Chapter 87: Chapter 87 – Technical
BANG!
Kyle flew to the side, and his left shoulder hurt quite a bit.
Luckily, Nervon had slowed the swing down quite a bit.
Otherwise, Kyle’s shoulder would be in pieces.
Since he still had a lot of Ether from all the fish he ate, Kyle recovered rather quickly and stood up again.
"Again?" Nervon asked.
Kyle took a deep breath and nodded with a determined expression.
He remembered what Nervon had done.
The issue Kyle had stated earlier didn’t seem to exist when Nervon was swinging the hammer.
’When I step in, he steps back. However, he already committed to the swing, which means he predicted my movements beforehand.’
Nervon charged at Kyle again.
He started to swing.
Kyle took a step forward.
Nervon took a step back.
Then, Kyle jumped back as well.
The hammer stopped mid-swing, Nervon’s arms bulging.
Then, he charged forward again, and the hammer returned to its original position, ready for another swing.
’He didn’t commit to the swing!’ Kyle realized. ’I thought I would get an opportunity to attack, but I didn’t!’
As Kyle watched Nervon charging at him again, he didn’t know what to do.
Kyle jumped back again, but Nervon just kept charging at him without swinging the hammer.
Several jumps later, Kyle was still being pursued by Nervon, who hadn’t swung even once!
By now, Kyle was just fleeing from Nervon.
Then, he gritted his teeth. ’This is training, not a real battle! I actually have to engage him if I want to learn!’
So, he stopped retreating and readied himself.
Nervon approached.
And Kyle charged forward.
This time, he wouldn’t just take a step forward.
This time, he would run through Nervon like a train!
As expected, Nervon took a step back.
But Kyle didn’t stop.
The swing would miss.
Yet, the next moment, Nervon changed his grip on the hammer.
His right arm grabbed the hammer right beneath the head while his left hand let go of the hammer’s hilt.
The swing changed trajectory.
Instead of swinging from side to side, Nervon was thrusting the hammer forward like a spear.
BANG!
The hammer’s head hit Kyle right in the abdomen.
Nervon was pushed back slightly, but his stance was stalwart.
Kyle flew back as the hammer pushed him into the distance.
At the same time, Nervon let go of the hilt.
When the hammer flew a bit away from him, he grabbed the bottom of the hilt again with both arms.
He took a step forward and lifted the hammer high into the air.
Kyle rolled a bit, and when he regained his footing, the hammer was already above him.
It swung down, and Kyle could only watch as his death approached.
But then, Nervon’s entire body bulged, and the hammer stopped mere inches away from Kyle’s head.
After that, Nervon dropped the hammer and massaged his aching arms.
Stopping such a swing was not easy.
For a couple of seconds, nobody said anything.
"Time and space," Nervon said after he regained his breathing. "A two-handed mace is all about timing and positioning."
The next moment, Nervon sat down, exhausted.
That hammer was way too heavy for him.
"You would think that a two-handed mace is a weapon of pure destruction and power, but it isn’t," Nervon explained.
"Swinging a two-handed mace is not easy."
"A two-handed mace is a very technical weapon. If you just wildly swing, you will give your opponent a chance to counter."
"Every swing has to be deliberate. You must only swing if you are certain that you are going to hit."
"You must know what your opponent will do in advance."
"If you know how your opponent will act, you can hit them with every swing."
"But that is only in theory," Nervon added as he took a swig from a bottle of water.
"You don’t know your opponent. You don’t know what they will do or how they will fight."
"You can only make an educated guess."
"Swinging a two-handed mace is a game of probability. You can never be completely sure what your opponent does, and you have to take that into account."
"When I charge at you, there’s a high chance that you will run at me, but you might also keep your distance and wait for me to commit."
"You could also evade to the side, escaping the swing of the mace by outrunning it."
"When you carry your mace, you have to be prepared for all of these possibilities. You can’t commit until you know you’re going to hit."
"When your enemy is too far away, you approach without swinging."
"When your enemy is too close, you use your mace like a shield and push them away."
"Did you get all that?" Nervon asked.
By now, he had regained part of his stamina, and he stood up again.
Kyle just sighed.
’I thought using a hammer would be fun,’ he thought. ’Instead, I have to think about all of these mind games and stuff.’
’I wanna have fun with my weapon! I wanna swing shit around without a care in the world!’
Kyle thought back to how Nervon just grabbed the hilt.
’Wouldn’t happen with a two-handed sword!’
"What if it’s a two-handed sword?" Kyle asked.
"A two-handed sword is very different from a two-handed mace," Nervon asked.
"I mean," Kyle added. "If I were to swing a two-handed sword, you wouldn’t be able to catch its hilt, which means you would always have to be far away, right?"
"So, isn’t a two-handed sword better?"
Nervon huffed in amusement.
"If your opponent fights barehanded, sure."
"But they’re not."
"I would just push the sword to the side with my shield instead of my hand. As long as it’s not the front third of the sword, I can do the same thing to that."
"Additionally, even if the front third hits my shield, I will only be pushed to the side for a bit."
"My shield will still be in one piece, and I am free to strike."
"I can’t do the same thing with your mace. If the head of your mace strikes my shield, I’m done."
"Two-handed swords are useful in different ways, but with my battle style, I would have it far easier against a two-handed sword."
"Same thing is true for you."
"If you ever fight someone who uses a two-handed sword, you will be at an advantage."
Kyle raised his brows.
That sounded more like a mirror match.
Nervon could see that Kyle didn’t understand.
"A weapon is also your defense," Nervon explained.
"We use weapons to stop the opposing weapons from hitting us."
"Using a two-handed sword revolves a lot around blocking with its flat side since it’s essentially just a big wall made of metal at that point."
"But what will happen if a sword tries to block a swing of your two-handed mace?"
Kyle’s eyes widened.
’Right! That makes sense!’
Kyle could basically already see it.
If his hammer hit that sword, it would break!
Alternatively, it would just shoot out of the user’s hand since they wouldn’t be able to keep their grip on it.
Compared to shields, two-handed swords had their grips on one end.
If one hit a shield, the user of the shield would be pushed with their shield due to the grip.
The same thing wasn’t true for swords.
They would fly out of their user’s hand if enough force was put on them.