Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: Ruby
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: To Enter the State of Mushin
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Though he didn't show it outwardly, Romain was feeling greatly shaken.
'He......caught that in one try?'
Geniuses appeared in the world from time to time.
Those who had reached a realm of transcendence that had never existed before, he meant.
He himself was one of those individuals as well.
Especially in ultra-close combat.
When it came to martial arts, he thought he had set foot into the ultimate realm.
Originally, this city of the poor, Gilad, was a lawless zone where only the logic of power prevailed.
Romain was a human who had created order with just his fists in that lawless zone.
Though he was currently in this state with an injured leg......it was those fists that had allowed him to rise to the position of de facto leader of this slum.
And it was also those fists that had made it possible to create a way for even the weak to survive in this slum that had been teeming with vicious bastards.
And also that name that Rohan knew.
Zaberon
The only means that had allowed him to survive when facing that bastard was also those fists.
Romain had accomplished so much with nothing but his martial prowess alone.
And such a person was genuinely surprised.
'Should this even be called talent......'
He didn't know.
Even the word talent felt far too trivial.
Just now, Romain had thrown the pebble with all his might.
'I naturally assumed he wouldn't be able to catch it.'
There had often been humans who acted cocky in their youth.
There had been in the past, and there would probably be more in the future as well.
In his eyes, Rohan seemed no different.
That's why he had shown his full power once......
'He actually caught it.'
Normally, anyone would miss the first stone.
He remembered that even Leanoa, who had considerable talent, couldn't even dodge the first three.
She had gradually gotten the feel for it.
Of course, that was surprising too.
She had caught the timing in just three tries when he threw with full power.
He expected it would be the same this time......
Crack.
Not only did he catch it, but he even crushed it with his bare hand.
"One."
From the mouth of the man called Rohan, the first count emerged.
Romain felt his interest being piqued.
And for good reason, as he was someone who had never met anyone at the same eye level throughout his entire life.
'In the end, even Leanoa didn't reach the realm I was looking at.'
But for the first time, someone who could look down at the world from the same position as him had appeared.
To him, who had lived his entire life feeling different from others, Rohan's existence felt very special.
Perhaps that's why.
The competitive spirit that had been sleeping inside Romain slowly began to raise its head.
'I thought all that had disappeared with old age......but I was wrong. Well then, let's see just how much you can do.'
He slightly raised the corners of his mouth.
"Here comes another."
Pa-ba-ba-bak!
He began to fire pebbles in rapid succession.
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I felt my spine go cold when I saw the first stone.
It seemed like he had thrown it to deliberately miss.
'If it hits my head wrong, I could really die......'
Could this even be called a test?
Of course, I managed to catch it thanks to him throwing it precisely in the direction I expected.
However, the difference in perception between what was visible and what wasn't was tremendous.
Thanks to my complete concentration, my two unique skills combined forces and blocked it well.
But being frightened was unavoidable, it seemed.
'At least when fighting demons, I felt so out of it that fear and everything else was comfortable.'
In a way, this seemed even scarier......
At least I was fortunate he told me to catch it.
If he had told me to dodge, I probably would have failed.
Only my left arm could barely react to his speed.
While I was thinking such thoughts, Romain opened his mouth again.
"Here comes another!"
There was no time to respond.
Romain's hand had already begun to move.
Pa-ba-bak! Pa-ba-ba-bak!
Pebbles flying in succession.
This time they didn't seem to have missed, and attacks that would really finish me off if they hit came flying.
'Damn, I can't see them!'
Now it was purely the realm of instinct.
I remembered the direction they would fly.
According to that memory, my third eye reacted.
Finally, the Left Arm of Colossus acted.
I dealt with that simple yet tremendously fast and delicate work with all my might.
Thud, thud, thud-thud.
Since he didn't give me any chance to crush them after the first stone, I dropped the stones to the ground.
And those stones gradually piled up.
'But......it's past ten already? W-wait a minute......'
Even at a glance, the count had long surpassed ten.
Nevertheless, Romain showed no signs of stopping at all.
He appeared to have entered almost a state of mushin.
Mushin (無心) is a Japanese Zen concept meaning "no mind" or "mind without mind," referring to a state of pure, instinctive action and deep presence where the mind is free from conscious thought, ego, fear, or distraction.
I too had all my nerves on edge right now.
If I looked away even for a moment, I would immediately take a hit.
I could feel it.
Under the pretext of a test, we were engaged in a virtual sparring match.
Romain was using his full power.
What I felt from the flying pebbles was his fist itself.
Those fists that had smashed Zaberon's head.
Naturally, me parrying them was no different from parrying his fists.
I raised the reaction speed of my left arm to its limits.
Pak! Pak! Pa-ak!
Now, even catching them was at my limit too.
So eventually, I reached the point of clenching my fist and smashing the pebbles.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
The surroundings became quiet.
All that remained in the world was Romain and me.
My eyes and his became locked in midair.
We were engaged in combat, beyond mere sparring.
Naturally, killing intent began to fill the pebbles.
Having concentrated, I too momentarily accepted that as natural.
In combat, there was nothing strange about aiming for the opponent's life.
'I need to find an opening and counterattack by throwing them back......!'
Romain was deploying attacks that were nearly perfect.
He was truly showing through his body that a master was different.
Thanks to that, finding an opening and counterattacking felt honestly close to impossible.
Fortunately, when my and Romain's test intensified to a level that exceeded proper bounds.
Diaz eventually intervened.
"Master!"
"......!"
Romain, who barely came to his senses at Diaz's shout.
Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.
It seemed my back was also soaked through.
'Huff, huff......it's finally over.'
However, I didn't feel bad.
It was a bit regrettable that I couldn't continue to a counterattack since Romain's attacks had no openings.
But I was in a good mood from the charm that the novel experience had brought.
'To enter the state of mushin, it had always only been during battles with demons......'
That wasn't something I did by my own will.
But this time, I had stepped foot into that realm for the first time purely by my own will.
It was the same feeling but very different.
I tried clenching and unclenching my left arm.
It felt like I could still feel a tingling sensation.
Of course, this arm wasn't that weak, so it wasn't an actual sensation, but the feeling was like that, I meant.
'For the first time......it's refreshing.'
The state of mushin I experienced in fights with demons had been filled with rage.
At that time too, all my senses had sharpened like crazy.
The noise from all directions disappeared and I could only hear my heartbeat.
But now, everything else was the same, but there was no rage.
It was a completely new feeling.
Although I had only used my left arm, it felt as if every single cell in my body had shed a layer.
I raised my head and looked at Romain.
He too had the same expression as me.
An extremely refreshed expression.
"You said you wanted to be recognized by me as a martial artist, right? Well......I'm confused whether I'm qualified to evaluate you. You're the greatest martial artist I've seen."
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"Grrr......"
Oakley soon regained consciousness and got up from his spot.
He looked around for a moment as if he couldn't grasp the situation.
Soon, as if he remembered what happened right before he passed out, he walked straight toward me.
"Hey! You there! You attacked me while I was briefly off guard? Come at me again!"
But there was no need for me to respond.
The other people around stepped forward.
"Hey. Oakley. Just come here."
"Yeah. Stay squashed."
It seemed like he felt that something about the atmosphere had strangely changed while he was briefly knocked out.
But he still couldn't accept it.
"What bullshit are you guys spouting? You can't possibly think I lost, right? Absolutely not! If we fight properly again, you'll see the real difference in skill. Just you wait."
To him, who was throwing a tantrum.
People shook their heads.
"Just shut up and come here. What are you going to do?"
"Ugh. Don't attack him pointlessly and end up dead, just stay still."
"No! Wow, this is driving me crazy? I'm serious? I'm really confident I can win."
"Tsk tsk."
"Ugh."
At that moment.
Romain, who had briefly left by going inside the shack, appeared again.
Holding something wrapped in cloth in his hand.
Oakley, feeling frustrated, immediately ran to Romain.
"Master! Master, please make a judgment! I want to properly settle things with that bastard!"
Romain looked at Oakley with an expression that said 'what is this about?'
Thwack!
He struck his crown with his fist.
"You stupid bastard. A bastard like you needs to have your hind legs ripped off and shoved down your throat to come to your senses, don't you? Damn, you can't even assess your opponent's level, you moronic bastard. Where should I stuff this deficient jellyfish......"
A barrage of curses too terrible to hear followed.
Profanities that should have been censored danced about freely.
He delivered them so smoothly that it reached the point where you couldn't distinguish whether they were curses or everyday language.
But then, with rhythm and beat added to the well-structured curses, it even sounded like rap at a glance.
I wondered if Harlem rap was created in this manner.
'Has he just been pretending to be refined all this time......'
The ears of Diaz, who was watching that scene with me, turned red again.
"I-I'm sorry. For this unseemly sight......"
"Don't worry about it."
Only after a long while did Romain's beat-breaking come to an end.
He finally kicked Oakley's shin.
Pak!
"Agh!"
"Go and figure out your place!"
After that, he came to me.
"He's a disgraceful disciple, so please forgive him."
"It doesn't matter."
"Haha. Indeed, a martial artist should have a broad mind as well! The more I see you, the more I like you. Now, this is a modest gift."
Romain handed me the item he had brought out.
When I removed the surrounding cloth, a small wooden box emerged.
It looked clearly luxurious, and I could instinctively tell it wasn't an item you'd see in a slum like this.
I then opened the box as well.
Then.
'This is......'
Two bottles of red potion were contained inside.
Romain added an explanation.
"If I had had something like this when I injured this leg, it would have recovered more perfectly than now. I regretted it over and over. That situation where I didn't prepare a potion. And also my arrogant self."
He smiled.
"If only my leg were fine, I'd want to properly engage in a sparring match."
Why were there so many people who wanted to spar the moment they saw me?
I couldn't understand it.
"I dare say you would have become my greatest rival. It's regrettable, so regrettable."
"......"
A rival.
I just wanted to be recognized as a martial artist.
At most, I had wanted the position of a disciple.
But it seemed I had obtained the position of rival.
A rival martial artist to the strongest martial artist in history, he meant.
'Well, a martial artist is still a martial artist, I suppose......'
In any case.
I had obtained what I wanted.
Then now......it was time to face the main event.
The next day.
Diaz and I, holding the key, moved our steps toward the underground labyrinth.