/
“Hey, what’s this? Why is it a human, not a Demon?”
I regained my consciousness at the sound of a hoarse middle-aged man.
I opened my eyes and looked around.
I couldn’t find the farm where I was a little while ago.
“What are you looking for?”
Once again I heard a middle-aged man’s voice.
Naturally, I turned my eyes to the side where the voice came from.
There was a very large man looking at me.
His face, which looked like he was in his late 40s, had gray hair, he was bigger than Andras, and he wore a large sword on his waist.
And on the head, there were no horns.
He was a Demon without horns.
I was in a situation where I couldn’t understand anything.
For now, I spoke to the middle-aged man in front of me with a stuttering tone.
“Who
.., who are you?”
“Me? Did you come here without knowing anything?”
“Yes, Elder Kael forcefully put a bead into my mouth
 and when I came opened my eyes
.I was here
”
“Haha! Kael’s reckless personality still hasn’t changed, huh.”
He giggled as if he was close to Kael.
I had no choice but to stare blankly until he stopped laughing.
“Ah~! Sorry, sorry. Is he old enough to be called an Elder? Seems like a lot of time has passed in the world out there, huh.”
“Excuse me. Can you explain this situation? Where am I, and who are you?”
“It’s not hard to explain. My name is Bellion! And this is probably the deepest part of my soul’s consciousness.”
‘Bellion
?’
‘Soul’s consciousness?’
I stared at the man named Bellion with an expression of incomprehensibility.
Then he scratched his head with an awkward expression.
“Ah
 I’m gonna give you a rough explanation
 Listen carefully, man. The bead that was put in your mouth is a bead that contains my thoughts.”
“Thought
 
Why did you make your thoughts into a bead?”
“It was kind of a contract. Instead of granting my request, Kael wanted this thought-bead.”
“Then why did Elder Kael give me that thought-bead
”
“I don’t know your details, but there’s only one thing I can do for you.”
SWOOOOSH
Bellion suddenly pulled out the sword from his waist and pointed it at me.
“Uh
Mr. Bellion
?”
“You’re going to keep fighting me until I’m satisfied.”
“What?”
“Hurry up and raise your sword.”
“Wait, hold on a second

! I
.. don’t have a swor
”
Before I could finish my sentence, Alfred’s sword, which I always use, started appearing in my right hand.
I made a blank face at the sudden magical situation.
“Hahaha, I told you this is the world of my thoughts. I can make a sword without a hitch.”
“Ah
”
“Let’s just check it out.”
Before I knew it, Bellion’s sword started to move.
He approached me with a very agile movement that didn’t suit his large size.
I raised my sword reflexively for defense.
However, perhaps because the power was not properly transmitted, I failed to defend the attack properly.
“Ahhhhh”
I couldn’t stop Bellion’s further attack because my upper body was shaking badly.
His large sword mercilessly pierced my body.
“Ugh?”
I swallowed the wind at the eerie feeling of my body getting penetrated with a sword.
The piercing sensation was very vivid, but fortunately, I didn’t feel any pain.
When Bellion drew the sword again, there was no trace of the penetration.
While I was curious about the phenomenon that happened in the world of consciousness, Bellion said with an absurd expression on his face.
“What? Your skills are disappointing. Are you sure that it was Kael that sent you?”
“Yes.”
I told Bellion everything, from the honor duel to the training I did with Kael.
He nodded at the story and frowned.
“Ah, what! Then that guy, Kael, entrusted me with a very annoying task.”
Bellion grumbled for a long time and sighed as if he had given up.
“Well, it can’t be helped. Hey, you there!”
“Yes?”
“As I said before if you want to get out of here, you’ve got to make a satisfactory result for me. I’ll lower the bar to your ability now, so get ready again.”
He trudged along and posed as he did before.
I raised my sword again and got into position.
Even though he said he would lower the standard, I knew it wouldn’t be easy.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes!”
“OK! Here we go again!”
Like before, Bellion first jumped at me and swung his sword.
The speed and power were noticeably reduced compared to before, so I was able to cope with it even though it was a little heavy.
“What are you doing? If you swing your sword this slow, do you think the opponent will generously come and get hit? Get it together! Once more, do it once again!”
“YES!”
If Kael appeared like a ghost and attacked, Bellion was heavy and unstoppable like a raging storm.
-You can never win a duel if you can’t activate your senses quickly.
While frantically blocking the attack, Kael’s words came to mind.
It was a little late, but I focused on drawing out the sharpness that I had honed for three days.
Is it because of the hard work and training, when I revived my sharp sense that I had attained while training with Kael, Bellion’s offensive became easier to withstand.
Bellion was amazed at my changed appearance.
“Oh! I guess he did teach you something useful. You do have a keen sense.”
I succeeded in getting his praise, but that’s it.
In the end, I failed to withstand the Bellion’s offensive and allowed a fatal attack on my chest.
The feeling of getting my body pierced with a sword was very unpleasant even though it was the second time.
“Huh! Your senses are sharp, but you’re completely novice in fighting, especially in Sword arts. All you do is defend. Defensive moves are useful, but to win a fight, you have to attack
”
Bellion’s evaluation was accurate.
Since I always took a defensive position while competing with a relatively strong opponent, my attack became more and more sluggish.
“I don’t think you’re a systematic swordsman. Then there’s only one solution. Hey, young man!”
“Yes?”
“Watch my attack from now on.”
Once again Bellion began to swing his sword at me.
They were much simpler and more straightforward attacks than before.
Thanks to this, I managed to defend his attack without much difficulty.
“Did you remember the attacks I just made?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then attack me the same way.”
I tried Bellion’s attack as he told me to.
He defended the attack in the same posture as I did.
However, his defense was softer and more solid, with only minimal movements.
“Now! Did you just check all the offensive and defensive moves? Now we’re going to use these moves to fight.”
“With these moves?”
“Yes, these moves are enough. Here we go again!”
As he said, Bellion rushed at me with a very simple attack and defense.
At first, I was not used to these conditions, so I swung my sword very unnaturally, but as the movements were simple, I quickly got used to it as time passed.
In addition, as I copied Bellion’s moves like a mirror, my overall movement became smoother.
During this unusual confrontation, I was able to realize what Bellion intended to do.
It was a way to make me understand the basics of fighting by continuing to battle with simple movements.
As I got used to this way, I gained confidence little by little.
While crossing swords almost like a machine, Bellion started attacking me with different movements than the simple ones.
I was confused at first, but I quickly adjusted and I defended and attacked equally.
Thus, new movements were added one by one, and later, we exchanged incredibly complicated moves.
The clash between the blades quickly turned into a stabbing fight.
Bellion’s sword moves fast enough to make it difficult for my eye to keep track of it.
Recalling the activation of sharp senses that Kael emphasized, I tried to keep my concentration until the end.
I didn’t know how much time passed
We exchanged swords in a trance.
Bellion’s sword and mine have reached a state of stalemate.
“Ugh
”
A groan escaped from my mouth at the increasing pressure from Bellion.
As soon as I couldn’t hold the pressure anymore, the sword in my hand slipped down.
Bellion stepped back and placed his sword in his waist.
He smiled at me with a blank look on his face.
“This is enough.”
“
what?”
“This is enough, I’m sure Kael will be satisfied.”
I looked puzzled for a moment but soon bowed my head.
“Thank you, Bellion!”
“There’s no need to thank me. I’m doing this for the contract with Kael anyway.”
“But you really helped me a lot.”
“Haha. Be proud, you got taught by the great Bellion himself!”
His confident figure began to blur gradually.
I realized that it was time to get out of here.
“It was nice meeting you, young man. When you go outside, say hello to old Kael. Well, maybe a greeting from an imaginary body is useless.”
“Okay. I’ll make sure to tell him.”
“I don’t know who you’re fighting with, but you have to win! You’re an unofficial student of Bellion.”
With those words from Bellion, my mind went blank, similar to the time when I first ate the thought-bead.
When I opened my eyes, I could see the dimmed scenery of the farm.
It seemed like I had spent a very long time in consciousness world, but in reality, time did not seem to have passed as much as I thought.
“Are you getting yourself together?”
“Um
 
 Sir. Kael?”
“I was worried that he might be mean, but he let you pass the test earlier than I thought.”
“Yes, he taught me very hard. And he asked me to say hello to you.”
A mysterious smile hung on Kael’s face.
It seemed bitter, and it felt like he was missing something.
“When I use this bead, he always says the same thing.”
Heavy feelings that didn’t suit a child filled Kael’s eyes for a while.
“Anyway, you did a great job. Do you feel a little confident now?”
“I don’t know yet. But I think I’m getting a little stronger.”
“I think that’s enough for now. You’ll just have to fill it up during the rest of the time
”
I slowly got up, hoping for the duel I thought would be tough.
And As time passed, the honor duel was just a day away.