“Yep. Martial arts is all I have, so I need to make my arsenal as varied as possible,” Ikki replied.
“Wow. How many styles do you know in total?”
“If we include the Imperial Sword Arts I stole from Stella the other day, 126.”
“Th-That many?!”
“I’m amazed you know that many, but I’m also amazed that many sword styles still exist in the modern day.”
“Some of the styles I’ve learned no longer have official dojos dedicated to them or have died out and are only known through whatever form manuals and other documents have survived. Back in middle school, I was desperate to get stronger, so I looked for every dojo I could and challenged them. I also went to libraries and museums to research old martial arts styles.”
Ikki’s classmates sighed as they heard that.
“Honestly, I wish you’d said that was just your Blazer power.”
“The fact that you can do all that without magic is cheating.”
“I guess if you master martial arts, it basically becomes like a superpower.”
“There’s no way we could become like you, though, Kurogane-kun.”
They all looked disheartened upon learning just how difficult it would be to reach Ikki’s level of mastery. Considering how impressive his swordsmanship was, it was understandable that they’d be deterred. He’d worked himself harder than anyone because he had to make up for his lack of magical strength. Since everyone else had Blazer powers they could rely on, they didn’t need to go as hard on their martial arts training as he had.
“You don’t have to be so pessimistic. Unlike me, you all have useful Blazer powers, so you don’t have to train as hard as I did. Just learning enough to use your Devices better than the average knight will still improve your combat abilities significantly. There’s no harm in learning the basics, so if any of you are interested, I’d be glad to teach you.”
“Hmm... You’re right, if I combine martial arts with my powers, there’s a lot I can do.”
“I’ll take your lessons, Kurogane-kun! If you’re our teacher, then I don’t mind putting in extra effort!”
“In that case, let’s start with some basic footwork and learning how to control your inner muscles. Every technique requires having a solid foundation, so we need to start by building up your guys’ fundamentals. First off...”
Ikki was glad to have found disciples, and he spent a solid thirty minutes lecturing them on the basics of martial arts. Once the lesson was finally over, he went over to a nearby bench and sat down.
“Phew...I’m beat. I’m not used to teaching other people...” he muttered, relaxing. After a few seconds, a girl came over to him.
“You’re too diligent for your own good, Ikki. You spent all that time training your classmates when you could have used it on your own training,” she said, her hands clasped behind her back as if she were hiding something from Ikki.
“Stella...”
Stella Vermillion was a foreign princess, Ikki’s roommate, and, following the events of a few days ago, his girlfriend. She turned to watch Ikki’s classmates, who were trying to put his lessons into practice in the courtyard.
“What’s the point of that exercise? It looks like they’re just trying to balance on one foot to me. Kind of makes them look like crappy scarecrows, actually. Ah, one of them fell. I can’t believe he couldn’t even last thirty seconds.”
“Ha ha ha, don’t be too hard on them. This is their first time. It’s not even really martial arts training, just a basic exercise.”
“Huh? Does that mean you aren’t going to teach them martial arts after all?”
“Nah, it’s not that. Right now, their bodies are so frail that they won’t really benefit from learning techniques, so I’m teaching them the importance of maintaining a strong core and how to use their inner muscles. In a battle, you spend a lot more time maintaining your center of gravity with just one foot rather than two—you’re constantly moving around, and you can’t move unless you lift your feet. Not being able to balance on one foot is a serious flaw for a knight, even if they have magic. But you already knew all that, didn’t you?”
“More or less.”
Chinese martial arts had a saying about how dangerous it was to rely on two legs: “Two is death.” It might have sounded like an exaggeration to call it “death,” but in truth, it was dangerous to be unable to balance perfectly without having both feet on the ground. Doing so made one slower to react to sudden changes in their situation, and it would take them longer to start moving. Keeping both feet on the ground meant leaving oneself open to attack, and that meant death. As a result, most martial art styles talked about the importance of balance, even those that were centered around weapons. There wasn’t a single martial arts stance that involved placing body weight on both legs. In other words, balance was the most fundamental of fundamentals a martial artist needed to learn, hence Ikki had started there.
“So you’re actually trying to make them all stronger,” Stella said.
“That depends on their motivation. But if they truly want to get stronger, I do want to help them.”
“Huh. Are you sure that’s a good idea? If any of them have more talent for swordsmanship than you, you’ll just be creating a really strong rival. Some of our classmates are taking part in the selection matches too, you know.”
Stella was, of course, referring to the selection matches that would determine which of Hagun’s students would be chosen to represent the school in the Seven Stars Battle Festival, Japan’s biggest student knight tournament. Both Ikki and Stella were aiming for the title of Seven Stars Sovereign, which meant everyone else gunning to enter the tournament was a potential rival.