This was a space that Rachel Vanargand made through the use of dimension magic. A place that connected to all other places. A foyer. As this place was made with magic that affected time and space, time stood still here. Only Rachel knew how that worked…
“In other words, your mind and time -hey, stop that you idiot!!- …It’s like a dream space.”
I gulped at her sudden outburst. We were now in an open field.
I had seen this place before, back when she had made me fall into the sky. In fact, this whole world seemed to be nothing but two rows of houses, one alley, and open fields.
“Now, there really isn’t much to do here. You just need to learn how to use your power.”
Rachel and Lehaty were now sitting together on a bench that seemed to have materialized from nowhere. It was nice that they got along.
“So, they really won’t rip?”
“That depends on you.”
Hmm…that wasn’t promising. I was here because I didn’t want to ruin my new gear. Of course, things had gone a little differently. But maybe I should at least change my pants…
“You’ll probably try harder if your nicest clothes are at stake. So do your best.”
Well, that made it hard to change. I guess I should just do it…there was no other way.
“Hmm. Fine. So tell me how I’m supposed to use this wind.”
And so the lesson began.
□ □ □ □
And then a week passed. My pants were still intact. However, my mind was in tatters.
Rachel’s training was Spartan, if not worse. One little mistake and you were thrown into the sky with dimension magic. I had to frantically activate Legs of the God Wolf in order to regain my balance. Of course, her magic was too powerful and it was all useless. It was only after I was thrown about to the point of feeling ill that I was able to come back down.
That was a good incentive to try as hard as I could, but she was a severe judge. And I ended up falling into the sky many times.
I would get so exhausted that I’d sleep without eating anything. But I would quickly be awoken and sent flying. It continued for seven days. I persevered. Though, I now looked and felt like a walking corpse.
“Hmm. You look awful.”
“Sorry…”
I barely felt like talking anymore.
“All right, let’s start things easy. As always.”
Rachel’s training was quite simple. You started with a really weak wind, and slowly raised it. I had been able to control the first eight levels of wind, but nothing above that yet.
Even the weakest level required a lot of concentration. Raising the speed and strength wasn’t that hard in itself, but it was hard to maintain the exact level. And that precision was what Rachel wanted.
“…All right. You can now control strong wind perfectly. But lets move above that now.”
“Right…”
“Not good enough! You just slipped!”
Rachel had quite a temper. I quickly righted my posture, but it didn’t save me from taking another trip to the sky.
“Uggghhhh…”
“You’re filthy…hmm? Lehaty.”
“Uh…yes…”
“He looks terrible…”
I looked at them with dazed eyes after having vomited. They had the kind of expression that would make you think they were looking at their trash…
“Let’s start again. From the weakest level.”
“Yes…”
I wiped my mouth and took in a deep breath before starting.
□ □ □ □
“Good. Now keep it…”
“…!”
It was now the second week. I was now challenging the strongest level of wind. In spite of everything, I had arrived at this point. The only thing left to do was succeed and earn the stamp of approval…!
“Nope. Enjoy your trip!”
“AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”
Effort wasn’t everything, and I was sent into the sky at a very high speed. Actually, I was getting used to it at this point. And so I tried resisting a little.
I activated one of the stronger levels of wind with Legs of the God Wolf. And then I pointed my legs in the direction that I was moving.
“Tsk…!”
It wasn’t working. Maybe if I made it stronger…!
“Huh…it might just work.”
I was slowing down. I glanced towards the ground and saw Rachel had a look of disappointment on her face. I would not mind if she furrowed her eyebrows just a little more. And so I raised the level of the wind yet again.
“Good…!”
I was now moving at the same speed that I walked in. Interesting. So this was the force being used to carry me…it was no wonder I had puked…
“Hehe. Take that!”
“Hmph. Idiot.”
“What? Wh-woahhh!!”
I had been directing my legs towards where I was falling, but she just reversed the pull of gravity, and I shot in the other direction. It was at that moment I decided to just allow her disciplinary measures to happen.
That night. We were eating dinner at the table. In spite of everything, it was the last night I would be here. Apparently, there were limits to how long this place could stop time. And that limit was two weeks. It would start to affect the outside world if time was stopped here any longer.
“Strictly speaking, time isn’t actually standing still here. It is moving slower. Something close to one-thousandth of the speed as the outside world.”
Rachel explained as she poked at her grilled fish. I guess it was still impossible to stop time completely, no matter how great your dimension magic. That didn’t give me much hope for creating my time-freeze attacks.
“Well, you’ve made a lot of progress. And you got to a very high level.”
“And it was the same level that tore my pants before, right?”
“Yes. So your pants should never rip again.”
While I wasn’t passing with the highest honors, it seemed that I had at least passed the test.
“Eat up, take a bath and then leave.”
“You could be nicer for once…”
“Stop whining. You mustn’t disobey your master.”
Well, fine then. I was covered in sweat anyway.
“Thanks for dinner. I’ll borrow your bath then.”
“Mm.”
Rachel muttered with pronounced disinterest as she bit on her fish heads. Lehaty sat next to her and poured her a cup of tea.
I pulled out a change of clothing and went to take a bath. There was a loud sliding door that when opened, revealed a nostalgic, old bathing room. There wasn’t a shower, so you had to use a bucket. I wiped myself with a cloth I had brought and then soaked in the tub. The day’s fatigue seemed to seep out of me.
“Hahhh…”
I sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
“Who would have thought it…”
I had only come to upgrade my pants but ended up training. It was a harsh two weeks of training. While time hadn’t moved outside, it all seemed to have happened in a rush…
“I hope I’ve become that much stronger…”
I knew I wouldn’t lose to your average Adventurer or monster. But dragons still had me worried. I wanted to be able to kill them quickly. But perhaps that was more about my weapons? Or my ability to hit my targets.
“Then maybe I should focus on armor for support instead of defense…?”
No, that would bite me in the ass if I was ever taken by surprise. I could be attacked from far away. Then I would die because my armor was too thin. No. Defense was important too…
“Huh…it’s getting hot…”
I got out once my face started to burn up. Then I dried myself and put on my clothes. When I looked in the mirror, the face I saw was gaunt.
“Ugh. Horrible…”
I smiled as I touched my cheek. It was better to think of it as proof of your efforts.
I returned to the dining room to see Rachel resting on Lehaty’s lap.
“I’ll be leaving now.”
“I see.”
“Thanks for the training. Maybe I’ll come again some time.”
“Hmph. I get it. Hurry up and leave.”
She sounded annoyed, but I saw her smile briefly. Lehaty also smiled. She had gotten used to having me around. Well, it was nothing compared to when we first met.
“See you later, Lehaty.”
“Oh…yes. Mister Asagi.”
I waved and she raised her small hand at me. I patted Rachel on the head before climbing out of the window and leaving their world behind.
This was a space that Rachel Vanargand made through the use of dimension magic. A place that connected to all other places. A foyer. As this place was made with magic that affected time and space, time stood still here. Only Rachel knew how that worked…
“In other words, your mind and time -hey, stop that you idiot!!- …It’s like a dream space.”
I gulped at her sudden outburst. We were now in an open field.
I had seen this place before, back when she had made me fall into the sky. In fact, this whole world seemed to be nothing but two rows of houses, one alley, and open fields.
“Now, there really isn’t much to do here. You just need to learn how to use your power.”
Rachel and Lehaty were now sitting together on a bench that seemed to have materialized from nowhere. It was nice that they got along.
“So, they really won’t rip?”
“That depends on you.”
Hmm…that wasn’t promising. I was here because I didn’t want to ruin my new gear. Of course, things had gone a little differently. But maybe I should at least change my pants…
“You’ll probably try harder if your nicest clothes are at stake. So do your best.”
Well, that made it hard to change. I guess I should just do it…there was no other way.
“Hmm. Fine. So tell me how I’m supposed to use this wind.”
And so the lesson began.
□ □ □ □
And then a week passed. My pants were still intact. However, my mind was in tatters.
Rachel’s training was Spartan, if not worse. One little mistake and you were thrown into the sky with dimension magic. I had to frantically activate Legs of the God Wolf in order to regain my balance. Of course, her magic was too powerful and it was all useless. It was only after I was thrown about to the point of feeling ill that I was able to come back down.
That was a good incentive to try as hard as I could, but she was a severe judge. And I ended up falling into the sky many times.
I would get so exhausted that I’d sleep without eating anything. But I would quickly be awoken and sent flying. It continued for seven days. I persevered. Though, I now looked and felt like a walking corpse.
“Hmm. You look awful.”
“Sorry…”
I barely felt like talking anymore.
“All right, let’s start things easy. As always.”
Rachel’s training was quite simple. You started with a really weak wind, and slowly raised it. I had been able to control the first eight levels of wind, but nothing above that yet.
Even the weakest level required a lot of concentration. Raising the speed and strength wasn’t that hard in itself, but it was hard to maintain the exact level. And that precision was what Rachel wanted.
“…All right. You can now control strong wind perfectly. But lets move above that now.”
“Right…”
“Not good enough! You just slipped!”
Rachel had quite a temper. I quickly righted my posture, but it didn’t save me from taking another trip to the sky.
“Uggghhhh…”
“You’re filthy…hmm? Lehaty.”
“Uh…yes…”
“He looks terrible…”
I looked at them with dazed eyes after having vomited. They had the kind of expression that would make you think they were looking at their trash…
“Let’s start again. From the weakest level.”
“Yes…”
I wiped my mouth and took in a deep breath before starting.
□ □ □ □
“Good. Now keep it…”
“…!”
It was now the second week. I was now challenging the strongest level of wind. In spite of everything, I had arrived at this point. The only thing left to do was succeed and earn the stamp of approval…!
“Nope. Enjoy your trip!”
“AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”
Effort wasn’t everything, and I was sent into the sky at a very high speed. Actually, I was getting used to it at this point. And so I tried resisting a little.
I activated one of the stronger levels of wind with Legs of the God Wolf. And then I pointed my legs in the direction that I was moving.
“Tsk…!”
It wasn’t working. Maybe if I made it stronger…!
“Huh…it might just work.”
I was slowing down. I glanced towards the ground and saw Rachel had a look of disappointment on her face. I would not mind if she furrowed her eyebrows just a little more. And so I raised the level of the wind yet again.
“Good…!”
I was now moving at the same speed that I walked in. Interesting. So this was the force being used to carry me…it was no wonder I had puked…
“Hehe. Take that!”
“Hmph. Idiot.”
“What? Wh-woahhh!!”
I had been directing my legs towards where I was falling, but she just reversed the pull of gravity, and I shot in the other direction. It was at that moment I decided to just allow her disciplinary measures to happen.
That night. We were eating dinner at the table. In spite of everything, it was the last night I would be here. Apparently, there were limits to how long this place could stop time. And that limit was two weeks. It would start to affect the outside world if time was stopped here any longer.
“Strictly speaking, time isn’t actually standing still here. It is moving slower. Something close to one-thousandth of the speed as the outside world.”
Rachel explained as she poked at her grilled fish. I guess it was still impossible to stop time completely, no matter how great your dimension magic. That didn’t give me much hope for creating my time-freeze attacks.
“Well, you’ve made a lot of progress. And you got to a very high level.”
“And it was the same level that tore my pants before, right?”
“Yes. So your pants should never rip again.”
While I wasn’t passing with the highest honors, it seemed that I had at least passed the test.
“Eat up, take a bath and then leave.”
“You could be nicer for once…”
“Stop whining. You mustn’t disobey your master.”
Well, fine then. I was covered in sweat anyway.
“Thanks for dinner. I’ll borrow your bath then.”
“Mm.”
Rachel muttered with pronounced disinterest as she bit on her fish heads. Lehaty sat next to her and poured her a cup of tea.
I pulled out a change of clothing and went to take a bath. There was a loud sliding door that when opened, revealed a nostalgic, old bathing room. There wasn’t a shower, so you had to use a bucket. I wiped myself with a cloth I had brought and then soaked in the tub. The day’s fatigue seemed to seep out of me.
“Hahhh…”
I sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
“Who would have thought it…”
I had only come to upgrade my pants but ended up training. It was a harsh two weeks of training. While time hadn’t moved outside, it all seemed to have happened in a rush…
“I hope I’ve become that much stronger…”
I knew I wouldn’t lose to your average Adventurer or monster. But dragons still had me worried. I wanted to be able to kill them quickly. But perhaps that was more about my weapons? Or my ability to hit my targets.
“Then maybe I should focus on armor for support instead of defense…?”
No, that would bite me in the ass if I was ever taken by surprise. I could be attacked from far away. Then I would die because my armor was too thin. No. Defense was important too…
“Huh…it’s getting hot…”
I got out once my face started to burn up. Then I dried myself and put on my clothes. When I looked in the mirror, the face I saw was gaunt.
“Ugh. Horrible…”
I smiled as I touched my cheek. It was better to think of it as proof of your efforts.
I returned to the dining room to see Rachel resting on Lehaty’s lap.
“I’ll be leaving now.”
“I see.”
“Thanks for the training. Maybe I’ll come again some time.”
“Hmph. I get it. Hurry up and leave.”
She sounded annoyed, but I saw her smile briefly. Lehaty also smiled. She had gotten used to having me around. Well, it was nothing compared to when we first met.
“See you later, Lehaty.”
“Oh…yes. Mister Asagi.”
I waved and she raised her small hand at me. I patted Rachel on the head before climbing out of the window and leaving their world behind.
