What happened at the training today was something I won't forget.
The seamless integration of techniques from today's demonstration, along with insights gleaned from the figure's previous performances over the past week, left me utterly astounded as I effortlessly wielded three weapons in practice.
What seemed to be no progress turned into a half-of-a-hundred performance rate right away.
There's still no mistaking about it.
I'm awesome—
"I'm awesome! My intelligence is still superior to those bastards haha!"
The figure exuberantly shouted, expressing joy at the evident progress instead of continuing the streak of zero, leaving me in a state of dumbfounded awe.
Who knows what would happen if it continued?
Observing him revel in his moment, I discreetly coughed and responded, "Isn't that what I'm supposed to say? Without my talent that continues to bloom and your guidance obviously, this wouldn't have happened."
"Of course, you also have credit on it but if you have this immense talent, why are we directing the training this way? Because you can't handle the weapon simultaneously, don't you?"
'Tsk.'
Clicking my tongue, knowing what he said wasn't wrong, I can't help but raise another matter.
"Then what the hell is happening? What's the difference from before and now? I could've made some progress, even a bit of performing would've been seen. Now that we reduced the weapons to three, I boosted it by fifty. Where's the logic?"
"Fufu, if I don't have an answer to it then I do not deserve to be your teacher. Besides, your performance yesterday provided some clarity in my head," The figure contemplated with a smug posture before pointing his finger at me, "Your crazy adaptability is superb. Even I cant contest with you!"
Tilting my head, not liking the suspense he was keeping for himself, I blurted out in annoyance.
"Huh?"
"I mean, your adaptability is a quality and strength you possess. Your smart too but that doesn't define who you are." The figure gave a description, "The ability to adapt to any situation. You are that kind person, yet that only applies to one situation. By the looks of it, you can adapt to three situations at most. We can add a weapon to see if it's the current thing you could do right now."
'What the hell is this Horror saying?'
Adapting is my redeeming quality? You must be joking! Humans are obviously adaptive beings but if we're talking about adaptability, many others are higher than me.
That wasn't even the weirdest of all.
'Adaptability has a count?'
Well, the results already showed in my front but if I continued learning more about the conceptions the figure is spewing out, I would get my world turned upside down with it.
"Uhm, you didn't just straight out think this out of the blue without any theory about it, right? I mean, adaptability is… adaptability. Of course, some idea might come out of nowhere but what you said doesn't explain anything at all to adaptability."
"Huh?" The figure let out a groan, "I know that. Don't think of me as an idiot. I mean, the adaptability I'm talking about only belongs to you. You might've not realized it but I know there are few instances where you knew yourself better than everyone else, pulling off the impossible once you get the hang of the situation."
Huh…
"And you know what's scary about that talent of yours?" The figure under his hood seemed to have sneered as he revealed, "You'll be unstoppable once you start to wield it as if it's stuck on your body or well, an ability like a Horror maybe."
I don't get it!
"Your face is saying how confused you are. It's better to see it yourself." The figure paused, "We'll run two simulations now. Either use the three weapons you trained and add seven more or use completely different weapons aside from the previous ones. You can start anywhere."
Slightly tilting my head to the side, I offered a single nod, interpreting that the figure was attempting to convey something to me.
First, I retrieved my two daggers and showcased the formless art, executing attacks that differed markedly from my previous ones while still embodying the core principles of the special arts.
It was flawless.
Up next were the daggers with chains, or chained daggers on what the figure would like to call, and performed the same principle yet different execution.
The dagger rotated while I avoided its own rotation.
Once more, perfection.
Employing the chained dagger to elevate the short sword, I effortlessly grasped the handle, replicating the same outcome as the two weapons once more.
I didn't falter nor did my stance break.
The third weapon flowed into my grasp gracefully, releasing from my hands with finesse.
"If you can demonstrate to me the formless arts using ten weapons simultaneously, I'll be amazed." The figure paused, "Though that would be neigh impossible now. And I'm never wrong in my judgment in these kinds of things."
My face instantly contorted as I grabbed the sword on the ground.
'Are you really my teacher?!'
Instead of encouraging me, the figure was sure that I would fail to deliver even a good performance.
And reality slapped me back to reality.
Once the fifth rally of weapon change came, my movements became stiff even though my mind could access what I learned from the past days.
Yet no matter what I did, no matter what methods I did and my application to the given demonstration and skills, I couldn't do it.
Despite my continuous errors, the pattern persisted until the final weapon, a spear, rested in my hand. As a consequence of my missteps, the weapon unexpectedly shattered, prompting a shocked expression to spread across my face.
"Next simulation." The figure scoffed, "Try another ten weapons but this time, the ones you didn't use at the first one."
Clicking my tongue, I did what he said.
My performance with the fourth weapon paled in comparison to the proficiency I had demonstrated with the first three weapons in the previous simulation.
I had to stop this recklessness once I reached the fourth weapon where nothing changed.
My eyes were already seeing the truth.
'I understand everything in my head… I clearly do but my body just won't follow!'
I looked at the figure to find some answers which he replied with a serious tone.
"Your adaptability is impressive on its own. It's the quality of adjusting in any situation. But that doesn't mean your own strength has the capacity to do it which is why I've made it measurable. Just like my explanation, it's the same as what happened to you now."
Instead of engaging in fruitless argumentation over his initially incomprehensible point, I chose to listen attentively to his lengthy explanation.
"The reason you could do three weapons at most right now is because you of two reasons. First, you liked daggers so that's given. Second, the two weapons you choose yourself are something you liked and had something to do with your instincts."
'Instinct?'
The figure paused, "You knew you liked to use three of these weapons hence you set your 'adaptability' to these three and solely focused on them. Well, you can use a sword since I said the maximum you could do is probably four, but we have to stick with these three first."
He laughed shortly, "If we didn't do this, we might not be able to improve further."
My face appeared troubled and as if he had seen through me, the figure continued.
"Your face is telling me 'why run two simulations and how did it not achieve the same result as others?' is what it says to me so I'll answer it." The figure halted, "It's because your adaptability adjusted to learning 'these three weapons' instead of 'learning on new ones'. It's an easy thing to identify if you thought about my words."
Now that he had said it, it really made sense.
That would mean that this 'adaptability' he was talking about wouldn't stop adapting to the daggers, the short sword, and the chained dagger until I was completely able to perform them.
Until I fully adapt to them.
It didn't matter if I learned something new here. Well, even if I did, it would take long years to be able to do half of what I did regarding through three weapons of my choice.
'Ugh, if this adaptability theory he's talking about is true, I would've chosen a weapon closely more related to daggers like knives. Well, there's nothing I could do. In the end, it all comes down to being able to master these three weapons first.'
Talent is something you bloom; instinct is something you polish.
First, I'll hone my skillset until I'm able to satisfy the adaptability inside my body since I know it isn't related to the mind.
"Remember to etch these skills on your body as if they are natural. That's how you will adapt. And being able to do it is already crazy on its own."
The figure clapped his hands once, "Again, I will teach you formless arts for these three weapons. At the end of the week, I want to be able to see results. Understand?"
Without offering a retort, I placed my trust in his judgment, sensing that he wasn't aiming to diminish my performance but rather to provide constructive guidance.
"Yes, I understand."