System vs Rebirth
chapter-223

"True Spirit Body…" Noel sucked a cold breath. Hearing the explanation alone already told him how powerful the ability was. However, there was one thing that made him doubt about this ability. "Why are you telling me about this ability? Heisk is not even a Humanoid Spirit."

"First of all, you have to evolve Heisk to that rank before continuing until your spirit has a mutation. It means that Heisk will be able to use that ability, synchronizing it with you.

"Of course, the requirement of this ability is not just that. It's basically burning away your Spiritual Energy, so if you want to use it for a while, you have to reach at least Spirit Grandmaster."

"Spirit Grandmaster!" Noel widened his eyes in shock. "Are you kidding me? I am not even a Spirit Wielder."

"It's a long term project. Well, I know this information from the Dark Butterfly Spirit in my sister's body."

"Was that why Ardagan was reacting to her?"

"I think?"

"Well, whatever. This information alone is quite useful, considering I know how to get even stronger."

"Alright, then. I'm glad that you like it." The Sword Saint raised his finger. "Since we're done with the first matter, let's continue to your reward. I'm going to pay you in advance, so…"

The Sword Saint placed his finger on Noel's forehead as a surge of energy started gathering in Noel's brain.

Noel blinked once and his scenery changed. This time, he was transported to a plain white room without any furniture. The only thing he could find in this place was a wooden sword.

"Where am I?" Noel muttered in a low voice while looking around, finding any other details.

Suddenly, he heard a voice ringing in his head.

"This is a place I create in your consciousness with my power. It's impossible for me to teach you the Ardagan Swordsmanship since I use a different kind of Swordsmanship. Hence, I'm going to pull out the memory of your ancestor to teach you about the Ardagan Swordsmanship and the Runes."

Noel furrowed his eyebrows before finding a middle-aged man with short spiky black hair.

This time, the Sword Saint didn't make it react like a living human. Instead of talking to Noel, the middle-aged man started moving around to swing his sword.

Noel couldn't recognize him since he had no idea how his ancestor would look like. But considering this was from the Sword Saint's memory, it seemed that this was truly his ancestor.

Noel's ancestor, Simeon Ardagan, raised his sword with an emotionless face. This might be the first swing that Noel couldn't forget for the rest of his life.

The moment the blade moved downwards, it released a trace of Spiritual Energy in the air before creating a shock wave that traveled in all directions.

"Huh?" Noel took a step back while trying to hold his position from getting pushed back by the shock wave. "How can a single swing…"

"This is your ancestor. He is a formidable general. Once he moves, he always has something in mind. That's why when he swings that blade, he has an intention why he has to swing that blade.

"Have you ever thought about this… When you're practicing your swing, have you ever thought about the use of that swing?"

"No. It's just a practice swing, so I only need it to increase my stamina, muscle, and strength." Noel shook his head, answering the question.

"That's where you're wrong. Ardagan Swordsmanship is fueled by its fire. For your ancestor, it's the undying fire in his heart. That's why whenever you swing, you should have the fire to move it. In other words, your intention!

"When your ancestor swings that blade, even in practice, he had imagined his enemy standing in front of him. He killed his enemies multiple times as if this was the last strike that he would use to kill his enemies. That's why he's strong."

"A general's swing." Noel muttered in a low voice before closing his eyes. He never imagined someone standing in front of him whenever he practiced. This time, he tried to do something different.

Anna was standing in front of him as Noel raised his sword like his ancestor. It was then Anna leaped forward and waved her sword. Noel did the same to kill her, but surprisingly, his own imagination betrayed him.

He imagined the real Anna, so that imagination came to him with full force, causing the Anna in his imagination to accelerate and cut him down.

"!!!" Noel coughed a few times as if he had just died.

The Sword Saint's voice immediately rang in his head. "Seeing your reaction, it seems that you died… Hahahaha!"

Noel wasn't pissed by that comments. This was actually fresh for him.

"This is… weird but interesting." Noel looked at his sword while placing his chest where Anna cut him earlier.

"This is Simeon's training method. Imaginary Battlefield! By training like this, he's able to form a simulation of the battlefield, allowing him to become the greatest commander in history. But you seem to have a different path of him, so this Imaginary Battlefield will be useful to hone your battle sense. Of course, it'll be hard for you to imagine all of this and it will also take a toll in your mind, but once you get used to it, you can continue for a bit longer. For now, continue doing it for twenty times."

"Twenty times? That's not enough."

Noel furrowed his eyebrows. He always swung at least a few hundred times, so twenty times weren't enough for him.

But this was the Sword Saint's advice, so he ended up doing it without complaining further.

He imagined Anna coming to him and swung his sword. Surprisingly, his Spiritual Energy also reacted and started coating his sword to give more impact.

However, Anna did the same and caused their swords to clash.

Noel's swing was halted in the middle as if he was truly stopped by a blade. The Spiritual Energy around his sword was thrown away due to the sudden stop, causing it to travel to the ground and creating a small shock wave. It was incomparable to what his ancestor showed him, but this was certainly something new to him.

"This is…" Noel sucked a cold breath, not believing what he just did.