CH 156

Episode 156 – Wielding the Iron Rod

Just like the village we stayed at yesterday, we were let in without any vigilance whatsoever. After Edward negotiated with some villagers, we were once again allowed to stay at the village chief’s house.

“Lewin, how was the first day of instruction for you…?” (Edward)

“…..To be honest, I’m really tired. I would probably still be fine if it had been just a regular teaching session, but I had to move constantly without any breaks, making it quite difficult.” (Lewin)

“Hohoho. I’ve never tried this whole traveling while teaching thing myself. If you say it’s too much for you, I can make the teaching a bit easier… what do you think?” (Edward)

Unlike the angry voice he had used during battles, he suggested this to me in a gentle tone. To be honest, I wanted to accept this suggestion immediately, but this opportunity to be taught by Edward wouldn’t come again so easily. I was inclined to have a peaceful and enjoyable trip, but… I absolutely needed to become stronger.

“….No! I would appreciate it if you could continue to teach me without cutting any corners.” (Lewin)

“As the disciple of the Captain of the Knights of the Royal Order, it seems that you’ve got the guts! If that’s what you want, Lewin, then starting tomorrow, I’ll be training you again without holding anything back. Make sure you don’t give up too easily.” (Edward)

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it!” (Lewin)

I bowed energetically to Edward, who looked very satisfied. When he was teaching, he was even scarier than Ahmed, but his teachings were incredibly easy to understand. He was most likely trying his best to hammer into me whatever mastery of these techniques he could in this short amount of time, so I had to try my best to meet his expectations. Strengthening my resolve, I went to sleep in preparation for the next day.

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About four days had passed since then. The journey was proceeding favorably, with no major incidents so far. According to Edward, we would be in Laudaust in two days. Just as he had told me earlier, we were finally able to get out onto a maintained public road around noon today after being surrounded by mountains all of yesterday.

The mountain trail was difficult to traverse, and, more importantly, the encounter rate of monsters was incredibly high, so I was very relieved to be back on the public road.

“Look here, Lewin! Don’t lose focus! There’s an Armored Beetle coming from up ahead!” (Edward)

“Yes! I’ll defeat it right away!” (Lewin)

I felt much more relaxed after we reached the public road, but Edward immediately found me out and sent a firm rebuke in my direction. Even though we were on a public road, we were still in the middle of the mountains.

I pulled myself out of my laidback mood and prepared myself for battle, keeping in mind that there were other monsters aside from the Armored Beetle attacking us right now.

The Armored Beetle was an insect-type monster with a hard carapace. In addition to its high defense, the single sharp horn on the tip of its head was used for charging attacks, and it was powerful enough to inflict fatal wounds in a single blow.

Taking care not to get hit by its attack, I drove an iron rod towards the Armored Beetle as it came flying at me to meet its attack.

This iron rod was none other than Edward’s favored weapon. After he deemed the results of the training acceptable, I changed from the sword I was used to wielding to this iron rod. No matter how many times I counterbalanced an attack with this iron rod, I always felt nervous. If I didn’t release all of my power into this iron rod in a single instant and hit the targeted area with pinpoint accuracy, there was no way I would be able to kill the Armored Beetle’s momentum.

This time, I was targeting the sharp, pointed horn. If I couldn’t match the attack with flawless accuracy, I would definitely get seriously injured. As the Armored Beetle loomed closer, I exhaled a short, deep breath and boosted my concentration to the max.

Instead of imitating Edward’s unique stance, my current posture was a thrusting stance taught by Kirty. From this comfortable stance, I took aim at a single point on the horn of the Armored Beetle that was rushing towards me.

“…..Hah!”

With a low shout, I unleashed a thrust that hit the targeted spot without the slightest bit of deviation. The movements of the Armored Beetle, which was charging at me at high speed, were perfectly cancelled out by my thrust. If it were Edward, he would have been able to finish it off with just that one thrust, but the most I could do at the moment with this rounded iron rod was offsetting and cancelling the power behind enemy attacks.

However, once the momentum of the Armored Beetle’s attack was stopped, it no longer had any means to attack me. After calmly strengthening my grip on the iron rod, I fired off another thrust aimed at a chink in the Armored Beetle’s carapace. This time, the damage was done, and the Armored Beetle staggered a bit and fell to the ground.

The rest was easy. I stabbed out with a thrust towards its weak point at the soft underbelly, and the Armored Beetle took a fatal blow, twitching once as it died.

“….It seems there’s nothing left for me to say. The way you moved and the way you applied the force, all of it was splendid.” (Edward)

“Thank you. But my skills are still not yet up to par, so please continue to teach me until we reach Landaust.” (Lewin)

“….Hohohoho. Looks like we’ve got a real masochist on our hands. Of course, if there are any mistakes in your swing or movements, I will interrupt you without mercy. You said it yourself, so don’t throw in the towel.” (Edward)

Edward praised me for the first time after I had perfectly defeated the Armored Beetle. It felt good to be praised by Edward, who had been yelling at me the whole time, but I couldn’t become too full of myself just yet. Pulling myself back down to earth, I turned my attention to the monster that was approaching from behind the Armored Beetle.