Keira is an orphan who's always looked down upon and bullied since young. She thought that this is how she's going to live for the rest of her life, unloved and forever alone. But fate has other plans for her when she inevitably finds herself transm...
I raised an eyebrow, "You had a falling out with your parents?"
She rolled her eyes, "Not really. Just realised how dumb I was to continue supporting a bunch of leeches that refused to get a job. So now, I'm officially kicked out of the family."
"Have you thought about how you are going to get the money to live?"
"No..."
I laughed, "Well, I don't mind helping you."
Keira widened her eyes in shock, "Really? You're willing to help me?"
I shrugged, "Well, I am a demon general, so I have my fair share of wealth. I don't mind providing for your living expenses."
She grinned, "Thanks, Cain. I promise to pay you back with interest in the future."
"Nah. No need. It's not much to me anyway."
When we arrived at a safe zone, I drew out my sword and showed her the proper way to grip the hilt, "You're not supposed to hold the sword too far up to the cross-guard. Neither should you hold it too far down at the pommel. Hold it in the middle, where the weight is balanced. Like this, you can swing the sword with the maximum strength and efficiency."
She took out her sword to follow along, only for its tip to droop downwards, "I can't. It's too heavy."
I sighed.
I didn't expect her to be THAT weak.
I took the cheap blade out of her hand and tossed it aside.
"It's too heavy for you. Here, use this instead."
I took a black one-handed sword out from my interspatial ring. Dark Repulser. A sword gifted to me by our king for my contributions in the war three years ago. The blade was made out of Adamantite, the strongest and most valuable ore in the market. It's a beautiful black blade with silver lining around its edges. It even has a purple mana gem embedded in the base of the blade.
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The gem allowed its user to incorporate magic in his swings. A pity that it wouldn't work for her since her body didn't even have mana veins to convert mana into usable magic. I didn't use this sword since it's too light for my liking.
I handed the blade to Keira, "Try this. It should be just right for you."
She took the sword and did a few practice swings.
"Hey, it's pretty light. I like this sword. How much is it? I will owe you that amount first."
I rolled my eyes, "What's with you and money? Is it really that important?"
"Of course it is. Only rich people like you wouldn't understand its importance."
Again, I marvelled at this human's bravery for insulting a demon when she's just a powerless creature.
"You really need to watch your words. I might not mind, but other demons wouldn't take lightly to your rudeness. Now you're still weak, so you keep a low profile. Don't go around making enemies. Otherwise, you might end up getting yourself killed sooner or later," I reminded her.
"Okay. Okay. I get it. I will watch my mouth," she replied as she made a zipping gesture across her lips.
I then spent the next few hours teaching her sword techniques. For a weak human, she picked up the sword fairly easily. After a couple of hours, she was able to get the hang of it. Most beginners would have swung the blade poorly. However, without even needing me to tell her, she's able to correctly swing her blade by facing the sharp edge to the wind. Her movements were pretty fluid, like she had practised with the sword before...
While we were having a break, I asked her, "Isn't this your first time using a sword?"
"Yeah, it is," Keira said while drinking a handful of water from the river.
"Then why are you able to swing your blade so well? Usually, first-timers would always swing with the broad side of their blade facing the wind."
"I dunno. Maybe because it's similar to playing badminton."
I raised an eyebrow, "Badminton? What's that?"
She froze before answering in an oddly fast manner, "Oh... Uhmmm... It's a game from my hometown. You use something similar to a sword. But instead of a sharp blade, the top would be a round metal ring with a net covering its opening."
I scratched my chin, "Really? Doesn't sound like a useful weapon to me. How can it kill anything if it's not sharp?"
She laughed, "That's because it isn't meant to kill people. The game is just a friendly competition. You would use something light as a ball and hit it over a net with this weapon. The person who managed to make the ball land within a set range of their opponent's territory would gain a point."
"Hmmm... How interesting... Is it a common game among you humans?"
Keira shook her head, "Nope. I made it up myself. If we have the time, I will show you how to play the game. It's pretty fun."
I grinned, "Sure. I bet I can beat your ass in it."
She chuckled, "Oh~ Is this a challenge from Mr Cain? I guess I will have to show you who's the master of badminton."
With that, we started training for a few more hours before calling it a day. I took her to a nearby inn to rest for the night. Today was such an interesting day. I got to know such an amusing fellow. She might be clueless about the common sense of this world, but I liked it when she doesn't conform to normalities. It made it more fun and relaxing to hang out with her. There wasn't a single dull moment around her. When I was with her, I learnt many new and strange things. I didn't have to care much about status or keeping up my reputation. I could just be myself around her. And honestly, I prefer this new Keira as compared to the old one. The old one would always behave like some soulless puppet that didn't have its own ambitions and goals. But this Keira... this one was fun. It made me kinda excited for the start of the school semester. I wonder how other students would react when they saw the new her. Especially that commoner. HA! I can't wait to see her bamboozled face.
