Novel Full 67 lntense Training [7]
[24 April 2023, 08:00 AM]
[House]
I was in the backyard of the house, swinging [Brahmastra] that I got from Smith yesterday.
After talking about the change of plan to Tina yesterday, obviously, without Chloe’s knowledge, I checked the details of [Brahmastra], and it shocked me.
—–
[Brahmastra +1] [Artifact]
[Composite Attribute: Fire, Light]
The Immortal Blade that slew Rakshasa King Ravana. Originally an arrow to be nocked on a bow shot by Rama.
Special Skill:
– [Immortal Piercer] Transformation
Transform the blade into an arrow to be shot. The arrow will pierce anything and everything.
Activation Cost: 20% wielder’s remaining Mana
– [Immortal Slayer] Grieving Wound
Coat the blade in white Holy Flame. The wound caused by the blade will burn with Holy Flames that negate any regeneration.
Activation Cost: 1% Mana will be consumed each 1 minute
Effect:
– Demon Slayer
Cut Demons easier.-.
– Rakshasa Slayer
Cut anything bigger than the wielder easier.
– Holy Flame
Create a white Holy Flame from the edge of Brahmastra’s blade to inflict a burn to anything it cuts. The flame will disappear in 3 seconds unless it’s supplied by a constant supply of Mana by the wielder.
—–
As expected, it had been Enhanced. Honestly, this blade was already top-notch without any further Enhancement from me. But, it lacked one thing that I needed the most, so I would still enhance this blade.
It also had two special effects, one of which would prove to be really useful for me in the future. One of the special effects was useless in Smith’s hand; maybe that was why he handed his prized sword to me.
The blade was a bit heavy, considering its size. I was in my 970 swings even after one hour of doing this continuously.
Chloe was watching from the balcony on the second floor that connected to her room. I told her I wanted to have some spar after this, and she agreed.
Tina was out because I asked her to collect information about the Demon so that I could focus on my training.
“And that’s it,” I said as I swung the sword for the 1000th.
My body was drenched in sweat, and my track pants were wet from it.
“You’re done?” Chloe asked from above, looking down at my bare body.
Because I was a bit lazy from doing laundry, I chose to train without my clothes. I had nothing to be ashamed of, and because Chloe didn’t seem to mind it, I just did what I was supposed to do when training. Be shirtless.
“Yeah,” I answered Chloe as I took out a towel from my magic bag on my waist. “Let’s go to the underground room and have a spar. You have a wooden spear or something, right?”
“I have a wooden pole,” Chloe answered as she took a wooden pole, around 2 meters in length, from her magic bag and smiled. “I believe this is sufficient?”
“Perfect!”
***
[Underground Area]
We moved to the underground training area. Chloe was wearing easy to move clothes, a tube top, and knee-length jogging pants. Her magic bag was still on her waist, because this item was important for all Awakeners.
She held a wooden pole as she stretched her arms in the air.
“How much strength should I use, Vincent?” She asked as she bent her body to the right, warming up.
“Somewhere around C-Rank if you don’t mind. Don’t make it too easy for me, but don’t use too much strength too.” I answered as I held a wooden sword in my hand. I got this from Smith’s place yesterday for sparring with Chloe.
It felt so light compared to the [Brahmastra] earlier. Maybe its weight was only 1 KG? While [Brahmastra] earlier felt like 5 to 6 KG.
After a few seconds, Chloe gripped the wooden pole tightly as she pointed it at me.
“Anytime you are ready.” She smirked, provoking me.
So she also had this side of her? It was good that she didn’t shy away from fighting even when she was obviously tired of them after being forced to clear dungeons for five years straight.
“Yeah, I am ready.” I put into a normal sword stance that I always did and lunged into Chloe, who stood 3 meters from me.
I used Mana to strengthen my physical abilities. I noticed that my body was stronger when I tried to imitate Smith yesterday, so I did it again today, but even better because I got some tips from him when he explained my training menu yesterday.
Chloe reacted to my speed rather relaxed. She moved her pole to intercept me, but I had already guessed that.
Swoosh– Step–
Stepping to the right, I dodged her attack and swung my sword from below, aiming at her stomach.
Swish–
However, Chloe could respond to my attack easily. Although she limited her strength to match C-Rank Awakener, her senses and reflex were amazing, to the point she could deflect my sword after pulling her attack.
My sword was deflected to the right, making my balance crumble due to an awkward position. She quickly swept my feet, and I fell to the ground, head first. To end the spar, she pointed her pole at my face and said.
“That’s one.” She smiled, pulling her pole away and extending her left hand.
“Hahaha… You’re quite strong.” I took her hand, and she pulled me up as I laughed wryly.
Chloe was indeed strong. Even with me trying my slightly best, she could easily incapacitate me.
I knew the reason, though. I had only a little fighting experience with the sword. Mainly, I used a bow and arrow in the dungeon.
Hence, my Swordsmanship was shit compared to my Archery. Smith’s official training also didn’t start yet, and I only knew a little bit of footwork from him.
If I rated it, my Swordsmanship would be 3 out of 10, while my Archery would be 7 out of 10.
As I stood up, Chloe spoke.
“Your movement is too simple, Vincent.” She said, “Try to go from my side or behind. Use a bit of feint or something.”
“Hmm, I know about that. However, I wanted to try how I fare against experienced fighters by only charging from the front once.” I shrugged my shoulders. “It seems it will not work.”
“Un. It’s too easy to predict.” She answered with a nod. “Also, the way you use Mana to strengthen your body is a bit crude too. It should be like this.”
As Chloe said that, a faint blue glow danced around her body. It was similar to what Smith did, only a bit rough, and she didn’t have the aura that made the atmosphere become heavy.
Unlike when someone flared their Mana, I didn’t even feel any pressure from Chloe. Her Mana only surrounded her body, enhancing her physical ability.
“Condense your Mana and let it flow inside your body. Don’t control it, but guide it. Just let it move naturally.” She explained.
“Hmm, alright. I will try.” I answered, closing my eyes to concentrate.
She explained that I should guide it, not control it. All this time, I tried to control the Mana, so this time, I tried to follow what she said.
‘Let’s try to guide it a little bit.’
Following Chloe’s instruction, I tried to ‘guide’ the Mana in my body instead of ‘control’ it. However, it was harder than it sounded. I didn’t know how to ‘guide’ the Mana.
I could feel it, but I just couldn’t make it move by guiding it. Each time my Mana moved, it was because I controlled it.
I opened my eyes and sighed. “It’s hard.”
Guiding was almost similar to controlling. What was the difference between the two? I was confused, but I should try doing what Chloe suggested. I didn’t really specify how to control Mana in the novel, so it was a bit hard for me to do it.
“Un. It took me three days to master it. You are doing fine, Vincent!” Chloe clenched her fists in front of her chest to encourage me.
“I appreciate the gesture, Chloe.” I smiled at her and patted my wooden sword against my shoulder. “Anyway, shall we continue our spar for now? I can train to guide Mana at night.”
“Yes. Gladly.”
We continued our spar for the next 30 minutes. Chloe gave me some tips to dodge and attack in our spar, and it helped me greatly to fix my movement.
I didn’t try to enhance my body with Mana when sparring because I found out that I did it wrong and focused on my movement.
I became more accustomed to fighting in a close range by just sparring against Chloe seriously for 30 minutes. I felt like I did better than before.
After we finished our spar, Chloe told me that my attack was unnaturally heavy for D-Rank Awakeners.
It seemed like the training menu given by Smith and the training he drilled into me every time I visited the training center had worked.
After knowing that I made some progress, although only a little bit, I continued to train in the underground training area to finish my training menu while Chloe went upstairs to prepare some snacks for me.
***
[09:00 AM]
[Academy]
“That shitty brother of mine. How could he suddenly ask me to infiltrate the Academy!” Tina grumbled as she put her hand on her cheek and leaned against the wall behind the Academy’s main building.
No students visited the place because right behind the main building was surrounded by a fence, so she wasn’t worried about being found.
Normally, she would feel the soft skin of her cheek, but what she felt when she put her hand on her cheek was a cold touch of metal. Surprised, she put her hand away and grumbled.
“Oh right, I used his [Mask of Deceit].”
Tina infiltrated the Academy at Vincent’s request and was given [Mask of Deceit] to mask her face and change her hair color from platinum to brown. Her eyes also changed from amethyst to common blue. She even put on an Academy uniform, so she appeared to be a normal Academy student.
While looking at her reflection in the window on her side, Tina was wondering. ‘It’s so strange. The [Mask of Deceit] masked my face and hair color, even its look. However, when I touched it earlier, I could still feel that it was made from metal.’
The mask looked like a normal mask used by people when they were sick in the reflection.
Even though she was confused by the strange mask given by her brother, Tina was a professional information gatherer that once worked under the Darkest Secret.
So she quickly brushed her thoughts and focused.
‘The Demon is in class 2-C, located on the second floor. My brother’s class is on the first floor. The stairs are a bit away from my brother’s class, so the Demon shouldn’t have been able to feel the subtle Mana that leaked out from my brother’s body during training.’
Tina quickly analyzed the information that she got after she went around the Academy for two hours. If she were asked to pick a strange thing from the information she collected, it would be this.
‘They shouldn’t have met each other because the stairs are located in the opposite direction of the first-year hallway. So, how could the Demon notice my brother Mana? He hid it well, and said that he was found out when training in the classroom. Or maybe, that shitty brother of mine was wrong?’
She hummed, looking at the blue sky. ‘Unfortunately, I still lack some information. But there is no way that shitty brother is wrong about it. After all, his senses are like a beast.’
Tina chuckled at her thoughts. Calling Vincent’s senses similar to a beast was not wrong, considering his Sharpshooter Talent increased his senses to the maximum.
She knew about it. Hence, she trusted her brother.
‘So the Demon must’ve visited the first-year hallway for something. Especially the area around my brother’s classroom, so it noticed my brother’s Mana. I need to investigate it further.’
Stepping forward, Tina fixed her mask that moved slightly when she touched it earlier.
‘I hope the reward that my brother talked about is comparable to the work that I put in. He better be grateful to me!’
Tina jumped across the fence and landed nicely on the other side before walking like a regular student of the Academy.