World's Last Hope-Chapter 90: Endless Sparring

Getting out of the bed, Eric stretched his body. It hurt, but he didn’t mind it.

His body was slowly getting used to combat. It had been about a week since he started his training with Grandmaster Gryndor.

Exiting his room, he went to the dining room.

Even though it was breakfast, there was meat on the table. Eric, after saying a quick good morning, began to devour as much food as he could.

He was training about 12 hours a day after all, so he needed all the energy he could get.

After the breakfast was done, it was time for sparring.

Taking a firm hold of the wooden sword, Eric shifted his gaze to Grandmaster Gryndor as he got into battle stance.

His legs were to the side, and he was keeping his center of gravity low so he wouldn’t get thrown easily to the side. This wasn’t something that Grandmaster Gryndor had taught him.

In fact, he hadn’t taught him anything. They just sparred endlessly, and gradually Eric’s body began to adjust. It got familiar with combat.

His muscles were starting to move on instinct. He didn’t even have to think about it.

Gryndor looked at Eric with a smile.

"It has been about a week since we started. How do you feel?"

Eric, not letting his guard down, answered, "I am slowly getting used to this."

"As you should," the old man nodded with a satisfied grin on his face. Then he picked up a second sword in his hand.

"What are you doing?" Eric asked, raising an eyebrow.

"All this time we have been sparring with one sword, but in a real situation your opponent could use different weapons, ones that you aren’t accustomed to," Gryndor explained.

"As such, I will gradually begin to use different weapons, so make sure you keep up." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Eric took a deep breath, and the next second the Grandmaster was in front of him.

The old man was attacking simultaneously with an upper-right strike and a lower-left one.

Eric, not familiar with defending against two simultaneous attacks, blocked the upper one, and the lower one hit him on the side.

He felt the shockwave go through his body, but gritting his teeth, he managed to stay on his feet.

The old man, not giving him a second to rest, kicked him in the chest, forcing Eric to take a few steps back.

"Not bad, you learn fast," Gryndor exclaimed as he saw that Eric had placed his arm in the right place where the old man’s kick was going to hit him.

"Well, we train for 12 hours a day, it would be weird if I don’t get better," Eric muttered, still feeling the pain from being hit in the ribs.

"I like that spirit! I see why Aria chose you!" the old man chuckled as he moved lightning fast.

In less than a second, he was behind Eric.

Eric sensed the danger, took a step forward, trying to distance himself from the old man as he rotated his body, getting ready to meet the old man’s blows.

But he wasn’t fast enough, as he felt two wooden swords hit him in both arms.

He grunted as he let go of his sword.

"Never let go of your sword, boy," the man commanded as he kicked Eric’s sword from the ground and threw him towards him.

The Grandmaster didn’t miss the annoyed expression Eric wore on his face. "What is bothering you?" he asked.

"Nothing... it’s just that you are a Grandmaster, and I am just a Master. How will I be able to stand a chance against you if the difference in power is so large?"

The old man scoffed at his words, "I don’t want to discourage you, but right now I am limiting my powers to be the same as a Master."

Upon hearing that, Eric’s eyes widened. "You mean that I should be able to accomplish something like that?"

"Basically, yeah," the old man responded.

Suddenly Eric’s crimson eyes shined as it seemed that he began to realize how much stronger he could get.

Raising his sword, he shouted, "Then one more time!"

Aria was again sitting on the ground with one leg over the other. Her breathing was becoming ragged as she struggled to achieve a breakthrough.

But struggling was good. It meant that she was getting closer, or at least that was what she told herself.

’How is Olivia doing?’ Aria wondered. She and Eric, after the date, had spent their days training and nothing else. With the intention to get stronger, Olivia was probably doing the same.

’I think we should visit her,’ Aria thought, but then wondered if that was the best idea. She, after all, just like Aria, seemed to like Eric, so maybe if she saw him, it could distract her from her training.

’So maybe we wait for her to come to us?’

Because her mind had begun to wander, she felt a sharp pain in her heart, so she let the issue go for later, as she had to focus on the current training.

*****

"Good work, the 12 hours have passed," Gryndor spoke as he shifted his gaze to Eric.

Eric, hearing the old man, collapsed on the ground in exhaustion, taking ragged breaths.

The old man shifted his gaze to his granddaughter, saw her as she was also taking ragged breaths, barely able to stay conscious.

He couldn’t help but smile as he glanced at her. From just a glance, he was able to feel the progress she was making. Pretty soon, she was going to have a breakthrough.

’I have no doubt she will surpass me soon,’ he thought as he walked towards Eric.

’And this one... he is quite resilient. No matter how much he falls, he gets back up with no complaints.’

Usually, Eric was supposed to go and use his miracle to make some of the crops grow faster, but that would take mental strength, and just looking at the man, it was clear that he didn’t have any strength left for that.

’Maybe tomorrow morning then...’ the old man thought as he shifted his gaze to the night sky.

Another day of training had passed.