Stab, and slash. Those were the only ways that Alnea could move his sword. He could, of course, keep adding variations in his movements, increasing the count of basic sword moves to three, four, five, or even eight. Some people went so far as to name thirteen, or even eighteen basic sword moves. But no matter what kind of sword moves there were, they were all just some variation in angles, and strength, along with the intention behind the two most basic moves, slash, and stab.
This was what the scroll had said. And this was what his Aspect had been telling him the past few days, as he had kept employing its help to speed up his practice of swords. Though he did not have any Martial Styles to make the best use out of his Aspect, just by being in mere possession of the Aspect, invoking its properties, his understanding of the sword had jumped quite a few levels in the past few days.
In fact, his improvement was to such an extent, that within just a couple of days of gaining his Aspect, his master had already acceded to his request of letting him practise his sword as he saw fit. After all, the only reason that he had been practising his sword with set rules was because he was completely new to swords. Handling them without any restrictions would have only hurt him. Since he had already gained a basic understanding of the sword though, there was no need for him to follow such set movements.
Rather, by giving up the set movements, and letting his sword flow naturally, his understanding of the gist of sword movements had improved tremendously over the past few days. Which angles would be best suited to attack, or defend from, how to change from an offensive stance to a defensive stance just by slightly twisting his wrists, when to block the attacks of his enemies, and when to parry them…
Such things had just kept coming to him as he had kept swinging his sword, making him feel as if he was best swordsman in the world. In the eyes of his master though, he was still lacking a bit, and needed to practice a little more, before moving on to a real sword, and learning Martial Styles. And though he grumbled a bit, Alnea knew that his master was right. Overconfidence had caused many capable Wanderers to die a premature death. Even his father…
In any case, he was not the first person to have a sword shaped Aspect. And though his Aspect was indeed a bit stronger than the Aspects of other Initial, or even Intermediate Stage False Wanderers, to True Wanderers and above, such Aspects were barely worth mentioning. All of them had such Aspects, if not stronger. The advantage that his Aspect was giving him, their Aspects could give them as well. The way he handled his sword, they could handle it as well. Rather, years, and decades of practice would only have made them better masters of sword. Even amongst the False Wanderers, he was just a novice.
Alnea, however, had something that those other Wanderers did not. His master. With his master guiding him from the side, so what if his proficiency in swords as low at the moment? It would increase soon enough. And once he began learning Martial Styles, no one of the same Stage would be able to stop his sword… Unless they had something just as special as him, but that was impossible. There was only one master in the world. No one could be like her.
Catching glimpses of her satisfied smile from the corner of his eyes, as he went about swinging his sword, Alnea nodded to himself, as he shifted his body to avoid the incoming blow of his imaginary enemy. Shadow fighting, it was called. Since he did not have any enemies to hone his fighting skills with, he could imagine an enemy for himself. It was much more efficient way to practise his sword than just swinging it at empty air. And much more tiring as well. Especially since the enemy he was fighting did not come from his imagination, but from an Arcana that his master had casted.
“You want to swing your sword freely, and as you would like?” his master said, nodding at his words, when he had asked her about shifting away from the set swings. “That does not sound as too bad of an idea… but if you want to swing your sword freely, then why not just swing it at your enemy?”
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And just like that, instead of swinging his sword, while standing in mud, Alnea found himself facing off enemies, while dancing in mud… He had thought that he had a strong base. Even when he fumbled at times, he had never fallen while practising his sword swings. That was until he was jumping around, trying to dodge an attack from his ‘shadow’ enemy. It was only then that he had finally understood why his master had agreed so easily to let him shift away from empty swings.
That, and when he had faced a ‘human’ as his shadow enemy. Swinging his sword at Oren Beasts was easy, but swinging it at humans, especially with the intention to kill, was not something he could accept so easily… at least not yet. He did not know if it was good or a bad thing… Maybe, he knew, but just did not wish to admit it. After all, he had found himself faltering even against the shadows of Heterodox Wanderers. And there could no signs more glaring, asking him to strengthen his resolve.
Things had grown better in the past few days. At the very least, he was not always defending himself. But whenever the time to deliver the final blow came, he would always hesitate a little, and end up losing his initiative. But not today. Not at the moment. A clear conscience, and a Clear Heart, Alnea told himself. As long as he had those, it did not matter what he did. Even if he swung his sword at other humans, as long as he knew that it was the right things to do…
Biting his lips to stay focussed, Alnea jumped back a little to avoid the sword of his ‘shadow’ enemy coming at his throat. In his eagerness though, he jumped with a little too much force, causing him to lose his balance, and get stuck in the muddy ground. Seeing a chance, his enemy did not let it slip past. Using the momentum from the swing of his sword, his enemy turned its body around, adding even more power to its swing, as it brought its sword down to his head.
And as Alnea saw the edge of the sword nearing his head, for some inexplicable reason, the image of his master, with a sad, and mournful look on her face, flashed past his mind. The same look that his mother had, when his father had died. The same look that he had, when his mother had broken his trust. The same look…
Gritting his teeth, Alnea ignored all the resistance within his Heart, and pushed his sword forwards, thrusting it in a stab, piercing his enemy’s heart before the shadowy figure could complete its swing. In the next moment, as always, the shadowy figure disintegrated into countless tiny fragments, before dissolving back into the darkness of the canyons.
“You did a good job, Alnea,” his master said, as she walked up to his side, and gently patted his head, while he heaved heavy breaths. His hands, still outstretched, in the action of stabbing another human’s heart, kept trembling. Even if it was just an illusory figure, a creation of his master’s Arcana, stabbing another human…
“It is alright, Alnea,” his master said, placing her hand over his, gently lowering it down. “It is alright… It is over… You can rest for a while.”
“No…” Alnea said. “It is not time yet.”
“…Mixing rest, with hard work is the key to success.”
“…It is not time yet.”
“You should not—
“Please… master.”
“You… why are you so stubborn?” his master said, shaking her head, before letting out a sigh. “I think I am getting too soft…”
“Master…”
“Forget it. Since you want to practise, then practise. But remember, no matter what form your enemies are in, they will still be your enemies. You should not hesitate against them. And neither should you beat yourself up over hurting them. Do you understand?”
“…Yes, master.”
“Good. Then go ahead. I will be watching your performance.”
Saying so, his master stretched out her hands into the darkness of the canyon, mumbling something under her breath. In the next moment, the darkness around them churned, physically, as some of that darkness broke off from the main body of darkness of the canyon, before coalescing into a humanoid figure. His enemy. The one whom he had to kill.