Chapter 46: Inspecting the Troops
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Theodora said gracefully. “Captain Asker, your mercenary team is very special… I see that most of the members are women?”
“Yes.” Asker said, “But this is not the result of my deliberate selection, but because the suitable candidates I encountered happened to be women.”
Whether you believe it or not, I believe it anyway… he added silently in his heart.
“And they all happen to be beautiful women?” Theodora said humorously, with a hint of playfulness in her tone.
The girls beamed upon hearing the “beautiful women” comment.
“Yes, it’s just a coincidence.” Asker replied, “As you can see, although most of my team members are women, there are no other common factors besides gender.”
“They come from different ethnic backgrounds, have different appearances, and even different personalities and habits, which is enough to prove that I don’t choose teammates based on personal preference.”
Maybe it’s just because your hunting menu is more diverse… Theodora thought warily, and heard Asker say:
“Let’s not talk about this, let’s continue to introduce the team’s strength. It just so happens that my teaching plan has reached the second lesson. If you are interested, you can also sit in.”
“Okay.” Theodora nodded.
“Girls!” Asker cleared his throat and said to the girls, “In the last lesson, we talked about the Eight Tactical Forms, and everyone should have practiced them. This lesson, we will talk about defense and dodge.”
“Peggy, step forward!”
Peggy walked out with a cold face and drew the short sword strapped to her outer thigh.
“Attack me head-on once.” Asker said.
Peggy didn’t answer, but instantly disappeared from her spot. The next second, she had flashed in front of Asker, her short sword thrusting straight at his chest – which was blocked by Asker’s sword.
“So fast!” Theodora’s eyes widened slightly, her pupils constricting. There was no doubt that this Peggy was a Transcendental, and one whose physical strength was focused on explosive power and control.
If she herself had been facing the attack, she would probably have been pierced through the heart by now… Achilles could actually block such a high-speed attack? His strength was probably much greater than she had previously judged.
“Blocking, the most basic defensive move.” Asker maintained his posture and demonstrated. “What you need to pay attention to is that when the enemy’s attack is successfully blocked by you, the enemy’s body will enter an abnormal state called ‘rigidity.’ In the rigidity state, the muscles in the enemy’s arms are temporarily paralyzed due to violent shaking and unable to move.”
“The normal rigidity time may be less than 0.1 seconds. However, the stronger the enemy’s attack, the longer the rigidity time after being successfully blocked.”
“If the time is long enough, you can seize this opportunity to counterattack. The enemy in rigidity is unable to respond.” Asker said, instructing Peggy, “Attack again.”
Peggy nodded and swung her short sword again from her spot. Asker blocked with his sword horizontally. The moment the metal clashed, his right knee lifted sharply, hitting Peggy’s lower abdomen. She flew backwards, fell to the ground, and rolled a few times.
“So ruthless.” Nuo and Mia whispered. “Is it because Peggy has the quick recovery ability of Flesh I that Asker is so heavy-handed with her? It makes my whole body ache just watching.”
“Under normal circumstances, the rigidity time caused by blocking is not enough for you to launch a counterattack.” Asker continued, “At this time, we need the second defensive move: blade clash, which is to parry the attack with your own attack. Using your attack to deflect the opponent’s attack can make the enemy enter a longer state of rigidity.”
“Sidlipha, step forward!” He beckoned. “Give me an axe.”
Sidlipha immediately stepped forward excitedly upon hearing this and threw the battle axe from her waist to him.
“Come on, attack me.” Asker caught the battle axe.
“Alright!” Sidlipha roared and raised her battle axe with both hands to chop down. It was the advanced version of “Lion’s Fang” that Asker had taught her last time, “Mountain Splitter.”
As the axe blade fell, another silver light met it head-on. Asker swung his right hand upwards with the battle axe, deflecting the Mountain Splitter with a clang, and at the same time, his left fist punched out, hitting Sidlipha hard in the lower abdomen.
She screamed, clutched her abdomen, and fell to her knees, her face contorted in pain, tears streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably.
“I take back what I said just now.” Nuo and Mia muttered. “He’s ruthless to everyone… It’s a good thing we’re not combat professions.”
“If blocking is passive defense, its advantage is stability, but there are fewer opportunities to counterattack.” Asker summarized the defense lesson. “Blade clash is an active counterattack. Although it can cause a longer rigidity state, it is also riskier – if you fail to clash blades, the enemy’s knife will hit you. Have you all remembered?”
“We remember!” Looking at Peggy and Sidlipha who were miserably getting up from the ground, the remaining girls quickly said in unison, afraid that he would find someone else to demonstrate again.
“Okay, let’s talk about dodging next.” Asker nodded. “There are four forms of dodging: sidestep, hop, roll, and slide. Eleanor, step forward!”
Eleanor walked out with a solemn expression, mentally prepared to be abused.
“Here.” Asker threw his sword to her. “Attack me continuously with the sword.”
“Okay.” Eleanor took the sword, then assumed a stance and slashed down with a Right Lion’s Fang.
Asker took half a step to the right, dodging the sword slash, and said, “Sidestep, the fastest dodge move, each movement distance is half a step to one step.”
Eleanor continued to pursue and slash, and he dodged with consecutive sidesteps, each time narrowly avoiding the blade just as it was about to hit him, making the girls extremely nervous.
Theodora also sat there, her eyes above the veil sparkling.
This guy named Asker was so strong!
Although she didn’t understand martial arts, she could see that Eleanor was attacking with all her might, without holding back at all.
The fact that Asker could easily dodge all her attacks could only mean that the two were not on the same level in terms of awareness and technique.
“Sometimes, when the enemy’s weapon is longer or has a larger attack range, you need to use other dodging methods.” Asker said as he hopped backwards, avoiding Eleanor’s horizontal Eagle Cut. “Hop, each movement distance is one to two steps.”
“Roll, each distance is more than two steps.” He suddenly leaned to the left, his whole body rolling a distance away, then getting up. Eleanor looked at him speechlessly and stopped her movements.
Asker stood up and said: “Hops and rolls each have their advantages and disadvantages. Hops are faster to activate, but there is a period of being airborne during the jump. When you are attacked while airborne, you cannot dodge.”
“Rolls require curling up and getting up, making them slower to activate, but rolling will lower your body and reduce the area you can be hit.”
“Finally, there’s the slide.” Asker said as he charged forward a few steps and slid across the ground, reaching Eleanor’s feet, then bouncing up. “The slide lowers your body even lower than a roll, so it’s even harder to be hit.”
“The problem is that slides have a prerequisite action, which is that you must be moving to slide. Also, after the slide is completed, you need to bounce up, which involves the strength of your abdominal muscles and requires corresponding exercise.”
“That’s it for the basic course.” Asker concluded. “Next…”
“Practice each move a thousand times.” The girls said in unison.
“That’s right, it seems that everyone is very self-conscious.” Asker waved his hand with satisfaction. “Go ahead!”
The girls tearfully went to practice on their own.
Coming to Theodora, Asker asked with a smile:
“So, what do you think of our team?”
“Your teaching methods and content…” Theodora thought for a moment and said slowly, “They really opened my eyes.”
“Really?” Asker shook his head. “But these are all publicly recorded in ‘Tactics,’ they are not some unseen secret.”
Theodora was silent for a moment, feeling puzzled.
Emperor Leo III, the author of “Tactics,” was historically nicknamed “the Wise.” The reason was that although he claimed to be very knowledgeable about war, all the battles he personally commanded ended in disastrous defeats, so the citizens of Constantinople deliberately called him “the Wise,” the irony self-evident.
His book “Tactics” was also known as the “Bookworm’s Art of War” in the Empire.
For example, regarding Lion’s Fang recorded in “Tactics,” Leo III claimed that “the ultimate application of Lion’s Fang is that even if the enemy uses an upper block or blade clash, Lion’s Fang can still forcefully cut off the opponent’s weapon and cleanly split and crack their crown.”
“To cut off the weapon, you must hit the center of gravity of the blocking weapon.”
“Taking a sword clash as an example, the sword body is divided into two areas, the part close to the hilt is the ‘strong end,’ and the part close to the tip is the ‘weak end.’”
“If your Lion’s Fang hits the ‘weak end,’ that is the easiest place to deflect force on the sword body; if it hits the ‘strong end,’ that is the thickest and hardest part of the sword spine.”
“Only by hitting the junction of the ‘strong end’ and the ‘weak end’ can you have a chance to cut off the weapon, because that is the most vulnerable point of the entire sword.”
When readers read this, they might feel that the book made some sense, at least it seemed that there were no flaws.
But when they actually practiced, they realized – Damn it, the enemy’s sword doesn’t have a marked center of gravity, how can you have time to identify the location of the weapon’s center of gravity in a split second?
If you hesitate for even a moment, the enemy’s sword will already be slashing back at you!
Like most people, Theodora also felt that Leo III’s “Tactics” was too divorced from reality.
Some theories were still worth learning, such as the four vital points on the human body.
As for those overly detailed and even digitized conclusions, such as “slash in a straight line at a 35-degree angle” and “strike the midpoint between the shoulder blade and the triceps,” they were simply armchair strategizing…
However, listening to Asker’s meaning, those seemingly fantastical theories written in “Tactics” were actually achievable?
Theodora secretly took note of this, deciding to find time to study it later.
“Then let’s stop here for today.” The two chatted politely for a few more sentences, and then Asker said with a smile, “Please allow me to see you out.”
“What, are you trying to get rid of me, Captain Asker?” Theodora said jokingly.
“Of course not, if you want to stay here, we are naturally more than welcome.” Asker said, taking out a common mercenary employment contract and handing it to Theodora. “If you make up your mind at any time, please come find me with the contract.”
With that, he activated “Absurd Dreams” with his spirituality. The surrounding scene changed, and the two returned to the tavern.
The tables and chairs were in disarray, and Michael and the two Kingsguard officers were searching and rummaging everywhere, their anxiety and panic evident.
“Lord Michael.” Theodora called softly.
Michael jolted, hurriedly turned around, and saw Her Majesty standing behind him, alone – Asker was nowhere to be seen.
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