Chapter 161: A Force More Than Capable of Facing Demonic Beasts
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 161: A Force More Than Capable of Facing Demonic Beasts
The foundation of the Heavy Sword Style was weight and power.
"Just crush them with sheer power."
"Smash them with strength."
"Close the distance and strike with force."
"Put your weight into the blow."
"Make sure the opponent doesn't even dare to dodge."
These were the words Ragna had often repeated. Whether facing a spear or confronting a shield, his answer to almost any situation usually boiled down to that simple philosophy.
The Orthodox Sword Style was different.
"Refine your form, and drive the opponent into a corner with your intent."
Luagarne taught from the core outward. Her method of starting with the essentials before adding finer details was incredibly efficient. Encrid had heard many times that a Frok could sometimes make the finest swordsmanship teacher.
The contrast is clear.
There was a stark difference between her and the squad members who had taught him. It wasn't that the squad members were bad; in fact, their style had suited Encrid better at the time. Rolling around and learning with his body was painful, but it was simpler.
Rough, but straightforward.
He realized just how accustomed he had become to learning in such a harsh, unrefined manner. Regardless, Luagarne was a Frok who knew how to teach properly, and Encrid knew how to learn. He listened with everything he had.
If there was one difference from before...
I can keep up now.
There had been a time when he couldn't do a thing, no matter how hard he listened or struggled. Now, those days were nothing but a memory.
The Isolation Technique was, ultimately, the art of controlling one's own body at will. It was a technique that demanded mastery down to a single strand of muscle. To this, Blade's Sense and Single-Point Focus were added. Finally, the Beast's Heart provided the necessary boldness and composure.
He realized it anew.
These four are the core of my talent.
They were things of his own, earned through sheer effort—the nourishment provided by those who had stood by his side. Because he had chewed, tasted, and delved deep into that nourishment, he had arrived at this very day. Because of the days he had lived through repeatedly, he was now able to follow the Frok's teachings.
That didn't mean he had suddenly become a genius. It just meant he was better than he had been.
Since Luagarne already knew of Encrid's dismal talent, she was neither frustrated nor surprised anymore. She remained calm and silent, simply teaching. In the process, a wealth of common knowledge and swordsmanship lore slipped out. Luagarne was highly knowledgeable.
"There is a saying: the Swift Sword is the easiest for a beginner to learn, but the Orthodox Sword is the best for dealing with a beginner."
Focusing on speed was easy to pick up. And against an opponent weaker than oneself, the Orthodox Sword would win ninety-eight times out of a hundred.
Then, what was strongest when facing an opponent more powerful than oneself?
"The Heavy Sword and the Soft Sword are advantageous. If the opponent is a careless fool, the Swift Sword is good. If they are cowardly and suspicious, the Orthodox Sword is fine. But if we are talking about the absolute most advantageous, I would choose the Illusion Sword."
A sword that deceived and bewitched the opponent's eyes.
Luagarne's words implied that while all five styles of swordsmanship had their merits, there was no single correct answer. How could anything in the world have a fixed answer? It was a perspective born of temperament, philosophy, and personal experience. It was equivalent to saying that the person mattered more than the style.
To put it simply:
"When you meet someone stronger than you, the quick-witted and fast-footed one has the greatest advantage."
Gurgle, gurgle!
Luagarne laughed as she spoke. Encrid was slowly getting used to the Frok's laughter. Knowing that they expressed their emotions by puffing out their cheeks was one thing, but experiencing it firsthand over such a long period was quite another.
"There's also a story that the Heavy Sword Style was originally created to fight monsters and demonic beasts. Doesn't that seem about right?"
"The Orthodox Sword pairs well with the Soft Sword, and the Heavy Sword pairs with the Swift Sword. Only the Illusion Sword wanders alone."
"As you master the sword, other styles will naturally stick to your hands. But the best way is to master them all in a rounded fashion. Your strengths will improve on their own. But since that doesn't seem to apply to you, you'll have to train even more diligently."
She offered advice unsparingly from her subjective viewpoint.
"When you slashed that wolf demonic beast earlier, you should have struck horizontally, not vertically. If you had, you wouldn't have that mark near your left arm right now. You should have shifted your center of gravity to your right foot and deflected it with the Soft Sword Style. To be more precise, it goes like this."
She repeatedly demonstrated and gave advice after every battle.
"Now, like this. Try again. While blocking this."
Repeated training followed. Luagarne held her sword and swung it herself, recreating the exact situations they had faced. Even while doing so, she didn't slow her pace. The teachings were carved into every moment—meal times, dawn, during night watch, and right before sleep. At every moment, Encrid focused, digging deep to learn.
"Your reaction is slow. You saw it with your eyes. Then you should have dodged. Or you could have blocked it with your sword first."
Slash!
This happened when they faced three hyena demonic beasts. They were creatures that became incredibly dangerous in packs, but three were no trouble at all, so he stepped forward. Though the fight ended with only a scratch on his flank, Luagarne pointed out his mistakes.
Encrid accepted them. The thoughts that arose as he accepted her critique were specifically triggered by her words. When pointed out the same thing countless times, one was bound to face the problem head-on.
Sense of Evasion.
Sachsen had taught him, but he had yet to fully integrate it into his body.
Did they call it coordination?
The more he learned, the more there was to master. The Sense of Evasion was one of those things he had yet to grasp. Through training his dynamic vision, the enemy's movements were several times clearer to his eyes than before.
For instance, as a ghoul swung its arm with a whoosh, he could anticipate the trajectory and point of impact beforehand.
"The Orthodox Sword shines by predicting the opponent's movements."
Because he could see it, it was predictable. He swung his sword accordingly. Just as he intended, he drew his sword up from where it had been lowered to his bottom right, tracing a long arc. The ghoul's arm, caught by the blade, split wide open.
Raising the sword directly over his crown, he rotated his wrist, pulled back, and swung forward in a vertical downward slash. The ghoul's head split diagonally down the middle. Encrid's sword split the skull and cleaved through the collarbone.
The sword stopped exactly there. Encrid exerted force to stop it on purpose, since cleaving down to the heart in front of a Frok was considered bad manners.
Thud.
He kicked the ghoul away to pull his sword out. The fight had ended in just two slashes.
"Not bad," was Luagarne's evaluation.
From then on, Encrid immersed himself in the Sense of Evasion and the basics of the Orthodox Sword Style. As for the Sense of Evasion...
I can't even get a feel for it.
He understood the concept and the training method, but just because one learned something didn't mean it would immediately stick to the body. That was a truth he had already learned through experience. It was similar to when he first learned the Beast's Heart, or perhaps Single-Point Focus.
How had he learned back then? For one, he had realized it by experiencing death. For the other, he had needed the method of a dullard, not a genius.
Did he need a similar environment this time as well? If his yearning boiled over, he might have wished for the Wall. He might have wanted the Ferryman to do something. But Encrid didn't keep such things in mind. As always, he simply did his best in the environment he was given. That was who Encrid was.
Since the monsters and demonic beasts that popped up at every turn were excellent examiners, Encrid would draw his sword, secretly welcoming them. But...
"Again?"
Finn spoke up, her voice laced with irritation as they crossed a hill covered in thorn bushes. She had just spotted another pack of demonic beasts appearing before them.
"Is this land under the influence of some Demon Realm? Dammit, how do monsters show up this often?"
It was anger. Clear, undeniable anger. Monsters and demonic beasts couldn't understand human speech, so there had to be a reason for her to vent such rage at them. To put it simply, she wasn't actually angry at the monsters.
At first, he wondered what was wrong with her, but Encrid quickly realized the things he had ignored while immersed in his training. He had thought it was good that monsters appeared frequently because they made great training targets, but...
"I figured she was about to snap," Krais muttered beside him.
Gurgle.
The Frok also puffed her cheeks in agreement.
"Grr!"
Esther sneezed.
Finn was a ranger. What did rangers do? Pathfinders found the path. Map Makers drew the maps. And rangers were the ones who led the party along safe roads.
Why had the Glacier Rangers, who protected the glaciers, made a name for themselves across the continent? Why were they looked upon with awe? Because they were people who survived in deep forests, bitter cold comparable to the Demon Realm, and places where monsters roamed. They were the ultimate survivalists, capable of sensing danger and ensuring the safety of their party.
Finn was not a Glacier Ranger, but she possessed a certain pride in her work. Yet, monsters and demonic beasts appeared everywhere they went. It was only natural for her to feel that her professional abilities were being called into question.
"How many days has it been since we left?" Encrid glanced at the fuming Finn and spoke.
"Three days," the quick-witted Krais replied.
If they walked diligently, it would take twenty days to reach the Pioneer Village. If they boarded a carriage and took the safe road, it would take six to seven days. Though there were paths that required taking risks, with a ranger accompanying them, it should have been a reasonably fast and safe journey.
Before they set off, Finn had even nudged Encrid in the ribs and said, "If we were in a carriage, we could just ignore slow-moving ghouls and keep going, but that's impossible on foot. Still! Honestly, shouldn't you consider yourself lucky to have a ranger like me with you?"
In Encrid's eyes, the image of Finn smiling as she spoke overlapped with the currently furious Finn. She had every right to be angry.
"It's not your fault."
At Encrid's words, Finn let out a long sigh. "Ah, seriously, I don't know what's going on, but I really have nothing to say."
Finn felt wronged. Even now, why had she chosen the thorn-covered hill? Monsters and demonic beasts fundamentally avoided inconvenient routes. Therefore, this place should have been safe. It was a path where bushes thick with thorns blocked the way at every step. Unless one had an exceptional talent for pathfinding, it wasn't an easy place to enter. It was a difficult place to navigate unless one chopped through with a hand axe, and yet...
Look at the demonic beasts before them now. No matter how thick their hides were, would they really come all this way, risking being scratched by thorns, just to attack?
They were spotted hyena demonic beasts, commonly seen in this region. One of them was even limping, though how it had ended up that way was a mystery. Another was dripping blood drop by drop.
"This is unusual," the Frok muttered. To Finn, it sounded like empty consolation.
Encrid didn't care. Instead, he watched the movements of the demonic beasts. Rather than rushing in frantically, the beasts showed caution. Since they were raising their guard and preparing for a fight, Encrid prepared for one as well—namely, putting down his backpack and drawing his sword.
"I'll handle this alone. Stand back."
Encrid stepped forward. There were eight hyena demonic beasts in total. It wasn't a small number, even if one was limping. Normally, facing multiple demonic beasts was dangerous, but no one worried. Over the past three days, they had witnessed the monsters Encrid had slain. This was an insignificant battle.
This time too, Encrid got scratched on the shoulder and almost had his thigh bitten, but by exercising quick wits, he kicked one of the hyenas in the head with his shin guard, easily escaping the crisis.
Two of the eight headed toward the rest of the party, but one had its head split into three by Esther's claws, and the other was kicked in the torso by Luagarne, momentarily gifting the hyena an altitude comparable to a bird's.
It was an astounding technique. Sending it flying through the air rather than bursting its belly with a kick required delicate control of force and skill.
Encrid finished off the hyenas. And so, they continued on their way.
"Ah, seriously!"
Finn's annoyance only grew. This time, it was a pack of striped hyenas.
"They just keep coming like crazy. Seriously," Krais clicked his tongue.
Shring.
Encrid drew his sword once more.
Twenty days since they had left the territory. In front of the party, who had settled by a stream to wash up, about thirteen or fourteen hyena demonic beasts burst out.
It was not a crisis. He had survived even when surrounded by a pack of werewolves. Hyena demonic beasts and werewolves were incomparable.
Crack!
Additionally, there was support from the Frok. The whip struck the ground cleanly.
"I should warm up my hands before they rust," Luagarne said.
It was just as she said. This was merely a light warm-up.
Thud.
Esther also patted the ground with her forepaw, as if protesting that she was there too. Of course, they hadn't forgotten. She was a Lake Panther, a cunning beast capable of understanding human speech.
They were a force more than capable of facing demonic beasts.