Transmigrated As The Final Villain of a Death Game-Chapter 151: Sword Training [ 10 ]

Two days after I started reading the Holy Knight - Vanguard Swordsmanship Technique, I finally memorized the first two forms.

And now, it was finally time to practice everything.

Standing up and doing a quick stretch, I glanced over at Clementine.

She hadn’t done much aside from watching me train for the past two days.

Though she did recite the contents of the enchanting book once or twice, and I managed to pick some things up while reading my own book.

Even so...

"Clementine, do you want to spar?"

She stared at me for a moment, then approached me.

"I’m not really good with the sword."

"That’s fine. Just use your energy. All I wanna do is see how this Bastion Stance works."

"Mmm... Okay."

Clementine glanced around and soon spotted Eric’s wooden sword beside the boulder she sat on.

It was a little smaller than mine, but it was fine.

The two of us stood a few meters from each other.

After reading the forms, I realized the Bastion Stance wasn’t really a stance, but a movement technique.

A movement technique where you always kept your balance, no matter what.

Using that balance, you’d basically float around the battlefield, parrying and countering attacks.

If this was really what all the Holy Knights fought like, then fighting them would definitely be a pain in the ass, which I’m not looking forward to.

"Your stance’s not that bad. Were you watching me before as well?" I asked.

A faint smirk appeared on her face.

"Maybe I did? We’ll see..."

Maybe she’s some kind of swordsmanship prodigy?

Oh well...

After a few seconds, I nodded at her, and she nodded back.

Then, the two of us both kicked off the ground at once, reappearing in front of each other and clashing with our swords.

The force behind Clementine’s sword was intense.

But it’s fine.

After all, the more force an opponent uses, the easier it is for me to counter.

In the split second that our swords clashed, I shifted my posture, causing Clementine’s sword to slide alongside mine, momentarily disrupting her posture.

And with that disruption came my attack as I withdrew my sword and quickly swung it in an arc.

Before Clementine could recover her posture, my sword was already resting at the top of her head.

"I win."

"Ugh..."

Clementine stepped back with a slight frown.

"That wasn’t fun."

"Well, that’s because you don’t know what you’re doing," I replied with a chuckle.

"Still, I kind of hoped the spar would last longer. I saw an opening."

What now?

"You saw an opening?"

"Mhm."

She raised her sword and mimicked my posture.

It was a pretty poor attempt, but I still saw what she was trying to do.

She repeated my movements, and once she was done, she added:

"When you turn like that, you’re too open, no? If an opponent can react fast, or they have two swords, wouldn’t you be killed?"

Ah.

So that’s what she’s worried about.

"Don’t worry, Clementine. I know plenty of variations for all sorts of weapons. As for why the attack was slow... I held back. I could counter your attack the moment our swords connect, and you wouldn’t realize it."

She pouted.

"Let’s have a rematch then."

***

Staring at Clementine, who was laying on the ground in her own puddle of sweat, I could only chuckle.

I wasn’t kidding when I said I held back.

And so, the last ten rematches ended in my favor.

I liked this stance, since it was really easy to use the second form.

Also, it kind of reminded me of kendo a little bit.

Since I learned the first two forms, I could finally switch to learning the Aura Manipulation for Dummies.

Though, right as I was about to take the book out of my dimensional ring, I spotted Eric storming out of the cave and running away with tears in his eyes.

More importantly, he had a small steel sword in his grasp.

Clementine and I just stared at him until, eventually, his figure faded away into the distance.

It wasn’t our place to stop him.

We both knew that.

As for the person who should have stopped him, she stepped out of the cave with a blank expression.

Aliyah glanced around, and after spotting us, she approached us, stopping right in front of me.

"Amon, show me your progress."

It seemed like she wanted to take her mind off Eric.

And so, without arguing or scolding her, I did just that.

I showed her my Sword Intent, Sword Heart, and even the two forms of the Holy Knight Vanguard’s Swordsmanship.

Since I couldn’t show them alone, Clementine helped me.

Once I was done showing everything I learned, I glanced back at Aliyah, who wore a conflicted look.

"It’s good, but maybe a little bland? I can’t sense much originality in your swordsmanship or your intent. If you keep going like this, you’ll never unlock Aura Manipulation."

I tilted my head.

"You’re saying I should create my own swordsmanship?"

"Not necessarily. All you need to do is make the swordsmanship your own. That happens after a lot of practice."

She tapped the hilt of her katana.

"As for Sword Intent, every good swordsman has a specialty. My specialty is cutting everything and anything. That happened because I practiced Sword Intent with sharpness in mind endlessly."

"I see..."

That really was an eye opener.

And she was right.

Although I might have the Sword Saint Gift, I was still just an amateur.

Swordsmanship wasn’t like this back in my old world, after all.

So I needed to practice, practice, and practice even more to develop properly.

For that, I gave Aliyah a bow of gratitude.

And for some reason, so did Clementine.

Seeing that, Aliyah’s conflicted expression grew further, until eventually...

"We’ll be leaving the Pandora Mountain Range tomorrow. Since you mentioned the Divine Healer, we’ll be paying him a visit. Though you must prepare yourself, since the entire mountain range is surrounded by Holy Knights."

"We’re leaving?"

A faint smile appeared on my face.

"Does that mean...?"

"Yes, it does."

Aliyah nodded and slowly unsheathed her katana.

"I allow you to use your energy again."

Then, she pointed her katana at me.

"Since you don’t know how to combine energy and swordsmanship, I’ll be spending the next 24 hours teaching you. Prepare yourself..."