Chapter 58: Back to Basics
Aziel circled him slowly, boots crushing the desiccated rose stems with each deliberate step. His gaze was penetrating, assessing every aspect of Arthur’s form with the precision that belies his age.
"You aren’t ever gonna be a good swordsman in the conventional term, no matter how much you train," Aziel declared, his voice cutting through the still air.
Arthur was thrown for a small loop after hearing him, breaking his stance in surprise. "What!?" His grip loosened momentarily on the sword hilt, the carefully maintained posture faltering.
Aziel stopped his circling and looked at Arthur sternly, unmoved by the reaction. The dead roses around them seemed to emphasize the harshness of his assessment. "Don’t get your panties in a bunch," he said firmly. "I said in the conventional term, that doesn’t mean you can’t become effective with a sword..." His eyes narrowed slightly. "Now get back in your stance."
Arthur raised an eyebrow but put up no more fight before going back into his stance. The weight of the sword felt heavier now, as if Aziel’s words had added physical mass to the blade. He readjusted his fingers on the hilt, trying to recapture the position he had just been in.
"You aren’t built to be a technical and perfect swordsman, that much I can tell already," Aziel continued, walking through the field of dead flowers, occasionally kicking aside a withered stem. "So instead you’ll be different, you’ll be fast, you’ll use that unique ability of yours and become awkward and unlike anybody else who’s touched a sword." The dead petals swirled around his boots as he moved. "You’ll do things wrong but for you they’ll be right."
Arthur’s confusion grew with Aziel’s odd explanation, but he let him keep talking. Arthur simply stood firm hands gripped tightly on the hilt with his head forward and his mind focused.
"But before you build on this style of swordsmanship you have to at least learn and perfect the basics to some degree..." Aziel’s voice grew firmer, more instructional. "With that being said, show me a downward slash."
Arthur silently nodded and proceeded to slash vertically with the sword. The blade whistled through the air, disturbing a few dried petals that had been carried by the breeze. He did one strike and reassumed his stance, waiting expectantly.