Yet, Some Things Never Change. (13.3)

…

Fighting with one arm is more difficult that I initially thought it would, especially while I was restrained to being just a mere human. I shouldn't have been surprised given the fact I'd lived my whole life with two arms. Without the Strength, Dexterity, and Agility provided by my Status, I was practically stumbling every other step as I trained with my new weapon.

Lunge. Weight misplaced. Correct. Retire. Evaluate. Body still believes arm is present.

I, of course, was training beneath the full moon, on the rooftop, as Orario slept. I did so partly because I wanted to make sure I was getting some screentime, but mostly because I didn't need much sleep after being comatose for an entire week. I would've enjoyed the view of the massive, sprawling field of stars and the immense moon more if Babel didn't ruin the view. There was a pleasant breeze in the wind. Spring arrived early.

Counterweights? No. Knife bandoleer already present. Essential tools against monsters.

I was acclimating myself to a sabre. Crozzo, unsurprisingly, came through and made me a powerful weapon. The weapon easily cut through monsters with a mere flick of my wrist. I can slide it through wrought iron without effort. Not only that, but despite its slender blade it hadn't broken when Hiryute struck it with Urga. Undoubtedly, it was the sort of Magical Weapon that Crozzo wanted to make, put his name on, and see proliferate across the world. It would need maintenance, and it had cost 175 Million Valis, but there was no doubt it was a powerful weapon.

Lunge. Better, but not perfect. Need to stop immediately. Cannot allow weapon to be stuck into opponent. Re-do.

Five days and nights to master a weapon. Four nights, at the very least. I had to train Loki's kids further. Another night would be lost if I couldn't find an excuse to not attend the Ball. Still, I supposed four nights was enough to make decent montage or flashback sequence for the audience to explain my skills with my new weapon. Admittedly, I was missing a mentor-figure looking over my shoulder and correcting my stances, but I hoped that I built enough credit with the audience that they'll believe I taught myself how to fight without help. I'd considered asking the Sword Princess… but that sounded like too much of a flag. No way in hell, would I risk making Cranel think that I was interested in Wallenstein. NTR is a trash fetish.

Cuts. Downward. Right-to-left. Left-to-right. Shoulder to hip. Hip to shoulder. Neck. Thrusts. Eyes. Throat. Heart. Groin. Perfect.

I wondered if I ever pushed myself this hard before. Sure, I'd worked on papers and journals into the middle of the night. However, that was just reviewing and memorizing words. Practically homework. For a long time, I'd prided myself into doing things efficiently and with the tools I gained where I had been born. Training into the night, fighting against imaginary opponents, and practicing how to use a sabre? Hell, knowing the fact I was lunging just a hair too much? I've read about all those things in shitty, trash light novels… but I only learned about them all in Orario.

Concentrate on leading foot. Required to float, but cannot move a millimeter out of place. Perfect control required. Lunge. Perfect stop. Recover. Cut. Pierce. Evade.

Years from now, I'd have to face the fact that I was becoming a part of this world. Ever since I'd met Orimoto, that thought was always in the back of my mind. A small whisper begging for attention. Would I still want to go back home after everything that happened to me? After everything I accomplished? All the people I'd met? The answer should've been simple, but it no longer was. It became convoluted and confusing and, as expected, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Check time. Three hours until sunrise. Sleep? Not required. Can continue. Must continue.

However, I knew that I couldn't afford to allow the thought to distract me forever. I'd let that happen before and ended up in the gutters. So, I answered the question in my usual fashion. Ruthlessly, efficiently, and coldly… I decided to leave the problem aside for another day. I wanted an answer, I truly did, but I knew that I couldn't provide myself one I could truly believe. I was going nowhere and simply wallowing in confusion and half-assed pity. That, especially given my circumstances, was unacceptable.

Chant. Cast Nourish. Chant. Cast Haste. Restart training.

So, I chose to admit that I didn't have an answer and wouldn't until I was actually faced with the decision itself.

Lunge. Weight misplaced. Correct. Retire. Evaluate. Mistake due to Continuous Haste. Good. Making progress.

Surprisingly, the errant, continuous thought went quiet after that.

…

Seriously, what the hell, that's all that I needed to do!?

…

My sabre met with Cranel's longsword. In typical anime fashion, sparks arose from the meeting of our two blades. However, I paid that no attention as I swiftly aimed a quick at his midsection.

Underhand knife throw. Delay maneuver. Allow to pass. Kick.

"Oof!" Cranel flew across the air, the wind knocked out of him, as the knife he threw flew into the air. That knife would've struck my throat. If it hadn't been blunted I'd most certainly been killed by the surprise quickly. Taking a blow to end a fight quickly. Really, can you call yourself a hero if you're fighting so dirty, Cranel? He curled up in midair, spun, and then embedded Hestia's Knife into the cobblestone to slow himself down. "Arde-senpai!"

Boulder. Behind me. Duck. Large. More coming.

"Get off your asses and attack!" Arde cried out just as she heaved another, man-sized piece of stone towards me. Four more were right behind her. They sped towards me like cars on an empty road. I had no doubt that they'd hurt far more than a car if they made contact. Jeez, isn't that a bit much for a guy with only one arm? "Cranel, use the cover I've given you!"

Five flanking attacks. Loki Familia members. Taking advantage of suppression. Cranel at back. Encircled while suppressed. Good strategy. Need to break out. Weakest link?

Wifra and Arior were now very capable melee fighters. I couldn't take one of them down before one of their allies came to help. The two worked very well with one another. Oswald and Baade were both excellent in melee. Taking one of them down in a timely manner wasn't possible in the current circumstances. Glim was right out. Her 'practice' warhammer could snap my 'practice' sabre in half.

Duck below boulder. Second boulder coming. Roll back. Boulder crashes into cobble floor. Fragments. No concern. Large fragment left over. Too heavy to lift. Cannot use as mobile cover.

Cranel or Arde were dangerous opponents, but one was preoccupied with throwing boulders and the other one was recovering from being kicked in the gut. Needless to say, despite the fact that they were both very capable in hand-to-hand combat, my Pallum student was better at using her fists and my human student more capable with weapons. However, Cranel was swift in getting back up and resuming his attack, while Arde was doing her best to embarrass siege weaponry everywhere. Taking those facts into account, attacking Arde was the wisest move to make.

Weigh sabre. Good balance. Even design. Hold by blade. Javelin throw. Follow.

"Watch out!" Oswald gave a cry of warning, but my dull, iron sabre punched into Arde's gut. My Pallum student tried to hold, but I'd timed the blow to arrive just as she was about to let go of her latest projectile. As her skill didn't give her extra strength, just made things largely weightless, she had to put a lot of effort in if she wanted to use massive projectiles. I can imagine being punched in the gut while putting your back into a throw couldn't really be resisted against. "Cranel get up there-."

Pick up sabre. Slash to throat. Arde 'down.'

"Dammit!" I didn't know who gave out the cry, but I didn't waste time in checking. I gave Arde a nod before launching myself towards one of the corners of the abandoned fort. There, they wouldn't be able to flank me and couldn't put their numbers to use. Glim's warhammer would also be limited to overhead strikes and rams unless she wanted to come at me alone. Otherwise, the dwarf would definitely knock out one of her allies. "Don't let him establish his perimeter!"

Stance. Leading foot forward. Minimize profile. Sabre at waist level. Focus on counterattack.

Wifra and Arior were quick. Their heavily gauntleted hands lacked the usual blades or spiked knuckles. The two Wolf Tribe girls were very quick on their feet, worked exceedingly well with one another, and could definitely engage me in such a narrow corridor. Wifra rushed forward with a burst of speed as Arior slowed and began to weave through her path. A double-pronged attack with a slight delay, but with the second blow being stronger and better-aimed than the first. Clever.

Amend strategy. Sabre to chin level. Feint Lunge. Wifra slight delay in stopping. Arior halts completely. Improved movement. Roll forward. Horizontal slash through both. Two down.

"Dammit!"

"Augh!"

I returned to my position just as Oswald and Baade rushed in. The former was using a longsword while the other used a pair of knives. The Cat Tribe adventurer was using her flexibility to her advantage, slinking close to the ground with knives bared, while the bespectacled human cautiously charged with sword held before her in a two handed grip. Their teamwork wasn't as good as the two of Wolf Tribe, but it was passable. Still, it was obvious that Baade was going for twin cuts against my stomach while Oswald delivered a lunging, hip-to-shoulder slash. Tricky to counter, so I chose to dodge.

Upward leap. Throw sabre. Evaded by both. Capitalize on scattering. Launch off wall. Oswald still recovering. Diving kick to temple. Down. Twist. Catch sabre mid-bounce. Baade on defensive. Knives flashing in defense. Thrust to chest. Down.

"Raaaa!" Glim gave a massive war cry that precluded an air-displacing upward swing of her warhammer. The well-armored dwarf reasserted her control over the massive weapon just as the head reached over her shoulder forcing me back as she swung it downward. The head of the hammer was nothing in comparison to her actual weapon, just made of cork and with a weighted sphere in the middle, but she accomplished the same technique with her usual weapon. Scary. "Cranel!"

Cranel?

For a moment I was honestly confused, as I saw no sign of my student. My white-haired student wasn't behind Glim, neither was he running through the gaps between the dwarf and my corner. I searched for him. Soon enough, I caught sight of him… running and leaping off the length of the wall leading to my corner. A flanking maneuver on an opponent at a corner. What. The. Hell. How didn't I think of that!?

Upward leap? No. Hammer will reach. Evade? Backed to a corner. Roll? Wide swings means loss. Doing nothing means Cranel attack lands. Loss.

Well, I supposed expecting myself to fight seven Adventures without magic, knives, and my limiter on was too much, as expected.

Throw sabre to delay Cranel. Step back to evade hammer thrust. Hand is free. Withdraw two, blunted knives. Throw. Direct hits to foreheads. Down and down.

"You still had your knives!?" Cranel gave a cry of frustration. One that Glim mirrored. The two pouted in concert as they rubbed at their foreheads. "We… We were so close! Gah!"

I had hoped that just working with the maximized Agility and Dexterity of a Level 2 I could do more, but it appeared that wasn't the case. Really, I'm getting too arrogant for my own good. I seriously couldn't afford to do this is in the Floors past Rivira.

I really needed to get better than this if I intended to face armies of monsters.