am-books Chapter 102: Conclusion of the Tests
Chapter 102: Conclusion of the Tests
Saying that, Master Nassain indeed sped up the ratio of his attacks and became more ferocious in attacking Arcturus. Seeing that the young Highborne Asuryani was indeed a sword prodigy, as was told in the papers that were sent to the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy, Masster Nassain started taking the test more seriously.
Arcturus realized that Master Nassain was a speed-oriented sword fighter, which was one of the most common categories of the swordsmen, as most of the swordsmen were focusing on speed first and foremost.
In most cases, because depending on ht shape of the sword, it could be most effective to focus on the speed. This is because Master Nassain was using two short tanto-shaped swords and had a very huge advance when it came to the high-speed attacks that were coming one after another.
Arcturus quickly switched to the Sardau Star Sword Style, which was also centered around the speed, and started evening the field with the Master Nassain, though it was rather hard because Arcturus's mastery over the Sardau Star Sword Style was still at the Level 3 Apprentice even though it was raising a bit during the fight.
He could sense that using the Sardau Star Sword Style in real combat like this was indeed helping him a lot because there was nothing better to polish his combat style than using the combat skill in real combat.
[Proficiency with the Skill Sardau Star Sword has been increased by 15%.]
[Proficiency with the Skill Sardau Star Sword has been increased by 12%.]
[Proficiency with the Skill Sardau Star Sword has been increased by 14%.]
Arcturus ignored the notifications from the system as he searched for the weak points in Master Nassain's combat stance, but unfortunately and expectedly, he didn't find a single one, as the man for sure polished his combat skills to near perfection.
It was to be expected; if not, then he wouldn't be teaching Swordsmanship at the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy. Yet, Arcturus managed to find a few points in the opponent's stance that were easier to exploit than the rest, and in a fight like this, he took every chance to obtain the upper hand above his opponent.
With a kick on the ground, Arcturus disappeared from his previous spot and slashed with the training sword at Master Nassain, who blocked the strike of his sword with the short sword in his left hand while at the same time used his right hand to counterattack as he dodged sword by inch.
The swordsmanship of Master Nassain was indeed superb, and Arcturus had rather problems keeping up with him, but fortunately enough, the Skill Basic Swordsmanship at Level 10 allowed him to keep up with Master Nassain for some time.
Because Basic Swordsmanship was actually an overpowered skill, not many people have such a high degree of Basic Mastery over any weapon. It allowed Arcturus to keep up with his opponent for a long time as he received more and more notifications from the system about the growth in the Sardau Sword Style.
[Proficiency with the Skill Sardau Star Sword has been increased by 8%.]
[Proficiency with the Skill Sardau Star Sword has been increased by 9%.]
[Proficiency with the Skill Sardau Star Sword has been increased by 11%.]
[Proficiency with the Skill Sardau Star Sword has been increased by 6%.]
[Proficiency with the Skill Sardau Star Sword has been increased by 4%.]
[Proficiency with the Skill Sardau Star Sword has reached Level 5 Apprentice - 0%.]
Coupled with the growth in the Sardau Star Sword Style, he was keeping with the Master Nassain rather well, though that was just because he, the opponent himself, was holding back a lot.
Arcturus knew that if the Master Nassain wasn't holding back his skills, then he would be defeated rather fast, but even then, he was able to figure out the quality grounds with someone who had more than two centuries or so of combat experience.
He was also using bits of the Slayer Force on the controlled end because he didn't really want to go all out, and using the Slayer Force was rather dangerous.
This was also reason, why nobody aside from the Grandmaster Arsit Byrmellir was able to learn the Godslayer Sword Style and execute it properly. Many people tried to learn it, but all failed... some failed to comprehend even the basics of the Godslayer Sword Style, while some fell to the corruption of the Slayer Force and were needed to be put down.
It was rather unfortunate considering the power of the Godslayer Sword Style and the Slayer Force, but there was no free lunch in this world, as they say.
Everything requires some price, and the bigger the power, the greater the price for the said power is.
"With the last test concluded, you should go and rest. Somebody will call you to my office in one hour."
Headmaster Kane stated that as Arcturus put away his training sword and went quietly to his room, he gave the man a nod of acknowledgment because he was rather tired from the spar against Master Nassain.
As Headmaster Kane observed the departing back of the future student of the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy, he was approached by Master Nassain, who breathed a sigh of relief after the spar had ended.
"That last attack was dangerous... who would have thought that someone so young would be able to sue the legendary Slayer Force of Grandmaster Byrmellir without any side effects... and I don't even want to see what he could achieve when he fights in his full force."
Nathril El-Amini Kane couldn't help but agree with Master Nassain's statement because it was indeed true.
Rather disturbing truth at the same time.
"He was accepted as a disciple by Arsit for a reason, and it seems that the reason wasn't without basis... and it seems that Arsit has entered the recuperation phase and, in a few years, would be back to his full power. And with the current young generation in the Special Course Class, the Empire would have a rather glorious future in front of it."
Headmaster Kane stated that the current young generation of the Eternal Empire of the Asruya was indeed really promising. The current Special Course Class that was opened by the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy was indeed filled with the most peculiar cases, but each one of them had tremendous potential to become Beyonder.
One could even argue that the current members of the Special Course Class were the most talented ones that the Academy ever recruited. Some of the higher-ups within the Imperial Administratum and Military already termed it as the "Golden Generation", and it seemed that it won't be that far away from the truth.
"Yes... the people enrolled in the Special Course Class right now all have the potential to become Beyonders and even go beyond that of the current generation of the Beoynders. With that, the Empire would greatly rise in power and influence within the Desolate Cosmic Territory."
***
When Arcturus returned back to the quarters that were assigned to him, he went to take a shower in the high-tech bathroom that was attached to his room. Taking a shower in the high-tech shower wasn't really for him, because it was less show and more of some high-tech cocktail of cleaning chemicals.
Not really for him, as he decided that it was better to stick to the more classical concept of the showers that weren't really that much used these days in the advanced civilizations, aside from the rich.
When he was finished with the shower, he laid down on the bed for a time as he attempted to get some rest, at least a bit of the rest, before he was called by Headmaster Kane, as he was really tired from the physical spar again the Master Nassain.
Unfortunately for him, it wasn't really that long until Headmaster Kane called him to his office. As he was called, he managed to rest only for half an hour, which wasn't really a lot, because the last days spent at the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy were taxing and tiring.
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Even though it didn't really seem like it at first glance, every single Combat Test that was part of the Academy Admission Combat Test pushed him to the limits of the very exact ability that was being tested during that day.
Especially in the last spar, the Swordsmanship Test, he was most tired from it because it was the longest time he fought against someone this intensively using just the Way of the Sword and nothing else.
Of course, if he didn't count the training with the Grandmaster Byrmellir, but that one was done under rather different conditions.