Knight and Wand

Chapter 27: The Genius in the Valley

But the lessons in my head come and go quickly.

Olivia quickly put it behind her, and regained her excitement as if the scar had healed and the pain had been forgotten.

She looked at Leon: “Can you pull it out and take a look?”

"Please feel free to use it, but it's very sharp, be careful not to hurt yourself." Leon did not forget to remind people to be safe.

No matter how delicate it is, it is a weapon after all, not a toy, and must be treated with care at all times.

Olivia nodded obediently, grasped the hilt of the sword lightly with her right hand, and slowly pulled out the sword.

The smooth and graceful sword blade came out of the sheath with a slight sound.

In the bright sunshine, the sharp blade reflecting the silver light shines brightly.

The girl pointed the tip of the sword upwards, turned the blade, and admired the exquisite sword forged from special steel with admiration in her eyes.

Olivia instinctively raised her hand, but halfway through raising the sword, she retracted her hand and glanced nervously at the boy next to her.

Leon smiled, as if he could see through the girl's eagerness to try.

"Why are you looking at me with such pitiful eyes? If you want to play, just play. There's no one here anyway, and we won't tell your father. Just don't get hurt, and don't accidentally drop your hands and hurt us. It's okay to wave your hands here."

"Thank you, Leon."

Olivia's eyes brightened after getting permission.

Without a belt to secure it, and not wanting to dirty her friend's scabbard by dropping it on the ground, she deftly turned the scabbard over with her left hand.

After Leon took the scabbard, Olivia took a few steps back, put some distance between herself and the three people, and then turned sideways to face the deserted wilderness.

"The last time I secretly played with the steel sword in the shop was three years ago." The girl murmured with lingering feeling, her hands firmly grasping the long handle raised to her side.

Under her long skirt that was a bit in the way, her light footsteps changed in an instant.

Buzz—!
Two silver wheels flashed by with a whistling sound, and Leon felt his eyes blurred.

The girl's figure had swiftly completed the steps forward and backward, and stopped in a posture similar to the "bull style".

His originally quite natural expression froze on his face.

?

? ?
what happened?
He blinked hard, trying hard to recall the past.

It seems, seemingly, possible, probably, maybe I just saw Olivia step from right to left in a "rooftop-style" manner, changing her body shape, and then stepping back to her original position.

Yes, it is just a change of left and right stances, very quickly and skillfully. This is a very common sword-swinging warm-up. But, what about the sword?
No swinging of the sword?

Just the pace of his feet and changes in his body shape, without swinging the sword?

No! He was indeed blinded by the two rays of reflected sunlight! And the girl in front of him did change her sword from raised to horizontal.

A little cold sweat seeped out of Leon's forehead.

This terrifying sword speed, what kind of superhuman swordsmanship is this?
He could barely guess from the changes in his body that it was a side slash with a step forward, followed by a step back and another slash over the shoulder, and then he took advantage of the situation to hold the sword with his backhand on the spot.

It is impossible for the sun's rays to catch up with the metal mirror passing through the air.

It was because his dynamic vision did not keep up with the trajectory of the sword that was just swung, so much so that his brain even had doubts!
Leon glanced sideways at his partner.

Lohak opened his mouth in astonishment, almost enough to stuff an egg in.

Azerien's reaction was the same as his, rubbing his eyes as if he suspected he was dazzled.

However, Olivia was so focused that she didn't notice the suspicion of her three foreign friends.

She was completely immersed in the joy of swinging the sword in her hand.

Step lightly.

The girl's figure then crossed the distance of a shoulder.

The sword whistled, and in an instant, three dancing arcs of light seemed to cover the girl's body with a silver veil.

The moment the footsteps touched the ground, two beams of light separated the oncoming breeze.

When Leon saw the blade again, the girl had already stopped and the sword was resting at her side in an "iron gate" posture.

"I can't move my feet. The skirt is really a bit of a hindrance."

Olivia lowered her head and complained quietly. She raised the sword, lifted the hem of her skirt with her left hand, rolled it up, and tucked the hem into the belt around her waist.

Of course, there was no exposure that would be welcomed by everyone. Under the girl's long skirt was a pair of very unromantic white drawstring shorts, and even her calves were completely protected by tight stockings.

But at this moment, Leon had no intention of complaining about how conservatively women in this world dressed.

His brain was still stuck in the futile attempt to capture the sword shadow.

Without waiting for everyone to come back to their senses, Olivia rolled up her skirt and started moving again.

Cut! Pick! Chop!
Swing! Chop! Wrap!
The small shoes moved swiftly across the grass.

Moving forward, backward, turning, and moving sideways, her swift and flexible body movements made the skirt hanging on the side fly continuously.

The petite figure was shrouded in flickering cold light.

The sword seemed to have lost its weight and trajectory in the girl's hands.

In the midst of the flashing light and shadows, the beautiful golden hair danced in an elegant yet dangerous way.

Leon gradually gave up trying to see the missing sword.

He focused his attention on the girl's shoulders, arms, thighs, and her steps as she moved like a low-flying swift.

Only by concentrating on observing the girl's coordinated movements and inertia of action could he barely guess from the side where the long sword in the girl's hand had previously passed.

It was like dancing.

A deadly and beautiful dance of death.

The fallen leaves fluttered gently in the wind. When the thin leaves touched the brilliant sword light, they split into two pieces silently in the blink of an eye.

The drooping blade tip suddenly lost its sword power.

The sword seemed to have regained its mass, and in this smooth and natural pause, a whirlwind swept across the ground.

The grass whistled as if it was belatedly aware of something, and waves of air left long sword marks on the ground.

Olivia exhaled steadily, as if she had satisfied her craving.

She put away her stance, and skillfully turned the hilt of the sword with her five fingers, holding the pommel with her backhand, with the tip of the sword facing upwards and the blade resting steadily in front of her shoulder.

With one hand she let go of the hem of her skirt that was rolled up around her waist, and humming a light tune, the girl walked back to Leon.

The three people who were watching under the shade of the trees were already sweating profusely without realizing it.

Leon swallowed and came back to his senses from his amazement. He suddenly thought of the village thug who dared to point the dagger at the girl yesterday, and he couldn't help but feel emotional.

Brother, how can you be so brave?

On second thought, since the old blacksmith didn't let Olivia touch the sword, it meant that although those village thugs had been beaten by the girl, they probably had never really seen her demonstrate her sword skills with all her strength.

Otherwise, Leon didn't think the other party had the courage to speak so loudly to Olivia and threaten to kill her?
Buddy, how many heads do you have that she can chop off?

"It's been a long time since I've swung a sword so happily. I'm really happy." The girl gently shook the sword in her hand and smiled with relief. Her slightly red cheeks after a little exercise looked particularly satisfied.

Leon looked at the sword-wielding girl in front of him, and a sense of déjà vu came over him.

From this perspective, except for the lack of alopecia, they really look similar.

He couldn't help but ask absurdly: "Olivia, do you have a real name, Altria?"

"what?"

Olivia tilted her head and looked at Leon puzzledly: “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand, who is that?”

Leon covered his face and waved his hands: “Sorry, I was just kidding, forget this nonsense.”

Olivia: “?”

Leon patted his stiff cheeks, calmed himself down and looked at the mysterious "country girl".

Recalling the old blacksmith's advice yesterday, Leon really felt that he should listen carefully and leave this place as soon as possible to avoid being involved in some strange secrets that did not belong to the three of them as outsiders.

Lohak's reaction was much more direct. The boy who grew up in the barracks widened his eyes. He had practiced martial arts since he was a child, so he naturally knew the quality of the other party's swordsmanship. "Olivia, your swordsmanship is amazing! Who did you learn it from?"

At this moment, facing the girl in front of him, the sergeant's son spoke instinctively in a low voice.

"This sword technique? I learned it from my father when I was a kid."

As the girl answered, she reached out to hold the edge of the scabbard in Leon's hand, and gently pushed the sword into the scabbard, returning it to its rightful owner.

Playing should be done in moderation. She has already had a lot of fun.

"Isn't Uncle Brian a blacksmith? It turns out he also knows swordsmanship." Leon recalled the old blacksmith's physique and could see traces of his past as a martial artist.

"I heard that my father used to serve in the king's army, but later returned home because of a leg injury." Olivia answered as a matter of course.

The speaker didn't mean it, but Lohak couldn't help but be shocked when he heard it. His father had been a soldier in the Holy Land City Guard for so many years and was even a sergeant, but he had never been taught such amazing martial arts, and even his father didn't have such swordsmanship.

Azerien asked in confusion, "You have learned so much from him, why is your father willing to stay in the village to forge iron with such skills?

Even if I can no longer go to the battlefield due to my leg injury, it would be more promising to teach swordsmanship in a nobleman's castle, right?"

The young nobleman silently evaluated in his mind the several knights who had taught him martial arts.

The girl in front of them was far superior to them, at least in terms of swordsmanship. It would be hard to believe if you didn't see it with your own eyes.

Such a young person of the same age, a petite girl at that, can actually use the sword to such an extent. It seems that the old blacksmith must be a hermit living in the mountain village.

Olivia stroked her hair awkwardly after hearing this.

"Thank you for the compliment, but it's too exaggerated." She knew that she had a talent for fighting since she was a child, but she still didn't understand the surprise of Leon and the other two at this moment.

The girl was a little confused: "I don't know much, is what you said true? Can my father be a swordsmanship teacher for the nobles?"

Leon didn't know whether to laugh or cry for a moment. If he didn't know that the girl in front of him was innocent and kind, he would have thought that her words were sarcastic and Versailles.

"That's not an exaggeration. I've never seen a swordsman as good as you. Since Uncle Brian can teach you to this level, I'm afraid you are more than qualified to be a swordsmanship instructor for the princes and nobles in the royal court." Leon said with emotion.

After hearing this, Olivia was stunned for a moment, and then she realized that Leon and the other two had misunderstood something.

She touched her arm with an unhappy look, hesitating whether she should explain it clearly.

Leon saw that her expression suddenly became very strange, and thought he had said something wrong: "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

Olivia quickly shook her hand.

"No, no, no, it's just that... you seem to have misunderstood."

Leon was puzzled: “Misunderstanding?”

"Well, actually."

The girl explained with difficulty, choosing her words carefully, as she really didn't want the other party to think that she meant to belittle her father.

"My father can't use the sword like me. Over the years, I have been practicing on my own according to the basic rules. Of course, it's not that my father's swordsmanship is bad! It's just that he may be a little bit worse than me."

Leon and the other two looked at each other, and it took them a while before they understood the girl's euphemistic expression.

“What you mean is - Uncle Brian’s swordsmanship is not as good as yours, and you learned this skill by yourself?” Leon was even more surprised.

"You can't say that," Olivia tried to save her old father's face. She lifted her hair to hide the embarrassment in her eyes.

"In the beginning, it was me who pestered my father to teach me sword dancing. He was actually quite good at it! But later on, you know, my father was old and had old injuries."

The girl felt a little guilty.

To this day, she still remembers the heartbreaking and desolate back of her father after he was completely defeated by her in a sword fight when she was eleven years old.

(End of this chapter)