Chap 19

Swiing

I swung a long wooden stick in the air in the shape of a sword and concentrated on it.

I moved my consciousness to my core next to my heart and from it, I drew mana, which I made run through my entire body until I brought it to the sword.

I focused on running the contour of the wooden sword with my mana and then tried to make my mana stay static in one place.

I started with the tip of the hilt and kept advancing my mana little by little through the sword.

Sweat was pouring down my forehead by the time I reached the flat tip of the wooden sword.

Perhaps because of the irregular shape of the tip, I felt the mana swirling and trying to burst out but I forced it to follow my orders and locked it around my sword.

"Alright, now try to open your eyes and move without letting the mana burst."

Lou's voice helped me relax and know what I had to do next.

I slowly opened my eyes so as not to lose my concentration and the first thing I saw was the wooden sword clad in a silver cloak.

Tap.

I took a step forward and then another with each step I took I felt the instability in the mana surrounding the sword.

I took a slight, slow swing, which moments later I combined with a hop and a few steps.

Time ran by as I tried different combinations in my movements until slowly I was able to take my eyes off the sword and start taking normal steps.

"As expected of me Adad you are a genius in the use of mana. It's like all your life you've been a swordsman."

Lou said as she watched my fluid and steady movements with the training sword that was covered in Aura.

I wish I could say the same as her.

That I was doing well.

But I wasn't, it had been a week and a half since I started my training and in all that time my only progress had been being able to cover my sword with a weak Aura that cracked on contact.

Only until today had I managed to move with the Aura without it exploding instantly.

Tiiiiiiing~.

As I was thinking, a faint tinkling sound echoed in my head that instantly began to throb with pain.

External information entered my head along with the pain.

It was as if something had gotten into my brain and flipped through hundreds of pages of an instruction manual.

[Profession: Fencing Nv.3]

It said the last page of the manual that passed through my brain.

Instantly it was as if all those limitations I had before disappeared leaving me with a clear understanding of what I had to do.

It was different from when I went up to Nv.2, that time it was as if only the number had changed, but this time it was different, now I knew what I had to do to use my Aura.

Without hesitation, I drew mana from my core and moved it towards my sword which was quickly covered with a silver Aura.

Whoosh.

The sound of wood slicing through the air filled the training ground as it swung up and down without pause.

My actions provoked a smile on the beautiful white-haired woman, who took her wooden sword and in one long leap came in front of me.

Thuud.

"Attack me it's time we see how good you are."

He said repositioning himself and raising his training sword towards me.

The moment I heard her words I tensed my legs with all my strength and jumped towards her.

In the course of the journey, I activated Ice Heard and I could feel my body cool down and see the white smoke of my breath trailing behind me.

Puuum.

The dry sound of our wooden swords filled my ears and pierced my body as well as the enormous force exerted by Lou's white, slender arms.

I put all my strength to my left side and managed to break free from the pressure of his sword by sliding his sword to the side.

Instantly I conjured a thin but strong tympanum of ice that struck straight to the heart and ran after it, towards Lou.

In response to my attack she just calmly swung her wooden sword at the ice tympanum which exploded into hundreds of pieces upon contact with her sword.

Obliging me to stop.

I didn't waste my momentum as when I stopped I used that momentum and did a spin on my axis while putting more mana into my sword, which I swung.

Thud.

The strength of my arms plus the synergy I was carrying was of no use as they hit the weak wooden pole that was being covered in a thick black mist.

The recoil from the blow sent me flying a few feet backward, but I was able to stop myself from rolling much thanks to a somersault I took as my feet touched the ground.

"This is what you should aspire to Adad, this is an S-class Aura."

At the sound of Lou's words, the black mist that danced erratically around the sword contracted until it covered and formed a hard black mace around the sword in his hand.

My sense of alertness kicked in and resonated in my head snapping me out of my shock and rushing me to move as much of my mana as I could while moving it towards my sword covering it with ice and reinforcing my weak Aura.

I raised my free left hand and imagined the strongest lightning I could, at the moment the image of the rays of the Maracaibo Lake in Venezuela came to my mind, causing lightning of the same magnitude as those generated in that place to be conjured.

TRAAAKA.

The rattling sound of the lightning came from my left arm, which I closed into a fist, and then raised my index finger, from which the lightning came out, and moved it pointing directly towards Lou's head.

Ruuumble.

The lightning bolt shot out at an immense speed which caused it to cut through the air and in the blink of an eye I was in front of Lou.

The recoil from the attack sent me spinning backward but I could see Lou smiling.

Lou raised his eyebrow and let out a smile, then with a casual movement moved the black mist blocking it causing the beam to be completely suppressed.

I didn't even have time to be discouraged when the black sword in Lou's hands moved, aiming at me causing his mist to swirl.

Out of the swirl, small bullets shot towards me.

I tensed my entire body and used every part of it to dedicate myself to dodging.

The thought of blocking a bullet didn't even cross my mind as a viable option, if only it would touch that...

I continued to dodge bullets using my instincts and the footwork Lou taught me.

The footwork was mainly based on reinforcing each step I took with an air conjuration to be faster.

Thanks to it I had managed to dodge most of the bullets but the ones I hadn't were already taking their toll on my body.

All the bullets that had touched my body so far had avoided the weak points and had only left small scratches that for some reason were concentrated in my chest and my belt.

Suddenly the bullets stopped but something more dangerous approached me at an incredible speed.

Thud.

Lou jumped towards me and pointed his sword at my chest, with difficulty, I managed to intercept my sword in its path.

Lou's strength slowly pushed me down, forcing me to arch my back.

Thousands of thoughts ran through my head as I felt Lou take a step closer to me and almost knocked me to the ground.

I turned my gaze to the tip of his foot and conjured ice to cover the ground causing a small slip in the force he was exerting on me.

I took advantage of the moment to break free and aim a kick with all my strength that I coated with ice straight towards his ribs.

Cracka.

The ice on my feet exploded in contact with Lou's ribs and I felt unimaginable pain when my smallest toe came in contact with his rib.

"This is the defensive power of an Aura covering the entire body."

Lou said as he looked at his ribs and then returned a light kick to mine.

But unlike my attack, his did hurt me, even more than I wanted it to since it made me move back a couple of meters while I spit the little saliva I had in my mouth.

By that time my head was filled with a single feeling that I didn't even have time to eliminate with my Ice Heart.

Helplessness.

From the moment the training started, I knew I couldn't do anything.

But knowing was different than feeling the helplessness and weakness of not even generating a scratch on Lou's body.

I forced my body to stand up and my face to put on an expression of indifference as I raised my sword.

I couldn't win, I couldn't even get him to use his mana but that didn't mean I had to give up.

From now on, the only thing left to do was to fight until I spent the last drop of my mana, which I would extend only by using the ice element.

I raised my hand and pointed it towards Lou who was watching me silently.

I conjured a large number of eardrums that made the temperature drop drastically.

I used the eardrums to cover myself and approach Lou, a few steps away from her I swung my sword, which was blocked by hers.

But I didn't care and swung it again.

Thud.

To the left.

Thud.

Right.

Down.

Up.

Using a feint.

Conjuring ice bullets.

Conjuring eardrums of ice along with lightning from all directions.

It provides everything.

But it all ended the same way.

Blocked by a swing of Lou's black sword.

By this time Lou was impressed no more than that.

She was amazed to see the rapid growth in the use of Aura.

She did it again when she saw how he used the footwork she had taught him.

She almost screamed with excitement the moment the silver lightning bolt shot out of his finger and flew towards her.

Even though he didn't use a quarter of his strength an F rank couldn't even swing his sword in front of her.

But here she was now, watching him strike again and again with his sword even though she knew it was useless to continue to do so.

Seeing that pair of indifferent eyes that at the same time conveyed immense courage and strength, his heart began to beat a mile a minute.

The mist around the sword for the first time moved, taking and immobilizing the almost unconscious Adad with ease.

Lou moved towards him and grabbed him by the waist making their bodies come together.

She moved her black painted mouth towards his ear and murmured a couple of things before sealing her lips on his cheeks and shortly after moved her hand to the back of his neck.

The back of Adad's neck received a blow, causing him to fall asleep in Lou's arms.

Only Adad managed to hear what she had muttered before she knocked him out.

" What would you do if I truly fell in fall in love with you?".