I Got A Title: Lord Of The Time!-Chapter 43: Weapon Contact

Days slowly passed. Two months after the first fight between Silia and Royal, Lin was standing on the training grounds, currently practicing strikes with his katana against an iron dummy.

He took a deep breath in, then out, and sharply delivered a horizontal strike at the dummy’s waist!

Whoosh!

Chzz!

The katana managed to cut five centimeters deep, but then quickly stopped inside the dummy. Lin sighed when he saw the result, quietly pulled the blade out, and got ready to strike again.

"Every strike, every cut I’ve made... there were so many that I’ve lost count. I don’t even dare to try — I make 300 to 400 swings every day, yet there’s no progress... This weapon has a nasty temper. Maybe I should change it?" Lin looked closely at the violet blade, wondering if he should swap it for another katana.

But he quickly dismissed the idea. What’s the point of a new katana if he can’t connect with this one? Even if he changed it, the result would likely be the same. Like buying a new washing machine without understanding how the first one worked — the problem would remain. Better to solve the issue than to search for an easy way out that may not even work.

It was better to break the problem down and solve it with professionals.

And here, there was only one professional — Teacher Anthony.

Yes, he wanted to talk with Anthony about it. Even though he’d been actively participating in the faculty’s activities for the past three months, he had never fully revealed this issue to Anthony, because he wanted to overcome it alone.

But now Lin realized — this couldn’t go on any longer.

He urgently needed to bond with his weapon, so he wouldn’t face serious problems in the Dead Worlds, which he planned to explore far and wide.

He sighed and went to look for Teacher Anthony. A minute later, he found him.

He was sitting in a chair, tapping at his tablet. When Lin approached him, without lifting his eyes, he said:

"Finally decided to sort out the issue of connecting with your sword?"

Lin answered simply:

"Yeah. I’m tired of not being able to feel it."

"Haha! Well, of course, if you keep doing insane training every day without understanding that each weapon needs a special place where it can feel at ease."

Lin’s eyes widened instantly and he asked:

"You never said anything like that. A special place? You mean the reason I couldn’t bond with the blade is because I was doing it in the wrong place?" There was a hint of anger in his voice, but he still managed to keep calm and asked respectfully.

Anthony laughed heartily and said:

"That’s just the basics! Lin, to understand something, it’s not enough to just feel it with your whole body and demand whatever you want. You also need to give the weapon a choice, so it can feel comfortable. You need to understand — a weapon is not a soulless object like ordinary people think. A weapon is a being with consciousness, though its mind works under very different rules than a human’s."

Anthony motioned for Lin to sit down and slowly began to explain:

"To understand a weapon, you must first understand the fundamentals, and how it all began," he looked at Lin and asked:

"Do you know the general name for a bond with a weapon?"

Lin shook his head — he truly didn’t know what it was called.

"As expected. Well, it’s generally referred to as: "Weapon Contact"."

"Weapon Contact is the same thing as bonding with a weapon, just under another name. Right now, you want to form a Contact with your katana by doing harsh and exhausting training every day, without realizing that the weapon itself also needs rest — and it wants to connect with you not in some training ground, but somewhere else, somewhere it feels at home."

"It’s like proposing to a girl — you’ve got to choose a special place for that, not a gym," Anthony laughed and continued:

"But you also need to understand how exactly you’ll make Contact with your katana."

Lin frowned and clarified:

"You mean how some people need to train both their body and mind to make Contact with a weapon, while others might only need to focus on one of those?"

Anthony nodded, confirming Lin’s words.

"Exactly. That’s called: "Personal Contact". Every person has a unique way of making Personal Contact with a weapon: some have to meditate every day and train until their hands are covered in calluses. Others only need a single moment of realization about what the weapon truly is. But the key point of all these methods is that you must do it in a special place."

"So my Personal Contact is endless training and meditation, while for Egro it might be enough to just meditate with his spear?" Lin thought.

He nodded and asked:

"And how do you determine the special place for each weapon?"

Anthony smiled and told him to bring several weapons from the storage boxes. Lin did so quickly and set them beside Anthony. The man pointed to the two-handed sword and asked:

"It’s actually pretty easy. Look at this two-handed sword — what does it make you think of?"

Lin looked at the long two-handed sword with its wide grip and gleaming blade. He turned to Anthony and calmly answered:

"A two-handed sword is a noble weapon, respected by all. It holds great length and destructive power — capable of killing enemies with ease..."

"But this weapon can also cleave through bone if you apply just a bit more strength. Mastery is definitely needed, but even without perfect technique, you can swing it with enough force and just keep cutting enemies until your strength runs out."

"This weapon represents both savagery and nobility — for it was often used with good intentions, or at least so believed its wielders."

"That’s all."

Anthony nodded and praised him:

"Not a bad analysis. So what does that tell you? Where do you think best represents both nobility and savage brutality?"

Lin thought for a moment and answered quickly:

"Any war, deadly combat, or ceremonial events with so-called "noble" intent. Only those."

"Good, very good. Now you’ve determined the place where you need to be to Contact with a two-handed sword. But you’re interested in the katana, right? Then define its special place."

Lin nodded and removed the sheathed katana from his belt. He laid it on the stone floor and slowly unsheathed the blade, placing it beside the scabbard. He looked at it closely and began recalling all the sensations he felt while training with it.

After a few minutes, he opened his mouth and began to speak:

"The katana is a beautiful weapon, but with difficult traits that don’t come easily to everyone. You have to work with it carefully — one wrong swing and it’s over. You have to keep learning and learning until you finally master it. Only then can you calmly swing it against iron and slightly cut through it."

"Every cut, every movement you make with it must be refined to perfection. You have to accept it with a peaceful heart and keep improving in order to reach your goal. The katana is beautiful, calm, difficult — but also swift when it’s time to kill."

"If the katana could be described as a place, then it would be: mountains, watery landscapes, waterfalls, and..." Lin looked at Anthony and said: "nature."

Anthony smiled and nodded.

"Excellent. Those truly are the kinds of places where you can make Contact with your katana. Remember — if all those elements are present in one location, the effect could be even stronger."

Lin nodded and picked up the katana with its scabbard, placing them back at his belt. He looked at Anthony and smiled.

"Thank you, teacher. You really helped me."

"Good luck with your Contact."

Lin walked off, and Anthony continued to watch his back, thinking:

"Interesting. Haha. This just keeps getting more and more interesting!"

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