—Raios and Humbert have probably learnt swordsmanship from a private tutor since they were young, but even I've hit that Gigas Cedar two thousand times daily for seven years back in Rulid Forest. I might not have enough pride, but I definitely have self-esteem. ...Well, I wasn't waving a sword around though, but an axe. With those thoughts in mind, he stopped in front of the logs meant for self-practice, standing beside the wall on the west side. These were replaced as well, at the same time as the floor, with barely any dents on their surfaces. Holding the wooden sword made from platinum oak in his two hands, he took up the basic middle stance and regulated his breathing. "Tsh!" He swung down the wooden sword from overhead with a short yell. The thud of a heavy impact rang out and the log with a diameter of thirty cen quivered to its very core after being hit on its right. Feeling the pleasant feedback from his hands, he took a step back and swung the sword down from the left side this time. Next, the right side, then the left again. After striking it for as many as ten times, everything then vanished from his cognizance aside from his own body and sword, and the log as well. The practice Eugeo went through each night was to execute these downward swings from left and right for a total of four hundred times. He did not carry out any revision for the complex styles taught during the day exercises, like those that Raios and company were doing earlier. This was because his partner, and mentor as well, Kirito, said that there was no need for it. —In this world, what's important is to put something into your sword. When teaching Eugeo swordsmanship, he tended to voice that out. —The «secret moves» of the Norkia-style, the Valtio-style, and our Aincrad-style are powerful. After all, you just have to understand the activation method and the sword will partially move all by itself. However, the problem lies before that. The number of matches where secret moves will go against secret moves, like when I fought against Uolo, will likely increase from now on. In that case, the rest will be determined by the weight behind the sword. Weight. Even Eugeo understood that it was not a word that referred simply to the weight of the sword itself. The one who Kirito had fought against, Uolo Levanteinn, put the self-esteem and heavy responsibility from being born in a family that instructed the Knight Order in swordsmanship into his sword. The senior that Eugeo served for a year as his valet, Gorgolosso Baltoh, used the confidence from the body of steel he had trained. The student that guided Kirito, Sortiliena Serlut, used her expertise in the techniques that she honed. And lastly, Raios and Humbert had converted their pride as upper class nobles into the weight of their swords. Then, what should I put into my sword? Eugeo had asked without thinking and Kirito then replied with his usual smirk. You would have to find that out yourself, he said. But perhaps he thought that saying that alone was too irresponsible, as he continued on; you won't be finding it even if you do style practice the whole time. That was the reason behind the earnest striking practice Eugeo repeated day after day while on the journey towards Centoria, and even after gaining admission to the Sword Mastery Academy. Because all Eugeo had, as he was neither a noble nor a swordsman, were the years of experience sincerely swinging an axe in that forest south of Rulid.