Day third on the southern mountain range…
Swish, Swish, Swish—!!
It was just yesterday when Leo instructed me to perform one thousand spear thrusts, blocks, parries, and swings.
Afterwards, he meticulously pointed out my errors and instructed me to focus solely on executing spear thrusts until he deemed it sufficient.
And so, for the past day, I had only been performing forward spear thrusts. And now, I think my speartip is starting to shake less.
Maybe I'm improving after all!
But Leo's voice boomed from the sidelines as he keenly observed me.
"Your speartip is still trembling just before you execute your thrust! Strengthen your footing and keep your thrusts straight!"
Oh, fuck off!
†
Day fifth on the southern mountain range…
Thak, Thak, Thak—!!
Having spent a full day and a half solely practicing spear thrusts, I was now permitted to advance to practicing my blocking techniques.
Leo would thrust his spear towards me, and my task was to block each strike using only my weapon and coordinated movements.
"You're doing it wrong!"
He would also yell at me whenever I'd make a mistake.
He would point out minute stuff like how my breathing was off or how my footwork was wrong. Right now, for instance, I was blocking wrong.
"When you block with a spear, your goal should be to immobilize my weapon, not push it away," he clarified.
Nodding, I raised my spear once again, gripping it tightly.
"Catch my weapon in place with your block. Then, after successfully neutralizing my thrust, use your spear to bind or circle around my weapon with your blade to counter-attack," he explained.
His words prompted a frown to form on my face.
"Wait, master," I interjected. "Isn't blocking intended for defense? If I bind or encircle your weapon with my blade, then wouldn't that be considered an offensive move?"
Leo's response was immediate. "Indeed, it is. Haven't you heard? The best defense is a relentless offense."
…Well, that's fair, I guess.
†
Day sixth on the southern mountain range…
Tak, Tak, Tak—!!
Today we've finally moved on to practicing my parry techniques.
Unlike when I was blocking, where the objective for me was to firmly hold the opponent's weapon in place, parrying required me to deflect and push their strikes away.
Parrying consecutively with a spear proved to be harder than I had initially imagined.
The reason? The weight of my spear, combined with the forceful clash against my opponent's weapon, exacted a toll on my wrists.
Initially, performing a couple of parries wasn't a problem. However, as time passed, my wrists started hurting.
Whenever the pain became unbearable, Leo would toss me a mid-grade healing potion. I would drink it, and we would then resume training.
†
Day seven on the southern mountain range…
Swish, Swish, Swish—!!
Performing swings came naturally to me. After all, it was something I had practiced the most after coming to this world.
Leo had nothing much to correct in my execution aside from refining my stance and making some subtle adjustments to my movements.
In a remarkably short span of time, my swings began to become more precise and cleaner than before.
Yes, there was no denying it now. My skills were undeniably improving.
"No, no, no! You've got it all wrong!"
…Oh, come on! What now?!
Leo walked up to me, casually munching on a piece of beef jerky while holding a whole packet of it in his hands.
This bastard! I hadn't eaten a thing in the last seven days, and here he was, relishing a snack!
As he came to stand before me, Leo bellowed, "You're exerting too much strength in a single swing, causing a delay before you can transition into the next one!"
"What does that mean?" I inquired in a confused tone.
Leo let out a weary sigh, tucking the packet of beef jerky into his pocket. He then summoned a sleek black spear into his hand.
"Swing at me," Leo commanded, his tone leaving no room for hesitation.
Still confused, I complied with his instruction.
Firmly gripping my spear, I raised it high before bringing it down in a powerful swing towards Leo.
Swish—!!
But with ease, Leo sidestepped, evading my attack effortlessly.
Kwish—!!
Before I could even process what had occurred, I felt the cold edge of the blade pressed against my neck.
My gaze followed the blade's path, tracing it back to the shaft and the hands that held it.
It was Leo.
In an instant, he had positioned the blade of his spear against my throat, leaving me no time to react.
"What the fuck?!" I exclaimed in disbelief as Leo retracted his spear.
"Do you see now?" Leo stated matter-of-factly, taking a few steps back to create some distance between us.
"You exerted so much force in a single strike that you left yourself vulnerable and couldn't react in time to my counterattack," he explained calmly.
"Y-You were just insanely fast!" I retorted, frustration evident in my voice.
"Alright then, let's try it again. This time, you come at me. And to keep things fair, I'll replicate your level of spearmanship," Leo proposed, a hint of challenge in his voice.
"Even then, I couldn't move at your physical speed!" I reasoned.
"Use mana," Leo said. "But only use it to enhance your speed."
Raising an eyebrow in response, I nodded in agreement.
"Fine," I said, channeling mana into my legs before I dashed towards him.
Swish—!!
In perfect synchronization, Leo mirrored my movements, raising his spear high and executing a slashing motion towards me as soon as I got close.
But he was way too slow in my eyes.
Effortlessly, I sidestepped and easily evaded his spear before countering with a powerful thrust of my own spear aimed at his neck.
Tak—!!
But before my spear could make contact, Leo deftly stepped back, simultaneously raising his spear in an upward swing and effectively deflecting my attack.
"Huh?!" I gasped in surprise.
But before I could react, in one fluid motion, he swiftly brought his spear back down, pressing the blade against my neck once again.
"Wh-What the…"
I was at a loss for words.
There was no denying it.
Leo had flawlessly mimicked my spearmanship, replicating every aspect of my technique with uncanny precision.
From the stance to the level of precision to the fluidity of movement— he copied everything.
It was to the point where it felt like I was watching myself in the mirror.
Even when I used mana to enhance my speed, he still effortlessly reacted to my attacks, countering with those seemingly sloppy slashes that he replicated.
"...How?" was all I could ask at that moment.
"I already told you," Leo said calmly. "You're using too much force in each strike. It seems like you're fixated solely on strength."
As his words reached my ears, a frown etched deeper on my face. "What are you saying?" I inquired. "What else should I be focusing on?"
"The technique, Lucas," Leo responded in an 'Isn't it obvious?' tone
He continued, "Concentrate solely on the technique. The world around you is chaos; the technique is your sanctuary."
"...I see," I said, understanding what he meant. "But how should I do that?"
Leo answered, "I'll beat it into you— I mean, I will teach you."
...Did he just say what I think he said? This bastard!
"Alright then, I believe you've honed your fundamentals enough. Practice them daily. Do at least one thousand swings, blocks, parries, and thrusts every day," Leo spoke. "Starting now, we'll start working on your technique."
