Kays Translations

Chapter 16: Astrology is also important (Part two)

“We’ll start by touching on the book’s contents—- have you ever experienced classroom training in swordsmanship?”

“No, this is my first experience.”

My father, Roy, was an extremely practical man, so there was no connection to it at all.

Next, Weiss also taught me the sword, but he also never did classroom work. He taught Ren and Licia his skills as a knight of Leomel with a meticulous plan.

“If you have any difficulty understanding, please feel free to ask me as many questions as you like.”

“Thank you. By the way, does everyone else learning the hard sword technique start with the classroom training?”

“This depends on the teacher, including other schools. I didn’t say that there’s a right way to teach. In my case, however, I believe that theory should accompany actual combat.”

He was looking forward to the instruction, even though he had no experience with it.

Ren bowed his head and asked for a lesson.

The thick book contained information on the origins of the hard sword technique, and Ren was excited to learn about it.

After an hour, Edgar looked at his watch.

“From now on, I’m going to give you a few instructions with some demonstrations.”

A number of swords for training were lined up against the wall.

Edgar told Ren to choose a sword of his choice from among them.

Ren walked over to the wall and looked for the sword that suited him best.

When he was finished, he returned to Edgar’s side.

The sword in his hand was similar in length and weight to the iron magic sword.

“After some warm-up exercises, I’ll ask you to strike it lightly. First, let’s take a look at your swordsmanship”

After being told that, Ren worked on a few preparatory exercises.

After a few minutes he said to Edgar, “Please,” and raised his swords with both hands.

“Whenever you’re ready. Feel free to go ahead and strike as you please.”

However, Ren felt a little averse to the idea of striking with full force and without hesitation at someone he had almost never met before.

If you think about it, he has no memory of swinging a sword seriously since he got Physical Ability UP (Medium). He didn’t want to hurt himself, let alone Edgar, by swinging the sword badly.

Therefore, Ren gradually increased his physical strength to swing the sword.

(—-)

Then he noticed Edgar’s skill to parry his sword with ease and his physical ability which was unflinching.

The sound of their swords clashing with each other echoed through the training hall.

The sound is ear-piercing, a testament to the strength of Ren’s muscles. But Edgar was taking it in stride, nodding and saying, “Hmmm…….”“I see shadows of imperial swordsmanship in your technique.”

“Yes! Weiss-sama taught me imperial swordsmanship on the orders of Lessard-sama, so I think it’s the influence of that!”

“Is that so? Your grip and swing were very refined.”

When he was done complimenting him, Ren said “Thank you very much” and was told to stop swinging his sword.

“It seems I don’t need to teach you the basics of sword handling. You have a good teacher.”

Edgar continued.

“Now, let’s get you acquainted with the basics of hard swordsmanship.”

He held a thick book in his hand, his lips moving with a weightless appearance.

“As you know, martial arts is a concept that exists in all schools. It’s a power that can compensate for those who are not born with magical skills.”

If it uses magic power to activate, and the technique is released through the sword. —- That is martial arts.

Ren knew this, but the concept is slightly different in hard sword techniques.

“For example, there’s the holy sword technique called Light Drop.”

“I know it. I have experienced it firsthand.”

“You know about it? You mean the Demon king’s cult who appeared in the Baldor Mountains? If so, I think it would be easier to talk about it.”

The light drop is a martial art in which the magic power in the sword weakens the opponent’s magical defenses and inflicts damage.

So with the appearance of these two, Ren was forced to fight an uphill battle.

“By magical defense, I mean the power of special metals such as mithril and the defensive performance of skills. Especially the former metal is abundant with magical power, so it’s harder than normal metals and at the same time, it’s resistant to magic.

However.

In the Hard sword technique, we do not consider the light drop to be a martial art technique. If it were a technique of that caliber, it would be a force that should be useable with regular swordsmanship.”

“Ha….haa…..”

“Contrary to the concept of magic defense, the sword must be able to penetrate even without the use of combat skill. Proficiency should be increased to make penetration possible.”

(No wonder hard sword users have such ridiculously high offensive power.)

Painful memories of his gaming days flashed through his mind.

However, he was delighted to think that he could handle it. The reliance on the sword would be a powerful force for himself and for protecting others.

“How can I put that power into the sword?”

“The magic power in the body is to be so delicately kneaded that it surpasses the muscular fibers. The whole body must be charged with such magical power. —- The concept of “cloaking,” which is unique to hard sword technique, is the basis for all of the techniques. Please understand that if you don’t master the “Cloaking”, you won’t be able to master the battle techniques of the hard sword-technique.”

(—- I don’t understand everything from the beginning to the end.)

“Also, cloak is not only an offensive concept. It is an invisible armor that protects the body, just as a metal filled with magic power is strong.”　

It was difficult for me to understand what Edgar was talking about when he said “Cloaking is not just an offensive concept”.

“I heard that you have some skills. How did you first practice using that skill?”

“It started with awareness, as I can recall…….”

The first time I was exposed to summoning a magic sword was when I first summoned the bracelet.

At that time, I thought for a while in my head, “magic sword summoning” and after the bracelet appeared, I thought about the wooden magic sword and so on for countless times.

“The same thing applies to the hard sword technique too. Let’s start from the point of being aware of the power of the sword as I have explained, without thinking about the difficulties of the hard sword technique.”

“I understand that the hard sword technique has the concept of cloaking, and without it, it is not possible to use martial arts. But how can other schools use the techniques without the cloak?”

“Strictly speaking, swordsmen of other schools also use battle techniques by kneading magic power.”

There is a difference between hard swordsmanship and other styles in the use of kneaded magic power.

There are those who describe other schools as having their whole body covered with that magic power, but it’s only for body armor and the like.

In the Holy Sword Technique, for example, the practitioner uses the sword and armor as a medium to deal with the battle techniques.

On the other hand, the hard sword technique is a very different thing, as it’s applied to the entire body.

The major difference between the two is the subtlety with which the magic is handled. The body itself must be cloaked with the power, which requires precise manipulation of muscular movements and breathing.

Edgar said that the body armor covering the body and the body itself are not the same thing.

“Unlike other schools that use a medium, we use everything. We use all that makes us who we are, and we do not rely on any one part.”

“So, in other words, in hard sword technique, you use your own body as a weapon or armor?”

“That’s generally the way I understand it. The talent to use the magic power you have developed in such a way is the quality of hard swordsmanship.”

Therefore, even without using battle techniques, the hard sword user is strong.

Ren finally understood why they are unrivaled in both offense and defense.

It’s one thing to be able to use a sword and another thing to be able to master it.

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