"Two wooden swords and two linen cloths. Total of 4 silvers, but as our regular, we can give extra, totaling 5 silvers." Flarehead said with a smile.
Ambrose nodded and accepted the offer. He became five silvers richer, but it didn't make him jump around in joy. He only had 47 silvers as his total wealth.
He decided to sell two wooden swords, as he had four of them in his inventory. Since he didn't need so much, he decided to sell two.
After saying his farewells, he left the merchant store and headed for the market square. He only had two steaming buns left after eating another one to get back to full HP, so he wanted to buy slightly more and then return to the forest.
He didn't plan on staying too late tonight, as he didn't like sleeping during the day. Therefore, his goal was to reach level 4 before midnight and then go to sleep.
After crossing a road, he walked past a familiar-looking dojo. The evening was nearing its end, yet there were many students in the dojo training swordsmanship.
"Hey, you!"
Ambrose glanced towards the dojo, not expecting the shout to be aimed at him, but when he did, he noticed a familiar-looking man walking towards him.
"You." The man pointed straight at him. "You have trained here before. I see that you have become stronger!"
"I guess..." Ambrose looked at his body, and he didn't really feel stronger. However, it could also mean that the man wasn't talking about physical strength but just general strength.
"I guess your body can handle another skill. What do you say you want to learn?" The tall figure asked. He packed a lot of muscle with broad shoulders and rough hands, as if they were used to feeling the weight of the sword.
At the chest, there was a name sign "Rich", signifying his name. Ambrose didn't see that before.
'Why is it different from Flarehead?' Ambrose rubbed his chin and smiled at the suggestion. "I would like to."
"Good!" Rich shouted sternly and headed towards the training dummies with Ambrose in tow.
Ambrose looked around the yard and saw the students training against each other. They were all using the same sword style, looking rather basic.
"The move I am teaching you today is Basic Parry!"
'A defensive move? Nice.' Ambrose was pleasantly surprised. He only knew how to attack and dodge. It was obvious that he wasn't getting too far with only those.
"The parry is a rather simplistic skill." Rich touched the sheath on his hip and drew his steel longsword. He pointed its sharp edge towards Ambrose.
"Attack me."
Ambrose nodded and pulled one of his shortswords from the inventory.
'I might as well show my Basic Slash.' He thought and raised his sword above his head. He then slowly bent his knees, rotated his shoulder, and prepared to slash it down.
Rich brought the sword down until its hilt was near his hip. He then stood still like a mountain.
Ambrose narrowed his eyes, took a long stride forward, and brought the sword down.
Rich moved his sword at the same time to interject the attack. The two swords clashed and caused small sparks.
Then, Rich took a very short step forward and moved the longsword towards Ambrose's face. The tip of the sword stopped in front of his throat.
Ambrose gulped and looked down at the blade that was inches away from his neck.
"This is parry. A very simplistic skill." Rich said and sheathed the sword. He then straightened his back and said. "The main points are these—keep the sword close to your hip, make sure that you don't slash too late, and be on the lookout for faints."
Ambrose nodded. 'He lowered his sword's hilt close to his hilt so he could easier parry from the left and right sides.'
"With a parry, it is easy to counter-attack. If you see a chance, take it and don't hesitate. There are only fractions of seconds where you have time to decide."
"Understood."
Rich then grabbed a wooden sword and raised it above his head. "Try to parry."
Ambrose nodded and put the sword in front of him. He lowered it until his hand and hilt were near his left hip.
Rich took a step forward and brought his wooden sword down.
Ambrose moved his sword at the same time and was about to block the wooden blade, but Rich suddenly stopped his attack and swung from the right side instead.
'Faint!' Ambrose didn't panic as he moved his sword from his left hip to his right and blocked the wooden blade perfectly.
There was a split second where he also saw an opportunity for a counterattack!
Ambrose stepped forward powerfully and pushed his sword forward.
Rich's eyes shrank as he saw the steel blade nearing his face. He quickly stepped backward and deflected the blade with the blunt edge of the wooden sword.
Ambrose saw that his body was now wide open for attack, but he didn't panic. He quickly grabbed the sword with both hands and swung it horizontally towards Rich's abdomen.
Rich brought his sword down and swung it at the incoming steel sword. The parry stopped the steel blade in its tracks.
Ambrose gritted his teeth and tried to push the wooden sword away, but he clearly lacked the physical strength to do that.
Rich narrowed his eyes and smashed his left backhand into Ambrose's face. The black-haired young man crashed on the ground and rolled for a few meters before he realized he had just been hit.
"Ptui!" Ambrose spat out blue blood and quickly rose to his feet. He shakily pointed the sword at the tall, muscular figure. "What the hell was that?"
[You lost 11 HP!]
[HP: 29/40]
"A true swordsman would know how to parry even without a sword." Rich said and approached Ambrose with the wooden sword. "That is the minimum requirement for any self-respecting swordsman."
Ambrose tasted something disgusting in his mouth. He tasted the blue blood, which tasted worse than anything he had ever tasted.
Rich narrowed his eyes and sighed. He put the wooden sword away and asked. "Have you learned the parry yet?"
Ambrose checked the notification bar in front of him and sighed in relief.
[Basic Parry - Completion Rate - 100%]
'Much easier than Basic Slash.'
"Very good. You may return once you have become stronger." Rich said and headed towards the rest of his students.
Ambrose was about to leave, but he wondered if Rich knew the answer to one of his questions.
"Excuse me, do you know how one can create their own skills?"
Rich stopped and turned his head half-way around. He looked silently inside his own dojo, which was a small room with a wooden floor and walls covered with black mats.
"Yes, I do," He said.
"May I know how?" Ambrose said with an expectant expression.
"Follow me." Rich stepped into the dojo.
Ambrose threw his sword back into his inventory and ran after the muscular dojo owner.
Rich walked to the small altar in the dojo. There was one scroll on the altar and a framed picture of an old woman.
He sat down on the ground, with his legs being the only body parts touching the floor. He then took the scroll into his arm and opened it.
The scroll was brown and empty. There wasn't a single word on it.
Ambrose stood beside him and wondered what it was.
"This is called Skill Scroll. The owner of the scroll can create their own skills that are within their limits." Rich then offered it to Ambrose.
Ambrose took it gently and looked at the empty scroll. A screen about the scroll suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Skill Scroll: A scroll to create your own technique!]
'So, Barbarian found his own Skill Scroll and managed to create his own skill. A skill that is within their limits... So he was capable of creating such a powerful skill. I wonder just how strong he truly is.'
"I have been trying for two decades to create my own skill." Rich said while looking at the old woman's picture. "I have been unsuccessful. I had once dreamed of creating my own style, but instead, I am stuck teaching "Basic Style" to my students, which is an honorable position but not what I want."
"What are the requirements for creating skills?" Ambrose asked. 'Two decades... That is a crazy long time, but how did Barbarian create one so quickly?'
"No idea. Imagination, strength, and creativity." Rich shrugged his shoulders and stood up. "Anyway, I have given up. You can have the scroll. Perhaps you will succeed."
"Ah, are you sure?" Ambrose looked at the scroll nervously. It sounded like it meant a lot to Rich, but he also wanted to try creating his own skill.
"Yes, and if you do succeed, please show it to me." Rich patted his shoulder and left the dojo to teach his students.
Ambrose looked at the scroll and clenched it tightly. 'My own technique...'