"Sword Heart?"
He nodded repeatedly.
"Yep! Big sis said it’s when your mind and body are one with the sword."
Thinking over it for a mont, I said:
"So like I can use Sword Intent without needing to do the imagination part?"
I figured that what he ant to say was that my sword and body were one with my mind.
Sword Intent worked when I infused my will into the sword.
Could Sword Heart be like a permanent Sword Intent where the will is always there?
Obviously, that would need a lot of practice and repetition, but I’m not a stranger to any of that since I busted my ass off in kendo.
Though, as I began to enter a state of brainstorming, Eric stepped up and gently bonked over my horns with his sword.
"Snap out of it, junior. Start swinging your sword or you’ll beco lazy."
I raised a brow.
"Aren’t you going to tell how Sword Heart works?"
"I would, but... I don’t know."
Eric smiled sheepishly.
"Big sis only said Sword Heart is the next step after Sword Intent. She said it should co naturally. Good luck, junior."
With that, he tip-toed back and hopped onto one of the smaller boulders, observing like so villainous young master.
At first, I kind of disliked the kid, since he was overly arrogant, but after spending so ti with him, I think I get why.
He had a fear of demons.
But treating a demon like a lackey probably helps him cope with his trauma.
It just so happened that I looked like a demon.
He was a really mature kid, and for that, I respected him.
Though, I can’t say he’s a really good instructor.
Still, since I felt like I was right on the money, I approached a new section of the wall that was completely untouched, then focused up.
At first, I swung my sword down several tis, getting a good feel for it, then I switched to Sword Intent.
A small gash appeared on the wall, and with every slash, the gashes began deepening and widening, until eventually, I slashed my sword horizontally, creating a several-ter-wide yet thin line.
I knew I was good at this, so I decided to try a different approach.
Kendo.
All the stances I’ve practiced, and all the ti I’ve spent learning every movent and variation I could.
Entering the most basic downward slash posture, I closed my eyes, took a step forward, then slashed down.
CLANG!
Again.
CLANG!
Again...
CLANG!
***
CLANG!
I reopened my eyes and stared at my callus-filled hands, then glanced over at the wall, which didn’t even have a single scratch on it.
Repetition.
Endless repetition.
Glancing up at the night sky, a slight smile appeared on my face.
I missed this feeling.
Though even after 10,000 slashes, I didn’t really feel satisfied.
But at the very least, I was determined to get back into the rhythm of training once again.
"Hmm..."
Should I try Sword Heart now?
Frankly, I figured out how to do it only a couple minutes after I began my training again.
And it was as Aliyah had said.
It ca really naturally.
Sword Intent focused on imagining an attack, and then making it reality.
But if you already know every minor detail of the attack because of endless practice...
I stared at the unscratched wall, then raised my sword above my head.
At the sa ti, I activated Sword Intent.
Except unlike always, where I would first imagine the attack, I let the intent mirror my current movent.
Both in reality and in the Sword Intent space, I had my sword above my head.
Then, I quickly brought the sword down, piercing the stone as though it was butter, before finally stopping just a few inches from piercing the ground.
I silently pulled the sword out and inspected the crack.
It was as if the stone made a perfect mold out of my wooden sword.
"..."
This was probably the most perfect slash I’ve ever made.
There weren’t any wasted movents or excess power.
It served its purpose to cut the wall, just as I had wanted it to.
My Sword Intent perfectly synced up with , and now, no matter what kind of movent I made, the sa movent was mirrored in the Sword Intent space.
I didn’t even need to focus on it for it to be active.
Though, I instinctively felt like this was only limited to basic moves for now, as I had just unlocked the Sword Heart.
So sothing like Kevin’s swordsmanship... it wouldn’t work.
Like all things swordsmanship-related, I needed to keep practicing Sword Heart to use the special swordsmanships the right way.
Since I was more than satisfied with my progress, I glanced to the side.
Eric had fallen asleep on the rock.
Chuckling, I walked up to him, picked him up, and carefully took him back to the cave.
I passed by Clentine, who was still enhancing her Soul Weapons at the table, and eventually reached Eric’s room, set him down on his bed, and after putting a blanket on him, I left his room.
Doing a little stretch, I sat down opposite Clentine and rested my chin on the table as the exhaustion finally began to kick in.
"Ugh... I’m bored..."
Clentine raised a brow.
"As you can see, I’m not. But since you’re sooo~ bored, could you make so dinner?"
I let out a sigh and t her gaze.
"Anything specific you want?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"Mmm... I’m kind of craving so sweets."
Like the good cook that I am, I stepped into my dinsional ring.
There were three energy-sealed coffins off to the side, where the Vermillions’ bodies were.
I figured the sll would ss up the rest of what was in my dinsional ring, so I didn’t want to risk anything.
Sorting through so barrels, I took out a sealed jar of cookies and then plopped it down on the table.
Like the cute glutton that Clentine was, she stopped everything that she was doing and began chomping down on the delicious cookies, and all the while, I just watched her.
I was a little hungry.
But seeing her eat made full.
After a few minutes, the jar of cookies was gone, and Clentine just smiled in satisfaction.
Then, she leaned back in her seat and kicked up her feet, almost like this was her ho.
Except it was Aliyah’s.
The literal Sword Saint’s.
"What’s got you feeling so brave?"
"Oh, it’s nothing~"
Clentine’s smile widened.
"It’s just that I looked through Vincent’s ring, and I found sothing really interesting."
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