Sword Posture

After breakfast, Ashoka returned to the training ground.

{The food tasted terrible. I haven't anything much worse than that in my entire lifetime}

'Huh? Did you taste it?'

{This monarch can indirectly share your senses, especially your sense of taste. This monarch was a well-known gourmet, back in my time…}

'You really talk too much. You could've simply said you could taste it because we share senses.'

{Silence! This monarch is famous for his reticence… ugh!}

'Stop talking for a bit. You are making it difficult for me to digest my food.'

Ashoka stopped Draco from talking by tapping on his bracelet, then looked up at the platform.

Alberad was lying on the platform as if he was napping. He didn't show the slightest movement, as if he had become a statue.

{Just looking at him irritates me. I want to pluck off his pointy ears.}

Draco was billowing flame from his mouth. It looked like he was boiling with anger whenever he saw Alberad.

'The Sword of Light of the Emperor, huh…'

Alberad's prowess must've been excellent since he was called the Sword of the Emperor. However, rumors said that his personality wasn't just light, but frivolous.

Ashoka had thought that was bullshit. But looking at Alberad, he realized it was incredibly accurate.

'But there are no openings.'

Despite his careless appearance, he wasn't showing any weakness.

He'd heard Alberad had retired because of a severe injury, but apparently, a master's prowess hadn't disappeared completely.

{The moment this monarch takes over your body, those ears will be plucked.}

'Whatever.'

It wouldn't happen, though.

Yawning, Alberad lazily stretched long after all the temporary trainees had finished gathering.

"Have you finished eating?"

"Yes."

Since the children's stamina didn't recover completely, their voices were more exhausted than at daybreak.

"Then we will start the next part of your training immediately."

Alberad grinned. When he looked at the wooden swords placed on a side of the training ground, the children's expressions brightened.

"You don't need a sword, just mimic my posture."

As if he was teasing them, he stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, then bent his knees.

"Are… are we not going to learn how to use a sword?"

One of the noble children shouted, raising his hand.

"We aren't."

"We thought we were going to learn with swords…"

"He's right. Sir Swordmaster is famous for his swordsmanship, so why…?"

"Sword? That's all good, but can you run before learning how to walk?"

Alberad's corner of lips twisted up. His cool smile seemed to blow a chilly wind toward them.

"You don't have enough stamina or willpower, nor do you have the proper posture yet. Do you think you can really learn how to handle a sword properly?"

"Ah…"

"I've said this already, but you don't need to follow my instructions. Since the consequences are yours to manage, anyway."

It was a playful voice, but the training ground fell silent.

"Follow me if you want. Those who wish to do other training should move over to the right."

Naturally, nobody moved. Everyone stood still and looked at Alberad.

"Then let's start over. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Then, bend your knees with your thighs parallel to the ground."

"Yes, sir!"

The children followed the posture without difficulty.

"This posture is called the riding position. It's how you ride a horse, and it's also a basic posture for every martial art—including a sword, spear, and fist. Keep the riding position until I tell you to stop."

"Yes!"

The children raised their arms after answering loudly and clearly. Since it was one of the basic postures, nobody failed to follow it.

{Humans really are inferior, to train their bodies in such an awkward position.}

'And you failed to take over such a human's body.'

{Kuh! That's different…}

'I have to focus, so hush.'

Ashoka hit the flowery ring and closed his eyes.

'This is an important moment.'

Even in that kind of basic training, he could gain a lot by using the mana circulation method of Sage Vyasa. He could make his training way more efficient than the other children.

"I'm gonna take a nap."

Alberad laid down and started to doze off again, and the riding position continued forever.

"Groan…"

"Ugh!"

"H-How long do we have to keep this up?!"

The children's limbs trembled as if there was an earthquake. Despite the riding position being a basic posture, it was their first time maintaining it for such a long time.

There was an exception, though. The upper-tier children, including Vikram and Ahmed, kept their proper posture.

"Wh-What's wrong with that guy?"

"How is he able to hold on!"

"He… He was supposed to have the worst constitution!'

"I heard he was a patient…"

Jean Paul, who was supposedly the weakest among the group kept his posture while sweating heavily. The posture's accuracy alone was better than anyone in the training ground.

"Gaaaah!"

"I… I can't lose to him."

"There's no way I'll stop when he is holding on like that!"

The children from the lower tier were about to give up. Upon seeing Paul still holding on, they kept their posture and grit their teeth.

Ashoka looked at them with a grin.

He made sure to look into this called Jean Paul, since he was the one who was showing the greatest spirit among the children.

Other than that he wasn't concerned about anything.

He still had enough stamina to spare, despite how he looked.

'This is easy.'

Back when Sage Chanakya trained him and Sudhatta, he trained the riding posture while carrying rocks on his back and thighs. He was even younger then than he was now. The current training was nothing compared to that time.

At the rate he was going, he felt like he could easily win the bet against Draco, although he must've been unaware of it.

When Ashoka was so focused that he almost forgot it was a training on the riding position, a clapping sound could be heard from above the platform.

"Stop!"

When he came to, Alberad stood up and nodded. The other children were sitting down massaging their thighs like they were dough.

{How long are you going to ignore this monarch!}

'I'm sorry, I missed it.'

{You inferior bastard…}

Draco swore at Ashoka, who only stared in response. It looked like he'd been mumbling all along.

"Huff…"

Ignoring Draco, Ashoka kept relaxing his thigh and waist muscles with a refreshing breath.

Ding!

[An extreme stamina-surpassing action was performed.]

[Stamina has increased.]

A message announcing an increase in stamina appeared once again. Feeling his vitality return to his trembling thighs, he stretched from his waist.

"Just like yesterday, some of you held on until the end while others gave up."

Looking at those who were still standing, Alberad wagged his finger.

"Let me repeat. I'm just giving you the instructions. I won't directly interfere with your training. Break through your limits by yourselves. Give your mind a hard smack when it starts saying you did enough. That's how you will pass the test in six months."

He continued, maintaining his tricky smile.

"I won't repeat this again. From now on, I won't care whether you give up or hold on until the end anymore."

After telling them to loosen up their thighs in preparation for the next day's training, Alberad left.

{A mere pointy-eared bastard who believes in the nature god is talking about idealism. How ridiculous. And willpower is nothing in front of overwhelming power.}

'That's not true.'

{What do you mean?}

'You do need willpower.'

Ashoka shook his head while loosening up his legs.

{You believe that because you are a weakling that has never felt an overwhelming power. If you felt the power of this monarch, you would be worshiping me right now…}

'I managed to withstand your attack with willpower.'

{That… That's because this monarch hasn't recovered the original power yet!}

'And I'm just a kid.'

{Th-that is…}

Draco's voice dropped powerlessly.

'Of course, willpower isn't meaningless.'

Willpower was similar to stamina and strength. There was a limit, but it got stronger the more it was used.

'Then let's get going.'

After loosening his thigh and hip muscles, he entered the indoor gymnasium.

There were many training tools to help increase his strength and agility.

Are you training again?

'Yes, I am.'

He nodded. The stats increased when they were pushed to the limit, like squeezing a dry mop and trying to get water out of it.

Ashoka didn't think of the extra training as something painful or boring. It was something to look forward to.

He started with basic training, including pushups and planks.

{This is so annoying. It's like watching a caterpillar hanging on a tree.}

'A caterpillar that can only crawl will one day become a butterfly and fly away.'

{The only way for you to become a butterfly is to hand over your body to this monarch.}

'That's not a butterfly. It's a poisoned moth. Stop daydreaming.'

Ashoka shook his hand and bent his arms once again. For push-ups, the number wasn't the important part. He slowly bent and stretched his arms in a way that would stimulate his muscles the most.

He felt like his chest muscles were going to snap, but he welcomed that pain. It would become his stats and stamina.

After push-ups, he started to exercise his abdominal muscles. That was when the other children started to enter the gymnasium.

After throwing him a glance, they separated to start their own training.

Vikram and Ahmed also entered and checked out the different equipment.

But the surprise was Jean-Paul. He also entered the training room but isolated himself and got himself a tool.

Ahmed went to where the wooden swords were placed and grabbed one to start swinging it.

Woosh!

The collateral children who usually followed Ahmed got themselves a wooden sword as well and began to practice the swordsmanship that they had trained in.

Suddhtta who tagged along with him also grabbed a sword.

{Aren't you going to do the same?}

'I don't need it yet.'

What Ashoka needed wasn't a sword, but the stamina, strength, and agility to serve as a base.

Vikram and other children's swordsmanship wasn't even at a beginner level. For novices, training with swords without an instructor was just a waste of time.

Without caring for what the others were doing, Ashoka continued the boring yet difficult training, only wishing to achieve more progress the next day.

* * *

Tishya Raksha wasn't interested in others.

That didn't mean that she looked down on others due to her outstanding talents.

It was because she had locked the door to her heart the day she had been terribly disappointed by the one she trusted.

However, there was one person who had caught her eye recently.

It wasn't Alberad, the Sword of the emperor, nor Ahmed Khan, who everyone said was the best among the batch.

Ashoka Maurya.

Lady Chandralekha's son, and the twin brother of the handsome blondie.

He kept attracting her attention.

'Why do I keep paying attention to him?'

It was the first time she was interested in someone or felt familiar with someone.

'Is it because he is also hiding his strength?'

Others may not realize it but Tishya was aware that Ashoka was intentionally hiding his strength from the first day.

'That must be it.'

Since she realized the reason, she tried to stop paying attention to him.

However, no matter how much she tried she couldn't take her eyes off him.

"Huff!"

Comfortably lifting a 60kg weight, she kept stealing a glance at Ashoka.

"It's really strange."

---***---