It's somewhat laughable; after being defeated by the Dragon God in his youth, he worked hard to become a Sword God.
Yet after being defeated by his disciple, he lost his confidence and could not recover.
As a result, when the Sword God fought against Eris, he did not use his proud Sword God style but instead was defeated by Eris and Ruijerd using the Water God style. Perhaps from the moment he was defeated by Gino, his identity as a Sword God had already died.
However, this had nothing to do with Roa.
At the very least, the current Sword God had taken an interest and was earnestly teaching Roa.
"The Sword God style pursues a one-hit kill, but there are always times when a single strike cannot defeat the enemy," the old Sword God said slowly.
Roa listened quietly as the old Sword God continued to explain.
Gal's expression was serious as he continued, "At such times, retracting the sword is key, especially in battles between strong practitioners of the Sword God style."
At this point, a smile appeared on Gal's face as he patted Roa on the shoulder and said, "Of course, I haven't met anyone who could force me to draw a second sword in a long time."
Roa shrugged, not paying much attention to the old man's boasting.
Gal sighed, seemingly reminiscing about the past.
This is what happens when one gets old; they tend to reminisce about the past.
Gal's reminiscing did not last long; he knew it was not the time for memories, and he had plenty of time to boast about himself later, so there was no need to rush.
Gal reached up to touch his slightly gray beard and continued, "In any case, if you want to defeat me, you must master the technique of retracting the sword; otherwise, you can only rely on speed to overwhelm me."
At this point, a confident smile appeared on Gal's face, as if he was certain that Roa could not surpass him in speed.
Roa did not mind, giving the old man a bit of face.
The training continued until noon, and only then did Gal wave his hand, telling Roa to leave.
Before leaving, Gal said to Roa, "From now on, I'll teach you in the mornings; the rest of the time, you should practice on your own. You should have your own training plan. I'll spar with you once a week to see your progress. In any case, that's how it will be. I'm busy, so I'm off."
Then Gal swaggered out of the dojo, standing on the platform and waving his hand to the students below, who all slumped down on the ground, not caring whether sitting like this would dirty their clothes.
"Really, I don't know why, but it seems like the training volume has increased."
"You just noticed? My hands are numb."
"Probably added about ten sets of swings; sigh, this life is getting harder to bear."
These were ordinary students. For these common people, it was indeed quite tough. A small portion of them came from noble backgrounds, having lived in luxury since childhood. The reason they came to the Holy Land of Swords to study was mainly because their families sent them to learn, similar to gilding. After completing their studies, they would return to their families, where family members would casually assign them a position, like a guard.
Of course, this portion of people was very small, and many of them were actually the less favored younger generation of their families or fallen nobles.
The truly important young nobles did not study the Sword God style but rather the Water God style.
The other members were more complex, including servants, orphans, and vagrants; in short, there were all kinds of backgrounds. Some of these people were saved by Gal, while others came on their own, perhaps because they had decent potential and some talent for swordsmanship, waiting for the right moment when Gal would take them in.
Being taken in meant they would also have to do some work; after all, it was impossible to let these students eat and drink for free. However, the labor they did was insignificant compared to what they learned.
Being able to become an apprentice here and eventually graduate meant that at the very least, they would become intermediate swordsmen.
Don't underestimate intermediate swordsmen; while they may not be high-level, reaching the intermediate level at a young age means that with some effort and experience gained with age, they could easily become high-level swordsmen by middle age.
High-level swordsmen can casually hold a position of moderate importance in any kingdom.
This is a great opportunity for an ordinary person.
Most people are like this, but a small portion are not.
For example, Nina.
As the daughter of the Sword God, she was destined to be different from others from the very beginning.
Her talent was not particularly outstanding; she had some talent, but it was just average. She couldn't clearly say how far she could go.
However, due to the halo of her identity, she had worked hard since childhood, and the Holy Land of Swords was like her second home. Here, she could be considered the nominal big sister.
But now, the big sister was feeling quite miserable.
The reason was simple: during training, Nina approached Eris, wanting to extract some information about Roa from her.
This was a normal behavior for a little girl; suddenly, a senior brother appeared, and he was a handsome, sunny guy, which would naturally make a girl curious and excited.
Roa's face could easily be considered a violation of the rules; he was the dream prince charming of countless girls. She could confidently assert that there was no one in the world more outstanding in appearance than him.
Teenage girls are like this; not only do boys follow their looks, but girls do too.
Carrying emotions she couldn't quite understand, Nina approached Eris, cleared her throat a few times, and prepared to get along with her before extracting information from her.
"Hey, I'm Nina. What's your name?"
Nina stood in front of Eris with a few little followers, her posture aggressive.
With her arms crossed, Nina wore a proud expression, as if asking for the other's name was already giving her enough face.
Rudeus was not beside Eris at this time; he was far away, mingling with a group of boys, whispering to each other, and then smirking with an indescribable smile on his face.
Unlike Rudeus's lack of seriousness, Eris was much more earnest, swinging her wooden sword with precision. Eris was quite strong; every swing could be heard as the sword sliced through the air.
Eris ignored Nina's inquiry, continuing to swing her sword without even lifting her eyelids.
Nina was slightly taken aback, and her expression gradually turned displeased.
Eris was the daughter of the Greyrat family, and Nina was also the daughter of the Holy Land of Swords.
Even if no one would actively mention that her father was the Sword God, everyone would still give her some face. Adults would turn a blind eye to her actions, and even if Nina made mistakes, they would favor her, which had fostered her proud personality.
However, the one who had always been invincible found herself humiliated by a little brat today.
Nina's expression quickly darkened.
Nina was not a bad person, but girls at this age are the best at being jealous of others.
Looking at the fiery-haired girl in front of her, Nina noticed that the other's features were quite good-looking, and the aura of confidence about her was different from that of other noble girls.
Nina coldly said, "You, what's wrong with you? Someone is asking you a question, can't you speak?"
Logically, in someone else's territory, an ordinary person might have some reservations. For example, Rudeus would definitely start with a few compliments and say some flattering words to build rapport, which is not wrong. On the contrary, the vast majority of people would choose this path; after all, it's better to have one less problem than one more, and having one more friend is better than having one less enemy.
However, Eris was definitely not like that.
Eris swung her wooden sword down heavily, finally lifting her gaze to look at Nina.
Eris's face showed no concealment of annoyance, her fiery red eyes blazing like her fiery red hair.
"No one told you that when asking someone's name, you should say 'please'? And didn't I already say it before?"
Eris's impatient tone made Nina take a step back, and for the first time, Nina felt at a loss.
What was wrong with this girl? Nina thought to herself.
Looking at this girl who was one or two years younger than her, a surge of various emotions welled up, and Nina couldn't even articulate her current state.
Anger, annoyance, and a hint of panic.
She didn't know why she felt panic; perhaps it was because her status was being challenged, making Nina feel that her previously unshakeable position was beginning to waver.
She thought she should teach this little brat a lesson, making her understand what it means to respect her seniors. In this place, status matters; a newcomer should answer what they are asked, not speak to her in such a tone.
Gino stood nearby, wanting to intervene, but having known Nina for many years, he understood the nature of girls. At this moment, intervening would only have the opposite effect. Sighing, Gino gave up on the idea of intervening.
Although doing so felt unfair to the newcomer.
Then, Nina stepped forward and grabbed the girl by her collar, intending to say a few harsh words and teach her a lesson.
Nina only wanted to say a few harsh words and had no intention of resorting to violence.
Grabbing the collar was merely to appear imposing, to overwhelm this arrogant newcomer with her presence and let her know whose territory this was.
But the moment her hand landed on Eris's collar, the next moment, a fist flew toward her face, and her nose took a hard hit.
The bridge of the nose is the most fragile part; in an instant, pain left Nina's mind in a daze.
Then, Nina was pinned to the ground by Eris, who straddled her and rained down punches on Nina's face.
Eris was angry, that was for sure.
Her fiery red hair stood on end, like a fire cat that had stepped on its tail, and her fists mercilessly trampled on Nina's pride.
A strong sense of shame surged in Nina's heart; she felt like she was roaring inside. She wanted to get up, but the burning pain on her cheeks and the inertia from the punches made her almost lose the ability to resist.
All of this happened too quickly.
So much so that Nina's little followers didn't react in time before the situation escalated.
Gino did react, but it was already too late to stop it.
By the time everyone wanted to pull the two apart, Eris had already landed five punches on Nina, her ferocious aura almost frightening the other students.
A beginner swordsman of the Sword God style was riding on the face of a high-level swordsman of the Sword God style, delivering punishment.
This might sound unbelievable, but it was the truth.
Being a high-level practitioner of the Sword God style didn't mean everything; clearly, this naive little girl had received a harsh lesson from Eris.
Nina, beaten to a pulp, squinted her eyes as she looked at the girl straddling her.
She was utterly powerless to fight back. For some reason, after the anger, a strong sense of fear surged in her heart, completely occupying her body and mind.
As Eris continued to rise above her, her features distorted, the pain on her face and the mental pressure finally caused the girl's inner self to collapse, and she began to cry.
In the end, Gino managed to pull Eris away, with two of Nina's closest friends helping to drag Eris away.
Nina lay in the mud, the pride of a swordsman making her wipe away her tears, but for some reason, everyone looked at her with strange expressions.
Nina looked down and felt a dampness on both sides of her thighs, and she fell completely silent.
She had wet her pants.
This was undoubtedly an extremely shameful thing for a swordsman, especially in front of so many people.
Seeing Nina in such a miserable state, her little followers went up and punched Eris. Eris roared in anger, struggling fiercely; her strength was astonishing, almost breaking free from Gino's desperate grip.
The little followers were also startled by Eris's demeanor, angrily throwing a few harsh words before backing down.
Nina was carried back by her friends, returning to her dormitory to change her pants.
This was not a glorious matter, and Nina had no intention of reporting Eris.
The reason was simple: if she told her father, Eris might face some minor punishment, but she would definitely face a much harsher punishment.
Fighting and brawling were not uncommon in the Holy Land of Swords.
The outcome was generally not something the old Sword God cared about; as long as it didn't get too out of hand, it was fine.
Nina being beaten by Eris would certainly make the old Sword God unhappy, but Nina knew that her father would definitely scold her even more harshly.
After all, what she did was truly outrageous.
Deliberately causing trouble and then getting beaten up, even to the point of wetting her pants.
This would almost be a stain on her life.
The more critical issue is that Eris is only a junior swordsman. She might soon break through to intermediate, but she is undeniably just a junior swordsman. And Nina? An advanced swordsman.
Let's not even discuss whether Eris's punch counts as a sneak attack; a loss is a loss.