Plot armor

Wave, fluid, raging and mountain

"Are you ready?"

Zararloch asked while assuming a fighting stance.

"You have taught me to be always ready master"

Zararloch has been attacking him out of nowhere for the past month. Each time Sheyken's body starts to adapt, he would add something, but not to the point where it would overwhelm him. He would give him a tap at the back of the head, a flick of his finger at his forehead or other parts of his body. It would hurt for a minute or two but not enough to hinder his training. Sheyken knew that when he was able to block these sudden attacks, something else will come as a form of training.

'Please don't let it be being alert while I am asleep, please! I know by the anime I have watched that this is going to come soon enough, but ever since I have been here, this top-less maniac is already waking me up at odd hours. Sometimes when it is time to go for the run, the moon would still be up in the sky. He is messing up my internal clock. At this rate I will be a zombie.'

He thought while taking a stance.

"Here I come"

Zararloch had never told him he was going to attack before. Still using the strength and speed of Sheyken's back kick, he got in closer and went for a downward strike. Sheyken blocked up expecting a hard clang, but it never came. Zararloch had lessened the power of the strike a millisecond before the swords touched and with the momentum still amplifying the speed of his sword strike, he twisted the sword's trajectory fluidly like a Dolphin underwater, within seconds giving Sheyken several cuts. An S-like cut on his stomach, cuts on his shoulders looking almost in sync just like the ones on his cheeks, and to top it off, a cut on the tip of his nose.

"It hurts! I thought you would make me keep alert while I slept for the next upgrade to our training master, not cutting me in into pieces."

It did not hurt that much as the wounds were only shallow. The problem was that he had grown to trust Zararloch in training since no incidents had happened even once while their training was always intense, for him that is. Being cut was different from being punched and kicked. While some people had a phobia of it, Sheyken had suffered wounds but never from a blade. This made him speak out his thoughts for the first time to Zararloch which he would regret in just seconds.

"Aw...I had been just giving you so many things to do and monitoring your progress so I can make the right adjustments at the right time such that I had even forgotten such an important survival skill everyone needs. We will start today."

Zararloch hadn't forgotten. He knew that from his boredom and not having anything but to guard the area around the cave, his selfishness would make him wake the child up whenever his boredom reached a certain point and that point was getting lower and lower. He was letting him get his much-needed sleep a boy his age needed to grow, but it had to stop because his master would replace him with another if he wasn't training the boy right and it would be back to sewing for him.

When Sheyken heard those words, he wished he could turn back time and assassinate the him that said those words out loud.

"What do you think about that last attack?"

"I couldn't predict it. Its after image almost looked like a dorsal fin moving through water"

"Good, good. here I come again."

Zararloch said while dashing and closing the distance.

Sheyken had no time to assess his wounds and took a defensive stance. Zararloch attacked him the same way he did before, this time the swords clashed. He followed up with an upward s***h, then a stab and continued on with a vertical s***h. Sheyken managed to block all of them but the last vertical s***h exposed his right arm that was holding the sword. Quickly stepping back to get out of the rage of the attack, the sword whistled past where his arm should have been.

With almost what seemed to be a millisecond of a purse, Zararloch was attacking again. This time starting with the vertical s***h going at a backward attacking redeem ending with a frontal s***h. This exposed his stomach for a side-wide s***h. Having to step back again to avoid it, the same thing happened, the sword whistled past his stomach, and for what seemed a millisecond again time stood still, and then Zararloch continued his attack.

This happened two more times with his head almost being chopped off and then his heart almost being stabbed too. The last attack ended with the tip of the sword touching his throat and a drop of blood dripping from the small cut the tip of the sword made.

This clash made it seem like he has been on a summer vacation ever since he started training until this day. He was so tired, both body and mind felt like he had been meditating and running the whole day.

"So, how is fighting with your life on the line feel like?"

"It felt.... exciting and horrifying at the same time. Every time I dodged a fatal blow, I got excited for having the power to avoid it but just thinking about what would have happened if one attack landed, it is a horrifying feeling."

Sheyken also took note that he did not once felt this way while fighting the demon back on Earth.

"Good, this just proves you will develop a warrior's core. Your nature seems to lean that way. What about my attacks?"

Zararloch asked while nodding his head.

"The attack felt like waves, with each set of strikes meant to expose a part of my body and the last of those strikes being the killing blow. When I managed to avoid it, another wave would come at me again until the killing strike hits its mark."

Zararloch was still nodding his head. His disciple seemed to be one that masters would fight over.

'You don't need to explain everything to him.'

He thought while listing to him.

"You grasp the techniques intentions by just the first few attacks. As a reward, I will give you a day off."

Sheyken almost lost conciseness out of excitement and blood loss. It wasn't that much but he was still a kid. This was the first time he got a day off. He was already planning to sleep all day. He did not know Zararloch was preparing him for the hell he was going to put him through afterward.

"You already explained the technique's intentions but let me explain further. I will never reveal their names but we shall name them however we like. They were both evolved to take the nature of water. So let's name the first as Fluid sword and the second Sword wave."

'But why say 'we' could name them when you will just name them yourself'

Sheyken thought.

"Fluid sword is made for those who have a defense as solid as a tank. They are usually slower, sacrificing speed in order to have a solid defense, but that doesn't mean all of them are like that. Some are just built solid and don't have to sacrifice anything. What makes this attack lethal is that you can change any attack you aim to strike your opponent with to a Fluid sword technique."

Sheyken was listening like a child hearing direction to a candy store with money in hand.

'I have to admit, my sword master back on Earth would be down on both knees asking to learn this technique. This just allows you to be unpredictable with your attacks.'

"Let us continue to the Sword wave. It takes into account that your opponent will not just stand there and let you slice him open, but will always block or dodge the attack. So, its aim is to consistently attack with strikes aimed at opening your opponent's defense with a few moves as possible, not allowing him to counterattack. If you don't land a lethal strike, it will allow you to quickly attack again as he will be trying to avoid that fatal blow. This will keep you in a constant attacking role. When you have sufficiently learned both of them, you can integrate Fluid sword into your Sword wave's attacks "

Sheyken was liking everything he was hearing. Now he was wondering how good other kids were if he was already learning such moves. They might already have mastered the basics. He would always overestimate something he did not know rather than underestimate.

As soon as Zararloch finished explaining, he threw a red-looking portion at him. Catching it with no problem, he looked at it. It was the size of a small test tube.

"Drink it."

Sheyken opened it and drank it straight away. Zararloch had that overbearing tone that sounded like he wanted to kill everything again. He was not worried about being poisoned. If they wanted to kill him, they could anytime.

As soon as it touched his tongue it started to dissolve. When it went through his throat, the cuts Zararloch had given him were already starting to heal.

"A healing potion."

He said out loud.

"Yes, did you think I would make you fetch leaves for nothing? Master made that portion for you out of them. Now we can start the real training without me holding back."

He was angry because the child got a gift from his master.

'Honestly, I thought he wanted to make sure I ran all the way to the top of the mountain. Guess he is one of those masters that always have a hidden meaning to everything he makes you do.'

"Now that you have been healed, I will show you two more techniques. I will call them Raging blaze and Mountain stand."

'There you go naming them yourself again, but I have to say, this old man has a good naming sense.'

As Sheyken was thinking that, Zararloch shadow moved from him and formed a man-size shadow clone next to him.

Sheyken was so excited and amazed, he even hoped that was one of the sword techniques even knowing full well it was one of Zararloch skills.

The shadow clone then split into five. Sheyken could not keep it in anymore.

"Can I learn that? my wonderful and ever so powerful master who I will cherish for the rest of my life."

Sheyken said while hoping that praising his master would give him a positive answer. Right now, Zararloch was the coolest Undead he knew. He had a ten pack and could control shadow clones. He had a mind of a nineteen-year-old, but anyone would want what this Undead had.

"No, this is a Blessing my Master bestowed to me. Humans can have skills that control their shadows, but cannot control them away from their bodies like this. Only the dead can do that."

'Does it have something to do with the soul?'

Sheyken thought.

The shadow clones went to the corner where the weapons were. Each one taking a different weapon. They then went to where Zararloch was and took a fighting stance. Some were caring swords, some spears, and the rest carrying spiked bats.

"Watch closely."

Zararloch said taking an attacking stance. He moved like a raging Elephant with no care for the world but about to crush everything in its path. Dodging the first spear aimed at his head, he closed the distance like there wasn't any and ruthlessly cut the shadow clone from its side waist to the opposite shoulder. The one trying to hit his head with a spiked bat got that hand it was attacking him with chopped off, followed by its head. The rest were not spared either. One was cut in half, another had its two legs cut at the same time and its head chopped off while still falling. The last one had its body sliced in a zigzag fashion from top to bottom.

If the shadow clones were real humans, this was going to be a scene straight out of a brutal horror movie. While watching all this, Sheyken's nature was resonating with that technique. Bursting through enemies had his soul resonating.

"That is Raging blaze. What do you think?"

Zararloch asked him like nothing just happened.

Sheyken was still digesting what he just saw. If he was really a five-year-old kid he would be at a corner crying his eyes out asking for his mother. This undead surely had forgotten he was training a kid or he just did not care. It was his nature not to consider other's feelings after all.

"Amazing"

Sheyken did not have anything else he could say. As brutal as it was, he was still amazed a sword technique could be as brutal as that. All he had learned so far were clean sword strike that wasted no movement. This was a sword technique that would kill his enemies and strike fear in those who wanted to face him at the same time. A clean death was better than a brutal one.

Zararloch smiled for the first time in his presence. It almost looked like the devil was smiling at him.

"This is one I like to use too. It is for when you battling many enemies and have no time to spend on one enemy, risking being surrounded. It is risky because you don't use your sword to block, but only dodge the attacks with the intent of getting close enough for your attack. It works on whatever weapon you up against."

Sheyken had already decided he would use this technique even if he was not fighting multiple enemies. Striking fear to his enemies was the way to go and when they think he only knew brutality, he would surprise them with Sword wave and Fluid sword.

"The next one is Mountain stand."

The shadow clones appeared again and took their weapons on the floor. They took an attacking stance and dashed forward. Zararloch took a defensive stance. The clones surrounded him, but as soon as he got surrounded, he chose the one holding a spear and dashed to him. Dodging the pear aimed at his midsection, he chopped off the clone's head while dashing past it. Turning around to face the others, he was no longer surrounded. The clone closer to him who was also carrying a spear stepped up, attacking him at a distance but not coming closer.

It looked like it wanted the others to surround him again. He blocked the attacks, standing his ground. As soon as he was surrounded again, he dodged the spear again, dashing in and slicing the clone's waist in two, and then turned around to face the last three clones left. With three of them in front of him attacking at the same time he stepped away from the middle onto his left side allowing him to deal with only one attack from a clone carrying a spiked bat.

At this moment, the clones looked like they were lining up onto the chopping block. When the clone attacked again, he blocked the attack then quickly followed up with a Fluid sword strike to its heart. It fell down. As soon as the clone behind saw its comrade was down, it attacked. Zararloch dodged the attack as it was not precise and chopped its head off. For the last one, he blocked its attack then followed up with Sword wave. The fight was over as soon as its neck was stabbed through.

"That is Mountain stand. What do you think about it?"

"It looks like a defensive technique that does not allow you to be surrounded by your enemies and also allows you to perform Sword wave, Fluid sword, and Raging blaze while on the defensive."

Zararloch nodded his head.

"From now on, on top of your daily training, we will practice this sword techniques for five days. On the sixth day, we will be sparring all day, on the seventh, we will only do some sparring without swords in the morning and u can choose what you want to do for the rest of the day."

"Yes, master."

Sheyken was still not used to calling an Undead his master.

Nine months passed Just like that. Sheyken had made leaps and bounds on all his techniques and Telekinesis. As amazing as that was, something was troubling him. Standing in front of Zararloch for their weekly sparring, he could not help but keep on looking at him up and down.

'Why the hell is this old man looking more and more handsome.'

He thought.