The Limits of Obedience
"Swordsmanship is..." "You. Are you using some kind of self-hypnosis?" The words flew like a sharp arrow, piercing straight into my chest.
Self-hypnosis? There was only one thing he could be referring to. Is he talking about Absolute Obedience? To be sure, I had used Absolute Obedience as a convenient shortcut while learning swordsmanship from Gwen. A style engraved into my body through absolute commands could never be botched or forgotten. Even Gwen had marveled at my learning speed, which was entirely driven by Absolute Obedience.
And he figured that out just by watching me swing a sword? As expected, Libero's eyes were incredibly sharp. But that wasn't the most important part. Does Absolute Obedience have something to do with my limits? It was a thought that had never crossed my mind. After all, Absolute Obedience had only ever been a blessing to me, never a curse. Yet Libero had pierced straight through that preconception.
"You seem to have an idea. Care to share what it is?"
This... I couldn't tell him. I didn't mind him knowing about my inventory or my possession of holy relics, but Absolute Obedience was off-limits. Though I usually treated it as a simple ability to control my body exactly as I willed, in truth, it was the very foundation of my current existence.
"No, I can't tell you. But it's true that I have an idea."
"Is that so? Well, it doesn't matter anyway." He pointed to my sword again. "Can you consciously deactivate this self-hypnosis?"
That was easy enough. I could simply command myself to deactivate it using Absolute Obedience. Of course, it was a shame to discard Gwen's swordsmanship, which I had painstakingly engraved into my muscle memory, but if it meant I could learn Libero's swordsmanship, it was a small price to pay.
Absolute Obedience
I erased the swordsmanship I had memorized through Absolute Obedience. Now, all that remained was the Swordsmanship (B) rank I had possessed from the start, and the theoretical knowledge of the Lidval family's swordsmanship I had learned from Gwen. It might not have seemed like much of a difference, but it was monumental.
"I've deactivated it."
"You have a rather peculiar method of hypnosis. Now, swing your sword."
Following his instruction, I swung my sword.
Whoosh.
The blade cut through the air, weak and listless. Its trajectory was uneven. Even to my own eyes, it was a pathetic strike.
Was I really this bad? I had certainly slain wolves and defeated tavern bandits with this swordsmanship. But returning to this after freely wielding Gwen's advanced techniques through Absolute Obedience... it was an absolute mess. I had foolishly assumed that even if I relied on Absolute Obedience to memorize the movements, my natural skill would gradually improve as I fought. It was a complete miscalculation.
"A pathetic strike. It suits your talent perfectly. No, actually, even this seems a bit too generous for you."
He was right. For Alan Flake, even Swordsmanship (B) was a luxury. I clenched my fists. I felt as though I had been stripped completely naked, exposed for all to see. Yet Libero merely smiled and continued.
"And yet, this is far better than the swordsmanship you showed me earlier."
"What?" Why? To my eyes, there wasn't a single redeeming quality in this strike compared to the previous one. Yet he seemed to prefer this clumsy swing. "Why is that?"
"Of course, in terms of sheer technical proficiency, the previous one was superior. But I am talking about your limits. What you showed me earlier has a very clear ceiling."
He manifested a sword and swung it casually through the air. Though it was a careless swing, the movement was incredibly disciplined and beautiful.
"Compare that to..." He swung the sword again. It followed the exact same trajectory and posture as before. It was equally beautiful, yet there was a distinct difference. "This. Do you feel the difference?"
After mentally retracing the two strikes, I answered honestly. "I can feel a difference. But I don't know exactly what it is."
"I didn't expect you to, anyway. Let me explain." He swung his sword once more. This time, the strike was much slower.
"This is the First Form." The swung sword naturally retracted and thrust forward again. "And this is the Second Form. From here..." He angled the blade and slashed downward. "The Third Form. Let's say, for now, that it consists of these three forms."
He linked the three forms together as seamlessly as flowing water. "Once you reach a certain level of mastery, you must be able to transition between them like this. And going further..." He swung the sword again. It looked similar to before, yet it was subtly different. "It is even possible to introduce variations like this, but that belongs to the realm of talent, so we shall skip it."
He pointed the tip of his sword at me. "However, your self-hypnosis is placing a hard limit on all of that."
He swung. "First, the First Form. Your initiation is half a beat too slow. It probably takes a fraction of a second to summon the movement from your self-hypnosis, doesn't it?"
Then he thrust the sword forward. "And there is a gap between the First and Second Forms. Again, about half a beat. When you take the initiative, the delay in starting the First Form might not feel significant, but the delay between the First and Second Forms is fatal."
He pointed upward. "When we clashed swords earlier up there, your consecutive strikes weren't bad. But because of that subtle half-beat delay between them, I was able to block them with ease."
Finally, he angled his sword and slashed downward, but the trajectory was uniquely fluid. "Lastly, the spontaneous adaptation of swordsmanship. If you keep relying on self-hypnosis, you will never achieve this, not even in a hundred lifetimes. Though, even without it, with your level of talent... well, I have my doubts."
The criticisms poured down like a sudden storm. They targeted the very essence of my trait, Absolute Obedience. It stings, but he's absolutely right. Perhaps I had come here precisely to receive this kind of brutal, accurate critique. It was something even Gwen couldn't do for me.
I recalled my past conversation with Gwen.
"It's certainly impressive, but... something is off."
Back then, even though I was executing the exact same swordsmanship as Gwen, I felt a strange sense of lagging behind. It was a sensation entirely different from a mere difference in Agility stats.
"It's as if you're a beat too slow. It feels unnatural."
"I honestly don't know what the problem is. The only thing I'm sure of is that, with my methods, it's impossible to make you a high-level Hero."
And now, through Libero, I finally understood the reason. To think that Absolute Obedience, of all things, was the culprit. But still... I recalled my pathetic swing from moments ago. Even that clumsy strike was only possible because of Swordsmanship (B), which was already beyond Alan's natural talent. I didn't even want to imagine going back to that after abandoning Absolute Obedience.
"Is there no way to overcome this while still using the hypnosis?"
"None."
"But without even trying..."
Libero pointed his sword at me. "Silence. You were the one who swore not to give up. If you do not discard that hypnosis, you will never reach the goal you spoke of."
I lowered my head. He was right. I felt ashamed of my momentary weakness.
"Still, I won't regret choosing the sword."
Libero smiled, looking almost proud. "Swordsmanship was born from the very beginning to overcome the disparity in strength."
He drew his sword once more and pointed it toward the empty air. "Watch closely."
He closed his eyes and raised his blade.
It was at that exact moment.
What in the world...!
Only then did I truly realize that the swordsmanship the man had shown me so far was nothing. And what he was displaying now was undoubtedly just a tiny fraction of his true power.
"From a point to a line..." The tip of his sword moved slowly, drawing a trajectory. "From a line to space..." I couldn't believe my eyes. The trajectory of his sword rippled, warping the very space around it. "From space..." His sword did not stop there. "To spacetime."
In that instant, I was overwhelmed by a sensation as if time itself had stopped. No, it wasn't just a sensation. The moment he slashed downward, time had truly frozen, if only for a fleeting second. How? The movement itself was a simple downward slash. Yet, with that single strike, he had achieved something transcendent.
What kind of power did he use? Just as I was trying to analyze what force could have caused such a phenomenon, he shattered my thoughts.
"What you just saw required no special power. It is a realm reached purely through swordsmanship."
After a brief hesitation, he added bitterly, "Though, in the end, even I could not reach its absolute peak."
He couldn't hide his bitter expression. But the swordsmanship he had just shown me was more than enough, at least for me. Whether Alan's talent would ever allow me to reach that height, however, remained to be seen.