Three Days Later;
Ken raised his sword from bottom to the top, diagonally, trying to land a blow on his mother.
His sword was easily countered by his mother, but unlike before, he managed to push her sword away and get into another position.
As his sword reached her right side, he pulled it down from top to bottom just like his previous strike.
Once again, his mother easily blocked his sword, but unlike on the first day, he was capable of countering her sword with enough power to push it away for a split second.
This second gave him a chance to adjust his sword to another position and continue attacking.
He continued with Middle Slash. Whether he attacked from left or from right, she would easily block it, forcing him to constantly change his attacking position.
Whenever he pulled his sword back a bit, he would hold the hilt with both of his hands and thrust it with all of his strength.
This time, he did the same.
But when he pushed his sword forward, he felt a strange feeling.
An experience!
As if he were capable of piercing through anything. He was so astounded by this feeling, he closed his eyes and let his feelings guide his hand.
Seeing this, Flora let out a smile.
Three Days!
It only took her son three days to understand Sword Momentum.
She only gave him one hint, and he was able to understand Sword Momentum in three days.
For three days, countless thoughts were ringing in Ken's mind.
'Why hold a sword? If I want to defend, can't I just hold a shield? So, why use a sword in a battle?'
'I can't run away. I can't defend. I can't even overwhelm my enemy with my strength. So, why use a sword?'
'Why not other weapons?'
These thoughts were lingering in his mind for a long time, and now he finally got the answer.
'Because Sword can cut anything. The sword can defend, but the best offense can become the best defense. Mom didn't allow me to retreat. Because a sword can't retreat.'
'It has one job. Its job is to cut my enemies. So, if it can't even do its job, why hold it?'
When he got these answers, Ken opened his eyes.
He felt different from three days ago. Even though this movement was no different than any of his previous movements.
It was filled with power. So much power that he felt he could fight his mom.
This confidence erupted his Sword Belief and materialized into a powerful momentum.
Crack! Bang!
Ken's sword struck Flora's sword. Two wooden swords met in the middle, and one broke into pieces, falling to the ground.
But Ken forgot to pull back his momentum. He couldn't stop that invincible feeling.
Seeing this, Flora smiled and raised her wooden sword, which was broken in half.
The next moment, that similar kind of Aura erupted from Flora. Although it was much more powerful than Ken's.
Bang!
She swung her hand and cut Ken's sword in half.
The invincible momentum that Ken was carrying broke instantly, like a flame in a candle.
Without that momentum, his sword was no different than any normal sword, forcing him to stop in the middle.
"So, did you break out of that delusion?"
Flora asked with a half smile.
Ken couldn't help but feel ashamed, especially when he remembered just how confident he looked when he stabbed forward after breaking her sword.
Maybe he knew he couldn't hurt his mother, so he continued attacking.
But he didn't deny the fact that he truly felt invincible for a moment until she broke his sword and his momentum.
Flora shook her head upon seeing her son's look. She knew this was normal.
Momentum was a kind of feeling.
It's the same as when bullies try to bully weak people.
Only those with courage could stand against those bullies. Otherwise, even if someone with muscles tried standing up, they wouldn't be able to do anything.
Because bullies might not have strength, but they would have courage.
The more bullies bullied someone, the more courageous they became. This was a cycle that made bullying so prevalent in school life.
Sword Momentum was the manifestation of one's belief. But just having a belief wasn't going to be enough.
Every person could have a certain kind of belief. But it didn't mean they could manifest it.
Only when one's courage resonated with one's belief could it awaken Momentum.
Sword Momentum was one of the types of momentum.
There were types of Momentum, and they were all part of the Abstract Element.
But without proper luck or awakening, Abstract Element was impossible to achieve.
"Now that you have awakened your Sword Momentum, I will teach you one move. This move can either break you or make you. So, before you decide to learn this move, you have to understand the weight of your decision."
"Of course, besides this move, you can also learn other moves. But I am not going to teach you. You should try to find or create them on your own."
Flora spoke.
She went to the corner and picked up a scabbard. There was a long katana inside it.
She put it on her waist and started explaining.
"In any kind of battle, speed is invincible. The faster you are, the more damage you can cause. The faster your sword gets, the smoother you can cut."
"Sword Drawing Technique is a basic sword drawing movement. It has three moves. Gather strength in your hand and hold the hilt. Pull out the sword and make a slash. Put the sword back into the sheath."
"These three moves must be used instantaneously. The faster you make your move, the stronger your power will be. That's why this move emphasizes speed so much."
"But, there is another hidden trick in this attack. That is merging your Sword Momentum or Sword Intent, or Sword Power, into your sword."
"The more you more, the higher the damage it will cause. But these are just like spiritual energy in a spell. You can increase the limit, but you can't exceed it."
"Because of this, most people do not train on this technique. But I have found a way to exceed that limit. I call it 'Stacking Method'. It's similar to the Spiritual Energy compression method that your dad taught you."
"Instead of increasing the amount of Sword Momentum, I decrease the amount by compressing my Sword Momentum to its limit. Then, I create an imaginary line around my sword with my Sword Momentum."
"Finally, I release another wave of Sword Momentum, compress it, and stack it above the previous Sword Momentum. Because this method requires you to perfectly place your Sword Momentum in your attack, it is hard to achieve."
"Almost impossible by normal standards. To achieve such a level of perfection, your concentration must be extremely high. Your mental power must control your Sword Momentum while stacking more on top of it."
"Now, let me show you the power of the Stacking Method."
"First, I will use ordinary human strength, with Basic Sword Momentum and a simple Sword Drawing Technique."
Flora walked in front of the iron dummy and crouched a little bit.
Then next, Ken saw a large gap on the iron dummy, followed by a crisp sound of metal collision.
When he saw that, Ken's eyes widened. Because he didn't even see his mother moving her hand.
No, she was holding the hilt of the katana, but he didn't see her unsheath the katana.
It was fast, so fast that the human eye couldn't see it coming.
He didn't think his mother would lie about using ordinary human strength.
'That means, even with human strength, you could draw a sword so fast that it can be invisible to the human eye. Is it this even ordinary human strength anymore?'
"Concentrate!"
Flora's voice instantly woke him up from his thoughts, and then he saw something that stunned him.
The dummy was cut in the middle. Its upper body began to slide forward before falling to the ground.
Thud!
After finishing her attack, she straightened her back and turned towards her son.
"Was that the power of the Stacking Method?" Ken asked. His expression still showed shock.
"Yes! That was the power of the Stacking Method. Of course, the Stacking Method doesn't mean one plus one. You have to understand. If I compress the Sword Momentum, I am only making it sharper."
"Because Sword Momentum is like the edge of a sword. The thinner it gets, the sharper it will be. So, by compressing it, I am increasing the sharpness of my attack."
"On top of that, I am adding another Sword Momentum with similar power. So, the total sharpness will be increased several times, at least four times sharper than my normal Sword Drawing."
"This is what I want to teach you. Do you want to learn?"
Without any hesitation, Ken showed a strong determination in his eyes and nodded.
"Yes!"