Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 82 The Novice Grows Up Amidst Pride
This truly delighted Zhang Yuan. According to Nancy, the spinning attack and defense were the wandering swordsman's trump card moves.

The former increases attack speed and even slightly increases lethality, while the latter sacrifices mobility and greatly enhances defensive capabilities by wielding weapons at high speed in place.

However, while the skills are powerful, mastering them, especially forcibly learning the skills of a wandering swordsman while being a member of another profession, is not impossible, but there are too many prerequisites required.

Agile Attack Stance → Advanced Agile Attack Stance;
Dual-weapon combat → Dual-weapon mastery → Dual-weapon attack → Advanced dual-weapon attack;
Dual-weapon mastery → Dual-weapon defense → Advanced dual-weapon defense.

According to Nancy, it would take at least a year and a half to master all these skills.

Indeed, she failed. When someone who had spent nearly two weeks learning agile attacks wanted to learn advanced stances, Nancy, feeling utterly defeated, was speechless. She stared at Zhang Yuan for a long while before finally speaking:
"The so-called advanced stance is the combat stance that you use repeatedly and master with ease. There's nothing to teach it; it takes time to accumulate experience."

"Oh, so you mean you have nothing left to teach me?" someone asked nonchalantly, their face greasy and fleshy.

Nancy was getting increasingly angry and felt that she was losing face. What horrified her even more was that after only four weeks, the newbie she used to bully was no longer the same as before.

Although relying on his own agility and years of accumulated skills and experience, suppressing and defeating the opponent is indeed not a problem, it is somewhat difficult to maintain the same level of control and effortless dominance as before, and to easily defeat the opponent and make them run away in terror.

Ultimately, Nancy herself was just a mid-level wandering swordsman in the Wanderer Rank, though her level was indeed higher than Zhang Yuan's, and her combat power was also far superior.

However, battles are not simply a game of comparing numbers.

First of all, the Wanderer is not a class that relies on direct combat. Even the relatively powerful sect, the Wandering Swordsman, focuses on agility and speed. Their direct combat damage and physical attributes cannot be compared with those of a traditional warrior class.

When Zhang Yuan can't win, he often resorts to shamelessness, taking advantage of his thick skin to directly withstand Nancy's attacks. Nancy, wielding a training wooden sword, really can't do anything to him; she can't exactly deliver a fatal blow, can she?

Secondly, Nancy herself had some cards she hadn't revealed, so this situation was truly unfortunate.

To uphold her dignity as a teacher, and also out of consideration for the time she helped Gavial resolve her own issues, Nancy decided to pass on her most proficient skill—dual-wielding combat—to the increasingly troublesome rookie in front of her.

Unlike other combat specialties, which some geniuses can learn and master at a speed far exceeding others due to their comprehension or talent, dual-wielding and blind combat specialties have their own unique characteristics—overcoming the weakness of instinct!

Just like a non-left-handed person who wants to use their left hand as flexibly as their dominant hand, it cannot be compensated for by skills or methods. It requires long-term, unremitting efforts and repeated training to overcome the innate disadvantage of the non-dominant hand.

Nancy had made up her mind to make up for her shattered confidence during this long training period. From the beginning, she made Zhang Yuan fight her using only his left hand. The effect was remarkable. Zhang Yuan, who was not used to this way of holding a sword, was beaten without any power to fight back, as if he had returned to the time four weeks ago.

Yes, the good times are back! Nancy was secretly delighted. Although she tried her best to maintain a calm and composed demeanor, the upturned corners of her mouth and the slightest hint of unease betrayed her true feelings. However, the good times were short-lived. Zhang Yuan, who hadn't specifically practiced left-handed swordsmanship before, quickly overcame the awkwardness and unfamiliarity after a short period of adjustment, making Nancy's jaw drop once again.

Without targeted training, it's impossible for the left hand to develop the same combat power as the right hand in a short period of time. Muscle memory and instinctive reactions also need time to be honed.

Even so, when this person's left hand was learning various fighting techniques and swordsmanship, it adapted and improved rapidly at an almost visible speed. However, when others were training to wield weapons with both hands, they almost inevitably encountered a series of problems such as: the left and right hands affecting each other, and the inability to coordinate the rhythm and frequency of attacks with both hands. It was quite common for having an extra weapon not only to fail to improve combat power, but also to have a negative effect due to these conflicts.

However, these difficulties did not become stumbling blocks on Zhang Yuan's path forward at all. It was as if what stood in front of him was just a small hill, rather than a mountain that others faced.

Even Nancy couldn't understand it no matter how hard she racked her brains. This guy in front of her had never received any targeted training, so why could he take the mastery of dual-wielding skills and other specialties for granted, just like the rangers who roamed the forest?

"Of course you can't figure it out," Zhang Yuan thought to himself, grinning from ear to ear. Especially when Nancy was puzzled, the sense of superiority in intelligence and talent gave the newbie a satisfying sense of relief, though he dared not show it.

There are few good things in the world without a reason. Someone's ability to master dual-wielding skills so quickly is certainly not because he is exceptionally talented or because he practiced some kind of divine skill like ambidextrous fighting on Earth.

It just goes to show how things work out in such a clever way. Someone who was used to using dual weapons in the game also casually allocated two points to dual weapons when setting their initial specialization.

Originally intended to increase the number of attacks, it can also be combined with the advanced acceleration of the sixth ring in the later stages to directly increase one's attack speed to a terrifying level.

However, things didn't go as he expected. When Zhang Yuan was receiving basic training at the Flame Fist headquarters, he discovered that he couldn't even use his right hand well, let alone his left.

He originally intended to favor both the left and right consorts at the same time, but unfortunately he was unable to do so, so he had no choice but to send the left consort to the cold palace.

Being overly ambitious is not advisable. Zhang Yuan decisively gave up the idea of ​​using dual swords to cut through water and focused all his attention on the basic skills training of soldiers. Special skills such as dual weapons, which were not yet attainable, had long been forgotten by him.

However, being overlooked does not mean non-existence. The amazing talent that Zhang Yuan displayed during this training process was essentially a process of rediscovering and continuously exploring this previously overlooked specialty.

Although it wasn't the first time, someone still couldn't help but sigh, "Our system doesn't give much, but every item has its meaning and purpose, always playing its role quietly in inconspicuous places."

Zhang Yuan had no idea when his mage panel would be unlocked. He hadn't been idle for over a month, training during the day and reading the spellbooks he had acquired as spoils of war at night. He had gained a lot, but his level panel remained unchanged.

Well, there's no rush. The special training is over, and it's time to go see Old Man Teli anyway. Zhang Yuan doesn't like to get stuck on trivial things.

(End of this chapter)