7 The Road Ahead

It felt weird receiving combat techniques from a wimpy-looking merchant, but Isabella was an open-minded individual. She believed there was something she could learn from others even when it wasn't obvious.

As such, she obediently followed the instructions Arwin had given to her.

"Start charging, but before you complete the charge, try raising your dagger up above you and slash downwards in a circular motion". She repeated these absurd instructions over and over in her head.

She would have never considered trying this technique in the past, as the military academy had always told her to complete one skill before trying another. Combining skills was a surefire way to your footing. "Once your balance is forfeit, so is your life" was a common saying in the military. As a result, she suspected that Arwin knew nothing about fighting.

Even so, she was curious and wanted to try his suggestion. She had never heard about skills being used conjunction like that in the past. Readying her posture, she took a kneeling position and kicked the ground with her right leg, propelling herself into the air. As she flew forward at a high speed, she quickly brought her arm above her shoulder, attempting to execute a downward slash motion.

Suddenly, her left foot hit the ground in front of her mid-strike, causing her to lose her balance. Attempting to break her fall, she tucked her body into a ball and attempted to perform a roll to ease the impact. She soon found herself lying right in the middle in a pile of mud. She looked up and saw Arwin sitting on a nearby rock, barely holding back his laughter.

…

After many apologies from Arwin and several more tries, Isabella was finally able to get a hang of the maneuver. Arwin would occasionally give her pointers on her posture and balance control, which, although she wouldn't admit it, greatly helped her execution of the technique.

She soon found that there were many benefits to combining the two skills. The first being, she could easily change her angle of attack. A traditional charge could only strike from the front because the entire momentum of the body would be behind the strike. Although the attack was strong, the direction of the strike could not be re-orientated and thus it was a very predictable attack that was easy to guard against. She had learned this during the first few weeks of military school.

However, the new technique eliminated this issue. Since she the strike was not conducted through her body but through her arms, she was able to re-position herself during the later stages of the charge. Although the strike would not be as strong when landed, it was much more difficult to guard against. Even an inexperienced warrior like herself could see how deadly this could be.

She had thought Arwin was a clueless businessman, but now her perception of him had completely changed.

For the first time since she had lost her father, she saw the path in front of her. She had finally taken another step forward.