Chapter 243: Cat Swordsmanship

"Snap!"

Gripping the sword lightly, Li En struggled to hold back his urge to counterattack.

And according to the "rules," he had to step back, giving his opponent more room to attack.

"Hah!"

Miss Lana breathed heavily, yet did not stop her pursuit.

She suddenly stepped back, looking at Li En thoughtfully.

"Friend bad, playing dirty."

"Uh, sorry, sorry. Did you feel it? You really are sharp."

The angry little Lana hugged her sword, pouting and ignoring Li En.

For the little one, the daily sword practice time with her friend was the most joyful time. Recently, Li En had felt the same way; for swordsmen, sparring itself was a form of heart-to-heart connection.

The little one's purity, drive, and youth could all be felt during the sparring.

Li En himself had similar feelings; his sword was gradually coming alive. In many people's eyes, Paladins and Warriors actually had no essential difference; both were chargers clad in heavy armor wielding heavy swords, but inside, they were completely different.

Paladins revolved around the combination of supernatural traits, holy power, and martial techniques, specializing in practical combat to train themselves into professional fighting machines.

Warriors, on the other hand, poured nearly all their attention into the cultivation of martial techniques; they had a strange realization about their own swords, even viewing them as a part of their lives.

"But, friend is strong, very happy."

Miss Lana, hands on her hips, nodded, seeming very satisfied with Li En's progress.

Li En let out a helpless laugh, but reality was just like that; previously, looking only at swordsmanship, Li En indeed could not compare to the little one.

And now, Li En's "sword" seemed to have come alive... it just seemed a bit uncontrollable.

Miss Lana stopped because she sensed something discordant; she felt that if she continued charging forward, she would die.

This discordance itself meant that Li En had not suppressed his sword technique instincts.

"Recently I've been practicing swordsmanship with a powerful teacher and learned some things I haven't fully mastered yet. Sorry about that."

"A powerful teacher?! I want to learn too!" The little one's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Yes, yes," Li En patted the little one's head; Lex was about to drag it out no longer.

As long as he activated this inheritance, there was a high probability Miss Lana would be selected. If she really wasn't selected, Li En planned to open a backdoor to get a spot.

【Tier 2 Warrior (Permanent), Possesses Combat Stance (Style): Duel/Counter.】

Lex was truly outrageous when it came to experience packs; Li En had finally experienced the thrill of cheating, aside from the helplessness of dying at least a few hundred times a night until he was numb.

And unlike the sparring with Surl, where he was hacked to death directly with no gains.

Sparring with Lex, who had compressed his power, the opponent tried every way to force out his limits, attempting to force Li En's progress. This dedication, for a slacker personality like Lex, was nothing short of a miracle.

"This is the reward."

He didn't even act; as for what the reward was, there was no need to say more, he was a total daughter slave.

Fortunately, Dai Niya and Hela seemed to be good children; there should be no worry about them going astray. After putting in so much, perhaps he just expected the two little ones to receive Li En's help and live a bit more comfortably.

"Let's go again. This time, I will suppress this counterattack instinct."

A Tier 2 Warrior, just like a Tier 2 Paladin, also began to choose an advancement path; the most important thing was always the "combat style."

Whether it was the all-out attack with a massive weapon like a Judgement Knight, or persisting in the sword-and-shield mode of balanced offense and defense, adjustments needed to be learned at this stage.

Some people called it a "combat style," which could also be viewed as a branch of the profession.

Li En the Paladin took the all-out attack Judgement path; that was indeed quite suitable for him. Well, mainly because Surl was in this direction, allowing him to inherit Surl's swordsmanship arcane arts and soul abilities to the maximum extent.

According to convention, he should have chosen the Warrior's Great Weapon Master style to further enhance control over heavy weapons, specializing in follow-through slashes like others in this style. But actually, this power overlapped too much with the Judgement Knight, making the effect mediocre.

Surl's soul ability meant Li En's greatsword truly lacked no destructive power, and his swordsmanship arcane secrets allowed Evil-Cleaving Slash to be used completely as a follow-through slash; specializing further yielded subtle results.

But what made Li En hesitate and make his choice was still Lex.

"I only know the Counter style. Whether you learn it or not is up to you." Lex was obviously not a theory expert; he only taught what he was best at.

Well, what else to say? Just learn this style directly.

The beginning of this style was "Duel Master," specializing in one-on-one weapon duels.

And the further branch specialized in defense and defensive counterattacks.

"To be precise, it is deflection. Any attack has a direction; as long as you interfere properly, you can easily deflect it, even turning the opponent's force into yours."

Lex demonstrated: if you lightly struck the side of the opponent's sword as it chopped or thrust, or pulled it diagonally, it would completely lose control.

"... Watch closely. Hitting the opponent's most vulnerable spot requires only a tiny bit of force."

This combat style, to Li En, looked like suicide; one mistake meant offering oneself up to be slashed.

But if paired with "Single-Mindedness," activating inhuman focus and perception, one could dance on the blade forever.

"The key isn't even the sword swing itself, but the lead time, predicting in advance, and footwork; you must always leave room to guide the opponent's sword path to change."

This was a combat style that, if played well, would leave opponents in despair.

Any attack against it could be guided off course, then ended with a single fatal blow.

But since you always hold only one weapon and do not block hard, one mistake, the opponent's attack or sword technique goes out of control, and you might be gone, dying quite laughably.

"It would be quite useful against large beasts; their attack methods are very direct. But many swordsmen are actually not as skilled as beasts."