“Come,” Fabian said in his muffled voice. Without any flashy tricks, he stepped forward directly. His heavy sword whistled through the air as he unleashed a powerful diagonal slash straight at Matthew's head!
Matthew was fully focused, his eyes locked onto Fabian's oncoming heavy sword.
Just as the blade was about to reach him, his feet moved swiftly as he slid half a step backward and to the side. At the same time, he tilted his upper body, allowing the powerful diagonal slash to graze past his shoulder. The resulting wind pressure sent the stray hairs on his forehead flying.
“Holy crap! That was close!” he thought in shock. “He's trying to kill me!”
However, Matthew did not know that in Stone Mill Village, and indeed in many frontier villages facing the pressure of survival, this kind of sparring was actually quite common.
For one, although switching to unsharpened wooden swords or training equipment was safe, it could easily lead to misjudgments regarding the weight and feel of real weapons, as well as the sense of boundaries during life-and-death combat.
Secondly, Fabian's seemingly reckless, full-strength strike actually stemmed from his absolute trust in Instructor Calm. He knew the instructor's keen eye; since Calm had arranged for him to spar with Matthew, he must have judged that Matthew was capable of handling it.
In the blink of an eye, Matthew suppressed his initial shock.
Seizing the opening left by Fabian's missed strike and slightly forward-leaning center of gravity, the Worn Standard One-Handed Sword in his hand thrust out like a venomous snake baring its fangs, darting toward the gap under Fabian's ribs exposed by his swing.
This thrust was fast, precise, and fierce, his movements so fluid they seemed to have been practiced thousands of times. This was the near-instinctive reaction of his 【Basic Swordsmanship】 after reaching the “Basic” level.
Fabian clearly had not expected Matthew's reaction and counterattack to be so swift and coherent. In his haste, he could only twist his body and pull his sword back, barely managing to block with the wide, thick blade.
“Clang!”
With a crisp metallic screech, Matthew felt a significant recoil travel up from the tip of his sword. However, he used the momentum to retract his weapon, stepping back lightly by half a step to open up the distance again, his breathing remaining steady.
In the battle that followed, Matthew thoroughly implemented the strategy of using skill to overcome brute force. However, due to the gap in strength, he was still struggling to parry.
The struggle lasted for over fifteen minutes, leaving both of them breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. After one final clash, their swords struck and they both retreated, falling into a brief standoff.
“Stop,” Instructor Calm's hoarse voice rang out.
The two lowered their swords.
Fabian wiped away his sweat, a look of approval now showing in his eyes as he looked at Matthew.
Matthew was also panting, his chest heaving violently. However, a bright, excited light shone in his eyes, his gaze seeming to pierce through the air in front of him to focus on the virtual panel that only he could see.
【Basic Swordsmanship proficiency +1!】
【Basic Swordsmanship proficiency +1!】
【Basic Swordsmanship proficiency +1!】
【Basic Swordsmanship: Basic (8/200)】
...
The efficiency of the proficiency increase brought by just fifteen minutes of actual combat far surpassed a whole night of practicing alone!
The progress bar of 【Basic Swordsmanship】 on the panel was advancing at an unprecedented speed.
Actual combat is indeed the fastest whetstone, Matthew realized.
After all, actual combat was also a part of training, so it was not hard to understand why progress was so rapid.
Instructor Calm's voice pulled him back to reality from his inner excitement.
“Fabian,” Calm first looked at the stocky man, his eyes sweeping over his heaving chest. “Your strength is sufficient, but you lack variation.”
Fabian scratched his head, replying with a slightly sheepish, “Yes.”
Then, Calm turned to Matthew, his gaze lingering on him for a moment. “Do not forget what I told you.”
Matthew nodded.
“Continue sparring like this in the future.” Having said that, Calm left the square.
The able-bodied men and youths watching nearby began to whisper among themselves, their conversation naturally revolving around the spar that had just taken place.
“Is... is he really in the same batch as us?” A youth holding a spear stared wide-eyed at Matthew's slightly panting but upright figure, his tone filled with disbelief. “How long has he even been training?”
“I remember when he first came, he was even thinner than me...”
“And now he can actually fight Big Brother Fabian to this extent?”
“That's my brother! Jealous much?”
Compared to the surprise of the youths, the discussions among the able-bodied men carried a bit more maturity and sentimentality.
“Tsk, the younger generation is truly formidable. That kid Fabian has strength that ranks among the top in our group, yet he couldn't gain any advantage.”
“This must be what talent is. Our Stone Mill Village might really produce a great figure.”
“Yeah, with him around, we'll have a bit more confidence when dealing with those green-skinned runts in the future.”
Amidst the chatter, surprise, praise, envy, and even a faint trace of awe were interwoven.
Matthew calmed his breathing and pulled some dried meat from his pouch to chew on. The coarse but chewy dried meat quickly replenished his depleted physical strength.
He only wanted to recover his strength as quickly as possible and spar with Fabian again.
The proficiency growth from actual combat is too fast... At this rate, combined with daily practice and the slight bonus from the 【Worn Standard One-Handed Sword】, my 【Basic Swordsmanship】 will definitely break through to the 'Practiced' level within two months!
He made a quick estimation in his mind.
However, he could also clearly perceive that his "talent" was gradually weakening.
To be more precise, the quality of the weapon he currently possessed was too low, and the boost it could provide seemed to be approaching its limit.
After all, he did not have any real "talent."
What he had was just a cheat.
The 'faint' bonus of the White rank was highly effective when Matthew's skill level was low. But now that his 【Basic Swordsmanship】 had reached the 'Basic' level, further improvement required deeper comprehension and technique. This 'faint' bonus would likely become increasingly inadequate.
He quickly set two goals for himself:
First, to find and obtain a higher-tier weapon of White quality.
Second, while studying 【Basic Swordsmanship】, to master a new skill as quickly as possible.
After all, Matthew had seen the panel of the Blue weapon, and its equipment requirements were as high as an astonishing twenty points!
Meanwhile, he was currently only slightly over four points. To prevent a situation where he had a weapon but did not meet the equipment requirements, Matthew had to learn another skill to raise his attributes.
As for the direction of the new skill... Matthew pondered. Archery or throwing would be quite good. Becoming a warrior proficient in multiple weapons would definitely increase my survivability by a lot.
After all, drawing a bow and shooting arrows required a significant amount of Constitution and Strength, which would surely bring a substantial boost to both attributes.
With his thoughts reaching this point, he devoured the rest of the dried meat in a few bites. Feeling his physical strength gradually returning, his gaze shifted once more to Fabian, who was resting.
“Big Brother Fabian,” Matthew stood up and stretched his wrists. “Are you rested? Shall we go again?”
Fabian looked up. Seeing the undisguised fighting spirit and desire in Matthew's eyes, he grinned and also stood up. “Come on, kid.”
Rate on N.U.
