"What?"
At this moment, Leon was stunned.
Did that strike just now really only equal a full-speed blow from a Level 3 whose agility had reached D-rank?
That was impossible, right?
"Do you find it hard to believe?"
Finn asked with a smile, receiving an honest nod from Leon in return.
If that strike just now had truly been of that level, it would have been impossible for him to be held at the throat by the sword before he could even attempt to parry.
How could an attack that left him without even enough time to raise his sword to block possess only that level of speed?
Leon was highly reluctant to believe it.
Yet, it seemed to be a fact.
"The reason you felt that strike was fast was merely an illusion," Finn explained. "Although the speed of my sword was not fast when I swung it, it underwent three changes in speed and three extremely minor changes in direction mid-swing. This caused your optic nerves to lag behind the changes in sword speed, thereby producing a sensory misalignment and giving you the illusion that the strike was incredibly fast."
"In other words, your vision and your brain were both deceived by that swing just now, to the point that your body experienced a sense of lag, making you feel you failed to block it simply because you couldn't react in time."
Finn's words caused Leon to reveal a genuinely bewildered expression.
"Is such a thing even possible?"
He looked completely astonished, utterly making no attempt to hide his shock, which brought a smile to Finn's face.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Finn said with a laugh. "The exact same strike and the exact same swordsmanship can yield worlds of difference in final results depending on how the user applies them."
"A simple thrust can lead to vastly different outcomes depending on the targeted location and the opponent's reaction."
"Even if I do not employ the techniques of changing speed and making minor shifts in direction, if I thrust a sword at you, which one is more of a threat—a straight, frontal thrust, or one that catches your blind spot and opening? I shouldn't need to spell that out, right?"
"Techniques, tactics, the psychological play with an opponent, and the clash of combat intelligence like this are all essential qualities a strong person should possess. In other words, they are exactly the kind of things you are pursuing right now: combat skills."
Saying this, Finn raised the wooden sword in his hand once more.
"Next, I will perform another strike. Watch closely again—"
Finn then began to execute a strike in front of Leon that carried various techniques and tricks.
He did not spar with Leon like Ais did, nor did he teach him practical sword styles. Instead, he broke down various minor combat techniques, demonstrated different fighting tricks, and taught combat as an academic subject, constantly packing all kinds of knowledge into Leon's mind.
He would tell Leon what to do to kill a monster the fastest when facing one.
He would tell Leon how to fight to win when the opponent was not a monster, but a person.
Depending on the type of monster or the race of the opposing person, the combat methods Finn taught would change. Even when facing the same race or the same individual, the choice of combat style would differ based on the circumstances.
This was exactly what Finn was teaching Leon.
"Indeed, what I can teach are only the knowledge and ideas of combat."
"You need to commit all of these to memory, adjust them accordingly based on your own situation, and turn them into your own things—even to the point of becoming bodily instincts or actions you take subconsciously."
"To me, combat is an art. Only when you study it clearly, see through it, and ponder it thoroughly can you be considered to understand how to fight."
Finn's teaching style was completely different from Ais's. It required no sparring, nor did it require correcting any offensive stances or defensive postures. Instead, it required thinking to solve the puzzle of combat.
If Ais's teaching style was rote memorization like a humanities subject, then Finn's teaching style was a brainstorm like a science subject.
He would give you a formula, but how to apply this formula and what to plug into it was up to Leon to figure out, contemplate, and solve on his own.
"This is what combat techniques are all about. Skill and tactics are both indispensable, and counterstrategies and psychological play must advance together to achieve the best results."
"There is one way of doing things when the opponent is a monster, and another entirely when the opponent is a person."
"You should already be used to fighting monsters, but you haven't fought other people yet, have you?"
"These are exactly what you lack."
Speaking up to this point, Finn showed a reminiscing expression.
"In the past, before Ais and the others joined this Familia, there were two massive mountains in this city that no one could cross."
"There were two Familias, and they were basically filled with monsters who paid no heed to the chase of latecomers, each and every one of them terrifyingly strong."
"At that time, any adventurer staying in Orario had no choice but to hone their interpersonal combat techniques to the most proficient realm. Otherwise, let alone catching up to those monsters, even just wanting to stay in the same place as them could result in being tormented by their whim-driven harassment to the point of wishing for death."
That was an era that could be called hell for any adventurer who wanted to stand out in Orario and realize their dreams.
If you wanted to make a name for yourself, you had to chase those monsters.
If you wanted to realize your dreams, you had to cross those two massive mountains.
If you didn't work hard to hone and train yourself to become stronger quickly, there would only be one outcome: being eliminated by the truly strong.
Finn, Riveria, Gareth, and the others had lived through that era, experiencing a trial that could only be described as brutal.
"Later, those monsters all fell because they wanted to subjugate another monster, and the two massive mountains that had stood before us all this time were finally cleared away."
"But their departure also caused a bunch of bastards, who previously didn't dare to cause trouble wantonly, to start popping up, officially transitioning this city from a hellish era of trials to a dark period of survival of the fittest."
"That was another kind of brutal experience, and many of our Familia's predecessors were sacrificed during that time."
A trace of gloom appeared in Finn's eyes, before he returned to normal and continued speaking calmly.
"You are very fortunate to have appeared after our struggle with those monsters and evil people ended, meaning you didn't have to experience those brutal trials."
"But precisely because of this, compared to those of us who lived through it, the skills of you rising stars are far too green."
"..."
"I will teach you all of these skills that were born only after undergoing refinement. It just depends on how much you can learn."
Leaving these words behind, Finn continued to teach, only departing three hours later and leaving Leon standing there alone, reflecting on the lessons.
During this time, members of the Familia would occasionally return from the outside, passing through the courtyard and witnessing the scene of Finn teaching Leon how to fight.
"No way—is Leon starting to learn from the Captain?"
"To think even the Captain has stepped up to personally teach Leon?"
"First it was Miss Ais, then Lady Riveria, and now even the Captain has become Leon's teacher?"
"Isn't that guy way too lucky?"
Many people muttered among themselves, their eyes filled with envy and astonishment as they looked at Leon.
They were incredibly envious of Leon's ability to receive consecutive teachings from three of the Familia's major figures.
And they were astonished that these major figures were willing to personally step forward to guide him.
But on second thought, if even Leon couldn't receive the teachings of these major figures, wouldn't there be something wrong with that?
This was a super freak who had risen to Level 4 in just two months. Naturally, the leaders and executives of the Familia would view him with high regard and hope he could grow up quickly to become a pillar of the Familia.
For this reason, they certainly wouldn't be stingy with some guidance and instruction.
Most people thought this way, but there were also those who couldn't accept this situation.
"I also want to receive the Captain's loving guidance!"
Upon returning and learning of this, the older sister of the Amazon twins was instantly so envious and jealous that she practically wept tears of blood. If the younger sister of the twins hadn't done her best to stop her, she might have been unable to resist running over to vent her frustration on Leon.
Ais, upon learning of this, silently observed Leon as he stood thinking in the courtyard for a while, and then left soundlessly.
Bete likewise glanced at Leon as he passed through the courtyard, and then departed expressionlessly.
As for Lefiya—this elven girl had been looking dispirited since yesterday.
"Level 4—"
The elven girl muttered in a low voice, her mood incredibly dejected.
"And I'm still Level 3—"
Clearly, the elven girl was somewhat brooding over the fact that she had been surpassed by someone, to the point of being unable to let it go.
In Raul's words, when she was Level 3, Leon was only Level 1. In the end, she was still Level 3, while Leon was already Level 4, completely overtaking her. How could the elven girl, who gritted her teeth in frustration at him and regarded him as a rival in love, not feel dejected?
"As expected of Lord Leon!"
Line, on the other hand, was becoming increasingly admiring of Leon.
She could be considered a witness who had watched Leon grow rapidly from the closest distance. For Leon to achieve such success today, the young girl felt nothing but happiness.
In this manner, under the silent watch and gaze of countless people, Leon began his days of learning from Finn.
Every morning, Finn would deliberately squeeze out two to three hours of time to teach Leon, letting Leon follow him to learn various combat techniques and strategies.
Sometimes it was purely explanations, and sometimes it was on-the-spot demonstrations. Finn unstintingly passed all of his experience and combat skills to Leon, helping him hone his close-quarters combat capabilities.
Leon did not display a mind-blowing learning speed that would leave Finn in shock, but every time Finn finished teaching, he could always feel Leon's growth when he taught him the next day.
Leon constantly absorbed Finn's teachings, soaking up all kinds of combat knowledge like a sponge.
Meanwhile, the outside world also learned of the news that Leon had officially risen to Level 4 after returning from the expedition.
"No way? He's Level 4 already?"
"Isn't this way too fast?"
"Didn't they say that the higher the level, the harder it is to level up? How come this person's leveling speed is getting faster and faster instead?"
"It took him less than a month to rise to Level 2, over half a month to rise to Level 3, and now only half a month has passed and he's risen to Level 4 again?"
"Rising all the way from Level 1 to Level 4 in just two months?"
"Just what kind of monster is this?"
Everyone was dumbfounded, their minds buzzing as they felt the entire world starting to become unfamiliar.
Since when was the level of God's Grace so easy to raise?
Before this, even the Sword Princess had taken a year to rise to Level 2, and that was already the world's fastest leveling record. In the end, what on earth was this now?
Three level-ups in two months?
What kind of ridiculous achievement was this that could only be made in a daydream?
Even though people had already accepted the fact that Leon was a genius, and understood after the previous incidents that this person's growth speed was extraordinary, they were still deeply shocked upon learning that he had risen to Level 4.
The main thing was that Level 4 was already a high rank.
In Orario, adventurers of this level were already at the peak of the core combat forces, with fewer than forty people capable of being stronger than them.
Once they reached this level, with just one more step forward and one more sublimation, they would be Level 5, a first-tier adventurer.
And Leon was already very close to that step.
He was no longer that astounding newcomer, but a powerhouse who surpassed more than ninety-nine percent of the adventurers in Orario.
Taking only two months to go from a mere newcomer adventurer straight to a Level 4 whom the vast majority of adventurers could only look up to—this definitely did not sit well with those still struggling at Level 3, Level 2, and even Level 1.
Those at Level 4 would also feel astonished and question their lives because of this, while those first-tier adventurers of Level 5 and above would begin to take this rising star seriously.
An identical thought arose in everyone's minds simultaneously.
"Perhaps, before long, Orario will have one more first-tier adventurer."
This person was surpassing many of his predecessors at a speed that ordinary people could not comprehend. Next, would he use the same speed to catch up to those first-tier adventurers, and even surpass them?
Just at what level would this inhuman growth speed finally begin to slow down?
How long would it take him to reach Level 6?
Was it possible for him to become the second Level 7 in Orario?
Furthermore, would someone once again scale Level 8 and Level 9, which had already disappeared from the face of the earth?
"Following the departure of the male and female gods' Familias from the stage of history, is the lower world finally about to birth another monster for countless people to look up to?"
This thought inevitably appeared in the minds of the gods and the countless people who knew the glory of that era.
Regarding this, some felt wary, some felt jealous, some felt curious, and some cursed—the thoughts of every person or god were different.
Leon, however, turned a blind eye to all of this, firmly moving forward on the road he had chosen for himself.