This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!

Chapter 95: Chapter 095: Master’s Strike

The venue was large, after all, it occupied an entire floor of a large department store, estimated to be enough to accommodate dozens of people swinging two-handed greatswords for practice at the same time. On the training ground, more than a dozen members were sparring with knives. Since they were using safety swords, there was no “clang clang” sound of iron striking.

Chen Ke also noticed that, regardless of gender, those practicing HEMA had very strong upper arms, likely because they needed to wield large swords with vigorous arms.

Although Chen Ke was also robust, his muscle thickness wasn’t quite sufficient.

With the assassin skills Chen Ke currently possessed, his role in the assassin team should be infiltration assault and medium-range precise shooting for suppression, requiring agility and quickness.

Pure strength was not Chen Ke’s forte.

However, when fighting monsters in hand-to-hand combat with cold weapons, strength was very important.

He could barely lift the golden Holy Relic two-handed sword in his hand, let alone swing it freely.

That sword, Faralis could handle with one hand with ease, Chen Ke didn’t even dare to imagine.

Chen Ke guessed that the “strength” required by the Holy Relics referred to not just muscle strength. Faralis’s arm strength might not be as good as Chen Ke’s, but she clearly possessed some kind of “mighty power”.

“HEMA was the skill of killing used by armies in ancient times, even now it has a very strong lethality, so before you learn HEMA, I have to warn you, it is not intended for provoking trouble but represents a hobby, a pure spirit,” Brig said.

“I searched on Google, which says HEMA has long been lost, and the current techniques are restored from literature and illustrations by later generations as a sport?” Chen Ke asked.

“I know what the internet says, but forget that. In this gym, I mean all apprentices, give them a sword, and you’ll understand what HEMA really means,” Brig said with some pride.

“HEMA and Meyer Swordsmanship… which of these two is more powerful?” Chen Ke asked with crossed arms.

“It mainly depends on the practitioner. HEMA has a lot of techniques, and so does Meyer Swordsmanship, but they are opposing styles of swordsmanship. Which one you learn depends on you,” Brig replied.

“What’s the difference?” Chen Ke wondered.

“HEMA is a collection of techniques frequently used by Medieval swordsmen, whereas Meyer Swordsmanship is a counter swordsmanship developed specifically against HEMA. Of course, no matter which sword art you study, you have to start with the very basics and gradually master the master strike!” Brig’s tone was somewhat excited.

“Master strike?” Chen Ke’s eyes lit up. Could it be some domineering technique?

“Yes, commonly called lethal strike. HEMA is a killing technique that requires concise movements for swiftly defeating your enemy fatally. Although it has countless fancy moves, in combat, you must always maintain the mentality of defeating your opponent with a single strike. Come over here and take a look at this,” Brig said, leading Chen Ke to the edge of a training area.

A woman wearing protective gear, her chestnut curly hair peeping out from under her headgear, was very adept with her movements, her two-handed sword dancing smoothly, with very fluid transitions between stances. Each slash was accompanied by a terrifying sound of cutting through the air.

She was sparring with another male apprentice, who had tried looking for her openings, but she defected each one by switching between various defensive stances.

The two sparred with well-timed attacks and defenses, advancing and retreating methodically, not with flashy spinning sword flourishes, but with measured observation and sudden strikes, and if they did not hit, they stepped back to create distance and continued the exchange.

This was entirely different from what Chen Ke had imagined. He thought HEMA combat would be about high-speed spinning sword flourishes. Of course, the feeling now was also quite impressive, the woman’s attack moves were powerfully explosive, and paired with her figure, it was a sight for sore eyes.

He didn’t doubt the lethality and efficiency of these moves at all. With a real steel sword, her rapid and powerful strikes would surely decapitate the man opposite her, causing him to cry out in a RUA of agony.

Watching the sparring between the two, Chen Ke also observed that their attacks were not broad and sweeping moves, rarely using thrusts which exposed big openings.

Even with slashing, they only did half-cuts, not swinging the sword fully towards the ground, but keeping the tip pointed at the opponent’s face and upper body, consistently exerting pressure.

The benefits of doing so are self-evident, the sword always remains under control, and the retraction is also very fast, making even a two-handed longsword quite flexible and speedy.

While thinking this, another line of small text popped into the corner of his eye:

“Introductory Meyer Swordsmanship: 35%”

The correct approach greatly enhances the learning effect, and Chen Ke was on the right path.

Moreover, since the life countdown timer had defaulted to adding “Meyer Swordsmanship” to Chen Ke’s skill bar, it must indeed be a lethal killing technique.

“Watch closely, it’s about to happen,” Brig reminded from the side.

On the training platform, the man slowly gained the upper hand, his swordplay incredibly fast, with the swordplay close to his body, so much so that Chen Ke couldn’t clearly see his wrist movements.

“He’s going to win,” Chen Ke assessed.

“Just keep watching,” Brig said with a smile.

The man became more and more excited as he fought, constantly switching stances and letting the sword spin rapidly, pressing down on the woman.

But even Chen Ke could see that while the woman was on the defensive, she was more composed than the man. In contrast, the man in his frenzied attack seemed rather impatient.

Just as the man prepared to execute a spinning turn to deliver a heavy blow, the woman suddenly stepped forward, assumed a roof-like guard, and struck hard at the man’s head!

“Duang!”

The man’s spin was cut short, his right side of the head violently struck, causing him to stagger backward and be chopped down to the ground, his sword flying out far away.

Chen Ke couldn’t help but applaud.

“That was a master’s strike!” Brig laughed.

“Ah!! Fuck… oh…” The man wailed on the ground, removed his headgear, and frantically rubbed his head.

“Your flashy moves are too numerous, Pan, if you were on a battlefield, you’d be dead by now,” the woman said mercilessly. With that, she too removed her headgear and shook her chestnut-brown curly hair.

“You’re right, Diana; you really should have been born in medieval times, you might even have beaten Joan of Arc,” the man said with a laugh.

The woman extended her hand to pull the man up from the ground and continued onto the second round of sparring.

This woman made a deep impression on Chen Ke.

“This is HEMA, you understand now, right? So, do you want to join us?” Brig asked, spreading his hands.

“Let’s start our first lesson,” Chen Ke said with a smile.

The cost of joining the HEMA club wasn’t as high as Chen Ke had imagined. A membership fee of a hundred union coins a month allowed him to spar with members and receive guidance from professional coaches.

Brig took Chen Ke to the front desk to register as a member, where a blonde girl with a beaming smile typed quickly on the keyboard, rapidly entering Chen Ke’s name.