"...Do you have something to say to me?" Clara asks with a perplexed frown on her lips as she notices the intense, lingering way he’s looking at her. She can feel the intensity even when they are both sitting across from each other.
Zane gets caught off-guard in his staring and quickly tries to hide it with a cough, to no avail. He starts fumbling with the spoon in his hand and shakes his head while taking a bite.
"Not really. I was just thinking about something."
Though, his thinking process says otherwise.
’Not really’, my ass! I am freaking out sitting close to her, now that I know she’s a Level 5 sword master. I wonder if the system got it wrong.
Hearing his cryptic answer, her brow furrows for a moment, but she doesn’t go further and goes back to eating her own breakfast.
...
Half an hour later, he stands ready and freshened up after a good bath.
"Do you really have to go today? You aren’t fully recovered yet." Her fingers fidget with his collar as she looks over him in worry.
"It’s fine, really. I am a bit broken up, but the pain has subsided now." Zane gives a reassuring tap on her shoulder while giving a small, confident smile.
The silence stretches between them before she lets out a sigh and gives a smile in return too.
"Hm. But, don’t end up fighting someone again, okay? I will really put poison next time, otherwise. I am not joking."
Don’t worry, darling! I know you are not joking about it now! Cannot say anything about the sword master instincts!
After a moment, she turns around to walk away. He stares at her retreating back silently as a small rebellious thought stirs within him.
Taking a quiet step forward, he lunges toward her in an attempt to push her forward. His hands reach dangerously close to her back.
Let’s verify her sword master status then!
Just as his palm brushes against the fabric of her cloth, her body shifts to the side, almost in a blur. Her fingers wrap around his wrist, blocking his hand mid-air.
He stumbles from the sudden block. His foot twists as he starts falling, losing his balance.
"W...Woah!"
For a split second, his world turns upside down.
Then, a hand slips around his waist, turning him over mid-fall. His eyes widen as he suddenly faces the ceiling and... her.
Clara catches him, cradling the back of his head with one hand and his waist with the other. Her eyes move over his face confusedly as she slides her palm to his cheek, her thumb caressing his skin as she murmurs.
"Did they really hit your head...?"
Zane’s face flushes red. His lips tremble out of sheer embarrassment.
...
At the doorway, he straightens up and doesn’t wait for another second before bolting off.
"I am leaving! And, I am fine, don’t worry!"
After leaving the house several minutes behind, he stops. His hands find his knees as he takes some deep breaths to calm down his heaving chest. The reflex she showed and the way she caught him replay in his mind, again and again.
Okay... The system wasn’t joking. I have only seen a cat showing that kind of reflexes, not a human.
With a final huff of air, he drags himself toward his workspace. He sets aside the encounter with Clara at the back of his mind for a moment and focuses on the immediate task.
I wanted to visit the academy directly but... ha.
When he stepped out of the house for his job yesterday, he didn’t even have to remember the path to his job, since his feet were automatically nudging him forward toward the right path.
But today is different. For some reason, neither can he remember the path to the Academy, nor does he feel any kind of instinct nudging him to reach there. He thought about the reason and could only reach one conclusion.
"Unlike his job, Jack didn’t visit the Academy much... so, there was no time for his body to train that instinct."
But whether he is right or not, it doesn’t matter. Because he is confident in finding out that information himself even without Jack’s instincts to help him with it.
Soon, he reaches the same circular structure of his workplace again and walks inside through the entrance.
It’s just information. I can definitely find it after asking it from someone.
When the guard from yesterday spots him once again, Zane doesn’t wait to get knee-buckled again today. He shoves his identity badge right at the guard’s chest.
"I am Jack!"
Then he stomps forward.
The guard is left behind dumbfounded, rubbing his chest.
"Why in such a hurry...?"
...
Walking through the same path, he makes sure to avoid the crowded spots, just in case he gets into another trouble without even solving his problems.
When he reaches the door, his hand hesitates for a moment. The memory of the fight is still vivid in his memory, and he doesn’t want to repeat the same thing again, if possible.
Bracing himself, he opens the door and strides forward.
The training ground is filled with people, but there’s no sign of Bram and Kael today.
His gaze narrows as he assesses the place again, though they are really absent today. He doesn’t think much of it and lurches forward.
Some people notice him entering. They remember the man who fought against two, with both of them one whole level higher than him, and still managed to give them some hard hits.
Zane stops right in front of a sword rack. His hands tremble at his side, not from panic but from excitement this time. The movement displayed by Clara at the house makes his blood run with anticipation.
Can I also move like that?
He reaches out and grabs the hilt of a wooden sword firmly. Sliding the sword out of its case, he turns around and moves toward a more open area.
The sword moves high, the tip glaring at the sky hard as he prepares himself for a downward swing. He closes his eyes, remembering the instincts, any sign of the itch which tells him that he is more than just a weak husband.
Several people stop their own practice for a moment as they look at the man who seems to be preparing to slice the sky itself in half.
"What’s happening to him...? He’s making me uneasy..." One of the men shifts uncomfortably in his place while whispering to his companion. His companion doesn’t reply, just waits in anticipation.
Zane suddenly snaps his eyes open, an increasing howl leaving his throat as he swings the sword down.
"HA!!"
The sharp edge of his sword slices through the air, bristling with confidence and energy. The hilt shifts awkwardly in his hands for a moment. The wooden edge tilts to the left side slightly before the tip finally lands on the sand.
He exhales softly automatically, letting out the accumulated tension. Then, he falls into full-blown laughter.
"Hahaha...!"
The men who were whispering earlier nearly groan in annoyance as he turns back to their practice. The man who was feeling uneasy grumbles under his breath.
"Why is he so excited about that? Any entry-level swordsman who has practiced hard enough can replicate the strike like that! Not to mention, his downward swing didn’t even slice a perfect line."
Zane is too focused on his own joy to hear them at all. He stares at the sword in his hand and hums loudly once.
That was an insane strike! I could break someone’s head with a single swing like that! Hm... but I shouldn’t do that, unless it’s those two bastards.
Just as he starts losing himself in his imagination, the companion of that man from earlier stops near him.
The man doesn’t speak for a moment, just watches him warily.
This man looks crazy. Should I just ignore him?
But he musters some courage and finally calls out to him.
"Hey... are you really that excited by that swing?"
Zane stops smiling after hearing the voice near him. Then, he turns toward the man. He glances over at him, and a thought occurs to him in that moment.
He nods and gives a polite smile.
"Of course, I like it! Why do you ask?"
Here comes my information bank!