A Dragon's Curiosity

Instead of exiting through the same gate that the dragon had arrived at, Knife Leader Tanya and Nisha left through the back and stood in front of a leveled yard.

Traces of the previous lawn could still be seen here and there, though the land had been leveled by the army and repurposed into a training yard.

Soldiers stood in line and swung their swords, while several leader figures walked through their ranks and corrected their practice.

The appearance of an elf raised some eyebrows, but none of the eyes that scanned them followed the pretty woman and her guest as they walked to an empty square with a rack of training weapons.

“Generally the rank of Lance Corporal is considered the pinnacle of the career ladder in the army, it’s rare to rise from the sixth aura rank to the seventh. It’s the second great divide in talent—not many humans can breach through that barrier.

Those that do manage to do it though, can apply for the ranks above common officers.

Appointed by the order of the Empress herself, the next title is split in the Great Sword Generals and Great Shield Generals.

Historically, the denomination comes from the mission each legion is tasked with. Those defending the capital and the land around Mount Terus are the shields of the nation, whereas each Great Sword General receives a mission to fulfill together with the legion banner.

Both positions hold great power and rarely leave the command post that is established as the lifeline of a legion.

On this excursion to Thurgau, the direct subordinate of the Great Sword General Tulsi—another Lance Corporal—is considered the head of all armed forces until we return to our barracks.

Above that are the Order Tribuns and council of elders, but I don’t really know much about them either, they are far above my paygrade after all.”

With this, they reached the weapon rack and stopped their idle conversation, even the sweet lady now had a stern demeanor and professional attitude.

At least that was her intention. Seeing a soldier in the black and silver uniform, standardly issued by the empire, drew all kinds of gazes toward their corner of the training field.

Nisha also admired the tight cutting fit and wondered whether she could sew something similar to conform to her own body like that.

Unfortunately, the Knife Leader Tanya had no intention to let her student’s head drift among the clouds and picked two similar wooden swords from the rack.

Just going by the feel and feedback from her [Spirit Sight], each and every piece of equipment intended for the daily training routine of the soldiers was at least second rank material-wise.

Tanya handed the elf the shorter version of her own weapon and shifted into a ready stance by holding the sword with both hands in front of her.

“The beginning for all new recruits is the same in the army. You get out and practice your body until you can swing a training blade one hundred times in a row.

Until then, all other exercises are put on hold and a physical training drill will be held every day.

If you are unable to endure the one hundred swings, I suggest that you exercise your stamina in your free time. Lance Corporal Hale did not deem it necessary for the both of us to waste our time on mundane actions like that.

We’re going to pretend you already passed the physical assessment and start with the actual weapon drill.”

As she spoke, the Knife Leader lifted the wooden sword halfway above her head and made a downwards hacking motion right away. The tip stopped when it hovered a finger’s width above the ground and whirled up a dry gust mixed with dirt.

The dragon greatly admired that degree of body coordination. Seeing that the swing did not lack power or effort in any way, the counter pressure when trying to stop such a stroke in a precise spot had to be even greater.

“This is one standard swing, try your best to remember my actions. You can stop around hip height when you begin and then work your way down. Try your best to get as close to the ground as you can.

[Imperial Swordplay] is not a skill anyone can learn in one go, the goal of the entire exercise is to gain greater control over your body.”

Knife Leader Tanya brought her sword in a ready stance once again and loosened the breath she had held throughout the series of motions.

Teaching a new recruit was a double sided affair as a good student had the potential to return the teachings in a new manner while a bad student could ruin the instructor’s entire day—or whatever was left of it after they screamed their lungs out to get the greenhorns to execute a proper figure even once.

“As you might have noticed, the first level contained in the [Imperial Swordplay] is also called [Basic Styles].

To let you get an idea for that, tell me what skills you have and how proficient you are with them.”

Circling around her student, the pretty lady kept her own weapon at her side as she watched Nisha get into the same combat stance, stepping in and correcting the angle of her hands and the distance between her feet while she was at it.

“I obtained two skills from the Guild, one is called [Shadow Clad] and can give my weapon an additional layer of damage, while the other is rather mysterious and goes by the name of [Seal: Create]. I have not yet figured out what that one does beside summon a corresponding rune into the air.”

Starting the sequence to execute a basic swing in a slow manner, Nisha focused more on her weapon. As a result, a simple sentence dragged on far longer than usual and she finished three sets with subsequently fewer corrections by the Knife Leader.

Naturally, her forms still had many flaws and none of the three strikes followed the same path or remained at the same height when the dragon stopped her swings.

Nonetheless, no one was born a master and getting direction for her combat ability already satisfied the elf plenty.

“I see. Elemental enhancements are fairly common at the early ranks, they are straightforward and one of the earliest applications that warriors learn when they come into contact with aura.

Still, some of them have great additional effects and can turn the tide in your favor in a close fight, so I guess you should keep practicing that one.

For your second skill, without seeing it I have no idea either, but my intention behind the question was to see if you had any skills that were more active.

To give you an idea, there are plenty of flawed products in the [Adventurer’s Guild] library. They include nonsensical motions and fixed postures to execute. One example would be the skill [Strike of Light], which as the name implies, is a basic difficulty skill intended for physical fighters.

According to the tome and image crystal, you have to stand still and channel aura through your sword while holding it above your head with both hands before striking down a dark creature.”

A rather unladylike snort escaped Tanya as she mimicked the ridiculous act with her own sword before dropping it to her side again.

“You might get away with such behavior in a guild-related party diving into the dungeon when a dedicated shield bearer can take the front line and hold a monster down while someone clowns around like that, but the army needs to rely on every single soldier in the front line to do their job.

Imagine a squad of cavalry rushing at our shield wall. Suddenly one of the new recruits throws his shield away and squats before death, which is rushing at him on a horse while he tries to gather enough aura in the sword to hit back and prevent dooming all of his comrades.”

The group leader shook her head at that scenario and urged her new student to keep up the stance, without striking down this time.

“Hence, great thinkers of past generations came up with a brilliant idea after who-knows-how-many turns.

Write down all the singular movements and have each soldier learn them through training.

Naturally, these eggheads lost their nation when a horde of barbarians brutally stormed them down. Yet, the idea captivated people and after a long time, the revised version surfaced one fateful day in the form of [Imperial Swordplay].

From the lowest layer, the [Beginner Styles] to the highest, the manual aims to unify the different attack variations and narrow them down to an essential list that is easy enough to learn, but builds a foundation powerful enough to attain higher technical levels without having to study more moves.”

Knife Leader Tanya nodded to herself and if not for the slightest curls at her mouth’s edges, Nisha would have assumed that the previous part was a historically accurate representation.

“The Terus army adopted this manual as a must have for every new recruit. The first drill when they get into their first squad with a sharp weapon is the [Basic Styles], and the last lesson for the old fogeys when they retire from service.

You can practice it for an infinite amount of time and still have room for improvement. There’s no finished state since they are so simple, and no highest level to attain since the countless permutations not only connect with each other but also evolve through personal combat experience and change from the perspective of each individual.”

By now, the elf had to keep her face in check to prevent herself from rolling her eyes or snorting in the same manner as her instructor had done earlier.

First, Tanya had announced they were skipping the one hundred strokes. Yet, all they ended up doing was that the pretty lady explained the history behind the manual Nisha was supposed to learn.

Looking from an educational point of view, this was the correct approach at an unknown domain for any beginner, to be as inclusive as possible.

On the other hand, the dragon learned nothing new other than that the Knife Leader had remarkably soft hands for a soldier.

An idle thought, carried away by the wind as Tanya continued the history lesson.

Strangely enough, her candied voice invoked a trace akin to a hypnotic effect in the minds of her listeners. Each word left them craving for more so they memorized every following word to help them during the drought between her breaks.

“A unified army based on the [Imperial Swordplay] not only has an advantage in the field, where skills can be smooth lined and optimized in order to replace their inefficient and harmful movements and incorporate them in regular formations and squads, it is also helpful to check the dedication of a soldier to improving himself.

In the Imperial Army, an elite that wishes to climb the ladder and become a Knife Leader not only has to break through the fourth rank, they also need to reach the level of [Noble Execution], or the second level of the manual.

And in order to go from the rank of Lance Corporal to Great Sword General or Great Shield General, the requirements go up to seventh aura rank and [Royal Exchange], the third level in the [Imperial Swordplay] manual.

So to say, if soldiers shuts themselves in all day and only cultivate without polishing their abilities, they can be elite soldiers at best, but never lead others into the fight.”

“Then what about Lance Corporal Hale? Does she also have the proficiency of the second level with [Imperial Swordplay]?

I can’t really imagine her practicing from the moment the sun rises until it goes down when she attempted to become an officer. She should be a natural at this kind of stuff, right?”

Nisha repeated more standard slashes from the normal stance.

While it was boring and repetitive work to repeat the same motions over and over again, the dragon actively looked for her flaws and aimed to reduce them whenever she recognized one.

Just because a task dragged on and bored her, it was no reason to get sloppy.

And Knife Leader Tanya beamed really wide when it came to the target of her adoration.

“Of course! As a professional soldier, Lance Corporal Hale had already stepped into the level of [Noble Exchange] when she was still a common soldier under a Knife Leader. She beat several instructors at pure swordplay at the biggest military academy in the entire Terus empire.

Many factions suspected her to be the next candidate to advance as a Lance Corporal in the Legion within a turn.

To everyone’s surprise, she chose to attend the Medicus courses offered by the army and spent several years mastering a specialized profession that not many manage to finish.

When Lance Corporal Hale returned to active duty, her cultivation had advanced enough that she obtained her current seat within a month of her return.

While not the typical career, her advancements are a model worthy of admiration among new and aspiring recruits, often spoken about by the instructors in basic training.”