Just as Professor Will had asked, Alex immediately attacked without any prior notice.
He stepped to Professor Will's right side, moving out of the way of the sword, and attempted to deliver a swift punch directly to his abdomen, performing what was commonly known as a 'kidney punch'.
But before he could even land a hit, he felt his hand hit something solid.
The wooden sword in Professor Will's right hand had somehow moved to an impossible angle and blocked Alex's attack from reaching him.
Puack!
Alex let out a groan as he was sent flying backwards, his fist aching from the impact.
'What the fuck!?'
But the strange thing was, that the wooden, unranked sword was completely fine after all that!
Alex would have completely shattered even a powerful Mutant D tier sword with a punch like the one he had just delivered, but that unranked, shoddy wooden sword was completely fine?
What was all this about?
Naturally, Alex had to ask about this right away.
"How is your sword fine!?"
He ignored any honorifics and respectful tone he had before.
"Cough, that's a little perk of being a higher life form. When you reach B tier, you can use your energy externally without any medium like a talent, or an element. I used my energy to cover my sword. Your attack was stronger than I expected, so I had to adjust my strength a little."
'I was wrong in my assessment, his strength isn't Variant C rank, but C+ rank! That attack could even deal some damage to a higher life form like me! It would be a tiny, minor wound, but that's still impressive regardless.'
Professor Will hid his shock from Alex, as that would be an unprofessional look considering he was supposed to be teaching him.
'When he learns to perfectly hone these two techniques, he could be unstoppable. He might even be able to deliver near B- rank attacks...'
Professor Will felt like his thoughts at the moment were outrageous, but something about Alex made him think it could actually be possible.
'And he's still only D tier...'
He even started to feel a little inferior, as Alex might start nearing his strength when he reached C tier...
And he was still only a first year in university...
The way he swung the sword utilised every muscle in his arms, shoulders, and waist to their most efficient degree.
The amount of concentration it probably took to achieve such precise movements would be monumental, even for an awakened mind.
Fwack!
But nothing could have prepared him for the world of pain when the attack landed.
"Arrrrghh!!! Huff... Huff... Professor Will... That was too much..."
He struggled to catch his breath and felt himself stumble backwards, falling onto his back.
But he was unable to pick himself back up.
Because both of his hands had been severed from the wrist down...
"That is the difference between a normal sword attack, and one perfected through the use of swordsmanship."
Professor Will looked proud as he stood over Alex, who was still groaning in pain, and slowly bleeding out from both of his wrists.
"Now let's get you to the infir-"
Professor Will was about to pick Alex up to send him to the medic to fix him up and regrow his hands.
But before he could even finish his sentence, he watched some deep, crimson red flames emerge from Alex's two stumps and witnessed his hands regrow in real time.
In just a span of 10 minutes, Alex's hands were completely regrown, leaving no trace whatsoever that indicated they were severed in the first place.
All of Professor Will's pride from that attack had disappeared in an instant.
***
It took another 10 minutes of pestering from Professor Will before Alex was forced to explain that he had gained another talent that allowed him boosted regeneration, without going into further detail about his Phoenix flames of course.
Though this 10 minute downtime was good for Alex, as it allowed him to regenerate some of the lost energy he had just expended to regrow his hands.
The regeneration of completely new limbs was quite taxing on Alex's energy supplies, let alone two of them.
If it weren't for his perfected Heart of the Phoenix technique, he wouldn't have had the energy capacity to do this at all.
And he was going to need his energy for what Professor Will had prepared for him next.