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“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.

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