At dusk, after finishing a day of archery training, Rein arrived at Lady Creya's study.
After practicing the Giant Bear Breathing Technique for a while, Rein followed Lady Creya to a separate training room located behind the door at the back of the study.
The room spanned a little over two hundred square meters, with various longswords, dual-handed greatswords, shields, and even bows and arrows placed on both sides; opposite them stood three fixed targets and wooden dummies for training.
Upon their swords clashing, Lady Creya's chestnut ponytail flicked, and she almost stepped back, which surprised her.
"Rein, has your strength really increased this much?" she asked.
Rein then realized that since he had changed his class to Blacksmith, his strength had soared to 9 points. He hadn't fully controlled his power in the heat of sparring, which was why there was an evident increase in his sword's force.
Lady Creya, with her keen perception, detected this immediately!
"Haha, maybe it's because the Giant Bear Breathing Technique is particularly suited for me!" Rein said as he touched his nose, quickly inventing an explanation.
Lady Creya's large, brown-gray eyes scrutinized Rein skeptically and she murmured softly, "But you've only reached the second form of the Giant Bear Breathing Technique, could it really have improved your physical constitution this much?"
"Although the Giant Bear Breathing Technique focuses on enhancing a person's strength and constitution, this is the first time I've seen someone just starting out and already experiencing such a significant improvement in their physical condition."
Lady Creya furrowed her brows slightly and, after pondering for a moment without coming to any more plausible conclusion, she shook her head slightly and said:
"It seems that's the only explanation for now, the Giant Bear Breathing Technique must be particularly compatible with your constitution."
"In the entire empire, cases like yours are extremely rare, but not unheard of. It's just that in Meister County, you may be the first!"
A perfect match, my foot!
Only Rein knew the real situation.
However, Lady Creya's piercing gaze that seemed to see into his heart had unsettled Rein just now.
It seemed that next time, he needed to be more careful about this issue!
"However... this is actually a good thing. I had set aside some scrolls for you, but now it seems I can teach you the swordsmanship that accompanies the Giant Bear Breathing Technique—the Giant Bear Sword Technique!"
Lady Creya's next words startled Rein.
This turnaround was somewhat sudden—Giant Bear Sword Technique?
Rein's heart leapt with joy!
Just by the name alone, he knew that the swordsmanship Lady Creya was about to teach him would be far superior to the basic sword techniques.
Lady Creya had not anticipated that Rein would bring her another surprise.
So far, Rein's constitution and the Giant Bear Breathing Technique seemed an extremely good fit, and just a few days of practice had considerably enhanced Rein's strength—a rare phenomenon.
Now, she felt much more confident that Rein would enter the Transcendent stage and become an official Knight before turning 18.
Otherwise, with her knightly talent...
After another three years, she would probably at least have advanced to a Senior Knight. By then, a follower who was merely at the level of a third-class Knight Attendant would be too weak and meaningless.
It wasn't that her standards were too high, but to be her follower, one needed to possess a rate of progress close to hers—at least, not too far behind.
Lady Creya, looking at Rein with admiration, continued in a clear voice:
"The Giant Bear Sword Technique originates from imitating the claw strikes of the bear-like Transcendent creatures, powerful and weighty, emphasizing strength and momentum!"
"Therefore, the Giant Bear Sword Technique is used in conjunction with heavy dual-handed greatswords, which sets a relatively high strength requirement for the user."
"A regular person, however strong, would not be able to swing a dual-handed greatsword weighing tens of pounds if they haven't practiced any breathing techniques, and even those few with exceptional talent would still have many flaws!"
Upon hearing this, Rein strongly agreed!
If his strength hadn't reached 9 points, he probably wouldn't even qualify to learn the Giant Bear Sword Technique.
He would have to wait until his Giant Bear Breathing Technique reached the fifth or sixth form, and his physical constitution had greatly improved, before he would be qualified to practice the Giant Bear Sword Technique.
That must also be why Lady Cleya left the sword technique scroll behind but did not teach it to him.
After all, to learn the Giant Bear Sword Technique, you must at least be able to swing a Dual-Handed Greatsword!
"Now, your strength should be enough to wield the lightest thirty-six pound Dual-Handed Greatsword!" Cleya said, pointing to the sword rack beside her.
Rein's gaze shifted to it and saw that these Dual-Handed Greatswords all had cross-shaped hilts, with long blades at least a meter and twenty centimeters in length.
Moving forward, Rein selected the lightest Dual-Handed Greatsword, but even the lightest one was much heavier than a Longsword. With his strength at nine points, it was not so smooth to swing, but as Cleya said, he could barely use it now.
At that moment, Cleya casually picked up a Dual-Handed Greatsword and began demonstrating.
"The Giant Bear Sword Technique comprises five forms, the first one being Furious Slash!"
"Watch closely, Rein," Cleya said with a stern expression, her entire body moving as quick as a darting rabbit.
Propelled by her elastic legs, she moved like a swift leopardess, stepping out in one big stride, already several meters away as she swung the Dual-Handed Greatsword in a powerful chopping motion from above toward the wooden dummy made of ironwood!
With a "crack," as the silvery gleam of the sword flashed by, the ironwood post in front of Cleya instantly split into two!
Rein was certain that Cleya had not given her full strength, she was just demonstrating for him, and yet the lethality was already so terrifying.
He was starting to understand what Hamilton meant when he said she was quite talented.
"If you understand, try it yourself."
Rein also followed Cleya's demonstration, quickly stepping forward and harshly chopping down the Dual-Handed Greatsword on the ironwood post, from above.
A dull sound echoed, and Rein looked embarrassingly at the scene before him; his Dual-Handed Greatsword had penetrated about three inches into the ironwood post before getting stuck…
Seeing Rein's awkward situation, Cleya couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Rein smiled sheepishly, but this was the first time he had seen Cleya shaking with laughter.
Normally, Cleya maintained an elegant noble demeanor in front of others, and her style in combat was even more valiant and commanding.
"Rein, when you were exerting your force, your wrist was too tense. The movement for Furious Slash was too stiff. Remember, only at the instant of the chop you must grip tightly and release a trembling burst of force through your wrist."
"That way, your sword won't get stuck in the post," Cleya said with a playful smile.
Especially when she got to the last part, Cleya glanced again at Rein's greatsword stuck in the dummy, trying to contain her laughter.
Rein suddenly realized, he hadn't expected that using a Dual-Handed Greatsword would be so different from a Longsword.
Under Cleya's guidance, after several practices, a system prompt appeared:
[You have trained in Giant Bear Sword Technique, improving related comprehension!]
[You have comprehended a new Skill—Giant Bear Sword Technique]
[Your Skill Giant Bear Sword Technique has been enhanced, Experience +1]
The Giant Bear Sword Technique lv1 (1/100) appeared on the militia panel, and its icon was amusingly a bear wielding a greatsword.
While Rein was practicing the Giant Bear Sword Technique in the castle, in a room on the second floor of the castle,
a burly middle-aged man clad in grey heavy armor was respectfully reporting Rein's situation to a noble young man with a sinister air about him.