Chapter 34 - Wesley's Swordmanship (2)

As soon as Wesley's right hand reached shoulder level, the foil reached the hilt of his sword. Wesley then simply swiped his right hand to the side, causing the foil to completely pass by him.

Eltier was slightly startled at how easily Wesley parried his lunge, but he didn’t pay it much mind; any idiot could parry by luck. He immediately pulled his sword hand back and performed another lunge, this time aiming for the center of Wesley's chest.

Seeing the foil fly towards him, Wesley couldn’t help but feel extremely disdainful of this entire style. Fencing was a nobleman's style because of its elegance. But Wesley immediately noticed that its practicality was almost non-existent. Continuing to send your sword in a straight line, regardless of speed, is simply too predictable.

Wesley once again waited until the tip of the foil was within half a foot of him, then raised his sword hand to his chest. A soft ringing followed, and everyone noticed that the tip of the foil didn’t hit Wesley; it only struck the hilt of his sword.

Eltier was instantly dumbfounded. If the first block was luck, then could the second be luck as well? How could someone count on luck when failure would lead to injury? He simply couldn’t believe that he was blocked twice by the same person. He immediately fumed and shouted toward Wesley with irritation:

"Is defending all you're capable of?"

Eltier's words were tantamount to a childish tantrum. It was clear to everyone present that Wesley was far above him, yet Eltier simply wasn’t willing to accept it.

"Yes, is defending all you're capable of? Haha."

The second elder's words followed Eltier’s. Wesley sighed inwardly at the second elder's efforts to escalate this joke.

Eltier immediately withdrew his foil and lunged once again, this time much faster than before. His foil was exceedingly fast, making it hard to follow. But Wesley couldn’t help but shake his head at how simple this fencing was. Regardless of the speed of the lunge, it could be easily seen through. All one had to do was look at the wielder's arm, figure out his target, and prepare accordingly.

Eltier’s target this time was Wesley's head. This time, Wesley didn’t parry. He simply leaned slightly to the left, causing the foil to buzz beside him. Then he moved forward and casually swung his sword toward Eltier.

Wesley's sheathed sword struck Eltier's sword arm, causing him to drop his foil. Wesley then used his shoulder to lightly push against Eltier’s chest. Eltier immediately fell on his butt. Since he was mid-lunge, he was easily toppled by Wesley’s shoulder charge.

Eltier couldn't believe what had just happened. But before he could collect his thoughts, a voice broke his reverie:

"Elder, are we done? This is somewhat pointless."

Eltier immediately looked up and saw that Wesley still had his uninterested, emotionless face and wasn’t even looking at him. Instead, he was looking at the elder. The second elder let out a hearty laugh and spoke:

"Yes, that is enough."

Wesley immediately withdrew his sword and looked at Eltier, who was still staring at him in surprise. He shook his head and said:

"You should maybe consider rethinking your…"

Wesley wanted to tell him the deficiency in his style, but stopped halfway, realizing that he didn’t care. He laughed inwardly and walked back to his position behind the elder’s seat. Eltier, on the other hand, sat there, unable to understand what had just happened. He had been sure that Wesley was a simple failure, yet here he was, toying with him like he was an infant. How could he have failed if Wesley was this skilled?

The second elder immediately spoke to Eltier and the other students:

"Don't be too discouraged. These two are a year older than you, so it's only natural they have more experience. Young Eltier, fencing is generally too weak a style when you're younger. Your grandfather’s fencing was as profound and deep as the sea, but yours is simply too superficial. You’ll need to train harder. That also applies to the rest of you."

"Now, there are a few things you need to know about this class…"

The second elder then proceeded to tell the students about always carrying their swords and attending class every day. He also explained the different ways the class would be conducted and what they should expect. Before long, the class period was over, and the students were dismissed.

- - - - - - - - - -

The entire classroom was soon emptied of students leaving on Wesley, Kellan and the second elder behind. The time has finally come for the elder's so called special lessons. As soon as everyone was gone, the elder waved his hand and two golden colored armors appeared out of thin air. One of the armors was made completely of Golden Springs, while the other was far thicker and heavier than the other and was like a solid block with iron joints.

"Wesley, Kellan, put on those armors. Then immediately start sparring."

Wesley and Kellan looked at each and nodded. Then they immediately put on their respective armors. These armors, although similar to the ones they were assigned were both heavier and harder to move in. In fact, it is safe to say that Kellan's is three times heavier, as for Wesley's armor, it was simply incomparable to his old one; the joints were harder, and there were more springs causing even the smallest of movement to be a strain.

Wesley and Kellan immediately started sparing, only they moved so slow that one might suspect that they were doing a dance rather than a spar, however, both Wesley and Kellan were giving their very most.

"Wesley, don't evade him. Face his sword head on."

The second elder would shout instructions at the two of them ever so often, as the two continued sparring. The elder wouldn’t let Wesley use his superior speed to run away, he also prevented Kellan from turtling up and fighting defensively, causing the two to continuously class. Fortunately, they were so encumbered by their armors that their clashes held very little power.

Their spar went on for an entire hour, at which point, bth Wesley and Kellan were exhausted beyond words and were sitting down lifelessly on the floor. The second elder simply sat on his seat looking at the two sitting on the ground, and after letting them catch their breath, he immediately walked towards them:

"That's enough lazing around. Sit cross legged."

Wesley and Kellan had very little energy or willpower left, but they still listened and sat cross-legged. The elder then proceeded to sit cross-legged in front of them.

"I will teach you special breathing exercises. These exercises are similar to a mage's refining, only it is focused on strengthening our bodies and recovering from fatigue. Now relax your bodies and take deep breaths."

Wesley and Kellan both did as they were instructed. As Wesley did so, he started feeling his body be flushed by a cold feeling. Wesley instantly felt that this cold air poured into his mana pool giving him a deep feeling of comfort.

"Now, follow the cold air and try feeling your core, or mana pool as mages call It. It is the place where the cold air revolves around before you breathe out."

"Now, rather than breathing out, slowly try moving that air from your core and through your channels. It should be a little hard to effectively move the air but you can do it if you focus."

Wesley immediately moved the cold air to his channels. Wesley was familiar with his channels already since he's a mage, but he has never tried moving air through them, only mana. To be honest, he was a little skeptical that this would be useful, since when the air was sent through his channels, it would be sent to the different parts of his body, which is just like breathing, only more roundabout.

As soon as the air entered his channels, they were sent to every part of his body, the cold feeling of the air flushed through his entire body and continued spreading. Wesley immediately felt his body gulping up the air as if it were medicine.

Wesley instantly understood. Because the air was passed through his mana pool and circulated there, it mixed with some mana, and when that air was sent to the cells of his body. Naturally, the air was used by the cell as food, but the mana that was mixed in gave the cell further nourishment, increasing its recovery speed.

Normally, mana is used externally to stimulate the elements in the atmosphere, furthermore, mana is a neutral existence, without form, or nature, making it impossible for the cells to absorb it, but clearly, this was easily bypassed when air that was going to be used by the cells has some mixed in it.

"Good. Now, breath in, circulate, channel, then breath out. Keep doing this for another half hour."

After half an hour, Wesley and Kellan were still doing their breathing exercises while the elder quietly sat cross-legged in front of them.

"That's enough. Start sparring again."

Wesley and Kellan opened their eyes and immediately got to their feet, then they started exchanging blows again. Although their blows were still slow and looked strained, they both felt that it wasn’t as hard on their bodies as the first time.

They continued sparring for another hour. After the hour was up, the elder once more walked up to them and told them to do the breathing exercises, which they immediately did. After they got rid of most of their bodies' fatigue, the second elder spoke once again:

"That will be it for today. Both of you head back home and get some rest, your lessons will only get harder."

"Yes Elder." They both replied.

"Good good. Now get going."

Wesley and Kellan immediately bowed respectfully and left the classroom. As they walked towards the exit of the academy, Wesley couldn’t help but feel astonished at how marvelous the breathing technique was, although his muscles were somewhat sore, he felt like it was still manageable.

"Wesley, how are you feeling?"

Wesley who was deep in thought was pulled back by Kellan's words, he immediately turned his head and spoke while smiling:

"Not too bad actually. I never knew such a technique existed."

Kellan was surprised at Wesley words, and spoke with a voice full of question and curiosity:

"Are you saying that you’ve never done breathing exercises before?

"Nope, Never. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was taught breathing exercises when I first started training five years ago. You're sword is so strong, i though you were the same."

"haha, Kellan. Maybe that's because you're just extraordinary."

"haha."

Although Wesley joked about how extraordinary Kellan was, he knew that this Kellan's background is deep and his skill is as deep. Wesley really admired this Kellan, who even while being so talented, never looked down on anyone.