Lancer and Cu Chulainn's 'learning methods' could be said to be completely different.
Perhaps because the 'basics' had already been taught, Cu Chulainn's training was more about 'actual combat'. Although he didn't know who his opponents were in these actual battles, he could often be seen appearing in his room covered in bruises. On the other hand, Lancer training mainly consisted of sparring with Scathach.
The first time, Scathach's fighting style was a 'replica' of the battle between Lancer and Cu Chulainn. After that, each sparring session would take Lancer moves and fighting style from the previous session as a 'template'.
Logically speaking, after knowing the opponent's fighting style, he should be able to find a way to deal with it the next time. But the result was that Lancer tried again and again, and was beaten up again and again. The final result was that he completed two 'achievements' without realizing it.
For example —
'Masochist — Endure attacks from a stronger opponent 1000 times in a row. Reward: Pain sensation from injuries is reduced by 10%, 500 points'
'Gets Stronger with Each Battle — Fight against an opponent stronger than yourself for 2 hours continuously. Reward: 500 points'
Of course, being beaten up during this time was not without any gains for him. Or rather, his gains far exceeded his own imagination.
Before, he had felt that he was at a certain bottleneck, and the spear in his hand seemed to have reached its limit. But after fighting with Scathach, it was as if a big door had opened for him.
'So it can be done this way!'
This was a thought that would definitely appear in his mind every time he was defeated by the opponent.
Although he would get several, or even a dozen, new wounds on his body each time, the feeling of his strength constantly rising made him unable to stop.
It had been more than thirty days since he arrived here, and almost every day he was repeating the routine of 'training', 'sparring', 'thinking about tactics', and 'resting'.
And today, as expected, he was defeated again. This time, Lancer adopted a 'defensive counterattack' tactic. Logically, this tactic was most suitable for dealing with an opponent of similar strength to oneself. This could minimize consumption and defeat the opponent. But when facing someone much stronger than oneself, it was slow suicide.
Lancer naturally understood this, but he decided to 'give it a try'. After more than thirty consecutive times without even hitting Scathach once, he simply decided to try a few more methods.
As for the result? He himself was not injured this time, but he looked even more miserable.
The key to a defensive counterattack was to withstand the enemy's first wave of attacks. But when facing Scathach's torrential attacks, he didn't even have a chance to catch his breath. His stamina dropped rapidly, and his attention was almost overdrawn. In the end, when his mind was in a daze, the other person held the tip of her spear to his throat, and he simply chose to surrender.
"Master, was there anything I did wrong this time?"
Perhaps because 'Master' was a more natural way to address her, Lancer just called her that directly. Scathach herself didn't refuse, so the address was settled.
But Scathach, when asked by Lancer, sighed.
"Strictly speaking, you did very well this time, but you chose the wrong option. I know you were just testing, but... it seems you've become a bit 'obsessed'. Take a day off tomorrow."
The other person's words instantly stunned Lancer, who had been panting loudly.
"Take a day off? Master, my time..."
"I'm not giving you this day to waste. Think carefully about why you swing your spear. After you've thought about it tomorrow, tell me the answer the day after."
Ever since Lancer met his 'Master', he had found that the other person almost never had any emotional fluctuations. Whether she was guiding him during a match or answering his questions, her speaking speed was always at the same pace, and it was the same this time.
"Huh? A day off? Isn't that great? Hiss~! Be careful! That hurts!"
"You know my time is very limited. I have less than thirty days until I have to leave..."
After applying the medicine for Cu Chulainn, Lancer also had a face full of helplessness. If he could stay here and receive the other person's guidance, then one day more or less wouldn't matter to him. But the key was that he was 'on a timer'.
"Alright~ alright~ What the Master has decided can't be changed, unless you can beat her. So, since you're taking a day off tomorrow, why don't you come with me to relax?"
"Relax?"
Seeing the strange smile on Cu Chulainn's face, Lancer suddenly had a bad feeling.
The next day —
The two of them left Scathach's castle early in the morning. Lancer, who was following behind the other person, thought that Cu Chulainn would take him somewhere, but he didn't expect that the two of them would just walk for a while and then arrive at a 'riverside'.
It had to be said that the 'river' in the Land of Shadows had a real feel to it. Although the river water was not murky, it looked a bit terrifying in this dark-toned world. But Cu Chulainn didn't care at all and went straight to a rock to sit on, and at the same time happily patted the rock next to him.
"This is where you meant by relaxing?"
Although he was a little confused, Lancer still sat down next to the other person.
"Yeah~ What did you think it was? Here~ This is yours."
While speaking, Cu Chulainn wrapped a line around the body of 'Gae Bolg', and at the same time handed another roll of line to Lancer. This made the corner of Lancer mouth twitch uncontrollably. Before, the other person had specifically reminded him to 'bring his spear', and Lancer thought they were going somewhere to fight, but he didn't expect it to be used as a fishing rod.
Looking at the other person's skilled casting posture, Lancer really wanted to complain — you're so skilled, how many times have you done this?
But in the end, he held it in.
"Do you like fishing a lot?"
"Not really, it's just that there's no other way to relax here besides this. It's just fighting and fighting. I accidentally discovered that the combat power of these fish is generally average, so it's a way to relax. After all, there are no women to hold here."
The other person's words instantly made Lancer expression stiff.
'Is it really about women?'
When he remembered the task his teacher had given him before, he felt a bit helpless. It was easy to act cute, but enlightening people was really not his strong suit!
The only thing worth being happy about now was that the matter the other person cared about was also an area he was good at.
Although he was called a 'genius', it was mostly because of his talent. The things he was truly proud of were his spear skills and his ability to get along with women.
As a self-proclaimed relationship expert, he didn't immediately bring up the topic. Instead, he started to tell the other person about his great achievements in fishing, such as catching a 'River Lord' that was over 20 meters long and over a thousand years old.
But then Lancer asked a question that he cared about a lot.
"Most of the fish here can't be eaten, right? So why don't you go fishing in the castle?"
Immediately, Lancer found that Cu Chulainn's body had become stiff.
"Can't beat it..."
"What?"
"I said I can't beat them!! The fish that the Master raises are at least ten thousand years old, I can't beat them at all!"
At this point, Cu Chulainn shed tears of sorrow...