Why Are the Basics So Hard?!

"Can I what?" Leo looked at me strangely as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

We were standing in the middle of the sparring area in the middle of the training facilities after I walked up to him while he was taking a break from sparring with the high-level simulation.

"I said, can you teach me the basics of the White Lightning Technique?"

"But you have an earth magic affinity," he said with confusion. 

"Yes, but the sword style still has practical advantages even without the magical aspect of it," I elaborated on my thought process.

"I'm sure there are, but the movements are still optimized for the release of mana along certain mana channels," he said skeptically. "I'm not against teaching you, but… it might be a waste of time."

I wave my hands loosely. "I'm almost one hundred percent sure that the base form of the White Lightning Technique will be better than basic longsword forms."

"Then, when should we--" Leo paused, then turned to look at me with a bewildered expression. "Sorry, what did you just say???"

I paused as well to return his stare with equal levels of confusion. "What? I just said that the White Lightning Technique would be better than basic longsword forms."

"...you've been fighting with basic longsword forms???"

"...yes?"

Leo blinked a few times, processing my words. "And you've been doing that the whole time?" He shook his head, his disbelief palpable. "I... how have you survived this long?"

I shrugged. "I get by."

His eyes narrowed with a dangerous look, and for a moment, I thought he might strangle me, but instead, he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Alright, you're not a complete disaster, so I guess there's hope for you. But we need to fix that immediately. The basics are important, but you're clearly underestimating the difference it makes to actually understand the fundamentals."

I raised an eyebrow, feeling a little defensive. "Okay, I get it. But I've survived so far without them."

Leo shot me a pointed look. "Barely."

I grinned, trying to keep the mood light. "Hey, I'm not dead yet."

His eyes narrowed even further, though I could see the flicker of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Fine. If you're going to be stubborn, let's do this the hard way."

I shifted my stance, ready. "Alright, I'm listening."

Leo sighed dramatically, pulling out his sword. "First of all, footwork. If you can't move right, nothing else matters."

"Sounds simple enough."

"You'd think," Leo muttered, pacing in front of me. "First, stop standing so stiff. You're too tense. Relax. Movement comes from your center, not your arms."

I adjusted my posture, trying to ease the tension in my shoulders. "Like this?"

"Better," Leo said, nodding. "Now, your feet need to move like they're the points of a triangle, ready to shift in any direction. You need to move forward, backward, and sideways without losing your balance."

"Balance, right," I muttered, trying to follow his instructions.

Leo shook his head. "You're overthinking it. Just feel it. Step forward, then immediately back. Then side to side. Don't think about it-- just move."

I tried it out, but it felt stiff and awkward. "This is harder than it sounds."

"Of course it is," Leo said with a faint smile. "But once the footwork clicks, everything else follows."

I gave it another try, this time focusing less on trying to get it perfect and more on staying relaxed. Although it wasn't good by any means, it was better.

Leo watched me, arms crossed. "It's an improvement. For now, that's enough. Let's move onto your grip."

"My grip? What's wrong with it?"

"Everything," he snorted. I stuck out my tongue at him as he continued. "Stop holding the sword like you're trying to strangle it."

I adjusted my grip. "Like this?"

"That's way better," Leo nodded.

He's… a lot more patient with me than I thought he would be, I observed. He also agreed to teach me much easier than I thought.

It seems that my fight with him has affected him a lot more than I thought he did. He's not just integrating with Gauss, Rebecca, Perseus, and Lucia better-- he's just more humble and sociable in general.

Suddenly, he whacked my head with his sheathed sword. "Focus!

 I yelped in pain and clutched the spot he had struck. "Why'd you do that?!"

"Because your attention was wandering," he reprimanded. "Do that again and I'll whack you harder."

Though he's still an asshole sometimes, I grumbled internally, even though I didn't argue aloud. "So, what's next?"

"Now we can work on strikes," Leo said. "Your defense is pretty much airtight. I've fought you before and I've seen exactly how good you are at blocking attacks, even if they're rapid-fire, extremely fast, or insanely powerful."

He continued with a smirk tinged with faint arrogance. "However, your offense might be some of the worst I've ever seen. During the ranking challenge, despite making several windows to attack me with your earth magic, you failed to capitalize on it every. Single. Time."

The white-haired boy punctuated his words by smacking his sword sheath against the ground.

"It's not that bad, right?"

"Every time you landed a strike on me, it was because you taunted the shit out of my ego," he chuckled. "Which is a valid strategy, but your offense is still horrible."

I sighed in defeat. "Fine. So how do I work on that?"

"Same as with anything-- tons of repetition," he smiled. "For now, let's just work on something simple: an overhead strike."

He demonstrated it as he said it, cleanly slicing through the air.

"Your turn."

I stepped forward, swinging the sword down. It was stiff and clumsy.

"No," Leo said with a sigh. "Loosen up. Relax your arms. Focus on precision, not power."

I tried again, focusing less on force and more on the flow of the movement. It was a little better, but still rough.

Leo tilted his head. "Closer, but still too rigid. You've got some bad habits to break."

I clenched my jaw, but I didn't argue. He's the expert, after all. Instead, I just adjusted my stance and tried again.

Leo watched intently. "Remember, it's all about flow. If you fight stiffly, you'll break yourself before you even land a hit."

I took a deep breath, relaxing, and focused more on the motion. After a few dozen times with lots of pointers from Leo, the strike slowly became smoother.

"There," the white-haired boy said, offering a small nod. "That's more like it."

"So... we're done with the basics now?" I asked hopefully.

He shook his head with a smirk. "Not even close. But you're on the right track."