Chapter 63: The Tachi! So Cool! The Tachi!

Sea-buckthorn was temporarily left with Nazia for "advanced studies."

According to Nazia, Sea-buckthorn's knowledge of mechanics was entirely self-taught. Forget about whether the foundation was solid or not; it simply didn't have one at all.

If it really wanted to walk down this path, there was still far too much it needed to learn.

Declining old man Gala's invitation to "eat our way through all of Barubare," Auron went to the weapon shop and bought a training greatsword, a hammer, and dual blades.

The types of weapons he could wield proficiently were numerous, but in order to avoid letting his skills become rusty, he needed to spend more time and energy training with each of them daily.

Of course, he hadn't forgotten to purchase an iron katana (the basic ore-based longsword).

That previous battle had sparked his interest in the katana—a weapon that, aside from lacking a defensive block, possessed extremely well-rounded capabilities in every other aspect.

More importantly, Mutti had promised to teach him katana swordsmanship.

Sea-buckthorn was working hard to improve itself, so he couldn't afford to fall behind either.

After carrying this pile of training weapons back to his hunter's cabin and storing them properly, Auron changed into his armor, slung the iron katana over his back, and knocked on Mutti's door.

Dressed in casual clothes, Mutti was lying on her bed in a daze.

During her recuperation, Guild Master Sophia strictly forbade her from engaging in daily training and barred her from leaving the assembly hall casually, which left her with no choice but to sit in her room growing mushrooms.

Auron's arrival made her immensely happy; she could finally find something to do!

"Let's go! To the training ground together!"

"Together?" Auron blinked in surprise at those words, glancing at the bandages on Mutti's body. "I just wanted to ask a few questions about form, and I can practice the rest by myself. You should really just focus on recovering..."

"Oh, nonsense, I'm practically all better already! It's just Aunt Sophia who won't let her guard down!" Mutti practically pushed Auron all the way to the training ground behind the assembly hall.

"Besides, building a proper foundation is not something to be taken lightly. You can't do it without a teacher watching from the side!"

Mutti seemed to thoroughly enjoy the feeling of playing the teacher.

Auron was both grateful and helpless, but he certainly didn't dare let Mutti pick up a sword.

The bones this girl had fractured were reset, but they definitely weren't fully healed yet. If any movement was too forceful and those bones dislocated again, wouldn't Guild Master Sophia tear him to shreds?

"I'll execute the movements, and you just stand on the side and correct me verbally if anything is wrong."

Seeing Auron's resolute attitude, Mutti had no choice but to abandon the idea of demonstrating herself. "Fine then. First, practice the stance and suburi (solo sword swings)! The most important thing for a katana is that the cutting trajectory must be true!

Your right foot further forward, a wider stance. Engage the muscles in your legs and waist; you need to have a sense of executing it in one single breath!"

Mutti tried hard to recall the methods her elders had used when teaching her the katana, and soon, Auron's form began to look quite proper.

Seeing this, Mutti nodded in satisfaction. "Right! Just like that! Go ahead and perform fifty slashes first!"

According to her experience, after executing a few swings—at most a dozen—a beginner's form would begin to deform. At that point, she, acting as the instructor, would need to step in and make corrections.

Through countless repetitions like this, once the trainee formed solid muscle memory, this first step could be considered complete.

She was just pondering what kind of phrasing to use to appear more dignified when Auron had already finished his fifty slashes.

"Teacher Mutti, what's next?"

"Huh?" Mutti was slightly stunned. That was already done? She felt a pang of shame for her momentary distraction, but she didn't dare admit it.

"Ahem, stand straight, relax your muscles, and then execute a few more swings to let me see," Mutti cleared her throat, masking her embarrassment as she spoke.

Based on her experience, after relaxing and resuming the movement, Auron's posture as a beginner would inevitably become distorted.

However, Auron's form remained standard; every step forward, every sword swing, was as precise as if measured with a ruler.

Mutti fell silent. After several seconds, she said in a gloomy tone, "Are you messing with me? You must have practiced suburi before, right?"

"No."

"I don't believe it! No beginner can pick it up without making a single mistake!" Mutti puffed out her cheeks.

Auron sighed helplessly. "I'm not a complete novice who has never touched martial arts. The greatsword, dual blades, hammer, and sword and shield—I mastered them all under the guidance of skilled seniors.

Martial techniques share commonalities with one another, and my body coordination and limb control are somewhat better than others, so I can memorize movements quickly."

That... also made sense?

Mutti blinked, and with a somewhat embarrassed expression, she admitted her mistake. "Alright, my mistake. Anyway, for the next few days, remember to come and call me to watch when you start practicing, so your form doesn't warp and ruin your foundation."

"Understood, Teacher Mutti." After nodding in acknowledgment, Auron tentatively asked, "By the way, could you teach me the basic sword forms as well? I seem to learn these things rather quickly, so we can practice them together."

With the precedent of his rapid mastery of suburi serving as a foundation, Mutti hesitated for a few seconds before agreeing. "The basic sword forms of the katana are just a few: the vertical slash, thrust, upward slash, kesa-gatari (diagonal slash), and reverse kesa-gatari.

Other more complex and fancy sword techniques all evolve from these basics. Oh right, there are also more complex ones like iai and leaping slashes, as well as the core of the katana: 'Spirit' (Renki).

I'll teach you those after you've mastered the basic sword forms."

"Understood, Teacher Mutti."

Mutti lost herself amidst the repeated calls of "Teacher," and for several consecutive days, she stayed with Auron in the training ground.

Blade meditation and other methods of quiet contemplation to sense the "Spirit" were taught to him as well.

When she snapped back to reality three or four days later, Auron was already wielding the katana quite proficiently.

Although he hadn't yet had time to master the core "Spirit," nor advanced sword techniques like Iai Spirit Slash, Foresight Slash, or Helm Breaker, his basic sword techniques alone had reached a standard where they could be initially applied in actual combat.

Compared to ordinary one- or two-star katana users, he was not inferior in the slightest.

This delivered a heavy blow to Mutti's confidence.

When her mother and grandfather told her back then that she had outstanding talent and learned quickly, it was definitely just to comfort her!

Auron had no idea that he had inadvertently crushed what little confidence Mutti had left; he was currently excited about having sensed the presence of "Spirit" for the first time.

Unlike greatsword users, whose power is based on physical strength and "Fighting Spirit," the "Spirit" valued by katana users is closer to the manipulation of momentum and blade force.

By continuously attacking monsters, or precisely dodging monster attacks through means like the Foresight Slash, a katana user's "Spirit" grows stronger and stronger—a process known as "Spirit Gathering" (Renki).

Utilizing this "Spirit," a katana user can condense a layer of sharp energy blade along the edge to enhance the destructive power of their attacks, and unleash powerful sword techniques such as Spirit Slash, Spirit Helm Breaker, and many others.

It was said that certain special techniques could even unleash a destructive output rivaling a greatsword's True Charged Slash—and everyone knew that was widely recognized as the single most devastating attack among all weapons.

He had originally thought these were just rumors, but after experiencing the presence of "Spirit" for the first time, Auron's active mind couldn't help but bring this question up to Mutti.

"It's true." Hearing Auron say he could already sense the "Spirit," Mutti answered with a blank expression from the edge of the training ground. "As far as I know, there are two such techniques: Serene Perkance Iai and Sakura Slash.

The former has greater power, but like the greatsword's True Charged Slash, it requires buildup; the latter is faster and more flexible, though it has extremely high demands on the user's explosive power and usually requires external assistance."

"They really exist!" Putting his sword aside and wiping the sweat from his brow, Auron was entirely invigorated. "Do you know these techniques? Can they be taught as well?"

Mutti's eyes widened like a dead fish's. "Those are sword arts masters usually only have the qualification to master from four or five stars onwards, or even among high-rank katana users! Of course I don't know them!"

"I see..."

Looking at Auron's regretful expression, which practically said, *What a pity, if you knew them, I would have learned them too,* Mutti finally couldn't help but explode.

She snatched up Auron's iron katana and charged into the training ground with a furious, "Ahhhhh!"

If she didn't work hard and strive, she was going to be overtaken by this guy in katana mastery!