"Understood, sir."
Friday responded promptly and obediently.
Rowan once again raised the Dragonspine Saber.
Whoosh!
With a sharp hiss, the blade sliced through the air.
"Sir, your last swing utilized exactly 72% of your full strength," Friday reported after a quick scan.
Rowan nodded he had sensed that the strike carried more force than intended.
"Seventy-two percent, huh?"
He closed his eyes, recalling the feeling and chanics of the previous slash. Then, he struck again.
"Sir, this ti your swing carried 69% of your strength."
"A little too light again," Rowan muttered.
He flexed his wrist, focusing more intently on controlling the power of his strike.
Whoosh!
Another arc of wind followed his swing.
"Sir, that one was right on target exactly 70%."
"Perfect?"
Rowan opened his eyes, a glimr of surprise and delight flashing in them.
As expected, having an AI assistant made an enormous difference.
Without Friday, he would've had to figure it out entirely on his own. Just calibrating his strength to exactly 70% would've taken days, if not longer.
"Again!"
Rowan replayed the mory of that perfect swing in his mind and began practicing with renewed vigor.
By the ti the clock neared five in the afternoon, he was drenched in sweat. His training clothes clung to him, soaked through.
But there was no fatigue on his face only satisfaction.
Over the course of the afternoon, he had nearly perfected the ability to control every swing at exactly 70% strength.
A few more days of focused practice, and it would beco muscle mory.
Once that happened, he could finally begin working on infusing each strike with a layer of inner force a skill critical to the next level of his blade technique.
"Even this basic AI like Friday is helping so much... If only I had access to sothing like Babata a true sentient intelligence."
Rowan sighed to himself.
Unfortunately, Earth wasn't yet connected to the greater universe. There were no interstellar spacecraft, and without them, he couldn't leave the planet to acquire more advanced AI.
Then sothing clicked in his mind.
"Wait… spaceships?"
Rowan's eyes lit up.
Sure, the Swallowed Star world didn't have ships yet but the Marvel world absolutely did.
He rembered: the Guardians of the Galaxy had a ship capable of jumping through space. Star-Lord and his crew regularly traveled between galaxies with ease.
If he could sohow get his hands on a ship like that, he could bring it into the Swallowed Star world and gain early access to the universe.
The idea unlocked a whole new realm of possibilities.
Earth was resource-poor materials like Mu Ya Crystals were practically nonexistent here. But out in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire? They were abundant.
With a spaceship, he could fly directly to those regions, purchase cultivation materials, and easily break through to the Planetary or even Stellar rank.
The more Rowan thought about it, the more excited he beca.
"To get a spaceship in the Marvel world, I'll have to reach space first."
And to reach space, he only saw two possible routes:
One, make contact with an alien civilization like Asgard.
Two, use so kind of teleportation.
"Asgard's Bifrost Bridge has probably already been smashed by Thor's antics. That path's a no-go."
That left teleportation.
Rowan ntally reviewed two possible thods:
Using the Space Stone
Using Kamar-Taj's rune portals
But both thods ca with the sa issue: coordinates.
Without having been to space before, he wouldn't have a destination to lock onto.
"The sorcerers at Kamar-Taj likely haven't traveled to space either…"
He didn't entirely trust them anyway. He preferred to keep his distance from the Ancient One and her circle.
That left only one real option the Tesseract.
"Loki knows how to use the Space Stone. He also has interstellar coordinates in his mind."
Rowan quickly ford a complete plan in his head.
"In that case… I might actually look forward to Loki showing up on Earth."
The countless potential applications of the Space Stone made Rowan's lips curl into a small smile.
"Until then ti to grow stronger."
He turned his gaze to the Dragonspine Saber resting across his lap.
The Ninefold Thunder Blade technique would take ti to master. It required talent, patience, and countless repetitions.
So for now, he reached for another manual: Thundering Draw Slash.
As he flipped through the pages, Rowan saw that the manual was divided into three parts:
The core principles of iaijutsu (draw-cutting).
How to enhance resistance during the draw using psychic force.
How to amplify the attack power of a slash after the blade leaves the scabbard again using ntal energy.
Compared to the Ninefold Thunder Blade, this technique was much easier to grasp.
Despite its simplicity, it offered imnse gains in actual combat.
According to the manual, mastering the Thundering Draw Slash could multiply his strike force by two or three tis.
Which was equivalent to reaching the fourth tier of the Ninefold Thunder Blade.
And the best part? The two techniques didn't conflict with each other they could be trained in parallel.
Rowan dove into the manual without hesitation.
If he could master this technique, his overall strength would soar.
"There are too many styles of iaijutsu. I'll pick the one that suits best and train it to perfection."
As he flipped through the pages, he made his choice.
"I'm a ntal-type fighter. Most of my enemies are monsters. In that case, the reverse draw slash is best."
He closed his eyes and visualized a battle.
In draw-cutting techniques, there were two iconic moves:
The standard draw slash, like Zenitsu from Demon Slayer.
The reverse draw slash, like Sasuke from Naruto.
In the standard draw, the blade is sheathed on the left hip. You crouch, lean forward, and twist your waist clockwise as you unsheathe the weapon.
But the reverse draw has the scabbard hanging on the right rear side. The torso stays upright while the waist rotates counterclockwise.
Rowan preferred the reverse draw.
It looked cooler and it was better for striking monsters mid-flight.
The standard draw was better suited for duels with humans and benefited more from running starts than aerial movent.
"Alright, reverse draw it is."
Decision made, Rowan uploaded the reference motion from the manual to Friday.
The training materials included video footage of the original creator demonstrating each move, along with detailed biochanical breakdowns. With that data, Friday could generate a perfect simulation.
"Friday, from now on I'll focus on this technique. Use the standard model to correct my form."
"Yes, sir."
Rowan slid the Dragonspine Saber into its scabbard, now hanging behind his right hip. He began to train again.
Even while practicing the draw, he didn't forget to maintain the 70% strength threshold for each slash.
And so, he trained for another hour.
Outside, the golden hues of sunset bathed the city in warm light.
Riiiing!
The sudden buzz of his phone interrupted Rowan's concentration.
He grabbed a towel, wiped off the sweat, and walked over.
It was a call from Director Tucker.
"Hello, Director?"
"Rowan! Good, you're ho?"
"Yeah, I'm at my place in Crescent Moon District. What's up?"
"Perfect. Listen an envoy from headquarters just arrived. He'll be evaluating you tomorrow. If you pass, you're officially headed to the Elite Training Camp!"
Tucker's voice was filled with excitent.
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