9 Mark’s Training

I seemed to have underestimated the complexity of actual swordsmanship...

Although the wooden sword I'm holding was customised to my needs in both height and weight, that doesn't mean it's easy to wield. I don't understand the principles of wielding an actual sword despite knowing its theories. The only weapons I've used in my past life were fighting techniques I created on the battlefield and a plethora of guns made on Earth.

The only blade I used was a combat knife which could be taken out and attached to the muzzle of my rifle as a bayonet at any given moment. In this new life of mine, I don't currently have a physique strong enough to use those savage techniques nor do I have any hot weapons like pistols or rifles.

I don't want to only rely on the knife skills I learned in my previous life alone because the length of a knife if too short compared to a regular sword.

I don't want to die without ever having the chance to even get close to my enemies. There's no way I would rely on an extremely short weapon like a combat knife. The only way to improve my overall strength is by learning Sphera's mysterious martial arts.

"Why are your habits so weird?" Mark said with narrowed eyes. I couldn't look straight into his sharp eyes and turned my head away. Even though I knew that I should be learning martial arts from scratch, my previous life's habits while fighting appear every so often and cause me to make simple mistakes.

Martial arts of Earth only consisted of controlling physical strength, while in contrast the martial arts of Sphera only needed extremely intricate control over Mana. Even though having Rank F Magical Talent limited my output on Mana, it in turn increased my innate Mana Recovery and Mana Control.

I theoretically shouldn't have any problems using Sphera's mysterious martial arts since I've already experienced many life or death situations from an actual battlefield on Earth. However, the habits I'd ingrained into my mind when using external martial arts now actually held me back from reaching my true potential. Harmonising the contrasting martial arts of Sphera and Earth into one was a lot harder than it sounded.

The foundation of external martial arts was to completely control the body in order to dish out the full potential of one's physique. For example, a punch from a random thug on the street wouldn't be able to match the fist thrown out by a professional boxer since one knew how to properly release and apply force while the other only knew how to swing their arms wildly.

After controlling the forces hidden within the body, a martial artist would then move on to making use of the forces that interact with their physical body. Whether it be centrifugal force, velocity, gravity, etc. Even though I call it called 'controlling forces', the nature of Earth's martial arts is more realistic than Sphera's ACTUAL control of mystical supernatural 'forces'...

The foundation of Sphera's martial arts was a person's Mana Attribute AKA their 'soul'. Unlike external martial arts, this magical form of martial arts was a lot more complex than anything I have ever imagined. The density of a person's Aura would be dependent on their concentration and willpower while its transformations of would be dependent on their accurate visualisation and imagination.

The martial artists of Sphera weren't that great at using their full potential of their fleshly body. This was undoubtedly true, but that didn't mean their martial arts were inferior.

To Mark, my mistakes in Mana Control could be considered as normal for a child my age, but the stubborn habits of how I handled a blade couldn't be hidden as sometimes I'd unconsciously hold my sword in a reverse grip.

"Why is it I feel your using your sword like a combat knife? Did you train in Knife Arts like Anna? Did she ever teach you techniques before?" Mark seriously questioned my actions.

Knife Arts were very different from Sword Arts. Although they both were blades that were covered in Aura Manifestation, one would use a knife differently due to its shorter length.

Sword Arts were just another way to refer to Aura Clad sword attacks while Knife Arts were the way of handling Aura Clad knives through throwing or stabbing. The differences in how one handles them were so great that it would be hard for amateurs to not recognise their great differences.

"I only copied Anna's movements after I saw her train here." I lied through my teeth. It was an acceptable explanation and Mark wasn't the type to dig too deeply into the life of others.

"... You should've already realised your talents regarding Knife Arts... Why do you insist on using a sword?" Mark asked in confusion. His thoughts were right. If I wanted to get stronger at a faster pace, then putting my previous life's training into learning Anna's Knife Arts is a more logical route.

But...

"I don't want to rely on a weapon that can't allow me control the distance between me and my opponents." Mark seemed surprised at my answer.

He probably thought of praising me for my forethought but couldn't because it was still the time to be training. It looks like he didn't want to boost my ego...

Oh how I miss the beloved rifle of my past life~! A weapon that could easily crowd control multiple foes through its superior aim. If only there was a way to bring my rifle to this magical world.... I will have to start working on that later.

"It's a rational decision to make when you think of your talent from that perspective. However, burying it now won't make a difference. I know about your magical talent so I can guess that you think having Knife Arts are useless considering the fact that you won't be able use Throwing Arts successively due to your low amount of Mana.

However, think logically, do you think your future opponents won't benefit from your lack of ranged skills?" Mark asked, heavily advising me to not give up trying to improve my knife skills.

Running from my opponents isn't a good strategy. My disadvantage in both long-range and close-combat is obvious considering my magical talent. That's why I've decided to walk on the path of extremity instead of an all-rounder.

Instead of focusing on both long-ranged combat and close-combat I've decided to pour my all efforts into one until I can fill the gap in the other.

"You've misunderstood. It's not like I'm giving up on improving my skills using Throwing Arts. It's just that Anna's Arts don't suit me." I replied truthfully.

"What do you mean?" Mark asks again.

"Anna's Knife Arts focus on precision attacks. It's a extremely strong Art if you have both Mana and accuracy, yet I feel it just isn't suitable for me. I'm no good when it comes to doing accurate attacks and I don't intend to master throwing knives because I know my talent lays in close-combat. It would take too long to master Throwing Arts and I don't want to waste too much time to train it when my current efficiency in ranged-combat is so low.

I know about my weaknesses. I know that even one hit from a Rank D Magical Talent using the Aura Manifestation could break my bones if I'm not careful. Therefore my plan to overcome this weakness is to never allow any opponent to have the time to showcase their strengths. For this, I need to be able to swiftly attack without running out of Mana. Anna's knife throwing skills don't really suit those requirements." I explained patiently.

Mark analysed the pros and cons of my plan after hearing my words. Even if he wasn't proficient in knife skills, he could roughly guess what a person with my strengths and weaknesses would be able to do in an actual fight due to his vast experiences in the field of battle.

"That plan is too reckless! Even if you were to become a great swordsman in the future, you wouldn't be able to keep up with a Rank D Magical Talent's continuous use of flexible Aura Manifestation. It's like pitting a Rank A Fire Dragon against a renowned swordsman. The swordsman may have 'skill' but a Dragon has more physical strength. Even a hand full of Arts can't defend against pure power." Mark explained as he looked at me deeply.

I could understand why he wanted me to learn long range physical attacks because they were more safer than fighting up close. However... I know what I'm doing! I returned his gaze with one filled with utmost confidence!

Anyone else in this world would be able to learn skills like knife throwing as well. It's not something special nor is it a good way to get rid of my weakness.

A person with good magical talent could easily create defensive measures against throwing knives. That's why my plan of action is to get close and beat them half dead before they can show their skills. It's a dirty tactic to others but I'm not bothered with my means.

I shook my head at him and indicated to say no more, to which he just gave a helpless sigh in return. His eyes darkened for a moment before he woke himself up and stared at me intently.

"You have to at least learn how to use the basics of Knife Arts then." Mark decided to compromise instead of continuing to try and persuade me.

"Okay." I agreed without hesitation.

"Here's one of the wooden training knives she uses to practice. Try to get a feel for swinging a knife first." Mark got back into his serious mode and instructed. I wonder what expression this guy would make if I asked him how he came into possession of Anna's wooden knives. Meh... learning is more important right now. I'll just inform Anna about the stolen knives later~

"The difference between using a Knife Art and a Sword Art lays in where you focus your Mana when using the Aura Manifestation. A normal Sword Art puts more Mana into the edge of the blade whilst a normal Knife Art focuses on the hilt and users wrists. For now you can try to do as I've said." Mark instructed while pointing at my hands.

I follow his instructions and move my Mana towards my hand. The manifested ethereal Aura that usually moved freely around my body stopped before becoming more focused towards my wrist. I didn't stop the Mana there and tried to push the energy into the hilt of the knife. A faint crystal glow surrounded the hilt of my knife as I felt it gaining more power and versatility.

"What's next?" I asked curiously. Using the Aura Manifestation on my entire arm would thin the Aura but focusing it on my wrist made it a lot more dense.

"A normal Aura Manifestation focuses on densifying your Mana. The higher level of the Aura Manifestation, the stronger the Mana's density. Thus allows one to gain a lot more momentum when attacking your opponents. Like this!" Mark explained before demonstrating what he meant by showing his mastery over Aura Manifestation up close. The faint diamond-like glow of his Mana turned into an emerald green. His wrist flickered and moved swiftly as he cut the air in front of him at a flash.

"Amazing right? This kind of high levelled Aura Manifestation can only be done by very few. This Wind Attribute Aura Manifestation is the only one I can do. Please don't be dejected if you aren't able to-" Just as he was about to give a long-winded speech filled with narcissism after showing off his Aura Manifestation. He was interrupted the incredible sight happening where I stood. If the other servants training around us were to pay attention to this scene, their jaws would drop because the glow of the Aura Manifestation on my knife was constantly changing between a deep amethyst purple, opal brown, sapphire blue, emerald green and ruby red in quick succession.

I wonder what he meant by it being difficult? From what I've been taught beforehand, the Light Attribute of a Human has the innate power to transform to the user will, allowing it to mimic elements of different attributes.

A faint suspicion arose in my heart as the ease I felt when transforming my Mana caused me to think of the words Enigma said before I reincarnated.

My Mana wasn't of the Light Attribute like the others around me, but a unique 'Colourless' Attribute. The difference between the two had never showed itself previously, but now I've finally found the benefits of having a unique Mana Attribute: Having high purity Mana despite its really low capacity.

A lower Magical Talent didn't necessarily mean higher Mana Control because it only meant that there was less Mana within the body to master.

Though having the advantages of my Colourless Attribute was nice. I am still unable to figure out why Enigma didn't just give me high Magical Talent...

Enigma, I once thought of you as a friend, but now I'm not quite sure anymore... What are you plotting behind my back? Why is it your words sound more suspicious by the day?