Chapter 27: Chapter 27
“So the achievement of a Formal Knight actually lies in control!”
Although Ron had long since included 【Control】 as a mandatory subject in his future training, the information Morris had just revealed showed him that he had still underestimated the potential of 【Control】.
He never would have imagined that the single most critical factor in becoming a Formal Knight was control over strength, control over oneself. No wonder the Sis Territory recruited over a hundred new apprentices every year, yet the number of newly added Formal Knights could be counted on the fingers of one hand!
“It’s fine for you to know this yourself. Others may not have your talent, let alone your mature mindset. Telling them in advance isn’t necessarily a good thing.”
As if seeing through to Ron’s thoughts, Morris issued a preemptive warning and even spelled it out plainly: “During the apprentices’ three-month training period, apart from battle formations, every other subject is related to the attainment of Knighthood. They will experience these truths firsthand in the future.”
“Yes, Instructor.”
Ron roughly understood Morris’s intent. It was nothing more than concern that apprentices who had just come of age might develop their own ideas, and that overthinking things would only hinder their normal training plans.
After once again promising not to reveal the secret of Knight promotion to the other apprentices, Ron returned to the other end of the grounds and rejoined his Blood and Fire Squad companions.
…
“Ron, how did it go? Did you learn the Fire Concealment Method?”
“How could I learn it in just one try! I only managed to complete several consecutive rounds of Ice Breathing with the instructor’s help.”
Ron accepted the wooden dinner plate from Justin while answering. Everyone was now seizing the moment to refill their empty stomachs after training.
So-called training amounted to eating your fill, training until hungry, then eating again, repeating the cycle until the prescribed training objectives were met.
Even though it was only the first day, the territory showed no intention whatsoever of going easy on the new recruits. The schedule was packed to the brim, with virtually no rest time.
Because of the Fire Concealment Method, Ron had started later, which meant his time to replenish food was also somewhat less than the others. If not for the 【Comprehensive Body Refinement Technique】 allowing him to rapidly recover to his peak,
he would absolutely have fallen a considerable distance behind the others on the very first day.
One step behind meant falling behind at nearly every step. Catching up later might require paying more than double the initial cost.
“The 【Comprehensive Body Refinement Technique】 still has more potential to be tapped. If I could combine it with the Breathing Technique, that would be ideal!”
While eating large mouthfuls of the boiled meat provided by the territory, Ron envisioned plans for improving the 【Comprehensive Body Refinement Technique】.
…
During the afternoon training, apart from the minor interlude of the Fire Concealment Method, Ron and the others spent the remainder of their time on Sword Stance training.
Before they had fully mastered the First Sword Stance, Instructor Morris had already begun explaining the Second Sword Stance. Similar to the First Sword Stance, the Second also appeared to be a single static movement when viewed from the outside.
But the kinetic tendencies it concealed were far more complex than those of the First. Ron had managed to roughly learn the First Sword Stance after watching Pierce demonstrate it just once. Being able to achieve the Sword Stance state was the critical milestone for having learned it.
True mastery meant being able to independently maintain the Sword Stance state for extended periods.
Pierce had also provided some explanation when demonstrating the Second Sword Stance, but it wasn’t enough for Ron and the others to learn it immediately. They had to wait for their dedicated instructor to explain it again.
“The reason the Ice Sword Art is called a Sword Art rather than a Sword Stance is because within each Sword Stance lies a sword technique for engaging an enemy. Take the First Sword Stance you’ve already learned: it is a simple straight thrust.
“From this perspective, the sword technique behind the Second Sword Stance is self-evident. You need to find the method of drawing your sword that best suits you individually.
“I’ll tell you upfront: the Ice Sword Art is a highly mature swordsmanship system. You don’t need to overcomplicate things. Just follow your body’s instincts when drawing your sword, and find the approach that fits you best.”
At this point, Morris’s gaze settled on Ron, and he said with pointed meaning: “Our position right now is excellent, and the direction you’re facing is excellent too. Don’t even think about looking at how other teams are doing. Just focus on yourselves!”
The Blood and Fire Squad was currently positioned in a corner of the training ground, and its members were facing away from the rest of the grounds. Without turning around or deliberately glancing sideways, they couldn’t see the movement details of the other teams.
Hearing this requirement from Morris, Ron immediately realized that his own existence had caused Morris to harbor a few extra expectations for the Blood and Fire Squad. Of course, it might also have been directed solely at him, with the others simply along for the ride.
So what exactly was the sword technique represented by the Second Sword Stance?
After all, his inner self was that of a genuine adult. With Morris dropping such an obvious hint, if Ron still couldn’t make any discoveries, he would be entirely too obtuse!
The demonstrated posture of the Second Sword Stance involved turning sideways with the sword pointed behind. From a swordsmanship perspective, it likely meant attacking or defending against an enemy to the rear.
So the process was obvious!
Ron tried performing a motion of holding the sword single-handed and swinging it backward in a chopping motion. He followed the principle of whatever felt most natural, and the movement happened to stop precisely at the demonstrated posture of the Second Sword Stance.
“So that’s it!”
Although he hadn’t yet experienced that instantaneous Sword Stance state he was anticipating, Ron seemed to have found the door. He had only been rehearsing the movement just now without actually applying force.
When he tried again with real force behind it, he indeed found that fleeting moment of the Sword Stance state!
If the Second Sword Stance was like this, then what about the other Sword Stances that followed?
Once this idea took hold, it rooted itself firmly in Ron’s mind, impossible to ignore. He recalled the twelve Sword Stances that Pierce had demonstrated earlier and ultimately managed to reconstruct only four sword techniques.
Anything beyond that exceeded his experience and knowledge.
If he had been a physical education student before transmigrating, perhaps he could have reconstructed all twelve sword techniques in one go!
The purpose of swordsmanship was primarily for attack. Even when defensive movements existed, they still served to set up a subsequent counterattack. If it were purely about defense, why not just use a shield?
And human anatomy was right here. No one could discuss swordsmanship divorced from the objective conditions of the human body.
For example, the human hand couldn’t bend backward, so a reverse-grip backhand stance against an enemy could essentially be excluded from the realm of swordsmanship. Even if one barely forced such a posture, its combat efficiency would pale entirely in comparison to a forward-grip, front-facing stance.
From this perspective, if one inputted the relevant parameters of human movement into a computer, such as arm extension angles, swing speeds, and so on, and preset certain objectives, it actually wouldn’t be difficult to derive a near-perfect swordsmanship.
And this was exactly the approach Ron was now using to reconsider the twelve Sword Stances of the Ice Sword Art. It was just that his understanding of the human body was genuinely insufficient, and in the end he could only reconstruct the sword technique movements for four of the Sword Stances.
Therefore, he now had a new task ahead of him: to explore as thoroughly as possible the functions and mechanisms of every aspect of the human body, as well as the relationship between movement and anatomy, and so forth.
It was essentially equivalent to starting a brand-new course of physical education research in this new world!