Bear School Astartes

The Lady of the Lake informed Lann of the next opening time for the celestial sphere convergence fissure, instructing him to go there promptly at that time.

There’s nothing much to say about it; it’s already a familiar routine for him.

However, in the end, Lann didn’t forget to ask the Lady if he could modify Aron Dite’s design.

The greatsword ordered from Belengar is meant for handling large monsters and enormous weapons.

But when dealing with humanoid creatures or similarly sized enemies, Lann felt that the Eastern martial arts were truly extraordinary.

Combining the strategic thinking of Western martial arts with the high technical skills of Eastern martial arts... Lann felt a deep excitement exploring this path.

He increasingly cherished the artistic feeling of the thin steel sheet bursting forth during his swings.

”Hmm... modifying the design, that’s simple. What kind do you want?”

Lann briefly described the style of the katana from the Iwami Country; he wasn’t a professional blacksmith, and his description was full of vagueness.

After a while, the Lady listened and could only shake her head.

”So you want a single-edged long blade that can be drawn smoothly from its sheath, right? How about this?”

In the cone-shaped crystal, the Aron Dite placed before Lann was undergoing a marvelous change.

A water mass appeared out of thin air, enveloping the noble longsword. The sword seemed to be hit by invisible undercurrents within the water, rapidly spinning.

After a spinning motion too fast for even Lann’s eyesight, the reappearing Aron Dite had transformed into a single-edged long blade with a luxurious design and graceful curve.

The recurved hilt made it easier to chop, wrapped with red lines for a non-slip grip. The blade width significantly increased compared to a samurai sword, and its tip resembled the style of a Brocade Spring Saber.

The original golden runes on Aron Dite’s sword surface were perfectly preserved on the blade.

The pommel ball of the recurved hilt was still a silver bear’s head roaring in three directions.

”This is the style of long blades used by elves. How is it? Does it suit you?”

Lann stroked his chin, observing.

To say this is the form of a samurai sword is definitely incorrect. But the ’Iwami Style’ is a free form of martial arts; any blade will do. Moreover, the aesthetic of this blade also struck a chord with Lann.

’Iwami Style’ and ’Mindless Style’ are meant to become personalized martial arts, adapting to local blades is perfectly acceptable!

”Let’s keep it like this; it’s beautiful.”

”Then I’ll leave it to you, Lann. I need to handle things here first.”

When Lann extended his hand into the water mass, the water mass enveloping the long blade disappeared like an illusion, and the weight of the long blade finally transferred to his arm at that moment.

Slightly wielding it a few times, the comfortable grip, balanced center of gravity, and edge… this is a blade design nearly perfect in craftsmanship.

The long-lived elves are equally enchanted by art; they nurtured their sword-making techniques and aesthetics over an extended period.

This elf long blade-style Aron Dite felt even better to Lann than the Undying Slash.

The inherent ’Evil-breaking’ attribute of Aron Dite, from Lann’s perspective, is less targeted than the ’Slay Undying’ of the Undying Slash, making it much more versatile.

This transformed blade version of Aron Dite, with its smooth and fluid feeling, left Lann eager to wield it.

He returned to the terrace for morning practice in the afternoon.

The Lady of the Lake’s sword was now positioned at his waist for a draw and slash stance.

The Demon Hunter’s blade swept through the air, generating a ”hiss” sound; this was not a proper Qi Flow Blade technique, but enough to make one bleed when brushing against exposed flesh.

The basic ’Iwami Style’ moves flowed naturally in Lann’s hands, one of the fruits from his journey cutting down foes alongside Iwami Yixin.

The Old Sword Saint’s combat stance, akin to a living water flow, was documented by Mentos for Lann’s constant observation and absorption of knowledge.

’Iwami Style’ was born from the Iwami people’s faith in the Water of Origin, derived from mimicking the Water Sword of Longquan River.

The ability to wield the sword with the freedom of water flow in combat undeniably reflects exceptionally high mastery.

And when the basic training routine of ’Iwami Style’ reached its end, Lann rarely held his breath, gathering strength.

Originally, the ultra-high blood oxygen level brought by the ’Second Heart’ allowed him to maintain power without faltering while breathing.

But now, it seemed like he was about to attempt something even he felt uncertain about; holding his breath was just a way to increase success rates.

Finally, at the end of the breath, the Demon Hunter in an iaido stance began to revolve.

His increasingly heavy body even spun a full three hundred sixty degrees, then aided by centrifugal force, bones, breath, muscles…

All the internal forces were unified into a unique energy, and at this moment, the hand on the hilt pulled back!

A dazzling blade light burst forth from the sheath, slicing from the left top to the right bottom, completing an Iaido Kasaya Slash!

”Hoo!”

The usually sharp sound of the blade slicing through the air turned into a rough howl under this fierce force!

The air was compressed until it emitted a milky white concentration, tracing a fan-shaped trajectory in the sky, lingering persistently.

The ferocity of this slash had already surpassed the special move ’Iwami Cross Slash’.

But the Lann executing the slash didn’t seem to relax, rather intently focusing on the milky white fan-shaped trajectory of the air currents.

Less than half a second later, the original diagonal air currents were drastically altered!

A vertical, larger Qi Blade conjured out of thin air, slicing straight forward!

”Sizzle!”

This time, the sound of the air being torn by the Qi Blade echoed normally.

The Iaido Kasaya Slash, coupled with the subsequent straight Qi Flow Blade generated from the twisted air, together formed what Iwami Yixin created—’Secret Technique: Dragon Flash’.

The terrace where Lann practiced was all marble, a ten-meter-long and three-meter-wide terrace.

After the slash was executed, the resulting Qi Flow Blade cut straight from one end where Lann stood, but dissipated into ordinary airflows within three meters, losing its lethality.

Lann returned Aron Dite to his waist and smacked his lips, observing the scene.

”That old guy Iwami Yixin... was he this fierce in his youth? He said when he was around thirty-seven or thirty-eight, the Qi Blade of the ’Dragon Flash’ could slash all the way twenty meters out!”

”Sir, the physical functions of a normal male peak in their thirties; the Sword Saint nourished by the Water of Origin achieving such feats is not impossible. Your body is currently nineteen, still in a rapid growth phase. Moreover, your execution earlier had flaws in the circulation of energy. Even technically, there are imperfections.”

Mentos’ analysis was sharp as always.

Lann didn’t object to this.

His current primary training technique is the ’Dragon Flash’, although he witnessed the actual ’Secret Technique: Mindless’ combat process at the time, that sort of unseen Super Divine Speed Iaijutsu Slash... even Iwami Yixin advised him not to be overly ambitious just yet.

The bold and hard-driven ’Dragon Flash’ created by the Old Sword Saint in his youth seemed more fitting for him to learn at this stage.

After privately trying ’Mindless’, drinking a bottle of ’Swallow’ to repair the torn hand muscles, he indicated his willingness to heed advice.

’Dragon Flash’ is also impressive, quite good. Quite good.