A battle ensued. The opponent wasn't using any energy, and neither was Ragnar. Their battle was that of pure skills and Ragnar dominated the match within a few exchanges. The figure was forced to take more and more steps back, until Ragnar hit them in the chest, forcing them to move back and trip. He looked at the figure with an irritated pair of eyes and nodded his head in disgust and disappointment. He then threw the sword to the ground, turned around and left.
As soon as Ragnar's figure dissappeared from sight, another figure appeared beside the swordsman.
"Are you ok, Young Mistress?" The figure spoke in a polite, submissive voice.
The figure took their helmet off and a beautiful, round face came into view with curly hairs and a pair of blue eyes which had a cold feeling in them.
"Who was that guy?" The girl asked.
"Another student of the academy perhaps." The figure spoke.
"Since when did the academy had a genius in sword of this caliber? I couldn't even last fifty rounds against him. How can such a genius be not famous in the academy?" The girl asked.
"I will immediately get to work and find his identity out." The figure said before vanishing from sight.
"Steel-Heart Sword Style. I am sure that he spoke that name. How could he know the name of the original sword style from which my skil is developed? It is a family secret passed on for many generations. The original sword style is long since lost, but he said it looked familiar to him. Even his response was a perfect counter for all my moves. It was as if he was playing with me. Just who was that guy?" The girl thought.
"I have to report this matter to father." The girl decided to follow Ragnar from far and see what he was doing.
.....
Ragnar arrived at one of the empty training grounds and looked around. He didn't want to do any kind of weight training since he would be doing them in hai home anyway. Exercises were also a needless task since he had to follow the regimen. Now that his body was strong enough to bear the minum taxation of endurance needed to perform any kind of heavy task, he decided to start training in weapon.
One of the reason he decided to do so was the fact that he had just clashed against the swordsman and hence his hands were itching to perform sword moves. He sat down while closing his eyes, trying to structure all the sword arts he could remeber. There were so many, most out of which he acquired in battle after destroying his enemies and were then inculcated into his own ultimate martial arts. He knew that his own martial arts was quite taxing.
Hence he decided to start with a relatively easy martial arts which would be easy to practice and help him build his base
Steel-Heart Kendo style was one of those styles while he knew of a few other ones as well such as Ranger Heavy-Sword Art, Sand-Swift-Sword Style and Hundred Wave Arts. All of them were perfect for beginners. But Ragnar was going to be different than previous life. Even his base needed to be perfect.
"I will be performing a series of sword style. Make sure to note and record the speciality of ever single one of them." Ragnar said. He then grabbed the wooden sword nearby and began to perform the sword arts. He began to Steel-Hearts, the. went on to execute Ranger Heavy-Sword Art, the Sand-Swift-Sword Art, Hundred Wave Art, Flash Sword Style and five more. All of them were known as basic sword arts, but after a prolonged usage and comparative study of each of them, Ragnar found that they help strength a different aspect of the human body and its integration with the sword.
Out of all the basic sword art he possessed , he chose these ten because their combination would provide the best base creation possible. Hence he chose to use every single one of them to practice sword and build the most perfect sword base possible.
...
The girl standing far away from Ragnar looked at him with shock filled eyes. She recognized the Steel-Hearts Sword style almost immediately, soon after which she managed to see the differences in execution. While hers was a crude style, what Ragnar practiced was not only more refined than her but also way more faster, fluid and impactful. It aimed at critical aspect of the enemies and used every inch of movement to the most perfect manner.
Every subsequent sword style which Ragnar used were a refined set of skills, each on the same level as the Steel-Hearts. Only after experiencing them in succession could she understand just how broad the world is. Every single one of them was strong and impactful in their own right.
"How can he know so many art forms? Each of them could be considered as an independent art form and is sourced using a different theory of swords. Who is this guy?" The girl was getting more and more shocked by the second. The stranger she met today was giving her more surprises by the second. She could only imagine what sort of background he must have to have access to so many arts.
Ragnar wasn't aware of this new found stalker of his. He was busy training. He started with Steel-Hearts Sword art, performed three sets of it and then moved to the next art. By the time he managed to complete three sets of all ten arts, he was almost kneeling on the ground. He was exhausted and his body was almost at its limits. Thanks to that he gained a stat point for endurance.
"Good." Ragnar was happy with his achivement. He rested for the time being while using the Troll's Breathing Method. It was one of best way to recover his stamin fast and also gain stat point and improve one's physique. He made it a point to increase his mana reserve capacity to maximum before trying to excavate the channels further.
.....
"Did you find out?" The girl spoke.
The figure handed her a file and she read through it.
"How could this be true? Can't you see his capability right in front of your eyes. This is obviously a ruse."
The girl acted out after reading Ragnar's details.