invayne

22 + advanced chapters on https://www.patreon.com/invayne

“A spar? I don’t mind.” I was all for sparing with a sword master. There was much to learn from someone who had a high skill level. My skill was honed by fighting monsters, so I do not know how well I would be able to fight against a sword master.

“Good!” Sir Cliene smiled brightly at my answer. “Follow me. We will move over a bit.”

We moved to a more open area of the training grounds. Sir Cliene walked over to a box that held wooden swords and took two out. “We will use these so we do not get hurt. You can hit me as you wish.”

A wooden sword came flying my way after Sir Cliene tossed it at me. I caught it and held it in my hand. Surprisingly it felt pretty good and did not feel much different than my starting sword.

“You can start at any time. Come at me as if I was going to kill you.” Sir Cliene seemed to want to see my real skill, so I should not let him down. To get the most out of this spar, I will need to give it my all.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before settling my nerves and charging forward. I was not sure how I should really take on a man who was considered a sword master. Just looking at him told me he had no openings. Even though he was just casually standing there, I felt that if I were to strike carelessly, I would lose the match right away. So, in order to hopefully get an edge, I leaned back and came to a skidding stop right in front of Sir Cliene while swinging my sword up toward him.

“Not good enough!” Sir Cliene yelled out as he went to block my strike but instead of following through, I pivoted my foot and spun myself while striking out with my foot, hitting the underside of his arm and spinning my body around, striking out once more.

It was something I did often when fighting monsters that were bigger than me. Striking their claws was a kind of parry that allowed me to do a follow-up strike. The leg was stronger than the arm after all. But this also depended on the monster as well. If the monster was too big and bulky, I could never use it, but against less bulky monsters, it worked well.

*Clank!*

My attack was met with a wooden sword blocking my strike. I frowned slightly and jumped back, watching Sir Cliene’s every movement. I could see the smile on his face as he looked at me. “Very good! To use a feint with your sword in order to force me to strike in the way you want. This is a very good tactic. But your follow-up was too slow. You need to be faster.

“As someone who wields a sword you need to be able to strike out fast and clean. As long as you are able to land a single strike, your opponent will be dead or heavily injured. There is no cutting down an enemy until they are worn out. There is only death in the face of an enemy. It’s either you or them. If you fight a prolonged battle, you are only asking to be defeated.

“Now come again.” Sir Cliene yelled out. I was not one to let my senior wait. I quickly attacked again.

It was really something. No matter how I attacked, he would always block it. His sword was like a phantom. It was as if it teleported to the place I would strike. Even if I caught him off guard, it only lasted for less than a fraction of a second before he was able to block my blow. It kind of makes me feel like I am fighting an unkillable boss.

Of course, it could be said that Sir Cliene had enough health to be a boss. We fought non-stop for an hour before Sir Cliene finally called the match. I had sweat dripping from my hair and was panting heavily. The feeling of exhaustion was overwhelming. Something I did not even realize this game had.

“You did well. Much better than I had ever expected. Thank you for allowing me to fulfill my curiosity. I think you will make a fine swordsman. For your troubles, I do have something I wish to give you. If you do not mind following me.” I did not even get to thank Sir Cliene before he asked me to follow him again.

The training session just now helped me a lot. He allowed me to know many of my own weaknesses and areas I would need to work on later on. Especially when battling other humans. But it made me wonder just how many humans I would be battling in the future.

I followed Sir Cliene to the barrack’s main office. This was his office, a place for him to do his paperwork. He walked over to a large chest that was stashed in the corner and opened it up. “Take these two things.”

I looked at the items before me and was slightly stunned. The first item was a sword, a rare quality sword. And the other was a skill book. Which struck me odd since I did not even know these things existed. “This sword and book are my gifts to you. I want you to study this book and try to get an understanding of what is written within. Once you do, you can come back to me, and I will give you more training.”