Chapter 5: Anti-Magic Swordplay

Everyday, Kensei would go for private lessons on anti-magic swordplay with Marianne. It was an ancient way of fighting magic with physical weapons. The main focus was using one’s mental energy to cut through the opponent’s mental energy. However, this means that one must have a very fine control his his mental energy and be able to both see and feel the weakness of the opponent’s mental energy. This is one reason why, only those who have great talent in both weapon and mental energy can learn anti-magic weapons techniques.

Mental energy is the basis of all magic, as it means the willpower and mental capacity of the user. Despite that, there are many other ways to use magic, such as through mediums or catalysts. However, no magic used with those could compare to the true might of magic used and created by mental energy, for using one’s will to subvert the heavens is the the strongest form of power. Everyone is born with differing quantity and quality of mental enegy, which usually means how much magic can one use. Despite this, thousands of years of research into magic has allowed the creation of various methods to cultivate and strengthen one’s mental energy.

Some of these techniques can be in the form of meditation or breathing, much like martial arts. Kensei’s technique would actually be a higher tiered technique that involves meditation, breathing and control of one’s body. Hearing all this explanation, Kensei secretly wondered about his mother’s background, having so many high level skills and techniques at her disposal.

“Master, since mental energy is the basis of magic, wouldn’t that mean we are using magic to cut magic?” Kensei asked with a puzzled expression.

“In a way, yes it is using magic. However, the difference is that instead of willing the surrounding elements or energy, you are using raw mental energy at it’s finest to cut through the enemy’s magic. Simply put, you will overwhelm the enemy’s already weakened mental energy, which has been weakened by controlling the magic, and cut through the magic, thus negating it.” Marianne explained.

“If that is the case, wouldn’t we also received some damage too? Since we will be using only mental energy to cut through magic and overwhelm the enemy’s mental energy.” Kensei continued.

“Although you are using only mental energy, you won’t really feel any damage, as your mental energy is meant to disperse magic. This is because you are basically dissipating magic back into a neutral state as opposed to trying to take control of it.” Marianne explained with a pleased expression.

Thanks to this, Kensei had a better understanding of the principles behind anti-magic swordplay. However, before he can even truly begin training in the techniques, he need to learn on controlling and cultivating his mental energy. Marianne taught him the basic cultivating mental energy techniques first, and instructed him to listen carefully in his magic classes, so that he would have a better understanding of mental energy and its relation to magic. When Kensei couldn’t understand what the teacher was saying, he would turn to Sheryl and Freya, as they had learnt and understood mental energy and magic from young.

One month after he began learning from Marianne, his training began to include all of the basic forms of swordplay, which he practiced diligently. What surprised Marianne was that he actually became one with the sword, which proved that he was truly suited for swordplay. With this, she instructed him to try and put his mental energy into his limbs while practicing the basic forms. As Kensei tried, he realized that he could not move his mental energy at will easily, as this was a different form of energy which was linked to his mind.

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With each passing day, Kensei began to be able to move his mental energy with more ease, as he had practiced and meditated everyday without fail. As long as he had time, he would jus practice no matter where he is or what is happening around him. This had also earned the moniker of the Fool, as his movements and expressions are strange whenever he was practicing around others. Even so, his efforts are starting to pay off as he could feel the strands of mental energy slowly flowing into his limbs, strengthening his muscles. This strengthening effect only lasted as long as mental energy is supplied to the intended areas, meaning that it is useless for long sustained fight, and should be used in bursts. With this understanding, it meant that ans anti-magic fighter must fight while thinking well ahead of the opponent.

“Master, since it is exhausting to move mental energy about, does it mean that we coat our weapons with mental energy at the last moment before contact?” Kensei asked Marianne.

“Yes, even the most talented anti-magic warriors must quickly react when to use his mental energy, as you are using your mind to direct it. This means that you are multi-tasking your mind on mental energy usage, fighting the enemy and thinking ahead of the enemy, which is not easy compared to others.” Marianne replied.

An anti-magic warrior has to multi-task in the heat of battle, which in turn led to me fact that most, if not all, anti-magic warriors are intelligent and adaptable. Marianne went on to explain that due to multi-tasking their minds, anti-magic warriors have a tendency to develop a habit of thinking a few trains of thoughts at a time. This has also caused people to have a perception that anti-magic warriors are either aloof or eccentric. It has been known that some have truly gone insane and had to be killed, lest they massacre the innocents.

After two months of starting his training, Kensei have begun to infuse mental energy into the sword. It was many times more harder, as he have to move his mental energy through his arms and hands onto an object. For the first few times, he actually fell unconscious from exhausting his mental energy, as he had never done external infusion before. Though minimal, the successful infusion meant that his training had paid off, and that what he needs to do is to increase both the quantity and quality of the mental energy infused into the blade. This also marked the beginning of him learning the techniques of the Anti-Magic Swordplay from Marianne.

For starters, she had him simply slash while infusing mental energy to the blade in the shortest possible time. She would then cast a very weak wind magic, Wind Arrow, for him to try to cut through. It was casted at the weakest possible strength, causing only a bit of a pain to Kensei. This has also caused him to start having bruises all over, but he paid no mind to this as he trained diligently so as not to fail his master’s expectations.

And soon enough, four months have passed since he entered the academy and within this four months, he had experienced many things. He gained friends, made some enemies and even got a master. However, as he laid on his bed, he thought back about the day he last saw his family. That thick stench of death and blood that filled the air. The more he thought on that day, the more restless he became. Kensei stood up from his bed and went to the training halls and started to practice his anti-magic swordplay drills, hoping to calm and still his mind from that day.

Unknown to him, someone was also there in the training halls, staring at Kensei’s training. It was Sheryl Glace, who was simply taking a walk, taking a break from studying. As she looked on, she could see restlessness and a tinge of sorrow in his eyes. This made her wonder if this guy had a tragic childhood, or that he had just lost someone dear to him. Even if she didn’t know, she could only stare at him.