40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 131 34. Training Day

Richtnar tightened his grip on his sword and fell to the ground.

An extremely strong stabbing pain came from the left side of his neck. The pain spread to his entire brain, making him unable to stand and making him dizzy. He tried to keep his balance, but it was impossible.

His opponent caught an opening in his swordsmanship and revealed it to him with lightning speed. What it brings is severe pain. After a few seconds of struggle, Richter from the eighth company fell to the floor of the duel cage.

The composite floor supports his weight well. His brothers stared silently in the darkness below the stage, while he looked up at the light source on the ceiling in silence.

It spilled down, cut into irregular pieces by the monstrous shape of the cage itself and everything else, like shattered gems. Richter got up after more than ten seconds, still feeling dizzy.

"How?" the instructor of the Eighth Legion asked in his characteristic soft tone.

Richter knew what he was asking.

"I have a clue." He rubbed his neck and replied. "But I still don't understand why you were able to catch the only flaw I hid in my thirty feints."

"Because you've made so many attempts to confuse me that I can ignore them all."

Khalil shook his head as he spoke.

"You always like to move your wrist before launching a real attack. I remember this habit, so I no longer need to observe the direction of your sword blade, or the lifting operation of your shoulder. I only need to watch Your wrist."

Richter suddenly realized: "That's it."

"But, like I said, Richter, I'm not very proficient in swordsmanship itself. I didn't win against you in swordsmanship."

He heard his instructor speak politely. "So, do you want to try to find someone else? I think Talaver of the Fourth Company should be able to equal you in swordsmanship."

"He can't," Richter replied ruthlessly. "He is indeed good at swordsmanship, but he always thinks too much. I take a step, and he will try to analyze what is hidden behind my step, and then I can take the second step and use my sword to hit hard The ground hit him on the head.”

There was a burst of laughter in the darkness under the dueling cage, and a hoarse shout: "You bastard!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice you were down there." Richter said without looking back.

"You bastard, you came with me!" shouted Talaver of the Fourth Company. "You just deliberately mocked me in front of the instructor!"

"I can ridicule you anytime, why do I have to do it in front of the instructor?" Richter replied, then he clenched the blade again and rushed towards their instructor.

Khalil stood quietly, his expression vaguely helpless. Richter is a persistent and serious person, which is why his swordsmanship has improved so quickly - but Khalil really doesn't know much about swordsmanship.

As he said, he didn't defeat Richter in swordsmanship, he defeated him with pure observation and acumen in combat.

"What do you want to learn from me, Richter?" Khalil asked while blocking the fierce and fierce attack. "I can't teach you anything, at least not in the art of swordsmanship."

"You just have to stand there and be attacked by me," Richter said, and then he heard someone in the audience whispering curses at him for his lack of etiquette.

You can scold me all you want, but the instructor doesn't care anyway. Richter thought.

He is right. Their instructors really didn't care about such things.

Khalil smiled: "Do you want me to be a stake?"

"My goal today is to bump into you at least once—or twice."

"Do you regard this as the goal of victory?"

"That's certainly not the end goal."

Richter took a step back, took a deep breath of cold air, then suddenly raised the sword blade high, and made a diagonal slash to prepare the ground for his subsequent thrust.

After the slash was blocked, he immediately rotated his wrist, exerted force on his waist, and thrust out a terrifying stab with the most concentrated attention.

This time, it wasn't deflected.

Khalil lowered his head and looked at his chest. A training sword was pressed heavily against it, and its own weight and Richter's strength had caused the skin to be pierced, and blood was dripping down the sword's body.

"Instructor——"

"——Well done." Khalil smiled slightly. "Siani will be very jealous of the speed of your progress."

Richter breathed a sigh of relief quietly. He quickly put back his sword, turned around, took out a white disinfectant towel from his own corner, and handed it to his instructor: "Then he has to hurry too. You have to come back to do this.”

Khalil chuckled and began to wipe the blood: "Their return journey is almost over, Richter. In a few days, you will see Siani shouting his name in the corner of the audience."

"."

Richter was silent, and a voice began to play on a loop in his mind - 'I, Siani of Terra, will be the next challenger! ’

He couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect that I would actually miss him a little."

Khalil responded with a muffled laugh from his throat. He returned to the edge of the duel cage and reached out to open the cage. Richter nodded to him, then jumped off the ring with his training sword.

His training today has ended. If there was still time, Richter would be willing to play a few more games with his instructor, but now that is not possible, he needs to rush back to his company commander and go on duty together on the ground.

Khalil memorized each of their names, each of their faces, and the time each of them had been on duty. That's why he opened the cage and let Richter leave.

Only a few people can practice with the instructors every day, and these opportunities are particularly precious. Therefore, their instructors spend a little time and energy to ensure that everyone's training time is not reduced.

On the way out, his brothers cheered him on in the somber, Eighth Legion-only way. Unlike other legions, they did not praise or praise loudly, only calm glances, gentle nods, and some pats on the shoulders and backs.

However, there were also many people who challenged him - such as Talaver of the Fourth Company. He pointed angrily at Richter in the corner, without saying a word, but made a very serious gesture of cutting his throat. .

Richter didn't know how to respond, so he simply decided to pretend he didn't see it.

He walked up to the door on the second floor and rushed all the way back to the Eighth Company's station. After a brief cleaning, he put on his power armor and went to the hangar fully armed.

His company commander and one hundred and ninety-eight other brothers have been waiting here for a long time. Ground duty tasks are relatively simpler than other tasks, but there is a limit on the number of people in each company, and the maximum cannot exceed two hundred people.

This limit was added by Konrad Koz. As for the reason, trust me, you don't want to know what happened in the big melee involving three companies in half a month.

"There are still ten minutes left, you are late." Enric Barbatos said seriously.

"but I do not have."

"Don't do this - I heard you made the instructor bleed in the cage today?"

Richter looked at his company commander in surprise: "How do you know?"

Enric raised his hand and knocked on the side of his helmet: "You know, Richter, we are always well-informed - I even know that Talaver of the fourth company is going to duel with you."

"He can't beat me."

"That's impossible to say. The majority of the battles between the two of you always result in a draw."

"Not after today."

Enric smiled lowly: "You'd better beat him dozens of times, so that I can make that bastard from the fourth company really angry."

Richter did not answer this sentence. The 'bastard of the Fourth Company' in Enrik Barbatos's mouth usually only refers to one person, that is, the commander of the Fourth Company - he did not want to get involved in this. Go into the matter.

"So, when do we set off, Captain?"

"Where to go?"

"On duty?" Richter asked hesitantly.

Enric Barbatos shook his head. His face was obscured by the helmet, so Richter could not see his expression clearly, but he could hear the smile in his voice that had not been changed by the breathing grille yet. .

"Today's duty was canceled five minutes before your arrival, by order of the Primarch himself. The First Company will fill our vacancy, and we will move with four separate squads to the Jump Gang."

"Jump gang?"

"Yeah, jump gang." Enric Barbatos let out a dangerous chuckle. "Some more people are approaching Nostramo in their shabby transport ships. I believe the Nightfall will not mind a few more prisoners."

Richter frowned: "So fast? Those prisoners said it took them four months to arrive at Nostramo, but they have only been imprisoned for two weeks now. Why did the world behind them send another one so quickly? The batch of people is coming?"

"I believe they don't actually know what happened to their people on Nostramo," Enrik Barbatos said. "But this is the borderland of the empire, Richter. In other words, there may be everything here, including another world that wants to trade with Nostramo."

"It's best not to have aliens." A person in the Eighth Company said quietly on the communication channel. His cold joke caused a burst of laughter, and even Richter smiled slightly. He put on his helmet and got ready to join the gang with his brothers.

But now, he still doesn't know one thing.

Sometimes the jokes and snide remarks made before the war often turned out to be true. This is not superstition, but some terrible probability.

Also, come back after a meal and continue coding.