Daru arrived early again for the afternoon swordsmanship classes.
For an hour, he struck dummies, practiced his form, and his footwork.
They were extremely important in combat, after all. Even more so now that he has experienced quite a lot of battles in the Myriad Sword Realm.
The second day of classes followed the same format as the first.
They were given a basic move to practice, then spent half an hour in sparring.
This time, however, the sessions were a bit more exciting, as sparring partners rotated three times, and each spar lasted double the time.
Instructor Talon already had the information he needed about how capable his students are.
The next step was improvement through practice, and Daru fought his matches with this in mind.
To him, sparring isn't about winning but learning.
His priority for this week was to further improve his defense. This was why he willingly put himself on the back foot, trying to gain new insights.
After all, in the Myriad Sword Realm, he had yet to encounter a Swordspawn who excels in defense and counterattacking.
Most had been aggressive.
Perhaps he would be able to level up faster if he could riposte more effectively.
This, unfortunately, further fueled the misunderstandings, though Daru remained oblivious and only appreciated his sparring partners' enthusiasm in attacking him.
It was like they wanted to truly kill him, or something…for some reason…
The best partner he had today was Jake, one of False Witness's underlings.
The guy went all out and made him sweat a bit.
Daru now looked at the guy a bit differently, pleased with Jake's competence in sparring, allowing him to figure out a few areas he needed to improve in.
Meanwhile, from Class 69, a pair of eyes never left him, watching with sparkles as he fought.
The second day ended like so.
Daru stayed behind in the sixth training field for only two hours before leaving, planning to invest an hour today in self-study.
This was a necessary time allotment if he wanted to become an excellent Bladeborn.
Multiple gazes followed him as he left, a majority sneering.
Daru returned to his dormitory room, changed into appropriate clothes, and retrieved his rarely-used laptop from one of his bags.
It was a fairly up-to-date model, though not among the latest.
He was quite lucky that he was able to obtain this last benefit from the Neo-Earth World Government before the Sword Awakening Ceremony.
Daru opened the device, gently wiping it with a towel before pressing the power button.
The laptop booted and automatically connected to the NeoNet.
Basic connection was free, but if one wanted a faster connection for official business matters and gaming, then one would have to pay a subscription fee.
The free connection was naturally more than enough for Daru.
Heck, he couldn't even tell that he was lagging a bit when he tried to play sword-intensive MMOs in the past.
He was certainly not too tech-savvy.
Still, he knew how to open the net browser, clicking on the default Gugal Explorer.
His unfamiliarity with devices and the NeoNet certainly came in handy at this moment.
Had he been experienced, he would've been slamming his fists at his desk in frustration at how slow the darned browser was.
Daru simply waited for it to open and then typed "Myriad Sword Realm information".
Around fifteen seconds later, a full page of results appeared.
He clicked on the first one, which contained general information that would probably be discussed by Instructor Talon in their future lecture classes.
Nonetheless, information was information, and Daru was determined to educate himself despite rarely using his brain for such matters in the past.
He was the Sword Prince of Ashton High School, but he certainly wasn't the brightest student there.
"Oh…I see…"
"Hoh, I would like to fight those guys someday…"
Daru kept on murmuring stuff as he scrolled through the first result.
From what he just read, he was currently in Valmaris, the continent of humans.
The other races also have their own.
The Vyrrkans—creatures who Daru would describe as humanoid crocodile-lizards—reside in Ignarok.
While their swordsmanship was described by the author of the online article as quite crude and savage, their tough constitutions, powerful arms, and insane stamina allowed them to develop a mad fighting style that cannot be replicated by any other race.
They were decently nimble as well.
Another of their opponents in the Sword Trials was the Aetherborn.
They were the most similar to humans in appearance, except for the natural runic vein markings crawling through their bodies.
It was easier to describe them as humans with fancy glowing cracks of varying colors.
They were described as the ones with the most raw talent among all the races. Aetherborns could utilize mana, had slightly stronger constitutions than humans, and their swordsmanship was roughly on the same level, perhaps a bit higher.
Their weaknesses were their prideful nature and their high mana and stamina consumption.
The last race was the Veshari: slightly smaller humanoids with pale gray skin and long, pointy ears.
Not much is known about them except that they were the most nimble race. They were also described as quite possibly the weakest race in the trials.
As long as one had a high-enough perception attribute, then they were of no threat.
Daru was naturally excited to fight the bladeborns from enemy races.
Unfortunately, until he made it to the central continent of Vigrheim, his chances of encountering them would be extremely slim.
He could only meet them in Trial Events that randomly happen depending on the gods and goddesses' whims.
Daru sighed, praying for such a day to come sooner.
Perhaps his fated rival was from another race?
He and his sword weren't racist, and he would be more than glad to wield it against anyone.
Done with the current article he was reading, he clicked the back button and chose another link titled "Useful Tips for Novice Bladeborns."
Most didn't apply to him.
However, there were a few that did, and the most helpful one he found was "maps," along with the knowledge that there was a useful NeoNet site allowing him to check the possible spawn points of the Elite Swordspawns and the so-called "Field Bosses."
There was also a note at the bottom stating that the Myriad Sword Realm was ever-changing, and that the information provided on the site would never be a hundred percent accurate.
Moving with a bit of guidance was far better than wandering aimlessly, though.
Daru planned to return to Agaron tomorrow to purchase a map from one of the Waykeepers.
He diligently read through a few more links that gave him surface-level information, most of which he already knew from experience before checking the spawn-point site.
Soon, a little over an hour had passed. Daru's eyes grew fairly tired.
He closed Gugal Explorer and decided to call it a day, folding his laptop.
But the moment he did, he remembered something: the horrifying yet mystical forums.
Daru pondered for a few moments and steeled his resolve.
Around five seconds later, he opened his laptop again.