Chapter 14 – Hopscotch of the Demon King

『Now, once you are flexible enough we shall begin the ladder training. Now, I shall provide a demonstration.』

Saying that, Tre’ainar lays the ladder to the ground. ¹

The Great Demon King’s training finally begins.

That is……

『Now, first stand before the ladder then step in the square grid between the ladder’s scaffolding…』

“Ah…”

『Jump quickly while aligning both feet and move forward. Jump straight. Do not step on the ladder, step in it, and land only within the squares.』

…… The Great Demon King jumped forward all Totototo with both feet together.

『Then, you carry on as such.』

“O-Osu…”

『When you’re done, return to the first point, and then move forward with your legs aligned and jumping left and right. The trick is to jump with both feet and land on both feet. Do not land to a single foot alone.』

Once, the legendary Great Demon King who made the world tremble jumped back and forth with both feet.

『Next, one leg and the other, and then open both legs and jump a third time. Next is the other side, so, repeat the opening and closing, Hopscotch, Hopscotch, with a proper rhythm.』²

“O-Osu…”

He had driven mankind into the depths of fear and was intoxicated by the cries of tragedy and blood. The brutal and outrageous Demon King is playing ‘Hopscotch’.

『And this time, Hop, Hop and quick…』

”….. o-oh… but…”

No, no, I’ll be cursed to death if I laugh now!

『Out, in, out, in, out, and slalom with both feet…』

“O-Osu.”

『Next on one leg, slalom.』³

However, this is the Great Demon King shaking his ass and zigzaging♪

『Skipping, one, two, three! One, two, three!』

“Bu, Gur, u… hehehehehe…”

Skip Run dance ♪ of the Great Demon King!

『Are you motivated or are you nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooottttt!!!』

“No, it’s not…”

『And yet your attention was led astray!? Hehehe, do laugh!』

And so, Tre’ainar’s patience finally ran out.

『You said you would take this seriously.』

“I, I know! I’m going to do that…”

No, I understand. It’s no use getting angry at my behavior when you’re diligently teaching me how to be my true self.

However, when seeing that Great Demon King skip and Hopscotch in front of you, laughter is inevitable.

I might be the first man in history to witness the Great Demon King skipping.

『Honestly… All right? This ladder training is not only a warm-up, tis effective for improving basic skills!』

“Is that so?”

『Yes! Tis apparent I need to explain the effects first.』

Having said that, while I was a little blushing and angry, Tre’ainar taught me the effect of this strange thing.

『With this ladder training, we can train your ability to quickly step, stop and turn, and even slow down, turn back, and accelerate. Do you know what that means?』

No, let’s ignore the previous skip. I won’t ridicule him anymore.

Now, I’ll earnestly give it my full attention.

Improvement in functionality can be obtained according to the words of this Tre’ainar…. That is……

“Does that mean I’m going to use my body better?”

『To be more precise, it is to increase the reaction speed of nerves and muscles.』

Nerve and muscle reaction speed? I get it, I don’t get it.

『Humans and demons both transmit commands from the brain through the nerves to muscles… Good reflexes mean that the transmission response speed between brain, nerve, and muscle is fast. This ladder training, slowing down, turning back, and accelerating in a narrow, limited space, doesn’t work if the instructions are not communicated to the muscles efficiently, even if the brain knows it.』

“I… see”

『By coordinating the brain, nerves, and muscles, you can move your body as you please, faster and more accurately, and as a result, your motor skills improve. Furthermore…… the faster your reaction speed … the faster your magic is triggered.』

“Hah!?”

It was quite interesting and frustrating.

It seemed to be a silly discipline, but now that you say that, I felt that it would be effective.

Moreover, will magic will be faster?

『In combat, tis common for your body to be unable to keep up with your mind. Gaps and time lags that the body can’t keep up with the image thought by the brain may be the difference between life and death on the battlefield. To fill that gap and move as imagined in the mind. This is “the technique that can be acquired”. With that in mind, take this ladder training seriously.』

Move the body according to the image drawn by the mind. However, I was convinced that it was surprisingly difficult.

With a vague image of my father’s sword, I kept swinging my sword. For me who never had a clear image of what I wanted to do, this training method is totally unheard of.

“I see…somehow, I’m beginning to understand.”

『Hmm, Then, continue! One, two, three! One, two, three!』

” O-One, two, three!”

『Speak up! Learn the rhythm first by speaking out! Engrave it on your body! Don’t be shy and raise your voice! HopScotch! HopScotch!』

“O-Osu! Ho, Ho, HopScotch! HopScotch!”

『Raise your arms properly, knees high, maintain a fast and steady rhythm, and KEEP.A.SHARP.PACE!』

I mean, if you take it seriously, this is surprisingly difficult and hard, isn’t it?

Moreover, depending on the step, if you try to do it quickly, it becomes awkward, your body collapses, or you step on a ladder.

Sure, this might improve the functionality like Tre’ainar says.

『OK, as you get used to it, let us gradually increase the difficulty level. I shall instruct you on what steps you will take from the outside.』

“Osu. You mean I’m going to have to do exactly what I’m told?”

『Of course, that’s not all. I will indicate steps and… also direct the magic attributes.』

“What? Magic……?”

『Precisely. Simply apply a little basic magic at your fingertips. When I say ‘fire’, all you have to do is light a small flame. However, you will activate the magic of the indicated attribute at the same time while doing the steps as instructed from now on.』

This time it’s not just the steps, it’s also magic? Well, if only basic magic is enough, what will it do?

『Then proceed, cross-step with lightning!』

“Oh, cross, oh, that? Whoa!”

『Slow! Next HopScotch of the wind.』

“Gu, HopSco- Aah!”

『Something wrong, why is there no magic? Next, Carioca of the wind!』⁴

“The wind, all right, get out, uh…”

『No, do not stumble!』

…… No, hey, this…

“W-What is this, so difficult!”

If I try to step, I can’t release my magic, and if you try to activate magic, I can’t step.

And, Tre’ainar is smiling as he expected that I would have a hard time is this situation.

『Naturally. Step while doing something else. Magic while performing another task. That is, to attempt separate tasks simultaneously uses considerable nerves and disrupts the reaction. Those who are untrained are biased towards one action or the other.』

“Bias… Or…”

『For instance, with you and a lady’s bosom… Consider this, could you study magic mathematics while admiring her breasts? Would the breast not deprive you of your concentration rather than calculation?』

“O-Okay, that’s easy to understand… Sure…”

『Tis the same. In addition, the style of 【Magic Sword】 is essentially established by balancing both sword and magic.』

He gave me a very easy-to-understand example that suits me, and I was thoroughly convinced.

And it’s true of the Magic Sword that I’ve been imitating.

『Tis possible to simply imbue magic into your sword before the battle and swing it around, but… while waving a sword, tis difficult to quickly and flexibly adapt the magic according to the situation. However, if you can acquire this, the quality of movement in combat will be dramatically improved, and the accuracy of magic will increase a well. The more accurate it is, the better the quality and power of magic.』

The more you listen the more you hear, I realized how shallow I was without thinking about what I’ve done so far, and at the same time I understand how much this seemingly silly training is worth.

“Amazing, ladder training… It’s impressive.”

『Yes, this is the 【Magical Ladder】 training that I devised!』

Despite the name, I had no choice but to be honestly impressed.

If I can do this properly…

『Do you understand? This warm-up is to be done every day from now on. If you get used to this, you should be able to see a slightly different landscape in battle.』

“Osu!”

『Then, skip the wind!』

For the first time in my life, I performed the skip- run dance in order to get seriously strong.

Author’s Note

Everyone, I am always indebted to you. I’m going to post early today because I’m up.

Thank you to those who always report typographical errors because my writing is childish.

I’m rereading it before I post it myself, but it’s very helpful because there’s something missing by all means.

Thank you in the future.

And today’ overall rating exceeded 10000. I am grateful for the fact that I was able to break through one line and to have met many people through my work.

Also, I’m basically able to put my impressions and comments into everyone, so please come and see me if you feel like it. Twitter is also fine.

So, thank you in the future.

[S1]Holupaminit! Shouldn’t he be unable to do this? He’s a ghost!!!

[S2] Hopscotch is a popular children’s playground game in which toss a small object onto a pattern of rectangle outlines on the ground and then hop and skip through the spaces to retrieve the object.

[S3] Slalom is a side by side pattern of movement in order to avoid approaching obstacles!

[S4] Carioca is a variation of the Brazilian Samba dance. So he may be referring to a particular step in the dance that is often used in training drills.