Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 402: The Basics

Chapter 402: The Basics

Kazi’s Bangladeshi home sat nestled amidst fake planted trees with a small clearing in front of it—a perfect place for training. The air was still. No birds chirped. Several dummies stood in a wide arc, every single one of them capable of withstanding high amounts of magic and pressure.

A training sword lay in his hands. Although not remotely on the same level as Stormedge, the training blade was still finely crafted and a damn sponge. It could absorb Kazi’s mana even when using Mastered Flow of Mana, albeit with some leakage. Luckily, today was not just about brute strength or cutting down enemies; today was about the swordspells and the fighting styles he had been mastering.

With a deep breath, Kazi began. His body moved in perfect harmony with the sword, flowing through a series of techniques from Kenjutsu—fast, fluid strikes that cut the air cleanly. The first dummy stood no chance as Kazi’s blade sliced across its chest, the impact so precise it barely moved, even as the fabric on the dummy’s chest split open.

But then the dummy healed.

Magical artifacts, baby.

"Husnü was right, this is great for training."

Slash! Slash! Slash!

"This too!"

The first thing the blacksmith did following his employment was give him dummies to train with. See, the training sword Kazi was currently in possession of was meant to gauge his magical energy. That way, the blacksmith could better calibrate and understand his abilities.

Kazi’s movements were fast, almost a blur, as he transitioned into Niten Ichi-ryū. He mimicked using two swords, his hand gripping an imaginary short sword that soon became reality. With his shape control, creating a short sword of raw blue energy was simple.

Slash! Slash!

In Niten Ichi-ryū, there were twelve primary techniques for the long sword and seven with the short sword. Kazi had already learned this style during his time in Japan. He went to all kinds of sporting events and that included sword specialists. Kazi was never much of a swordsman until he came here to the White Abyss. Like with all things, he ended up being extremely talented at it.

One final slash where his wrist flicked and swished. "Haaa..." Deep breaths. "I think Sun-young did that better than me. Maybe I should have asked her for tips and tricks." He smiled to himself. "You never realize how important someone is until they’re gone, eh?"

He considered messaging her and opted not to in the end. She was probably training as well.

"If that’s the case..."

Time to pull the other bullshit he memorized from his hours of reading.

Now, it was time for the swordspells.

Swordspells—what were they? They were precisely as they were labeled; spells specifically intended for swords. Attacks like Spark Strike did not fall under the swordspell category, for example. Indeed, swordspells were spells imbued directly into the blade itself. Two types of swordspells reigned supreme: Marking Spells and Circle Spells.

He started with an example of a Marking Spell. Holding the sword in front of him, he ran his fingers along the blade, channeling his mana into the steel. As he did, intricate markings began to form on the surface, glowing faintly with an ethereal blue light. The markings formed a pattern—a mix of swirling lines and ancient runes—spreading from the base of the blade to the tip.

He could have drawn them. He didn’t. One hallmark of a swordspell caster was their ability to seamlessly add marking to steel. No need for the finger to inject into the blade.

"Energy should flow into the blade from the inside out and the markings should be created then."

The markings were from Ancient Greek and the spell itself was inspired by the story of Medusa.

"Ignis Serpens."

Instantly, the blade ignited with magical fire and grew tremendously. The markings were responsible for this rush of flames and summoned a serpent made of the almighty fire, coiling around the blade, its flaming body writhing and hissing. It was one with the blade, then went beyond. Bigger, bigger, bigger until the snake outgrew him.

Not just that but underneath the flames, the blade turned to stone. It was stronger and lighter.

"What a spell! Nice!"

Most swordsmen would take years to cast this spell. It was at the high end of the intermediate level in terms of difficulty.

Through talent, intuition, and a godly memory, Kazi did it on his first try.

Kazi slashed the air and senr the fiery serpent flying toward one of the dummies. It struck with a roar, enveloping the dummy in flames, the serpent’s jaws biting into the fabric and wood, reducing it to smoldering ash in seconds.

Ten seconds later, the dummy recovered.

"Nice! Nice!"

Slash, slash, and the fiery serpents erupted every single time.

"Continuous type just like the book said. And...yep, there it is." Through the flames and in the stone blade were engravings—except now there were not half as many. "Continuous but on the condition of sacrificing the engravings. The pattern is complex and repeatable and so the effect is complex and repeatable."

He did a couple more strikes. In total, Ignis Serpens amounted to twelve strikes. After that, the engravings and stone property would disappear.

Kazi didn’t pause. He turned toward another dummy and switched to a Circle Spell. Holding the sword steady, he focused his mana at the base of the blade, where a small magic circle began to form. This was the beauty of Circle Spells: they were fast to activate. The circle flared bright blue, the runes inside the circle spinning rapidly as they locked into place onto the hilt.

"Veloce Impetus."

Suddenly, the weight of the sword seemed to disappear, as though the blade was made of air. Kazi’s movements became impossibly fast, the speed of his strikes amplified twice fold by the Circle Spell. He darted toward the next dummy, his blade a blur of silver as he slashed in rapid succession. One strike, then another, then another. By the time he stopped moving, the dummy had been shredded into pieces, the fabric and stuffing scattered across the clearing.

Slowly, the dummy healed again.

He wasn’t finished. Kazi flicked the blade towards himself, eyes facing the hilt, and another Circle Spell formed at the tip. This was a spell meant for strength rather than speed and the circle glowed bright red and green.

The nerves in his hand were heavy. The previous effect of the lightened sword counteracted that weight.

"Fortis Ventus."

The moment the spell activated, Kazi felt his grip on the blade tighten with the newfound strength surging through him. He swung the sword in a wide arc and sliced it in half. The blade didn’t even touch the dummy. It was a foot away.

Excellent! No contact and the result couldn’t be better!

"Felt like cutting butter! However...the extra speed from Veloce Impetus didn’t last for long. Wonder why..."

Kazi was a contradiction. He was self-taught and so his learning curve was all over the place. He could memorize and cast intermediate difficulty swordspells. On the other hand, combining them was a bit of a head scratcher, which should not be the case for someone that could cast Ignis Serpens flawlessly.

Kazi breathed deeply, standing still for a moment as the power of the two spells faded from the blade.

"Well, there is next time."

Satisfied with his training, Kazi lowered his sword, letting the remaining mana dissipate from the blade. The glow faded, and the sword returned to its normal state—just cold steel, smooth and reflective under the fading sunlight. He looked over the destruction around him—the shattered, regenerating dummies, the scorched earth—and felt a sense of pride in how far he had come.

No massive waterfalls, no giant swords. Just simple stuff. Just the basics, like the White Abyss intended.

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