As Langgrin spoke, he walked over to a pile of junk in the training area and picked up two Wooden Swords.
He tossed one of them to Colin.
"Alright, let's try sparring. Use any method you can think of to block my attacks, or at least try to minimize the damage you take," Langgrin said.
The Dwarf held the sword in one hand and slowly approached.
Colin studied his opponent. 'Considering the Dwarf's height,' he thought, 'it would probably be a good idea to pay more attention to his lower body.'
As he thought this, he mimicked a pose from the movies, raising the Wooden Sword and pointing its tip at the Dwarf's face.
"An interesting stance." Langgrin gently placed his Wooden Sword on his opponent's weapon.
Colin tried to disengage his weapon.
The moment he moved it slightly, the Dwarf twisted his wrist. The Wooden Sword in his hand struck like a coiled snake, flicking Colin's weapon away before he lunged forward.
'Is this a bind? What should I...'
While Colin was still thinking about how to react, he felt a sharp pain in his throat.
The blow made him double over, coughing violently.
Needless to say, in a real fight, that would have been a fatal blow.
"Find the most and least defended parts of your body." Langgrin took two steps back and said, "In a fight, you can't possibly dodge every attack—not even an Elf who's lived for centuries can do that."
Colin nodded and assumed the same stance as before.
'Effective or not, at least this pose gives me a small sense of security.'
Seeing that Colin was ready, Langgrin suddenly brought his other hand to the hilt, gripping it with both hands. He then swung upwards violently, striking Colin's blade. The Dwarf's immense strength easily shattered his defense.
Colin only felt a numbness in the webbing of his thumb as a black shadow flickered in the lower part of his vision.
Just like last time, before he could even react, Langgrin's Wooden Sword was at his throat.
After stepping back two paces again, Langgrin said, "You humans who haven't worn Heavy Armor all have the same problem—you love to block attacks with things. But of all the steel on your body, your weapon is the easiest piece to lose control of. A Shield is only slightly better."
'So he means I should try to use my Armor for Defense as much as possible?'
Colin understood what he meant.
The two pieces of Armor he was wearing only protected his torso, arms, and lower legs, yet the Dwarf kept attacking his throat...
With a plan in mind, Colin took his stance again.
This time, Langgrin once again swung his Wooden Sword to bind Colin's weapon.
With their Wooden Swords entangled, it was difficult to tell if his own weapon could block the opponent's attack.
Then, in a flash, Colin saw Langgrin take a step forward.
'Now's my chance!'
Shouting inwardly, Colin forcefully thrust his left shoulder forward and up.
With a dull THUD.
He felt a jolt in his left shoulder. His opponent had struck him there. Protected by the Armor, the blow was still powerful, but the pain was nothing compared to being stabbed in the throat.
Langgrin said, "Well, you may be a slow-learning lummox, but you've finally made some progress."
"Then let's go a few more times. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it." Colin took his stance again.
「One hour later.」
The training session was finally coming to an end.
Colin placed the Armor he had taken off in a corner of the room.
He straightened up and swung his arms, his whole body feeling much lighter. It was as if every cell, once suffocated, had regained the right to breathe.
During that time, Langgrin had also taught him how to get up and the proper breathing rhythm while wearing Armor.
It felt similar to jogging intermittently for several hours—truly exhausting.
But obviously, it was all worth it.
Colin looked at his Panel.
Sure enough, beneath the "Casting" skill bar, a new line had appeared: "Dwarf Armor Technique (Beginner) 1/500".
Colin breathed a sigh of relief.
'Those five Gold Coins weren't wasted after all.'
On their last outing, if it hadn't been for the Specialty he gained from his Casting Skill leveling up at a critical moment, he and Kase would have had a hard time winning.
It was obvious that if this Dwarf Armor Technique Skill leveled up, the resulting Specialty would undoubtedly be very useful.
If the money he'd earned recently had solved his immediate rent problem, then learning this Skill was like adding another possibility to his future.
To him, these Skills were his livelihood.
Whether he could move into the Inner City in the future depended on accumulating these small gains.
Besides, compared to the simple word "Casting," "Dwarf Armor Technique" sounded much more powerful. This was likely the exclusive art of these Dwarves. Perhaps at a higher Level, it would be stronger than an Ordinary Armor Technique.
There was no time to lose.
Filled with anticipation, Colin immediately allocated all the Skill Level points he had gained from his previous quest into "Dwarf Armor Technique," instantly boosting it to 151 points.
The sensation was the same as before.
A series of memories of himself training in armor suddenly flashed before his eyes, so vivid it was as if he had actually gone through more than half a month of training.
"In our city, even three-year-old runts have to learn how to wear armor. I really don't get you humans. How do you manage to fight off things like goblins and Orcs like this?" Langgrin's nagging voice came from behind him again.
Colin turned and said, "Thank you."
Langgrin was taken aback. "For what?"
"For teaching me with such dedication."
"You give us herbs, I teach you things. That was the deal from the start," Langgrin said irritably. "You're making it sound like I owe you something. Alright, today's training session is over. Get going!"
Colin then asked, "Can I use this training ground in the future?"
"Just find the Dwarf at the entrance to come with you each time. Now scram, go find your Half-Orc friend."
Langgrin impatiently led Colin back to the main hall.
Kase wasn't causing any trouble. And the member of the Hundred Eyes Gang was just sitting quietly at the table, staring at the Black-haired Dwarf in the main seat.
Seeing his companion return, he looked up and asked, "Everything okay?"
"I'm fine," Colin said with a smile. "I thought you might have fallen asleep."
"I once went two days without sleep for a deer. Don't underestimate me!" Kase stood up.
Donkexes added, "Don't forget our agreement. What you learned today is our art, and only we can teach it to you."
"As long as the favor you ask doesn't mean sending me to my death, I'll help."
With that, Colin turned and led Kase out of the hall.
Several Dwarves sat around the table.
After a moment of silence, Langgrin said, "We really got the short end of the stick this time."
"What do you mean?" Donkexes asked.
Langgrin frowned and continued, "This human whelp learns fast... Honestly, he's more talented than many Dwarves.
It's like he's watched a lot of people fight. Even though he doesn't understand many things, his reactions are quick. Is this why you humans were able to take over the Surface? Is every human this gifted?"
After a pause, he added, "But this is good, too. If we fail, at least our ancestors' art won't be buried with us."
"We will succeed. Right now, we just need money."
The Black-haired Dwarf quietly emphasized, "The only thing standing between us and success is money."