Tempering (2)
Tempering (2)
Kneeling inside the dojo, Hoyeon began the lesson while looking at Dojin, who had knelt down in front of her.
"All martial arts have a philosophy."
"A philosophy?"
"That's right."
Having said that, Hoyeon stood up on the spot and lightly threw a punch. It was a stance that even Dojin was quite familiar with.
Jab.
The fastest punch invented by humanity.
"What does this look like to you?"
"......A jab."
"The name's different, but you know it, so you'll catch on quick."
She threw a few jabs into the air, then in an instant, unleashed a Right Straight.
"How about this?"
"You throw punches really well."
"That's not what I was asking...... Anyway, what did you feel?"
"It's fast, and strong."
"That's right. In a way, you could call this a 'perfect move.'"
"......A perfect move?"
There's a concept called the perfect move. The most outstanding and rational move that can theoretically be executed. So, do all martial arts train to execute that perfect move?
No, they don't.
Taekwondo and Karate's straight punches start from the side of the torso.
The beastkin's unique martial art swings the fist rather than thrusting it.
Why is that? When there's already a perfect answer, why do people choose different paths?
"That's the philosophy of martial arts."
Facial strikes were prohibited, so punches that strike the abdomen the hardest were developed.
With sharp weapons like claws, swinging is more threatening than just thrusting.
Similarly, even when there's a perfect answer, they deliberately walk a different path according to their philosophy.
"In other words, it's the reason martial arts were created."
"......I see."
"How was your swordsmanship created?"
"My swordsmanship─."
Swordsmanship created by a single monster.
Dojin tried to recall the meaning of that swordsmanship.
But it wasn't easy. Only another monster could understand the monster's thoughts.
"I don't...... really know."
"Hmm, we'll have to go the long way around...... but there's another method."
"Another method?"
"Yeah. It's not about knowing history and then swordsmanship— it's the opposite. Knowing history from the swordsmanship."
She said it was something only a master with exceptional skill could easily accomplish. And by coincidence, Hoyeon was one of those exceptional masters.
Dojin stood before her, holding a live blade. Holding the live blade, Dojin asked her.
"What should I do?"
"Do what you're best at."
At those words, Dojin unleashed a sword technique.
From Form 1 to Form 9.
The sword forms his father had imprinted into his very bones and flesh.
Swordsmanship now engraved so deeply into his soul that he couldn't forget it even if he wanted to.
Watching that swordsmanship, Hoyeon couldn't help but let out an exclamation of admiration.
Indeed, he had reached a profound realm in swordsmanship alone.
Moreover, the swordsmanship was so practical it was almost artistic.
"That's enough."
"Fuu─."
Having examined the history of how the swordsmanship was created to some extent, Hoyeon stopped Dojin. In an instant, Dojin sheathed his sword and looked at her.
"Your swordsmanship...... it's full of playfulness."
"......I wasn't treating it like a game."
"No, that's not what I mean. It's swordsmanship created as a joke by a single genius. This one."
"This swordsmanship?"
If that were true, Dojin would be rolling at the bottom of the dungeon right now, unable to defeat even a single goblin.
The strength of the swordsmanship had been proven by Dojin himself in real combat. His swordsmanship was the strongest and the best.
Though Dojin hated his father, he couldn't belittle the swordsmanship he had created.
"No way, that can't be."
"Well, the swordsmanship itself feels overflowing with playfulness."
For example─ Hoyeon picked up a sword and demonstrated one of the sword forms Dojin had shown. It was proof of her exceptional eyesight, having stolen the sword path in that short time.
"This part here."
Hwiik-.
Hoyeon showed the sword path Dojin had used. Certainly, if you looked at the point where something felt off, it did seem a bit strange.
However, he couldn't admit it was playful.
"That's...... assuming you deflect the enemy's attack─."
"That's exactly what I'm saying. At that point, do you really need to deflect the enemy's attack?"
"......Pardon?"
"You've already pressured the opponent in the initial phase. There's no need to deflect another attack— just thrust the sword in, and it'd be enough to kill them."
Swordsmanship wouldn't hesitate to kill the opponent, so this meant it was created to show off the opponent's swordsmanship even more.
In other words, it was filled with a mindset of enjoying the swordsmanship itself.
"But...... how does that make it full of playfulness......."
"That's not the only part. In several other sections, there are movements that prioritize showing off the swordsmanship over practicality."
There was a tendency to insert irrational sword postures for that purpose.
Hoyeon evaluated it as such and hung the sword back on the wall.
Her assessment of Dojin's swordsmanship was this.
[The strongest swordsmanship I've thought up— pretty badass, right? Look at this, all of you. And then die.]
In the end, since it kills, its practicality is undoubtedly outstanding.
However, in the process of showing it off, there was a childish purity, obsession, and madness.
"The person who made this swordsmanship...... didn't create it to cut something down."
"......Then?"
"They just made it because they could, because they were born with that talent. In that process, a desire for more attention and a refusal to lose combined to create this swordsmanship."
Honestly, Hoyeon wanted to meet the man who made this swordsmanship.
What kind of face would someone who creates something like this have?
And how much would they love swordsmanship, and how strong would they be?
'Gives me chills.'
The occasional irrationality. Even though greater efficiency could be achieved with less effort, the technique completed through talent and madness couldn't help but draw her admiration.
Hearing the story, Dojin felt slightly flustered as he thought of his father.
Honestly, he still couldn't believe it.
'Dad...... just an attention-seeker?'
To Dojin, who had grown up under his overbearing father his whole life, those words were hard to accept.
It wasn't easy to acknowledge......
"......I can't accept that."
"Then don't."
"......Pardon?"
"Hey, I'm not a god or anything. How could I know the thoughts of the one who created the swordsmanship? It's just my inference."
She said that while scratching her cheek awkwardly.
"If you don't like my guess, it wouldn't be bad for you to find out yourself. Isn't it your swordsmanship?"
"......Well, true."
Dojin looked down at his sword and thought of his father.
The one who had once been his pillar, his entire world, his god and his demon.
[A sword only gains meaning when it cuts down an enemy.]
His father had often said that.
But in modern society, you couldn't go around cutting people.
No matter how renowned his father was as a master martial artist and living cultural treasure......
It wasn't a comic—you couldn't slash people willy-nilly.
At least in modern times, technology had advanced enough to cut targets that looked just like humans.
He swung the sword as his father taught, but his father never once taught him that meaning.
He swung it only because it was the way to survive.
'Why did you swing the sword?'
He didn't know much about his father's past.
He barely remembered his mother's face, and he'd never met his grandfather once in his life.
What had his father done in the past?
What kind of person was his father?
Why on earth did his father pick up the sword?
Various thoughts came to him. And in the end, Dojin arrived at imagining his father.
"You've come."
Illeong-illeong.
His father, holding a sword, appeared before Dojin.
The one in front of him wasn't real. It was a phantom created by his brain, a fake.
But Dojin smiled and stood up. As he gripped his sword, the phantom's form also changed into a young man of the same age.
The phantom's appearance was excessively similar to Dojin's. To the point where you might think it was him at a glance.
But it wasn't Dojin. It was his father. More precisely, his young father.
A phantom exactly matching the young image Dojin had in mind, with skill at the level of his youth.
"Come at me."
The ghost in his father's form swiftly drew and swung its sword.
Being young, it must have moved vigorously, relying on its youth.
Its talent was genuine, and the strike with perfectly harmonized sim-gi-che had power worthy of being called its prime.
Dojin deflected the ghost's sword while recalling what Hoyeon had said.
'Showing off the swordsmanship?'
Sure enough, the ghost thrust its sword in sharply next.
It was sharp, but not insidious. Honest, advertising that its sword was coming straight in, yet flying in a trajectory impossible to dodge.
From the opponent's perspective, it would feel like a bizarre attack that's fully visible yet impossible to block.
'Inefficient.'
Dojin lightly tilted his head to dodge and swung his sword in response.
The ghost's attack wasn't complete, but it surpassed completion with its young body and talent.
Dojin confronted it using only perfected swordsmanship, without relying on his physical strength.
Certainly, whether because it was his imagination or not, it had absurd skill.
To the point where Dojin, honed through countless real battles, was being pushed back.
But Dojin had no intention of denying it.
'Yeah, if it's my father.'
He'd have this much talent.
This much skill.
He has to be this overwhelming.
He swings his sword.
The phantom lightly deflects the sword and counterattacks Dojin, growing stronger and stronger.
For a phantom to get stronger was ridiculous.
Chwaaak-!
Dojin swung his sword at the phantom but was slashed by its swing. At the same time, its body tore open and began spurting blood.
'Strong.'
Though an illusion, it was such a firm and powerful one that it had materialized. If the phantom stabbed Dojin to death, he'd probably actually stop his heart and fall into a coma.
This was a fight on the line.
Thinking that, sweat immediately began pouring from his whole body.
'But I can win.'
Fights between those at this level were always decided by a hair's breadth.
His sword an inch from slicing the opponent's vital, while the opponent's sword an inch from his own.
Like a Western gunslinger's duel, a matter of life and death.
Soon after, the phantom unleashed what it knew as its most powerful technique.
A technique not yet complete, and one that would never be.
Dojin felt a pang of regret as he swung his sword in response.
Chwaaak-!
Slashed across the chest, he took the phantom's neck.
The reason that technique remained incomplete was simple.
His future father had discovered its flaw before completing it, leaving it unfinished.
'In the end, just a phantom...... An illusion dictated by my thoughts, huh.'
It was lacking.
Dojin wanted a stronger opponent.
"......So that's why you came to me."
"Yeah."
Dojin headed to the Magic Tower to find Raize. Fortunately, the guide staff remembered his face this time, so he was able to meet Raize without any obstruction.
Raize, still looking exhausted, extended her hand. Dojin smiled and completely dispelled her fatigue.
Regaining her refreshed appearance, Raize stretched and asked Dojin.
"What exactly do you want?"
"I want to see my father."
"......You want me to punch a hole through dimensions or something?"
"No."
Dojin tapped his head.
"Pull out the father inside here."
If real won't do, then phantom.
If phantom won't do, then memory.
I'm coming to meet you.