Chapter 106 105 - A Familiar Face

Milo arrived at the guild and when entering the lobby, the receptionist working at the front called him over. She informed Milo that Jorge wished to meet with him in his office, and so she told Milo that he would be waiting for him on the top floor of the guild building.

Milo was a bit confused by this, as Jorge hadn't requested a one on one meeting with him before. He was a bit nervous thinking he may have done something wrong, but still made his way up to the top floor to avoid making Jorge wait any longer. Once arriving, the elevator opened up to the small hallway leading to the door that entered into Jorge's office. Milo steeled his resolve thinking he was about to get chewed out and opened the door.

When the door swung open, Milo could see Jorge standing next to someone Milo knew very well. He was very confused as to why he was in the city, as he expected him to be at the Acropolis preparing for the upcoming school year. The two seemed to be locked in conversation about closing gates and when they saw Milo enter, they beckoned for him to come over.

"Long time no see Milo," Mikael said, "Jorge contacted me saying that he noticed you had a new weapon you were using and thought having me come by to assist in teaching you how to use it would be a good idea."

Milo had no idea that Jorge knew about the chain whip sword and gave a confused look. Jorge went on to explain about the recording of him in the simulation and for that reason, he thought having Mikael who was known as a master swordsman come by to teach Milo the way of the sword would be a good way for Milo to quickly make progress learning the new weapon. Hearing about this, Milo was happy that he hadn't made any obvious moves that would reveal that he could use more than one ability while in the gate, as revealing the system to strangers was something he didn't think would go over well. He also thought having Mikael there to teach him would be a great opportunity. Not only was he already comfortable with Mikael, but thought that there could be no better person to teach him swordplay.

After talking a bit more, Mikael asked Milo if he could show them the weapon up close so he knew exactly what they'd be working with. Because of this, Milo summoned Ghoul's Bane from his dimensional storage and seeing the vicious blade appear, Jorge and Mikael were astounded at its craftsmanship.

One of the most famous equipment smiths in the world was someone who went by the pseudonym Hephaestus, and the sword was so beautifully made that both Mikael and Jorge asked if he had somehow gotten the legendary craftsman to make him a weapon. Milo went on to explain that it was a friend at the academy who made it for him, causing looks of amazement to come from the two men. A student so young could make a weapon like this, and that thought was crazy to them. Jorge was especially astounded, as not only was Milo himself extremely powerful, but he surrounded himself with others who excelled in their own fields.

Milo then went on to tell the two about the weapon. When describing why he changed, he explained that while the chain sickle offered more range, he found limits in its close combat capabilities. Mikael nodded hearing Milo's explanation and was impressed that Milo had the insight to consider other weapon options to maximize his combat abilities, while also being modest enough to know what his weaknesses were. Milo was an extraordinary young man in the eyes of the sword master and it was this precise reason why he favored Milo so much after having him in his combat class.

Milo then went on to show them the features the weapon had to offer. He chose to leave out the part about its attached skill as he still hadn't had it officially appraised and was worried they'd be suspicious about how he knew that there was a skill attached to it. Milo then pressed the button on the hilt causing it to shift to its whip mode. The blade segments separated allowing it to flex and bend the way a whip would. Seeing the transformation, Mikael grinned, seeing Milo's ingenious way to combine his preference of keeping the chain sickle's ranged attacks while improving his close combat by using a sword which was considered to be the strongest close combat weapon around.

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He asked Milo if he had ever used a sword before, to which Milo admitted that he never had. Mikael nodded and then said, "Then starting today, I will teach you the way of the sword."

Mikael and Jorge then went with Milo down to a training room where Milo began his training. Mikael thought it would be best to first show Milo what he would be working towards and pulled out his own sword. Seeing the sword, Milo could tell that it was an extremely high tiered weapon. Milo asked him about it, and was able to learn that it was a sword he had been using since his days gatecrashing, when his nickname was the Beast Butcher. The sword had a dark red blade and almost looked to be made of crystal. The ruby colored blade looked extremely sharp and Mikael swung it around his body in fluid motions. Milo could see discipline in his motions and could tell that the sword was something Mikael had been using for years, probably long enough to date back before the dimensional door's first appearance. He said that the sword's name was the butcher which fit Mikael's nickname and that it was at the legendary tier.

Mikael then went through his motions, mercilessly striking at a test dummy that had been summoned using the console by the door to the room. His swordsmanship was beautiful, almost resembling a dance of some kind, and in no time the dummy was reduced to scraps. He said things to Milo throughout his motions, telling Milo that his motions should flow not like water, but like the blood through his veins. He told Milo not to think of the sword as just a weapon, but as if it were an extension of his body, to pretend the sword was a deadly extension of his arm.

Milo had heard things like this before, to treat combat like the flow of water and that it was important not to be rigid, but hearing Mikael say to treat it as if it was the blood flowing through him made more sense to him, for whatever reason this metaphor clicked with him better than imagining his motions as water. Milo attempted to recreate some of the moves Mikael was doing, but the level of his skill was obviously novice in comparison and the moves seemed to be missing some level of flair that Mikael's had.

Mikael then stopped his own motions, choosing to guide Milo more closely, he started with basic techniques, how to attack using slashes, stabs and cuts, while moving in a flowing motion. He explained that by being more fluid in his attacks, it would allow Milo to combo attacks better without having to pause in between to reposition where his weapon was. Milo continued training this way for hours, until his attacks flowed to the level that Mikael considered to be acceptable for the time being.

Milo was drenched in sweat after training with Mikael, this was common even at the academy as for whatever reason, Milo worked even harder, wanting to impress his teacher. While in the city, Mikael would be staying at the guild building in their dorms, which were more like luxury apartments. Milo went home after showering at the guild and when he got home, opened his status screen, and jumped over to the tutorials tab. He was happy to see that just like when he first used the Kusarigama, the system produced a tutorial video for him to use with the chain whip sword. He wasn't sure if the weapon was one that it could produce tutorials for, and because of this he wondered just how far the system's limits could stretch to.

He opened the video curious to see if it resembled Mikael's style, but the style shown in the video was very different, instead focusing on strong strikes, unlike Mikael's swift flowing strikes. He figured he would still try to learn some from the tutorial and acted out the motions shown in his room without the sword in his hand. The attacks seemed to be focused more on chopping and causing deep gashes on the opponent, focusing more on strong strikes, meant to take down the target in one or two strikes. Mikael chose to focus on using fast flowing slashes that were meant to overwhelm the opponent with speed that would then rack up in damage over an extended period of time.

Milo wondered if there was a way he could combine the two styles to make his own. He would test it eventually, but wanted to sleep as he was exhausted from Mikael's training earlier in the day. Milo collapsed in bed feeling sore all over, which wasn't common for him as he was in great shape and with his magically enhanced body due to his awakening and the system. While repeating the motions shown to him that day in his head over and over, sleep eventually snuck up on him and he began to snore away.

Milo woke up the next morning and went to the guild as they were set to close another C ranked gate. When entering the simulation station his team was meeting at, he was surprised to see that Mikael had come along with David who was in charge of the team's training. While talking about what they would be doing in the simulation, Mikael asked a question Milo wasn't expecting to hear.

"Would it be alright if I joined in with the team to close the gate? I haven't been able to let loose for a while against beasts."

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