Victorious Myth: Rising Of The Nike Familia

The journey of victory begins part 2

Sparks flew as swords clashed in the backyard. The training had been going on for almost two hours at this point and Evan was pushing himself as he always did. As they trained,  Wilhelm noted how he seemed to be getting faster every minute, this wasn't something he couldn't deal with but it made him push the young man harder. Evan stayed composed as he raised his sword to block an upper diagonal slash, Wilhelm stepped up his assault with Evan confidently fending him off. It was clear the older man was holding back, but merely from a technique perspective Evan was slightly better. They've trained like this everyday since he was 5, it was a daily part of his life that he always looked forward to. Wilhelm has instilled his vast array of combat knowledge onto him over the years and he's soaked it up like a sponge.

The most important lessons he's ever learned was the importance of being able to see, and to have his own approach to combat. His philosophy is to overwhelm his opponent as thoroughly and efficiently as possible with as little risk to him as possible. Through years of training he's developed a fighting style with such an adherence to fundamentals it only leaves essential movements. Combining this with a combat approach that emphasizes understanding the rhythm, speed, angle, and range, distance of an opponent, he can adapt quickly and overwhelm them with little effort. The one weakness in his approach to combat is that it's less helpful in the face of raw power. Techniques without the power to back them up are useless, hence why he's trained everyday to hone his strong body as well as his techniques. 

Nike and Juno had come out an hour prior and were sitting together on the back porch. There was a cordial atmosphere between the two as they watched the training. Wilhelm shifted to dodge an upward diagonal slash to his right, he countered with a diagonal slash to Andreas' left side. Keeping a standard stance he raises his sword for an upper block, never faltering when his hands stung from the mighty blow. Wilhelm's attacks became blurs of slashes and thrusts that he skillfully dodged, blocked and parried, his silver eyes were calm as he focused. Wilhelm was getting a little serious, and he needed to stay on edge.

The goddess observed with keen eyes. Though this was training she could tell from his movements that he was a very skilled warrior with a high sense for combat. He had very few flaws in his technique and his fighting style was incredibly beautiful. It was a perfect amalgamation of basic skill, but it was truly beautiful with the potential to reach the realm of transcendence. It disappointed her slightly as she wouldn't be able to see him grow as he was already so complete. "Such a beautiful fighting style. His sword swings are so immaculate, I could watch this all day."

"When he was younger he spent time pondering over what fighting means to him. It was Wilhelm's way of helping him find his own approach to combat."

"And what philosophy did he come up with?"

Juno closed her eyes her lips formed a small smile, "Overwhelm his enemies as absolutely as possible with as little risk to him as possible."

This response made her son's goddess chuckle, "And how has that worked out for him? With an approach like that I'm surprised his technique isn't more aggressive. But there's something to be said about having a calm yet fiercely focused way of fighting." Nike spoke with praise, knowing this was in many ways Athena's approach to combat.

"As you can see it doesn't work on everybody. His technique may be superb but he's not touching a level 7 like Wilhelm."

"Naturally. Masterful techniques and tactics without the strength and speed to back them up are essentially useless. I'm sure if he was fighting anyone closer to his level he'd have them on the ground by now. But it's still cute to see him try." Nike playfully commented.

"Admittedly I have seen him dismantle older and less skilled opponents.  I suppose there was some good in him becoming a mercenary."

"I hear you two talking over there. An hour together and you're already talking like you're old friends?"