chapter 10
10 – Training (2)
I couldn’t hold the sword for ten days.
All I did for ten days was chopping down trees, chopping them up, rolling them, and stacking them.
It wasn’t like it was in vain. In the meantime, I’ve gained precious calluses and put on weight. Although the muscles weren’t tight enough to be seen with the naked eye, a sense of balance was created in the body, and endurance was definitely increased compared to before.
The ball of the terrible potion was also considerable. Even after doing heavy labor that should have been bedridden for a week, he helped me recover right away the next day and handle a stronger load.
On the ninth day, they were skilled enough to finish all the assigned work a little after noon, and had more endurance.
It was for this reason that he became interested in alchemy. Alchemy and potion making were as powerful as magic. At night after training, he took out an alchemy book from Silverin’s library and read it until he went to sleep.
the 11th day. Silverin cut down a tree to drive a pole into the clearing.
The pillars were spread out at intervals of one step, and 6 of them were placed side by side in 4 rows like that, for a total of 24 pillars.
In the first place, the wooden block was not cut into large pieces, but the height of the pillars was no more than my thigh. After making something whose use is unknown, Sylverin said.
“This is your training ground.”
I took one look at Sylverine and turned my head to look at the pillars. And again, he turned his gaze to Silverin.
She nods as if what I saw was correct.
“Climb up on the pillar.”
“… … ?”
“Step on it and stand on it.”
Many questions popped up in my head, but for now, as Silverin said, I stepped on the pillar and climbed on top of it. It’s large enough to put one foot up, but not enough space to put both feet.
“I will practice swordsmanship on it.”
I doubted my ears. It’s hard to even focus here, but swordsmanship training?
If you step on one wrong step, you’ll fall down. I am short of breath.
Thinking that all knights train like this, Silverin spoke as if he had read my mind.
“If you’re going to be paired up with knights for the rest of your life, going through tournaments or rounds, you don’t need this training. But even if you do things like that and collect trophies, that won’t guarantee your life.”
“… .”
“The enemies look at your situation and don’t kindly come out and fight on the plains. The first thing is to adapt to a place where there is no place to set foot.”
I started training right away.
The beginning was getting used to stepping on this wooden pole. Not only forward movement, but also side step and back step were trained.
Silverin watched me and corrected my posture one by one.
“Don’t look down, look straight ahead. Move while thinking that there is an enemy in front of you. Even if a knife comes flying at you, will you just stare at the ground?”
“You have to feel the floor with your senses. It’s not something you step on while looking at it.”
I had to find a place to step only by feeling, so there were many cases where I stumbled and fell.
My skills improved little by little as the bruises from my falls increased.
This training continued into the next day.
As she gradually became proficient in stepping, Silverin raised the level of difficulty a little more.
Silverine beckoned, and the maids placed a basket beside her. There was a bunch of pebbles in it.
“Simple. You get the stone I throw.”
I thought it would be easy when I just listened to it, but when I actually tried it, I realized that the level was different from before.
When Silverin threw a pebble so that it fell in a parabolic line, he had to step on the expected landing point and move to catch the stone.
But it wasn’t that easy. If you pay attention to the treadmill, the stone will fall on the floor, and if you pay attention to the stone, you will often stumble and fall.
It was a training that required coordination of arms and legs and a high degree of concentration.
After entering this training, the number of falls doubled.
On the first day, if I threw ten, I could catch three, on the third day, seven, and on the fifth day, I could easily catch everything I threw.
Silverin did not stop there.
“Looks like you’ve gotten used to it.”
Having said that, he randomly picked three pillars, pulled them out, and threw them away.
She erased the familiarity and pushed me into a new environment again.
Furthermore, Silverin had butlers transform my training grounds on a daily basis.
Like changing the height of some pillars or changing them to thin piles.
And I gradually adapted to the transformation. At some point, the top of this wooden pole started to feel as comfortable as the ground to me.
Even if Silverin sped up and threw stones, I was able to catch every single one of them.
Finally she put the stone down and said.
“That’s enough.”
“No… ?”
“congratulation. You have passed the first stage of Zeldan Heart’s test.”
She pulled out an old piece of parchment from within her arms and stretched out her arm as if asking me to receive it.
I went downstairs and read the paper she handed me.
It listed the same training instructions I had been given so far. And at the bottom was Zeldan Hart’s signature.
“Since Zeldan Hart finished it faster than he said, you’re a pretty good guy by the standards of the person who wrote this. It’s still the first stage, but anyway.”
“… … But who is this person?”
“… .”
“What’s wrong?”
“You say you don’t know Zeldan Heart… ?”
“Yes.”
Silverin looks at me with a sad face and shakes her head silently.
“Teacher?”
Silverin left me first.
“Okay, let’s go first.”
***
That night, in the library of Silverin’s mansion, I flipped through the books to answer my curiosity.
And it was not difficult to find Zeldan Heart’s name.
Upon discovering his name, I sighed and hit my forehead.
If you use a sword… It was a name you shouldn’t know.
There are only 10 sword masters in the world.
Top 10 out of 10
The one who has finally reached the absolute state of the sword.
Zeldan Heart was the name of the legendary ‘Sword God’.
***
Opponent’s sword falls out.
Nash, the second-year classmate who was assigned to fight against, bit his lip. Nash was a genius enough to be in the upper class of the combat club, but he was no match for Flynn when it came to swordsmanship.
From footwork to strength and sense. Even the technique was flawless, his swordsmanship skills far exceeded the level of a sophomore. In fact, rumors spread that the Imperial Knights had contacted Flynn several times.
It was a pairing with wooden swords, so he endured this far, but if he had been holding a real sword, he would have been crushed by Flynn’s sword technique and would have been knocked out.
Only Flynn and Elliott were the only ones who knew how to use sword skills in the first and second years. These two had overwhelming skills enough to be called geniuses of geniuses.
“Damn it.”
Flynn reached out to the fallen Nash and said.
“There is nothing to divide. I’ve been holding the sword since I took my first steps. It is a natural result if you look at it based on your career.”
said Nash, holding Flynn’s hand and standing up.
“Have you been like that since you were young?”
Flynn smiled and turned around. Nash caught him again.
“again. This time with a real sword.”
Flynn shook his head.
“Professor Gael called. I have to go.”
Nash deliberately provoked him.
“Is it okay if I spread rumors that I was scared and kicked out?”
“… .”
“Professor Gael, I will come. You’ll be out of here soon.”
Flynn shook his head in disgust at Nash’s obvious provocation.
Then he pulled out the knife from his waist and said.
“I can’t play for long.”
“Yes, it should come out that way.”
Nash admired Flynn’s sword.
Occam’s sword. It was a legendary sword passed down from generation to generation in the Flynn Hermia family. A famous sword that was bestowed by the Dwarf King for his contributions to the first head of the Ermia family in the war 400 years ago.
The smooth sword body was enchanted with runes to respond well to the user’s mana.
Nash asked for a real sword fight even though he knew Flynn was no match, just to see that sword one more time.
Nash also picked up his sword, which he had thrown to one side of the arena, and pulled it out of the scabbard.
He smiled and bluffed.
“It won’t be easy.”
The two faced each other and pointed their swords at each other.
A blue haze rose from Flynn’s sword. it was black
In an instant, the air was heavy.
Cold sweat formed on Nash’s back because of the intimidation of the swordsman.
This standoff did not last long.
Nash jumped at Flynn with a cheer.
Flynn backstepped and was easily out of Nash’s range. Flynn, who lightly dodged Nash’s sword without having to cross swords, immediately jumped at Nash.
Nash hesitated for a moment due to the recoil from his random swing of the sword. Flynn took advantage of the gap and went in.
The match is decided by a single sum.
Clink.
When Nash came to his senses and raised his hand, there was only a sword handle on top of it.
Sword blades were scattered on the floor.
Flynn put the sword in his waistband and said.
“Then rest. Goes.”
Nash sat down on the floor laughing dejectedly.
Flynn sweated as he walked down the aisle. I straightened the messy hem of my clothes and took a deep breath.
Flynn knocked on Gael’s office door. I hear a call to come in. Soon after, he opened the door and stepped inside.
Gael was sitting on the window sill, wiping his sword with a dry towel.
“Master Gael, did you call?”
“Come on.”
Gael motioned for her to sit down. Flynn sat in a receptionist’s chair some distance away from Gael.
“I was still sweating after training. sorry.”
“When did I ever care about that? How is your father?”
“Yes, you have improved a lot.”
“I’m glad.”
“But why did you call me?”
Gael made a meaningful expression and said.
“I have a personal favor to ask of you.”
Gael was Flynn’s teacher. She started tutoring Flynn when he was 11 and continued his relationship to the academy. It was all thanks to Gael that Flynn was able to easily enter the academy. Flynn had an honest disposition to pay back what he received, and because of that, he always had a debt in his heart to Gael.
“I will do anything to help.”
Gael nodded lightly. Judging by the look on her face, it didn’t seem like she would ask for such a difficult request.
“… Yes, it won’t be difficult.”