Chapter 5

"Good morning, Aler! Your beloved big sister has come to wake you up!"

A loud voice echoed through the room in the morning.

My sister rushed over to where I was sleeping in bed.

"As usual, Aler is weak in the morning! Alright, I'll give you a good morning kiss—"

Bang!

"Morning."

I stifled a yawn as I got out of bed and left the room.

"Hey, you just punched your big sister, didn't you?! And you're acting like nothing happened?!"

Ignoring my sister's teary-eyed complaints as she clutched her head, I headed for the living room.

"Oh, good morning, Aler."

"Good morning, Mom."

"Breakfast is ready."

"Thank you."

"Hey! Don't ignore your big sister!"

Mmm, Mom's cooking is as delicious as always.

"Where's Dad?"

"He's still sleeping. Can you go wake him up, big sister?"

"Ugh... Alright!"

While Dad and I don't have much in common, we both share the weakness of being slow in the morning.

At Mom's request, my sister, despite her reluctance, went to wake Dad up.

After breakfast, I headed to the square from yesterday.

I recalled the match with the red-haired girl.

I lost.

I couldn't figure out how to counter her attack skill, the "Dual Blade Slash," and my blessing dropped below half.

But the outcome didn't matter.

From the middle of the match, I focused more on "seeing" the skill rather than defending against it.

"Dual Blade Slash"

I wrapped straw around a large tree I usually use for practice and tried to mimic yesterday's technique.

Thud! Thud!

Hmm.

No good.

That was just two separate attacks.

I hit the left side of the tree, then the right.

That's all.

The real "Dual Blade Slash" requires striking two points simultaneously.

"Maybe I need more speed."

Next, I tried focusing on speed.

Thud! Thud!

No good.

This was still just two separate attacks.

"The flick of the wrist is important too."

After striking the left side, I need to change the direction of my wrist to strike the opposite side.

I need to minimize the time it takes to do this.

Thud! Thud!

"Hmm. That was faster than before, but it's still not enough."

The interval between the sounds was shorter, but it still wasn't "simultaneous."

"Faster."

Thud! Thud!

"Faster, faster."

Thud! Thud!

"Still not there."

Thud! Thud!

A month has passed since I started practicing the "Dual Blade Slash."

I am now outside the town, facing a dense forest.

I stepped into it.

After walking for a while, I encountered a creature.

"Grueh!"

The creature, a green-skinned, hideous monster, let out a fierce cry.

It was a goblin.

It was about the same height as me, a ten-year-old, and had low intelligence.

It held a spear-like weapon made from an animal's bone.

I immediately drew my sword and met the goblin that charged at me.

"Dual Blade Slash"

"Kyaa!?"

The goblin's head flew off, and its body split into upper and lower halves.

Blood splattered everywhere.

It died instantly.

Unlike humans, goblins, which lack blessings, can be easily defeated with decent sword skills.

"Hmm. It worked well."

I had just simultaneously cut the goblin's head and body.

It was the exact "Dual Blade Slash" the red-haired girl demonstrated.

This wasn't the first time I had succeeded.

I had already succeeded multiple times in practice.

I came to this forest to see if it would work in a real fight.

This was the first time I succeeded against a moving creature.

After that, I encountered several more goblins and dispatched them with the "Dual Blade Slash."

I tried various combinations, such as the head and legs, the right and left arms, and all of them worked.

Goblins are perfect for practice.

I just need to be careful as they sometimes travel in groups.

"That's enough."

Feeling mostly satisfied, I was about to turn back to town—

"Aaaaah!"

A scream echoed from deep in the forest.

"What is that?"

It was definitely a human voice, and it sounded like a child's.

I pushed through the trees and ran in the direction of the voice.

Soon, I saw what was happening.

It seemed someone was being attacked by a monster.

But, it was—

"Damn... I didn't expect to run into this guy..."

I recognized the face, twisted in hatred.

It was the red-haired girl from the other day.

She held a sword in her right hand, but her left arm hung limply.

It was bent in an odd direction, likely broken.

She seemed to have taken damage beyond her blessing.

Facing her was a goblin—no, a large one.

It must have been about 180 cm tall.

An abnormally large goblin.

"A hobgoblin."

Hobgoblins are a higher form of goblin.

They look like goblins but are much larger and stronger.

The hobgoblin held a club and leered down at the red-haired girl with a sinister smile.

Her arm was probably broken by this thing.

She must have come to the forest for practice and unfortunately encountered the hobgoblin.

A child entering the forest alone is dangerous.

But I'm not one to talk.

"Fortunately, it hasn't noticed me yet."

I sprang from the grass where I was hiding and attacked the hobgoblin from behind.

"Dual Blade Slash!"

"Wha!?"

I struck the hobgoblin's neck with two simultaneous slashes from both sides.

The neck was much harder than a goblin's, but thanks to the "Dual Blade Slash," it was cleanly severed, and the head tumbled to the ground.

"..."

The massive body collapsed.

"Hmm. It's been a while."

The red-haired girl's eyes widened in shock.

"W-What's going on!? How can you use the 'Dual Blade Slash'!?"