"Alright. That's enough for today."
Putting the broken sword back into the Inventory, Damian stared at the ground as he analyzed the result of the hour that he invested into his second training path.
'As expected, it doesn't work that well.'
Compared to the simple physical training that only required minimum focus, learning how to use the sword was a far more daunting task.
Even though he was just receiving the basic instructions that Iris picked up, Damian had a hard time following along.
'What a naive thought.'
When it came to swords, almost all modern men were fascinated by the concept, even more so now than ever. The blades used by Ability Users had now overshadowed modern weapons!
Including Damian himself, at least half the teenagers held some kind of stick and swung it around like it was a real sword. From that perspective, holding a blade seemed very easy and many wished to hold a real one, but in reality…
'It's… Hard!'
Damian barely held back from internally cursing. Looking back at his battles, he was really just some crazy guy who haphazardly swung his weapon until it hit.
The concentration and dexterity needed to move a sword in an intended direction were quite a lot. For someone who never handled a sword before, and using the body of a failed knight, it was even harder than usual.
To make matters worse, the only proper sword that Damian had was missing 40% of the blade!
Whatever Damian learned using it would need mending when he found a new sword. However, despite handling a lighter weapon, Damian was still struggling to hit the mental images of his target.
'I will have to scrap this from the schedule.'
In the end, Damian concluded that repeating whatever he just did was completely useless. He had high hopes for the level-up benefits, but aside from feeling a very slight smoothness in his movements, nothing practical had come out of it. smooth
As for why he was suddenly starting to be very aware of his changes, Damian didn't know either. He was only hoping that it wasn't a temporary thing.
Realizing his weaknesses and strengths was the first step towards learning anything. At the very least, thanks to that, Damian immediately found a proper replacement for the scrapped training session.
'This is still the easiest to handle.'
The shortsword was still the one that flowed best in Damian's hand. Of course, let alone mastering it, he was barely able to move it around a bit without dropping it.
Nonetheless, compared to how awkwardly he handled the sword, this was still passable.
'If Iris' weapon handling talent is in the negative…'
Of course, this wasn't due to Iris or Damian being talented with short blades. Using it as his main weapon till this point was one of the factors, but it was extremely limited considering that he hadn't spent that much time in the Labyrinth.
Instead, something much more effective came into play thanks to that factor.
'Then I just have to abuse her other cheats.'
Whether it was what saved Damian and Iris at the beginning or what kept him going till now, Combat Instincts was behind everything!
It wasn't that Damian used the shortsword for long. Rather, it was the life-and-death battles that he experienced while wielding it.
Thanks to Combat Instincts' corrections, Damian's body was forced to remember the proper way to handle the weapon!
In Short, Damian had to replace the lack of a teacher as well as talent with Iris' cheat ability. That was his only chance at learning weapon skills!
"Let's move out."
As such, rather than spending months in a cave struggling just to learn how to use the sword passably, Damian found the answer in the one thing that he was starting to limit. Actual combat.
Continuing on with the second segment of his physical training, Damian ran with force until he finally encountered a Goblin. However…
"Greee!"
Damian passed by. He slowed down a bit to make sure that the Goblin was going to follow him before running along.
'It's easier, but it's ineffective.'
Not to mention how repetitive it had become, killing each Goblin on encounter was no longer that helpful. The possible Life Stone drop still meant something, but even that aspect was starting to get tedious.
"Greenn!"
"Grr!"
Even an hour and a half later, Damian was still running. It was only when he encountered his third Goblin that he finally stopped to take his breath.
'There we go.'
At the distance, the three Goblins had more or less converged and were now running towards him, but Damian was completely unbothered!
Despite discovering that he could respawn, Damian hoped to keep his death count as low as he could from the very start. He pursued being as careful as possible and stayed away from recklessness as long as the situation allowed it.
However, now that he had just taken a deep look at his future, he realized that such behavior wasn't sustainable. If things were going to eventually get harder as they did for every character he controlled…
Why did he have to only find a solution then? Why couldn't he prepare for it starting now?
'What kind of plot armor is afraid of death?'
Although his thoughts were half-mockery, Damian was ready to die a few more times now if it could spare him a few hundred deaths later!
Since Combat Instincts only worked when his life was threatened, then he was going to dance along the lines of life and death until he could properly handle a weapon or two!
"Greeen!"
'Come.'
There weren't going to be any poison injections or Aura Slashes, only him, one shortsword, and three Goblins.
If Damian could survive and kill his foes, then he could get to open up three consecutive loot boxes, getting a higher chance of a jackpot and saving time.
If he couldn't, then…
[ Save Point has been created. Main Save Point has been replaced. ]
He just had to do it again until he could.