Lost World-Chapter 42: Master Greaves 2

"Yamamoto’s not like that," Tormund said. "He knows his limitations. He wants to learn."

"They all say that." Greaves crossed his arms. "But wanting and doing are different things. I’ll tell you this much, my training isn’t easy, and I don’t coddle students. If he can’t keep up, he’s out."

"Fair enough," Tormund said. He looked at Yamamoto. "I’ll leave you to it. Greaves will explain the terms if he decides to take you on. Good luck."

Yamamoto nodded in agreement, then watched Tormund leave.

Tormund departed, leaving Yamamoto alone with the sword master.

Greaves continued to study him in silence, until finally, he spoke.

"You were at the registration, weren’t you? Destroyed six dummies?"

"Yes."

"Mmm... You relied heavily on your skills and brute strength alongside speed. Sword Slash, was it? And that thrusting technique—Piercing Strike probably."

Yamamoto nodded, acknowledging the fact that Greaves had noticed and remembered such details.

"Skills are crutches," Greaves said bluntly. "Useful crutches, don’t misunderstand me. But if you rely on them exclusively, you’ll trip badly one day, and never develop true mastery. What happens when you face an opponent who can predict your skills? Or when you’re in a situation where using a skill would be suicide?"

’Well... I can’t say he isn’t correct, I don’t know better, but why do I feel like he’s taking it too far, they all kind of are.’ Yamamoto thought to himself in a split second before giving an obvious answer.

"I’ll struggle," he said.

"At least you’re honest." Greaves said, as he turned toward the training floor. "Come with me. I want to see what you can actually do." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

They walked across the hall. The other students paused in their training to watch, curious about the newcomer. Greaves then called out to one of them.

"Caius! Get over here!"

From across the hall, Yamamoto spotted the one who had been called, as he walked uo. Immediately, Yamamoto recognized him as the blue haired talent he had watched at the registration, the one who destroyed nine whole dummies.

Caius walked towards them, his expression neutral, almost pleasant, but his eyes held the sharp focus of someone always observing and analyzing his bearings.

"Yes, Master Greaves." He said as he stood before Greaves and Yamamoto.

"This is Yamamoto." Greaves said as he gestured between them. "I want you to spar with him. Standard rules—no skills, wooden practice swords only, first to three clean hits wins."

Caius looked at Yamamoto with what might have been interest. "Understood."

"You’re level 6, right Caius?" Greaves asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Should be interesting to see how stats match up against technique." Greaves moved to the side of the training area. "Arm yourselves and begin when ready."

Yamamoto selected a practice longsword from the rack, testing its weight. It was well-balanced, heavier than his real blade but good for building strength and control. Caius chose a similar weapon and moved to the opposite side of the training circle.

The other students had stopped their own practice entirely now, more interested in what was about to go down.

Caius moved first, closing the distance with smooth, efficient steps. No wasted motion.

His guard was perfect, blade angled to defend while maintaining offensive options.

Yamamoto raised his own guard, falling back on instincts developed through countless monster fights. He watched for an opening, making sure to remain focused not to miss anything.

Caius closed the gap and struck, a simple thrust toward Yamamoto’s chest, not particularly fast, but perfectly timed to exploit a gap in Yamamoto’s guard he hadn’t even known was there.

Yamamoto barely parried, the impact actually rattling his arms. Before he could counter, Caius had already withdrawn, reset his stance, and was moving again.

This time a diagonal cut came from high to low.

Yamamoto positioned his sword well and blocked, but Caius immediately transitioned into a horizontal sweep at knee level. Yamamoto jumped back, but he was too late apparently, as he felt the practice blade tap his ribs as Caius adjusted mid-swing.

"Point," Greaves called. "Reset."

Yamamoto blinked, ’oh wow.’ The entire exchange had lasted maybe three seconds, and that was genuinely all he could do against a level six, not to mention how much extra stats he had going for him... speed actually wasn’t an advantage, as he could see.

They returned to starting positions. This time, Yamamoto tried to be more aggressive. As soon as Greaves called for them to continue, he lunged forward with an overhead strike, putting his superior speed behind it.

Surprisingly, Caius sidestepped it effortlessly, and Yamamoto’s blade struck empty air. Before he could recover, he felt the practice sword tap the back of his neck.

’What is this guy using, a sharingan?’ Yamamoto could only let out a cold sigh, knowing well that he already lost.

"Point. Match over. Reset." Greaves called.

Of course, the third exchange went the exact same as the others, and Yamamoto lost, looking like a noob.

Caius lowered his practice sword and inclined his head politely. "Thank you for the match."

’This guy..." Yamamoto suppressed his spite, reminiscing the days he used to laugh at the weak pretty boys in fiction... now he was one. ’I want to dig the floor and cover my shame.’

There was no gloating in Caius’s voice, no mockery, just professional courtesy, delivered with that same faintly cheerful expression he’d maintained throughout. Somehow, that made it worse.

Yamamoto forced himself to return the gesture. "Thank you."

As Caius returned his practice sword to the rack and went back to his own training, Greaves approached Yamamoto.

"Well?"

"I was completely outmatched," Yamamoto said honestly.

"Yes, you were." Greaves’s tone wasn’t cruel, just matter-of-fact. "Want to know why?"

"Yes."

"You were fighting like you were facing a monster." Greaves picked up a practice sword, demonstrating as he spoke. "With monsters, you can learn patterns. They attack the same way, follow instincts, react predictably. So you developed instincts for reading those patterns and exploiting them."

He moved through a simple sequence—the kind of attack pattern a basic monster might use. "But humans are different. We adapt constantly. We fake, we feint, we change tactics mid-strike. Caius wasn’t following a pattern—he was reading you, adjusting to your reactions in real time."

Greaves lowered the practice sword. "Add to that your complete lack of proper foundation—your stance was weak, your guard had gaps, your footwork was reactive instead of proactive—and the result was inevitable. Your stat advantage meant nothing because you didn’t know how to actually use it."

Yamamoto absorbed this, the words striking harder than Caius’s blade had.