The story of the black silk female knight

"That's just right..."

The old man, Dotalok, showed no regard for the young girl's feelings and pointed around with his cane:

"Pick a weapon that suits you, and then attack me. In today's first lesson, I'll teach you a little trick based on your weaknesses."

...The curriculum is based on my shortcomings? Is this how top students are treated?

Valensa's slight displeasure with the old man vanished instantly, and she gave an elegant bow.

"Thank you, Professor Dotalok."

Without further ado, she quickly picked out a fairly handy longsword and a round shield from the weapons and equipment around the training ground and assumed a fighting stance.

The old man, Dotalok, wasn't empty-handed either; he picked up a wooden sword, but his movements were quite casual:

"bring it on."

Knowing that there was a big gap between her and the Star-level, Valensa didn't hold back and immediately charged at the old man at her current maximum speed.

Chapter 14 Valensa's Shortcomings

The speed was indeed much faster.

Valensa did not use her mental powers to enhance her abilities during this charge, yet her charging speed was already roughly the same as after her previous enhancements.

If I use my mental power to explosively enhance my speed, and add the second-stage acceleration from my military boots... perhaps I can also unleash a supersonic slash like the Winged Falcon?

"You're distracted!"

Lost in thought, Valencia felt a sharp pain in her wrist as her longsword was knocked away by the wooden sword, and she fell to the ground after a dizzying spin.

"You dare to lose focus in this situation? If this were real combat, you'd be dead!"

The old man seemed quite dissatisfied with Valensa's performance; even his goatee twitched.

"Come again!"

Valensa stuck out her tongue discreetly, not daring to argue, and picked up her sword to attack again.

This time she dared not let her mind wander and focused intently, but she was still being beaten unilaterally.

There was no way around it; the old man was a renowned Star-level weapon master, and the gap between them was too great. From the very beginning, Valensa had no chance of winning this battle.

But Valencia is also a person who cares about her reputation. As the top student, it's not shameful to lose to the teacher, but she still wants to try her best to make a threatening attack.

She persisted in taking the beatings unilaterally from the old man's wooden sword, and even put on an act, pretending to be aggrieved and wanting to surrender but not daring to.

Many students believed it. A few boys seemed to want to show some chivalry, but hesitated to speak because they were afraid of the old man's imposing presence.

A few minutes later, Valensa was panting heavily from the wooden sword's blows, and even the black stockings on her legs were damp with sweat, as if she was about to give up.

Even the old man Dotalok seemed a bit distracted, no longer staring at Valensa as intently as he had at the beginning, but instead relying on instinctive actions to counter and teach Valensa a lesson.

It's now!

A little worried that if she kept pretending, the old man would end the fight on his own, Valensa suddenly erupted, using up more than a third of the reserves in her Heart Pool in one go.

Her agility and reflexes improved dramatically. Her round shield deflected the wooden sword before she could react, and her longsword, like a venomous snake, stabbed at the old man at a tricky angle.

All of this happened so fast that most of the students watching didn't have time to react, and only a few people subconsciously gasped.

They all imagined what would happen if they encountered this move... and sadly discovered that they would most likely be stabbed hard by Valensa, either dying or being seriously injured.

The old man Dotalok's eyes lit up, but he didn't dodge or block, letting Valensa's longsword pierce him.

Valensa showed no sign of slowing down or stopping.

when!

Amidst the clanging of metal, sparks flew from the old man's clothes, yet he remained unmoved.

On the contrary, Valensa, who launched the attack, was thrown back by an unseen force. She stumbled back several steps but still couldn't regain her balance and ended up sitting on the ground with a thud.

"That's it."

Seeing that Valencia looked unconvinced and seemed ready to strike again, the old man stopped her and gave her a rather satisfied smile.

"Not bad... If your sword strike had been any stronger, I might have had to use my Star Glory level strength to withstand it."

"...Thank you for your guidance, teacher."

Valensa breathed a sigh of relief. Her heavy breathing subsided instantly, and the water stains on her body, which looked like sweat, disappeared completely, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.

The students who witnessed the whole thing were speechless, and their gazes toward Valensa were complicated.

This beautiful woman... regardless of her actual abilities, she's such a good actress!

Several boys who had previously been interested in Valensa's figure and beauty are now on high alert.

Dating a girl like this would be like being manipulated like a toy.

"What? You think her methods just now were despicable?"

The old man seemed to have discerned the students' thoughts and snorted:

"If you think that way, it just shows how naive you are... You don't actually think that just because she's dressed up as a knight, she really is a knight, do you? No, she's a vanguard soldier."

When facing a stronger enemy, the most common tactic used by scouts is to feign weakness before launching a surprise attack.

Those who are obsessed with fighting honorably will not survive long on the battlefield.

Several students who were clearly from noble families immediately lowered their heads.

Although they possess strength surpassing their peers due to their bloodline inheritance and abundant cultivation resources, they have also been brainwashed from a young age with concepts like noble honor, making them somewhat unaccustomed to the elite soldier's fighting style.

"What about you?"

After reprimanding the other students, the old man looked at Valensa again:

Do you know your biggest weakness right now?

It must be due to insufficient strength.

Valensa wondered what was going on in her mind.

She was naturally skilled in agility, and the awakened power of her bloodline further enhanced her defense and self-healing. Magic and mental power were irrelevant to her; all that remained was strength.

However, Valensa did not voice her guess, but instead lowered her head in a gesture of shame:

"Please forgive my ignorance, teacher, and please give me your guidance."

The older people get, the more they care about their image. So it's better to pretend to be stupid and ignorant here, and give the old man a chance to show off and lecture others.

The old man's eyes flickered, and his gaze towards Valensa became even more satisfied:

“Actually, as I just said, your biggest weakness right now is strength… Why didn’t you use your bloodline power in that sword technique just now?”

"Bloodline power, huh..."

Valensa gave a bitter smile, tinged with sadness:

"Teacher, you may not know this, but my bloodline power has only recently awakened, while our Baldr family's inherited treasure weapon was already..."

"...Oh right, your surname is Baldr, and your family's heirloom artifact has been destroyed...No wonder you didn't use a single decent sword technique in your attack just now..."

The old man gave Valensa a rather apologetic look, then hesitated for a moment:

"In that case, I can only teach you a sword technique that doesn't require bloodline power to make up for your lack of attack power."

"This move is quite difficult for you students, but if it were you... well, you have a high level of control over your body, so maybe you really could do it."

An offensive sword technique that can be used without bloodline power? And can even compensate for a lack of strength? This is exactly what I need!

Valensa's heart raced slightly. She quickly took two deep breaths to calm herself and maintained a humble demeanor.

"Please teach me, teacher."

"……All right."

The old man finally nodded, and then chuckled softly:

"Speaking of which, that move is one of my unique skills... If you can really learn it, even if you can't beat the enemy in the future, you might be able to scare them away by using my name."

Chapter 15 One sword, two stages of damage

Exclusive techniques...

Valencia's eyes lit up immediately, and the other students also perked up.

The exclusive skills of a Star-level expert are not something you can learn at will; in most cases, you need to formally become an apprentice to learn them.

The kind of behavior that the old man would share his exclusive skills directly in class is extremely rare; no one wants to miss the opportunity.

The old man looked around and quickly chose a longsword similar to the one Valensa was holding, and then picked out a steel plate about two centimeters thick.

The steel plate was pitted and uneven, covered with marks left by various weapons, which must have been the result of students using it as training targets.

"The force of your sword strike that stabbed me just now... was about this much."

brush.

The old man thought for a few seconds, then casually thrust his longsword into the steel plate, the tip penetrating about a centimeter.

Valensa nodded slightly. This was roughly the limit of her current power, without using mental power to enhance it, of course.

If it's reinforced, it should be able to pierce through the steel plate... provided the blade is strong enough.

"Now watch carefully. The power I use won't be stronger than this sword strike, nor will I use any energy to enhance the blade, but..."

The old man took a deep breath and slowly made a sword-drawing gesture.

This was clearly not his usual speed; he must have deliberately slowed down so that Valencia and the other students could see him clearly.

Good steel should be used where it's needed most. There was no time to hesitate at this moment. Valensa immediately used her mental powers to enhance her dynamic vision and observation skills, keeping her eyes fixed on the old man.

Just as the old man thrust his sword halfway out, Valensa had a sudden thought and once again drew about 20% of the mental energy from her mind pool to enhance her intelligence.

This kind of exquisite skill often requires more than just seeing clearly; you also need to understand it.

Finally, the old man's second sword struck the steel plate once again.

At first, the sword tip only penetrated about one centimeter, showing no change compared to the first sword strike.

But before the students could express their doubts, with a whoosh, the once still sword tip suddenly released an invisible, sharp force that pierced right through the steel plate.

This……

Many students had big question marks on their foreheads.

You promised not to add any special energy to the sword? That last strike was clearly sword energy, wasn't it?

"You think I just used sword energy?"

The old man clearly noticed the students' confusion and gave a soft hum:

"What a bunch of idiots, don't they even have that much sense?"

But most of the young people who can get into the elite program are geniuses that only appear once in a century in the whole town (village). Soon, a boy dressed like a young nobleman took the initiative to speak, his tone confident:

"...No, the teacher didn't use sword energy just now. Although my strength is only at the Pearl level, my ability to perceive sword energy is stronger than most Lighthouse level swordsmen. I'm confident in that."

"You kid..."

The old man looked the boy up and down a few times and nodded slightly.

"If I remember correctly, you should be the heir of the Ryan family, a descendant of the Lionheart Sword Saint... Your sword sense is quite good, you haven't disgraced your ancestors."

"Thank you for the compliment, teacher."

The boy smiled politely and said nothing more.

The old man then looked at Valensa again:

"And you, top student, have you figured it out?"

"...If I'm not mistaken..."

Valensa hesitated for a few seconds, then her voice gradually became more confident:

"Teacher, your sword strike just now actually used the power of two swords... Your body exerted force twice in a very short time, each time using the same force as the first sword strike. Finally, the power of both sword strikes exploded simultaneously, which is why the steel plate was pierced."

"Oh? You actually noticed?"

The old man was clearly surprised. He stared intently into Valensa's eyes for a few seconds before nodding slightly, as if he understood something.