My Emperor's Sword

Chapter 8: A Dirty Reset

The sword felt heavy, it felt heavy and slippery. He didn't need to use it to know that when he slashes with it, it would be the sloppiest slash he did in a long, long time.

I already noticed that something was weird the moment I went back in time, but this confirms everything. My reflexes, my muscle memory, it is gone...

Shesmu first noticed that something happened to his body when he used his laptop to check on the time. At that time, he felt that something was out of place when he noticed his unusual behavior, only to ultimately toss all of those worries away.

For a second, Shesmu didn't know what to do. He felt lost, powerless, and helpless. His mind was blank, and his face was grim. All sound no longer reached him, he was alone in a deep dark ocean, his eyes threatening to close.

"Heyo"

"Young'un!"

"Are you okay?!"

From the overwhelming silence, Shesmu was shook back into reality. Looking at his left, he was greeted by the scarred smiling face of the middle-aged man.

"Did the sword scare you? Don't worry, it will be even scarier to your opponent." He then paused for a bit before continuing. "But if holding this sword is that overwhelming to you, maybe you should rethink your decision to be a warrior. You can always go through the purification ritual at the church and you can choose another profession. We can go there together if you want to," seeing the wide smile Leonard was giving him, Shesmu felt bad for worrying the man. For a second, he forgot about all the pain that the realization brought to him and focused on the present.

Focus Mark, focus! Don't waste this new shot at life that was given to you. For now, the only thing that matters is to keep moving forward!

"No," Shesmu plainly said.

To his remark, Leonard raised an eyebrow.

Shesmu stood up, his back straight and his eyes looking forward.

"No, it is not necessary. I'm going to be a warrior."

To his firm declaration, Leonard gave a big smile before saying in his obnoxiously loud voice.

"I like that! Haha! Your determination to be a warrior fired up my spirit too. You're going to become a fine Swordsman, I can already tell!"

After a loud laugh and his iconic greeting pat to the back, Leonard finally became serious.

"Well, we already had our fun, now it is time for me to show you the basics of a warrior. What I will show are the basic skills that every holder of the warrior class should master, so look attentively."

Leonard then summoned a training dummy in front of him, before materializing a sword in his hand too. The sword he materialized looked the same as the one he gave Shesmu, prompting the latter to think that this was the only type of sword these instructors could summon.

"First of all, I'll show you how a normal slash looks like."

Leonard took a deep breath in as he raised his sword towards his back. His eyes then focused, and in the blink of an eye, Leonard slashed diagonally at the training dummy. In less than a fraction of a second, Leonard slashed and went back to his fighting position. A number appeared above the fighting dummy glowing blue, 900, showing the damage that the dummy took from Leonard's slash. He then took a deep breath out before looking at Shesmu and saying.

"This is a normal slash, now let me show you an empowered one."

However, Shesmu just half heard those words. His focus was still on the training dummy that has just been slashed. He could barely see Leonard move, let alone his slash. He already knew that his reflexes were gone, but for even his kinetic vision to deteriorate this much. Surprises just kept piling up for Shesmu, and they weren't good ones.