Chapter 64: The Osetin People

  Five days into Joni's agility training, Lancelot made the abrupt decision to leave. In those five days, a rather unpleasant childhood memory had been repeatedly brought up. Yes, it was about Sir Brunie-Ray.

  This old guy is still so annoying!

  All the resentment was concentrated on innocent Johnny.

  But Johnny couldn't care less about Lancelot's thoughts, anyway the two people have been at odds since the beginning.

  There was once a young man who carved his height on the saplings he planted. As time passed, the young man found that he was much shorter than the marks he had made back then.

  Qiao Ni thought he was that young man.

  Progress is definitely there, Jony can now run and jump freely, dodging arrows is no longer just a matter of rolling. Although the high-difficulty action of sprinting and sudden stops will always be brought down by the heavy breastplate on his body, considering that it doesn't need to be worn in actual combat, it can be ignored.

  Kayserin's hit rate is also rising!

  An arrow shot onto the chest armor, a monotonous "clang" sound lingering above the shooting range, reluctant to disperse for a long time. Accompanied by the metal collision was Sir Brunie's endless muttering.

  "Show some manliness! How did you get shot again?! Come on! Don't you know how to dodge?! These young people nowadays... I still remember when I was first transferred to the Western Army, those Tanias' arrows were like rain... Can't you even dodge a few arrows?!"

  Astrid was quite interested in the old man's ramblings. She especially loved to hear about the Tania's army, including their evil deeds and their fighting strength. Those battle examples that made the old man proud always managed to spark Astrid's fighting spirit. Then Jony felt that the flying arrow shafts were getting faster and faster, although at first they were always a bit off target, but now they could already make a "ding ding dang" sound on his body.

  The situation didn't improve until they were about fifty paces apart.

  "Very good, Aisley, your marksmanship has surpassed that of most professional soldiers." Bruny rarely praised, "The only thing lacking is your strength, this longbow can shoot very far with a throw, but it's not accurate. And you've also noticed that even if you're shooting at a target like Johnny, he'll dodge it if the distance is slightly farther away."

  "Even if" is a goal like Johnny... Johnny who was listening next to him had a head full of vertical lines.

  "What should I do then?" Astrid asked sincerely.

  "If you want to be a shooter in the army, then this is already qualified. But if your goal is to become a godly shooter, sniper and so on, first of all, you need to change your bow." Bruni took the bow from Astrid's hand and pulled it, "This bow is too soft."

  "But I can only barely open it..." Astrid said with some difficulty.

  "Either you cultivate your strength, or you'll end up like that Lancelot girl and have someone else release a barbaric technique for you." The old man offered his insight, then turned to Joanie, "As for you young one..."

  He took a look at Johnny's heavy load and said, "Take that thing off your feet."

  Joanie said take off your leg warmers.

  "Try again."

  This time Joni was very pleased, within a distance of fifty steps, his evasion rate for long-range weapons had greatly improved. Running became much easier and jumping more rapid. More than half of Astry's arrows were inserted into the ground behind Joni.

  Jony's feeling extremely good.

  "You've even taken off your leg wraps and let the other party shoot you from fifty paces away?" Endless cold water, "What have you been practicing these days?"

  "Joey wanted to argue a few words, but in the end he still honestly lowered his head and said, "I was wrong.""

  Take a step back, and the sky is vast and wide.

  "Whatever, being able to reach this level in a month is better than those rabbits I've taught before." As expected, the sky was vast and wide. "Starting tomorrow, we'll begin the next stage of training. You can take off that chest armor today, you won't be needing it tomorrow."

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  "Mr. Udis, this armor is yours again," Jony said to Udis, "Mr. Bruni says he doesn't need it anymore."

  "I'm starting to regret this, Jony." Udis stood up and began to remove Jony's armor. "This is ceremonial armor issued by the Temple, and now it's been reduced to this state."

  Jony looked down at the unevenness on his chest and smiled somewhat awkwardly.

  "Whatever, I've never worn it anyway." Nevertheless, Udis took off his chest armor and gazed at it with a tinge of pain, "It's just that this thing was only made for the ceasefire negotiations back then to rival Tania's iron can head. What a shame about the craftsmanship..."

  Jony felt more and more guilty. This armor was indeed very beautiful when it first came into his hands.

  "Never mind, I'll go find a blacksmith. Let's review what we discussed yesterday..."

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  The next day, Joanie arrived early in front of Bruni's wooden house.

  "Jonya." Hearing the commotion outside, Bruni stretched and walked out, "Starting today, you'll go find those kids in the village to practice actual combat. I'll teach you two small tricks here, both of which you know. First, take advantage of when your opponent is inhaling to give him a hit, not only will it make him uncomfortable, but the mocking effect is better than scolding him twice; second, attack the center of gravity foot."

  Jony looked puzzled: "Aren't you going to teach me?"

  "Of course, I taught you. You can't fight all day." The old man rubbed his eyes, "Come back and chat with me in the afternoon when you're tired from fighting. When you can subdue all the kids in the village, it's about time to try against Lancelot."

  He said, turning around and walking towards the wooden house: "It's rare to have some free time, I'll take a nap. Remember to come in the afternoon!"

  Alright, let's bravely face our fate, young man! Johnny said to himself, half-jokingly and half-encouragingly.

  This foreigner's challenge to the locals was something Joanie had seen many times before. He thought of many cool entrance methods on his way, but none were practical. Kick open the big door? That would be very domineering, unfortunately this wasn't a dojo; go up to the podium and slam on the desk? This wasn't a classroom either; throw over a chair?

  "Ah, I've seen too many school violence movies." Joey sighed.

  He just walked up to the group of resting boys and said in a very low-key tone: "Hello."

  The Ossettians are very generous and courteous to those who have a special skill. For these young people, the young man in front of them, who had been training under Sir Brunei for two months and was still calm, was a legend.

  It's just a small legend.

  "Hello." They replied in unison, "You're that one from Wels..."

  Jiang saw their lips trembling silently, looking at the shape of their mouths, if he wasn't mistaken, they were definitely cursing.

  "Hey Johnny! Johnny Smith!" About five seconds later, the boys finally spoke up again, "We often hear our sister mention you."

  Joni can now be sure that they were just helping themselves recall by adding adjectives through Lancelot earlier. Just the ones he could recognize had three words: "idiot", "asshole" and "softie".

  What's wrong with my head? Where is my head soft?

  "That's right, it's me." The matter is urgent, "I came this time to spar with you guys a bit."

  "Sharpening?" One of the youths who looked like he had a high status stepped forward, "How long have you been practicing the giant sword's martial skills?"

  "Eight months, I guess."

  "Eight months?" The young man glanced at his companions, then burst out laughing with the people next to him in a very uncreative way, saying as he laughed, "Eight months? Haha, kid, just because we usually listen to Big Sis doesn't mean we're weak! Haha, eight months, which of us hasn't been training since childhood? Do you think that you, a guy from Velsa, can defeat us after just eight months of practice?"

  "Yeah, I thought he was still at Luo Suo Jue Shi for two months and nothing happened, haha..."

  A typical villain's face.

  At this moment, I should kick him in the stomach and then grab a chair to smash his head... Johnny shook his head, dispelling the cross-time and space picture in his mind.

  "We'll see about that, let's have a match and find out!" Rarely meeting an opponent who thought they were superior, Joanie seized the opportunity to put on a stern face and act like a 13-year-old, "Don't think that just because you're from Versailles, you can bully me!"

  Everyone's smile was reined in when they saw Joanie's face turn up, but when they heard the word "Versa", they all burst out laughing again.

  It's really weird! Johnny got a little angry.

  "Who wants to fight me first?"

  "Cough, cough." The boy who seemed to be the leader coughed twice, suppressing his smile, "We Osadins respect our opponents, so let me do it, and you'll lose with a clear conscience. Remember, my name is Peter Miller!"

  It's not loud, why shout so loudly... When Joanie was muttering to herself, someone on the other side had already handed over a wooden giant sword. Joanie took it and weighed it, which was quite heavy, not much lighter than a real sword. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the blade was made thicker.

  The youth named Peter had already swung his sword twice, with his left foot forward and right foot back, sideways to Johnny; his right hand was above and left hand below gripping the hilt of the wooden sword, standing in front of his chest, posing a standard fighting stance: "Come on."

  Joni also swung a few times, familiarizing himself with the weight of the weapon, then nodded at Peter, let out a loud cry, and slashed down diagonally with his sword.

  The young man had a bit of blood courage in him, and Peter didn't dodge or retreat. Instead, he took a step forward, placing his sword on top of his head. With a "slap", Johnny's sword arrived, the middle section of the blade knocking Peter's weapon down slightly.

  "What a big effort!" Peter was slightly surprised. At this time, Johnny missed one hit and took advantage of the rebound to withdraw his sword and take a small step back with his feet, at the same angle, and another sword chopped down, again hitting Peter's sword. This time, the front end of the sword applied force, transmitted to Peter's sword, heavier than before. When Johnny chopped for the third time, Peter didn't harden up, jumping back one step, just dodging the opponent's attack.

  The young men around him, seeing that the strongest one on their side was slightly at a disadvantage, were all shocked and amazed. The original cheers of encouragement also disappeared. Although the outcome is still undecided, it seems that this little kid from the south has quite some strength.

  Peter was somewhat surprised on the scene, but more surprising was Johnny. In his memory, several battles were hard-won, and whoever had the greater strength would win. Whether it was in the ranking match at Tabriz Castle, the battle of defense on the city wall, the encounter on the road, or those failed or nearly failed battles... One force can defeat ten, this is a true principle of human beings.

  Bruni met an opponent with similar strength, and Johnny was a bit at a loss. The teachings of Bruni were thrown to the back of his mind, and Johnny just charged forward, swinging wildly - after all, he had plenty of energy.

  After his initial surprise, Peter gradually discovered some problems. The guy in front of him was making standard sword moves, flawless and unstoppable, but... somehow it seemed like he was slashing randomly?

  If he were a weak opponent, this kind of random hacking would be just what the doctor ordered. But for an Ossetian boy born and raised in the soil, it's a bit too childish.

  Peter calmly received Johnny's attack, slowly adjusting his pace. When everything was ready, he suddenly exerted force, guiding the sword blade that Johnny had swung diagonally to open it up, then stepped forward in a steady manner, and the wooden sword blade swooped down towards Johnny's shoulder with a whistling sound.

  Although Jiao Ni was anxious, he didn't lose his composure. When he felt the force in his hand being pulled away, he already sensed something was off. The defensive counterattack moves flashed through his mind quickly. One of the images happened to coincide with the current action - taking a step forward, slashing diagonally downwards...

  The result of the training was revealed, Joanie quickly lowered her body, left foot exerting force to kick outwards. After rolling on the ground, she narrowly dodged her opponent's counterattack.

  The game fell into another stalemate.

  The scene was as quiet as a cicada in winter, with everyone quietly focusing on the battle. This was no longer a challenge by an arrogant Southern youngster, but a fight between two equally matched strongmen! —— Or rather, relatively speaking, strongmen.

  This can't go on like this! Johnny thought to himself, thinking about how to win.

  "This kid has two moves! Peter relaxed his slightly numb arm that had been shaken and pondered."

  Breathe! Center of gravity! Johnny thought of these two key words. He stared at his opponent, the boy whose breathing had become a bit heavier. As he inhaled, as he inhaled... Johnny counted the rhythm of his opponent's breaths, then let out a loud roar and pounced forward.

  It failed as expected.

  Peter saw Johnny charging with his sword and was well-prepared to respond. "Clang", just like at the beginning, he easily caught it. Although this swift sword strike forced Peter to crouch down to buffer the impact, he managed to catch it after all, without disrupting his breathing in the slightest.

  That attack was aimed at the lower body! With a flash of inspiration, Joanie withdrew her sword and then sank it downwards, taking a bow step with her left foot and using her waist strength to sweep horizontally at her opponent's lower body. Peter was startled by this attack and didn't even have time to raise his sword to defend himself, so he had no choice but to jump back awkwardly while tucking in his legs, dodging the giant sword that swept past his feet like a jump rope.

  Dry, failed again! Johnny couldn't help but feel a little anxious. So he was another round of rapid and violent chopping, faster than before, occasionally accompanied by straight stabbing. This speed and endurance made Peter very headache, did that old man give him some medicine? He could only parry one move at a time, and when he encountered a thrust, he had to dodge sideways. Although these attacks didn't cause any substantial harm to Peter, it was really tiring.

  "Halt!" Peter jumped out of Johnny's range of attack, seeing he was about to be chased, and ran a few more steps outward, shouting.

  What's going on? Johnny lowered his weapon and looked at Peter.

  "For the mockery earlier, I apologize." Under Lancelot's magical grasp, the village youths were all flexible and resilient. "You're strong, let's call this match a draw?"

  Having said that, Peter smiled and stretched out his right hand.

  Jony was very reluctant, but the fact was there, and no one could do anything about it. So he nodded, took two steps forward and shook hands with his opponent: "Let's have more exchanges in the future."

  The surrounding boys came forward to congratulate and praise him. They knew how strong Peter was, and they had also witnessed the speed and endurance that Johnny had shown. The topic of "Wales" had been thrown aside by them, and now Johnny was an Ossetian. Who said he wasn't? Haven't you heard Wales say how devout he is?

  He is an Ossetian, a real Ossetian man.

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