The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 146: Blacksteel Longsword

Finally, after some thinking, Lucian picked up a longsword for the start, as he couldn’t just use all of them from the beginning.

[Blacksteel Longsword]

Rank: A Rank

Description: Forged from dense blacksteel known for its abnormal durability. The blade lacks elegance, yet survives battles that would shatter ordinary swords.

A weapon valued by veterans who trust reliability more than beauty.

— — —

The dark blade gleamed faintly under the moonlight, its surface swallowing the glow instead of reflecting it, making it difficult to see under the night sky.

Though that didn’t apply to Lucian or Valentina—both vampires with night vision. The darkness did nothing to obscure it for them.

Lucian held the sword in his hand crudely, visibly lacking any elegance in his grip, though he didn’t care about that right now—not like he was expecting himself to swing it like a veteran.

Across from him, Valentina too had chosen a similarly simple longsword from the rack—its silver blade completely contrasting against the black steel sword in his hand.

“You did a good job picking a longsword,” Valentina said in approval.

A sword, especially a longsword—or even a bastard sword—was a good option for someone training with blades for the first time, as it offered greater mobility due to its double edge and its length.

“But…” she suddenly added, lowering her gaze to the hand he was using to grip the hilt.

“You’re left-handed?” she asked calmly.

Lucian’s brows furrowed faintly at the unexpected question.

His left hand had been his dominant hand since childhood, and it hadn’t caused any problems until now.

“Is that a problem?”

Valentina lightly shook her head.

“No, it isn’t. In fact, it even gives you a bit of an advantage.”

Most fighters were trained to anticipate right-handed opponents, so someone who naturally fought from the opposite side could easily disrupt that rhythm, giving them an advantage—though that advantage would start to fade when facing more experienced opponents.

“Anyways… forget about that for now.”

Valentina shifted her stance slightly, adjusting her grip on her own blade, while Lucian’s fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword.

“Come at me…”

Lucian didn’t wait for anything else.

The moment those words left her mouth, he shot from his spot, running in her direction with a speed still unfamiliar to his own body.

His eyes twitched slightly as his footing shifted wrong, his balance faltering due to the sudden increase in speed.

But quickly regaining it, he then closed the distance and slashed directly at Valentina’s position.

Clang—!

Valentina easily blocked his attack with her own blade, her expression remaining unchanged—calm, almost indifferent.

“Learn to balance yourself before you fight,” she muttered quietly, pushing his blade away with minimal effort.

But the force behind it was enough for Lucian to stagger back a few steps, his feet scraping lightly against the rough ground as he recovered his balance.

His grip tightened instinctively around the hilt as he went again, striking once more.

Clang—!

And once again, she blocked it effortlessly.

“Hold it properly,” she said, her tone sharpening slightly.

“It’s a weapon, not something you swing around like a toy.”

That line made his expression twist faintly before he charged again.

Valentina’s expression remained unchanged as she redirected his blade and threw him off, simply standing her ground as he came at her again, striking from every possible direction.

Lucian’s arm trembled faintly every time their blades struck, feeling the weight of the impact even though she was merely defending herself.

But he didn’t stop, and time began to pass as Valentina corrected his form again and again—every time he made a mistake, every time he rushed at her again.

Time stretched, and over half an hour slipped away without either of them even knowing.

Lucian’s breathing grew slightly heavier before returning to normal under his fast regeneration. Sweat had gathered faintly on his brow, but he did not stop.

All this entire time, Valentina hadn’t taken even a single step forward, making him even more frustrated.

It felt like she wasn’t even taking him seriously, even though he knew that wasn’t the case.

“You’re just trying to attack me,” Valentina said suddenly, drawing his attention back to her.

Lucian paused for a brief moment, a faint crease forming between his brows.

Wasn’t that exactly what she had told him to do?

Valentina, seemingly noticing his confused, dumbfounded expression, clicked her tongue.

“Have you even been trying to learn anything?” she asked.

“Or have you just been swinging at me like some wild, untrained animal?”

Her words sharpened, almost sounding harsh, as if taunting him… but Lucian didn’t focus on her tone.

But after hearing her words, his expression slowly went still.

Yes.

That was exactly what he had been doing.

Attacking her without even trying to correct his mistakes properly, only doing so when she pointed them out, without even recognising them himself.

His eyes lowered slightly, settling on the blade in his hand, still shining faintly under his grasp.

Slowly, his expression subtly changed, and almost instinctively, his fingers adjusted. Remembering how Valentina had been holding her own sword, he corrected his grip on the blade.

Valentina smiled inwardly as she saw him raise his head, looking at her with a faint, different shine in his eyes.

Immediately, Lucian moved again, this time running far more smoothly than before.

The instant his blade was about to hit her, Valentina smoothly raised her sword, blocking it at the exact moment it was about to make contact.

Then the air around her grew slightly heavier, and with a push, she shoved him forward.

Lucian was thrown back before immediately getting up again.𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

But the instant he raised his head—

She was already in front of him.

A blade came directly toward him at an unnatural speed.

His pupils dilated, and he immediately tilted his head sharply.

Shhk—!

It sliced through the air where his face had been a fraction of a second before.

Then a sharp, tearing sensation hit the side of his head.

Because he couldn’t entirely protect himself, the blade sliced through his ear, cleanly severing it from his body.

Lucian instantly rolled sideways, one hand gripping the injured side as blood dripped down his neck.

But he bit into his lip to stop himself from making a sound, focusing only on Valentina, who stood calmly before him.

Then a sadistic smile curled on her lips, revealing her sharp white teeth.

“The beginning phase is over. Let’s start your real tort—training.”

Lucian felt a sudden shiver, and before he could even react to her words—

She moved, immediately appearing before him within a second, her sword coming down in a smooth arc.

Lucian immediately withdrew his hand and blocked her attack with his sword, his arms trembling under the violent impact, almost causing his grip to loosen.

Valentina didn’t stop.

Her wrists shifted, and she moved again, attacking him from every direction. Her speed was almost enough to leave him disoriented as he had to give his all just to block her attacks.

And out of the ten attacks he received, every single one left him with some injury, the pain accumulating again and again without any respite.

“Uh…!” Lucian groaned, biting into his lip hard enough to draw blood as another impact tore through him.

Then he saw his arm cleanly sliced off, severed by Valentina’s blade.

As he raised his head, his gaze fell on his severed arm in her free hand.

After a second of looking at it, she casually tossed it aside without even glancing at it—like it was nothing more than trash.

Her blade shimmered faintly under the moonlight, his blood coating its surface, while his own sword remained completely clean by comparison, save for a few chips that had formed along its edge from being wielded by his untrained arms.

“Again!” she shouted suddenly, her voice cutting through the air as she dashed toward him once more.

Despite having only one arm, Lucian gave it his all, dodging and attacking.

Within seconds, his arm regrew, though that didn’t change anything.

Time passed in pain, torture, and muffled groans as he fought with everything he had, his breathing growing heavier even after regenerating again and again.

Valentina wasn’t simply vanishing from her spot, and Lucian could see her movements—she was deliberately letting him follow them so he could learn—but despite fighting at a similar speed, she was effortlessly outfighting him—maybe even playing with him.

As the moments began to pass, his control over the sword gradually improved, changing drastically—enough for even Valentina to raise a brow at the speed of his comprehension.

But that only made her even more excited, even more interested, which, in turn, made her move even faster and with far greater complexity, making him even harder to adjust.

After some time had passed, Lucian decided to try something else, seeing as he wasn’t getting anywhere with the fight.

A small fireball gathered in his palm, but before Lucian—with his poor control over fire—could even fully form it—

“Don’t use your affinities for now,” Valentina’s neutral voice echoed in his ears.

She directly appeared before him and, with a clean arc, easily sliced his hand off—severing it along with the fireball in his palm.

The fireball dissipated instantly, and the severed limb fell to the ground with a dull thud.

She twisted her body smoothly and slammed him away to the rough surface.

“You’ll be learning how to fight physically, so don’t use any affinity.”

Lucian groaned quietly and immediately got back up as the bloodied stump began to regenerate, his arm slowly reforming.

Slowly, he nodded, and the moment his footing stabilized again—

Both of them moved.