After thirty minutes of forced rest and a handful of berries Juli found nearby, Eli finally felt ready to take on the challenge.

Juli was sitting next to him, tossing berries into her mouth one at a time.

"So how many more of these are you planning to kill?"

"My quota is ten."

She choked on a berry.

"Ten!? Look at you! And that’s only one! Ten? Don’t be ridiculous."

Eli scratched his head.

"What? You said they’re boring."

"For ME! Not you!"

Eli grabbed a berry from her pile and popped it in his mouth.

"Then help me instead of just watching like you’re at a zoo. You already know what I’m doing wrong, so yell at me while I fight."

Juli stared at him, chewing slowly.

"...You want me to coach you live?"

He nodded enthusiastically.

She then threw a berry at his face. It bounced off his forehead.

"Okay! Let’s go then, get up!"

Juli jumped to her feet and pulled him up by the arm.

"I saw at least two more hanging around past those trees over there."

Eli followed her to the designated location and found the second one in a shallow dip between two mossy boulders.

"Got it."

He drew his sword and started forward, limping just slightly, but Juli grabbed the back of his collar.

"Hold on now. Before you run in, when it charges, where are you stepping?"

’Easy question!’

Eli huffed.

"Left or right, depending on the angle. A simple sidestep is suffice."

Juli leaned close to his ear.

"Ehh-errr! Incorrect!"

He flinched and rubbed his ear, glaring at her.

’What!? How is that wrong!?’

"Then what’s the right answer?"

Juli held a finger and wagged it in his face.

"When you sidestep, you’re not actually sidestepping. You moved away from the boar every time with your lousy footwork and poor spatial awareness. Let me show you!"

Juli planted herself in front of him and mimed a boar charging with her arms out.

"Okay, so the boar comes at you like this, right? And you go—"

She jumped sideways with her arms flailing, stumbling exaggeratedly and ending up three whole steps away from where she started.

"—all the way over there! And now the boar’s already past you, and you’re standing over here like an idiot, going, ’Oh no, where did it go!?’"

She spun around in a circle, hand over her eyes like she was searching for the second moon.

Eli’s mouth twitched.

"I do not look like that!"

"Well, of course. I can’t replicate footwork that atrocious! But it’s close, for sure."

Juli fanned her hand.

"But more importantly, you let the boar have its space to change direction. Its only move is heading straight, Elise!"

Eli tilted his head, confused.

"I swear I never stepped back."

"That’s your adrenaline tricking you! You’re a newbie swordsman, so of course you’re acting on intuition and your senses haphazardly. Remember — the most dangerous swordsman is the calm one. Instincts can be great, but they’ll never beat someone who moves with intention."

Eli let that sink in for a moment.

It made sense in some way. Against his first Mossback, he dodged for the sake of dodging. He hadn’t considered his footwork and simply got out of the boar’s way due to its straightforward nature.

"So what do I do?"

"You’ll know. Now go before it wanders off!"

Eli clicked his tongue and turned back toward the Mossback. It was still rooting around between the boulders, completely unbothered by the two idiots talking behind its back.

He tightened his grip and walked into the dip.

The boar’s ears perked. It lifted its snout, covered in dirt, and locked onto him with that same dumb, angry stare.

’Okay, be mindful of where I’m stepping.’

It charged.

Eli moved left on reflex, creating distance as the boar thundered past. The tusks missed him clean, and the head swung to follow, revealing the skin of its neck under the plates.

’There!’

He lunged for the gap, but his sword arm fell short by a hand’s length, and the plates sealed shut before he could even reach.

’Damn it, what!? I swear I stepped like before!’

The boar skidded to a halt and circled back, snorting haughtily.

"ELISE! WHAT DID I JUST SAY!?"

Eli wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I’m trying!"

"You did the exact same thing!"

"I swear I didn’t mean to!"

He really didn’t!

Maybe his body still wasn’t used to this kind of violence, so whenever Eli thought about charging in, it instinctively pulled back to protect itself.

The boar charged again. Eli planted his feet and forced himself to hold his ground longer, sidestepping later than before to let his reflexes acclimate to the danger.

It was closer this time, but the anger was still off! His blade scraped back as he barely dodged the charge.

Was it just luck he killed the first one?

Juli then shouted:

"Step inside! TOWARD it, don’t sidestep anymore!"

’Inside... toward—’

The boar was already coming back, fiercer than before.

Eli gritted his teeth and did something every part of his body screamed against.

Stepping forward? Really? Did he have a death wish? No one was foolish enough to step toward a moving train, but he trusted Juli, a genius swordsman. Eli had to put aside his unseasoned judgement.

And so, he put his body forward, directly into the boar’s path as it barreled path. The bark grazed his shoulder, and the wind from its mass nearly knocked him sideways, but he was right there, closer than he had ever had and more reachable than it had ever been.

The head turned a beat faster at his unexpected move, but he had already seized control. Every space within this area was his to reach and conquer.

Eli instantly drove the blade through the gap before his mind even caught up. The delicate precision gave the boar a quick death. It did not even make a noise as its legs gave out.

[Lv. 5 Mossback (1★) slain.]

[Mossy Bark (Common) obtained.]

[Maid’s Dexterity (B) has reached Level 2!]

[+25 EXP]

’...Wow.’

Eli slowly turned to Juli.

"Yes! Like that!"

Juli was jumping up and down on the boulder.

"Exactly like that!"

He quickly looked at his experience progress. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

[EXP: 55/200]

"Eight more."