However, there was only so far her talents could get her until she became stumped. Even the Jungle Lord was stumped on how to move forward. No matter how many swings they did to mimic the Captain, it was as if the Soul of the Technique was refusing them.
Number of hours later, and the number of spars that happened, both of them made not even a metre of progress into the attack. All kinds of overhead swings they did came out basic and boring.
Refined and efficient swings, but boring nonetheless.
And not only that, but as the day drew near, the more stress Lillian felt as she swung the cutlass about, clashing it against the Jungle Lord as she roared out the names of techniques one by one.
She had yet to awaken the cutlass! And neither had the Jungle Lord either!
The requirements needed to awaken the cutlass were to be filled with a heart-clenching amount of desperation towards succeeding in a certain task...
Lillianâs eyes darted around, watching as the Jungle Lord leapt in between the trees, while dragging behind a heavy greatsword in its hands.
And anticipating its pounce towards her, Lillian spun on her heel and swung her sword horizontally.
"[1st Technique of the Deep Sea Hunter: Tidebreaker Slash]!"
The illusory wave manifested behind her upon her roar.
At the sight of this, the Jungle Lord raised its greatsword over its head before swinging downwards with both crushing force, trying to draw out the Expression behind the Leviathanâs Descent, but ultimately failing.
The two fighters clashed once more, but this time, a sense of tension brewed in the air around them, specifically Lillian, who winced from the shock of pain through her arms, followed by numbness.
She could even feel the bones in her legs groaning at the weight behind the Jungle Lordâs downward swing. But Lillian didnât care for that, for she was currently frustrated beyond belief.
Her fingers twitched erratically, and her movements became more impatient and inelegant.
Was she not desperate enough? Did the cutlass truly not acknowledge the amount of stress she was under just to get it to stir awake? How desperate did it need her to be for it to wake up!?
Her life was on the line here! Everyoneâs life was! If she didnât awaken her cutlass, then everyoneâs chances of getting out of this Trial would plummet!
Soon enough, night quickly drew. And with it, a night of hunting also occurred as everyone was taken out to hunt, for a chance to acquire a Shard.
Lillian tapped her foot against the ground frantically, âAm I really needed here?â Why was she brought out of her training? Any sort of Shards she could acquire from these monsters was unlikely to give her anything strong enough for the battle ahead.
Couldnât the Captain protect everyone in her stead?
"Miss Lillian, Jon! Check this out!"
Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Lillian looked towards Emilio, who called out for her; Jon also shared her sentiments as they looked towards the young master.
Emilio smirked at the attention on him and waved his hand, causing a flash of light and a surge of darkness to envelop his hand; soon, stretching and forming a long spear of light and dark.
Looking towards the twoâs reaction, he found Lillianâs eyes to be widened slightly while Jon was clapping his hands energetically.
"Excellent work, young master! To think you managed to shape your magic in the matter of a day!"
Lillian nodded slightly as well, clapping. "That is certainly impressive..."
Although Lillian was making drills back then, the level of shaping it into a long pole with a sharp tip was definitely noteworthy, especially with how long Emilio was maintaining it for.
If she recalled, his element took a ridiculous amount of mana.
Emilio puffed his chest out pridefully, appreciative of the compliments before rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish look, "It was all thanks to you, Miss Lillian, truly... I wouldnât have ever thought I could achieve such a feat before I reached the 2nd Tier..."
Smiling a bit, Lillian walked over and ruffled his hair, chuckling a bit:
"Itâs also your hard work that led you to this achievement. Keep on working hard, and soon enough, Iâm sure youâll be able to make hundreds of these spears of yours."
After saying that, Lillian walked past him and went towards an open area where the sky was laid bare before her eyes. And that was when she saw Viesta elegantly flying through the air with her brand new wings...
Elegantly might a stretch, but Viesta was flying nonetheless. She was even engaging in air combats against the occasional flying monsters migrating through the air.
With the help of the metallic material her feathers were made out of, she managed to prevent most of the damage she wouldâve sustainedâand, because of how sharp her wings were, she had even managed to behead something.
The severed head of a bird fell towards Lillian before being swept away by levitating water, which Lillian summoned with a casual swipe of her hand.
Lillian envied Viesta slightly, wishing to fly in the air just as freely as her instead of constantly having to create platforms made of solid water to even engage in air combat.
She then sighed in disappointment:
âOne day.â
Time then went on as usual. Lillian watched over Emilio and how he triumphantly reined in victory with his new light and dark weaponryâand also over Viesta, who had managed to solve her issue for another form of combat besides her revolvers.
The Captain was even enjoying the outing, treating it as a casual stroll as he awoke every monster he came across and put them down without even a slight thought.
Then, without Lillian even knowing it, they had already returned to the Jungle Lordâs arena and gathered around the campfire. For what reason besides resting?
Well... It was yet another tale told by the Captain. However, seeing as everyone already knew about how great the mysterious captain he spoke of was, he moved on to a different topic.
"The Four Mighty Sea Kings! The most frightening existences out at sea, even more so than giant sea beasts! The Flood King, the Storm King, the Tidal King, and lastly... The Drowned Kingâall four ordered chronologically."
Everyone leaned closer in, inclined to listen in on what the Captain had to say, even Lillian, who found herself bored and forced to be here.
The Captain, seeing he had gained everyoneâs attention, nodded strongly.
"They were a group of powerful entities..."