章節 52: Techniques (1)
Today's errand was unlike the previous days.
"Breathe in and breathe out as you strike! Ha!"
"""Ha!"""
"Louder! Again!"
"""HA!"""
"Even louder! Is that all you've got?!"
"""HA!!!"""
Sebastian watched over the trainees wielding staves with a blank expression.
Amy's errand for today was to watch over the knight trainees. She didn't have to do much, just watch from the sides and occasionally give pointers or suggestions.
It was a classic tactic to boost morale. Have someone in power watch over new recruits and trainees to motivate them in hopes of getting noticed.
"Bored?"
Amy asked Sebastian without turning her head to face him. She had to make it look like she was interested in the training even if her mind was elsewhere.
"No, I just feel like joining them."
That couldn't be further from the truth. He didn't think of any of the recruits could help him improve his form. The reason for his dazed look was because he was thinking about the spy.
Amy raised her brows and cast Sebastian a furtive glance, "then, I'll go and talk to the instructor."
"Eh? Wait a second..."
Before he knew it, Amy had already walked up to the instructor and began talking to him. After a few exchanges, Amy turned around with a smile.
"They couldn't agree with the training but the instructor proposed a mock battle. You against all of the recruits. The only weapon allowed is a staff. They can give you a set of training armor but, do you need it?"
Sebastian looked at Amy with incredulity. She actually heeded his half-assed wish and granted it so quickly that he didn't have time to process everything.
Groaning, Sebastian stood up from his seat and walked closer to the recruits.
"So, how are we doing this?"
There was no use crying over spilled milk. Sebastian was handed a staff and armor but after rejecting the latter, he masterfully spun the staff around his body a few times before glancing at the recruits.
"I'll go first!"
One of the more confident-looking recruits walked up to Sebastian first and bowed.
'He's too arrogant!'
The recruits glared at Sebastian. From the way he was acting and how easily the mock battles were set in stone, to him, it felt like Sebastian was displaying his arrogance.
'I'll show him a thing or two.'
The two of them took spots a few meters away from each other, just a bit out of range from the staves.
"I'll give you the first move."
Sebastian's words served to only anger the recruit further. He didn't really mean any harm by it but inwardly, he could sense it. Nobody in the area could stand a chance against him, save for Amy who would be able to destroy him completely.
"Haaa!"
The recruit leaped forward and tried to do an overhead strike but Sebastian parried it the moment it was about to hit. But, he didn't counterattack.
His first attempt failing, the recruit tried to attack again but this time, with a thrust aimed at the stomach. All of them were wearing some training armor but Sebastian refused to wear any. If they were hit in the torso by some wooden staves, it wouldn't hurt as much as it should.
"The first move is over," Sebastian coldly spoke, "it's my turn now."
BAM
Accompanied by a loud smacking sound, the recruit was sent flying towards the other recruits. Once he fell over, he rolled around the ground in pain.
Without sparing a second glance at the fallen recruit, Sebastian cast indifferent glances at the rest, "next."
He wanted to get it over as soon as possible. Little did he know, that his urgency caused all of the recruits to begin fearing him.
None of them saw how Sebastian defeated his opponent so quickly. All they heard was a loud sound and the next thing they knew, they had to catch their fallen comrade that was sent flying.
With the prolonged silence, even the instructor felt a little awkward and called someone, "Garrett, you're up."
"?!"
Garrett gawked at the instructor. He was betrayed!
Gritting his teeth, Garrett walked up to Sebastian under the watchful gazes of his comrades.
"P-please go easy on me," he couldn't help but plead a little. It was a common phrase to say out of courtesy to the one being taught but there were a few of his real feelings in there. Scratch that, there weren't just a few feelings there. He wanted Sebastian to go as easy on him as possible.
"..."
Sebastian didn't respond to Garrett's words and simply took a stance. Garrett felt his heart sink.
"I'll give you the first move." Once again, Sebastian gave his opponent the right to the first attack.
Garrett couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.
"H-haaaa!"
With a loud roar, he threw caution to the wind and wildly swung his spear at Sebastian. It was more than just a few moves, he was doing everything he could to prevent Sebastian from attacking but as if fate was rejecting his wish, Sebastian dodged every attack with movements to spare.
Once Garrett halted his assault, Sebastian moved. He stepped forward and thrust the spear forward. Like the previous recruit, Garrett was sent flying. He wasn't unconscious, just rolling around the floor in pain.
Looking at the couple dozen recruits, Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "We're going too slow, come at me in pairs."
The instructor began sweating bullets. He was just one of the instructors for the knight trainees and he was originally glad to have the shift when the renowned daughter of the House of Luna, Amira Luna was going to watch but now, he only felt fear.
He was the one to propose the duels, he didn't think that his recruits would be crushed so easily and thoroughly but he couldn't retract his words. He knew of the man's identity, she was Amira Luna's fiancé.
"M-maybe we should stop..."
Nobody heard him. Amy was right next to him so he was too fearful of saying anything that may irk her ire. It was his pathetic attempt at saving his recruits.
Inwardly apologizing to them, he swore that he'd make it up to them someday.
Unbeknownst that they've been thrown under the bridge by their instructor, a few recruits grouped into pairs and stepped forward to meet Sebastian in battle.
The result was... a complete defeat. Let alone defeating Sebastian, they couldn't even land a hit or cause them to sweat.
The next pair stepped up but they didn't last any longer than the other pair. Due to his lack of sleep and loss of interest, Sebastian yawned and nonchalantly uttered, "why don't all of you just come at me once?"
Words of challenge made by a person filled to the brim with arrogance. Those were what registered in the minds of the recruits.
First, one recruit stepped up to attack. Then, another, and another. Soon, none of the recruits stood idly by as Sebastian took his stance. Even those who were defeated earlier like Garrett stood up to fight.
"Huff..."
Sebastian sucked in a breath and hit three recruits at the side of the neck and rendered them unconscious. Then, he kicked the foot of another approaching recruit and flipped him over with an arm to land on another recruit.
THUMP KWANG
For a couple of minutes, the only sounds that could be heard were grunts and groans from the recruits who were one-sidedly being beaten up and the sound of the staves hitting each other and hitting the training armor.
For the final recruit left standing, Sebastian used his signature move. He dashed forward and arrived right in front of the recruit. Using the techniques that Lyons had taught him, he disarmed the recruit then landed a blow directly to the chin after making sure that the recruit wouldn't bite his tongue.
Thump
With that, the last recruit fell to the floor and Sebastian threw away the staff.
"That was a good warmup. I should've made them do that from the very start."
Sebastian stretched his neck as he approached Amy.
"I'm glad that you're satisfied," a smile bloomed on her face. Sebastian didn't have the bored expression that he had just a few minutes ago.
"..."
The instructor looked at the two people flirting in front of him with an incredulous gaze.
Amy turned her eyes toward the instructor, "then, we'll be going. We might drop in from time to time so please accommodate us then, too."
"I-it will be my pleasure."
Some of the recruits still had a little bit of consciousness in them so when they heard Amy speak of their return, they wanted to cry.
...
"Sebastian, I didn't notice it during the duel with Gilbert because of my agitation but... could it be that you don't have any spear techniques?"
"...What exactly do you mean by 'techniques'?"
The term was too broad for him, it could mean anything.
"Something like 'Three-pronged Thrust' or 'Spear King's Assault'."
Sebastian strained his ears to make sure he didn't hear wrongly.
"What the heck are those?"
"So you really don't have any techniques..."
Amy sighed and opened the window at the front of the carriage's interior to talk to the coachman.
"Excuse me, head to the academy please."
There was only one academy in the city that could be called such, Aurora Academy.
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