Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Compared to other teams practicing independently or discussing among themselves, the sight of four people restraining one person like the Blood and Fire Squad was quite uncommon.

It immediately drew the attention of many surrounding teams. Some teams gleaned inspiration from the Blood and Fire Squad’s approach and began collaborating on their own attempts, but even more simply wanted to see how it turned out.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Ron followed his own understanding: holding the sword single-handed, leaning his body slightly forward, then slowly thrusting the sword in his hand outward.

Just as he was about to reach the limit, the moment his forearm muscles began to twitch, he rapidly spat out a single word:

“Lock!”

Almost simultaneously with his signal, Justin and the others instantly applied force, thoroughly locking down Ron’s movement from multiple key joint positions.

To achieve the Sword Stance state, Ron hadn’t deliberately held back his strength. Under these circumstances, even with four other people whose strength wasn’t much less than his own controlling him simultaneously, his body still lurched forward violently.

However,

Ron now experienced a peculiar sensation of weightlessness that he hadn’t felt during his own solo attempts. It was like the feeling of falling from a great height, completely free of any resistance.

But in reality, he was already firmly restrained by four powerful pairs of hands. This contradictory yet utterly natural sensation left Ron momentarily dazed.

After about a second or two, Ron’s body began to involuntarily push back against Justin and the others’ control, which completely dispelled the weightlessness he had just experienced.

Immediately after, he felt threads of an unusual burning sensation in his right upper arm, right thigh, and lower back, similar to the feeling produced by overstretching muscles.

Whether on the Blue Planet or here, Ron had experienced the sensation of overstretching muscles before. There was indeed a certain similarity to what his body was feeling now, but the difference was also very clear:

Now, in those areas of his body where the burning sensation arose, the Life Energy that had previously only been consumed weakly as a byproduct of bodily movement was, for the first time, being rapidly depleted while in a static state.

This change made Ron realize that he had very likely succeeded!

Of course, he had only succeeded in verifying that Karel’s assisted approach was indeed effective!

“Justin, let me go!”

Hearing Ron speak again, Justin released him without any hesitation. The others did the same, and Karel asked impatiently:

“How was it? Did it work? What are you feeling right now, Ron?”

“Mm, I’d say it counts as a success.”

While stretching his limbs, Ron continued to sense the burning sensation emanating from his right arm and other areas. But as his movements changed, those burning sensations quickly faded.

Or to put it another way, the rate of Life Energy consumption in those parts of his body had plummeted, returning to roughly the same level as before he had conducted the experiment.

“I feel like my right hand got slightly stronger!”

That was the truth, but it concealed the most crucial piece of information. Ron hadn’t directly perceived his right hand getting stronger; rather, he had inferred it indirectly through the rapid consumption of Life Energy. Of course, calling it perception wasn’t wrong either.

“Which of you wants to try next?”

Ron asked casually, but his gaze shifted to Karel. He knew that as the one who had proposed this assisted approach, Karel was surely itching to have a go by now.

Sure enough, the others also turned their eyes toward Karel, and Karel didn’t shy away from the spotlight. He volunteered proactively, “Let me try!”

…

While the Blood and Fire Squad was making preparations, a few sociable youths came over to inquire about what Ron and the others were doing:

“From your movement just now, it looks like you were imitating the First Sword Stance. Are you trying to use external force to maintain the First Sword Stance? Is it effective?”

“Yes, you’ve seen through us! As for the effect, I personally feel there is one, but exactly how much is hard to say. Let’s ask the instructors later!”

Ron didn’t suggest that these youths try it themselves. If anything went wrong, it would be on his head. In any case, deferring to the instructors was never the wrong move.

Just then, Karel had finished preparing. “I’m going to start. Listen for my signal!”

“Mm.”

Ron acknowledged, then focused his attention on sensing Karel’s physical state while awaiting his signal. As for the onlookers and those asking questions, he simply treated them as if they didn’t exist.

The First Sword Stance of the Ice Sword Art was very simple. At the very least, it appeared very simple: just a thrusting motion. However, apprentices like Ron and the others couldn’t directly reach the Sword Stance state and needed preparatory movements to assist in achieving it.

At this point, Ron was supporting Karel’s left arm. Although the First Sword Stance used the right hand to hold the sword and the left hand appeared unengaged, during Karel’s sword thrust, Ron could still feel the movement of Karel’s left arm muscles.

With his own experience of imitating the First Sword Stance, Ron had a rough estimate of when Karel would reach his limit.

Almost the instant Karel issued his signal, Ron gripped the other boy’s left wrist with one hand and forcefully braced against his elbow joint with the other, using these two pivot points to firmly lock down his entire left arm.

The others applied similar actions. The next moment, Karel let out an exclamation. “I can feel it! My right arm seems to be getting stronger!”

If Ron alone was insufficient to verify the effectiveness of this assisted method, then Karel’s identical reaction was enough to make the surrounding youths’ hearts race with excitement.

When they didn’t have any better methods of their own, why not try the approach that Ron had verified twice over?

And so, the crowd quickly dispersed, and the youths began trying it out among themselves.

“Karel, did you really feel your right arm get stronger?” Justin released Karel, his eyes blazing with fervor.

“Yes, I really felt my right arm get stronger! You know how sensitive I am to changes in strength. I’m absolutely sure. You guys should try it quickly too!”

Karel’s words left the remaining three itching to have a go. After a round of meaningful glances, the three settled on an order.

…

Before long, all five members of the Blood and Fire Squad had experienced the Sword Stance state achieved through external assistance, and by then the hour allotted by the instructors was nearly spent.

The five decided to practice on their own for a while longer. After all, assistance was merely assistance. The ultimate goal was still to learn how to achieve the Sword Stance state independently.

Through the recent experience, Ron’s understanding of the Sword Stance seemed to have deepened a few degrees further. But he had never liked this kind of unfathomable, mystical feeling. He much preferred to arrive at a clear, definitive answer.

One was one, two was two!

…

Soon, the one-hour deadline arrived.

Everyone fell into formation and turned their eyes toward the instructors on the platform at the north end of the grounds. Only then did Ron notice that the number of instructors on the platform had doubled from the start.

Briefly recalling the groupings on the field just now, Ron suddenly understood. He couldn’t help but marvel inwardly that this boot camp was actually employing “small-class instruction”!

The hundred-plus recruits had split into twenty groups, with memberships ranging between five and ten. More than half were five-person teams like the Blood and Fire Squad.

And the number of instructors had grown from the original ten to the current twenty. The intention behind this couldn’t have been more obvious.