Evan D. Sherden, An Encounter (3)

Louise, with an aptitude in one-handed swords—more precisely shortswords—took shield training as the next step. And no one in Astray was more skilled with a shield than Raihan; so, it was decided that he would take charge of her training.

“Huh, ughh, huh, hah…”

“It’s great that you’re already so good at shield art.”

“No, that’s not what you’re supposed to say.”

Raihan lent her his echo shield used only in training (unfortunately, it became an attributable artifact in the evolutionary process, so he couldn’t lend it to her permanently), and the effect was truly remarkable.

Louise, who already had the highest level of shield aptitude, acquired the same level of shield skills as an elite knight in just a week. As expected, the aptitude, tricks, and tempo were the best for skill training. In addition, Evan’s coaching and guidance throughout the whole process were more instrumental than anything else.

“Okay, then we can start mobilizing it.”

Evan nodded and murmured at the sight of Louise sweating while holding an echo shield. Raihan looked back at him.

“Huh, teacher. It must hurt a lot because I’ve grown a lot…”

“It’ll get better as you train more. There are students all around, but they haven’t died.”

“Well, teacher. What’s that?”

Louise, who had managed to catch her breath, asked. Her expression was not very good. As soon as she met Evan, she was already getting used to his pattern. Evan was heartily satisfied.

“You sure she’s ready for this, Hyeong…?”

“Yes, we’ll find out, Master.”

Raihan took off his precious blue crystal necklace and gave it to Evan. Louise looked shocked.

It wasn’t unusual for a man to give a necklace to a man, but what was more surprising was the magical power the necklace had! It had a ridiculous amount of power, too!

“What’s that… What an artifact of great ability that has such ridiculous magical power?”

“Huh, you have an eye for things. It sacrifices its magic and summons a number of wind arrows…!”

“Arrows of the wind!?”

Louise was fascinated by the magical power of the necklace. Evan laughed and explained.

“It’s an artifact that makes you attack yourself!”

“Yourself! …No, wait….”

Louise’s worked-up expression died down.

“Is this a cursed artifact?”

“Yeah. From now on, you’re going to use this to train your shield.”

“Ugh.”

Louise took a step back in disbelief, but Evan approached her without hesitation and held out the necklace.

“Come on, wear it.”

“Urgh…”

The most beautiful man gave her a necklace in a somewhat coercive manner. It was a very exciting situation. If only the necklace was not a cursed artifact…

“It’s-it’s on.”

“Okay, what you are going to do now is simple. With your shield, block the wind arrows made by injecting magic into the necklace. The arrows of the wind have both physical and magical properties at the same time, so its training level is twice as high. Isn’t it amazing?”

“Uh, I should have realized right away when I heard rumors that you were nurturing talent at an unimaginable rate…”

“Don’t grumble. Start now. If you get hurt, I’ll use magic to recover you right away, so don’t be afraid.”

“Even if you fail to prevent it with a shield, don’t hesitate because it will help you acquire and train your reflexes.”

The instructor kindly explained the merit of this training next to the teacher of her age. Louise hated both of them.

She hated it, but she couldn’t help but follow them. Although it was a short period of time, she knew that her ability had actually grown by leaps and bounds while training; it was all thanks to Evan’s coaching and Raihan’s shield training.

“Then I’ll get started…”

Louise started with a frightened look and began to frantically block the arrows of wind that were randomly generated from all sides, flying at her.

The artifact had evolved, and it had gotten much stronger compared to the first time. At the moment, Evan was worried about Louise’s safety.

But Raihan, who was watching the scene with Evan, reassured Evan with a natural look.

“But that’s the weakest mode. You adjusted the difficulty on your own.”

“That’s the weakest mode? How do you train your shield these days?”

“It’s ticklish compared to your fist or Heaven’s Blade.”

‘I’m sure that’s true.’ Evan looked at Raihan with fresh eyes. Well, it was assumed that he was already at the peak at his shield.

Beyond that, it was an area of unique skills. The evolution of basic combat skills to become unique skills was something that had never been experienced before.

In that sense, it was a truly ridiculous miracle that Mikhail taught Evan at an early age.

“You can’t stand the two women’s offensives so leisurely without that much skill.”

“Haha. Yes, Master. But there are only two for me, so I’m holding on somehow. On the other hand, your women are growing. I can’t wait to see how the Master will hold out.”

“Hahaha, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Ha. I heard something from Shine, Master.”

“Shine, that bastard!”

It was then… Even though Evan had told her that she didn’t need basic training, Mirole, who was coming out and self-training at the same time as Louise every day, approached Evan carefully.

“Leader.”

“Mirole, what’s going on?”

“I want to get a training artifact like Louise.”

“…”

Training artifacts, perhaps the blue crystal necklace that Louise was wearing around her neck…Evan asked back with a distraught look.

“Do you need that?”

“Yes. I’m an apprentice, too.”

At first glance, Mirole’s insistence seemed justified as an apprentice.

Evan was focusing on Louise out of necessity, and there was a good chance that Mirole might find it unfair. However…

“Where can I get a training artifact that will make this high elf stronger?”

Evan was in agony. However, refusing to do so was hurting his pride.

“Oh, I don’t know if this will be alright.”

“What is it?”

“Come on here.”

What Evan took out of his arms was a metal ring bracelet that looked normal at first glance.

However, anyone with an eye could realize that the bracelet was not an ordinary thing, with its simple, delicate design, it had an unusual gloss, and above all, magic held in it.

“This is….”

“It’s an artifact that puts pressure on the whole body in proportion to the wearer’s agility. It’s an artifact based on my own skills. A dwarf, a member of our Knights, had made it, so if we meet later, please say hello.”

“Is there a Dwarf in our squad? Ahhh!”

Louise, who had been paying keen attention to the conversation on this side while practicing shield skills, was surprised and shouted, but then began to be hit by a series of blows by the arrows of the wind. Raihan sighed and treated her.

“Okay, it’s an artifact that puts pressure on the body.”

Meanwhile, Mirole was still looking at the bracelet with uncertainty.

After seeing her expression, Evan smiled and explained further.

“It’s very primitive, but wearing it and moving will have a positive impact on the growth of your agile status and passive mobile skills. This is all I can think of to help you right now.”

“No, it’s enough… I think it’ll be helpful.”

Finally, Mirole, who was determined, accepted the bracelet. Immediately after that, however, she looked at Evan with a hesitant expression and asked awkwardly.

“How should I wear it?”

“Oh, twist this part.”

It was quite cute to see the high elf, who was not used to things in the human world and was embarrassed because she couldn’t wear a bracelet properly. Eventually, Evan personally put the bracelet on her wrist.

“Like this.”

“Oh….”

The thin white-gold bracelet fit perfectly as if it were made for Mirole. Mirole stared at the bracelet, clinging to her wrist. She looked satisfied.

“I see. I see…”

“I’ll also explain how to activate the artifact.”

“No, I think I know that.”

She immediately pumped her magic into the bracelet. As soon as the bracelet was activated, it put terrible pressure on her whole body, but on the surface, nothing seemed to change.

‘No, I don’t think this is going to affect her as a high elf.’ Evan sighed.

“Is this not enough? But it’s a growing artifact, so if you keep it on…”

“Oh, that’s all right. I think I can use my own armament to strengthen it.”

“Are you going to go that far?”

“It’s not difficult.”

As soon as Mirole finished speaking, air’s blue wind was acting and dispersed and soon permeated the bracelet.

At that very moment, the pressure of the bracelet increased so quickly that Evan could feel it. The power of the soul beyond the bounds of reason. Evan was just opening his mouth and admiring it.

“I’m sure it’ll be useful for training now.”

“…Yes, I think so.”

Looking at Mirole, who stroked her bracelet with a proud expression, Evan was at a loss for words.

But there was no need to answer. Mirole, who soon raised her head, unexpectedly stepped down from the position.

“I think this place will be a little too small for training. I’m going to take a look around the city.”

“Oh… well, if you’re looking for a jogging course, go to Illoin at the Brotherhood Pharmacy. Illoin will show you a good walking path.”

“Well, thank you. Then I’ll be on my way.”

She smiled a mysterious smile and disappeared from the spot. It was still so fast that he could not catch a shadow.

“…I have no idea what she’s really thinking.”

“I think I know.”

“I think I know.”

Evan was devastated as he kept muttering. Raihan and Shine helped each other when he came. No, but they wouldn’t know because they didn’t know about the Yo-Ma Great War Zero’s Mirole.

But now there was something more important.

“You’re here, Shine.”

“Oh, my!”

Evan grabbed Shine’s face without hesitation. It was an iron claw that he hadn’t been expecting.

“What did you say to Raihan?”

“No, I just talked about what happened that day! It hurts, Master!”

“I said I don’t care if it’s known, but I don’t think I told you to talk about that. You’ll be having an exciting one-on-one battle with me all day.”

“Are you saying that you’re going to kill me today, Master?”

“Wow, the Commander and the Vice-Commander are fighting!”

“Exciting!”

“I haven’t seen you do your best in a while.”

“Today’s big fight sounds fun!”

Other knights who noticed the escalating tension between Evan and Shine gathered energetically and all the members of the team gathered at the training ground.

“Huh? What, what? A fight? The two of them?”

Louise, who was working hard alone against the wind’s arrows, also belatedly realized the situation and stopped training at once.

The members widened the gap to form a circle, and within it, Evan and Shine were seen replacing each other half forcefully. Unexpectedly, she was able to see the skills of the Commander and Vice-Commander of the Astray!

“I told Raihan that… and now that I’m here, I’m going with all my heart!”

[Gooood, time for treason!]

“Yeah, come on.”

Shine even summoned the Ghost Lady to pose to see if Evan really wanted to fight.

In response… Evan prepped up his boots. The black-and-blue magic sprang up. Shine saw it and immediately shouted stop.

“Wait a minute, Master!”

“Why?”

“Isn’t it too bad to waste it in a fight?”

“I just have to finish this and stop your blabbering mouth, don’t worry.”

“No, wait a minute! Sir!”

“Start the fight!”

Without waiting for Shine’s words, Evan hit the floor. The whole training ground was vibrating loudly. As if Lin and Lan had been waiting, they covered the training ground with a barrier.

That day, Louise was able to learn a little bit about why Evan had been able to save Sherden.