chapter 24
The instructor knew Youn Mirae’s true skill.
In fact, he thought that if he didn’t use aura himself, he might actually lose to her.
That’s how brilliant Youn Mirae’s swordsmanship is.
She was a genius who made up for her lack of aura with pure technique.
And to humiliate someone like her, he first had to display overwhelming strength….
“Phew… then…”
The moment the spar began, he drew up his aura.
Youn Mirae, however, simply stood in place, unmoving.
“You’re just going to wait there since you can’t keep up with my speed?”
“……”
She didn’t respond, only tightening her grip on her sword and watching him.
“Then I’ll go first.”
With that, the instructor charged at her.
He had enhanced his body with aura, so the surrounding students couldn’t even follow his movements.
But—
Whoosh!
“!”
Youn Mirae reacted.
She stepped back, narrowly avoiding the strike.
His first blow hadn’t landed, but that was only the beginning.
The instructor swung his wooden sword again and again, but each time, Mirae slipped just out of reach with the smallest of movements.
…What is this?
He soon realized something was strange.
It was as if—
…She’s reading my movements perfectly?
Indeed, Mirae was deliberately letting his attacks graze past, avoiding them by a hair’s breadth.
Arrogant.
Dodging so narrowly meant she was confident.
But the instructor decided to exploit that.
His aim wasn’t simply to beat her—it was to humiliate her.
And if she kept dodging by the smallest margin, then even a tiny adjustment could allow his strike to catch her clothes instead.
I’ll make it look like an accident and snag her uniform with my sword.
Her clothes would rip in front of everyone. Humiliating enough.
With that plan, he subtly shifted his weight forward and swung again.
Whoosh!
What—…?
His sword cut only empty air.
She read this too?!
She had noticed his shift in stance and predicted the change in attack, evading with a bigger movement this time.
And because his weight had gone forward, he had overextended—leaving him unable to recover quickly.
Mirae seized the chance and swung.
Clack!
The instructor barely managed to wrench his blade back with aura-enhanced strength, blocking her strike.
If she had landed that blow—
Even if we’re using wooden swords, we treat them as real blades in sparring. It would have meant I lost.
A student defeating an instructor.
That could not be allowed.
It wasn’t about failing to humiliate Mirae anymore—the fact itself was unacceptable.
Especially with outsiders watching this duel.
“Urgh…!”
So he cloaked his blade in aura.
Sword Aura.
A technique aura-users who wield blades learn after strengthening their bodies—wrapping their sword in aura to increase cutting power and even harm intangible monsters.
And the reason Mirae was dismissed as a “half-wit.”
…Without Sword Aura, you can’t properly cut monsters.
Weaklings like goblins maybe, but not much else.
Unless you had an exceptional sword—but no one would waste such a weapon on someone who couldn’t use aura.
“……”
Mirae’s expression didn’t change at the sight.
But the onlookers were different.
To use aura against a student—against one who didn’t even wield aura?
They were appalled.
The instructor didn’t realize his reputation was plummeting as he poured more aura into his body and blade.
Shhhhk!
His speed doubled in an instant.
Then—
BANG!
A deafening crash resounded.
“What—”
“She blocked that… with one hand?!”
The instructor had raised his blade high to cleave down at her, but Mirae stopped it.
And the noise was far beyond what wooden training swords should produce.
Moreover, his aura-wrapped sword had clashed with hers, and neither weapon had broken.
That meant—
“Aura against aura… of the same level.”
Someone muttered.
The instructor’s aura had just been matched by a high school girl.
Those who didn’t know her were shocked by her strength.
Those who did know her were shocked by something else.
“…Mirae… used aura?”
“Since when…?”
The revelation stunned them.
Mirae looked at him and spoke.
“You not only used Sword Aura first, Instructor—you also swung just now as if you meant to kill me, didn’t you?”
Her clear eyes told him everything.
Ah… this is bad.
Everyone in this school… had treated this fragile-looking girl carelessly.
They had tried to pluck a delicate flower—never realizing it hid poison.
Never considering what consequences would come from attempting to break it.
“…Which means this is self-defense.”
She added, “Even if you report me for excessive force, I don’t mind.”
With that, she swept her blade wide.
The instructor’s sword was flung back.
“Urk?!”
Before he could recover, Mirae brushed past him—her sword slicing his arm.
Slash!
His arm was cleanly severed. Mirae’s expression didn’t change.
“Gyaaaaah!”
“I cut it cleanly. If you hurry to a hospital, they should be able to reattach it.”
She calmly withdrew the energy surrounding her blade.
Sword Qi.
Similar to Sword Aura, but different—condensing inner power along the edge.
The onlookers were horrified.
“She just… cut off his arm with a wooden sword. Cleanly.”
“That’s… no mere Sword Aura.”
Even Sword Aura required a strong blade to show its true power.
To slice cleanly with a wooden sword? Impossible—unless it was something higher.
Unless… it was Aura Blade.
“She can use Aura Blade… at that age?”
Aura Blade.
The pinnacle of aura swordsmanship.
Known as a power that could cut through anything—counterable only with another Aura Blade.
In Korea, only seasoned leaders of guilds, people in the highest ranks, could wield it.
Mirae’s Sword Qi wasn’t fully equal to a true Aura Blade, but to those ignorant of martial arts, it looked indistinguishable.
Her unique technique, Heaven-Defying Divine Art, had been crafted to maximize destructive force with minimal inner power, making her Sword Qi nearly comparable.
And Mirae had no intention of correcting their misconception.
“A new star has risen.”
That was how others saw her: a prodigy not yet an adult, already wielding Aura Blade.
Countless groups would scramble to recruit her.
Even now, association and guild representatives were urgently contacting their superiors.
Seeing their awe, Mirae moved toward her true goal.
“Principal.”
“Ah… ah, yes! What is it, Mirae?”
She had approached him as he guided the visiting guests.
Flustered, he tried to sound friendly. He knew all too well how the school had ostracized her.
“I’d like to withdraw from school.”
“Wh-what…?!”
Her words hit like thunder.
“I didn’t neglect my studies. My grades were never low. But in a school filled with students who bully me—and teachers who stand by and let it happen… I don’t want to stay any longer.”
Her eyes seemed to say she was nothing but a victim. That merely being here was unbearable.
All eyes turned to the principal.
What was this about?
And then—
Bzzzt…
The cameras from the broadcasting stations had caught everything.
Mirae saw this and left without hesitation.
Youn Mirae, the youngest Aura Blade user.
Not yet an adult, yet already among Korea’s strongest.
The school she attended collapsed overnight.
Investigations—tax probes and worse—descended on the guilds tied to the students who had bullied her and their parents.
All because the government wanted her favor.
Because if she grew stronger, her very existence would become a strategic weapon.
Seeing this, Mirae nodded in satisfaction.
“‘Sword Blossom’ Youn Mirae… a fine title.”
“……”
She had regained the same epithet she held before her regression—though its meaning was now very different.
But then—
“…How long are you planning to cling to me?”
“You know the reward I got from the Awakener system when I learned the Heaven-Defying Divine Art, don’t you? If I stay near you, Gunwoo, my growth rate increases.”
“So please… let me stay in your arms while you meditate. Just until my training session is over.”
Nestled against him in his room, Mirae said this while practicing her breathing.
“…Haah…”
They say you can’t scold a smiling face.
Unable to push away her bright, happy expression, he simply let her be.
