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Chapter 425 - A sword, an axe, or a dagger
🕑 Added 2022-03-30 13:00:08 +0000 UTCHera was pacing in the armory once again. She failed her third attempt at the legacy test. Still, it wasn't like she was sad because of it. Her attempts weren't for naught. She managed to figure out how to remove the weapons from the ground and that something else needed to be done. What she was trying to do now was find a way to identify the degree of mastery that each wielder had. If luck was not on her side, and the weapon she picked next was from a very skilled blademaster, Hera might lose her attempt or at least some precious time. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to see if a weapon was wielded by an expert among experts or if it was someone less proficient. Waiting around to have Yarnball as an option also didn't feel right. She might be getting greedy, but Hera wanted to pass the test on her own without relying entirely on her relic. Or, at the very least, try one more time without relying on it. Not wanting to wait too long, Hera stretched her legs and drank some water before reaching out to the dagger and going inside the legacy test once more.
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You have found a legacy.
You are being transported to the location of the legacy trial.
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Find and wield the weapon used by the previous legacy holder.
Time remaining: 00:30:00
If you fail the test, you will receive a time penalty on your next attempt.
If you mention the test details to anyone, you forfeit any remaining attempts to acquire the legacy.
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"Daskka, look for a sword, a handaxe, or maybe a dagger. The Important part is that they have to be in a language that I can understand. And if we can know for sure if they have one of the types of manner that I can use, let me know right away," Hera looked around, seeing the countless weapons on the floor, and just hoped that her luck didn't run out, "Take the left, I'll take the right."
The snake nodded and went flying off, bouncing between several weapons, looking for what her owner had just asked of her. Hera did the same thing. She moved quickly, first looking for weapons that she could use and then checking the inscriptions. Her mind was in a frenzy. For many things, 30 minutes was a long time, but for this, it felt like no time at all. A part of her wanted, more than anything, to figure out a new spell or something that would give her the edge that she needed. The rest of her just wanted to grab every single weapon she saw and pull it out of the ground using all kinds of mana. The end result was something in between both options. Hera was grabbing random weapons that she believed she knew how to use while at the same time looking for the right inscriptions. In the midst of that desperation, she managed to pull a weapon from the ground by sheer luck, thanks to her wind mana reinforcement. It was a large two-handed sword, one too heavy for anyone who wasn't a fighter, or an explorer with high strength, to use.
The weapon in her hand seemed to be carved out from a single massive piece of jade that formed everything from the tip, to the blades, to the guard, to the handle. In many ways, it looked primitive, but the balance was anything but. This sword was heavy, unreasonably so, yet it wasn't unwieldy. As she held the grip, she could feel the proper way to move it. She could feel how the weight was supposed to help you deliver a stronger blow. Most of the weapons in this graveyard felt like masterworks. This, on the other hand, was an actual masterpiece. Not because of the design or because of how it was made, but something in this sword, an enchantment probably, felt like the best work that someone ever did, the kind of work that makes a lifetime of studying and crafting worth it. While Hera was admiring this beautiful weapon, the green light of her wind mana was pulled to the tip of the blade, making the jade shine as it passed by. On the other side of the sword, a green figure started to form, wielding the same weapon that Hera had in her hands.
Just like in her previous attempt, the figure took a stance, one very different from what she saw with the hooked swords. It wasn't a unique position. In fact, it looked very much like the most famous position of Kendo. The figure was simply holding the sword in front of it with its arms close to the waist and the tip of the sword pointing to the sky at an angle. A few moments passed before this instructor began to move. It raised the sword above its head and brought it down once. Another 10 seconds went by before the figure did the same movement one more time. However, the second swing felt much stronger. Without changing a single thing in its stance, the figure repeated that swing three more times. Each was stronger than the last. The final slash was so strong that Hera could see the wind shaking the weapons around it. By all accounts, that shouldn't be possible. These light beings can't touch anything. They were just projections. The white light that showed her the movements for the hooked sword passed through all the weapons in the graveyard without a problem. And yet, this green light seems to be able to exert its power even now, defying all logic.
Something told Hera that she couldn't mimic this attack. Watching those slashes was like watching a renowned painter create their masterpiece. Despite that, she wasn't going to let this odd feeling get in her way. Maybe the test wasn't so stingy with mistakes, maybe she didn't need to replicate those slashes perfectly, and an approximation would be enough. After the 5th swing, the figure returned to its initial position and just stood there waiting for Hera to attempt the movement, and so she did.
Before starting, she made sure to look at the form from every angle. Even if she wasn't able to perform those slashes, she could at very least be in the correct position to start. Despite This being of light having no exact shape, it was surprisingly easy to understand how her body should start the set movements. It was very likely that this was something the test helped you with. After all, if it was asking you to repeat a precise choreography, it would focus on the attacks themselves and not the initial position. When she felt comfortable enough, Hera got ready and performed the first swing. The figure seemed to approve of the attack and showed her the second movement again. It was the same swing, only somehow stronger. The explorer copied the movement, but when she was done, the figure lowered the sword showing that it was resetting, and then returned to its initial position. Hera tried one more time, starting for the first movement. She swung the sword trying to hold back some strength, but the glowing figure saw that as a failure. On her third attempt she used all her might for the first slash, but just like the first time, she failed at the second.
Thinking for a moment, Hera considered using her [All In] skill, But she quickly pushed that idea aside. Even if she was to use her skill and go beyond the second slash, there were still three more attacks for her to copy, and she had no idea how to do that if she couldn't even pass the second one. Daskka Had already found another three weapons that could fit her requirements. Despite knowing that she would probably be wasting her time, Hera decided to try a couple more times before completely giving up on this sequence of movements. As she expected all her attempts were in vain. She could only mirror the first slash. There's something telling her that this martial art required her to perform five attacks, each stronger than the last, but at the same time, every single one of them had to be with her full strength. Without having a proper teacher, Hera wouldn't be able to understand how she was supposed to do that.
Knowing that she was just slamming her head against the wall, Hera lowered the sword and was ready to put it back on its grave. Before doing that, she looked up to the glowing green figure and gave it a bow as thanks for showing her the movements. Despite being aware that this was just part of the test, this felt like the right thing to do. In a way, that figure was being her teacher, even if just for a moment. Without wasting any more time, Hera turned around and dashed towards the closest weapon that Daskka marked with her mist. Hera didn't even think about that, but the snake had set up what were essentially flares made of smoke on top of every weapon that she found and matched what they were searching for. Moving quickly between the weapons that stuck out from the ground, Hera found the first weapon that was marked by her pet. It was a one-handed axe that barely had any identifying features. Anyone who looked at it would believe that it was something mass-produced. The only thing that was different was a single red gemstone on the base of the handle. While she was looking for the inscription, Hera kept thinking, 'please be a lucky one, please be a lucky one, please be a lucky one.' That's when in the corner of her eye, she noticed something. A different weapon and its inscription was in plain old English.
'Lurize poison'
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[All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start
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Hera was surprised by the notification, but now wasn't the time to pay attention to that. Giving up the one Daskka had marked, she bolted towards the new found sword. Most of her kit was about poison, and because of poison, she was able to talk to Daskka, Chika, and maybe even the Naga in the dungeon. Despite being weird, poison had only brought good things in her life so far. Adding that to her own skill triggering because she was thinking about being lucky, Hera thought something was guiding her here.
Using her poison mana, she pulled the two-handed sword from the ground. This one was lighter than the one she was using before, but it felt more awkward. The blade wiggled slightly as she moved it, and there were just two parrying hooks near the base where it connected with the cylindrical handle. An orange glow covered the weapon and took the form of who would be her new instructor. The figure started showing its set of movements right away. Starting from the same position as the jade sword, it performed an overhead diagonal slash. Then it pulled the blade back in a defensive motion, keeping the sword horizontally in front of it and twisting its body slightly to the right as a way to defend from incoming attacks. In the next moment, the left hand slammed against the back of the handle to make a wide slash following the orientation of the sword. When doing that, Hera would have to lower her own head not to be hit by the blade, since would come first towards herself before spinning towards her target, followed by a quick jump back to return to the initial position. Next was a stab aimed at what seemed to be the chest of the phantom target by taking a step toward but leaving its left foot behind, then the figure pulled off the blade in a downward slash lowering its body closer to the ground, only to spin the sword in their hand and attempt a second stab aiming higher than the first one, possibly at the neck. Surprisingly the next move was a kick from the crouched position and another overhead swing that ended with the tip of the sword on the ground. The movements were by no means easy, but this felt doable compared to everything else that Hera had seen.
"Daskka, come here," the explorer called while getting ready to start. In just a few seconds, the snake came back since she wasn't that far away, "Can you help me see if I'm making any mistakes? Watch me doing the movements and see if I'm not putting my arm or my leg in the wrong place at the wrong time and let me know so I can try to fix that."
Daskka nodded, and Hera started to mirror the figure's attacks. She had no idea how long she still had to complete the test, but worrying about that wouldn't help at all. Instead, she focused on repeating the movements that the figure was showing. Even if she wasn't proficient in two-handed swords, this figure looked much more like a trainer than a warrior. Every step it took was calculated, and it actually seems like a demonstration made to help people learn the move set. Watching the other figures was more like seeing a martial arts presentation, something made to impress people and not necessarily to help them learn. Hera didn't know how long it took, but every time she repeated the motions, she felt like she was getting a little bit closer to what the figure was showing. Daskka's help was also invaluable. She would point at different parts of her body that were out of sync with the figure while Hera performed the attacks.
Little by little, step by step, Hera moved closer to what the figure was showing. Now she was making a mistake on the first stab, and the issue was her feet' position. Instead of keeping her left foot forward, she kept placing her right foot in the front since it would give her a better center of gravity for the next attack. Moving like that wasn't intentional. It was an instinctive reaction that her year of exploring brought her. Having a right foot in front made it easier for her to be toppled or to lose her balance, and in a life or death situation, losing your balance wasn't an option.
The first time Hera managed to pass the stabbing part, she failed to perform the following kick. It took her six attempts to even reach the same spot, and then she went beyond. She could see the glow of the figure right beside her, and their weapons were moving almost in tandem. However, just as she was about to make the sword touch the ground, Hera was blinded by a white light that returned her to the temple.
"Fuck!" Hera gasped, rubbing her eyes that were hurting after the flash, "I was so close," Hera kept rubbing her eyes for a while, trying to make the pain go away. When she finally opened them, there was a notification floating in front of her.
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You have completed the Legacy test.
You have acquired the Court of Blades Legacy.
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Comments
Xaekros
Thanks for the ch.!
Perizou
hahaha oh no. that would be too mean XD
Will C
Yay Hera, I thought she was forever going to be the bridesmaid but never the bride so to speak.
