Afterward, Shirou was still trying to ease the awkwardness between himself and Roxy, but he couldn't find a good opportunity, so time gradually passed.
A few more weeks went by.
"Shirou, congratulations on becoming an Intermediate Sword God Style Swordsman."
Paul, after testing Shirou again and confirming that Shirou could freely use the mindless sword he had used in the previous battle, finally gave him his approval.
Shirou thus went from Lower to Intermediate in Sword God Style.
Although this wasn't a huge leap, it was a pretty good achievement for Shirou, who lacked talent in Sword God Style and could only improve by relying on his willpower.
This was also thanks to Shirou's reckless training method. Every time, he extended his sword practice time to the limit, swinging his sword until his body lost its reaction, until the moment he could only rely on intuition and instinct to act, and he firmly remembered the feeling of fighting in this state.
Relying on this pure muscle memory, he finally completely mastered the use of the mindless sword.
In a way, this was still within the scope of Servant Emiya's fighting style, because Servant Emiya's inherent skill—Mind's Eye (True)—was a power honed purely through experience and intuition.
As a Servant, Emiya Shirou doesn't have innate fighting abilities, nor does he have any outstanding talent, but the effort he puts in far exceeds others, and the goals he reaches are naturally far beyond the path taken by ordinary people. As a result, even as an ordinary person, he obtained the skill called Mind's Eye, which uses the information he has to predict the opponent's actions and avoid dangerous situations.
It is supported only by overwhelming combat experience, not caused by talent, but acquired through persistent and repeated practice. It is a weapon that only ordinary people can possess.
Although Shirou is still far from reaching Servant Emiya's Mind's Eye, the effort he puts in has given him swordsmanship talent that is no less than that of a genius swordsman.
Even though this talent itself is just a fake, the strong passion invested in it still cannot be hidden and helps him break through on the path of Sword God Style.
"Now that you've entered the mindless sword, the next thing I'm going to teach you is the first move of Sword God Style, the Soundless Sword Strike."
Paul, as an Advanced-level Sword God Style Swordsman, confidently came to Shirou.
He seemed to want to show off his abilities and signaled Shirou to keep his eyes on him.
Shirou then stared at Paul without blinking.
He now had a certain understanding of Sword God Style, and he naturally knew that it was a sword technique that purely relied on speed to gain an advantage.
Not just fast, but faster.
There is no limit to the strong in Sword God Style. Only by constantly surpassing the limit is the purpose of Sword God Style.
So, Shirou was naturally prepared to witness an extremely fast sword technique and planned to remember every movement of Paul's so that he could learn Paul's ability through training.
However, reality far exceeded his expectations—
"Pop!"
A cracking sound suddenly rang out in the air.
The large rock in front of him was suddenly torn in half.
Paul's demonstration of the Soundless Sword Strike was clearly over.
But Shirou discovered an overly shocking fact.
That is, he didn't see how Paul's movements were performed, when they happened, or when they ended.
Paul's movements were so fast that the eyes couldn't catch them, and the mind couldn't keep up. The sword's strike had fallen before his vision could even catch it.
"How was it?"
Seeming to see the shock on Shirou's face, Paul laughed, obviously prepared for this reaction and very smug.
After feeling Shirou's efforts during this period, he also felt some pressure, and through hard work, his Sword God Style level had improved to a certain extent.
Of course, even if Paul's strength hadn't improved, the Soundless Sword Strike that he had mastered was already the essence that only Upper-level Sword God Style Swordsmen could master.
"A-Amazing..."
Shirou said with a complicated tone, still uttering a compliment.
But Shirou was also helpless because he hadn't caught Paul's movements at all. He couldn't even understand how that scene had happened, let alone deconstruct Paul's actions.
This made it difficult for him to simulate and think about how to use the Soundless Sword Strike in his mind, let alone master this ability through imitation and constant practice.
"Shirou, you're a smart kid." Paul seemed to see Shirou's thoughts. "But there's one thing I must tell you. Sword God Style swordsmanship can't be mastered by relying on intelligence. Your intelligence itself will become a weakness in learning Sword God Style. Sword God Style is a sword of offense, and the most powerful way to attack is speed. Only when the speed is faster will the sword be sharper, and the enemy will be more difficult to react to and parry."
"So, think about it yourself, if even you can think about and understand Sword God Style swordsmanship, if the direction and dynamics of Sword God Style's swings can be thought out by the human brain, then how can Sword God Style be considered the strongest swordsmanship? The sword must be faster than thought, farther than the sky, this is the strongest swordsmanship, Sword God Style!"
"..."
The sword must be faster than thought, farther than the sky.
Paul's words were like thunder, ringing a loud alarm in Shirou's mind.
Shirou then realized his biggest mistake in learning Sword God Style, going down the wrong path of experience.
He had already understood that Servant Emiya's techniques were not enough to surpass the limit and reach a higher level, but he still unconsciously relied on the other's power.
Now Paul's words made him realize that if he wanted to master the essence of Sword God Style and learn the Soundless Sword Strike of Sword God Style, he must completely abandon Servant Emiya's way of thinking and master a more pure and direct fighting method.
Of course, thinking about this is easy, but doing it is extremely difficult.
At least Shirou couldn't do it in the short term.
But at least he saw the direction and knew what kind of place he had to work towards.
Shirou is a person who does not admit defeat. He knows his own persistence, but he doesn't care and will use his persistence to the extreme, insisting on walking a path to the end.
Shirou then quickly continued to train with Paul.
Although Paul showed Shirou the Upper-level Sword God Style swordsmanship, the Soundless Sword Strike, he made it clear that he didn't want Shirou to master it immediately and instead continued to spar with him to consolidate the basics.
During the battle, Shirou also tried his best to abandon Servant Emiya's influence on him, giving up the mode of thinking in battle, and relying on pure intuition and instinct to swing his sword.
Paul was stunned by Shirou's progress.
He didn't expect Shirou to be so decisive. The other party might not have the talent for swordsmanship, just a pure ordinary person, but the other party's will and courage were enough for him to flatten the gap in talent and step into a higher field.
Paul then felt even more pressure as a father, and at the same time, at the end of the training, he said to Shirou: "Shirou, you are now an Intermediate Rank Swordsman, let's go to the forest to hunt monsters with us next month."
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