When I passed through the distortion of the space that Aristia had prepared, a vast expanse of pure white space stretched out as far as the eye could see.

"Is this the [Time-Space Interval]...?"

According to Aristia's explanation, in this space, one does not age.

Furthermore, since meals are not necessary, it is said that one can stay until they are satisfied.

Nevertheless, it seems that they can't even mask feelings of loneliness and boredom, as most of those who have experienced it in the past left within about a month.

Indeed, staying in a place with nothing for several months seems mentally tough.

Then, it was said that the elapsed time could be measured with a special hourglass that Aristia had received along with the sword.

"I need to quickly gain enough strength to defeat low-level monsters so I can get out of here as soon as possible."

I gathered my resolve once again and decided to start training right away.

For now, I will try holding the sword I received from Aristia in the upper stance.

"Is this how it's supposed to be? Before I died, the only experience I had with a shinai was in elective PE kendo, so I'm pretty anxious about this..."

There is a slight sense of unease, but it's worth a try.

Following the memories of my past life, I began to wield my sword―

◇◇◇

―A month has passed.

In the meantime, I just kept practicing my swings relentlessly.

First and foremost, I believe that the basics are the most important.

And it seems that the idea wasn't wrong after all.

Little by little, my stance has become more stable, and the speed at which I swing the sword has also increased.

I can feel that I am steadily growing, and I even have a sense that my motivation is increasing.

"At first, I was planning to leave here in about a month, but at this rate, it seems like I can stay a bit longer."

Moreover, since there has been no contact from Aristia, it seems I still don't have the strength to defeat low-level monsters.

It seems like I still need to train a lot more, so I steeled myself again.

◇◇◇

―A year has passed.

About six months ago, I started not only practicing swings but also training with actual combat in mind.

Assuming the monster is moving, I also swing my swords while moving.

This was quite difficult, and the level of difficulty was completely different from just swinging the bat.

Even so, thanks to my relentless efforts, I think I'm able to move quite well now.

Even so, there is still no contact from Aristia.

"Is this still not enough...? Maybe monsters from another world are actually quite strong, even the low-level ones."

Or, the fact that I have zero magical power might be such a significant disadvantage.

Even in terms of Aristia's reaction, there is a possibility that she never even considered the idea of a human without magical power fighting a monster.

Still, it's something I decided on my own once.

My pride won't allow me to back down here.

"Just watch, I'm going to get even stronger from here on out."

◇◇◇

―Ten years have passed.

Even after all that time had passed, I continued to swing my sword recklessly.

"Haah! Hiyaaah! Hmph!"

The blade, swung down with skillful footwork, slices through the air with a definite weight and speed.

It won't end there.

Using the foot that stepped in as the pivot, I drew the sword flash with the returning blade.

Without staying in place, I continued my relentless barrage of attacks.

When it comes to monsters, there's no guarantee I can take them down in one hit.

No matter when or where, I must be able to fight without letting my guard down.

Under such a mindset, I was supposed to have gained considerable skill through training day and night (though, to begin with, such a concept didn't even exist here)... or so I thought.

The reason I say this is because I still haven't received any contact from Aristia.

As expected, in such a situation, even the heart that had been holding up bravely was starting to show signs of shadow.

I paused my training for a moment and slowly caught my breath.

"Has it really been ten years since I came here? I've been training all this time, and I do feel like I've gotten stronger, but..."

Even though it's self-taught, I have learned quite a few sword techniques, and my physical abilities have improved significantly.

Moreover, the extent of that growth was extraordinary, and I was already beginning to perform movements that surpassed the limits of a human on Earth.

However, it seems that I still haven't reached the goal of being a low-level monster.

"Will there really come a day when I can catch up if I keep training like this? Or could it be that I'm already good enough, but Aristia has forgotten her promise. No, that can't be possible."

Recalling the divine atmosphere of Aristia, I shake my head from side to side.

There's no way someone with that kind of aura would make such a simple mistake.

...She won't do it, right?

"In the end, all I can do is keep swinging my sword."

As I finish yet another round of self-reflection, which I have lost count of how many times I've done over the past ten years, I give my cheeks a sharp slap with both hands.

"Alright, time to resume training. No worries, I'm sure in a few years, I will hear from Aristia too!"

Holding onto such hope, I began to swing my sword once again―

◇◇◇

―And then, one thousand years passed...

Chapter 2: I Kept Swinging the Sword Relentlessly