Chapter 14: How to handle the naginata

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Translator: Soafp

After lightly brushing off a wild boar, we proceeded through the forest.

　Well, rather than a forest, it is almost a path through the woods. It would be a misnomer to call it a forest, since it has been manned and a path has even been built.

　Thanks to this, there is no problem for a beginner to swing a long sword…

“…..You really would have been better off with a bow, you know?”

“Uu…… that’s, I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

　I tell Iori this with half-lidded eyes while kicking and rolling a wild boar that came charging at me from the side.

　Iori, looking somewhat dejected, was still in a heap, thrusting her naginata and pricking a spider that was trying to come toward us.

■Forest Spider

　Type：Insect, Demon

　Level: 2

　State: Active

　Attributes: None

　Combat location: On the ground and in trees

　The name of the demon that appeared is Forest Spider.

　It looks like a rather brownish spider. It is trying to come at us with its two front legs raised and glaring at us with its red eight eyes, but it is not able to move as much as it would like because of Iori’s thrusting tip.

　Well, it looks like some damage has been done, but it will take quite some time to defeat one of them.

　Now, Iori is attacking at such a leisurely pace that she stopped a wild boar that came charging at her from the side.

　If it was a one-on-one fight, Iori would have managed to take it down, but if she had been hit by the current rush, she would have been out of the game.

“But that’s weird. A spider the size of a medium-sized dog is like this?”

“I won’t deny that, but, you know, I don’t want to join in ……”

“Do something about at least one of them.”

　As I say this, I go behind Iori.

　I grabbed the protruding cleaver by the butt of its stone and raised my voice to Iori, who looked a little perplexed as she braced herself.

“First, do something about your slouching. Move your hips forward.”

“B-but ……”

“Enough with this and go.”

　While telling her, I pushed her drawn-out waist with my knee.

　If I had touched it with my hand, I might have gotten into all sorts of trouble, but with a knee, it would be treated half as well as a kick.

　The hips, which had been completely pulled back, were brought forward, creating an upright position for the time being.

　Holding the naginata, I sent further instructions to her, making sure that the tip did not move from in front of it.

“Body half-length, feet shoulder-width apart, front leg toward your opponent.”

“Y-yes.”

　For now, I correct her body, which was facing at an angle halfway across the room.

　It is as if she is asking the opponent to take aim at her.

Her naginata’s reach is not hidden, and her strength has been reduced to half.

“For now, let’s look at the basic posture. Hold the naginata with your back hand at the base of your thigh and your front hand about three fists away from your waist.”

“L-Like this?”

“Well, you’re strangely tense, but …… that’s good enough for now.”

　The middle stance is the basis of the naginata.

　Regarding this, there is no style or anything, just a general posture.

　Without this at the very least, there is no way she can use a naginata.

“W-What should I do now?”

“First of all, learn this middle stance. And, at present, the distance is a little too close to fight in this form.”

“I-It’s no good!”

“Well, it’s not impossible, but as soon as you take your tip away from your opponent in this situation, he’ll attack you. …… So, the next stance”

　It would be nice if Iori had the skill to deal with that, but it would be unreasonable to ask Iori to do so.

　I would like to say that she could use a thrust to separate the distance and then turn to attack, but I have a feeling that as soon as she does that, she’s going to go back to being a spineless person.

　So, I held on to the stone point of the naginata and lifted it upward so that the tip of the sword would not change position.

“Keep the blade of the naginata facing upward and your back hand behind your ear. This is the lower stance. You aim for the opponent’s leg or groin.”

“I-I see. …… Is this how you want me to attack?”

“That’s right.”

　As I say this, she releases her grip on the stone pike.

　The freed naginata does not seem to be swinging unsteadily as before.

　At the very least, it was held in place. After confirming this, I sent out another command.

“Aim at the ground under the opponent’s chin. Don’t push the cleave out with your arms, but push the cleave forward with your sliding front foot!”

“Y-yes!”

　Abruptly and strongly, I raise my voice.

　Iori reacted to the voice and reflexively followed my words.

　The protruding blade pierced into the ground under the spider’s chin as instructed.

　If this had been stone ground, her arm might have gone numb, but fortunately the ground here is soil, and soft humus at that.

　The girl’s physical strength was enough to move the spider when it pierced her.

　With the blade thrust in front of it, the spider tried to back away as if in alarm. At that moment, I shouted again.

“Lower your right hand and raise your left!”

“Yes!”

　Iori, who probably had no time to question the instructions at the earliest opportunity, reflexively followed the instructions and raised her naginata strongly.

　The strength of the naginata is that it can perform thrusts and strikes in tandem. By simply changing the position of her arm, she can release a strike without breaking her body.

　The raised cleave blade snatches the spider’s mouth, splattering green bodily fluids.

　However, as expected, it seems to have been unable to sever the head. The spider was thrown back by the impact, but the wound was not fatal.

　However, if the distance was opened, it was enough.

“Return to the middle stance!”

“Yes!”

“Keep moving forward with your right foot, and use the stone thrust!”

“——“

　Despite the slightest hesitation, Iori moved forward as instructed and struck the spider’s body with the stone butt that was behind it.

　The spider, which had just been thrown back and out of its stance, was unable to react to the blow and was knocked to the ground by a blow from the side.

　And at that point, the blade of the naginata is in a raised position.

　Having reached this point, all that remains is to strike it down.

“Bring the blade down!”

“Yes!”

　Iori reflexively heeds the instruction and swings the naginata, taking one more step forward.

　The blade, swung down like a decapitation, caught the spider that had stopped moving without missing it —– its entire HP was 0.

　The head was cleanly cut off, and even if it had any HP left, it would have died instantly.

“Good, you did well. That’s about right.”

“O-oh …… this is such an easy one to take down.”

“That’s right. They call it a triple dan, but basically the naginata is a pretty good weapon. As long as you fight at your own distance, there is no other weapon as powerful.”

　Able to compensate for slashing, striking, and stabbing, the naginata is an extremely powerful weapon if you know how to use it.

　It is such a difficult weapon to use that even the Kuon Jintsu-ryu Senkoujutsu has prepared several techniques for use against the naginata.

　Well, the more cards you have in your hand, the longer it takes to master them.

　How good was that old b*****d who had mastered all the weapons – is it really necessary to talk about that now?

“Basically, there are three more stances……but it is important to position yourself in the closest stance after launching an attack. The worst thing you can do is to be in a halfway position.”

“Are there that many ways to hold yourself ……?”

“I guess so. I mean, you were just holding one of them without really thinking about it, weren’t you?”

“Eh?　W-When was that?”

“When you flip your body with the hilt payoff. You were in a position where you reflexively raised the blade upward, right?　That is called the eight-phase stance, a posture used when slashing at an opponent.”

　It would not have been surprising if Iori’s stance had collapsed at that point, but she was surprisingly able to do the eight-stance posture properly.

　Well, even if she had collapsed a bit, she would have been able to finish off her opponent from that state,……, but because she was properly poised, she was able to keep her stance even when the spider put a stop to her.

　At first I thought maybe she wasn’t suited for it, but …… maybe she’s more athletic than I thought. The fact that she is able to reflexively take an efficient stance is proof of this.

“The other two are the upper stance and the side stance. These are quite aggressive stances, but they are a little difficult to handle. First of all, the upper stance is held above the head with the blade behind the head.”

　Have Iori, who is looting the items from the spider, stand up and hold the naginata at the ready.

　The upper stance is a moderately brave stance, but—–

“…… it’s a stance where you swing down and slash, isn’t it?　How do you use it differently from the eight-phase stance?”

“This is more powerful. It transmits the centrifugal force and the weight of the naginata in its entirety. Also, you can counter an attack from above while catching it, but it will be difficult for beginners……. As you can see, the body is empty, so the gap is big. If your opponent is exposing a big gap, use it even when you’re going to hit him with your full strength.”

　Iori, as a beginner, would have little timing to use this stance.

　It is not often that the flow of movement changes to an upper stance.

“And the side stance. It is similar to the middle stance, but with the blade backward and lying down. As you can see, it is a posture to release a side cleave. It’s meant to conceal the reach of the weapon, but, well, this can be used depending on the situation.”

“Certainly……”

　I nodded in satisfaction as Iori held it up just as I told her to.

　Although still a bit lax, I think she’s got the basics down for the time being.

“Well, that’s the basics. For now, just be careful not to break your stance. If you understand, let’s move on to the next practical exercise.”

“Wait a minute, please!　I still haven’t learned how to properly–“

“I can wait, but the enemy can’t wait, okay?　Because they’re coming at us from the other side.”

“Ugh ……!”

　Chuckling, we begin to move forward on the forest road again.

　We are still in the middle of the field.

　By the time we reach the boss, I hope she will be accustomed to our movements.

“I-I’ll do my best somehow. …… Anyway, thank you very much, Quon-san.”

“I promised I would teach you some. If you can’t fight at least a little, it will be troublesome when we get to the boss.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience. ……”

“What, as long as you’re better by the time you get to the boss, I don’t see the problem.”

　With a flutter and a wave of my hand, Iori and I continue onward.

　The enemies are certainly not that strong, and so far only wild boars and spiders have appeared.

　Sometimes we see squirrels in the trees, but they seem to be the type of demons that do not attack us.

　When [identify], they are labeled as demons, but their status is fixed to passive and they are no different from ordinary animals rather than demons.

“There are a few enemies here and there, but they are still weak. Are there only wild boars and spiders here?”

“No, there is one more kind, but it’s a bit of a troublesome foe.”

“Troublesome?　What do you–“

　As I was about to reply to Iori’s words, I reflexively raised my sword in the air.

　The blade I swung up collided with a hard feeling and instantly severed it.

　Is this feeling …… a tree branch?

　I turned toward the attacker, slightly startled, and what I saw was an eerily writhing tree.

■Torrent

　Type：Plant, Demon

　Level: 3

　State: Active

　Attributes: None

　Combat location: On the ground

　Apparently, this is the other kind Iori was referring to.

　Surprised by the unprecedented pattern of the enemy, I smiled and charged at Torrent.