Chapter 104: Indirect Approach, All Useless (Muda)
While listening to the class halfway through, Raymond proactively approached Arthur and struck up a conversation, "This Honedge of yours has really high comprehension! Its potential must be quite good, right?"
Ever since the earlier misunderstanding, he had been paying close attention to this miraculous young man who had subdued a Honedge.
Moreover, what he said wasn't entirely flattery just to make conversation; it was genuinely the truth.
Honedge had only been listening for a little over half an hour, yet it had actually already faintly grasped something.
At this moment, it was suspended beside Arthur, its sword tip pointing straight up vertically. Its sword body slowly rotated on its own axis, and faint white energy halos flowed indistinctly across the surface of its blade.
It had actually managed to touch the threshold of the "Swords Dance" skill in just this short amount of time!
Regarding this, Arthur's expression was peculiar; for a moment, he could only stiffly nod in agreement.
"Hehe, yeah. It's alright."
Honestly speaking, this was actually an accident.
He himself hadn't expected it at all.
Earlier at the Ghost Tower, he had truly just walked into that partitioned section and randomly grabbed the Honedge closest to him, giving absolutely no thought to picking and choosing.
Because originally, his purpose was simply to find a 'sword' that could enhance his own personal combat power. It was sufficient for this sword to possess the basic attributes of slashing and hardness.
He had originally already thought that even if the Honedge he caught hadn't learned any skills, it wouldn't matter; he could teach it using a crash course method.
Who would have known that only upon receiving the Pokémon data card provided by the Ghost Tower did he realize: he had actually unintentionally picked up a treasure.
Just as Raymond had said, this Honedge's potential was quite good; its attributes in all aspects were very top-notch.
When Arthur accepted it, it had already learned on its own "Tackle," "Fury Cutter," "Shadow Sneak," "Autotomize," "Aerial Ace," "Metal Sound," "Slash," and "Night Slash"—a total of eight skills.
This skill reserve was already more impressive than many domestically raised Pokémon that had undergone specialized training for a long time.
And this was achieved in the unsupervised, free-range environment of the Ghost Tower.
This fully demonstrated its high level of comprehension.
At that time, Arthur, looking at that data card, was also momentarily stunned.
Perhaps this too was the work of fate in the unseen realm.
It was precisely because this Honedge was very strong and very proud that it could stay in the position closest to the section entrance for so long without being chosen by anyone.
Unfortunately, its pride ultimately still attracted the grasp of fate.
So, as they say, fate works in mysterious ways...
However, even after knowing Honedge's potential, Arthur hadn't paid too much attention to it previously.
A sword, the most important thing is to remain distant from emotion!
Ahem, speaking in human terms, what he valued more was obedience, as this was something to be held in hand during combat.
But Honedge seemed to have different ideas about this.
Before long, Honedge changed from 'comprehending while self-rotating on the spot' to continuously moving around Arthur like a flying sword.
"What is it doing?" Raymond asked curiously.
Arthur initially didn't understand either.
It wasn't until he used the Poké Ball's mental link to communicate with Honedge for a while that he finally understood its thoughts.
Simply put, Honedge had now switched its approach, deciding it should take the path of 'achieving salvation through indirect means.'
Earlier in the training room, having been frightened by Celebi through a coincidental misunderstanding, it had completely extinguished the thought of confronting its master head-on.
So, it thought: Why not just strive to prove my own value? Prove that I also have the ability to fight independently, that I can fight without being held!
Now, it was actively demonstrating its capabilities to Arthur—
Look, I can learn "Swords Dance" soon! I also know "Autotomize"! When the time comes, I'll pre-buff myself with these two states, then follow up with "Aerial Ace"!
When facing enemies, my sword strike will be like a startling swan goose! One slash from the west, taking the enemy's head from a hundred meters away! Then I'll use the return acceleration effect of "Aerial Ace" to quickly withdraw! A flowing shadow of a flying sword, repelling enemies with my blade!
It has both killing power and style, isn't it beautiful?
However, it was a pity that despite Honedge striving to paint such a vivid picture, Arthur remained expressionless the entire time.
When Raymond asked him what Honedge was doing?
He only replied with one sentence.
"Nothing. It's Dreaming about something impossible."
Saying this, his hand shot out like lightning, once again grasping Honedge's hilt. Ignoring its struggles, he forcefully swung it twice in the air, slashing out a cross shape, which finally made Honedge quiet down again.
Regrettably, he wasn't interested in Honedge's proposal.
Arthur needed to enhance himself, not show off on the battlefield.
Controlling a sword to repel enemies—it looked cool, yes. But Arthur felt that if they truly encountered an enemy that even he himself couldn't defeat while personally wielding the sword, Honedge's "Aerial Ace" going up would likely be purely feeding the opponent a kill.
What damn use is being cool then!
Although there is a saying: Being strong or not is only temporary, but being cool or not lasts a lifetime.
But when you are truly strong enough, your 'temporary' period can be repeated many, many times. Whereas if you are only cool, your 'lifetime' might end up being very, very short...
Arthur had always been a pragmatic person.
Therefore, he was a 'power gamer' who didn't care about appearances.
Honedge's idea of an indirect approach was now completely useless (Muda). Ultimately, it still couldn't escape the fate of being held...
Perhaps in the future, its efforts might enable it to help Arthur repel enemies and achieve victory on the competitive stage.
But that was all talk for later.
After its attempt at finding an alternative path still went down the drain, Honedge was filled with grief and indignation. It courted death once again by wrapping the ribbon from its hilt around Arthur's arm.
"Careful!!"
The moment Raymond saw this scene, he quickly yelled out in fear, not even caring about interrupting the Grandmaster's lecture.
However, the result completely overturned his expectations.
Honedge's encounter was exactly the same as before.
The moment their souls clashed, it felt its master's will was like The Great wall of China, unimaginably tough.
This time, it couldn't even manage to suck a single sip...
Honedge simply wanted to cry but had no tears.
This person... is so bad, so bad! After playing with me, he won't even give me a sip of energy...
Before long, Honedge's thoughts all turned to gray ash; it powerlessly let its ribbon droop.
Forget it. I'm tired. Let's just leave it like this...
Thinking about it from a different angle, being a sword is actually quite good...
Outsiders naturally couldn't see his emotional changes. Raymond only saw that one moment the ribbon from Honedge's hilt had fiercely wrapped around Arthur's arm, pulling the sleeve tight and wrinkled.
But the very next second, this Honedge unprecedentedly took the initiative to release its grip, giving up on absorbing energy.
"This..."
This scene simply overturned his perception of reality.
For a moment, he could only assume—
"This Honedge of yours... the bond between you must be truly deep! This is the first time I've seen a Honedge so considerate of its master. It must have followed you for many years, right?"
Arthur turned his head and glanced at him with a peculiar expression.
At this time, Raymond still hadn't fully grasped the meaning behind Arthur's glance.
It wasn't until past six in the evening, when the Grandmaster's course concluded and the students began to disperse one after another.
Arthur and Raymond happened to leave a bit later and lingered for a moment.
Right at this juncture, a young woman who looked particularly energetic bounced into the backyard. The moment she entered, she impatiently started complaining to Raymond.
"Bro! You came back to Lavender Town, how could you not tell me! If the Grandmaster hadn't told me you came to ask for guidance again, I wouldn't even have known you were back!"
However, halfway through speaking, she suddenly froze, her mouth gaping open, her gaze shifting to stare fixedly at Arthur standing nearby.
"What's wrong?"
Raymond, noticing his sister's abnormality, asked.
"You-you-you! How come you're here too? Oh my heavens!"
"Bro, this person is the super ridiculous person I told you about on Wechat this afternoon! Look at his Honedge! Quick, look at his Honedge! That's the one he just bought this afternoon! And the result was, he could instantly hold it unharmed right on the spot, and even swing the sword to use skills!"
In that moment, Raymond's expression completely petrified.
"You said... that Honedge was... he just bought it this afternoon?!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
Hiss!!
(End of Chapter)
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