Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 8: A good soldier is one who can hold a weapon firmly and has saliva in his mouth.

"On the battlefield, a good soldier is one who can hold a weapon firmly and has saliva in his mouth!" Swordsmanship instructor Richard Nal was giving his final post-class debriefing to 55 cadets of the 554th class of infantry at the Army Officer Academy: "These are not my words, but those of the old marshal."

When the Army Officers Academy was first established, the preparatory committee believed that there were too many indoor courses and that it was necessary to set up a special physical education course.

The options at the time were [swordsmanship], [wrestling], and [archery], with participants choosing one of the three.

However, most of the high-ranking military officers came from Marshal Ned's "night military training class," and they all learned a little about longsword from the old marshal.

Therefore, the army leadership hoped to preserve longsword fighting as a tradition.

As a result, swordsmanship was incorporated as a sport and became a formal course at the Army Officer Academy.

"Students, this is your last swordsmanship lesson. You've all surely thought about what the significance of practicing longsword techniques will be for your future careers," Instructor Nar paused, then said bluntly.

“I can tell you now that the opportunities you will have to draw your swords and fight the enemy hand-to-hand in the future will be very few. Many of you may never hold a sword hilt with both hands again after leaving this training room.”

"What is a longsword to you? What is longsword technique? Is it really a practical combat skill? Outside the ivory tower, what's popular on the streets are more agile and portable weapons."

Want to know which weapons are effective in combat? Go check out the Duelist Association! In a one-on-one fight, none of the experts there can beat you.

"In the world of officers, longswords became ceremonial weapons used to adorn their fine uniforms, and swordsmanship became a threshold for distinguishing officers by their social standing."

"Although we've tried our best to bring you closer to real combat, for you, longsword fighting has evolved from a combat technique into a sport. You must be wondering, does longsword fighting really have any meaning? I can tell you now, it doesn't!"

"Don't think that just because you've had years of training and are all superb swordsmen, you can wreak havoc on the battlefield. Two farmers with pitchforks could take you down!" Instructor Nar's classroom atmosphere was much more relaxed and enjoyable than his cultural and military classes.

This was the first time he had belittled his students, showing them no mercy whatsoever.

"Because when you're really on the battlefield and facing death, even many knights who have been trained to be killing machines since they started walking will have their minds go blank and their limbs stiffen so much that they can't move due to tension."

"Although longsword techniques have become detached from actual combat, please remember what I am about to say: If one day in the future, at some point in time, you really need to draw your weapons to defend yourselves."

"Whatever you hold in your hands—spear! saber! club! hammer! even bare hands. Think of my words today, think of all the sword training you've received over the years!"

"By then, if you can recall 30% of what you've accomplished today, you might be able to save your life. If you can recall 60% of what you've accomplished today, then there will be very few on the battlefield who can be your match."

Because the principles of martial arts are always interconnected, many of the sword principles of longsword can also be applied to other weapons.

"The old marshal often said, 'The worst thing is to practice swordsmanship with a variety of moves, but in actual combat, all you know is to use brute force to hack and slash.' That's why he emphasized simple and direct attacks."

"When that day truly arrives, I hope you will remember what I said today. Don't grip the hilt too tightly! Don't be so stiff in your arms! Don't just charge forward like a pig; your footwork must be agile! And think about the sword training you've received!"

As another cohort of students was about to graduate, Richard Nal, unusually, became genuinely emotional, speaking from the heart. However, his students didn't seem to appreciate this outpouring of emotion; most were only thinking about getting dinner quickly.

Young people often disdain instruction from older generations because most of the condescending advice from elders is indeed rubbish. But at the same time, they can easily miss out on truly valuable experiences because of this.

It will take at least another ten years, until they have all become adults who have weathered the storms of life, before they can know which of the teachings they heard in the past were nonsense and which were gems of wisdom.

Only when they look back on today's swordsmanship lesson will they understand Instructor Nar's good intentions. But for now, they are just a bunch of spoiled brats raised in an ivory tower.

After rambling on for a while, without caring whether the trainees were listening or not, Instructor Nar abruptly ended his speech: "Alright! Dismissed!"

Instructor Nar clapped his hands twice and gave the order: "Dismissed!"

The trainees bowed in unison: "Goodbye, instructors."

Then, he rushed out to return the training armor.

The training room returned to silence and became empty again.

Those young people who sweat and laugh freely here seem to be just a dream in this classroom.

I'll try to reduce the amount of dialogue (facepalm). Looking back at the first few chapters I wrote, it almost feels like a dialogue novel (facepalm). I've deleted and rewritten the earlier chapters, but there's still a lot of dialogue. I'll pay attention to this later and allocate the dialogue content more reasonably.

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(End of this chapter)