"Huh?" Victor was startled when he saw the row of text appear, but he didn't have time to finish reading as the flame knight lunged at him. He rolled on the ground again, barely dodging the strike.
'Huh… did he suddenly improve, or was that just past instinct?' Amanda narrowed her eyes when she noticed Victor's dodge was far more efficient this time.
Ring Ring
"Hmm?" Amanda raised an eyebrow when her phone rang and picked it up.
"Hello, am I speaking to Miss Amanda?" the voice on the other end sounded nervous.
"Yes," Amanda replied.
"L-Lady Amanda, I'm calling from the Spell and Technique Association. Your request has been approved. I'll be arriving at Light Academy in twenty minutes with the ticket," the voice stammered.
"I see. Wait outside, I'll be there," Amanda said calmly.
"O-Okay," the delivery boy replied before the call disconnected.
Amanda glanced at Victor and thought, ' I'll leave my construct here. I'm not going far enough for the spell to lose control'
Without disturbing him, she quietly left the training room.
Meanwhile, Victor kept his eyes locked on the knight. He sidestepped and dodged another blow.
[15%]
[20%]
"Huh… I feel like I can block its attacks now… even parry them," Victor muttered. With each increase in progress, his movements grew sharper, more fluid. Soon, he was blocking and counterattacking against the flaming knight, going toe-to-toe with it.
[100%]
[Ding Dong]
[You have learned: Novice Swordsmanship]
[Title gained: Sword Novice]
Bang!
Before Victor could celebrate, the knight lunged with greater force and speed. Caught off guard, he barely managed to raise his sword in time to block the devastating strike.
"Damn!" Victor cursed as he was flung backward.
[Ding Dong]
[Akasha Eye detected: Apprentice Class Swordsmanship]
[Learning Apprentice Class Swordsmanship…]
[1%... 2%...]
"Oh?" Victor's eyes flickered with interest as he stared at the knight. He quickly repeated the same process he had used to learn Novice Swordsmanship. A few minutes later—
[Ding Dong]
[You have learned: Apprentice Class Swordsmanship]
[Title gained: Sword Apprentice]
This time, the knight underwent a physical change. Its flames shifted into a darker, more menacing shade of red.
[Ding Dong]
[Akasha Eye detected: Expert Class Swordsmanship]
[Learning Expert Class Swordsmanship…]
[1%... 2%...]
Once again, Victor pushed through the same process, and within minutes, a new notification appeared.
[Ding Dong]
[You have learned: Expert Class Swordsmanship]
[Title gained: Sword Expert]
"Hmm…" Victor frowned as he glanced at his sword. This time, small nicks had formed along the blade. He realized the situation was getting dangerous.
'Damn, will it keep evolving stronger and stronger? And where the hell did Miss Amanda go?' Victor thought nervously, his eyes locked on the fire knight.
Woosh
"No way!" This time, the temperature rose even higher, and Victor's eyes bulged when he felt the hilt of his sword heat up. He dropped it quickly as both the hilt and blade began to melt, turning into molten metal right before his disbelieving eyes.
Gulp.
Victor swallowed hard—because that had been an E-rank sword.
'Heavens, what the hell… it turned into Miss Amanda?!'
The flame knight, once armored and faceless, transformed. Its helm shifted, revealing the cold, expressionless face of Miss Amanda. For a brief moment, Victor even thought the knight had turned real.
"Fuck, that's cheating! This is supposed to be a knight's spar!" Victor cursed when the fiery Amanda launched multiple fireballs at him. Thanks to the Akasha Eye, the projectiles slowed in his vision, and he barely managed to dodge.
His pupils shrank when he saw the figure lunge at him. Normally, he would've been much calmer if he had a proper weapon, but now even the one he had was gone.
But then—
"Stop."
The instant the voice rang out, the flaming Amanda froze mid-attack and dissipated into sparks. Victor turned his head to see the real Amanda walking toward him, a frown on her face.
'Why did the artificial flame knight suddenly unleash sword skills comparable to a Sword Saint?' Amanda thought, her brows furrowing deeper. Then an absurd realization struck her, and her gaze snapped to Victor.
"Victor… did you just use Sword Expert-level swordsmanship?" Amanda asked, her voice slightly shaky.
"Huh, how did you figure it out? Yeah, I did," Victor said, seeing no point in hiding it.
'Heavens, what the hell? He learned it within a few minutes… Even his past self never progressed this quickly. Or… is he recovering his memories?' Amanda cried out inwardly, then stopped and looked at Victor thoughtfully.
"You see, when the knight transformed into me, it started using Sword Saint–level skills. If you hadn't reached Sword Expert level, it wouldn't have used such high-level techniques," Amanda explained in a calm voice.
'No wonder… I felt like I was about to die any second. So it jumped straight from Sword Expert to Sword Saint while skipping the middle ranks,' Victor grumbled. Honestly, he thought he was about to transmigrate again during that fight.
"Victor, catch," Amanda said, pulling two swords from her spatial storage ring. She tossed one to Victor, who caught it and looked at her in puzzlement.
"I'm going to spar with you personally. Get ready," Amanda said coldly.
"Sure." Victor felt much more confident now with a better-ranked sword in his hands. He also felt safe—Amanda wouldn't try to kill him like that flaming knight spell had. Seeing Victor's confident smile, Amanda raised an eyebrow, then returned a cold smile of her own. 'So he's underestimating me? I'll teach him a lesson'
50 minutes later…
[Ding Dong]
[You have learned: Saint-Class Swordsmanship]
[You have gained the title: "Sword Saint"]
"Hmm, so this is what it feels like to be a Sword Saint," Victor murmured. He caught glimpses of his body's former strength and felt like he could cut down hundreds of Sword Grandmasters without even relying on techniques or bloodline power. He turned toward Amanda—only to find her staring at him wide-eyed, her mouth slightly open.
'Heavens… Did losing his memory actually increase his sword talent or something?' Amanda thought in disbelief.