Chapter 2904: Realizing Potential (1/2)

”Among swordsmen, the release of sword energy is one of the most important steps to becoming a sword god.” Fred explained as Ketis returned from her match against the overcautious Gelic. ”Some swordmasters are incapable of unleashing it. You can imagine how rare and difficult it is for sword initiates to accomplish something similar at their stage. If the higher ups of our state hasn't paid much attention to you before, then it is definitely different from now! Each sword initiate who can manifest an attack to this degree is a treasure!”

The old scammer was all smiles right now. He had plenty of reasons to be jubilant! The amazing prowess that Ketis had just displayed practically tripled the interest in his sword school!

There were countless people in the Heavensword Association who dreamt of unleashing energy attacks just by swinging their swords. It not only looked awesome, but also solved one of the greatest weaknesses of swordsmen and swordsman mech pilots: lack of range!

Ketis didn't look too happy, though. While she managed to minimize her physical exertion, the sword energy release set back her mental recovery. Sharpie felt a little more deflated than before and it became harder for her to focus her mind.

Everything had a price! Even mystical sword energy attacks had to come from somewhere!

The strange part about this was that she possessed a lot more energy than she expected. She also recharged fairly quickly. She chalked this up to yet another quirk of her unusual state.

That said, when Venerable Dise derived the Executioner technique from a Swordmaiden battle formation, her results were considerably worse.

Unlike the Sword of Lydia, the Executioner was a much more elaborate and advanced technique. It involved several difficult principles that Venerable Dise wouldn't have been able to grasp if she didn't have the luxury of referencing her battle formations!

The technique that Dise passed on to Ketis was very rudimentary and still a work in progress. One of its major flaws was its low efficiency. It took too much energy to unleash the Executioner!

Fred grinned. ”I don't think your future opponents will allow you to pull off this technique again. You can count the number of sword initiates who can propagate sword energy on one hand, maybe two if a couple of them have done a good job at hiding their strength. This means that they will essentially turn themselves into target dummies if they stupidly maintain their distance while you are charging up your attack. They have to get close and keep you occupied.”

”That also plays in my hands.” Ketis confidently responded. ”The entire reason why I pulled off the Executioner to begin with was because my previous opponent insisted on staying out of my reach. As long as my opponents get close, I can utilize both of my sword styles to cut them apart!”

Learning the Executioner attack neatly solved her greatest weakness in her current state!

She had already formed a complete system. With the extraordinary characteristics of her two sword styles, she was an incredibly formidable threat at point-blank range. Now that she had a ranged solution in her arsenal, not even the fast and mobile types like Ivan Reid posed an insurmountable threat to her anymore!

The matches continued. Each time she stepped onto the arena, she stood proudly and exuded an indomitable vibe. It was as if her silent posture already signalled that she was bound to win the match!

The opponents she faced in the next couple of days became increasingly stronger, but no outliers had appeared for the moment.

This meant that each of them had to face a very difficult dilemma. They could choose to employ a cautious strategy and attempt to leverage their mobility to evade Ketis' attacks. They could also choose to attack her head-on and attempt to take advantage of her temporary weakness to avoid getting hit by her blade.

They all failed.

Ketis was slowly recovering with each day that passed. Fred constantly taught her the ins and outs of how to cultivate her swordsmanship according to the methods of the Heavensword Association. It became easier and easier for her to empower her attacks!

Her mentality also shifted. She frequently switched between the Swordmaiden Sword Style and the Annihilator Sword Style. Both of them possessed their own charm, and channeling them over and over slowly allowed her to develop her own insights in swordsmanship!

The advantage of possessing two separate sword styles was the same as having access to two different design philosophies!

Ketis was able to compare the two. This not only highlighted their common strengths, but also revealed their shortcomings. The contrast was so clear that she could easily recognize what needed to be changed in order to plug the weaknesses of either sword style.

”Maybe… this is how I'll be able to develop my own sword style!”

She was already generating some ideas about this endeavor. Due to her personal inclinations, she still planned to retain much of the Swordmaiden Sword Style. This would always be her starting point and anchor.

Every other sword style should be subordinate to her original style. Ketis did not intend to adopt the Annihilator Sword Style wholesale. Instead, she was content with plucking the most comfortable and desirable fruits from this tree.

She had to be very careful about this. Fred already warned her that combining sword styles mostly failed because of lack of compatibility!

This was also why there was no habit of directly exchanging techniques between sword schools. At most, the scriptures of their rivals could be used as reference material.

She continued to study, listen and read. She not only learned a wealth of knowledge from Fred, but also worked together with Venerable Dise to refine her two empowered moves.

Both the Sword of Lydia and the Executioner techniques became more controllable!

While her performance in the arena did not shift that much, secretly her combat prowess had soared!

She did not magically gain a lot of additional strength.

Instead, she was making better use of her existing potential. Her previous 'breakthrough' substantially increased her capacity, but it took a lot of time and effort to get accustomed to the new possibilities.

”I'm not sure I can still call myself a fake sword initiate anymore.”

At some point, Ketis was able to replicate some of the charm of her two sword styles without leveraging Sharpie's help!