Sparring
"Miss Baek! So now! I’m going to pour in my inner energy, okay!?"
"Yes!"
I was a little worried, but it would be fine.
Even to my dim eyes, Moyong Jua was treating me with extreme care.
Probably because she still felt bad about slicing my arm a moment ago.
I tried channeling my inner energy into the iron fan.
It was no different from the night before, when I’d poured inner energy into a teacup, so I went ahead and did it at once.
First, with Primordial Origin Heart Method.
It was an eleven-star Primordial Origin Heart Method, but it wasn’t much of a grand internal art to begin with.
So even though qi had been infused into the iron fan, it didn’t feel especially threatening.
It just felt like the fan had become rather sturdier.
Moyong Jua’s sword, too, was clearly wrapped in inner energy.
Sword qi. Proof that Moyong Jua was a peak expert.
With that single thread of sword qi alone, anyone from third-class to first-class would be helpless against her.
Well, if they were willing to sacrifice themselves and swarm her with sheer numbers, maybe something could be done, but humans didn’t exactly manage that so easily.
At any rate, Moyong Jua’s sword, charged with sword qi, met my iron fan in midair.
Ching! Ching! Ching! The clamor rang out loudly.
Hmm. That sounded way too racist. Right. So that was it. Martial arts were racist.
Proper sword qi was truly fearsome.
It was only because bright, lively Moyong Jua was swinging it so lightly that it looked easy, but that sword qi was nothing to scoff at.
Then what about a swordsman, or even sword astral energy? Just thinking about it made my scalp tingle.
Fortunately, since this wasn’t a life-or-death duel where we were trying to kill each other, blocking Moyong Jua’s sword with the iron fan wasn’t difficult.
But it was still clear that I was the one being pushed back.
Every time sword and fan collided, I could feel the fan qi wrapped around the iron fan shatter and scatter apart.
So I spread the fan open wide, knocked Moyong Jua’s sword aside in a broad arc, widened the distance, and this time used Ice Soul Divine Art to generate fan qi instead.
The chill that seeped through the iron fan was unmistakable. And it felt far stronger than when I’d infused it with Primordial Origin Heart Method.
How should I put it? Denser? Like it was packed full?
"Ohhh! This is no ordinary technique!?"
Even as she said that, Moyong Jua surged forward again, swinging her sword.
The iron fan and sword smashed together with a sharp crash, and cold air scattered in every direction.
"Wow!"
Moyong Jua kept stabbing out with her sword, praising the exchange, while I kept blocking every strike.
But one thing was certain: the qi I had infused into the fan wasn’t breaking or dispersing; it was receiving every bit of Moyong Jua’s sword qi intact.
Sure enough. This was why people worked so hard to learn good martial arts? The difference was night and day.
After that lively exchange, we ended the spar.
Perhaps because she’d gotten to move properly for the first time in a while, Moyong Jua wore a refreshed expression. She looked satisfied.
"Miss Baek. Have you used martial arts related to fans before? You’re incredibly skilled. And that fan is super heavy, too, isn’t it!?"
"No, this is my first time."
"How can that be? You know what? The way you wield that iron fan technique is beautiful."
"It’s only because Fan-Brocade Butterfly Fan Art is so excellent. I’m only just beginning to imitate it."
"Hiiing. I’m jealous. I want to learn it too. Too bad I can’t."
"Why not? Can’t you just learn it?"
"If I were seen practicing with a fan, the elders in my family would probably have something to say about it. They’d ask what on earth I’m doing, when I can’t even handle a sword properly yet."
Well, martial families were strict. Their house rules might differ, but the basic attitude probably wouldn’t change.
To adults, it would likely look like not studying and playing games instead.
That kind of thing was the same no matter the era or place.
As I was chatting with Moyong Jua for a while, Paeng Jeon-ho quietly approached and spoke up.
"Miss Baek."
Ah. So it had come. He’d been watching for his chance from the start, so it made sense.
"Yes, Young Master Paeng."
"Might I spar with you as well?"
"Of course."
As soon as I answered readily, Paeng Jeon-ho’s expression brightened.
Actually, his face barely changed at all.
But after spending a little time around him, I realized that a change of that size was basically the same as grinning from ear to ear.
Moyong Jua knew it too, which was why she was standing there with that sly little smile.
"Though, Miss, will you be all right? That iron fan looks rather precious. If it collides with my greatsword…."
"I think it’ll be fine. There’s something I want to try as well."
"Is that so. Then, with apologies for my presumption, I ask your indulgence."
Paeng Jeon-ho spoke to me with his hands clasped, polite to the point of excess.
I assured him again that it was fine, then took my place in the center of the training ground.
Paeng Jeon-ho came to stand before me as well and lifted his greatsword.
The greatsword was far taller than I was. Standing face-to-face with it like this made its viciousness all too clear.
Wow. This was a bit much.
If that giant charged at someone wielding a sword like that, most people would lose in sheer momentum alone, wouldn’t they?
"All right! Then, begin!"
Moyong Jua, standing a little way off, shouted the signal, and Paeng Jeon-ho gripped his greatsword tighter and nodded.
Then he charged.
Unlike his massive build, his speed was absurd.
The greatsword he swung looked as though it could split the sky itself.
Filling my entire field of vision as it came crashing down toward me, it carried a murderous weight that could almost be felt physically.
Watching the blade and tracing its path, I used the stance from Fan-Brocade Butterfly Fan Art.
Tilting the iron fan sideways, loaded with the energy of Ice Soul Divine Art, I let the greatsword slide past at the very last instant.
The iron fan was fundamentally fragile. If it took a heavy blow, it could bend or break.
Even if it was made of iron, that much remained true.
That was why Fan-Brocade Butterfly Fan Art almost never involved blocking most attacks head-on.
It was a martial art that deflected, evaded, redirected, and guided attacks away.
It unfolded those movements like a dance.
Seeing that I was repelling his blows without trouble, Paeng Jeon-ho seemed to relax somewhat, and the aura around his attacks grew sharper as he poured more and more killing intent into them.
The whooshing sound of the greatsword slicing the air was enough to make my skin prickle.
And unexpectedly, Seven Stars Step turned out to be a big help.
Fan-Brocade Butterfly Fan Art did have its own footwork, Fan-Thread Steps, but its movements weren’t especially large.
Seven Stars Step, however, let me shift quickly in all directions, making it quite useful for dodging Paeng Jeon-ho’s attacks.
The problem was that my skill at using both together was still pretty low.
"Huh!?"
"Eek!?"
Paeng Jeon-ho, who had swung his blade expecting me to block or evade, let out a short gasp as if he’d just realized his mistake.
Moyong Jua, who had been watching, also shrieked.
Paeng Jeon-ho twisted his strike as much as he could, but the blade still came slashing straight toward my body.
So I had no choice but to pour a great deal of Ice Soul Divine Art into my left hand and knock the greatsword aside with the back of my hand.
Deeeaang!
Thanks to Golden Dragon Body, when my hand and the greatsword collided, the sound rang out like a bell striking all around us.
In addition, because he had twisted the trajectory in haste and I had knocked the blade away, Paeng Jeon-ho lost his stance and dropped the greatsword.
"A-are you all right, Miss?"
He was the one who had fallen, but he sprang back up and asked me if I was okay instead.
Moyong Jua hurried over as well, concern plain in her voice.
"Miss Baek! Are you okay? Your hand! You didn’t get hurt, did you!? Cracked bones!? Broken fingers!?"
"No, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry."
When I showed them both that I was perfectly fine, their expressions finally eased.
Grateful for their concern, I smiled at them, then picked up Paeng Jeon-ho’s greatsword from the ground and handed it back.
Wow, this was pretty heavy. No, was it more like incredibly heavy?
So Paeng Jeon-ho really had been swinging this thing around like that?
As I handed the greatsword back, both Paeng Jeon-ho and Moyong Jua stared at me in astonishment.
"Um… why? Ah! Touching another person’s weapon carelessly would be rude, wouldn’t it? I’m sorry. I picked it up without asking."
"No. It’s not that. It’s just… isn't it heavy?"
"Exactly! It isn’t heavy at all? How can you lift it so lightly with one hand!? Jeon-ho’s Jungcheolbungdo weighs as much as fifty kin!"
Fifty kin? How many kilograms was that again? Since this was the Ming dynasty setting, one kin was probably six hundred grams.
Then that would be about thirty kilograms.
Ah. No wonder it felt so solid. But Paeng Jeon-ho had been swinging a thirty-kilogram greatsword around like that?
Still, how was I supposed to explain Iron Body Weight-Adding Force?
"Ah… I guess so? How did I even lift this…?"
"Right! Miss Baek lifted that iron fan so easily too, didn’t she? That’s it! Could it be that Miss Baek was born with divine strength? Or maybe there’s something else to it! You did say you lost your memory!"
When I fell into thought without giving a clear answer, Moyong Jua interpreted it on her own.
Fine. If it wouldn’t work, I could just let it slide. Why explain every little thing?
"Miss Baek. Then would you also be able to take up the Jungcheolbungdo and swing it?"
Paeng Jeon-ho said that and held out his greatsword to me.
I didn’t really want to keep having this conversation, but now that everyone had already seen me lift it so casually, backing out would feel a little strange.
Besides, I’d always wanted a pretty girl who used a greatsword.
In other words, Paeng Jeon-ho’s greatsword was also part of my dream.
"Yes. I’ll try."
I took Paeng Jeon-ho’s greatsword politely and admired it once more.
Yes. This was it. If it was a greatsword, it needed to look like this.
Since I didn’t know any greatsword techniques, I simply held the weapon and took a stance.
Then I roughly mimicked the motions I’d seen in the game.
It was heavy, but not so heavy that I couldn’t swing it.
Seeing that, Iron Body Weight-Adding Force really was a pretty good external art, wasn’t it? How difficult must it be to truly master?
I slashed downward, swung it around, made it trace the shape of an eight, then spun it in a circle.
And after a while of doing that, I finished, of course, with a whirl.
I spun in place, buzzed around for a bit, moved a little in the direction I wanted, then came to a sudden stop.
The world seemed to spin with me.
Ah. This was a bit much.
The whirl was definitely overkill. If I wanted to use that, maybe I’d need to train against dizziness first?
"M-Miss Baek? That thing you did at the end was… what was it?"
"Ah. That? Sorry. I was swinging it around a little too playfully, wasn’t I?"
"No. That isn’t why. It was very simple, yet it produced an aura so powerful and overwhelming that I can’t even describe it. I was deeply impressed, so I asked."
No, seriously? That had impressed him? So men really couldn’t resist a whirl, huh!?
"Um. That would be called Returning Wind Slash, or maybe Spinning Wind Slash. Though I wouldn’t exactly say it’s very practical…."
I couldn’t exactly tell him it was a whirlwind, so I gave it a vaguely similar name instead.
Paeng Jeon-ho nodded, then repeated the name with apparent satisfaction.
"Returning Wind Slash. Hmm. Returning Wind Slash."
Oh dear. If this kept up, I might actually get to see that barbarian-looking Paeng Jeon-ho spin a whirlwind someday.
I’d gone and poisoned the martial world.
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