Chapter 648: Ben trains Dumpy

( Ben Faulkner's POV )

After settling within the rebel city of Briarhelm, Ben decided to amuse himself by fulfilling the promise he made to Dumpy and take him out to train one time.

In Ben's mind, it was supposed to be a short session, no more than 2 hours where he tested the frogs aptitude and potential for learning, as although he did not see the frog as a serious student, he did not wish to break his heart by not fulfilling his promise either.

"Relax boy, don't swing your blades with just brute strength, time it, time every twitch of your muscle and connect it precisely to deliver one precise strike.

Before learning how to fight, learn how to cut.

Your current stroke is not perfect. It breaks at several points and the final impact is not at optimal angle.

Your body has still not committed the sword to your muscle memory and if I place a toothpick on a rock, you'll find it hard to even hit it 10 times in a row without missing….." Ben said, as he admonished Dumpy on his sword form, as although he was not a sword genius himself, he could understand some basic concepts of the sword just well enough to teach Dumpy.

"Watch me, I'll only show you this once–" Ben said, as he poked a thin toothpick into a stone just so that it stood barely still.

Then, slicing down on it vertically with a dagger, Ben sliced the top of the toothpick ever so slightly to make the smallest of incisions.

*Shua*

*Shua*

*Shua*

*Shua*

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*Shua*

Repeating that movement 9 more times, Ben chopped up the toothpick every so slightly more every time, until it eventually split in half.

"See this? The wood used to make the toothpicks has splintered evenly. There's not a single mis-stroke.

That's the control I possess over my blade, and this is the control you should possess over yours too at the minimum" Ben explained, as Dumpy watched on with awe.

For Dumpy, this whole training exercise was beyond mesmerizing, as his legendary 'Lord Grandfather' was finally giving him a private lesson.

Just like his Lord Father, his Lord Grandfather also did not disappoint with his strength, and on their very first training session together, impressed Dumpy a lot.

"I see…. Lord Grandfather is indeed correct, my strikes are not even, it's something I need to work on for sure" Dumpy acknowledged, as picking his blades he tried to recreate what Ben did with utmost focus.

*Slam*

On his first attempt, instead of slashing the toothpick, he misjudged his aim and slashed the rock beside it, his blade hitting the rock, as Ben scoffed in disappointment.

"Do you need to wear prescription glasses boy? Or is your eye-hand coordination just too poor?" Ben mocked, as Dumpy hung his head in shame.

Repeating his attempt, he hit the toothpick once again, this time managing to cleave it in half, however, he did it using just one strike instead of 10, being completely unable to control his power.

"What is this? A wood hacking contest? Where is your restraint?" Ben mocked, as Dumpy hung his head even lower and tried again.

Up till now, Ben was only amusing himself, not taking Dumpy's training seriously, as the drill that he had shown Dumpy today, he expected the frog to practice it non-stop for the next 6 months at the least before it could master it.

However, when on just his third attempt, Dumpy managed to pause a third of the way into cleaving the toothpick and delivering a second strike, Ben felt his brain freeze for a moment.

'What? Was it a lucky break, or did the kid really show such precise control over the power of his blade?' Ben wondered, as although he was all smiles and taunts up-till now, he finally began watching Dumpy's training more seriously now.

*Shua*

*Shua*

*Shua*

On his fourth attempt, Dumpy managed to get-on to 3 slashes, and on his fifth he managed to go upto six.

At this point, Ben felt his mind go numb with disbelief, as a student was not supposed to progress this fast.

'Just what the fuck am I witnessing? Is that frog really even more of a genius compared to Leo? Or am I just too old to assume that one needs 6 months of practice to master this drill?' Ben wondered, as he watched with bated breaths as Dumpy progressed smoothly over the hour.

"7…8…8!!! Ribbit–" Dumpy cursed, as on the two hour mark of his training, he could only cut the toothpick eight times before it broke.

He felt like he was extremely close to the end, however, controlling his heavy sword that weighed nearly 30 kilograms, was much harder for him compared to Ben wielding his 300 grams dagger.

Regardless, he seemed to be closing in on the finish line, as by this point Ben felt his entire back drenched in sweat.

Ben finally understood the true potential of Dumpy, and what it could become in the future, which left him with a million doubts on how Leo obtained him in the first place.

However, more so than his doubts, Ben began to panic about the frog's personality, as although Lin Mu survived her encounter with the frog barely last time.

If this beast was allowed to mature, Ben felt confident that nobody would be able to survive an accidental encounter with this beast.

"8….9….10!" Dumpy said, jumping in joy, as Ben bent forward and inspected the cut.

It was a clean cut, signaling that Dumpy had truly mastered the method of cutting, grasping both the concepts of precision and power control.

"I did it, Lord Grandfather…. I did it!" Dumpy said in joy, as Ben blinked towards him blankly feeling a loss of words to say.

"I know it's not as good as you or Lord Father, but regardless of how slow I am, I'm happy I finally arrived here" Dumpy said, further adding insult to injury, as Ben wondered where this frog got this bullshit ideas from?

"You call that slow?" Ben murmured, as shaking his head in dissapointment he left the training ground with his hands and feet trembling in fear.

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/// A/N - This bonus chapter is sponsored by patron AceKing137. Please thank him in the comments for the same. ///