Chapter 338: Basic Footwork

Formal body movement training had to be conducted in another field.

Inside the square training field, the ground was paved with polished black stone slabs, set with many metal pillars that could freely rise and fall from the ground.

Their heights were uneven, arranged in a staggered manner.

And around the field, water would be shot from alchemical machines at different speeds and angles.

"Could it be that we are to conduct body movement training on the pillars?" Gao De looked at the metal pillars, which were like plum blossom stakes in martial arts movies, and guessed.

"Haven't learned to walk yet, and you want to run? That is training only for those whose body movement is already skilled enough. If I let you go up now, let alone dodging attacks, you might not even be able to stand steady." The Naxi mage said.

Gao De smiled somewhat awkwardly.

"Today, you will first learn a few basic footwork techniques. If you learn fast, we will take the opportunity to experience the rope ladder dodging practice."

"Basic footwork?"

"Yes." Saying this, the Naxi mage demonstrated it to Gao De on the spot.

He kept his feet parallel and shoulder-width apart, his left foot suddenly shifted a small step to the left, and his right foot then slid to the left. During the sliding process, the distance between his feet and his body balance were maintained well, and his knees were slightly bent to adjust his posture and direction at any time.

"This is the sliding step."

"The sliding step allows you to move quickly in the horizontal direction, and the body's stability during the movement is good. It is suitable for horizontal dodging of linear attacks."

"Such as common 【Ice Blade】, 【Witchcraft Arrow】, or the straight claw attacks from earth-vein creatures, etc."

"This is the crossover step." The Naxi mage crossed his left foot in front of his right foot, landing on the front right of his right foot, while his body turned to the right, and then his right foot moved one step to the right, returning to a position parallel to or slightly wider than his left foot.

"The crossover step can quickly change the body's position, achieving a larger horizontal movement. It is commonly used to dodge attacks from the side, or to bypass to the attacker's side while dodging attacks to counterattack."

"This is the retreat step, which can be considered one of the most frequently used basic footwork techniques." The Naxi mage stood with both feet, his right foot retreated one step back, the sole of the foot landed first, then the whole foot stepped firmly, while his body's center of gravity moved backward, and his left foot followed with a small step backward.

Throughout the process, he maintained the appropriate distance between his feet and his body balance well.

"The speed of the retreat step must be fast, the action must be coherent, and the upper body must be kept upright, not leaning backward or forward excessively."

"Did you see the use of the retreat step?" This time the Naxi mage didn't explain directly but asked.

"Maintain distance." This question was not difficult; it could be understood at a glance, and Gao De gave the answer immediately.

"Yes, distance is the lifeline, weapon, and even the advantage of a mage. Long-range attack is our unique advantage."

"When fighting against earth-vein creatures, this is even more so. Learning to maintain a suitable distance gives you enough time and space to cast various spells and make various strategic decisions."

"To maintain distance, you have to pull in the opposite direction of the enemy's attack. Every mage understands this truth."

"But most mages who haven't undergone orthodox combat mage training cannot retreat backward while facing the enemy like I do when pulling distance. More often, they turn around and retreat directly."

"Exposing your back to the enemy in battle is a very dangerous thing, so you must master the footwork of retreating backward quickly while facing the enemy, so that you can observe the attacker's actions in real-time and carry out subsequent defense or counterattack." The Naxi mage expanded.

Hearing this, Gao De felt a little ashamed.

Before entering the Sea Sentinels, he had actually always been doing that.

Pulling distance meant turning around and running, at most looking back from time to time while running, and then performing spell attacks once the distance was pulled far enough.

And so on.

It was all crude and full of loopholes.

Not to mention the possibility of ignoring the enemy's actions, just turning around to re-aim at the enemy would waste a lot of time.

The reason why no major problems had occurred was first that he was lucky enough, and second, he relied on the spell's "automatic target locking."

But clearly, this was just a stopgap measure.

With the improvement of strength, the enemies faced would become more and more powerful, and the possibility of encountering problems with this crude combat style would actually become greater.

Subsequently, the Naxi mage demonstrated the side-shift step used to dodge frontal or oblique side attacks while maintaining a relatively frontal posture to the enemy;

The jump step used to dodge ground spells like 【Earth Spike】;

The shuffle step used to quickly adjust body position in smaller complex terrain or spaces;

The spin step used for all-around dodging and position shifting, rotating the body with minimal movement to dodge attacks...

After demonstrating everything, there were more than ten types of basic footwork alone.

"A systematic combat mage needs to learn and master so many things." Seeming to worry that Gao De would feel it was cumbersome, the Naxi mage added another sentence.

"It should be so." Gao De nodded.

He didn't feel it was cumbersome.

In his previous life, learning mathematics required a full twelve years of basic training.

From the most basic recognition of Arabic numerals and mathematical symbols, all the way to mastering basic mathematical tools such as operations, functions, and geometry.

"You try it first. I'll watch from the side, and I'll point out any mistakes." The Naxi mage said.

Gao De naturally had no objection. He silently applied 【Guidance+】 to himself, entered the youth version of the flow state, and began to practice according to the footwork demonstrated by the Naxi mage just now.

At first, there were still some mistakes, but the Naxi mage pointed out the problems in time and corrected them.

"The key to the side-shift step lies in the balance transition of the body's center. You must first put your center of gravity completely on your right foot and feel the concentration of power..."

"Although the shuffle step requires fast movement, it is not stepping randomly without rules. The degree of knee bending must also be kept stable to ensure flexibility during movement..."

"The core of the spin step lies in the stability of the axis..."

With the guidance of the Naxi mage, Gao De gradually got the hang of it, and his movements became more and more standard.

Although Gao De's learning of footwork was not as talented and astonishing as his distance and angle judgment, his learning ability also belonged to the top tier.

And after each footwork technique passed, the Naxi mage would let Gao De start the practice of the next footwork technique.

In such a morning, Gao De initially learned five of the more than ten footwork techniques.

"Go eat something, come back in an hour. Your learning progress is fast. Try to master all the basic footwork techniques today." After hearing the hourly bell from the clock tower on top of the Collingwood Academy, the Naxi mage called a halt to Gao De's morning practice.

Gao De bowed respectfully to the Naxi mage in thanks before leaving.

Watching Gao De's departing back, the Naxi mage's gaze flickered slightly. Not knowing what he thought of, he couldn't help but sigh.

A "student" who is so polite and respectful to his teacher, and whose talent is so good, naturally makes a teacher very fond of him. This is human nature.

So although he didn't say it on the surface, in his heart, the Naxi mage actually had a very good impression of Gao De.

If it were thirty years ago, before the incident with Mage Jaden, meeting such a "student," with his temperament, he would definitely be "delighted to see talent," but now...

Gao De, who had been immersed in practice, was already covered in sweat. He first returned to the dormitory to take a shower, changed his clothes, and then went to the canteen to enjoy a free lunch as usual. When he returned, he found that the Naxi mage had actually arrived and was waiting for him.

"Naxi mage, sorry, I'm late."

The Naxi mage waved his hand, "It's me who came early. Let's continue."

In the afternoon, just as the Naxi mage expected, Gao De successfully mastered the remaining basic footwork techniques.

"Learning basic footwork and skillfully applying it are two different things. It is only considered barely qualified when these footwork techniques are as familiar as muscle memory." Seeing that Gao De had mastered the last one, which was also the most frequently used retreat step, the Naxi mage said this.

"I understand."

He was still relying on his brain to react when performing these footwork techniques now.

This level in battle was full of loopholes. Only when the footsteps became an instinctive reaction could it be considered used in actual combat.

"The next stage is the rope ladder dodging practice. Of course, the practice so far has been conducted without the blessing of spells."

"Because once spells such as 【Longstrider】 and 【Jump】 are blessed, your speed will be too fast. At your current level, you will only be in a rush and won't be able to achieve the effect of training."

"Body movement practice needs to be gradual."

Finally, the Naxi mage took Gao De to experience the rope ladder dodging practice.

He laid a rope ladder flat on the ground and then started the alchemical machine to shoot water at Gao De. Gao De needed to move his body quickly in the grids of the rope ladder, using basic footwork such as shuffle steps, side-sliding steps, and crossover steps to dodge water attacks.

This required the trainee to perform the most suitable footwork according to different attacks, while using the rope ladder to limit the range of movement to ensure the best reaction with the least movement.

Unsurprisingly, the first practice was mainly a rush. Either he didn't dodge, or the movement range was too large, or he didn't have time to pay attention to his footsteps.

In short, before long, Gao De was drenched by the water flow.

"When you can sustain it for more than ten minutes and your clothes are not wet, you can bless spells for practice." Looking at Gao De, who was drenched and somewhat embarrassed, the Naxi mage smiled.

"For the rest of the time, you train on your own first."

"Okay, Naxi mage." Gao De agreed.

"I heard you refused Zuowen Burns's sponsorship invitation?" The Naxi mage had already turned to leave, but suddenly thought of something and turned back to ask.

"Yes." Gao De didn't deny it.

The Naxi mage didn't speak for a while, considering something.

After a while, he said slowly: "They have great influence in the Sea Sentinels..."

"So, if you have made up your mind not to be with them, you must be mentally prepared to be targeted."

"Will they play dirty against me?" Gao De asked back.

"That won't happen," the Naxi mage looked at Gao De and said seriously: "You can rest assured about this. The rules of the Sea Sentinels are here. The price to be paid for harming colleagues is something even they cannot afford."

"But within the rules of the Sea Sentinels, they will have many ways to deal with you."

"Many talented and proud commoner mages, just like you, refused at first, but in the end, they were forced to bow to them."

"Especially in assessment ratings, newcomers like you are already having difficulty completing missions and obtaining military merit due to lack of experience in the first year or two. They only need to put in some effort to suppress your military merit ranking into the unqualified range."

"So, if you need it, I can try my best to help you extend the time of initial training. Having more preparation time is always good." The Naxi mage looked at Gao De and said seriously.

"Isn't the Naxi mage of noble origin?" Gao De didn't answer but asked curiously.

"Barely considered a small noble, not comparable to them," the Naxi mage knew what Gao De meant and didn't have too many emotions, saying directly: "And not all nobles are like them."

"Not just me, there are also some noble mages with extraordinary backgrounds in the Sea Sentinels who also disdain to be with them."

"It's just that people like them are the most numerous after all, so their momentum is also the greatest."

"So that's how it is," Gao De nodded and expressed his thanks to the Naxi mage, "Thank you for the Naxi mage's kindness, but the training will follow the normal rhythm. As for the assessment rating, I still have some confidence."

Confidence is one thing, but more importantly, only after finishing the initial training can he freely travel between the northern realm and the Jin Quehua Dynasty.

During the initial training period, he has to "attend classes" every day, which doesn't allow Gao De to leave for a long time.

"Good." Since Gao De said so, the Naxi mage would not insist on anything else.

"But there is one thing that needs to trouble the Naxi mage a bit..." Seeing the kindness shown by the Naxi mage, he took the opportunity to say: "I'm running out of Kai Mai Ding. Can I apply for another batch?"

"Running out of Kai Mai Ding?"

"Yes."

"Didn't I give you one hundred bottles?!" The Naxi mage still couldn't believe it and confirmed again.

Gao De smiled "shyly."

"You have no physical discomfort?"

"You have seen my situation." Gao De smiled.

The Naxi mage was silent for a while and asked "cautiously": "Then how many magic veins have you constructed?"

"Currently 21 lines."

After a sound of light gasping, the Naxi mage continued: "I understand. I will reflect your situation to the higher-ups. Special situations naturally require special treatment."

Gao De didn't know exactly how the Naxi mage negotiated with the higher-ups.

In short, by the next day, someone came to the door with two boxes.

Each box was neatly packed with three hundred bottles of Kai Mai Ding.

That added up to six hundred bottles, enough for Gao De to drink for a long time.

For the next period, Gao De focused on body movement training.

In the blink of an eye, another twenty days passed.

With the condensation of the 26th drop of liquid mana, Gao De's Li Oumeng magic vein network construction progress reached 53 magic veins, and the speed could be described as flying fast.

At this speed, it would only take more than half a year for him to build the Li Oumeng magic vein network, which is recognized as the most complex.

And just a day ago, his performance in the rope ladder dodging practice finally met the Naxi mage's requirements. From today on, he could switch to blessing spells to conduct practice with real combat significance.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 339 =====