As he practiced, his swordsmanship slowly became more and more refined. With traces of Leon’s swordsmanship affecting it. It made his previously simple swordsmanship become more tricky to deal with. The powerful strikes he liked to use so much turned to quick strikes.
On paper it sounded bad. Weaker strikes meant less pressure and dealt less damage. But, like it was for Leon and his teacher it became a good thing for him. His sword was now a snake that could change direction at will. His downward strike could suddenly change into one aiming for the legs. A single stance could change from hitting the head, to the chest, or if he was daring enough a kick. It wasn’t as fast or swift as his teacher’s but it worked.
The stances he learned from his teacher became his greatest strength. It forced his opponents to think about what’d he do in his next strike. It allowed him to condition his opponent to falter backward or rush recklessly towards him.
Making him a difficult opponent to spar for the guards. As he focused on slowly reducing the options and thriving on the mistakes made by them. Soon he could predict a guard’s next move by their expressions alone.
That didn’t mean that he never lost. The weakness of striking at unusual angles was that it took more energy to do. And as a consequence it weakened the grip he had on his sword. Allowing the guard fighting him to easily knock it out of his hand if they ever read his next strike.
So it became similar to an arms war. He would add a fake strike or pretend to retreat. While they would come with other countermeasures to deal with him.
As he added more moves to his skill set so the amount of guards calling his sword style snake like increased. And, as it did he tried his best to suppress the rumors. He tried his best to not take advantage of the openings they left behind. He tried to keep to the stances left behind in the book. But, like all things, it didn’t end well for him.
Weirdly enough, instead of telling him to take it easy their leader pointed him to a certain group.
A group of guards who used lances instead of swords. Not used inside of the city because of the difficulty of using lances in a crowded city. They mainly were used to guard the gates and patrol outside the walls.
And, fighting them he found why. Lances, with their range reduced his style into a fragment of its former self. He couldn’t pretend to strike if he couldn’t reach them. At that distance he couldn’t even throw sand. Even on the off chance he made it to them by parrying the strikes they used close combat to knock him away.
At first the guards who sparred with him at first cheered for the lancers but as the losses continued the cheers turned into looks of pity.
When night had arrived he looked up at the sky and wondered. How could he ever beat that range. And, at the end, only one answer came to mind. Magic.
He wasn’t naive enough to believe that he was more skilled than the guards. Since he has been to their training for months. He knew their focus was more on teamwork rather than individual strength.
If the enemy had skilled swordsman they would switch to lances. If there were magic users they would use archers. If the enemy were causing chaos in the city the swordsman would flock to the scene.
He didn’t have teammates or comrades on his side so magic was the only way to change the tides his way.
The only issue was...how?
His teacher was gone to another city. And, finding another teacher just felt wrong somehow. But as he was thinking a voice called out, “Hello~ little Cassel. I see you’re still sulking after your loss to those guards.”
“Leon.”
“Ah, don’t be so grumpy. Losing to one of the single greatest weapons of mankind in history isn't too much of a loss. And, knowing you, you're thinking of the same solution I am.”
“Yeah, magic that’s the only way right?”
“Yup that’s correct and you know the best part? I can teach you~. You want to win after all, right?”
Frowning he growled, “I refuse to have a teacher like you.”
“Oh you think your teacher at this point will teach you? Out of town, rank E, and level seven?! Oh man, you’ll have a better chance finding gold in your soup than that happening. But, people like you can dream right? Call me when you’re ready to come back to reality.”
Leaving behind a crackling that got on his nerves. Leon headed back to bed.
Everyday he trained with the guards a loss was added to his record. So taking a break one day he went to the receptionist table. Filing and confirming records he fell back into a rhythm until he saw her.
Teach, she was back. For a moment he wanted to run, maybe trade shifts with a nearby receptionist but the words Leon had said echoed in his mind. He had to find out.
So finishing the report he was on he moved onto Felicia’s. Ending a duel with a single move impressive as usual but a new number caught his eyes. Level eight. He wanted to laugh, the bitterness in his heart growing. It seemed this would be more of a formality than anything else.
So trying to keep the bitterness and despair out of his voice he forced out "Hmm, well everything checks out. And, level eight already huh? It's seems like almost the other day since I saw you at level 7. I suppose those 10 G and 20 G classes are off the table? Anyway enough of my banter here, the promised rewards."
Waiting for her response he closed his eyes. And, thought maybe if he trained harder, did more quests, or was higher leveled he could be called her student again. But, it seemed somethings would come to an end. But-
“Of course they’re still on the table.”
And, like a piece of dust on the wind she disappeared. And, in her place was a man. Yanking the report from his desk. The man quickly read through the report. As Cassel was going to ask for it back.
The feeling of paper hit his face. With the words "Ah! Champion of my heart and life~!" declared the man exited the scene.
Trying to hide his irritation, he looked at a nearby receptionist and asked “Quest giver?”
With a nod as his answer, he finally understood why those five wanted to beat him up so much.