After arriving at the pavilion, Maquella took off her jacket because of the intense heat and hung it over the railing.

She then clapped her hands and turned to her new student, Fang Raon.

She had been used to teaching talented students, who would all eventually become world-famous dancers.

This was the first time in a very long time that she was teaching a complete newbie.

It didn’t matter that her student was male, as she had many, many male students before, but the problem was the dance in question.

Selevian Waltz.

"What do you know about the Selevian Waltz?"

Maquella asked.

"I know that one of the legends of the tower, Aurel, used Selevian Waltz with his sword-fighting technique, Dance Extinction.

"And I know that female soldiers used the Selevian Waltz to entertain the King and people of the court. That’s pretty much it, really."

Fang Raon said.

"Did you know that Aurel is shrouded in mystery? Nobody really knows whether Aurel is a man or a woman. Whether he is an ogre or a human.

"Historical texts say that Aurel is most likely a man because people who saw him always described him with masculine features.

"But some students of the historical text have come to the conclusion that Aurel might actually be a woman because ’he’ uses the Selevian Waltz.

"In the end, nobody knows really. The truth is only revealed once the legacy of Aurel the Dancer is found."

Maquella said.

"...Legacy."

Fang Raon mumbled under his breath.

There were many different legacies in the tower that would immediately increase the power of its wielder.

But finding any of the legacies was extremely hard. There weren’t many to begin with, and most of the legacies might be at the higher floors of the tower, which no player had ever reached yet.

"I’ve been in search of Aurel’s legacy for a while now. I’ve gone through every possible location that he has been at, but there is no trace of the legacy anywhere."

Maquella said.

’That means she must’ve gone beyond the 30th floor. I guess she is not only a dance instructor. She is a decent fighter by the sound of it.’

Fang Raon thought.

"Anyway, enough of that. You’re in possession of one of Aurel’s techniques, correct?"

She asked.

"Yes. Aurel’s Blade Dance."

Fang Raon said.

"From what I’ve gathered, that technique is one of the first ones that Aurel crafted. It’s the weakest technique of the bunch and easiest to learn."

Maquella said.

’This technique really is the weakest? Without a doubt, Aurel’s Blade Dance is the strongest skill in my possession, but it is actually the weakest of Aurel’s techniques. That is shocking.

’I am stuck at level 1 with Aurel’s Blade Dance, but once I learn to dance, I can increase its level to make this technique much stronger.’

Fang Raon thought to himself.

"Show the weapon of your choice."

Maquella said.

Fang Raon nodded, and he reached out to his inventory and pulled out the sword and the shield of the King’s arsenal.

"And there is your first problem. Can you tell me what the problem is?"

Maquella asked.

"Uh..."

Fang Raon looked at the sword and shield. A problem. He couldn’t really see a problem with them.

"What is the Selevian Waltz?"

Maquella asked.

"...It is a dance style."

Fang Raon said.

"Yes, but what kind?"

"...A graceful and elegant one."

Fang Raon said, and immediately had a look of realization, and then he turned back to his weapons with a frown.

"My weapons aren’t suitable to use Aurel’s Dance Extinction."

"Correct. The shield is far too heavy and clumsy to use while performing the Selevian Waltz, and so is the shortsword of yours.

"There is a reason why Aurel used dual rapiers as weapons. They are thin-bladed swords and extremely light. Perfect for Selevian Waltz."

Maquella said.

’If I want to use Aurel’s Blade Dance to its fullest potential, I need to swap away from these weapons. I could, of course, swap weapons whenever I plan on using Blade Dance, but won’t that make me an extremely predictable fighter?

’Also, it is really slow to swap weapons, and during battle, I don’t have the luxury of time to do so.’

Fang Raon thought.

He also realized that he couldn’t use King’s Battle Armor either. Transparent chainmail armor was much better.

"We’ll use training swords during the training, but I need you to find another weapon to use soon, because I also want to train with the weapon that you’ll use."

Maquella said.

"...I understand."

Fang Raon said, tossing his weapons inside his inventory, and took one final look at them before making the inventory disappear.

This was most likely the last time he was going to use those two.

’I also cannot really use a shield anymore either. I liked to use a shield for defensive purposes. I really need to completely change my fighting style.’

Fang Raon thought with a troubled look.

He also began second-guessing whether he should even waste any time learning dancing, as it might be better for him to just forget the Aurel’s Blade Dance.

Sure, it was a powerful technique.

However.

There were more powerful techniques that he could find and purchase from any market.

"Since we only have till afternoon, let’s start the training. We’ll begin with some balance training. Take off your boots."

Maquella said.

Fang Raon did as he was told and removed his boots and socks and stored them safely in his inventory.

"Go on your tiptoes."

She instructed.

He did exactly that, and soon, he was just standing with only the help of his toes, his heels hovering just above the ground.

"Lift your left leg."

Maquella said.

Fang Raon carefully lifted his left leg, but as soon as he did that, he tilted to the right and started to fall.

"Damn!"

He quickly planted his foot back on the ground to catch himself.

"Again!"

Maquella shouted.

They kept doing that for the next hour.

However.

Fang Raon just kept failing at lifting his left leg part.

Because as soon as he lifted his left leg till it reached the right leg’s knee height, Maquella just forced him to keep lifting it higher and higher.

He failed. Failed. Failed. Failed. And failed.

"...Wrong. That was just pathetic. Sigh, even the children can do better than you."

Maquella said with displeasure.

She wasn’t lying.

She had been teaching some children as well—talented children from various dance academies—and they’ve all done this same training exercise.

"Argh!"

Again, Fang Raon was forced to lower his feet back to the ground because he was about to fall down again.

"This is only the first part of the training exercise. Once you’re capable of raising your left leg till its knee reaches your chin, you’re ready for the second part.

"In the second part, you will only stand on your big toe and then try to hop on that big toe for at least thirty seconds.

"Then, during the third part, while hopping, you will also be spinning in a circle with your arms outstretched. Still, only standing on your big toe."

Maquella said.

"...Are you serious?"

Fang Raon’s lips twitched.

"This is child’s play. I’ve taught children who learned to do this very quickly. If you can’t even do this, I don’t know why I am even bothering to teach you."

Maquella said coldly.

"..."

Fang Raon’s eyes sharpened, and then, once again, he only stood on his toes, shaking like a thin tree in a strong wind.

Then, slowly, he started lifting his left leg, and it soon reached knee height, but that simply wasn’t enough.

Slowly...

He began lifting it higher and higher, and soon, his knee touched his chin, and as soon as it did, he tumbled backward with a loud thud.

He fell on his back, groaning in pain.

"...Barely."

Maquella clicked her tongue.

Fang Raon breathed heavily while staring at her, and then he stood back up, and then, he started standing on his toes again.

However.

This time around, he also lifted his other toes, except the big toe, and stood only on that, balancing perfectly without wavering.

His toenails were bleeding slightly.

"Start hopping."

Maquella said with a cold smile.

A cold smile because no matter how tough Fang Raon was acting, he wouldn’t be able to do this part.

Fang Raon gritted his teeth and tried to hop, but his body refused to do so because he didn’t have enough strength to jump only with his big toe.

’Come on! Jump, jump!’

"Your core is weak!"

At that moment, Maquella kicked him in the leg, and Fang Raon flipped over and landed on his back with a thud.

"Agh..."

"It is impossible for you to do the second part because of your horrible core. You need to increase the strength of your calves."

Maquella said.

"...Then, let’s do that."

Fang Raon climbed back to his feet, ignored his bleeding feet, and clenched his fists.

"It will naturally strengthen as we go further in our training, but for now, let’s learn some dancing. You’re not nearly ready to learn the Selevian Waltz, so let’s do something simpler.

"Such as tango."

Maquella said.

She then grabbed Fang Raon from his hands, pulled him closer till their bodies touched, and placed his hand on her waist.

"If you step on my feet, I will kill you."

Maquella said with a cold smile.

"Oh... Okay."

Fang Raon turned extremely serious. He didn’t want to test her threat.