Lesson with Mr. Black

We continued to train with Iris and the rest for a couple hours. Right as we wanted to call it a day, Mr. Black suddenly entered the room. Usually the teachers wouldn't be present on a Sunday and we were left training on our own.

He headed straight towards us and it was obvious that he came here with a goal in mind.

Mr. Black stopped right before me and started talking: "You won't be able to ever beat her if you continue on like this. Come with me, Yoru. I will help you out a bit in my spare time. Lisa might be a better magical swordswomen than me but technique wise I'm far superior to her. This is why I will be helping you out in that area. Lisa herself asked me to do this and since I didn't want to interrupt your regular training with her, we will do it today. Just follow me for now and I will explain the rest later."

I did as he said but I felt like Lisa would have told me, if she planned something like this. Not that I really minded however, this training fitted my own plans very well. Once I'm able to wield the sword like no other in class, I can finally catch up by a bit.

Mr. Black wasn't the type of guy to do practical one on one lessons with students, so this was like a once in a lifetime chance to improve myself. His techniques were of the S- rank, a skill territory no other human ever entered. While walking I started to wonder who would win if Mr. Black and Lisa fought each other. They were both strong but if I had to bet, I would go for Mr. Black even though Lisa is my mentor. He just seemed more experienced in actual battles than her. The last couple years had been quite peaceful and so there was less reason to fight the celestial races.

But it would probably only be a matter of time till they clash with each other again.

Mr. Black led me to a separate room, where he had prepared two swords for the both of us. One was an ordinary katana and the other was made out of wood. He handed me the ordinary one and took the wooden one himself.

"This should make it a bit fairer, just don't hold back any of your strength. You don't have to fear hurting me either, I will be fine. We will fight for a bit and then I will tell you the worst mistakes you make and how you can improve. After a short break we spare again and you should try to avoid those mistakes as much as possible", he explained to me and I just nodded.

I took the initiative and charged at him. He clearly wanted a prolonged fight, since he only parried my sword. From time to time however, he would slip in some offensive moves which stopped right before they hit me. This showed how often he could have beaten me in the fight if he was serious but we continued until I was slowing down. I was trying to catch my breath and noticed that for some reason the wooden sword hadn't been damaged at all but the edge of my katana had gotten somewhat blunt.

"I see, you have noticed. Magical swords aren't the only swords who can be infused with celestial energy. You can do this with every weapon but the effectiveness is far worse. But it can do something like increasing the sturdiness of a wooden sword so it can surpass even a regular one. That's why your sword has gotten blunt. If you had infused your celestial energy in it, this wouldn't have happened and the wooden sword would have broken after a couple exchanges" Mr. Black stated.

I looked at his sword once again and now I could make out a fine outline of celestial energy flowing around the sword. His usage of it was very efficient and not much was getting wasted. Thanks to the celestial blood he may be able to use celestial energy unlike regular humans but it still can't compare to hybrids.

"But let us start talking about the topic we came here for, your technique. You have similar flaws to Iris, you go at your opponent to straight forward and don't use any cheap tricks. I thought you were better than this since you tried to pull off a faint against me back at the test. Iris can compensate this flaw with her raw power but that won't be possible for you. You need to learn to hide your intentions better and use everything you have got. Maybe you have seen this in previous fights, but one can tell their opponents next move by looking at their stance", he explained.

"Yes, I have seen this before but I couldn't make any use of it until now. Iris always goes for the offensive and her body language tells that easily", I said.

"Well and you yourself went for a defensive stance which was just as obvious and makes it easier for her. You have to get aware of this. Also you should try using your legs more when fighting. If your sword gets parried and you use the momentum to get a kick in, most opponents will have a hard time defending against it. You could even get yourself a small knife for your offhand or something similar to that. Unlike other demon hybrids your tail won't be of much use but it can also be used in such a way. You need to be wary of these things when fighting different people. Angels and angel hybrids can use their wings to shorten distances far quicker than anyone else and demons can use their features to get unexpected hits in. Different people use different styles to take advantage of what they have. Just give different things a try and once you find your style, train it until you have mastered it", Mr. Black further explained.

"I see, I see. I will give it a shot in the next fight", I stated.

And so we fought again and again. Each time Mr. Black would correct me more and more detailed and my fighting style improved greatly. I was getting more aware of my opponents body language and could use it to my advantage. Mr. Black was obviously giving me these opening as hints, he wouldn't be so foolish in a regular fight.

By the end of our lesson, I was able to get used to throwing in some kicks here and there and my overall awareness of myself and my opponent improved by leaps and bounds. I was getting excited for the next time I will spar with Iris. This time I will be the one winning.