The Art of Sword

Chapter 77: Phase 1 Training

*Inside the Dream*

When he opened his eyes, white, white was all he could see, spreading infinitely in all directions. Then there is Sword standing in the middle of this infinite white void.

Sunz: Not as colorful as other dreams.

Sword: I'll change it between sessions.

Sunz: So, what is your training plan for me? Getting better with basic sword techniques or something to do with 'Elements'.

Sword: For the first session, we won't be training your 'Elements'. About the basic sword techniques... they don't matter much when you have your own style.

"For now, just go with the flow."

Sword then equipped Sunz and himself with the sword that Grimm gave Sunz yesterday.

Sunz: This sword—I've never seen it before. Why does the weight feel familiar?

Sword: It's the weapon that Grimm gave you. You haven't seen the inside of it, but you did hold it. Because of that, I can replicate it to perfection in here.

"We are killing two birds with one stone. Getting familiar with a new weapon while training."

"Now let's start! The next eight hours will feel like eternity for you!"

...

Just like what Sword said, during those eight hours, not even one second was wasted. Sword is constantly attacking Sunz with a wide variety of tactics. For the first hour, Sunz started getting used to everything that Sword threw at him.

But an hour later, his body feels like it has used up all of the energy he has, which resulted in him being hit and thrown around the dream for the next hour. While being treated like a sandbag during that hour, his body was still capable of moving, but all of the movements were slow and sluggish. Those movements are only good at helping him recover and pull himself up. Fighting was not an option during this hour.

Then, after that hellish hour, his body suddenly felt energized. For the next five hours, the training is exactly like what happened during the first hour. But for some reason, his body was never tired, he was at his peak performance.

Throughout the eight-hour training session, Sunz wasn't able to access his 'Elements' at all. While at the same time, he had to counter Sword's 'Elements'. The variety was the same as Sunz but was used at a higher level.

The training was like some kind of torture that helped him experience all types of pain, like burns, frostbites, shocks, instant death, etc..., while raising his endurance.

After the eight-hour mark, Sunz's appearance was the same as when the training began, but what he felt had been ingrained in his mind and body.

Sword: Time's up! How do you feel about the training, kid?

Sunz:... Like hell, but way worse... Is this going to be the core training for the rest of my life?

Sword: I wouldn't call that training, more like bullying. Also, that was only a warm up.

Sunz: Warm up? Really! Kill me already.

Sword: The simple mind of a student. Already giving up... It's always fun for me to see you guys reactions to knowing that... that was the 'Hardest lesson'.

Sunz: What? That was the hardest. Damn you! I thought you were about to drop some old sage quotes like "...". I can't think of any.

Sword: More like none of those quotes relate to your situation, and those people don't have as much experience in training as me. I teach you to see how far you can go, while they teach their students to turn them into elixirs or new hosts.