Chapter 156 - Learning, Practicing, Teaching, Understanding

Birds sang, and the wind blew. With the brilliant sun in the summer sky, the heat soon rose. It boiled both around Encrid and within him.

For the past three months, rumors had abounded that Aspen was professing peace while secretly preparing for another war. In the end, however, Aspen backed down.

No war. No battles. What, then, was left for those in the barracks to do? Nothing but train and rest.

Many took commissions through the soldier-for-hire system, but Encrid had no shortage of Krona. Both his swords were in good condition, and Krais faithfully brought him his share of the Krona earned through the guild. So he spent most of his time training.

Even so, his growth was slow. At least, that was how it looked to others. They often spoke of stagnation. Stagnation meant standing still. Everyone thought that was where Encrid was, but he himself thought otherwise.

Why wouldn't he?

'Will.'

What had his dream been until now? A phantom he could not grasp. Darkness he could not see through. Something he could neither grasp nor see: an unreachable sky.

Now he could see stairs leading to that sky. He had heard of them, and they had taken shape. These were what people called signposts. That was what Will meant to Encrid. A stairway. A signpost. The instruction to break his limits was no different.

Stagnation? No. The man he had been and the man he was now were utterly different. He had not stagnated. Even if that was how it looked to everyone else, Encrid could see the fruits of his growth.

What had made this possible? Everything he had learned and hammered into his body until now. Beginning with the heart of the beast, then the sense for the blade, Concentrate on a Single Point, and the Isolation Technique.

'If swordsmanship has fundamentals...'

Could there be fundamentals for creating talent, too? He did not know. But wasn't that what was happening in his body right now?

Through Concentrate on a Single Point, sometimes through the heart of the beast, and sometimes by sharpening the edge of his senses, he revisited his experiences again and again. That was what he had done throughout those three months.

Then there were the soldiers who sought him out. He truly felt his skills improving as he learned.

"Let's have a match."

First Company and the Border Guard. Both units numbered some of the city's more capable fighters among its standing army. Ordinary soldiers had often come at first, but now his visitors came exclusively from those two units.

Sparring was always welcome.

"Sure."

Encrid welcomed them with his usual calm. Soon, two men would be pouring sweat as they tested each other's skill. Encrid won every time.

One thing had changed: he now had enough leeway to dispense with tricks. He set aside the Valen Mercenary Sword Technique and fought with fundamentals alone. That was enough. Against Rem and the other platoon members, he used everything he had. Not against these men. There was no need.

He learned through those encounters.

'Too much.'

Every so often, he saw soldiers whose fundamentals suffered because they were trying to learn and practice too many things at once.

"But isn't this more efficient?"

That was the sort of answer he sometimes received when he pointed out their problem. He had thought the same thing himself. An efficient, rational way to fight. He still used it often. But that was a way to fight, not a way to train.

Repeating today: for that, he had tried to learn and drill as much as he could into his body. Had any of it come easily? Even now, he could not properly use his dodging sense. The Heart of the Superhuman needed preparation time. Even Concentrate on a Single Point did not activate readily unless his life was at stake.

After countless hours of thought and deliberation, he had reached an understanding.

'Start with what I can do now.'

Move forward. Then move forward again. With that resolve, he continued his endless repetitions. Occasionally, the ferryman appeared in his dreams to say things like, "Just what are you?"

For all three months, there was only training. As he had always lived, so he lived now. Repetition upon repetition. He lived a week as he lived today, a month as he lived today.

In doing so, he came to a new understanding.

'Rhythm.'

One of the things needed to swing a sword. What geniuses like Ragna passed over in an instant became footholds for Encrid, each one considered carefully as he climbed.

If an insight came in the morning, he felt as though he could fly all day. If it came in the evening, his pleasure lasted all evening, right until he went to bed.

MROW!

Esther padded after him as though cheering him on. She had already been sleeping pressed against him at night; now she would not leave his side even during the day.

"You're popular even with animals."

It was enough to prompt that remark from the Frog. Esther bared her claws at her once, but the two never fought.

The Fairy Company Commander came every other day.

"Would autumn be a good time? For the engagement ceremony?"

Sometimes she came with jokes.

"Shall we spar?"

Other times, she crossed swords with him before leaving. Her sword was sharp and light, and that, too, had things to teach him.

He learned by teaching, and learned through sparring.

"Here. Try blocking this."

Rem's axe blows were as vicious and rough as ever, but some things had changed. Encrid could now bring something like a smile to his comrades' lips, or even surprise them.

"Whoa!"

Like that.

One sword cut upward while the sword in his left hand thrust on an offbeat. The subtly different timing of cut and thrust seemed to introduce dissonance into the rhythm. His two hands followed different beats at the same time.

The Valen Mercenary Sword Technique's Staggered Blades. Within that school of illusion swordsmanship, so often called underhanded, it was one of the few things that resembled a genuine technique. It made the swords in his right and left hands appear to move independently.

"That one was pretty good," Rem said.

Recognition brought joy, too.

"Neglect your martial arts, and you will incur the Lord's wrath."

Really, what god would get that angry over his practice of Balaf-style martial arts? It was nonsense, but Encrid joined Audin without protest.

Balaf-style martial arts combined strikes with joint locks. Hadn't he killed Mitch Hurrier by mixing those locks into the Valen Mercenary Sword Technique's dirty fighting?

He practiced and learned. The joy of learning. Receiving recognition, learning, and teaching in turn. That was how he grew. With the joy of growth driving him onward, how could swinging his sword be anything but a pleasure?

'One thing at a time. Half a step at a time. Even if I have to crawl.'

His original resolve. Just as he had intended from the beginning. What came so easily to Encrid seemed utterly astonishing to others. Especially to the Frog watching him.

Of course, he was too busy reflecting on himself as he was today to concern himself with others' gazes. Between sessions, he never neglected training his ability to track movement or his senses. He was busier than anyone.

Only some of the soldiers who had first followed his example still devoted themselves to training. Perhaps military discipline had slackened after the fighting ended. Perhaps that was simply the nature of human determination. As more soldiers around them idled, fewer kept training hard.

Still, some remained. A few even stood out. Aside from those men, the Border Guard offered the best sparring partners. Sometimes Encrid went to them himself to ask for a bout.

"You're always welcome."

The defense captain always welcomed him. He crossed swords with the captain and spent time with the others, but Torres, the face he knew best, shook his head.

"I'm not fighting you anymore."

"Why?"

"Look, you don't pick fights you're going to lose."

The soldier grading system. These were men who belonged in discussions of special-grade soldiers. Some rekindled their competitive spirit, but Encrid had gone a step beyond them.

Three months. Time was always an arrow in flight, but to Encrid, it was a day. It was today. It was the process of moving toward tomorrow.

"There isn't just one rhythm. Didn't you already know that?"

Perhaps she thought he could not understand simply by watching. Or perhaps she had grown bored of staying here. Luagarne the Frog began teaching him, too.

"I was just about to say that," Ragna muttered as he watched. It was exactly what Encrid needed to hear just then.

Rhythm. Timing. Right. There was no need to stick to just one. Hadn't he already learned that through the Valen Mercenary Sword Technique? Staggered Blades was a double attack using offbeat timing.

There were long beats stretched over a single breath. There were short, firm beats. There were beats for bracing his belly and holding his ground. That was how he learned.

"Break the regular beat, and do it with a single step. No, move your left foot another half step forward there. Then you can use the Heavy Sword Technique's spinning cut."

Luagarne was quite enthusiastic. Why did this Frog stay by his side? Why did she eat and sleep in their quarters? Why was she teaching him? He set all those questions aside. No, he decided to forget them.

If someone taught, he learned. Always hungry for knowledge, that was what Encrid did.

"Then what about pulling my right foot back here?"

"That makes it difficult to recover your sword. In that situation, do this instead."

Ragna joined in, too. How to put it? Encrid did not know how things had come to this, but everyone seemed more enthusiastic than before.

"No, you can do it this way, too."

Rem joined in as well, demonstrating a step that balanced on the toes as the body twisted.

Alongside the fundamentals came sword swings, footwork, and eyes that reacted to every kind of situation.

"Expand your senses. You've already learned how."

Jaxon's advice joined the rest. Right. He had already learned it. Hadn't he expanded the reach of his senses while fighting Lycanthropes? He needed to perceive the whole, not merely what lay ahead. To spread his senses outward with himself at the center.

"Brother Platoon Commander, every movement has a center. That is true of martial arts and swordsmanship alike. Find your centerline and connect that line to your opponent. That is what matters."

Audin added his teachings as well. Everyone was more fervent than before, and Encrid found joy in all of it.

"He does have a strength."

That was the Frog's conclusion after watching everything.

"What strength?"

Rem asked from beside her. They were still at the training ground, still beneath the blazing sun. It was still a today of flowing sweat and sour odors.

"Once he learns something, he never lets it go."

Rem nodded. It was true. Encrid lacked talent. He was slow to learn and master things. People called him a late-blooming genius, but...

'Who knows about that.'

One thing, however, was certain. He never forgot what he learned. He thought about it endlessly, eager to learn by any means he could.

How could he apply what he had learned? How could he put it into practice? How should he use it? He never stopped turning those questions over. It showed.

That, too, was a strength, Rem thought.

Only now did the Frog begin reflecting on what she was doing.

'Has his face bewitched me?'

Or was it his temperament? To teach someone with no visible talent so enthusiastically, opening a path forward for him. Wasn't that terribly inefficient?

Well, she did not mind. Frogs were creatures driven by urges and desires. Luagarne knew she was no exception.

Of course, some things took precedence over desire. More precisely, she had entered into a covenant so that desire would not rule her life entirely. A covenant was a promise, and an oath had to be kept. That was how it was for Frogs.

'I do have to return eventually.'

Even as she thought that, she kept teaching Encrid. For someone who had spent three whole months learning and practicing like this, his progress was slow. So it seemed to her.

Under the Frog's gaze and his platoon members' instruction, Encrid reflected on rhythm and worked the various techniques back into his body.

Mastery. It felt as though he had taken a step closer to his limits. In truth, of course, he was nowhere near them, but he did not even have a sense of what approaching his limits meant.

It was then that the Fairy Company Commander came to fetch him.

"You've been summoned."

"Yes, ma'am."

Drenched in sweat, Encrid followed her. Sweat beaded on the Fairy Company Commander's forehead, too. It was that hot, and humid as well. It felt as though rain ought to come pouring down. It would rain within a day or two. Experience told him that.

"You're here?"

The company commander had brought him to the battalion commander's office.

"We've received a commission. Interested?"

Under the soldier-for-hire system, willing soldiers took on commissions themselves, but occasionally assignments came from above. It was rare, but when a handful of ordinary soldiers could not handle a job, a platoon or even a company might be sent.

According to Krais, groups of monsters and demonic beasts had been causing havoc within the kingdom lately. That tended to happen as summer approached, but Encrid had heard it was especially bad this year.

'Summer's heat makes monsters and demonic beasts thrive.'

It was a famous saying passed down across the continent. This job was of that sort, too.

"I'll give you temporary command of a nearby Pioneer Village. I'd like you to deal with the trouble there," the battalion commander said.

The spring campaign had ended early, so for once, Encrid was spending the summer in the city rather than on a battlefield. Throughout that time, he had gone nowhere but the training ground and his quarters. He had not visited the market even once. He had been too caught up in the joy of moving forward, sword in hand.

"If you don't want to go, leave it. If you need time, think it over and let me know."

The battalion commander looked rather tired. Too much work? Or had he slept poorly? Probably the former, judging by all the documents around him.

"Yes, sir."

Encrid saluted and turned to leave. Once they were outside, the Fairy Company Commander gave him an odd look.

"What is it?"

Would asking only earn him another frivolous remark?

"It struck me again that I chose my man well."

A Fairy joke, naturally.

"Did you?"

Once the pointless joking was over, he returned to the quarters and found Krais there. He had been especially busy lately.

As Encrid straightened out the written orders and explained what had happened, Krais's eyes lit up.

"That job? Let's go. Let's do it! We have to! It's an order!"

When he reacted like this, it meant Krona was involved. That was how Krais worked.

The orders gave the village's location and the approximate size of the colony. A group of demonic beasts was on the move. But it was not the beasts that had sent Krais wild. It was the location.