Chapter 37: The Swordsman Learning from Thieves

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The first meeting around the one‑legged round table ended.

Su Ya's request was agreed to by all three.

In principle, becoming a knight's squire should also include a kneeling oath to the army leader or a reputable knight.

According to Mei Li, a professional‑grade knight can have a squire, and the knight‑squire position can even be sold for money.

But since Su Ya was, in name, already the leader of this cavalry unit, and the mouse‑hearted Dagonite dared not let a king serve as his squire, the paid‑for knight‑squire ceremony was ignored by everyone.

Thus Su Ya got a free ticket onto the professional path.

Traveling from Sir Ecto's manor in the Bern domain to Sol City takes about a week.

And the few of them quickly received their own assignments.

Dagonite is to hype his subordinate cavalry and read the upcoming action guidelines:

Namely, do not reveal the king's name,

The "Ecto" that led them here is actually the heroic spirit manifesting Sir Ecto's will, only to let them meet the new king here; at night the heroic spirit of Sir Ecto has already ascended under God's guidance to reunite with Yuse Wang.

The cavalry will proceed forward under the guise of Sir Ecto's son's retainer, gathering stragglers along the way, heading north toward Sol City.

Lu Kan discards his disguise, re‑joins the unit as a straggler, and serves as the king's guard.

For the next week each morning, Su Ya will undergo urgent training from Dagonite, Lu Kan and Mei Li, to ensure he becomes a qualified knight's squire and learns how to disguise himself as a powerful swordsman master.

However, this urgent training soon ran into an accident.

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A night passed without words,

The next day at dawn, three hours before the cavalry set out,

On the courtyard inside the Norman‑style castle.

Su Ya changed into a fitted white crew‑neck shirt, held an unsharpened training iron sword in both hands, stood at the center of the courtyard, and received Lu Kan's first lesson.

At this moment,

Lu Kan stripped off the blue‑white armor of "Ecto", wearing only tight clothing, holding a wooden stick he had picked up, and began to speak slowly:

"A squire is a common person who has undergone professional training."

"Such people usually serve as rank‑and‑file troops, handling logistics, basic reconnaissance, and horse care, but do not fight on the front line."

"A swordsman squire is an apprentice swordsman who has initially mastered 1–3 sword techniques."

"From the most basic 【Hook Punch】, 【Heavy Slash】, 【Roll】, to the next level—"

"【Side Kick】, 【Flying Leg】, 【Charge】, 【Charge Slash】, 【Rising Dragon Slash】, 【Aerial Critical】 and so on."

"Once these are mastered and you become a full swordsman, you can learn higher‑tier advanced techniques such as 【Moonlight Shard】, 【Whirlwind Slash】, 【Half‑Moon Slash】, 【Straight‑Line Impact】, 【Infinite Blade】."

"But—"

"I will not teach you any of these."

Su Ya listened eagerly; after all, who didn't dream of being a swordsman in youth, and even though the map shifted to Britannia, he could still indulge his love of great swords.

However, when he suddenly heard Lu Kan say that, he couldn't help but blink his eyes:

"Ah?"

Lu Kan's face smiled gently as he spoke unhurriedly:

"Those are of little use for the situation we will face; you probably just need to know how to pose."

"What you truly need to learn, which I will teach you, is an extremely difficult technique—"

"【Swift Step】!"

"Ah?"

Lu Kan glanced at Su Ya's bewildered expression, furrowed his brows slightly, thinking the kid might be unwilling, but he understood that someone so noble wouldn't forgo a stronger swordsman technique to learn a thief's trick.

He immediately advised:

"King, don't aim too high; even with a master thief like me teaching you hand‑by‑hand, whether you can master this technique in five days is debatable."

"No, I mean—"

"I understand, I understand. Let me show you what level this technique can reach."

"Watch closely—"

Lu Kan let out a soft shout, lifted onto his toes, stepping with strange, erratic, fragmented footwork, swaying left and right, his whole body drifting like a leaf in the wind.

Under the technique's effect, although he appeared to move left, he instantly leapt silently to the right, landing beside Su Ya, intending to pat Su Ya's shoulder.

However,

In the next instant,

Su Ya's face showed a hint of helplessness; his toe also flickered, and he instantly evaded Lu Kan's hand that was about to pat his shoulder.

【Swift Step】!

He had already learned this technique yesterday in his battle with that red‑haired professional assassin.

"Eh?"

Lu Kan looked at his empty palm, slightly surprised, then raised his head and gazed at Su Ya, his eyes showing a hint of astonishment,

"The footwork is crude and seems to have some odd ideas, but indeed it is Swift Step."

Su Ya admitted, "I've already mastered this move."

"I see," Lu Kan nodded, though not overly surprised,

After all, he hadn't known Su Ya before; he wasn't clear what abilities Su Ya possessed. If Su Ya had been practicing this technique for a while, mastering it wouldn't be surprising.

"Very good," Lu Kan approved with a nod,

"That will save a lot of trouble."

【Swift Step】 is the most basic and hardest-to-practice footwork among assassins' basic combat techniques.

It is the basic footwork among the seven major professions that best enhances the user's agility; although it lacks the berserk fury of swordsmen and berserkers' 【Charge】, nor the quick repositioning of archers and spearmen's 【Swift Dodge】, nor the elusive appearance of mages' 【Blink】, it is nevertheless the footwork that can avoid the most damage.

From this, many advanced usages are derived; since you have mastered 【Swift Step】, you will practice the next higher-level 【Swift Step Shift】 for the next three days.

Swift Step Shift?

Mentioning this, Su Ya recalled the red-haired professional assassin he had killed earlier, who used Swift Step to dodge Mei Li's magic petal bullets and treasure impacts.

It is a strange ability that allows the whole body to shift parallel without moving the feet, akin to instantly flickering from one point to another.

The key to advanced Swift Step lies in exerting force with the toes, twisting the bones and meridians of the feet to misalign with your standing point, thereby employing techniques such as 'Shift', 'Quick Turn', and 'Prepared Big Jump'.

Beginners likely need at least several months to master it.

Lu Kan pointed to his own foot at this moment; he had deliberately worn open-toed boots to demonstrate the foot-force posture to Su Ya.

At this time, he lifted his tiptoes, but his toes oddly pointed to the opposite side of his soles, the veins in his whole foot bulging, and even the meridians beneath the arch, normally invisible, protruded in a twisted manner.

Watch closely, just like this!

Lu Kan pointed to his own foot, preparing to demonstrate,

However, just as he opened his mouth, he had not yet performed 'Instant Move'.

Then——

A figure flashed past him at high speed in parallel!

Lu Kan blinked as if seeing a ghost, stared blankly for a moment, then asked foolishly:

You can do this too?

【You have mastered, Swift Step (Proficient).】

【Now, your Swift Step can be combined with a ready posture for maneuvering.】

At this moment, Su Ya stared in amazement at the distance he had just instant-shifted, furtively glanced at the rising subtitle before him, scratched his head, and replied:

Ah, I really can't do this.

Lord Lu Kan, it's thanks to your excellent teaching!

Lu Kan's expression instantly became wonderful,

Really?

Steps to support the author during the new book period:

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(End of chapter)