Whipping the blade around, Norbert twisted with the blade, feeling something come up behind him. Still holding the blade up spinning around, Mark appearing behind him, his blade also drawn. The two blades crashed, the clang of metal filling the air.

Norbert breathed heavily, the sword slanting in his hand as he placed it in his sheath without taking his eyes off Mark. Nodding in response before stepping back and sheathing his sword.

"You have now begun the journey of the swordsman; you won't look like a complete fool the first moment you need it," Mark said, holding his hands behind his back and continuing "Do you know how to care for a blade?"

Norbert gave a shrug replying, "Only slightly; I know how to care for blades like these" Norbert pulled the knife from his belt showing it to Mark. "But nothing to that degree", Norbert finished tapping the sword blade.

Mark nodded in response. "That's good enough for me; the blade you have there can only be sharpened by particular craftsmen; usual methods won't work. That also means it takes longer to get blunt."

Drawing his sword and stepping back, "Now that you can draw the blade, it's time to swing it without losing balance. Please follow me."

Norbert nodded in response, shaking his hands to remove some of his nerves before unsheathing the sword, holding it out, pointed towards the ground with two hands on the blade as he looked towards Mark.

Lifting the blade above his head in one hand, Mark slashed downwards, stopping the blade at Norbert's eye level, pointing at the bridge of his nose. Lifting the sword back up, Mark lowered the blade again, speaking as he slashed downwards again, stopping it in the same place. "The need for control is imperative for swordsman; you need to know exactly how the blade moves through the air and how your body moves in tandem to the blade."

Lifting it, he swung again before resting the blade point down and gesturing his left hand to Norbert, indicating for him to start. Taking a deep breath in and out, Norbert raised the sword above his head; when it was behind Norbert moved it forward, going in a slashing motion.

Trying to stop the blade as Mark had done, Norbert willed the blade to stop, and the weight in motion not responding as it came plummeting to the ground. Norbert's body bent at the hip, sticking his butt out as he tried not to lose his grip on the sword.

Bent at an awkward angle, forming a triangle with his feet and the sword touching the ground. Shuffling forward, Norbert slowly stood up straight until the sword was next to his hip.

Stepping backwards, Norbert raised the blade above his head before swinging down again, unable to completely stop the sword once in motion. The blade nearly cut into his legs. Shaking his arms again to get the nervous jitters out, Norbert raised the sword above his head once more.

Just before swinging, Norbert heard Mark speak the single word "Slowly."

Pausing the blade above his head, Norbert continued the swing, this time doing it slowly and with control.

As he moved the blade steadily until it rested, he pointed at Mark's head, the point moving about and not as steady as the instructor. Arms now shaking, Norbert rested the sword, pointing up before bringing it above his head again, repeating the action.

As Norbert continued to repeat the motion, each one with more confidence and becoming more steady than the last, still unable to hold it steady. Placing the sword tip to the ground, Norbert looked down at the blade, still not understanding how it could weigh so much.

Breathing in, Norbert picked up the blade again before resting it. Thinking of the insane weight of the blade as he continued to breathe in deeply, without thinking, he imagined his arms recovering with the newfound air in his body. Instantaneously, Norbert's arms no longer felt the previous tension and soreness.

Norbert thought about what the endurance elixir did to his body, allowing his muscles replenished instantaneously, allowing him to continue working for longer, just like with the sword practice. Thinking of adapting the idea, but instead of the air recovering the cells allowing each muscle fibre instead of being rejuvenated, their performance and the amount of weight every single one could take that now is enhanced by the elixir.

Knowing that his muscles had already been from the size of his jumps, Norbert now concentrated on that feeling again, but instead of forcing the ground down through his legs, he would control the blade between his hands through the air, against gravity itself.

Moving the sword behind his head, focusing on the muscles in his arms and shoulders, allowing it all to interconnect and form a single system rooting his body in place on the ground, Norbert once more slowly swung forward and stopped the blade at the desired point between Mark's eyes. As Norbert looked down at the blade, it stayed perfectly still in the air like it was resting in a case.

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Snapping Norbert out of his concentration as Mark clapped his hands. The blade once more fell to the ground; Norbert could stop it again before it banged into the ground, once more righting it properly as he looked up.

"Perfect, you really can take some abuse. Now although that is normally a two-handed sword like you have been wielding for you. So please repeat but with only a single hand on the blade."

Norbert closed his eyes, breathing deeply before lifting his left hand from the sword and continuing the operation. Now focusing on enhancing his muscles from the start, Norbert continued the exercise. Up and down the blade went, each time getting slowly steadier.

After the last several attempts, able to hold the sword perfectly still in front of him. Bringing the sword up again, Norbert struck down, this time a bit faster. Overshooting the stopping point but stopping himself from toppling over, Norbert lifted and lowered the sword again.

The subsequent attempts still failed him; Norbert just closed his eyes, focusing only on the blade, raising it above his head. Norbert stepped back with his left foot, left arm going behind him as he twisted his body to the side. His weight was on the back foot as Norbert swung the blade in front of himself, his balance shifting to his right foot.

Stopping the blade where he imagined Mark's face would be, Norbert opened his eyes to look at the blade tip. It had stopped precisely where he wanted it to, resting completely still in the air. He feels his body now balanced, his arm and leg acting as a counterbalance to the sword in his extended arm.

Nodding in satisfaction, Norbert stood up straight again, remembering how his body moved instinctually. Lifting the sword above his head again, Norbert brought it down, this time faster than before, moving his body to support the blade.

With more force than before, Norbert could stop it at the appropriate position, seeing that now it did not continue past it. As Norbert lifted the sword again, trying to see how hard he could swing the blade down, Norbert tried with effort.

CLANG

The sword jumped from his hands at the impact, crashing towards the ground before Norbert could catch it. Watching as it spun hitting the ground. Looking up, Norbert saw Mark, blade out in the way of Norbert's sword strike, stopping it before it rested at the appropriate position.

"Now that you can somewhat control the blade, it is time for you to get used to the jump of a sword and teach you properly now."

Norbert bent over, picking up the sword and resting it on his shoulder, asking, "What do you mean now? What have we been doing this entire time?"

With no expression, Mark replied, "Respecting the blade and confirmation you can wield it. Now I will ask you to hold the blade in a certain position and swipe the way indicated, where I will block you. And this time, please try and hold onto the blade."

Looking up at the sky in frustration, seeing that the sun was now only at its highest point, Norbert looked at Mark, thinking that at least now he would be doing something correctly. Nodding in return, Norbert bumped the blade off his shoulder before positioning it above his head.

"Down straight", Mark replied, Norbert making the sword now be in motion, balancing himself on his feet, the sword swinging downwards, the clang of metal reverberating up his arm as Norbert focused on keeping his grip on the sword, not dropping it this time Norbert felt Mark push against the blade, allowing it to move back up in the starting position above his head.

"Down left" Norbert moved his blade slightly to the right, instead of being in the centre of his head and once more slashed downwards, as what happened last time Norbert saw Mark's sword come up in position before the two blades intercepted each other, now on Norbert's left.

Once more, feeling the resistance, Norbert felt his blade return to the resting position.

***

Like this, the two continued to go through the rest of the day when the sun was nearly touching the horizon. Mark, when the two blades hit, now with much more force than before, his arm, tired from the constant impacts, did not push Norbert's sword back up but let them drop towards the grass.

Norbert looked at Mark, not understanding what was happening, as Mark walked over to Norbert's pack, sitting beside it. Norbert followed, seeing that Obsius was still sitting on the backpack.

Mark asked Norbert, "Can you retrieve your whetstone; I want to confirm your sharpening skills and show you how to sharpen a blade of this size."

Norbert nodded in response, picking up Obsius, who flapped its wings in irritation before its eyes landed on Norbert. Flapping its wings, it flew on Norbert's head before resting again.

Reaching into his backpack and pulling out the whetstone, strop and water skin, Norbert retrieved the knife from his belt, wetting the stone down slightly before sliding the knife against it on an angle.

Once happy with it, Norbert flipped the stone over, wetting the other side before continuing; finally happy with it, Norbert took out the leather strop, sliding the blade against the leather and removing the burs.

Finally, with the sharp edge again, Norbert presented the blade to Mark to inspect. Taking the blade from Norbert, Mark examined the piece of equipment. After several tense moments for Norbert before receiving a nod in return.

Norbert continued sharpening his daggers in the same manner; when he finished with the first side was stopped by a hand from Mark before flipping it over as he explained that it was much needed for a dagger like that before the blade became too delicate and the edge would splinter too easily.

Nodding in return, Mark reached out for the sharpening tools before demonstrating how to sharpen a sword similarly but moving the user's body more to keep the angle correct throughout. With it finally sharpened, Mark stood up, placing the sword back in its sheath, saying, "And now my time is over; it's time for you to begin your next lesson."

Seeing the sun finally set and everyone else returning for dinner before he could even stand up, Norbert heard a voice call out, "Stand up and follow me … please."