The sound of Aaron's heavy boots against the snow, Eleanor's weak grunts as she followed behind him, and Masaru's sword clinking against stony scales reverberated through the valley.
It was a large space with enough room to be equal to even a small island, if within the sea, while the steep sloping cliffs that surrounded it tore through the heavens and beyond the clouds.
The howling winds and endless snow had come to a halt, with all that remained being the bitter cold that surged through each of their bodies.
However, now, with the proper clothing, they were far from the chilling frostbite that was still etched into their bones.
Stormbreak had come, and their training was on the verge of commencing, all that remained being the swordsman's word.
"Stop here."
Dressed in lighter clothing than the teenagers, Masaru Kurogane gradually turned around to face his newly appointed pupils.
He watched as their gazes flickered between him and the sword sheathed against his back, neither of the two relenting under their watchful eyes.
"We'll begin the training at once so as not to miss this short window. Grimstall will begin, and then Lynn shall follow after."
Both of the apprentices nodded slowly, still not knowing what was soon to come from the man's mouth.
The Swordsman of the South was notorious for his seclusion and rough exterior, yet none of those things could tell them even a thing about what he was to do with them.
Regardless of this, Eleanor deduced enough to move away from her friend and move towards where the furry Rudiger sat.
After a brief moment of time to allow her to move, the man spoke up once more, addressing Aaron directly.
"This will be an extension of your evaluation."
He paused, watching the turquoise eyes reflect an image of himself.
"You will do everything in your power to kill me now. You may use anything that you have and any method you wish."
As he continued listing off everything that was allowed, the boy's eyes began to grow wide, and his brow furrowed harshly.
"But what if you were to be injured? I certainly do not believe I can kill you, but an injury might—"
There was no time for him to finish as the swordsman cut him off.
"Even if you had both arms and both legs and I lacked my blade, you wouldn't be able to pluck a hair from my head, much less injure me."
Aaron's expression darkened as he observed the unwavering seriousness behind the man's words.
When his Mana Vision was activated as it was now, he could detect lies to an extent; however, the threads jutting from his body reflected nothing but a frozen darkness.
He was confident to a degree the boy had never seen before.
"In that case, I urge you not to kill me…"
Cracking a weak smile, the blond-haired boy unsheathed Ocean's Bane at his hip and placed it in front of him.
This wasn't a battle he could win, not in his wildest dreams.
It was merely a test of his strength, and he would not hold back even if it were to drive him to his very limit.
Masaru could see it in the boy's eyes, a conviction to fight until he couldn't stand anymore.
"You may begin when ready."
The moment the words slipped from his lips, Aaron lunged forward.
『Swell』
Beneath the swordsman's feet, the snow melted in milliseconds, the water shooting out towards the boy's blade and collecting itself into a spherical shape.
Ocean's Bane cut through the bubble, causing the liquid inside to shatter like ice, exploding outward in a deadly force.
A smile tugged at the corners of the man's lips, but he said nothing as his hand shot in front of his face, blocking against the watery shrapnel.
From what he had already seen, the boy wasn't holding his hits, and such a fact was everything he needed to continue his assessment.
Aaron, who had already seen his strike effortlessly blocked, leaped to the side at a speed that would make it impossible for a normal human to observe.
However, the black pupils of his opponent followed him effortlessly, causing him to grunt subconsciously, another strike coming soon after.
Not yet ready to close the distance, it was another longsword strike, one that he had been preparing since the failure of his first.
『Edge of Tomorrow』
As if parting the tundra, a wave of water burst forth, colliding with the black-haired man's form before he could even react.
That wasn't enough, though, as the boy's body instantly shapeshifted, turning into an identical copy of Cam that he had long since had in his arsenal.
She was smaller in stature than he, yet far more agile, a quality that proved necessary in a fight against an unstoppable force.
"Fascinating."
As the mist cleared, the form of the speaking Masaru Kurogane trapped in ice came into view.
Regardless of his physical state, he raised his hand while simultaneously shattering his prison in a display of absolute force.
Knife-like glass fired straight at the doppelganger of Camilla Buckley, two of which struck the metallic leg that had been glowing with mana profusely.
Dents larger than any that had been formed before appeared in seconds, causing the boy to take his eyes away from his opponent momentarily.
A mistake that would cost him dearly.
Sound couldn't travel fast enough to keep up with the man as he appeared at Aaron's side, his fist already retracted and firing out a strike at his side.
Holding back significantly as he connected with the boy's torso, he felt a rib snap and the skin nearly melt away.
"Too hard?"
The boy's body, appearing as the brown-haired Marshal, was tossed into a rock formation with enough force to break the stone, his blade tossed away into the abyss as he did so.
Instantly upon contact with another object, the ability vanished, and his bruised appearance was once again restored.
Aaron's opponent watched from a distance as if unsure if he would get up, something that he would soon come to realize was all but a guarantee.
Standing up as if unfazed by the strike, the boy summoned Ocean's Bane back to his hand and leaped forward without hesitation.
The grin on Masaru's face deepened as he understood what the boy had done now.
Shrinking his sword down to the size of a dagger, Aaron now dared to confront the man in a close-range setting.
『Ocean's Delta』
Water burst from the sword itself, forming tendrils of turquoise matter that solidified into piercing branches.
Each of them surrounded the swordsman at a different angle, detecting any weak point and firing upon it without mercy.
It was the same attack he had used to free those captured by Stein Brevmore in the auction house; however, now, without the aid of Penelope's temporary enhancement of his abilities, it was a much weaker version.
Masaru's hand shot out and grabbed one of the branches directly, snapping it in half before it could even touch him.
His legs, which were two open targets, were instantly above his head as he flipped backwards, his hand reaching around to his hip where a small knife resided.
It was not yet the time to use Arcturus Centuria, not even close.
Pulling the weapon from its sheath, he parried the remaining tendrils and immediately shot in at the boy's form.
Unlike before, though, the boy could trace his movements with Mana Vision, allowing the activation of Crimson Scales to take effect right as the knife grazed his chest.
Not wasting a moment after, he retracted his own dagger and shoved it forward at the man's stomach.
『Spear of Wave』
It was the last of the techniques he had learned alongside Cam and the one he was the most proud of, a form so potent that he believed it could single-handedly place him at the level of a high-level terror.
As anticipated, Ocean's Bane took on a life of its own, covering its form in a thin layer of liquid and firing itself forward.
Expanding its length to match that of a spear, anything it touched, whether that be a tsunami or a human, Aaron trusted to be pierced.
Masaru Kurogane could only react by raising his brow as it collided with his torso, an explosion of force resulting from the clash.
Without even a flicker of doubt in his mind, the man sacrificed his position of control over the boy and instead moved his hand to block.
Metal clashed against the wave, fueling an explosion large enough to destroy castles to come forth into existence.
Reality bent inward, and a feeling of weightlessness overwhelmed the boy as he was pushed backwards by the resulting impact.
His lips crept into a smile as he watched the black-haired swordsman go flying in the opposite direction, his movement clearly impeded by the attack.
It was a short-lived feeling, though, as the figure that he had just clashed with appeared above him not even seconds later.
N-not good…
In that fraction of a moment that he had before he collided with the ground, his thoughts cleared, and he saw what was soon to come.
"Is there anything left in your arsenal, Grimstall?"
His body crashed into the snowy floor, and pain coursed throughout his entire body.
He couldn't respond to Masaru's words, yet he couldn't quite say he wanted to either.
"I suppose not."
Allowing his form to descend to the ground where he stood over the damaged form of Aaron Grimstall, he frowned.
He was clearly disappointed in some regard, but what else was there to be done?
The expression on his face made the boy feel pathetic, as if he couldn't do anything even when he tried his hardest.
Against one of the strongest in the world, his loss was expected; however, for him to be so saddened by his performance was something he couldn't stand.
"Well then, I shall have Rudiger collect you and test Eleanor—"
His mouth froze, and his eyes darted to the side.
Rudiger's fur bristened, though Aaron could see no new threat.
Masaru's entire body tensed, and his hand unsheathed Arcturus Centuria that had been peacefully resting along his back.
Sitting atop a white rock that jutted above the snow, a tiny crustacean stared through the swordsman's very essence.
Their eyes locked together as if daring the other to make a move, yet neither did.
Around the weapon that the black-haired man held, space itself crackled and burst, begging to be severed.
"So this is what you have been so delicately precise in hiding. How terrifying."
With those words, he plunged his sword into the ground, releasing a burst of sheer bloodlust from the corpse of the dead Great One.
The remnants of that great being seethed at the presence of the crustacean that now stood upon its scales, and that anger could not be satiated for as long as that being drew breath.
Masaru Kurogane could sense the reaction of the long-dead horror for the first time since the arrival of his own blade.
This was something immense.
Something—unkillable.