Chapter 150: Mobilization Training – Martial Arts Practical Lecture
Chapter 150: Mobilization Training – Martial Arts Practical Lecture
“Ah, squads that have finished forming are free to train until lunch. You may test your strength against one another or simply chat. If you haven't finished forming your squad yet, please do so within the remaining time….”
As if to prove how peaceful this area was, a relaxed, undisciplined announcement drifted from the speakers.
“…Ah. An additional announcement. Those in Squads 1 and 2 are scheduled for patrol, so please assemble at the command office.”
The announcer even seemed to have messed up the first time, as a hurried correction followed.
…This unit is a total mess.
“Senior, which squad were we again?”
“Squad 3.”
Fortunately, that meant we could slack off for the next two hours.
Now then, what should I do?
First, I should ask the other guy what his plans are, just to be polite.
“Are you planning to train now?”
“Indeed. As a Martial Artist, I must devote every moment to refining my forms and my gi.”
“Then I suppose this time is precious to you.”
As I tossed out that subtle hint, he seemed to catch my drift. He gave a short nod.
“Yes. Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Let’s go!”
With a gust of wind, he and his disciples quickly vanished.
“…Martial artists seem to have it rough.”
“Unlike Magical Girls, they can't just have attributes injected into them. They have to grind until they reach enlightenment.”
For us, excluding special cases, we usually just install what we need or receive it, and that’s that.
It was a comment I’d made without much thought, but Han A-bin turned to me, looking genuinely curious.
“Enlightenment?”
“Why? You curious?”
“…You mentioned you trained under a Martial Artist too, right, Senior?”
“I did.”
“Then wouldn't there be something to learn from the way of the Martial Artist?”
Ah, so that’s what she meant.
She wanted more information to become stronger.
I could tell her that much, but….
“I’ll tell you, just wait a second.”
I had something to do first.
“Yes!”
Leaving behind Han A-bin, who always answered so readily, I approached Baek Si-hyun and Chris, who were busy doing something strange with their hands.
“Chris? Can I ask you something?”
“Ah! Ha-ram Onn—Oppa. What is it?”
Hmm. It was worth telling her yesterday.
'Oppa.' How long has it been since I’ve been called that?
“I’m going to go train now. Want to come along?”
“Yes! I like moving my body too!”
That’s good, then.
Just as I was about to speak to Baek Si-hyun after Chris.
“Master! I like moving my body too!”
Baek Si-hyun, high-energy as always, squeezed in between Chris and me.
“Ah. Right…. Moving on…. Si-hyun, you should listen to what I’m about to tell A-bin on the way.”
“Yes, Master!”
My disciple certainly had a spirited response.
I was certain that even if she listened, she’d just say, “I forgot!” when I asked her later, but hearing that enthusiastic reply always made me think that maybe, just maybe, this time would be different.
Regardless of my thoughts on Baek Si-hyun, the four of us began walking toward the Training Ground, and I started the explanation I’d promised Han A-bin.
“Now, let’s see. You know that martial artists use 'Forms' to manifest Otherworldly Power, right?”
“In theory, yes.”
“Yes! The Heavenly Sword mister told me so!”
Mister, huh? I guess that guy finally found someone who’d call him that.
“Si-hyun, make sure you call Kong Jianping that the next time you see him. Anyway, about Forms….”
I trailed off, stroking my chin as I organized my thoughts.
I should have thought this through earlier, I lamented.
Since it was a field I was familiar with, the knowledge itself came back quickly, but I spent a moment pondering how to explain it so my disciples could easily understand.
“…Think of it as expressing letters with your body. It’d be difficult, wouldn't it?”
“I suppose so.”
“I’ll try! A!”
Ignoring the idiot who spread her legs and reached her arms toward the sky, I continued.
“A Martial Artist’s Form is a technique designed to achieve exactly that. Hand gestures, posture, sword paths, the distribution of power—every one of those minute movements functions as a Magic Circle.”
That was why martial artists repeated the Forms of their respective schools tens, hundreds, thousands of times.
So there would be no margin for error. So they could naturally assume those postures even in the middle of swinging a sword.
“Does it have to be exact?”
“A little variation is fine. Forms aren't as rigid as you might think.”
If the angle of the hand had to be set down to 0.1 degrees, the martial arts themselves would have gone extinct long ago.
“Hmm… but it still sounds inconvenient. Even if you can assume the posture naturally while swinging, it’s common for an enemy’s counterattack to disrupt your stance.”
“That’s why martial artists are characterized by being strong when they’re pressing the advantage, but becoming rapidly weaker when they’re being pushed back. That said, martial artists don't just have Forms; they also have Weaponry Skills and bestowal techniques, so they don't become completely useless if they’ve trained properly.”
There were even schools that drastically reduced the use of Forms altogether.
The school of the Heavenly Demon Sword God emphasized bestowal techniques and the power behind a single strike rather than Forms.
Though it was a bit ironic that the man who came from that school, the Heavenly Sword, was a master of Forms.
“Still…. Isn't that a fatal weakness? If you start getting attacked, it means you lose one of the cards you can play….”
“F!”
“For mediocre martial artists, yes. But there are exceptions.”
“Exceptions?”
“I told you earlier. Things change once you reach enlightenment.”
Once you reach enlightenment, everything becomes smooth sailing.
To put it bluntly, the moment you gain even a small enlightenment, you gain power on a completely different level from lower-tier martial artists.
“What exactly is enlightenment?”
“Who knows? It’s different for everyone. Some people just have it click while walking down the street. Some find it in the heat of a fierce battle. Some even realize it while eating.”
For the record, the Heavenly Sword reached his awakening while looking at that damn basement.
“No, that’s not what I meant…. I was asking how things change once you reach that enlightenment.”
Ah, I misunderstood. Sorry, A-bin.
“For starters, you no longer need to obsess over Forms. Every action itself begins to create a Form.”
“…What does that mean?”
“K!”
How should I explain this….
I fell into thought for a moment, listening to the sound of the idiot behind me shouting out letters.
By the time I heard the letter 'P'—
“I’m not a Martial Artist myself, so I can't describe that enlightenment exactly, but according to a Martial Artist I know… they said, ‘The mind itself becomes a body and moves.’”
“The mind itself becomes a body?”
“Yeah. Others can't see it, but the mind draws the Form, allowing the person to conduct combat regardless of their physical state.”
In game terms, it’s like a swordsman job-changing into a magic swordsman.
One that can cast and manifest magic even while in the middle of combat.
“…Uuuugh….”
Despite my explanation, Han A-bin only looked more confused.
I’d just shared the Secret Manual of a Martial Artist, so what was with that expression?
“What’s so strange?”
“…Isn't it a waste?”
“What is?”
“It’s a power you only get after laboriously carving those Forms into your body. Doesn't that mean all the training before that becomes useless…?”
Is that all?
I suppose someone who hasn't seen a real Martial Artist fight might think that.
“Now, A-bin, let’s think. The mind manifests the Form, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then does the body just stay still?”
“No. It fights…. Ah.”
As expected, Han A-bin was sharp. She understood with just that much explanation.
“Exactly. If the opportunity arises, you can manifest Forms simultaneously. The body and the mind. Two entities, at the same time.”
And the explosive power of that becomes unimaginable.
Even a simple Form like a sword path that emits power turns into a technique with devastating force when combined with consecutive slashes or instantaneous acceleration.
Forms that once produced simple results become powerful forces depending on the combination.
“Ah, then that technique the Heavenly Sword senior used… the one where he cut off all those legs, was that also a simultaneous manifestation?”
“Ah, that’s a bit different. He’s not the head of the martial artists for nothing.”
“How is it different?”
“X!”
“That was probably a 12-fold Form.”
It might have been 10-fold or 11-fold. How should I know what’s going on inside that guy’s head?
“…Huh?”
As if she couldn't believe my words, Han A-bin’s jaw dropped, and she let out a dumbfounded sound.
“A person can use dual swords, right?”
“I… suppose?”
“In the same way, depending on how much you’ve trained your mind, you can increase the number of Forms. The Heavenly Sword specializes in that kind of multi-Form manifestation.”
The Heavenly Demon Sword God would be furious if he saw it.
He’d tell him to spend that time increasing the power he puts into his sword instead.
“…Is that even possible?”
“There’s a guy who actually does it, so what can you do? Just accept it.”
It was the same as being healed by Oxymoron.
Someone had broken through the limit, and the current curriculum was built around that.
The fact that martial artists, who used to be undervalued, were strengthened was thanks to the curriculum created by the Heavenly Sword.
Refine the Forms, gather Otherworldly Power in the Inner Core, and aim for enlightenment.
Thanks to that, people who could reach a small enlightenment in just a year or two began to appear.
Of course, martial artists who grew through that curriculum had the problem of being weak on the defensive compared to the Heavenly Demon Sword God, since they relied so heavily on Forms.
But that was only possible because the Heavenly Demon Sword God was such an extraordinary existence.
Rather than stacking up hundreds of corpses just to obtain one such being, it was better to give up the hope of a single genius and save hundreds to turn them into soldiers.
In fact, that curriculum had brought about the strengthening of the Martial Artist groups, and the martial artists who were once treated as nuisances could now stand proudly as Heroes, so wasn't it a good thing?
“…It was a fairly interesting story… but there wasn't much of a takeaway.”
“Takeaway? Weren't you just asking because you were curious?”
“Y!”
“You said you learned Forms, Senior, so I thought there might be something special. But it was all just stories about martial artists.”
Han A-bin let out a short sigh, as if she hadn't gotten what she wanted.
And to that, I—
“Didn't you hear me? I clearly said you could use it to get stronger.”
—threw a bucket of cold water.
“…Exactly how?”
“Training the Form. If you take the posture, the power comes out.”
“…You did say that.”
“We can use that too. Watch.”
Magical Girl Style. Jingak.
Shouting that in my mind, I lightly stomped my foot down.
“Z…. Gwah?!”
Thump.
And then, a faint vibration occurred.
The walls shook, and the dust clinging to the ceiling was knocked loose by the impact, fluttering down to settle gently on Han A-bin’s head and the fallen Baek Si-hyun.
“See?”
“….”
“What happened?! Is it an earthquake?! An Otherworldly attack?!”
“That was so close! Si-hyun Unnie! You almost finished all the way to Z!”
“Ah, you saw? Thanks, Chris!”
…Ignoring those idiots.
“Of course, it doesn't just happen like it does for martial artists. If it did, Forms would have been included in the basic combat curriculum for everyone.”
“How is it different? Please explain! Senior!”
As if she’d found a glimmer of hope, Han A-bin clung to me, her eyes sparkling.
“First, get off me. Hmm. If I do it again, I feel like the building might collapse, so I’ll show you the practical application at the Training Ground….”
I’d stomped with the absolute minimum of power, but to think the entire wall would shake.
Was this place built poorly?
“To give you the theory first, controlling all the Otherworldly Power flowing inside you is the basic requirement. Aside from martial artists, people like us—Magical Girls, Espers, transformed Heroes—anyway, for non-martial artists, Otherworldly Power is scattered throughout the entire body.”
In that sense, martial artists had a truly unique system. Centered around the Inner Core, power flowed through the entire body at a uniform speed and with a uniform distribution.
“That’s why we can't use complex Forms, only simple ones. By controlling all the power flowing through the body and forcing it into a single strike.”
Thump.
This time, I just stepped down without taking a Form.
Just to show her the atmosphere of it.
“Easy, right?”
“…No.”