Chapter 14: Training
And so in the following weeks, a hellish training unfolded
In the daytime, he'd learn from Sodo with his 'Accelerated Learning' activated, and then at night after resting for a while and going for his usual 'walk' to absorb some dreams, he'd use his ability again to 'Perfect' what he learned earlier that day
After all even Sodo the teacher himself didn't practice Kenjutsu to perfection, so you can't expect him to teach Lorien the perfect version
Perfecting them using his ability directly removes those errors and bad habits and turns what he learned into the perfect textbook version
Moreover, it doesn't stop there, as it then adapts whatever he had learned to be perfectly compatible with Lorien
After all, everyone's body is a bit different and what is perfect for someone is imperfect for others
In the first 4 days, Lorien kept learning those same Postures again and again, even though he had already learned it Sodo still insisted he'd do it again until he engraves it into his body's instincts
"Change fast! Lower Ready! Lower! Middle! Ready! Upper!"
"Good Job! now again!"
Lorien honestly can't tell how many times he did this anymore, and with the use of his ability to accelerate learning and perfect it later on, he now instinctively uses them without having to think hard about how to move and any of that
This is also the reason Sodo asked him to do it again and again, but it appears that Lorien's learning speed surprised the old man again
'So fast... It seems that he'll learn everything in about a month more or less'
And then after having noticed this Sodo mover to the next step which is teaching him how to cut
"Now with those postures as a base you'll learn how to slash"
And so Lorien's practice commenced again without further of do learning the 8 Basic cuts
Lorien expected this to be quite fast and easier than what he learned before as he got used to handling the 'sword' by now
"Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! You are just moving your body! Don't forget the mind, Ki-Ken-Tai-Ichi (Mind, Sword, Body as one), This is the base of a good slash!"
"Harmonize the Mind (Ki), Sword (Ken), and the body (Tai), you need to integrate all three elements together to maximize your power. When you 'feel' the harmony, I am so sure you'll know what I mean"
"It is important to keep your body and mind in balance. Even when your body is fine and your mind is as sharp but they are not in balance, your strike wont be good, That is how important to harmonize these 3 elements"
Lorien quickly came to realize how gravely mistaken he was, as it appears that this cutting part is the most important in all the practice, he should have thought of this earlier as it's the main component of Kenjutsu
This part of the training was the longest so far as it effectively took him 2 weeks to finish, this is thanks to his ability or else it would have taken him at least twice as much time
And even then it would have been record-breaking time as his own innate talent without the use of any auxiliary ability is very high
The next step was blocking and deflecting, this was quite easy and fast and only took a couple of days to finish
The training part for this was also quite exciting as Sodo took a bokken and attacked him over and over again until he could effectively defend
Having finally finished all the basic steps or as what Sodo called it 'Foundation' he could finally move forward, and that is Sodo's Dojo specialty and that is quick-draw
At that moment he was given a real katana as it was needed to practice quick draw
The training for this was a bit special as it only one single move that was very simple and Lorien learned it to perfection in just one day
But it didnt stop there, or it could be said that the Quick-draw practice began at that moment
The training from there consisted of Sodo walking around with some very small objects in his hand going around Lorien and then suddenly throwing those objects in Lorien's direction for him to quickly draw the sword and slash them
This lasted for a few days until Lorien can slash every object thrown at him no matter from what direction and speed be it fast or slow
But just then as Lorien thought he had finished learning everything Sodo said with a bit of 'malice' hidden in his voice which Lorien failed to notice
"Now that you learned all the basics let's apply them!"
Hearing what Sodo just said Lorien felt a bit of excitement as he wanted to test the results of his training
Lorien failed again, not noticing Sodo trying to hide his excitement, after getting 'hit' by Lorien for so long am making him doubt his life he can finally take revenge
'Hahaha! this never gets old, every single person I taught fell for it'
And so the 'Sparring' began!
"What did I teach you?!"
"Wrong! you fell for the trap easily!"
As soon as the sparring began Lorien quickly fell into a disadvantage with nearly no way to fight back
If it weren't for his supernatural reflexes allowing him to react fast he wouldn't have been able to defend or fight back
Of course, all of this is under the premise that Lorien doesn't use physical strength above that of a normal human
Or else with how powerful his body is currently is no matter how much Sodo has an advantage in skills he won't be able to fight Lorien
Let's not forget that Lorien has been getting stronger every day and he's just learning Kenjutsu as a way to apply this force and not waste it and his main power has always been his cheat like ability
The reason for him being at such a disadvantage actually has nothing to do with pure skill and what he learned
The problem is that he doesn't know how to apply it in combat and how to combine the different moves, cuts... together to fight, that combined with the huge difference in combat experience created such a situation
The sparring didnt last long before Lorien got hit square on the face
"OUUCH!!!"
Meanwhile, Sodo was looking at the fallen Lorien with a bit of surprise, he honestly doesn't know how many times he got surprised teaching him, this is a new thing for Sodo himself, as usually even if someone is very talented it isn't to such a level
'This is interesting, such talent, after the training ends ill tell him about those things and leave the choice to him'
"Stand up! Let's go again!"
And so they started sparring again, this was the practice plan for the next days, just fight over and over again and master his new skills
.
A week later
*Clash*
*Clash*
Lorien and Sodo could be seen clashing at a very high speed inside the Dojo
One of them would attack from time to time slashing from different angles while the other defends and waits for an opportunity to counter-attack
Sodo slashed forward with great speed but Lorien was able to quickly defend and deflect it, but before he can counter attack Sodo was able to react quickly and pull back
Sodo still had a bit of an edge in this sparring as he had move experience but Lorien's reflexes greatly made up for it not falling behind in combat
After fighting a bit more with no sign of victory on either side they soon decided to stop
Sodo was heavily breathing as he was quite tired from such high-intensity combat
Lorien on the other hand looked as if he hadn't had a fight yet, completely relaxed
Looking at this Sodo had a desolate look on his face but it soon faded with a long sigh
'Sigh...Am very old now, I can't even fight for long, Time, Truly is a ruthless thing'
Quickly throwing such mood aside he looked at Lorien and smiled happily his visage full of gratification
"A Bit over a month, if it wasn't for me telling you to practice some things again and again you would have probably finished much earlier, what do you think of the result"
Hearing this Lorien quickly gave a small bow to Sodo and said, his voice full of gratitude
"Thank you!"
"No it's okay, this was quite the surprise for me as well..."
After saying this both parties fell silent as the atmosphere became a bit awkward, farewells have never been the most joyful events
Just as Lorien was about to speak and break this atmosphere Sodo beat him to it as he said this time hesitation apparent on his face
"I don't know if I should tell you about this as it's quite dangerous, but I have never seen such talent as you, I really want to see how far you can go in swordsmanship!"
Hearing this Lorien didnt know what to say as he had no idea what Sodo was talking about, but Sodo didnt wait for him to ask about it as he continued
"What do you think about Demons..."