Swordsmanship Instruction

The next morning, or rather, in the pre-dawn hours, the usual training grounds were already packed with new recruits.

When Evan arrived half an hour earlier than usual, he was genuinely startled by the sight before him. Clearly, having never truly struggled in mud in either of his lives, he had underestimated their desire for swordsmanship, or perhaps, for a change in destiny.

In reality, almost every country on the continent had its own military swordsmanship. Beyond the commonality of being simple and direct, each had its own unique emphasis.

As a major maritime power, Faletis had modified and perfected its military swordsmanship to suit the characteristics of its users, making it highly suitable for naval combat.

This was because the most suitable weapon for this swordsmanship was the Faletis Kingdom's Navy Sabre, a single-edged long straight sword that could be used for thrusting or slashing. Even a novice sailor could wield considerable destructive power after a short period of training.

Therefore, calling it "military swordsmanship" was less fitting than calling it "Faletis Sabre Art."

Upon Evan's arrival, amidst a crowd of eager gazes, he distributed a wooden training sabre to each prospective recruit. After having them form neat square formations, the swordsmanship training officially began.

At this point, no one questioned Evan's ability to teach them, given that he was just a fellow recruit. Although Eugene wanted to slack off, he didn't want to shoot himself in the foot. Through the public duels with Evan over the past two days, while completely conquering the new recruits with his exquisite swordsmanship, he had also made them understand the vast difference between them.

Naturally, no one questioned Evan at this point.

The instruction began with how to grip the sword.

It was then that Evan realized this task wasn't as difficult or as boring as he had imagined.

"Grip the sword firmly, but don't hold it too tightly, or your arms will fatigue quickly. Only when slashing or blocking do you need to tighten your grip. How to relax your hand after completing a movement is an art, also known as Soft Hand.

This is an essential talent for learning swordsmanship. It will make your hands more agile without becoming fatigued and stiff."

"Looser, a bit looser."

"Don't stiffen your arms too much, and don't keep your eyes glued to the sword."

After circling around to ensure everyone could grip the sword correctly, Evan continued to explain the three defensive stances in the "Faletis Sabre Art": High Guard Stance, Outside Guard Stance, and Inside Guard Stance.

Out of a sense of personal favoritism, Evan directly called Gary, whom he had known the longest and was his best friend, to help with the demonstration.

"Boss Evan!" Gary called out to Evan as he walked to the front of the formation. He felt a bit flustered under the gaze of so many eyes.

Despite Gary's rugged and tall appearance, he was the same age as Evan, even a month younger. After enlisting in the army with Evan, he was quickly won over by Evan, who was far superior to him in all aspects, and became his little follower.

However, to others, Gary seemed less like a follower and more like someone who had latched onto a powerful figure.

Even a simple, honest person had their own wisdom for survival!

Just for that one "Boss" greeting, Evan resolved to help Gary overcome his shyness from now on.

He signaled Gary not to be nervous and began to demonstrate and explain each move.

"The High Guard Stance can be used to counter all slashes to the body and arms. The sword is perfectly positioned to defend the head and feet. When the opponent's sword attacks, you can block it by slightly raising or lowering your hand."

"When the hand is on the right side, it's called the Outside Guard Stance, and when the hand is on the left side of the body, it's called the Inside Guard Stance. In these two stances, although one side of your body will be exposed to the opponent, you cannot expect the enemy to attack only when you are in position. Therefore, you must master every defensive move!"

"Gary, High Guard Stance..."

Clang--

Clang--

With continuous strikes and the clash of wooden swords, Gary demonstrated each defensive stance three times before stopping.

Only then did he explain the key points of the "defensive stances": all stances must be completed using the strong part of the blade, which is the unsharpened section near the handguard, usually called the "strong blade." The part near the sword tip, which is sharpened, is called the "weak blade."

In Evan's previous fight with Black Bear Billy, he had used a close-quarters stance to disarm the opponent's scimitar with the "strong blade."

At the end of the lesson, they moved on to offense, the simplest yet most complex aspect.

Thrusting and slashing were the most basic moves, but they could only be ingrained into the body through day after day of arduous practice. There were no shortcuts.

However, Evan also shared his insights from practicing swordsmanship with the new recruits, hoping they would gain something.

"Remember the key to offensive moves: when attacking, never let your feet touch the ground before your sword reaches the target. Never let the sword tip deviate from the optimal attack path!

Only by doing so can you strike the opponent faster than them and save your own life."

Grip, attack, defend. There were no feints, which are common in swordsmanship. Military swordsmanship was that simple and direct!

Finally, Evan, gripping his sword with one hand, demonstrated to the new recruits how to properly exert force for a thrust and a slash.

Hiss--

With a casual swing of the sword, the blade sliced through the air, creating a vortex. Amidst the lingering piercing shriek, Evan slowly descended from the demonstration platform.

"So strong!"

"Such power from a body that isn't particularly strong. Can we do it too?"

"One day, I'll be this strong too."

No longer concerned with the surging emotions of the new recruits, Evan planned to continue teaching this basic knowledge for three days. After that, he would have them gradually turn these moves into their instincts through practical combat training.

Following that, he could identify and address their weaknesses based on their performance in actual combat. Evan even planned to use his Data Vision to provide personalized corrections for each individual.

In his previous life, he was just a commoner, and in this life, he was merely a fallen noble descendant with an empty title. Evan had experienced the pain of rigid class structures. Whether out of sympathy or a sense of responsibility as a proxy instructor, Evan was willing to help them to the best of his ability.

Of course, collecting data on every new recruit of the same cohort to enrich his database would also be indispensable. (￣▽￣)／

Two weeks later, when Major Eugene suddenly appeared from who-knows-where, he was surprised to find that almost all the new recruits at the training camp had already mastered the "Faletis Sabre Art" to a respectable degree.

From his perspective as a Knight, it was indeed crude and rigid, far from being applicable in actual combat, but it could still be considered to have a solid foundation.

Major Eugene was utterly bewildered, "Are all these new recruits this talented? Why didn't I notice this before?"

It wasn't until he took over the remaining training again that he realized it was all an illusion; they were still the same blockheads.

But that was no longer Evan's concern.

During these two weeks of substitute teaching, Evan's attitude also subtly shifted, from slight impatience at the beginning to complete dedication later on. Because in the process of teaching the new recruits, besides earning their sincere gratitude, he finally understood what "teaching benefits both teacher and student" truly meant!

Everyone's physical condition is different, their perspectives on things are different, and their ways of thinking are different. This requires the instructor to have a thorough understanding of their own knowledge to solve each student's problems.

In this process, Evan found that his understanding of the two swordsmanship techniques he currently mastered, "White Sail Swordsmanship" and "Military Swordsmanship," had advanced by leaps and bounds. Even his physical fitness, which hadn't improved for a long time, had changed.

Name: Evan Garratt

Gender: Male

Attributes: Constitution 0.9+0.01

Strength 0.86+0.02

Agility 0.93

Intelligence 0.9

Skills: White Sail Swordsmanship (Mastered, includes accompanying breathing technique, swordsmanship, and potion) Military Swordsmanship (Mastered, includes accompanying breathing technique, swordsmanship, and potion) Archery (Mastered) Grammar (Mastered) Navigation Knowledge (Beginner) Apothecary Arts (Beginner)

Constitution increased by 0.01, finally reaching 0.91, and Strength also increased by 0.02, reaching 0.88. Unlike the difficulty in breaking through with White Sail Swordsmanship, Military Swordsmanship easily reached the Mastered level.

Major Eugene's "Military Swordsmanship" taught to Evan included the complete set of swordsmanship techniques, breathing techniques, and accompanying potions. In principle, this was also an "Extraordinary swordsmanship" that could directly lead to the extraordinary.

This was also an implicit benefit for the "Insignia Trainees."

However, after comparison, Evan discovered that although "Military Swordsmanship" had simple and easy-to-learn moves, it focused more on battlefield combat, and its effect on the crucial extraordinary transformation was mediocre.

Just looking at the accompanying breathing techniques, "Military Swordsmanship" with only five variations was worlds apart from "White Sail Swordsmanship" with twelve variations, even just on paper.

Furthermore, Eugene only authorized Evan to directly teach the swordsmanship techniques to the new recruits, strictly prohibiting him from casually disseminating the accompanying breathing techniques and potions.

It was like having the "art" but not the "method." This policy from the Navy's upper echelons almost completely cut off their possibility of directly stepping into the extraordinary through this means.