by William Bill
Chapter 26: Sparring With Lily
"Sure, why don't you start by showing me what you know? A simple spar would do. Oh, also, please seal your cultivation just in case."
"Ah, of course. I won't use my cultivation when I am sparring with you. But is your right hand okay for you to spar now?" Lily asked with concern.
"Of course, it isn't much of a problem now. I can even use my left hand to spar with you."
Lily stroked her left hand with her right as a bamboo sword manifested in Lily's hand and gave it to Damien.
Soon after, another bamboo sword appeared in her hand.
'So that ring must be one of those spatial rings. A ring with limited internal space that can store things. Pretty convenient indeed. I should try to buy one as soon as I make some money.'
He inspected the wooden sword as he playfully scoffed, "Princess, I am not weak enough to the point that I can't handle a spar with real swords. Unless you are more skilled than me, which you said you were not."
Damien knew that the reason Lily chose to use bamboo swords for training was that she didn't want to hurt Damien accidentally.
"No, I didn't choose a bamboo sword because I doubt your swordsmanship. I first wanted to see how good you are personally and understand the gap between us."
"Oh, is that so? Okay, come at me then." Damien smiled.
Lily elegantly moved forward as she swung her sword forward, aiming at Damien's shoulder, though it seemed like she was holding back.
Damien saw through it easily and knew she was holding back, probably due to his supposed crippled condition.
He easily dodged her attack and disarmed her by twisting her sword around with his before placing his sword next to her neck.
"Don't hold back. If you seal your cultivation, there is no way you can defeat me." Damien said with a confident expression.
"If you want to learn diligently, then you must go all out. Only then will I know how proficient you really are in swordsmanship and correct your mistakes."
Lily nodded and showed a determined expression, "Fine. I won't hold back, but you should still be careful."
Even if Lily sealed her cultivation, her body would still be as strong as a Spirit Ethereal Realm Cultivator. So, if she accidentally hits Damien, he would be lucky if he only suffers from a few broken bones.
'Sigh...is this girl really a saintess or what? Is she kind like this to everybody?'
Damien nodded as he chuckled, "Sure, come at me, princess. Let me see the sword mastery of the celestial princess."
Lily assumed a high guard as Damien was looking at her with a bored expression.
Seeing his relaxed attitude, Lily felt a bit piqued as she swiftly moved her feet and slashed towards Damien.
Damien lazily dodged and gave a casual counter slash.
Seeing his incoming slash, Lily frowned and evaded his slash as she thrust her sword at him.
Damien didn't get startled as Lily expected and parried her attack with a counter thrust.
Lily instantly stepped back as she saw Damien's counter-attack approaching her.
'He's toying with me. His movements are so simple, fast, and fluid. How can they be so beautiful?' Lily was impressed in her heart seeing Damien's simple but fascinating movements.
They both looked into each other's eyes as they circled around.
"Ha!" Lily quickly closed the distance between them as she threw an overhand cut.
Damien instantly reacted as he used his sword to pry Lily's sword from her hand and pointed his sword towards her neck.
"You lost, princess." Damien smiled.
'This easily?? I thought he disarmed me before because I wasn't serious. But now, I didn't hold back at all, and he still disarmed me. Is the difference between us this big?' Lily couldn't help but feel that she felt like a child trying to spar with an adult.
"Haaa...I guess the standards of the so-called first-class sword experts are really poor, as you said. Well, it only makes me look forward to seeing how the sword experts from Lancaster Empire can fare against me. Even though they wouldn't spar with me with their cultivation sealed." Damien chuckled.
"I...I can't believe it. Even when I sparred against my instructor, I didn't lose so fast, and by the end of my training, I was also able to keep up with my trainer."
"Sigh...princess, maybe it's time you looked outside your empire for a genuine sword expert. But fret not, since I am here now, you needn't expend your precious time and energy searching for one," Damien beamed.
"Actually, to tell you the truth, I don't even need a sword to defeat you," Damien said as his eyes feigned arrogance.
Lily creased her brows, "Ha...I don't believe you. That's too absurd. Without a weapon, you are basically defenseless. And even if I sealed my cultivation, you wouldn't be able to handle my blows if I accidentally hit you."
Damien raised his eyebrows, "Oh, really?" He dropped his sword as he gestured with his fingers, "Then why don't you have a go at me? I won't use the sword."
Lily's eyes blinked with surprise, "You are really serious? This is too dangerous. You don't have to do this. I know you are very talented in swordsmanship, but this is different."
"Oh, don't keep dawdling around. Or are you looking down on me because I am a cripple?"
Damien purposefully asked that to make Lily feel guilty as if she really looked down on him.
"Of course not. Then here I come."
Lily lunged forward as she threw a cut at him. Damien twisted his body towards her side as he dodged her attack.
He then instantly grabbed her held out wrist, and, using her momentum, he spun her around and pinned her towards his chest.
"Ah!"
"You lost again, princess." Damien smiled as he whispered in her ears.
Lily's ears turned beet red as her eyes widened in surprise. She had never been close to another man, let alone at such proximity.
And when Damien's hot breath tickled her ears, her mind got muddled, which made her attempt to struggle result in a feeble one because of which her butt involuntarily pressed against him.
Damien got surprised when he felt her butt provoking his sleeping dragon. His first thought was whether she was trying to seduce him.
But he instantly threw that thought out the window when he saw that Lily had a mix of surprise and disoriented expression. It was a far cry from her usual calm and graceful expression.
Lily quickly put back her emotions in order and escaped from Damien's hold as she subconsciously raised her hand over her ear.
She hadn't exerted much energy, but her breath was rapid as if she had run a marathon.
She didn't even realize that she had involuntarily pressed her butt against Damien. Otherwise, she would have buried her head in a hole with shame.
Damien chuckled, seeing her reaction. He almost felt aroused when the 'Celestial Princess' was pressing her butt against him. But after seeing her reaction, he was amused and wondered whether he teased her too much.
But even if he did, he would do it again if he ever again gets the chance, since he enjoyed seeing her reactions and Lily didn't seem to be angry with him.
'How cute...I never expected to see this side of her.'
"Yo-You shouldn't tease me like this" Lily wanted to reprimand him, but the expression on her face betrayed her intentions.
Damien had an innocent expression on his face, "What do you mean, princess? This is training, after all. It's normal to get physical when we train, especially when sparring."
Lily wanted to retort but couldn't come up with anything. Her face had an aggrieved expression, which only made her look adorable.
Strangely she didn't feel uncomfortable or angry when Damien held her close to him. And she realized that her guard around him was basically non-existent.
But, most of all, she never expected to be defeated this fast...that too when Damien was unarmed.
"By the way, did you forget how you should address me during our training?" Damien said wi
th a mischievous smile.
Lily looked downwards in hesitation, hearing Damien's words. Even though she agreed to his condition, she didn't realize how embarrassing it was until this moment.
Seeing Lily's downward gaze, Damien chuckled, "Oh well, forget about it then. Since you are an imperial princess, no one would blame you if you went back on this simple condition...after all calling me 'Master' might be too shameful for you."
Lily winced with embarrassment as she turned her head away, "No, it's fine. I won't go back on my words, M-Master."
Damien smiled in victory, seeing her shy expression.
If one saw this scene, it would definitely seem like a disciple was getting bullied by her master.
Chapter 27: Sword Will
No one would have ever imagined the 'Celestial Princess' acting like this even in their dreams.
Even Lily herself couldn't believe why she even put up with his condition. She also wondered why she didn't find it unpleasant when Damien embraced her.
'It must be because it's him. Maybe in my mind, I had always considered him as a friend.' She mused.
"Well, my disciple, do you realize your own shortcomings now?" Damien said, assuming the pose of a venerable master.
All the chaotic thoughts in Lily's mind were instantly dispersed when she heard his question.
"Ah...I just feel that my speed is not up to par. From my perspective, M-Master was unbelievably fast with your movements that I was not able to keep up unless I used my cultivation. Also, the way...Master skillfully handled your sword...I think I also lack in that area." Lily said, trying to avoid eye contact with Damien.
She felt ashamed that even though she was an imperial princess, she was leagues behind Damien despite being crippled.
She didn't know if it was because she didn't have a good enough teacher or because of her talent in swordsmanship but hoped it was because of the former.
Her competitive spirit ignited in her after a long time. She realized that she had unknowingly become complacent because of her cultivation level.
It was true that in the Rong Empire, no one could match her cultivation in the same age or even in the same age group.
But now, she knew that she was stupid to have ignored other aspects of her skills just because she was virtually the best among the younger generations in the empire.
'Thank god, I found him before any terrible things could happen to him. I was able to save him and also got an opportunity to develop my swordsmanship. But how and when did he learn these things? I don't remember him having the ability to fight, not even remotely. He wasn't even into learning those things. Maybe a lot must have happened between those times.' Lily sighed inwardly.
Damien nodded, hearing her response, "Hmm, you are not wrong. But do you know the basic aspects of swordsmanship that one should develop without lacking even any one of those aspects? Sword-fighting is sort of the same as how we learn to write. Before you ever touch a blade, you need to grasp those certain elements. And basically, there are four aspects; Timing, Perception, Distance, and Technique. Right now, unfortunately, you lack in all four departments." He said unreservedly.
"If you want to develop your sword intent and sword force, you have to work on the foundation first."
Lily's lips parted when she heard Damien's words. She didn't know that she even lacked in the basics of swordsmanship itself.
But another thing that surprised her was how Damien was so knowledgeable in swordsmanship and knew how to exactly point out others' mistakes as a real Master would.
She felt that calling Damien as her Master may not be so bad as she thought.
Just because one knew to fight doesn't mean one could teach others without truly understanding the concepts involved behind it.
'Maybe it was because of his high attainments in swordsmanship that he was able to kill ethereal beasts even when their cultivation was a few minor realms above him.' Lily thought.
"So, is it because Master had developed all these basic aspects of swordsmanship, you were able to cross levels to kill off ethereal beasts?" Lily asked as she focused her gaze, eager to know his answer.
This question was in her mind since the day she saw him kill those ethereal beasts. Especially when he decapitated the ethereal beast, which was at the second level of the Initial Ethereal Realm as if it was nothing.
Damien was surprised how Lily was now calling him 'Master' naturally without much embarrassment.
He also realized that he felt good whenever Lily called him Master.
'Ha...I am glad I demanded that third condition.' Damien smirked inwardly.
Damien straightened his back as he said, "Well, of course, I am always trying to better myself in those aspects since there is no clear ceiling to how much you can develop. But the most important reason I was able to kill those ethereal beasts was because of my Sword Will! And right now, you don't have to bother with it because it's not something which can be easily manifested without developing your basics and having some sort of insights or enlightenment on your own."
Lily's eyes widened as she got introduced to a new concept she had never heard before—Sword Will.
'He can manifest his sword will? What did he mean by that? Is that some kind of realm within swordsmanship that can allow even someone without cultivation to cross levels to kill a beast? How could he be so young and talented? Only if he was not crippled...." Lily felt sad that Damien was crippled. Otherwise, his future would have been so bright that he could have walked with his back straight anywhere.
She admired how Damien did not let his condition depress him and instead focused on other areas like Alchemy.
She also got eager to develop her basics and strengthen her foundational skills hoping that she could gain some sort of insights or enlightenment to manifest the mysterious sword will.
Damien raised his index finger, "Let's focus on the first aspect now—Timing. As you said, you find it hard to keep up with my movements, right? Time is never slow when you're actually sword-fighting. Sometimes you want a quick little movement to take control of a situation, and other times you want a bigger motion that will result in a kill.
"It all comes down to choices, and when you understand timing, you can decide very quickly how much time you have in a window and how much time your movement buys you to put your next action into motion. Fights are often decided very quickly, even with evenly matched opponents."
Lily was attentive and fixated on Damien's words as if she was mentally taking notes. Her instructor had never explained the basics in simple words and only just taught her how to use ethereal sword techniques.
Since this is a cultivation world, a practitioner can increase their combat prowess through ethereal techniques or arts.
In the Rising Sun Continent, more than half of the ethereal cultivators use only pure ethereal strength instead of ethereal arts.
Ethereal arts had different applications using ethereal strength. Most of them could help one make use of their elemental attribute or channel of the ethereal energy.
For instance, the top wind practitioners in the Gale Empire use wind attributed ethereal arts, which helps them make use of the Wind seed in their ethereal core or their wind attributed ethereal core to change their ethereal energy into ethereal wind energy.
And rumors say that when one trains it to the peak, they can demolish or even uproot large buildings without much difficulty.
But there were also some ethereal arts that were not used to manipulate the ethereal energy but instead to assist their ethereal cultivation.
There were some taboo dual cultivation arts that allowed the practitioner to raise their ethereal strength through sexual intercourse.
But Lily now understood that even though the basics might seem bland, boring, or unimportant when compared to simply comprehending ethereal sword techniques, one still needs to have their foundation or basics of swordsmanship solid.
Only then could they execute the ethereal sword techniques
perfectly and make full use of its potential.
Damien continued as he raised another finger, "The second thing is Perception. I will just group distance and perception together because while one is about maintaining a safe distance, the other one is about correctly perceiving it. To develop perception, you need to sharpen your senses without the help of any cultivation base; and to develop the distance aspect, the most important thing you need to work on is your footwork; such that you won't lose your perception and distance or lose your balance and focus during an intense fight.
"Then, finally comes the technique part. I don't know anything about ethereal sword techniques, but it might be helpful if you practice some raw techniques just like the ones I used against you and also some breathing techniques. I will teach you all four of these aspects one by one during our training. We would start off with developing your timing and end our training with teaching you techniques."
Lily's eyes were sparkling with interest as her mind was absorbing each and every word Damien said.
Even though she was a sword maniac, because of her problems, she had no choice but to focus on her ethereal cultivation and was not able to give much time for practicing her swordplay.
But now, her fire of passion for sword mastery was rekindled again as she was enthusiastic to at least achieve the height Damien had reached in swordsmanship.
Damien added, "Even though I said that you lack foundation, I can feel that your sword spirit is intense and bright. And with my guidance, I can guarantee that you will improve a lot."
She showed a wide smile, "Thank you, Master. I will do my best to learn everything you teach me."
Chapter 28: She's a Dual Wielder?
"I can't believe Master's teaching is so good compared to even the instructors I know. How is Master so good at this?" Lily couldn't help but wonder how a fifteen-year-old boy could teach others better than those old men with white beards.
"Hahaha. Actually, this isn't my first time teaching someone." Wistfulness flickered across Damien's face briefly before he beamed, "Also, I guess I am a natural at teaching, hehe."
