As usual, Fern and Stan returned to the woods outside the city early in the morning, and this time, with the exception, Rhodes followed them slowly on horseback. br />

"You don't need to be so early, there is no auspicious time to practice swords, drag me up early in the morning. Rod was annoyed that Fern had ruined his dreams. "I've just returned to Deville, Fern, and you should be considerate of my old bones. ”

Hearing Rod say this, Fern suddenly wondered how old he really was. "Rod, you should be the same age as Byron and Elonhan, right?"

Rod rolled over and dismounted, tying the reins to the nearest tree. In the early morning, the air in the trees was unusually fresh, the sun had not yet fully shone in, and the damp fallen leaves covered the ground. "Yes, the difference between us is no more than five years, Byron is the oldest, and then me, Elon Han is the youngest, and ......" Rod didn't continue, he found a quick clearing and commanded the two juniors, "Come, clean up the fallen leaves here." ”

Fern and Stan didn't care, tethering their horses to the trunk of a tree, quickly clearing a clearing and waiting for Rod's instructions.

"Let me see what you're capable of, Stan, you come first" Rhodes pulled his sword from his waist, and Fern recognized it as his original sword, but it must have been rebuilt in the blacksmith's shop.

Stan nervously walked up to Rhodes and drew his sword and held it in his hand.

"Don't leave room for anything, give it your all. A relaxed smile appeared on Rhodes' face.

Stan yells and suddenly rushes at Rhodes, exerting all the strength of his body on his hands, and swings his sword hard.

Rhodes stood still until Stan's sword was so close to his head that it was only an arm's arm, and the warrior quickly took a step to the left, dodging the sword, and before Stan could withdraw his sword, the counterattack began. Rod slashes a piece sideways, and Stan hastily steps back to dodge, but before he can hit the ground, Rod's shoulder is already in front of him, and he slams into Stan's chest. The knight took the blow hard, and before he could breathe, Rod's sword was already raised. Stan quickly raises his sword to block the attack, but he moves too early, and Rhodes changes his moves midway, swinging the sword to the left when he is still some distance away, dodging the knight's raised sword, and then lifting up from the knight's right side, hitting him right side in the ribs. Stan hastily redirected his sword again, trying to defend against the bottom-up attack, but Rhodes swung his sword upwards again, once again avoiding the two swords, and when he rose to the same height as Stan's shoulder, he suddenly snapped towards his neck, and in an instant, the sword was on his shoulder, only inches from his neck.

The knight lowered his sword and smiled self-deprecatingly. "I lost, and I was convinced. 2.8.Chinese-Text.Net"

Rod withdrew his sword and calmed his breathing. "Tell me, where did you lose?"

"I guess it's the first sword, and I haven't fought back since then. Stan habitually touched his shaved chin perfectly.

"That's right, your first sword did its best, so it showed too much of a flaw, and I waited until the last moment. Remember, the later you make a move, the bigger the opponent's flaw, because he has no time to take the move. Rod stuck his sword in the ground, moving his wrist.

"I seem to get it, and then I reacted prematurely to your successive attacks, so you kept changing your tactics and made my defense useless every time. Stan tapped his head in realization. "This is indeed my weakness, I have to cultivate it well. ”

"Your perception is still very high, Stan, and besides, your strength is your strength, you should maintain your advantage while strengthening the other aspects, and ......" The wrinkles on Rod's face came together with a smile. "Your style is a bit like Byron's, and most of Il's knights are like that. ”

"Yes, the Doyle people advocate the suppression of power, and we are naturally tall and big, so this style has been formed. Stan scratches the back of his head a little shyly.

"Okay, you take a break. Rod turned to Fern. "It's your turn, Ferne. ”

The mercenary walked up to Rod, grasped the scabbard in his left hand, and did not draw his sword, but looked at him warily.

"Do you want to defend?" As soon as the words fell, Rod stared at his feet, and the whole person rushed towards Fern, and the blade of the sword pointed directly at the mercenary's face.

Fern's eyes widened as he watched Rod's movements, but Rod's speed was so fast that Fern didn't even feel that he was slower than Elonhan. There was no time to dodge, so Fern had no choice but to raise his sword, and the two swords collided violently.

Compared to Rod, Fern did not have the upper hand in terms of strength, but after a stalemate for a while, he was gradually at a disadvantage. In the end, the mercenary had no choice but to use all his strength to jerk his sword upward, and at this moment, he flipped to the left side and dodged the sword.

Rod didn't chase him, but stood there and watched him. "I dare say that you must have lost a lot in this first round of sword fighting, and you yourself can't count it. ”

"How do you know?" Fern stood up and set up his stance, thinking of the experience of fighting Morris and Elonhan, both of whom had been on the back foot from the start.

"If I had chased after you, you wouldn't have had another chance to turn the tables around. Rod smiled lightly. "One more time. "The fighters rushed again quickly.

Fern changed his tactics this time, and instead of waiting for Rhodes to rush over, he met it himself, and the two swords touched each other again. After only a moment's effort, Fern immediately drew his sword back, moved his right foot a step, shifted to Rod's left side, and slashed down from the top left. Rod only took a slight half step back, his sword slicing just two fists away from him. Before Fern could completely withdraw the sword, Rod's sword had already arrived in front of him, and the mercenary hastily lifted the sword upward, blocking the blow with difficulty, and the two swords collided again. Fern once again pushed his opponent off and stepped back, but Rhodes still chased after him, forcing Fern to fight his sword with him every time. Finally, Fern was exhausted, and in the last sword fight, the sword in the stone was directly shaken down from Rhodes' hand, and the opponent's sword edge came to him.

"I lost. Fern massaged his wrist. "Hell, my hands are so numb that I can't hold a sword. ”

"What did you learn from the fight?" Rod withdrew his sword and plunged it into the dirt again.

"You've caught on my weakness, I'm not as strong as you, and I'm too passive to defend. Fern shrugged.

"Yes, Fern, every time you fight someone else, it's always the one who strikes last, and I know you're trying to see the flaws in the other side, like I did with Stan just now, but don't forget, some people see your flaws in the first blow before you see their flaws. Rod walked over to his mount, took the water bladder from his pannier, raised his head and took a sip.

"So what the hell are we supposed to do, I lost the first attack, but the Fern defense also lost. Stan can't find the trick and is in a hurry.

Rod threw the water bladder at the knight. "Don't worry, Stan, take a sip first. When Stan also raised his head and took a few gulps, Rod smiled and continued. "Sometimes, you don't have to play to guess the opponent's weaknesses. For example, you, Stan, I know you're Doyle, so I'm guessing you're power-oriented, and Fern, I don't have to guess that he's characterized by being a preemptive striker. ”

"But what if we don't know who the other person is? Besides, even the Doyle, there are exceptions, and what if you happen to meet a Doyle who doesn't play his cards according to the usual sense?" Fern took a drink from his pannier.

"What I just said is only the simplest identification method, in fact, it is much more complicated, these can only be figured out by yourself after fighting with various swordsmen, simply put, this is experience. Rod winked mysteriously at the two. "Alright, I'm going to teach you a way to identify first, for example......" He thought for a moment, then looked at the mercenary. "Tell me, Fern, what did you think were Elonhan's strengths and weaknesses when you first met him?"

Fern recalls the scene. "He's fast, he's not bad, and he's got long hands and feet, and he's got a long sword, so he can always hit me before my sword comes into range. ”

"These are the advantages you are talking about, but what about the disadvantages?"

Fern held his chin and thought for a moment, then gave up. "He doesn't seem to have a disadvantage......"

"How can there be no inferior man unless he is God. Rod looked at the mercenary disapprovingly. "In fact, Elonhan's weakness is as obvious as his strength, which is that the hands and swords you just said are long. ”

Seeing that neither of them spoke, Rod looked at him suspiciously, smiled and shook his head. "You still have too little experience, I really have to teach you well, otherwise you will definitely not be so lucky to survive from a swordsman of Elonhan's level next time. The warrior motioned for Stan to throw the water bladder over, and the knight did so, and Rhodes poured another sip of cold water. "Since he can easily attack targets from a distance, then on the other hand, he has no way to deal with opponents who are very close to him, understand?"

Both of them suddenly came to their senses. "You're saying I should try to get as close to him as possible and not give him a chance to get away?" Fern struck the key.

That's what it means. Rod nodded in satisfaction. "In fact, that's how I beat him back then and got Oberon. ”

"And how did you defeat Byron?" Stan asked, curious.

"Let's talk about this next time, we have time. Rod walked over to a dry clearing and sat down. "Take a break, I'm old, not as good as I was back then. ”

Fern sat down beside him. "It's amazing, Rod, I can't believe you've beaten Byron and Elonhan. ”

Rod raised his head and looked thoughtfully at the branches and leaves on his head, the sun was already shining on the branches of the trees in the heights, the breeze was blowing, and it was another good day. "I've been wondering if it's worth it to win this sword, I've won it but I've lost something else, and those two guys have lost it and they've got even more precious treasures. ”

"What did they get?" Stan sat down on the other side.

"Byron got the whole country, and Elon Han ......," Rod sighed heavily. "He won the heart of my beloved, Adeline. ”