William knew that tone right away because he had heard it so many times from soldiers who were only one terrible day distant from completely breaking down. "What a stubborn girl, but I like that... especially for teaching or training."

"The kind of determination that came from being desperate instead of sure of yourself." William nodded. "She wasn’t working out to get stronger, but she was trying to prove something, probably to herself more than anyone else."

William said, "Let me guess," in a casual tone.

"You’re Lia Valestria, the genius who never loses and is trying to be perfect."

"You got the highest scores on all of your combat tests, showed off perfect technique, and probably never asked for help in your whole life because admitting weakness would ruin the image everyone has of you."

Lia’s face showed shock for a moment before it quickly hardened again. "How do you know my name?"

"Your reputation precedes you," William lied smoothly, mentally thanking whatever divine force had provided him with access to this body’s memories. "Even teachers in the Zero-Class hear gossip."

"The girl who has never lost, never made a mistake, and never shown any signs of weakness in her perfect facade." William chuckled. "Goddamn... that must be tiring, ain’t it?"

"Shut up," Lia said angrily, but her voice wasn’t furious. "You don’t know anything about me."

"Even if you do know something about me, that just makes you a perverted creep who likes to spy on girls!"

"W-WHAT?!"

"Fuck no! I’m not a creep like some guy who always goon to fantasy po—Ehem!" William stopped himself before we went overboard. "In fact... I’m a gentleman!"

"Anyway... forget that!" William pointed to the broken pillar and said, "I know you’ve been out here alone for at least three hours."

"I can see that your hands are shaking from exhaustion, yet you still grip that sword as if your life depends on it." William pointed again to her face. "And I know that whatever you’re trying to prove by hurting your body like this, it’s not worth it."

Lia turned away and moved her jaw as if she were physically stopping herself from saying anything. William could almost see the internal struggle reflected in her eyes.

Pride vs. practicality, stubbornness vs. the need to live.

"It really brings back memories of when I first recruited a student," William said while smiling proudly. "I really am going to start again from zero."

"Look," William said, lowering his voice a little. "I’m not here to give you a lecture or take your spotlight or anything else that leads to negativity."

"I’m just here making some suggestions for you," William smiled. "There is a better way to break stone that won’t hurt your hands as much."

"All I need is five minutes of your time, and you’re going to learn from it fast!" William raised his thumb up. "I promise!"

"Besides, it didn’t look like I needed you somewhere private..." William sighed. "We can just do it here so that everyone could see that I’m not someone who could get disrespect."

Lia didn’t say anything for a long time before finally turning back to him. "And why are you qualified to teach me anything?"

"I’ve never even seen you at the academy..."

"Well, it’s because..." William said bluntly, "...I’m a Zero-Class teacher."

"It’s probably not worth mentioning because I’m someone who you called bottom of the barrel... a fucking garbage tier," William then cleared his throat. "Sorry for my language there."

"But before I got here, I spent my whole life learning how to fight and teach students in need..."

"Just because everyone thinks I’m worthless doesn’t mean I am."

She seemed to connect with that in some way. Lia looked at him closely, her red eyes looking for any signs of lying or mocking.

When she didn’t find any, her shoulders dropped a little, and her adrenaline finally caught up with her tiredness.

"Okay, fine..." she said softly. "Just as you said about five minutes..."

"But I’m leaving right away if you waste my time or I find out that you’re a fraud."

"Don’t worry... I’m no fraud!" William laughed. "And I’m also not someone who cherry-picked something." William nodded and then went to get her training sword, which she had dropped.

He picked it up to see how heavy and balanced it was. It’s a standard academy issue, nothing special, but it works.

He turned to face the stone pillar she had been hitting and took a loose stance that probably looked entirely wrong to anyone who knew how to use a sword in this world.

"Pay close attention," William said. "This method is called a quick draw, but it’s not about how fast you go."

"It’s all about timing and how the weight is spread out."

He moved his weight to his back foot and held the sword low and relaxed. Lia watched with doubt, probably thinking that there would be some flashy show that would look cool but not be useful.

Then William moved, and for a split second, the world seemed to stop. The sword slipped out of his hand in a way that was so smooth it didn’t even seem like it was moving.

It was more like the blade just decided it wanted to be somewhere else. There was no wind-up, no visible preparation, just one smooth arc that hit the stone pillar.

After the impact, there was a loud crack that echoed across the empty training grounds. A clean cut ran through the stone from top to bottom when William stepped back, splitting it perfectly in half.

For a short time, the two pieces stayed balanced, but then they slowly tipped over and fell to the ground.

Lia’s mouth dropped open a little, and her face showed a mix of shock and maybe hunger. Not hunger in the physical sense, but the deep need for knowledge that all true warriors felt.

"What the fuck... was that?" she said, forgetting all about her anger from before.

William shrugged and gave her the sword back. "It’s a method I learned from my previous teaching experiences."

"It’s not so much about raw strength as it is about finding the weak spots in solid materials."

"Stone has a grain structure, so if you find the right angle, you can break it with little effort."

Lia said, "That’s... not possible," but she didn’t sound sure of herself.

She had just seen him do it. "No one should be able to move like that."

"That’s true." William agreed, "Most humans can’t, but most people don’t train until their hands bleed trying to break through their limits by brute force alone."

"You have the willpower, and you just need to use better methods."

Lia looked at the broken pillar and then back at William, her mind clearly racing. "Show me."

William said in a calm voice, "Hmmm..."

And then William crossed both his arms while showing his smug face. "What was that...? I thought you didn’t need an instructor~"

"I don’t," Lia said right away, but then she stopped herself. "I mean, I don’t need an instructor all the time."

"But if you can show me how to do it, I’ll let you teach me for a short time... only for one lesson!" She pouted. "That’s all."

William smiled a little. "You know what I showed you earlier was a one-lesson thing... so that counts... right?"

As soon as he spoke, the mechanical voice came back to him, and the clear screen appeared in front of his eyes.

[Mission Complete: Teach a girl with potential]

[Reward: Basic Stats Unlocked]

[Bonus: Student Bond Made with Lia Valestria]

[New Stats: Strength +2, Stamina +1]

[New Skill Learned: Quick Draw LV1]

[Keep in mind... all of this is going to be useless as soon as you awaken the real Harem Training System]

’Huh...’

William’s mind was flooded with information, and all of a sudden he could feel the difference in his body. ’I see now... so I just need to train someone so that I can become stronger as well...? Neat!’

’Maybe I’ll try that more and more so that this so-called system can evolve,’ William thought. "After all... a system with stats and all of this bullshit only made me forget..."

’Well... not me... but the auth—yeah, forget it.’

But now... at least the weakness that had bothered him since he woke up in this world improved a little, and he felt a small but noticeable boost in his physical abilities. "If I keep this training up, then I could become even stronger!"

William said in his mind. "It wasn’t much, just enough to make a difference in a real fight probably, but more importantly, it proved that this system worked and was real."

"Are you all right?" Lia asked, looking at him with worry. "You just lost your train of thought for a second."

"Ohh!" William quickly waved away the screen and said, "I’m fine, thank you for asking~!"

"I’m just thinking about how to best organize your lesson."

Lia nodded slowly, still looking doubtful but seeming to be okay with the explanation. She was going to say something else when a new voice came through the training grounds.

"Well... Well... Well..."

"What do we have here?"