Kingdom Building: Civilization Starts with Divinity-Chapter 79: Movements should be fluid!

"For your next training session, we’ll reverse the roles! I will be on the offensive, and you will be focused solely on reacting and retaliating. You might think this is the same as what we did previously, but let me warn you: Being on the defensive is far harder than being on the offensive. Your goal is to take back the flow of the battle and force me on the defensive."

Alchemy considered his words and nodded. This outlook completely differed from the wars she was used to, in which the attackers constantly worried about supply lines, their flank, the terrain advantage, and several other things.

That wasn’t to say those on the defense didn’t have to worry about any of those, but it was far easier for them to manage.

However, in a small battle, such as a one-on-one, it would be much easier to keep the momentum in your favor if you forced the other person to react rather than reacting yourself.

"Ah, let me also add a caveat. At one point, you must at least manage to rotate yourself without moving while on the ground once. If you can master this ability, even without proper flight, you could attack or counter from any angle without ever compromising your own power."

"You mean like using rotations to generate explosive force?" Alchemy questioned.

"Grahahaha! Exactly! You’re starting to catch on quickly."

Gravana even knew about the physics behind fighting. Granted, having a larger swing to grant you more power wasn’t a complicated concept, ignoring that you’d be leaving yourself open if you took your time winding up every attack.

Although Gravana might be able to do that, he is built like a souls-like boss.

"Alright, I think I understand. I think." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Good... Then let’s..."

Gravana dashed at Alchemy.

"Begin!"

Slamming his fist into the ground as Alchemy narrowly dodged the hit by forcing herself off balance, Gravana aimed a right hook straight at her abdomen, forcing her to kick of the ground and send herself backward into the sky.

While in the sky, she corrected herself, but Gravana didn’t give her a chance to breathe as he was already back in her face. Instead of dodging, Alchemy intentionally met his fist so she’d get launched and gain some distance.

"Well, that was hardly fair." Alchemy scoffed, finally regaining her poise.

Gravana laughed as he continued pushing forward, this time wrapping around Alchemy, only for her to slam her fist into exactly where he’d be, forcing him to pivot to the side and aim for her side.

"Didn’t I tell you? Surprise is the most powerful weapon in the world!"

Without issue, she slipped through his attack, but as has been seen so many times, she failed to strike his gut and was forced to abort.

’I know it’s the point of this, but it feels so irritating that he’s just toying with me. I need to enter his blindspot, but how do I enter the blindspot of someone dozens of times faster than me?!’ She cursed, trying to find an opening.

His punches didn’t hold much weight behind them. Alchemy could simply take the hit, but it was pretty clear that Gravana wanted her to avoid damage as much as possible. He had already gone on a near-hour-long rant about how minimizing the damage you take is more important than dealing the most damage you can.

If you’re dead, you can’t ever deal damage again.

’There has to be something, right? The mentor always intentionally leaves an opening for the pupil to learn, right?’ She continued to curse, pushing her fist into Gravana’s arm from below, narrowly forcing his fist to go over her head.

Capitalizing on the small opening she created for herself, she sent out three blades with her Razor Surge, but Gravana quickly blocked the first and dodged the other two.

’He’s like a god-forsaken train. How can I create an opening? Overpower him. Impossible. Divert his attacks. It’s doable but mostly ineffective. Uhm... Use my small size to get past his defenses. HOW?!’

Every method she considered led to a dead end. It was evident that Gravana’s speed matched Alchemy’s, and his power was significantly higher than her own. However, as he said, having extra limbs or appendages gives a massive advantage.

Alchemy manages to slip past Gravana’s arms, where he could never realistically block without using magic, but then his tail comes out of nowhere and swats her like a fly. Even if she avoids it, it gives him more than enough time to properly retaliate.

Every line she saw, opportunity she made, mistake Gravana didn’t make, everything led to a dead end.

Alchemy lacked the physical strength to get past his defenses and the explosive agility to get into his blindspots.

"You’re too stiff, fool! Movement is fluid; stop waiting your turn to attack!"

Alchemy faltered for a moment, not understanding what Gravana meant. This caused her to get a fist that was half her size slammed into her gut and sent to the ground.

Coughing as she held her stomach in pain, Alchemy struggled to move.

"I noticed it while defending but didn’t think it was this bad. We’ll need to fix your awful habit before we ever worry about using your wings to your advantage."

Pitifully, Alchemy had to crawl to a nearby tree and use it to help herself stand. It was like he suddenly forgot to hold back on that punch in particular.

"Bad habit... What do you mean? Can you please stop being cryptic and just tell me?"

She always hated the "Figure it out yourself while I give you hints" training method. It was stupid on a fundamental level.

It could be argued that it developed problem-solving skills, but if the teacher, or even better, the student, weren’t completely incompetent, that would be an easy skill to hone anyway.

"Think about it. The way you move. They’re growing sharper at a rapid pace, but you like a stiff blade. No matter how sharp you are, you’ll break if you aren’t flexible."

"I get the analogy, but yeah, I don’t get it."

Gravana sighed.

"Fine. Your movements. You dodge, then attack. Dodge, then attack. Why?"

Isn’t that what she was supposed to do?

"If I don’t dodge, I can’t attack. And you said it yourself: I can’t beat an opponent just by dodging."

"Yes, but why are they separate movements?"