n

n

nFoster flipped through the book, soon reaching the page that he had been looking for.

n

"Here it was... 'The Silent Step is a basic movement technique vital to a martial artist...', huh...

" He read to himself. The silent step martial skill was apparently something that was supposed to be used completely outside of combat, which made sense considering the side-effect of decreasing damage dealt and increased damage received,

"So it's for what? Tactical retreats?

"

nWith a slight sigh, Foster flipped to the next page, looking at the sketches on the next few pages. As far as he could tell on first glance, the stance that he needed for this was similar to the 'Basic Footwork' that he had already learned a good bit. He was at 70% for that technique within the legacy training mode now, so he figured he should be able to pick this up pretty quickly.

nOr well, at least the regular running... there seemed to be plenty of other techniques related to the silent step. Specific ways to jump, whether it was to jump as high or as far as possible, vaulting over obstacles, dodging under obstacles... dodging under obstacles while jumping at the same time? There were quite a few descriptions for this. The whole book was basically just about these sorts of footwork techniques in relation to silent-step type martial skills.

n

"I guess I have a lot to work on, then.

" Foster sighed slightly, figuring he should just start with the basics. He took in a deep breath, and saw it appear in front of him. The rough silhouette formed out of chaotic scribbles in the air, as well as some message boxes that appeared at the same time.

n---

nLegacy training mode has been activated

nArgomna Style – Basic Silent Step – 0% Progress

n---

n

"Maybe I should go outside for this...

" Foster thought to himself, as he quickly put on his Gi. He didn't grab his armor, because he simply didn't need to, and simply placed Aster into the fold of his shirt where he was laying as if it was a hammock, grabbing his pouch-wallet and the book on the silent-step.

nHe made his way outside and thought for a moment. He was pretty sure there was some sort of rooftop park around here. It was the middle of the night, around 1, maybe 2am, so it shouldn't be too busy there right now.

nFoster had to search a while, but soon, he turned a corner and managed to see lavish green grass, flowers, and even trees planted on the nearby rooftops. They were all connected via bridges so that you could easily visit the different parts of this rooftop park.

nThere luckily really didn't seem to be that many people here, just one or two scattered around here and there. And so, Foster took another deep breath, watching the legacy training mode's guide appear in front of him once more. Slowly, he stepped into the figure, feeling his body practically slide into place.

nSince the stance was quite similar, Foster figured that he needed to flex the same muscles as with the regular footwork technique. There were quite some differences though, right off the bat.

nThe regular footwork technique was based around making quick, agile turns, letting you be able to turn your body around at a moment's notice in reaction to anything around you. It was made to let you move around perfectly in combat, where you needed to change your movement at a moment's notice. The silent step technique described in the book seemed to have a similar, but opposing use. Sure, you had to be able to be agile and react to external stimuli, but it was made to move away as quickly as possible instead of letting the user linger in the same spot.

n

"Well, let's just try this...

" Foster muttered slightly, as he activated the silent step martial skill. He could feel his body grow lighter, as he started to move according to the silhouette that was practically guiding his body, as if pulling him into the right position.

nBut the moment that Foster tried to move in this new way, his foot slid over the ground and he nearly did a split.

n

"This is way harder than it looks...

" Foster grumbled slightly, before trying again. But this time when Foster moved, he instead overcompensated, pushing his foot too strongly into the ground, causing him to fall forward, making him slide over the gravel path he was standing on.

n

"Fuuuck!

" Foster groaned loudly,

"This would be so much easier if Thiodrus was here to teach me... urgh...

"

nAfter pushing himself off the ground, Foster entered the stance once more. Again and again, he tried to use these techniques, but it never actually worked. Every time, Foster either just fell straight forward, slipped, or the technique broke up when he tried to prevent either of those two thing from happening.

nSoon, Foster heard a bit of a chuckle from nearby. He turned his head, and saw a young woman, sitting on a nearby bench, watching Foster try to use his silent step.

n

"New at martial arts? What is it you're trying to use, silent step?

" She asked, and Foster turned toward her with heavy, exhausted breaths, and slowly nodded. This woman seemed to be a sort of martial artist as well. But she was wearing a different sort of martial arts uniform. He could recognize it as such, but he really didn't recognize the sort of uniform it was, though.

n

"Yeah, what about it?

" Foster replied, and the woman rolled her eyes,

"Does a swordsman really pick up a real sword for his first ever training session?

"

n

"...What do I know, I'm not a swordsman.

" He said immediately, and the woman chuckled,

"That's not what I was getting at, but you have a point. Anyway, what I'm trying to say... get used to the movement without using the martial skill first. Get the muscle memory up and running, and then try again, but slowly. Learning martial arts is a long and tiring process, you know?

"

n

"I guess that makes sense.

" Foster sighed, scratching the back of his head,

"Well, thanks for the tip. You got a name or something?

"

n

"Of course I do. You dumb or something?

" She scoffed in response in a mocking tone,

"It's Sofia, what about you, newbie?

"

n

"Foster. But sorry, I'm not really the type to talk while I'm training, so I'd prefer some silence.

"

n

"Right, right, go ahead. Didn't wanna disturb you. You just looked pretty pathetic like that.

"

n

"Lady.

" Foster said with a wry smile, looking at Sofia perplexed,

"Don't you have anything better to do?

"

n

"Nah, not really. So go ahead, I need some entertainment.

" Sofia replied immediately, as Foster let out a deep sigh. He was irritated as is. This sort of person really didn't help with that either. But well, at least she did give him a good tip.

nFor now, Foster took on the stance again, ready to move around according to it. He could feel the silhouette moving around, and let his body follow in a way that felt natural, just that he wasn't using that hard-to-control martial skill this time around.

n