Chapter 19: Learning how to fight

The construct attacked immediately.

Fast.

Kael’s eyes widened.

He raised his sword.

Clack!

The wooden blades collided. The impact traveled through his arms. Kael’s expression changed. That was stronger than he expected.

The construct stepped forward and attacked again. A horizontal slash came toward his torso. Kael remembered the manual. Don’t meet force with force.

Redirect it.

Kael shifted his feet. His sword touched the incoming blade at an angle. Instead of stopping the attack directly, he guided the sword away from his body. The construct’s blade slid past him. He stepped forward.

Return.

His wooden sword struck the construct’s shoulder. A faint magical mark appeared.

Hit confirmed.

Kael’s eyes brightened.

"It works."

He barely had time to react. The construct immediately attacked again. This time, Kael wasn’t ready. He attempted to redirect the blade, but his reaction was too slow.

Thud!

The wooden sword struck his side. Kael staggered backward. Pain spread across his ribs. The simulation automatically paused.

Training damage registered.

Kael stood still for a moment. He touched his side.

That hurt.

Not enough to injure him seriously, but enough to remind him that this wasn’t some harmless game.

He exhaled slowly.

"So that’s the problem."

He had recognized the attack. He had even understood what he was supposed to do. His body simply hadn’t reacted quickly enough. Kael looked at the construct.

Then he smiled.

"Again."

The simulation resumed. The expressionless opponent attacked once again.

This time, Kael focused not on the sword but on its movement, shoulders, hips, feet, angle of its body, and the shift in its weight.

On Earth, Kael had spent enough time watching sports and action movies to understand something simple.

People didn’t magically teleport their attacks into existence. Every movement had a beginning. The problem was learning to recognize that beginning quickly enough.

The construct swung.

Kael shifted.

He redirected its attack then stepped forward and returned it.

Hit.

The construct recovered and attacked from another angle.

Kael adjusted.

The enemy’s aimed in random directions.

Low.

High.

Diagonal.

Thrust.

Every attack forced him to react differently. Sometimes he succeeded. Sometimes he failed. A few times, the construct’s wooden sword struck him.

Each mistake became information. Kael gradually began noticing patterns. When the construct shifted its weight onto its front foot, certain attacks became more likely.

When its shoulders rotated first, the direction of the strike became easier to predict. When it stepped backward, Kael had to be careful not to chase recklessly.

The Returning Tide Sword was beginning to make sense. But knowing the technique intellectually was one thing. Feeling it during combat was something else entirely.

Kael blocked another strike. This time, his movement was smoother. The wooden blade slid against his. He turned his wrist and redirected the attack. His foot stepped forward. His waist rotated.

Then, he returned it.

Thud.

Hit confirmed.

Kael smiled.

"There."

He finally felt it.

The movement wasn’t something he was forcing anymore. His body was beginning to understand it. The stationary dummy had taught him the forms, but the simulation was teaching him the technique.

There was a difference.

Memorizing the movements was only the beginning. Using them against someone who actively tried to hit him was where true mastery began.

The construct attacked with another horizontal slash. Kael stepped inside the attack instead of retreating. The wooden blade passed beside his shoulder. He rotated his waist. His sword struck the construct’s chest.

Hit confirmed.

Kael’s breathing started to feel rough. But he was smiling.

"Again."

The construct attacked once again.

He responded.

The training continued until the simulation finally ended. The construct dissolved into countless particles of light. Silence returned to the chamber. Kael stood in the center of the arena, breathing heavily.

His body was drenched in sweat. Yet he felt strangely satisfied. He looked down at his wooden sword.

"So that’s what I was missing."

Outside the chamber, Elias stared through the observation window. His expression was one of disbelief.

"Kael, that was awesome!"

Kael looked toward him and smiled.

"What kind of technique was that?"

Elias pointed toward the arena.

"When you did it against the training dummy on the eastern training ground, I thought you were practicing some weird sword style. But it looked completely different this time."

Kael wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"It’s the Returning Tide Sword."

"Really?"

Kael nodded.

"Why did it look so much better?" Elias murmured.

He couldn’t believe it was the same technique mocked by everyone as something useless.

Kael glanced back at the empty arena.

"Because I was finally fighting something that moves."

Elias blinked.

"Oh."

Kael laughed softly.

"It’s like practicing basketball by throwing the ball at an empty hoop. You can improve your shooting, but that doesn’t mean you know how to play against another team."

Elias considered the analogy.

"That actually makes sense."

"Good."

Kael looked at his sword.

"I can memorize the forms perfectly, but an opponent isn’t going to stand there and politely wait for me to perform them."

That was the biggest realization he had gained from the simulation. The Returning Tide Sword wasn’t a collection of seven movements. It was a combat principle. The forms were simply the foundation. The real technique began when an opponent attacked.

Kael had spent days trying to make the movements look right. Now he needed to make them work. And that would require far more practice.

"Still," Kael said, "I have a long way to go."

Elias nodded.

"That’s true."

Neither of them noticed the figure standing in the VIP observation lounge above the chamber.

Professor Magnus had been watching the entire session. A smile rested on his face. He had originally intended to observe Kael for only a few minutes. Instead, he had stayed far longer than planned.

The young man’s performance had surprised him. Kael had not simply selected a technique at random. He had correctly identified his weakness, chosen an appropriate training method, tested the technique against a controlled opponent, analyzed his mistakes, and adjusted his approach.

More importantly, he hadn’t rushed to increase the difficulty just to prove himself. That was unusual. Most talented students wanted to demonstrate how strong they were.

Kael seemed more interested in discovering how weak he still was. Professor Magnus found that far more promising.

"The boy really does know how to admit his weaknesses and knows how to improve them."

He watched Kael leave the arena.

There was something almost refreshing about the young man’s approach. Kael did not appear obsessed with looking impressive. He simply wanted results.

Professor Magnus glanced at the time displayed on his wristwatch. His expression immediately changed.

"Ah."

He sighed.

His departure for the Royal Capital had already been delayed by more than an hour. He had promised himself that he would leave after observing Kael’s first session. Then he decided to stay for another few minutes. Then another. Now he was seriously late.

Professor Magnus shook his head.

"I’ll have to leave."

He gave the chamber one final glance before turning away. Kael remained completely unaware that anyone had been observing him. He returned to the terminal.

His eyes immediately fell upon the difficulty settings.

Opponent Rank: Beginner

Kael stared at it for several seconds. Then he changed it.

Intermediate.

Elias noticed.

"You’re increasing the difficulty already?"

Kael nodded.

"The first test was successful."

He selected another option.

Behavior: Aggressive.

Elias stared at him.

"Wait. Aggressive?"

Kael looked at him.

"I need to see whether I can actually use the technique against someone who isn’t going to give me time to think."

"You just finished a fight."

"And I learned something."

Kael looked toward the chamber.

"The beginner opponent gave me enough room to understand the technique." His expression became serious. "Now I need to know how much of that understanding I can keep when the pressure increases."

Elias scratched his head.

"You really don’t like taking breaks, do you?"

Kael considered the question.

"I do."

He paused.

"I’m just not finished yet."

Elias laughed.

"That’s not an answer."

"It is in my head."

Kael turned back to the terminal. He wasn’t interested in becoming strong for the sake of being strong. He had been given a second life in a world where monsters, heroes, villains, magic, and supernatural powers were real. He had no intention of wasting that opportunity.

But he also wasn’t going to fool himself. He wasn’t the strongest student in the academy. He wasn’t some secret genius who could master everything instantly. There were students who had trained since childhood. There were people with superior bloodlines, better physiques, greater talent, and far more combat experience. Kael couldn’t control any of that.

What he could control was how he trained. If he could systematically identify his weaknesses and eliminate them one by one, then eventually the gap between him and those people would become smaller.

The terminal displayed a confirmation.

Proceed with Intermediate Simulation?

Kael pressed confirm. The magical formations beneath the chamber activated once more. Blue light spread across the floor.

This time, the construct that appeared was different. It was larger and looked heavier.

Its wooden sword was longer, and its stance was completely different from the previous opponent. Even before it moved, Kael could feel the pressure.

His grip tightened around his sword. His heart began beating faster. For the first time since learning the Returning Tide Sword, he felt genuinely excited. This was what he had been looking for.

A controlled environment where he could push himself without risking his life. An opponent that could attack him hundreds of times. A place where he could fail, analyze those failures, and try again.

On Earth, he would have considered such technology revolutionary. In this world, it was simply another resource available to an academy student.

Kael intended to make full use of it. He lowered his stance. The construct raised its sword. A mechanical voice echoed throughout the chamber.

"Simulation ready."

Kael smiled.

"Come on."

"Begin."

The construct charged at full speed. Kael stepped forward. The Returning Tide Sword began its first true battle. And this time, Kael wasn’t practicing forms.

He was learning how to fight.