Quite a lot had changed after my victory in the spar against Tarian.
First was the proficiency that had risen in an instant.
‘It’s already B-grade.’
At this point, I could probably subdue even the soldiers of the family without much trouble.
My growth speed had also increased now that I could reliably complete Pacts with iron swords, but the biggest factor was still sparring with Tarian.
‘Raising proficiency and actually expressing it through my body really are different things.’
And it was not just that.
My body itself had grown stronger overall.
I no longer tired as easily even after training continuously, and I could now move most rocks in one go.
Considering all the hardship I had gone through until now, it was impossible not to be pleased with the result.
‘Of course, it’s a shame I still haven’t managed to hit him in the face.’
Still, if I kept improving like this, that moment could not be far off.
Today was no different.
We were sparring again.
“Shhh......”
I let out a low breath and glared at Tarian as he approached.
His presence was still overwhelming, but unlike yesterday, I no longer felt that prickling sensation throughout my body.
Instead......
“Yes, this is it!”
It was fun.
The more we sparred, the more clearly I could see myself improving.
I endured Tarian’s properly swung sword, then immediately stepped to the side.
A movement that cut into Tarian’s flow as though I were sliding across ice.
I did not miss the tiny opening that appeared and swung my sword.
CLACK—!
My attack shot in sharply.
It was blocked, but I could not help smiling.
‘As expected, it’s different from before.’
Unlike until now, when I had always been forced on the defensive, I could trade blows with him to some extent.
And one reason for that was the new Skill I had acquired.
[Frost Step (F)]
[Rank : Normal]
[Description : A footwork technique usable only by experienced warriors of the North. It displays movements as though sliding across frost.]
Despite the description saying it was used only by experienced northern warriors, Frost Step did not have a very good reputation.
□ [Guys, a northern knight taught me Frost Step. Is this Skill any good?]
└“Is this Skill any good?” Yeah, right. You’re obviously trying to show off, but that thing’s trash.
└Huh? A knight taught it to you, so shouldn’t it be good?
└Short dodge distance and it depends way too much on proficiency. Unless you’re doing a northern warrior build, you don’t need it.
└Ah, fuck.
└LOL. How is a Skill taught by a knight garbage?
└Join the “experienced northern warriors” club too. Northern warriors are supposed to get stronger by taking hits.
There were plenty of superior evasion Skills, so the community generally considered it trash.
But I knew better.
‘It’s pretty good when you combine it with the right things.’
Its synergy with Northern Swordsmanship was especially strong.
Northern Swordsmanship crushed through an opponent’s openings, while Frost Step let you evade by slipping into brief gaps.
Thanks to that, exploiting an opponent’s weaknesses became much easier.
Of course, I could not make full use of it yet.
“Young Master, that...... Is that Frost Step?”
“Yeah.”
“I was under the impression that even people who train it for years often find it awkward......”
I shrugged at the bewilderment in his voice.
“I just watched it, and I could do it.”
“Hah.”
Tarian let out a short sound of disbelief.
I could not think of any excuse worth giving.
Nor did I particularly feel the need to.
“Young Master, you are......”
“Yeah?”
“Never mind.”
He muttered quietly, then gripped his sword.
“Your swordsmanship has developed a proper foundation. I believe it would be best to focus on that for now.”
“Oh.”
“Do you have a different opinion?”
Before and after our spars, Tarian had mostly refrained from interfering.
But now that he was even suggesting a direction for my training......
‘So he really is a teacher after all.’
All that headbutting had been worth it.
“I was thinking something similar. I still plan to continue stamina and strength training, along with swordsmanship practice.”
“You will need to regulate the amount of training.”
After saying that, he thought seriously for a moment and began arranging a structured training plan.
“Still, what you should focus on learning right now is footwork. Show me again.”
He gestured with his sword.
Without hesitation, I moved.
I slid forward a short distance as though gliding across ice.
The instant I did—
“Like this.”
Tarian had already placed his sword precisely in the direction I was moving.
“Your direction is too straightforward. And your speed is not very fast yet.”
“You’re really getting serious about this, unlike yesterday.”
“Of course. I staked my honor on it.”
Tarian looked me straight in the eyes.
“You will also need to train your magical power.”
“Magical power, huh.”
Come to think of it, that was true.
Now that I had properly begun learning swordsmanship, I could never become a knight if I did not cultivate magical power.
‘A swordsman who can’t manifest sword aura is basically half-finished.’
Of course, the fundamentals were the most important thing right now.
Because I knew that, I had deliberately pushed aside my curiosity about magical power and focused on mastering the basics.
“Footwork comes first, however.”
“Really?”
“Young Master, surely you are not......”
He spoke while looking at me seriously.
I smiled.
But Tarian seemed to think something had gone wrong.
“Then let’s do it.”
Just like when I learned swordsmanship.
And so the training began.
Training Frost Step was simple.
-Hmph. What kind of swordsman cannot even move his feet properly?
-At the very least, you should avoid dying to a blind swing!
[Perfectly evade the attacks of ten soldiers while holding the Sturdy Northern Iron Sword (Normal)]
[0/1]
‘They really just say whatever they want.’
Maybe it was because these swords existed purely for training.
I had never really tried to have a conversation with them in the first place.
Anyway.
It was certainly not an easy Pact.
‘But clearing stuff like this is fun.’
If I were going to give up just because something was difficult, would I ever have played Last Savior in the first place?
From that day onward, I kept using Frost Step to evade the soldiers’ swords.
“Y-Young Master, are you truly asking us to......”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
“But if you happen to get injured......”
“It’s fine.”
TAP—
Dodging the swords of no fewer than ten soldiers was certainly difficult.
“Ugh.”
“Ah! I-I’m sorry!”
“Again.”
The biggest problem was that the soldiers were not Tarian.
Well, naturally.
It was nearly impossible for ordinary soldiers like them to control their strength at a knight’s level.
So the more the training continued, the more bruises accumulated all over my body.
“Again.”
“Again.”
“......Again.”
And the more I repeated it, the easier it gradually became to lose the trajectories of their swords and slip past them.
The training did not end there.
“Hah. You’re going to run around the training grounds using Frost Step?”
“I’m going to try.”
“I hesitate to say this, but Young Master, you truly are not sane.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Of course.”
When running around the training grounds, when heading to eat, even when entering my bedroom.
I moved using nothing but Frost Step.
THUD—
“Ugh.”
At first, I felt like a newborn baby who had only just learned to walk......
“Hah. It is nearly complete now.”
“Does it look that way?”
“To think you would actually pull it off. If I ever have to teach someone else in the future, I may try this method.”
Was that really a good idea?
It sounded like a good way to pile up bad reviews.
Anyway.
As time passed, I grew increasingly proficient with Frost Step.
The awe in Tarian’s gaze was practically proof of it.
‘I can move faster like this.’
I realized a more efficient way to step.
‘I don’t need to move only in straight lines either.’
I stopped fixating on linear movement and became able to move freely.
“Young Master is working that hard......”
“I should take training more seriously too.”
“But Young Master Ian’s growth speed...... Does that make any sense?”
“He still has a long way to go before he can dodge everything perfectly.”
As a bonus, even the soldiers became more motivated.
‘If you understand, then you guys should grow stronger too.’
The Northern Great Invasion would arrive in five years.
If the soldiers trained voluntarily and became stronger, that was not bad for me in the slightest.
***
As Frost Step improved, Tarian began properly teaching me how to use magical power.
“The first step is sensing the mana in the atmosphere.”
Training to accumulate mana inside the body and use that power.
There was no extraordinary mana cultivation method involved, but I was not particularly worried about that either.
‘I’ll get one eventually anyway.’
I had Pact.
So all I had to do was keep moving forward without giving up, just as I had until now.
There was no reason to worry about that.
‘This is fun.’
Even this kind of training was insanely enjoyable to me.
So I mixed Frost Step into every part of my daily routine, dodged the soldiers’ swords, and kept trying to sense mana.
I did not care if my body bruised or if my skin sometimes split and bled.
‘Once I finish the footwork training......’
This training went on for several days as well.
Gradually, it became easier to evade the soldiers’ swords using only Frost Step.
SWISH—
The instant I stepped with Frost Step, a sword swept past my side.
The soldier, whose expression had once been full of apology, now looked disappointed.
“Hup!”
A shout rang out.
I immediately shifted my steps and slipped through the gaps between their attacks.
‘Just a little more.’
The essence of Frost Step was not simply moving quickly.
Footwork itself was about slipping into an opponent’s openings from within a certain distance.
As its name suggested, Frost Step was a technique that moved as though sliding across ice.
But beneath that was one condition above all else.
Smoothness.
‘Faster, and freer.’
I moved while recalling the insights I had gained over the past days.
Sideways.
Diagonally.
Until eventually, even my direction became difficult to predict.
And the moment I completely wove my way through the soldiers while avoiding blades coming from every direction—
-......You have the qualities of a warrior.
“Haa, haa.”
At the sword’s words, my heartbeat sounded unusually loud.
I did it.
That thought filled my head, and before I knew it, my hand tightened around the hilt.
‘Hmm. Northern warrior really isn’t a build that deserves to be treated like some roleplay gimmick.’
It was probably because most players never learned how to use it properly.
Northern Swordsmanship was defensive in nature.
But in the game, using it aggressively had practically become the standard approach.
Even among the players who enjoyed the concept, there were plenty of lunatics who fought by taking hits while attacking.
‘That whole approach was wrong.’
Frost Step was also meant to avoid attacks over a short distance and create openings.
In the game, it only moved you in a straight line.
But using it directly, I could move freely in every direction.
Naturally, that gave me far more options.
Was it only obvious that this was information no one could know without physically learning it themselves?
The North was half-destroyed as soon as the game began, and even properly learning the Skills there was difficult.
‘If I add just a few more Skills to this......’
I remembered the northern warrior build I had once briefly researched.
There were a few additional Skills I needed.
Most of them had not been considered very useful in the game, but now that this world was reality, there was a good chance that would be different.
‘If I can get Cold Heart on top of this......’
My early-game build would basically be complete.
Originally, Cold Heart was merely a Normal Skill that protected against mental attacks.
But if I learned it directly, there might be another effect hidden within it.
“Whew.”
With that expectation in mind, I rested the sword on my shoulder.
“All right. We’re changing the method from now on. I’m coming at you, so you dodge.”
“Y-Young Master? All of a sudden?”
“The training efficiency is good. I can’t be the only one enjoying something this useful, can I?”
I loosened up the aching parts of my body and looked at the soldiers.
Naturally, I could not let revenge slip away either.
Revenge was always sweet.