Chapter 56: A Brief Clash with Kirito
"Alright, let's start the demonstration now," the black-clad swordsman flicked his bangs away from his eyes.
"Okay," Liz sat on the edge of the forge bench, hugging her knees.
Her hammer was still strapped to the sheath on her lower back.
She watched the two men take up positions ten steps apart in the backyard of the smithy.
"It's just a simple test of the usage anyway," Kirito had already assumed a one-handed sword stance, the tip of Elucidor pointing at the ground. "We don't have to activate duel mode."
"Yeah," Hachiman rubbed the edge of his shield against his nose, the habitual gesture making his voice sound muffled. "Come on, Kirito, bring it on anytime."
"Then let's start with some warm-up."
The two men stood facing each other, readying their stances.
Just as Kirito was about to swing his weapon, a silver flash swept past his vision. An impact hit Kirito's right shoulder from the weapon strike, and as his right half was forced backward by the force, Hachiman's dagger was already pressed against Kirito's throat.
"This is how you interrupt an attack in advance," Hachiman took a half step back and swung his sword in a flourish.
"Hey, hey, this time it's different — defense and attack are happening simultaneously."
"That's why this equipment is needed."
Kirito found the situation tricky, yet his blood boiled with excitement.
After Liz's initial surprise, she finally spoke: "You call this a 'simple test'?"
"Next is parrying. The normal kind, similar to before, but this time I'll try a hidden technique," Hachiman completely ignored the smith girl's protests and lightly tapped Kirito's chest armor with the tip of his sword.
"A hidden technique, huh..."
Kirito suddenly felt strangely excited.
Hachiman's fighting style was like a box of unpredictable surprises, and for Kirito, who had a natural warrior's instinct, it was truly something to look forward to.
He could clearly see the flames flickering in Hachiman's pupils—the spark brightening his normally lifeless eyes.
"Kirito, swing diagonally from above as usual."
"Got it."
Kirito cautiously controlled the rhythm of his attack, feinting to cover the strike and swinging the Elucidor in a downward diagonal slash aimed at Hachiman's shoulder.
'This is too fast to parry, right?'
Just as Kirito was certain the strike would land, Hachiman suddenly pushed his shield straight forward into Kirito's face. Although Kirito anticipated the blow wouldn't cause serious injury, he instinctively stepped back half a pace.
In that split second, the shield suddenly pulled back sharply, and the rear edge precisely deflected the slash. Kirito, caught off guard by the unexpected parry, left his throat wide open again, where the cold blade pressed once more.
The whole process was so fast even Liz couldn't catch the moves clearly—she only saw Kirito stagger backward, the hem of his black cloak fluttering.
"What a joke!" Kirito held his tingling thumb. "How could it be the right timing for that..."
"That's exactly it."
"So front and back movement can both trigger parrying?"
"Exactly," Hachiman tapped the inner edge of his shield with his sword. "The rear parry instantly triggers a forward dash 'Flash Strike,' then while the opponent is off balance, I follow up with 'Void Slash.' When they get up, it's 'Flash Strike' again, then 'Void Slash' again."
"Isn't that an infinite combo? That's cheating!"
Hachiman shrugged.
"This equipment has weaknesses too, like it can't handle powerful combo slashes from both sides, and parrying is less effective against shielded enemies."
"Noted."
"So, Liz, what do you think? That's about it."
The smith girl showed no reaction.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Turning to look, they saw Liz staring blankly, mouth agape.
"...What are you spacing out for?"
"N-nothing."
"Nothing?"
"What was that just now!?"
Liz finally snapped back to reality.
"You're asking that suddenly... Kirito?"
"We're just having a friendly spar."
"I might have seriously misunderstood the Clearer team... The attacks are too fast to see clearly! Is Asuna like this too? It's the first time I've seen something like this..."
"Hey, stop muttering and focus," Kirito gave her a playful chop to the head.
"Hachiman's waiting for your evaluation."
"Ah, um, that was amazing?"
"Right? The weapon you forged is awesome."
"Yeah! I didn't expect it to be this strong! But that strange technique — who taught you that?"
"Uh... trade secret," Hachiman said, thinking of the figure in the white lab coat.
"Curious, but maybe it's better not to ask."
"Sorry."
"But to handle such complicated moves so smoothly, it's impressive."
"The key is his keen eye for judging the parry timing, that's why he can wield this high-level weapon."
"I can understand that."
"Oh, by the way, one more thing."
Liz suddenly remembered something and spoke up, "Kirito, you're hiding something, right?"
"Hiding what?"
"The reason for forging the Black Sword?"
"I already explained earlier..."
"That was a lie, wasn't it?"
Kirito clearly got flustered.
'Woman's intuition? No, Kirito's acting is just too bad...'
Hachiman stifled a laugh and tried to smooth things over: "Since you'll be working together in the future, it's better to tell Liz. When a smith understands the story behind a weapon, their work gains more soul."
"...That's true."
"Hey Liz."
"Yes?"
"Can you swear to keep Kirito's embarrassing secret?"
"Embarrassing!? Okay, I swear! Spill it already!"
"Hachiman, you..."
"Kirito, show that move you used during practice."
"Although I haven't fully mastered it, the flashiest move I have right now is..."
After fiddling with the interface for a moment, Kirito's left hand revealed the Dark Repulsor, while his right still held Elucidor.
"Wait, what? You can dual-wield Dark Repulsor and Elucidor?"
Kirito took a deep breath and assumed a dual-sword stance.
"Watch closely, Liz. Starburst Stream!"
In a dazzling display, the two swords unleashed a meteor-like flurry of strikes—sixteen sword beams exploded like a storm.
Liz instinctively raised her hand to shield her face.
"Tsk, this is all I can do for now."
"Still need more practice."
"What was that just now..."
"Dual Wielding."
"You have such a skill?!"
"A special skill, Liz," Hachiman flicked a falling leaf with the tip of his dagger.
"...Special skill!? Eh eh eh eh!?"
Kirito explained how he obtained the skill and the reason for his daily special training here.
"Keep it a secret!" Kirito hurriedly sheathed both swords. "If other Clearer team members find out..."
"Got it. Exposing that would be trouble."
"So you understand why he forged the Black Sword now?"
"Yeah. Does Asuna know?"
"I haven't told her. Kirito and I agreed not to reveal the skill to anyone."
"But it will come out eventually, right?"
"We'll deal with that when the time comes."
Afterwards, Hachiman and Kirito engaged in a simulated battle at their best states.
Kirito still had the upper hand with a two-to-one victory ratio.
Hachiman was practicing the skill of parrying with front and back movement while handling dual swords.
Though not yet perfected, if it weren't Kirito, he'd probably manage just fine.
After the battle, Kirito continued training his moves while Hachiman observed and coached. Liz watched enviously.
"Hungry? Your eyes look so longing."
"Not at all! I'm just jealous you guys can exchange combat techniques!"
"Our roles are different. The sword you forged is Kirito's favorite."
Liz immediately beamed.
"And... my gratitude to you is second only to Asuna."
"Second only, huh?"
"Asuna is a special existence."
"Not that! Hearing 'second only to Asuna' from Hachiman basically means I'm the number two!"
"Uh... something like that."
"Yeah! I accept that recognition!"
Later, Asuna joined and sparred with Hachiman.
Whenever she was parried, the rapier user would inexplicably be delighted, saying it was like a juggling act.
Despite frequent successful parries, Hachiman suffered many defeats, exposing his weakness against thrusting attacks.
"Tricky... I really can't handle thrusts."
"You parried so actively though."
"No follow-up attacks at all."
"I tried! My body just froze."
"Asuna has a special paralysis effect against Hachiman."
The truth was, facing Asuna, Hachiman completely lost his will to attack.
Watching her cheerful excitement, he actually enjoyed it.
Hachiman's new equipment and Kirito's dual-wield technique shown to Liz thus came to an end.