Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 692: Zone-1

Asher’s hand was a blur as he kept attacking endlessly, although Williams met all the attacks, he could tell the boy was getting tired due to the heaviness and weight that came with each strike. He could also see that Williams’ proficiency was rising in real time; after a point, he stopped sliding backwards entirely and held his ground with growing stability.

It wasn’t that Williams had suddenly perfected the blocking technique, Asher knew that after this moment, if Williams doesn’t continue this particular training to perfect it and make it second nature, then he would simply revert back to square one again, but Asher made no mention of it, that part was left entirely up to Williams and Williams alone, it had nothing to do with him.

With that, Asher’s attack style immediately changed, since Williams had adjusted to the blocking style, it was time to teach another method of defending, the parrying style. With that, his slash turned into a thrust, his speed swift, his motion sudden and unexpected, carrying a sharp intent that contrasted the previous rhythm.

Williams, who had fallen into the rhythm of exchange between him and Asher, immediately faltered at the sudden change in pace and rhythm, he seemed to be so absorbed in the improvement he was making that he had forgotten that this wasn’t a lesson that taught only blocking, but one that demanded adaptability and awareness at every single moment.

His reaction was slow, sluggish, and before he could properly respond, the tip of Asher’s rapier tore through his ribs, his skin parting as blood flowed. But Williams didn’t react to the injury, his pain tolerance could handle this much, besides, he knew Asher wasn’t targeting his vital organs, and had only given him a light injury that could heal within days without visiting the Healing Department.

Another attack came, this time directed at his shoulder, but this time he was able to react, his speed faster, but still not enough, another injury tore open in his shoulder as Asher’s blade met his flesh with precision.

Williams immediately blurred backwards, putting some distance between him and Asher so he could recalibrate, but Asher didn’t give him that chance, he closed the distance almost instantly, his rapier thrusting towards Williams’ ribs once again with surgical accuracy.

Williams moved to block, his movement sudden and slightly unbalanced, the moment the tip of the rapier and the side of the sabre met, a metallic symphony erupted outward within the one kilometer enclosed space, echoing faintly as their clash resonated.

Williams felt his hand go even more numb, his fingers screaming for rest, his shoulder begging to be left alone, but he stood firm, his will resolute, after all, this wasn’t his first training rodeo, and he was not one to back down from pressure.

”Although this is training for the sword, it doesn’t mean you must always block, when your opponent puts you out of rhythm, making you fall behind, don’t try to block, simply adjust into evading or any form of evasive maneuvers like I had done when you were attacking me,” Asher advised with a calm and composed tone.

Williams didn’t speak, but he had heard Asher’s words loud and clear, engraving them deeply within his mind as he focused on surviving and adapting.

The moment Asher was done speaking, he attacked again, with greater accuracy and intensity this time, as though he wanted to push Williams to the edge, and extract every single drop of effort his talent could produce, leaving nothing untapped.

’Feel the wind, ride the wind, move with the wind,’ Asher’s words echoed within Williams’ mind, repeating with increasing clarity.

At Asher’s incoming attack, he moved to the side as he attempted to dodge, but even as he dodged, he was still a bit slower as he hadn’t attuned in time, his skin split and a trail of blood fell, but neither Asher nor Williams stopped their exchange.

’There is barely any wind to feel within this enclosed space,’ Williams thought to himself as he dodged again, his skin opening once more as he received another injury, his body gradually accumulating shallow wounds and cuts.

And with that, both of them turned into blurs, Williams always moving to dodge, but the attacks always landed, although barely, grazing him instead of striking deeply, showing slight improvement.

’There is wind everywhere,’ he thought to himself as after a few minutes, he finally found his rhythm, his body shifting to the side as he perfectly dodged one of Asher’s attacks, and this time he received no injuries at all, marking a subtle but significant breakthrough.

As he found the rhythm, he began to move more fluidly, his speed getting faster as he moved in the wind’s direction and flowed with it, a smile couldn’t help but appear on his face, although it wasn’t perfect, it was still present, reflecting his progress.

He still had the stamina to continue, unlike his arms which were begging for rest, his lower torso still had the strength to move and continue, allowing him to maintain his footing and agility despite the strain.

’Took him ten minutes to read and feel the wind, not bad,’ Asher thought to himself as he moved in for yet another attack, his expression calm yet observant.

Of course, Asher hadn’t developed this himself, he had taken this from Instructor Jane during their first class, and with Asher’s ridiculous talent, he had seen it once and perfected it on his first try, which was within seconds after he understood it.

Normally, it should have taken time and experience to understand the concept of moving with the wind and perfecting it, enabling one to move with less force, more finesse, and expend less stamina, but Williams seemed to be in a sort of state, like a zone at the moment, where his talent burned the brightest, allowing him to grasp what would normally take far longer.

So, although they’ve been going at it for a while, Asher had no intention of stopping. Although it might seem as though Williams might devour and absorb all the knowledge he had, Asher knew that was impossible, so he had no problem with teaching Williams until he couldn’t learn anymore... until he hit the ceiling of what he could comprehend within this spar.

Although personally, Asher understood that too much of everything was detrimental, so at a certain point, he might still stop so as not to overload Williams with too many things to learn at once. It was always best to learn things one step at a time, allowing each lesson to settle properly.

’I wonder if I will ever fall into the Zone,’ Asher thought to himself, a fleeting curiosity crossing his mind despite his overwhelming talent.

Just like the blocking technique, Asher and Williams fell into a rhythm, a rhythm which Asher allowed, of course, just so Williams could gain more experience and a deeper feel of the wind as the exchange continued.

’I should pick up the tempo soon, his Zone state can’t last forever,’ Asher thought to himself as he timed Williams for the next two minutes, preparing to escalate the intensity of the training.