Vol 2 Chapter 28: Staccato

“...ke up.”

“Wake up, boy!”

My eyelids slowly fluttered open, as a voice called out to me, pulling me away from the pleasant dream that I had.

Ah, I feel this has happened before already.

When my sight focused, I saw Fiora standing beside me with a displeased expression. She probably had been trying to wake me up for a while now.

Oh right, didn’t I just have a dream with her? I can’t remember…

“We’re going to train. Wash your face and get ready.”

I gave a glance towards the grandfather clock in the room. Still five o’clock in the morning. And sure enough, both Nicole and Helen were still well asleep on their bed.

“Oh, and take care of that thing as well.”

I followed her gaze, straight towards my morning wood.

Well, I wouldn’t say I was embarrassed. This is just how it is for us guys.

---------------

Since we woke up so early, there was barely anyone around. There were the knights assigned to guard us, of course, and two of them followed us to the courtyard while the rest remained to guard the still sleeping Helen and Nicole.

However, when we actually got to the courtyard, we found out that we weren't alone after all, as a group of what could only be the temple squires were in the middle of their sword training, led by a female instructor. Judging by the armor she wore, she was probably a full-fledged knight already. Although she didn’t have the cloak with her.

Ah, this is probably like the military back home. Wake up really early, fall asleep really late with your joints aching all over. Or so I heard. I would have killed myself earlier if I got into the military, I imagine.

"Oh, here's a fun idea," Fiora suddenly declared with a grin. "Hey, Miss Knight!" She called over to their instructor. "My guard here wants to show a thing or two to your students! Through a spar!"

Wait, what?

And thus, before I knew it, I ended up in a series of spars with those guys.

My first opponent was this cocky redheaded guy. Taller than me, older than me, more muscled than me. I can see where he got that cockiness from. His hand pretty much shot up once the instructor knight asked who would like to volunteer.

Why do I have the feeling that he's the bully of the class?

He stepped up with a grin, looking down at me, both figuratively and literally. Alright. He probably thought I was easy prey, just because of the way I looked. Doesn't this kid know that I just repelled an assasination attempt on Fiora?

Oh right, her identity is supposed to be a secret. So I guess the incident would just be about thieves breaking in or something. Usually, in this kind of strict organization, you can’t really demand answers from your superiors, so these young folks wouldn’t know anything.

"Merton here is the best fencer in our class," the instructor explained. “So please, feel free not to go easy on him.”

We would be using wooden swords naturally. However, they were weighted by some metal, so the heaviness wasn't that much different from a real sword.

And of course, that also meant you would land a much more painful blow if your strike landed.

With that said, after we each gave our respectful bows, the match began, with him taking the initiative to attack.

This is—!

An overhead swing. So easy and predictable that I could block it with ease. However, I flinched as the impact hit. His blow was heavy. It's clear he was putting all his strength into it.

Right, in this situation, I should use… this move!

I pushed his sword to the side. And in one quick move, I thrusted right on his stomach.

"Gaah!"

He staggered back before falling down on his behind. I immediately used the opportunity to rest my sword at his neck.

And just like that, I won.

That was so easy, I can't believe it! Compared to Fiora's lightning blows, he's nothing! He just has the advantage of strength and that's it!

Similar results happened when I took on the other squires one by one. None of them posed any challenge whatsoever. Even when I got distracted by some of the more… ahem, voluptuous female squires, I still beat them in the end.

So this is the result of my training?

"Well done, my servant," Fiora spoke with a proud look. "Now, to your final challenge. Miss." She turned to the instructor. "“What rank are you with the sword?”

“Eh?” The instructor replied with a surprised look. “I'm an Apprentice at Lancelot-style."

Sword ranks. They were the way to classify your skill with a sword, at least according to the two main sword schools, that being Lancelot and Galahad. By the way, even though they mainly do indeed teach sword-wielding, it doesn’t mean that you can’t use other weapons with it. It’s just that the official weapon is the sword, seeing how it was the weapon of choice of the Legendary Hero and all. An Apprentice was the second classification from the bottom, so in absolute terms, she was nowhere near the top tiers of the practitioners.

I guess you could say it’s similar to how magic works with its levels, but since the number of ranks and levels don’t match, I wouldn’t know how they would compare with each other.

And besides, it’s stupid if you think that just because you have a higher rank or level that you would automatically win. Like how I am confident that I can beat Fiora, but as long as when the fight starts, I am nowhere near her range where she could cut me with her sword in an instant.

"Then, I would like you to spar with him as well." Fiora smirked.

Wait, seriously?

I gave a protesting look towards her, but before I could say anything, she already interrupted me, saying, “Oh, I’m sure he’ll be able to fight quite well with you. I taught him personally myself after all.”

I looked back and saw the squires looking with me all bright-eyed, expecting me to put up a good show. Goddamnit, if I back out now, I’ll look really uncool, wouldn’t I?

I looked at the teacher. She was young, probably around eighteen or so. So she was still young, probably just earned a place as a temple knight. That’s also probably why she didn’t wear the cape like our guards wore.

Still, I wouldn’t know how well I would fare against her. After all, I’ve only been trained by Fiora for two weeks or so. Sure, she said that the basics I learned from Father were good enough that I was certainly nowhere near a beginner, but to be up against a teacher like her?

In the end, I took on the challenge, bowing before readying my stance once more, waiting for Fiora to signal the start of the fight.

As expected, as a practitioner of an offensive style, she took the initiative. However, instead of going into melee range, she instead opted to use that ranged slash move right away.

Fiora never used this kind of move against me. However, I know well enough how to counter it.

Like this!

With a precise horizontal slice, I hit the energy blast right in the middle, parrying it away, sending it to the sky above.

I read it in the book Fiora gave me. It said you could redirect a sword slash like that if you hit it at just the right angle and spot. And even though this was my first time doing it, I was confident that I could do it.

Why? Because Fiora had drilled into me the importance of precision, right to the millimeters. Thanks to her training, I can swing my sword much more accurately now. And I could stand my ground as well, unafraid of an incoming attack that I know very well I could handle.

Now's my chance!

A look of surprise came to the instructor's face, and she immediately followed with a barrage of sword swings that managed to keep me away. She was relentless, just like how the practitioner of the  Lancelot style should.

However, that left her open, and after parrying and blocking a couple of her attacks, I did a quick strike straight to her abdomen.

To my surprise however, instead of flinching, she resumed her attack, allowing a blow to land on my wrist, nearly knocking my sword out of my hand.

I was the one who ended up flinching. But I quickly put a distance between us, stabilizing as I resumed my defensive posture once more.

“Boy! You’re doing it again!” Fiora shouted.

And by that, I mean me falling into the same trap that Fiora likes to use against me. She would fein an opening, allowing me to come in before retaliating with a harsh counter attack. She says that the way to counter that is for me to keep an eye on not just the spot I am about to attack, but also the rest of her body’s movements. “As a practitioner of the Galahad-style, we only counterattack if it doesn’t leave an opening for us. Worse comes to worse, we would outlast our opponent through stamina, as our style is much more efficient than the brutish, aggressive style of the Lancelots,” so she explained.

I have to focus. And not get greedy with my attacks. It’s like those action RPGs where you only attack when the boss gives you a clear opening.

I returned back on the defensive, parrying her blows one after the other. I waited for my chance once again, while she prodded and poked my iron-steel defenses. Sure, I could use my magic here to gain a clear advantage, but this is supposed to be my sword training session. So I would only use my sword and sword alone.

And then, I saw it again. Another opening, This time, I could possibly knock the sword out of her hand, guaranteeing my victory if I could make it happen.

In a split second, I made my decision to attack. However, this time around, I saw in my peripheral vision her body movement, intending to swing a fist right at me.

Hey hey hey, isn't that cheating?

But then again, like Fiora said, in real combat, your opponent could use their entire body as a weapon, not just their swords.

I saw through the trap and switched my posture. I allowed her fist to come forward and then—

"Hyaah!"

I moved my body to the right sharply, just enough to dodge her fist.

And fast enough as well to strike at her other hand, sending her wooden sword flying, guaranteeing my victory.

"Wooah, that was awesome!"

"Did you see that? His movement was so fast I could barely keep up!"

Such excited whispers spread like wildfire amongst the trainees, making me inadvertently grin. I was, naturally, enjoying the praises showered towards me after all. And I was impressed by myself as well. Since when I got this good in the sword?

Fiora stood there with a satisfied look. She really was proud of my progress after all.

--------

“Alright, boy! It’s time for us to start moving on to the difficult stuff,” she declared once we were back on our own, away from the squires. “Conjure a big rock with your magic. You can do that, can’t you?”

“Huh? A big rock?” I replied, raising my eyebrows. Oh, I get it! She’s going to tell me to cut through it, isn’t she? Finally! I would be able to do what Sherry was already capable of doing when she’s just six years old!

...Wait, that doesn’t sound very nice.

I did as she told, using Rock Cannon to conjure a boulder without actually firing it.

“Now, let me demonstrate first.”

She walked over to the front of said boulder, placed her hand on the handle of her sheathed sword, and then…

“Staccato!”

A flash appeared in the air for a split second, before the boulder was cleanly split into two.

“This is Staccato, one of the basic special techniques of the Galahad-school of swordsmanship. Using your aura, you sharpen your sword into an impossible level, to the point that you can cut through rock like butter,” she explained. “Now, conjure another boulder.”

I nodded, still taken aback by her display. I don’t think I’ve read about the technique in the book she gave me, which meant we’re already going into the more advanced territory, like she said. That book was just an introductory book after all.

Though I am curious about the name. That’s a musical term, right? Why are they using something like that for a sword technique? Is there a deeper meaning to it or is it just a coincidence? It fits though. Staccato means something like a sharp spike, right? Makes sense that it would be used for an offensive technique like this.

I cast the same spell, producing a similar sized boulder just beside the one she just split into two.

“For today, you shall attempt to do the same thing I just did. Use your real sword for this one.”

After she said that, to my surprise, she started to walk away.

“Wait, you’re not going to be instructing me on how to do it?” I yelled.

“Oh, you won’t need me to tell you how to do it. Just focus and think of the boulder as the enemy you want to cut.”

She didn’t even bother turning back as she said that.

And thus, I was left to train on my own.

I couldn’t help but wonder though, if this was a ploy from her to avoid me or something.

I thought of chasing her to talk to her about the Grand Priestess, but I decided against it. If she acted strangely like this, she probably still needed more time to calm down, and I was going to give her that. After all, we still got a week to do it.

I spent the remaining day hitting the rock with my sword, trying to mimic what she did to it, to little success. I tried imagining transferring my aura to the sword the same way I would do it with my mana, but it didn’t work. Neither the book nor Fiora had any explicit method on how to draw out your aura. No wonder most swordsmen out there didn’t even know that the concept existed.

I was making progress though. Slowly but surely, I was able to actually make a dent on the boulder. However, it was still far from what Fiora instructed—a clean slash that cut the boulder in half with little effort.

The training made my hands sore and raw, thanks to all the return force they suffered every time the iron sword hit the hard rock. I started to consider wearing gloves, though I never liked wearing accessories like that. I would’ve healed it using my fairy, but I remember how the Church frowns on summoning magic in general, so I hold off from it. I’ll just wait until the day is over for Nicole to heal it for me.

The tip of my poor sword was starting to chip as well from the constant blow it received as I tried to cut the boulder. It wasn’t any special sword after all. It was just a simple iron sword Father brought me as proof that I was trustworthy enough to handle an actual sword. It wasn’t like Fiora’s fancy sword, with its thin blade and slight curve at the end. Galahad-style practitioners usually preferred thin, light swords as they preferred precision and speed over power, unlike Lancelot-style practitioners who preferred thick, sturdy swords that could withstand their raw strength.

Maybe I should buy a better sword when I get the chance. That gold Fiora promised would come useful for sure. Yeah, a magic sword would be really cool to have…

With those thoughts in my mind, I retired for the day. Fiora didn’t even bother visiting me back afterwards. What was she doing all day anyways?

“Training hard, eh? I like that.”

I turned around and saw the Grand Priestess standing behind me with one hand on her waist and a grin on her face.

“Come. Accompany me for a walk.”

It wasn’t a request as much as an order. She placed her hand on my shoulder casually, before pushing me forward.

To my surprise, we actually left the temple complex. None of the knights seemed to mind however. They trusted her strength that much.

-----------------

She took me to the outskirts of the city, where there were a little bit of farmlands scattered around. The land here was swampy, so it wasn’t really suited to ordinary crops like wheat and such. Hmm, I wonder where this city gets its income from then.

“I want to talk to you about your little mistress.” She began. Ah, I already expected this, to be honest, which was why I went along with her without a single complaint. “How about it? Making any progress with Your Royal Stubbornness?” She chuckled.

“No, unfortunately.” I decided to be honest with her.

“Well, don’t give up. You’ll reach her sooner or later,” she replied, patting my shoulder. “You know, today, she challenged me for a fight.”

“Wait, seriously?!” I yanked my head towards her.

“Yep. She told me not to involve her subordinates, especially Nicole and her promotion. And that she would be willing to face me in combat to show both her strength and determination. What an outrageous girl!” She laughed.

"Did you accept?"

"I did. And naturally, I came out victorious. She didn't give up though. She said she would try again tomorrow. I even lent her a private room so she could train on her own for our rematch."

I fell silent. Fiora—she's taking it all on her own.

Heh, she really is a softie underneath all that toughness.

"Can you take me to her?" I asked.

"Of course." She smiled. "Feel free to chat all you want with her. I'll make sure no one interrupts you two." She winked. What? She thinks we'll get all lovey dovey there? Ha, fat chance! Even if she tries to tempt me with her body, I will resist! I’m loyal to Sherry after all!

“Also, one more thing.” She suddenly stopped, turning around to face me.

Wait, is it just me or her expression suddenly gets a lot scarier?

“You’re Hugo Greenwood, aren’t you? The son of the family responsible for Vera Marjoram’s assasination?”

...Oh crapbaskets.