It had already been two years since he set out on that journey towards the
south with his partner, Kirito, from the small village of Rulid at the
northern tip of the northern empire until the spring of this present year.
And they were given appointments in the guard squadron of the largest city
in the north region, then advanced to the central capital with letters of
recommendation personally written by their commanding officer early in
the spring of the previous year. Overcoming the entrance examination for
the most prominent swordsman training institution in the empire, «North
Centoria Master Swords Academy», and diligently tempering themselves in
the one year they served as novice trainees, they were even among the
ranks of the top twelve in the promotion examination at the end of the year.
Those twelve would be appointed not as advanced trainees, but as honors
students known as «elite swordsmen-in-training». They were provided
with a dormitory with a connected spacious practice arena for their
exclusive use, and were freed from much of the minor academy regulations,
spending that single year immersed in training for the right to participate
in the «Empire Swordsmanship Tournament», the ultimate goal of all of the
academy students