Bones, Muscle, Mana, and Will

The day we had agreed to train with the support team.

Thud! Thud!

The pounding on the door dragged my eyes open.

"Ahjussi! Let's go train!"

Maybe it was the late-night snack, but my stomach felt heavy and unsettled. Or had I simply worn myself out focusing on the modifications?

I never expected to sleep so deeply I would miss my phone alarm entirely.

AM 06:27

Ah. So that was it. I hadn't overslept—my landlord's daughter had simply gotten up ridiculously early.

I cracked the door open a little. A student in a tracksuit poked her face through the gap.

"You still aren't ready?"

"What time do you think it is that I should be ready?"

"You should be up by six. Don't you know the early bird catches the worm?"

"I'll count myself lucky if you're not already starving."

"My lord. Who has come calling?"

The voice drifted out from inside the studio apartment. Yeondo's face flushed bright red as she stammered, "Ah, ah, ah—"

"It's not like that, okay?!"

"Ah, the princess, I see."

Sir Isra. How many times did I have to tell her to drop the "princess" bit?

"Is that your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠summon, Ahjussi?"

"Yeah. You two already know each other. Say hello while you're at it."

"She was definitely a zombie back then."

"I put a little craft into it."

"I've never heard of an undead turning into a person."

Explaining everything in detail would take forever. I skipped the pedantic, boring parts.

"My abilities are just that outstanding."

"Wow. You're the worst."

Even when I laid out the facts, she refused to accept them. Nothing for it. Those with exceptional talent were always met with envy and jealousy.

"You're thinking something weird again, aren't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Anyway, hurry up and get ready, Ahjussi!"

Having dumped only what she wanted to say, Yeondo headed downstairs.

Ugh. Her impatience never changed.

"Let's just eat."

I set out the side dishes the landlady had prepared for me. Including Ingrid, the three of us sat down to breakfast.

"This is delicious!"

"Could you eat a little more quietly?"

"Hmm, how am I to hide such emotion?"

"Shall I make it an order?"

"Mmm. I shall endeavor."

I only bothered with a proper breakfast because of Sir Isra, who normally barely ate, so she could at least try to be considerate.

I finished getting ready on time and stepped outside.

"You're laaate!"

"You're not the only one training, you know."

"Oh. Really?"

"The support team hunters are joining us."

"Tch. You could've said something."

I distinctly remembered telling her. Grumbling Yeondo and I climbed the mountain together.

"Hyung-nim, you've arri—"

"Ah, hyung. Who are the two people with you?"

The support team members' eyes went round. Just as I was about to explain, Sir Isra stepped forward first.

"A little rest, and already the body has gone stiff."

"Pardon?"

"All of you, take up your swords. Let us loosen these stiffened bodies before we begin."

Question marks practically floated above the support team's heads. Only Mijeong, the sole woman among them, made an "ah" face of recognition.

"You're Sir Isra, right?"

"Of course I am."

"Holy—"

"Whoa—"

"What—"

The exclamations burst out all at once. I understood the feeling. I had been plenty shocked myself when I restored Sir Isra's appearance from life.

"I never imagined she was this beautiful."

"More importantly—she was a woman?"

"Whoa. Insane."

Whoosh!

A sword cut the air with a vicious edge.

"I told you to take up your swords. It seems your bodies are quite at ease."

"S-sorry!"

The support team hunters hurriedly grabbed practice wooden swords.

"I'm sitting this one out!"

Mijeong, a magic-type hunter, slipped quickly out of the way.

"Prin—ah, no. Young lady Yeondo, come this way as well."

"What about you, Ahjussi?"

"I've got my own thing to do."

The support team was learning the Kiparang Mercenary Sword Style. Because it was a different school from the Imperial Sword Style, Sir Isra oversaw their forms separately.

"But who's the student?"

"Kim Yeondo. D-class warrior type."

"She's with Mir Guild. She's only joining for the training."

"Mir Guild?!"

"There was that recent… business, you know."

Wariness flickered through the support team hunters' eyes. Maybe because they were my people, their sensitive reaction didn't feel bad at all.

"Yeondo is my landlord's daughter. I rent from her family."

"A precious guest has come to our humble place."

"Please train with us."

Wow. Look at how fast these people switched gears.

I watched the support team and Yeondo begin their training, then took up my bone sword myself. Maybe it was because I had been swinging nothing but a hammer lately—the feel of the hilt was faintly unfamiliar.

Whoosh!

A swift cut from high to low.

I angled the blade forty-five degrees and swept it on a diagonal.

A thrust this time.

I recovered the extended sword, planted my right leg as a pivot, and spun hard into a wide slash.

"Hah."

Every muscle in my body trembled. The motions were perfect. Through the Heavenly Martial Body I had understood the forms, and I executed them without a single error.

So why did it still feel incomplete?

I repeated the sequence several times, but all I got was that same faint, ticklish sense of something missing.

Whoooosh!

Just as I finished Form 4 and lowered the sword, Sir Isra approached.

"You're already done watching over the support team's training?"

"I set them to repetition drills."

Whoosh!

Hung!

Sir Isra's gaze fixed on the bone sword.

"Does it frustrate you?"

"I feel like I almost get it, but the sense just won't come."

"Then try a bout with young lady Yeondo."

"You want a magic-and-crafting type to spar with a warrior-type hunter?"

"It is not true combat, yet it is a chance to confirm my lord's progress."

Tch. Couldn't she just let me swing a sword in a real fight? I had already sliced Chinese hunters' necks rather neatly, after all.

"I shall ensure such a situation never arises again."

Ugh. I had only mentioned it in passing, and Sir Isra's mood turned heavy at once.

"Fine. Let's try it."

"Don't worry. I'll hold back just enough."

Oh-ho. Miss Kim Yeondo was feeling confident, was she?

"Come at me with everything you've got."

"Whoa. Are you serious, Ahjussi?"

"I'm not bluffing. Go ahead and try."

Tap, tap. I backed lightly away, opening the distance between us. Roughly twenty meters separated Yeondo and me—a gap her ability could close in under a second.

"Don't blame me. I'm really going for it?"

Blue light bloomed the instant she deployed her ability. My senses, honed sharp as a well-tempered blade, read every one of her movements.

From the way she stretched her left foot back to build speed, to the mana rising through her skin and generating the acceleration phenomenon itself—Heavenly Martial Body, Spirit Eye, and Origin of Magic all synergized, letting me predict her next action perfectly.

She was aiming for my forearm. She was still conscious that this was a spar, then.

Just before she accelerated, I took one step forward.

Shraaaak!

Fast. Even knowing it was coming, it was only barely trackable with the eye. So what I had to do was move exactly as predicted.

Clang!

"Huh?"

Our blades met in midair. My wrist ached. Thanks to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Heavenly Martial Body my warrior-type stats had risen considerably, but they still fell short against a strike whose power had been amplified by acceleration.

If I hadn't stepped forward and cut her off before Swift reached its full effect, I might have blocked the sword and still been knocked flat.

One successful block wasn't enough to end it. Give Yeondo an opening and she would use Swift again. After stopping that first attack, I understood: if I gave her two chances, I would lose.

My arm moved on instinct.

A diagonal slash. Wait. What was this? Form 1 flowed into Form 2. Recovery and the follow-up attack unfolded as naturally as water.

Clang!

A lightning-fast strike intercepted Form 2. That wasn't Yeondo's skill. It was Sir Isra intervening from the sidelines.

"This is it."

A faint smile touched her lips—different from the one she had shown at breakfast.

"Bone, muscle, mana, and my lord's will moving as one."

"That's the essence of the Imperial Sword Style?"

"It is a stage one must pass through to reach higher ground."

She was expecting a lot from someone still at the toddling stage. Even so—right after launching that second strike, I understood. This was the true identity of the incompleteness I had felt while practicing the Imperial Sword Style.

"Yeondo. Want to go again?"

"Sure. I was curious how you stopped my attack anyway."

The playfulness had vanished from her eyes. Perfect.

"Then begin once more."

The moment Sir Isra's words fell, Yeondo accelerated, shedding blue particles, and our swords met.

Yeondo under Swift was absurdly fast—fast enough that, without being fully tense, stopping her would have been impossible. Flip that around, though, and it meant that if you knew an attack was coming, you could somehow meet it.

I opened every sense in my body. When I focused entirely on Yeondo's movements, the motion of bone and muscle aligned perfectly with my will of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its own accord.

The result:

Clang!

I finished the defense and transitioned straight into a counter. Yeondo met the naturally extended blade with a sharp clang of her own.

Her second use of Swift. She hadn't fully accelerated, so the power dropped.

"I don't fall for the same trick twice."

Using the ability back-to-back? Dirty play, Yeondo.

"There's no such thing as dirty in a fight."

"You've got a point."

It couldn't match Swift, but I thrust at the absolute maximum speed I could produce. Another midair collision. This still wasn't enough.

The Imperial Sword Style was strong—as expected of an A-class skill—but its power still fell short of a strike reinforced by Swift. No. If it had been Sir Isra, it would have been different.

Focus.

This was nothing like practicing alone. After thrusting the practice bone sword fully, I used the residual force that had not yet fully dissipated. The extra power added when I spun using my foot as a pivot.

Ah. That was it. I wasn't supposed to think of each motion as separate. Like drawing with a brush—the first point became a line, the line became a plane.

"Hah… hah…"

I finally understood with absolute clarity the sense of wrongness I had felt while swinging the sword earlier.

As the strikes connected, I began to grasp a little of what it meant for bone, muscle, mana, and will to overlap into one.

"Excellent, my lord."

Now I understood why she had paired me with Yeondo. If our levels had been similar—if I hadn't been facing an ability like Swift—I never would have sharpened my senses this far.

Huh? Body Reinforcement was a skill warrior-type hunters commonly learned upon reaching C-class. Well, that tracked. Heavenly Martial Body included the ability to acquire any warrior-type hunter's techniques.

Come again? What did you just say?