Chapter 119 | Bound by Gear, Forged by Power

The afternoon wind was still biting cold, rustling the accumulated snow in the yard.

Matthew drew the shortsword from his waist, his gaze falling on the faint light swirling on the blade—a sign that the 【Melting Slash】 combat technique was ready to be unleashed.

This was also by his deliberate design.

He took a deep breath, slowly circulating the life energy within his body and directing most of it into the blade.

“Phew—”

The sword light suddenly flared as a cold white flash tore through the air, hacking heavily toward the tree stump!

“Bang!”

A muffled sound echoed from the impact.

Matthew's movements were agile, his shortsword transforming into a continuous onslaught. Each strike carried the unique penetrative and vibratory force of 【Melting Slash】, carving bowl-shaped gashes into the large tree before him. The tremors shook the snow from the leaves, sending it rustling down.

The snowflakes were swept up again by the wind of his sword, scattering and dancing in the air.

After practicing for about fifteen minutes, Matthew felt the life energy in his body flow smoother and smoother, and the proficiency of 【Melting Slash】 was also quietly growing.

Suddenly, he remembered the 【Eagle Eye Gaze】 he had used while hunting the mountain giant bear in the forest.

Slowly stopping his movements, he rapidly contemplated the feasibility of his idea.

“【Eagle Eye Gaze】 can greatly enhance my vision and perception, which is of immense help in long-range sniping. But what if it's used in close-quarters combat...?”

Thoughts flashed like lightning through Matthew's mind. “If I can use 【Eagle Eye Gaze】 and 【Melting Slash】 together in combat, I might be able to capture even subtler flaws and clearer trajectories of movement during a fight.”

“This will drastically increase my actual combat capability.”

The enhancement of dynamic vision not only meant he could more clearly capture his opponent's movement trajectories and signs of exertion in close-quarters combat, but it also meant Matthew would have more ample reaction time to respond to attacks.

In addition, this visual boost would also have a significant effect on dodging arrows, projectiles, and other ranged attacks, helping him detect their flight paths earlier and make timely evasions.

It was an attempt that was absolutely low-investment and high-return.

Having weighed the pros and cons, he made up his mind.

Matthew exhaled a breath of turbid air, gathered his focus, and adjusted his breathing, letting the circulation of life energy in his body steady and calm down.

He activated 【Eagle Eye Gaze】 once more. However, this time, instead of pouring all his Spirit and life energy into his eyes, he tried to allocate a portion to maintain the visual enhancement while directing the remaining energy to his sword-wielding right arm to activate 【Melting Slash】.

The initial attempts were quite difficult.

The flow of life energy already required precise control. Trying to simultaneously maintain the visual boost of 【Eagle Eye Gaze】 and charge the sword technique of 【Melting Slash】 was like splitting his mind in two. Moreover, the paths and rhythms of the two energies rushing through his body were completely different.

After several attempts to channel the energy, Matthew felt it clash and clog in his chest, shoulders, and arms. Not only did his vision from 【Eagle Eye Gaze】 fluctuate between sharp and blurry, but the flowing light of 【Melting Slash】 also flickered erratically, making it difficult to stabilize.

Seeing this, instead of being discouraged, a surge of excitement welled up in his heart.

“Although the energy flow isn't stable enough yet, there's no fundamental conflict or rejection between the two. They aren't contradictory, which proves my line of thinking is correct...”

“What I lack is proficiency in controlling the flow of life energy.”

Reflecting on this deficiency, he recalled his experience of channeling 【Eagle Eye Gaze】 in the forest and realized that adjusting his breathing was the key.

He then actively guided his breathing rhythm to coordinate with the flow of life energy in his body.

Under his steady and regular breathing, the previous feeling of sluggishness gradually eased, and the two energies separated in an orderly fashion.

One stream flowed upward to nourish his eyes, maintaining the visual enhancement of 【Eagle Eye Gaze】.

The other stream flowed downward to infuse his right arm, charging the sword technique of 【Melting Slash】. Under his orderly guidance, they began to run parallel without interfering with each other.

As he went deeper into his breathing technique, the energy flow in his body became smooth and stable.

It was as if two streams that had originally interfered with each other had finally found their respective harmonious riverbeds under the guidance of a specific rhythm.

He felt the sluggishness in his chest, shoulders, and arms melt away like ice and snow, replaced by a clear, controllable, parallel flow.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Matthew focused his mind and instantly activated both combat techniques: 【Eagle Eye Gaze】 and 【Melting Slash】!

One stream of energy rose like a clear spring, gently nourishing his eyes.

In an instant, the world before him suddenly became several times “clearer.”

It wasn't a simple increase in brightness, but rather that dynamic details were immensely captured and magnified.

The snow particles gently drifting down in the air were no longer blurry white dots; their falling trajectories, spinning postures, and even the subtle vibrations of their edges caused by the cold wind were all vividly clear and visible in minute detail.

Matthew could even predict their next movements!

Meanwhile,

another, more condensed stream of life energy flowed down the pathways of his arm, pouring into the shortsword in his hand without any hindrance. As it infused the blade, the light of 【Melting Slash】 glowed stably.

Sensing the changes in his body, Matthew was overjoyed and thought to himself:

“My guess was indeed correct; these two combat techniques can run in parallel! This drastically enhances my reaction speed and dynamic vision.”

“This state is more than enough to serve as a crucial trump card... However, the consumption of life energy in this state also far exceeds using either combat technique alone. It must be saved for critical moments.”

“Since this state makes me feel somewhat featherlight and floating, I might as well call it ‘Feathering.’”

Just then,

a gust of cold wind blew, sweeping down a handful of accumulated snow from the treetops. The fine snow particles drifted down slowly like dust.

With the empowerment of 【Eagle Eye Gaze】, the descent of every single snowflake became a slow-motion shot, their trajectories clearly traceable.

Matthew's gaze sharpened as he thought, “Perfect timing to simulate actual combat.”

Immediately, with a slight flick of his wrist, the sword light flashed suddenly, and the tip of his sword precisely swept across several snowflakes on specific trajectories.

The snowflakes he swept past were not shattered. Instead, under the unique vibratory force of 【Melting Slash】, they instantly vaporized in mid-air, turning into a few wisps of almost invisible white mist that immediately dissipated in the cold wind.

He held his breath and focused, maintaining this state of dual energy flow as he continued to practice for a moment longer.

As his movements grew more proficient, the flow of life energy under the dual-track operation also stabilized. Although the rate of consumption was noticeably faster, the improvement in power and precision was immediate and obvious.

He could clearly feel that while maintaining the “Feathering” state,

his combat capability underwent a significant, all-around enhancement.

First, his dynamic vision was significantly enhanced under the empowerment of 【Eagle Eye Gaze】, allowing him to clearly capture his opponent's movement trajectories.

Second, due to the improvement in his eyesight, the precision of his sword strikes also increased drastically.

The combination of dynamic vision and sword control immensely enhanced his close-quarters reaction speed and attack precision.

If he could maintain “Feathering” over the long term and integrate it into his instincts, it would definitely accelerate his training progress in 【Basic Swordsmanship】 immensely.