The Legend of Zelda - Union of Evil Powers Ch 29

The Legend of Zelda: Union of Evil Powers

Chapter 29: New skills

The next day, Link and the Seven Sages have resumed their training in Clock Town after they visited the Great Fairy of Magic in North Clock Town whom had healed their injuries which had not healed (completely) over during the night, revitalizing them to continue their training. Going back to the Swordsman's School, the instructor then approached the group, presenting dummies while also having a sword of his own with him.
"Your skills with the sword are improving swiftly, but are you truly ready to learn the techniques that will come in great use?" The Swordsman said.
"Everything we can need or use to bring peace back to Hyrule and Termina and beyond will be helpful." Link said.
"You have a courageous heart, young lad. I can see that you and your friends will stop at nothing to achieve your goals in your quest for peace and prosperity. Then these special, advanced sword skills will come of great use. Use them well and make your enemies tremble in fear!" The Swordsman said as he set up the dummies around, with Rauru and Darunia helping.
The others watched, their blades ready as they waited for instructions. Even Impa decided to pick up some new skills of her own in this.
"Now, learn quickly and learn well, for the cost of failure is death." The Swordsman then said as he stood in the center with his own training dummy.
The group watched as he cast a magic spell to animate the dummies, yet kept them docile for the time being.
"Enemies that are filled with energy will quickly recover and continue to attack, even when stunned by a powerful strike. To prevent this, the secret technique known as the Ending Blow will cease these attempts before they can do so." The Swordsman said, before demonstrating this by first knocking his dummy down and finishing it by jumping in the air and plunging his sword into the dummy's chest by using a down-thrust, ceasing the dummy's movements as its magic power ceased to exist, giving the perfect illusion as if he had killed an actual enemy using this.
The group who were wielding this watched with their full attention, intending to make good use of this technique in order to bring their most hated enemies down.
"Now, put what you have seen in practice to learn." The Swordsman said, stepping back to give room for the group to perform the Ending Blow themselves.

After a few minutes, the group managed to get used to and performing the Ending Blow technique flawlessly, before the Swordsman replaced the damaged dummies with new ones.
"Good, very good. You have mastered the secret technique known as the Ending Blow. But now it is time to learn more." He said as he prepared his own dummy.
Link, Saria and Zelda were equally determined, ready to follow the instructions right away. Then the Swordsman spoke again.
"No matter how well-tempered a blade is, if a foe is clad in armor and bears a shield, the sword will do it no harm. When facing such a foe, you must thrust your shield against the defenses of your enemy, causing the fiend to recoil. This technique is known as the Shield Attack." He said, demonstrating it by letting his dummy attack him, only for the Swordsman to bash his shield into the face of his dummy, making it recoil and stunning it.
This in particular caught the interest of Link, as he had previously used his shield only to deflect and reflect projectiles and, when he had the Mirror Shield, light or magic, but he never thought the shield could be used as a weapon in a way too.
"This Shield Attack can also help in deflecting incoming attacks that may threaten to pass over your shield." The Swordsman said, before leaving the group to practice this again.

As the group was training together in their new skills, Cremia and Romani prepared themselves to deliver another cargo of milk towards Clock Town, locking the gates towards their home and the barn as well as shutting the gate to the ranch, where two Guards had taken on their position to guard it. As the sisters went underway, Romani discovered the Circus Leader's Mask in the wagon, deciding to put it on for the trip, unaware that it showed a crying face. As they were underway, they were once more forced to take the detour across the Gorman Brother's Race Track, but as the Gorman Brothers went in pursuit, they spotted the Circus Leader's Mask, which in turn made them unable to attack due to the emotion that the mask showed affecting them, much like how Link tricked them before during a similar trip he made with Cremia to defend her cargo.

"Two techniques are learned so far," The swordsman said after another few minutes, "but there is still much to learn. If you can successfully learn five more techniques here, then you will receive something good."
Nabooru wondered if the techniques she learned here could eventually be combined/mixed with existing ones to add variation to it, making them more formidable. She mused that this could be put to the test once the group departs for their main objective and destination.
"While the Shield Attack may be useful to stun enemies, it is useless against those enemies who rely on a full set of armor on their bodies for defense and not just a shield. Such enemies may put the focus on defending against frontal attacks, but in turn leaving their backsides wide open. This is where the Back Slice comes in; roll past your enemy and strike the enemy from behind." The Swordsman said, demonstrating it by targeting the dummy, rolling around it so he ended up directly behind it and delivering a jumping slice to stab the dummy in the back, with the group watching on in interest.

Cremia and Romani managed to pass through the Gorman Race Tracks without problems, their cargo still intact. This in turn made Cremia very proud of Romani, hugging her sister in gratitude.
"Thank you, Romani, you did good today." Cremia said, smiling at her sister after the latter put the Mask away for good measure.
"No problem. Romani is happy to have helped big sister." Romani replied, still referring to herself in third person, being happy.
"Let's go back to the ranch after the delivery's done; I'll make a surprise for you tomorrow." Cremia said.
"Yay, Romani's happy!" Romani said, cheering happily while Cremia looked on in amusement.

“You are doing very well in mastering the skills,” The swordsman said about 30 minutes later, “but remember that this is only the tip of the iceberg.”
Link nodded, being ready as the swordsman set out another dummy.
“It is impossible to circle around and perform a back slice against fully armored enemies that move swiftly in combat. Against such foes, you must first use a shield attack to make them flinch, but then quickly leap into the air over the enemy's head and greet them with your blade by immediately striking from behind.” The Swordsman said, knocking the dummy first in the face with a shield attack, before jumping in the air over it and striking the dummy’s head in a vertical flipping motion, landing behind it which in turn gave him a possible chance to attack from behind.
“This is known as the Helm Splitter.” He said after getting up, leaving the group once again to learn it.

Reimu and Leia helped the remnants of the Hyrulean Army to rebuild and repair the destroyed or damaged homes during the attack on the Village of Refugees that led to the capture of most of its inhabitants, while also setting up a more reinforced wall around the critical parts from where the enemy could invade, using Scouting Parties to raid the Forest Outpost which was cleansed from enemy presence by Link and the Sages before, effectively re-arming the villagers and the soldiers to give them a more decent fighting chance. Another thing was that, whenever there was time, the Gerudo and the Hyrulean soldiers were training together to be more efficient in combat. This in turn made the Gerudo present abandon their initial policy that all men, except for their King, were useless completely; while Link did gain respect from the Gerudo in his own stead, this was now a more generalized stance as the Gerudo had no problems with bringing the males up to speed to be more efficient, while also giving the wives and mothers or other women present in the village pointers to defend themselves and their children for one, although they did understand whenever someone was too old or too injured to even do such a thing; instead the Gerudo still took care of them as if they were one of their own. This in turn showed more than enough proof to the villagers that these Gerudo were far different from Ganondorf as a whole; where the normal Gerudo only did what they needed or had to do in order to survive, Ganondorf was way more cruel by stealing from women, children and even killing people, something that was against Gerudo standards as a whole. However, due to Gerudo laws stating that the only male Gerudo born should be automatically their king, the Gerudo had no choice but to obey his will, no matter how much they disliked what he was doing. Now that they had more freedom to voice their own opinion, they openly told the villagers they would rather have the King of Hyrule as their ruler as opposed to Ganondorf, effectively forsaking their ‘official’ leader for someone who is more honorable, wise and above all more respectable, something that the villagers could appreciate.

“You’re picking up on the skills better than I expected. Now it is time to master the more harder skills.” The Swordsman said after another half an hour, as well as after allowing the group to have a break, giving the swordsman time to set up the latest training dummies.
Link and Zelda both smiled, feeling that they have made quite the progress. Saria wiped some sweat from her forehead, but was ready nonetheless.
“The ways of the sword are known to many creatures, and some have strengthened their guards against shield attacks and back slices. Should you encounter such a foe, the mortal draw that I am about to teach you is most effective. You must sheathe your sword and cast aside the most basic of sword skills, the targeting or focus on an enemy. You must wait until your foe is upon you... Then, before the enemy can see through your ruse, you must quickly draw your blade. There is no defense for this. The mortal draw deals death.” The Swordsman said, demonstrating it by letting its dummy attack him while he apparently did nothing, before drawing his sword and stabbing the dummy in a blink of an eye, effectively startling the group, adding to the effect of the skill itself.

Sakon finally exited his hideout after being sure no one was nearby again, before moving back towards Ikana Valley, hoping to get the last things he needed in preparation for his work. Once it was done and he has the two he’s been looking for, he would make his move to lure them into a trap and get rid of them so they won’t interfere with him ever again. He didn’t care how long it would take him, as long as he got rid of the pest that has been spoiling his plans for far too long, he was happy. As far as he was concerned, if his plan worked out the way he wanted, he would have no more pests to deal with and be free to continue his path of theft without anyone ever bothering him.

The Swordsman smiled after he observed the group eventually managing to succeed in the mortal draw, feeling that it was time to put another skill forward. As he gained the groups attention after a few more minutes, he spoke.
“One of the basic sword techniques is the jump attack. It inflicts great damage, but none would call it effective against multiple foes. To perform the jump strike, prepare a jump attack, but focus power in your blade. The surge the blade releases can strike all enemies around you.” He said, showing it to them as he into the air, swung his sword left and right to knock any enemies in his path, and then slammed his sword into the ground, creating a shock wave that knocked down all the dummies within range.

Meanwhile, each of the Kokiri still mourned the apparent loss of both Link and Saria, being unaware of their resurrection and the events thereafter. It was in a way for the better as this in turn gave them more reasons to remain in hiding, knowing what the enemy has done to their friends in general. So the group of Kokiri decided to hide inside the remains of the Great Deku Tree, which was fortunately cleansed from enemy presence by Link before. Some considered going in the Lost Woods, but decided against it as they still remembered what would happen to a Kokiri if they would get lost in the woods, hence they remain inside it as they saw it as their safe haven.

“You have at your disposal the basic sword technique known as the spin attack. You now have in you the ability to magnify the power of your spin attack, giving it an even wider striking range. But you can’t use this Great Spin if you are weakened enough by the enemy.” The Swordsman finally said, demonstrating this by channeling his own magic power and generating a wider spin attack, slashing the dummies who were about a meter or two further away, giving him more room to attack in as a whole.
This interested Link even more, as he already knew the Magic Spin Attack, but now he could use the Great Spin to enhance that too, much to his delight. This would give him an even wider range of his spin attack and make it more devastating in general. Once more the group was instructed to practice this technique on their targets, which they did with great vigor. Darunia and Rauru both were impressed at the progress the group made, each of them making use of their respective blades as they continued.
“Now, be ready to put all of your newly-taught skills to the test against the last dummies I’ll be sending in. Show me how well you have mastered those new skills.” The Swordsman then said, sending more animated dummies in the room, each with training blades and ready to attack.
Link and his friends who participated in this saw them and got ready to continue their training this way.

Ganondorf and Majora in the meantime prepared their forces in the area between Snowhead and Ikana Canyon for the potential arrival of their enemies.
“I never thought this place was this big…” Majora said.
Ganondorf chuckled.
“Then this is the perfect place to send our ‘friends’ to. While they are doing their best to avoid a one-time deal of lava baths around here, we’ll spring forth our invasion of Termina and add its territory to our own land, so we can take it over without problems. The longer the group is held up here, the better.” He said.
“It’s only a shame we couldn’t kill the other Sages before…” Majora said.
“Hm. It’s only a setback, but knowing them, they would have found a way to get resurrected anyway. I don’t know how they have done it, perhaps by making an appeal to the Goddesses or somehow finding someone capable of doing so… which is why we have to be sure that they will be stuck here for as long as possible.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“Besides, this way we will be more than ready for them if they try to enter our domain. We will make sure that our latest stronghold will be the hardest for them to penetrate. Besides, the technology these Terminans have at their disposal have also gained a bit of interest, perhaps we can try to do something with it once we find out what use it can be for us. Perhaps we can use it for a mining operation to get resources for better weapons for us for example.”
“You really have been thinking things through, have you not?”
“With the threat that those eight pose together, we’d better not take any chances.” Ganondorf said.
Majora saw the logic in this as he continued to work on making the enemies stronger.
“I also saw a temple at one side of a t-junction in the lava river…” Majora then said.
“You have? What does it contain?” Ganondorf asked.
“On first sight, nothing. With the right equipment, everything is accessible, but no actual treasure of any sort…” Majora said.
“Hmmm, that could be very useful to make an additional diversion…” Ganondorf said, smirking as he had gained an idea, “let’s head for that temple for a moment and place some of our minions in there…”

After about an hour or two, the Swordsman finally ended the training session for the now-exhausted group, who were sweating like never before, but still standing.
"Very impressive. You have shown me the skills that you know before and have mastered the skills I have taught you. You have completed this Advanced Sword Skill course." He said, before handing out official certificates to the group to give them proof that they have passed the course.
"All that is needed is to write your names on it." He said.
Nodding, the group proceeded to write their names on their respective certificates using the writing tool that the Swordsman gave to them, being the feather dipped in ink, which in turn signed and sealed the certificates, making them official.
"Take this and the knowledge you have gained with pride, knowing that now you will have a greater arsenal at your disposal to best your enemies. All that is left to improve is yourself." The Swordsman said.
Link understood this, knowing that the Swordsman meant that they had to keep training in order to keep their skills fresh and polished and not waning them over time, even in times of peace.
"Thank you, sir. We are happy to have been able to follow your course and we will make sure that these skills will be of our aid in our quest." Link said, bowing politely.
"Good, very good. May your journey be a safe one." The Swordsman said, before the group left, obviously to relax after such a rigorous training session, that taught them a whole lot of new stuff.
After exiting the building, the group chatted along, deciding to move back into their room in the Stock Pot Inn to rest up.
"Whew, that was quite the training session." Saria said.
"I'll say; I never thought that this course even existed; last time I trained there was simply cleaving all the logs he popped up for me clean in two..." Link said.
"Well, you never know what people might learn over the course of a year or so..." Zelda said.
"That's true. Perhaps we could pass it on to our descendants over time to honor him..." Link said.
"That's a great idea. That way we hopefully can make the Hyrulean army more versatile and perhaps even more formidable..." Zelda said.
"What do you mean by that?" Impa asked.
"Well, while most of our men fought bravely during the invasion as well as guarding the refugees, I couldn't help to spot a few soldiers who showed actual acts of cowardice or incompetence during battle. While I can understand that one can be frightened when put against such fearsome creatures, that's no reason to do acts like abandoning comrades or acting like total idiots in combat..." Zelda said.
"Hmmm, you think such a training course could be of benefit for our army in general?"
"Exactly. We could also use men who can show responsibility to be in charge of a group of soldiers and make them train to become battle-hardened for when they have to go to battle in order to defend our country. Perhaps Link can help with this..."
"What can I do?" Link asked.
"Perhaps you can give the soldiers or commanders some pointers in how to properly defend themselves against enemy attacks, what do you say?"
"I'm deeply honored to be chosen for such a task. Although most soldiers may show a bit of disdain towards me considering my age and size, though." Link said.
"Heh, you can just show them exactly what you're capable of," Zelda said with a smile, "you practially form the proverbial backbone of the group with your courageous demeanor. Besides, while you have no trouble in taking on numerous enemies by yourself, you can't be in multiple places at once and/or you may need assistance from anyone, like your friends." Zelda said.
"Point taken. Once this is resolved and we've ensured that both Hyrule and Termina have made a full recovery, we'll bring the Hyrulean Army up to speed to make them even better and hopefully improve their overall competence and skills." Link said, nodding as the group entered the Stock Pot Inn towards their room.
"I'm glad we're thinking on the same level." Zelda said.
Impa smiled, finding it a correct decision to give the Hyrulean soldiers a bigger spine for when it comes to defending their home, their land and those they care about. No matter the odds, they should at least be able to do whatever they can to give that level of protection, even if it is to buy time for their beloved ones or their (wounded) comrades to make an escape if it's necessary. Besides, with these skills in hand, the Hyrulean Army can be made more diverse if each of them learns a different skill so nobody has the same set or all of them, unless they wish to give one specific skill a greater focus, but want to keep the others in hindsight, just in case.

Once back in their apartment, Link decided to take a bit of a rest; the training still left his muscles a bit sore as he did overexert them a little bit, laying down on his bed after putting his equipment at the foot-end of his bed, before he was out like a light. For what appeared to be the first time in a while, the Sages could see an expression of actual peace and calmness on Link's face as he slept, as if he was at ease and (hopefully) without nightmares. While this left the Sages initially to move to the other side of the room to try and continue to discuss their plan, they soon discovered that Saria was not among them, only for a few seconds later to spot her laying next to Link, also sleeping, finding Zelda there as well right away.
"Well, I suppose we all rest up together..." Darunia said coyly.
“Well, we’ve had a busy day after all, so it’s only for the best.” Nabooru said as she yawned.
Impa smiled as she decided to take a nap herself as well, while Darunia opted to settle between the beds to keep an eye out on the whole group, while the others rested up on their beds. The Goron Leader knew that they would have some tough times coming up ahead in the following days, so it was only for the best to rest up now…