Flower of Both Hands (4)
At first, she was supposed to travel with me on the condition of sparring, but somehow, we're only now crossing weapons for the first time.
Paeng Soso drew her saber and crouched into the stance I'd seen before. I pulled my sword as well.
Unlike her, who spread her legs shoulder-width apart and aimed her saber straight down the center line, I took a plain, ordinary stance.
"One exchange, if you please."
"……."
The moment Paeng Soso silently nodded, her aura shifted dramatically. A ferocious pressure prickled my skin like needles, a savage intimidation that felt like facing a wild beast head-on. It wasn't something you could chalk up to just her raised internal energy mixing with instinct, judging by her usual self.
I had no idea how she did it, but she was probably manufacturing that aura on purpose. Something to intimidate the opponent even a little, create an opening that way, right?
To counter it, I steadied my mind and summoned the power of the Martial Spirit Divine Art. No matter how fierce the wind, it can't shake a pillar firmly rooted in place. Unless she was unleashing a storm-like aura from a realm far beyond mine, this was nothing.
Seeing me unfazed by her own pressure, Paeng Soso's eyes widened in slight surprise.
And then—
Pabat!
She exploded forward in one fluid burst, using the full elasticity of her body like a spring. Her massive saber came crashing down, carrying all that acceleration.
Even as my head panicked, my body instinctively raised my arm to meet it.
Kwang!
The already heavy weapon combined with Paeng Soso's raw strength produced a thunderous boom, even without saber qi coating it.
"Kgh…."
It was a sudden strike, but I managed to block it somehow. But that wasn't the best choice.
Once she seized the offensive, Paeng Soso pressed relentlessly, refusing to let go.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
Overhead chops rained down without pause, like endless hammer blows. They seemed wild and reckless, yet curiously free of openings. Blocking them wasn't too hard yet. The problem was finding no chance to counterattack.
I should've parried instead of just blocking at the start…. Not that it was too late now.
"Hup!"
The instant our sword and saber clashed, my bulging arm muscles forcibly shoved her blade aside.
Kak!
With a harsh grinding friction, Paeng Soso's arm bounced upward. A clear opening—but my own wide motion left me unable to swing my sword. No problem.
I lunged forward with a heavy stomp, shifting my center of gravity to slam my shoulder into her upper body.
Thud!
"Ack!"
Her knee slammed into my side, sending me tumbling across the ground. It didn't hurt much, but it choked the breath out of me. My stance crumbled completely, and I hit the dirt.
I rolled a bit farther on purpose to create distance, then used the momentum to right myself and stand.
"That's it for you."
Paeng Soso was already there, her saber at my throat.
"…Yeah, looks like it."
Tsk.
I'd gotten a lot stronger lately, but I still wasn't on Paeng Soso's level. Plenty of excuses, though. She'd trained her body since childhood and mastered advanced arts, putting her among the strongest at the Peak realm. Or that I couldn't go all-out against her seriously because of the Martial Spirit Divine Art's nature. Even factoring all that in, the skill gap was still huge.
As I dazedly mulled this over, something poked my side. I looked up to see Paeng Soso gently stroking the spot she'd just hit, her face a bit anxious.
"Young Master Jin? You okay?"
"Huh? Oh. You pulled back a little at the end, right? Didn't hurt much thanks to that."
These days, sparring with Hong Yeonhwa meant training the Iron King Heart Protection Art too, so every hit ached to the bone. Compared to that, her kick was basically a caress.
I nodded inwardly and told her so. She replied cautiously.
"W-well, even if I teach you the counters, you still have to learn them with your body…."
"Hit me as hard as you want. No, I want you to."
I answered her hesitant words immediately. Lord Paeng might dote on his daughter, but he wouldn't straight-up kill me. Still, the gap between us was like heaven and earth. And what she was teaching was just counters to the Five Tigers Gate Severing Saber Art. Paeng family arts shared similar principles, so it might make his Mixed Origin Thunderclap Saber a tad easier to handle—but that was it.
We had time, but building enough skill to impress a Fire Realm master in that span? No way. Couldn't half-ass it. Training wasn't for half-assing anyway.
Paeng Soso finally relaxed, relieved.
"Eung… Good."
"What were you so worried about? Think I'd whine?"
"Not that, but… men have strong pride, you know."
According to her, some martial artists grew jealous or inferior around stronger wives. Even in the modern world, husbands suffered if their wives outdid them career-wise—this era would be worse. She was worried constant sparring would make me resent her and pull away.
I got it. I got it, but… what a pointless worry.
"You've seen me spar with Yeonhwa. I don't care about that stuff."
"Ah."
Recalling how I'd gotten absolutely demolished earlier, she let out a dumb noise. Yeah… if this kinda thing twisted me up, I'd have snapped ages ago!
Pain still sucked, but that was it. I knew my own lack of talent from the start. No room for inferiority complexes now.
Wait. She'd been all pumped to teach me, then suddenly fretted about me hating her after one hit to the side? That realization made Paeng Soso—clutching her chest in relief—look ridiculously cute all of a sudden.
I almost habitually reached to pat her head, but…
"Mm."
Hong Yeonhwa's head was perfect patting height, but Paeng Soso's was way up there. I froze for a second. She caught it and grinned, grabbing my hand and pulling it down.
Not up, but down.
"Young Master Jin. If my height's inconvenient…."
She placed my hand on her hip and stepped closer.
"Waist works too."
Our heights matched, so her waist was right at hand level. Nice and grippy. But she didn't stop.
Her face flushed as she guided my hand lower.
"Or, uh, here too…."
"Oh…."
The springy feel of her ass under my palm. I stroked the round curve a few times, memorizing it, then squeezed hard.
"Eek!"
"Stop tempting me. We're still training."
"Huh? T-tempting? I wasn't—mmph!"
I silenced her flustered mumbling with my lips. No tongue. Just savored her soft lips and hot breath before pulling away.
"Phah… We can't… Sister Hong first…."
"Not planning more. Don't get ahead of yourself."
I gave her ass a light smack.
Pang!
"Hyang!"
"Now! Back to it. You got feedback from that last spar, right?"
"Yeah, but… sigh."
Paeng Soso sighed deeply, stepped back, and drew her saber again.
"First, why you got pinned down. What I showed at the start was the linking sequence of the first six forms of the Five Tigers Gate Severing Saber Art…."
She broke down the counters in feedback form. Hearing where I went wrong after experiencing it firsthand, and how to break through, clicked instantly.
After that, it was sparring and review on repeat. Each review, I'd pat or stroke her ass as praise and thanks. She'd pretend not to care, but her lips crept up slyly—it was kinda fun.
Kang!
With a clear metallic ring, my sword flew from my grip and stabbed into the ground behind me. Normally, I wouldn't lose my weapon so easily, but I was too exhausted now. No helping it.
Sensing my state, Paeng Soso gave a wry smile and sheathed her saber. We'd trained the same time, but she looked way more relaxed than me.
"Call it for today?"
"Hahk… heuk… Yeah… think so…."
I gasped for breath and flopped flat on my back.
Come to think of it, sparring with Paeng Soso felt totally different from Hong Yeonhwa. I got why she'd said not to only train with her. Pretty refreshing experience.
For starters, different weapons. Obvious, but fists and saber had different attacks and ranges. And different goals.
Hong Yeonhwa taught overall combat, blocking my attacks a few times to point out flaws. But with Paeng Soso, it was purely for learning Five Tigers Gate Severing Saber Art counters. So I ended up defending and reacting to her assaults more, attacking less. Still clumsy, so she led me around a lot.
That explained our stamina gap too.
As I caught my breath, idly reviewing the sessions, Paeng Soso glanced around and slyly lay beside me.
"I smell like sweat."
"It's fine. I like Young Master Jin's scent."
She snuggled in, using my arm as a pillow. Weird taste. How long we lay there, sweat cooling, before I sat up to fix the gouged ground—
Tadak. Tak.
Hong Yeonhwa returned, arms full of bundles.
"This lady hath returned!"
Whatever excited her, she dumped her purchases and glomped me. Too wiped to hold, I toppled backward again.
She ignored it, straddled my chest, and rubbed her cheeks against mine furiously. Like making up for lost time.
After a bit, satisfied, she sat up, sparkling eyes on me and Paeng Soso.
"Hearken! What happened at the market just now…."
She chattered every detail. Like a kid succeeding at her first errand—couldn't help but chuckle. Not a kid? Oldest here, yet so damn cute. Paeng Soso thought so too, giggling and chiming in.
Watching Hong Yeonhwa flop on my stomach, bragging about her haggling… a sudden doubt hit me.
"Don't I smell like sweat?"
Hong Yeonhwa tilted her head.
"This lady likes thy scent, though?"
You too! She cocked her head side to side, puzzled why I'd ask, then gasped as if remembering.
"Ah, right—so thy spar with Soso is done. Rest a bit more, then train with this lady next."
"…Huh?"
Training got copy-pasted?