Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: Romance in Wuxia Novels
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The two weakest women on the first floor now stood facing each other.
Narin drew her sword and focused her mind.
Kairel double-checked her spells and abilities.
Once both were ready, Balak stepped in as referee and explained the rules for this spar.
"No instant kills—anything can be healed. No vital point strikes. Everything else is fair game, but I'll stop it the moment one of you retires. Got it?"
"Yes!"
"Understood."
"Then get ready…"
Balak raised his arm, and the training room fell utterly silent.
In that moment of perfect quiet.
"Begin!"
"Hup!!"
Thud!!!
Narin moved first, right from the start.
She originally hailed from the East and didn't know much about mages.
But after getting brutally schooled by various constructs during the third trial of the Supreme Training Grounds, she knew she had to close the distance fast against spellcasters.
Narin kicked off the ground hard and lunged forward.
The tip of her sword glowed faintly as she swung straight at Kairel's upper body.
"First Form: Moonlight Single Flash."
Kairel merely narrowed her eyes as the moonlight approached, making no move to dodge.
Instead, crimson-black mana flashed from her fingertips, instantly unfurling a thin barrier.
Scraaaape!!
Shatter!
The sword aura smashed into the mana shield, shattering it in a heartbeat.
One might expect Kairel to panic at Narin's lightning-fast advance, but she had already deployed trap spells around the area.
Whiiiine!!!
Boom!
An explosion erupted at Narin's feet, sending smoke and debris flying everywhere.
Her body was shoved back in an instant, throwing off her balance.
But she jammed her sword into the ground to forcibly steady herself.
"Urk…"
"Don't let the distance open up against a mage!"
Narin gritted her teeth and tried to press forward again.
But Kairel was already preparing her next move.
Clap!
With a light clap of her hands, hundreds of tiny magic circles bloomed in the air.
"Elemental Rain."
Magic bullets of every element rained down like a downpour from all directions.
But Narin had dodged hundreds of times more than this in the past.
She batted away the weaker projectiles with her sword and charged ahead.
From there, Narin countered Kairel's spells with her blade whenever they came, only to get pushed back repeatedly.
The training room filled with the thunderous clashes of sword and sorcery.
Still, she refused to give up.
"Second Form!! Shadowless Moon Step!!"
Narin slipped through the shadows of the moon, drawing closer to Kairel one step at a time.
Finally, in the midst of her relentless assault, her sword swung right in front of Kairel.
Whoosh!!!
"……!"
Kairel's body scattered into mist in midair.
That also explained why Kairel hadn't moved much from her spot.
Snap!
"Red Chain."
Rattle rattle rattle!!!
Crimson mana chains coiled around Narin's limbs, locking her in place.
What happened next was obvious.
Narin was now little more than a sitting duck.
She desperately swung her sword to fend off the spells.
But with her lower body restrained, she couldn't properly unleash the Moonlight Shadow Sword.
The red chains endlessly disrupted her balance, creating endless openings.
And so, amid the endless barrage of magic…
"Enough!"
Balak's voice boomed out.
**********
Whoa… she got utterly crushed.
Honestly, with the gap in their training time.
I expected Changwol's raw stats to fall short.
I even thought her sword aura might pull it off somehow.
But the pure warrior's fate was far too cruel.
She just charged in and that was it!!
Sob… is this the gap between birthrights!
"This… the difference is way too big, isn't it?"
"Big bro, Kairel seems way stronger than we thought."
The kid had a point.
Lately, Damfir's been commuting back to the Nyaotribe village after work, and it's totally changed her.
It's like her fatigue resets completely every time she goes.
That's why she's been training extra hard lately.
And according to the little catgirl, she never skips magic studies at night.
Honestly, I was worried about raising Damfir as a ninja only for her to end up with a balanced hexagon stat build—the worst-case scenario.
Guess I don't have to worry about that anymore.
I approached the utterly dejected Changwol and the beaming Damfir.
"Captain! Captain! You saw that, right? I'm not weak anymore!"
"Yeah, that was impressive. And… Changwol?"
"Y-Yes…"
"Keep pushing forward even harder from now on."
"Understood…"
I left the sulking Changwol in the corner to be comforted by the little catgirl and Damfir.
Looks like Changwol's training plan just got a new priority.
Even with sword aura, she's a pure warrior at heart, so she basically has zero ability to create openings.
If she can't close in, her swordsmanship is meaningless… what a tragic situation!
Plus, as a murim fighter, she bellows out her technique names every time.
But if I stop that, is it even murim anymore?
Damn… but if we're talking efficiency, maybe shut her mou—
*My son… are you suddenly prioritizing efficiency?*
Huh?
You, you're Aura Balak?!
Haven't seen you around lately—what's up?
*I was always with you. But I can't make sense of your thinking this time.*
But you saw how Damfir was ready the moment Changwol shouted her technique name.
Shouting technique names is a real liability.
And Changwol's a pure warrior!
*…Can't argue with that. But don't get hasty—think step by step. And Balak, recall the wuxia novels you know! Their romance!*
R-Romance?
Ah! Right! Romance!!!
Murim folk live and die by style, after all!
They even cram fancy hanja into their technique names.
And they shout them out proudly!
Heh, lesson learned today.
Thanks, Aura Balak.
*No problem.*
Swoosh…
Alright, like Aura Balak said, Changwol's only on the first step.
In other words, her growth potential is limitless!
And the lack of ranged attacks? Easy fix.
I called over Changwol, who looked as limp as a dried squid.
"Tch, Changwol, on your feet."
"Aaah! Narin, rise!"
"You still refusing to accept your loss?"
"N-No, it's not that. It's just… I lost so anticlimactically to my junior…"
"But you found your weakness this time, so that's a win."
"Master…"
Heh, getting emotional over this—she really is tough on the outside, soft on the inside.
Anyway, I had her list out her shortcomings one by one.
"First, no ranged attacks, and…"
"And?"
"…Shouting my technique names tips off the opponent."
Oh, nice.
She knows her issues all too well.
But do we really need to change that?
"Uh, you mean just keep going like this?"
"Yeah. Shouting your techniques is a flaw, but it could also be your unique weapon."
"My… weapon?"
"Murim fighters don't just swing weapons. They wield presence! What if your shout isn't empty bravado, but a battle cry that crushes the enemy's will?"
Changwol stared at me blankly for a moment.
Yeah, picture this: you shout your technique name, the enemy recognizes you, their fighting spirit breaks, and they beg for mercy!
That's the dream of every murim warrior!
Anyway, shouting technique names is core to her style, so we'll keep it.
Right now, ranged pokes are more urgent.
The simplest fix is throwing weapons.
But there's something even better.
I gripped my greatsword, formed sword aura.
Then I swung it like hurling energy, slicing a distant target clean through.
Kabooboom!
Slash!
That's right! What I just did was ranged sword aura!
Just teach that to Changwol.
"M-Master, what was that?!"
"Changwol, I'm teaching you this. What do you think?"
"Ooooo…"
No true murim soul could resist flying sword aura.
After that, I passed on various tips to Changwol.
**************
Finished mapping out Changwol's full training plan.
Now it's time for a new member to join our dungeon.
"Nyaong! (Hi!)"
"I-Is that a spirit beast?"
"Amazing…"
Pengpeng was entering our dungeon proper!
And just like how Mongma created the boss room and made rooms for my sworn brothers per my order before, I had him make one for Pengpeng.
Wait, is this a room?
More like a lush mountain of trees and grass.
"He even added animals?"
"A forest with just trees would feel lifeless. Plus, I threw in all sorts of bugs."
"Ooooh…"
Dungeon merchants deliver!
Order something, get even more!
Pengpeng seemed thrilled with his new home too.
"Nya─ong! (Thank you so much! I never thought I'd see a forest like this again!)"
"Heh… glad you like it. Oh, and Narin?"
"W-What is it?"
Changwol looked terrified of Mongma, who'd basically created a whole world.
Tch, same with old Damfir.
Same with Changwol now.
Even after mental training, their capacity is so small.
Anyway, holing up in the real training room isn't healthy, so like my brothers and me, I made a separate room for Changwol.
"I can decorate this however I want?!"
"Of course."
Did she never expect her own personal space?
Changwol looked deeply touched.
Wonder what face she'll make when she gets the other gifts I ordered from Mongma later.
After that, Mongma and Changwol went in to decorate her room.
Just as everyone was heading back to their spots.
I got a message from Ophelia.
[ Father, Mother has arrived. ]
Mother?
I'm an orphan—no parents except Gramps.
So who the hell…
[ …I mean the Demon King, sir. ]
Ah, right—I'd totally forgotten about that guy lately!
Perfect timing.
Mongma's here too, so we can do a dungeon consultation together.
I had Ophelia escort the Demon King to the boss room.