Chapter 153: Mobilization Training – Chris -
Chapter 153: Mobilization Training – Chris -
A little before heading out on patrol.
* * *
Despite my repeated warnings about the inefficiency of the Form, Han A-bin continued her training.
It was as if she were trying to fill her own deficiencies with a new technique.
Normally, as a master, I should have stopped her because of the low efficiency, but...
"Don't just focus on reaching out; make it natural. You can worry about the mana flow later. Focus on the posture first."
I offered the advice while placing my hands on Han A-bin’s body.
"Eek? E-eek?"
Perhaps startled by the sudden contact, a high-pitched squeak escaped my disciple's lips.
"Rotate your hips more, and move your hand further forward."
I placed one hand on her waist and the other on her elbow.
Then, applying pressure, I forcibly corrected Han A-bin’s movements.
Whoosh.
She hadn't perfected the Form yet, but the sound of her punch was already different from before.
"There. You see? Try it again."
"Like this...?"
What was the problem now?
"Are you worried my grip is hindering your movement? If so, don't mind it. Your posture isn't going to be correct anyway. We have to start with corrections."
The chances of someone perfecting a posture after seeing it once or twice were slim to none.
That meant fine-tuning was necessary, but I didn't possess any special abilities to see through muscle movements or neural electrical signals.
The only method left was to grasp the minute movements directly through physical contact.
The old geezer, the Heavenly Demon Sword God, used to do this for me too.
I can still vividly remember him laughing heartily, saying, "What does it matter if one is a Martial Artist or not when it comes to teaching?" even as others grumbled about the pointlessness of doing such a thing for a kid who wasn't even a Martial Artist.
Back then, I never imagined I’d be doing the same for someone else.
As I let out a small smirk at the thought...
"Um... but... isn't the flow of mana more important than the posture...? So maybe posture correction could come a bit later..."
The timid Han A-bin began to stammer and tremble.
It was as if she were terrified of making a mistake.
She seemed to have gained some confidence during training lately, but here she was, reverting to her old self. Maybe I should give her a little encouragement.
With that thought, I flattened my palm.
Smack.
I gave her a light swat on the back.
"Hieee!"
"I told you a Magical Girl's body is a mana-based lifeform, didn't I? If the body follows, the mana flow will subconsciously follow to some extent. That's why correcting the posture first is more efficient. If you understand, do it again!"
Come on, hurry up. It’s a rare occasion, maybe once every few years, that I personally provide one-on-one coaching like this.
"B-but..."
‘Uwaaaa... what do I do...’
A-bin, your telepathy is leaking.
Complicated worries and inferiority complexes like that are best solved by moving your body.
I know it well because I was once as helpless as you.
Perhaps the reason I’m so passionately passing down the Form to A-bin now is that I see a bit of my past self overlapping with her.
That time when I was mired in powerless self-loathing. The miserable situation where I had discovered a new breakthrough, only for that very breakthrough to betray me.
Han A-bin is likely thinking something similar right now. It took me a long time to overcome it, but I eventually found the answer.
If you keep moving your body until you collapse from exhaustion, and then move it some more, there comes a moment when the act itself becomes who you are. Time evaporates. You reach a state where all the negativity consuming your heart vanishes.
And then, when you suddenly snap out of it, the Form will be complete.
However, this is an answer that cannot be taught with words. She has no choice but to find it herself through sweat and toil.
"Now! One more time!"
"What do you mean 'now'! Sen—"
Han A-bin looked ready to snap something back at me, clearly dissatisfied with something, but...
"We're back!"
"We've returned!"
The arrival of two Magical Girls, kicking up clouds of dust, cut her off.
"You're back?"
I turned my head while maintaining my stance to welcome the returning idiots.
"..."
"..."
Two intense glares pierced into me.
"...Do you have something to say?"
I spoke up to break the strange atmosphere that had settled over us.
"A-bin is the only one getting special treatment! That's cheating! I want to train like that too!"
Having apparently misunderstood something, Baek Si-hyun charged at me.
She lunged with her waist bent low for acceleration, her hands extended in a bizarre, grasping motion.
How bothersome.
Keeping one hand on Han A-bin’s waist, I extended my right hand toward Baek Si-hyun.
My outstretched palm met Baek Si-hyun’s hand.
Tap.
I parried her first hand.
Tap.
I caught her remaining hand.
"Kyaak!"
Then, I pivoted, taking Han A-bin with me.
"Si-hyun. How many times have I told you?"
Thud.
I tripped Si-hyun’s charging feet.
Normally, she would have lost her balance and fallen flat, but since I was holding one of her hands, Baek Si-hyun ended up in the pathetic position of sliding across the ground.
"Hgyak!"
With a strange cry, Baek Si-hyun hit the earth back-first. I looked down at her.
"Haven't I told you countless times to pay attention to what's below you? How many more times are you going to fall for a leg sweep?"
I offered my advice.
"Uh... until I stop falling for it?"
So, a few hundred more times, then.
Sighing, I let go of her hand.
Thump.
Perhaps she had only been barely suspended because I was holding her; a dull thud echoed from the direction of Baek Si-hyun’s head. However, I didn't think this sturdy girl would suffer any real damage, so I spoke to her immediately.
"So, what is it you want to do?"
"What you and Habin were doing, Master!"
Who's Habin? Has she developed a brain injury?
Ah, she was always like that.
"And what exactly do you think A-bin and I were doing?"
"Weren't you sparring in close-quarters combat?"
No, we were not.
"I was correcting her posture to help her learn the Form."
"What's a Form?"
"A Martial Artist’s... ah, forget it. A-bin."
I called her name and released the hand I had been holding.
"Yes! What is it!"
Han A-bin suddenly perked up and scrambled away from me.
As if she were fleeing from something terrifying.
What's wrong with her now?
"Teach Si-hyun the Form for a bit. I'm too lazy to explain it again."
"Understood! Si-hyun! Get up!"
"Baek Si-hyun! Standing up!"
There was Han A-bin, barking orders like a commander.
And there was Baek Si-hyun, snapping to attention and standing up without using her hands.
Their relationship is becoming increasingly bizarre.
"Teach her well. Oh, and just explain the theory. Even if she learns the Form, she won't be able to use it properly anyway."
Of course, given Baek Si-hyun’s nature, she would learn it quickly if taught, but she can't even use what she already has harmoniously. There's no guarantee that blindly adding more tools to her kit would make her any better.
"What about you, Senior?"
Me? As for me...
"There's one person left over there."
Saying so, I walked toward the last remaining girl.
I approached The Child who was about my height, despite our age difference being threefold.
"Alright, Chris. Let's see what you've got."
* * *
"Your attacks are too linear."
Whoosh.
I swung my hammer in a wide arc toward the incoming flash of light.
Pop.
With the sound of something bursting, feathers scattered through the air.
All that remained in The Hammer’s trajectory were a few feathers and blue particles.
Since the path was clear, I prepared to dash toward Chris, but...
"Kuaaaaang!"
A brown-furred grizzly bear charged in rapidly, blocking my path.
The sight reminded me of Mishika Misha’s transformed state.
But of course, comparing this to that would be an insult.
That bear can split mountains with a single kick and tear through space with grappling techniques.
Boom.
I shifted my body slightly, and a paw slammed into the spot where I had just been.
A shockwave unimaginable for a normal bear shook the earth, sending dirt flying.
That didn't mean this bear was weak, though.
"Your stance is broken! Smil, grab him!"
No sooner had the terrifying bear finished its strike than Chris’s voice rang out, and another blue flash lunged at me.
Hmm.
So the animals are indeed immortal as long as Chris, the Main Body, is alive.
I confirmed this as I saw Smil—who had definitely exploded after being hit by my hammer in mid-air earlier—flying toward me again.
Well, that’s a relief.
Whoosh.
It means I don't have to hold back my strength.
Pop.
Once again, the eagle clad in blue light exploded and dispersed in all directions.
Although Chris had told me I didn't need to go easy on her, I had used moderate attacks for the first few exchanges just in case.
Despite that, Chris’s self-proclaimed "Animal Friends" kept being resummoned over and over.
"Shiaaaaak!"
"Kuooooh!"
"Kieeeeeek!"
A multitude of animals swarmed me.
Bears, felines, wolves, foxes, snakes, deer.
I need to clear them out all at once.
"You're in the way."
Muttering those words, I thrust my right arm out long.
Then, locking my shoulder, I twisted my waist sharply.
The torsion of the muscles. The torsion of the hand.
The locked shoulder was forced to transmit the power from the rotation of my entire upper body, and that force traveled to the very end of my right arm.
Positioned at the extremity and receiving all that transmitted power, The Hammer swung in a massive arc.
Pop. Pop. Pa-pa-pa-pang!
Everything in the vicinity was blown away.
The stones kicked up by the charging animals.
The lunging deer.
The bear that had swung its arm to block The Hammer.
They all exploded equally, vanishing into nothing but blue particles.
"Miya! Kun! Roya! Kishina!"
Various names echoed as she desperately tried to resummon them, and blue particles began to gather around Chris.
It would take about two seconds for the reconstruction to be complete.
However.
"Too slow."
I had already finished my charge and held my hammer right next to Chris.
To me, two seconds is a long time.
Charging with all her forces at once had been a blunder. In my style of combat, entities below a certain level of skill might as well not exist.
"Uwaaa! Too fast! I surrender!"
"Kieeeeek!"
"I like how clean that was."
I thought she might be a bit more stubborn, considering Baek Si-hyun’s example.
But Chris and Smil both raised their hands—and wings—in a gesture of surrender.
...Wait, Smil too?
I looked back in surprise to see a hawk hovering in the air with both wings raised.
...How is it even staying airborne like that?
I fell into thought for a moment with my hammer still leveled...
Whatever. It’s probably the power of magic again.
Accepting it quickly, I de-summoned The Hammer.
"Uuu... you're too strong, Oppa."
"Kieeeeek..."
As soon as The Hammer vanished, the two creatures lowered their limbs and sank into dejection.
The cheerful atmosphere was gone, replaced by one sulking Magical Girl.
And instead of the hawk that used to gnaw on my hair, there was one miserable-looking chicken.
If this were my disciple, I’d give her a stern scolding, but...
"Don't be so discouraged. You're plenty strong."
"Really?"
Upon hearing my words, Chris’s expression brightened instantly, as if her previous mood had never existed.
"Yeah. You're probably stronger than most Heroes."
"What a relief! Smil? He says we're strong!"
"Kieeeek!"
"I've never seen other Hero unnies or oppas, so I was worried I might be a nuisance!"
"Kieeeeek!"
"We're not a nuisance! Yahoo!"
"Kieeeeek!"
What on earth is that...
"Yahoo!"
"Kieeeeek!"
They seem to be having fun.
A human and a hawk holding hands and wings, spinning around in a dance.
It was a rare sight.
Well, regardless of my impressions, Chris is a Hero who falls into the quite strong category.
Perhaps because she focuses on summons, her Main Body is only around C-Rank at best.
However, each individual summon has the capability of a C to B-Rank Monster. While each one is weak on its own, they are numerous, their coordination is perfect, and they resurrect infinitely.
Considering that, her actual combat power is upper B-Rank.
With a favorable matchup, she could even hold her own against a lower A-Rank.
I couldn't be sure about the true identity of those bizarre Animal Friends, but it was likely a strange unique magic—a mix of summoning magic and the Lord of Infinite Castles' esper ability.
A Hero who is born with a certain level of strength.
The Librarian’s words come to mind.
The concentration of Otherworldly Power drifting around us is thickening, and accordingly, the baseline strength of Heroes will increase, and special abilities will proliferate.
I knew it in theory, but seeing it with my own eyes stirs an indescribable emotion.
Those who are born with power from the start.
Children who do not know the peaceful past and take the current world for granted.
The awakening of children who have been submerged in Otherworldly Power from the beginning.
Can we truly call them the same kind of existence as us?
Those born under the influence of Otherworldly Power from the very start...
...
...
...This is a subject I shouldn't dwell on.
I shook the thoughts from my head.
They are Heroes protecting humanity as well; I shouldn't think of them that way.
So, I gave my head a firm shake.
I channeled all the negative thoughts that had been surfacing since Nanjido was swallowed into that single motion.
"Chris."
"Yes!"
"I look forward to your growth."
"Yes! Thank you for the encouragement, Oppa!"
Indeed.