018. Skill Reveal (2)
018. Skill Reveal (2)
After finishing our meal, Shin Se-hee and I returned to the training ground.
"Whoa..."
"Huh..."
Swish, swish—
SWISH—
A sword traced fluid, elegant arcs through the air.
Sharp, dazzling, and beautiful.
At the same time, the strikes aimed ruthlessly for an opponent's vitals.
In the center of the training ground, the instructor was swinging her sword alone.
'Ah, so the Instructor has a swordsmanship specialization.'
I knew it the instant I saw her.
This woman was an expert swordswoman whose skill with the sword surpassed my own.
Clack.
Noticing that Shin Se-hee and I had arrived, the instructor sheathed her blade.
Then she spoke with an expressionless face.
"The rest aren't here yet."
"Ah, Do-hee is on her way."
Glance.
The instructor looked toward the clock and said,
"Individual role training runs from noon to six. Anyone who isn't here on time will bear the penalty for it."
Apparently, she intended to simply treat the two quota students as nonexistent.
"Cadet Jin Yu-ha."
"Yes."
"You have kept up admirably with the special admission cadets' basic training."
"Thank you."
"No, to be blunt, it was unexpected. I didn't think you would truly manage to digest all that training. I'll give you credit."
"Th-thank you?"
I'd felt it from the very first time I saw her—she was an exceptionally dry person.
Who gives a compliment with a face as wooden as stone?
"Originally, I had planned to skip checking the quota students' skills separately... but after the ability you showed this morning, I've grown curious."
The instructor picked up two wooden swords lying on the ground.
And chucked one of them straight at me.
Thwack.
The wooden sword landed safely in my hand.
"Male quota. Cadet Jin Yu-ha. Your role is Damage Dealer. I was told you use a sword. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that's right."
"I also use a sword. So, this time, let's spar without using Mana. Will that be all right?"
It was a suggestion with genuinely good timing.
If I showed her my true abilities here and now, I could dilute some of Kang Do-hee's preconceptions about the male quota.
I nodded.
"Yes, please."
"We'll start when you're ready."
The grip fit snugly in my hand.
Of course, it didn't have the same flavor as Moonlight.
But even if it was made of wood, a sword was still a sword.
I felt the corners of my mouth rise before I knew it.
The moment I held the sword, it felt as if the visual quality of the world around me had leveled up by one stage.
Senses I hadn't felt during basic training honed themselves to a razor's edge.
"Then, please teach me a thing or two."
"Hm."
Hah—!
I launched off my foot and charged the instructor.
* * *
Whoosh!
Jin Yu-ha's sword moved smoothly, tracing elegant patterns through the air.
A series of connected motions—slashing, thrusting, striking down—flowed as naturally as water.
A sword that glided gently, then whipped around with unpredictable ferocity.
SWISH—!!
The sound of the wooden sword slicing the wind made the nape of her neck prickle.
"......."
The instructor, Baek Seol-hee, felt a strange sensation as she watched the sword charging toward her.
As the Velvet Academy chairwoman's direct secretary, Baek Seol-hee normally did not work as an instructor.
Her primary duty was assisting the chairwoman.
And her truer vocation was rooting out the Demonized Humans and scumbags who targeted the academy from the shadows.
But this time, the chairwoman had uncharacteristically invoked her authority to ask a favor of her.
—Seol-hee! Are you preparing the basic training speech well?
—Yes.
—You know those special admission cadets coming in this year? For the first time in years, some reeeally crazy talented kids came in. Hmm, Cheonhwa and Fighting Dog, was it? I think those were the names. Keep an eye on them just for basic training.
—I'm busy.
—Aw, c'mooon~ I figured no one but you could test them properly. Huh? Do me this favor! Ah, and those male quota kids? Them, too!
—I'll be heading out on assignment.
—Seol-hee, Seol-hee! No, don't do this!!! If we don't take proper care of the male quota kids, those old hags are gonna throw a massive fit! Who else do I have to trust?!
—I'll be heading out on assignment.
—Fine, so you're gonna play it that way? Then I'll use my authority as chairwoman!
That was how the job had been forced on her, practically shoving her into it.
In reality, Cheonhwa and Fighting Dog lived up to their reputations.
Cheonhwa's magic held the potential to clear out ordinary monsters in one fell swoop,
and Fighting Dog's attacks—at least in hand-to-hand combat—were nearly on par with her own.
But those two weren't all that surprising to her.
By observing their prior achievements, she'd already been able to estimate roughly how skilled they would be.
However, Jin Yu-ha.
She'd truly had not a speck of expectation for him, a quota admit.
In the first place, she considered the quota system itself a half-baked policy cooked up by half-baked people.
Forcing unqualified people in would do no one any good.
That was why on the first day, she'd only verified the special admission cadets' skills.
But now,
'What in the world is this guy...?'
She was genuinely surprised.
Enough that her own normally impassive eyes had gone wide.
Clack-clack—!
Click—!
She deflected and redirected his sword path, admiring his skill.
First, his stamina, willpower, and mental fortitude all passed muster.
In a male body, he had not only completed the training schedule meant for special admission cadets, but had even outperformed Shin Se-hee, Wizard or not.
That alone was more than enough to remember his name and keep an eye on him.
Enough to think, maybe that laughable Male Quota System was unexpectedly worthwhile if it could fish out a guy like this.
But this was too much... yes, it was uncanny.
Thock.
Clack-clack—!
Thwack!
With someone who'd swung a sword her entire life, he fell into sync as if they'd choreographed it together.
When she launched an attack, he read the opening and thrust in.
And when she deflected and struck back, he'd retreat a step, then immediately chain into a follow-up.
It was as if he knew in advance where the sword should attack and where it should defend next.
'Every single sword path he executes is exquisitely precise.'
His movements looked as though a swordsmanship manual had come to life.
And having clashed with him in person, she now understood.
'This kid... even during basic training earlier, he wasn't drawing out his body's full performance.'
Jin Yu-ha appeared unable to properly make use of his innate physical specs.
Of course, even if he did use them properly, beating Kang Do-hee in basic training would still be difficult,
but he could at least stick close enough to stay one step behind her.
'That's probably a lack of experience.'
He possesses superior physical specs, but he hasn't had the chance to use his body.
He hasn't used his body, yet the sword paths he traces are elaborate.
A body he's never properly used but was born with,
and the ability to unfurl a swordsmanship like this instantly with zero experience.
That is what we call a 'genius.'
'What an absurd kid.'
Enough to draw a scoffing laugh from her.
But he was different from those perfect, complete geniuses who were born that way.
His points needing correction were plainly visible to her trained eyes.
'His breathing is unstable. His posture hasn't formed any habits yet since he's only just started holding a sword. His sword paths are elaborate but too rigidly formalized. He lacks adaptability. And....'
Before she knew it, Baek Seol-hee was examining all of Jin Yu-ha's points for improvement and imagining how she would correct them.
If Jin Yu-ha fixed all these things and came to properly wield a sword, what would happen then?
Shiver—!
Baek Seol-hee had let her imagination run wild into that future, and now she felt goosebumps prickling up.
Thock.
"We'll stop here."
She knocked aside the thrust flying toward her face and spoke.
This much told her all she needed to know.
Huff—
Huff—
Jin Yu-ha wiped sweat away as he heaved rough breaths.
Shin Se-hee and Kang Do-hee were doubting whether what they'd just seen could be real.
Their expressions were even more stunned than when he'd crushed the morning's training schedule.
'They would be. Even I was startled.'
But what she had to say now would be even more startling.
Baek Seol-hee felt a small sense of anticipation over how these cocky special admission cadets would react.
"Cadet Jin Yu-ha."
Baek Seol-hee met his eyes composedly.
"Huff. Yes."
"Is this the first time you've ever held a sword?"
At that, Jin Yu-ha's face went wide with shock and his body flinched.
'As I thought.'
"To start with the visible signs, your hands have no calluses. And your intent is mismatched with your body. Your movements have no ingrained habits at all. You know it mentally, but the execution is unnatural."
"Ah..."
"That doesn't mean your physical specs are lacking. On the contrary, they're considerable. But they lag far behind your innate sense for swordsmanship."
"......Yes."
"You also seem not to know how to use your body. It hasn't been long since you've even used it at all, has it."
"......Yes."
Baek Seol-hee smiled, feeling an almost pleasant sensation.
"Hah, really. This is one entertaining kid."
In her entire life, she'd never imagined she'd actually want to be an instructor.
But wasn't he one hell of a diamond in the rough?
'I'll have to ask the chairwoman to open a swordsmanship class.'
* * *
Whoa. Crazy.
I guess you really don't become a Velvet Academy instructor for nothing.
Possessing a swordsmanship specialization of S-rank, I'd thought the sword I swung would prove that level of spec on its own.
But the Instructor was telling me
that I looked as though this were my very first day wielding a sword.
And that I didn't know how to use my body, either.
Which was absolutely accurate.
In my case, neither of those things had been acquired through training. They'd been pumped up overnight through a fateful encounter you'd have no problem calling an early-game starter package.
'Still, she's really incredible. What exactly is this person...?'
My original goal had been to show off my skills in front of Kang Do-hee...
She could go toe-to-toe with Kang Do-hee in hand-to-hand combat and not only fully handle my S-rank swordsmanship, but outright overwhelm me.
I'd never bothered to feel any particular curiosity toward the Instructor before, but now that things had come this far, I couldn't help having questions.
'She's a face that never even appeared in the game....'
Sharp, blunt-cut black hair.
A blankly indifferent expression on a white face.
She definitely had too strong a presence to write off as a simple extra.
As I stared intently at the Instructor, she spoke.
"Starting tomorrow, I'll arrange a separate basic training schedule for Cadet Jin Yu-ha."
A separate basic training schedule?
Was she making a lighter one than the special admission cadets because I couldn't use my body?
"Do not worry. If anything, it will be harder than the special admission training, not easier."
With a slight snort, as if she could read minds, the Instructor said that.
As I thought, she didn't seem like just any extra.
"What is your name, Instructor?"
I asked because I thought if I heard her name, I might recognize it.
"...It's Baek Seol-hee."
A name I didn't know.