sati. I’ve never taken any fight seriously before, except when I’m fighting against Sergeant dono or the monsters.

Sati cowers a little after sensing my murder intent. I felt a little heartbroken to see my cute Sati who always serve others like this, but at Sati level, this will not turn into a good exercise unless I take things seriously.

“I’m coming.”

I stepped my foot in front and drive forward with my full might. I don’t need any trick. She is already acquainted with my wittiness and all the tricks up my sleeve.

Dodge. That is an assumption. The sword horizontally sweeps her down her feet. Receive. Pushing it as it is and escaping. Pursuit. Pursuit. As expected, I can’t take it easy. Her counterattack is coming.

It lasts for a while.

“Sati, please take this fight more seriously. I’m wearing the armour, so I’m going to be good.”

“Yes. But……Masaru sama is strong.”

A strange sense of embarrassment flows in my head. Sati hasn’t seen my special training with Sergeant dono yet.

“An opponent of my level will easily come out inside this gladiator competition. All of them are dead serious to take down Sati. It’s not good enough if you cannot take down a person like me.”

“Yes,”

Then comes the second round. This time, it’s my turn to strike. First blow, second blow. Sati’s counterattack. But it is just a wooden sword. They don’t cause serious blow. The place where I received them will sustain a little damage.

I intercept Sati’s blow at the last moment and aim for the gap in her attack. Dodged. Too agile.

Sati counterattack. I receive her sword with my shield. I ward off her sword. Once again, her sword pushes it ways towards me. I receive it again.

Once I attempted to create a distance, I was pursued. Clang, clang, clang. I turned into defensive stances. The moment I was pushed into unfavourable position, it becomes harder for me to counterattack. However, this is not that desperate of situation compared to that time with Sergeant dono. If I focus entirely in defending, I will get my turn soon. Sati looks like she is going to stop attacking soon, too.

I released a strong blow to hit Sati’s torso. Both of our swords got repelled. I close the distance between us and unleashed Shield Bash. I knock my shield to all over her body. Sati whose response was delayed received the entire blows head front——clang, she staggers.

Now, it is Sati’s turn to attack. My leg is feeling the attack now, and the feeling course through my thigh lightly.

“Fuh, change. Next please.”

Sati is really strong. Shield technique, Evasion, Mind Eye, and her defence are considerably powerful, but the attack coordination might be weaker. This is her first harsh training in a while. I will consider that in mind.

Everyone agrees to my idea. The injured person will get a treatment, then the next one come out.

Next, I’m using a three-meter battle Golem type. Only during this time Sati will switch to using an iron sword.

“It is just a Golem. There is no need to refrain yourself.”

“Yes!”

A Golem pack a strong power, but its movement is slow. It is swinging a big sword matching its own body, yet it still fails to hit Sati even once.

The sword and the shield its use is made of Earth, but they were strengthened, hence they still keep their original appearance. The Golem however, it is being shaved by Sati bit by bit. How very fragile.

Other than the sword, it failed to master the shield too. I never think about how to move the Golem efficiently……ah, it’s done.

Finally, the damages exceed the limit and the Golem crumbles down, returning back to earth.

“Do you want to go for the second round?”

The sun is going to set soon, and I need to put on the light. I think one more set of matches is still fine. At night, I have night activities that I need to attend to.

“Let’s go, Sati!”

I put an extra effort during the second run, but in the end, I only last a little bit longer than the first run.

***

Our large dining hall is filled by all the participants in our training, and once our meal finished, we moved to the mansion’s living room for recovery magic training. The use of Recovery Magic is allowed during the tournament. I will use whatever I have in hand.

Even I can master it in two days. I’m sure that Sati can, too.

“Concentrate, and then imagine.”

The instructor is obviously Angela sensei. The method is roughly the same during my training. She is required to treat the little wound on her fingers by herself.

Sati has a high amount of mana, so the degree of difficulty shouldn’t be higher than mine during my training, but yeah, her mana totally dried up. Well, this is her first day.

Two more days before the qualifying. Five more days before the main battle. She will make do somehow.

“I’m going to talk to Will for a while.”

I’m going to continue the talk we had earlier today. I still need to explain to him regarding the points systems, then about how I still need to consult on him regarding the direction of his development and his future plan.

When I visited Will place at the second floor, I found him sleeping on the floor.

“And here I planned to talk about it.”

He fainted due to insufficient mana. I already warned him, and since he hails from a family of magicians, it’s expected that he is well versed with magic craft. However, there is no way to know the limit unless he tests it himself.

He can probably wake up if I charge him up with mana, but instead I brought him to bed and let him sleep. We will continue talking tomorrow. Even I’m beat from moving around all day today.

I return to the living room, wished Sati good luck and went to my room.

I sit on the desk and start writing in my diary. I write a lot today.

While I am still writing, Ellie arrived in my room. I’m instantly fired up after looking at her figure wearing a negligee, but I’ll hold off just for a tiny bit while.

“Are you writing about today?”

She hugs me from behind, stick her face to mine and peeks into my diary.

“Yea.”

I answered her without stopping my hand from writing.

“Today went very well. I didn’t think we could get this much success.”

“I was also surprised.”

“I was glad things goes to the right direction especially after that speech.”

“Is that so? I simply follow through after Lilia. Lilia is truly a genuine elf royal family member. She retains that mysterious ambience around her.”

“This says Will, right.”

I’m writing in Japanese, but she suddenly uttered that name while pointing at my diary.

“Um, I hope you will stop deciphering Japanese, please……”

“Japanese language has many types of letters and all I know is how to read names, nothing else. But still, I will stop it if Masaru doesn’t like it.”

Ellie has a smart mind, so I’m not surprise if she manages to decipher Japanese as soon she gets serious. What I’m writing in the diary is the events that happened during the day, so there isn’t much hint to use for decoding.

“But I wish Masaru will teach me without being stingy about it, you know?”

“This is pretty much my personal diary. I’m embarrassed.”

“We are already in a relationship where we already stop being shy about this, right?”

“Huh, is that really so? Should I stop being shy about what I want?”

“What are you talking about suddenly now.”

“Then, let’s give it a shot!”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

There are still things that I want to try that I’ve never done yet! I was restraining myself a little, but since it is a request, I will gladly dig in.

---

“Um, as expected, I am still too shy for it……”

“Relax, relax. Let’s just see it through till the end.”

“Ah, wa, wait a––!”

Actually, I’m not feeling embarrassed at all! This is so much fun!

---

After finishing two rounds with Ellie, on the way to the bath, I met with Ann and Sati who are going back to their room. They really were giving their all till late night.

“Ellie is already asleep?”

She already lies down the futon and she is not replying anymore. I wonder if she got too tired from our strange play today.

I’m telling her that I’m going to Sati’s place, then I leave the room.

I lightly tap the door at Sati’s room which is just directly opposite. Then, I heard she is coming to the door.

“Good work, Sati. How is your Recovery Magic training?”

“I still cannot make it work yet……”

“Well, this is still your first day. Some people still cannot do it even after a month. Even if you cannot learn it right now, it will still be useful in the future.”

“Yes.”

She looks genuinely tired during our conversation, so I asked her to lay on her bed and then massage her, telling her to give her best tomorrow too. Nothing lewd, just a normal massage with her clothes on. It might look like a petty imitation from a masseur viewpoint but seems like she is feeling comfortable.

“You are strong, Sati.”

I wonder where such power is hidden inside this small body. Her muscles are firm and solid now, despite looking famished and about to die when I first met her. She is still thin like usual, though. Her status has risen to considerable extent, but physically it doesn’t look like her body has changed according to the rise of her numerical strength, so there is no way to know.

“Nn, Masaru sama is strong, too.”

No, no. I lost to you three times today.

“Um, sometimes, Masaru sama is strong and sometimes Masaru sama is less strong, but when Masaru sama is strong, you are really strong.”

So, what she means is that my strength is fluctuating. I give my best today, though. I wonder if it is impossible to show my true strength when there is thing to compromise.

“That’s why you are strong, if you with your sword is equivalent to me, when you add magic, I’m no longer your match.”

As usual, both of us at the same level is just Sati overestimating my swordsmanship skill. There is a difference between someone born with talent and a person who practices.

But perhaps my strength really is fluctuating just like what she said. I will ask for Sergeant dono opinions tomorrow.

“I……I will do my best……that’s why……”

Seems like she is halfway asleep during the massage. Due to her Recovery Magic practice, she exhausted most of her mana and right now she is too tired from the replenishing process.

“Well, as long she does it moderately, nothing is impossible.”

I put the futon on Sati, and while I move to next door, I mutter.

This time, she won’t die even if she loses. It is just a festival.