Chapter 60
60. Overprotection
A week had passed since then.
Training swordsmanship with Lizmel was producing explosive results day by day.
My swordsmanship skill had reached intermediate rank, and the levels of my other weapon skills besides swords had also risen a great deal.
That was because the 'knack for using a sword' Lizmel taught me could also be applied to other bladed weapons to some extent.
And swordsmanship doesn't mean using only swords. I also learned how to draw out muscle coordination and how to control my breathing.
Naturally, this also led to my close-quarters combat skill growing, and my shield skill and throwing skill were slowly growing along with it.
-Slash!
A light swing of the training sword took down the shadow doll in a single blow. It was a stronger doll than before, but every one of them went down in one hit without exception.
The days when the training sword's edge got damaged or broken are old news now, and the rate at which its durability wore down had slowed a lot too.
By rebuilding the way I used my body overall, stat gains through bodyweight exercise had also become a little more efficient than before.
My Strength stat barely rises anymore, but my Agility stat has gone up to a fairly meaningful degree.
While helping the scout unit and using skills, the one-handed sword proficiency attached to Mastery had also risen quite a bit.
It was an incredible growth spurt, like the explosive leveling spree from the early days on Floor 1. I was very satisfied.
"Now your swordsmanship seems to have fully sunk in; you'd hold your own even against our unit members."
Lizmel was genuinely happy about my growth, as if it were her own. The prickly attitude she had when we first met was already completely gone.
"D-don't get too full of yourself, okay? I just mean you're decent for a human and all....!"
She still does that sometimes, as if she doesn't want me to forget her little persona, but now it's just cute.
"Oh, really."
I chuckled and put the training sword away. Lizmel had said that if I passed today's test, I'd move on to the advanced stage.
And the shadow doll I had just knocked down a moment ago was the last one in that test. In other words, from here on out, I was moving on to the advanced stage.
But I had no idea what I was actually supposed to learn in the advanced stage.
Because I'd already learned all of the Dark Elf-style swordsmanship, including the applied techniques, so I didn't think there was anything left to learn.
"Because what you've learned isn't everything. There are still a few moves left."
"What moves?"
"They're techniques you can't use in your current state. First, you need to open your eyes."
Saying that, Lizmel summoned the shadow dolls again. The dolls surrounded Lizmel and aimed their weapons at her.
"For now, just watch carefully."
Lizmel drew her training sword, saying she'd show me a demonstration, and then closed her eyes.
-Whoosh!
The dolls' weapons swung toward Lizmel, who had her eyes closed.
Even though she couldn't possibly see where they were coming from, she dodged them lightly. I thought maybe she had one eye half-open, but she dodged the attacks from behind just the same.
Of course, it's a technique I can imitate to some extent. I've got the [Intuition] skill, after all.
But even so, I can't do it to that extent.
My Intuition only goes so far as sensing attacks from blind spots and picking up on attacks before they reach me from a distance.
But Lizmel was dodging attacks flying at her from every direction at once, by the narrowest margin.
And on top of that, she was counterattacking too.
-Slash!
A doll that couldn't be taken down unless the sword followed the exact line was cut down in a single stroke.
That level of detailed evasion is something I could do if my Intuition skill grew further. But the latter isn't possible regardless of level.
Intuition is a skill for sensing danger, not one that tells you where the enemy is or how to attack so you can hit them.
"Ha, that's incredible."
"So that means I'll be learning that from here on out?"
**
After demonstrating by closing her eyes and toppling the dolls, Lizmel asked me,
"You're just looking at your opponent with your eyes, aren't you?"
Normally, I'd have said, 'Then what am I supposed to see with, if not my eyes?' But the demonstration Lizmel showed shut me up.
"But the senses we use to perceive the world aren't just sight, are they? You can perceive the world with your ears or your hands too."
I immediately understood what she meant. It's the kind of thing that shows up all the time in fiction, isn't it?
Like figuring out your surroundings through sound, or through the flow of air. That sort of thing.
But was that really possible? Well, with something like the Tower of Trials existing, what wouldn't be possible?
"I'm glad you're quick on the uptake, but that's not all. You weave all your senses together into one."
What Lizmel was talking about wasn't dodging by roughly estimating with sound, or by roughly estimating with the tactile feel of wind against your skin.
It was about weaving all of that together and completely erasing the blind spots around yourself—building a biological radar.
"Can you really do that?"
"Well, it'd be hard for a greenhorn, I guess."
Lizmel curled the corner of her mouth slightly, needling me. Oh, so that's how you want to play it, huh.
"Oh, fine then. Hurry up and teach me. I'll learn it fast this time too."
Lizmel smiled in satisfaction at my answer and tossed a small crystal from her pocket onto the shadow.
-Rumble!
That was on a completely different scale from the shadow magic she'd been using up to now to summon dolls. Darkness swallowed the area in an instant.
Having my vision cut off so suddenly threw me off. I tried using a skill I'd acquired recently.
[Light Gathering]
A skill that gathers tiny particles of light to create illumination. The one I got after killing the crystal spider.
But even though I clearly used the skill, the light motes had no intention of gathering.
"What, is it broken?"
The MP shown in the status window had gone down, so it wasn't that the cast had failed.
"Could a skill fail while still draining MP?"
After thinking about it for a moment, I quickly found the answer.
Come to think of it, this is a skill that gathers light, not a skill that creates it.
In other words, if there isn't any light around at all, it's useless. Which means I'm in complete darkness.
"Uh, hey, brat. Say something, will you? You were pretty shocked when it suddenly got dark, right? You're not scared, are you?"
I had been silent for only a moment, and she was already saying all kinds of nonsense. Her treatment of me really never changes.
"Who are you calling an idiot? Just explain what this is. I wasn't startled."
"Ah, well, yeah, I guess not. I wasn't particularly worried either."
I could hear her let out a sigh of relief, so yeah, sure, I'll buy that. She's getting weirder and weirder.
She probably cut off my vision so I could sharpen my other senses. The question is how she's going to do that.
"Then, from here on out, do your best."
"What am I supposed to do if you just tell me to do your best and leave me hanging?"
**
I thought she might just leave me like that, but I guess she only meant to give me a moment to adjust.
[Lizmel's Selection Test (Intermediate) begins.]
Along with the system notification, I heard the 'shururuk' sound effect that plays when a shadow doll is summoned.
By the sound of it, there's probably just one. Looks like I'm supposed to fight while blind and learn to use my senses.
Come to think of it, she did say the advanced training could leave me hurt if I kept going. The doll's attack power won't be enough to do me in, though.
-Shing.
The sound of a sword being drawn rang out in the pitch-black darkness. I also raised my training sword and slowly took my stance.
Let's put the other senses aside for now and try to read the situation with my hearing.
There's only one enemy, and Intuition is backing me up, so I can somehow manage. It's not like I've fought one or two of these before.
-Tap-tap-tap.
The shadow doll's footsteps are drawing near.
It's slightly to the right of straight ahead, and the speed is ordinary. I can roughly estimate how long it'll take before the distance closes.
The problem is that I don't know what kind of attack it'll use once it gets close.
Its weapon is a sword, so I can make some guesses, but I'm in a situation where I don't even know whether it's coming from the left or the right.
-Whoosh.
I hear the sound of a sword cutting through the air. At the same time, my Intuition skill reacts. A downward slash aimed at my right shoulder.
-Clang!
I predicted the sword path and slammed my training sword against it. But the feel when the blades met was a little strange.
"Ah, damn. I get it."
"It's a greatsword."
The moment I realized that, the doll twisted the angle of the sword it had been pressing against mine. It was a familiar deflection move, but I don't know the follow-up.
And then the prickling warning on my left cheek. I quickly lowered my stance.
-Whoosh!
The sound of wind being sliced apart, and then the feel of air brushing past. It went right over my head.
If it were the brute-force type like a lizardman, I'd be able to do something about it, but the doll's swordsmanship is at a high level, so it's no easy opponent.
Then let's not even give it a chance to use that swordsmanship. Rather than defending and countering, I'll take the offensive first.
-Tap!
I stepped in, closing the distance, grabbed the blade of my training sword, and took up a half-swording stance.
Because of its nature, greatsword techniques have some ranges they absolutely can't cover.
I predict the doll's posture from the position of the greatsword that skimmed over my head, then force the gap shut and attack.
-Crack!
Because of the accuracy issue, the attack's power was greatly reduced. But that's fine—I can twist the blade and make a wide cut.
But the next moment, something hard slammed into my forehead.
-Smack!
"Ugh."
Did I get hit with the sword hilt? In that position, how did it—no, did I misjudge the stance from the start?
Once again, I heard the sound of a blade slicing through the air. Relying on Intuition, I blocked it as best I could.
But there was no way I could take every follow-up attack in the combo.
-Thwack! Thunk!
In an instant, I ended up taking hits to my neck and shoulder. And then, right after that, the darkness lifted.
"Oh no. Are you okay, brat?"
With a worried expression on her face, Lizmel ran over to me and asked. Of course I'm fine.
At worst I got cut by the blade and bled a little, so why the hell are you stopping?
"Keep going."