On Tuesday, I attended swordsmanship class with Ellen, and in the afternoon, I had horse riding class. Perhaps Pseudo-Swordsmanship was still considered a type of swordsmanship, as my assigned teaching assistant commended me on the significant improvements in my sword-wielding abilities during the practical swordsmanship class.0

“You’ve been practicing a lot, haven’t you?”0

“I’m still not very good.”0

“Well, you’re much better compared to before.”0

The teaching assistant did not hold back on his praise, noting that I had clearly been working diligently, even when there were no formal classes.0

On the other hand…0

—Hmm. It seems you’re not quite there yet, Ellen.0

—Yes, teacher.0

—Let’s try a little more. That was slightly disappointing. You need to lower your center of gravity.0

—Yes, teacher.0

Ellen was not learning from a teaching assistant, but directly from the teacher, and to my surprise, she was being corrected quite a bit, without much praise. In fact, Ellen was the one who received the most criticism.0

I supposed it was only natural. Since I was starting at zero, even a small amount of improvement would bring in compliments.0

But Ellen had started from a hundred, and it would be meaningless to just keep saying that she was doing well all the time. In the end, this was not a competition, but education, and a teacher had to teach something, even to students who were seemingly perfect.0

That was why Ellen was subject to an incredibly high standard—her skills were incomparable to those of her peers.0

Someone who scored zero on all their exams will be recognized for scoring a ten in one exam, while someone who consistently scores...0