Today I started my day with excitement and quite a bit of anticipation.
It would be my first formal sword training, and honestly, thinking that Hakuro himself would be the one teaching me only motivated me more.
Truthfully, you can think whatever you want about the old man, but when it comes to experience and knowledge in the art of swordsmanship, there aren’t many who can match him.
As I made my way to the clearing we used for training in the village, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of things he would teach me over the next few days.
Most likely, today he would just test my level, alongside giving me some simple sword-handling exercises.
By the time I reached the clearing, my new master was already waiting for me with two wooden katanas in hand, one of them slightly longer than usual.
I suppose it was meant to suit my size.
“Good morning, Lord Kaelion.
It is good to see you full of energy this morning,” the old man greeted me.
“Good morning, master.
Please, teach me just as you would anyone else, don’t hold back,” I told him seriously.
Knowing him, I didn’t think he would have anyway; regardless, I wanted to make it absolutely clear that I didn’t want him to go easier on me just because I was one of the village leaders.
“Hoh, hoh.
I didn’t plan to, my lord.”
As he tossed me the larger wooden katana, he explained what we would be doing during today’s training.
“If I am not mistaken, you said yourself that you have no knowledge of hand-to-hand combat.
For today, we will simply have a clash where I will evaluate your level, and from there, we will work on the areas that need improvement,” my master explained.
“I understand, master.
Just so you keep it in mind, even if it was purely instinctive, I have fought close-range against creatures in the past, so I do have some experience,” I informed him.
“Mmh, I see…”
Before either of us could say anything else, Hakuro vanished in an instant and reappeared at my side the very next second.
I didn’t currently possess the extra skill Magic Sense, but I doubt having it would have helped me react any more effectively—just like what happened to Rimuru.
Not wanting to take a hit, I twisted my body and brought my sword up in front of me, attempting to block the impact.
My clumsy, rookie movement seemed to be enough to stop the initial blow, but due to the poor positioning of my weapon and the angle of the attack, even though I was stronger than my opponent, the sword went flying out of my hands.
“One of the most basic rules of swordsmanship is never to lose your weapon.
Grip it tighter, but don’t keep your hands as rigid as last time; you must have fluidity of movement with your weapon.
Again!”
This is going to be tough, I thought.
As I went to retrieve my sword, I assigned a task to my unique skill, Speculator: “Analyze every word, piece of advice, and movement that Hakuro and I make during this training, and afterward, make me a list of the things I need to improve and how.” This chapter was copied from novelping dot com without permission.
“Understood, master.
Initiating training analysis,” the skill replied.
The moment I picked up my weapon from the ground, the old man attacked me again without a shred of mercy.
Trying to follow his advice on how to hold the sword, I tightened my grip, while still trying to maintain enough mobility to react in time.
This time my sword didn’t go flying with the first impact, but I wasn’t even able to block the second one, and it struck me directly on my left flank.
“If you only pay attention to how you grip the sword, you won’t be fast enough to react to enemy attacks.”
Ignoring the slight pain in my side, I waited patiently for the next attack, which didn’t take long to arrive.
This time, my master voluntarily decided to engage in a longer exchange of blows; and after a minute of me simply trying to avoid getting hit by moving the sword as best I could, Hakuro halted the spar.
“Enough combat for now.”
“Tell me, how did I do?
Pretty bad, right?”
“Hoh, hoh.
It is as if you have never even seen a sword, my lord.
You truly weren’t lying when you said you had no idea.”
Sighing, I spoke to my master again: “So, what can I do?”
“There is no need to be ashamed, my lord.
It is true that right now you don’t even know how to swing a sword, but your combat instincts are surprisingly good.
For now, I will teach you how to grip and move the weapon properly.
After that, we will move on to working on combat; you need to internalize the basics before attempting to fight,” the master swordsman informed me.
“I see.
i will do as you say, master.”
For the next three hours, I dedicated myself solely to performing vertical slashes while Hakuro corrected both my grip and my posture, along with a few other mistakes.
All the while, Speculator analyzed the correct way to do it, so that I could practice even without Hakuro and know if I was doing it right.
It helped immensely that Hakuro himself gave frequent demonstrations to provide a solid reference.
By the time midday arrived, my body was exhausted.
Even with my current physical capabilities, after this training, it felt like I was using muscles I didn’t even know I had for the very first time.
“Damn, it feels like my arms are about to fall off.
That famous saying about how keeping your center of gravity stable is essential really seems to be true.”
“We will continue tomorrow at the same time.
Do not be late, my lord,” he said as he withdrew from the training grounds.
I really am a disaster, I thought.
For now, I’ll rest and get something to eat.
Afterward, I’ll repeat the vertical movements for another hour following what Hakuro told me and what Speculator analyzed.
Then, I’ll work on my magic.
POV HAKURO
Lord Kaelion does not seem to be aware of his own capabilities, I thought with resignation.
It is true that currently he is nothing more than a novice who can barely hold a sword without losing it, but his combat instincts are terrifying, and the speed at which he grasps my instructions is astonishing.
It seems his talent for the sword is even superior to young Benimaru’s.
I look forward to seeing what heights he can reach.
POV KAELION
When my afternoon training started and I continued with the vertical katana slashes, I could notice that my body seemed to have grown slightly accustomed to the movement, even when I was still tired from the morning, and the way I gripped the sword had also improved slightly.
Not wanting to overexert myself, I moved on to training the magical side of my abilities.
My goal for today would be to acquire the extra skill Molecular Manipulation.
Having the manipulation of multiple elements as I do, it shouldn’t be too difficult.
So, for the next few hours until dusk, I trained my elemental manipulation following Speculator’s instructions.
By the time night fell, I had combined elements, manipulated those in my environment without generating them myself, and even infused them into my wooden sword.
After so much effort, I finally heard Speculator’s report telling me that the extra skill Molecular Manipulation had been learned.
According to what it told me, since I had already learned to manipulate so many elements, the process was much easier than it normally would have been, and with a little push from my own knowledge of the skill, Speculator was able to obtain it.
I don’t know how easy it normally is to learn this skill, but remembering that Rimuru got it accidentally in an instant simply by combining a few skills with Degenerate, it doesn’t make me feel particularly proud of my achievement, I thought with resignation.
In the coming days, I will keep learning as much as possible with Hakuro and experiment a bit with my new Molecular Manipulation to see how far I can go.
I would also like to try to learn some new movement technique to help me when i’m wielding a sword; I’ll see what I can do.
If I’m not mistaken, Gabiru and his men will arrive in about a week.
I should be able to learn what I want during this time, even if it’s just at a fairly basic level.
Heading to bed after dinner, I thought: Tomorrow will be a long day, I hope I can make the most of it.
The novel doesn’t specify exactly how many days it takes Gabiru to arrive, but since it mentions that “several days had passed,” I’m going to interpret that is as around a week.