Day 9

Thomas raised his sword over his head in a fit of panic, just in time for his blade to receive the blade of his charging opponent with a resounding clang. He put his entire weight into blocking that blow, and yet the overwhelming **** not only knocked his his blade off course but made the old sailor stagger back as well.

He was facing a swordswoman about half a foot taller than himself, dressed in a light-blue jumper barely containing breasts far too large even for her broadshouldered frame, and which fit her trim, slender form snugly all the way to below her hips. None of this, nor the calm and gentle even bored expression perpetually on her face, did little to distract from the intimidation imposed by her horns, tail and feet; all of which were those of a bull's, as was the charge by which she flew at her opponent now that his sword was offline.

"Aeek!!" Thomas turned to avoid the thrust, sidestepping as he raised his sword so as to intercept any direct attacks that could conceivably follow. The bovine woman raised her sword for another devastating blow. This time Thomas prepped his palm behind the flat of the blade as he presented it before his opponent's strike. When it landed, he definitely felt it. The strike reverberated throughout his body, but he was able to stand his ground. Unfortunately his opponent simply swung past the sword even as it was blocked, as if turning around it. The blade merely brushed across his eye and cheek, leaving a shallow scratch across his face.

"Eeeh!" The old sailor recoiled, but felt no pain. Instead a tingling numbness spread across the area where the wound would be, followed by hot ,throbbing sensation. Before Thomas could regain his bearing, the bovine woman stepped to the side and slashed at him from a position where he would be unable to defend. Thomas turned to face her the moment he realised what was going on as he swiped his sword left and right haphazardly in a vain attempt to catch her blade by luck. His blade might as well have been a mile away when her sword ran across his chest in a clean cut.

Once again, he felt no pain. All he felt was his strength lifting form his body. His legs folded as if they had suddenly turned into boiled noodles, and he fell flat to the ground.
That did hurt. A lot.

As Thomas was lying sprawled on the ground in a groaning mess, he found his sword had dropped from his hand in the tumble and slid away far away from him. He reached his hand towards it and tried to shuffle himself closer, only to be pressed down by one of the bull-woman's hoofs. He looked up to see the triumphant monster girl holding him down with her hoof on his chest as she sheathed her longsword into a scabbard hanging from a belt tied around her hips. Thomas couldn't see her face from this angle, apart from her green eyes peering out from behind her breasts, but he just knew she was smirking haughtily.
From behind the makeshift arena in the clearing, Simon was clapping enthusiastically, "Nice work, Thomas. Four seconds before getting pommelled.... That's a new record!"
Thomas grunted as he glared at Simon, "This time I was really going to get her... I had her exactly where I wanted... Just my hand slipped."
The minotaur girl smiled as she brushed away her long, wavey black hair with white highlights, "I like this one... You mind if I take him with me?"
Simon shook his head as he rolled closer, "Not a chance. We found him first."
"Figures..." The minotaur shrugged, reaching her arm out to Thomas. He grabbed hold of her hand, and she hoisted him up to his feet, "Can you stand upright, Lil-Tommy?
"I think so." Thomas took a step. His leg trembled, but he managed to hold balance, "Thank you so much, Rosie. Next time I'll get you for sure."
The minotaur girl giggled, "You're welcome to take a shot at me any time you like, Lil-Tommy. For now, I need to keep going. Famnaria's waiting for me."
Simon extended his hand, "Good luck with that, Rosie. And thank you so much for sparring with my little pupil."
Rosie took his hand and shook it with a faint smile, "The pleasure's all mine. Swordsmanship is a passion of mine after all."

Thomas extended his hand towards Rosie as well, "Take care, Rosie. And when you get to Famnaria, make sure to go to the Neko Cafe. They've got quite some amazing... Whoa!"
When Rose grabbed his hand she pulled him close towards her, pressing her chest against her head. She wrapped her slender but strong arms around him, picked him up and twirled, "I'm gonna miss you the most. See to it that you take care of yourself, m'kay?"
She let Thomas go, who staggered back quite startled, but gave her a polite smile, "Heh! That goes for you as well!"

Rose turned around and walked away. She looked over her shoulder and waved, her hips swaying as much as her tail as she walked away.
Thomas and Simon both waved back.
"Don't get too big a head now," Simon said, "It's all the clothes, Thomas. Red colours drive holstaurs insane... Quite literally. Really, she was restraining herself all things considered."
"Ah, I see... " Thomas said, "So, now that she's away... Tell me how bad I really stunk out there."
Simon looked up towards Thomas, "Your form and technique are improving quickly. That much is true. But you simply need to play a more active roll in the combat, or the opponent will quickly mow you over."
It wasn't a coincidence Thomas had grown so quickly. Once again he had found a use for his **** collar, and commanded himself to follow the forms as closely as possible. He learned that if you use the collar to command someone to mimic a movement, they will mimic it far closer than they normally would be able to. Like that he was able to commit the movements to his muscle memory.
Similar tricks had been used to study magic, and improve his spellcasting as well.

"Oh, I certainly noticed that." Thomas replied, "I'll tell you what though, they never charged towards each other like drunken cavemen in the dramas!"
Simon laughed, "I think swordplay never really turns out to be exactly what you expect, Thomas. But in the dramas they never had demonic silver weapon, so it's not quite an accident either."
Thomas cocked his head, "Does that matter? I mean, a sword is a sword, right? Sure there may be good swords or bad swords, but will it actually change how you're supposed to fight?"

"Yes, Thomas." Simon said as Thomas bent down to pick up the sword, "There's a great difference precisely because demonic silver swords aren't lethal weapons. When fighting with swords against an enemy who wants to kill you, you don't 'win' if you kill your opponent one hundredth of a second before he kills you. You win if you can incapacitate your opponent while keeping yourself intact. It's really more about self-preservation than it is about massacring the enemy before you. As such, the sword techniques in the human realm are designed with the idea that your opponent will be defending themselves. But that's precisely because humans typically don't use demonic silver weapons."
"Present company excluded, I presume." Thomas laughed.
"Actually, it's called white silver when monster slayers use them." Simon winked, "See, demonic silver don't pose a lethal threat. They can't. That means as soon as your enemy finds out you're using demonic silver, they will charge at you with no concern for their own safety, just to get in that one good hit. That means if you both end up skewered, your enemy will live to fight another day, while you will start bleeding out on the ground."

Thomas's eyes spanned open, "...Now forgive an old sailor if it sounds like he's backpedalling, but that sounds like a serious flaw! And I thought a non-lethal weapon sounded like such a good idea!"
"It's not just a good idea, Thomas. It's vital in a world of mamono who do not wish to end a human life. All we need to do is learn how to deal with more aggressive techniques. And since aggressive techniques are what we need to practice against, naturally it's part of the curriculum for demonic silver sword."
Thomas snapped his sword back into its sheath, "Which is why it's so brutal, right? Forgive an old sailor for being so vocal, but I do feel that is quite appropriate."
Simon laughed, "Definitely it's more fun this way."

A shadow cast from above soared past both of them. Afterwards Ofelia glided from above, landing on a tree-branch and seated herself on it with crossed legs.
"How was your first encounter with a holstaur, Red-boy?" Ofelia snickered.
Thomas turned and looked towards the succubus who just arrived, "As a matter of fact, she was a perfect gentlewoman."
"Would it be best to say lady or gentlewoman in this context?" Simon asked.
"Considering that she was in fact a gentle woman," Ofelia jumped from the branch and soared safely to the ground, "I'd say gentlewoman sounds perfectly adequate. Glad to hear it though. So who won?"
"Well..." Thomas scratched the back of his neck.
"He got totally wrecked." Simon interrupted, "Wasn't even close."
Ofelia laughed, "Don't worry, Thomas. You'll get the hang of it eventually. At least by now you should be good enough to take on any normal human."

Thomas's frustrated expression turned into one of surprise, then into a smile of satisfaction, "W-what? Really now?"
Simon sighed, "Yes... That's how incubi work... But Ofelia, you're not supposed to tell him that. How else is he going to find his motivation."
"Oops!" Ofelia covered her mouth with both her hands, "Sorry, dearie. I just can't help encouraging people."
"Don't worry." Simon said, "That's why I love you."