Chapter 22: Rapid Progress

"Ding ding dang dang!"

Rein Carlan, giving his all, could still only hold out for about half a minute against Cleya, who was deliberately holding back, before quickly being defeated!

Despite the sparring loss, there wasn't a trace of dejection on Rein's face, and there was even a hint of pleasure.

Because a delightful system prompt sounded:

[Your skill "Basic Swordsmanship" has improved, Experience +29]

[You have engaged in a battle, Militia Profession Experience Points +17]

The Chief Maid, Shadia, watching the duel, looked admiringly at Rein, who showed no sign of discouragement, and thought to herself, "This is perhaps the reason Lady Creya values Rein - he never gets disheartened by failure!"

"There are many young talents in Meister County whose strength outshines Rein's like stars in the sky, but none have Rein's temperament. After losing a spar with Lady Creya, they either wear a look of shame, or they keep pestering shamelessly."

"No one is like Rein, who still looks delighted after a defeat. He truly loves swordsmanship!"

Cleya, seeing Rein still eager to try again, had an even more appreciative look in her eyes, and she said in her clear voice,

"Rein, your speed and strength are on par with mine, you should have been able to last longer, but do you know why you were defeated so quickly?"

"Um... is my swordsmanship still too weak?" Rein scratched his head.

"Not entirely. Did you notice that every time you attack, you make your intentions too obvious?" the girl said while demonstrating with her bouncy long legs.

"When you attack, look straight ahead, use the corner of your eyes to lock onto the target, and at no time should you expose your attacking intentions."

Initially, Rein listened with a relaxed attitude, but as the noble girl spoke these words,

Rein's expression turned serious as well, because Cleya was teaching him extremely crucial combat skills.

If Cleya hadn't suddenly pointed this out,

it would have taken Rein much longer to realize it.

"Catching the enemy off guard, is that what you mean?"

"Very well summed up!" the girl praised, "That's exactly it."

"Once you reveal your attack intentions too soon, an experienced enemy will immediately dodge or block your attack route. Some may even deliberately lure you to attack their intentionally exposed weak spots, then quickly counterattack and defeat you."

After pondering for a moment, Rein understood the girl's point.

"Please, Lady Cleya, let's try again!"

The girl nodded, signaling that Rein could attack again.

This time, as Rein attacked, he kept his gaze level with the girl, his movements as light as a willow in the wind, and he swiftly took a step forward, thrusting his sword straight.

The girl deftly blocked and stepped to the right, avoiding Rein's attack.

This time, Rein's gaze stayed fixed on the girl, but he did not focus intently on any specific part of her body, which slightly slowed down Cleya's anticipation compared to before, and the duel lasted noticeably longer than their previous bout.

Suddenly, seizing an opportunity, Rein surged forward with a lunge, swinging a chopping attack, which the girl once again evaded with ease.

During the exchanges deliberately set up by the girl, Rein and Cleya went back and forth, with the sound of "ding ding dang dang" of weapons clashing continuously echoing in the area.

After a minute, exhausted, Rein lay on the ground, drenched in sweat.

Although he was tired, the satisfying feeling of the exhilarating fight was so invigorating that Rein felt a tinge of longing for more.

[Your skill "Basic Swordsmanship" has improved, Experience +37]

[You have engaged in a battle, Militia Profession Experience Points +21]

And then, there were those handfuls of experience points!

Rein, I notice you have a particular interest in swordsmanship, and that's good, but also not so good!" Cleya saw that after every swordplay duel, Rein's unparalleled passion was rekindled.

"But breath control is the foundation; you need to spend more time to master the Giant Bear Breathing Technique's seven movements as soon as possible. The sooner you master them, the better for your body's development," Cleya advised.

"Yes, Lady Cleya!" Although Rein responded in this way, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly, You don't understand, my lady, only by sparring more can I improve quickly!

Rein had never felt time fly by so quickly.

He now somewhat understood the feelings of those wealthy clients from his previous life's gym, who spent small fortunes inviting beautiful personal trainers to accompany their workouts.

Just like now, with him not spending a penny, the youngest daughter of the Earl was his workout partner.

Today's practice had already ended, but Rein was already looking forward to the next session.

...

For four consecutive days, it was like this, and Rein's strength improved by leaps and bounds!

[Giant Bear Breathing Technique lv2 (12/300)]

With the aid of the precious items, bear meat and black pine oil, Rein had already started practicing the second pose of the Giant Bear Breathing Technique, which resembled the Russian kettlebell swing, but was far more difficult than the first pose.

Rein could only persist for five minutes at present, a far cry from the half-hour mark.

However, it still added a bit of strength to Rein, bringing his Strength to 7 points, surpassing that of an average adult.

Though there wasn't much change in Rein's physical attributes data, his battle awareness had changed significantly.

It could be said that the swordsmanship instructor Humbert taught Rein how to wield a sword, but Cleya taught Rein how to truly fight!

Name: Rein Carlan

Profession: Blacksmith Apprentice lv3 (265/500) / Militiaman lv3 (78/500)

Constitution: 6

Strength: 7

Agility: 7

Spirit: 8

Remaining attribute points: 1

Remaining Skill Points: 1

[Basic Swordsmanship lv4 (578/1000)]

Basic Swordsmanship had still not leveled up, requiring too much experience, but.... although the swordsmanship had not leveled up, Rein felt his basic swordsmanship was slowly improving.

The Profession Level of the Militiaman, having risen to lv3, contributed another attribute point and a Skill Point to Rein.

This time, Rein did not rush to allocate his points.

The poses of the Giant Bear Breathing Technique became increasingly difficult; the second pose, though challenging, was certainly much easier compared to the third. He planned to wait until he reached level 3 of the breathing technique, then directly add points to move up to level 4.

Saturday had come around again, and Rein could go home for a visit!

Just as Rein was walking out of the castle in high spirits, accompanied by the beautiful maid, they encountered a tall young man dressed like a noble.

"Master Dennis," said the pretty maid upon seeing the other party, seemingly trembling slightly, and greeted him fearfully.

Although Rein didn't recognize the individual, he also inclined his body immediately in deference.

This young man named Dennis glanced at them both and continued on his way, expressionless.

However, having walked a small distance, he suddenly stopped; watching the departing Rein, he seemed to recall something.

"Isn't that the commoner Cleya seemed to appreciate a bit?"

And Rein, having left the Habsburg estate, walked along the main artery of the town, facing the evening breeze.

Evening had fallen, and groups of three Night Watchmen, each holding a torch and clad in tight leather armor, had started adding oil to the street lamps.

In this world, the Night Watchmen's responsibilities Rein had come to understand, primarily involved maintaining civil order at night, firefighting, dealing with wild beasts or other unknown creatures that struck from the shadows, and handling emergencies.

During the relatively safe daylight hours, however, the duty of maintaining public security fell to officers of civil order.

But whether Night Watchmen or officers of civil order, both were under the jurisdiction of the imperial authority's local law enforcement and were a separate concept from ordinary militiamen.

This distinction was apparent from their fine leather armor and the horn bows on their backs and Bastard Swords hanging at their waists.