But God Will Save (5)
In modern combat environments, the role of hand-to-hand techniques is minimal. But in certain situations, their presence can mean the difference between life and death—which is why no professional combat organization, be it military or police, neglects to teach them.
These techniques differ fundamentally from those used in the ring. Ring fighting aims to score points and knock out opponents under fixed rules and conditions. But outside the ring, the goal is to kill or neutralize the enemy by any means necessary, regardless of environment.
The basics are stabbing with a knife if you have one, shooting if you have a gun—and always targeting the most vital weak points. Real-world martial arts thus become simpler compared to others. The idea of exchanging multiple moves with a single opponent is rare.
For example, the U.S. Marines' combat program consists entirely of short, segmental techniques. As long as you don't fail midway, even average students can earn a black belt after just 150 hours of training.
What’s demanded of black belts here are two things: mastery of all techniques, and the ability to gauge their lethality and select appropriately based on the situation.
But this simplicity doesn’t imply a lack of depth. Each motion is the product of relentless experimentation and optimization. And these simple techniques, through brief chains and improvisation in fights decided in seconds, produce endlessly complex variations.
Thus, we were merely layering further optimizations atop the shoulders of giants.
“……Are you alright?”
Soo-yeon, who had struck my jaw and twisted my wrist to throw me down, asked hesitantly—something rare for her. Lying on my back staring at the ceiling, I propped up my torso and shook my head a couple times.
Thanks to pre-loading Life into my circuit in anticipation of nerve damage or cardiac arrest, there were no lingering effects from the electrocution.
“I’m fine. How much power did you use just now?”
“By my senses, about half of maximum.”
“Really? At your current level, pushing to the limit would overwhelm even someone on Kyung-tae’s level.”
“That much?”
“No way to resist with your nerves paralyzed. It’d work on those mid-to-large awakened beasts like the pig bastard we saw in Utah too—as long as you land a decisive hit before it kills you.”
Her “half” referred to the current intensity I’d channeled into her. Once when she grabbed my wrist, again when she uppercut my jaw. The wrist grab came first because her technique was a counterattack.
Grab, strike, twist, throw—then finish with the next blow. A 2-second chain bundled into one sequence. Textbook response to a surprise attack at knife-fight range, leaving no time to draw a weapon.
Soo-yeon extended her right hand. I took it, stood, created distance, and reset my stance. She glanced at her hand, let out a small sigh, and looked up.
“You’re really alright……?”
“I said I am. That sequence you just tried—accounting for muscle contraction, wouldn’t forward slamming be faster and save more strength?”
“……I felt the same.”
“Then let’s try it for real. Get ready. Go full power this time.”
By adjusting my circuit output and the proportion allocated to physical reinforcement, I could simulate various enemy levels. Without this, the spar wouldn’t even work. Overwhelming physical disparity renders technique irrelevant—not to mention how mana field gaps induce relative suppression, hindering even primitive magic.
Though that’s only if I don’t permit her mana field.
Soo-yeon looked troubled but snapped into reflexive combat readiness as I reset my stance.
Trained her well, as expected.
If an enemy is near, postpone all unrelated worries until after the fight. That was the mantra of Kyung-tae’s predecessor—a former corrections officer—when first training his subordinates. Even now, retired from the front lines, he still oversaw training as an organization elder.
I circled Soo-yeon in a half-moon arc, then disrupted her senses with an off-beat step and invaded her interval explosively.
Whoosh—
Raising my left guard and twisting my torso right, I lunged in and threw a blurry punch from the blind spot shielded by my forearm and body. The horizontal face punch was caught in a deflect-and-pull defense, sailing over her shoulder. My stance naturally crumbled—the attacker’s forward momentum plus the defender’s pull.
Then electric shock climbing my wrist, searing pain erasing any stance recovery. Simultaneously, her right-hand long strike uppercut my jaw.
A vertical thud echoing through my skull. Another shock—stronger this time, closer to the brain despite same intensity.
This one-breath exchange fused offense and defense. Next instant, my eye level converged on the floor.
My ragged breaths hit the mat, producing a pained groan beyond my control.
“Ugh……”
Following my advice, she’d slammed me forward. She released the arm-twist and knee-on-back pin, retreating quickly.
In real combat, this would be the moment to draw a pistol for a headshot or slash the carotid with a knife. Without weapons, twist the neck 180 degrees.
Shaking off the pain’s afterglow after a few seconds, I rose and steadied my breathing. It’d been ages since my last torture resistance training; my pain endurance felt sorely lacking. As both eternal prey and hunter, time for reflection.
“Did great—why the long face?”
“This still feels wrong.”
“What’s wrong with it? It’s pain I endure for my own sake. I can handle it, so don’t worry.”
“It’s not that, hyungnim. I can’t bear it.”
“……”
I was a bit flustered. First time hearing Soo-yeon admit it was grueling.
She never complained, no matter how brutal—not even “tough” or “painful.” A ferocious viper who’d never faltered since joining: during torture training, needles driven under her nails row by row, she’d bitten cloth and swallowed screams.
Should train it to be spinal reflex.
After a moment’s thought, I nodded and gave feedback.
“Got it. You won’t habitually hold back in real fights. From now on, lower discharge intensity and focus on timing per sequence.”
“Timing meaning ability activation?”
“Yeah. After taking hits, I noticed a short but definite lag between strike and shock. Fast is fine, but slow could be trouble depending.”
“I understand.”
Her new primitive magic was like an unfamiliar tool, handled solely via the sixth sense of mana. Basic reinforcement was easy—just stronger body. But others demanded proficiency even to toggle on/off.
Just four days in, achieving precise sync of physical motion and ability marked Soo-yeon’s rapid progress—beyond even my expectations as circuit designer.
Over the next 20 minutes, we ran through seventy sequences. Mostly me receiving, but real training demands counters, so she endured pain too.
Crack—!
In the final exchange, her shoulder joint popped with a misalignment.
“Hup—!”
Eyes fierce, she launched a reckless counter—arm stretching, twisting like rope. A berserk beast ramming full-body.
My center of gravity shook; her good hand clamped my head. Thumb gouging eye socket as handle. Weak shock delivered.
With offense reversed, she tripped me down, mounted with her weight, and halted just before pounding vitals.
Fisted knuckles, middle finger folded and thumb-driven like a wedge. Target: the eye again.
The gripped eye wasn’t actually damaged. My prosthetic pair—doubted they could shatter anyway. Conclusion from mentor-apprentice incident memories; subordinates knew too.
A bit sore, though.
Eyeball aside, orbital pressure lingered.
Soo-yeon, breathing ragged from pain, rolled off me.
“Toughness suits you.”
“Yes.”
Adapting to mana-infused body resilience is every awakened’s task.
She gripped her dislocated shoulder with her good hand and jammed it back.
Crunch! Pop!
Joints meshed amid friction; surrounding flesh bruised purple, swelling. Even top-tier recovery meant half-day agony.
Arm twisted like rope once—expected.
Beads of sweat on her stoic brow—not mere exertion sweat.
I beckoned.
“Come. I’ll fix it.”
Zero physical distance best counters enemy mana fields. Why discharge pairs best with close combat.
She approached obediently, offered shoulder, minimized her mana field.
Hand on, cycled Life through soul circuit briefly. Swelling receded fast, color normalized.
“Done.”
“Thank you.”
A slight bow of thanks. I telekinetically retrieved her fallen hairpin from the floor and handed it over.
“Fell out when you rammed.”
“Yes……”
She pinned the sharpened tip into her updo. Always two hairpins crossing at an angle, leaving a handspan tail—two reasons.
One: long hair lures lechers in negotiations or anywhere, easy to exploit. Two: conceal throwing weapons unsuspected.
High-density polyphthalamide plastic with steel core—pre-awakening, pierced pine boards at 15 meters. Intense motion loosened them sometimes, so nine long pins secured against loosening. Those pins? Non-metal lockpick set.
Thread-like decorations at tips let her extract them solo, hands bound or cuffed—length just right if head back, arms max up.
Anyone’d think she fussed over hair accessories.
Turning from Soo-yeon, I tended other trainees’ injuries from the session.