459 Chapter 459: More Training (1/2)

As Melina charged at me, her sword flaring with fiery golden mana, I raised my own shinai and parried her strike.

”Hmm?”

At the moment of contact, there was a huge explosion, and the ground beneath my shoes cracked. The sheer force that Melina put behind her blow shattered concrete and almost blew me off my feet. Even so, I managed to hold firm and tried to fling her off, but she did a back flip before counterattacking. I barely managed to dodge her thrust, and I retaliated with a riposte that almost caught her by the back of her neck.

”!!!”

Melina twisted around and fended off my strike, and then she reversed the grip on her sword and tried to strike me. Despite her swift, precise movements, it was too predictable. I had read her movements almost accurately and blocked her strike.

At first I thought she was trying a feint, but she wasn't. Consequently, when my follow-up defense forced her back, she stumbled and fell.

”Whoa!”

”Sorry, Melina! Are you all right?!”

While I rushed over to a fallen Melina, reaching out to help her out, I saw that she was looking downward bitterly. Damn it, did I perhaps go overboard? I should have held back more…

For a few moments, Melina kept her gaze lowered, but then she quickly got back to her feet and smiled brightly, brushing the dust off her gym clothing.

”Don't worry, Sensei! I'm all right! I'm used to this!”

She then strode forward eagerly, almost in my face while clutching her sword tightly, her cheeks flushed in determination.

”Sensei, again! I can still fight!”

I studied her resolute expression for a few seconds, and saw that she looked a little afraid that I would reject her or scorn her…or that I would stop and give up, and then I smiled. Like hell I would do something as stupid as that.

”Yeah, let's do that. Once more!”

Melina obediently retreated ten steps and got ready to attack again. This time, I tried to restrain myself despite the ferocious golden aura that she emanated. The first time she attacked, I was almost caught by surprise. I had thought her stronger than she originally was – and let's be clear, she certainly was strong. In terms of magic…she was powerful, especially because she obviously possessed plenty of mana.

Unfortunately, her practical application of mana into her swordsmanship was a little lacking. She was a bit too clumsy and direct, relying almost on brute force – a stark contrast to the elegant, fluid sword techniques that she was executing. With such opposites clashing against each other, it would be difficult for her to integrate them seamlessly.

For now, I would spar a bit with her and see what other problems she had. Melina charged again, and delivered a perfectly memorized series of strikes that were reminiscent of what I had taught her. They were almost too perfect…except that they felt a bit too robotic. How do I put it? It felt as if she was merely going through the motions.

Clang!

A few more times and a few more exchanges, and Melina was back on the floor. Every time she would get up and challenge me again, and I indulged her for a few more rounds. The more we fought, the more I understood.

Now I realized why there were rumors about Melina being incompetent in swordsmanship, and why her relatives scoff at her attempts to learn it. As I feinted to the left, Melina completely fell for it and I knocked her back, sending her flying.

Melina, despite the fluid and elegant strokes she delivered with her sword, was too rigid. She had committed the sword techniques to memory – to a very impressive degree, yes, but that perfect memorization had ended up being shackles on her. She couldn't stray away from what she had learned, couldn't adapt or change accordingly. Not only that, she was too direct and…honest. She couldn't do any feints, and she was completely deceived by mine, unable to tell apart a ruse from a real attack. While her skills would undoubtedly help her against regular monsters, she would have trouble against a human opponent. Her rigid adherence to what she thought were sacred forms and moves made her extremely predictable and easy to manipulate…as long as one had experience fighting against her, they could so easily counter whatever attacks she threw at them.

”You need to be more adaptable,” I told Melina as she lay sprawled on the ground, panting heavily from the exertion. She could barely speak, her sweat-streaked face pale as a ghost and her matted golden hair pressed to the ground. Watching her, I gave an encouraging smile. ”You've learned the sword techniques well enough and it's clear that you've put in a lot effort, but your attacks are too predictable. And you need to learn how to react to feints.”

”I will do my best, Sensei.”

”I know you will.” I prepared to sit beside her, but Melina forced herself to her feet, smiling eagerly. Somehow she had managed to recover a bit of strength from lying down for a couple of minutes. How it must be like to be young…I really envied her.

”Sensei, again!”

”Nah…that's enough for today.”

”Eh…but I haven't had enough!”

”Maybe you haven't, but I'm afraid your poor wooden sword is done for the day.” I pointed at her broken weapon. She gasped when she saw that there was nothing left of her wooden blade except splinters. Evidently she had infused the wooden sword with way too much mana to the point where it couldn't withstand the power and split apart eventually.

”Um…I'll go get a replacement right away!”

Flustered, Melina made to run toward the shed next to her garden, where all her practice tools and weapons were stored, but I caught her by the collar before she could get very far.

”Nope, you won't. We're done for this morning, at least. Any more training would have to be done tonight.” Pushing up my glasses, I pointed at the sun, which was slowly rising over the horizon and was brightening up the sky into a deep blue. ”Have you forgotten that you have classes at 9am? You should go get ready, wash up, have breakfast and then head to school. I won't have you using my lessons as an excuse to skip class.”

”No, I would never!” Melina looked aghast that I would ever suggest a thing. I merely smiled and shook my head.

”I know you wouldn't. I was joking.”

”Ah…”