(Three months later)
When Lyzof agreed to train under Nekros, the Transcendental took him back to Valaron where it all began, the place they first met. Right now they were trading blows with the sword as one tried to knock sense into the other who was just hellbent on landing on hit on the more experienced fighter.
Lyzof breathed heavily as sweat poured over his already drenched blindfold and down his nose, causing him to feel a warm tickling situation. normally he would wipe it away, but his current circumstances would not allow for such a thing.
He currently stood across from Nekros in a stance, holding his sword close to him in a defensive stance as he took a few careful steps backwards to get out of his teacher's range.
Instead of pursuing him, Nekros straightened and and held back with his own sword held out almost at arms length, waiting for Lyzof to make his move. The boy carefully examined his mentor's stance.
It was full of holes but he knew from experience that he'd accumulated over the last three months of their training that even the smallest hole was a deadly trap that would only land him another painful cut, and yet another scar on his face.
He circled around his mentor, looking for another angle from which he could attack that Nekros couldn't defend from as fast. Seeing an opportunity, he shot forward and swung his sword. Because of how small he was, he had to swing up wards with his arms using over head movement.
Nekros didn't even turn as he brought his sword and swung downwards towards Lyzof's head. Lyzof ducked, and with the momentum of his previous swing, brought his blade downwards to swing around from his side and hopefully land a hit on Nekros's hip.
But in a show of superior swordsmanship, Nekros twirled his own weapon in his hand and pointed it downwards in time so Lyzof's collided with his. There was no visible effort on his part to keep the Holy Sword from reaching his body. In fact, Lyzof felt that he had just struck an immoveable rock.
But before he could pull the sword back, Nekros allowed the weight of Lyzof's attack carry him forward, and using his own sword guided Excalibur to his side. the motion dragged Lyzof's arm forwards, bringing his body with him. Nekros spun, and let Lyzof stumble by before delivering a hard kick into the boy's back.
But having been put in this scenario several times over, Lyzof ignored the pain and used the force of the kick to help him roll across the ground before flipping back onto his feet in a crouched position. Using his legs he propelled forwards and sent the most powerful thrust he could muster towards the older man's abdomen.
But once again, Nekros brought his own experience into play by locking both their hilts in one swift movements. The moment that happened, Nekros brought up a knee and dug it into Lyzof's stomach. Lyzof coughed up spit and blood, clutching his stomach so hard that his fingers dug into the fabric of his tunic.
But once again, Nekros brought his own experience into play by locking both their hilts in one swift movements. The moment that happened, Nekros brought up a knee and dug it into Lyzof's stomach. Lyzof coughed up spit and blood, clutching his stomach so hard that his fingers dug into the fabric of his tunic.
Nekros rested his blade on his shoulder and leaned on one leg as he stared at his student with a tilted head.
"You're getting good Lyze. Your speed has increased phenomenally and your strikes have become heavier. But you still telegraph your attacks before you execute them. Even if a normal person can't see your eyes, I can still detect where your vision rests.
Plus, you keep dropping your guard every time you think you've landed a finishing blow. I have warned you time and time again to kick that habit, because it might cost you in a fight against areal enemy."
"You are not a fair opponent! You're holding back your strength and speed every time you counter my attacks. And not only that, it doesn't matter how fast I become, your perception will always be able to pick up my moves before I even make them."
"It is no excuse for dropping your guard. You may think that this is a cliché phrase, but nevertheless, it is true. A fighter is always at his most vulnerable when he lands a finishing blow, or when he's thought that he's landed one."
"I can't help it! When you're trying to finish someone off, you have to put all your power into it to make sure you get the job done."
"Yes perhaps so. But you need to remain aware of not just your surroundings but also where your body parts are, as well as that of your opponent's. You leaned too far into my personal space, which was why I was able to knee you before you could defend yourself.
Had you kept your eyes on my leg, which was the nearest part of my body to you and therefore most likely the one I would attack you with, you could have succeeded in blocking it.
But instead, you had your eyes focused on my stomach where you intended to strike and disregarded the rest of me."
Lyze (that was his new nickname) spat out a gob of spit before picking up his sword again.
"Well I'm still not done yet. Let's go again!"
Nekros sighed and shook his head.
"You're covered in bruises and cuts. You're also fatigued from over extending yourself."
"What do you mean 'over-extending myself'?"
"You focus too much energy into your bigger attacks. You keep doing that, and your stamina will be done for before you know it. It is better to fight against a stronger opponent with stamina in reserve using small, swift attacks instead of large exaggerated ones that make you exert yourself and burn through your energy stores."
Lyze lunged forwards and thrust again while Nekros was talking. But his master merely sidestepped and knocked his knuckles into Lyze's temple, which sent him sprawling onto the ground.
"Even in a surprise attack, it's no use." Nekros continued. "You telegraph your method of attack, and you put too much energy into it, it becomes easier to read your movements. Such a mistake on your part will only cost your enemy a momentary glance before they devise a counter. Like so."
Lyze sat up and glared at his mentor.
"Well? Why have you not started teaching me different sword techniques? All you've been having me do is rush you and try different ways with which to attack you. I can't even use traditional fencing because you just see through it so easily."
"Fencing is a sport. Learning how to use blade in order to entertain is fundamentally and principally different from learning how to use a blade in order to kill. You are not going to be having friendly bouts with monsters in the dungeon now are you?
What about the adventurers that will seek to harm you, or get in the way of your progress? What if you get attacked by an unexpected assailant? All these things you have to consider when learning how to defend yourself in this new world."
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Lyze muttered. Nekros deadpanned.
"Get over it. And the sooner you brush up on your swordplay, the sooner you can go back to Orario to begin on your adventurer's career. At the moment, we are focusing on increasing your speed and strengthening the power of your strikes.
But you are still a long way from being anything close to satisfactory. Once you've learned how to properly swing a sword, with the right amount of force, we can begin on different sword arts. Now go wash up and prepare for dinner. You stink worse than the dragon's keep."
---
"Why do I need to say 'Fire' before casting magic?" Lyze held a small flame that was floating above his cupped palms.
"Because at the moment, you aren't able to properly visualize what you want to cast." Said Nekros, who was sitting on a chair nearby. "Your magic is different from those of Danmachi. For one thing, once you've got a proper grasp on it, you will not have any magic slots on your Falna for each individual spell like the other humans. You will be able to cast anything you like. How effective those spells will be will depend on their power."
"What do you mean my magic will be different?"
"Instead of using the magic system of Danmachi, you'll instead be using that of Britannia's. I am after all training yo entirely with their parameters. You do remember that right?"
"How can I forget when you make me go through hell every day? But I still don't understand why I have to say my spell before I cast it."
"Why do you think people chant to cast a spell?"
"I don't know. I always thought it was mandatory to say at least something in order to cast magic."
'sigh' "People chant their spells, because they use the chant to help them properly visualize in their minds what they want the spell to do. You are not yet able to visualize everything properly and immaculately when casting, hence why you need to say 'Fire' in order to conjure a flame."
"Oh. Now I understand."
"You had better. Because right now you're just learning how to conjure basic elements, and you've only done the first of few. You still have Earth, Water, Air and Ice left to do. Once you've learned hot to use those basic magic spells, you're going to have to learn different types of defensive and offensive magic."
"Wow. I'm very excited." Lyze said in sarcastic tone. Nekros rolled his eyes.
"You were the one who was entranced by the idea of enchanting Libur with demonic Hellblaze and rampaging on your enemies with it like Meliodas. If you can't even control this weak flame, how are you going to be able to control fire that sears the very soul? By the way, I still think it's a stupid name to give your sword."
"Excalibur felt overused and cliché. Libur is a nice abbreviation."
"Still stupid."
"Well that's your opinion. Take it or leave it."
---
(One year later)
"{Full Counter}"
A chime sound rang out like a bell being struck as Lyze used Libur to deflect the Fireball back at Nekros. Nekros stood and let the flames engulf him for a moments before they died down and he emerged unscathed.
"You finally managed to get it this time. How does it feel?"
"Apart from feeling like I'm an utter nerd, it feels weird. Its like I'm hitting a spear with a needle, yet somehow the spear is reflected back to where it came from at twice it's original strength and speed."
"That is the glory of the Full Counter. It doesn't matter how much magic one has, nor how much more their opponent has. As long as they've got enough strength and are able to actually connect with the attack, it is sent back at double everything it was originally. Innate magic really is something."
"Will this ability count as a magic one?"
"No actually. In terms of the Falna, it will actually count as a skill since its an innate magic."
"But Full Counter is the innate ability of Chandler. What I just learnt is an imitation."
"Imitation or not, it is still an innate ability and not a spell. So therefore, it will be a skill. And the good thing is, you won't suffer from the limitations of the counterfeit."
"What limitation?"
"Meliodas could only reflect magical attacks, while Estarossa could only reflect physical attacks. Chandler was able to do both because he was the one born with the innate ability. However, all of it originated from Chaos, who now lives inside you. As a result rather than just learning one side of the Full Counter, you can learn both!"
"That's...sweet!"
"Yep. Now that you've learned how to counter magical attacks..." Nekros stood up and drew his sword. "You're going to have tolearn how to counter physical ones now."
"Fu-"
---
Lyze stood on the infamous balcony with his blindfold off as his eyes twitched. A look of utter concentration was plastered on his face.
"That's it." Guided Nekros. "Focus on all of it and keep it contained, like you're trying to screw a lid on a cannister full of gas. Only when you feel it pushing too hard against the walls of your body do you put the blindfold back on."
Lyze's face twitched and he stayed still for a few seconds more before he let out a large breath and hastily closed his eyes before tying the blindfold back on again.
"I could only manage twenty seconds this time." he panted.
"A new record. It's an impressive milestone, even if it's taken a year and a half. It only means that you've grown stronger."
The now six-and-a-half year old Lyzof sat down at the table and sipped on his cup of tea. He'd had little bit of a growth spurt now that he was exercising regularly and was having more nourishing meals.
Now he stood at around four foot, and while too young to put any real muscle on, was certainly not thin and scrawny like he used to be. He was lean and fit, the groundwork for his body to develop further having been laid down.
"I still find it weird that you went to the Star Wars universe and learnt lightsaber forms. Even weirder that you're teaching some of them to me."
"Well, you don't need the force to jump around at unnatural heights and distances. Your physical strength provides you enough to do that on you're own. And at the same time, your not in danger of scorching yourself on a plasma beam.
But seeing that you're style revolves a lot around fending, I thought it would be good idea to teach you Makashi. And because you're nimble and agile, using your anger as focus instead of a venting point, a little bit of Juyo doesn't do any harm either. You've certainly become a more dangerous combatant in this past year. I'd go as far as to say you're a natural with the sword."
"Compliment appreciated."
"For once. Now, get ready for tomorrow."
"Why? any new lessons?"
"Yes. But it will require a little expedition."
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Read a few chapters ahead on my P@treon:
P@treon/ Vulkizaro_Zoromi