474 Chapter 474: Right Before the tournamen (1/2)
Before I go straight into the tournament, perhaps I should have a little flashback on what sort of training I was having both Adrian and Melina undergo. This was probably a few days before the practical exam, during our usual morning training sessions before we went to school.
Both Adrian and Melina were attacking me, as usual, exchanging quick blows with our wooden swords. As usual, I was wielding two bamboo swords – one in each hand – and deflecting the strikes from their shinai with almost effortless ease.
While knocking the both of them back, I raised my two bamboo swords, and they immediately lifted their own shinai to block…
…only for me to kick their feet out from below them and send them sprawling on the ground. My movements were so swift that Adrian couldn't follow, instinctively turning to stare when Melina suddenly toppled over beside him, and then he joined her on the floor.
”You guys really have to learn how to deal with feints,” I informed them coolly as the both of the sat up, staring at me in astonishment.
”Feints?” Melina repeated, puzzled.
”You thought I was going to attack you guys with my swords earlier, didn't you?” I reminded her, and raised my swords for emphasis. ”But just because I look like I'm going to hit you with my blades doesn't necessarily mean I will. I was deceiving you into blocking what appeared to be an attack from below while exploiting your lapse of defenses below and attacking there instead. Diverting your attention away from the real attack by launching a fake one. That's a feint.”
”Oh, right.” Adrian scratched his head and sighed. ”We will need a lot of experience before we'll be able to tell them apart.”
He was smart, I had to give him that.
”But you don't have the luxury of time and experience. Remember, feint attacks can be used by you too. Your opponents during the exam probably wouldn't be used to this.” I grinned, and then returned to being serious. ”Additionally, the point of this lesson is to remind you to always be on your guard. Don't just focus on the attacks you can see. There will be strikes coming from your blind spots, places you don't expect…angles you aren't looking at. Always be cautious, don't overly rely on your eyes alone, and keep your guard up.”
”Yes, Sensei!” Melina didn't seem discouraged, and instead she brightened up and nodded enthusiastically, committing the lesson to memory.
”All right. Again.” I plunged the swords into the dirt and offered them both my hands to pull them back up to their feet. ”And don't hold back. Don't just use physical reinforcement magic. You have spells. Use them.”
”Yeah, Master!”
”Don't call me that,” I snapped at Adrian, but I could already sense him beginning to cast the wooden spells I taught him. Just as well, because he could probably also sense me gathering my own mana for defensive spells. Kicking up both of my wooden swords, I snatched them out of the air and beckoned them both. ”Begin!”
The both of them came from my flanks. Golden mana flared up around Melina as she swung her sword and unleashed a torrent of energy at me. From the other side, razor-sharp leaves spiraled around Adrian's wooden blade before bombarding me. Conjuring a bunch of ice spells, I froze them before they could touch me.
That didn't discourage them. They continued smashing through the frozen remnants of their spells and closed in, their bamboo blades thrusting forward for my vitals.
I deflected them to the side, and allowed them to rush past me. The both of them spun about to deliver a follow-up attack, but I then stomped my foot on the ground and kicked up a flurry of snow that splattered across their faces.
”Eh?!”
”Ugh?!”
The both of them staggered, and before they could defend themselves, they found the cool wood of my bamboo blades pressed against their throats.
Lowering my swords, I smiled and straightened up, allowing them to recover.
”What was that?” Adrian demanded as he wiped his eyes. He then blinked uncomprehendingly at the frost. ”This is…snow?”
”That was mean!” Melina complained and also rubbed at her eyes before shivering a little. ”Cold!”
”Mean?” I repeated, amused. ”I'm just teaching you how to fight.”
”But…but this isn't how the academy taught us to fight!” she protested. I snorted at that.
”Of course they wouldn't. But you think all of your enemies in the future are going to be solely from the academies? Can you guarantee that monsters wouldn't pull this sort of tricks on you? Assassins? Criminal mages?”
”That's…” Melina trailed off, realizing that I was right. I didn't tell her that I was taught the same brutal lesson from my dad, and I was merely repeating what I had learned from him. Instead, I softened my expression and stared at the two of them.
”Adrian, Melina. Why do you think I threw snow into your eyes?”
”Um, perhaps it's because you're a sadist?” Melina asked, looking bewildered. I ended up burying my face in my palm.
”Think back to the previous lesson I just taught you, regarding a feint.”
”Oh!” Adrian struck his palm with a fist, brightening up. ”It's to create an opening! You're taking away our vision so that you can strike us while we're undefended and vulnerable!”
”Exactly.” I favored him with a smile. Though Adrian was not as hardworking and determined as Melina, he was sharp, intelligent and intuitive. ”These are all strategies to force an opening in your opponent's defenses and allow you to deliver an affective attack.”
I then raised one of my bamboo swords and swung it, causing both Adrian and Melina to jump back in reflex, avoiding my blow.
”If I attack you with all my might from the start, attack from the front…you're going to be able to defend yourself more properly, right? That's because you can see it coming. No matter how much strength I put behind my blow, if you can see it coming, you can prepare and avoid it. My attack is so visibly telegraphed in my movements, so you have ample time to react and avoid it. Isn't that correct?”
”Yes, Sensei.” Melina nodded thoughtfully, but she looked a little disheartened. ”Then what should we do instead?”
”Look at me.” I braced myself, holding my wooden sword with both hands (the second one continued to be plunged into the dirt a few centimeters away). ”Can you attack me?”
”Yes, Sensei!” Before Adrian could stop her, Melina was already charging in. She really was a straightforward person. Too straightforward, in fact. Swinging her sword, she tried to strike me from the side, but before she could reach me, I kicked up the second wooden sword, which caused her to skid to a halt from reflex and deflect the unexpected projectile. ”Kuh!”
Before she could fully recover, the wooden sword that I was holding fell atop her head and she cried out in pain, dropping her weapon and clutching her scalp.