Chapter 65: Shirou's Malice

"Hah!"

"Ah!"

Bell, sent flying once again, his eyes filled with determination. The Sword Princess, Ais Wallenstein, was his idol. He would never allow himself to be so easily defeated in front of her. Forgetting the pain from all over his body, he clenched the short sword in his hand and immediately prepared to attack again. Sensing Bell's fighting spirit, Ais assumed a combat stance once more. As someone who wasn't good at expressing her emotions, the only help Ais could give Bell was to continuously beat him, allowing him to transform from a wild adventurer into an elite one through constant beatings.

"Alright, that's enough." Seeing the two about to clash again, Shirou decisively stopped the fight. "Take a break. We'll switch groups later."

Hearing Shirou's announcement, Bell, who was already exhausted, could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily. In contrast, Ais, standing to the side, made no movement, not even breaking a sweat. Looking at the heavily panting Bell, Ais stared at him for a long time before calmly asking, "Why are you so strong?" It had only been a little over ten days since her first encounter with Bell Cranel. But compared to their first meeting, Bell was now like a completely different person. Why could he improve so quickly?

Hearing Ais's question, Bell's heart sank. He recalled the previous battle and how he couldn't fight back. Not understanding Ais's true intention, he said unwillingly, "I'm not strong at all!"

Thunk!

Shirou, who had observed their entire exchange, gently tapped Ais's head with a hand chop. As she tilted her head in confusion, he whispered, "You just beat someone up so badly, and then you turn around and ask, 'Why are you so strong?' You're mocking him, aren't you?"

"If someone said that to me, I'd definitely think they were being sarcastic, and I'd definitely keep it in mind and get revenge later!"

"Eh?" Only then did Ais somewhat understand what she had done, and her expression instantly became flustered.

Changing the hand chop on Ais's head to a gentle caress to soothe her emotions, Shirou turned to Bell and said, "Actually, Ais was asking why you're improving so fast!"

"I remember when I first met you, weren't you still a novice? Now, purely in terms of abilities, you're already quite good among LV.1s."

"Eh?" Bell, now understanding Ais's meaning, flusteredly explained, "I don't know either. Anyway, ever since that day, my abilities have been growing very quickly."

"I see. Could it be that you awakened some kind of skill?"

"Like an accelerated growth skill?" Shirou said with a mischievous smile, looking at the flustered Bell. Hearing Shirou's guess, Ais's eyes immediately showed disappointment.

"A skill, huh!" Unlike her complete ignorance in the original story, Ais now knew about the existence of accelerated growth skills. Because Shirou himself possessed such a skill: Thousand Refinements! Shirou's core skill. It not only accelerates growth but also increases weapon strength. In short, it's very powerful. Such a skill made Ais very envious, but there was nothing she could do; skills were unique to each individual. Ais actually hoped Bell had some special method, like Shirou's self-restriction training method that he taught her. But unfortunately, it wasn't a skill. If it were a skill, it would be unreplicable.

"Eh? An accelerated growth skill? Are there even such skills?"

"Of course there are. You know, in Orario, you're not the only one who grows so fast."

"But I haven't heard anything like this from Lady Goddess!" Bell's face was filled with distress. Although he felt Shirou was right, if he had a skill, why wouldn't Lady Hestia tell him?

"It's easy to guess such things. There are probably only a few possibilities."

"For example, because the skill is too rare, they might be afraid you'll be taken by another Familia's patron god or something."

"Speaking of which, Bell, have you ever encountered instances where the papers translating your abilities had smudged marks, or where your Goddess directly told you verbally?" As he said this, Shirou's smile grew even wider.

"Uh..." Hearing Shirou's reminder, Bell immediately recalled that such things had indeed happened. Could it be that I really have a skill, and it's an extremely rare accelerated growth skill?! And Lady Goddess didn't tell me to protect me. This is truly wonderful!

Looking at the visible smile on Bell's face, Shirou couldn't help but sigh. This child is truly a kind fellow. He never maliciously harms others. Instead, he faces the world with his kindness. Truly worthy of being the hero of this world! This reminded Shirou of his past self. Shirou himself was a tenacious hero, and his adherence to the path of a champion of justice made him so dazzling. Perhaps, for a hero, tenacity is an essential quality.

"Alright, break time's over!"

"Next, Ais and Lefiya will engage in combat training."

"Lefiya, you need to use Parallel Chanting while balancing close-quarters combat and magic chanting, understood?"

"Understood!"

Hearing Lefiya's response, Shirou turned around, no longer looking at her. Shirou already had an estimate of the misery that would befall her next. After all, Ais wouldn't hold back. So, it was better for him not to pay attention to Lefiya, to avoid being unable to steel his heart.

"Ah!"

Here it comes, Lefiya's scream! Ais truly showed no mercy. Forcing himself to shift his attention from the other training, Shirou turned to Bell and said seriously, "You haven't learned any techniques related to short swords, have you?"

"No one has taught me any related techniques, but I've figured out some basic movements on my own."

"Then show me now!"

Hearing Shirou's command, Bell began to demonstrate the basic movements he had secretly learned. Stabbing, cleaving, cutting, and other movements were performed consecutively. After Bell finished demonstrating, Shirou calmly said, "All your movements are incorrect, but it's alright; they just need to be corrected."

After that, Shirou began to correct Bell's movements. In martial arts training, basic movement training is the fundamental skill. And in the early stages of martial arts practice, it's all about these movements. Only by thoroughly practicing and mastering these templates can one carve out their own path. Therefore, Shirou's teaching was extremely simple: teaching him some basic movements, some basic breathing, and some basic footwork. And then it was just continuous practice, drilling these things in until they were ingrained in his bones.

And Bell's martial arts talent was indeed quite good; he quickly got the hang of it and no longer required Shirou's constant attention. Soon, today's training time ended, and in the sky, the sun had slowly begun to rise. Looking at the beautiful scene of the sunrise, Shirou clapped his hands, stopping everyone's training.

"That's all for today!"

"The movements I taught you, even when you go back, you can practice them on your own whenever you have nothing to do!"

"Understood?!"

"Yes! Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Emiya, and Miss Ais!"

"Haha, no need to be so polite."

Facing Bell's gratitude, Shirou smiled, then took out a lunchbox from his backpack and said to the three, "How about we enjoy the sunrise while having breakfast?"

"Yes!" The three replied excitedly.

--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!

Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter