That changed the day she arrived: Eris Greyrat.
Eris wasted no time in making a spectacular debut. She took down Gino and Nina before they knew what had hit them, leaving everyone present thunderstruck. It was a crushing defeat.
That in and of itself didn’t feel like a big change to Gino; losing was an everyday occurrence. His peers revered his genius, but he lost to Nina all the time. He’d never been caught off guard like that before, but it would end similarly if he were to cross swords with his father or the Sword God, so it didn’t feel worse than that. He wasn’t entirely without any bitter feelings, but those faded quickly that night, when the Sword God told him flatly, “You’re too green,” and his father scolded him. He learned Eris had done exactly as she should have by beating him.
Still, he thought, They wouldn’t look kindly on me imitating her at the training hall, so I’d better not.
It was Nina who really changed. Unlike Gino, her bruised face flushed deep red with mortification, and she didn’t say another word that day. When Gino went home after finishing his practice at the training hall, he found her hiding and bawling while she swung her sword, muttering the same thing over and over: “You’ll pay, you’ll pay, you’ll pay…”
Gino was afraid to interrupt her. The experience of losing to someone their age was new for Nina. Even worse, she hadn’t lost with an ordinary sword. He’d heard that they’d fought with wooden practice swords with iron cores. It wasn’t even a graceful defeat. Eris knocked her down, then jumped on top of her and laid into her with both fists until Nina wet herself out of fear and pain. No defeat could have been more humiliating, and Nina had never experienced anything like it.
Following that, Nina’s assault on Eris began. In the beginning, she conspired with the other swordswomen to shun Eris, but this proved unsuccessful as Eris didn’t care to be around them in the first place. Eris wanted to be strong and didn’t care one bit about the internal dynamics of the Sword Sanctum.
Nina, unable to get Eris’s attention, grew more frustrated by the day. She never missed a chance to publicly bad-mouth Eris, and sometimes she even complained to Gino about her. Gino didn’t like this new Nina very much. Back when she’d been their ringleader, she was more honest and direct. She wouldn’t have shunned someone just because she didn’t like them. Even Gino, who’d known Nina for years and years, started finding her unbearable.
Then one day, without a word to anyone, Nina suddenly disappeared. Though, no one was worried about her. Nina had almost never left the Sword Sanctum and knew nothing about the world, but she was a Sword Saint. Maybe, people said, Eris had kindled in her the desire to set out on a journey to grow as a warrior. Rather than worry, many were impressed.
“I wonder if it isn’t high time you went and got a look at the world out there yourself,” Gino’s father said to him. “Slaying a red dragon or two might wipe that slack-jawed look off your face.”
Maybe I will, Gino thought, but he didn’t actually go through with it.
He’d never seen the outside world before, and it didn’t especially interest him. Also, he was a little scared. Most of the adults at the Sword Sanctum knew something of that “outside world,” but their knowledge only extended to neighboring countries or the countries where they’d lived. It was rare that someone had actually traveled the world. Sometimes those people told Gino their stories, but they mostly just boasted—they’d vanquished such-and-such an opponent in such-and-such a place.
There was only one who not only didn’t boast, she told him about her failures. She was Sword King Ghislaine Dedoldia. She’d traveled the world as an adventurer, she told him, but had nearly been killed many times by her own stupidity.
“Even the greatest sword master can be killed. If you don’t know magic or arithmetic, or at the very least your letters, you’ll be dead before you know it.” Ghislaine said this with a look of utmost solemnity, so Gino believed her.
Like the other children at the Sword Sanctum, Gino didn’t know how to read, nor could he do arithmetic or magic. He felt no interest in learning them; only terror that with his sword alone, he wouldn’t stand a chance. He had no desire to venture far.
The days went by, and Gino did not go after Nina. Then, two months later, she returned.
Gino asked her what had happened on her journey, but Nina wouldn’t tell him anything. However, something must have happened because Nina came back different. She stopped harassing Eris and became even more devoted to her sword. Her arrogant attitude faded away, and she almost entirely stopped spending time with the other swordswomen.
Nina also began to spend almost all her free time on intensive training—if you could call it that. She simulated endless bouts with Gino. She pressed him into it, like she was his boss. They crossed swords over and over again, scarcely speaking a word to each other, just fighting.
Things continued in this way for some time, and it was during this period that Gino began to develop feelings for Nina.
Many years went by before he realized he was in love. A lot happened in the meantime. North Emperor Auber came to them, as did Water God Reida. None of that held any interest for Gino. Nina, on the other hand, was different. After Eris kindled that spark in her, she rapidly grew stronger. Gino, as her partner for her intensive training, couldn’t help but get stronger too.
Eventually, he found it impossible to compete with her. She’d usually beaten him before, but the number of wins he eked out now plummeted. Slowly, a yawning gap opened between them. That in and of itself didn’t bother Gino—losing to Nina came easy. Going from winning one bout in five to one bout in ten wasn’t such a massive change.
It was funny, though. He felt like she’d left him behind.
Then, one day, Eris, Nina, and Gino were summoned by Sword God Gall Falion. He put the question to them of what differentiated a Sword Saint, a Sword King, and a Sword Emperor, then had them give their answers. Gino had absolutely no idea. Nina, on the other hand, gave a carefully considered reply. Eris, when told that her answer was wrong, insisted that she was right. The Sword God accepted this, then had Nina and Eris fight. Whoever won, he declared, would be made a Sword King.