[Aaron Side Story Episode 22]
3. The first dream (6)
The boy walked between Thragin and Aaron.
Previously, Thragin would have drawn his sword right away.
But now I know that it is useless.
“A guy like you and Aaron live in different worlds. You know roughly, right?”
“What are you trying to say?”
The boy smiled and dismissed Thragin’s harsh words.
“Do you think a blind person would be able to understand if we told them that red is like that and blue is like that?”
“What do you mean?”
“ha. That’s why they are geniuses. Caring without caring.”
The boy shrugged his shoulders humorously and said.
“The things you did casually are too far and hard for us. okay?”
It appeared to be an intention to sabotage.
Thragin was silent.
If you explode your emotions again, you lose yourself.
“What is breathing to people like you over there? It’s very simple. Just inhale and exhale and you’re done! You can do it even with your eyes closed. no need to think But we are different.”
The boy’s eyes turned to Aaron.
Aaron was pondering the meaning of the words.
“okay? We have to move the diaphragm first to breathe. It’s a muscle attached near the ribs, and it contracts and relaxes to supply and release air.”
the boy smiled
“How do I move the diaphragm? Among the many muscles scattered all over the body, you should know the exact location of the diaphragm, right? What next? You have to learn how to control those muscles while banging your head. What next? You have to learn by trial and error how much to contract to get air in and out of your lungs. what about next What’s next after that?”
“What is the story you want to tell?”
“What is as natural as breathing for you is that difficult for us.”
The boy’s lips curled up.
as if laughing at something.
“got it? Common sense is different. Even though they are the same human beings, it turns out that their race values are different. If you want to walk, you can just walk, but we have to figure out which muscles to move one by one from the beginning.”
“…”
“If you really want to help, lower your eyes. Isn’t it like that when you play with children? You just need to go back to the pure innocence of innocence.”
The boy finished talking.
Just like the next time it appeared, it disappeared without any warning.
The two glanced at the spot where the boy had been.
“Right.”
After a while.
Sraagin opened his mouth, apparently knowing something.
“Do it again. Hold the window.”
“Ah, okay.”
Aaron took the spear.
“Take a lunge. As you know.”
An action that has been performed hundreds of thousands of times.
Aaron quickly got into his stance.
“I’ll explain in detail, so listen carefully. Why does the left foot have to step forward? Why does the right foot go backwards? Why is the phage law like this? I will explain each one from start to finish. If there’s anything you don’t know, just ask.”
“…Is that how you do it?”
“If that kid is right, you can only learn this way. From the beginning to the end of the movement, you learn all the movements perfectly and memorize all their meanings.”
Aaron swallowed his saliva.
It was the first time I had practiced in this way.
‘Can you memorize everything from one to ten?’
It was embarrassing, but also understandable.
if not this much.
Without this kind of reckless method, Dunjae would not be able to move forward.
‘Did that person help me?’
I don’t know your intentions.
At first, I thought it appeared to mock.
However, upon hearing the boy’s words, Thragin realized something and changed course.
It was as the boy said.
If it wasn’t for the boy, the two opinions might have spent a meaningless time running parallel lines.
Niflheim, one of the strongest accounts.
Among them, Sragin was said to be a promising prospect.
His innate talent and perspective on martial arts must be of a different level.
There was no way he could get along well with Aaron, who was a dull person.
The boy was convinced of that fact.
‘What are you thinking?’
On the first day, the boy thoroughly denied the meaning of effort.
Now, he also taught Aaron the proper training method.
I didn’t know what I wanted.
It doesn’t matter what the boy’s intentions are.
Aaron had no intention of giving up.
Otherwise, all those countless times of frustration and fear would be meaningless.
* * *
Whoa!
The sting flies.
Pak!
A hole was pierced through the scarecrow’s chest.
“…”
Aaron drew the spear with an expressionless expression.
Then, he put a wooden spear into the scarecrow again.
There was a rather sharp sound at the end of the spear.
It’s been a year since I’ve been settled here.
Aaron grew slowly but steadily.
before coming here.
You need to position yourself in order to deliver the power of the thrust.
However, the current Aaron was able to deliver the same stab in a natural state.
in any situation,
in any position.
You can inflict sharp stabs.
“after.”
Of course, I didn’t understand the principle.
It was the result of reckless training.
I had memorized all the postures and movements of the stabbing.
Whoa!
Pak!
The sting that followed once again.
It changes its stance each time it stabs, but its power does not decrease significantly.
“This is not it.”
Aaron muttered.
A dissatisfied look appeared on his face.
Objectively speaking, Aaron became quite strong as he was able to stab anytime, anywhere.
However, what Aaron had hoped for
was not this deformed strength.
‘How to create the principle of power… I didn’t realize it.’
One year here was more than two years outside.
You can spend all your time in training with minimal physiological activity.
Indeed, Aaron has done just that.
Except for the time to sleep, study, and eat, he spent days stabbing and wielding spears at the gymnasium.
But no results came out.
‘If you don’t know ‘strength’, you can’t move forward.’
sragyn said.
can tell you
Could you please explain in detail.
However, if you do not realize this and embody it as your own, you will not be able to proceed to the next stage of spearmanship.
There is a limit to just memorizing movements.
No matter how low the eye level was explained and informed from the beginning, I needed my own enlightenment anyway.
Just like you can’t multiply
if you don’t realize the principle of addition .
So far, Aaron memorized the result of ‘1 + 1 = 2’.
I memorized ‘2 + 2 = 4’, ‘3 + 3 = 6’ and even ‘4 + 4 = 8′.
But ’24+3=?’ or ‘9+35=?’ I couldn’t answer if the same problem came up.
I only memorized the results.
Because I haven’t learned the principle.
In this state, you cannot even subtract, let alone multiply or divide.
In other words, Aaron grew horizontally, but not vertically.
‘…’
A tingling pain felt in the hand.
Looking down, the bandage wrapped around my palm was red.
It looked like the wound had been torn again in the process of stabbing the spear.
Aaron pulled out a bandage.
When the old bandages were removed, his hands were covered with scars and scabs.
Bandage up silently.
My hand, which had been torn hundreds of times and had calluses, trembled.
Did you say that you cannot expect rewards for your efforts?
Aaron looked back as he bandaged up.
There, he could see Sraagin working hard in training.
He closes his eyes and slowly lowers his sword.
It is to reenact the downward slashing action that can be completed in one second over several minutes.
Beads of sweat were all over my body, probably because it was quite hard work.
Aaron couldn’t understand the meaning of that training.
If one thing is certain.
It’s just that the gap between the two is much wider than when they came.
While Aaron is engrossed in meaningless effort, memorizing various thrusting positions.
Thragin learned how to train while escaping from the scarecrow and immersing himself in his own world.
In the past, I used to sparring right away.
Of course, Aaron fell out of his way.
However, even sparring is difficult these days.
This is because the level difference widened and the efficiency fell.
Aaron as Aaron, Sraagin as Sraagin.
Couples lost their meaning because the distance between them became too great.
‘How strong has that man become?’
If you ask me, I will answer you.
But Aaron will not understand the meaning of the words.
Because I live in a different world.
‘This emotion.’
Aaron smiled bitterly.
have ever felt
far away from here.
There was a hero named Han who preceded him.
There was a hero named Qi who was no different from his motive.
There was also a hero named Belquist who could be considered a junior.
The starting point was similar.
But as time goes by, they get ahead.
Aaron was left behind and gasped.
away
their back view.
If only I could catch up even if I fell a little behind.
If you could help.
‘…This.’
Was it out of respect for them?
Could it be that I was sorry for not being strong enough?
no maybe
It may be much uglier and dirtier than that.
‘Is it jealous…?’
why i
why only me
i tried harder
I was more desperate
they.
those guys
All the things I worked hard for.
casually smiling like a mockery like it’s useless.
break it down
Jump over.
It makes things that aren’t obvious.
It gnaws away at the value of one’s own existence.
“under.”
Sometimes it becomes unbearable.
can’t stand there
Aaron walked out of the gymnasium as if possessed.
Quiet place.
I needed a place where no one was.
A place where no one disturbs you.
behind the gymnasium.
There were low hills.
Aaron sat at the top of the hill.
I see the year quietly passing by.
Twilight that never sets.
Leaves fall between them.
Just stay still.
The more I think about it, the more my mind gets sharpened.
So don’t think
Obviously, this feeling is not forever.
You’ll soon be able to forget about it and try again.
“What are you doing? Just right.”
Aaron looked to the side.
The boy was smiling.
It was always like that.
Should I say I’m obsessed with everything?
“I was sitting and resting.”
Aaron gave a short answer.
“Can we rest at the gymnasium? Why did you come all the way here?”
“…”
“Should I guess?”
Aaron resisted the urge to shout.
leave me alone
“Did you feel the wall?”
“…”
“I feel like I will never be able to keep up no matter how hard I try and no matter how lucky I try. The feeling of being denied the value of my existence. You came here to surpass it…”
said the boy.
“In the end, I keep feeling it. If you look forward, you will see a wall.”
“Feel free to mock.”
“Hmm? It’s not really like that. The kid is crooked.”
Didn’t answer.
If you exchange words with that boy, you will only lose yourself.
Aaron and Thragin knew this through experience.
“By the way.”
The boy opened his mouth.
“That guy is great. You’re already at the intermediate level. If you keep going like this, you will be able to reach advanced weapon skills in no time.”
I don’t know the intention.
Are you trying to make fun of it?
whether you want to help
“Advanced….”
Just a year ago, Sraagin’s weapon skills were intermediate to intermediate.
It is trying to look beyond the latter stage to the next stage.
From the upper level, it was the realm of a full-fledged master.
“It was originally a seed. If there was anything wrong with that guy, it was that he couldn’t control his emotions. He’s a genius, so he went on a wild rampage because the people around him supported him.”
The boy looked behind him.
In the middle of the day, Sragin must be training hard at the gymnasium.
“You know? That he has changed.”
“…yes.”
“No matter how much you explode your emotions and run wild, there are opponents you can’t reach. There are situations in which you have to be patient. Just knowing that made him different. Originally, when you asked me to teach you, it would be nice if you didn’t slap me?”
before coming here.
Thragin might have snorted and ignored Aaron’s request.
But he changed when he met the boy.
I learned how to hide myself.
I learned how to control my emotions on my own.
I learned that there are places in this world that I cannot reach with my own power alone.
He learned humility.
‘I’m a sragin…’
I remember the first time we met.
A self-fulfilling look.
The image of him wielding a knife and running amok.
The way he screamed and exploded with emotion.
‘now.’
It has changed.
People have changed in just one year.
Even now, Thragin is supervising Aaron’s training.
He was trying to help Aaron by discussing and seriously thinking about what was lacking and how to train.
Aaron himself couldn’t keep up with it.
“How did you do it?”
Aaron asked.
If so, did he deliberately provoke the first time he met?
“Is there anything wrong? A guy like that will be quiet if you knock him down every time you meet him. It only took a month.”
if it’s a month.
It was a time when Aaron was locked in his room trying to learn martial arts theory.
In the meantime, there was an exchange between the two.
“Is it annoying?”
“yes?”
“Yeah, that’s right. That guy overcame the factors that hindered him from becoming stronger in just one month.”
Can you look at it from that perspective?
“At first, I said that even if I got stronger, I would be in the top 100, but now I don’t know. I might go further than that. All the families of geniuses are like that. Even if you just do it, you will become stronger, strangely stronger, and strangely stronger.”
The boy looked into the distance and murmured.
Then, suddenly, I saw Aaron.
“So how are you?”
“You mean that?”
“How much have you overcome? It’s been a year, what have you learned here?”
“…I am.”
Aaron shut his mouth.
What should I say?
“Ah, that’s right! I haven’t learned anything!”
“…”
“Aha! While that guy learns humility here, realizes coolness and composure, learns martial arts, and pave the way to the next level, our Aaron hasn’t learned anything!”
The boy clapped.
It was an expression of contempt.
“Very good! You can straighten your shoulders. You are a genius!”
“What’s the matter? I’m a genius?”
“So you…”
The boy put a hand on Aaron’s shoulder.
“A genius for hard work!”