Read Novel Full Chapter 537: Martial State?
Chapter 537: Martial State?
[Sword Saint], the passive Trait Kuro received from his second Trial.
Not only did it provide him with better mastery and growth with sword-type weapons, but it also granted his body the ability to automatically adjust midway through an attack to avoid unnecessary movement, allowing him to react to an entire situation at once, and made him more familiar with sword-type weapons.
With a Trait like this, it would be a shocker if Lillian ever won against the man with only swords.
’That’s the sort of Trait you’d get when you clear a Tier 4 Trial, though...’
Just like her, Kuro had cleared a Tier 4 Trial as well, except that—unlike her—he did it while he was still a 1st Tier mage.
Granted, he did do it with Mizuki, so he did have the backing of the Kirisaya family, but still... Having access to a Trial that high in rank was still rare, nonetheless.
’The resources these types of families have are no joke...’
"Lillian."
Breaking out of her thoughts, Lillian looked towards Kuro, who called out to her.
"Yes?"
"May I call you by your first name? It’s easier on me."
"Oh, yeah, that’s fine. What did you need?"
"I was just curious on your current knowledge of techniques." Kuro sat beside Mizuki on the bench. "You seemed to be knowledgeable enough to know the importance of calling out a technique’s name."
Lillian nodded briefly.
In this world, calling out the name of a technique was common and even recommended. The reason?
"The name of the technique brings out a greater performance." Kuro stated, "In the past, researchers all around the world were stumped on the topic of why the humans in Hearth always called out the name of their technique. Logically, something as tedious and unnecessary as that shouldn’t bring out any benefits in combat."
Kuro stood up and gripped his sword, taking a stance, "It’s better if I show it through a demonstration."
He then materialised a large, dense block of ice in front of him, which was four to five metres tall.
He then began to slash at it.
"On our world, no matter how many times our people mimicked the way their people swung their weapons, we couldn’t bring out the same effect." Kuro slashed at the block of ice normally, carving a metre-long mark across it. "The humans of Hearth were able to manifest near-physical illusions with their techniques, something the earlier researchers couldn’t understand at first."
Kuro raised his sword again.
"However, upon further research, they finally discovered the reason why calling out the name of a technique was so important."
This time, he decided to call out the name of a technique. With the same movement and angle, Kuro slashed down at the block of ice.
"[Falling Stream Hammer]."
Lillian watched as an illusory waterfall fell upon the block of ice with visible downward pressure, bending the air and causing webs of cracks to form over its icy surface.
She could hear the air’s whistling scream as Kuro’s sword slashed through the air, carving a slash mark over the pre-existing one.
SWISH!
The difference being that the newly created mark was far deeper than the last and was even slightly longer.
Following that—
CRUSH!
—Was the shattering of the block of ice as an illusory hammer slammed down from above.
Lillian felt the icy cloud from the shattered cube brush against her face, causing her to shiver as she watched the remains of it soon disappear with Kuro’s command.
"As long as you had managed to reach the Knight realm and also mastered the Combat style enough, which you already have, you would be able to bring out its Expression."
Kuro pulled out a rag and polished his sword.
"However, if you were to have been paying attention closely, you would have seen that my sword carved deeper into the ice." Kuro sheathed his sword, "Just by muttering the technique’s name, you would be able to increase the effectiveness of the attack by at least 10%."
Lillian nodded, having already known this. It was still a good way to fill in what sorts of gaps in her knowledge she might’ve had, though.
Mizuki, watching as Kuro put away his sword, raised his arm.
"Tell her about the eyes thing, Kuro!"
Kuro turned back and raised an eyebrow, confused, but soon realised what he meant.
He pondered whether he should or not, though, soon coming to the conclusion to go over it.
Pointing at his right eye, he said:
"In battle, especially those with your lives on the line, have you ever seen a person’s eyes glow, Lillian?"
"Tons, actually."
"Then, are you aware of what that state is called?" Kuro inquired.
Lillian nodded, "The state is called the Martial State, or Absolute Flow."
"Correct, the Martial State, or Absolute Flow—as you said—is an unconscious state where a mage’s internal mana harmonises with their nervous system, creating an almost near-perfect synchronisation between their body, mind, and mana—heightening your already existing senses and physical strength to try and maximise your body’s performance.
"This state triggers under either extreme stress or high emotional fluctuation, which commonly occurs in battles where you are most likely to die. You can consider this state the mana version of an adrenaline rush as it is quite simply your Mana Core’s last-ditch effort to preserve your life."
Lillian widened her eyes a bit; she had forgotten about this piece of information. However, it didn’t really harm her, even if she didn’t know about it.
She then watched as Kuro rambled on a bit more, now remembering another piece of information.
He was quite the teacher.
Granted, his role was being the bodyguard and teacher to a scion, but still.
Mizuki, who was keenly listening to Kuro’s display of knowledge, pulled out his phone and checked the time.
"Ah, Kuro! The entrance into the underground auction is about to open in half an hour!"
Lillian watched as Kuro widened his eyes and checked his phone. She then decided to check her phone as well out of curiosity.
[16:34]
’Well, then... Let’s see if everything falls into plan...’