Shirou and Ghislaine's fight began almost silently.
Neither side moved right away, keeping calm and still.
The Swordsmen watching were also holding their breath. They knew if a fight didn't happen soon, it would be like the quiet before a storm, but once they started fighting, it would be a lightning attack with no pause.
"Okay, I'm going in!"
Ghislaine announced, suddenly getting into a fighting stance.
In an instant, she seemed to disappear from sight. Her speed was too fast to see.
Shirou couldn't see Ghislaine's movements either, but that didn't stop him.
He had fought many opponents he couldn't keep up with before: the Dragon God, the Sword God, and Ghislaine. Their speed was far beyond his Sword Saint level, making them impossible to deal with normally.
But after fighting strong opponents like these, Shirou learned that he didn't always need to see their movements.
Even unseen attacks can be dodged!
"Snap!"
Ghislaine appeared behind Shirou like she teleported.
Whether Shirou wore the Sword God's armor or not, he couldn't match her speed.
But Shirou had a plan. As Ghislaine got close, or even before, he backed away, rolling awkwardly to dodge her light-speed sword.
"Oh?"
Ghislaine was surprised.
She thought Shirou would block or parry her sword, maybe even use some magic she'd never seen.
But she never expected him to dodge her sword directly, so simply, like he just barely rolled away from the blade.
Ghislaine couldn't accept it, thinking it was luck. She attacked again with blinding speed, but Shirou dodged again.
This time, everyone watching, not just Ghislaine, was stunned.
They could see Shirou's movements were slow, slower than even a normal Sword Saint.
Yet he was dodging the Sword King's attacks with such slow movements.
Many Swordsmen couldn't believe it, suspecting Ghislaine was holding back.
But that didn't make sense. Her sword energy and killing intent were obvious. No one could think she would miss on purpose, just enough for Shirou to dodge.
If Ghislaine could do that, she wouldn't be a Sword King, but a Sword Emperor or Sword God.
So, the Swordsmen had to admit Shirou was using some special method to dodge the Sword King's attacks despite being weaker.
But this didn't improve their opinion of Shirou. It made it worse.
He hadn't shown any real skill with the sword. His magic to break Nina's sword and these surprising dodges weren't what a good Swordsman should be doing. They couldn't respect or approve of it.
"So, this is your growth, Shirou."
But Ghislaine looked pleased after another missed attack, impressed with Shirou's performance.
She still didn't know how he was predicting her attacks, but she knew he must have worked hard to do it.
And he had. Shirou could dodge the Sword King's attacks not just because of his Mind's Eye skill, but also because he remembered how the Dragon God fought. He noticed the Dragon God had a unique fighting trick.
The Dragon God seemed to use all his senses, not just his eyes, to watch his opponent's movements.
This was clear because the Dragon God easily dodged all of Ruijerd's, Eris's, and Shirou's attacks without looking directly at them.
After realizing this, Shirou tried to copy the Dragon God's movements.
He had been doing this ever since their fight.
At first, Shirou struggled to judge attacks by feeling instead of sight.
But with the Mind's Eye skill as a base, and his growing familiarity with different fighting styles, he gradually learned to use his other senses to judge his opponents' movements.
With this skill, he could catch a Sword God Style Swordsman's attack without looking, and even predict Ghislaine's deadly strikes with his Mind's Eye.
Shirou called this an improved Mind's Eye, a combination of Servant Emiya's Mind's Eye and his own experience, greatly enhancing the skill.
"Crack!"
After dodging another attack, Shirou swung his sword.
Because of the armor, his sword speed wasn't even Longsword of Light level, barely a Soundless Sword.
But he timed it perfectly, blocking all of Ghislaine's movements, forcing her back.
"Thud!"
Ghislaine wasn't hurt, but she was pushed back by Shirou's sword.
Everyone was shocked, unable to understand how Shirou did it.
"..."
Shirou silently held his Dragon Sword of Beauty and Grace, staying tense and alert.
He was right to be careful.
Ghislaine was pushed back, but with her Longsword of Light speed, she quickly attacked again.
And because her attacks couldn't hit Shirou before, Ghislaine used her full power, unleashing hundreds of attacks in an instant.
The wide-ranging attacks covered the entire area, locking Shirou in!
Facing this, Shirou calmly raised his Dragon Sword of Beauty and Grace and took a Water God Style stance.
"Mirror Calm Water!"
Shirou's movements were slow, but sharp.
He was now copying the Water God Reida, who he had fought briefly. In that fight, Reida showed him the Water God Style secret art.
Shirou's Tsubame Gaeshi was easily stopped by the Water God's secret technique, making it like a windless place.
Shirou had never forgotten the Water God's sword, often repeating her movements when alone.
At first, he couldn't copy her exactly.
He wasn't familiar enough with the Water God Style, so he didn't improve much.
But after fighting the Dragon God Orsted, Shirou understood the Water God Style better by watching the Dragon God's similar movements.
The Dragon God was just copying the Water God Style secret.
It was hard to take apart the original, but it was much easier to take apart a copy.
Especially since the Dragon God didn't use any fighting spirit or magic when showing the Water God Style secret, just pure skill.
It was like a master showing every step of a top technique with basic moves. Even a slow person could understand after seeing it, and Shirou was good at copying.
The Dragon God's clear demonstration helped Shirou understand almost instantly, and he learned the Water God Style secret.
Now, against Ghislaine's fast sword skills covering the entire area, Shirou used the Water God Style secret, the Still Water Sword, to counter!
As the storm-like sword skills burst out, Shirou simply swung his sword.
But that one sword seemed to catch all the attacks from every direction, forcefully stopping the storm!
Making it disappear!
"Still Water Sword?"
Some knowledgeable Swordsmen recognized Shirou's sword skills and were confused. They didn't expect to see the Water God Style secret in the Sword God Style dojo, the Holy Land of Swords.
The moment he used the secret technique, many Swordsmen realized Shirou was at least a Water Saint, no matter his Sword God Style skill!
A Water Saint coming to take the Sword Saint exam made them feel strange, and they looked at the Sword God in the distance.
They thought the Sword God wouldn't allow a student from another school to challenge his dojo and would kick Shirou out.
But the Sword God was smiling, not upset at all.
This left everyone confused.
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