Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

"Listen here, Ethan," Lyla said with a serious tone. "Sword dance is a technique that was developed by those who wanted to fight but didn't have strong bodies. I don't know about the sword dance that you know, but in the world where I studied that, it had a history of thousands of years… there is no other fighting style more famous than that one."

"Still… it is a technique used to surprise your opponents, right?" Ethan asked.

"Yes, but…" Lyla said.

"Even if they are born in different worlds, a technique with such a name is bound to have some similarities," Ethan said. "The origin of the sword dance I know is quite similar, and that is why I called it dumb. In a real combat, when one person fights against many, brute strength can destroy even the fanciest of techniques. Those who move around too much only spend their energy. That being said, I know of fighting styles that work better in the hands of those who don't have much physical strength, but sword dance isn't one of them."

"… I cannot let you make fun of such a beautiful and elegant technique," Lyla said, determined. "I will show you how my sword dance is also powerful. After a single demonstration, you will beg to enroll in my course."

ραпdα nᴏνa| сom Somehow, it looks like Ethan's words only ended up with even more problems for him. Ethan could also imagine how come Lyla would demonstrate that: it would be a match. She probably wouldn't fight against a rank F student, but she would choose of her best students to show that she was right. If Ethan losses, then Lyla would look as smug as she could be, but if he wins, then she would find a way to forcefully enroll him. She looked to be exactly like that type of woman.

Ethan wasn't the type to make excuses. Even if his power had disappeared and still had a long way before he could recover any real strength, he wouldn't use that as a bargain. Instead, he decided to solve the situation once and for all.

"I don't mind," Ethan said. "However, if you don't manage to convince me today of it, then you won't bother me anymore. Accept those terms, and I will participate just today in your lesson."

"Deal," Lyla smiled in satisfaction. "Usually, I end up excluding boys from the classes quite frequently, but I'm sure that you will show real passion after today."

"… Why do you exclude boys?" Ethan frowned.

"Because most of them are only interested in watching the female students and have no interest in the martial art," Lyla explained. "That being said, I can tell that you are different from most boys of your age."

Ethan didn't know if that was a compliment or an insult. Either way, as expected, sword dance was something that only female students would take seriously. Although there were some males in the other world who used the technique, the majority were women… because the technique was appealing in terms of visual. Women looked quite sexy while performing those movements, and men only looked weird. That was probably another semblance the same technique had in many worlds.

It was weird for a martial art like that to have theoretical lessons. Still, soon Ethan wouldn't understand that things worked differently there. When Lyla opened the room where she would reunite with her students, Ethan couldn't help but frown. Although the tower and the floors were pretty large, there was a limit to how many rooms he could find. However, the space inside that room was much larger than it was supposed to be.

"Space magic, huh."

Ethan didn't know how many students he could find in F rank, but apparently, Lyla was pretty popular. All rooms looked like the rooms of a college, and that room was almost full. It had more or less forty students, and the vast majority of them were girls. All of them clearly showed their displeasure while watching Lyla entering with a boy. However, the males looked even more, angrier than them.

"Good morning, everyone," Lyla smiled. "We had a meeting marked today to talk about each other's skills, right? But before doing that, let's do something different. This is Ethan Harrison, a hero who came from another world just yesterday. Since he doesn't know yet how classes are here, I would like to show him a bit of our sword dance style."

At least Lyla didn't tell them about the conversation they had had before, and she correctly hid the anger she probably still was feeling. That was one responsible adult for you. Since she wanted to make Ethan join the course, she didn't want to make things awkward for him.

"Going to one of the training rooms will take too much of a time, and since this is just a quick demonstration, I'm sure we can do this here," Lyla said. "Ian, can you please help me here?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Ian said enthusiastically and quickly approached them.

Ian was a bit too enthusiastic about that. Meanwhile, the other male students groaned in annoyance for not having been chosen by Lyla. Regardless, Ian seemed to be around Ethan's age. He had black hair and blue eyes, and despite showing a stupidly happy expression, he was pretty tall and had a good physique. So, it looked like a sword dancer. At least it was a good exercise.

"This should do," Lyla said while messing with her wristwatch and then making appear two wooden swords. "Ian, show what you are made of. Ethan, try to block his attacks."

That was too much excitement for a proper adult. In any case, blocking the attack was out of the question since Ian was taller, physically stronger, and had more mana in his body. So, Ethan decided to improvise. After assuming their positions, Ian and Ethan assumed their instances. A few seconds after that, Lyla gave them the sign.

"Begin!" Lyla shouted.

Ian charged toward Ethan while moving his sword downward diagonally. His target was Ethan's left leg. His moments were so fluid that it made it look as if he was really dancing… however, Ian wasn't looking at Ethan's leg. He was looking into his eyes, trying to imagine what he would do to block the attack.

"So, it is like that, huh."

The first attack was a feint to study the opponent and then prepare an actual second attack. Usually, Ethan would just overpower his opponents when they used such a strategy. However, he wasn't strong enough for that anymore. So, he jumped backward to escape from Ian's range and then threw his sword.

Ian knew that he was stronger than Ethan, yet despite that, he didn't react in time to block the projectile. For some reason, the wooden sword moved way faster than it was supposed to… in the end, the hilt of the sword hit his forehead. It was all thanks to Bash.

"Ouch!" Ian said and then dropped his sword to caress his throbbing forehead.

Ethan couldn't help but frown at that. For a summoned hero, he dropped his weapon really quick. Regardless, the atmosphere in the room changed, and Ethan could feel, alongside the surprise in Lyla's eyes, the piercing glare of all her students. The male students looked even more, angrier than before.

"Can I go now?" Ethan asked before the atmosphere could become even more unpleasant.