Chapter 10
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Duelism
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At the time, including myself as a first-year student, the terrorism that delivered a massive shock to countless students at the Korean Martial Arts Genius Academy—not to mention the entire Korean martial world—was something I knew about on a level not much different from ordinary people who only heard about it through news articles.
The reason was that my first-year Class 5 was out on a field trip experience at the site.
After an emergency return order came down from the experience site and I got back to my boarding room, the school was shut down for a week. When we returned, the beautifully landscaped campus was shattered everywhere as if bombs had gone off, with one entire building collapsed and surrounded by safety lines.
In one corner of the campus, there was a memorial altar filled with Lee Soo-young's portrait and flowers. From what I heard, she had infused her qi into the entire collapsing building under attack from a demon cultist, buying time for the students to evacuate until her energy ran out.
From my perspective, where even channeling energy into a single sword made me waver, I couldn't even comprehend how it was possible to harden an entire building with internal energy—a crazy feat. But judging from her heroic final moments, unlike anyone else, it was crystal clear that she was a true educator and a righteous warrior.
For me, who struggled just to keep a contract with Son Ha-rin that I'd paid for with my life in advance, the chivalrous spirit of sacrificing oneself to save others was still something I couldn't understand.
Considering she was the daughter of one of Korea's top swordsmanship clans before becoming a soldier, was it a sense of noblesse oblige?
Though she was more famous for the title Phoenix of Fist earned through her own martial arts rather than her family's prestige, she was a direct descendant of the Deoksu Yi clan's Chungmugong branch by birth.
She didn't quite reach the level of world-class martial bloodlines like Namgoong, Jegal, or Rothschild among the Ten Great Families, but she was the lady of a nationwide martial clan in Korea—one of the top three—and a prestigious naval family.
Though she herself came from the army, not the navy, anyway.
Lee Soo-young had been discharged from the peacekeeping forces and come to the academy as a teacher, but she was still young enough to be classified as a late-stage prodigy. Even I in my previous life, right before dying, had been older than her current age.
But unlike me, a nameless vagabond, she was the Phoenix of Fist. Not some minor regional phoenix or dragon like the Kyoto Three Phoenixes or Australia Five Dragons, but the real deal selected by the International Young Phoenix Association under the World Martial Alliance.
Even among the experts of the South American martial world on the opposite side of the globe, there might be many who didn't know who the Korean president was, but none who didn't know the name of a Korean phoenix.
That's what a phoenix was. Talent comparable to mythical divine beasts. The most honorable title a young martial artist could attain.
Lee Soo-young had earned that name before turning twenty-five.
In truth, she was the greatest talent among the current generation's late-stage prodigies in Korea. She was already teaching and raising disciples as a teacher, but she herself was still of an age treated as a late-stage prodigy in the martial world.
'Well, thanks to the three who entered this term, her reputation's shifted to "the greatest of the previous generation's late-stage prodigies..."'
Come to think of it, rumors had been swirling even before enrollment that this term's class at the academy was a golden generation.
Veronica Lionheart, Baek Chan, Son Ha-rin... Geniuses who could claim to be the strongest of their generation, and three of them entered the same term.
The rest of Class 1's students were overshadowed by those three, but they were all skilled martial artists in their own right.
She must have been assigned as Class 1's homeroom teacher because she was recognized as having the perfect qualities to handle these young geniuses with egos as inflated as their skills.
And those qualities were, naturally... power.
Overwhelming force to hammer the cold reality into the heads of students brimming with youthful vigor and confidence, packed into a fist.
Not even enough to be classified as a true master among martial artists. At minimum, an A-rank—Harmony Realm expert—to perfectly control these unpredictable young warriors who might bolt anywhere.
The academy's strongest warrior, perfectly meeting those conditions, popped open the board marker's cap.
A few strokes were drawn on the whiteboard in one fluid motion.
The sharply written hanja was familiar even to the students.
The martial of "martial arts" ().
Lee Soo-young turned and asked,
"What is martial ()?"
Though she didn't raise her voice, the clear tone resonating evenly across the entire training ground carried deep internal energy.
It was Six Harmonies Voice Projection, a type of sound art and symbol of a master.
And the question embedded within was utterly fundamental, mismatched with the class name "Practical Martial Arts."
But no one answered. Because it was a question without a mathematically precise correct answer. Continuing her explanation in a tone that suggested she hadn't asked expecting a reply,
"The way to advance from sword qi to sword gang, trimming excess from footwork, reducing wasted true qi when deploying qi arts."
Lee Soo-young turned her head to look at the students. My eyes met hers briefly as well.
She circled the character for martial () in the center of the whiteboard and drew several branches extending from it.
Qi arts, heart arts, fist arts, sword arts... Various types of martial arts connected the central through the branches.
It was a kind of mind map.
"That is martial (). And the modern martial world divides martial artists' ranks by their achievement in martial."
Third-rate, second-rate, first-rate, Peak, Absolute, Harmony, Manifestation, EX-rank.
Currently corresponding to F, E, D, C, B, A, S, EX-grade realms of martial arts.
But in the next moment, the eraser floated lightly into the air and swiftly wiped away the board's contents. Object Manipulation as natural as breathing.
"But what I'll teach you over this semester is not martial ()."
She picked up the board marker again and began writing new characters.
The completed characters were far more complex than the martial ().
Lee Soo-young turned to us and said,
"It's closer to combat ()."
Fight (). The warrior who had reached a higher realm than anyone here declared as much.
"I can't teach you the hereditary arts of my clan that I inherited, nor the standard military arts. Because of the strict no-transmission-outside-the-school principle upheld by both the martial world and the military."
The Deoksu Yi clan's Twin Dragon Sword Art was a martial art created by a legendary warrior, but the dozen or so students here had backgrounds no less impressive than the Deoksu Yi.
No need to mention the standard arts designed for the maximum number of soldiers to learn as quickly as possible. Most students had probably entered this school already trained in arts with far greater profound principles.
Lee Soo-young was strong not because of the Twin Dragon Sword Art or standard military arts she'd learned, but simply because Lee Soo-young herself was strong. Her title wasn't even Sword Phoenix to begin with.
So the students likely hadn't expected her to pass down Deoksu Yi or military arts anyway.
"Advancing in martial () as I mentioned earlier is a lifelong koan you must ponder yourselves. Guidance from masters, clan or sect elders, or the teachers here can shorten the time to enlightenment, but it's hard to grasp the essence of combat () that way. Do you know why?"
Lee Soo-young pointed at the student in the front row. His name was Namgoong Min-soo or Min-jae or something. Naturally from the Namgoong Family, though a branch line.
"Because the skills of battle can only be gained through countless real combats!"
The promising youth from the Namgoong Family's Korean branch gave a model answer, and Lee Soo-young nodded.
"I don't remember every duel across the whole school, but I remember the contents of the duels fought by the students in my class. Some showed regrettable performances... while others displayed completely unexpected surprises."
Veronica Lionheart let out an overt snicker, and Baek Chan clenched his fist menacingly, glaring at her.
And it might have been an illusion, but for a moment, I felt like Lee Soo-young's gaze lingered on me.
"But that's precisely why what I'll have you do isn't dueling (Duel)."
Dueling, a staple evaluation in most practical classes at the academy, was absent from the Practical Martial Arts class? I was fairly surprised by the unexpected statement.
The other students seemed the same. The atmosphere grew quite restless in an instant.
"If anyone has doubts, I'd rather ask: Why on earth do you think fair, one-on-one duels—prohibiting vital point attacks and aimed at building mutual friendship—will hold up in 'real' combat?"
A few students who had been about to voice their questions shrank back and shut their mouths, but Lee Soo-young's speech didn't stop. It was a claim contradicting the rampant Duelism in the current martial world.
"A duel () is, literally, just a comparison of martial prowess. Shall I give a more detailed example?"
Lee Soo-young picked up the marker again and wrote something on the board.
"Of the 18 confirmed S-rank—Manifestation Realm masters' deaths during the Great War Incident, 1 died by explosion and 5 by natural causes. But of the 12 reported as killed in action, only 8 Manifestation Realm masters died fighting other S-rank masters. So what were the causes of death for the remaining four who died on the battlefield, neither to heavy artillery nor to an equal master's blade?"
Lee Soo-young looked straight at me and said,
"Number 4 on the roll call, Kim Hoon. Can you tell us?"
I pondered briefly before answering.
"Not to a master's blade... but to an inferior's blade?"
Laughter stifled around me erupted.
I could sense the faint flows of internal energy spreading through the air—some mischievous classmates gossiping about me via telepathy.
The moment I turned to find the source, Lee Soo-young barked in a stern voice.
"If you have private talk, it's best to refrain in front of a master. Reaching A-rank—Harmony Realm—means dominating the world's qi under one's control, and that includes the internal energy used for telepathy."
The female student I'd roughly suspected blushed red. Serves her right for using obvious telepathy that'd get caught.
'It's not like Harmony Realm lets you eavesdrop on the content, but you can somewhat guess who's transmitting right in front of someone.'
I smirked invisibly. Honestly, busted.
"And Kim Hoon, excellent answer. The four Manifestation Realm masters died to combined assaults from Harmony Realm experts—what S-ranks would consider inferiors."
By now, I could roughly guess what Lee Soo-young wanted from us.
"Of course, the gap between S and A is enormous. There's a huge wall between A and B too. But is this ranking an absolute standard? Is there any martial artist who can confidently say it's absolutely impossible for Peak to defeat Absolute, or Absolute to defeat Harmony?"
Lee Soo-young continued questioning.
"The stronger one's martial arts, the higher the chance of victory in battle. That's a clear fact. However, the strength or weakness of martial arts doesn't decide battle outcomes, and even the weak can grow stronger than the strong by combining forces. That is the supreme principle of the martial world, superseding the law of the strong."
She was speaking of the subtleties of the weak cooperating against the strong—combined assault.
So the essence of this class was none other than...
"Kim Hoon, Park Jong-myeong, Veronica Lionheart, Baek Chan form Team 1. The rest form Team 2. The goal is simple. Combined assault, one-on-one, ambush—it doesn't matter. Starting now until summer break. If anyone, even once, succeeds in subduing me, the entire team that student belongs to gets full marks."
...a group project.