Chapter 35: Receiving


TL: Scaramochi


***


When I said that, it was Athena who came forward. 


"Then, I'll do it." 


"Aah! Why are you being so obstinate, of course I'm going to do it first!" 


"How can you do it properly if you're so exhausted? Just take a little rest." 


"......." 


Frey was prodding at being outsmarted, but she backed off surprisingly quickly. She is probably aware of it. She is more fatigued than she thinks she is. 


For me, it's amazing that she can still bark that much even after having activated her physical enhancements for so long. 


I hold up my wooden sword, impressed by the amount of physical strength I have. 


"I don't care where you're from, come at me." 


"What's with the wooden sword, are you kidding me?" 


"I'm not making fun of you. I had Mirialia make this for me. Oh, Athena, you can use the sword. Otherwise, there's no point in showing it to you." 


"If you're not careful, you'll die, okay?" 


"That's right. If you take a sword with this, it will cut you in half. But I told you. I'm going to show you how to parry. Well, trust me." 


"Okay, if...... Dale says so, then I believe you. But I'm not going to take it easy on you." 


I'd appreciate it if you did. Because there's no point in doing it if you don't really mean it and really experience the awesomeness of the technique. 


And if you want to get a better sense of what it means to "pass the ball," it's no good if it's sword to sword. It's only when you are fighting with a wooden sword, which is sure to put you at a disadvantage, that you can get a better sense of what it means. 


But I have to be serious this time. Otherwise, I'll die for real....... 


She took a short breath and then came close to me as if she was flying. 


"Ha!" 


Attack from the top. 


Fast and sharp. And beautiful. There are probably not many swordsmen who can execute such a smooth sword stroke. 


I "place" the tip of my wooden sword on the outside of the cut, not on the tip of the sword, but on the side I don't hit it, just attach it. 


And then, without going against the force, I paid it off to the right side in a flowing manner. 


"--?!" 


"Here's one." 


I declare my victory by placing the tip of my wooden sword on Athena's neck as her stance collapses. 


She was upset, so I drew the wooden sword and tapped her on the shoulder and asked. 


"How do you like it? How do you feel about receiving it?" 


"I don't know anything about what happened. I didn't even feel defended, and the next thing I knew I was being dumped on without Dal:......" 


"Do you want me to do it at least one more time?" 


"Yeah, please." 


That's what I'm talking about. 


Athena grips her sword and readies it again, then takes a couple of breaths before slashing. 


This time, she strikes me in the side of the head. 


This choice alone shows that Athena is soft-headed and has good fighting sense. 


If the vertical attack didn't work, she would now attack from the side, which is harder to deal with. That's right, it's harder to attack from the side than from the front. 


But that doesn't matter to me. 


"--? 


I accompany the sword approaching me from the side, from below, and flush it as I push it up. Athena's sword struck out, passing over my forehead. 


"Again!" 


"That's the second one. How about it, did you get it this time somehow?" 


"Yeah ...... I sort of got it." 


She said a little, but she get it. 


I'm shocked. The first time someone did that to me, I was so confused that I lost my temper. Well, I was just a kid at the time. 


But still, Athena is really talented to be able to understand how it works after only two sessions. 


"I'll tell you what it means later. But first, Frey, now you. You should be able to stand up by now, right?" 


"Of course I can, you stupid b*tch! I'm already up and running!" 


Frey guts it out with gusto, but her knees are still laughing. She probably still can't move properly. 


But that's what I was going for. 


It wasn't just the magic control training that kept her activating her physical enhancements. It was to make her weak. 


Frey is always putting in too much unnecessary force. It's not that she can't do it, but she can't really exert herself. 


But now that she is fatigued from the constant activation of her body reinforcement, she will not be able to exert any unnecessary force, even if she doesn't want to. 


I want you to know and remember what it feels like. I'm not going to say this out loud, though. 


I threw away the wooden sword and invited Frey to join me with a duck. 


Then Frey smiled winningly with her teeth peeking out. 


"Prepare yourself. I've been wanting to punch you in your disgusting face since that moment." 


"Ha, that's scary. Go for it." 


"I'll make you cry." 


Frey comes at me head-on, twists her body, and tries to throw a right fist strike to my face, but she stops midway. 


Then, using her right leg as an axis, she kicked up with her left leg. 


This girl is learning. 


She didn't swing her fist as honestly as she had done in previous matches, but she also used verbal tactics to feint and punch the side of my face that pissed her off. 


Frankly, I was surprised and happy to see a small growth. 


If I wanted, I would have let her keep the flowers and get beat up, but this time I have other intentions, so I'll leave it for next time. 


Against the leg blow flying from the right side from my point of view, I put my palm on her ankle to change the flow of power and push upward. 


Unable to resist the momentum, and also unable to stand firm due to running out of strength, Frey spun around and fell to the ground. 


"Gahhhh......" 


"And well, that's roughly how it happened." 


"Y...... You...... what the f*ck did you do?" 


With a clap of the hands, she finishes her instruction. 


So much for the physical instruction, from here on out I'll give you a verbal explanation. 


"Now that's what it feels like to pass the buck. As you can see, I didn't do anything special. I didn't move a step, I didn't make any big movements. I just deflected your attacks." 


"That's what it feels like to be swept away....... I didn't feel any response at all, and on the contrary, I was knocked out of my position." 


"You're right, Athena. That's why it's much more difficult than normal defense. One false move and it's a catastrophe." 


But it's worth learning. 


"Athena, your evasion skills are genius to the point of being godlike. Better than anyone else's, in my opinion. But hey, what if there's a fellow stuck behind you? 


"If you evade, they will be attacked. But what if the enemy is too powerful for your defenses to withstand?" 


"......" 


I tell Athena, who can't answer. 


"That's when you need a technique to shed. Deflect the attack and attack when they are out of position. Don't you think that's a good move?" 


"Yeah ...... I think so." 


I then turned to face Frey, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, and said, "I think that's a good move." 


"And Frey, unlike Athena, you're not very good at avoiding them. Even though you have a strong body and high defense, your strength will soon run out if you get cut down. You'd better be able to do this technique in order to reduce unnecessary consumption." 


"Damn...... I got it. I'll do it." 


"From now on, for the rest of the trip, we're going to cut out early and work on the flushing technique. We'll do it." 


""I hope so.""" 


You have a lot of energy, that's good. I'm sure you guys will get it in no time. 


Now, all that's left is for you to be a lazy elves.


I wake up Mirialia, who has already made a cot and is lying down. 


"Hey, Mirialia, you don't think you're the only one doing nothing, do you?" 


"Do you need me to do anything more?" 


"Yes, you do, idiot. I'm telling you, you're nothing compared to the great mages I know. First of all, I heard you lost to a demon god. I thought I could beat you with a little time to spare." 


When I said this in a mocking manner, even the quintessential Mirialia was miffed, as if she didn't like it. 


There is no mage anywhere who can beat a demon god single-handedly. And there are only one or two great mages that I know of. 


But if I don't encourage her this much, she's not going to do it, so there's nothing I can do. 


"If I had been able to use spirit magic, I wouldn't have lost." 


"But you couldn't use it then, could you? It's great to be able to use spirit magic, but if you can't use it when the time comes, it's a waste of treasure. That's not your power." 


"......" 


I suggest a suitable training for Mirialia, who can't even look at me. 


"Have you ever heard of meditation?" 


"No." 


"It's a very simple way to relax your mind and improve your concentration. A mage has to be the coolest guy in the party. No matter what happens. But even if I say that, you will still be confused in an emergency. To avoid that, you need to train yourself to keep your mind quiet and concentrate." 


"......" 


"Also, meditation has a slight effect of restoring magical power. If you're an elves, the effect will be even better than for a normal guy." 


"Huh? Let's give it a try and see if we're fooled." 


"I'll give it a try, since you can't help it. But if it doesn't seem necessary, I'll stop." 


Saying that, I taught Mirialia how to meditate. Apparently, each individual has their own way of doing it, but this time I decided to have her do it the way I had been taught. 


I told you, Mirialia, meditation is for improving concentration and recovering magic power, but it's not just that. 


There is a greater meaning for you. I won't tell you, and I don't know when you'll realize it, but I'm sure you will. 


And when you do, you will have reached a higher level than any mage.



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