Training Step - Perception

"... That's enough. I have gathered enough information."

Tsubaki decided to stop this phase of their training. After studying what Haru was capable of, she had concluded what to improve before anything else.

"...For the next phase of our training, you have to cover your eyes. To pass this you have to avoid two attacks in a row from me. Of course, I won't use my full power. I'll try sticking to something you can dodge."

Developing an increased perception wasn't easy, especially for adventurers who had just started in the Dungeon. Yet if Haru wanted to solo the Dungeon, he had to possess a 360-degree vision. It was just the beginning of the hard training that awaited him.

"...Is it even possible for me to dodge something I can't see?"

The question was only natural. No matter how much Haru accepted the idea of being in another world, he couldn't understand how he might be able to increase his human perception. In his world, only a narrow line of experts who had trained for decades possessed this ability, after all.

"... Wondering if something is plausible is not what you should do. If your goal is so important to achieve, crush your beliefs, break through the limits you imposed on yourself."

Tsubaki's words hit Haru's mind. Although this speech was certainly not applicable to everything, the idea of succeeding in something he considered impossible seemed rather exciting.

"... I understand. If this is a step I have to take to achieve my goal, then I would also be willing to avoid a hundred of your blows in a row, if necessary."

At his words, Tsubaki wore a teasing smile.

"If you say so..."

Her playful expression, combined with those provocative words, led Haru to swallow. However, since Tsubaki hadn't mentioned anything about testing his beliefs, he closed his eyes as his training would begin.

---

'The real question is...what should I focus on to figure out where the blow would strike?'

Closing his eyes, Haru focused on what he felt around him. However, apart from the light breezes of the wind slipping on the lawn, making the sound sweet and mild, Haru couldn't recognize the presence of Tsubaki in the area, let alone whether she was preparing to land a blow on him or not.

If she had been an ordinary, low-level adventurer, Haru most likely could have focused on the noises they produced by moving into space. However, Tsubaki somehow managed not to emit a single sound, which confused Haru. He had never done this kind of training before, so he felt a bit confused by the fact that Tsubaki didn't give him any indication, she had only specified to keep his eyes closed.

While Haru was in this state, Tsubaki moved slowly toward his position. It was clear that Haru was confused as he should be. She didn't omit any information. It was much more effective in fact to discover by himself the fastest way to increase his perception. Although it increased gradually and imperceptibly as the parameters develop, it is not taken into account by many adventurers.

Arriving behind him once again, Tsubaki chose not to hit him as it was not necessary. Instead, she touched his back with her finger as if to tease him. The moment Haru felt someone touching his back, he immediately tried to attack his instinct. However, the moment the blade swung in Tsubaki's direction, she used the same finger to stop the blow.

"The enemies will not stop to make you notice their presence, and if they can get behind you with this ease, moving your sword will not help at all. I'm sorry if I played you a little, even though you just started training. For now, I'll let you know my attack pattern won't change, and I'll attack you head-on, not from the back."

Trying to hit his blind spots from the start would not help to increase his perception; Instead, Tsubaki risked damaging Haru's ego, body and mind without teaching him anything specific. She was not allowed to do because not only was he a member of her family, but he was still Hephaestus' protégé.

He didn't have a higher position than she held. However, she could not afford to hurt him without repaying him with proper teaching. Tsubaki would treat him as he deserved, without making any particular distinctions from average familia members.

With these small issues, the training proceeded. This time, however, Tsubaki pledged to respect the 'rules' she had established, precisely because in this way there might be room for improvement, or at least, that was what she hoped. Her words were concrete, but not everyone learned in the same way.

---

After spending the whole morning with his eyes closed to avoid Tsubaki's blows, Haru was still confused about how he was supposed to figure out where blows came from. Although the attack line didn't change, Haru couldn't figure out how to evade in time, which led him to be thrown away by the blow.

The first day of training was awful. However, Haru's determination didn't fade in the slightest as he wanted to finish his training as soon as possible.

His overall senses had increased. His ears could hear more acute and distant sounds. His eyes could perceive objects better; His nose could recognize smells and understand the differences in similar aromas; The mere touching told him much more than before.

However, Haru was still in an awful situation.

His 'opponent' was strong enough to mask her presence almost unintentionally and being unable to resort to any of his developed senses, the only choice he had to overcome the training was to increase his so-called sixth sense.

'I could resort to the skill [Intuition's Holder], too bad I can not choose when to activate it. Also, the effect is determined by the skill.'

He understood more or less how the skill worked. It not only allowed him to interact with the world itself. It would help him partially in the improvement of his abilities but also allowed him to carry out things that would be impossible for him otherwise.

What happened with Hephaestus to make his worth known was the perfect example.

If that effect didn't arouse, Hephaestus would have seen him as an amateur at most, which wouldn't have stopped her divine eye on him, but perhaps on someone else or no one in particular. Long story short, he had altered the future with that simple action, but certainly showing an unusual perception wouldn't change his future at all...

'Better if for now, I have lunch and then train alone... I can't train to improve my perception, but I can focus on the sword since it seems training for me is forbidden...'

Tsubaki had imposed only one rule Haru should follow, avoiding too much training. This is because once they properly talked, she came to know Haru was training his body for himself, as well as his swordsmanship. Although for now what she wanted to focus on was the perception, Tsubaki planned to turn Haru into a full-fledged warrior.

After they would be done with this phase, her goal was to teach him everything she knew about the sword, and if he was interested in her techniques, Tsubaki would be willing to let him learn them.

'...I won't have kids inheriting these techniques anyway.'

It was what she thought. However, it didn't make her particularly sad nor happy, or at least, this is what she had shown Haru.

He did not need to enter her life except to have a student-teacher relationship.

The teacher never showed their 'weak points' to their pupil. She was to be the example that would drive Haru in the future, even though she still saw it as a simple interest in seeing where this promising young man would go...

---

"...This is the result of your foolish behaviour. Tell me, how does it feel..."

Saying these words slowly, a man whose identity was not well known had a sword wrapped in what appeared to be electric discharges. Pointed at what was a rather frightened-looking man, as if in front of him there was an existence he couldn't decipher, something that went beyond the impossible.

The rest of the words, however, seemed not to be perceptible, and a while after this scene played out, the noise of glass breaking could be heard...

Hearing screams, a woman awakened from her sleep. Recognizing the owner's voice, she decided to go and check immediately what was happening.

"...Cassandra, is everything alright?"

When the door was opened, the woman in question could see the woman in the room, with hair so long that reached the lower part of her back in dark azure colour, had an expression as if she had just seen not a ghost, but something much worse.

"..T-The familia...is in d-danger!!"

Remembering the figure of the man, Cassandra could feel the terror causing chills from the lower part of her back, spreading in every single inch of her body. What she had seen was not just a dream, it was a premonition about what would happen in the future, and the mere thought of meeting a man of such a frightening and unknown force was enough to freeze her blood.

At her words, however, the woman who had witnessed the scene sighed and came to understand what had happened.

"...Still believing your dreams are premonitions? Come on, Cassandra, you're a grown woman now."

At her words, the woman known as Cassandra, aware of her presence, replied

"T-This time...is something serious...w-what I saw...this familia is doomed! W-We have to run while we still have time!"

If she couldn't convince the woman in front of her, she knew what expected them...

"...This was the goal from the beginning, but we never succeeded even when we could, why do it now?"

The woman named Daphne said these words knowing well there would be no alternative under any circumstances, even if Cassandra's vision could be true, all she had left was to perish along with the familia...

---

(Thank you all for the support you have shown me in these few days, I appreciate every single one of you who commented or liked my comment yesterday. I won't remove the "chapter" since readers need to know about what will happen in the novel. Btw, if you want to stick with my novel, you should join the discord (y8VBZAp) as there I will post every update about the fic faster than here, as a new "chapter" will be used only for important news, small details will be left in the discord for everyone interested. If you want, you can also support me on patr eon.com/SkyInTheNight...)

(Her vision will be properly explained in the next chapter & in the future)

(I had a lot of problems in the editing phase as my internet is dead, so lmao I had to do my best to recover the text finish editing it down, reach webnovel from the phone...I'm tired of life.)