Vol 3.5 Chapter 4: Fiora’s Tale—Ars The Woodcutter

The clothes given to me were robes somewhat similar to the ones Frida wore, though without all the fancy pomps and embroideries that decorated hers. It was made out of white cotton, designed for comfort and mobility over protection. The fabric seemed to be well-suited to absorb sweat as well, a necessary component in designing clothes you would wear in your training.

Once I finished dressing myself, I had a light dinner with Miss Sword Goddess. Mrs? I don’t think she’s married. Just looking at her though, it's hard to figure out what her age is. She looks young but at the same time, she feels old as well. It's hard to put into words.

We had our dinner on a low table that one must sit cross-legged to eat on. It was clearly a personal table she used whenever she had to eat on her own. I don’t believe she even had a special dining room as we were eating at the terrace. As I looked around the place for a bit, it became clear that the shrine was as small as a tiny house. Truly the shrine of a hermit.

Which meant her Virtuoso underlings aren’t staying here. This really was just her personal property.

Our dinner consisted of what was basically a plate of salad, making me wonder if she's some sort of a vegetarian. I heard hermits tend to be that way.

"No meat? That's disappointing."

"I don't like meat that much," she replied, putting a piece of leaf into her mouth with her fork. "Too chewy for me."

"Maybe you just don't cook it right. You… cook for yourself here, don't you? I didn't see any servants around."

"Servants?" She raised her eyebrows. "Just who do you think I am?"

"Well, you're the head of an organization that trains powerful swordsmen and swordswoman, with a lineage dating all the way back to the Legendary Hero. The Imperial Knights all had their own estates and servants. Why shouldn't you?"

"The way of the sword does not care for the material world. Galahad spent the remainder of his days as a humble hermit, and I will do the same. "

That scowl on her face—she's clearly irked by what I was saying.

"And that's why I'm burning that dress of yours, along with the rest of your fancy clothes. From now on, you'll only wear that robe alone, got it?"

"Oh, this?" I pinched the fabric on the chest region with a little smirk. “You know, I just noticed how the fabric on this thing isn’t too thick. It might get translucent if it gets wet, like with sweat for example. So are you supposed to not wear any underwear while wearing it?”

Her eyes narrowed as her scowl grew. For someone who was blind, she certainly reacted just like a person with sight would do. Perhaps this meant she used to be able to see in the past?

“You’re supposed to wear them with the undergarments provided.”

“Ah, right, those white smallclothes. Yep, with those, I suppose nothing would show, since they are white as well.”

I didn’t actually wear them, however. Under this, I still wore a normal bra and panties, with a color that would surely show at the end of a vigorous training session.

I blame him for this one. Ever since he disrobed me like that, a peculiar hobby seemed to have awakened inside me.

“Well, it’s fine then.” I gave her a smile, even though she couldn’t really see it. “As long as the clothes are comfortable and not hideous, I’m fine with wearing them. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly like your standard-issue royal princess.”

The rest of our dinner went smoothly, though the lady didn’t speak a lot for the rest of the evening. She told me to sleep in the living room, which I complied with. No bed, just a thin mattress. I was already used to sleeping in poor conditions though, thanks to my travels.

She woke me up really early the next morning, far before the sun ever crept above the mountain. She told me to depart to the third shrine and report to Frida for her morning training.

“So,” I started up a conversation with her as I put my boots on at the terrace. “I guess I’m not going to see you again for a while.”

“Of course,” she replied with a smile. “You’re going to return here only after Frida deems you worthy, which could take many years with your current skill.”

“Heh, not holding back at all, are you?” I returned with a grin, standing up from the raised wooden floor. “Is it always this foggy in this mountain?” I asked, looking at the road heading out from the shrine, going back downwards to the third plateau. “You could barely see a step ahead.”

“Oh? Truly? It’s always clear for me.”

I looked back and saw an all-too-obvious smirk on her face.

“Hmph, I get it. This is part of my training, isn’t it?”

“Don’t be late. Arrive before the sun first peeks over the hill.”

“Of course.”

And with that, I departed the domain of the Sword Goddess.

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A week has flown by since then. And the training with Frida was as harsh as I had expected. I was ordered to wake up awfully early in the morning and was only allowed to rest once it was far in the night. Every day she would only give me around four or five hours of sleep. I wasn’t sure if it was healthy, to put a girl my age in such a strenuous lifestyle, but I wasn’t going to complain. I swore to her that I would do whatever she asked me to, and so I would.

The training? Why, it’s something one would give for a beginner. From running, doing push-ups and sit-ups, and swinging my sword around for hours. She said that she wanted to start with the basics.

By the way, the other Champions being taught by her, a group of mostly middle and older-aged men and women numbering around ten (a stark contrast to the number of Experts from before, that reached around forty), they didn't have to do all that. Their training only consisted of fencing against each other, performing all their fancy techniques with Frida watching and correcting their mistakes.

Yes, I was jealous. But like I said, I wasn’t going to complain. I grit my teeth and bear it, for that was what I had promised.

Oh, and they also had voiced their opposition with a kid like me being given the title of Champion. It was only natural. To them, who had spent much of their life climbing all the way up here, I was just a dirty cheater.

But then, when Frida pointed out how I had slaughtered Sara, who was another young genius who was really close to the Champion title, they all clamped their mouths. They had no grounds upon which they could argue anymore.

A shame. I would be interested in sparring against them.

Such was the strength of what they called “talent”. You could never reach the top without it, even if you worked your hardest every single day. It was just a fact of life that one should learn to accept.

I could never compete with my sister in the ballroom of grace. But I certainly could compete with her in the battlefield of swords. The key to happiness is to accept your weakness and to focus on growing the talent you actually have, no matter how silly or useless you might think it is.

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One afternoon, I was given the task of gathering berries for dinner. Frida seemed to have deemed it fit to give the occasional menial labor tasks to me (a fate not shared by the other Champions, mind you). I wasn't complaining though. I could use a little break, since I had been swinging my sword in one place all morning.

The forest I was sent to was located quite some time away from the main path you would use to climb up the mountain, so I was warned to be careful of monsters when I went there. Ha! As long as it wasn’t some dragon, I should be able to handle them just fine.

The place was called the Black Diamond Forest. Not because it had diamonds growing on trees or anything, but because the forest belonged to a certain species of trees called Diamond Ebony, pitch-black, glossy-looking trees whose hardness rivaled or even exceeded that of diamonds. Apparently, with the exception of a couple other places in the world, the species could only be found here, thus making construction with them terribly uncommon. Well, there’s the problem of processing them, considering that hardness.

Naturally, I had the idea to try my sword against them. Only to find that my blade failed to even leave a dent on their wood. It just clanged off in the most annoying manner.

I tried and tried and tried again, putting all my aura into my blade, but it wasn’t working. The tree remained unharmed.

I had to stop, unfortunately. I didn’t want to nick the edge of my blade. This was technically not my own blade after all, since I stole them from that guard. Frida had quite the laugh when I told her where I got the sword from. I continued onward, this time focusing on just gathering the berries for my task.

And this—this was when I met him.

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Hmm? That noise… that’s… That's the sound of an axe hitting a tree, is it not? But the only trees around here are these diamond trees, which means…

I ran towards the sound immediately.

I was right. It was a young man swinging an axe to a tree.

And, to my bewilderment, he was actually cutting through the damn thing. Not all at once, mind you, that would be even more insane, but he was making steady progress through the diamond-like thickness of the wood with every swing of his axe, using merely his left hand.

Just who is this person?

Looking at his outfit, he didn’t seem to be a member of the order. He wore a brown tunic underneath a weathered wool jacket, dyed dark red. His trousers were made out of loose crimson hemp, somewhat similar in color as his jacket. His hair followed the color of his tunic, however, being light brown as well. It was an outfit one could see a peasant wearing, judging by how they weren’t that well-preserved. My thought first went to him being a woodcutter, but surely, a mere woodcutter couldn’t cut a tree this though, no matter how good they were at it.

“Hey, you, what are you doing here?” I called out to him. “I don’t believe a woodcutter is allowed to do their work in this part of the mountain.” I knew for a fact that the villagers at the base of the mountain were only allowed to gather at the part of the mountain before the first bridge. After that was private property of the Order, and only a few were allowed to trespass in it.

He paused once he finished another swing. He wiped his face by the towel he had around his neck, before turning around to face me.

“You’re a newcomer? Haven’t seen your face around here. Just so you know, I’ve gotten explicit permission to cut the trees around here.”

“Oh, really?” I replied, putting on a frown as I approached him. “Then show me your key. It’s the rule for any member of the Order to report any suspicious person that they met.”

He sighed and took out the all-too-familiar block of wood from his pocket. “Satisfied?”

With just a glance, I could see the sigil of the Order, carved there like the key given to me as well. There were slight differences though, signifying that he was an honorary guest instead of actually being a member of the Order.

“Hmm, alright. You’re in the clear. Apologies for accusing you. My name is Fiora Guinevere Pendragon. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I offered him my hand with a smile. Switch to a more amicable tone after confirming your suspicion, so he wouldn’t be too offended. Judging by his answer, and the manner he answered it, he no doubt had done this many times before. He wasn’t some outsider as I was a week ago.

To my surprise, however, he refused my hand, his eyes narrowing in response.

“Fiora. I’ve heard that name before. You are the newcomer, right?”

“Yep, that’s me, alright! What’s the matter? Got a problem with that?”

“So you were the one who hurt Sara.” His eyes narrowed even further. “Thanks to you, she had been refusing to leave her room this past week. So why don’t you do the decent thing and apologize?”

A smirk grew on my face.

“Ho? Really? She’s more of a pathetic weakling than I thought she is. Sorry, but I have no interest in kowtowing to a brat like her.” I shrugged, making sure to look as obnoxious as before.

Oh yes, I was taunting him. Why? Because I felt like it. Whoever this young man is, he clearly has a relationship with that brat. A friend? Perhaps a crush even. I want to see how he would react if I badmouth his beloved.

“So, if I can beat you, then you’ll be fine with apologizing to her, I presume?”

He swung his axe in the quite intimidating fashion. Really? Does he seriously want to fight me? His stance doesn’t even look like a proper one. Does this guy really not know anything about proper fighting?

“Oh ho, now this is interesting!” I drew my blade as well. “Fine! I accept your challenge.” I could already sense that he wasn’t just some lumberjack: from that stance and the fact that he could cut the tree when I could not. If I ended up being at the receiving end of a humiliating defeat as a result, then so be it.

“Don’t you dare hold back now!”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

He was the one to make the first move. He performed a horizontal swing with his right hand. It was fast, but not fast enough that I wasn’t able to leap over it in time. The force, after failing to hit me, landed on the tree behind me instead. Once again, it created a significant gash on its surface, signifying just how powerful the blow was.

Yep. I can’t get hit by that. Not even once. Should I try to parry it though?

Next move was my time to counter. I gave him a horizontal slice of my own, only for him to block it completely by the blade of his axe. I then retreated, putting some more distance between us.

And then, he put his other hand on the handle of his axe. He now wielded it with his right.

Wait, this guy… Don’t tell me he’s—

“Miss Guinevere, I lied. I have been holding back,” he spoke. “But in the only way I know how to. You see, I am not a swordsman like you are. I am just a simple woodcutter. So to keep my strength in check, I use my left hand to handle this axe. My dominant hand is the right.”

A simple woodcutter? Don’t make me laugh!

“So now, after witnessing how you dodge my blows with ease, I know I can not hold back if I wish to win against you.”

He charged forward, with a speed that surprised even me. And before I knew it, he was already at mid-air in front of me, bringing his axe downwards for a strong horizontal slash. Knowing how strong his attacks were with his left hand, I opted not to parry, instead moving my body to the side, just in time to dodge his slash entirely. Well, not completely, as he managed to graze against my robe, ripping some of the fabric.

I used the opening he gave to release my counter. To my surprise, he didn’t even attempt to block, allowing my sword to pierce through his right rib, just below the shoulder.

Got him!

He let out a groan of pain, as expected, and he staggered a bit, allowing me to continue abusing his weakness even more.

At least, that’s what I thought, until I realized he never decided to stop his attack. He merely shifted his axe to point sideways, before swinging it right towards my abdomen.

Barely, I repeat, barely, I managed to kick myself into the air to save myself from a certain death. If it weren’t for my honed senses, I wouldn’t have noticed his attack in time.

I pulled my sword out of him mid-air, before using Feather Step to put even more distance between the two of us.

I dealt the first blow, and yet, I believe I was the one losing this fight.

He stood there with rib bleeding, yet he kept standing proud with a serious look on his face. With the exception of his groan of pain, it was as if I never injured him at all.

“You… this style.. I’ve heard of it from my teacher, my old one, that is, It’s the style barbarians would use in combat. Using their rage, they ignore all the wounds they suffer, continuing to chase and bite after their enemy without any hesitation. I believe the Lancelot Order also taught some of their students this style. However, it’s completely unsuited to the more defense-oriented Galahad-style. So, I have to presume that you really are not taught by our Order in the slightest.”

“I’ve told you before, Miss,” he replied. “I never had any formal training in your martial arts. In fact, I have no intention to.”

“And yet, you are terribly strong. Mind explaining why?”

He fell silent.

“Hmph, refusing to answer. Fine. I don’t really care. I’m just happy that you’ve been proving yourself a worthy opponent so far,” I replied with a grin, flicking the blood off my blade to the side.

“Once again, I have to apologize, Miss.” He spoke again. “Even with my right hand, I am still not going against you with my full strength.” His left hand then grabbed the handle of his axe as well. “But now—now that I’m using both of my hands, I am now truly fighting my full strength.”

Ho? Two-handing it now? Just how strong you can get?

This time, I took the initiative. I charged forward, closing the distance so I could utilize Scattato Storm to barrage him with the sharp end of my sword. He countered by dashing backwards while raising his axe above his head for a downward swing. Hmph, once again, he demonstrated how his speed could rival mine, something that should be impossible without any training. Unless he was some sort of a demon in disguise? Still, note that I said “rivaled”, not “beat”, as my speed was still superior over his. The only problem is, can I catch up to him before he launched his attack?

The answer is, unfortunately, no.

Mere breaths away from his flesh, I had to pivot to the side, barely dodging the insanely powerful slash he produced, nearly deafening me by just how loud it was. No doubt it was a swing far faster than the speed of sound..

I took one glance behind me to see the carnage and my jaws immediately fell wide open. Trees upon trees in a row had been cut in half—trees as hard as diamonds, trees I myself couldn't cut—with a single slash of his axe. The slash also left a deep and large gash on the land, as if a massive sword had just slashed through it, displacing all the grass and bushes into dirt.

One by one the trees fell, unable to keep their balance anymore, for even their roots had been destroyed. It caused a chorus of loud thumps and crashes that echoed throughout the forest.

And then, it happened.

*RIIPPPPP*

A loud sound of fabric being torn entered my ears, followed by my robes disassembling itself, falling apart into little pieces, revealing to the world my orange bra and panties that I wore today.

"Ah…" I looked down at my newfound nakedness, before looking back towards him. "Well, it seems I have been defeated." The attack from before had torn some of the fabrics off, and now, the sheer force of this attack had unraveled whatever was holding the fabrics together entirely.

I sheath my sword with a smile, not caring that I was showing my body to him. Well, not quite. I still could feel warmth creeping on my cheeks.

"Yes, I admit defeat." I crossed my arms. "I recognize your strength, and how it dwarves mine, as annoying as that may be. Take me to that girlfriend of yours so I can apologize."

He replied by walking towards me and handing over his jacket.

"...Apologies, Miss, for ruining your clothes like that. It wasn't my intent."

"Yeah, I know that. Your intent was to kill me. I would've died if I moved just a little bit slower back then."

He sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Like I said, I don't know how to control my own strength. So when I use both hands to handle my axe, I always attack with my full strength."

As I wore his jacket, which, by the way, still showed my panties thanks to it not being long enough, I noticed how he was completely unfazed by my state of undress. He looked away out of courtesy, but he wasn't blushing or stealing glances like that guy would. Ha! He probably isn't a perverted virgin like him then! My body isn't that impressive after all, so only pathetic losers like him get all excited when they have something to look at.

But still, I can't help but feel a little annoyed by his cold reaction. Ah, the paradox of women, wanting men to lust after them while at the same time despising them for being perverts.

"You, what's your name, boy?" I asked once I finished.

"Ars."

"It's a pleasure to meet you then, Ars." I offered my hand with a smile. This time, he actually accepted.

"Now, we should return back to the Shrine of the Harpsichord. I have to change first before meeting with her, after all." I smirked.

Ars, huh?

I want him. I want him to be my knight as well.