Day 3 of the Combat Training with Basrero.
On that day, just as they had during the previous two, Rei and Basrero were intently conducting combat training in Baron Cisne's House Backyard.
"Look, you've left your leg defense wide open again!"
Along with that shout, Rei swept the boy’s legs with the spear's shaft, tumbling Basrero onto the ground.
Counting today alone, he had been knocked down more than twenty times. Even so, compared to the day before, he was becoming somewhat able to react to attacks aimed at his feet. One truly had to admit he was a child with a high capacity for learning.
(Or perhaps it is the sword talent inherited from Muet's great-grandfather,) Rei mused inwardly.
He watched as Basrero pushed himself up from the ground. Two sets of eyes observed their training. One belonged to Ashie, the Cisne House Maid, who stood by ready to use recovery magic immediately should an injury occur. The other belonged to Set.
There were two reasons Set was present today after having stayed behind the day before. First, Rei had mentioned that the dead branches scattered about the backyard had been neatly cleared away. Second, Mirene had not come by to visit. To be more precise regarding the latter, Sulnin and Ekryl—neither of whom wanted to take on requests in the snowy winter weather—had been forced to physically restrain Mireine as she tried to charge into the Dusk Wheat Inn.
If left to her own devices, she would spend any amount of money to buy treats for Set, and the rewards they had earned from their lizardman subjugation were rapidly dwindling. Sulnin had been the one to notice this, proving he truly deserved his title as the Strategist of the Scorching Wind.
At any rate, due to those circumstances, Set had accompanied Rei to Baron Cisne's House today.
"Huff... huff... huff... Here I come!"
Regulating his breathing, Basrero assumed his stance and closed the distance with Rei once more.
The combat instruction Rei provided consisted of, just as he had promised, repeating mock battles over and over. Normally, a teacher would instruct a student on how to swing a blade or move their body through formal "kata." However, as Rei had stated himself, he had come this far through a self-taught style. He felt it would be improper to teach his own idiosyncratic methods to another—especially to the legitimate heir of a noble family—so he had settled on the conclusion that repeating mock battles was the best approach.
"Yaaah!"
With a spirited shout, Basrero thrust his sword forward. The strike was sharper than it had been yesterday when he was preoccupied with defense. Nevertheless, it was still dull compared to the all-out blow he had unleashed on the first day when he hadn't been worrying about his guard at all.
Rei parried the thrusting tip with the spear's shaft in silence. The sword was knocked aside, but what followed was different from their previous exchanges. Utilizing the momentum of the parry, Basrero spun around grandly on the spot. Maintaining that speed, he unleashed a horizontal slash aimed at Rei's torso.
"Eeeei!"
Rei opened his eyes slightly, impressed by the maneuver, but in the next instant, he turned his wrist and parried the blade with the spear's shaft.
Clang!
The high-pitched ring of metal clashing against metal echoed through the yard. Listening only to the sound, the two might have seemed evenly matched, but a fundamental difference in physical ability remained.
Before anyone realized it, the iron spear was still in Rei's hand, while the sword that had been gripped in Basrero's hand just seconds ago was gone.
"Ow!"
His hand had gone numb from the impact. Basrero crouched on the spot, clutching his right hand with his left.
"Young Master!"
"Wait, don't move!" Rei barked, stopping Ashie just as she reflexively started to run forward.
"But...!"
Ashie’s usually airheaded expression tightened with concern as she directed a sharp glare at Rei. Her expression vanished instantly, however, as the sword Rei had sent flying earlier plummeted from the sky and pierced the ground halfway between her and Basrero.
"It's fine now," Rei said. "Though he shouldn't have any actual injuries, so I don't think there's any need for you to go over."
Ashie ignored him and ran to Basrero anyway. "Young Master, are you all right? I'll use recovery magic immediately..."
As she reached out, Basrero gently stopped her hand. "I'm fine, Ashie. Like Teacher said, I don't need recovery magic for something like this."
In truth, his hand wasn't actually injured. The numbness was simply the result of Rei's brute strength parrying the sword. Even so, the vibration had reached all the way to the marrow of his bones.
"Are you truly all right?"
"Yes, don't worry. Ashie, it's dangerous here, so please step back. The practice is far from over."
Though his grip had not yet returned, Basrero reached out for the hilt of the sword lying on the ground. Ashie watched him with a worried gaze but realized that staying would only interfere with the combat training. She bowed slightly toward Rei in apology for her earlier outburst and returned to her post.
The training continued for the rest of the day. Though it was not quite as brutal as the previous day, Basrero was poked in his weak defenses or swept off his feet countless times.
Day 4. Unlike the previous day, it was snowing heavily. Training in the backyard was out of the question; forcing it would only lead to unnecessary injuries. While combat training in bad weather was a necessary skill for the experienced, Basrero was nowhere near that level yet. He was still a beginner—and perhaps more dangerous than a complete novice because he had just enough skill to be overconfident. Rei saw no point in him sustaining useless injuries even with Ashie's recovery magic on hand, so he decided on a different type of training.
"Next one's coming."
"Huff... huff... huff... Yes!"
Basrero nodded after catching his breath. The two were currently in Baron Cisne's House Reception Room, the same place Rei had been shown to on his first visit. Rei was currently throwing paper balls at Basrero, who had to dodge them. Ashie was off doing housework since there was no real danger, and Set had remained in the stables to avoid the heavy snow.
"Listen. I'll say it again: treat these paper balls like an enemy's attack. Don't let them hit you!"
Rei threw the roundly crushed lump of paper at Basrero. He followed it with another, and another. Basrero tried his best to dodge, but the paper balls moved with significant speed. He was doing well if he managed to avoid even half of them.
"Your defense improved a bit in yesterday's mock battle, but you're still too focused on attacking. This training will help hone your dynamic visual acuity. Look at the paper balls and dodge them. Don't try to predict where they're going; react to what you see."
"Yes!"
Rei continued to fire the paper balls. He hadn't actually come up with this training method himself; having been forced indoors by the weather, he had devised the exercise on the fly by referencing a manga he had read back in Japan. Rei knew the training was a bit reckless, but he decided it was better than doing nothing.
The harshness of the exercise was evident from the way Basrero stood unsteadily, gasping for air. Even though they were only made of paper, the balls carried decent velocity when thrown with Rei’s strength. While there was no risk of serious injury, the superficial pain was considerable. Because the paper balls came in a relentless, near-constant stream, Basrero was forced to move desperately to avoid the sting. Consequently, the evasive movements he had struggled with began to take shape, though at the cost of his rapidly depleting stamina.
Day 5. Unlike the day before, the weather was unusually clear for winter. The sun shone brightly, though the air remained cold. The stage for their combat training returned to the backyard once more.
Having worked on his evasion and dynamic visual acuity the previous day, they were moving on to the next step: defense against magic. Basrero looked as energetic as ever. He had developed some muscle soreness from the previous day’s exertion, but Ashie's recovery magic had smoothed out any stiffness in his movements.
"Listen. I'm going to use magic on you now. It’s just a ball of flame that won't actually burn you; it'll only feel a little hot. The goal is the same as yesterday: either dodge it or intercept it with your sword."
"Eh? Teacher, my sword isn't a Magic Item."
Basrero spoke almost reflexively. It was common knowledge that a family as poor as Baron Cisne's House couldn't afford expensive magic equipment. While some magic swords were cheaper—such as ordinary blades coated with mythril, flame ore, or magic stones—even those were beyond their current means.
"That's fine. I've adjusted the magic so that even an ordinary sword can interfere with it. If you hit it, the flame will vanish. The point is to get you used to magic. This is real magic, unlike the paper balls, but I've tuned it for training. Whether you become an adventurer or inherit the title of Baron, the worst thing that can happen in a fight is being paralyzed by surprise when an enemy uses magic. Here I go."
"...Yes!"
Basrero assumed his stance. It was no longer focused purely on offense; he was poised to shift into a defensive posture at a moment's notice. Rei had hammered that into him by relentlessly exploiting his weaknesses.
Rei pulled the Death Scythe from his Misty Ring. While Basrero was momentarily distracted by the sight of the bizarre weapon, Rei began his chant.
"O flame, thou who art soft and possesseth a faint heat. Consume my magic power and emerge like a cloud of mist."
A 30cm flame formed at the tip of the Death Scythe's massive blade.
"Faint Flame."
As the spell was completed, a 10cm fireball shot from the tip toward Basrero. It moved slowly, about the speed of a stone being tossed by hand.
"Eh?" Basrero gasped at the slow speed. He quickly recovered and swung his sword at the approaching flame. "Yaah!"
The sword sliced cleanly through the fireball, and the flame dispersed harmlessly into the air.
"I did it...? I did it, Teacher!"
Basrero cheered at having cut through the magic. Ashie, watching from the mansion, also wore a happy smile.
"You've got the idea now. It won't burn you even if it touches you, so let's keep going."
"Yes!"
Basrero nodded vigorously and raised his sword. Seeing his readiness, Rei fired two fireballs, this time just a bit faster than the first.
"Ei! Yaah!"
With two quick flashes of his blade, Basrero cut both fireballs. His strikes were reasonably sharp, perhaps due to his innate offensive talent or the progress he had made over the last few days of training with Rei.
However, that success was short-lived. As Rei gradually increased the speed and the number of fireballs, Basrero became overwhelmed just trying to keep up, and the flames began to strike his body.
"Don't feel like you have to cut them all. Mix in some dodging!"
"Ah, yes! I've got it!"
By the time the day was over, many fireballs had found their mark on Basrero's body.