Chapter 140: Blade Shield

Thump!

The next thing I felt was a foot up against my back, and from behind, I was pushed forward, super violently, and I crashed down.

All of this little fighting scene we had might have looked more casual and playful to a third party, but in my heart, I felt burning with all the hatred and frustration in the world. Deep within my heart, I buried this feeling of irritation and decided to wait for my moment to unleash it all.

So, once I was on the ground, I "playfully" argued with the swordsman and hid my true feelings. I told him he was bad for pushing me down like this, and he said I was the bad one for trying to stick some kind of hellish-looking claws inside his chest in the middle of training. So, he noticed, obviously. Still going playfully, I had to argue that he imagined it all.

"Never mind that, boy," he laughed, resting his sword on his shoulder. "You fell pretty hard; I hope my only disciple's all right! Get up, c'mon."

"Mrrr... I'll get up even if you don't tell me...!"

"Sure. Don't get up, then."

"Aaah!"

"So you're all right. Great. Wipe that look off your face, boy. I can see through your irritation, eh. And that very temper of yours is what's responsible for your second loss, you know? Well, at least partly anyway... Hehe," he rubbed his nose. "Nah, sorry. I'm messing with you too much. Tell you what, I can at least acknowledge you're trying hard, boy."

Like that brought any comfort to me. If anything, it was worse now. It's like he pitied me. I didn't like it. At any rate, since the man was right, maybe I could take it as a compliment. Trying hard can be good, too.

After a moment of silence, I decided to stay on the ground, lifted my back up, and casually sat. "Do sit, swordsman."

"Ah."

"And stay still."

"Sure."

He sat and stayed seated.

"...Where do I start?" When the swordsman tilted his head to the side, I began to tell him everything. Everything I had to. He and I sat together. It was time for a discussion. His spine was erected, his hands on his knees, and his bokken was lying on his lap—he held it dearly.

That freak's guild wasn't my guild. I told him as much. Also, he looked like a fraud, and his shabby dojo didn't arrange that. So I wasn't part of it. I didn't like it, and that was enough reason. In the first place, I wasn't at all interested in this job-related guild business, so it pained me to have to join any of these minute human organizations, but even if I forced myself to join a guild, I wouldn't pick his. Other guilds looked better.

Both he and I knew that my joining his team was all the swordsman hoped for, even though we didn't openly discuss it since it was a sensible topic.

And that was my first point. The freaky swordsman, at first, being at a loss of words, only let his mouth slacken, widened his eyes, and scratched his jaw in disbelief, but after he saw I meant every word one hundred percent... he adopted a saggy posture, bent down his neck, had a vacant, empty stare, and lost a ton of weight in one sec—I swear I could see his cheeks become sunken at once.

"Uwah—! Don't look so depressed...!

"However!" I exclaimed. "At this point, I might as well just stick around here, 'cause I also need to learn from you... as you already know, swordsman!" Yes. I had something to learn from him. Also, I didn't give him closure, but I still planned to slay him some time, outside of the capital, and steal every skill he had from him. Long-windedly, I sophisticatedly explained to the swordsman to basically consider it like this:

Was he to help me with my quest — Train with Kambe Streman, the instructor of your guild, and learn one skill. 0/1 — and allow me to get what I needed to, I would at least consider joining the shabby guild business he ran, and become the man's disciple. In the end, I added that I'd probably need him more afterward (I imagined the quest "He who became a monster" would last more than I initially thought it would since there seemed to be more than meets the eye with this mysterious character), so he had better help me all right.

"That's all. What say you, swordsman? Down to help me some?"

The swordsman's answer was that I was bold and interesting. "I'll help you, boy. More than you will ever think. Yes, I'll do as you say. More than you will ever think."

Well, that was one way to insist. More than I would ever think, eh? Sure thing. He was surprisingly docile and cooperative, so I wondered what he may have meant by that statement, but I wasn't the type to think ahead much, so I quickly forgot it.

Then, it was obvious to both he and me what we had to get down to. Pointing at the coins in a corner, I asked him whether he wanted me to toss in some more coins so that he could teach me the skill I asked of him, but he told me "No. As you say, I'll help you not for money," and left his vague answer at that.

"Blade Protection" was the skill name. After I described the ability to the swordsman, he nodded at me and demonstrated it. My eyes lit up as I pressed onward, and I told the man this was the skill I wanted help with. "You have an eye, boy. That skill's a great defense, and that's exactly what you lack. ...Still, however, I don't think that's the kind of skill a first-class newbie like you should be learning first—"

"A'ight. I'mma head out—"

"I'll teach it to you, fine!"

I sat back. That skill wasn't about evading, but it wasn't about blocking either. A "defensive" spell, he said, though. So it wasn't about anything offensive? Only partly, the swordsman replied. The fact was, it was mainly defensive, but the skill was intricate enough to allow a powerful counterattack right after being assaulted by some strong attack.

"The ability looks cool."

"I know, right? Know it, all the times I caught you and defeated you, all I ever did was redirect the insanely strong raw physical power you unleashed at me right back to yourself," the swordsman explained.

That was good news, and I was happy about it. It could basically mean that the freaky swordsman was just a lame-ass loser full of nasty tricks, so I was stronger than him... but well, maybe that wasn't the case. Spoiler, it seriously wasn't the case, the freaky guild master the System picked for me was actually really insanely strong himself.

<Blade Protection> allowed the mana-user to absorb all the opponent's damage to fire it back at them. I asked for a demonstration and was served. "Meh," I complained. It didn't look so classy, after all.

I was scolded for being stupid, then. Could he even make a show of that skill alone? The movements he just performed were simply the foundation of the skill, not how it actually worked in battle. Standing up, I "helped" him practice that skill by swinging my sword at him when he told me to. Each time I did, the impact was fully absorbed by his bokken, and the next blow he traded with me was always, despite the fact that he held back all his strength, as strong as the one I initially gave him.

Then, this skill started to sound epic. As he explained to me some details related to the function of the skill, or spell, he performed more and more. Depending on the mastery you had over the spell, you could store up more "damage" or even "magical attack" by "blocking" it. Well, I'd never fully understand this intricate technique before I made it my own. Again, I was warned that this skill wouldn't be easy to learn since I was just a starting newbie. The skill belonged to the skill branch of the Samurais' job, and even among expert lames, it was considered a tough spell to master.

Since we were talking about it now, I asked him what job he chose, but the freaky swordsman laughed at me. Jobs, and even skills, were mere combat constructs meant to help an inexperienced mana-user's growth. He who was a master didn't belong to any job in particular. He wasn't restricted by only one area of expertise, basically. That made sense to me. "Still," he added, "I imagine your question was more: On an Identification Plate (you know, those devices that give you your stats, skills, jobs, and all), what would my identification be? To answer that, since I mainly fight with eastern swords, I can be considered a Samurai. And that's what my—no, our guild teaches disciples, so there you have it."