Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Karen
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The interior of the building, which looked like nothing more than a fancy mansion from the outside, surprisingly felt like a proper place for teaching swordsmanship, unlike my expectations.
Training tools, including wooden swords worn from heavy use, were lined up neatly, and a fairly spacious training ground caught my eye.
"Come to think of it, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Karen."
"Ah. Yunseong... no, Yuseong."
While glancing around the training ground, I extended my hand for a handshake out of habit in response to the woman's greeting.
"Ah. Sorry. I don't like contact..."
"Ah, yes."
But with Karen awkwardly shaking her head and refusing the handshake, I had no choice but to withdraw my hand just as awkwardly.
'...I wash my hands every day, though.'
I wasn't asking for a handshake with any ulterior motives, but getting rejected right in front of my eyes felt strangely unfair.
Regardless, Karen circled around me once, scrutinizing my entire body from head to toe.
"Hmm? Hoo... Hmm..."
"Um... what are you doing?"
"You have an unusual body."
After staring intently at my body for a while, Karen rested her chin on her hand, murmuring her assessment as if puzzled.
"The physique itself is quite well-developed. It's like looking at the body of a carnivore that survived harsh wilderness. And it's not just one area—evenly developed muscles throughout the whole body."
Appraising my body, which had become much sleeker and firmer after using the Black Sacred Object, she stroked her chin.
"But it's strange... At this level of completion, there should be traces of training, but I don't see any particular signs."
".....!!"
Hearing Karen's words, I felt chills break out all over my body.
Her statement pierced exactly through the state of my body that had suddenly transformed like this without any training process.
"Like a beastkin, maybe. Or did you pick up some weird elixir and eat it?"
"Um..."
"Hm? Ah. Sorry. Your body was so intriguing, I got too focused."
With a slightly uneasy feeling, I spoke up to Karen, and fortunately, she didn't pry further about my body and apologized for staring.
"What was it again? Ah, right. You came to learn the sword. You know the rules, right?"
"Yes. You check the talent of those who want to learn the sword—if it's lacking, you're kicked out immediately, but if the talent is sufficient, you teach for free..."
"Yeah. You've already passed the first test."
"...First test?"
From what I'd heard, this dojo checked talent and had rejected everyone so far... When was there a first test...?
'Ah.'
"That eerie feeling I had at the entrance earlier..."
"That was me. The guy chased away at the entrance couldn't even react properly to it. If he couldn't do that much, he'd be out right away."
That sharp sensation that made the hair on my body stand on end and my survival instincts blare alarms.
Karen readily admitted that sensing and properly reacting to it was the first test.
"Since you want to learn the sword, we need to do the other tests too... Do you have a sword you use?"
"Yes. Here."
Karen's attitude of jumping straight into the test was a bit disorienting, but since I wanted to learn the sword quickly as well, I drew the sword from my waist.
The long sword that had its debut cutting down those bandits.
'The blood's all wiped off... hope it's okay.'
The fact that I'd killed people with this sword nagged at me a little, but whether she didn't notice or knew but said nothing, Karen nodded upon seeing the drawn sword.
"Hmm. If you already have a weapon you use, no need for another. Let me see..."
Karen went to the corner of the training ground, pulled out a well-maintained wooden sword, swung it a few times through the air, then beckoned me over.
"Come at me."
"....Pardon?"
And just like that, she picked a fight with me out of nowhere.
"Attack me with that sword."
"Uh. Um..."
"It's fine. I'll just defend. No need to worry about counters—just swing away."
"No, that's not it. This is a real sword."
"So?"
With a razor-sharp real sword right in front of her, telling me confidently to swing at her, I hesitated to just lash out blindly.
Seeing my expression, Karen smirked faintly and provoked me further.
"Pfft. I get what you're worried about... You won't hurt me, so relax."
"......."
An expression brimming with absolute confidence in her own abilities.
But seeing Karen's relaxed demeanor, I felt a strange surge of competitive spirit.
"...Well, if you say so."
I'd built up some pride from my fights with the bandits, thinking my skills might actually be pretty good, so I loosened my body, slowly raised my sword, and fixed my gaze on Karen.
Then, while gripping the sword and poised to charge at any moment as I watched her, I realized one thing.
'...No openings?'
When fighting the bandits, my instincts would surge, instinctively telling me where and how to strike, letting me spot their openings...
But right now, far from seeing any gaps in Karen, my slowly awakening instincts weren't guiding my sword swings—they were screaming at me to run.
"Not coming?"
".......Hup!!"
But hearing her provocative tone again, I ignored my instincts' warning, charged at Karen, and swung my sword.
The sharp blade sliced through the air with enough force to easily kill a person, but Karen yawned and evaded with just a slight twist of her body.
-Swish! Whoosh!
As the fight began, I felt my body heat up and my blood boil once more, so I ramped up the speed of my swings, slashing wildly at Karen.
Messy attacks since I'd never properly learned the sword, but each one precisely aimed at vital points.
But amid that fierce barrage, where not even a single hair was touched, Karen suddenly lashed out with lightning speed—a kick that swept my ankle and sent me tumbling.
"Kuh?!"
In that instant, my balance shattered, but even as I fell, I instinctively readjusted my grip and used my body's momentum to thrust the sword tip upward.
"Not bad."
-Crack!!
Watching my move, Karen looked impressed and finally raised the wooden sword in her hand toward mine.
-Clang!!
'What...'
My swung sword clung to the path of her wooden sword's swing as if magnetized, and since I refused to let go, my face slammed straight into the ground.
-Thud!!
"Gah!!"
"You haven't really learned the sword before, have you?"
"Cough... Yes!"
I wiped the dirt from my face, pretended to answer, then suddenly shot my leg out to trip her.
-Crunch!!
"Kyak!?"
"When you're aiming for a spot, don't fix your eyes on it. Bad habit."
And Karen lightly lifted her foot, stomping down on my incoming ankle to halt it cold.
Groaning from the sharp pain shooting through my ankle, I swung the sword in my gripped hand at the leg pinning me.
-Ting!!
"Kugh!!"
"Gripping the sword super tight isn't always good. Do it wrong, and your wrist snaps."
With casual words, Karen swung her wooden sword, flicking my strike aside.
Thanks to my death grip, I didn't drop it, but my wrist throbbed from absorbing the shock as I forced myself back to my feet.
Standing with a glare tinged with anger, Karen's eyes—not mine—sparkled even brighter than before.
"Awkward grip, awkward gaze control, but spot-on instinct for vitals... This is..."
Her body shivered faintly, and Karen broke into a wide grin.
"The perfect blank slate!"
"...Blank slate?"
Suddenly calling me a blank slate or whatever soured my mood, and as I lowered my sword feeling deflated, Karen approached beaming and scrutinized my body again.
"You look like a total sword newbie—no bad habits at all. Your body's already primed, so we can skip the tedious basics, and no training aftereffects in sight..."
Muttering to herself while eyeing me with increasingly ominous intensity, her expression was worlds apart from the bored look she'd worn chasing that other guy away at the entrance.
A subtly excited face, brimming with greed.
Awkwardly enduring that gaze, I finally asked the question I'd been holding back.
"Um, so... did I pass?"
"Pass? Ah. Right. You came to learn the sword! Yeah!"
"Uh... yes."
"You said it? You said you want to learn the sword?"
Karen's eyes gleamed with strange fervor.
That look felt oddly familiar, and as I pondered where I'd seen it, I recalled someone who'd worn a similar expression.
'Back on Earth, the professor pressuring my friend into grad school had that exact face...'
The prof who eyed other students like dim-witted monkeys but gazed at my friend like a lovestruck suitor, practically kidnapping... er, luring him in.
I could never forget that face.
And Karen's expression right now was spot-on the same.
"In the world! How have you kept that blank slate intact with such talent, never once learning the sword? Every 'talented' guy before picked up some weird junk somewhere..."
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, disciple! Any questions?"
She was already calling me "disciple."
Seeing that greedy glint in her eye made me wonder if I'd made a mistake, but since I'd come here myself declaring I wanted to learn the sword, there was no turning back.
'And during that brief clash, those casual tips she tossed out...'
In the testing process, her offhand advice and the way she utterly dominated me had already convinced me—I wanted to learn the sword from Karen.
"...No. Please take care of me, Master."
"Mm! Yes, yes. Finally...! Someone worthy to inherit my swordsmanship...!"
Well, anyway...
this has to be a good thing, right?