10 Chapter 9 Training
'So much to do and so little time. I need to master some fighting techniques before the castle appears in a year. I also need to copy Soma's skill and grab Alucard's Dhampir Physiology skill within 2 months.' All the things that Zero needed to do just kept on increasing as time went on. He was worried he might not be fully prepared before time ran out. 'I'm so glad I followed the system's suggestion of coming a year early, or I would be dead. System, how long would I need to be around Alucard for?'
APPROXIMATELY 36 HOURS
'Now this is another headache. How am I supposed to spend 4 days' worth of time next to a half-vampire with supernatural senses?' questioned Zero as he started to develop an actual headache from stress.
IT IS RECOMMENDED TO HAVE SERVANT NAMED HIKARU SIMPLY GET YOU A ROOM NEXT TO THE TARGET UNTIL THE SKILL IS OBTAINED. ALTERNATIVELY, YOU MAY USE THE NEWLY ACQUIRED SKILL SHAPESHIFT TO SHIFT INTO EITHER A BAT OR AN INSECT TO FOLLOW THE TARGET FOR 4 DAYS, BUT THIS SUGGESTION HAS A HIGH PROBABILITY OF DISCOVERY.
'Right, I can do that. It wouldn't be unusual for a brother to stay near his sister, so Genya shouldn't notice anything wrong,' said Zero excitedly.
Alert: Acquiring said skill will cause a race change; therefore, I recommend also acquiring target Genya's skill Dark Metamorphosis to still appear human.
'Yeah, that would be a good idea,' thought Zero as he grabbed his phone and informed Hikaru that he would spend a week at the hotel starting tomorrow. He urged her to have the instructors ready by then and book him the room next to Genya.
Zero arrived at the Hakuba Shrine and persuaded his cousin and uncle that he would be taking a martial art class in the city so he would stay there for a week starting tomorrow. He had used his hypnotic gaze to persuade them, so naturally, they agreed and told him to stay safe.
The following day, Zero went to school as usual and continued to copy Soma's ability. Today, Mrs. Belnades began to teach many subjects, such as math and history. Zero found that the only lesson he was able to follow was math. During the lunch period, he asked Soma to teach him a bit of history as a way to bring them closer as friends.
After school, Zero headed straight for the hotel. As soon as he arrived, the receptionist greeted him and informed him that his room was ready. He was told that Hikaru was currently not in the hotel and would come to his room when she returned. Zero then headed to his room.
'System, I was wondering if it's possible for you to track Genya for me?' asked Zero.
YES, SYSTEM INCLUDES A TRACKING FEATURE. WOULD HOST LIKE TO TRACK GENYA ARIKADO? YES/NO.
'Yes, and go ahead and track both Soma and Yoko too.' Zero thought it best to keep track of anything that might be considered a threat.
UNDERSTOOD, TRACKER PLACED ON THREE TARGETS. GENYA: 20 FT. AWAY, SOMA CRUZ: 2.5 MILES AWAY, YOKO BELNADES: 4 MILES AWAY.
'Now I know if Genya is nearby. This will save me a lot of time,' thought Zero.
After spending an hour in the room, Zero noticed that the distance to Genya started to increase. After a few minutes, Zero heard a knock on the door. Zero opened the door and saw Hikaru and a bald, brown-eyed man in military clothing that he recognized. His name was Hammer, a military soldier well-versed in multiple weapons and firearms who would help Soma traverse Dracula's castle by selling him weapons.
"Zero, this is a friend of mine, Hammer. He will be instructing you in both firearms and swordsmanship," said Hikaru, who made sure not to call Zero "master" to avoid arousing suspicion.
"So this will be my student? Are you sure you want to entrust me with him? I might break him," Hammer saw Zero as a kid who never trained a day in his life.
"Well, they say never judge a book by its cover. My little brother is full of surprises," said Hikaru, smiling.
"He's your little brother! Well, that's a surprise. He might be worth training after all," said Hammer as he looked at Zero while smiling.
"Well, there's no time like the present. I believe they have a gym room underground. Let's get started," said Zero, finally breaking his silence. He had appraised Hammer in hopes of him having special skills but found that he was only a human with high stats. Coincidentally, Hikaru's stats rivaled those of Hammer.
In the gym, Hammer brought two wooden swords and threw one to Zero. Zero caught the sword and was surprised to learn that he was completely comfortable wielding the wooden sword. He found that, as a side effect of his swordsmanship mastery skill, he instinctively knew the best way to hold the sword, and ideas of how to attack and block naturally formed in his mind.
Hammer took a stance and released an intense killing intent. He found it amusing that it had no effect on Zero. Zero then mirrored Hammer's stance and prepared for the first attack. Hammer moved at an incredible speed and closed the distance between them, releasing a slash aimed at Zero's chest. Zero felt that, rather than block it, the best course of action was to dodge the slash by stepping backward. Hammer didn't stop the slash but redirected it toward Zero again. Zero couldn't dodge this slash, so instead, he used his sword to redirect the slash to the side. He barely managed to do so, but he was pushed back and his arms felt numb.
"That's rather impressive, kid. You tried to copy my form, but this sword style is meant to use strength to overpower your opponent, so it doesn't suit you. Still, even then, you managed not to get hit. Even though I was holding back, it's still impressive. Looks like the lass was right; you're full of surprises," said Hammer, who started to feel excited after that short exchange.
The training ended after 3 hours. Hammer showed Zero three stances and styles he felt suited him best. He taught him to use the Japanese sword style Ittou as his main form since it required more technique than strength. He also showed him the Italian Bolognese swordsmanship techniques, which mainly dealt with parrying and misdirecting an opponent's attack before countering. Lastly, he taught Iaido, the Japanese sword art of quick draw and attacks. To his surprise, Zero absorbed all the techniques quickly and began to fuse the three styles to create his own unique style.
After spending 3 hours constantly losing to Hammer, Zero went to his room to take a cold shower, as recommended by his instructor, to deal with the muscle pain he would feel the next day. He then dragged his tired body to bed, checked the tracker, and found that Genya had returned. Lying in bed, he could barely manage to keep his eyes open and ended up passing out.
Waking up the next day, Zero could barely move. He had Hikaru have someone drive him to school since he didn't feel like he could walk there. He made sure that the driver would park a minute away from the school to avoid drawing excessive attention to himself. He told the driver to pick him up from there at the end of school.
Having returned from school, Zero went down to the underground gym and found Hammer waiting. He went to grab one of the swords but was stopped by Hammer. "Today, we'll be focusing on marksmanship. We'll be heading to a gun range today," said Hammer as he motioned for Zero to follow.
Arriving at the gun range, Zero found it strange that no one was inside. He also found it strange yesterday but simply assumed no one used the gym. It seemed like Hikaru and Hammer were involved.
Hammer placed a gun in front of him. "This is a Glock G17. It's a suitable gun for a beginner such as yourself. It has an 18-round capacity and is quite cheap, so it can be easily replaced if damaged. You will not only be learning how to shoot it but also learn to disassemble and reassemble it until you become familiar with all 34 parts of the gun," said Hammer as he put 200 rounds in front of him.
After firing all 200 rounds, Zero's trigger finger was bruised, and his arms felt weak. He really began to wonder if Hammer was simply torturing him until he received a notice.
SKILL BEGINNER MARKSMANSHIP GAINED
BEGINNER MARKSMANSHIP: INSTINCTIVELY IMPROVE ABILITY TO AIM GUNS BY 10%
