“Ah, no. No need to go that far. But since you are responsible for the safety of the princess, you would do well to learn how to fight in situations where carrying a sword is forbidden. Perhaps also verse yourself in handling various weapons as well.”

“Yes!”

“… Sword, shield, spear, axe, dagger, gauntlets, bow, cudgel, and thrown weapons. It’s training for the nine types of weapons that serve as the foundation for armed combat, however… If you stretch yourself too thin then everything will suffer. It would better for you to narrow it down to two or three weapons and learn from there. Hmm. It seems I’ve said something unnecessary.”

“Not at all, Stronoff–sama. Thank you very much!”

Gazef wore a bitter smile and answered with a wave of his hand.

“If you are ready then let us begin. First, try attacking me in that stance. Soon… yes, I will not be able to spar with you but I can teach you some tactics using the nine weapons.”

“Yes! Then I will be in your care.”

“Come, but I have no intention of treating this as training. Consider this to be the real thing and attack.”

Climb slowly lowered his sword and turned the left side of his body, covered by the shield, towards Gazef’s direction. His gaze was sharp and his senses already knew that this was not training. Likewise, Gazef exuded a presence that alerted him that this was a real fight.

The two glared at one another, but Climb could not make the first move.

Even if removing the metal chunks made it easier for him to move, Climb did not think he could beat Gazef. In both strength and experience, Gazef was overwhelmingly above him.

Simply closing the distance would be immediately met with a counterattack. His opponent was a master who was leagues above him so it could not be helped. But if this were a real fight, could he simply roll over and die because of something like that?

Then what could he do?

He had to fight him with a factor that Gazef did not possess.

Body, experience, and mind, Climb lost in everything that was necessary for a warrior. The difference was in their equipment.

Gazef wielded a bastard sword. On the other hand, Climb had a broadsword and small shield. If they were magic weapons then it would be different, but these were used for training, there was no disparity in the weapons.

Gazef only had one weapon while Climb possessed two, since a shield could be used as a weapon as well. This also meant that he had more ways to attack at the cost of dividing his strength.

Block the first attack with the shield and slash with the sword. Parry with the sword and strike with the shield.

Having decided on a counter as his strategy, Climb focused on observing Gazef’s movements.

After several seconds had passed, Gazef showed a smile.

“Are you not coming? Then I will attack right— now.”

His calm demeanor absolute, Gazef readied his stance. Hips slightly lowered, strength began to mount in his body like a spring. Climb as well; he gathered strength in his body so that he could block the blade, no matter when it came.

Gazef closed in and swung down his sword while aiming for the shield.

—Fast!

Climb gave up the notion of moving his shield to deflect the blow. He focused his entire mind and body on defending, just blocking the attack.

The next moment – his shield was seized by an enormous impact.

The level of force was enough to make him think that the shield had shattered. It was an attack powerful enough to paralyze the hand that held the shield. Withstanding such an impact would require the strength of one’s entire body.

Deflect it?! How do you match the timing for something like this?! Just the shock is enough to…

Climb’s naïve thoughts left him vulnerable; he felt another impact on his abdomen.

“Gah!”

His body flew backwards, his back colliding with the hard stone floor and expelling the air from his lungs. A glance at Gazef made it plain to see what had happened.

Just now, he was lowering his leg that delivered a powerful kick to Climb.

“… Even if it’s the only weapon in my hand, it is dangerous to focus solely on the sword. Like now, you could be hit with a kick. I aimed for your stomach just now but normally, it would be where the armor is lighter. I may break your knees… even if you were wearing a pad over your crotch, if you’re unlucky, armored boots will crush them. Observe your opponent’s whole body and watch every movement.”

“…Yes.”

Climb endured the dull pain from his abdomen and slowly stood.

The Kingdom’s strongest Gazef Stronoff’s physical strength was truly formidable. If he had kicked seriously, then it would not have been a problem to break his ribs through the chain shirt and render him unable to fight. The reason that was not the case here was because Gazef held back and merely touched Climb’s stomach with his foot and pushed him with the intent to knock him back.

It was an instructional spar after all… thank you.

Realizing that the Kingdom’s strongest had sparred with him, Climb was grateful as he resumed his stance.

He had to be careful so this precious moment did not end abruptly.

Climb once again raised his shield and slowly edged towards Gazef. Gazef wordlessly stared at him as he approached. If this continues, it would only be a repeat of what just happened. Climb had to devise a new plan as he approached.

Gazef waited, exuding an overwhelming calm. There just was no way to make him fight seriously.

It would be arrogant to even feel angry.

Climb’s limit was already visible. Despite waking up early like this to train in swordsmanship, his progress was slower than a snail. Compared to when he first started training, it was too slow.

Going forward, even if he could train his body and raise the speed and weight of his sword, skills like martial arts would be out of his reach.

Someone like Climb, to feel angry over the fact that the man who is the embodiment of talent did not fight him seriously would be disrespectful. He, who was unable to draw out the man's full strength, could only blame his own lack of ability.

His words from before that told him to not treat this as training and attack in earnest was a warning. It meant “attack with the intent to kill or you do not even stand a chance.” A warning that came from a man who stood in a place that was far above him.