Andromeda turned towards Pyra once Pyra came back to stand beside her and she heard the sigh Pyra released. Pyra has been sighing a lot since they started training Quinn and Andromeda could understand how Pyra was feeling. If the demon lord made me leave my post as the slave master of the castle, I would also feel depressed. Andromeda could still carry out her duties as the slave master that oversees all the human slaves since she is still in the castle, so she wasn't as depressed as Pyra was. Pyra was a fighter and she would always want to fight battles to prove herself to master. But right now, she couldn't do that and she was trapped taking care of Quinn. But that didn't mean Andromeda wasn't sad. She wished the demon lord would give them another chance soon.
"She's hopeless. I thought she would have gotten it by now, but it's almost like her subconscious is fighting against the skill. She always gets close to achieving it and then she suddenly loses her concentration, almost like she is trying to show she is strong by not doing what we want her to do. How stupid. Doesn't she know she will die at this rate?"
Pyra said this in annoyance and Andromeda nodded. Both of them have been trying to make Quinn achieve the S-Class skill [Greater Hardening]. This was one of the most useful skills to have when you want to overcome pain or make your body tougher. Right now, Quinn only had the A-class variant of the skill and it was obviously not enough to protect her from the blessing of the holy sword. The difference between an S-class skill and an A-class skill was like heaven and earth. No matter how much mana Quinn pours into the skill, it would always be an A-class skill for her. Quinn wasn't like Floid that could increase the ability of a skill by applying more mana than the skill needs. Quinn can only make an A-class skill as strong as an A-class skill is supposed to be. And that wasn't enough to protect her.
The longest time she has been able to hold the sword is only thirty minutes and that was yesterday. Today, she didn't even last for twenty minutes. This annoyed Pyra more than Quinn's inability to get the S-Class skill. If you are going to go backward then is it not better if you just die right now? What is the use of a slave that cannot push herself further for the sake of her master?
Not only will the demon lord be irritated when I give him the report about this later, but it will also seem like I am an incompetent trainer since I cannot even push her further! Pyra knew she was meant to be doing her best to please the demon lord, but Quinn was just making that so much harder!
"Maybe we should tell the demon lord that she doesn't have the aptitude for this. We've been trying for some time and the demon lord will want to know about this wall that she has hit,"
Andromeda said this while looking towards the form of Quinn and Pyra actually thought it wasn't such a bad idea. If Quinn isn't able to break through something this simple, then she won't be able to survive where the demon lord is going next. She will just be a burden.
"You're right, we should just -"
"One more..."
Quinn suddenly said this in a low voice and both Pyra and Andromeda turned towards Quinn once they heard her speak. Quinn was slowly dragging herself to her feet and she sighed in tiredness as she finally got to her feet. She had sweat all over her body and her hair was wet and sticky since she hadn't had a bath all day. But there was a look of intense focus in her eyes that hasn't been there at all since the start of this training. Pyra narrowed her eyes curiously and wondered what Quinn was playing at.
"If you haven't been able to do it all this while then you won't be able to do it this time either. What makes you think -"
"Just let me try,"
Quinn cut Pyra off for the second time and this time Pyra narrowed her eyes at her in annoyance. Pyra hated being cut off and if it was any other slave, she would have killed them on the spot. Quinn should consider herself lucky that she was the demon lord's sister.
Pyra didn't know it, but Quinn heard everything that the both of them were saying just now about reporting her failure to Floid and that was the reason why she was so eager to try again. If there was one thing that both Floid and Quinn hated, it was weakness. She hated being weak and she hated seeing weakness in others. But for some reason, the thought of Floid seeing her weakness annoyed her more than all the other things! She refused to accept that! Why the hell would they tell Floid I am incapable of something!? I'd rather die than let that bastard gloat over my weakness.
Quinn started walking towards the sword and she grit her teeth once she got closer. She knew this would hurt, but seeing Floid's disappointed look would be far worse than any pain. Floid finally looked back at her for the first time in her life. If he sees that she cannot do this much, won't he just let go again and leave her behind!? Like hell am I going to let that happen!
Sizzle!!!!!
The sound of skin burning echoed through the room as Quinn grabbed the hilt of the sword intensely, and she grit her teeth tighter as she wrapped her second hand around the sword as well!
Sizzzzzle~!!!
The sound became even more intense and Quinn immediately activated her A-class skill [Greater Hardening]! She felt the pain from the sword reducing, but it wasn't reducing fast enough to overcome the sword's blessing. She could feel the sword trying its hardest to destroy the skill and get through to her again.
At the side, Pyra and Andromeda were watching Quinn curiously. Pyra folded her hand and watched as Quinn tried her hardest to hold onto the sword for as long as possible. Pyra didn't know what caused the sudden burst of courage from Quinn, but if it was going to help her gain the S-Class skill, then Pyra didn't care to know.
Andromeda, meanwhile, was a little worried about what Quinn was doing. Andromeda didn't think Quinn would stop this time until she gets the skill. Will the demon lord be angry with us if his sister dies under our watch? Even though it is her fault for being this weak, I still don't want to make the demon lord angrier than he already is.
"Nghhh!!!"
Quinn suddenly tightened her grip on the sword as she felt the pain increasing even more! Andromeda noticed that Quinn was clenching her jaw very tight and there was now a vein popping out on her forehead to show just how much stress she was putting herself under! Quinn's entire body started to vibrate slightly and a line of blood trickled out from her nose and started to drip from the roof of her mouth.
Andromeda immediately tapped Pyra and spoke.
"Stop her. This is going too far. If she dies here then the demon lord will definitely not forgive us. He told us to train her, not kill her. Even the demon lord will not be happy for his blood to die,"
Pyra heard what Andromeda said but she ignored her and told her to calm down. Pyra had a feeling that this time would be different. Usually, Quinn isn't supposed to be in this much pain from only holding the sword for this long, but because she has already trained with the sword for a long time today, she was already at the end of her rope. But she was still hanging on and she didn't look like she would back down at any moment. Pyra believed that if Quinn would be getting that skill then it would be now!
Cough!
"Pyra! You need to stop this!"
Quinn suddenly coughed out a lot of blood and Andromeda shouted out for Pyra to stop this! Can't she see that the girl is dying!? But Pyra also clenched her jaw and she told Andromeda to wait! She knew she was taking a risk here, but she would rather take a risk than fail her lord. Quinn was the demon lord's sister. She wouldn't die from something so stupid!
Andromeda could only watch on in worry as Quinn's entire face started turning red because of how much she was forcing herself to stay conscious. This went on for more than five minutes before Quinn suddenly let go of the sword with a gasp and fell to her knees. Andromeda cursed and quickly slithered toward her. She leaned down to check if Quinn was still alive and her eyes widened in shock when she felt Quinn's skin. It was as hard as a diamond! Don't tell me she actually did it just now!
Quinn opened her eyes and spoke to Andromeda in a slurred but hard tone.
"Go and tell your lord that I never fail at anything,"
[Greater Hardening - S]
Quinn smiled victoriously, but the blood all over her nose and teeth just made her look stupid.
Pyra closed her eyes and finally released the deep breath that she didn't know she has been holding all this time. So that is the reason Quinn tried so hard? Quinn just didn't want the demon lord to see her as a failure. A very sensible motivation.
"It seems that girl is not as useless as I thought."
Pyra said this as she walked towards Quinn and made sure that the skill Quinn got was the right one. Once she confirmed it, she told Andromeda to call one of her familiars to carry Quinn to a room to rest. At least, now it would be easier for Quinn to use the sword. She wasn't there yet, but she had some hope.
Visit freewe𝑏(n)ovel.𝘤ℴ𝑚 for the best novel reading experience