One-two, one-two, mic test.

So, I was encouraged by Garro’s comment, and I will write yet another chapter today (or not, depends when I would post it -23:41 of central Europe time as I write it), as I am a bit drunk… or bit more than just “a bit”. I ask all of you, each of you, to judge how “good” or “bad” the chapter is in your opinion. Just for fun*

(* all comments that would say the chapter is bad would be either edited or deleted, so you have not many options :3 )

Here it is!

Edited by: KenChi死

The training room I was dragged to was also situated within the guild – in the private sector for guild master.

“Let me ask you, lad – do you wish to train any specific kind of a weapon? Do you have any weapon you feel confident with, or you just want to master it?”

After some time I answered.

“I have no real experience with it, but I would like to train sword and spear usage.” “Why did you pick those?” “Well, swords have lots of potential uses. Both stabbing and slashing, with pretty good potential to block incoming attacks…. While spears, well, mostly to have the advantage of range.” “Indeed. Those are the reasons most of the adventurers pick those weapons. But, because those weapons have such utility, many will also know how to use it, and even more will know how to fight with those. Remember it, as you will be fighting with anyone you will encounter in the future… now, here, have this.”

Old man throw in my direction a piece of well carved wood. As I appraised it, what I saw exceed my expectations..

[Training wooden sword] - [Sword]WeaponGrade: [beginner/higher tier]Damage type: [cutting] [piercing]Critical rate: 0.01%Damage: [5-10]This weapon was crafted with purpose of increasing the speed of mastering the art of Sword Usage of those, who wield itSkill exp gathering of [Sword usage] skill is improved by 25%.

A cheat weapon! Not something that I would take to slay a dragon, but hey! It is perfect for me at the moment.

“Now…” the old man said while he was taking off the upper part of his clothing “shall we begin?”

He was standing about 10 or 15 meters away from me, yet he managed to shorten this distance before his shirt hit the ground. I was forced to rapidly block incoming powerful attack.

“first rule of battle, always expect attack! Always be prepared!”

He said as our swords were pushing against each other. He added even more force and pushed me away. My stance was gone. Three fast strikes showed me how painful my easiness will be punished.

“You are holding your sword to tight with your wrist while the strength in your arm is simply not sufficient! This is why your hand hurts right now!”

He was right, my wrist was pulsating with a deep, dull pain after receiving the impact of the strike.

He was fast. Faster than anything I saw so far. My eyes could barely keep up with the speed of his movements, my reaction was even slower.

He was using one hand to strike over and over again.

Slash from the right, countered by piercing movement of my sword, I hoped that thanks to this I will get some time and space, I was wrong. His sword hit mine, and in very moment of collision, he added more strength to his movement by spinning his body in a different direction. He made a wonderful 360 spin and hit me in the ribs from the opposite direction.

I heard my ribs crack. I kneeled under the power of the blow, yet he did not stop, and pierced me with the dull part of the sword in my solar plexus. From knelling position I moved to all four limbs trying to catch a breath.

“Not bad for rookie. But you are lacking agility, strength, experience, and knowledge. All this time I was using pretty basic movements, so if you would be skilled with the sword, you could easily counter those attacks… why are you still lying? Get up, lad, the night is still young… fear not, I will slow down a bit from now onward. I will try to teach you some basic reactions to attacks. Defense first! If you know how to protect yourself, you will be able to hold the battle for long enough for your part members to come with help. Are you ready? Cuz’ I ain’t goin’ to treat you lightly!”

Just a moment after I got up, a slash from the right was made. This time much slower. To some point I was able to ignore the pain in my ribcage, and while using the sword held in one hand, I parried the strike. He did very same thing that he had previously. Rotating his body and using momentum the he made another 360 degree slash, aiming for the same spot that was already hurt.

Desperately, I moved the sword to parry this attack to, but my new mentor seemed annoyed by it.

“No, no and no! why the hell did you do that!” He easily hit away my sword and with fluent movement and rotating body a bit more he hit me in the leg, on the back of the knee. Forcing me to kneel one more time. “Rotation slashes need lots of space to be truly effective. As you see your enemy performing such a move, you have to step closer! Pierce! Stab! Or even hit with your hand or head! Rotating slashes are more dangerous, the further you stand… as long as you are in reach of the a sword, of course… okay, you will learn it the hard way. Get up.”

I tried to raise up, but as apparently I wasn’t doing it now quickly enough, I was hit one more time… in my ass.

“Keep moving you lazy bum! The night is young, but it doesn’t mean we are free to waste it!”

He was enjoying himself. A gentle grandpa? Forget about it! He is a monster! A Devil! Bah! Sebastian is as innocence as a newborn baby compared to him!

“Now…: He took a few steps backs “… raise your sword… bit higher. Arms a bit bent in the elbows. Wrists hold loosely. Do not hold your legs in a straight line! What is this posture?! One leg needs to be a step further than the other one, you will have more steady posture thanks to this! Remember, that using a sword is the ability to turn your whole body into a weapon! You act like an amateur! It is like dancing! Remember to move your foot! Now, one-two-three, slash! One-two-three, pierce!”

He was moving in circle, forcing me to do the same. Each time he counted he was moving his feet. And depending witch feet was pushed to the front, his whole body posture was shifting a little bit, making his defense flawless.

I knew that I would gather lot’s of real-life battle experience, but pain in every part of my body, did not allowed me to enjoy the knowledge I was gathering. The pain was simply too strong, even though I kept healing my wounds during the whole process.

“One-two-“ Without waiting for three I was hit in the head. The attack was not really dangerous, but surly painful. “Did you already forget about lesson number one?! Always stay alert! ALWAYS! Enemies will try to fool you by performing the same sequence of attacks three of four times, just to change it during the fifth! You have no idea how many were killed by it! Enemy is attacking by: slash-slash-pierce three times just to suddenly pierce during the second attack! Come on!”

His movement became a bit more violent, while staying fluent and precise. Left-left-right, slash-pierce-slash. Same sequence again, and again… now, he will change it!

Onece again he slashed from left, but instead of retrieving the sword back to his body to perform a pierce, he used momentum to slash from the right. At the same time, using allt he strength I had left, I countered this strike, and by using the strength given by the impact, I changed direction of my blade to stab his body. With satisfaction I was using how the tip of the sword was heading into the old man body.

But it would be too beautiful to happen, would it? My counter was… countered. It would be impossible if I would fight a normal opponent. But my opponent was not normal. He made some weird foot movement, rotating partly, he changed the grip of his sword, holding it in completely different direction, and hit me in the chin with the handle of the sword.

Before I fainted I noticed few notifications

You have finished your training session

Your skill [Sword Usage - Apprentice] has leveled up x2[Sword Usage - Apprentice] is now level 5

[Sword usage] new manifestation - [Defense stance][Defense stance]By picking this stance user defense will rise

Damage received will be reduced

Reaction time will be improved

Skills reserved for this stance may be used

[Defense Stance] skill acquired - [Riposte][Riposte]Skill that can be used in [Defense Stance]

A powerful counter attack performed right after parrying an attack

May disturb enemy stance

May add various [Status effects] deepening on attack performed

It is all for today (tonight) my drunk-fuel is running short.