Sorcery Monarch

Chapter 54: Remarkable Results

 

"When facing a more powerful, downward slash, how should you brace and defend?"

 

Old John scratched his head, adopting a defensive stance with some uncertainty in his voice.

 

"Uh, like this?"

 

Matthew glanced at him, with his data display meticulously recording the form. He turned to Angela and said:

 

"Lower your center of gravity slightly, step back with your left leg, bend your right knee forward, grip your weapon firmly, raise your shield with both arms, and angle it slightly..."

 

Angela, realizing what Matthew was aiming at, silently reflected on his instructions as she jotted them down.

 

As Matthew elaborated on each defensive stance, he continued with the next question:

 

"When an opponent attacks you from behind with a quick thrust, how do you defend?"

 

Hearing this, Angela promptly demonstrated the appropriate defense from behind Old John.

 

Realizing the situation, Old John expertly rolled forward, quickly regaining his footing and positioning his twin blades at a diagonal guard.

 

Every muscle movement and the purpose behind each motion were carefully noted by Matthew.

 

After half an hour of questioning, Matthew had drained Old John of all his defensive maneuvers.

 

Matthew held a Shadow Crystal in one hand and a defensive stance training manual in the other, handing both to Angela:

 

"Over the next three days, study and memorize these moves whenever you have time. Rest for half an hour now."

 

"Afterward, I’ll assign you some special training."

 

With hope shining in her eyes, Angela began to suspect the lord's intentions.

 

Regardless of success or failure, Angela decided that this knowledge should remain a closely guarded secret.

 

In a world where learning to read was costly, such knowledge could become the foundation of a family's legacy.

 

Angela felt a deep gratitude for Matthew's trust in her and silently vowed not to disappoint him.

 

Half an hour later.

 

Having recovered her strength, Angela approached Old John.

 

This time, though armed with a sword, she only defended, carefully mimicking each of Old John’s moves.

 

Old John swung his blade down, and Angela parried, sparks flying from the clash of sword and shield.

 

Angela withstood the blow, stepping back half a pace as she heard Matthew’s voice of approval:

 

"That defense was executed perfectly."

 

Matthew’s certainty stemmed from seeing a floating prompt above Angela's head that read, “Defensive Stance XP +1.”

 

Soon, Angela cycled through all of the defensive stances.

 

Matthew quickly pointed out any flawed movements, and Angela sought further guidance from Old John while adjusting her notes.

 

Angela corrected each mistake, and her defensive stance progress steadily increased.

 

By the time she had mastered every move, only two hours had passed.

 

During a break, Old John hastily ate some food to recover his strength, mumbling in disbelief:

 

"She's improving way too fast..."

 

Old John had spent years refining his defensive stance through countless battles.

 

Now, Angela had grasped its essence in just a few hours, leaving Old John with an almost surreal sense of disbelief.

 

Matthew patiently helped Angela with her summary.

 

The first attempt was always the hardest, but with time, Angela would become more and more proficient.

 

The day quickly passed.

 

Old John, panting and exhausted, paused his movements. Angela, her steps steady, saluted him with her sword. Noticing the sadness in his eyes, she whispered:

 

"This is likely just the lord's experiment..."

 

Old John, who hadn't fully grasped Matthew's intentions, suddenly realized something. But before he could ask further, Angela had already turned to leave.

 

Matthew calculated that Angela’s progress had reached 45% by the end of the day.

 

Over the next two days.

 

Matthew continued documenting and refining Angela’s training process.

 

Defending against two attackers took Angela five hours to meet the required standard, bringing her progress to 70%.

 

Defending against three attackers, however, only took her two hours to complete, and she hit 100%!

 

By the afternoon of the third day, Angela had successfully mastered the Defensive Stance feat!

 

The continuous practice and familiarity gave Matthew more confidence in spreading the knowledge of feats.

 

Of course, all this progress came with a cost!

 

Matthew never considered himself a benevolent figure, and he knew the necessity of implementing certain safeguards.

 

After mastering her first feat, Angela was promptly assigned the task of learning another basic feat.

 

Within three more days, Angela had successfully acquired the "Veteran of the Battlefield" feat, significantly boosting her combat prowess.

 

Her rapid progress left Old John, who was privy to the inner workings, utterly dumbfounded.

 

Each day, Old John trained with renewed vigor, determined to push his body to new limits.

 

At the same time, he intensified his training of the soldiers under his command.

 

He was eager to make them stronger in the shortest amount of time.

 

During this week.

 

The soldiers were far from idle.

 

With ample food, rigorous training, generous pay, and fierce competition, they had undergone a dramatic transformation.

 

The total number of soldiers had increased from 105 to 150.

 

The number of warrior-class professionals had risen to 40.

 

Among them, 15 had advanced to 2nd-tier, with Leon being the first.

 

But the real progress wasn’t just in their numbers—their coordination in formations had improved tremendously.

 

As they marched through the village in perfect unison, heading back to the barracks, they were greeted with cheers and praise from the villagers.

 

The sight of their disciplined ranks evoked a sense of awe, almost addicting to those watching.

 

Even Matthew, ever critical, couldn't deny that the soldiers' training had yielded impressive results.

 

But this progress had its price.

 

With soldiers and villagers eating far more than before, food consumption had tripled, not to mention the hundreds of hungry kobolds.

 

In just one week, a tenth of the food Matthew had purchased from Adam Smith had been consumed.

 

After all, with a village population of 2,000, supporting 200 professional soldiers meant that most resources had to be bought from outside.

 

The only person growing increasingly concerned was Ralph, who was constantly busy.

 

Watching the territory's funds dwindle, Ralph couldn't help but feel anxious.

 

Even though he knew the lord had stockpiled a batch of alchemical potions, he still worried about whether Adam Smith could sell them quickly enough to exchange for the much-needed gold and resources.

 

Strengthening an army came with a hefty price tag!