Chapter 12 (1/2)
Chapter 12. Bad News (2)
TL: Warriormonk
Editor: Isleidir
Kurotan was swinging his sword fiercely in the training field. Luke had taught him well, and Kurotan was repeating the basic techniques he had learned with an accurate stance.
The other apprentice knights training in the field glanced at Kurotan with curious looks from time to time.
“That’s the apprentice knight Young Master Luke took in on the Eastern frontlines?”
“What a windfall for him, he looks like he’s over thirty years old. I’ve heard he didn’t even offer a payment.”
“Yeah, my stomach would cramp up if I just stood by and watched.”
One of the apprentice knights was looking at Kurotan menacingly. Being the son of a successful merchant, he had only been taken in as an apprentice knight after offering up a large sum in payment.
“Lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He looks like a bandit, but he has virtually no muscles.”
“Look at the scars on his body, he’s sure to have been through a lot of life and death battles.”
“You think so? No matter how I look at it, that’s not a trained body. You can tell just by how he trains only the basics repeatedly.”
The apprentice knights were talking loudly enough for Kurotan to hear. They were obviously trying to rile him up, but Kurotan only continued to swing his sword in silence.
“Is he pretending that he can’t hear us?”
“It looks like he’s more of a coward than he looks.”
It was then that someone broke in to the conversation.
“The reason he’s not responding, is because I a.s.signed him to silent training. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d has no concept of fear.”
The apprentice knights turned to face the new voice and paled.
“Yo-Young Master Luke.”
“When did you arrive?”
Luke received their greetings with a smile.
“He’s tougher than he looks, so try not to p.i.s.s him off… Even I can’t control him when he gets too excited.”
Luke walked over to Kurotan after patting the apprentice knights’ shoulders.
“Your stance isn’t half bad now?”
Kurotan glanced at Luke before replying in a low voice.
“I do not understand why I must repeat these basic movements for training.”
“Yeah? You’re training pretty hard for not understanding why.”
“Because you told me to.”
Luke explained after a smile.
“It’s because swinging a sword while maintaining this stance will amplify the sword’s destructive power.”
“Really?”
“Without a doubt, Esteban swordsmans.h.i.+p is acknowledged throughout the Hansel Kingdom.”
Luke patted the sword strapped to his belt.
“It seems like you have the basics down. Shall we give it a go?”
Kurotan’s eyes lit up immediately.
“You wish to fight?”
“Yes. Come at me with what you’ve been training.”
“All right.”
Kurotan proceeded to take a stance carefully. Having swung around his sword crazily in training for two months, the basics of the Esteban swordsmans.h.i.+p had been somewhat ingrained into his body.
Luke lazily unsheathed his sword.
“Come at me.”
Kurotan threw his body forward soundlessly. Luke blocked the first horizontal strike that viciously swung through the air.
Chwaang!
The sound of metals clas.h.i.+ng spread through the air, and Luke’s eyes narrowed.
‘Well, would you look at this?’
The power and skill behind Kurotan’s sword completely exceeded his expectations. It was only a basic sword move, yet the sword acted like it was alive and was trying to snake its way into his defenses.
“Waaaak!”
Kurotan roared and continued to slash his sword at Luke. Kurotan’s sword attacks defied comparison to the first time that they had fought, and was accurate to a scary degree. Luke turned thoughtful as he noticed the difference.
‘I guess he wasn’t a Great Warrior for nothing. He can pressure me this much with just the basics.”
The techniques being used by Kurotan could only be called the basics of basics in swordsmans.h.i.+p. But the pressure felt by Luke was by no means ordinary. He had originally intended for this to be a light warm up exercise, but Luke had to change his mind not long after the bout began.
Kkaang. Kkaaaang.
Luke’s hand began to go numb after the repeated clashes of swords.
‘It seems I’m creating a monster.’
The apprentice knights that had been hara.s.sing Kurotan earlier were watching on with astounded eyes.
“What the h.e.l.l? The b.a.s.t.a.r.d, he wasn’t a pushover at all!”
“I can’t believe it. How is he pressuring Young Master Luke that much with just basic sword techniques?”
There were also apprentice knights that were trying to downplay Kurotan’s skills.
“Psh. Young Master Luke is just going easy on him”
However, the apprentice knights weren’t the only ones watching the bout. The instructors that had been training them also watched the fierce exchanges between Luke and Kurotan, exclaiming in admiration.
“Young Master Luke’s skills have increased incomparably since he has left. It seems he has built up a lot of experience on the Eastern front lines.”
“Not only that, that apprentice knight is not ordinary either. I can tell he has been through countless life and death battles by his movements.
“It looks that way to me as well. He’s combining basic techniques into continuous attacks on instinct, not something anyone can do.”
Disbelief spread over the faces of the apprentice knights that heard the instructors.
The bout between Luke and Kurotan did not go for long. Kurotan’s stamina had increased a lot with during the two months of hard training, but it was still far from complete.
“Huk, Huuk.”
Kurotan spat out deep gasps of air, and Luke sheathed his sword.
Luke seemed calm on the outside, but his mind was in disarray.
‘s.h.i.+t…’
Luke had almost lost his composure on multiple occasions due to Kurotan’s unpredictable attacks. His sweaty palms gripping the leather handle of the sword proved this.
“Your pressure was intense, but you over strained yourself in the beginning. You need to be able to control the strength behind each of your attacks.”