Using a sword correctly

Felix sat alone on a bench nestled within the quiet shade of the park's trees that were just a few distance away from the academy, 

He had just wrapped up his final written exam—an ordeal that had cost him countless sleepless nights.

All he wanted to do now was take a damn nap.

But with Yaromech's abusive teaching style, he couldn't help but always keep his guard up, even when he's just peacefully sleeping.

Ferris closed his eyes, not only to sleep but also to focus on the sounds around him—even the smell as well.

And obviously, the essence surrounding him.

He faintly heard silent footsteps.

I got you now. Today is the day I'll catch you!

You're on my left side.

. . .

And you'll perform a downward strike on my right shoulder.

Felix hid his grin under his napping position, and once Yaromech made his move, it was as if he had gotten a shot of pure dopamine—his body quickly changed position to snatch away his teacher's wooden sword.

For a brief moment, Felix saw Yaromech slightly smiling. It was clear he was definitely proud of his student.

But that only ticked him off even more.

After so many whacks,

Felix also wanted to do the whacking himself!

For Felix, on that specific day,

It felt so good to hold a sword.

"Eat this, bastard!" Felix swung his own downward strike.

But when his teacher saw the sheer force behind that attack, Yaromech's smile suddenly faded away, and he immediately caught his student's slash.

A loud snap was heard all around the park.

Shatter!

The wooden blade suddenly shattered into a hundred splinters, bursting apart with a sharp crack.

All that remained was a smoldering fragment gripped tightly in Yaromech's clenched fist with thin wisps of smoke seeping through his knuckles.

His teacher chuckled in surprise, "Jeez, Felix... I don't remember teaching you...

Sword essence."

***

As a person goes through the lower-numbered layers, they grow almost exponentially.

But for an inanimate object like a sword, which can't use the 9 layers of essence, it wouldn't be able to keep up.

Even the best artisans and blacksmiths in his old world could barely forge weapons that can handle the strength of a 6th layer knight or similar.

This is where sword essence comes into play.

The idea is making the sword an extension of yourself.

Engulfing it with your own essence, so it can withstand heavier blows.

Though the metal pipe Ferris was holding could withstand his unmaximized 9th layer core, there was another reason.

Since you're engulfing your sword with your essence, it was also possible to make it so that your sword's edge was sharper than normal.

A sort of phantom blade that was covering the actual blade.

But of course, it was much harder to pull off this trick with a metal pipe. Ferris could only make a dull edge with his essence which still reduced the surface area of the impact to make the strike more devastating.

But I don't plan on killing them anyway.

Whack!

For reasons he couldn't comprehend, the world flipped with his body jolting upside down—then, without warning, everything went black for the poor guy.

1 down, 4 left.

He changed his stance immediately after the strike.

And his eyes were now set on the three behind him. Fortunately, they were pleasantly lined up for a horizontal slash.

The lanky man was too confused on whether he should lunge at Ferris or get his sword, in the end he could only shout a few words laced in fear "F-Fuck! Who are—

Slice.

Despite the dull edge made from his essence, the sheer speed was enough to make a shallow cut on their stomachs, causing two them to fall and collapse from shock.

4 down, 1 left.

The last one ran a few meters away before he pulled a pistol out, but Ferris quickly grabbed the lanky man and turned him into a shield.

Since the man was so light, he only needed a bit of essence to hold him up in front of him by the neck.

But despite his friend being turned into a shield, the last man still fired due to the rush.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

. . .

The lanky man went limp soon after, crumpling like a puppet with its strings cut as Ferris sighed in the process.

He reminded himself of Yaromech, his old teacher.

You must never get used to killing.

But a knight cannot be forever a saint. If possible, Ferris would've chosen a more diplomatic approach, but sometimes—

There were situations where the only one who was right, was the victor.

The man pulled the trigger a few more times, but it seemed he only loaded 3 bullets.

Screaming at the strange man with the shiesty, the man ran toward a door that led to the extension building.

He shouted, "Ambush! Ambush—

Slam!

Grab!

As the man got closer and closer to the door, it suddenly busted open and a large figure emerged to grab his neck.

"I heard ya!," the large figure gripped harder before blood suddenly started dripping from the man's neck.

The large figure released his grip. To Ferris's surprise, the figure's hand seemed to turn into curved blades.

A blessing user... I didn't detect him when I was on top of the truck. Was it because he was guarding the other kidnapped blessing users that I couldn't differentiate him? Ferris prepared himself mentally and physically.

In front of him now was the 4 kidnappers. Only one of them was a blessing user.

"I don't fucking care which faction you came from, but since the handlers don't want me to touch the products... I'm really... livid!" the large figure screamed.

His large figure, despite imposing, was crouched up in an almost fetal position. But even with him crouching, he was still taller than the three people near him.

And especially that strange tone.

Ferris didn't need someone to directly tell him.

Even the three men standing nearby couldn't hide their unease—they were visibly trembling, just from being in the presence of the towering figure.

This guy...

Compared to the petty robber he quickly dispatched when he first arrived in his new body...

This bastard didn't need drugs or alcohol to be a degenerate.

"Mmmfff... Fuck, I can't handle waiting. I really can't!" The figure pleaded in agony.

The large figure extended his long and massive arms and morphed them into blades, then turned them against his comrades.

Slice.

Slice.

Slice.

That certainly left a deep impression on Ferris.

"My blessing lets me create blades on my body and if I kill, it gets even stronger!" The figure made a sadistic expression with his tongue out.

Just as he said, his arm blade was noticeably growing larger, longer, and harder.

A perfect blessing for a degenerate that gets a hard-on for blood.

"I don't care if you're a blessing user! I'm gonna fucking rip your torso apart and fuck you while you're still warm!"

At that instant, Ferris no longer needed his brain to conclude that this person was strangely fucked up.

A person who doesn't even think about the lives he takes.

A person who even kills his comrades to elevate himself.

But what surprised Ferris was that this creature was sane enough to not touch the products because his handler said so.

He could only imagine what kind of monster the handler would be if they could even make this degenerate think twice before killing.

But that was a thought for another day.

Right now, he didn't care about this person's upbringing, or what the world had done to him in order to turn into a monster.

This one was beyond saving.

So as a knight...

He must vanquish all evil.

Ferris quietly settled the lanky man down and carefully closed his dead eyes.

At that instant, the large figure began charging like a horse with its tongue out. Because of his size and weight, each step created a mini quake that drew ominously closer.

Stomp. Stomp.

Ferris went towards the scabbard that was previously owned by the lanky man and grabbed it.

Hmm... A curved sword.

Stomp. Stomp.

Unsheathing the sword, he inspected its quality.

It's astonishingly clean, like it wasn't even used before... So it's really just for show huh?

Stomp. Stomp.

Ferris sighed and squeezed the grip. It's nice on the hand. Too bad I can't take this because I'd need a legal license and documents of ownership for it.

And since it only has one edge, I don't need to use a lot of essence for it. But it's not really my cup of tea anyways, I prefer double bladed-double handed!

Stomp. "Look at me bitch!" the figure screamed and lunged his arms towards Ferris.

Slice. Slice. Slice.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

After swinging his massive arms around, the figure slid past Ferris, confident that he killed him. Now he could satisfy his urges— or so he thought.

He turned around to see that Ferris was still standing and inspecting the blade.

Still too dull... Ferris looked at his sword essence. It seemed that forming a proper sword essence was the result of muscle memory and not mental memory.

His body still needed a lot of work to get stronger.

"How the fuck are you alive?!" the figure screamed and pointed his arm blade towards Ferris.

"Lousy."

The figure paused. "What?"

"I said your swordsmanship is lousy, you degenerate."

Slice.

Ferris quickly swung his sword in the air, causing the formation of an essence blade projectile.

For a brief moment, the figure sensed something—an invisible wave rushing toward his head, but by the time he realized it, it was already too late. 

His head was now on the floor, and his body was left standing still like a statue.

Damn, I used nearly all of my essence for that essence blade. Thankfully, he was too horny to even notice it, Ferris thought as he made a disgusted expression from the sight of a mound on the headless figure's trousers.

"yuck..."