Stabs
Lee Kang studied Lee Seol-ah’s flushed face for a moment, then slowly nodded.
“All right.”
Lee Seol-ah lifted her gaze carefully.
“Then let’s learn swordsmanship.”
At that, Lee Seol-ah’s expression changed at once. Her beautiful white eyes grew cool and still. Her embarrassment vanished, leaving only seriousness behind.
Lee Kang rose from his seat and walked to the corner.
One side of the office held a pile of junk stacked carelessly together: the leg of an old chair, a broken mop handle, a dust-covered box, and a long branch of some tree, no one knew where it had been picked up from.
Lee Kang picked up the branch.
It was a little longer than a short sword and weighed almost nothing. It was a pitiful excuse for a sword, but there was no way he could hand her a real blade right now.
Lee Kang tossed the branch lightly.
Lee Seol-ah caught it with both hands.
“We’ll use this for now.”
“Yes.”
“The Nightmoon Slaughter Sword isn’t a style for testing strength head-on. It closes in like a shadow under moonlight, strikes before the opponent notices, and withdraws immediately if it fails.”
Lee Kang drew his own short sword. The blade flashed.
Lee Seol-ah’s eyes fixed on the point.
“Memorize the chant first.”
In a low voice, Lee Kang recited:
Night hides the body, and the moon hides the blade.
Sink your breath low, and bury your steps in shadow.
Once you stab, do not hesitate. Once you retreat, leave no trace.
Lee Seol-ah listened quietly.
“The basic three forms of the Nightmoon Slaughter Sword. First, Black Moon Thorn. Second, Moon Shadow Severance. Third, Night Piercing Trace.”
He let the sword hang downward.
“Watch closely. Don’t try to move fast. At first, what matters is seeing the shape.”
Lee Kang’s toes brushed the floor.
The first form: Black Moon Thorn.
He lowered his body. His gaze did not stay directly ahead, but settled between the opponent’s shoulder and neck. He slid his foot forward by half a step and did not swing his arm broadly. Only the tip of the sword darted out in a short, sharp thrust.
He stabbed.
The blade’s point sliced a thin line through the air.
“Black Moon Thorn is a short-thrust form. You don’t load it with great force. You strike the vital points, like the neck or the heart, before the enemy has time to react.”
The second form: Moon Shadow Severance.
From the thrusting stance, Lee Kang twisted his body at once. As though recovering the sword, he folded his wrist and cut across the side. It was a movement meant to sever the wrist or flank when a direct attack was blocked.
“Moon Shadow Severance follows through. If the thrust is stopped, don’t push with brute force. Change the line. Cut where the enemy isn’t guarding, not where they are.”
The third form: Night Piercing Trace.
This time, he pretended to draw the sword back. Just when it seemed he was stepping away, the toes of his front foot pushed forward again. His lowered body sprang out, and the sword tip rose from below to above.
From the abdomen to under the chin.
A short line was drawn in the air.
“Night Piercing Trace is a form that feints retreat and then thrusts again. Make it look like you’re running, then stab the instant the opponent follows.”
Lee Kang sheathed the sword.
“Put those three together, and the flow becomes: stab, break, stab again.”
Lee Seol-ah silently looked down at the branch in her hands.
Lee Kang looked at her and asked, “Can you try it once?”
He had expected her to ask him to show her again.
It was a sword style she had never seen before. She had only just heard the chant, and he had demonstrated it once. No matter how monstrous her talent for the Realm of Transformation was, swordsmanship was different from mere intuition. It required breath, movement, and the alignment of feet, hands, and gaze.
Asking to see it again would have been normal.
But Lee Seol-ah nodded seriously.
“I’ll try.”
Lee Kang closed his mouth for a second.
Lee Seol-ah slowly stood.
Her body was still thin. Long hunger had left her wrists narrow, and there was not yet much strength in her toes. But the hand gripping the branch was unnervingly calm.
Lee Seol-ah took the place where Lee Kang had stood.
Then she took a stance.
At first, it was awkward.
Her feet were a little too close together. Her shoulders were tense, and the wrist gripping the branch was stiff. She tried to copy the low posture Lee Kang had shown her, but her body still could not fully hold it.
And even so, Lee Seol-ah moved.
The first form: Black Moon Thorn.
A short thrust.
It was slow. But the place the branch tip aimed for, no, the place the sword tip would have aimed for, was exact. Between the throat and the heart. There was a clean sense of targeting a vital point.
The second form: Moon Shadow Severance.
She withdrew the thrusting hand and cut to the side. At first, her wrist was a little late. But partway through, the trajectory changed. She did not force her way through a blocked path. She flowed toward the open space instead.
The third form: Night Piercing Trace.
She retreated. Then she went in again.
At that moment, Lee Kang’s eyes widened.
She had clearly been clumsy at first. But by the time she reached the third form, her movement had grown a little more natural. The tip of the branch still trembled, but the intent of the technique was alive.
Lee Seol-ah returned to her starting posture.
Once more.
Black Moon Thorn.
Moon Shadow Severance.
Night Piercing Trace.
Better than before.
The third time.
Better still.
By the fourth, Lee Kang found himself sighing inwardly.
So the Realm of Transformation really is no joke.
This was not merely having a good eye for imitation.
One look, and she copied it.
Twice, and she corrected it.
Three times, and her body began to adapt to it.
Of course, it still was not a finished sword technique. She lacked strength, her footwork was slow, and her balance wavered. She was nowhere near ready to use it in a real fight.
But the direction was right.
Lee Seol-ah was not merely imitating the outer shape of the style. She was groping for the reason behind each form.
Why it stabbed short.
Why it broke when blocked.
Why it feinted retreat and then surged forward again.
She was searching for that flow with her body.
Before he realized it, Lee Kang had curled a fist slightly.
He was pleased.
Genuinely pleased.
And, just a little, he also felt mildly irritated.
Then Lee Seol-ah’s movement stopped.
Still holding the branch, she looked at him awkwardly.
“Is this... right?”
There was no confidence in her voice.
Lee Kang finally came back to himself.
“Mostly.”
Lee Seol-ah’s eyes brightened just a little.
But Lee Kang added immediately, “There are still parts of your posture that are off.”
“Which parts?”
He answered honestly. In truth, for a first attempt, she had done extremely well, but this was not the level of swordsmanship Lee Seol-ah wanted.
“The whole thing.”
“....”
Her expression stiffened a little.
Lee Kang snorted.
“Don’t take it badly. For your first lesson, that was absurdly good. But doing well and being complete are two different things.”
Lee Seol-ah adjusted her grip on the branch again.
“I’ll fix it.”
“Good. Then go through it slowly once.”
Her toes skimmed the floor, her body lowered, and the tip of the branch moved forward.
Black Moon Thorn.
But Lee Kang immediately reached out.
“No. Your waist is too high.”
He brought his hand to the side of her waist and pressed it down slightly. Then he caught her shoulder, loosening the tension there, and adjusted the angle of the wrist holding the branch by a tiny degree.
“Here. Lower the waist. Don’t bend the wrist; keep only the tip alive. Don’t lock your thigh. If you tense it up, your burst will slow down.”
For an instant, Lee Seol-ah’s body froze.
She must not have expected Lee Kang to touch her so directly.
“....”
A faint blush rose over her pale face.
Lee Kang saw it and snorted inwardly.
She’s adorably flustered.
To be honest, he had also been thinking of teasing her a little.
Of course, he genuinely intended to teach her. Her stance really was off, and physically correcting it was the fastest way.
But if he claimed he had no desire to see the lovely girl get flustered, that would be a lie.
Then it happened.
Lee Seol-ah’s affection has increased.
Lee Kang’s hand stopped.
...Huh?
Had he read that wrong?
Lee Kang stared blankly at the translucent text that had appeared and vanished before his eyes.
Why?
Shouldn’t she be embarrassed?
Shouldn’t she dislike it?
No, at the very least, shouldn’t she feel uncomfortable?
Lee Kang glanced sideways at Lee Seol-ah.
Her face was still a little red, but she wasn’t pushing him away. Instead, she seemed to be carefully adjusting the strength in her wrist and waist, trying to hold the posture he had corrected for her.
Lee Kang cleared his throat.
“Good. Thrust in that position.”
Lee Seol-ah nodded.
The tip of the branch moved forward slowly.
This Black Moon Thorn was a little different. Her feet did not rise, and her waist stayed low. The tip of the branch trembled, but its direction was more accurate.
“Yes. That’s Black Moon Thorn.”
Lee Seol-ah’s eyes brightened a little more.
Lee Kang pretended not to notice and moved on to the next form.
“Now Moon Shadow Severance.”
She withdrew the thrusting hand and cut to the side. But this time, her arm moved first and her body was late.
Lee Kang stepped in at once.
“Your body is too slow. If you only bend the wrist, the opponent will see it. The body has to flow first, and the wrist follows after.”
He took hold of her elbow and lowered the angle. Then he placed a hand at the side of her waist and guided her body so it would flow sideways more naturally.
“Don’t push here. Let it flow. If the thrust is blocked, you don’t resist with force. You abandon the blocked line and go where the opening is.”
Lee Seol-ah corrected her posture following his touch.
Her face was a little red again. But she didn’t avoid him.
In fact, she accepted Lee Kang’s instruction even more quietly than before.
Lee Seol-ah’s affection has increased.
Lee Kang really did blink this time.
Again?
He had not imagined it. It had definitely popped up again. For a moment, Lee Kang was speechless. She liked physical contact with him.
Still holding the branch, Lee Seol-ah asked cautiously, “Like this?”
“...Yes.”
Lee Kang nodded, forcing himself to stay composed.
“Good. Now Night Piercing Trace.”
Lee Seol-ah took the stance as though she were stepping back.
Then she paused.
Lee Kang waited for her to move. But instead of immediately releasing the form, Lee Seol-ah shifted the angle of her body only slightly and stole a glance at him.
As if waiting for him to tell her what to fix.
No.
More exactly, as if waiting for his hand to touch her again.
Lee Kang looked at that gaze and cleared his throat.
“Ahem.”
Lee Seol-ah’s face reddened again. But she did not look away.
After watching her for a moment, Lee Kang finally stepped closer.
“The key to Night Piercing Trace is that it looks like retreat. It shouldn’t seem like you’re truly running, but it also can’t be too obvious that you’re preparing to strike.”
He lowered her shoulder slightly and moved her foot back by half a step. Then he corrected the direction of her thigh and set her center so it could spring forward again.
When he reached for her thigh, he prepared himself for the possibility of losing affection.
But Lee Seol-ah only trembled faintly at his touch, then took a half-step closer so he could adjust her posture more easily.
Their body heat brushed together, faint and brief.
Lee Seol-ah’s affection has increased.
Lee Seol-ah’s affection has increased.
“...Here. Don’t put all your weight in the back. Leave half behind and half in front so you can enter immediately.”
Lee Seol-ah carefully copied the stance.