Growth
"It feels a bit awkward saying this in front of you, but Heni is a terribly lonely child."
On the way to the training grounds, Robin began pouring out the words he'd been holding inside—apparently having decided from earlier events that Jun was someone he could trust.
"That's certainly not something you'd say to an orphan. Well, I don't mind either way."
In Jun's memories, recollections of his family from his previous life still remained, and right beside him, his new family Fortuna was always there. Born an orphan, the word loneliness still had no connection to him whatsoever.
"I know that, which is why I'm telling you this. If the other orphans had heard what I just said…"
"They'd get angry, thinking you were mocking them."
No matter how hard Leonard and the nuns tried to fill the role of parents, they could never become the orphans' real parents. Because of that, the orphans without exception carried loneliness large and small—and to them, saying that Heni, who had a father, was a lonely child would only sound like a cruel deception.
"Exactly. But the fact that Heni is a lonely child is an undeniable truth."
Robin continued with a bitter expression.
"My wife—Heni's mother—closed her eyes forever without even getting to hold her after giving birth. I spent most of my time outside the house because of hunting and certain other work. Naturally, Heni had to spend her days alone in this cabin. When she was a baby, she could stay at the church thanks to the priest's consideration, but…"
"Once Heni grew to a certain age, it became impossible. I'm sorry I couldn't properly stop it back then."
"Don't apologize. I know full well that you protected Heni in a different way from Leon and Linda."
When Heni was a baby, the orphans only cast jealous glances her way and never directly bullied her. But from the moment she started walking and talking, they began cleverly tormenting her—for the sole reason that she had a father.
You might think kids wouldn't bully someone over something so petty, but the older orphans at that time were almost all children with rough, jagged personalities. Frank's personality turning out the way it did was largely those orphans' fault as well.
Whenever the orphans bullied Heni, Leon and Linda threw themselves into desperately protecting her, while Jun quickly fetched Leonard or a nun to put a stop to it. Even so, the wounds on Heni's body and heart grew day by day, and eventually, unable to take it anymore, Robin took her out of the church.
Heni was three years old at the time. Only three years later—after every orphan who had led the bullying had left the church—did she start coming back to play.
"Those three years she couldn't go to the church were an unbearably lonely time for Heni. I tried to stay by her side as much as possible, but in the end I couldn't ease her loneliness or properly teach her what she needed to learn."
"…So?"
"Even when Heni acts spoiled and sometimes shows her prickly side, I'd like you to treat her as warmly and kindly as you did earlier—as much as you can."
"Hmm… I don't know how long I can keep that up, but I'll try."
"Good. That's enough. Shall we start training, then?"
"Ah."
Jun blinked and looked around. He and Robin were already standing in the middle of the training grounds. He'd gotten far too absorbed in the conversation.
Putting on the sunglasses and cap that Fortuna had newly made for him, Robin said,
"Normally physical training comes first, but let's just skip it. For body conditioning, the priest's training is far superior to mine. Today I'm planning to establish a foundation, so we'll skip it for now—starting tomorrow, do your physical training while I'm out hunting."
"Understood, Instructor!"
"After physical training comes Aura Control—Beginner—but since you're a natural awakener, we'll skip that too. Beginner control is about reinforcing your own body, so someone who naturally awakened has no need for it. Got it?"
"Yes sir!"
When an Aura Core awakens, pathways form inside the body to make it easier for Aura to circulate. These are called "circuits," and there was a stark difference between circuits formed through natural awakening and those formed through artificial awakening.
To put it simply: circuits from natural awakening are custom-tailored clothes made to fit the wearer's body perfectly, while circuits from artificial awakening are ready-made products. Because of this, when reinforcing the body through Aura, natural awakeners can achieve maximum efficiency without particularly focusing on control—whereas artificial awakeners see their Aura efficiency plummet if they don't carefully manage it.
For that reason, Aura Control training was unnecessary for Jun, who had naturally awakened his Aura Core.
"Once Aura Control—Beginner—is finished, that's when combat technique training begins in earnest. Before we start, let me ask you one thing. Do you have a weapon you want to make your main?"
"Uh… not really. Honestly, I want to be good with all of them."
Jun didn't have any particular romantic attachment to swords or spears. He wasn't grandly aiming to become a weapon master either—but with a subspace that let him freely carry weapons and a movement skill that let him freely adjust distance, he wanted to use as many weapons as possible to seize every advantageous position he could.
"Good thinking. That suits your abilities perfectly."
"You're not against it? I thought you'd call it excessive greed and tell me to pour all my spirit into one thing."
"Hmph! That's the kind of thing stuffy knights say—it doesn't apply to adventurers. In reality, most adventurers can handle at least two or three other types of weapons besides their main. So don't worry about it."
"I see. But did I ever say I was going to become an adventurer?"
"I asked Fortuna while you were unconscious. You said you wanted to grow stronger so you wouldn't look ridiculous. Not a bad motivation. Guys who enter the Labyrinth simply chasing money and power almost all get consumed by that desire and die young."
Robin shook his head as if in pity, then took two wooden swords from a nearby weapon rack—keeping one for himself and handing the other to Jun.
"The weapon I handle best is the bow, but I can handle a sword just as well, and knives, spears, staves, shields, blunt weapons, and fist-and-foot weapons about half a step below that. I'll teach you the sword first, since it has the highest versatility—and the rest if there's time and you have the will to learn."
"Understood."
Jun took a deep breath to calm his racing heart and accepted the wooden sword Robin held out. It was quite heavy. It hadn't felt like this when it was stuck in the rack earlier—why suddenly now? Because he was properly recognizing it as a weapon? Probably that.
"Grip it like this."
"Like this?"
"Yes, that's right. Don't take it lightly—remember it well. It may not seem like it, but it's extremely important. A wrong grip can injure your hand."
"Got it."
Jun nodded, then gripped and re-gripped the handle several more times to firmly imprint the method in his mind. His eyes looking down at his hand and the handle had already turned blue.
"Jun."
"You're not calling me Trainee?"
"That was a joke. So you can relax too."
"Ah, yes. So why did you call me?"
"Do you know your pupils have turned blue right now?"
"My pupils?… You're right."
Pulling a mirror from his subspace and reflecting his eyes, Jun marveled and examined his pupils more closely. The corners of his mouth started to lift a little. Honestly, it looked cool.
"You didn't know?"
"No, not at all."
"It seems to be a phenomenon that appeared when you gained your Trait. I've heard that when you obtain a Trait, Characteristic, or Specialization, phenomena like yours sometimes appear. They say it happens because you can't properly control the power yet—so train until you can handle it properly."
"Got it."
"You said it was bioelectricity, right? Sorry, but I've never seen a Trait like that even while working as an instructor, so I can't help you with it. Still, one piece of advice: don't overthink it—just hone it in whatever direction you're drawn to. I can guarantee that Trait will become an excellent weapon no matter which way you take it."
"Yes!"
To the sincere advice, Jun answered louder than ever. Robin chuckled, ruffled Jun's hair, then said,
"The grip seems good enough, so now stand next to me and carefully observe what I do."
Jun stood beside Robin as instructed and focused on his movements. He also activated his spatial perception to the extreme to heighten his observation, and created a mannequin in his mind to immediately apply every piece of information he grasped through his eyes and space.
The moment Jun's preparations finished, Robin's wooden sword began to move slowly.
"The most basic motion in swordsmanship is the downward cut. First, inhale and raise the sword to the high position. Then, as you exhale, swing the sword in a wide arc as if casting a fishing float far out—"
Robin's wooden sword descended slowly. Swung in a large circle, it stopped the moment the tip reached eye level.
"—and from the moment the tip reaches eye level, strike down without hesitation as if chopping firewood with an axe."
Whoosh!
The wooden sword came down, cutting through the air. At the threatening swing sound, without even intending to, an image of himself matching that motion formed in Jun's mind.
…I shouldn't mess around when Robin has a weapon in hand.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Robin swung the sword a few more times, demonstrating. Jun grasped every minute detail of his movements with his eyes and space, applying them to the mannequin in his mind. Before long, the mannequin was performing a downward cut that was a carbon copy of Robin's.
"Got it all memorized?"
"Yes, I've got it down solid."
"Then try copying it once—even if it's a mess."
Jun took a deep breath and assumed his stance. Then he deliberated. Whether to use a shortcut or not.
…Yeah, let's use it. When learning something, the first impression is the most important.
Having made his decision, he focused on the mannequin in his mind—
Realize
Whoosh!
He brought the sword down. At the fairly similar wind sound, Jun smiled faintly and glanced at Robin.
"…"
His expression wasn't particularly good.
"…I'll try again."
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Thinking something was wrong, Jun struck down while focusing even more on the mannequin. But Robin's expression only grew more wrinkled rather than improving.
Is it that strange? That can't be right.
As he continued striking down with a puzzled look, after a moment Robin spoke as if thoroughly fed up.
"…You little monster."
That's a compliment, right? Yeah?