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Chapter 49
Your Swordsmanship Talent
The place I arrived at following Joo Eunseol was her private training hall.
“This facility is nice.”
“The Royal Guard is a big organization, after all.”
She smiled slightly as she introduced the facility.
“You can use as many practice weapons as you want, and we can even simulate virtual opponents.”
“I see.”
“You’re not surprised? It’s pretty advanced technology.”
“It’s fascinating.”
“That’s enough. This isn’t some kind of bow-and-scrape ritual.”
Joo Eunseol pretended to look disappointed.
I didn’t need to play along.
Honestly, I wasn’t surprised at all.
“The Dragon’s power is definitely impressive.”
The Royal Guard Guild’s technology was undeniably high-level.
But from my perspective, with the 「Tenauges System」, it was just okay.
In every way, the “Special Training Room – Space and Time Chamber” was superior to this place.
“Ah, except for the entry restrictions.”
The limitation of only being able to enter once a month.
But that wasn’t really a problem.
Thanks to the time multiplier of 100x, I could effectively spend the same amount of time as training for an entire month.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t detected any dragon powers since using the Tenauges System.
“Frill, any other powers detected?”
【No. I’ll let you know if I sense anything!】
“Too bad.”
【…Do you think Dragon powers are that common?】
“I thought they were.”
So, while I had the urge to farm more powers, I decided to settle for what I had.
“It would be nice if I could search for them directly.”
【You greedy thing!】
Frill could only detect nearby powers, not actively search for them.
Anyway.
Joo Eunseol lightly stretched and spoke.
“We’ll have swordsmanship lessons here until night. Is that okay?”
“All day?”
“Yes. Any problem with that?”
“No, I’m fine… but—”
Does this person ever work?
It was clearly a weekday during the day, a time for official duties, not personal matters.
I asked her about it.
“It’s fine. Personal training is part of the job too.”
“Hmm.”
“Actually, I took a day off.”
“…Shouldn’t you have mentioned that first?”
Joo Eunseol shrugged.
“Let’s start the lesson.”
“…Yes.”
Clearly, the lesson was more important than such minor details.
“Shall we start with some basic swordsmanship?”
At her words, I picked up a practice iron sword from one side of the hall.
But…
“What should I even show her?”
I didn’t really have anything that could be called “swordsmanship.”
I’d only practiced swinging a sword and handling it in real combat.
“No special techniques or forms…”
As I hesitated with the sword in hand, Joo Eunseol asked:
“Is there a problem?”
“I don’t know what to show you.”
“You do train with swordsmanship normally, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then just show me that. Or do you want me to summon a dummy for you?”
“Oh! That’d be even better.”
Of course, I practiced swings in the air, but my training was mainly practical combat-based.
Having a target would make it easier to demonstrate.
Joo Eunseol manipulated something and summoned a dummy in front of me.
It wasn’t a simple hologram; it could actually take damage.
Putting aside my initial fascination, I focused.
I treated the dummy as an opponent.
I usually preferred to evade an attack first, then counter.
But right now, it was a stationary target.
“Max speed and power…”
Hoo—
I steadied my breath and slowly raised the iron sword above my head.
Then…
Flash!
I struck the dummy in an instant.
Crack!
Immediately followed by a horizontal slash.
Crunch!
Then I combined it with a thrust.
Ka-boom!
It was the combo I always used when practicing alone.
【Ooh! Clap, clap, clap.】
“Frill, can you stop cheering? It’s embarrassing.”
【Why? You did well!】
“This is like showing off in front of a pupa.”
This was all I could demonstrate.
I didn’t know advanced techniques, so I could only practice the basics repeatedly.
“It’s fine; I came to learn anyway.”
I wasn’t here to show off.
I was here to acknowledge my shortcomings and improve.
So it didn’t matter that I lacked skill right now.
【Heh. You really don’t know much, Eugene.】
Ignoring Frill’s finger-wagging, I turned to Joo Eunseol.
“?”
She stared at me with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth.
“Excuse me?”
“Ah! Y-Yes!”
“I showed you. What should I do now?”
“….”
She didn’t answer.
Why was she like this?
“My swordsmanship… isn’t good enough?”
“Yes. You’ve never formally learned, so I want to teach you properly.”
“…You’ve never learned?”
Her words sent a creeping unease through me.
You know the saying: it’s worse to learn something incorrectly than not at all.
Bad habits are harder to correct than building new ones from scratch.
“That’s why I’ve been focusing on the basics.”
I had been diligently practicing only the fundamentals, without showing off.
That way, I hoped to avoid forming hard-to-correct habits.
But seeing Joo Eunseol’s reaction…
“Was my training… wrong?”
I nervously asked.
“Is it really that bad?”
“…Yes.”
“Phew. Understood. I’ll learn properly from the ground up.”
It was unfortunate, but unavoidable.
I couldn’t skip training. I just resolved to overcome it with more effort.
Joo Eunseol muttered with a resigned expression.
“I knew you had no talent, but this is really too much.”
“…Teacher? That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”
“I’m talking about myself.”
“Excuse me?”
“I have no talent. And you, Kim Eugene Hunter, are filthy with talent.”
After a moment of stunned silence, I understood.
“So I wasn’t wrong?”
【Exactly! You idiot!】
It seemed that way.
“Really… your basics are flawless. Balance, weight distribution, striking points… nothing lacking.”
“Oh, thank you?”
“Of course, others more skilled than me might think differently, but as far as I can see.”
So I had come to learn, but there was nothing to teach me.
It felt good.
It proved that I hadn’t been training incorrectly.
【Sheesh. You never listen when I tell you!】
“You don’t know swordsmanship.”
【I have an eye for it!】
Ignoring the frustrated Frill, I focused on Joo Eunseol.
She shook her head.
“I was going to spend a day refining the basics, but that’s unnecessary. Let’s move straight to proper swordsmanship.”
“Sounds good.”
Skipping the preliminaries, she stepped aside and stood in the center of the hall.
“I’ll show you everything first. You need to know what you’re going to learn, right?”
She began slowly, moving gracefully.
Swish—Tap.
Mujin Sword (舞進劍).
The 8-star Hunter Ju Changik’s unique sword style, meaning “dance while advancing.”
True to its name, her movements were elegant.
Swoosh—Spot!
Flowing like water, yet striking with sudden force.
Her motions expressed beauty in curves rather than straight lines.
For a moment.
Papapapat!
Then sharp, linear strikes cut through the space around her.
Like dance styles, Mujin Sword seemed to combine multiple genres in each technique.
I imagined myself facing Joo Eunseol.
“…Impossible.”
It was hard to describe.
But in my imagination, I was already on the defensive.
There was some hidden “trick” in her movements I couldn’t grasp.
“This is… Mujin Sword.”
I had trained alone in the past, without anyone’s help.
No money for professional lessons.
Naturally, I yearned to learn proper Hunter swordsmanship.
Even after obtaining 「One Punch」 and starting full-time as a Hunter, the same desire remained.
I had to struggle against opponents I could have defeated more easily with proper sword skills.
It was frustrating.
But finally…
“I can learn it.”
I had the chance to learn Hunter swordsmanship.
And it was Mujin Sword.
One of Korea’s top five advanced sword techniques.
“Did you see that?”
“Yes.”
Joo Eunseol watched me after her demonstration.
I felt a strange longing in my gaze toward her.
“Now we’ll start the real lessons. I won’t just teach Mujin Sword, but mix in other techniques as well.”
“Even better.”
“Good. Then—”
Thus began the lesson imbued with my desire to improve.
“I’ll teach you as my father taught me.”
“Yes.”
“Pick up your sword.”
“…Yes?”
“You remember through getting hit.”
“….”
“That’s what my father said.”
It wasn’t what I expected.
I thought I would learn the moves, demonstrate them, and have corrections made for perfection.
“…Understood.”
I picked up the sword.
Not what I expected, but that was fine.
Real combat was my specialty anyway.
“Here I go!”
I countered her attacks using the Mujin Sword techniques in my own way.
Kwahng─!
Meanwhile…
“Ugh! Ssss…”
At the Royal Guard Guild’s communal gym, a massive muscular man lifted a bench press.
“Wow. Look at Team Leader Baek. How much is that?”
“Must be over 500kg.”
“A 5-star Hunter, as expected! I wonder when I’ll be like that.”
“You won’t if you waste 30 minutes fooling around like that.”
“Hey!”
“Did I say something wrong?”
The gym was noisy.
Baek Byungtae, the muscular man, smiled inwardly.
“Heh heh heh. Keep talking. Praise me more!”
Why did he skip the private training hall for team leaders and come here?
Wasn’t it just to enjoy the attention?
“Why doesn’t the team leader use the private hall?”
“Maybe to motivate us by showing off?”
“Oh, such deep meaning!”
Everyone seemed to understand his intention perfectly.
“Good. My reputation rises.”
His inner smile deepened.
A higher reputation could lead to promotion, and eventually…
“Joo Eunseol. I’ll make her mine. Hehehe.”
Baek Byungtae was also one of the men infatuated with Joo Eunseol.
“I’m the only one who suits her!”
“Uh? Team Leader Baek, your expression…”
“…It’s fine. Looks aren’t everything!”
“Cough cough.”
He quickly composed himself.
Then…
“Te-Team Leader Baek!”
One of his subordinates rushed in looking for him.
Boom—!
The weight dropped, echoing heavily.
“What’s going on? I’m training.”
“Sorry to interrupt… but…”
The subordinate spoke, and Baek Byungtae exploded.
“What!? Don’t lie! That’s impossible!!!”
“The rumor has already spread through the guild.”
“T-this… damn it!”
He slammed his fist down.
Crack!
An innocent piece of equipment was destroyed.
“Where is she?”
“Huh?”
“Are you telling me to just stand there?”
Unbelievable.
That she, who should belong only to him, had a boyfriend.
“No, but…”
“Where is she?!”
“…She went into the private training hall.”
“Ha. I see. So that’s it.”
So he had to check for himself.
“T-Team Leader! Where are you going?!”
To uncover the truth of the rumor.
