Heart Beat
From my personal experience, the people who smile like that were always the scariest. Tch. I had no real excuse to refuse, so I followed him into the gym.
Thud.
He tossed some protective gear at my feet. As I glanced between it and the professor, he shrugged and said,
"It's gear made specially for Awakeners. They say it blocks most impacts, so you should wear it."
"…"
It was still a kind gesture, delivered in that soft voice, but why did it send a chill down my spine?
"Hm? Is the gym's AC still on? Feels kinda cold all of a sudden."
Lee Jae-wook rubbed his arms lightly and cracked a joke, so apparently I wasn't the only one feeling it.
"Thanks for the thought, but it's just a simple spar, right? I'm good."
"Hahaha, you're right, Min-ho. A sim.ple. spar."
Go Taek-hyeon mimicked my words exactly while laughing, and a fierce wave of hostility began radiating from him. No way in hell this was going to be simple. I'd bet my entire fortune on it.
A thrilling shiver ran down my spine, and I shook lightly, cracking my neck side to side.
He's really going all out on this one.
I didn't know why, but he seemed genuinely eager to fight me right now. Out of the three of us here, only that dense idiot Jae-wook hadn't noticed.
"Rules are simple. No skills. Pure physical strength and technique only."
"Got it."
"Then let's begin."
With those words, his eyes changed. The softness vanished, replaced by blazing hostility.
"I'll go first."
Whoosh!
No martial arts master bullshit about letting the junior have the first three moves? He charged at me with insane speed, and I pivoted on my left foot to dodge.
Bang!
The air where I'd stood exploded with a deafening crack.
"Not bad!"
He seemed pleased that I'd evaded his strike, chuckling lightly as he stomped the floor.
Thud!
In that instant, he vanished from my sight.
"Huh?"
I ignored Jae-wook's surprised voice and launched myself forward.
Crunch.
Sure enough, the spot where I'd been standing was now cratered in the shape of a fist.
Whew~ This guy's no joke.
It was just astonishing that this was his raw movement without skills. How much training did it take to move like that? Right now, I was witnessing the pinnacle of what an A-rank Awakener's body could achieve.
Alright, let's go all out while we're at it.
Like Jae-wook said, opportunities like this didn't come often. Whatever his intentions, I gathered all my mana, determined to learn everything I could.
Unlike me, Professor Go Taek-hyeon was impressed for a different reason.
He dodged it twice?
He'd expected me to be decent, but not this good. The first strike was just a light opener, but the second was meant to flatten me for real.
Impressive.
The man standing before him now exuded a totally different kind of hostility—not like a green rookie fresh out of awakening and into the academy, but a seasoned veteran of countless battles.
Makes me more curious by the second.
Go Taek-hyeon, who had honed himself through endless dungeons to reach his current position, smiled genuinely for the first time in ages.
"Impressive, Min-ho. From now on, I'll go all out. Give it everything you've got, or you might get hurt."
"Yes, sir."
He was already primed. Confirming that, Professor Go Taek-hyeon stomped hard.
Bang!
Unlike before, I didn't dodge this time—I thrust out my elbow to meet his attack head-on.
A sound like metal clashing erupted, impossible for mere forearms. Jae-wook, watching, forgot to breathe as he took it all in.
"Hm."
He exhaled lightly and relaxed his arm first, then suddenly dropped toward the floor.
Damn!
In that split second, his sweeping kick grazed my pinky toe as it skimmed the ground. I'd dodged, but my reaction was 0.1 seconds too slow.
Wham~!
My body launched into the air, spinning like a top at tremendous speed.
Danger!
As expected, while I was airborne and exposed, he drove his fist straight into my torso.
Boom!
Guh!
I barely crossed my arms to block, flying back and crashing into the floor.
"Urk."
I'd protected my vital organs with gathered mana behind my arms, but the impact still twisted my whole body like it was breaking apart.
"Cough, cough. Huff, huff."
I forcibly gathered his invading mana and spat it out. Only then did my blocked airways clear.
"What was that just now?"
"It's called jing. Most people call it fa jin."
"…"
I'd heard rumors of Awakeners using fa jin before, but experiencing it firsthand was a first.
"The principle is simple. Power your legs to accelerate your body, power your legs and waist to accelerate your upper body, power your upper body and shoulders to accelerate your arms, and power your arms to accelerate your fist. That lets the fist hit at maximum speed."
"…"
He kindly demonstrated each motion slowly, explaining fa jin step by step. Easier said than done. Who did he think he was, Bruce Lee? Simple my ass.
But weirdly, it feels like I could do it.
One more hit, and I'd probably get it for sure.
"Once more, please."
"You sure you can keep going?"
His words sounded concerned, but his eyes sparkled with delight.
"Of course."
I recalled his movements from moments ago, slowly settling into stance.
"My turn this time."
"Come at me."
"Hah!"
Thud.
Professor Go Taek-hyeon's eyes widened at my charging stomp—it matched his opening attack perfectly.
Too early to be surprised.
I smoothly flowed after him as he dodged, sticking close.
Thud!
He blocked my thrust with his arm through a tiny gap.
No, that's not the feeling.
I'd tried applying fa jin to the punch, but the tight space kept it from full power. Maybe starting with something so advanced was a mistake. I backed off, tilting my head.
Then I pinpointed the issue: the acceleration chain was incomplete.
I decided to try again with more distance.
Fa jin into cun jin from that range?
Professor Go Taek-hyeon couldn't hide his shock. Just mimicking fa jin would've been impressive enough, but pulling off the one-inch punch? Even if imperfect, the fact that he'd adapted it on the fly marked him as beyond norms.
Thwack.
He saw me retreating.
Where you going!
His excitement peaked; a grin spread as he pursued.
The moment I leaped back for distance, he launched after me.
Thud, thud-thud, thud-thud.
A barrage of blows rained down in seconds, each heavy as a hammer swing.
I guarded with both arms, twisting desperately to avoid direct hits, but the shockwaves left them numb and slow.
"Your footwork's excellent, Min-ho. Dodging clean hits amid that? Truly… impressive."
When Professor Kim Tae-min mentioned he was an Irregular who'd rocketed to C-rank in record time, he'd just thought talented Awakener. But now?
This is genuinely astonishing.
He had to revise that. Those strikes were thrown in earnest, his blood fully up.
Deflected them all?
He hadn't landed a single clean hit. Go Taek-hyeon naturally recalled his own C-rank days—hailed as a genius among Irregulars, backed by national support to hit A-rank fastest.
Was he this good back then? He shook his head. Even at his peak, he couldn't have deflected a serious A-rank barrage like that.
Impressive.
Rarely, Professor Go Taek-hyeon bared his teeth in a grin.
Why's he grinning like that? Creepy as hell.
I shuddered lightly, shaking off the lingering force in my guarding arms.
Still got a few more in me.
Recovery was faster than expected. I felt the mana heart pulsing vigorously at the center of my mana tree and gave a wry smile.
Guess I owe this guy for it.
It was starting to feel like I was drifting further from ordinary humanity. Well, reincarnation wasn't exactly normal to begin with.
What now?
Thankfully, he just grinned without pressing the attack. The rank gap meant a huge physical disparity. Skills could've bridged it, but no skills allowed now.
I recalled Professor Kim Tae-min's words, thinking back to using the Thunderbolt skill—how the mana flowed.
Mana was infinite energy. Pure and unrefined, it could take any form with the user's will. An untrodden path? Impossible. But a familiar one? I could trace it.
Crackle.
A spark jumped from the mana strands inside me. From that spark, electricity raced through my body.
The moment the pure white flash whitened my mind—
Kaboom!
I shot toward him like a cannonball.
What the—?
Acceleration too fast to track. Even a veteran like Professor Go Taek-hyeon panicked at the sudden velocity shift.
Thud!
Instinctively dropping an elbow to guard his side, his body lifted off and flew sideways.
Kang Min-ho appeared where he'd stood moments before.
Whoa~ insane! Didn't even see it.
Jae-wook gaped in awe. To him, it was just blurs, then the prof flying away.
Unlike Jae-wook's admiration, I hadn't even properly used fa jin—adapting to the speed was struggle enough. All I'd done was time a punch.
"Hah, hah."
Even that brief acceleration made my heart pound like it would burst. Muscles felt torn, nerves burning black.
Ugh.
The moment I sensed the mana strands damaging—
Thump!
The mana heart embedded in them pulsed fiercely.