Chapter 46

To improve their rank, Rio and Shiraha completed a request and returned to the guild at noon, then headed straight for the training ground.

This fortress town has a high population density. Due to the necessity of living within the walls, there is almost no open space available for training.

Despite this, the vast training ground, which even has a roof, where over twenty adventurers can train simultaneously without hindering each other, speaks to the importance of the guild in this town.

Rio and Shiraha started their training, holding wooden swords and slowly confirming their forms.

Their self-taught swordsmanship is already known among the adventurers, and they occasionally receive curious glances, but they pay no mind.

"Let's increase the speed."

Encouraged by Shiraha, Rio nodded silently.

While being conscious of the connection between forms and posture, they increased the speed of their wooden sword swings. Self-taught swordsmanship is based on overwhelming speed and number of strikes. The speed increased rapidly, and their positions changed swiftly.

Additionally, to avoid clashing and striking each other, the sound of their wooden swords being swung at high speed was completely silent. Sensing a similar observing gaze in his line of sight, Rio stopped his movements.

"…Galdorat?"

Before he knew it, Galdorat had approached Rio and his companions. Rio was surprised that he hadn't heard the sound of the chain connecting the wall and the slave collar.

Galdorat looked down at the surprised Rio and pointed at his elbow with the tip of the wooden sword.

"…Extend it."

The instruction was too straightforward.

Not knowing how far to extend his elbow, Rio cautiously adjusted while observing Galdorat's expression. Seizing the moment when Galdorat's eyebrows moved slightly, Rio stopped. After a moment, Galdorat nodded and lightly tapped Rio's foot with the wooden sword.

"Open it."

Another short instruction.

As Rio slowly opened his stance, Galdorat's eyebrows moved slightly. There was a moment of contemplation.

Galdorat turned to Shiraha and beckoned her. When Shiraha approached cautiously, Galdorat pointed out:

"You're imitating too much."

It seemed that in imitating Rio's movements, Shiraha's own suitable movements were not being utilized. Although Galdorat's instructions were few, as a user of the Shiroz style, which requires anatomical knowledge, he was well-versed in body mechanics, and his pointers were accurate. Just by following a few of Galdorat's instructions, the strain on their bodies was noticeably reduced.

Despite Rio's swordsmanship being self-taught, the pointers were well-suited.

"Amazing…"

Rio couldn't help but be impressed. It was no wonder Galdorat was admired by the town's adventurers.

Shiraha's movements had also improved significantly. Her sword swings, which had been imitating Rio's and not fitting her physique, were now optimized, making her strikes sharper.

Rio thought through Galdorat's few words systematically and logically, extracting key points to apply to various forms. Galdorat watched silently as Rio incorporated his advice into his self-taught swordsmanship. He seemed to understand the importance of encouraging independent thinking, whether it was part of his nature or a result of his experience in the training ground. In any case, he clearly possessed the qualities of a good instructor.

After practicing forms for a while, Rio noticed Galdorat frowning. He stopped his wooden sword swings and looked at Galdorat.

"Is something wrong?"

"…Have you ever injured yourself?"

Rio was taken aback, recalling the time he had pushed his body to its limits during the battle with the ape and had to rest in bed.

Surprised that Galdorat could see through such a thing, Rio watched as Galdorat beckoned Shiraha and turned his back to them.

"Come."

Galdorat walked briskly towards a screen, and Rio hurried to follow. When they reached the wall, Galdorat extended his hand, signaling them to stop, and disappeared behind the screen. Soon, he returned with a bundle of parchment and sat down in front of Rio and Shiraha.

"Look."

The bundle of parchment was spread out, revealing human anatomy diagrams. It seemed he had shown these to many adventurers before, as some parts were worn and the text was faded.

Galdorat flipped through the parchment to show a diagram of the leg muscles.

"Focus on this."

He pointed to specific muscles, particularly those involved in explosive power, and instructed them to touch their own legs to recognize the positions.

"Learn the limits of their extension and contraction. Also, read about the parts prone to injury and accident cases."

He calmly presented a parchment summarizing the limits of muscle extension and contraction, important for their self-taught swordsmanship, and details of injuries, starting with the Achilles tendon. The medical terms were complex, but Galdorat explained them earnestly despite his few words. This was important information compiled by the Shiroz family over generations, potentially a closely guarded secret.

Despite the overwhelming amount of information, Rio leaned forward, intensely studying the parchment. Having received multiple magic lessons from Oggan, he was somewhat resistant to complex studies, and this information was crucial for advancing his self-taught swordsmanship. He wanted to absorb it thoroughly.

Glancing sideways, he was surprised to see Shiraha, who was usually quick to understand, eagerly absorbing the medical knowledge and reaching for another parchment.

Determined not to be outdone, Rio continued reading the parchment and looked at Galdorat.

"Is there a parchment with efficient training methods?"

Galdorat silently handed over another parchment. Watching Rio voraciously read the knowledge, an adventurer in the training ground muttered:

"…Do people usually read that with such enthusiasm?"