LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Growth Period
“I will now demonstrate the first basic move of the Kaladan swordsmanship, ‘Soft Quick Sword’.”
Instructor Hans said this as he grasped his sword. It wasn’t out of consideration for Harang, who was learning it for the first time today.
A skilled instructor impressed the movements upon the trainees daily, making them realize the wrongs and new aspects by themselves.
Kaladan swordsmanship allowed even the trainees affiliated with the family to learn the sword techniques, but not all the basic moves.
However, the first basic move was the most fundamental of the fundamentals.
Therefore, Harang attended the training with the ordinary trainees.
‘How unique.’
Instructor Hans’s grip on the sword was peculiar.
He didn’t hold it delicately with both hands but grasped it with one hand while the other hand supported the back of the sword, bending his posture.
In addition, the way he extended his left foot back and bent his upper body reminded Harang of a cheetah about to leap forward at any moment.
The instructor, in his prepared stance, took a deep breath.
Swoosh…
Immediately after, the sword descended smoothly, unfolding the first basic move of the traditional Kaladan swordsmanship.
“Oh.”
In short, Kaladan’s swordsmanship could be described as ‘a smooth, sharp, and swift dance.’
Indeed, the sword technique resembled a dance performed while holding a sword.
Harang could tell that the force carried in those light movements was incredibly massive and heavy.
Perhaps it was because he could sense mana.
‘This is swordsmanship…’
It felt refreshing and exhilarating.
It was something mysterious, incomparable to simply holding and swinging a sword.
Every time the sword was swung, a white streak of light flashed from its tip, creating an illusion of wielding a lightsaber.
One could easily predict that this beautiful swordsmanship would shine brightly enough to be dazzling even in the middle of the night.
It was swordsmanship that was visually satisfying.
However, at the same time…
‘…Something feels awkward and unnatural.’
Such thoughts crossed his mind.
Why was that?
Even though it was his first time seeing the swordsmanship, why did it feel like some connecting movements were missing?
It was like singing a song with the chorus omitted or lowering the high note of the climax by five keys, giving a sense of emptiness.
‘Moreover, the initial preparation stance and the movements of the sword technique seem entirely different.’
Harang had felt like the instructor’s preparation stance resembled a cheetah.
Yet the unfolding swordsmanship, surprisingly, looked like a butterfly with wings of blades dancing.
‘It seems like it could be swung faster and sharper…’
Harang’s gaze shifted to the instructor’s feet.
‘Something is lacking in the foot movements… Ah!’
He suddenly realized.
Upon closer thought, the ‘perfectly crafted steps by AI’ from a game he had played before bore a striking resemblance to Kaladan’s footwork!
‘It’s similar. Definitely similar… I can understand more.’
Kaladan’s footwork was perfect, but it seemed like some frames were slightly empty here and there. Adding an extra foot movement could make it better.
‘Instead of just stepping out from there, if he took one more step, it seems like he could move faster… Did the instructor make a mistake?’
A moment later, the instructor finished his sword demonstration and returned to his original stance, sheathing his sword.
It looked simple, but if used against a person, it would have easily cut down at least five decent swordsmen.
“This is the first basic move of the Kaladan swordsmanship that you will be learning. Once you master the basic move, you will naturally be able to produce sword energy.”
“I see. It’s truly amazing.”
Instructor Hans thought Harang’s response indicated his satisfaction, but Phillion, observing from the side, did not.
That curious, questioning look in his eyes was something rare, prompting Phillion to ask.
“Did you not fully grasp the movements yet, Young Master? Would you like to see it again?”
“Pardon? No, it’s sufficient. It’s just… something seems lacking.”
“Lacking, you say?”
Phillion frowned at the unexpected response.
“Well, it feels like the movements are lacking.”
“Oh, I see. What I showed you is the first basic move of the swordsmanship. There are two more basic moves that follow.”
Despite Phillion’s additional explanation, Harang still shook his head with a subtle expression.
“Not that. It seems like there were some movements missing in the swordsmanship the instructor just showed.”
“……!!”
At that moment, Phillion’s pupils dilated sharply as if struck in a vital spot.
‘How did he…?’
He was right.
Currently, several movements, which were the basics of the family’s secret techniques learned only by direct lineage, were omitted.
Kaladan swordsmanship originally only achieved complete perfection when the secret techniques were mastered.
‘The Young Master must have seen the swordsmanship for the first time today, how did he know that?’
The insight to point out that the first basic move was incomplete and had missing movements was exceptionally sharp.
“Yes, you are correct. However, there’s no need to worry. If you prove your skills, Young Master, you will be able to learn the completely perfected secret swordsmanship.”
“Ah, so that’s it. Then, does the secret swordsmanship also complement the footwork?”
Foot movements. In the modern world where Harang was active as a gamer, they were called ‘moving’ or ‘steps.’
It was the foot movements that perfected Harang’s control, allowing him to dodge all attacks and, at the same time, decapitate his opponent with tremendous speed.
“Hmm, foot movements.”
Phillion stroked his beard and fell into contemplation. This was not the reaction Harang had wanted.
“Well, as far as I know, the footwork itself doesn’t change. I haven’t learned the secrets personally, so I’m not sure, but even if the basic moves advance, the fundamental footwork remains the same.”
“……Is that so?”
Harang’s expression turned subtle at those words.
‘Kaladan swordsmanship seems to have somewhat awkward footwork rather than additional movements…’
Harang tried to mimic the foot movements, but they felt awkward and didn’t suit his body well.
‘Tsk, it seems better to move this way rather than extending the foot like this.’
Harang pondered while touching his lips. In the virtual reality games, there were countless characters, and mobility was an essential factor in determining a character’s performance.
Could it accelerate momentarily?
How quickly could it move?
How far could it go?
How often could it be used?
Thus, agility, enabling quick, momentary movement, was highly valued.
Naturally, he was more sensitive to footwork than anyone else, and Kaladan couldn’t escape his sharpness.
‘Hmm, I need to practice this separately to know for sure.’
Harang bowed his head slightly in thanks.
“Thank you, Sir. It was very helpful.”
“If that’s the case… I am glad.”
Although Harang’s response left him feeling somewhat uneasy, Phillion had no choice but to acknowledge it.
While he harbored a slight expectation that this exceptionally talented Young Master might have realized something, he shook his head and dismissed the thought.
‘It was still something he knew nothing about.’
* * *
Following the instructor’s movements was not difficult.
This was because his sharp observational skills, honed in his previous life, and his memory, capable of calculating time to the decimal point, caught every movement one by one.
However, Harang didn’t know that mere movements without mana were not proper swordsmanship.
In swordsmanship, everything was perfectly conceived, from the sequence in which mana circulated to the timing of its release and the design of muscle movements.
If even one element did not interlock correctly, the swordsmanship would not be complete.
So, could this be taught through text or speech?
Partly yes, but partly no. You could adjust postures, teach the timing of exertion, and the principles of mana circulation, but ultimately, the only way to truly understand all this was to swing the sword hundreds, thousands of times on one’s own.
In the end, it was repetitive learning.
Breaking the Cheongmok Fossil simply required force, so it could be done in a day, but could swordsmanship training be like that?
Harang was skeptical about it.
The concept of swordsmanship was something he had completely encountered for the first time.
Even in the virtual reality games, there were ‘skills,’ but those were unrealistic phenomena that activated with specific command inputs, not something scientific and systematic like swordsmanship.
“‘One’ is a downward slash, ‘two’ is an advancing upper right diagonal slash, and ‘three’ is a spinning horizontal slash. Now, one!”
“One!”
“Two!”
“Two!”
The practice of Kaladan swordsmanship began with breaking down every movement into detailed parts to become familiar with them one by one.
Just watching wouldn’t allow one to memorize all the movements, so it was about engraving each movement into the body.
This method was universally applicable not only in Astera Continent but also on Earth, and could be considered the most orthodox training method.
‘Do we really have to do it this way?’
During his professional gamer days on Earth, he occasionally attended events and met renowned sword masters, but he never understood the act of practicing each movement.
‘It seems like I could just connect them.’
“Alright, that’s it. Hold your wooden sword in position for three minutes and rest. Rest!”
“Rest!”
The trainees responded in unison, gripping their wooden swords with trembling hands. In Kaladan, even rest time wasn’t about sitting comfortably; one had to endure holding the heavy wooden sword.
Of course, not everyone rested. Some trainees continued swinging their wooden swords, as if still not satisfied with their practice.
Harang stood still in place, watching the instructor.
Sssss…
In Harang’s vision, the instructor’s figure suddenly split into two.
Did the instructor create a clone?
That wasn’t it.
It was an illusion Harang created purely from his imagination.
One of his unique abilities, which he never revealed to others during his professional gamer days, fully utilized the ‘System Blessing’.
By seeing his opponent’s movements once, he could remember them all and simulate them in a realistic environment, experiencing them vividly.
It consumed tremendous mental energy, but if used well, he could absorb ten hours’ worth of experience in just one hour.
In Harang’s imagination, the instructor repeatedly demonstrated the first form of Kaladan swordsmanship, the Speed Butterfly Sword.
Swinging, swinging again, flying with movements as delicate as a butterfly…
‘No. That’s still not it.’
“Rest time is over!”
The instructor ordered them to pick up their wooden swords again, and the trainees got up without complaint and repeated the same process.
As evening came and training ended, everyone dispersed, but Harang remained in the training ground, staring blankly into space.
“Young Master. It seems today’s training was quite tough.”
Instructor Hans approached and asked, and Harang shook his head.
“No. I was just taking a break. I’m going to practice a bit more.”
“Hm… I see.”
The instructor didn’t dislike seeing Harang like this. No one disliked a student who trained diligently.
“Please, don’t overexert yourself.”
After finishing the cleanup with the trainees and leaving, Harang took a deep breath and corrected his posture.
‘I know nothing about swordsmanship. Something is definitely wrong, but I can’t figure out what it is.’
Harang undoubtedly had talent with the sword.
But since that talent had yet to bloom, he couldn’t understand everything perfectly.
Someday, in the distant future.
If Harang reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship, he might be able to identify the flaws in Kaladan swordsmanship, but he didn’t want to wait until then.
It was frustrating.
‘I need to know.’
Alone, it would be impossible.
But with the power of the ‘System Blessing’ and his talent, which he honed to the extreme more than anyone on Earth, it was possible.
Spark!
With eyes glinting, Harang raised his wooden sword and aimed at the imaginary instructor.
His head grew hot, and the world warped as if seen through a convex mirror.
The world of hyper-focus.
Harang, who was more talented than anyone in ‘System Synchronization,’ could extend a single second into ten seconds, manifested that ability in this reality.
“Hoo.”
Entrusting himself to the System Blessing, Harang swung his sword as the instructor had taught.
A downward slash, advancing with an upper right diagonal slash, then a spinning slash…
“…!”
Harang, who tried to display the swordsmanship he learned from the instructor, was momentarily taken aback as the System Blessing moved his body differently.
The next movement was not just a simple spinning horizontal slash.
It was a rapid spin after taking three consecutive steps, severing the opponent’s neck in a burst!
That was the true movement of Kaladan swordsmanship that Harang had missed.
It was a secret technique that only direct bloodline members of Kaladan could learn!
‘No, this isn’t the true movement. This technique… can be even faster!’
The System Blessing showed the true form of Kaladan swordsmanship, but Harang upgraded it himself.
Ignoring the intense will of Kaladan swordsmanship that urged him to move forward, Harang stepped in his own direction.
He denied the perfect AI of the system and the centuries-long history of Kaladan.
And.
He created a new swordsmanship.
[Kaladan Swordsmanship First Form]
[Speed Butterfly Sword]
[Moon Leopard]
Whoosh…!!
Advancing more than ten steps in an instant and severing the neck of the imaginary instructor, Harang’s hair fluttered as he stood with a bewildered expression.
“What… is this…?”
[Recalling the forgotten skill ‘Crescent Moon Step,’ synchronizing with Kaladan swordsmanship.]
It took him a while to comprehend that he had created a new swordsmanship.