Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 7 (Part 2):

“Focus properly!”

Snap! As Darien struck Helmut’s head with his fist, Helmut’s gaze changed. Right then, a mixture of frustration and protest burst forth.

“My posture is correct!”

Several days had passed, and he had started to voice his complaints. This, too, was a change.

“What’s the problem?”

He was moving accurately as instructed, albeit distracted. Helmut revealed a rebellious look in his eyes.

His complaint was valid. It was an achievement in just three days to be able to swing the wooden sword in the same motion without disrupting his posture or deviating an inch.

It’s hard to expect faster progress from a ten-year-old boy. If anyone saw him would have exclaimed that he was a genius.

Of course, Helmut was unaware of this fact, but Darien knew. Even knowing that, his attitude remained unyielding.

After all, a sword must be hammered relentlessly when it’s heated to become strong and sharp.

“You fool, just having the right posture doesn’t make everything work.”

“Then what?”

“Do I have to explain everything to you?”

“Yes.”

At the curt answer, Darien stroked his chin, taken aback.

The more you look at him, the more peculiar he seems. The seed of darkness makes one’s character cruel and vicious. Moreover, a boy raised in the wild. If he had a good temperament, that would be even more surprising.

In Darien’s eyes, Helmut was somewhat patient and, strangely, satisfied with trivial things. Thinking back, even comparing him to other children of the same age, he seemed mature.

In such aspects, if one admired him for being mature, it was well-earned here. His gentle nature was not the case. He had his stubbornness and personality. If he was not convinced, he wouldn’t back down.

“Well then, I’ll tell you.”

One thing is certain, a disciple should not be left to crawl at the master.

Snap!

“Ah!”

Helmut yelled. He had become more dramatic. Darien struck Helmut with the snatched wooden sword once more. Then, clenching his fist, he asked,

“Do you understand the difference?”

“What difference?”

Darien, looking at Helmut fixedly, swung the wooden sword again. Helmut raised both arms and covered his head swiftly.

Snap! The wooden sword lightly struck Helmut’s forearm, which was covering his head.

“That’s three times. Do you understand the difference in these three times?”

“I don’t know.”

As soon as he bluntly spat out his words, his stomach growled.

“If you don’t want to starve for dinner, answer politely and think!”

As Darien scolded, Helmut’s momentum diminished a bit. Threatening him with meals worked quite well with Helmut.

Every time he ate, no matter what he made, Helmut ate as if possessed, which made Darien wonder if he might have talent in cooking.

“…The intensity is different, the speed, and the place where you hit are also different.”
The answer that Helmut sullenly put out was that.

While speaking, Helmut suddenly realized. Darien’s movements were very consistent, smooth, and free of any clutter, almost like human movements.

However, the power and speed contained in them were different. Sometimes slow, like a crawling caterpillar, then suddenly fast, like a lightning strike. One continuous flow penetrates through all those movements.

After several days of training, Helmut’s movements became similar to Darien’s. But could Helmut do it like that too? The answer is simply ‘No.’

“Do you understand now?”

“…Yes, but how.”

“Understand.”

It was a firm one-word answer.

“Imitating without understanding is useless. Understand the body. Further, understand the mind. In other words, understand the sword. Let your sword extend beyond your body into the mind. When you feel like you control your sword as you do your body, only then can you say you’ve learned it. Whether fast or slow, strong or weak, connect the same flow without deviation, but you must understand what that sameness is. To do that, you must constantly look into and understand the flow of your movements.”

Darien’s words continued without interruption. The energetic voice seemed to be engraved deep into the brain beyond the eardrum.

“When you feel like you’re controlling your sword like you’re controlling your body, you can say that you’ve learned it. Whether it’s fast or slow, strong or weak, it continues the same flow without disruption, but you have to know what that sameness is. To do that, you have to devote your heart and soul to unfolding that one action.”

Helmut chewed on Darien’s words. He looked down at the floor and was lost in thought. Darien poured out his admonition as if he was waiting.

“But look at what you’re doing. Aren’t you just swinging your sword like chopping wood without thinking? It’s not about imitating. If you don’t constantly look into and understand the flow of your movements, you’re not a swordsman, you’re just a woodcutter swinging an axe. What’s the point of repeating the same action hundreds, thousands of times without thinking?”

“…”

“Those who swing their swords without thinking ultimately rely on their trained bodies. Such guys can’t break their limits. They can be first-class, but they can’t be more than that.”

Darien’s standard for first-class was extremely high, but Darien was a swordsman who surpassed that first-class.

Helmut was receiving the teachings of a swordsman that any young boy learning the sword would want to receive. Darien’s standard was bound to be extremely high.

Darien didn’t accept Helmut out of boredom or sympathy.

There’s no need for leniency in teaching the sword. People have to be relentlessly pushed and pushed to become useful.

Especially if you want to inherit the sword from the sword saint, you naturally have to endure such hardships.

Otaku_Tensei

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