Shandell's words were simple, but full of persuasiveness.
At least Shirou, after listening to the words of the former North God, truly agreed with his idea.
In fact, Shirou had a feeling similar to Shandell's.
As a user of Projection Magic, he can use almost all the weapons in this world, which naturally include treasures with enough power.
When using those powerful treasures, Shirou could suddenly have extremely exaggerated power, defeating enemies he could not defeat normally.
But in the process of fighting with these kinds of treasures, Shirou always felt that he was losing the ability to grow.
No matter how intense the battle was, no matter how powerful an opponent he defeated, his own strength did not improve at all.
For this reason, neither Shirou himself, nor even Servant Emiya, rarely used Projection Magic in battle at the first moment. Instead, they preferred to use bows and arrows or Kanshou and Bakuya to fight, only projecting powerful treasures to fight the enemy when there was no other choice.
In a sense, this can also be regarded as Shirou understanding a similar principle to Shandell, the former North God.
However, compared to Shirou, Shandell's approach was more extreme. He completely abandoned all weapons and used the weakest tools to hone his skills.
The reason he could do this was because he was the North God.
It was because he was strong enough that he could return to simplicity.
There was a huge gap between Shirou and the second North God, Shandell. If he were to directly abandon external objects and only use wooden sticks to fight, he would not be able to defeat any opponent at all.
Shirou told Shandell his thoughts.
Shandell seemed to have expected this and said:
"My idea is not to ask you to abandon all weapons like me, but to temporarily give up using a sword as a weapon and choose other weapons to hone yourself. Just as I was too dependent on the power of the Dragon King Sword at the beginning, you, Shirou, are also being limited by your swordsmanship. The kind of moves you are best at are limiting your potential."
"People's talents are very different. Some geniuses only need to focus on one path to become extremely strong, but some people are the opposite. They cannot go to extremes on one path, but they can master all the skills in the world and become all-rounders. This is exactly what the first North God hoped to achieve with the North God Style, but so far no one has been able to truly master it."
"However, I now have a strong feeling that you, Shirou, are the person I am looking for. You are the most likely to achieve the true North God Style, the person who will achieve the true essence of the North God Style. I will assist you in doing this, as long as you are willing to believe my words."
"..."
Shirou didn't expect that the second North God would have such high expectations for him. He felt a little embarrassed for a while, wondering if he could meet the other person's expectations.
Of course, before that, he first had to confirm what the other person intended to do.
So Shirou asked directly: "Lord North God, you said to let me temporarily give up using a sword, but how far should I go with this? Should I not use a sword at any time? And how should weapons similar to swords, such as axes and knives, be counted?"
"No need to worry about these small details, just follow your heart."
Shandell smiled and said very freely, "As long as you are willing to do it, you will naturally get the answer."
"This..."
Shirou really couldn't understand the words of the Second North God.
But he was willing to do as the other person said.
After all, Shirou's pressure was too great now. He couldn't wait to pay any price to pursue greater power. Now that he finally had a strong person willing to give him guidance, he was naturally willing to believe the other person and give it a try.
So, from this day on, Shirou began to practice skills with the Second North God.
As the Second North God said, he had no intention of teaching Shirou any swordsmanship at all, and even did not allow Shirou to use swordsmanship in peacetime.
As a substitute, Shandell allowed Shirou to use any weapon such as bows, spears, axes, and knives... In short, he was not allowed to use swords.
And Shandell also taught Shirou a lot of moves.
As the second North God, Shandell was at least several hundred years old. He had learned a large number of martial arts in his long life, and he taught them all to Shirou.
Shirou's skills were further improved.
Although he did not make any progress in the three schools of swordsmanship, Sword God Style, North God Style, and Water God Style, he did make great progress in areas other than swordsmanship.
The most significant improvements were in spears and knives.
As a successor to the North God Style, the second North God would naturally not limit his skills to swordsmanship. He knew a large number of skills, including swordsmanship.
And the three skills he was better at were bows, spears, and knives.
Shirou himself was very good at archery. In a sense, he was even better than Shandell, and there was nothing he could teach him.
Shirou had learned some basics of spearsmanship from Ruijerd, but it was only the basics. Ruijerd's Superd spear technique was mainly used to train Superd warriors, and there were many aspects that were not suitable for humans.
So the spearsmanship that the North God taught Shirou greatly improved Shirou's spearsmanship, allowing him to go from not being able to use a spear at all to being able to wield a spear somewhat decently.
Shandell also told Shirou the entire set of spear techniques completely, telling him to practice step by step, saying that as long as he learned according to what he taught, Shirou might one day become the fourth North God.
Shirou was very curious about the term "fourth North God."
Although he never thought of becoming any North God, since Shandell said "fourth," it meant that the current North God Style already had a third-generation successor, that being the third North God.
But he had rarely heard of the story of the third North God so far, or rather, he had never heard of it.
Shirou was very curious about what kind of person that would be.
Unfortunately, Shandell didn't seem willing to mention the identity of the third God.
As for swordsmanship, this was undoubtedly the focus of Shandell's teaching.
The essence of the North God Style, the strongest martial art once used by the Immortal Demon King Atofe - the Severing Strike North God Style, was more based on swordsmanship than swordsmanship.
Because the Severing Strike North God Style is different from the Sword God Style and Water God Style, it pursues absolute destructive power, a strike that completely destroys any defense as if it were invisible.
The shape of a sword is too fragile to withstand the power of the Severing Strike North God Style.
So in general, wielding the Severing Strike North God Style requires a large sword, and even further, you can directly use a long knife.
Although Shandell did not directly teach Shirou the Severing Strike North God Style, he taught him from the basics of swordsmanship step by step, in order to cultivate the foundation for Shirou to learn the Severing Strike North God Style.
Shirou's understanding in this area was also very rapid.
Because one of the projections he was good at using—the Unlimited Blade Works—is a type of swordsmanship. The giant axe-sword used in the Unlimited Blade Works is quite similar to the weapons of the North God Style.
In short, under Shandell's teaching, Shirou couldn't be said to have immediately become proficient in everything, but he was able to learn a variety of skills, especially laying a solid foundation.
The second North God was not only teaching him moves, but more importantly, teaching him the basics of honing moves, teaching him from the most fundamental level.
Shirou even felt that when he projected in the future, even if he projected some completely unfamiliar weapons, they would no longer be difficult to use.
The days of learning skills with Shandell even reminded Shirou of the days after he first came to this world, when he followed Paul to learn the three swordplay styles of Sword God Style, Water God Style, and North God Style.
That feeling of laying a solid foundation and gradually getting stronger was something he hadn't experienced in a long time.
At least, since becoming a Sword Saint, Shirou had rarely felt himself getting stronger bit by bit so concretely.
This made Shirou believe what the North God had told him before.
Only by giving up the sword can you become stronger and understand true swordsmanship.
…
Happy times are always short.
The second North God, Shandell, only stayed in the Holy Land of Swords for less than half a month before saying that he was leaving the Holy Land of Swords and embarking on a journey again.
"Shirou, I have taught you everything you need. You can now call yourself a North Saint to the outside world."
Shandell smiled and said, ready to leave. "Shirou, you'd better be like me, go and see different places in the world, fight different strong people, learn different skills, and even study magic. These are all extremely beneficial to learning the North God Style."
"I understand. Thank you for your guidance, Lord North God."
"Hehe, it's not just you who have been guided, but also me."
When the second North God looked at Shirou, a hint of expectation flashed in his eyes. "It's not just me giving you one-sided guidance. There are many skills you have that I can't reach. In the process of teaching you, I have also been inspired a lot, especially your magic that can create weapons..."
"..."
Shirou's expression was complicated by the words of the second North God.
He could never say that Projection Magic was not magic.
And the second North God was also a free-spirited person. He said goodbye to Shirou very simply, and then left the Holy Land of Swords.
On the day the second North God left, the Sword God, who had been silent all along, suddenly called Shirou up the mountain again and said bluntly, "Have you finished learning the North God Style?"
"I've only learned the basics."
Shirou told the truth.
Shandell couldn't have taught him particularly exaggerated moves in such a short time, but they were all the most basic skills, but these things were exactly what Shirou needed most.
After all, a tall building rises from the ground, and the foundation is always more important than any skill.
The Sword God obviously knew this too, so he didn't care and nodded silently: "I originally wanted to call that Water God guy over to teach you the Water God Style, but after hearing that the internal strife in the Asura Kingdom is serious, that guy Reida can't spare the time for now, so you can only go and see her yourself later."
"Water God Reida?"
Shirou's expression suddenly became complicated when he heard the Sword God's words.
But the Sword God didn't know about Shirou's grudges with the Water God, and just silently pointed to the Dragon Sword of Beauty and Grace on Shirou's waist and said, "As long as you see the Water God and show her this weapon, one of the Sword God's Seven Swords, she will understand. Then, no matter what考验 you face, just endure it."
"This..."
Knowing that all of this was the Sword God paving the way for him, Shirou couldn't help but reveal a grateful expression.
But the Sword God was obviously not the kind of person who would dwell on things. After he finished speaking, he waved his hand directly and said coldly, "Okay, okay, hurry up and get lost. Guys who don't learn the Sword God Style shouldn't stay in this Holy Land of Swords anymore. Go wherever you want. If you want to come back one day, be prepared to accept the Sword King's test. If you can't swing the Longsword of Light wearing that armor, don't even think about it!"
"Yes."
Shirou could only nod silently at the Sword God's words, keeping his words of gratitude in his heart.
After he walk away, Ghislaine's figure walked out from the side.
She looked at the Sword God with a complicated expression and couldn't help but say, "Master, do you really think Shirou can challenge the Dragon God? Even if he completely learns the Sword God Style, North God Style, and Water God Style, he is far from being able to match even a tiny bit of the Dragon God..."
Ghislaine's words were very sincere.
Anyone who knows anything about the Dragon God Orsted understands what kind of hell it means to challenge the Dragon God.
The Sword God naturally understood this, so he turned up his lips in annoyance and replied, "Of course I know, but this is the only chance I can see. With my sword, I'll never be able to reach the edge of the Dragon God in my whole life, but if I create a monster who has learned all the skills of mankind and even mastered all the techniques and martial arts in the world, maybe he can touch that monster among monsters, Orsted. It's a gamble. If that kid loses, I'll go up myself. At worst, it's just death!"
The Sword God's words were full of courage, and they made Ghislaine completely realize the obsession and belief that her master had in challenging Orsted.
No one could change his decision to challenge the Dragon God.
After saying everything, the Sword God silently got up, went to the highest point of the Holy Land of Swords, and looked at the Dragon Slaying Greatsword, the Heaven Demon's Fall, stuck in front of him.
When he bought this sword from Muramasa, he had a moment of heroism to challenge the supreme Dragon God.
But the moment he grasped the sword, that heroic feeling suddenly vanished.
Because he saw the endless cliff in front of him.
He was like a fragile human, leaping into the bottom of this cliff. Even with fighting spirit protecting him, he would most likely be crushed to pieces.
The gap between humans and dragons lies in this.
To defeat the Dragon God, you need not only weapons, but also to be armed from head to toe in all aspects.
Fortunately, humans not only have fragile bodies, but also flexible minds.
If strength is not enough, find a way to make up for strength. If speed is not fast enough, find a way to make up for speed. If the body is too fragile, put on heavy armor. If magic power is not sufficient, bring magic tools to replenish magic power...
If you do everything to the extreme, can you touch the edge of the Dragon God?
The Sword God had such thoughts in his mind and silently walked to the front of the Heaven Demon's Fall.
He slowly grasped the Dragon Slaying Greatsword, then timidly let go of it and turned to leave.
He himself was not qualified to slay a dragon. This sword should be left to future generations, waiting for the person with the true ability to touch the strongest person in the world to come and wield it.
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