When the Master Swordsman finally saw his student in person, his jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
"Ah? You mean, you want me to teach this little girl swordsmanship?"
The Master Swordsman was dumbfounded, his trembling finger pointing forward.
A few meters ahead, a little girl with hair like melted gold stood obediently. She looked only seven or eight years old, elegant and polite, with a noble beauty radiating from her serene and graceful demeanor.
"That's right. You two will practice swordsmanship every day."
Rhine pulled out the wooden sword he had prepared long ago.
"Am I supposed to duel with this… this big, this heavy wooden sword, and this… this little… little girl?"
The Master Swordsman looked at the heavy wooden sword, which was almost taller than the little girl, and completely lost the ability to control his facial expressions.
"Of course not!"
Rhine immediately denied the Master Swordsman's guess.
The Master Swordsman breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, Rhine threw the wooden sword to little Aurora.
"The wooden sword is for her. I'm afraid she might cut you. You just use a real sword."
The Master Swordsman looked at the sharp sword at his waist, its bloody scent lingering.
Then he looked at the golden-haired little girl in front of him, who had raised the wooden sword, which was taller than herself, and was seriously observing him, her opponent.
The Master Swordsman suddenly felt that the world was a bit unreal.
Am I dreaming?
Rhine shrugged, an expression of course on his face.
Anyway, the little princess has the 'immune to all weapons' blessing from the Witches, so she won't be hurt even if she's cut by a real sword. Instead, this Master Swordsman, a mortal of flesh and blood, needs to worry about himself...
A few seconds later.
The Master Swordsman was knocked to the ground by Aurora's terrifying strength, and feeling the pain in his body, he finally realized:
He was indeed not dreaming.
...
With the Witches' blessing, Princess Aurora's photographic memory and extraordinary learning ability were fully displayed in her swordsmanship practice.
Any move, once seen, could be firmly memorized. When she used it, it was as if she had practiced it thousands of times, smooth and fluid. She even improved upon it, surpassing her teacher!
Her perpetually healthy physique and invulnerability to blades and spears allowed Princess Aurora to practice various high-risk or potentially harmful movements without worrying about injury or lingering after-effects.
With all these factors combined, Aurora, learning combat techniques, was like a monster in the skin of a young girl, progressing at an incredible speed, growing every minute!
Both Rhine and the Witches were overjoyed to witness the princess's growth.
To be honest, the current monstrous little Princess Aurora gave them a sense of unreality.
Every time they saw Aurora knock the Master Swordsman to the ground like a true Master Swordsman, the Witches roared in their minds:
"Is the blessing on the princess really from us?"
Watching Her Royal Highness the Princess improve day by day, the only one who wasn't in a good mood was the Master Swordsman, who was responsible for getting beaten up every day.
This golden-haired little girl, heaven knows what species she was.
She looked so petite, yet she possessed monstrous strength!
At first, he could still contend with Aurora by relying on his skills and advantages in swordsmanship. But once Aurora gradually learned his swordsmanship, he was left with nothing but getting beaten!
That day, the Master Swordsman, bruised and swollen from the beating, tossed and turned in bed, recalling a story that had been circulating in the kingdom for the past few years.
A story about a magician who could grant wishes.
"Sage beyond the world, prophet who knows the future, sorcerer of miracles and wishes… I pray to you."
"My wish is: I hope that when I wake up tomorrow morning, my body will no longer hurt."
That night, Rhine, who was sleeping in the adjacent room and heard the wish, stealthily entered the Master Swordsman's room under the cover of darkness and used his most proficient healing magic to treat him.
The next morning, the Master Swordsman's injuries were indeed healed.
"No way. Is this legend true? Does wishing really work?" The Master Swordsman was ecstatic.
Seeing that the Master Swordsman's injuries had recovered well, Rhine was also very satisfied:
Great. This way, he can be 'used' for a longer time...
That night, the Master Swordsman lay in bed, praying devoutly, and made another wish: "Let me quickly finish this secret mission for the King, and stop sparring with this monster in a girl's skin."
To his immense regret, this time, the magician who granted wishes did not bestow mercy or fulfill his heart's desire.
And so, many more days passed.
...
Today, the brave Master Swordsman fled in disarray.
Of course, the core reason he was able to leave successfully was that Rhine had repeatedly confirmed that he had nothing more to teach Aurora.
"It seems there are no more teachers in the kingdom who can teach Aurora."
Rhine had a bit of a headache.
This difficulty was something he hadn't considered when he first proposed the "Super Princess" plan:
Her Royal Highness the Princess learns too fast and her skill level is too high; there's no one left to teach her!
"If she continues to stay in the kingdom, Princess Aurora probably won't learn anything more.
"After a while, we can consider taking Her Royal Highness the Princess out of the kingdom to travel all over the world...
"Uh, and also collect information about Black Witch Maleficent. I wonder which country the culprit who cast the curse ran off to?
"There hasn't been any information about the Black Witch recently, and prophecies haven't yielded any clues. She must be able to block outside prophecies...
"Also, contact the King and see if he has any useful information about the Black Witch..."
Rhine collected his thoughts, looking out the window at the setting sun, which was gradually dimming like blood, filled with anticipation for taking Aurora beyond the kingdom and embarking on an unknown, brand-new journey.
The crimson sunset glow reflected on the young man's silver hair.
"By the way, where is Granny Rosa? It should be her turn soon to take over from you and be responsible for looking after Aurora. Where did she go?"
Rhine looked at the Violet Fairy beside him.
Granny Rosa was the weakest in magic among the 12 Witches, and Rhine usually didn't pay much attention to her.
"Rosa mentioned to me before she left that she had learned the whereabouts of a powerful magical item, and she was going on a treasure hunt during this time. She would return after acquiring that magical item," Violet replied.
"A powerful magical item? What is it?" Rhine asked, puzzled.
"She didn't say what function that magical item had, only mentioned its general appearance. The item's appearance seems to be..." The Violet Fairy lowered her head, recalling.
"A tinderbox!"