I'm Getting a Lot of Exercise Today

The gladiator training grounds in the arena.

Under Doban's guidance, swordsmanship lessons began. I would take a stance, and Doban would watch and correct me.

Doban watched while carving a rotten apple with a dagger. In front of him, I gripped a wooden sword and took my stance.

“What do you think?”

“Terrible. Somehow you didn't die and even managed to take down a minotaur.”

“I'm only standing here holding a sword.”

“That simple stance is the beginning and end of swordsmanship. The moment you call it 'only,' you're already wrong.”

Doban came hobbling over with his cane in hand. He tapped my ankles, adjusted the spacing of my legs, and changed the height of my arms.

“Straighten your back. Lower your center of gravity too. Don't grip the sword too hard. Whatever you're doing, relax. If you use too much force, your body stiffens up.”

“Yes.”

It wasn't hard to understand.

When I used too much force swinging a pickaxe, the backlash only made my arms hurt.

I took a deep breath and consciously relaxed my body.

As soon as I settled into the stance, Doban pressed hard on my shoulder with his hand. I tried to hold out, but his strength forced me back.

“I knew it. You can't even stand properly. Your soles aren't on the ground.”

“I am standing on them.”

“You're just placing them there. That's not standing. Grip the floor with your toes, like an eagle snatching its prey.”

Doban poked at my shoes with his cane as he spoke. I did as he told me.

Doban pushed my shoulder again. This time I didn't budge as easily as before, because my toes had dug in and clung to the ground.

“Remember this. If your legs are pillars, your feet are roots. If the roots shake, you don't even need to cut the tree down. It'll fall on its own.”

“I'll remember that.”

Doban walked around me once, studying my stance.

“Looks like your stance is decent enough...”

Then he stood directly in front of me.

“What are you looking at right now?”

“Your eyes.”

“Why are you looking there?”

“Well, to look at my opponent?”

Doban spat out the piece of apple he had been chewing.

“Looking at your opponent's eyes in a fight is basically advertising, 'Please read my thoughts.' Eyes are the windows to the soul. Fear, panic, intent to attack... it all shows in the pupils.”

“Can't I see my opponent's intentions too?”

That's how it worked in the fiction I'd seen.

You could read their intentions just by looking at their eyes, so even if a blade came flying at your eyes, you still weren't supposed to look away.

But apparently not. Doban sighed and stared straight at me.

His pupils rolled to the side, and my gaze followed in the same direction.

At that moment.

-Thwack!

“Ugh!”

Doban's cane smacked my side. I clutched my ribs and toppled over.

That's bullshit.

It hurts like hell.

It hit bone.

“Why did you hit me all of a sudden?!”

“That's why you can't watch the eyes. If you follow their gaze, you can't dodge attacks coming from your blind spot.”

“You could've just said that...!”

“Gladiator bastards have rocks for brains. It's a lot faster to learn by getting hit.”

Of course, there's the saying that seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times, but still!

Thanks to that, I did understand it in one shot, though!

Still, pain is pain.

I had barely recovered, and I couldn't afford to be laid up on the very first day of training.

I bit back the pain and stood up.

“And listen, there are some crazy bastards in this world who fight with their eyes closed. What would you do if you tried to fight by staring into their eyes?”

Fair enough. In web novels and the like, blind swordsmen show up all the time.

“Then where am I supposed to look?”

“The Adam's apple. There may be guys who fight without eyes, but there aren't any who fight without a neck.”

“What about a dullahan?”

“Then that's unfortunate for them.”

It sounded irresponsible, but it wasn't wrong. In the first place, even if you looked at the eyes, dullahans don't even have any.

As long as I never met a dullahan, I'd be fine.

“Look somewhere between your opponent's Adam's apple and collarbones. Keep your focus blurry.”

“Mm, like this?”

“I'm not telling you to stare blankly. I'm telling you to observe from a detached perspective.”

“Observe...?”

I tilted my head, still not understanding.

“If you keep your eyes on the neck, you'll catch the shoulders twitching from the corner of your eye, the arms coming out, the legs moving—all of it comes together like a painting.”

“Hmm...”

“Don't look at one tree—look at the forest. Trap the whole landscape of your opponent within your field of vision.”

“I'll try it.”

I deliberately lowered my gaze and looked at Doban's neck.

I relaxed my eyes and widened my field of view. Then, strangely enough, Doban's wrinkled hand and his empty right leg came faintly into the edge of my vision.

Then when I tensed my eyes again, my field of view narrowed and I could only see his neck.

“Ooh. I think I get the feeling.”

“You're not a complete blockhead after all. Good. Stare at this log in that stance for one hour. I'm going to eat and come back.”

“Yes?”

“If I come back and you're even a little out of shape, you'll start over from the beginning, so don't think about pulling any nonsense.”

With that, Doban really did disappear. I was left alone in the training grounds.

“You're kidding, right?”

Even in school, if you sit through fifty minutes of class, you get a ten-minute break. And he wants me to stand motionless for an hour?

I thought about sneaking a move, but what if he was watching from somewhere? He looked ready to pop out at any second.

In the end, I stood there without moving an inch for a full hour.

======

Notification: Proficiency in 【Lowest-Grade Swordsmanship】 acquired.

======

At long last, I was able to unlock the combat proficiency I had so desperately wanted.

Just by taking the proper stance, the proficiency had unlocked. As expected, my theory wasn't wrong.

By the way, that bastard Doban still hadn't come back even after an hour.

***

No matter how long I waited, Doban never came, so I had no choice but to head back alone.

'He won't complain that I went off on my own without saying anything, right?'

Still, I'd waited long enough by my standards. If I'd waited two hours, I'd have done enough.

“Ugh...”

Every muscle in my body screamed.

I never knew just standing still could be this painful. My legs were trembling.

Because I'd kept my toes curled to hold the stance, they still wouldn't straighten even now that training was over.

'Still, I got a lot of exercise.'

I got stressed out a lot today.

I'll be thinking about it a lot before bed.

The harder it is, the more certain the payoff, right? I unlocked swordsmanship proficiency in just one day.

'Could that old man actually be a retired sword saint?'

One-eyed, one-legged, cane-wielding drunkard.

Doesn't he look like the kind of hidden master who shows up in martial arts fiction?

I really hope so.

So I can wring him dry.

'I'm hungry.'

Training was over, so I should hurry and eat the special meal Lady Renoa had bestowed on me. Just imagining it made my mouth water.

I headed for the dining hall with heavy steps.

“Hey, noble young master.”

Someone blocked my path. Familiar faces came into view.

Alex, the arena's old hand and star gladiator, along with the lackeys trailing behind him.

“'Young master,' huh. You've got the wrong person.”

“Wrong? Your face is dripping with oil. Looks like life has been treating you well lately.”

“It's sweat.”

“Still as shameless as ever.”

Alex grinned and stepped closer. With a guy as huge as a mountain closing in, the pressure was no joke.

But I couldn't back down. In this line of work, the moment you lose your nerve, you get eaten alive.

“Do you need something? I have to go eat.”

“Eat? Ah, that special meal the young lady gave you?”

Alex's eyebrow twitched.

“You slave bastard. Living the high life without knowing your place makes you think the world is yours, huh? Living it up, are we? Huh?”

The jealousy was dripping off his sneering tone. Still, I could see why he'd be sore about it.

He'd spent years grinding his way here, and some nobody who'd just rolled in got noble sponsorship overnight.

“I was just lucky.”

“Luck? Of course it was luck. Did you think it was your skill? That lady probably just felt some kinship because she's the same kind of brat as you.”

“Watch your mouth. What if someone hears you?”

“Who else is here besides us? What, you gonna go running off like a little dog to tattle? Go ahead then, if you think you can.”

Alex put his hand on my shoulder. His heavy grip dug in.

“You must still be too much of a kid to know, but this arena has a rule. Whenever something good comes up, the seniors get first dibs.”

So that's what this was about. In the end, he was picking a fight because he was jealous of the support I got from Renoa.

Just like a hyena looking for something to sink its teeth into. Not that it was anything new.

“Then take it.”

“What?”

“You be the one to get sponsored. I don't need it.”

To other people, it would probably look great. After all, it was sponsorship from a duke's daughter.

But that's only because they don't know the first thing about her.

If you knew her true nature, you'd be bowing and thanking me for taking it all on.

“Ha, this impudent bastard.”

But Alex didn't thank me; he got angry instead. The smile he'd forced onto his face vanished, and veins stood out on his forehead.

Unable to hold back his temper, he shoved my shoulder roughly. He must have expected me to go sprawling.

“...Huh?”

But I didn't budge. Normally, the difference in our builds would've sent me flying like a paper doll.

I was surprised, and so was Alex, who had shoved me.

“What the hell?”

I'd just been practicing bracing myself. My curled toes still hadn't straightened out.

Even if I wanted to straighten them, I couldn't.

Thanks to that, both feet were fixed firmly to the ground, as if they'd taken root.

Ah, I see.

So this is what it feels like.

The corners of my mouth rose.

“Tekkai.”

“You shameless bastard!”

But then Alex put his weight behind a kick to my stomach, and I had no choice but to topple backward.

“Stomp him!”

The gladiators rushed up to where I had fallen and started kicking me with gusto.

“What the hell, he's nothing special? How did a guy like this beat the minotaur?”

“He must've pulled some trick. Otherwise it doesn't make sense, does it?”

“Fuck, that black bastard gets sponsorship over me? No way. You need a beating.”

I did beat the minotaur, but that was mostly thanks to my skill.

The buff [Spartacus], which massively boosts physical abilities during combat in the arena. It doesn't work outside the arena.

That meant I was just an utterly ordinary 14-year-old right now. At least [Unyielding] meant I could endure getting beaten as much as possible.

“I won't back down.”

I curled myself up as much as possible, hunching like a shrimp to protect myself.

After kicking me for a good while, they grew bored when I didn't give them the reaction they wanted and stopped beating me.

If anything, they let out breaths like they were the tired ones.

“Huff, huff. Damn bastard. He won't even groan once.”

“Ahh...”

“This bastard still hasn't come to his senses!”

I got hit a few more times.

“Looks like you won't be having dinner. Don't worry, I'll enjoy your meal for you.”

Alex spat to the side and left. I only got up after they had completely disappeared.

I stretched all over.

Every inch of my body was stiff and sore.

“Those assholes had the nerve to hit me?”

Sorry, but I'm not the same guy I used to be.

I ran straight to Bardic's office.

“Sniff, sniff, Master!”

“Rion? Why are you here...?”

“The gladiators just kicked me, hit me, and even stole my food.”

“So what am I supposed to do about it......”

“I'm hurt, so I don't think I'll be able to fight properly in the next match. Then the young lady will be terribly disappointed. What if she cancels my sponsorship?”

“What?! Absolutely not, absolutely not! Those bastards dared to lay a hand on my precious slave!”

Bardic, bulky as he was, shot out with an agility I'd never seen before.

I'm Rion, the alpha male.

I won't let myself be bullied.

If you've taken a hit, you ought to pay it back in kind.

This is revenge for my missing special meal.