novelSusiti Chapter 31 Master Ba? Barian is also Ba!
Chapter 31 Master Ba? Barian is also Ba!
The courtyard beneath the Tower of David was bathed in the afternoon sun, where Lyon and Balian faced each other, swords drawn. On the second-floor corridor, Maria and Isabella leaned against the railing, gazing into the distance.
Maria was filled with a mixture of relief and worry—her son didn't seem to reject his stepfather, and even took the initiative to ask him for swordsmanship lessons, which secretly relieved her. But every time the sword flashed, her heart jumped, fearing that Leon might accidentally hurt himself.
Isabella, however, showed none of her mother's complex emotions. She gripped the railing tightly, leaning forward unconsciously, her eyes shining with pure light. In her eyes, her father and brother were the most valiant knights protecting her and her mother.
In the courtyard, Leon was struggling to repeat the most basic slashes. His movements were stiff, each strike lacking power, and his arms were already aching terribly. Barrian stood quietly to the side, his brow slightly furrowed, but he remained patient. He could see that the boy had determination, but his physical foundation was too weak; he was a complete novice.
"We've practiced enough," Balian suddenly said, raising his sword. "Let's try some simple offense and defense."
Before Leon could catch his breath, Barian launched a casual mid-section thrust. Almost instinctively, Leon flicked his wrist, deflecting the sword at an extremely precise angle, attempting to draw Barian's blade away. At the same time, he slightly turned his body to create space for a counterattack. This movement was weak and ineffective; Barian's sword easily broke through his defense and struck Leon's chest.
But Balian's eyes lit up instantly. He sheathed his sword, refrained from further attack, and stared intently at Lyon.
"Stop! What were you thinking just now?" Balian's tone was filled with disbelief and surprise.
Leon, panting and somewhat bewildered, said, "I... I just felt that if I deflected your sword like this, I could then slash at your neck with my bare hands... but I wasn't strong enough, and I was too slow."
Barian took a deep breath: "'Deflect'? You're talking about the most efficient defense, which we call 'Deflection,' that can create an opportunity for you to kill in an instant. And the counterattack you're thinking of is the fatal blow after 'Master Counter'! This is experience that countless warriors have gained with their blood on the battlefield. You... how did you come up with this?"
So this is what the master's reversal is?
Leon couldn't explain it. He couldn't very well say that it was muscle memory from being whipped like a top dozens or hundreds of times by the six farmers, the dog, and even the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. He could only vaguely say, "I... just felt that this was the least strenuous way."
"Alright, alright, Leon, I'll teach you a move called 'Heavy Chop' next. As long as the force is strong enough, it can break through the opponent's block or even 'deflect' them."
Balian weighed his sword in his hand, took a few steps back, and then launched another attack without warning.
Faced with this powerful slash, Leon did not choose to parry directly. Instead, he made an extremely clumsy but clearly intentional move. He first raised his wrist slightly, as if to block upwards, but at the moment the sword was about to touch him, he suddenly lowered his wrist, and the tip of the sword pointed downwards at Balian's wrist in a strange way.
"Watch out!" Maria on the veranda couldn't help but whisper, her fingers gripping the hem of her skirt tightly.
Although this "change of tactics" was easily seen through and slapped away by Barian because of its poor speed and strength, Barian was stunned again.
"A feint... You actually know how to use a feint?" Balian's voice trembled with a hint of surprise. "First, you deceived my eyes, luring me to defend upwards, then attacked my truly exposed lower body? This strategy... You kid, your body can't keep up, but your mind is frighteningly fast!"
"Again!"
Balian retreated again, then quickly charged forward, his blade slashing through the air with a sharp edge towards the stunned Leon. The previous 'deflection' and feint had almost exhausted all his strength; he could no longer raise his hand to block, so he could only instinctively retreat half a step, no more, no less, just enough to stop Balian's sword tip half an inch away from his chest. At the same time, due to the momentum of his retreat, his own sword naturally assumed a very threatening thrusting stance.
"Genius...you're a born warrior!" Barian finally couldn't help but exclaim. He strode forward, patted Leon's shoulder forcefully, his face beaming with undisguised joy. "You have no idea what you just did! You've mastered the most important 'footwork' and 'distance sense' without any instruction! The ultimate form of offense isn't strength, but rather the ability to hit me while I can't hit you!"
Balian looked up at Maria on the railing and sighed, "If Maria and your uncle hadn't told me that you'd never touched a sword since you were little, I would have really suspected that you had taken some reclusive master as your teacher."
Lyon scratched his head sheepishly. "Can I tell you that this reclusive master is called Barnard?"
From that moment on, Balian's teaching methods changed completely. He no longer just taught the basics, but began to impart to Leon all the secret techniques he had accumulated through countless life-and-death battles.
"Listen, child! Every single one of those ideas you just had was a seed of first-rate swordsmanship! All you need now is to get this body to keep up with the speed and power of your mind." Balian's eyes burned with the excitement of discovering a gem.
"Watch closely, this is what your 'Oblique Counterattack' should look like!" Balian demonstrated personally, his movements as fast as lightning, the block and counterattack completed almost simultaneously, the sword wind whistling.
"And your ridiculous 'feint attack,' it should be like this!" His sword shadows were so realistic that it was impossible to distinguish between truth and falsehood, making it impossible to defend against.
"As for distance..." Balian began to teach Leon the most difficult yet fundamental footwork technique, "Remember, your feet are your second sword!"
The training that followed became incredibly arduous. Balian tailored a training program for Leon, aiming to transform his "advanced" combat ideas into instincts that truly belonged to him and could be used in actual combat through rigorous training.
The training session ended quickly due to Lyon's extreme weakness. He collapsed on the ground in the courtyard, his mouth slightly open, panting heavily.
Balian put away his practice sword and exclaimed to Maria and Isabella, who were walking briskly towards him, "Maria, I have never seen such a child... It's as if the soul of a seasoned veteran resides within him. Given time, he will surely become one of the most dazzling blades in Jerusalem."
Isabella rushed to Lyon's side, carefully handing him a handkerchief, her eyes filled with admiration: "Little brother, you were... amazing!"
Maria looked at her son, who was drenched in sweat, then glanced at her husband, and finally smiled with relief. Perhaps this son, whom she had lost and found again and who constantly surprised her, was stronger than she had imagined.