*SWOOSH*
Gideon and Victoria's hands blurred as they seemingly passed through a wooden pole before impacting the head of their respective dummies, nearly knocking them down.
"Vert good, you two can use it fairly easily after the first day, so now let's move on to the next phase of practicing the technique." Draven praised them before explaining how they would continue to train the phantom strike.
"The next phase is pretty simple to understand, you're going to learn how to use it when the opponent is moving." Hearing this, the siblings nodded.
'Shouldn't be too hard, hopefully.' Gideon thought before Draven brought out two more dummies, but they were the type to move and attack like the previous ones they used, both of them using metal swords.
"These dummies allow me to set their movement speed and strength, so we'll start with black iron level strength." As he said this Draven brought out a device with some buttons on it.
"How do you guys make these dummies?" Victoria couldn't help but ask when she saw the dummy, their existences were very intriguing and even Gideon wanted to know.
"Hm? Oh, these were made by the scientists under Baal, though he's the one that actually created their design. He's really smart despite his brutish appearance." Surprise flashed in their eyes when they heard Draven answer. Indeed, Baal seemed like the type to always rush into things without much thought.
'But now that I think about it, his actions and the way he speaks are carefree but from the way he taught us the layering technique, and just the technique alone is really impressive and he couldn't have created it if he wasn't smart. Moreover, the way his servants respect him genuinely and not fear him like the servants in our house on earth shows that he's a great and capable leader.' Gideon remarked in his mind.
"Anyway, let's get started. Remember, timing is very crucial." Draven said once again before pressing a button on the device and. Immediately after, the dummies activated and began to move towards the siblings. But very slowly in their eyes.
When the dummies got close, the duo attacked at the same time, and just when the swords of the dummies were about to clash with Gideon's daggers and Victoria's gauntlet, the two weapons suddenly blurred and seemed to pass through the swords of the dummies, all the while the siblings tilted their bodies to avoid the swords, their weapons sliced and smashed into the dummies and instantly knocked them backwards.
After that, the dummies, although still standing, were no longer moving.
"Those things are hard!" Gideon exclaimed, just then she used enough force to crush the skull of a bronze rank existence and yet, the dummy wasn't even scratched. The same thing with Gideon.
"Well it's mostly made of adamantium, so it's very solid." Draven explained and the siblings nodded in understanding.
"Anyway, get ready, I'm turning it up to iron rank." He announced and the duo got ready.
Pressing the button on the device once again, the dummies reactivated and charged at the duo with much more speed, their abilities being elevated to the iron rank.
Once again, the dummies got close and swung their sword at the siblings, and just like before, Gideon dagger and Victoria's gauntlet seemed to phase through the swords before hitting the heads of the dummies, once again pushing them back.
"Alright, bronze rank it is then." Draven said before once again pressing the button on the device.
The dummies stomped the ground which created web like cracks as they blasted towards the siblings and once again, slashed with their swords towards the siblings, the air parting from the sharpness.
*BANG*
The result was the same. The dummies were sent backwards as the feet created four small trenches in the floor.
This time though, it wasn't as simple as the previous tries as Gideon had to concentrate more to get the timing right and Victoria was in a similar situation, but a bit worse.
"Silver rank." Draven once again pressed the button and the dummies activated and now had an intangible pressure around them.
'They can even create their own auras! Although they can't use magic, it's still very impressive.' Gideon couldn't help but exclaim in his heart as his respect for Baal rose to a whole new level.
*BOOM*
The ground was completely destroyed as the dummies were in front of the siblings in the blink of an eye.
The both simultaneously slashed their swords which created sharp whistling sounds as they approached the siblings.
Gideon had to pay close attention and properly calculate the speed of the weapon to properly time the phantom strike.
Victoria however didn't have that liberty as she wasn't using her purple empress mode or any sort of enhancement, moreover, the dummies seemed to be at the peak of each rank, so for Victoria, the difficulty was exponentially more difficult.
*BANG*
*TING*
Gideon was able to perform the phantom strike without a hitch and sent his dummy backwards. Victoria on the other hand mistimed her swerve and ended up hitting the sword of the dummy.
"Seems like this is where you'll need to start practicing your timing Victoria. But don't feel bad, some people can't even get passed the bronze rank." Draven said so that she wouldn't feel bad and she nodded, completely unaware that he was referring to his past self.
"Alright Gideon, well continue on to the gold rank." As he said this, the dummy's aura rose exponentially and comfortably rested at the peak of the gold rank.
"So master Baal can just make an army of these?" Gideon couldn't help but ask in amazement and some fear.
"Oh no no no. He only has a dozen or so. After all, they are incredibly difficult to make and require a large amount of resources for each one. He gave me these two as gifts so that I can train." Gideon felt a bit relieved upon hearing that. But only a bit since Baal had a bunch of robots that could reach the gold rank and above to fight for him at anytime.
"Gat ready." Draven reminded Gideon who immediately became serious.
The dummy's body vanished for a moment before instantly appearing in front of Gideon, it's sword already making its way towards his head.
Gideon had a very small window to react. Fortunately for him, his perception was very high for his rank since he was forced to learn how to keep up with the speeds of various things while in the wilderness.
*BANG*
The dummy was sent flying and crashed into a few trees before coming to a stop.
Gideon had sweat on his head as just then, the sword was only a few inches away from his head. But he was able to successfully perform the phantom strike and hit the dummy, leaving a small scratch on its forehead.
"I think that's where we'll stop for you as well since rose gold rank would probably kill you." Draven remarked.
"Alright, now you two will keep using the phantom strike against the dummies that are at your ranks until you can do it with ease." Draven announced as he activated the dummies again. And so the process of mastering the phantom strike had begun.