Chapter 279: Vikrama Sword Art (K4)
Chapter 278: Vedic Name Sword Art (4K4)
36 Lancaster Gate, Bayswater District, London.
Arthur was holding a cup of tea in his left hand, and holding a heavy, ancient tome with yellowed pages in his right hand, reading intently.
Perhaps due to the fact that he was too absorbed in what he was reading, Arthur maintained this position for an unknown period of time, and he did not taste a single sip until the hot air bubbling out of the cup of tea had disappeared.
“Hmmm ……”
Arthur frowned and filled a mouthful of cold tea, then put down the white porcelain cup and looked up at the ceiling, seemingly thinking about something.
The Red Devil who was enjoying the reader’s letter on the side couldn’t help but tip his glasses when he saw Arthur’s expression, “What’s wrong with you? Eaten the wrong thing at lunch? Constipated? If that’s the case, I suggest you use the bowel healer described in the newspaper, the tube I keep next door to the kitchen.”
“Next door to the kitchen?”
Arthur couldn’t help but pause in his hand reaching for the fruit plate when he heard that, and he spoke, “Agareth, can’t you hold that thing a little farther away? I don’t want to savor someone else’s intestinal flora.”
The Red Devil tilted his head back and took a swig of the barleywine from the table, he wiped the froth from his lips and burped in satisfaction, “I couldn’t care less about many things, and it’s not like I’ve been eating anything from the kitchen lately anyway.”
Arthur just scanned the can of beer and spoke, “Heh, so you think the beer you’re drinking is clean?”
Agareth nodded his head without a care in the world and said, “That’s for sure, the flavor, it’s strong enough!”
“Well, since you’ve said so, I won’t give you details about the environment in which it was produced. I can only hope that they didn’t add any other unexpected little surprises other than hops to the production process.”
With that said, Arthur picked up the book and read it again, but the more he read the tighter his frown became.
Seeing him in this state, Agareth finally couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong with you? Is there anything special about this book? Isn’t it just an ordinary book of soldier striking techniques?”
Arthur shook his finger and said, “This is not an ordinary book of soldier striking techniques, but it is an ancient book that Lionel specially exchanged for me.”
Arthur tapped the cowhide cover of the book at the red devil, “See? The Paradox of Soldier Strike, its author is the famous 16th century Britannian master of soldier strike, George Silver, you erudite devil must have heard of Silver Stream Swordsmanship.”
“So it’s that guy. Of course I know him, he’s a famous 16th century spitter, I remember this kid seems to hate swift swords, right? Your usual Italian swordsmanship is a typical example of what he harshly criticized.”
The Red Devil casually threw the reader’s letter back into the box as he then asked, “But now that the Great War is upon us, instead of practicing your Fiorentinian flow, why have you taken a fancy to your local Silver Stream Swordsmanship? With all due respect, Silver Stream Swordsmanship is nowhere near as harsh and handsome as Fiore Stream Swordsmanship, and its strengths lie in being steady and relatively easy to pick up.”
Arthur placed the book on the desktop and warmed his hands with a cup of tea, “In fact, I didn’t want to change my style of fighting at first, but Lionel told me that they set up for this fencing tournament with strong elements of English and French such as ‘The Hundred Years War’, ‘Wellington versus Napoleon’, and so on. ‘ and other propaganda slogans with strong British and French elements, so he hoped that I would be able to use more of the traditional martial arts of Britain against that Parisian sword saint, François Bertrand. It was for this reason that he went to the trouble of finding me an original copy of “The Paradox of Bing Strike.”
The Red Devil cupped his chin as he sniffed, “I can see that this little Jew is still quite dedicated to making money. If that’s the case, why are you looking at this book and shaking your head straight?”
Arthur spoke, “Because I just realized that, as you said, Master George Silver is indeed a Britannia spitter that cannot be underestimated. This book of his, although he used half of the book to introduce his philosophy and strokes of soldier striking, the rest of that half is basically devoted to shading swift swords originating from the Italian region and bragging about English short swords.”
Agares also became interested when he heard this, “What did he say in the book?”
Arthur, somewhat breathlessly, flipped over the spot he had bookmarked and broke it down, line by line, for the Red Devil.
“He mainly raises the following questions.
First, can a swift sword break armor?
Second, can the Swift Sword save Rome?
Third, can the Swift Sword help us win the Hundred Years’ War?
Fourth, can the Sword of Speed cut through spears in battle and save lives in battle?
Fifth, how can we build a beautiful England when the young men of Britain are so obsessed with the fancy technology of the rapier, so poisoned by the vanity of the Apennines, that they fight to the death and seek honorable vengeance, all of them missing a fucking arm or a leg when they walk around the streets of London?
Sixth, the Swift Sword puts too much emphasis on offense at the expense of solid defense, which goes against the true meaning of swordsmanship, which is that the essence of killing others is to protect oneself. What is the point of such a victory if one loses an arm oneself while sparring?
Seventh, the various techniques of the Swift Sword were too complicated, and many people who spent their entire lives could only become proficient in a handful of techniques. Moreover, its technical movements are too demanding for the user, we can spend ten years to raise a large number of English short sword masters, but we may not be able to achieve a Fiore Flow Master after spending thirty years. Even if we spend thirty years to raise a Fiore Flow Sword Saint, do you intend to send such a fifty or sixty year old man, whose strength and speed have already begun to go downhill, to a duel?
In a nutshell, George Silver’s meaning was roughly: Swift Sword? What a laugh. If you really want to practice swords, you still have to look at our traditional English kung fu.
From this perspective, if I can win against François Bertrand with the Silver Stream short sword, there’s a real possibility that I’ll cause the entire Britannian fencing community and social opinion to cheer.”
Speaking of this, Arthur suddenly hesitated a bit again as he mused, “But the only problem now is, how exactly am I supposed to use the short sword to defeat Francois’ foil? Agareth, after all, when you were teaching me swordplay, you said that in a cold weapon battle of equal level, length is the greatest guarantee of victory.
As far as I know, the length of the foil used by François Bertrand was around 43-45 inches. If I continue to use the Fiore Flow and go with the Swift Sword in my weapon as well, then my weapon length will be 40-51 inches, and I can easily establish an advantage over him.
But if I were to use a short sword …… I asked a few of the big blacksmith stores in London, and the longest short sword they had there was only 27 inches, and even with my arm length advantage, I would still have to lose half a step against Bertrand.
In that case, was I going to have to stick it to him from the start of the fight? That’s just too stupid. How in the world did Master George Silver defeat a Fiore stream master with his short sword back then?”
Agareth just hilariously laughed when he heard this, and he spoke, “Arthur, so you’re worried about that? George Silver isn’t as dumb and stupid as you think, haven’t you noticed? When he mentioned his Silver Stream Sword Art, he always emphasized that he was using an English short sword. George Silver’s own definition of an English short sword is that only a sword with a blade length of 37 inches or more is an English short sword.
If you add in the handguard and pommel, then the sword could easily be 40 inches or more in length. Or if you prefer, you can order a 50-inch English short sword; George Silver is usually pretty flexible when it comes to length, aside from his obsession with the English short sword name.”
Arthur’s eyelids jumped three times as he listened, and a hanging heart finally dropped as he leaned back on the sofa with his legs crossed and asked, “If England’s short swords are 50 inches, how long should England’s long swords be?”
Red Devil shrugged his shoulders, “If we go by George Silver’s standards, I guess it has to be running at 90 inches.”
“90 inches?!” Arthur took a deep breath as he muttered darkly, “That’s almost two meters three, could it be that in the sixteenth century there were still people in Britain who could swing a Yao Ming on a dueling stage and duel with others?”
He pressed Agares, “Who exactly is the 90-inch sword for?”
Agares tipped his glasses and replied in a serious manner, “In my judgment, at least the Goliath Goliath who was killed by David the Shepherd in the Bible certainly couldn’t wield such a sword, after all, the Goliath Goliath was only 9.5 feet tall. But in Cornwall, Britain, their local legend has it that the Goggleme Goggle Giant was 12 feet tall, and this sword should still be appropriate for them.”
Arthur couldn’t help but applaud when he heard this, “It seems that this book ‘Paradox of the Soldier’s Strike’ by Master George Silver is indeed a masterpiece, although I can’t fully agree with his criticism of the swift sword, his disdain for the longsword is indeed justified, and a weapon of this length is indeed not something that a normal person would be able to use.”
Agares playfully fished out a book from his wide robe and threw it on the tabletop, “Actually, you can win even with a normal short sword, but I suggest you read this book again before you get on the dueling stage and incorporate a bit of secret techniques from Germany into your Silver Stream Swordsmanship.
Arthur, I wouldn’t normally show this book to anyone. The reason why I didn’t take the lead in taking this out when I taught you sword arts from before was also because I was afraid that you would be greedy and accidentally go astray when learning sword arts.”
Arthur swept his head down and glanced at the book, the packaging of the book appeared to be plain, without too many fancy patterns to decorate it, all there was was a title name and author.
The 100 Styles of Swordsmanship
Author: michael hunter.
Agareth asked playfully, “Arthur, have you heard of his great name before?”
Arthur cupped his chin and stared at the book for half a second, “Not yet.”
The Red Devil coughed, “Those regular parts, I don’t think they’re of much use to you nowadays, so I suggest you just start at move 90.”
Arthur flipped through the book skeptically, the moves at the beginning felt barely acceptable even though Arthur seemed to find them a bit quaint.
But when he just flipped to the 94th move, his entire body involuntarily shook.
The 94th move of Hunter’s Flow
Sometimes because of law and order issues, a person would be attacked by multiple people at night, the enemies were usually four or five or more, and some people would not only be robbed as a result, but also lose their lives and limbs.
If you are attacked by a large group of enemies on your way home, then use please grip your thin sword tightly with both fists and throw it hard at your attackers, then use your nimble eyes to see as quickly as possible where you can get yourself further protection. Finally, spread your legs and just run!
Arthur had thought that this was beyond the limits of his understanding of swordsmanship, but when his eyes fell upon the 98th stance, he then realized the gap in intelligence between himself and a true Sword Saint.
The 98th style of Hunter’s Flow
It sometimes happened that when a person finished going out as a guest and was ready to go home, they would occasionally encounter some unfortunate attacks. This is especially common in universities, when one joins a club group, and some quarrels and unpleasantness may occur at the banquet.
As a result, your enemies in the club will try to take your life when you go home in the evening. If this happens, do not hesitate to clench your sword in your fist and throw your cloak over your left arm, your first priority being to protect your body and head, followed by a loud cry for help, calling out to your brother in the hour of distress.
If you’re well connected, or if the friends you’ve made at the club haven’t left yet, you’re sure to have a good win. Incidentally, this move is a great test of social skills.
Arthur took a deep breath, he always thought that this was probably the limit of Hunter’s flow, but in a flash, the 99th move instantly opened his pattern again.
The 99th move of Hunter’s Flow
In a duel with a swordsman, the following situation often occurs, as both sides are extremely eager for the honor of winning, so they will use all their strength in the duel. However, it is common to lose and win in a duel, and it is important not to go too far in knocking down the enemy, but to watch him get back up, rather than to take advantage of the victory and kill him, for every man should cherish his life and limbs, for God has given it to every man so that he can protect his honor. Therefore, when you are knocked down, a loud cry of surrender is not something to be passed over.
Agareth was amused to see Arthur’s shocked-to-almost-rigid expression and couldn’t stop laughing as the Red Devil spoke up, “Arthur, none of those moves you’ve been watching are going to be necessary for a while. For your duel with François Bertrand, I still suggest you refer to the 100th stance.”
Arthur’s eyes shifted downward, yet this time, he finally sat up a bit.
He simply murmured, “It’s unbelievable, so someone has gained insight into the true meaning of swordsmanship so early?”
Hunter’s Flow 100th Style
It worked very well at times, when quick-moving people stood together, no matter if they were nobles or not, if they were motivated by hatred or not, and how unequal the weapons used in the duel were, they would soon end up in the same place by jabbing or slashing. Now in many places this is the case, and I have heard of places where one man is armed with a rapier and dagger while another is armed with a rapier and a short-barrelled musket.
If someone has to carry a dagger and doesn’t know anything about it, you’re in luck: don’t carry a dagger, carry a short-barreled musket. This is a fallback option for those occasions when you don’t have to use the same weapon as your opponent, but have to use a sidearm in an emergency. Because that’s when everything comes to a head, the most dangerous time in the world.
Lucky for you, pay close attention to all these moves I have, they include pacing, circling back. Fortunately, every move is effective against the enemy. Therefore, your fortune, honor and virtue will protect your life and limb. My lord, times have changed. Don’t live in the past.
Take your musket, my friend, and God bless you for taking your next duel victory.
Agareth held back a laugh and asked, “Arthur, how was it? Did you find Mr. Hunter’s writings beneficial?”
Arthur just closed the book and looked at the author’s name written there and shook his head, “If you hadn’t said anything, I would never have thought it was written by Michaëlle Hunter.”
“Then who did you think wrote it?”
Arthur held up the book helplessly for emphasis, “If you hadn’t told me, I would have thought he was Vikrama Isshin.”
(End of chapter)