C - Flowing Barrage Technique

Technique Power Ranking: C

Description: A flexible fighting technique focused on fast fluid strikes done with two or more of the same weapon, used to overwhelm opponents with the continuous series of attacks being thrown at them. It's most commonly used with swords but other weapons can also be used. Some practitioners have even been seen training to use this technique with gauntlets or even their bare hands to unleash a flurry of rapid punches.

Pathways:

Stage One: The practitioner must start by learning to multitask and split their attention across each of their arms, doing one task with one arm while simultaneously doing a different task with a different arm. They must do this constantly over the course of 30 days, making sure that all of their arms experience an equal amount of usage.

Bonus: The user no longer has a dominant hand as they're able to use all of their hands equally well. Additionally their perception and reaction time will also be enhanced by 1.5x.

Backlash: Doing tasks that require only a single arm now feel awkward and harder to focus on.

Stage Two: To master the second stage, the practitioner must learn to swing their weapons in a continuous 'rhythm' where one strike is quickly followed by the next. They must repeat this chain of attacks over and over until they're able to fully get into the 'rhythm' of their continuous attacks.

Bonus: The user's strikes are now 2x faster and become harder to dodge. Additionally, the increasing momentum of each strike will make it so each hit from this chain of attacks will be slightly stronger than the one that came right before it.

Backlash: Each of the user's individual attacks are now much weaker, making them more reliant on constant chains of attacks. Once they've started a chain of attacks, it becomes harder to suddenly stop and block an incoming attack, making them more vulnerable to damage.

Stage Three: To master the third stage, the practitioner must be able to aim their chain of attacks towards a single target, hitting that target with a constant flow of strikes that would leave little room for a counterattack. They also need to be able to effortlessly vary the 'rhythm' and speed of their attacks to make each strike more unpredictable and harder to defend against.

Bonus: The user's natural attack speed would now be 3x faster than normal and their reaction time would be 4x faster to keep up with the speed of their strikes. The continuous barrage of strikes also makes defending against every attack far harder as the chain of hits will eventually break through most defenses.

Backlash: Maintaining this fast barrage of hits requires constant concentration, losing concentration will cause the user to stop and leaves them vulnerable for a brief moment. With the user so focused on attacking what's in front of them, they become especially vulnerable to attacks from behind.

Stage Four: In this final stage, the user must be able to quickly switch targets and attack anything around them while still maintaining a constant chain of attacks. They must be able to constantly attack even while facing multiple threats from multiple different directions.

Bonus: The user's physical strength has increased by 2x. Their reaction time and attack speed is now 5x its normal amount. They'll also be able to more easily fight off multiple foes at a time and be able to maintain a chain of attacks that is very hard to dodge or defend against once they've started attacking.

Backlash: Fighting one-handed becomes near impossible. If the user attempts to fight using anything other than their preferred weapons, they'll be at the skill level of an inexperienced fighter. At this stage, even just restraining one of the user's arms may be enough to severely hinder them.