Chereads / Grail / Chapter 17 - A Lot To Learn

Chapter 17 - A Lot To Learn

I walked into my swordsmanship class. The people you would expect were there, I recognised Edgar, Oscar, Dengen, Renji, Hamachi and Edwina.

'Hello everyone! I am your instructor, you may address me as Instructor Goldhorn. We will start with basic swordsmanship, next class we will be applying mana to your sword. Go to the rack and take a wooden sword, then swing your sword 500 times. Once you have done that come to see me and I'll be teaching the basic stances for swordsmanship. That is all.'

I heard some people groaning about how useless swinging swords were. I didn't care though, I thought this was a perfect opportunity to try using a greatsword since I wasn't familiar with them. There was a wide variety of wooden swords that were available to use, as expected of such a prestigious school.

I took a classic zweihander and while it was heavy it was nowhere as heavy as a real sword. But if it was a real sword it would probably be too heavy for me to use properly. I tried swinging it down, then up. Instead of requiring a lot of strength to swing it required technique, the way you were holding the sword, the balance of the sword's weight and your footing while swinging. Swinging around the greatsword was really tough for me.

After I was finished I went over to the instructor as he was teaching us basic swordsmanship. It was boring so I slumped a little, I already knew all this after all.

'Mordred Xander do not slack off!' I jumped slightly after hearing that, it startled me. Is he going out of his way to make life hard for me? Everyone started staring at me after he said that.

'Sorry, sir.' I straightened my posture and started swinging. We were doing a basic stance where we would hold our sword to our side and swing up. I did that and he nodded his head and started checking up on other students. How boring.

After that class was done I would go to my next class, which was magic theory class. I sat in class. Arisa, Edwina and Akari were sitting in their seats. Akari was sitting next to Arisa. I took a seat next to Edwina, she was surprised that I sat next to her and jumped slightly. But after ignoring her she forgot about it.

'Hello everyone! Before I start this class, I would like to pose a question to all of you. What is the root of all magic?' Edwina raised her hand next to me.

'The root of magic is mana, magic cannot be performed without mana, and mana is the catalyst for the creation and use of magic.' The teacher nodded her head.

'That is a good answer. But not the one I was looking for. Would anyone else like to pose an answer?' A few seconds after that question she sighed and was about to speak.

'The root magic is one's soul miss.' I answered out of the blue.

The professor smiled. 'That is correct, where do you think mana comes from? It comes from the soul. While mana is the catalyst for magic it is not the root for it, good answer Mordred Xander you may have 5 points.' I smiled. 'You can address me as Professor Huron, nice to meet all of you.'

There was a points system, the number of points you had would indicate what rank you were in the class. Higher ranked students would get privileges such as being able to directly take one on one lessons from teachers or have better food or anything like that.

'Edwina Miller I award you three points for a good answer.' Edwina's face lit up and she nodded. In this class, we learnt about how to make spells more effective. For example, adding a single word to a chant can make a spell more effective. For the simple spell water ball, you can make the ball faster by simply adding a phrase to denote quickness. 'Water goddess, destroy my opponents with haste!' By merely adding the two words 'with haste' you can augment the spell and make it faster. But augmenting the spell will require more mana than simply casting it normally so augmentation must be used carefully.

That was the main thing we learned in that class. Of course, I knew that but I thought augmentation wasn't enough of a benefit because of the higher mana cost required to cast augmented spells. Edwina was taking down notes and probably theorising how she could augment some spells she wanted to do. I could sense a gaze coming from across the room. I looked over and saw Arisa turn her head quickly. What does she want?

That was the end of that class. It was our first break period. I went over to the cafeteria to eat something. I spotted some mashed potatoes, roast chicken, ribeye steak, lamb ribs and. No way this is here! I thought I'd never be able to eat this again! At the end of the serving table, there was some fried chicken. I filled my plate up with all sorts of things and sat down at a table all by myself and started filling myself up.

Oh my god, it's so good! I've never eaten food this good before! I stopped for a moment and chewed my food. Only then I realised a tear went down my face. Huh? Why am I crying? I was crying because I could never eat food this good back on Earth. I stopped for a moment to take in the situation I was in.

I was in a fantasy world, something that every otaku dreamed of. I had a little sister who really loved me, it really made me feel sad when I thought back to Akari whenever Maya talked to me. I had a badass legendary sword and was a powerful mage with a lot of spells under my belt. It really was a dream, but the pain I've felt in this world. It was a fair trade-off. I recalled my time getting devoured by those monsters, it still sent shivers down my spine thinking about it now.

I finished my food and walked to my next swordsmanship class. There we were learning about footing. To increase our understanding the instructor told us to spar against other students. Footing was the one part of my swordsmanship that I needed to work on.

Everyone had already chosen sparring partners though, so I was left alone.

'Hey, Mordred it seems like everyone has already chosen their partners so you'll be sparring with me.' I would be sparring with the instructor. But that was fine, I would actually prefer sparring with the instructor over sparring with any student, he would be able to guide me the best.

'I'm in your care instructor!' He grinned and took a wooden sword from the rack, as did I.

I took up a basic stance, I held my sword straight in front of me. The instructor on the other hand took up a strange stance, he held his sword to his side and put his other hand backwards. I could see it even before he did. He then dashed straight at me. He's going to thrust! Using my Enhanced Senses talent I stepped to the side and held my sword up. But contrary to my expectations he switched his thrust to a slash and I could only barely block it. My arms felt weak after that block, it must've been an extremely strong slash.

'You fell for a feint, while I commend you on your quick thinking and being able to block my attack, you were too slow and not prepared for that feint. Always be prepared. Let's go again.' I readied my stance again, instead of a basic stance where I kept my sword in front of me, I kept my sword in my right hand and kept my other hand free. He dashed towards me, it felt like time had slowed down.

I could see everything in slow motion. I moved my sword up so it would be on the other side of his sword. A thrust again? No! It's a slash! I moved my sword in accordance with his movements, and then I slidmy feet to the left and hit the sword away with my sword. He looked surprised for a second and let go of the sword with his left hand.

Then quickly I used my free arm and punched his right hand with all my strength, he staggered and I quickly thrust my sword in his face. His expression went serious. I can win! Faster! Faster! But suddenly in an instant, I was on the ground in immense pain. It was hard to breathe. Is this what low endurance feels like?

'Phew, that could've been a bit dangerous.' In an instant, the instructor turned the tides of the match that I would've otherwise won 10 times out of 10. 'That was very good Mordred Xander, hm? What's wrong.?' I was still on the ground in pain.

'Ah, I'm sorry it must've hurt, here's a potion.' He set a potion down beside me and I took it and drank it. The pain subsided quickly and I was back on my feet in an instant. 'You can rest now.' But I didn't want to, there was still much more I can learn.

'No! There's still more I can learn from you!' The instructor looked me in the eyes and he grinned.

'I like your attitude! 15 points!'

It was the end of class and my promised match with Dengen. I was sitting in the courtyard and he approached me first.

'It's time Mordred! I'll beat the shit out of you!' His voice was loud and annoying. I smirked.

'I'd like to see you try.'