Unaware

With the Crystal Spider Aranasia, the boss of the spider den, defeated, all that was left was to head back to the village. Rizmel said she needed to report on the crystal spider, so she pocketed a few of the shards that had broken off. I was interested in the light mithril material too, so I grabbed a few separately.

I tossed it into my inventory and checked the info. Sure enough, it said it had lost its light and its original power. In the end, the only usable light mithril I got was the five ingots from the clear reward. No wonder there was no info about it on the community boards. It wasn't a material you could actually use in the first place.

Still, five ingots should be enough to make one piece of gear. I'll take them to that blacksmith later.

On the way back to the dark elf village, Rizmel was quiet the whole time. She had this seriously troubled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠look on her face, but for someone like me who's awkward in conversations with others, the silence was actually a relief.

The dark elf scouts gave me a hero's welcome when we returned from wiping out the spider den.

"No injuries anywhere? You must be exhausted—want something to eat?"

"Taking down a boss already? Impressive for a human."

"You're starting to really look like one of our scouts. Looking good."

It felt like they were praising a kid who'd successfully run their first errand, so it wasn't exactly gratifying.

Rizmel left me there and went off to report on the crystal spider by herself. Then she dragged me outside right away. As I was munching on a snack one of the scouts had given me, she asked,

"Why do you want to learn swordsmanship?"

Her expression was dead serious—nothing like the emotionless NPCs from other floors. She'd already read the letter I'd given her, so she knew I wanted a sword from the blacksmith. But the way she was asking meant she'd sniffed out that it wasn't the real reason.

I answered, "To get stronger."

Swordsmanship is a skill for fighting, after all. What other reason could there be?

"Then why do you wanna get stronger? You're already ridiculously strong for a human."

"Being strong for a human isn't good enough. I need to get way stronger."

No way was I gonna ramble to an NPC about the Tower of Trials and all that. She wouldn't get it anyway.

Rizmel frowned, clearly unhappy with my answer, and spoke again. "You're going to get stronger."

Weird way to put it. Not "you can get stronger," but "you will get stronger." Like it was already set in stone.

"I saw your skills up close. Your technique sucks, but you've got talent. At that level, you could get strong on your own without me teaching you."

She wasn't wrong. Even without learning from Rizmel, I'd keep growing without stopping.

"So you don't need to shove your head into real combat and risk your life for experience. But why are you in such a damn hurry?"

She went on to say I didn't need to charge at that spider like that at all. Calling for backup and fighting with the scouts' help would've been plenty useful experience.

"Like you're dying to get yourself killed."

Ridiculous. I opened my mouth to fire back.

"That's—"

But that was all that came out. No good comeback followed.

I'd charged the spider to claim the boss kill reward and grow. But the reward wasn't make-or-break. I didn't even know there was a hidden boss or what it would drop.

Hell, I didn't even need to fight solo. Teaming up with Rizmel and the other dark elves would've still netted me top contribution and first clear rewards.

Plus, I'm already way beyond Floor 7 level. Even without growing further, I could clear up to Floor 10 no problem.

The only reason I'd gone to the spider den with Rizmel was to show my skills and learn swordsmanship. There was zero reason to solo a crystal spider with no strategy info.

The one excuse I'd had in that moment?

I could do it.

Because I'd sworn never to stop.

* * *

Rizmel gave me a weird look after my answer, then nodded after a long pause.

"Got it."

Got what? No idea, but she seemed to have sorted her thoughts.

She led me to a spot a little ways from the scout building. It was obvious what it was for at a glance—wide open area littered with straw dummies and blunt swords. A training ground, obviously.

The quest objectives popped up automatically in one corner of the system interface. Guess she was about to start teaching me swordsmanship now.

"I'm warning you upfront: I've never taught swordsmanship to a human newbie. So I'm doing this my usual way."

"Fine by me."

"Hey, you get what 'my usual way' means? I'm not holding back for human level. I won't go easy if you get hurt."

Rizmel grumbled as she kicked aside the scattered dummies, then handed me a blunt sword.

The stats on the sword were pathetic. Damn, a weapon worse than the store-bought ones on Floor 1. Still, the simple design and perfect weight balance felt good. Personally, I'd prefer it a tad heavier, but handling-wise, it was solid regardless of stats.

"All training with me uses only that. No shield, no armor."

Pure swordsmanship training without items? Perfect.

"Alright, let's start with this."

With that, Rizmel tossed a black gem-like stone at her feet.

-Clang!

The gem shattered, and a pitch-black shadow slithered out. It writhed and shifted form before settling into a puppet-like figure holding a weapon.

Huh? Selection test? What happened to basic and advanced training?

* * *

The quest objectives were clearly listed as basic → advanced → selection test. I figured we'd go in that order.

Starting straight with the test? So that's what she meant by not going easy on a human.

"Your weapon habits look bad. The letter mentioned it too. Gotta check that first."

There were five shadow puppets total, each taking position around ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me with weapons raised.

"Take them down with that training sword."

Rizmel hopped back, and the shadow puppets lunged at once.

-Thud thud!

One with a sword closed in fast. Pretty quick for a mob-like thing. I dodged its swing and aimed the training sword at its neck.

-Crack!

The hit landed clean, but the sword's power was so weak it barely cut. Felt like smacking a sandbag with a broomstick. Could you even deal real damage with this thing? She wasn't screwing with me by giving me something impossible, right? Didn't seem like her style.

-Whoosh!

I backstepped the next swing. The puppet's attacks flowed naturally into combos—smooth like water, but not fast enough to match my reflexes. Since slashes weren't working, I went for a thrust, forcing an opening through the chain.

-Thud!

Still no good feedback. Better than before, but it didn't feel like stabbing with a sword. And right then, a shadow puppet with a huge axe charged from behind.

I knew it wouldn't be one-on-one. Super Sense predicted the axe arc; I twisted my shoulder and barely dodged. Then I swung my elbow at its head.

-Shwoop.

My elbow passed right through the shadow's head, even though it connected. What the hell—immune to physical attacks? The whiff threw off my stance, and the sword puppet rushed in.

I tried a kick to counter, but my foot went ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠straight through its body too. It swung, missing my neck but smashing my temple.

-Thwack!

Timing was off, so it didn't hurt much, but it pissed me off. I regripped the training sword in my right hand, swung hard, and smashed its temple back.

-Crack!

Still no solid hit, but it connected at least. Sword training means only the sword counts, huh?

"Got it."

I kicked off the ground to create distance and regripped the sword. Yeah, this method would definitely improve weapon handling. Rough, but effective.

But making me do this out of nowhere and then looking worried? Kinda uncool.

"Uh, that... your head... you good?"

It's been five minutes since she said she wouldn't help if I got hurt, you bitch.