Chapter 9 Training Techniques and Dungeons

"...for now, let's choose the best type of weapon for your training," Simon added as he pulled out of his ring several types of weapons. There were machetes, katanas, swords, daggers, axes, hammers, scimitars, scythes and many more types of weapons. Alex stared at this scene while wondering, 'Is this guy for real? Anyway, why does someone has to have so many weapons? Or does he want to start a bandits camp?'

"Hey, go ahead and select what type of weapon you'll be using from now on. Although you should focus on a single type of weapon, this doesn't mean that you can ignore others as there might come a time where you'll not have your favorite. But who said one must only utilize a single? Train them all, so whatever you find, you can use," Simon said this as he waited for Alex to select a weapon for himself.

Alex moved forward as he stared at the different types of weapons. He began picking them one by one as he began testing them to see which ones he's comfortable with. He swung, smashed and pulled different weapons until he got double swords. During the physical fitness training, his left arm became just as active as his right arm even though it was slower by a certain margin. As he swung the swords, a smile bloomed on his face for the first time since he came to Kravon town. He had found what fitted him best.

"So, double swords, well we'll just start with those till you get to master several techniques and until you'll be capable of producing intent. Since you are a warrior, you must know how to control and release the intent through your specific weapon. So, you'll be training several aspects of using intent. There might be some training which you might think that they are just wasting your time but I'll tell you to take everything seriously as you never know when you'll need them," Simon began his lecture on weapons by starting with intent.

He proceeded to teach Alex the best way to hold the dual swords and a best stance. He then began teaching him the basic movement that every fighter must know. With this, the movement and his body coordination would become fluid. This is what makes a fighter as one may know a technique but his movements may falter thus causing a mistake that could even take his life. So, a technique, movement and the combatant must be in sync.

At first, Alex's movements were too shaggy and from time to time, he'd falter his steps. As a form of punishment, he take 100 push-ups for every error he made. This might seem low for someone who had done physical training for over a year but, consindering that he made many mistakes consecutively, he did over a thousand push-ups. By the end of the day, his body was just as numb as the first time he began training.

The following day, the routine repeated itself but his movements had improved slightly. And thus this day was also hectic for him. The following days, his movements began taking shape until after a whole long month, he was proficient in the movement technique called light steps. This was a basic movement technique that helped in speed greatly apart from improving efficiency in fighting.

After this, he was a dual sword style named swirling wind. This technique had five steps. The first step being slashing. The normal slashing but when one looked at the power behind each slash, it could cause a fatal injury to those in rank 1 middle stage depending on the quality of the weapons. The second step was stabbing. In this case, one learns how to utilize a sword as a spear. This focuses mainly on penetration. The third step being a big attack in which one makes a 360° turn in such a way that when the rotation is done, the attack contains immense power behind and it would normally cut something into two.

The fourth step is where the intent comes in. The intent focuses on increasing the sharpness of the sword and the final step is where one can send the intent flying. The intent would normally be devastating if one was capable of accumulating a good amount of it.

The training was swift but the only area that took his time was learning how to produce sword intent and where he was supposed to send it flying. This took him a whole five months just to master which made him shake his head while thinking of the future. 'If the most basic took me five months to learn, just how long will it take me to complete an ultimate technique?' That was the question he kept asking himself. What he didn't know was that these basic techniques always took a long time to master as they were the main foundation of a warrior.

After mastering the dual swords technique, he began hunting several animals that were just beginning their evolution into their first stage, the Martial stage. These hunts made him have some fighting experience in a life and death situation. Sometimes, he had a spar with Simon which and the end of it, he's always beaten black and blue.

During the final year, he was trained on other weapons such as daggers and a long sword skills. Time wasn't enough for him to train to a level where he could produce an intent, let alone making it flying. He was also taught one or two on a long distance weapon and that was archery. He was capable of using a bow although his aiming still needed sharpening as they were rough.

"It's almost time to go back home. You've away for quite a while so we will be going back tomorrow the first thing in the morning. But before we leave, you must first fight against a martial monster and beat it so that we can get the core which has several uses," Simon said as they were in the room in the same inn they came to since they arrived in Kravon town.

"Finally, it's time I face someone my own size and see how far I am!" Alex exclaimed excitedly. He was really itching to have a decent fight where he can finally get a challenge and wipe the floor with his enemy just for payback for the beatings he received from Simon during every spar.

"Don't be too overconfident. There is a big difference between monsters that have not entered the Martial stage and those that have. And ooh, before I forget, there are ranking for warriors which are just like the normal rankings but they do have specific names which you can learn when you join the academy. Even though warriors don't use magic, they can't be underestimated. They have a sturdy body and high endurance as compared to mages who have low vitality," Simon began giving out explanation about Warriors.

Alex paid close attention as he didn't want to mess even a single bit but he was ready to test his own limits and if possible break it.

"The ones you'll be hunting would be in the rank 1 martial monsters in their initial stage. Even though they might only be starters, they are good in fighting compared to those you've been fighting all this time. So be serious and attentive at all times and be sure of your environment," Simon spoke as he began giving out tips on how to fight.

"We will be heading to the dungeon in the town, the lowest level one which only has Martial monsters from rank 1-2, from initial to peak stage. It has two floors for rank 1 and rank 2. In the first floor, the monsters are found in rooms. The first room has an initial stage rank 1 monster. The next room has two and the more rooms you enter the higher the number of monsters or rank. As for the final room, there is the boss of the floor. The boss is in the next realm of power which you can't handle, rank 2, too far for this you," Simon said this with a nonchalant look.

Alex simply nodded his head as he waited for Simon to continue. "We are leaving now. After the hunt, you'll come back here and prepare for departure as I pass through the guild to do some purchases for usage back home. After that, we'll depart," Simon continued as he stood up ready to go. "Let's see what effects my training has brought," he continued leaving the room followed by Alex. It was finally time to get to hunt something.

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