Heart of Demise.

34

"Let me start this lesson by telling you this: be quick, be decisive, and make your strikes count."

We were in a room, smaller than the one with the Greatbeast, but a big one nevertheless. Simon stood opposite me, giving me a lecture about fighting or whatever.

"The beast is large, but your arm can swing, and your cleaver is heavy. That's all you need for success. You might be frail, but what does it matter if you won't get hit?"

"So you're trying to turn me into a ninja or something?"

"Ha, a ninja? I don't know what that is, but no. I'm trying to turn you into a true warrior."

Simon hit his chest twice.

"...Is that so?"

Whatever his idea of a warrior is was completely different from mine. I typically thought of, what, medieval knights or something. Not whatever... he's describing.

"So, how do we start then?" I asked.

"Simple. First, we will work on your strength and your proficiency with the cleaver."

"And how are we gonna do that?"

"Like so."

Simon pulled his arms out of the sleeves of his coat, then threw the thing at me. I hardly had time to even get my hands to grab it, so it fell short of my reach, and I heard a loud–

**CLANG**

–when it landed.

"...I'm guessing you're gonna explain why it made that noise, right?"

Simon, who was now wearing a sleeveless shirt, nodded.

"My coat isn't just for show, though it does look spectacular."

The first thing I did was try to pick it up, and–

"H-Holy crap, this is heavy!"

"Of course it is. Between the fabric are interlinking chains of metal; overall, a light piece of armor, but it still defends the body quite well."

"Y-You're calling this light? I don't think chainmail is supposed to be this heavy!"

I struggled to remain carrying this jacket, so I just let it fall to the floor instead.

"I don't know what chainmail is either. Does your kind have terms for these things?"

"Yeah but, that isn't important. What on earth am I supposed to do with this!?"

Simon chuckled, stroking his chin with what I assumed was a sly smirk.

"Let's make that your first assignment, wearing it."

"...Damn it."

This guy was reminding me too much of my high school math teacher. But unlike trigonometry, this stuff actually mattered. I picked the coat up again, then tried to spread it since it was all piled up on itself. I did that by waving it against the wind, but then I realized that waving chainmail against the wind wasn't a good idea.

"G-Gah! Crap!"

My knees were struck, my reflexes kicked in, and I dropped the coat instantly. This was going to be a lot harder than I thought, and seeing that Simon was laying down on the flooded floor, I didn't bother asking for his help.

"Alright, I managed to spread it out, now I just need to put it on."

I approached from the head hole, picked it up, and slowly turned it to around.

"...Shit."

It just dawned upon me that I was going to have to hold this thing with one hand, even if it was for only a second. I decided to sacrifice my left arm first, quickly slotting my right arm in its corresponding sleeve and letting my shoulder take the burden of the weight.

"A-All right, now for the other one."

My left arm went a lot smoother now that my whole body was in on carrying this thing. I felt like I was on Jupiter, but hey, at least I had the coat on.

"All right Simon, now what?"

"Haaa... that took a long time, but now you're ready. Grab your cleaver."

I did just that, picking it up from the ground. I almost collapsed when I squatted down to grab it.

"T-This is ridiculous."

"I see that humans aren't naturally strong, are they?"

"C-Compared to you, I guess not. But anyway, I have the cleaver. Am I supposed to be swinging this thing at you?"

"Wait here for a minute."

Simon left the room, squeezing through the crack that led us here in the first place. A few minutes passed by, and he came with a new guest; a maskless Skellite.

"W-Woah, isn't that a little too dangerous!?"

"If things get out of hand, I'll just kill him. Now come on–"

Simon got the Skellite to stand, and he kicked him in my direction.

"Beat him down."

I was about to remark how crazy he was, but I didn't have time. Somehow, being dragged across a wet floor didn't piss this hulk of a Skellite off, but getting kicked did, and now he was completely focused on me.

I saw that he was going to go for a punch, so I tried to back off, but–