Chapter 538: Re-learning Swordsmanship Again

Oh well, there’s actually a summoner hidden among the artificial master level mages here. Although this one is not a dragon, it is still a strong monster. It’s the lava monster that’s similar to the lava monster that I fought back then, but this one seems bigger and stronger.

Since there are no expert level ice mages with us, the battle will be difficult. And I am currently being surrounded by the mohawks, so I can’t fight that lava monster.

“Keep your distance! Don’t fight too close to the monster!” I shouted while in the middle of the enemies’ attack. Though I dodged them and counter attacked to kill one of the mohawks.

I feel like I have became stronger now. The artificial master level mages who were so hard for me to kill back then, I can kill them in one hit. Still, no matter how strong they are, they are still just artificial master level mages. Even if I can break through their magic shield since they are not as strong as real master level mages. At least that’s what I thought.

And now that someone from the cult will report about the existence of me, an Aura user, the cult might send an assassin at the level of master level mage to kill me.

...If it’s at the level of master level mage, it won’t be an assassination. But it’s at the level of massacre as they would kill other people as well.

Well, since I’m going to face them either way, I’ll use this chance to get stronger as well. I will keep on getting stronger in every fight until I can kill even master level mage with just one attack.

.....

Although the real master level mage shouldn’t be as strong as the artificial master level mage physically, their defensive magic should be much stronger. And I need to be able to pierce through that shield.

Thanks to Andro’s intimidation, we have killed more mohawks. But there are still some of them left, and some even managed to broke through and go toward the capital. Once the battle here is over, I’ll get some people return back to the capital. They will prepare the battlefield near the arena. Though I wonder if Angela and Shirley’s fight will still happen? It should be the day after tomorrow, right?

Using the speed of the flying artificial master level mage, they should be arriving at the capital tomorrow afternoon. And possibly, the rest of the mohawks that haven’t come here yet as they are traveling on foot, will arrive at the capital in the morning of the final. That’s just an estimation. Though if they follow the order to kill the kings during the final, they should be waiting for the final match to reach its climax.

Well, sooner or later, Sonia should appear and inform us of the information that Russell received in Varadis. After removing the hypnosis, he said that he will be the one asking the children of what they know. And we will know of their plan. Though that will happen only if those children that we caught know about the information.

And as the artificial master level mages are loyal to their orders, if they were told to wait to kill the kings when the final match started, they will do it.

I keep thinking of what will happen as I swung Victokatana. I have learned spearmanship from the angels, so I’m thinking of learning swordsmanship again here. Hopefully, learning both spearmanship and swordsmanship will help me get stronger. I feel like my spearmanship won’t get any better. And the only thing I can do is improve my strength. That’s why I learned about swordsmanship instead since I can improve my strength anytime I want. I mean anytime I can. It’s not like I can do some pushups in the middle of the war.

Using any kind of weapons to slash, there’s a technique to make the slash sharper and stronger. And that’s what I’m learning from using Victokatana. I hope my slash in using other weapons will get stronger.

Using the spear, I can slash the enemy from further distance. Or I can grab the top half of the spear to make the slash shorter and faster. But for katana, the handle is shorter.

Using this fight, I re-learning again about swordsmanship with Victoria guiding me. She was a swordswoman in her past life, so she knows a thing or two.

“It’s been a while since I teach you some skills. You want to learn them again?” Victoria asked me in the middle of a fight.

“Anything to make me stronger,” I said as I slashed the neck of an artificial master level mage.

They have been experimented so their muscles are stronger, but cutting their necks is easier to do now that I have become stronger, and my move become smoother in every slash.

“That’s a good slash. But you used too much power for that. Try cutting their neck without using much power and only use the technique. Although you are a much stronger Aura user than I was, if you fight me purely with sword technique, you will lose,” Victoria said.

When she’s teaching me, she would become serious and not playing around. Though it was me who loves to play around more.

“Can I just make you sharper?” I asked Victoria.

“No. Use the sharpness that I have now. Even if you use Aura to make it sharper, don’t use it too much. You want to be able to kill master level mage in one hit, right? Learn the proper technique first. It’s good that you have gotten strong enough that we have leeway for you to learn something in the middle of a fight. But you’re not strong enough to defeat real master level mage,” Victoria said.

“Yeah, but I need to make sure the others are safe as well,” I said.

“They should be fine. Ignore them if they are just injured since the angels can heal them. And they need this experience so they can get stronger. Even if their magic levels are weaker, they need this experience,” Victoria said.

She’s right. But when I see three artificial master level mages attacking Veronica, I can’t just stand still. I ignored the mohawks around me, and killed one of the mohawks that were attacking Veronica so she can relax a bit more.

“Thank you, but I can need to handle them alone. Fight your own battle,” Veronica said after I saved her.

“See? I told you that your friends are not weak enough for you to worry about. At this level, even if they got injured, they can still fight. And the angels’ healing should be enough for them to last until the end,” Victoria said.

“Right, sorry. And I even gained more of their attentions instead. Well, it means I have more practice partner. Oh, can you go help the others instead? It will be better that way,” I ordered Veronica.

“...Sure,” she said.

Seems like she noticed that I know she can’t concentrate on the battle. She keeps watching at how the others are doing. And seeing some people fell in the battle one by one and they were getting healed by the angels only to fall again, she just can’t focus on her battle. That’s why I interrupted her fight so she can go help the others.

With how good she is in magic control, she can make several people fly all over the place. Even those without flying magic, will be able to fly according to her will. That’s how good she is.

And now that she’s helping the others, they have more mobility in the air and can fight the enemies freely. Though I need to fight more mohawks in exchange.

“Well, let’s focus on our fight as well,” I said.

“Yeah, sure. Now, you need to train the basic again. You keep using horizontal or diagonal slashes because there were many opponents. But the most basic attack is the vertical slash. And if you are trained well in it, it can be your strongest attack. Unlike the hammer, this time, I won’t change my weight. I will keep the same weight and sharpness of a katana and you need to kill them with vertical slashes. You can dodge their attacks, right?” Victoria asked after giving me some instructions.

“Easily. They are all wind mages, so I can more or less predict how they will attack. Let’s finish things here so we can fight that lava monsters quickly. Although that monster hasn’t killed anyone yet, its own appearance can intimidate our allies. And there aren’t many powerful ice mages with us. I’ll finish this in a flash and kill that lava monster as well,” I said confidently while dodging the enemy’s wind magic.

“...It’s good that you can dodge their magic. But do you have to do that weird footwork?” Victoria asked.

What I’m using is the ostrich’s footwork. It looks like I’m dancing to Victoria, so it’s weird. But this is also the only footwork I know that can close the distance with the opponents easily.

If I use normal footwork, I need to dodge the enemy’s magic further and it’s difficult to get close to them. But with this footwork technique, I can dodge the enemy’s attack with the slightest movement, and get close to the enemy without wasting my stamina too much. So, this is the best option.

“It’s the greatest footwork skill. Don’t complain,” I said.

“But it’s embarrassing to be seen with you when you do it. It’s like you are dancing in the middle of a battle. Sigh...”

Well, can’t help it. No matter how embarrassing it is, winning and surviving is more important.