¹
It took him multiple tries, he lost count of it, but failed over and over again. They had to take a lot of breaks, and Edward was glad that he was able to do so. If Chloe wasn't there, he would have already dropped dead from the training.
"Let's start again." Robert said.
Edward was injured all over, but he had an urge to not quit. The things that surprised him were his stamina and strength, it was already late evening, they had been training since early morning... With Chloe's constant tips and Robert's rigorous training, Edward learnt a lot in just a span of one day. If anyone heard about his achievements, as a guy who has never even picked up a knife properly, they would surely die from shock and jealousy.
"I must have tried this at least 200 times by now.". Edward thought, his full body covered in sweat and bruises.
This time, he could feel the difference, Robert had been using the same pattern of attacks since morning. His analysis had improved a lot, but his body was giving in. He tried slashing with all the power he got.
From lasting for not even a few seconds to fighting for more than a few minutes was massive. Though Robert might have not even been giving 5% of his true potential, it was a great achievement on its own.
The fight went on. The swords clashed.
Clash! Clash! Clash!
And then… one impact... Directed at Robert's neck. He instinctively grabbed the sword with his hand and smiled.
"You passed." He said.
"For a moment I thought that you would never be able to do it." Chloe chuckled.
He immediately fell back from exhaustion, panting heavily.
"When you were transported here, to this world, only your soul was transported. So you don't have your previous body and brain. Your brain also changed, but you had your memories instead of Arthur's. But that brain still has the things he learned stored in it, in the form of instincts. His memories lie dormant and can't be accessed no matter what you do. But, muscle memory is another thing, using swords will let you learn faster through those instincts. You also got his reaction time and other things. You just need to learn to use them properly." Robert gave another explanation after noticing that Edward has calmed down.
"Let's head home… I am tired now." Edward complained seemingly ignoring Robert's words, but actually he heard everything carefully.
"Nope, you can't, you still have to run for two hours before sleep." Robert replied.
"Ahh!! Not again, I will die like that!"
²
"Try attacking the dummies with the new method that I demonstrated!!" Robert ordered.
It has been more than 25 days since they started training. This was all it took him to learn all the basics of sword fighting. A skill that generally takes a minimum of a year to learn as a beginner. Though he had muscle memory and skill, his familiarity with them was really low, which was the greatest negative.
Edward stood there on the ground, a wooden sword in his hand, Robert and Chloe standing at some distance, observing carefully. Robert had his hands folded, and Chloe had a wooden sword in her hand.
"Go!" Robert shouted.
He dashed towards the first dummy, and on reaching near it, jumped high up in the air, holding the sword in both of his hands. And then propelled the sword downwards, to give a downwards cut.
Slash!
A powerful attack from above on the dummy, making a deep cut on its front, showing the power and impact of the slash.
"Phew… this time it was better…"
He then rolled on the ground behind the damaged dummy, to limit the impact on the ground, then immediately stood up while conserving the momentum and made two consecutive slashes on his right and left while running to attack the dummies on each side.
"At Least I have some benefit, thanks to focusing on physics classes in school."
Then, he came on an abrupt stop and propelled his sword away by throwing it towards the last dummy. The sword pierced through its chest, specifically the point where the heart resides.
"Bullseye..." Edward praised himself.
"I have good news for you." Just like always, Robert did not give Edward time to adjust.
"Huh?"
"If you are able to fight Chloe by giving your best and, your training will end today itself. With end, I mean you won't have to focus on raw training for a while after this. How about it? So, tell me whenever you are ready." Robert announced.
"Now, I will do it now."
"I won't go easy." Chloe spoke as she came forward in front of me with her wooden sword. "The rules are simple, I won't use any elemental ability but, I can use my mana energy for other purposes. The match will be over when I decide. The weapons will be the same as we used during the training spars, you would be using a real sword while I use a wooden one."
Edward adjusted himself, prepared for battle. He never complained about being treated like a kid as he knew that he was way out of their league. So he kept his mouth shut and prepared to face her.
"Begin!"
As the announcement reached their ears, Edward dashed towards Chloe, trying to give the opening blow. Chloe stood there silently, as if she had expected it. The moment she came in Edward's range, he swung his sword up, aiming for the neck.
"Hah... how about the most unexpected place to hit?" Edward laughed in his mind for the foolish decision he took. And what a foolish decision it was. Neck as the first point to attack is the dumbest decision as it leaves the attacker's entire body vulnerable without anything to defend it.
If a person falls for such an attack, it's either the person is a newbie or the attacker is some super fast veteran.
As expected, she ducked and without missing the free opportunity, she swung her sword downward attempting to hit Edward's leg.
"If I get hit by that, it's game over..."
He slid backwards, an attempt to dodge the attack. He then immediately made a backflip to create distance.
"Shit!" Edward has fallen for one of her tricks. As he stood up and looked at the direction she was in. She was nowhere to be found. That attack was a cover to use her mana. "I have been played."
Looking at Edward's desperate face Robert chuckled. "Don't worry brother, I can understand your pain. If she goes serious, she can even take me down easily." He put his concentration back in observing the match.