Danmachi: Hephaestus is my Wife

Unlike my expectations, the sword hadn't changed much in appearance. Its blade was as beautiful as before, with the only significant change being its hilt. The wooden hilt now had a carved image of a tiger on it.

I wondered about the reason behind this.

Now that I think about it, does the sword's appearance have something to do with its abilities?

"Tigers are fast animals, and this sword has an ability that increases the user's movement speed."

And it's a passive ability! But since the sword also has the "Magic Boost" ability at level three, I wasn't losing too much magic.

Just one extra level was enough to double the effect of the ability.

"I'm never using that old sword again." This one is much better.

But thinking about it, this ability doesn't have a ranged magic attack. On the other hand, the sword I had been using had the "Lightning" ability, which was incredibly useful in my first battle against a boss.

Besides, this sword was made of iron, not mithril. That means its magical conductivity isn't great.

"I'll have to use it for a while to test it." I started swinging the sword.

The passive ability "Movement Boost LV3" was already taking effect. It was as if I was using the "Quick Slash" skill constantly. Every movement of my arm was incredibly fast.

Excited, I approached the training dummies.

I placed three of them around me and took a deep breath. I got into position, acting like I was in a movie, surrounded by multiple enemies. Then, I swung my sword, slicing the dummy in front of me with a clean cut.

After that, I spun around, slashing through the other two dummies and easily cutting them in half.

I moved so fast that the tops of all three dummies fell at the same time.

My heart was racing. The corners of my lips curled into a smile as I looked at the sword in my hand.

After that, I started running around the room to test my speed.

As I was doing so, I heard a voice.

I had been too distracted to notice the door opening.

"What are you doing?"

Hearing the voice, I stopped running, struggling to slow down because my movements were out of control. When I turned, I saw Tsubaki standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed.

"You look like you're having fun." She flashed a grin. "Since you seem so full of energy, I think we can start your training right now!"

Only then did I remember the training Hephaestus had mentioned.

And I also remembered that I had agreed to train to become stronger.

I was speechless for a moment before scratching my head. "Can't we eat something first?"

####

*Tsubaki's POV*

When I entered the training room, Eryk was running around like a lunatic. He hadn't even noticed me coming in, so I just stood there and watched for a while. He kept running back and forth.

Tired of waiting, I finally asked, "What are you doing?"

When he heard my question, Eryk stopped running—though not without difficulty. He fell silent, unsure of what to say. I gave him a wide grin, showing my teeth.

"You look like you're having fun. Since you seem so full of energy, I think we can start your training right now!"

Hearing my words, Eryk scratched his head. "Can't we eat something first?"

At his question, I thought for a moment before answering. "Fine, but don't eat too much. It'll interfere with your training."

I left the house with Eryk and went to a nearby restaurant. I ordered just enough food for him to be satisfied. Once he had eaten, we were finally ready for training.

"Where are we going?"

"We're heading back home. You need a weapon, don't you? You left your sword at the forge."

"You should've told me I'd need it. I would've brought it with me."

"That doesn't matter. Let's go."

I picked up my pace, leaving Eryk behind. That speed he had earlier? Gone. He struggled to keep up and almost started running. I laughed but didn't slow down.

I waited outside while he went inside to get his sword.

When he came back out, he was also wearing armor. I looked him up and down and asked, "Why are you wearing that?"

"Isn't it important? I need defense."

"Are you kidding me? I'm with you—do you really think you need armor? Take that crap off before I lose my patience."

"Alright, no need to get mad."

I wasn't actually angry. I was just acting that way to gain respect. If a student doesn't respect their teacher, they won't learn anything.

Eryk went back inside and quickly returned without the armor.

"I'm ready."

"That's better. Let's go."

"We're going to the dungeon?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course we are. First, I need to see how you handle yourself before I start training you."

"..."

"What? Not feeling confident?"

"That's not it. I just think it's unnecessary. Just teach me how to use a sword, and that's it."

"You'd better shut up if you don't want to piss me off. Just follow my instructions."

"Alright, master."

"If you call me 'master' one more time, I'm leaving. Just call me Tsubaki. Now hurry up and move faster!"

This time, I practically started running. To my surprise, Eryk managed to keep up with me fairly easily. So, I increased my speed, sprinting toward the tower.

I glanced back, and Eryk was keeping up effortlessly, his expression calm.

He doesn't even seem like the same person from a few minutes ago.

Is it the sword?

When he wasn't holding it, he had trouble walking at my pace. But now that he had it equipped, he could keep up with me just fine.

Interesting.

####

When we entered the dungeon, I kept walking while Eryk followed right behind me. After walking for a few minutes, he asked, "Are we staying on the first floor, or are we going deeper?"

"There aren't many monsters here. We should go down a bit. How far have you been?"

"I reached the fifth floor."

"That's pretty far for someone with no experience. Was it because of the sword?"

"I'd say yes… But I also put in some effort. It wasn't as easy as it sounds."

"You should stop relying so much on your swords. I know the ones you forge are incredible and have powerful abilities… But what will you do if you don't have a sword?"

"If I don't have a weapon, I can just run away."

"You won't always be able to run. I'll help you with that, too. You need to learn how to fight with your bare hands."

"I already have some experience. I trained a bit before coming to Orario."

"Oh? I'm surprised. Honestly, I'm more curious to see you fight without a sword than with one." I said as I looked around for the first monsters to test him.

After a few minutes, we finally found some.

A group of three goblins.

But just as I was about to speak to Eryk, two men appeared and killed them.

The men wore simple armor and wielded weapons bought from the Guild. They took out the goblins quickly.

I sighed and walked past them, ignoring them completely.

They laughed at us before disappearing further into the first floor.

"Those idiots won't last long."

"Don't say things like that," Eryk said.

"People like them die fast. Come on, we need to find more monsters. Oh, and give me your sword."

"What? Why?"

"First, I want to see you fight without it. Here, use mine."

I handed him my sword and took his.

As soon as I grabbed it, I felt a surge of energy course through my body.

"Wow, what is this?"

"It's the sword's abilities. I forged it today," Eryk replied. "But your sword… It seems way too simple."

"It is simple. It has nothing special about it. That's the point. Let's go."

We kept walking until we found more goblins. This time, there were only two.

I crossed my arms and watched as Eryk approached them.

I immediately noticed his weaknesses.

His stance, the way he held the sword… Everything was wrong.

But one thing stood out—he didn't show a single hint of nervousness or hesitation. To him, fighting these monsters seemed simple and effortless. His mindset was good.

He had a lot of confidence.

Then, Eryk attacked.

He swung his sword sloppily. Since we were on the first floor, he managed to kill both goblins, but it took longer than I expected.

"You're terrible at this."

"But I killed them!"

"That doesn't matter. Everything you did was wrong."

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Read more chapters on my patr eon: patr eon.com/parodygirl

Next chapters: Chapter 43 - Practical lessons. / Chapter 44 - Much faster. / Chapter 45 - Did I kill Tsubaki? / Chapter 46 - You learn very quickly. / Chapter 47 - Do you have a lot of ores? / Chapter 48 - Leveling up. / Chapter 49 - Freya's curiosity.