The Harvester

Chapter 120: Weapon Practice

Rakna was pulled out of the odd vision of his past and he regained awareness inside of the Pavilion right as he sensed something approaching the back of his head. He quickly but serenely tilted to the side to dodge a punch.

He sighed and scowled. He already knew who it was through the smell. “I expected this from Allan, but not you too,” he uttered with no real rancor and looked over his shoulder at Flavia who had at least the decency to look sheepish at his reprimand.

“W-well, I knew it would work so…” She droned embarrassingly and he looked at Evelyn who was innocently standing to the side whilst giving him a small smile.

“I guess it makes sense… but, Higure, pray tell why you didn’t stop her?” He asked and turned to the mini lion casually resting on his lap. “You could have easily woken me up.”

“Now, now, devourer, where’s the fun in that?” The lioness replied with a smirk and he sighed.

“Who is this?” Flavia asked curiously.

“And them too,” Evelyn added as she pointed at Rexam, Fenriu, Tyran, and Pronos chasing each other in some sort of game of tag. “Also, is that really the T. Rex Allan talked about? It’s nothing like he showed us. He’s adorable!”

Rakna shrugged. “I told him so. He was just a tad bigger at the time.”

“That’s the understatement of the year,” Higure snorted.

“As for the little ones, they’re parts of my soul temporarily given form outside of my body,” Rakna continued. “Once again, they’re byproducts of my Nirvana Skill and Higure is the only one amongst them who can actually speak. The two others are… let’s say in their infancy stage.”

The girls nodded dazedly; a bit baffled by what they were seeing. Sometimes, the best way to react to something was simply to let it go. Life would be hard if they allowed themselves to question every little thing they saw.

“So? What are you girls doing here? Is it about the weapon training?” Rakna ultimately asked.

“Ah, yes, it is,” Flavia nodded. “We figured we could ask you now since you were here.”

“I see. I was going to call you later but this is as good a time as any,” he said and stood up.

Higure jumped down from his lap in consequence and his four other beastly companions stopped playing around to look at him. “Rexam, Fenriu, Higure, I’ll dispel the puppets. If you want to stick around as souls, it’s your choice.”

“Well, playtime is over cubs,” Higure said with a smile and two other beasts nodded at her without much opposition. It seemed that they greatly valued her words. The three of them closed their eyes and swirls of soul power emerged around their bodies before reforming their spiritual bodies in their original size.

Evelyn and Flavia held their breath as the imposing figures of a Dusk Lion, a Nine-Tailed Wolf, and a Luquila appeared in the room. Even as nothing more than incorporeal ghosts, they emitted some kind of compelling aura, forcing onlookers to consider them as nothing less than legendary.

Rakna proceeded to snap his fingers to dismantle the three cold energy puppets that had reverted to their blank state. “Can you turn invisible?” He asked them and Higure nodded.

“{We can. Only you or someone with soul sense would be able to see us,}” she responded through their link since she was unable to make clear sounds in her ghost form.

“Then do it,” he ordered and the trio promptly vanished in the eyes of Evelyn and Flavia. More so the latter than the former since the succubus naturally had the ability to sense souls as a Phantom if she chose to. As for him, they only appeared to be a bit more transparent.

“All right. Let’s go to a training room,” he said and started walking with a yawn. Tyran and Pronos quickly followed him along with the girls. “By the way, where are Allan and Nyx?”

“Nyx is doing a Bounty. It’s a type of Quest where you hunt a certain monster,” Flavia said. “If I’m not wrong, her target is a sort of mutated goblin with a big tribe that is becoming a threat to a few towns on the Fourth Plateau. As for Allan, I’m not sure. He said he was going to meet up with a member of his Guild.”

“A Bounty, huh?” Rakna hummed. “I will have to try that sometime,” he said as he opened the door to one of the training rooms. He stepped inside and turned around when they were all inside. “So? What weapons do you two want to learn?”

“Personally, I would like to learn how to use a bow better,” Evelyn answered first. “Other than that, after using Sonata, I found that I liked using the Guandao… but at the same time, I feel like there’s something lacking about it.”

“Ah, I get it. You probably are suited for polearms but the Guandao is a bit special. It’s a ‘spear’ mainly used for slashing. It also lacks a balance that is symmetrical so it’s harder to get used to if you’re not proficient in handling impetus,” Rakna explained and constructed a glaive with his Star Make.

He skillfully whirled it with one hand then switched to the other. “The reason I always spin it like this isn’t just for show. It’s both a way to relocate the blade and increase momentum. In any case, a good spear for you would be…” He mused. “Trii, can you give me a winged spear?”

|| Right away. || The interface processed his command and a spear with a lozenge head and a pair of prominent wing-like attachments below it materialized in front of him. It was a type of spear used during the earlier Middle Ages.

“Catch,” Rakna grabbed it and tossed it to Evelyn who clumsily caught it. “You’ll use that for now. I’ll teach you a stance later. As for your archery skills, the best I could give you is some advice. The rest comes purely down to practice.” The succubus nodded at his words and he turned to Flavia.

“What about you? Fancy anything in particular?”

“I do, in fact. I’d like to use hard-hitting weapons like greatswords.”

Rakna was a bit surprised by that. “Uh, interesting. I have my idea, but can I ask you why?”

“Essentially, I can effectively render the weight of a weapon irrelevant thanks to gravity magic. In addition to that, while swinging, I can use both my magic and my telekinesis to deal more damage.”

“So that would mean the heavier the better,” Rakna nodded approvingly. “Any preference? Long swords? Zweihänder? Nodachi? Or perhaps axes would be better?”

Flavia scratched her cheek with a wry smile. “I… don’t really know the difference between most of those. And I think I still prefer swords for more range.”

“Hm, if weight isn’t a problem, you could always use those types that can barely be considered as anything other than a lump of metal but… I think maneuverability will still be important to you so… Trii, give me a two-handed machete. A large one.”

|| Machetes are one-handed weapons. Are you demanding a custom one? ||

“Yes. Make it about a meter long and correct the dimensions of the handle to match it. Also, I want a small five-degree curve from the halfway point. Can you do that?”

|| Affirmative. || The AI said without hesitation and a weapon matching his demands appeared in front of him without delay. The overall look was the one of a regular machete with a curved blade and handle.

Rakna gripped the weapon and gave it a few testing swings. He only used one hand and it appeared as if he was waving a branch around. This time, he sensibly decided against throwing it and walked to Flavia. He flipped the sword over, grabbing it from the flat side of the blade, and extended the hilt forward as if he was handling a simple knife.

Flavia looked at the blade handle for a few seconds before reaching for it. When she had her hand firmly wrapped around the hilt, Rakna let go and she yelped as the weight of the weapon became too much for her and crashed on the floor of the room.

Rakna snorted in amusement and she threw him a pout before covering the weapon with a purple glow. She breathed in and lifted it. This time, she seemed to have no problem and she even waved it with even more ease than Rakna had done.

“The reason I’m suggesting you a machete, if you can still call it that, is not really because it has potential as a super sword of doom,” Rakna uttered and the two girls sweatdropped. “But because it’s a weapon that goes straight to the point; hack and cleave.”

“Machetes are one of the best in that regard. The reason for that is because the blade gets larger and heavier at the tip. Sometimes, they even have an inward curve in the middle to create as much momentum as possible when swinging it. In a way, they are axes turned swords.”

Flavia attentively listened and took another look at the hulking weapon she was holding. “So… is there something specific I should know about how to use it?”

“Hm,” Rakna rubbed his chin. “Well, not really. There isn’t any style that relies on that weapon. At least, as far as I know. I don’t know everything, after all. You know what? I’ll teach you first. Evelyn, in the meantime, you can ask Trii for a shooting range and practice with the bow. I’ll teach you the spear afterward. However, I want you to use a bow other than Sonata. I don’t think energy arrows are the best setup to improve your archery.”

“I understand,” the Cambion nodded and went to one side of the room where she asked a longbow from the interface, a stock of arrows, and a bunch of targets.

“Now then,” Rakna continued. “Trii, materialize a wooden log to my right. I want it to be about half a meter wide and one meter tall.”

|| Acknowledged. ||

Rakna glanced at where the block of wood appeared and pointed at it with his thumb. “Your first assignment will be to cleave through this.”

Flavia slowly nodded. “It shouldn’t be-“

“Vertically, in one swing, without telekinesis, and no increase of the weight past its normal one.”

“EH?!” She almost tripped and gazed at her former student in the eyes, trying to find a trace of his usual teasing but there was none of it. “You’re… being serious.”

“I am. Though, before you do that, I’ll have to give you a basic stance and make you go through a few practice swings. Once again, there is nothing specifically oriented toward machetes but the gist is the same for most weapons. Correct me if I’m wrong but you’re right-handed, right?”

She nodded.

“Then, right foot back. Left foot forward. Keep your feet parallel to each other. Put your right hand at the highest point of the hilt and your left hand at the lowest,” he instructed and she gradually grew into the stance. “Position the blade in front of you pointing to the sky forward. Straighten your back. Raise your shoulders. Bend your arms a bit more.”

As Rakna continued to correct her stance, Flavia became more and more amazed at how many details she had to pay attention to. After a few minutes, she finally got to a satisfying posture and he continued with the next instructions.

“Keep all of your body as is. What I want you to do is raise the sword and put it above your shoulder and maintain it until you’re comfortable. Once again, keep the blade straight. After that, comes the swing. You will lean forward and bend your left knee a bit.”

“As you bring the weapon down, your left hand will not move and your right will be leading the motion. When the swing is halfway from hitting, disengage your gravity magic and let your right hand slide around the handle until it meets your left. During that moment, all you have to do is hold tight and let the momentum do the rest. Don’t forget to breathe. Do it whenever you want.”

Flavia nodded and exhaled through her mouth. Then, as she inhaled, she hacked the weapon down as hard as she could. She turned her magic off like he told her to and the result ended up in a large indent on the floor along with a small whiplash of air.

“Good enough,” Rakna said. “Lift it again and this time, hold it as if you wanted to make a horizontal slash. The basic stance stays the same. However, when you swing, your waist will have to follow the movement. Your right hand will once again lead the force but you will also ‘pull’ with your left hand to complement it. This time, don’t dispel your magic. Again; whenever you want.”

Flavia followed his directives and slashed with the large weapon before returning to her original stance with the blade leaning forward.

“Good. Now, you will repeat all of those at least twenty times. Forward, over your shoulder, chop, horizontal, swing, and forward again. The only difference is when you hack down; stop the blade before it touches the floor. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“I ultimately want you to be able to wield it without gravity magic even if you have to spend a point or two into strength. Now, the initiative is yours,” he declared and quietly watched her go through the stances, something that marked the hours-long training that he had in store for her and Evelyn.