『Stab (M)』, 『Cleave (M)』, 『Parry (M)』, 『Block (M)』, 『Roll (M)』
Looking at this set of skills, Cedric couldn't help but smile helplessly. They're the latest addition to his skills that reached Lv.10 or Mastered as indicated.
The crazy part about this is that it hasn't even taken him a day to master these active skills. Yes, that sounds completely absurd, but it's the truth.
It's not like he entered a state of enlightenment or something either. Sure, he got immersed into his training a little bit but that's to be expected since this was his Core Skills as a Swordsman.
If he entered a selfless state of enlightenment, Cedric was fairly confident that he'd know. Similarly, he's also confident that he did not, so how come he mastered all these skills this fast?
'...I refuse to believe that it's because of the sword.' Cedric mused inwardly.
There's no way that it's because of the Training Sword. Sure, the experience boost was nice and all but it's not that great! He also doesn't think that the sword contains any secret that he doesn't know. With his 『Vision』 skill at max, there's no way he'd miss something like that.
'Since it's not the sword, then what can it be? Even the 『Learning』 skill can't be this broken, right?' Cedric was in deep thought.
After a solid minute of thinking, Cedric's golden eyes suddenly glimmered in thought.
'I wonder...'
Cedric hummed as he raised the sword he was holding. He got into a stance, gripped the Training Sword firmly in his hands, and performed the 『Cleave』
Swoosh!
The air whistled as he performed the skill. Under the close inspection of his senses, he could tell that he performed the skill perfectly using minimal effort. He sliced the air cleanly so that even those with dulled senses would be able to sense it.
Next, he performed the 『Stab』. He then visualized a zombie attacking him and used 『Block』 and 『Parry』. After that, he performed the combat 『Roll』 to evade an imaginary attack.
Each skill was done with seemingly minimal effort yet each performance was nothing short of perfection.
A few hours later, Cedric would've patted himself on the back for doing the skills really well. Now, however, something else was on his mind after his performance.
'That's not it...' the glimmer in his eyes intensified. 'This isn't Swordsmanship just yet!'
Cedric's thought whirred as he focused, the brilliance of the 『Learning』 skill was now showing its might.
'Going through one stance after the other isn't the essence of Swordsmanship. Although the videos I watched confirmed that I am indeed performing the skills correctly, they did say that this was just an introduction to Swordsmanship.'
'In other words, I'm barely scratching the surface of the art itself!' Cedric's eyes brightened in realization.
'That would make sense! After all, compared to the other skills I mastered, these activities are a little bit underwhelming.'
With his 『Vision』 skill and 『Learning』 skill mastered, Cedric has a clear perspective of what a max level of skill has to offer.
Compared to those two, simply slicing the air with every swing of his sword doesn't sound too appealing to him. Plus, these are active skills! He's spending chunks of his energy just to what? Part the air for a brief moment? That doesn't seem right...
'...this tells me that this isn't their final form.' Cedric continued with his line of thought as he began performing one skill after another.
Gradually, his consciousness gathered and focused on this task, placing everything else on auto-pilot. Under the dim glare of dusk, Cedric's figure could be seen slowly shifting from one skill to another. With each rotation, he's becoming faster and faster.
Cedric was so immersed in his training that eventually, he had fallen into a trance. His glazed eyes turned dull yet his body moved vigorously as if it had a mind of its own.
The wind whistled past his body and Cedric suddenly shivered. All of a sudden, he stopped and stayed in position for a solid minute. After that, he was moving once again but this time, something's changed...
'...connection. Smooth transition from stance after the other.' Cedric murmured inwardly.
'Stancing one skill after the other causes one to be rigid. The Art of Swordsmanship shouldn't be limited like that. There must be a connection with each move.'
'It should be free like the wind. It should flow like water...'
Cedric's body then shifted to the stance of the 『Stab』, once his arm stretched to its limits, the tip of his sword released a cold and threatening gleam. If this was before, Cedric would've pulled back his arm before performing the next skill, but this time he did it differently.
With his arm still outstretched, he twisted his grip on the sword and swung it horizontally to the side, clumsily shifting into a 『Cleave』.
His 『Footwork』 stabilized his balance, allowing him to ride the momentum of the 『Cleave』 causing his sword to arc beautifully around him. Cedric essentially spun as this happened, and just before he completed his spin, he adjusted his hold on the sword, bringing it up.
An imaginary foe appeared before him, attempting to crush him, but with what he did, he essentially 『Parried』 the attack, connecting 『Cleave』 to it. The feedback of his senses told him that the performance just now was clumsy but he didn't mind.
Then, Cedric continued sparring with his imaginary foe. The longer he did so, the more his attacks started connecting.
In his trance, Cedric lost his sense of time. He had also lost count of how long he had been fighting against his visualized enemy and he still didn't show signs of stopping.
Currently, Cedric's mind was as clear as a flawless piece of glass. He wasn't a stranger to the way his body felt whenever he flawlessly connected one skill after another.
Under the pale brilliance of the moon, Cedric was akin to a fatal dancer. His skills were artistic yet carried a fatal threat. He was so immersed in his training that he didn't notice how drenched his clothes became.
With how much he was moving, it was impossible for him to feel cold. In fact, looking closely, one could see wisps of smoke rising from Cedric's body as he continued to dance under the moonlight.
His blood thrummed in glee as he skillfully and flawlessly refined his swordplay. Sadly, he could tell that his trance was coming to an end.
As the sensation ebbs away, Cedric silently withdrew his sword and panted heavily. Taking out at least three bottles of water from his Inventory, he giddily looked at the System Alerts which swarmed his vision.
[User Cedric has fallen into a trance. Disabling System Notifications until further notice.]
[The User discovered the Hidden Synergy between the Swordsman Class' basic skills!]
[Detected! Skills: 『Stab』, 『Cleave』, 『Parry』, 『Block』, and 『Roll』could be Synthesized into the 『Fencing』 skill!]
[Checking Skill Levels...]
[Confirming Aptitude Rating...]
[Synthesizing...]
[Congratulations! Your skills evolved to the 『Fencing』 skill!]
『Fencing (Lv.1)』
: Fencing is the Art of Swordplay. This skill represents the true mastery of the fundamentals of Swordplay, establishing a seamless connection with each move and increasing their lethality sharply.
: This skill is a must-have for those who desire to master the Art of the Sword. Possessing this skill allows the user to reveal the true might of Swordplay.
: Note! This skill can possibly evolve.
*
"Awesome!" Cedric gasped in delight as he finished reading the prompts.
He certainly wasn't expecting to slip into a trance while thinking about his dilemma, yet he's happy it happened, nonetheless.
'Really, 『Learning』 is such a perverted skill to have!' He exclaimed inwardly.
Cedric wasn't disillusioned. He knew that all of this was only possible because he had that skill.
Now that his skills have evolved into a true Art of Swordplay, his doubts have been dispelled. He had felt the lethality carried by the 『Fencing』 skill, and the fact that he could now seamlessly transition into another move brought forth an unpredictable side to his attacks.
Since the skill was just Lv.1, there's still a lot to be desired about it. But that's perfectly fine for Cedric. He has time to spare, a lot of it actually.
What's more important to him is that, now that he has this skill, he could now call himself a True Swordsman. Even the System itself recognized this fact and that made him feel good about himself.
With this much progress, Cedric couldn't help but feel increasingly confident about his chances. In fact, he's now having a difficult time trying to humble himself.
He knows that he achieved a lot within these past two weeks, and there is hardly anybody out there who could replicate the sheer amount of progress he made.
That being said, Cedric needs to keep himself in check. He can't let pride ruin everything for him. Sure, he had achieved a lot but in the grand scheme of things? He's still just an ant.
Actually, compared to the previous owner of his eyes, his achievements were laughable. What he achieved in two weeks was just three days' worth of effort to 'that man'.
Cedric spent some time humbling himself before returning to his room and taking a bath. Hopefully, he could actually sleep this time around.