Bear School Astartes

”He came to me and said you’re learning too fast...”

The Sword Master wore a helmet, making it impossible to see his face, but given the state of hunters in this world, even without seeing their expressions, the emotions in their tone were rich enough.

”Well, forgive my phrasing, but I feel like your learning speed has somewhat... frightened him. You understand, right? While there’s joy in teaching others, if the learner’s speed feels like it’s going to drain you completely, it gets a bit awkward.”

”When he came to me this morning, the expression on that kid’s face made me want to curl my toes on the floor.”

The Sword Master crossed his arms, and the armor on his body made a crisp sound with his motions.

”And since today you’re scheduled to learn the tachi, he called me over.”

”Let’s sort out the situation, what stage have you reached now?”

The Sword Master circled around Lann, as if judging his learning progress through subtle actions.

”Bow and arrows, light and heavy crossbows?”

He brought up three types of ranged weapons first.

”The latter two are simple, the difficulty mainly lies in understanding the mechanical structure and the independent manufacturing of ammunition. Therefore, I didn’t spend too much time on them.”

”The technique of using ’Qi’ to continually activate the body through consecutive attacks to temporarily enhance physical abilities is quite interesting.”

Lann discussed hunters’ combat skills with the Sword Master in a mutual exploration manner.

Every word was brief but encompassed the core techniques of those weapons.

In just a few words, the Sword Master understood.

This guy wasn’t boasting or merely memorizing but genuinely grasping the core knowledge of every hunting weapon he’d learned.

Such a learning speed, and the insight to reach the core knowledge directly from complex techniques...

The Sword Master smacked his lips meaningfully under his helmet.

There really are such people?!

He originally thought that the ace of the Fifth Period Team, that guy proficient in all weapons, was already exaggerated.

Didn’t expect there’d be another expert!

”Ahem, indeed learning very fast, and strong insight too.”

The Sword Master coughed lightly, touching his helmet, and Lann tilted his head in confusion.

”But don’t get complacent, Lann. In hunting, even skills are secondary. What’s most important is focus during the task, decision-making in sudden situations, and creativity in using the environment.”

”Young people who reach the New World generally don’t differ much in physical condition. You’ve learned hunting skills too; they’re not complicated. But the gap between Wende and other members of the Fifth Period Team is clearly evident.”

”The reason for such a huge difference is their performance in a hunt. The same weapon, opponent, and field, yet a skilled person surpasses an average one.”

”Alright, enough said, draw out your tachi.”

The Sword Master’s deep voice was even more muffled under the helmet.

But Lann seriously waved his hand: ”Firstly, I need to clarify that ’Turbid Stream’ is a greatsword. It just happens to resemble the taichi here. But you can’t say it’s not a greatsword.”

...?

The Sword Master instinctively wanted to scratch his head, but there was only the sound of metal scraping between his hand armor and helmet.

”Alright, if you say so, just draw it then!”

At this point, Lann pulled out the dark ’Turbid Stream’ from his alchemy pouch.

The Sword Master also took his tachi from his back.

He glanced at the ’Turbid Stream’ in Lann’s hand.

Oh, indeed it shouldn’t be called a tachi, it’s even shorter than the tachi in my hand.

”Let me directly tell you the core knowledge of the tachi, which is the ’Qi Blade!’ ”

”’Qi Blade’ is the product of hunter’s ’Qi’ tightly attached to the blade. There are three levels, and we call the process of upgrading a tachi’s Qi blade ’unsheathing.’

”Every unsheathing during combat slightly increases the tachi’s base attack power. But don’t think about maintaining the Qi Blade for long, as it slowly dissipates automatically. Hence, tachi users all unsheathe during combat.”

The Sword Master explained while beginning to demonstrate.

At first, he just swung his blade against the large wooden stake in the training area, leaving some neither deep nor shallow marks.

But after a few swings, he suddenly changed his style.

The over two-meter-long tachi brought up a familiar layer of light red glow as it swung, marking the activation of hunter’s Qi.

The swinging blade seemed much sharper, with a crisp ’zing’ sound slicing through the air.

Finally, after four Qi-infused style swings, the Sword Master executed a wide arc sweep, lightly grazing the stake with the blade.

But that shallow graze left a clean, deep cut.

And the tachi in his hand emitted a stable, soft white glow after the sweeping swing.

Unlike the light red explosive blaze when hunters use Qi for skills.

”This counts as ’White Blade,’ the first level of Qi Blade. Follow this procedure, unsheathe once more for ’Yellow Blade,’ and above that is the highest level, ’Red Blade.’

The Sword Master held the sword hilt, extending the blade towards Lann.

This was just an instructional demonstration; there was no need to do repetitive work.

Lann’s cat-like eyes were deep and focused, giving the Sword Master a slightly unnerved feeling of being seen through when glancing over.

’Spirit Vision’ had been activated since the Sword Master started his demonstration.

This ’vision’ that’s slightly above the physical world observed by humans is also why Lann can directly reach the essence of things at many times.

He removed his gauntlet with steel plates, using his fingers to tap on the tachi with the ’White Blade.’ It indeed felt different, as if Qi directly increased the sharpness and sturdiness of the weapon.

”Is this unsheathing process necessary every time? Four consecutive slashes plus a big spin?”

The Demon Hunter asked with a frown.

”Isn’t it a bit cumbersome? During hunts, those monsters won’t give hunters a chance to do a ’radio calisthenics’ routine, right? Let alone ideally, this blade needs to unsheathe thrice in a short time.”

”You’re indeed very perceptive...” The Sword Master retracted the tachi, ”Come on, attack me, just once.”

Lann didn’t hesitate, holding the ’Turbid Stream,’ thrusting its blunt tip towards the Sword Master.

Just as he launched the strike, the Sword Master, already poised, suddenly floated sideways like a paper or feather in the wind, avoiding it by a large margin!

Lann’s eyes widened almost immediately when he made his move.

After floating sideways, the Sword Master skillfully shifted angles, stepping diagonally closer to the practice stake.

The tachi he had long raised grazed the stake accurately in this process. Almost instantly, the Qi flame on his body surged!

Then, without any prelude, he executed that wide-range sweeping ring move.

The white glow on the blade transitioned to yellow.

He collected his stance, just about to turn and explain the move to Lann.

But before he could speak...

”Pressure?” Lann tilted his head, speaking thoughtfully.

And the half-turned Sword Master froze abruptly.

”The core of tachi techniques isn’t ’Qi Blade,’ but external pressure?”