A Dragon's Curiosity

Nisha followed the instructions and focused on the wooden tag right in front of her.

Getting into the proper stance, the dragon picked one of the targets at a middle height and executed [Slash] ten times in a row.

Five times right, five times left, the wooden sword connected with wood more often than not.

Afterwards, the elf frowned ever so slightly, unhappy with her results.

Once the tag was hit for the first time, it swayed left and right at the end of the rope, making the second hit miss outright.

She tried to correct the trajectory for the following slashes, but the movement of the target was too erratic for a quick fix.

Ultimately, less than half of the attacks managed to connect to the intended target.

Nisha seldomly failed at tasks she focused on.

It frustrated the young girl when she was unable to perform as she expected, and sometimes she had to force herself to continue - sewing was one such example.

After learning the basics and pricking her fingers until the dragon shed blood, she never picked up a sewing kit again.

Similarly, the dragon had not spent a minor amount of effort to practice the sword styles to the point where her forms were acceptable and even tried them out in real combat as long as it was safe.

Nevertheless, the returns fell short of the investment.

And now, out of the sparse four hits that actually managed to hit the wooden target, only the first landed in the green area, one luckily managed to enter the yellow area and the other two nearly missed as well, barely glancing at the red area on the tag.

Nisha nearly wished that she could repeat the exercise right again, vowing to do better the next time now that she knew how the target moved under consecutive hits, yet she was interrupted by Knife Leader Tanya.

“You can stop, I think I figured out where the problem lies with your [Imperial Swordplay].

Step outside for a moment and come here.”

Contrary to the poor results visible on the wooden target, the pretty soldier was not discouraged.

Instead, she secretly wiped a layer of sweat from her head, it would be pretty embarrassing if she failed to spot the problem after boasting so much earlier.

Tanya luckily managed to gleam some insights after closely watching the exercise.

“How is it, Miss Tanya? What am I doing wrong?”

Nisha earnestly sought advice.

Rather than fumbling around on her own in the dark, a veteran practitioner of the sword manual could offer her valuable advice.

The elf really wished to succeed in the swordplay, no matter what.

Although her speed, strength and similar attributes far exceeded humans and even most monsters at the same cultivation level, which allowed her to simply beat them down and kill them that way, that violent fighting style would give her identity as a non-human away really quickly.

Nisha always excelled at fighting, whether as a dragon or as a hunter.

Once she had her eye on a prey, it was bound to enter her claws in due time.

Now that she shifted her efforts from hunting and using a bow, the elf discovered that wielding a sword brought her relatively little results.

“You don’t have to be sad about not hitting every hit, I cannot do it either, it’s a difficult exercise, especially when you do it for the first time.”

Apparently, Knife Leader Tanya saw through the young lady’s worries right away and consoled her first.

“Before I answer, let me ask some things first.

You already had quite a cultivation level when you started practicing the [Imperial Swordplay], correct?”

She seized up the elf, wondering how high her cultivation really was.

Compared to the average legionnaire she trained every day, Nisha exhibited greater strength and speed than most of them.

Tanya knew that elves often were older than they looked, but the girl was still so young and approached a standard somewhere between a second and third rank warrior, while not even going all out.

“You are correct, I’ve already had some small accomplishments at the point where I started practicing with the sword.

Is that an issue?”

The elf never heard about limitations regarding the practice of different skills at various cultivation levels.

She also never faced this problem when practicing the skills she obtained from the [Grand Library] next to the guild.

“Ah, I thought so. It’s not a problem by itself, but a result from the effects a higher level brings with it.

It’s not that your cultivation impedes your progress at practicing the styles, you managed to copy and emulate them to quite the high standard compared to the manual.

Unfortunately, you also skipped some steps unconsciously at the same time.

Take a look at the legionnaires around us, what’s your impression about the way they practice?”

Tanya found it difficult to formulate her thoughts concisely, she rarely had the chance to exercise the insights she found so far cultivating the sword to such a high level.

Hence she underlined the ideas she struggled to put forth with an actual example.

Nisha followed her cue and looked around.

Similar to the soldiers that protected the gates of Thurgau, men and women in uniform bustled about the practice yard.

Some of them ran rounds on a beaten track around the whole compound, while others executed strengthening exercises with weights and simple machines, while the majority employed wooden training weapons to spar with each other or worked on their sword styles.

As the method heavily emphasized on by the empire army, each and every soldier learned the [Imperial Swordplay].

In truth, the promotions of officers inside the Terus empire were also tied to the comprehension of their national technique.

“They are very professional and have great discipline. Compared to the guards near the gates and the place where I live, they are more diligent in their training.”

Nisha gave an honest appraisal of the bustling men and women around her.

The Terus Empire placed less restrictions on applications for soldiers and similar positions, making more women take up the job.

Although Leandar did not actively discourage women from combat jobs, the social implications still held most of them back.

It was still too early for the young elf to make a clear distinction between male and female in her mind and she only compared their combat strength to the best of her ability.

“That’s not what I had in mind, but you’re not completely wrong either.

What I meant was that they are practicing hard to perfect their forms, improve their stamina and muscle mass through exercise, that kind of stuff.

That’s not just for show.”

Knife Leader Tanya held immense pride for the soldiers of her home country.

The Terus empire placed huge emphasis on the prestige of the military. Even the most powerful families would have to stand by and watch as those who violated the separation between politics and military get beheaded on behalf of the Empress, unable to do anything.

The single effort of a high ranking military officer was enough to make their family make a well known entity.

“It’s not a problem that you started practicing the [Imperial Swordplay] later on.

But your strength, agility and habits are already different from a complete beginner.

These legionnaires go through thousands and thousands of repetitions to temper their forms.

To muster enough strength to hold the sword in the correct position, they have to employ technique and find the most optimal sequence of movements.

They temper their reflexes and form habits around the forms.

What you can accomplish with a single lift of your hand, the people you see here practice until they perform it in their sleep.”

Knife Leader Tanya knew that only seeing was believing and the doubtful look on the girl’s face next to her.

“Legionar Fabio! Report!”

Calling one of the training soldiers over, Tanya assumed the posture of an officer and moved to an open space.

The man in question was currently running rounds around the yard while carrying a wooden pack filled with stones on his back.

Based on the thickness and intensity of his vitality in Nisha’s [Spirit Sight], Legionar Fabio was somewhere around the middle of the second rank, close to advancing to the late stage.

Although he was not the strongest soldier around the yard, he still managed to rank among the top, few legionnaires were stronger than him in aura cultivation.

“Ma’am, Legionar Fabio is reporting!”

Thumping his fist on his chest, the young man gave a military salute and stood at attention in front of Knife Leader Tanya.

His eyes never strayed and never even glanced at the unfamiliar elf who sometimes visited the compound, his concentration was commendable.

As a soldier, his duty came first.

“At ease, legionar. As you can see, we have a visitor gracing us with her presence.

Lance Corporal Hale has ordered all troops under her command to give full cooperation.

As part of her inquiry into the [Imperial Swordplay], this young miss has several questions regarding the execution of the styles.

I have picked you, Legionar Fabio, for the extraordinary honor of sparring with her.

Do you hear me, Legionar?!”

Towards the end of her order, the pretty officer almost raised her voice to the level of screaming.

Nevertheless, Knife Leader Tanya’s demeanor fulfilled the role of a superior on a spiritual level.

It was the first time that Nisha actually had the thought that the beautiful lady next to her played a real role in the army.

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!”

Legionar Fabio also spoke with a voice near a screaming level.

The dragon had never entered an army or a similar structure before and rarely visited during the drills.

It made her wonder if commands worked better when screamed or if there were other reasons for it.

Nevertheless, the prospect of sparring against a genuine soldier was quite interesting, so Nisha looked forward to it.

Tanya stepped next to the training machine and gave the pair an open space for their mock duel.

Putting down his basket full of rocks and retrieving a wooden training sword, Legionar Fabio seized up the elf in front of him.

Although he did not know why Lance Corporal Hale supported this young girl and imparted the [Imperial Swordplay] to her, it was not his turn to question his superiors.

Since he was appointed as a sparring partner, the young elf should have the capabilities to contend with him.

He was prepared to go all out and employ all of his skills in the [Imperial Swordplay] manual.

“Don’t make light of him, Nisha.

Legionar Fabio is the most anticipated recruit to make it as the next Knife Leader.

As long as he manages to make a breakthrough to the next level with his sword skills, his promotion is all but guaranteed.”

Knife Leader Tanya spoke from experience. Her own proficiency in the [Imperial Swordplay] made an accidental breakthrough in the past, granting her the rank of Knife Leader.

Sadly, the accidental nature of the breakthrough also meant that she had a long time of consolidating her skills before she had a chance to get another promotion.

Still, being a Knife Leader trumped being a common soldier on any day.