Chapter 38 - New Technique
Chapter 38 - New Technique
038
Edel Baz was already in her mid-thirties.
Ordinarily, it wouldn't have been weird for her to have birthed and raised around three kids by now, but due to her nasty personality, that hadn't happened.
Of course, turning thirty didn't automatically mean meeting men. But in Edel's case, it was way too severe.
'I should've been a bit more mellow....'
The times she had actually faced a man and talked to him were practically non-existent.
A date? She'd never been on one. She had just realized such a word even existed.
Let alone a date, had she ever even held a man's hand...? Aside from her biological father, probably not.
Of course, up until now, Edel had acted like she didn't care at all about her catastrophic dating life.
Because otherwise, her sanity wouldn't have held up.
'Even so, it's fine.'
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had finally arrived.
The time to finally strip away the title of the most violent woman in this city had come.
'Just why did he end up liking me?'
Looking at the man walking briskly ahead of her, Edel thought to herself.
From her perspective, it was certain that that man, Dennis, liked her—no, loved her.
'Otherwise, there's no way he would've kissed me.'
She had boldly done something you'd only do to someone you loved. And right in front of so many people, at that!
With Edel's romantic knowledge, she figured Dennis kissed her because he loved her.
The reality was a bit different. Anyway, Edel's delusions only grew larger.
"Edel? By the way, are you going to keep that book?"
Dennis stared intently at the book held in Edel's hand.
Did he want to have it? Still, it was worth a few dozen gold coins, though....
"Do you want it?"
"No. Could you give it to me for a second?"
"...Sure."
Edel handed it over coolly. There's no way he'd take off running with it, right?
Even if he ran, it would be slower than Edel walking. Confident she could catch him even if he got a three-day head start, Edel handed the book over obediently.
"Hmm, nothing special. Here you go."
Fortunately, Edel didn't have to engage in a moonlight chase.
For a woman who had resolved to be gentle to men from now on, that was truly fortunate.
"Then Edel, shall we part ways here? I'll come find you tomorrow?"
"Hold on a second."
Parting ways just like this was way too regrettable.
Recalling the lingering sensation on her lips, Edel grabbed Dennis's arm.
"I said I'd teach you a technique, didn't I? I'll teach you right now."
"Can't you just teach me tomorrow?"
"The sooner you learn a good technique, the better. I'll just show you the stance. Memorize the basics roughly and review it when you get home."
She had successfully reeled him in. You could tell just by looking at that smiling face.
Good. Let's keep going like this.... Thinking that, she smacked her lips.
The training center in the middle of the night was dark.
Unlike modern amenities, there wasn't a single light here, thanks to which the training ground was pitch black, as if submerged in water.
"This technique consists of a total of four movements."
It was a fact I didn't know well, but apparently, this woman was actually the youngest Sword Master ever.
A Sword Master is supposedly one of the few supreme powerhouses in this country, but....
I don't know how strong that actually is. Probably someone beyond the heavens?
'She might even be stronger than Isabel.'
The strongest person I've seen is Isabel, though.
This woman's stature seems to far surpass even Isabel!
"First movement."
Edel lifted a wooden sword and looked at the training scarecrow.
Then, stepping concisely, she slashed strongly diagonally to the left.
"Second movement."
The next movement was similar.
Only this time, it was a diagonal slash to the right, not the left.
"Third movement. This is the highest difficulty."
...Or so she claimed.
It was just a thrust toward the scarecrow's solar plexus.
"Final movement."
Retrieving the wooden sword, Edel neatly slashed the scarecrow's neck.
It was definitely a dull wooden sword, but with a seogok sound, the scarecrow's head dropped off.
"Something like this?"
"...Fraudster."
Of course, the display Edel showed at the end was nothing short of superhuman territory.
But that's only something she can pull off because this woman is strong, right?
I thought she was going to teach me some technique where I could shoot out sword auras or something!
But it's just slicing left, slicing right, thrusting, and cutting the neck?
Even I could invent a technique like this!
"What? Why am I a fraudster!"
"How is this a technique?!"
"Hey! Believe it or not, this is swordsmanship learned by the kingdom's knights!!"
Besides, my current weapon is a morning star, so this technique doesn't fit at all!
I've seriously been scammed properly.... This fucking bitch! Sword Master or whatever, just—!
"This makes no sense! How am I supposed to use something like this?!"
"I'm strong precisely because I use this."
"Grrr...!"
"Don't be like that! Come on, I'll check your posture. Give it a try."
There was no help for it. No matter what I said, this woman treated it as if it were nothing.
I pulled out my morning star and stood in front of the training scarecrow.
"Start."
Since a morning star is a blunt weapon, you can't swing it like a sword.
Still, I could bash the left side. I struck the left side of the scarecrow with all my might.
Straw scattered like snow. It splattered all over my face and body, but without caring, I immediately bashed the right side.
"Your posture looks decent enough."
...What on earth is the meaning of this stupid bullshit?
It feels like dancing. And not just any dance, but dancing dead drunk in the middle of a pub.
Did we make all that fuss just to dance such a ridiculous dance?
'Fucking hell.'
Around the time I was swinging to the right, a deep sense of disillusionment washed over me.
To the point where I wondered if I even needed to do stuff like this anymore....
"Hey. Your waist posture is messed up."
"Huh?"
Edel grabbed my hand, stopping me right as I was about to swing again, and grabbed my waist.
It feels a bit too close....
"Now, you use the power from your waist. If you just swing wildly with flimsy arms like that, your shoulders will hurt instead."
"L-Like this?"
"Yeah! You swing using the snap of your waist."
The hands fondling my waist slyly crept downward.
Hands were moving around my pelvic area. It felt somewhat strange. Is this what women being sexually harassed on the subway feel like?
"Try it once."
When I swung the morning star with the posture she corrected, sure enough, it felt different from before.
Even though less force went into it, the destructive power was greater, and above all, the speed increased.
"Oh."
So this is what it feels like. I think I get it.
"You can do thrusting with a morning star too. Now, look, these sharp spikes are here to be rammed in. Not to pick meat out from between your teeth."
- Sseuk, sseuk.
The touch rose from the pelvic region and stroked my shoulders this time.
The subtle touch kept brushing lightly against places that shouldn't be touched.
It was too fast to point out specifically, but among them were places like my buttocks or thighs.
"Try thrusting."
The attack thrust with the corrected posture was indeed decent.
I usually didn't use thrusting attacks because of the risk of breaking the spikes, but with this much force and speed, it seemed like something worth using a few times.
"Let's make the final stance about smashing the crown of the head. You can't cut a neck with that thing, after all."
"Pardon? Is it okay to modify a technique like that?"
"I'm a Sword Master. Any technical modification I make is unconditionally the correct answer."
Smells a bit like a quack.
But this woman sticking close and correcting me definitely had an effect.
Enough that it'd be good to use in the next battle.
"Proper distribution of force allows you to conserve stamina. You use way too much unnecessary strength every time you attack."
"I see...."
"Now look. Is there any unnecessary movement in noona's sword strike?"
- Manjijak.
As she said that, Edel groped my butt hard. It was so blatant that I was too flabbergasted for words.
"Hey, what the hell is this...."
"Now, I've taught you this much, right? Go on home now."
"...."
"What's with that look? You still look like you can't trust me."
All my doubts about this technique were gone now.
The reason my face is all sulky is.... Because this woman kept sexually harassing me by groping my butt!
"Hah. I wasn't going to do this because it sounds like bragging too much. Should I show you a demonstration?"
Edel lifted the wooden sword.
And struck a sword blow toward the scarecrow.
"Huh?"
It was definitely a single movement.
The moment Edel swung to the left, the scarecrow's left and right sides were sliced off, and its solar plexus was pierced.
I could only realize its head had fallen off after hearing the sound.
"Looked like one, right?"
My head might be a bit slow, but I could tell what that technique just now was like.
It looked like a single movement because it was too fast. The second, third, and fourth movements chained together the exact moment the first movement finished.
By the time the sword was retrieved, the opponent had already suffered a fatal wound. Needless to say, it was instant death.
"Was it pretty cool?"
...Was this person always this cool?