Training continues

Having had lunch, we started our afternoon lesson once again. Today I joined the regular class, since I can train on my own for now and if any question come up, Lisa would be right around the corner. She also gifted me the sword I used yesterday, so I was able to start right away, unlike the others who had to prepare themselves by borrowing weapons etc. Emilia separated from us before we even went here, just as she said yesterday.

After two hours of sword swinging, I was finally getting the hang of it. The sword moved smoothly over my head, now I just needed to get more stamina. I was way less tired than yesterday, but I still need regular breaks to regain some energy. Lisa also seemed happy, as she noticed that I got comfortable with the sword. I wondered what hellish training she would have for me today after the regular lesson. I didn't want to worry much more and continued on.

The rest of the lesson passed like nothing and it seemed like the others also had gotten their own training regime. Most of them were swinging around weapons like me, while others were already sparring with each other. Those ones were clearly the more experienced among us. I was left in awe by how cool they looked fighting each other.

As I wanted to ask Lisa what the plan is for today, she handed me a lunchbox and I just looked at her puzzled.

"You have to eat, else the training will be for nothing, Yoru. Eat up and then we will do your today's special training. We will advance a bit, since you are already able to wield the sword up to a passable level. However, you still need to train lots before you can actually go up against any serious opponent. It's just enough for me to show you some basic sword fighting", she explained, as she also started eating her food.

We finished eating and then Lisa showed me different ways of attacking another person with a sword. This ranged from simple stabbing motions to full on swings. She didn't show me any complex manoeuvres like faints, just some head on attacking. Once I had gotten a hang of those, we changed to defensive movements. Parrying swords and letting your opponent's sword head for another path if you can't block them with pure force were the key manoeuvres here.

"The defensive style of a sword fighter can vary a lot depending on one's personal strengths. A fast fighter would avoid them and a strength-focused one would rather take them head on. For now, you will learn how to defend against me with your strength but once we advance a bit, just defend however you feel comfortable with. Next we will start with an actual spar, so you can try out what you learned so far in actual combat", Lisa explained and took a battle ready stance.

She gave me the initiative and I charged for her right away. My sword was parried easily and by using enough force, Lisa even managed to get in a swing directly heading for me. Her sword stopped shortly before me, but I could still feel the sweat building up at my back. We continued on for a bit and I used different techniques, however she was able to easily overpower me, it didn't matter in which way I attacked her. But I still learned a lot by using the moves from earlier against a real opponent.

Now it was time for Lisa to go to the offensive site and just like I did earlier, she charged at me right away. I wasn't even able to see her properly and could only feel her sword touching my neck all of a sudden. For the next try, Lisa got slower but I still was just barely able to parry her sword. After many tries with this speed, my hand couldn't hold on to the sword any longer after receiving so many blows.

"You still have a long way to go, even if you are able to grasp all the basic movements quite fast. The thing you should concentrate most on is your handling of the sword. Once you are able to use this sword like the magical sword back in the test, we will continue with sparring. Do some sword swinging again but you will only use a single hand from now on. You shouldn't get used to using both hands with such a light sword, this style is more fitting for a broad sword", Lisa said, as she left me by myself for a while to train more with the sword.

After two more hours, Lisa ended the lesson and told me to head back to the dorms to get a meal and a good night of sleep.

###

"She certainly is a gem in the rough, she is able to grasp most techniques in no time. Her main weak point is her body strength, maybe I should ask Mr. Black for his support on this matter. He is a specialist with strength training after all, but I fear that his training might be too hard for her right now. However, he might go easy on her since he seems to have taken a liking to the girl", Lisa thought to herself, as she tidied the training room.

"Ms. Violet!" a figure in the shadow suddenly said.

"Oh, headmaster nice to see you, I didn't notice you standing there. What can I do for you?" she asked surprised.

"If I had to guess you were planning to hand the girl over to Mr. Black for a while to train her strength, but that won't be necessary. I will train her personally", the headmaster declared and Lisa knew that her opinion in this subject didn't matter now. She only thought:

"That poor girl…."