The next morning.
Noel was standing in front of the kids. He had agreed to the duel Eric wanted. But Noel had made a condition.
They had to attack him at the same time.
All eleven kids were standing side by side while holding a wooden sword.
"I think you have learned about this from the Demon Banner Army, but I'm going to repeat it. There are three things you need if you want to become stronger and fight bandits and demons. They are Swordsmanship, connections, and resources.
"Connection can be made in the future when you eventually venture out of the city. Resources are the same. You have to make your own money and buy your own things, especially the Demon Crystals. You need them to get stronger.
"I won't be explaining a lot of things about Spiritual Energy and Spirits right now. Instead, I will be leaving you with books so that you can learn together. Erica is the only one who has made a clear effort to learn how to read and write, so ask her to teach you or you can learn how to read and write from her.
"There are a lot of resources from humans to items. I have a principle that I will settle everything fair and square unless the other party is not… But I'm not going to impose this ideal on you.
"Just keep asking the question of what, when, where, who, why, and how every time you do something and decide whether that's the right thing to do or not.
"Last but not least, the Swordsmanship. You have your own path to pursue, which is the Sword Dance. But in essence, they are similar to normal Swordsmanship.
"You need technique, abilities, and footwork if you want to polish your strength.
"However, you have something different from normal people. It's the bond you have together. From the very start, you have been dancing together with the others. So, I want you to remember that and fight together.
"This is your biggest advantage and the reason why I ask you to fight me together.
"Each of you has your own build, elasticity, and rhythm. I believe that you can show me some coordination…"
Noel stopped his speech since he had talked too much. The rest could be explained after they had shown him.
So, he paused for a moment while taking a deep breath. After that, he looked at the kids and raised his wooden sword.
"I will only fight you with my swordsmanship this time to show you the gap between us. I won't use my Spirit, Spiritual Energy, or any abilities." Noel looked at them with a serious expression. "Let's begin."
The kids instantly became nervous since this might be the first time they saw Noel this serious in a fight. It felt like they would be swallowed alive by him.
However, Noel had yet to release his killing intent to avoid harming the kids. He simply focused his attention on the kids and the swords.
The fact that the kids could feel it meant they had considered Noel as an enemy to beat. In other words, they were ready to fight him with all they got.
Eric clutched his chest while taking a few deep breaths. "Amazing. So, this is a real fight. It's different from those thugs in the slum… This is the best chance to get a hang of a 'real' fight. Let's enjoy it, everyone."
Eric's words stunned everyone and dissipated their nervousness.
He was right. They would be disrespecting Noel if they didn't do this seriously.
As a leader, Eric was the first to rush forth. His footwork consisted of small steps, allowing him to change his direction quickly.
He charged at Noel before eventually spinning his body at the right time so that his sword would reach him with all that momentum.
Noel could sense his intention easily and took a step forward to disrupt his rhythm.
"!!!" Eric widened his eyes. His motion was meant to attack Noel in his position. The fact that Noel took a step forward, his sword would end up being too close to his own body.
*Clack!*
Their wooden swords ended up clashing with Noel standing right in front of Eric, stopping his wooden sword completely. With this, his dance stopped. Eric needed to work with his rhythm again.
'Kh.' Eric gritted his teeth and leaped back while thinking, 'That slash was supposed to hit his sword, making him use a bit of his strength to block it. During that time, I would be able to deliver the second strike…'
Noel smiled. "Your movement is good, but it's a bit too predictable. I know that it will give you an advantage once the attack connects, but what will you do when your rhythm gets interrupted? Don't forget that the terrain might not be a flatland like this but a jungle where trees, branches or roots might end up tripping you."
"Yes!" Eric answered out loud, understanding Noel's advice. It was the weakness of his Sword Dance.
Since Eric had been stopped, the one that came after him was Erica.
Noel could see her movement had become so fluid like a flowing water. With her intelligence, Erica should know where to go and what to do.
So, stopping her rhythm would be hard.
However, there was a fatal flaw in Erica's ability.
When Erica attacked him, Noel simply waved his sword stronger.
*Bam!*
Their swords clashed, but Erica ended up getting thrown back and almost lost her sword.
"!!!" Erica widened her eyes and fell to the ground.
"It seems you have good coordination with your work, Erica. Though, you still need strength to support your attack. With that kind of weak attack, you can be stopped pretty easily. There are various ways to boost your strength. I don't know which one you like…"
Erica nodded as she already understood what she needed to work on. "I know. I think about using Spiritual Energy to raise my strength since I don't wish to build more muscle on my body…"
"You can also try using speed, momentum, or Spiritual Energy control. Increasing your options might be time consuming but not necessarily a bad thing." Noel smiled before turning to the other kids who hadn't come to him. "Come."
