Chapter 3: 3 Swordsmanship
'Is doing this necessary?' Orochi inquired, as he continued to follow Tomoki's instructions. 'Wouldn't it be better for me to just pick up the sword and learn from experience?'
<No, no, no,> Tomoki shook his head, <Haven't you heard of the saying, 'practice makes perfect'?>
'But even then! Isn't doing 1000 swings per rep for 30 reps a bit too much?' Orochi complained, 'Can't we just tone it down a bit?'
<None can do! It is you who asked me to teach you swordsmanship!> Tomoki refused, <Also, when are we going to join the Resistance and rebel against the Sakura Decree?>
'Once I learn swordsmanship,' Orochi replied, 'I'm not going to sit around and train with amateurs and make no progress! Plus, it's a good opportunity to learn how to fight since there's danger everywhere.'
<Fair point, I suppose.> Tomoki nodded, <After you finish your last rep, I'll show you my swordsmanship.>
'Yes, sir!' Orochi exclaimed as he breezed through the rest of his swings with little mistakes in his forms. After finishing up the last task that was assigned to him by Tomoki, he was finally going to be able to witness Tomoki's swordsmanship for himself.
<Set up a scarecrow or something similar,> Tomoki demanded, <We'll use it to represent an opponent.>
'Yes, sir!' Orochi complied, gathering straws and sticks to build a Scarecrow. He bunches up a bunch of straw and tied them together with ropes made of grass, before using the sticks to serve as their base.
'Hmph… now what?' Orochi questioned as he placed the scarecrow in place. 'What do I need to do now?'
<Just watch me,> Tomoki replied, <Watch as I do it slowly and take notes on it.>
Tomoki planted his feet on the ground, two hands held tightly to the katana, and took a deep breath before unleashing five consecutive strikes against various parts of the scarecrow. 'Again!' Orochi requested, 'I missed parts of it!'
As Tomoki complies with Orochi's request, Orochi noticed that the strikes landed on the scarecrow and went from up to down, from the neck, forearm, side of body, thighs, and hamstring. <That's one.> Tomoki said as he finished up his first repeat. <You have two more left.>
Ignoring Tomoki, Orochi got straight to mimicking the movements of Tomoki. 'Hands together, knees bend down, deep breath, strike!' Orochi recalled the observations of Tomoki.
Sadly, his strikes were neither as precise nor as fast as Tomoki's. Even if they were, they would often lack the power to do serious damage. 'Another time! There must have been something I missed!' Orochi insisted.
Orochi stared intensely at Tomoki as he swung his sword, and noticed how Tomoki takes a step before performing his first slash, which is the strongest one out of the 5 slashes, as well as how smooth the transitions were, but something just felt off <Did you see it?> Tomoki asked. <Do I have to repeat it?>
Instead of replying to Tomoki, Orochi focused on learning Tomoki's sword style by just observing his actions. Taking a step before his first strike added unnecessary movement, and it didn't seem to have any effect different from when he didn't take that step. Although the transition was smooth, it didn't feel efficient as it could be, which ticked Orochi off. 'Ughhh, something feels off, but I don't know what!' Orochi expressed his frustration. 'One. More. Time.'
<Ok, but remember, this is the last time I'll be repeating it.> Tomoki reminded Orochi. <Here I go!>
Seeing Tomoki's sword style again, instead of focusing on his entire body, Orochi focused more on his step and his breath. He couldn't help but notice a few things about Tomoki's swordsmanship. First, it was weak, aside from the first strike, the rest of them looked like it tickled. Second, he had planted his feet onto the ground, shifting his body weight into his stomp on the ground, which creates a powerful slash, but at the same time, leaves a crucial opening for opponents. Then, the deep breath he took in the beginning was held in through the whole example, providing him with a short boost that doesn't last long enough. And finally, he cramped all his slashes in one go, which puts a lot of stress on his muscles, causing tremendous pain to his body. 'Why am I seeing all of this?' Orochi questioned. 'Although I have no prior knowledge of swordsmanship, why do I know about this?'
<Know about what?> Tomoki wondered, <W-Wait, Orochi! Your eyes! Your eyes changed to that of a snake's eyes!>
'Huh? What do you mean by that???' Orochi panicked, rushing to the nearest water source. 'I don't see any difference in my reflection.'
<Hmm… let's see here… let's test this out> Tomoki said, performing his sword style again. <Did you see that?>
'Hmm? Yea, but what about it?' Orochi questioned, 'Unless…'
Staying back into the pool of water, the reflection was not what he had seen a few minutes ago, instead, he was met with a petrifying gaze of a snake. Orochi instinctively backed up at the sight of this. 'Wha-What was that?' Orochi wondered, 'Was that… me?'
<Why yes indeed> Tomoki answered, <I assume that it's a change caused by Orobashi's intervention with our death.>
'That's… quite ominous but that's cool,' Orochi collected his thoughts, 'Perhaps there's more to it than that!'
<Maybe, we can ask Orobashi if we ever come across him again> Tomoki nodded, <Judging by what you said earlier, it is very possible that this eye gave you a good understanding of fighting styles and improvements>
'I think this will be helpful to me in creating a fighting style that suits me,' Orochi smirks, 'Thanks, Tomoki! I probably wouldn't have noticed without your help!'
<No problem!> Tomoki said, <But wouldn't this take some time to achieve? I thought we were going to join the Resistance?>
'That could wait. As you said, practice makes perfect. So I'm going to practice then gain experience on the battlefield,' Orochi replied, 'First step is to adjust your sword style to my liking while improving the fundamentals of it.'
Orochi swings with a sword around, landing critical strikes and leaving dents on the scarecrow. 'I would like to make my sword techniques target the opponent's weak points and maneuvers unpredictably,' Orochi thought, 'That way, I can maximize my ability while striking my enemies unexpectedly through slithering swordplay. But that requires a lot of work and strain on my body.'
<Can't you utilize your weapon with the vision once you've retrieved it?> Tomoki questioned, <Or are you going to do something else?>
'You'll see when the time comes,' Orochi snickered, 'For now, I'll need to look for my 'victim'.' With that said, Orochi immediately sets off, scanning his surroundings.
<Oh my archons, what's he up to now?> Tomoki rolled his eyes, <Nothing good ever happens when he is up to something…>
As Orochi continued to survey his surroundings, Tomoki couldn't help but recall the two things that had happened in situations like this.
'Ah! Found it!' Orochi exclaimed, pointing in the direction where a Ronin was. 'Time to test it out!'
<While I hate your cunning approach to things> Tomoki said, <I sometimes get concerned about the way you're acting…>
Before Tomoki could finish his sentence, Orochi zoomed toward the direction he pointed to. <I feel like a babysitter all over again…> Tomoki sighed, recalling his travels with his friend. <I wonder… how things are going for you, Kazuha?>
Instead of backstabbing and surprising the Ronin, Orochi stopped himself and reconsidered, 'But am I ready to fight against a real opponent with my life on the life?' Orochi asked himself.
<Finally, you are beginning to be more self-conscious about your decisions,> Tomoki nodded, <So why don't we go ahead and join the Resist—>
'Nah! I can just practice with you as my sparring partner!' Orochi interrupted, 'After all, we can still come into contact with each other, it's just others who can't see you can't feel you like I can.'
<What am I going to do with you?' Tomoki sighed, <Fine, just don't regret it when I beat your ass up!>
'Hah! We won't know if I am better than you until we fight!' Orochi refuted, 'Save the trash talk after you beat me first!'
<Alright, you said it!> Tomoki grinned, <Here I come!>
The two readied their stance before charging into each other, clashing blades.
A/N: Not much of a good chapter but enjoy as a bonus I suppose :) Tyfor the power stone, won't do this every week though…
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