Training and Swordplay

It had already been a week since I arrived at Deshurn's hut.

I've been taking my punishment and learning things from Deshurne, things that honestly have nothing to do with the swordsmanship I was expecting.

'Not that it didn't help.

Still, it was disappointing for a world-class Auror Master.

Nickel had also become an Auror Master by practicing the basics day and night, so it was difficult for him to learn proper swordsmanship, but I was actually expecting him to learn it on this occasion.

'I'm not a formal apprentice, and I'm not your blood.

It would be strange for him to teach me an arcane sword technique.

As I stepped out of the hut, thinking I'd get my ass handed to me first thing in the morning, I spotted Deshun playing in the gazebo.

"You're out. Let's go."

"What? We're going?"

"I'm doing something special today. I'll tell you about it on the way."

The word "special" got me excited.

Was he going to teach me how to use a sword?

Walking behind Deschern, he looked around at the scenery as if he had been out for a walk.

"You seem to have cleaned up your act quite a bit these days, and as I said before, that eye of yours is a great talent. The only problem is that you didn't know when and where to use them. So, if you continue to train with me, your talent may deteriorate."

From the sound of it, it was probably another sword-related training.

Still, I remained silent, and Deshurne continued.

"You need to be in an environment where your talents can be utilized again. Repetition will break your habits and revitalize your talents."

"An environment where I can use my talents?"

I felt uneasy.

What was he up to?

When Deschurne didn't answer my question, I felt a tinge of foreboding, but what could I do?

I'm the one who's disappointed.

I soon followed him to what appeared to be a deep canyon, or rather, an abyss.

"What is this?

It's a mountain range called the Grimoire, so there must be something there, but the question is, why have you brought me here?

Deschern had been staring down into the abyss ever since we arrived, and I was curious, so I followed his lead and looked down.

It was a dizzying pit, so deep you could almost see the end of it.

"Take care."

"What?"

I replied, questioning the suddenness of Deschern's words, and before I knew it, I saw the soles of his feet in front of me.

A billion.

"What the fuck?

I didn't even have time to react to his sudden kick before I felt myself falling.

"What the...!

The experience reminded me of extreme missions in my past life, and I wasn't happy about it, but it sharpened my spirits.

"Well done."

Deschurne gave me only a day's rest, and I was back at it again.

My barely sharpened aura was chiseled away as if I were being forged by a blacksmith.

After a week of beating, I rejoined the abyss.

"Extreme.

I'd never been through such a life-threatening exercise before.

Even when I was in the Special Forces, I was never treated with such ignorance.

Except when I was a cadet, we were trained in a more scientific and efficient way, and this was just beating ourselves up with instruments and tin cans.

It was literally a do-or-die, one-or-the-other kind of training.

After about a month of this, Deschurne said.

"You're good enough to play."

The instincts I had developed in my body had allowed me to erase my habits.

After a month of training, I was finally able to manipulate my combat talents freely.

In addition, my mana utilization skills have increased like crazy.

-Tingling!

[The condition has been met].

[An evolvable object has been explored].

[Adrias Cromwell's Talent: 30% chance to evolve 'Combat']

[Evolve?]

The evolution from gifted to genius seems to be a slow climb in skill.

I rolled like this and only got 30%.

However, this time I learned that I can evolve from 30%.

It's not a bad thing to know that the rest of the talents and skills need to have at least 30% evolvability before they can be evolved.

"Now that you've got the basics down, let's get down to business."

I thought we were going to start with the usual matrix, but Deschurne said something unexpected.

He came with a long branch in one hand and a casual stance.

"You mean you're going to teach me how to sword?

I was more dumbfounded than pleased by the unexpectedness of the situation.

Whether he realized it or not, Deshun swung the branch at me.

"Swordsmanship, swordplay, and all other forms of wielding the sword are more important than you think. The reason is the existence of mana."

Boom!

The sound of air bursting could be heard even as he swung the branch, and the tree on the other side was cut diagonally.

My mouth dropped open as I watched the crumbling wooden beam.

"Most sword techniques in the modern era are built around the flow of mana, with moves and maneuvers that literally maximize the destructive power of mana. So no matter how much mana you have, there will always be a difference between the swords of those who know how to use it properly and those who don't, and this applies to all martial arts, not just swords."

He swung his sword again, and this time it cut through the air without a sound.

This time, however, the tree was not cut down, but shattered as if it had been hit by a bomb.

Boom!

"If you use different mana maneuvers according to different sword techniques like this, the results will be different. Not only the sword, but also the body. The mana used to activate your body will change the way you move when you use the Bojutsu and Shinjutsu. And when you combine them with sword techniques, the destructive power increases exponentially."

Deshurne's figure faded into thin air, and I found myself standing next to him as he explained.

I'm sure I heard him speak earlier, but now that he's next to me, I find myself feeling more fear than admiration.

'This is what an Auror Master is made of.

I felt my eyes widen.

The enemies I had faced so far were pyramids.

Of course, the Payat he had recently faced had made a move like this, but he had been slacking off at the time, so he was unimpressed.

"If I had more time, I'd teach you more, but for now, I'll give you the basics of mana management and swordplay."

He explained things in detail to me, who only knew basic stabbing and slashing.

I felt like I was experiencing a new world when I learned swordsmanship and mana management, which I hadn't learned from Nickel.

Whip.

Splinter!

I swung my sword using mana the way Deshun had taught me, and it carved a gash in a tree about a meter away.

Of course, he couldn't dream of cutting down a whole tree like that, but this was unrealistic enough.

'It feels different from magic.

And if he did it right, he could mix it with magic and make something interesting.

"Not just a simple sword style like now, but a sword style with a fireball technique mixed in.

Of course, I'd have to get used to managing my mana naturally, even when I wasn't thinking about it, before I could try it.

Right now, I couldn't even generate sword wind without concentrating on a single swing of my sword.

It was frustrating to learn.

If I had more time, I could have learned so much more.

Especially since a sword, unlike black magic, was a force that didn't have to be so desperately concealed.

"You're resting because you've only succeeded once, so go ahead."

"Yes."

I was going to continue even if he didn't say so.

I can't believe I've been keeping this kind of fun to myself.

"But is this supposed to be so easy?

Thinking about it, the enemies I've faced so far haven't used Sword Wind.

Of course, I wouldn't be able to use it in combat anytime soon.

It still requires a lot of concentration, so it would be completely useless in a desperate situation.

"Well, by that logic, when I played Luis, he's been using sword winds in real life since Year 1, because he's the first playable.

It seems like every other sword-wielding character I've played has been using Sword Style for at least two years.

It's understandable that even the most talented playables don't use it until that point, but the jokers I've faced so far haven't.

'By the way, I'm really good at moving my body.

I continued to chop away at the wood with my sword wind.

* * *

Deschern felt a shiver run down his spine as he watched Adrias produce the sword wind.

He didn't show it, but inside he was saying only one word.

'He's crazy, he's crazy, he's crazy!'

I was going to give it my all for the rest of the day, but this was unexpected.

'Even this little kid, Louis, who I met by chance, was able to understand my demonstration, but he wasn't able to use it.'

That alone was actually surprising.

I thought that if I simply demonstrated and taught him how to use mana, he could at least vaguely follow along within the year, assuming he kept trying.

'Now that I think about it, you're not only physically gifted, but you're also very talented with mana. Or is it because of my unusual constitution?

Whatever it was, he had no choice but to change his mind.

Deshurn watched Adrias once again create a sword wind and cut a gash in the wood.

He pondered and then decided.

"I don't have any disciples anyway, but it's time to start thinking about succession.

A talent of his caliber should be able to grow on its own if given the slightest nudge.

Of course, it was tempting to watch and nurture him from the sidelines, but that would do him no favors, or himself.

So what you need to do now is....

"It's been a while since I've put pen to paper.

It was to prepare a gift for his first and last pupil.