Liberation of The Slaves

Chapter 83 – Magic Swordsman

It had been over a month since I started living with Selena.

Every day was training, studying magic, and sharing meals together—strange, peaceful days I never imagined I’d have after escaping slavery.

Of course, peace didn’t mean safety... as today’s wake-up call would soon prove.

“Mmmph…!”

I can’t breathe—!

“Mmmph! Mmmmph!”

My arms flailed weakly, struggling against something warm, soft, and dangerously suffocating.

I forced my eyes open—

—and froze solid.

My face was trapped between two heavenly-soft, terrifyingly lethal azure peaks—Selena’s breasts, wrapped snugly in her silky blue pajamas.

I swear a part of my soul started ascending toward the afterlife.

“Mmmphh!? MMMMMPH!!”

Panicking, I started slapping her cheek with desperate little smacks.

*Slap* *Slap* *Slap*

“Uhhmn…?” she finally stirred, her golden eyes blinking drowsily. “Mmm… Freed? What’s wrong…?”

“MMPHH—!!”

Her sleepy gaze sharpened the moment she realized what was happening.

“F-Freed!? Are you okay!?”

Finally, she released me. I shot up like a spring-loaded toy, gasping for air.

“G-GAAAHH!! Haah… Haaah… I thought… I thought I was gonna die…!”

I collapsed dramatically onto the bed, still gasping.

Selena sat up beside me, blinking innocently. Then—without a hint of shame—she poked her own with a finger.

“Ehehe~ Sorry! I must've hugged you in my sleep!”

She stuck out her tongue in a sheepish, almost criminally adorable way.

Dammit, she’s too cute! I can’t even stay mad!

I turned my head away quickly, clutching my face, trying to suppress the steam practically shooting out of my ears.

Don’t blush. Don’t think about the softness. Don’t think about the warmth. Don’t think about how nice it smelled—DAMN IT BRAIN STOP!

After a few moments, I found the strength to grumble, “This bed’s huge… How did you even end up glued to me like that?”

Yeah. Big enough for two people to sleep comfortably apart. And yet somehow, she still managed to cling to me like a damn teddy bear!

I held back the words in my mind.

“Ah—” She glanced at the bed, pondered a bit.

And when I thought she had found an answer, she just giggled, poking her head playfully.

“Ehe~!”

I tried to keep my expression serious, but it was a losing battle. Her innocent grin was like a cheat skill designed specifically to make people forgive her.

She glanced at the window. “Sorry for waking you up. It’s still dark outside…”

Outside the window, the world was still cloaked in darkness.

【It’s 4:00 AM, Master.】 Aza’s voice chimed lazily in my mind.

I sighed and muttered, “Don’t worry. I usually wake up around this time anyway.”

Selena stretched with a lazy yawn—completely unaware of the trauma she had just inflicted—and hopped cheerfully off the bed.

“I’ll start breakfast then!”

I watched her skip away toward the kitchen, silver hair fluttering in the dark.

She whistled cheerfully toward the kitchen as if she hadn't just nearly murdered me in my sleep.

Still trying to cool my burning face down, I dragged myself to the bath.

By the time I finished and came back, the house was filled with the warm, mouthwatering aroma of breakfast.

We ate together peacefully, like nothing outrageous had happened at all.

And after that, while she went to bathe, I headed outside, starting my morning training asession…

…pretending that I wasn’t still haunted by the soft, heavenly memory of almost dying in paradise.

As I finished a self-practice round outside the house, a familiar presence approached.

“It seems you’re making progress,” Selena said, stepping onto the soft grass, her silver hair still damp from her bath and catching the breeze like silk ribbons.

I lowered my hand, exhaling sharply. “But I still failed.”

I shot a glance toward the nearby tree. Not even a scratch marred the bark. I had succeeded in conjuring a sharp, spinning star-shaped magic almost instantly, but the control slipped before it struck, and the magic dissipated harmlessly.

Selena, however, only smiled—calm, steady, like always.

“You managed to create a spinning sharp star in under a month. That’s already impressive. It took me nearly six months back then.”

“Really?” I blinked. I couldn’t tell if she was just trying to encourage me or if she meant it.

“So,” I ventured, “should I keep practicing the same thing today?”

“Yes,” she said with an easy nod.

I frowned, wiping the sweat from my forehead. A worry that had been gnawing at me for days finally broke loose.

“When will we start training for the heavenfire element?” I asked quietly. “You said it took you five years to get it… but I need to master it in less than three. Otherwise, you—”

Selena lifted a hand, stopping me with a gentle gesture.

“It took me five years because I used the wrong approach at the start,” she said, her tone casual, like she was talking about baking a pie instead of defying magical laws.

“Huh?”

She crossed her arms, golden eyes serious.

“Most people, myself included, try to brute-force their elements together immediately. That’s where they fail. Some succeed, but it takes too long—and most never get there. That’s why you need a different method.”

I leaned in, curious despite myself. “Different how?”

“Step by step,” she said simply. “First, you have to train your mind. Sharpen it. Build the capacity to imagine multiple things at once.”

“Like how I’m practicing imagining the spinning star while making it sharp?”

“Exactly.”

Selena’s lips quirked up into a small smile. “Don’t worry. I’m the one who’s most desperate to remove this curse. I’ll make sure you get stronger—and faster—than I ever did.”

Hearing that determination in her voice made my chest tighten strangely.

“Okay,” I nodded firmly.

“Good. But,” she added, her smile turning mischievous, “since you’ve already reached this level and you seemed bored, today’s training will be a bit different.”

I tensed. “What is it?”

“You’re going to envelop your body with aura,” she said calmly, “while creating your sharp star magic at the same time.”

I stared at her like she had just asked me to juggle swords while blindfolded.

“...I heard using both aura and mana simultaneously during training could make people faint.”

“It’s true—for normal people,” she said with a shrug. “But you’re not normal, right? You said you’re a genius. How long did it take you to release your first mana and aura?”

I blinked, digging into the dusty corners of my memory. “Uh… about fifteen minutes for mana, and maybe twenty for aura.”

A smug grin spread across my face as I added, puffing my chest a little, “They even said I had the potential to become a magic swordsman!”

I waited, expecting praise—maybe even a little impressed gasp or a ‘wow, you’re amazing!’

Instead, Selena just tilted her head, smiling like a teacher watching a child proudly show off a stick drawing.

“Mhm~” she hummed lightly, then leaned in and tapped my forehead with her finger, her touch light but firm.

“Now, have you forgotten what I’m capable of?”

I frowned, recalling our previous conversations from a month ago. “You… you can create original magic, craft magic tools, wield magic proficiently, and also proficient with aura…”

My voice trailed off as realization struck.

My eyes widened.

“Y-You’re a magic swordswoman!?”

“Bingo.” She winked.

“C-Crazy! And yet you still said you’re not a genius!?”

She chuckled softly, brushing a strand of silver hair behind her ear. “It’s true. I started as a mage. I was terrible with aura at first. But my master—she couldn’t use magic, so she forced me to focus on aura instead.”

She looked away briefly, her expression dimming with old memories.

“After she died… I kept training. Studying. Trying to blend aura and mana together. It took seventy years to get it right. Can I really call myself a genius?”

The number hit me like a hammer.

Seventy years.

Even in novels and anime, the protagonists usually took only a decade or two to reach their peak.

But her?

She endured it for seventy years, training in the same routine, every day, alone.

She embodied the true essence of 'from zero to hero'.

I lowered my head. “...I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she said lightly. “People usually only see the results, not the journey.”

For a moment, silence stretched between us, filled only by the gentle rustling of the trees.

Selena clapped her hands together, breaking the mood with her usual brightness.

“Well then! Enough chit-chat. Let’s get started!”

“Yes, Master!” I replied instinctively, feeling my heart a little lighter despite the grueling day ahead.

I closed my eyes and drew a slow, steady breath, trying to imagine the familiar sensation of aura wrapping around my body.

It had been so long. The last time I managed it was during the fight against the bandits.

After that, my aura had stayed dormant—buried beneath two years of survival training and emotional scars.

I half-expected it to resist me now. To flicker weakly or vanish altogether.

But—

Fwoosh.

Light bloomed over my skin. A faint glow of aura cloaked me, wrapping my arms, chest, legs, and even fingertips in a shimmering layer of light.

I opened my eyes, heart pounding slightly.

“It worked…” I whispered under my breath.

Yet before I could get too proud of myself, Selena, who had been watching with a keen eye, gave a small sigh.

“That’s already good enough for a nine-year-old kid," she said, stepping closer, squinting critically. "But your aura’s sloppy. The balance’s all off.”

She pointed at my arms. “You’re flooding your arms with too much aura. Meanwhile, the aura on your legs is too thin.”

I glanced down instinctively, as if I could see the imbalance with my own eyes.

“You can fix it later,” she added, waving it off casually. “For now, try using your magic while maintaining the aura.”

“Yes, Master!”

I clenched my fists lightly, focusing my mind.

Starting simple.

I visualized the memory of my fight with the bandits—the fierce heat, the crackling roar—and shaped that image into a blade of fire forming above my palm.

*Fwoosh.*

A crimson blade hovered into existence, flickering like a banner in the breeze.

I gritted my teeth, maintaining my aura while I hurled the blade toward a nearby tree.

*Slash!*

It struck cleanly, carving halfway through the thick trunk before dissipating in a burst of sparks.

“Hoohh…” Selena let out a small, impressed sound. Her arms folded across her chest. “Honestly, I thought you’d use light magic, not fire. But this is better than I expected.”

“Huh?” I tilted my head.

She smirked a little, brushing a strand of silver hair behind her ear.

“You're not just maintaining aura—you’re also using a different element from your aura. That’s not easy. Normally, people with two elements struggle to channel both at once without intensive training. Most just stick to one element at a time.”

“Oh… I didn’t know that.” I scratched my cheek awkwardly. “It just sort of… happened when I fought the bandits.”

“Tsk,” she clicked her tongue softly, pretending to look annoyed but there was a hint of fondness in her voice. “This is why geniuses leave a bad taste in my mouth.”

“U-Uhh... sorry?”

I flinched a little.

Her frustration wasn't the scary kind, though—it was more the frustrated sigh of a hardworking student watching the class slacker get top marks without studying.

It reminded me of gaming days back on Earth. Like when free-to-play players would grind for months to get strong—while whales, the rich players, just bought their way to power instantly with money.

Selena shook her head lightly and pointed toward me again.

“Alright. Now try shaping your magic. Don’t worry about making it sharp yet. Just get the shape down.”

“Okay.”

I closed my eyes again, gathered fire mana into my palm, and pictured a simple five-pointed star.

The flames curled obediently into the familiar shape—steady, spinning slowly above my hand—while I kept my aura stable around me.

“Perfect,” I thought, grinning.

However—

“Tsk.”

I caught the soft sound of Selena clicking her tongue again from the side.

“Uhh… sorry?”

I didn’t even know what I was apologizing for anymore.

Still, feeling encouraged, I moved on to the next challenge: creating the sharp version of the star.

This time, I willed the edges to sharpen simultaneously, just like she had taught me—

*BOOM*

The star exploded violently in my hand.

“Ugh…!”

I staggered a step back, feeling a small sting across my fingertips.

But thankfully, the aura wrapped around my body remained intact, absorbing most of the shock. No injuries, just a minor burn and some pride damage.

Selena’s voice floated over, calm but merciless.

“You focused too much aura in your hands again. You need to spread it more evenly, remember?”

Managing aura and mana separately while forcing them to work together... it was like trying to rub your stomach and pat your head while riding a unicycle on a tightrope.

Still—

I wasn’t going to give up.

Not when she was watching with those quiet, expectant eyes.

Not when I had finally, truly started living for something.