Warrior Training

Chapter 58 Warrior Training

For the vast majority of men, the nature of doing anything changes completely once there is a progress bar and clear positive feedback.

No matter how difficult or troublesome the task, he could find joy in it and never tired of it. Lorne was no exception.

"Continue!" Lorne said to Nelly, his eyes gleaming with anticipation as he gripped his shield.

Nelly immediately launched a second attack.

[Defensive Stance] Training Progress +1. (2/100)

[Shield Warrior Stance] Training Progress +2. (3/100)

[Heavy Shield] Proficiency +2. [Unfamiliar] (3/100)

"Again!"

[Defensive Stance] Training Progress +2. (4/100)

[Shield Warrior Stance] Training Progress +1. (4/100)

[Heavy Shield] Proficiency +1. [Unfamiliar] (4/100)

"Don't stop!"

【————】

"Push harder!"

'

【————】

"More intensely!"

Lorne's voice grew increasingly excited, and Nelly's attack speed increased.

The two became increasingly focused, gradually transforming from sparring partners into a fierce, real battle, with the sounds of daggers slicing through the air and shields parrying echoing across the training ground.

At one moment, a strange sense of clarity suddenly surged from Lorne's mind, and in an instant it spread throughout his body via every nerve and blood vessel.

At the same time, the system also popped up a notification:

You have learned [Defensive Stance].

[Shield Stance] (99/100), can be upgraded to 100/100 once the [Heavy Shield] proficiency level reaches [Mastery].

[Heavy Shield] Proficiency level increased to [Proficient] (0/1000).

"Alright, let's take a break." Lorne took a step back and smiled at Nelly.

Nelly paused for a moment before realizing she was sparring with someone, then gave a soft "Oh" and dropped her fighting stance.

Lorne took out two bottles of sparkling orange juice from his storage space and handed one of them to Nelly.

Nelly's eyes lit up, and she took the bottle, unscrewed the cap, and chugdled it down, looking like she was going to finish it in one go.

Lorne smiled slightly and started chugging along with Nelly.

The orange juice was from the fortress canteen. It's said to be a specialty of the Hejian Province. It smells very fragrant, has a moderate sweetness, a hint of bitterness, a sweet aftertaste, and contains a small amount of carbonation. The overall taste is similar to beer, but without alcohol.

The two finished their bottles of juice almost simultaneously and burped at the same time, looking remarkably in sync.

"What will we practice next?" Nelly asked curiously.

"Hmm—" Lorne thought for a moment and said, "You rest for a while, I'll practice my warrior breathing by myself."

Although warriors usually start by learning the [Basic Combat Stance], according to Zaku's experience, Lorne's current state of continuous combat leading to a large depletion of stamina is very helpful for practicing [Warrior Breathing].

Moreover, Lorne had Zaku's memories and had already mastered the knack; all that was left was to develop muscle memory, so he immediately began practicing.

Concentrate your mind on yourself, adjust your breathing rhythm and depth to a specific frequency and amplitude, and a harmless, burning energy will be generated from your heart and lungs, flowing through your blood throughout your body.

[Warrior Breathing] Training Progress +1. (1/100)

[Warrior Breathing] Training Progress +1. (2/100)

【————】

When the progress reaches (21/100), the cultivation speed slows down significantly.

Lorne knew this was because he had fully recovered.

"Have you rested enough?" Lorne asked Nelly.

"Mm." Nelly nodded gently.

"This time I'm going to practice [Guerrilla Stance] and [Gladiator Stance]. You attack, and I'll dodge."

"Um."

Theoretically speaking, the [Guerrilla Stance] works best when used in conjunction with [Marksman Stance] or [Pitcher Stance], but it is not unusable in melee combat as well.

When using the [Guerrilla Stance] in close combat, the key is to maintain a safe distance from the enemy and keep moving around, using agile footwork and movement to dodge and attack.

The [Gladiator Stance] is used in 1v1 combat. The key is to keep your eyes locked on your opponent and make quick and accurate judgments and reactions based on their actions. In gaming terms, it's called "eye-tracking".

Lorne and Nelly walked into the training field and got into position.

Lorne sheathed his shield, took only a training hand sword, and focused all his attention on Nelly, entering gladiator mode.

"bring it on."

At Lorne's command, Nelly attacked like a ghost.

Lorne quickly stepped back to dodge, and the blunt tip of the training dagger almost pierced his eye.

Without the shield as a defensive barrier, the sense of oppression he felt from Nelly instantly increased several times over.

[Guerrilla Stance] Training Progress +2. (2/100)

[Gladiator Stance] Training Progress +2. (2/100)

"It works well, keep it that way." Lorne said excitedly, "Don't worry about hurting me, this is just a substitute body, if it breaks, we can just replace it."

"Oh," Nelly responded憨憨地, and suddenly launched an attack, even faster than before.

Lorne immediately stepped back to dodge, but this time he failed to dodge and was accurately stabbed in the right eye by Nelly.

Clearly, Nelly held back during her first attack, but she didn't this time.

Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!

Lorne tightly closed his injured right eye, took several steps back to create a safe distance from Nelly, kept his eyes fixed on Nelly with his remaining eye, and used a healing spell on himself.

Nelly didn't continue the pursuit. She just stood there, frowning and looking at Lorne with concern, and asked, "Are you alright?"

'

"It's alright, you did a great job. Keep practicing like this, don't hold back," Lorne said with a smile.

Actually, due to the healing technique, the intense itching mixed with excruciating pain was churning in his right eye, but in order to ensure the efficiency of his cultivation, he could only endure it and not let Nelly soften her heart.

Fortunately, the substitute body's maximum health is only 20% of the real body's, so injuries heal quickly, and there is no period of weakness like the real body experiences after healing from severe injuries.

After Lorne finished speaking, he was able to open his eyes with difficulty, but his vision was still blurry.

After casting another healing spell on himself, Lorne blinked a few times, and his vision was fully restored.

"Alright, let's continue," Lorne said, getting into a fighting stance again.

Nelly immediately attacked, her movements still as swift as a ghost.

This time, Lorne did not choose to retreat and dodge, but instead used a side slide step, which is more effective against piercing attacks.

Nelly's dagger grazed almost the bridge of his nose, followed by a swift horizontal swing.

Lorne immediately used the most effective retreat dodge against the slashing attack, but he was still a little too slow, and the unsharpened dagger left a shallow bloodstain on the bridge of his nose.

But the offensive did not end there. Nelly pressed forward, her other dagger seizing the brief moment of Lorne's recovery after dodging, and stabbed at him with lightning speed.

Lorne's heart tightened, thinking that this was the end, but he did not instinctively close his eyes. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on Nelly, maintaining his gladiator stance.

Fortunately, this time, Nelly didn't choose to attack Lorne's eyes. Instead, at the last moment, she adjusted her stance and gently tapped Lorne's forehead. After the strike landed, she withdrew her strength and retreated.

Lorne breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a warmth in his heart.

It turns out that the little simpleton wasn't really simple-minded; he did know how to care for others.

The two elves then practiced in this way.

Soon, the training progress of [Guerrilla Stance] and [Gladiator Stance] reached (50/100) and then stopped increasing.

Lorne knew that to continue improving his training progress, he could no longer just practice dodging and defense; he had to practice offense.

However, since Nelly doesn't have a substitute body, he definitely can't use his full strength when sparring with her. If he doesn't use his full strength, the effect will be greatly reduced, or even ineffective.

So he said to Nelly, "Alright, you should rest for a bit. Next, I need to find Kovina to be my sparring partner. She has armor, so I can practice without restraint."

,

"Do you want me to call her for you?" Nelly asked.

Lorne smiled and nodded: "Great, I can practice [Warrior Breathing] while you go to call her."

,

"Okay!" Nelly smiled and nodded, then turned and ran towards the training ground.

Looking at Nelly's light and quick steps, Lorne felt that Nelly was a little different today.

Hmm, it could also be an illusion caused by drinking sweet fruit juice.

Lorne shrugged, took a deep breath, cleared his mind of distractions, and entered a state of focus to begin practicing [Warrior Breathing].

However, the progress of this training is very slow, and it is getting slower and slower, with a faint tendency to stagnate.

Lorne was not surprised by this, because a true warrior needs to maintain his breathing at all times during battle.

In other words, the next training session will need to take place in combat.