"Wah wah wah…"
As the familiar horn sounded again, it signified the end of the midday break and the start of the afternoon training.
Everyone quickly gathered in the square, waiting for the instructor to arrive.
Liens saw a pile of wooden swords stacked on one side of the square and deduced that they were likely the training equipment for later, just like the wood carrying in the morning.
Sure enough, after the instructor arrived, he immediately told everyone to come forward and collect a wooden sword.
After queuing up and receiving a wooden sword, Liens held it in his hand, carefully observing and playing with it. Having been influenced by Fantasy TV dramas since he was young, he was quite fond of these straight wooden sticks, like wooden swords.
As the saying goes, 'One day, with a stick in hand, all the rapeseed flowers within ten miles will bow their heads.'
The wooden sword was about a meter long, with a blade width of 4-5 centimeters. It felt a bit heavy in his hand, suggesting it was made of dense wood.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the wood grain on the wooden sword was very similar to the wood carried in the morning. He speculated that both must have come from the same type of tree, especially since the wood from the morning training was truly heavy.
"This afternoon's training is Swordsmanship. I will demonstrate the various movements of Basic Swordsmanship to you. Pay close attention, I will demonstrate three times."
After the instructor finished speaking, he began to demonstrate the sword movements and explain each one.
Thrust, chop, slash, parry, block, sweep, lift…
Bow stance, empty stance, leap step, parallel step…
The instructor's voice was steady and clear, and the slow demonstration of the sword movements did not interfere with his speaking.
This was probably the most the instructor had spoken, and he perfectly explained to everyone present how to practice Basic Swordsmanship.
By the second repetition, the instructor still slowly demonstrated the same movements, but no longer spoke.
By the third repetition, the movements sped up, but as long as one concentrated, they could still clearly see each movement.
"From now on, I will demonstrate Basic Swordsmanship once every day… Now, follow the movements I just showed you and begin training."
The instructor had everyone line up neatly, maintaining appropriate distances from each other, and then they began to practice the sword movements he had taught them.
He, on the other hand, patrolled back and forth among the ranks, striking the corresponding body part with his wooden sword to correct anyone whose movements were incorrect.
Liens was not a genius and could not perfectly execute all the sword movements after only a few demonstrations. Most others were pretty much the same.
So, since the training began, the instructor's sword-swinging movements had not stopped, constantly striking various body parts of the trainees with precise hits from his wooden sword.
Liens also had bruises on his body, caused by the instructor's wooden sword.
However, even so, for him, the Swordsmanship training was still easier than the morning's training.
After all, there were so many people, and the instructor wouldn't just stare at one person. With the attention spread out, he was hit far fewer times than in the morning.
Of course, this was just Liens' initial thought.
As time passed, he didn't know how many times he had performed the sword movements, and the sweat on his body had already soaked the dirt beneath him.
But the instructor still showed no sign of stopping. He tirelessly walked back and forth, striking with his sword whenever he found a mistake.
Liens understood that this was probably another test of endurance, just like the initial running.
He knew that if he maintained his current pace, he might not last until the instructor called a halt, and would stop practicing Swordsmanship due to exhaustion.
He didn't know what the consequences would be if he stopped practicing without permission. A minor outcome might be similar to the morning, where failing to complete the training would result in punishment, meaning being whipped by the guards.
If it was severe, he might be killed by the instructor.
Yes, killed.
Because he realized that the instructor's emphasis on Swordsmanship was far greater than on the physical training in the morning.
In the morning, the instructor wasn't as serious as he was now. He didn't just explain the sword movements to everyone; he also personally supervised and corrected them.
At that time, he mostly stood to the side, and it was usually the guards who punished Liens and others who didn't meet the standards.
If the instructor would kill someone to make an example for the rest during the less emphasized physical training, what about the more emphasized Swordsmanship training?
Liens was already a bit afraid to imagine what might happen later.
Because he knew the instructor was the kind of ruthless person who would act rather than speak, a fact he had confirmed multiple times with his own life in the instance.
To avoid the worst outcome, Liens began to think about how to reduce his physical exertion while maintaining sufficiently standard movements.
Soon, he thought of "going with the flow."
Simply put, it meant making the entire set of movements continuous, allowing the momentum from the previous movement to drive the next, thereby reducing the physical effort required to perform the next movement.
Liens tried to recall the instructor's previous three sword demonstrations and found that the last, accelerated demonstration was actually continuous.
It made individual sword movements form a complete routine called "Basic Swordsmanship."
It was like music, where each note, at the right rhythm, collectively formed a beautiful score.
What he needed to do now was to find his own rhythm and make all the "Basic Swordsmanship" movements flow continuously.
Liens began to imitate the instructor's third demonstration.
At first, he still made mistakes because he couldn't fully recall it, and he also hadn't found the right "rhythm" yet.
Consequently, he was hit multiple times. Now, after everyone else had already cycled through the sword movements countless times, he was one of the few who were still being hit.
Slowly, his movements became more fluid, and the figure in his memory gradually became clearer.
This wasn't him fully recalling the instructor's sword demonstration, but rather him completing his memory with his own understanding.
Gradually, Liens began to immerse himself in the practice of "Basic Swordsmanship." He forgot the outside world and ignored his body's exhaustion.
He continued to swing his sword, continuously completing the "Basic Swordsmanship" routine.
Until a scream startled him, and at the same time, it made everyone stop their movements. They all turned their gaze towards the source of the sound.
The source of the scream was a figure already lying in a pool of blood. Everyone looked at the instructor standing nearby, holding a wooden sword that was dripping blood, feeling a chill.
"Continue training, don't stop."
The instructor's voice rang out, and everyone immediately shifted their gaze, resuming their previous movements.
Although everyone felt a bit of sympathy for the man's death, they mostly felt a sense of shared sorrow, thinking about their own potential fate, and thus felt uneasy.
However, some people were quite grateful to that person.
Because his death gave them a moment to catch their breath.
Although it was only a brief pause, it allowed many people to recover some of their physical strength.
Liens was among them. He hadn't felt it while practicing the sword, but once he stopped, he felt on the verge of collapse.
Fortunately, he took the opportunity to take a few extra breaths, which boosted his stamina and allowed him to endure for a while longer.
Finally, after two more people died, the remaining individuals successfully persevered until the instructor called a halt, ending the Swordsmanship training.
Liens sighed in relief, exclaiming that he had survived another day. Hmm… there shouldn't be any training tonight, right?!
When evening arrived, after eating the dinner provided by the Training Camp, Liens and the others did not continue training. Instead, they attended cultural classes.
According to the instructor, if you don't understand anything, how can you better serve the Glenbagen Family in the future?
Before the class, the instructor asked about everyone's literacy. As a result, only a few people said they were literate; most, like Liens, were illiterate.
Therefore, the evening class became about teaching literacy and writing. Once most people learned common characters, they would move on to the next course.
Learning cultural subjects was the easiest. This isn't to say that learning to read and write was easy, but rather that the teacher wouldn't hit people, nor were there any signs of killing.
This allowed everyone who had experienced a day of training to breathe a sigh of relief.
The same was true for Liens.
The only pity was that the instructor was a male old scholar, not a fair-skinned, beautiful female teacher, which significantly reduced the appeal of the cultural class.
Liens chuckled a little to himself.
Speaking of which, when he was in school in his previous life, he had never encountered a truly beautiful young female teacher, which was indeed a regret.
Additionally, there was no "Red Potion" at dinner. Was it because the afternoon training wasn't intense enough, or for some other reason?