Volume 3 Chapter 44 Quest： The Beginning Of The Rematch – Secret Technique
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
He stepped in quickly.
Natra’s handsome yet beautiful face filled his close-up view.
Her sweet sweat smell made his heart jump──but only for a moment.
”Ugh!?”
Kian fell back onto the sand.
His vampire eyes let him see what happened.
Natra slipped her hands between his wrists and threw him down with her whole body.
Impressive, despite their weight difference.
Such a clean hit that he almost used vampire strength or Mist Form instinctively.
If Kian were human on a battlefield, she’d have stabbed his throat in the next Leap.
”…Wow. What was that move?”
”Western sword throw. Church knights used it to grab enemy blades. Franz Kingdom knights adapted it.”
Natra pulled Kian up while explaining flatly.
”Looked like master-level. Where’d you learn it?”
”Stole it by watching Lady Eleonora teach Princess Maribel’s bodyguard.”
”Stole… by watching?”
After fighting Oswald, Natra only visited Izerland Fortress once or twice with Kian.
Did she sneak off during free time to spy?
”Yes. Franz Kingdom knights focus on defense and counters. They strengthen their cells with energy (ki). Like beasts──thick muscles let them tank strong hits.”
”────”
Kian remembered Serena copying his ‘shot’ move 2 months ago just by watching.
Beastmen could do it, but Natra was unreal.
While Kian gaped, Natra kept talking matter-of-factly.
”Even if the attack doesn’t work, I can throw and pin them to the ground. Normally, Sir Kian would get his knife broken by my sister at the finishing move, but this is a special match. If I throw and hold my opponent down, Sir Kian will win, even if Sir Kian can’t hurt my sister. My secret throws and sword techniques from the West will be very useful.”
”…Wow…”
”Sir Kian?”
”That’s amazing, Natra! You’re the best!”
He holds her hand, feeling truly impressed.
”So, it’s a throwing technique! This way, I don’t have to break through defenses with a ‘pierce’! If I get close and swords clash, I can use a technique on Sarah when we bind! I couldn’t think of this alone. You’re really something, Natra.”
”M-my lord, if you praise me like that… it makes me shy.”
”Do you know any other throwing techniques? I want to learn a few for different situations…”
”Yes. I have about ten techniques for duels. I planned to share them today.”
Natra is so capable.
She even defeats all the enemies before Kian draws his sword in quests.
Except for when she sometimes acts like a bully, she’s the perfect right-hand person.
Kian could have just let her handle this problem from the start and waited, picking his nose.
Actually, Kian’s ideas were too straightforward and a bit foolish.
”So, I should rely on Western martial arts. …Yes, as a warrior monk, I shouldn’t stick to just one style. I learned something important. Thank you, Natra.”
”I’m glad my simple ideas can help Sir Kian. But, my sister has incredible strength, so when you throw, she might resist a lot. You need to add some techniques to avoid being pushed back. For the next few days, I think we should practice these tricky techniques.”
”Yeah, I have no objections.”
”First, let me show you a cool trick I stole. Earlier, I taught you how to throw someone down. Now, watch me disarm with my sword. Get ready!”
They face each other, holding their wooden swords.
Natra moves slowly closer, then suddenly steps in and swings her sword down hard.
Kian dodges and aims for Natra’s neck with his wooden sword──then, in the next instant, Natra wraps her right arm around his, bending her elbow to lift his sword up, and she quickly uses the handle of her sword to block Kian’s attack.
There’s no time to be shocked.
Natra grabs Kian’s left hand with her left, pushing her own left hand forward.
She pushes Kian’s wooden sword with the handle towards Kian.
”…Uh!”
Kian’s arm is pushed toward Natra.
The tip of Kian’s wooden sword is forced back toward him.
The wooden sword slips from his hand and rolls onto the sandy beach.
”Wow, that’s amazing. It’s like magic!”
”Yes. This is the ‘sword take’ technique from the Franz Kingdom Knights. The catch is, it’s meant for an opponent with strength like a gorilla, not someone like me. You have to think about pivot points and where to put your force to make it work well.”
”It’s tricky, but I’ll study it. …Hmm, searching for martial arts like this is really exciting.”
”Hehe, me too!”
Natra flashes a bright smile, showing her white teeth.
At first, Kian compared this smile to Sarah’s, but now he can enjoy Natra’s smile just as it is.
Kian picks up his wooden sword, forgetting to dust it off, and faces Natra again.
”Next, teach me!”
* * *
After about 6 hours of practicing throws and disarming techniques with Natra.
Around 2 in the afternoon, Rufna, finished with feeding the rhais and preparing meals, arrives.
She nods repeatedly, impressed, as she hears Kian and Natra are figuring out how to disable Sarah with throws.
”It’s a throwing technique with a sword. It’s rare for us──something not in Azrael’s Dance Swordsmanship. In the Western world, people usually get strong like beasts, so this technique is special.”
”What do you think, Rufna?”
Kian grabs Natra’s wooden sword and her arm, throwing her.
Natra twists in the air and wraps her legs around Kian’s arm.
A smooth, brown calf of a girl comes into view.
Kian rolls and throws Natra away.
”…Wow! Nice job, Sir Kian!”
”I used a bit of vampire strength.”
”That’s unfair!”
”Sorry!”
”I think throwing techniques are a good idea.”
Rufna replies while watching Kian help Natra up.
But she frowns and says, “But…”
”Lady Sarah has gorilla strength, even more than Milady Natra. She broke a wooden sword in training with those skinny arms. Master remembers, right?”
”…That’s true.”
I help brush off the sand from Natra.
The sand feels cold from her sweat.
”To overpower someone, you need to be really strong. We’ve been studying for half a day, but to throw someone or take their sword, we need to be close in strength. A skinny 15-year-old like me against Sarah’s gorilla strength is tough. She was bigger back then too.”
”If Master had this body, throwing techniques would work for sure. But that’s not the case.”
”So, Rufna. Do you have any other ideas?”
Natra asks, and the dark elf head magician nods quickly.
”Secret Technique: ‘Pursuit of the Shadow.’”
Rufna pauses and then continues.
”Milady and Sir Kian must be watching the ‘Knights of the Sun’ use ‘Pursuit of the Shadow,’ right? I don’t know about Master, but Milady Natra’s already stealing the technique. Am I wrong?”
”Impossible. Secret Techniques use crazy amounts of energy (ki). ‘Pursuit of the Shadow’ is a ‘Leap’ type technique. Compared to something like ‘Thunder’ from the ‘Shot’ type, it uses less magic power, but it was still way beyond me as a kid.”
”Hmph, maybe not? I heard from Milady Natra that ‘Pursuit of the Shadow’ is basically just mastering ‘Leap.’ It twists your body’s physics, boosting your speed 5 to 7 times. You can’t go faster because the backlash would rip your body apart. It’s painful, and you can’t even kick the ground properly.”
”Right. Your body would break, so you use healing magic and mess with external physics to reduce the damage while super-accelerating. That’s the secret of ‘Pursuit of the Shadow.’ The mechanism’s simple, so you can steal it by watching──but young Sir Kian doesn’t have enough magic power to keep his body intact.”
”Well, in a real fight, the floor’s smooth stone, and they’re only 15 meters apart, ready to start. How many times do you kick the ground? Even if your body’s wrecked, as long as you have enough strength to swing a wooden sword once, it’s enough. No ‘Wall’ or ‘Thunder’ allowed. It’s too fast to dodge. Speed rules everything.”
Rufna keeps talking, switching her gaze between Kian and Natra.
”I think the key to this Quest is learning the Secret Technique ‘Pursuit of the Shadow.’ With ‘Pursuit of the Shadow,’ even if your feet get all messed up on the stone floor, you can still jump 15 meters with momentum. If Sarah attacks, Master might fail the Quest, so I believe the best way is to take her out in one strike without letting her act.”
”Hmm…”
”But like I said, if you use your old Master’s method, you’ll be left with 2 broken legs and have to attack Sarah. That would hurt a lot, and once you strike, it’s a real ‘final blow.’ You could lose whether you dodge or get hit. It’s about whether you’re ready for that. On the other hand, Milady Natra’s throwing technique is smart; it targets the enemy’s weak spots. It’s up to the Master to choose.”
”What will you do? I don’t think we can practice ‘Pursuit of the Shadow’ in the same way as the real thing.”
Kian fell silent for a moment at Natra’s words.
The two familiars offered 2 plans, but both had risks.
The throwing technique might be resisted by Sarah’s gorilla strength.
The Secret Technique ‘Pursuit of the Shadow’ is hard to learn, and he can’t be sure it will work in the real fight.
But if he uses it, it could be a deadly move.
He should be able to take Sarah out in one hit without letting her act.
Finally, Kian nodded and said,
”I don’t need to think too hard. I’ll do both. I’ll practice the Secret Technique ‘Pursuit of the Shadow’ even when my magic power is low, so I won’t be scared by pain or fall down if my muscles tear during the real fight.”
”――――.”
”Haha!”
Natra and Rufna exchanged glances.
Kian continued with a serious face.
”There’s a gladiator match coming up. Maybe I can fight by binding magic power and vampire abilities. I’m not happy with things as they are. I will grab every option and prepare fully for the quest. And──I will definitely save Sarah.”
”As you wish.”
”Alright, got it. You’re really something!”
Rufna smiles shyly.
Natra lowers her wooden sword and says,
”Let’s go eat now. After this, we need to clean up and get ready for the gala before the match.”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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