After we travelled for 2 whole days, Roy discussed with the others about my training, and thus we agreed on taking a 2 day break before the final stretch to Myura.
"Alright! It's time for your next lesson Lia!" Roy started off with an upbeat attitude, "First let's start off with some stretches, and since this is your second last lesson with me, I'll teach you some basic sword techniques!"
As he said, we started off with a couple of stretches, mainly to warm up the body and reduce any risk of muscle tears or strain.
Out of nowhere, a sword manifested into the palm of Roy's hand. From my observation, the ring that was worn around his pointer finger had some sort of transdimensional space that allowed him to do that. It was rather impressive to see for the first time, and from the looks of Roy's facial expression, it seemed like he was attempting to flaunt his ring's ability.
He lightly dropped the sword into my hands, and the weight was unbearably heavier than the wooden sword that I had gotten from Dad. I attempted to sheathe it, however it wouldn't budge whatsoever.
"UGH! Why.. Is,, It so heavy?!" I struggled, focusing on keeping the sword from dropping to the floor.
"Oh oopsies! Wrong sword!" Within his visible intonation, Roy spoke with both worry and slight joy to express himself.
He delicately grabbed the sword from my trembling hands and swapped it with another. This time the sword was light, but heavier than the wooden sword. The sheath was a smooth black with no real decoration, and this time, I was able to unsheathe it. I ran my hand across the flat surface of the blade, my face became distorted from how polished it was.
"I kept it rather clean, it was a sword that my teacher made for me. Good times.." Roy's smile twitched, his eyes dimmed shifting slightly, and his head propped further down to try and hide himself.
I kept calm, although my thought was to console him, it'd probably hurt him more to be comforted by a little girl.
"Alright! Let's get started! We don't have much time to waste!" His upbeat personality swiftly returned, his face brightened, and in a cheerful manner, raised his sword up high to almost signify the commencement of my learning.
"The first technique I'll teach you with the sword is what I like to call.. Drum roll please..!"
I pretended to pat the air as fast as I could with my hand, my eyes lit up eagerly awaiting what cool skill I'd learn.
"It's called.. The super awesome parry technique!"
"Oh yeah! The par-ry.. Technique?" My face drained of any excitement I had leftover.
"We all gotta learn it someday! And and and.. It's better to learn it earlier! If I had to choose any technique out of the ones I know.. I'd choose this technique! So be grateful." He flicked my head gently, making me take a few steps back from the force.
"First off, how does a parry even work, teacher Roy?!?" Roy's pitch slightly shot up, trying to mimic my voice before returning back down.
"Wonderful inquiry Ophelia! First, when parrying, you'll need to remember that you must face their slash with the flat side of your blade! Trying to parry with the edge will only damage your own sword, sometimes with enough force it may even break right through!" As Roy continued to explain, he demonstrated the movements slowly to me.
"Second, when parrying don't forget to visualize your opponent's strike, slight movements can cause a switch in strikes, also called a feint. Third, although I said I'd choose this technique over anything, dodging is always your number priority. Parrying is only used for easy counter attacks or when you know you can't dodge."
"Strike me anyway you want Ophelia."
I nodded and walked up just a meter away from him. I swung the sword as fast as I could, I swiftly stopped, incorporating the 'feint' previously mentioned in hopes of catching him off guard and attacking his other side. However, Roy's movements were slow and smooth, and my slash was easily parried, the sword flung out of my hands.
"What did you see when I parried your slash, Ophelia?"
"Well.. It was hard to see, but I think when your blade connected with mine using the flat side of the blade, and your body shifted, forcing my sword away.."
"Half-right!" Roy gestured to his feet as he explained further, "I shifted not to force you but to make both of us more so you in particular, 'flow' with the direction of my blade. I also used my foot opposite of the slash to give me that extra bit of Momentum, how about it? It's pretty neat ain't it!"
"Since it'd be pretty hard to see results with me as your training bag.. Stay right here!" Instantaneously, he had vanished, and seconds later, Roy seemed to zap back to his original position.
This time, Roy was holding a blue humanoid creature by its nape. The creature had a singular small horn on the side of its head, eyes that were black with red pupils, 6 fingers and 6 toes instead of 5 like a human.
"Roy? Pardon me, but what is this?"
"This here.." Roy cleared his throat before placing the creature down to the floor. It froze on the spot, not daring to move an inch. "Is an Oni! A race that is capable of speech though foreign to us humans.
Their ancestors were also the creators of Aura. For this little guy, his probably around 9..? Or 40 in Oni years?" He gently propped down to its head level, a sword slowly appeared into his hand and placed it gently into its hands.
"This here, will be your temporary training partner! What you have to do is perfect the technique by only parrying! Oh and don't kill him, I still have to return him back to his tribe!" Roy was unfazed, he continued to show an upbeat personality and kept smiling.
The sun had gone down, the Oni and I had sweat dripping profusely, the sword that Roy lent to the Oni was still pristine, same as mine. Its slow slashing movements allowed me to predict the swing which allowed me to parry its blade.
"Alright! That should be enough for today!" Roy gently grabbed his sword back from the Oni, in which he had disappeared with the Oni. The same thing happened and he appeared in his original position, but the Oni was gone.
"Tomorrow we continue for a bit longer, and if we're lucky on time, we can start a new technique before we have to start traveling!" Roy followed with a thumbs up. "Get some grub before you rest, don't want to feel too tired tomorrow!"
His instructions were clear, and I followed them. Food that was still warm to the touch from the fire. Meat and soup was the meal today, and although it wasn't like the meals eaten at home, it was still delicious.
"Alrighty! Let's get a move on Lia!" The sound of a lively personality awoke me from my deep slumber, and I only had realized how annoying it was till this experience occurred to me.
"Just.. A.. Few more.. Minutes.." I was easily picked up and after falling into a deep sleep, I was swiftly reawakened by me falling onto the prickly grass ground.
The next half hour was of what I had done yesterday, a simple warm-up and straight into parry training. A simple clap from Roy's hands startled the Oni and my own concentration.
"Ahem. I should properly introduce you to this Oni Lia, he'll be a great friend to you in your journeys I'd say. His name is drum roll please!" Roy mimicked the sounds of drums before continuing. "Hataaré, he's preparing to be the next advisor for the King's candidate! He already knows a bit about you because of me."
"Nice to meet you Hataaré." While he and I bowed, our way was completely different, while Hataaré was rough and sluggish while mine was a direct copy of my mother's serene style.
"Anyway! Moving on, so long as you practice that Lia, you'll be on track! So, I shall teach you my special technique! And it won't be as boring as the last!" Roy quickly cleared his throat, "My mega! Super! Awesome! Meteor-cutting! Planet-destroying-!"
"Just say it already." My voice cut his like a sharp knife, as he let out another cough, Roy quickly reintroduced it.
"I named it 'The Seismic Slash'." His stance widened and his already wide smile expanded even further. "Pretty cool right!" Roy's eyes blinded my eyes as he darted close to my face.
"Yeah.." The contrast between us was vastly different, as opposed to his shining eyes, I blatantly showed my sarcasm. Even the Oni thought so.
"You'll thank me in the long run, you'll soon know how hard it is to name skills.. Moving on! We don't have much time, so I'll go through the quick basics. Hataaré, you can join in too."
"Alright, firstly, get in a wide stance as I am right now." We both followed his stance as he continued with his instructions. "The sword should stay sheathed, with your hands positioned like so." His hand was placed on the handle while his other was held tight onto his sheath. "Within one second, you'll utilize every muscle in the body and slash in front of you."
Hataaré and I both tried and, at first it didn't look all that special. It was difficult, but what could this do?
"I'll do a demonstration for ya! To show you the ultimate technique!" Roy's stance was different, he was aiming at the sky? Was it really that powerful to hit even the skies that were so far away from us? But I knew that he was strong, one of the strongest, so were the skies really that high for Roy?
Roy was still, and his movements were frozen, but the aura that poured from him was immense, even without trying to sense it with the vibrations I had unlocked, I could feel the overwhelming pressure that exuded even though it wasn't aimed at us.
Roy stopped, he walked over to us and it appeared that nothing had happened. Needless to say, something most definitely occurred, but Hataaré and I just couldn't see it yet.
"It takes a while, just give it a minute or two.." We all stared at the sky, the lackadaisical clouds floated above, drifting slowly. Not much transpired, maybe he was still as mortal as us?
"And.. There it is!" Roy's words puzzled me for a moment, it temporarily obscured my sight, and before I knew it.. I saw it. The clouds split in two, and a narrow line could be observed from below.
"That.. That was with your aura?" Hataaré muttered, his gaping wide mouth signified his bewilderment as was I, but what astonished me even more was what Roy said after.
"Aura? Nah, that was purely with my strength. If it was with my aura, it'd probably be just.. A tiny bit stronger?" Was he being humble?
"Alright! By the time the day strikes night, both of you will have learnt how to do the technique!"
Roy's instructions were clear and concise, with each and every movement being shown clearly, Hataaré and I practiced it repeatedly. My body was slowly taken over by fatigue and exhaustion, my eyes clamped down, and my body slumped over.
"It seems like Hataaré is doing pretty well for his age, though I guess it's still too difficult for ya Lia!" From the sounds of his steps coming closer, I could hear him crouch beside me.
"Don't worry if you can't do it, we can always practice when we meet again! Well, by the time we meet again, you'd probably be even stronger than me!" Roy let out a small chuckle.
"Your attempt at cheering me up isn't helping." I was blatantly honest, and I knew it'd probably hurt him. But how could a 12 year old do this?!
"Well.. You never know, we might not see each other for a long time. It's my fault for trying to teach you such a difficult-"
"No no, sorry. Even though you're not my teacher, I asked you to teach me. It's my fault, I'll successfully perform it before night falls!" I jumped up, despite my now cheery attitude, my body still felt extremely fatigued, it was difficult to even hold my sword.
"Lia." A brief pause was made, "Don't dwell on the struggles you've experienced, dwell on how far you've come."
"That was cheesy and out of nowhere.."
"It was a little cheesy, but that's my job right? To be your teacher." Roy never stopped smiling, his eyes however, said a different story.
"Your right, thank you Roy."
It helped a bit, though it didn't really give me a boost in power, it helped mentally. Each time I swung my sword, I forcefully dropped to the floor, my muscles ached, and my body was enveloped in sweat. Hataaré was amazing, after only a few hours and he could basically call that technique his own.. What about me?
I couldn't even do it..
I didn't think I was lacking in talent, I kept memories of my past life, I developed an Aether Soul at the age of 7! Was I really not fit for swords? I shook my head, this wasn't the time to be negative again. I swung one last time, the sun eye's slowly closed, and darkness soon covered the land.
"Get some rest Lia. You've already done a great job today." Roy lifted me up onto his back, it was evident that I had no more strength left in me, and my voice strangled itself. Silence overpowered me, and before I knew it, I fell unconscious.