My Little Sister Is a Swordmaster
Cheon Ji-yoon blinked at the strange sensations coursing through her entire body. She had rented one of the hunter-exclusive training rooms in the apartment basement to test out her newly acquired power, gripping the wooden sword provided for that purpose.
But somehow, she must have misjudged her strength—the handle of the wooden sword crumpled in her grasp. It was absurd, gorilla-like power.
“O-oppa.”
“So this is what happens when abundant mana settles into a body honed by steady training……”
Cheon Ji-hoo gazed at her with curious eyes. He had seen swordmasters infused with the spirit of the sword before, but witnessing how it took root was a first for him now. From a mage's perspective, Cheon Ji-yoon's body was currently overflowing with mana it couldn't control, merely radiating it outward.
Mana was an all-purpose energy. The mighty spirit of the sword dwelling within her was emitting and circulating this overflowing mana. Once Cheon Ji-yoon learned to properly control it, she would take her first true step onto the path of the sword.
“Why are you looking at me like I'm some lab rat?!”
“It's just rare to see a case like this up close.”
“……So? What now?”
“Try using the ring.”
“……Oppa, help me.”
She uttered the activation word, still not entirely familiar with it, and wings of light burst forth from her back while a sword of light materialized in her hand. No matter how much force she applied, this blade would never break.
Cheon Ji-yoon blinked in astonishment at the power overflowing from her entire body. And rightly so. On top of her dramatically strengthened physique, she now had Strength Enhancement and Speed Enhancement layered on.
In this state, Cheon Ji-yoon could easily handle several of those death knights from the previous A-rank rift.
Now, all that remained was technique.
“Grip the sword and swing it freely.”
“Freely?”
“Yeah. Against me. Then the spirit will show you the way.”
He didn't know the details, but that's what a swordmaster infused with the spirit of the sword had told him. After some etiquette training to loosen their stubborn tongue, the info should be reliable.
Cheon Ji-yoon gripped her Light Sword tightly with both hands, her expression hardening.
“I won't take responsibility if you get hurt.”
“2152 is still far off.”
“What's with that specific number?!”
What else? It was a precisely calculated figure.
Cheon Ji-yoon ground her teeth and kicked off the ground. Faster speed and greater power than when she had faced Baek Sung-jun before. Her vision flipped in an instant, but her dynamic vision had improved as well, so she had no trouble keeping up. If anything, it felt refreshing.
She cleaved through the air toward Cheon Ji-hoo, unburdened by everything, and swung her sword. Then, a bizarre sight unfolded before her eyes.
Sword paths appeared. Dozens, hundreds of them traced in blue. She could see exactly how to swing cleanly, how to swing for a fatal blow. A voice echoed in her mind as well.
It was unmistakably the spirit's voice.
-There is much you can do.
It was a slender yet sweetly seductive voice, like a temptation.
-Ease up a bit more.
-From right to left.
-Smoothly, even smoother.
She corrected her swinging sword path, over and over. When she swung the glowing blade as the spirit instructed, one of the many sword paths floating in her vision aligned perfectly with her swing.
It was an elegant, beautiful strike. Even though it was her own swing, that's how it felt.
The path shown by the spirit of the sword was utterly magnificent.
However.
Cheon Ji-yoon's light sword was blocked by a single finger. Cheon Ji-hoo effortlessly traced the subtle sword path dictated by the spirit with his finger, blocking the blade with a magic circle no bigger than a fingernail.
She immediately used the rebound to spin a full circle and swing again from the opposite side, but the result was the same.
“Eek!”
Baring her teeth, she unleashed a flurry of strikes. Fluid and swift, based on the swordsmanship she had learned at the academy.
But no matter the angle of attack, every one was stopped by Cheon Ji-hoo's finger. It was as if he had multiple hands……?
“Huh?”
Cheon Ji-yoon leaped back to create distance and stared at him. Dozens of hands had sprouted from his back. His actual two arms, attached to his shoulders, remained casually folded across his chest.
“W-what's that?! That's cheating!”
“Magic has no rules like that.”
He unfolded his arms and raised one hand, drawing a circle in the air. The afterimages from his arm multiplied even further. If he lacked hands, he simply made more.
As if inviting her to attack from any direction, Cheon Ji-yoon charged again and swung—but until her legs trembled from exhaustion, not a single strike landed.
No matter the direction or speed.
With dozens of hands blocking every path, there was nothing she could do.
“Hah, hah……”
“Hm……”
Cheon Ji-hoo looked down at Cheon Ji-yoon. Since accepting the spirit of the sword, the mana circulating through her body had increased enormously, but she still couldn't control it.
Her mana quantity alone was certainly S-rank level, but to truly be called a swordmaster, she needed to hone her control and technique.
The spirit of the sword really is a cheat.
Why wasn't there a spirit of magic? Was it because mages were so suspicious? If mages had just accepted mysteries as mysteries without doubting everything, maybe a spirit of magic would have been born.
Damn mages.
Even as he lamented mages—while being one himself—he spoke up.
“Ji-yoon, keep your power hidden at school for the next few days.”
“Why? Can't I brag now that I'm strong?”
“Your debut should be flashy. For now, focus on getting used to that power. Someone I know could squeeze more than ten times the efficiency out of it……”
Yeah, not ten times maybe, but at least five. She's my little sister, after all.
For some reason, his words sent a chill of dread through Cheon Ji-yoon.
* * *
And so, for the next few days, Cheon Ji-yoon trained with Cheon Ji-hoo in the apartment's training room after school each day, learning to control her power. It took breaking a few household items first, but she finally reached the point where she could grip a wooden sword without crushing it.
Once she could selectively choose sword paths without being swayed by the spirit's voice, Cheon Ji-hoo decided the time had come.
“Let's go get your rank measured.”
“For real?”
“Yeah. You'll easily hit S-rank.”
From her previous test, rank measurement was based purely on mana quantity, so Cheon Ji-yoon—with a sword spirit born from all that earnest longing—would naturally be S-rank. She would become the first hunter to achieve it without awakening.
He had contacted Hong Ji-hwa in advance, so they just needed to head outside, hop in the car driven by Lee Joo-hwan, and go to HCU.
“Let's go.”
Cheon Ji-hoo led Cheon Ji-yoon out to the apartment entrance. Lee Joo-hwan, waiting there, bowed politely and opened the car door for them.
Seeing him for the first time, Cheon Ji-yoon asked, “Oh, hello? Mind if I ask who you are?”
“I'm Lee Joo-hwan, an agent of HCU.”
“H-HCU?!”
Yes, that's the normal reaction.
Lee Joo-hwan nearly teared up at finally receiving a normal response. People usually pictured HCU as an elite special forces unit, so surprise was expected. But Cheon Ji-hoo hadn't batted an eye.
Now brimming with questions about HCU, she bombarded him. “H-how do you know my oppa? Wait, why are you picking us up?”
“Because Cheon Ji-hoo has provided us with great assistance.”
“So what oppa does is……”
“Rift closing.”
The final answer came from Cheon Ji-hoo himself. He continued matter-of-factly, “I'm handling the jobs the Hunter Association can't.”
“Whoa, oppa's totally…… So you're a hunter then?”
“No.”
Cheon Ji-yoon had roughly guessed what he did, but she never imagined it involved collaborating with the Hunter Association. And yet, tackling rifts without being a hunter?
“I'm a mage.”
“I see.”
Lee Joo-hwan smacked his lips listening to the siblings' exchange. What kind of bizarre yet perfectly meshing conversation was this? Cheon Ji-hoo claimed to have returned after centuries, so maybe that explained it. As someone without siblings, it was hard for him to follow.
“We've arrived.”
They soon reached HCU headquarters, home to the rank measurement device. She could register as an awakener officially and use a civilian measurer, but Cheon Ji-hoo had contacted Hong Ji-hwa specifically for security reasons. A civilian measurement would cause an uproar. Crowds proclaiming her S-rank, nuisances galore.
Cheon Ji-yoon's flashy debut would come against monsters, not at a measurement center.
“The commander is out on field duty, so I'll guide you to the measurement room.”
“Thank you!”
Cheon Ji-yoon greeted him brightly and followed Lee Joo-hwan and her brother to the measurement room—the same one Cheon Ji-hoo had used before. The machine was already powered up for immediate use.
After the explanation, Cheon Ji-yoon glanced at Lee Joo-hwan and her brother, then placed her hand on the white orb. And as Cheon Ji-hoo had taught her, she moved her mana.
The latent mana in her body flowed at her will, circulating through her frame before surging to her fingertips and touching the orb.
The core greedily devoured her mana, soon converting it into numbers and displaying her rank on the monitor.
And the letter that naturally appeared was:
-S
S-rank.
Lee Joo-hwan gaped at the screen. He had believed Cheon Ji-hoo, but actually seeing S-rank was another thing. There were fewer than ten S-ranks in the country. And Cheon Ji-yoon was only seventeen—the youngest ever.
If word got out, the media would swarm, reporters digging into her and her brother Cheon Ji-hoo……
Lee Joo-hwan turned to look at him. Had he anticipated all that and avoided civilian measurers? Simple, but thorough as always.
Are all mages like this?
Cheon Ji-yoon pulled her hand from the orb, saw her rank on the monitor, and started jumping around with a shriek.
“Whoa! S-rank! I'm S-rank! Awesome! Insane!”
Lee Joo-hwan smiled faintly at her beaming face. Yes, that was what a normal person looked like. Unlike the unflappable Cheon Ji-hoo despite his own S-rank.
Cheon Ji-hoo turned to Lee Joo-hwan. “If this leaks to the press, HCU gets dismantled first.”
“……Of course! We'll maintain strict information security!”
He snapped to attention with a salute, his voice booming without realizing it.
Seemingly satisfied with Lee Joo-hwan's attitude, Cheon Ji-hoo walked over to the ecstatic Cheon Ji-yoon.
And at that moment, sirens blared through the building, followed by an announcement.
-S-rank villain 'Summoner' has appeared in Hunter Way city center, leading a horde of monsters.
-All squad members, complete deployment prep within 5 minutes and assemble.
“Ah, damn it.”
Lee Joo-hwan muttered at the broadcast, then turned to the siblings. “Please, I beg you. Wait here.”
“Can't we go home?”
“Evacuation orders are out for all citizens right now. It's those lunatics!”
“Hm.”
“Anyway, please just wait here! Or head up to the front desk on the upper floor and grab a coffee! I'll let them know!”
He wasn't asking Cheon Ji-hoo to stay just for show. If Cheon Ji-hoo went outside and ran into the villain, who knew what could happen.
With that, Lee Joo-hwan left the siblings and hurried out of the measurement room.
Left behind, Cheon Ji-hoo said to Cheon Ji-yoon, “Ji-yoon, looks like it's time for some real combat experience.”
“H-huh?”