"Maybe... you could try using both hands?" Gordon suggested tentatively.
Isis let out an even louder "Nnngh!"
Under his wife's furious glare, Gordon awkwardly pulled his hand back. "Ahem. You're still young. You haven't reached your prime yet, so there's plenty of room for improvement.
"Anyway, how about you take the challenge too?"
Gordon turned to Altaïr.
Altaïr's expression stiffened. He could not tell whether Gordon was merely changing the subject to hide his embarrassment or intended to teach him a lesson while he was at it.
With strength monstrous enough to overpower Isis, Gordon would surely break him on contact. Refusing now, however, would be exceptionally rude.
Caught in that dilemma, Altaïr could only resign himself to a broken hand and place his elbow on the table.
"Are you addicted to arm wrestling? When you were eighteen or nineteen, you spent every night in Minegarde's taverns challenging people, and you're still doing this now?"
Amos's displeased voice rang out. "If you truly mean to assess the kids, then instead of asking them one random question after another and fooling around with arm wrestling, you might as well take them straight to the Training Area."
Gordon scratched his head and laughed awkwardly. "Fair enough. We can treat it as a little exercise after a full meal."
Hayata had been about to stamp on her husband's foot beneath the table, but her expression softened slightly.
In the two days since returning home, Master Amos had repeatedly praised this much younger fellow disciple of hers. She was genuinely curious to see what a young man the same age as her daughter could do.
The couple rose from their seats. Altaïr followed as though he had been granted a pardon, while Isis shook out her hand and grumbled behind them. The four of them headed for the Training Area in the basement.
Amos, meanwhile, remained in his rocking chair and leisurely sipped his tea.
Hayata was his disciple, and her strength had already surpassed his own from before a broken arm forced him into retirement. With her there, it made no difference whether he went along.
—--
Once they reached the Training Area, Gordon took a standard training Great Sword from the weapon rack and twirled it one-handed as though it were a light shortsword.
"This place is a little cramped. Four people can barely move around in here, and these weapons are far too light. It feels like I can't put any strength into them."
Hayata glared at him and pointed toward a corner of the Training Area. "Are you the one training, or are the kids? One uses a Gunlance, and the other uses a Long Sword. Why does a Great Sword user need to be involved?
"Stop standing in everyone's way. Go wait over there."
"It's fine. I know how to use a Great Sword too!" Altaïr hurriedly said.
Partly, he wanted to spare Gordon further embarrassment. More importantly, the man was unquestionably the greatest living Great Sword user. Even a word or two of advice from him would be an enormous gain.
Gordon spread his hands with a hint of pride. "See? It isn't their main weapon, but they both know how to use a Great Sword, don't they?
"Come on, one at a time. Show me a True Charged Slash. Oh, and remove your armor and talismans. A performance enhanced by equipment doesn't count."
Gordon pushed the training Great Sword, far too light for him, into Altaïr's hands. Altaïr looked at Isis, silently asking, You first, or me?
"I'll go first."
Isis gritted her teeth and took the Great Sword. If she was destined to embarrass herself, she would rather get it over with sooner than later.
She had no confidence whatsoever. She had trained with the Great Sword before, but that had been before she became an official Hunter.
Because she struggled to commit at precisely the right moment, Grandpa Amos and her father had judged her unsuited to the path of the Great Sword.
When she first switched to the Gunlance, she would still occasionally take a Great Sword into the Training Area and swing it a few times.
As her Gunlance training deepened, however, Altaïr kept pushing her forward and time grew tight. Naturally, she practiced with the Great Sword less and less often.
She had not completely forgotten how to wield it, but her Great Sword technique could only be described as beginner level.
No, that was not entirely fair either. If asked to demonstrate the Surge Slash Combo, she believed she could perform it well. Many of her Gunlance attacks and power-generation techniques had been adapted from the Great Sword's Surge Slash Combo, after all.
Her father, however, wanted to see a True Charged Slash...
Isis shouldered the Great Sword and was about to begin charging when she abruptly lowered it again. "Wait. I only know the regular Charged Slash and Strong Charged Slash. I never actually trained in True Charged Slash..."
"A High Rank Great Sword user who can't perform True Charged Slash?! Oh, right, you're a Gunlance user. Never mind."
"Then just show me your Strong Charged Slash," Gordon said helplessly.
Struggling to recall the details of her old training sessions, Isis shouldered the practice weapon and performed a Charged Slash followed by a Strong Charged Slash.
As the Great Sword came down on the training dummy, Gordon's brow furrowed slightly.
Isis's movements were textbook-perfect. If she were only a 1★ Hunter, that precision would have deserved praise.
She was a 6★ Hunter now, however. Such rigidly textbook form meant that she rarely, if ever, used Charged Slashes in practice. She had never adjusted the movements to suit her own body, leaving the entire sequence stiff.
There was no way she could draw out the attack's full power like this.
Gordon wanted to criticize her, but then he remembered that she was a Gunlance user now. What could he possibly criticize? Was he supposed to fault a High Rank Gunlance user for being poor at Charged Slashes?
He was the one who had declared her unsuited to the Great Sword in the first place. She had finally found her own path. Was he truly going to blame her for not walking farther down the wrong one?
At that thought, the last trace of dissatisfaction and regret in his heart faded. His brow relaxed, and his tone grew light. "Not bad. Your form is very precise."
Then he turned his gaze toward Altaïr. He was going to examine this kid strictly, comprehensively, and meticulously from every possible angle!
Under that stern gaze, Altaïr felt a little uneasy as he accepted the training Great Sword.
He drew a deep breath, cleared his mind of distractions, and entered a state of Focus.
"Oh?" Gordon raised an eyebrow.
The kid could concentrate remarkably quickly. For a Great Sword user, that was crucial because it directly affected charging speed.
Altaïr unleashed a Charged Slash, Strong Charged Slash, and True Charged Slash in quick succession. The blunt training Great Sword hacked several deep gouges into the solid wooden dummy.
"Hmm..." Gordon murmured thoughtfully.
Unlike Isis, the kid showed none of that rigid stiffness. He clearly used Charged Slashes often.
Though Gordon had no idea why a Long Sword user would use them so frequently...
After considering it for a moment, he said, "You charge quickly, but your attacks lack power. Is that deliberate? Are you sacrificing some power for faster charging and greater mobility?
"A Charged Slash should bring muscle strength and fighting spirit together, yet you seem to place greater emphasis on Spirit."
As expected of a legendary Great Sword user, he had seen through Altaïr's technique at a glance.
Altaïr sighed inwardly and nodded. "Yes. Compared with Great Sword users at the same level, I lack raw muscle strength. Because I primarily train with the Long Sword, however, the intensity and concentration of my fighting spirit are my strengths.
"So rather than raw force, I rely more heavily on Spirit.
"I usually perform Charged Slashes with a Long Sword, which is why I learned to trade some power for a faster charge. I adjusted the technique around that."
"...All right, then." Gordon found that difficult to assess.
If Altaïr had been a Great Sword user, Gordon would have had plenty to say. Instead, he was a Long Sword user who could perform True Charged Slash with a Long Sword. Gordon had secretly tried the same thing with his wife's Long Sword, but she always gave him such a thorough scolding that he had little experience in that area.
He had no choice but to offer advice from a different angle. "Master Amos told me that your coordination is extraordinary. You find it easy to learn new techniques and even combine the defining traits of different weapons.
"The effort you've invested there has carried your technical skill far beyond that of other Hunters at your level. There's nothing wrong with that, but don't neglect raw strength.
"You're a Long Sword user, but not an ordinary one. Add more strength work to your training without compromising your coordination, and the improvement should be obvious."
Altaïr stared at him in surprise.
Then it struck him. Ever since obtaining that secret swordsmanship scroll, he had not done any dedicated strength training for a long time.
His strengths had continued to grow, but he had done nothing to shore up his weaknesses.
"Thank you for the guidance!" Altaïr bowed solemnly.
Gordon waved a hand as though it were nothing.
Altaïr straightened with a smile, then noticed Isis standing dejectedly at the edge of the Training Area.
After spending every day together, he saw through her thoughts at a glance.
They were probably something like, All I get is a simple "not bad," while he gets a full analysis and advice. I really can't be your biological daughter...
The inferiority complex she had only just managed to shake off was threatening to return. Altaïr hurriedly spoke up. "Isis is actually quite good with the Surge Slash Combo. Why don't you take a look at hers too?"
"The Surge Slash Combo?" Gordon stared at her. "You know how to use it? Who taught you?
"Master Utsushi from Kamura Village? Or Selva the Chevalier from Elgado?"
He could think of no other expert who specialized in the Surge Slash Combo.
"I learned it from Altaïr," Isis mumbled.
Gordon looked at Altaïr in disbelief. "My daughter... learned the Great Sword... from you?"
"No, please, let me explain..." Altaïr began.
* * *
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