My System Doesn't Give Power

The next three days proved every bit as disastrous as Zac had feared.

Early morning, Armani began his training before the sun had fully risen, while the mountain air was still bitterly cold.

She sat upon her mana throne at one end of the clearing, while Zac stood several dozen meters away, still worn out from the previous night’s practice.

Without offering any further explanation, she raised her hand and began flicking her fingers through the air.

Every casual motion produced a compressed blast powerful enough to break bones.

In theory, Zac’s task was simple. He had to identify where each attack would land, shift his Mana Coating to that part of his body, reinforce the muscles beneath it, and anchor himself to the ground before impact.

In practice, it was a waking nightmare, especially for someone who had only just begun learning the technique.

Although Armani’s hand barely moved from its position, the attacks came from different angles and at irregular intervals. Whenever Zac reacted a fraction too slowly, the compressed air struck before his coating had fully formed. But if he reinforced too large an area, his mana drained at an alarming rate.

On the other hand, Armani showed no mercy.

For three uninterrupted hours, she fired one attack after another while Zac stumbled, rolled, and was repeatedly sent crashing into the ground.

By the time she finally lowered her hand, he lay sprawled across the clearing, too exhausted to move.

"Ten-minute break," Armani announced.

She rose from her throne and walked over to him.

Zac stared up at her from the ground. "I thought training was supposed to improve me. This feels more like attempted murder."

[Technically, she hasn’t tried to kill you. Every attack so far has deliberately avoided your vital organs.]

"No one asked you to comfort me."

Armani crouched beside him and tossed a small pill into his mouth.

Before Zac could ask what it was, she explained, "It’s an Energy Restoration Pill. It will clear the fatigue from your body and settle the strain on your nervous system."

Zac swallowed it. "So I’ll feel fresh again?"

"Yes."

[There is still hope for you.]

Armani continued, "Fresh enough to resume training."

[And it died.]

The pill took effect almost at once. Within two or three minutes, the exhaustion weighing down his body disappeared completely.

Exactly ten minutes after the break began, Armani raised her hand again.

"Get up."

"Couldn’t we round it up to fifteen minutes?" Zac asked. "Twenty would be even better."

"No."

Her answer left no room for negotiation, and the training resumed.

For the rest of the day, the same brutal cycle continued. Armani attacked for three hours straight, allowed him ten minutes to recover, and then began again.

Zac was struck more times than he cared to count. However, after several rounds, he began to notice something strange.

Whenever he failed to reinforce the correct area, Armani’s attack would abruptly change direction at the last possible moment, veering away from the unprotected part of his body.

At first, Zac assumed it was a coincidence.

After seeing it happen repeatedly, he realized that Armani was deliberately redirecting every attack she knew he could not defend against.

The moment she noticed his realization, Armani spoke.

"Don’t get the wrong idea. Just because I don’t have a capable healing pill doesn’t mean I’m going easy on you."

Her golden eyes narrowed. "If I catch you deliberately becoming careless because you expect me to redirect the attack, I’ll strike the unprotected area."

She raised one finger. "And trust me, I won’t pull my punches."

[There goes that loophole.]

"I wasn’t planning to exploit it."

"Keep that firmly in mind," Armani warned.

"I will."

"Good. Your break is over."

Zac frowned. "It’s only been seven minutes."

"The other three were deducted for wasting my time with questions."

"But I never did."

Before he could protest, Armani flicked her finger again.

And just like that, the brutal training continued until the sun disappeared behind the mountains.

By then, Zac’s control had improved noticeably.

He could shift the coating between different parts of his body far faster than before. It still wasn’t enough to counter every attack, but he had come a long way from where he had started.

He had also begun reinforcing only the muscles and tissues directly behind each point of impact instead of wasting Mana on a larger area. Although Armani’s attacks still struck him repeatedly, the number that caught him completely unprepared gradually dwindled.

Even Armani was surprised by the speed of his improvement, though she gave no outward sign of it.

Once the day’s session ended, Zac followed her back to the cottage. They ate dinner together in silence, with Zac devouring enough food for five people.

Armani watched him shovel food into his mouth and raised an eyebrow. "It isn’t going to run away, you know."

Zac didn’t appear to hear her. He remained entirely focused on eating everything within reach.

[You shouldn’t eat like a starving pig in front of a beautiful woman.]

"As though I care."

After dinner, Armani leaned back in her chair. "Now we begin weapon-coating training."

Zac slowly looked up from his plate. "You mean right now?"

"Yes. What did you expect?"

Armani then led him back towards the clearing.

"What do you mean you don’t have a sword? Aren’t you a swordsman?"

"I am, but..."

"And yet you don’t own a sword?"

"I had a D-rank one, but it was destroyed inside the Prison Realm."

Armani’s eyes narrowed slightly. "How long has it been since you returned?"

"A few days."

She stared at him in silence. "So not only did you enter a ruin without a spare weapon, but you also failed to replace the damaged one after returning."

"I was planning to buy another."

"When? After graduation?"

Zac rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I was actually hoping to have my own sword made."

Armani raised an eyebrow. "You intend to become a blacksmith?"

"No. I don’t mean I’ll forge it myself. I want to commission a custom-made sword."

"That makes more sense. Even so, a swordsman without a sword is like a fisherman setting out without a hook."

Zac offered her an embarrassed smile.

Armani stared at him. "What are you doing?"

"What?"

"Are you trying to look cute?" Her expression remained utterly unimpressed. "What gave you the impression that would work on me?"

"Right. Never mind."

"Do you know a capable swordsmith?" she asked.

"No. I considered commissioning someone through the variant network, but I thought it would be better to ask someone I trusted first."

Armani’s expression shifted. "You were planning to ask your little girlfriend?"

"No." The answer came so quickly that it caught her off guard. "I was actually going to ask you."

Armani studied his face. "Don’t say that just to suck up to me."

"I’m not. I genuinely assumed you would have more contacts than Lima. I was going to ask whether you knew someone capable of forging a sword for me."

A quiet spark of satisfaction appeared in Armani’s eyes, though she quickly concealed it. "Of course I have more contacts. You can’t beat me at everything, Redhead."

"I do know someone," she said. "Whether he agrees to forge one for you will depend entirely on his mood."

Zac blinked. "There’s actually someone in this world who would refuse a request from you? Aren’t you supposed to be one of the strongest people on the planet?"

"I’m still relatively young."

Zac’s gaze shifted almost imperceptibly towards her face.

[Don’t be an idiot. Whatever you’re about to say will end with your funeral.]

"I didn’t say anything."

[Your face has already said far too much.]

Armani continued without acknowledging his reaction.

"There are people who protected me when I was weak, cared for me when I had nothing, and stood beside me long before I became powerful."

"Two of them being your parents." Her voice remained calm, but there was unmistakable respect behind it.

"I’m not the sort of person who burns a bridge after crossing it. I respect those people. I won’t order them around simply because I’ve surpassed them in strength."

Zac nodded thoughtfully. "I never expected her to be the sort who remembers her debts."

[Never judge a book by its cover. The more time you spend with her, the more layers you unwrap.]

"That sounds rather inappropriate when you’re talking about a woman."

[My sincerest apologies for my poor choice of words.]

Armani turned away before the conversation could go any further. "We can discuss the swordsmith later. For now, we’ll work with what we have."

She opened her inventory and searched through it. Several weapons appeared and vanished from her hand before she finally selected a one-handed longsword and tossed it towards Zac.

The moment his fingers closed around the hilt, the System’s appraisal activated.

Name: Flame Slasher

Rank: ’A’

Type: One-Handed Longsword

Description: Forged from the bones of a Flame Salamander, granting the weapon a natural affinity for fire. In the hands of a skilled swordsman, a precise slash can produce flames even if the wielder possesses no fire affinity.

Zac stared at the weapon in admiration. "This is incredible."

Armani glanced at him. "You possess an appraisal ability?"

"Something along those lines."

"Whatever. That is the least valuable spare sword I currently own."

Zac looked at her in disbelief. "An A-rank sword is your least valuable spare?"

"I’m not a swordsman."

"Then why are you carrying swords at all?"

"They are not mine; all of them are spoils of war."

[Translation: she killed their previous owners and looted the bodies.]

"I understood the first time. You don’t need to provide subtitles."

"Use it to practice weapon coating," Armani said. "You have until first light." With that, she turned and began walking away.

"Wait."

Armani stopped and looked back over her shoulder.

Zac opened his mouth, then hesitated. "Nothing."

"Just say it."

Zac sighed. "The thing is, I haven’t slept properly in three days. Don’t you think I deserve a little rest?" he asked.

"No." The answer came without a moment’s hesitation. "You may rest once you finish your training. Exhaustion should motivate you to become competent faster."

"That isn’t how motivation works."

"Then find something else that motivates you." She glanced back at him. "You’re nearly C-rank. Going without sleep for several days shouldn’t be a serious problem."

Zac narrowed his eyes. "Then where are you going?"

"To sleep."

He stared at her. "You just said someone near C-rank doesn’t need sleep."

"So?"

"So why are you going to bed?"

"Lack of sleep makes my skin look dull." Armani turned away again. "Besides, I enjoy sleeping."

Zac covered his face with one hand. "Why are women so difficult to deal with?"

[That’s simply how they are. You’d better get used to it.]

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