Chapter 31: Theory

They kept fighting for only an hour more. Moon couldn't get past the limits of her Stamina, and in reality, she just wanted to quit for the day. So, the moment the bar dropped to 0, so did she.

"Okay, I think that's enough of fighting for one day," said Godspeed, concluding the duel. "Now on to the next part."

"Oh no... now what do you want to torture me with?" Moon commented.

"Torture? Is that what you think of this? If you really don't want to be here, then I can just leave your training here, and we can leave the idea of you getting stronger 6 feet under," He announced defiantly.

"No, no; I just... Just what are you planning on making me do now?"

"I'm gonna teach yo mind, now!" He gave a big smile, finding the collapsed Moon on the Earth funny.

"Keke... Moon on Earth."

"What?"

*cough* "Nothing. Anyways, yeah; I'm going to teach you strategies for a variety of things: One v. ones, attacking as a group, attacking a group, running away, running towards...

...Sieges, sneak attacks, spying, infiltration, assassination; all types of stuff that you need to learn to survive in this world."

"Are you planning on making me into an weapon or something?" Her bewilderment was showing in her voice, as a unusual high pitch escaped.

Attempting to calm her suspicions, God chose his next words carefully.

"Nah, I'm just preparing you... so you can Surprise your master with how adept you are! Every noble expects an extraordinary knight to guard him you know? And especially in the Saharan Empire." He gave a brave smile, hoping she would fall for his story.

"...Mm. If you say so..." Although she didn't seem completely convinced, she didn't press any further.

"Good."

'Because you're gonna need these skills when you go off with me, my man!' He chuckled to himself.

Done with the convincing, he got himself situated on the ground, and began his lesson.

"First off, we're gonna talk about how to defend yourself. Now if I'm not wrong, your greatest stats are in your Strength and Agility, correct?"

"Uh, yeah. H-how did you--?"

"I just do. Nothing more and nothing less. Now, to be honest, that's not a bad combo, although I do recommend you increase your stamina more. But yeah, I'd say it's a good idea to go with the ratio you have now. After all, a knight's greatest merit is being able to respond to situation's quickly, right?"

"Su~re."

"Hey. You know what else being fast is good for?" Instead of letting her answer, he responded himself. "Dodging. When you're being put on the defensive, you need to make sure you can react fast enough to incoming attacks. Because of that, we're going to talk about how and what to respond with when you are defending.

First off, let's say you're in a sword fight, and you're being pressed on. They're attacking relatively precisely, and the next second, they go for your chest. What do you do?"

"Umm, you dodge."

'No shit.' He mentally gave himself a facepalm.

"Yeah, but how do you dodge?" he asked, rearranging the question.

Not really able to give much thought, Moon just said the first thing on her mind.

"Uhh, back away. You back away."

"Okay then. Why do you back away?"

"Because... you move out of range for their thrust, while still being in front of them."

"Okay, okay. So, what happens when they take another step in their initial thrust?"

She blinked, realizing her mistake.

"Oh... yeah. Didn't think of that. Sorry."

"No no, man. It's okay. That's why I'm teaching you. Now, what you can do is one of two things: number 1, is that you can sidestep. Now, this gets you out of range if you time it correctly, and may also get you closer to your opponent. But you may also end up off balanced, and your next attack won't have as much power in it as it would originally. I wouldn't recommend this maneuver until you advance a bit.

The other thing you can do, which I recommend for you, is to lean in. You lean in, twisting your body, and roll your shoulder in. You roll your shoulder in so it doesn't get pierced, and instead, knocks the attack off from its intended target, leaving the Opponent off balance. Also, it gives you the best counter attack power. Since you are carrying your momentum from the previous dodge, you build up more force, which in turn leads to more damage, and you end up with the perfect killing blow.

You understand?" Making sure that he wasn't coming off as confusing, he checked for Moon's reaction.

"I... think so.

What you were saying was that I should always be ready to react to an attack, so I can find my own attack right?"

'Not even close to what I was talking about, but... you're not wrong I guess.' Although he wasn't trying to teach her that, it was still good that she came to that conclusion herself.

'Huh. He really does have the aptitude.'

"Correct. Nice conclusion, by the way. If you keep thinking like this, we may still have a chance of clearing this quest."

"I can only do my best. The rest is up to you," she responded.

"Ooh, preachy. Nice."

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They kept talking theory for over an hour, as to let Moon regain her stamina, and finally left for Zand. After a quick lunch break, they set off for the hunting grounds. Dusk was starting to set in.

"This is our last bit of training for today. As a knight-in-training, what you will need most is actual combat training. The little sparring that we have can only make you so good. What you really need is something on your level. Such as: Hobgoblins."