16 – Cheonma (2)
Edited By Anuvrat
Somehow, he slipped away from death caused by a pierced heart. That’s why the old lady gave him the nickname as promised. However, it’s obvious that if the sword digs in any deeper and gets to the lungs, he will be breathless sooner. Nevertheless, the old lady seems to take pride in her sword looking from the way she talked.
“A top-ranking martial artist has been longed to be the lord of this sword, even to get on your position is such an honour.” However, if anything that the old lady failed to see is that the Tower of Heaven is a place full of aggressive, competitive, and selfish people.
Pssshhhh! Steam blooms and the wound pierced by the sword recovers. As long as the core did
not break, he could always use <Blood-bond> to heal his injury.
The old lady was not surprised. However, she looked bitter. “That’s right. This is what this place used to be…”
Regardless, Yoon-Seok carefully narrowed the gap. Now he had learned what kind of sword she has. That old lady looked at him as if examining an absurd ability he possessed. She seemed to be ignorant about the system. If this prediction is correct…
‘ I can win! ’ When the distance was narrowed down to about 3 meters, Yoon-Seok rushed like a lightning bolt. But, before Yoon-Seok’s sword reached, the old lady thrust her sword. He kept on strike at her. Even though keeping this close distance has a high chance to get more injury, Yoon-Seok has a trick up his sleeves, which is <Blood-bond>.
He can get cut or have broken bones countless times and can still use that skill to all he wants.
Clang!
The left-arm holding the shield fling away. Yoon-Seok pays no heed. Instead, he exploded his blood that was gushing out, distracting the old lady, and wielded his sword to her. However, when his senses came back… Thud. He was already on the ground.
Even with outstanding swordplay, he still fell. Yoon-Seok couldn’t comprehend when he
had been cut. Without stopping, the old lady kept slashing. He felt goosebumps all over his body. He doesn’t know how on earth she knew, but the direction of the sword was the lower abdomen where the core inhabits.
‘ Shit! ’ Yoon-Seok hurriedly rolled on the floor. Because of his actions, the dirt stuck to the body and entered his mouth, but if he didn’t, he would not be able to avoid her attack. The old lady, still standing upright, said,
“The guy who didn’t care if his arm was cut off ran away like he saw a ghost, is that part the weakness?”
“…….”
From what he could see, she didn’t seem to blindly point out. He was very curious about
how she noticed it. But if he asked, it’ll be like confessing his weakness to her.
Yoon-Seok just kept silent and recovered his body. Pssshh! The arms that had been cut off come back and stick together again. He felt like new again, this is indeed a cheat skill.
‘ But why do I feel I’m no match for her? ’
The Devil who had this skill was bad at melee fighting, yet Yoon-Seok had a hard time bringing him down because the Devil was a tough opponent. That’s why this time he felt confident. He thought that if his combat skills combined with this unique skill, he would be unrivalled. But in a short time, his weakness was discovered. It doesn’t seem like she has an anti-magic, but maybe there is another kind of skill like that? Swish!
Again, the sword that had been wrapped like a snake in the hand of the old lady was coming at him. Her aim is the heart, the same as before. He didn’t know why it’s not his lower abdomen, but Yoon-Seok dodged quickly just in time. His eyes getting accustomed to her fast sword. And then she is looking at Yoon-Seok.
“Hoo… Did you grasp the basics by your instinct? What an interesting youngster… Then, let’s see how far you got with that skill, shall we?” An unusual look glimmering in the old lady’s eyes.
“Come at me with all you got!”
* * *
How long has it been since the duel began?
“You’re dead again, kid.”
Yoon-Seok smacked his lips quietly. The injury had been completely cured without a trace, but the sensation on his neck was still there. He thought his eyes were getting used to her attack…
He thought he could avoid it next time… But the truth is told otherwise. Above the sky, there is another sky.
“How long are you going to rest? Come quick, pick up your sword.” Yoon-Seok grabbed the sword again without saying anything. He lost the count of how many times he did this. For a weird reason, that old lady did not take his life or tried breaking Yoon-Seok’s core, even though the victory was in front of her eyes. She always gave him a chance to hold the ground again and again. However, she did not permit him to use <Blood-bond> for another purpose besides healing.
“I’ll really kill you if you use those little tricks.” It’s not fair for Yoon-Seok, who spent hours agonizing in pain practising that little trick. But he had no choice. Not to mention she seemed not fooling around either, it feels like she is teaching him.
“Now then, this time you are the one who comes at me!” Yoon-Seok followed the old lady’s words. He swung his sword with all his might. However, despite her ability to overcome Yoon-Seok, all she did was to simply block his attack casually, as if she judged his fighting skill.
“The basics are solid! Have you learned swordsmanship before?” Yoon-Seok left no comment. He couldn’t afford, to be precise. Unless the overwhelming old lady let her guard down, he won’t be able to win at this rate. If only he could somehow prick her sword. With newfound determination, Yoon-Seok clenched his teeth, wielded a sword, and stabbed it in.
The old lady chuckled. “Hehe… No matter how many times someone tasted victory, being obsessed with it is a hundred times more harm to a martial artist. However, I love that you have a fighting spirit that won’t dissipate even against a Sect Leader.” The old lady, who grabbed Yoon-Seok’s sword, moves her hand that holds the sword. This was it, the end.
Yoon-Seok’s sword was bouncing hard on the ground several times until it dug into the dirt. Without missing a beat, the old lady thrust her swords right at Yoon-Seok’s heart.
Of course, Yoon-Seok’s body is stitched back with flesh as soon as the sword is pulled out,
but…talked with a calm voice, she simply said a short sentence.
“Go ahead and get it.” This time, he didn’t listen to her command. He just stood in place and stared in a daze at the old lady. His curiousness is getting better at him, so he asked a question, “Why… Why don’t you kill me?” It isn’t like she couldn’t kill him. If she broke the core on the lower abdomen and slash his throat, Yoon-Seok will definitely die. The old lady knew that. If
she had made up her mind, he would have died a long time ago. A joyful laugh coming from the old lady.
“Hahahaha! I thought you’re a smart brat that can connect the dots just from my words, now that I see it, you weren’t!” An average person would have asked that question earlier. Maybe he was angry about himself being mocked by her. Yoon-Seok had been defeated more than 30 times, so he pushed down the question deep down and swallowed it back into his throat. He thought he had a rough idea of her intention. But he still has to fight because he hasn’t given up to win just yet… On the other hand, he thinks it’s very foolish, that she found it pleasing to do
so.
“Please answer the question.” He was so proud of this boldness
“Not for a very grand reason. It’s just an old habit of being a sect leader that when I see someone who has potential, I can’t just turn a blind eye on that someone.” The old lady likes talented people. That’s why even though she lived in Moorim, she was willing to give a lesson if someone was qualified, regardless of where they come from or what their kind was. Such experience has been accumulated and now he can get her skill at first glance.
“Kid, you were really born with a rare talent. If you start right now, you’ll be able to
bloom in no time.”
“So you’ll give me a lesson if that’s what you mean?”
“Only if you wish it.”
“And after I’m done, I will get killed?”
“Fufu! A leader can’t die for you, don’t you think so?”
“…….”
Yoon-Seok clapped his mouth. He couldn’t wrap up the conversation. He met a duelist
who is going to teach him before she kills him.
Come to think of it, romantic Cheonho is from Moorim too… Are the people from there like this? He can’t understand them.
On the other side, this is a good opportunity that he thought would never come again. Although he briefly knew this old lady and her sword, her words captivated him.
“We’re running out of time, how long do you plan to freeze in place like that? Don’t tell me, you’re going to miss the chance?” He snapped out when he heard the old lady’s words. It was another problem to understand another dimension’s way of thinking. He was always hoping someone would teach him about swordsmanship, didn’t he want this so desperately? As the old lady said, this is an opportunity. A chance like this only comes once in a lifetime.
“No, I am not. Please take care of me from now on.”
Yoon-Seok remembered what Romantic Cheonho had done, politely surrendered and held his sword. It was an act that should be taken as an example if someone wanted to pursue knowledge. “Come on.” Fortunately, the old lady seemed to take a liking to Yoon-Seok.
* * *
Before the training begins seriously, the old lady began with a simple theory.
“Heart( 心) refers to understanding the surrounding, Chi( 氣) is the vital energy living inside, and Body( 體) is about a vessel that store it.” The harmonization between the three is completed. The importance of these keys shall not be overlooked even if it is emphasized for a hundred times. In Moorim, it’s a universal minimum to deviate power or progress level of them.
The old lady suddenly told this before,
“However, you don’t have to work hard on harmonizing those.” As soon as they started, she told him not to care about it since she got a conclusion after advancing many experiments on him in their fight, but still… he didn’t want to skip that. Yoon-Seok is not a martial artist from Moorim, so he didn’t even know what Heart, Chi, and Body meant. He was like a white paper, with a clean foundation is all he needs to know. She only brushed it off, thinking that it might be the best for Yoon-Seok for now.
“The only thing a martial artist should polish here is the heart. Everything else can be
replaced by AP.”
They’re duelist.
Chi can be replaced by the mana, Body is solved by the Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Endurance rank. This means that there is no need to push the body to its limit and exercise all day long to improve martial arts. It’s no use doing that. “Even a Sect Leader who never held a sword needs to learn a skill to use it.
What a really weird place… ” The old lady’s voice sounded somewhat dejected. He wasn’t aware that it’s unfair. It gave him enlightenment from a martial artist’s perspective.
With enough AP and mana, the challenger can use any skill they own. For a martial artist who honed martial arts for their lifetime, they must have committed a sin in their previous life.
“All I can teach you is the art of using swords.” Pure craftsmanship. In a way, it was the most basic thing in this place, where capability and skills are everything.
However… “Without a starting point, there would be no end. That’s what this basic skill was the
so-called starting point.” Yoon-Seok’s face flushed. Even the old lady, with her strong martial arts, seriously studied this place. After seeing this side of her, he can’t believe he had assumed this old lady was ignorant about the system. He could tell his face was hot, he can’t lift his head. Although the said person seemed not worried about it.
“Then, let’s start.”
After the short theory class, the old lady began to teach seriously. It was more like a spar than teaching. The old lady told him to go at her with full force like before, and Yoon-Seok did not hesitate to comply.
“The true meaning of getting the basic is to throw away the mistake.” The old lady pointed out the wrong parts and advised by blocking Yoon-Seok’s attack or sometimes counter-attacking.
“You put too much force on your wrist.” A little bit of a stabbing, a little lack of stabbing.
“Why are your shoulders so stiff?” A stab that wasn’t good enough, a very good stab.
“Attaboy! You look better now!” To reach perfection, it takes a lot of mistakes. If it wasn’t for Yoon-Seok’s monstrous talent.
If the martial artist who is on another different level had not helped him with their keen eyes.
Then, he would take forever to accomplish his wish and all the hard work would become meaningless.
Coincidence overlaps with fate. Their gear interlocked.
“Hahaha! That’s good! Really good!”
Time flowed like running water. And just like that Yoon-Seok’s unnecessary darkness in
his mind gradually disappeared.