The Extra's Harem In Dead End Game

Chapter 127: The Executioner's Strike

"Damn, I didn't expect I'd have to take this out again," Godwin grumbled as he rummaged through the storage room.

Dust had piled up so much that it whirled around every time he moved.

"Cough."

Live a little cleaner, will you?

I coughed and stepped back.

And then, a short while later.

"Found it."

Godwin emerged from the storage room, closing the door behind him.

In his hand, he held a sword.

A menacingly large and heavy blade.

It was the typical sword used for beheadings by executioners.

Despite being cleaned of blood, the smell of death was still strong—enough that I might have shivered if I believed in ghosts.

"We might as well start now," Godwin spoke with a hint of irritation.

But of course, he wouldn't teach carelessly.

He's a man who keeps his promises.

"Start whenever. I prefer it to be quick."

"Fine. Let's start with the stance. Watch carefully."

Wooosh!

With a fierce motion, Godwin's sword swooped downward.

I could feel the immense power.

Yet the motion was simple.

To the untrained eye, it looked no different from a normal swing.

But that couldn't be further from the truth.

"Show it to me again."

Hush!

Wooosh!

Godwin repeated the same motion twice more.

Then he asked, "How about it? Did you remember something?"

"I seem to grasp the motion."

"Well, the motion itself is simple. But it's not as easy as it looks."

Meaning, there's a hidden point that's not obvious at first glance.

Godwin nodded at me.

"You have a sword; try swinging it."

"Will do."

I drew the sword I brought.

It was Max's sword, originally.

As befitting a rich brat, he had a pretty good sword, so I kept using it.

I recalled the motion I had seen earlier and took my stance.

And then.

Swish! novel hosted m,vle mpyr

I swung the sword.

But.

I could immediately tell something was lacking.

This wasn't it.

There needed to be something more to the cutting motion.

"Twice more."

Swish!

Swipe!

Following Godwin's instruction, I swung twice more.

Of course, it felt no different from the first swing.

Because it wasn't something I could correct on my own.

"Do you see what's wrong?"

"The core seems to be missing, though the motion is similar."

"You've got some sense. Maybe it's because you're an academy student."

Godwin lifted his sword again.

"Pay attention; I'll explain."

This time, he swung the sword slowly.

When the sword was perfectly horizontal, he stopped.

"Right here."

"Here?"

"Yes, it's here that you add a very quick, additional force."

Whooom!

Whooom!

Godwin's sword sliced through the air with renewed strength.

"Understand?"

"This technique isn't a single cut; it's a splitting strike. It's too fast to notice at a glance."

"A splitting strike...?"

I was surprised, hearing this for the first time.

So you apply force twice to split the motion into two beats?

What is this?

Isn't this way harder than learning skills in a game?

In the game, you can learn skills easily with just a few clicks.

Hence, I had never heard of splitting strikes or anything like it.

I was only praised as a quick learner, but here, it was completely different.

I had to learn the skill with my body, my movements, my senses.

That's why I couldn't properly follow the first motion.

It's tough right from the start, very tough.

But the sense of accomplishment when mastered will be immense.

"Right, from that position, apply force and split it into two quick strikes. Watch."

Whooosh!

Whooom!

Godwin demonstrated twice more.

After hearing the explanation, I started to see something I hadn't noticed before.

During the cut, the strength intensified, and the sword fell sharply.

That must be the power of the splitting strike.

"Give it a try."

Before Godwin could finish speaking, I moved first.

Swiing!

Swish!

Swiish!

I attempted the splitting strike, but the sound of my blade cutting air still wasn't satisfactory.

The timing was off, and I wasn't used to adding a sudden force in the middle.

I kept recalling Godwin's movements and timing as I continued to cut.

After how many attempts of swinging at the empty air...

Whooosh!

Finally, a cut with proper strength emerged.

At that moment.

[You have learned 'Executioner's Strike.']

-A strike with the resolve of an executioner to kill a condemned prisoner in one blow.

-Proficiency 0.1%

'Finally.'

A notification window popped up to inform me that I had learned the skill.

Because I had executed the motion precisely for the first time.

Now, the Executioner's Strike had become one of my skills.

But.

'This isn't nearly enough.'

Proficiency 0.1%

It's simply not usable in real combat.

To be decent, the proficiency has to be at least in the double digits.

The proficiency of the Focus shot I practice daily without fail is just about 10% now.

Of course, even when it was less than 1%, the concentrated shot was so advanced that it was as powerful as a mid-level skill.

But the Executioner's Strike is not on that level.

It's just the beginning, and constant training is a must.

"Huh, I thought it would take days, but you know how to handle a sword better than I thought."

It was much quicker in the game, though. Let's move on to the next step then.

I know what this is.

Because it's the same training we did in the game.

Still, I followed the rhythm.

"What's the next step?"

"Splitting a fixed object."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Are you sure it's here?"

"According to the map, it seems to be the right place."

"Ah, which crazy person asked for logs to be delivered here?"

"Definitely a crazy one. But a crazy one with a lot of money; what are you going to do about it?"

"Come on, let's finish the job quickly and drink to our heart's content."

A group of burly men carefully placed the logs on the ground.

They repeated the process not just once but several times.

Before long, 100 logs were laid out on the ground.

Only then did the men catch their breath and dust off their hands.

"Good job, everyone. Let's go down."