Chapter 4
Clack. Clack.
From the heart of the forest came the sharp crack of wooden swords colliding.
At the same time, I heard a man’s voice.
"Lower your stance!"
Thud!
"Good, now bring your arms farther forward!"
"Hup!"
"Yeah, that’s it!"
Yehwa absorbed everything I taught her as fast as I could give it. It was impressive. Effort mattered, sure, but this was talent, plain and simple.
Come to think of it, had I never asked what level her talent was?
Since I’m thinking about it anyway, maybe I should ask her now.
"An opening!"
While I was distracted, Yehwa thrust her sword at me.
"Ha. You think I wouldn’t notice just because you did?"
I ducked and slipped inside her reach, wrapping my right arm around her waist as if I were pulling her into an embrace.
My other hand caught her wrist.
"That’s enough. Let’s take a short break."
"Hah, I still can’t beat you!"
What, because my body was trash meant I had no combat experience? Who did this little brat think she was dealing with?
"Still, you’re improving fast. Your sword path is much cleaner than before."
Yehwa puffed out her cheeks.
"So what? I still haven’t beaten you even once!"
That kind of competitive spirit was worth praising, at least.
I reached out and ruffled her hair before sitting down on the ground.
"You can’t lose to your disciple once you’re the teacher."
The results of our training were starting to show. Repetition had helped her body adapt to the motion.
"By the way, what level are you in swordsmanship, Yehwa?"
"Huh? I never told you? Everyone else seemed to know."
Everyone else knew? Was it that well-known?
I really had no interest in the gossip of the world...
"So what is it?"
"Level 8!"
Yehwa spread out eight fingers.
…?
I’d thought she had talent, but still.
"Level 8? Huh…."
Considering that talent in childhood could continue to grow, this was insane.
No, this was a problem.
I couldn’t just leave a prodigy like this confined to sparring practice.
It’s time to move on to the next step.
Yehwa needed real combat.
And honestly, so did I.
It was time for both of us to gain something new.
Simple sword drills had served their purpose. If I pushed any further, it would just be stubbornness, and the efficiency would fall off a cliff.
At some point, Yehwa had come to sit beside me and was poking my forearm with her finger.
"You’re definitely different from the boys I see at school."
"Am I?"
Well, of course I was.
What kid my age trained as much as I did?
And even if there were one, I was probably the only one who washed down his training every single day with a potion.
If an ordinary human trained like me, it wouldn’t be training. It’d be torture.
Because it’s me, it’s possible. Hmm.
Everything had been planned. Exercise was science, after all.
Yehwa leaned in with quiet anticipation.
"How was I today?"
I wondered how much I should adjust my answer to her level.
If I answered from the standard of my previous life, no one would ever meet my expectations.
Even my father, who was level 9, wasn’t good enough for me. What am I supposed to say?
"Well, it wasn’t bad."
Her flexibility had improved a lot, at least.
"Not that. Tell me what I’m lacking."
Right. That was the difficult part.
Not just from my perspective, either, but from the standards of this era as a whole.
By my standards, Yehwa’s attacks were soft.
So soft I doubted she could even cut tofu with them.
She thought too much before every strike, and the gap between that thought and the attack itself was far too large.
On the battlefield, that gap could cost you your life.
Should I tell her?
I looked into Yehwa’s clear, unguarded eyes.
"Um…."
"I won’t get hurt."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
In that case, fine.
"I’ll keep it simple. What do you think about before you attack?"
"Before I thrust, I usually think about how you’d react if I aimed here, or here, or there. I guess I’m always measuring."
"That’s the problem."
"Thinking is the problem?"
"No. The problem is that you need to do it in less than 0.01 seconds."
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"By thinking and attacking at the same time."
In my time, if you couldn’t do that, you died on the battlefield.
"I don’t even know where to start with training something like that…."
Well, it wasn’t as if there were no method.
Real combat.
"If it won’t work, then we make it work."
"Huh?"
"Yehwa, why do you want to go to the academy?"
"Well, because I want to become a dragon like my mom and dad."
The greatest warriors and stars among the dragonians—dragons themselves.
It was a nest of monsters, all of them averaging Talent Level 8.
"You should be able to handle this much, I think."
I couldn’t say for sure, but she would manage. This was basic stuff.
"Th-then what do I do?"
"Follow me."
Conveniently, this mountain had monsters on it.
The adults came out regularly to clear them, but there was always a gap somewhere.
And as for me, every morning I made a habit of checking the area before Yehwa arrived, just in case something dangerous was lurking around.
I always came early and swept the surroundings first.
Thanks to that, I’d happened to spot one of them.
This should be enough.
I looked at Yehwa, who was already brimming with excitement.
"Huh? Why?"
Seeing those innocent eyes, worry came first.
Will she be able to do it?
If this had been my previous life, I would’ve just thrown her onto the battlefield and told her to survive.
I guess I’d softened, too.
It must be because she’s my first disciple. That’s why I’m more attached to her.
I’d had plenty of people pass through my hands, but never once had I taught someone like this in earnest.
Back then, I didn’t have the luxury.
"I won’t step into the fight that’s about to happen. You’ll have to realize it and do it yourself."
I’d already prepared potions, so there was no danger of serious injury.
I didn’t tell her that, because it might reduce the tension.
A potion in real combat? Please. If you fail, you die.
Be grateful you’re lucky, Yehwa.
This level of consideration from me was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"Start getting nervous."
"Mm."
Yehwa’s grip tightened around her sword.
Clench.
"Use a reasonable amount of strength."
"Mm, no, yes, sir."
This was training. During training, she used polite speech.
No idea why, but once she turned ten, she’d suddenly become a lot more mature.
My tiny, precious Yehwa has grown up.
We passed through the brush, and a cave of moderate size came into view.
"This is it?"
"Wait here for a moment."
If we fought inside the cave, it would restrict sword movement.
I could’ve deliberately set things up that way, but…
That’s too cruel for a child who’s just turned ten.
Now that things were different from my previous life, that kind of method didn’t fit anymore.
I picked up a rock and threw it into the cave.
Given that creature’s habits, if I tossed it roughly around here…!
Got you.
Thud!
The sound of impact, not against the floor but against something else.
"It’s coming."
"Ssshh."
Before I knew it, Yehwa had stepped into her own world.
Good posture.
If you couldn’t focus in the middle of a fight, then you had to do it before the fight began.
For an inexperienced kid like Yehwa, that was probably the best method available.
Tap! Tap-tap!
The sound drew closer.
I stepped aside to give her her one-on-one.
I wasn’t joining the fight, but I stayed in a position where I could jump in at any moment.
At last, the creature’s eyes flared bright out of the darkness.
At the point where no light reached, it glared at Yehwa from the shadows.
They were both calculating.
Their distance. The other’s distance. The other’s full strength.
The creature lowered its body.
So the measuring’s over. What about Yehwa?
She was staring it down with her eyes wide open.
Good.
"Never take your eyes off your opponent. Try to read every last movement in their muscles."
She didn’t answer, but she must have understood.
Thump!
The sound of dirt flying up.
The creature shot forward.
One of its eyes was swollen red.
It got hit right in the eye.
Not a bad outcome.
The injury narrowed its field of vision and limited its movements.
That left fewer possibilities for Yehwa to account for.
From here on, it was all on her.
I said I wouldn’t interfere, but I was still worried.
My knees were bent, ready to spring in at any moment.
"Act and move at the same time… act and move at the same time…."
Yehwa was unconsciously muttering the words I’d said earlier.
Is she showing me something?
The beast that burst from the cave was a Black Dog, one of the lowest of the low among monster beasts.
I remembered catching one when I was seven in my previous life.
Back then I thought someone’s pet dog had wandered out of the house.
It had caused a stir when a seven-year-old took down a monster beast.
More with guts than talent.
Even before awakening, guts had always been my strongest point.
It was a monster beast below even an ordinary goblin.
Nothing better for a first opponent.
Whoosh!
Its forepaw shot toward Yehwa.
Yehwa lowered her body. At the same time, she raised her sword.
With natural ease, the tip of her blade skimmed across the Black Dog’s abdomen.
Slash—!
Good start.
The Black Dog bled freely as it swelled its body.
"Grrr…"
You’d think that sight would make her flinch, but instead Yehwa curled the corners of her mouth upward.
Ha! You’re smiling in a situation like this?
She was enjoying it.
This fight where life and death hung in the balance.
So she’s not just good with a sword. Well, damn.
What a find.
The Black Dog stretched its neck and lunged.
Its target was Yehwa’s throat.
The moment that got through, everything would explode into chaos.
How would she respond?
If her judgment slowed, she’d be finished.
Show me.
"Huuuu…."
Yehwa let out a deep breath.
What was that?
The same kind of air I’d release when I brought my blade down in a vertical cut.
She was doing that here?
Ha! Our little disciple really wasn’t normal!
Yehwa spread her feet to the proper width.
Her hands were level with her lower abdomen. Her shoulders were straight. Her knees were slightly bent.
Then she drove herself upward like a spring being released.
Swish—.
Thud, thump.
The Black Dog collapsed to the ground as nothing more than a heap of meat.
"Ha… ha ha ha!"
She pulled that off in actual combat?
Was she brave, or just insane?
The hesitation she’d shown during our sparring was nowhere to be found in that moment.
She got it.
Yehwa had definitely, if only a little, synchronized thought and action the way I’d told her to.
I looked at her standing there with proud eyes.
Yehwa was trembling in place.
Ah.
Was she hitting her limit?
Well, that downward slash had carried, in a very small way, some of the instinct of the Sword God.
It was definitely not the kind of finishing strike a child should be able to make.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
I clapped my hands.
There were still shortcomings, sure.
But for a first real fight, this was more than enough.
For now, I’d praise her. Just for now.
I can scold her later.
"Well done."
"Ah."
Only then did a spark of reason return to Yehwa’s eyes.
Had she only now realized the battle was over?
That level of concentration was almost frightening.
"That last downward cut was really good."
It had been a truly fine technique.
Only—
Tap.
"Kyaaaah!"
"If you use a technique once and then can’t even move afterward, what exactly are you supposed to do next?"
Then you couldn’t even handle the enemy after that.
"Because there was only one enemy…."
Only one enemy?
"When did I ever say there was only one?"
Tap, tap.
The sound of at least three beasts charging toward us came from deeper inside.
Yehwa shook.
She weakly grabbed my sleeve.
"J-Jeon…… what do we do? I can’t move my body."
"It can’t be helped. Sit there and watch for now."
"Watch me with the intent to absorb everything I do. That’s the point you need to aim for."
For just a moment, I might push myself a little.
Whoosh—.
The blade sliced through the air and came to a stop at a precise point.
This was the first real battle in this body.
I licked my lips lightly.
No talent for swordsmanship?
So what?
I was the Sword God.
If this body wouldn’t obey me,
then I’d keep swinging until it did.
In the end, the body always follows the mind.
Click—.
"Come on."