Facing Fili and Kili's confusion, Bernal patiently gestured for them to be quiet and explained, "Listen to me first. This Battle Skill is a move where you prepare in your heart, lower your center of gravity, and stand firm, instantly increasing your defense and reducing the damage taken."
Kili still felt that Bernal's words were too fantastical, but he couldn't make up his mind, so he looked at his older brother, Fili.
Fili, on the other hand, was carefully recalling how Bernal looked when Kili attacked him just now. If his memory served him right, Bernal indeed showed no signs of wavering.
Could Teacher Bernal be telling the truth? Fili was somewhat skeptical.
Bernal shrugged, "If you don't believe me, then try it on each other first. Kili, throw a punch at Fili, just like you punched me just now. Fili, try to use the Endurance Battle Skill as I just told you."
Kili's eyes lit up, "Really?"
Fili gave his younger brother a speechless look, "You wait a minute, if I fail to use the Battle Skill, won't my face get punched for nothing?"
Kili nodded in sudden realization. Just as Fili thought his younger brother understood what he meant, Kili suddenly showed a confident smile, "Then I won't punch your face, won't that solve the problem?"
Is it about punching the face?! Fili's eyes widened.
Bernal urged, "Alright, you two, hurry up, don't dawdle. If you think Kili can't do it, then I'll do it."
Fili glanced at Bernal and saw him eagerly fumbling with the hilt of the knight's greatsword stuck in the ground. He quickly said, "No need, Kili will do. But Teacher Bernal, could you please repeat it one more time?"
"Of course, no problem. Kili, you listen carefully too. After Fili tries to use the Endurance Battle Skill, it will be your turn."
Bernal readily agreed, and Kili, whose name was called, saw his older brother suddenly become interested for some reason.
He wouldn't really want to punch me, would he? Kili wondered in his heart.
Fili took a deep breath, crossed his arms in front of him, and assumed the same defensive stance as Bernal had earlier.
Bernal saw Fili's lack of confidence and said, "It's hard for me to describe the successful manifestation of the Endurance Battle Skill. When you feel your body momentarily become as hard as steel, that means it's successful. If all else fails, just keep silently repeating the name of the Battle Skill in your heart."
Fili nodded, then nodded to Kili, "Come on."
Kili also unceremoniously threw a punch at his older brother's face.
Endurance! Endurance! Endurance!!!
Fili's orange pupils watched Kili's fist grow larger and larger in his vision, his heart tense and desperately shouting.
—!
Just a moment before Kili's fist hit his cheek, Fili did feel his body become as hard as iron, and an indescribable sound emanated from within his body.
It's a success!
Fili cheered inwardly.
But the next second, a burning pain came from his cheek, causing Fili to black out for a moment.
However, his body, like Bernal's when he was attacked earlier, did not waver at all. It was just Fili's head, with its golden-orange braids and short beard, that swayed several times.
Bernal then said with a smile, "Hmm, very good, you caught on quickly and successfully used Endurance. But there's one thing I forgot to tell you, which is that while the Endurance Battle Skill can reduce the damage taken by the user, the pain will not change."
Fili's body tensed, and he used all his strength not to cry out from the pain in his cheek.
Then he raised his face, looking at Kili with a forced smile, and spat out word by word through clenched teeth, "Kili, it's your turn."
Kili blinked. Even if he was slow to react, he understood what Fili was about to do to him.
So Kili asked Bernal, "Teacher Bernal, can I learn a different Battle Skill?"
"No!"
Bernal and Fili refused in unison at that moment, both smiling as they looked at Kili.
Finally, amidst Kili's few screams, the dwarf brothers had a preliminary grasp of the techniques of [Battle Skill: Endurance].
Bernal earnestly instructed, "Fili, Kili, even if you master the Battle Skill [Endurance], unless it's unavoidable, don't actively use the Battle Skill to trade blows with enemies. It cannot make you invulnerable, understand?"
Fili collapsed on the ground, exhausted, and responded weakly, "We understand, Teacher Bernal."
Then he looked at Fili and Kili's faces, which were still swollen despite using Endurance and showed signs of exhaustion. He took out his red dew holy grail bottle and handed it to Fili.
He weighed the red bottle in his hand and said, "Arthur should have told you what the liquid in this bottle does, right? Drink it, recover your stamina, and prepare for the next Battle Skill practice."
Fili and Kili, hearing that they were to practice the next Battle Skill, showed expressions of resignation.
They somewhat began to understand why Teacher Arthur looked at them with sympathy before leaving and also urged Bernal to be more restrained.
The dwarf brothers each took the red dew holy grail bottle, took a sip, and their depleted stamina was quickly replenished. The physical injuries sustained during the Endurance Battle Skill practice also rapidly recovered as before.
Bernal looked at Fili and Kili, who were standing up again, having adjusted their mindset and ready to welcome the next Battle Skill lesson, and once again showed a satisfied smile, "Very good, both of you are full of spirit. What kind of Battle Skill do you want to learn next? If you don't say, then I'll choose again."
Fili, afraid that Bernal would teach them another Battle Skill similar to [Endurance], quickly asked, "Teacher Bernal, can you please teach Kili and me the Battle Skill you used to slash at Teacher Arthur when you first sparred with him?"
Bernal searched his mind for information about the recent duel, then nodded and said, "Oh, you're talking about [Vacuum Slash]."
Fili and Kili immediately nodded vigorously. The considerable power and invisible attack method of this Battle Skill made the dwarf brothers particularly eager to learn it.
However, Bernal shook his head, "With your current strength, learning [Vacuum Slash] is still a bit difficult. Even if I teach it to you now, the power of the Battle Skill you use will not reach what you expect in your hearts. To fully master [Vacuum Slash], you can only start by learning the most basic Battle Skills, unless…"
Kili eagerly asked, "Unless what, Teacher Bernal?"
Bernal looked at Kili and said, "Unless you possess a weapon with the [Vacuum Slash] Battle Skill attached, you can directly skip the stage of learning this Battle Skill."
Then Bernal looked in the direction Arthur had left the training ground and said, "But among the people I know, it seems only Arthur has such a weapon. The Battle Skill attached to that weapon was also completed by him and a highly skilled blacksmith working together."
After Fili heard Bernal's words, the frozen shell axe that Thorin cherished and never let out of his sight immediately came to his mind.
He had heard his uncle mention the origin of this Battle Axe, that it was a Battle Axe with magical sorcery abilities gifted by Arthur, and Fili had personally seen Thorin use that Battle Axe to freeze attacking orcs into ice sculptures.
Fili glanced at Kili, and from the latter's eyes, it was clear that he also thought of Uncle Thorin's Battle Axe.
"Such a magical weapon is too precious, I think even Teacher Arthur wouldn't casually give it away, and besides, we have already received too much from Teacher Arthur... Teacher Bernal, please let Kili and I start learning from the most basic Battle Skills first."
Fili patted his cheek, bracing himself as he spoke.
Kili also nodded vigorously.
Bernal praised loudly with satisfaction: "Very good, your willingness to lay a solid foundation step by step makes me very satisfied! Then let's start with those most basic Battle Skills!"
Fili subconsciously looked at his younger brother Kili, while rubbing his bruised cheek, and quietly asked: "Um, Teacher Bernal, can we start with Battle Skills that don't make people feel pain?"
Bernal did not refuse, and after nodding, he walked towards the armory, saying loudly: "Of course, no problem, let's start with [Preparation Stance]!"
Accompanied by the sound of rummaging for weapons in the armory, Bernal quickly returned, holding three of the most common standard longswords and three iron-shaped shields in his arms.
He threw a longsword and a shield to Fili and Kili, and the two dwarves caught them very accurately; now all three had a longsword and a shield in their hands.
Although the longswords and shields felt slightly awkward for Fili and Kili.
After all, they were dwarves; the longswords and medium shields used by normal humans almost became "greatswords" and "greatshields" in their hands, the standard longswords were a few inches longer than their legs, and the iron-shaped shields almost covered half of their bodies.
Bernal did not draw the longsword from its sheath, but instead asked Fili and Kili directly: "I have a question, when you are in close combat, facing an enemy holding up a shield, what would you do?"
Kili answered without hesitation: "Of course, quickly get to the enemy's side or behind, where their shield cannot protect."
Fili thought for a moment and replied: "If it were me, I would probably throw a throwing knife at the enemy's eyes, and while the opponent raises their shield to protect their upper body, quickly rush over to attack the exposed lower body of the enemy."
Bernal said: "Hmm, what both of you did is actually not wrong, and they are both relatively reasonable ways to deal with shield-wielding enemies. But the Preparation Stance I want to teach you is a Battle Skill that can directly break through an enemy's defense from the front."
Then he raised the sheathed longsword, keeping it parallel to the ground, and said to Fili and Kili: "No matter how much I talk, it's not as good as seeing it in actual combat. Fili, raise the shield in your hands with both hands and block my attack with all your might."
With an expression that seemed to ask 'Why am I the one suffering first again?', Fili, with a bitter face, followed Bernal's instructions, gripping the handle of the iron-shaped shield tightly with both hands, raising it to hide his body behind the shield.
"Kili, watch my movements carefully. Later, you and Fili will switch places so he can also observe my movements carefully," Bernal said, looking at Fili.
Fili poked his head out from behind the shield, nodded to Bernal, and quickly retracted.
Bernal saw that Fili was ready, and suddenly thrust forward, the sword sheath in his hand hitting the lower part of the shield from bottom to top.
Fili, hiding behind the shield and gripping its handle tightly, only felt as if he had been struck by a goat, unable to hold onto the shield while his body stumbled back a few steps.
If it weren't for the dwarves' exquisite mastery of their own balance, Fili would have already fallen on his backside instead of stumbling backward to release the force as he was now.
Of course, this also had a lot to do with Bernal not using his full strength.
Otherwise, Fili would have been sent flying backward.
Bernal, quick as a flash, reached out and grabbed Fili's arm, helping him stabilize his posture.
Fili's eyes widened in surprise at his seemingly powerless hands, then he silently looked at Kili, his eyes asking what Kili had just seen.
Kili noticed his brother's gaze and frowned, saying: "Teacher Bernal just attacked your shield from below in a very ordinary way, no, it doesn't seem very ordinary. The moment Teacher Bernal moved, I seemed to see some unusual change in the weapon in his hand."
Bernal didn't hide anything and said directly: "That's the feeling when a Battle Skill is successfully unleashed. Kili, it's your turn now. Fili, stand in Kili's position and observe me carefully."
Kili nodded, picked up the shield, and swapped places with Fili.
Subsequently, his performance was the same as Fili's, the shield almost slipped from his grasp, and he stumbled backward.
Although Kili's face could not hide his surprise, he also felt anticipation and excitement at being able to learn this Battle Skill.
Fili walked over, his face also showing surprise: "I understand what Kili meant just now. Teacher Bernal, during your attack, there was a moment when all parts of your body reached an extremely coordinated state, and it was maintained until the attack ended."
Kili nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, that's pretty much what I was trying to say just now."
"Good, good, you dwarves are still interesting, to be able to roughly guess the essence of the Battle Skill just by seeing it once. Alright, you've all seen the demonstration of the Preparation Stance, it's your turn to perform the Battle Skill for me. Fili, you first again," Bernal said, laughing loudly.
Fili nodded, imitating Bernal's previous posture.
However, Bernal walked over, extended his hand, and personally corrected Fili's posture little by little, teaching enthusiastically: "The sword should be parallel to the ground, and don't press your body's center of gravity too low. Relax your muscles, don't be too tense... Kili! Don't just stand there, come over and see where your brother's posture is incorrect, so you don't end up like him."
Amidst Bernal's words and the dwarf brothers' diligent learning, time flowed like water through their fingers day by day, and in a blink of an eye, a month had passed.
Rogier and D, unable to hide their travel weariness, returned to the Erdtree's territory, bringing back news of Halbarad.
And an old friend also returned with them; the three of them met in the swamps of Halbarad.
Riding a white horse, dressed in a grey robe, and wearing a wizard's pointed hat, Gandalf looked up in awe at the Fort Haight, Morne Castle, and Stormveil Castle standing on this land.
After a brief moment of surprise, a faint smile appeared on Gandalf's old and wise face: "My friend Arthur has truly given me a great surprise."