Three more days passed after the three of them reached their decision. Once they had stocked up on materials, the four of them quickly managed to restore the cabin to a livable state.
Though they had originally planned to give up on their secluded life altogether, Light-Splitting Slash was not the sort of technique one could learn easily. Teaching it in town would make far too much noise, so after thinking it over, they decided to return here for the time being.
As for why there were four people working on the repairs—
Alfia never did housework.
Out on the open plain, Zald drew the beloved sword he had never once used during training, making Duncan swallow hard.
Up until now, whether it had been Zald or Alfia, both had always trained him with nothing more than ordinary iron swords—or even wooden ones. But now, seeing Zald deliberately switch to his personal weapon, Duncan couldn't help but start wondering which bed in the Ningishzida Familia infirmary he'd be sleeping in tonight.
The enormous greatsword was planted heavily into the ground. Just from its sheer mass and appearance alone, one could tell that getting hit by it would hurt like hell.
Zald, however, didn't seem to notice the lively train of thoughts running through Duncan's head. If he had, he probably would not have minded personally sending him back to the hospital ward.
After loosening up, he pulled the greatsword free, turned toward the open field, and signaled for Duncan to watch carefully.
"I've already taught you the basics of fighting against human opponents, at least as far as Alfia and I can teach. How much you truly grasp from that is up to you."
"But for any close-range frontliner, attack range is always the weakness. Even with a long weapon like a spear, and even with enhancement magic layered on top, the damage radius you can create is, at most, only three to five meters. Compared to magic, that's an inherent disadvantage."
"Whether you're fighting monsters or enemies, close-quarters combat means greater risk. And if the opponent can fly, then you're little more than a target."
"So I'm going to teach you a technique. It's not a Skill, and it's not magic either—but its power is no less than either of them. You've already seen it more than once whenever I had to clean up your messes."
Zald's words immediately brought Duncan back to that utterly unreasonable slash he had witnessed most recently.
Its range, its destructive scale—everything about it was absurd.
After imbuing his spear with Swift Heavenly Advance, he could barely extend the force through the ground and project it to about the kind of range Zald had described. But there was no way he could make his slashes stretch hundreds or even thousands of meters the way Zald did.
That was already in the realm of bombardment magic.
"I thought that was Uncle Zald's magic."
Duncan answered honestly. He had heard a long chant beforehand, and usually, only magic needed a chant like that.
"For that specific attack, it is magic. But my magic alone cannot extend that far. Even if I channel its power into the ground and transmit it through the earth, it still won't reach that sort of range—and the force would scatter and weaken along the way."
"But by using this technique, you can fire a slash that ignores distance and reaches the same range as bombardment magic, or even farther."
"Our captain—Maxim—could even strike through several mountains and still hit his target. This was a technique developed jointly by the Zeus and Hera Familias for the sake of completing the Three Great Quests."
"It's called Light-Splitting Slash."
"Alfia played a major part in perfecting it. With her understanding of magic and magical structure, she helped turn it into a true killing blow."
Zald explained it calmly.
"Speaking of which… where's Big Sis Alfia?"
"She's gone to train Bell. Said the boy's been slacking off these past few days. Though honestly, it feels more like she wanted to get used to her restored body and needed someone convenient to beat on."
Zald shrugged, and Duncan immediately offered Bell three seconds of silent mourning.
"Back to the main point. This technique has one prerequisite: the user must possess either an enhancement-type Skill or enhancement-type magic."
"You use that power to form a cage around the enhanced slash, wrap it up, and hurl it outward."
"There are many ways the force can manifest. One is simply to destroy everything along the path."
"If your control is precise enough, however, you can keep the slash from leaking even a single trace of power while it flies, and only make it erupt after it strikes the target. That, naturally, is the ideal."
"But in actual use, it's extremely difficult. A slash is already your strongest single blow. Just controlling it well enough that it doesn't dissipate during flight is hard enough."
"To make it hold all its force until the moment of impact? That's several times harder than the former."
"And once it strikes, both forces explode together, producing might beyond even your full-power attack."
"Even in the Zeus and Hera Familias, only the executives fully mastered this move."
"You don't have the proper magic for it, but my instincts tell me your Skill should work just as well."
"Watch closely."
"Priest, forgive me for devouring the supper of the gods. Revel, O tongue of hellfire. Devour, O burning fangs!"
"Rea Ambrosia!"
As soon as the chant ended, Zald gripped the heavy sword with both hands, held it level, dropped into a deep stance, and twisted his waist at an almost grotesque angle.
Then, with a savage burst of power, he swung.
The slash—wrapped tight in force—was thrown forward by the sheer strength of his arms.
A shrieking blade-wind followed the cutting wave as it tore across the field, swallowing the ground in its path before detonating far off on the plain.
The explosion was like an aerial shell bursting.
Flames and shockwaves devoured the land, and the violent blast was so powerful that even Duncan and Zald, standing a great distance away, felt the impact sweeping back over them.
"You've tried something similar before, haven't you?"
"Compressing your enhanced power inside your weapon, making the reach and sharpness of its attacks stronger."
"The principle is the same."
"But this technique demands a far deeper level of control. When the power is simply attached to the weapon, the weapon itself serves as an anchor, so the force doesn't disperse so easily."
"In the air, it's different. A slash with nothing to support it will quickly dissipate on its own."
"If you want to keep the power from being consumed—and make it fly farther—you need much finer control."
"Control over the slash itself, and over the force that governs the slash."
"And beyond that, you need sufficient Strength to support it physically. This technique is the very pinnacle of enhancement."
Zald let out a breath.
Though his body had recovered its health, that strike had still cost him dearly.
It was like the mismatch between body and mind after leveling up—but in reverse.
Now that he had dropped from Level 7 to Level 5, he was healthy, yes, but his body still felt strangely heavy. Adapting to it would take time.
"Once the old man wakes up, go find him and level up."
"It'll probably take longer to adjust to your body afterward, but Level 3 strength simply isn't enough to support this technique."
"Even with your absurd stats, it's not enough."
Zald added that last part.
"So Level 4 would be enough?"
"No idea. At the very least, no one at Level 4 has ever succeeded with it."
"Everyone who can use this technique is a top-class adventurer."
"This is a skill reserved for those who have already reached the summit."
Zald answered in a deliberately provocative tone.
DuncanLevel 3
Strength: SS 1104Endurance: SSS 1211Dexterity: SSS 1305Agility: SSS 1258Magic: S 981
Development Ability: Nimble GCondition: Fully Recovered
Magic:
Finger Wag
Silence
Skills:
Outsider
Lucky One?
Sky-Step
Swift Heavenly Advance
....
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