Tiger’s den… no, after barely escaping from Eve’s shop.
The next place I headed to was the guild’s private training ground. I needed to test out the new things I had acquired.
This time, since I wasn’t with Lydia, I could rent a training ground suitable for a third-floor adventurer.
Well, back in the day, I would have just jumped into the labyrinth and fought monsters right away. But now, I can’t do that.
It’s not just because I promised I wouldn’t go in with Lydia and Benny, but also because taking down a third-floor monster alone feels a bit risky.
If I were only facing monsters, I could fight them in the early stages… but exploration tends to come with various variables, right?
What if a bunch of monsters suddenly swarm in, or I run into other adventurers, or I accidentally drop my weapon?
When various issues arise, a third-floor monster is too strong to deal with. I mean, it’s not just strong, it’s too tough, to be exact.
For someone like me, whose style revolves around hit-and-run, these monsters can be quite bothersome.
This time, I had obtained a greatsword, learned greatsword techniques from Lydia, and even pulled out a swordsmanship skill from gacha…
Still, I’m just accustomed to quietly slicing a target’s neck with a dagger.
This is just a matter of familiarity.
Other adventurers probably had similar experiences at an earlier stage than I did.
That’s why they place so much importance on party play, and instead of just one layer, they might hole up in a training ground every time they progress a zone, or even pay guild fees for private lessons with veteran adventurers.
Adventurers put in their effort while the guild has a system to help them out.
Up until now, I’ve had the help of Ellie and others, but soon it might not be enough.
For that reason, I stopped by the guild to rent a training ground.
“Hmm. This isn’t too bad.”
A pretty decent size and facilities. I don’t know for sure, but I guess it’s one of the better ones for third-floor adventurers?
Of course, it doesn’t compare to the training ground allocated to Lydia.
That place was built with the latest techniques from Pangrave all combined together.
“Well, this is enough just for a test.”
I shoved my hands into the pockets of my coat.
Suddenly, space distorted, and a greatsword much larger than the entrance appeared.
Its rough form, made by carving horns, gave off a sensation more akin to rock than metal when I ran my hand down its blade.
The grip in my hands conveyed a feeling similar to the heartbeat of the Earth God I felt on the second floor, and the paradoxical light yet heavy weight made me acutely aware of the existence of my blessing.
“Huh….”
I took a deep breath in and then exhaled it.
The swordsmanship I pulled this time wasn’t something legendary. After all, it’s a 3-star skill, not 4 or 5 stars.
If I had to describe it, it’s probably at the level of a talented knight with decades of experience swinging a sword.
It’s not perfected, but good enough to call it expert-level.
The skills of someone who has reached a certain level usually reflect the direction they pursue.
For a writer, while no one notices when you change your pen name at the early stages, someone with a bit of experience can be identified by their writing style even if they change their pen name.
Establishing one’s own rules and techniques within oneself – that’s probably the benchmark for 3-star skills.
In that sense, Yuren’s swordsmanship could be deemed somewhat unique.
Basically, it’s based on longsword techniques, but it neglects defense and goes all out on offense.
A longsword is a versatile weapon. It can do all the basic things with its blade, like slashing, stabbing, or parrying, and gain an advantage using reach or engage in techniques like sword binding by entangling weapons.
A longsword can do almost anything you can do with a sword, but Yuren’s style is a distorted swordsmanship that abandons all of that and focuses solely on attack.
Of course, it suits my style quite well. More than anything, it focuses on the offense itself rather than the longsword being used, making it easy to adapt to a greatsword or dagger.
I slowly raised the firmly gripped handle. The greatsword, the size of my torso, shot up to the sky as my feet stood firmly on the ground.
Though it may have many openings, it is the most efficient and powerful way to swing a sword: the upper stance. This is the foundation of Yuren’s swordsmanship.
“Let’s give it a try.”
Without any complicated thoughts, I just focused on the whispers within me.
The greatest advantage of gacha isn’t just that knowledge gets etched into my mind, but that skills also get ingrained in my body as if I had long-formed habits.
Of course, to use it effectively, I need to do some studying and practice…
But executing the basics has become as natural as breathing.
Whoosh!
The greatsword sliced through the air, making a heavy sound. The weightiness shifted forward much more than the basics I learned from Lydia, allowing me to put more power into the stance.
But it doesn’t end there. It would be ideal to slice the enemy in one strike, but a longsword is not an overwhelmingly powerful weapon.
And since Yuren’s style is essentially longsword techniques,
The founder Yuren chose to keep swinging the sword continuously.
Normally, the protocol would be to pull back the weapon after swinging it, adjust the stance, and swing again.
That’s why having a stance with fewer openings is important, focusing on breathing and disrupting the opponent’s flow.
However, Yuren’s swordsmanship doesn’t involve such processes. Just swing. Just bend. Just kill.
It’s filled with that single-minded intent, becoming a deadly dance of swords meant for battling humans rather than monsters. As the intent surged forward, my body moved even before I had retrieved the greatsword from the downward strike.
Whoosh—!
The sound of my feet gliding against the training ground echoed. My body turned, shoulders slamming into the imaginary enemy, and as the spin naturally began, I lifted the greatsword.
It seamlessly transitioned into a horizontal slash. That led to a thrust, the thrust became an upward slash, and the upward slash turned into a diagonal slash.
The action of recovering the weapon and adjusting my stance was entirely omitted, and right after swinging the sword, my body moved instinctively to prepare the next swing.
Thus, the barrage of attacks continued. Instead of countering the opponent’s response, it was a reckless approach of attack whenever possible.
After a flurry of sword dancing, I wiped the sweat off with a refreshed feeling.
“Wow.”
It’s not bad. No, it’s actually a good style of swordsmanship. But…
“This is really meant for fighting people…”
No matter how I think about it, it feels like this swordsmanship was never conceived with monsters in mind.
Most monsters are stronger than adventurers.
On the first or second floor, sure, someone with strong physical prowess could overpower monsters after training a bit outside, perhaps even growing a level due to labyrinth rewards.
But past the third floor, that’s absolutely impossible.
The level of monsters increases exponentially, while the growth of adventurers happens sequentially.
So, fighting wildly like Yuren intended is incredibly tough.
It’s not for nothing Lydia said that adventurers are closer to hunters than knights.
Yuren likely spent his whole life fighting humans.
So, it might not be such a good idea to use it as is.
“Guess I have to customize it.”
I had to do it anyway. I also need to adapt the longsword techniques for the greatsword and dagger.
“Maintaining an aggressive stance against monsters all the time is practically unrealistic, but the power is undeniable, so I should focus on creating openings first…”
I muttered to myself, swinging the sword back and forth.
I tried moving as I thought and also swung the sword casually.
Like a blind duck searching for a path, I slowly untangled the bewildering road one step at a time.
Fortunately, although I have no talent in magic, I’ve shown some capability in aura and general movement.
Spending all day just swinging the sword allowed me to grasp some semblance of understanding.
*
Having grown a lot lately, with a sturdier body due to my newfound 3-star swordsmanship, I wondered if swinging a sword all day long was a bit crazy.
Half-crawling and groaning, I made my way back to Fairy and Silver Coin.
Was I trying to keep a promise to return to being an adventurer when my arm grew back? I noticed a large notice on the main door announcing the shop’s impending closure.
A month later? That’s faster than I expected.
Tilting my head, I opened the door to find more customers than usual. And the employees serving wore clothes that exposed more than usual.
“Yikes, Bunny…?”
I had given them the idea, but it was still a sight detrimental to my mental health, so I quickly turned my head and headed toward the counter.
There, I found Lydia and Benny already chatting with Ellie, looking quite lively.
From the bits I caught, they seemed to be talking about how glad they were that I was healing, and then if we could finally tackle the dungeon together.
Given that the chair was too hard for my terribly worn-out body, I plopped myself onto Lydia’s lap.
Then, between the three of them, I raised my lips in a sly smile.
“We’ll go to the third floor…”
“Jonah, you smell like sweat.”
“…let’s go catch the layer guardian of the third floor.”
I said, marking my territory by rubbing my body against Lydia.
