Rein nodded.
The next second, he swiftly stepped forward and his Dual-Handed Greatsword traced a lightning-fast semi-circular arc. At a downward angle of forty-five degrees, he fiercely cleaved down towards Cleya!
“Clang!!”
A grating sound of metal against metal rang out.
Cleya held her sword with both hands, her chestnut ponytail swaying. She used the ‘strong blade’ near the crossguard to firmly catch Rein’s Smooth Cleaving Slash.
The two quickly parted, and then Cleya began to explain,
“There are two variations of the Giant Bear Sword Technique’s defensive stance to cope with different situations. The first is similar to using a one-handed sword, applying the strong blade against the enemy’s cleaving skills.”
“The second is different. Come, Rein, thrust your sword at me.”
As she spoke, Cleya gestured for Rein to attack her again.
“Alright, Lady Cleya, be careful!”
“Clang!!”
The sound of this clang was quite crisp.
Cleya’s Dual-Handed Greatsword stood erect, planted into the ground, perfectly blocking Rein’s striding thrust.
Rein was jolted so much that his wrist turned sour, almost unable to hold the sword hilt. He looked closely and saw his sword tip was precisely on the groove of Cleya’s Dual-Handed Greatsword’s blade that was as wide as a palm.
Cleya did not launch an attack, purely defending.
And Rein’s greatsword did not scrape and spark, moving aside to continue thrusting at Cleya, because the blood groove on the greatsword restricted the sword tip.
“Do you understand?”
“The second variation of the Giant Bear Sword Technique’s defensive stance is designed to block the enemy’s quick thrusts. When the enemy attacks swiftly, it becomes very difficult to rely on the strong blade to cope.”
“But you need to be aware, in the selection of Dual-Handed Greatswords, you need to choose those with single or double blood grooves.”
“Furthermore, after blocking, you must immediately counterattack. The Giant Bear Sword Technique is not primarily a defensive sword technique. What you need is to disrupt the opponent’s offensive rhythm with fierce attacks, forcing them to be consumed with defense.”
With Cleya’s concise and clear explanation, Rein had an epiphany.
Rein thought about it carefully and realized it was indeed so!
The Giant Bear Sword Technique encompasses five moves: “Furious Slash,” “Leap Slash,” “Smooth Cleaving Slash,” “Defensive Stance,” and the one he hadn’t learned, “Whirlwind Slash.”
From the names, it’s not hard to discern that out of the five moves, four are named with ‘slash,’ fully demonstrating that the Giant Bear Sword Technique is primarily offensive.
Unlike the one-handed sword skills which have many thrusting motions, the moves of the Giant Bear Sword Technique are all designed to make full use of the greatsword’s heavy blade, focusing mainly on powerful cleaving sword techniques!
Guided by Cleya’s insightful instructions, Rein’s progress in practicing the Giant Bear Sword Technique accelerated significantly.
Having sparred many times with Cleya over the past three days using the Giant Bear Sword Technique, Rein’s Militia Profession Level had smoothly advanced to lv4 and was now Militia lv4 (18/1000).
As a matter of course, he gained one attribute point and one skill point.
Name: Rein Carlan
Profession: Blacksmith lv1 (5/100) / Militia lv4 (18/1000)
Constitution: 6
Strength: 9
Agility: 8
Spirit: 8
Remaining Attribute Points: 1
Remaining Skill Points: 2
Regarding this attribute point, Rein did not hurry to use it since allocating points had the special effect of restoring status.
Therefore, he planned to save it for an emergency.
As for the two skill points, Rein was still somewhat undecided whether to use them to enhance his core skills or to improve the final two forms of the Giant Bear Breathing Technique.
Since he was undecided, Rein planned to hold onto them for the time being.
“Rein, the last thing I’m going to teach you today is about the secret technique of the Giant Bear Sword Technique,” Cleya signaled for Rein to stop practicing the ‘defensive posture.’
“A secret technique?” Rein was slightly taken aback upon hearing Cleya’s words.
“The Giant Bear Sword Technique, including the Giant Bear Breathing Technique, is not exclusive to the Habus family; it’s widely spread among the imperial nobility.”
“But only families that have studied the Giant Bear Sword Technique long enough can create their own secret techniques, or what could be called ultimate moves, based on the Giant Bear Breathing Technique and the Giant Bear Sword Technique.”
“And today, I will teach you, the Haubs family’s unique secret technique of the Giant Bear Sword Technique—the roaring strike!”
“This move requires strong lung power to simulate the sonic shockwave of a bears’ attack and should be executed in conjunction with the Whirlwind Slash,” Cleya said eloquently.
A sonic attack combined with a physical attack?
Rein quickly grasped the power of this secret technique.
If both parties were of similar strength, and one suddenly unleashed the roaring strike, as long as the opponent got momentarily stunned by the unexpected sonic attack, it would be game over.
One could seize the opportunity to strike down the opponent directly.
“To help you understand, let’s demonstrate!” A sly smile appeared on Cleya’s face.
“Okay, Lady Creya!”
Rein gripped his Dual-Handed Greatsword tightly, with the tip pointing up at a forty-five-degree angle, ready in a starting position.
“Hah!!!”
A huge roar blasted out from Cleya’s red lips, and even though Rein was prepared, he only felt a gust of wind hitting his face, causing his skin to tremble violently.
His eardrums were in pain, and his whole head was buzzing!
Although this lasted for a very brief moment, just under half a second, by the time Rein came to his senses again, he found that Cleya’s Dual-Handed Greatsword had already stopped at his neck.
“Pfft!” Seeing Rein’s puzzled look just now, Cleya couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Cough… How about it, Rein, did you feel the power of the roaring strike?” Apparently realizing her behavior was not very ladylike, Cleya coughed and said.
“Actually, as a woman, I’m not at an advantage in executing this strike, and I don’t practice the Giant Bear Breathing Technique, so the move I just demonstrated was only a simulation.”
Rein nodded silently without a word.
Cleya was completely correct; if it had been a powerful knight who specialized in the Giant Bear Breathing Technique executing that move, his eardrums would probably have burst and bled instantly, and he would have been left dizzy on the spot.
Rather than just being dazed for less than a second like just now.
But in a fight between masters, who could afford to stop for one second? In his previous life, a hundred-meter sprinter could cover ten meters in one second, and in this world, with its exaggerated martial prowess, a second was enough to kill you several times over.
Rein realized for the first time the importance of Constitution.
If his Constitution were strong enough, he could withstand such dizziness and other abnormal resistances, while also speeding up his physical recovery, and bolstering his endurance, among other effects.
It seemed he would have to devote more effort to the Giant Bear Breathing Technique and practice it diligently since if the technique could be improved, it would enhance his physical attributes all-around, especially Constitution and Strength, which would receive additional bonuses from training in the Giant Bear Breathing Technique.
At that moment, Rein saw Cleya suddenly place her greatsword back onto the sword rack.
While he was puzzled, he heard Cleya turn around and say, “Rein, I will be going back to County Town to see my father in a moment.”
“Early tomorrow morning, I will be leaving Meister County to head to the Imperial Royal Academy.”
Upon hearing this news, Rein was momentarily stunned. So soon?
Although he had heard Cleya mention before that she would be leaving after a while, at this moment, he felt somewhat lost.