Black String of Fate

*SLASH*

"The Strike…"

*SWISH*

"The parry… Whew, 1000 done. Time for a break."

Xavier sat down sweating and breathing hard. He had been practicing the Foundational Arts for quite a few hours now, and he had now only taken a break because he might faint from overexertion.

'Let's check the progress.'

Xavier called upon the status screen, and it popped up right away. He found this incredibly convenient since a solid progress tracker would help him be motivated and look out for unintentional mistakes that could make his progress slower.

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[Foundational Sword Techniques of the First Swordsman]:-

Mastery: Adept

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'Oh, cool. But there's still so much left. I can't believe I'm still considered just "Adept" after hours of practicing this basic technique.'

Xavier was extremely disappointed in his slow progress, but in reality, he had no reason to be. What he had achieved in mere hours took people weeks to accomplish, and that was considering them to be talented.

Xavier's progress was monstrously fast, but since there was no one to compare it to, he could only be hard on himself. It was better to overtrain than to slack off, at least for him, given his recovery speed.

'Hmm…Status, how do I get to expert mastery? I've been trying for quite a while.'

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Expert mastery can only be achieved through practice with qi or similar energy forms. Adept is the maximum level one can go without applying energy.

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'...Did I just waste 3 fucking hours?'

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Affirmative.

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'I didn't need a fucking reply, you… Sigh, what am I even doing.'

Xavier kept the Foundational Sword Technique manual aside and picked up the Four Basic Sword Stances. He quickly read through it and grasped the essential concepts.

"It's quite literally just 4 different defensive and counterattack stances. I think I'll get this quick."

Though that was what Xavier said, it took him more than thrice the amount of time to master it to Adept level.

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[New Skill Added]:

Four Basic Sword Stances:

Created a long time ago to train sword disciples in the art of basic defense, this Art emphasizes the ability to deflect and counterattack, as well as get into advantageous positions to perform more complicated sword arts.

Serves as a foundation for swordsmen preparing for Deflection and Dexterity stars.

Rating: Uncommon

Mastery: Adept

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'Finally! It took me this long?! Is it because I have no experience in training dexterity and defense specialized Arts in the past?'

To test this out, Xavier then proceeded to train the Guide to Heavy Swords for just a couple of hours, and the result surprised him.

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[New Skill Added]:

Guide to Heavy Swords:

Created for beginner swordsmen who are looking to start wielding heavy swords like the Greatsword or the Claymore. Trains the swordsmen to later specialize in Strength and Endurance stars.

Rating: Uncommon

Mastery: Adept

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'So it was my past experience. Practicing this felt easier than the Foundational Sword Techniques, even though I wielded a katana instead of a greatsword.

Perhaps this is because I'm more familiar with the Strength and Endurance stars.'

By now, Xavier had already mastered three of the five techniques, so he proceeded to pick up the Basic Light Sword Arts and train it too. It took somewhere between the Four Stances and the Heavy Sword, and this was because he was familiar with only one of the stars.

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[New Skill Added]:

Basic Light Sword Arts:

Created for beginners who are more agile on their feet and work well with lighter weapons. Prepares the Swordsman for future Agility and Precision star training.

Rating: Uncommon

Mastery: Adept

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'Now finally, only the Sixth Sword Sense is left.'

Xavier picked up his sword and closed his eyes. Unlike all the other types of star practice, this one was specifically made for training intuition. It involved staying in a basic sword stance and closing off all your senses, and then performing your sword arts while keeping full awareness of the space around you.

While it was made for beginners, it was not at all easy. One had to not only be fully aware of his body's dimensions, but the dimensions and space of their surroundings too. That way, whenever they make a mistake they couldn't register in their surroundings, they could try again and not repeat that mistake.

With enough trial and error, the practitioner would stop making mistakes, and that would be the start of their Intuition star.

Though, for Xavier, an absolute prodigy in terms of Intuition, he didn't need to do this with mistakes.

'First, let's perform the Foundational Sword Techniques.'

He started swinging his sword according to the manual, completing one whole cycle of techniques filled with different slashes, thrusts, parries, and guards.

'Now, the Four Sword Stances.'

He smoothly changed his stance into the first of the four stances and completed the moves of the stance before flowing into the next one. He soon completed all moves of the four stances and flawlessly moved into the stance of using the heavy sword.

He performed the strong and powerful slashes of the heavy sword style and moved on to the light sword art, where he danced around nimbly on his feet and proceeded to perform all the moves of the art.

While keeping perfect awareness of his surroundings, he performed everything he learned about the sword now. All his new swordsmanship was displayed with grace during his training of the Sixth Sword Sense.

And that was enough for him, the creator of the arts, to master it.

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[New Skill Added]:

Sixth Sword Sense:

Created by the strongest swordsman in history, this art trains the user to get a better sense of the space around them and train their intuition and instincts. It is one of the sole arts at the beginner level that can prepare a swordsman for the Intuition star properly, rather than simply relying on battle experience.

Rating: Rare

Mastery: Adept

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'Alright, now everything is ready. I just need to combine all of these Arts and create the Ultimate Foundational Arts…

…This is quite a big task I've taken on.'

Xavier just wryly smiled and shrugged his shoulders. It was his decision to make a whole new art that surpasses everything in history, so backing away from creating just the foundation for it will seem quite unsightly.

Moreover, he believed in himself, because if he, the greatest swordsman, can't do it, then who can?