Huff... Huff...
Kato is currently attacking me with a wooden sword and i'm trying to block.
Fighting was really enjoyable… If i didn't get tired, i could do this all day.
I've been entering the Slumberveil Realm for two weeks now, and after learning the vertical slash, i've learned the horizontal slash and the thrust/stab. For the last 3–4 days, i've been learning how to block.
While Tung Tung Sahur was attacking me, i was practicing my blocks. As i adapted, he gradually increased the speed, power, and technique of his strikes. After my mastery hit 20%, like with all other skills, my progress began to slow down.
Tung Tung Sahur said a sword technique should be simple, unflashy, but effective. My technique would be built on these moves.
Thanks to Kato's training, my flexibility and endurance saw a huge leap in these two weeks. As a child, shaping my body was easy, so i won't even mention how much more flexible i've become…
I also practice the things i've learned in the Slumberveil Realm with Kato for 1–2 hours each day. My body is supported by the black tendrils, but i was still only 6 years old.
My daily routine was as follows: Wake up in the morning, eat, go on a run with Kato until i was exhausted, stretch, return home and sleep again. After waking up, eat once more, then have an hour of sword training with Kato, eat again, and go back to sleep.
I spent more than half of the day sleeping. I was able to train for about 5–6 hours in the Slumberveil Realm.
Two days ago, I told Kato I wanted to learn how to block, and he started throwing extremely slow and weak random slashes at me… He wasn't taking me seriously at all and was afraid I might get hurt. But today, I had something different in mind.
"Uncle, let's spar!" I said firmly, puffing up my chubby cheeks.
Kato smiled and nodded his head.
I dashed toward Kato and delivered a horizontal slash with 80% of my strength as Tung Tung Sahur's said. Kato blocked it but once he felt the force behind my strike, his eyes widened in shock. My blade bounced off his guard, and using the remaining momentum and power i had saved, i pulled my sword and then a powerful thrust/stab.
Kato redirected my attack with his sword, but since i hadn't used my full strength, i only staggered forward slightly before regaining my balance.
i'm starting to understand Tung Tung Sahur better now… if i had used all my strength, that one parry would've thrown me off balance and slammed me into the ground.
Seeing me off balance, Kato went for a vertical slash. The attack looked too strong, so i didn't even consider a hard/direct block. i shifted slightly to the right and held my blade at a 60° angle to deflect Kato's sword to the left.
Tung Tung Sahur said, the closer your blade is to 0°, the more impact it absorbs. As it gets closer to 90°, your chance of blocking properly drops. For a vertical slash, a nearly vertical blade can barely block at all, but when you block an attack, the impact of the slash is reduced, and your chances of deflecting your opponent's strike to create an opening for a counterattack increase...
When Kato's blade touched mine, i swept my sword to the left, executing a perfect deflection, then followed up with another thrust/stab toward his stomach.
At this point, Kato was frozen in shock. Hope's redirection was nearly flawless.
Kato's hand suddenly moved and grabbed my wooden sword, stopping it in place.
"You win."
Kato had never been serious from the start. Not only was he using just a tiny fraction of his strength, but his attack had also been incredibly slow and he had frozen in shock twice because of what Hope did.
The sparring match ended with my three attacks and only one from Kato.
i gave him a dissatisfied look, but i was too tired and hungry from the training, so we called it a day. At the time, i had no idea what was going through Kato's mind.
i found my dad at the training grounds, and the three of us started grilling some meat together. As we ate, Kato began telling him what had happened earlier that day. My dad glanced at me with a huge chunk of danger beast meat hanging from his mouth, as if wondering whether i was even human, then turned back to Kato.
"You should've seen that thrust! Are u teaching him how to use a spear? if it had hit me..." Kato laughed, clearly exaggerating.
"Jokes aside, your son has incredible potential. i've trained most of the kids in the village, so i know he already has the physical strength of a 12-13 years old, this is insane... And i don't even need to talk about his weapon mastery..."
Scratching his head, Daigo added, "To be honest, i probably couldn't even pull off that deflection, hehehehe."
Then my dad turned to me."All you do is sleep, eat, and train. You still don't have any friends, son?"
With a sad look, i replied "As u know, other kids are scared of me dad... i'm usually alone but spending time with dad and uncle makes me happy!"
"Are you alone?" my dad said with furrowing his brows.
Daigo started patting my back to comfort me...
"Then how about having a sibling? No little brother is ever afraid of his big brother! And he'd keep you company too! Yes, hmm hmm, YES! From now on, I'll make sure you're never alone, son..."