Now, when Baek Seojin unleashed his martial arts, the sword would move in harmony with him and aid him, and its power would be amplified even further.
Before, Baek Seojin had probably already felt that this sword was one body with him, but now that sensation would be strengthened another step. It would feel as if they were truly one body.
HUMMMMM—
The Azure-Light Sword kept humming its thanks.
“Satisfied?”
HUMMMMM—
“Good. I’m pleased too. Keep helping your master well from now on and protect Heavenly Martial Castle.”
HUMMMMM—
Smiling at the Azure-Light Sword’s cry, which sounded almost like an answer, I slid it back into its scabbard.
“Well then, shall we go deliver the sword to our customer?”
*****
When I arrived, Baek Seojin’s expression stiffened.
“What is it? Why are you back already?”
“Why else would I be here?”
“Did something happen to my sword? If that’s the case, you would do well to prepare yourself.”
“It’s not that something happened. The repair is finished.”
“What?”
Baek Seojin stared at me in shock.
“It’s already done? In a single day?”
“Yes.”
“Ridiculous! Even Master Smith Cheon shook his head and said it couldn’t be repaired, so how could such a thing be possible!”
“If you don’t believe me, draw it.”
When I handed him the sword, Baek Seojin took it from me half in doubt.
It wasn’t because he trusted me, but judging by the way his hands trembled, he looked tense.
He swallowed hard, gripped the hilt, and slowly drew the sword.
SHIIING—
As he watched the blade come out inch by inch, Baek Seojin’s eyes went wide.
“Th-this is...”
Those widened eyes soon turned rapturous, and once the sword was fully drawn, he carefully stroked it.
HUMMMMM—
When the sword hummed, Baek Seojin spoke.
“Y-yes... you’ve... come back.”
His voice trembled.
Was that what a parent’s voice sounded like when a dying child recovered?
It was overflowing with affection.
“You’ve come back exactly as you were before.”
Baek Seojin kept stroking the flat of the blade.
HUMMMMM—
“You want to see how we match?”
HUMMMMM—
“Heh heh heh. All right. Let’s see how we match.”
Baek Seojin ran straight out to the training ground and began swinging the sword.
No matter how much he swung it, there was no sound.
But wherever the sword passed, ripples arose and space distorted.
Baek Seojin swung the sword wildly as though he had fallen into a trance.
His face was split in a broad, delighted grin.
WHOOSH—
KWA-KWA-KWAAANG—
The instant he brought the sword down at the end, a thunderous roar exploded, and half the training ground was blown away.
Startled by the sound, Baek Seojin hurriedly looked around.
“This is...?”
“You must have gotten a little too absorbed.”
At my voice, Baek Seojin answered in admiration.
“S-seems that way. It’s perfect. Even more perfect than before. Now it just feels like part of my body.”
“Are you satisfied?”
“Satisfied? Hah... This goes beyond satisfaction. If anything, I’m starting to think the payment was too little.”
I grinned.
“Then since you’re satisfied, shall we settle the account?”
“Heh heh heh. Very well. Let’s go to the reception hall.”
“Let’s.”
Baek Seojin sheathed the sword, then looked at me as I walked ahead of him.
Then he glanced around again.
The training ground had been completely reduced to ruins.
That was only natural. He had fallen into a trance and slashed to his heart’s content.
But he had not been alone in that training ground.
Baek Seojin looked at me.
The fact that I was standing there perfectly fine meant only one thing: I had avoided every sword strike he had unleashed.
Curiosity rose in him.
Baek Seojin gripped his sword and glared at me.
GRRRRAAAAK—
Sword qi burst from the blade already drawn, gouging deep through the ground as it shot toward me.
“You shouldn’t do that.”
Seeing me lightly evade his attack with a smile, Baek Seojin realized he had not been mistaken.
“I thought you wouldn’t be ordinary, but to think you would dodge my sword so easily.”
“It’s a rough world. You should at least be able to protect your own skin.”
“Heh heh heh. Is that so? Do you know how to handle a sword?”
“A little. Otherwise I couldn’t repair one.”
“That’s true. But if you can repair it this perfectly, it doesn’t seem like ‘a little’ is the right word.”
With those eyes of his burning as though they were on fire, I shook my head.
He had no intention of letting me go so easily.
“I guess this really won’t do. The sword isn’t actually my specialty.”
“Oh? Then what is?”
“This.”
When I held out my fist, Baek Seojin grinned.
“Barehanded combat is good. But against a sword, bare hands have their limits. What do you think? Any interest in learning the sword? I’ll teach you myself.”
“Are you trying to take me as your disciple right ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) now?”
“Heh heh heh. If you want it.”
At his words, I shook my head.
“Sorry. I don’t like carrying things around. Bare fists are more comfortable.”
“My, my. You only say that because you don’t know how wonderful the sword is. I’ll show you myself.”
“All right. If you can show me the sword is really that good, I’ll do as you say.”
At my words, Baek Seojin grinned and picked up a practice sword from one side of the training ground.
“Now then, I’ll let you experience for yourself just how comfortable and wonderful the sword is.”
I merely smiled.
“Come. Do everything you can.”
“Well, if that’s what you want.”
Baek Seojin did not even take a stance.
He was too busy thinking about how he should teach his new disciple.
That was when it happened.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
Before he knew it, my fist had stopped right in front of his nose, and my voice reached him.
WHOOOOM—
Only then did a fierce gust of wind sweep in and scatter Baek Seojin’s hair.
“Wh-what?”
Startled, Baek Seojin jerked backward.
He had not reacted at all.
He stared at me with shocked eyes.
“Do you really think the sword is stronger than a fist? You almost got hit just now.”
My words made Baek Seojin’s face harden.
He had thought I was no ordinary man, but he had not even seen how I moved.
What if I had been an enemy?
What if I had been holding a sword instead of my bare fist?
Cold sweat ran down his back.
“Shall we do it again?”
Baek Seojin nodded.
He wanted to see just how I had crossed that distance.
This time, unlike before, he fixed his full attention on me.
“Am I going first again?”
“Yes. Come.”
“Then I won’t hold back.”
BAM—
He sees it.
SHING—
He immediately drew his sword, intending to knock aside the fist flying straight at him and tell me:
You just lost your wrist.
WHOOOM—
But contrary to his expectation, the sword sliced empty air.
Tap tap—
At the same time, a chill ran up his spine with the feeling of someone tapping him from behind.
No way.
He slowly turned his head, and there I was, standing behind him with a smile.
“You’ll need to move a little faster.”
“When did you...?”
What was this?
What kind of monster was this?
Something like this had been inside Heavenly Martial Castle?
And yet it was a face he had never seen before.
“What in the world are you?”
“I can’t tell you that yet.”
“L-let’s do it again.”
“I don’t have time.”
“O-one last time.”
“All right.”
“This time, I’ll go first.”
“Go ahead. Ah, you can use the Azure-Light Sword too.”
“What?”
“And use your inner qi. I think that’s the only way this will become a proper match.”
“Are you mocking me right now?”
“That’s not it. It just doesn’t seem fair otherwise. Like this, you won’t be able to gauge my skill properly. It’s not as if using the Azure-Light Sword and your inner qi would stop you from pulling back at a dangerous moment. Isn’t that right?”
“Hmm.”
I wasn’t wrong.
“Fine. I acknowledge you, so I’ll do as you say.”
It stung his pride, but Baek Seojin decided to acknowledge me.
In the end, he drew the Azure-Light Sword and looked at me with a serious expression.
“From this point on, I will not attack you to teach you. I will attack as if you are my archenemy.”
“That’s exactly what I was hoping for.”
I’ll show you.
The greatness of the sword.
The Azure-Light Sword flashed, and space warped in a straight line.
RIIIP—
At the same time, a dark, deep gash was carved into the place where I had been standing.
To dodge Azure Flow Single Line that easily... He really is a monster. I can go all out.
Watching me evade it far too easily, Baek Seojin raised the level of his attacks.
“Cloud-Dark Reclining Path!”
The force released from Baek Seojin’s sword curved swiftly as it chased after me.
At the same time, he swung his sword again and again toward every direction I might dodge.
“Radiant Light Five Rings!”
Five sword rings flew from the Azure-Light Sword, surrounding me and sealing off every possible escape route.
He had lowered the power, so even if I were hit, I would not die.
He was just about to feel satisfied, thinking he had finally shown me proper swordsmanship—
KWAANG!
A deafening roar erupted, and the ground surged upward.
TUKAKAKAK—
The sword qi and the sword rings all slammed into the rising earth and ricocheted away.
BAM—
I burst through the uplifted ground.
“Damn!”
Baek Seojin quickly turned his sword and thrust toward me.
WHIRL— WHIP—
The forms shifted fast and hard, pressing down on me with frightening force.
But something felt subtly off.
Then he saw it.
My hand moved rapidly, nudging the Azure-Light Sword’s trajectory just slightly off line.
Was I predicting every single changing form and redirecting the sword path?
Or was I seeing everything and reacting to it all?
Whichever it was, one thing was certain.
I was a monster.
With a look of disbelief, Baek Seojin unfolded his forms in even more varied and unpredictable ways.
But I still calmly redirected the rapidly changing sword paths and slipped past them.
It was absurd.
Worked up, Baek Seojin unconsciously began pouring force into the sword.
That force grew stronger and stronger until a bluish sword aura had formed across the surface of the Azure-Light Sword.
Damn!
Realizing he had used sword aura because he had become too absorbed, Baek Seojin tried to withdraw the blade—
TING—
And yet I batted aside the sword coated in sword aura with my bare hand.
Startled, Baek Seojin wondered if he had seen wrong, so he coated the sword properly in sword aura and resumed his forms.
PA-PA-PAT—
He had not seen wrong.
I was batting aside every strike of the sword overlaid with sword aura using my bare hands.
At that moment, Baek Seojin stopped moving.
His face was full of shock.
He was at the point of wondering whether he was dreaming.
“Are we done now?”
Even at my question, he could not answer. He only stared blankly.
No matter how many times he looked, I had the appearance of someone who had only just passed twenty.
And yet I was not being pushed back in the slightest against him.
I did not even seem to be using my full strength.
I looked so relaxed it was as if I had come out for a stroll.
Where had a monster like this come from?
“You... are you from Heavenly Martial Castle?”
“Hmm. Strictly speaking, I’m not from Heavenly Martial Castle, but I’m deeply connected to it.”
“Deeply connected?”
I did not seem like a bad person.
Then again, if I really were a bad person, I would not have repaired his Azure-Light Sword this perfectly.
For Baek Seojin, the fact that I had perfectly restored the Azure-Light Sword alone was enough to make me the kindest man in the world.
“Why are you staring at me so hard? You’re making me embarrassed.”
At my words, Baek Seojin let out a small laugh.
He sheathed his sword and spoke.
“All right. Later, make sure you tell me who you are.”
“I will.”
“No interest in learning the sword? If you learned it, I think you’d become something extraordinary.”
“Sorry. The sword I learn is only at the level of swinging it around.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It means I don’t have any inner qi, so I can’t properly use forms.”
Startled, Baek Seojin asked in a tone of complete disbelief.
“What? Wh-what do you mean by that?”