Chapter 62: Training
The dull weight of the standard training sword in my hand felt utterly inadequate after the ethereal lightness of the Azurine Blade. Herald stood before me, his stance perfect, his presence radiating an almost palpable aura of mastery. His left eye, thankfully, remained shut, sparing me the suffocating pressure of his full power. But even without it, the sheer force of his presence was overwhelming.
"Now," Herald said, his voice calm, yet utterly definitive, "let us begin your true training. Show me what you have learned. Show me you can go beyond the Novice realm."
My heart pounded. This wasn’t just sparring with a manor guard. This was training with one of the strongest character in the novel, a man who had casually shattered an A-tier artifact. I took my own stance, the Front Guard, trying to mimic the perfect form I had seen in my mind’s eye from the novel’s illustrations. My grip on the sword was firm, my knuckles tight.
Herald moved first. Not with the blinding speed he had displayed against Lord Sapphire, but with a deliberate, almost relaxed pace. His blade, a simple steel training sword like mine, moved with deceptive slowness. It was a feint, a probe, designed to test my reactions. I parried, my blade meeting his with a dull clang. The impact vibrated up my arm.
He continued, his attacks relentless, yet controlled. He wasn’t trying to hurt me, not yet. He was dissecting my every move, exposing every flaw in my rudimentary technique. He would strike, then pause, his blade resting inches from my chest, my arm, my leg.
"Your stance is too wide," he would murmur, his voice flat. "You telegraph your intentions. Your footwork is clumsy. Your parry lacks conviction."
Each critique was precise, cutting straight to the point. I tried to correct them, to adjust my stance, to tighten my guard, to anticipate his next move. But it was like trying to catch smoke. My mind, sharp as it was, couldn’t keep up with his subtle movements, his effortless transitions. My Agility, felt sluggish compared to his fluid movements.
We trained for hours in the confined space of the underground hideout. The air grew thick with the scent of sweat and steel. My muscles ached, my lungs burned, and my arm throbbed relentlessly. Herald, however, remained utterly unruffled, his breathing even, his movements as precise at the end as they were at the beginning. He was a machine, a relentless, tireless teacher.
He drilled me on footwork, on stance, on the proper way to grip the sword, to breathe, to move. He would demonstrate a swing, his movements impossibly perfect, then expect me to replicate it, over and over again, until my body ached with exhaustion. He pushed me beyond anything I thought I was capable of, beyond my physical limits, beyond my mental endurance.
"Again!" he would command, his voice never rising, never showing impatience, only an unwavering expectation. "Your recovery is too slow. Your guard is open. You hesitate."
I would stumble, fall, pick myself up, and try again. The thought of Narrative Redaction, of simply erasing him, filled in my mind like a desperate beacon. But I had zero OP. And even if I had them, I needed this training. I needed to enter the academy. I needed to get stronger. My survival depended on it.
Days blurred into weeks. The routine was brutal, relentless. Wake, train, eat, sleep, repeat. My body transformed. My muscles hardened, my reflexes sharpened, my movements became more fluid, more economical. Herald was an unforgiving teacher, but an incredibly effective one. He pushed me to my breaking point, then pushed me further.
During breaks, I would try to engage him in conversation, to gather more information, to understand his methods, his philosophy. I asked him about mana, about its flow, about how he could wield both sword arts and mage arts. He would offer terse, almost philosophical replies, often leaving me with more questions than answers.