To be honest, the Weapon Master was not much of a teacher.
The legendary warrior clearly had never studied how to teach others. His explanations wandered all over the place; he said whatever came to mind, with no clear theme or progressive teaching goals.
Renato struggled to keep up with Aknath's erratic train of thought. He could not fathom how sword training had led to monks, or what having Blindsight had to do with sword forms...
Aknath must have noticed this too. The Weapon Master simply abandoned verbal instruction, raised his longsword again, and demonstrated through action.
Sure enough, the most effective way for swordsmen to communicate was still sword fighting.
Many things could not be made clear with words, but could with a sword.
Unlike his usual easygoing self, the Weapon Master became a completely different person the moment he entered combat. The bright silver longsword danced violently in his hand, its attacks falling like an unrelenting storm.
Backhand strikes and preemptive attacks came one after another. Renato was clearly the one with the advantage in both height and reach, yet he found himself having to lean forward with every strike, as though he were the one at a disadvantage.
In short, Renato was utterly overwhelmed by the constant manipulation of distance.
Aknath was deliberately holding back and limiting his speed, sparing Renato the helplessness he had felt during their first encounter, when it had seemed as though three swordsmen were attacking him at once.
Yet every one of Aknath's blocks was perfectly timed, every counterattack angled just right. As their footwork shifted, Renato could feel Aknath's near-perfect parries and counters steadily squeezing away his room to attack.
As a swordsman, Renato knew he had fallen completely into his opponent's rhythm. His defeat was already certain.
Their exchange did