"I know," Arthur didn't stop training though, "but this is the best I can do right now."
"Why not use the pearl's energy?" Gege suggested.
"Too thin to withstand a drawn out fight," Arthur shook his head while performing one of his sword techniques, "I can't risk getting weaker in the middle of the fight."
"Then work on your energy," the golden dragon said, "you have two forms of energy… try to raise them then to strengthen your attacks."
"Maybe later," Arthur simply said, "I need first to regain my former familiarity with the sword."
When he started training he could tell how far he was from his past self. His energy expenditure was terrible and his moves were clumsy.
He needed time to adapt his dragonair body to perform these sword hits. "The main problem is that the single hit techniques are far better than the wide range attacks," he muttered while watching the tornado of swords he sent just now after using one of his techniques.
"Ding! That's because you can't properly control your energy," the system said.
"Or your levels of energy are low," the golden dragon said.
"And your control sucks," Gege said.
"Guys… I'm aware of all that, thanks," he was annoyed by their remarks which he already knew, "I just want solutions."
"Raise your energy then," the golden dragon said.
"I want shorter paths."
"Ding! There is no shortcut for hegemony," the system advised, "try to get better using the time difference up here."
"Tsk," Arthur didn't agree, "the world I'm in right now is very suppressive to me. I can't just raise my base for a few smaller steps… I need a bigger one."
"Then do it," Gege said, "I believe you can do it in less than a week period here, right?"
"That's correct."
"then what's holding you back?" the golden dragon asked in loss.
"If I did that," he softly said, "then the tribulation that will come will affect my next encounter with this silver dragon."
"Oh…" the golden dragon finally realized the reason for his hesitation, "you are worried about her?"
"I'm worried about the tribulation," he sighed, "you saw how difficult it was to cross the past two. They, combined, made me face a very hard contest and ended up here like that."
"Ding! But that wasn't all the tribulation fault."
"It's," Arthur firmly said, "you just don't know how ruthless the heavens can be."
He wasn't exaggerating. He was a living witness on how cunning and cold hearted the heavens could be. "I don't need to add more variables to the game… not until I gain some firm ground here first."
"Well… if you say so then there is only one solution then," the golden dragon paused before adding, "it's to combine those sword plays you are performing to form something great."
"Fusing the techniques?" Arthur asked with a surprised look over his face, "damn, how couldn't I think about this before?"
"Just thank me later then," the golden dragon laughed, "now do you have an idea or you want me to give you some suggestions?"
"Give me some," Arthur knew the general concept of merging techniques. It wasn't that easy to pull, but if done successfully then the result would be something strong.
"I saw you perform all of your sword plays… honestly you lack a deep understanding of the toy you are holding in your hands."
"The sword?" Arthur asked in surprise as this was one of the rare moments where someone would give him a lecture on his sword techniques.
"Indeed, you move it like you are moving a stick," the golden dragon sighed, "despite not a fan of using anything while fighting, as dragonairs are invincible with their own bodies and assets they got inside, but as you want to play with that toy then you should do it properly."
"Old man, stop fooling around and just get to the point," Arthur didn't like this long introduction. He didn't like the whole idea of someone giving his pointers over his sword techniques.
"You move the sword like… a human," the golden dragon said before further explaining, "You don't use your strongest assets as dragonairs… where is the crushing strength of the dragonairs? Where is the fire breath of yours? The scales are doing nothing, and even your tail isn't helping in adjusting your body to perform sword attacks stronger."
Arthur had to admit to himself that all the points this old dragon gave in such a rude way were correct. "Any suggestions?" he asked while patiently controlling his temper.
"You need to insert everything in the heart of your sword plays," the golden dragon said, "don't just wave the sword, move your entire body and try to mix everything you have with these plays you perform."
Arthur suddenly had a moment of realization and the next instant he closed his eyes. He stood there silent for the entire five hours before he opened his eyes once again.
During his hours of enlightenment he pictured himself doing multiple techniques and trying to merge them. The theory of merging techniques was to start with some moves of one and end with moves of another.
This was easier said than done, as usually when trying to interrupt the technique it would fail. He knew better than others about this, yet his mind kept giving simulations about merging not two, but three and even five of his techniques.
"It all depends on my body," he laughed before adding, "Thanks old man, you just gave me inspiration moments ago."
"What moments?" the golden dragon said, "you've been standing there motionless for hours!"
"The hours of enlightenment pass like breeze of wind over anyone," Arthur grinned before adding, "yet thanks anyway."
"Tsk, let's show how well you'll perform."
Arthur inwardly prayed as he knew interrupting any technique in the middle had such a hefty price over the one performing it. "I should be ready for many wounds then," he tried to prepare his mind before starting to merge three techniques first.
"The sword fire, the sword epic, and the sword dance are the three fitting to be merged together," he muttered before taking the position of the sword epic fire technique.
And he took a deep breath.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel