Chapter 8
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: A Bet with the Black Tiger
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8.
I saw the look in Namgung Gyeon's eyes.
Yes.
It was a look of vigilance.
And it held a vicious, cunning glint.
The moment I saw it, I rushed forward and split the two of them apart.
At the same time.
Namgung Ban?
I slammed my fist into the brat who dared say my name. With a sickening thud, Namgung Gyeon fell flat on his back, letting out a pained scream as he clutched his nose.
Ignoring him, I snatched the martial arts manual from Namgung Byeok's hands and tore it to shreds.
"You piece of trash."
Staggering to his feet amidst the shredded paper, Namgung Gyeon glared at me with blazing eyes.
"Wh-what do you think you're doing?"
"What does it look like? As the eldest brother, I'm disciplining my younger brother for trying to pull such trashy stunts."
"...You madman!"
Namgung Gyeon clenched his fists and charged.
"Eldest brother, my ass! You should've just stuck to being a good-for-nothing degenerate! Have you lost your mind now, too?"
He seemed furious that I, the one he knew only as a degenerate, had punched him. Though he swung with considerable force, his lack of precision made his moves easy to read.
After dodging with a few tilts of my head, I slammed my shoulder into his jaw.
Already bleeding from his nose, the blow to his jaw seemed to daze him, and he crawled on the ground.
"You son of a biiitch! Aaargh!"
Unable to contain his rage, he flailed a few more times, but couldn't land a single touch on me. It was clear his reactions were purely emotional. As a scion of the Namgung family, the lean muscles etched onto his body and the protruding temples were enough to tell me he had received proper training.
"Stop this useless nonsense and get lost."
"Screw you!"
"Pathetic."
This was the brat who vied for the position of family head and babbled on and on about borrowing my strength in my past life? The Namgung family must have truly been sick.
Regardless, Namgung Gyeon was so incensed that he couldn't stop spewing curses. Pounding the ground, with tears welling up in his eyes, Namgung Gyeon was the very picture of a spoiled child.
"Shut up! Don't you dare order me around! Black Tiger!"
Namgung Gyeon panted, looking around for someone.
Black Tiger?
What's that?
"Black Tiger! Where are you! Black Tiger!"
Just as I furrowed my brow, a chill ran down my spine.
In the instant I flinched, a man in a black mask appeared and was helping Namgung Gyeon to his feet.
"Are you alright?"
"Forget that! Take care of him first!"
"Young Master. That is the Great Young Lord."
The man in the black mask, who spoke in a low voice, must have been Black Tiger. Judging by the aura emanating from him, he was clearly a seasoned warrior who had trained extensively with the sword.
"Don't give me that crap! Who cares about some degenerate! And didn't Mother tell you to teach a lesson to anyone who so much as lays a finger on me, whether he's the Great Young Lord or not?!"
Bringing his mother into this.
A kid was a kid.
To throw such a tantrum in front of the troubled Black Tiger.
As I watched the child's pathetic tantrum, I felt a small, trembling hand on me. It was Namgung Byeok.
Unaccustomed to the scene unfolding before him, Namgung Byeok stood there with a pale face, hiding behind me.
I stroked Namgung Byeok's hair and gave him a gentle smile.
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen."
After saying that, I turned around to face...
"Please understand that I have no choice. Great Young Lord."
It seemed the man called Black Tiger had made up his mind. To land a blow on me in front of Namgung Gyeon.
I shrugged. Seeing the reluctance in his eyes, I responded lightly.
"What can you do? An order's an order. But it won't be easy."
I knew that mentality better than anyone. But I had no intention of just taking it.
"Byeok, no matter what happens, you must watch."
"...Brother."
I wiped the tears welling in Namgung Byeok's eyes with my sleeve and grinned.
As if to say there was nothing to worry about.
"Don't you worry. Up we go."
I lifted Namgung Byeok, set him down on a seat placed some distance away, and turned back.
Wooden swords were placed all around the Namgung estate. Befitting a family of swordsmen, there were plenty of wooden swords made for training.
I picked up a wooden sword and motioned for Namgung Byeok to stay back.
"Pfft! Are you really going to take on Black Tiger? A degenerate like you!"
Ignoring Namgung Gyeon's snort, I raised the tip of my wooden sword. I had only held a sword once since waking up, but that alone was enough to bring back a good deal of my senses.
I couldn't fully channel the insights from my past life, and I had less than ten percent of my internal energy available, but it didn't matter.
This wasn't a life-or-death battle, and besides, it seemed Black Tiger was merely trying to humor Namgung Gyeon's childish demands.
"Little brother. Watch closely."
"Little brother, my ass! I've never had a brother like you!"
As he shouted, I kicked off the ground. The tip of the wooden sword shot nimbly toward Black Tiger's chin. He seemed surprised, moving back and raising a hand to block.
As he reached out to strike it down, I pulled the sword back, took another step forward, and used the momentum to thrust it out again.
Deciding he couldn't keep retreating, Black Tiger steadied himself and struck the side of the wooden sword with the edge of his hand. I used the rebounding force as centrifugal momentum, swinging the sword horizontally toward Black Tiger's waist.
He kicked off the ground, leaping into the air to dodge, and kicked my wooden sword with the tip of his foot.
I took a few steps back and looked at Black Tiger. He was certainly no amateur. I steadied my breath. Black Tiger was watching me with a complicated expression.
From his perspective, being on the defensive against a mere fourteen-year-old must have put him in an awkward position.
Especially since I held a higher rank than the person he served.
The problem was that he still had to act.
"What are you doing, Black Tiger! Can't you fight properly? You can't even handle one degenerate? I'm going to tell Mother everything!"
On top of his complicated feelings, he had that racket going on behind him.
I noticed him squeeze his eyes shut for a moment and let out a small laugh.
I rushed in at the same time, extending my sword toward him, and spoke in a low voice.
Quietly, so Namgung Gyeon and Namgung Byeok couldn't hear.
"You're Black Tiger, correct?"
"...I am."
"You're in a tight spot, aren't you?"
"..."
"I'll make you an offer. I think you'll like it."
"...What is it?"
"If I can't land a clean hit on you within ten moves, I lose."
"..."
"If I lose, I'll bow my head and apologize to that brat. No, I'll even let him land a solid punch on me."
"Are you serious?"
Black Tiger thought it would be killing two birds with one stone. It would calm the rampaging Namgung Gyeon, and he would have fulfilled his duty.
"But if I land even one clean hit, you have to grant me a request."
"...Name it."
"I'll tell you when the time comes. You wouldn't go back on your word, would you?"
Though I hadn't known him long, this man, Black Tiger, didn't seem like the type to make empty promises or take them lightly. The look in his eyes was the same as those of the men I had trusted with my back on the battlefields of my past life.
After a moment of deep thought, Black Tiger gave a short nod.
"Very well. You must keep your promise."
"Of course."
I let out a short cry, pivoting on my left foot and swinging the wooden sword in a horizontal arc.
Iron Sword Ten Forms, First Form.
Weight of the Sword.
I found my center, taking a basic stance to execute a solid sword form, as if wearing impossibly heavy armor.
That was the beginning, the very essence of the Iron Sword Ten Forms.
Iron Sword Ten Forms, Second Form.
Speed of the Draw.
It wasn't just about weight.
It was the speed that blossomed from that solid weight.
The Iron Sword Ten Formsthe ten stances that Namgung Byeok had newly brought to lifebegan to bloom from my fingertips.
Black Tiger was pleased as he watched the spirited Great Young Lord.
A degenerate.
A rare piece of trash.
The eldest son who harassed women and sullied the Namgung family name.
This incident made him dismiss all those various rumors as utter nonsense.
If such rumors were true, he could never have displayed such swordsmanship before his eyes.
A solid and heavy sword form.
A balanced offense, and the reflexes to skillfully evade the fists and kicks that Black Tiger threw.
This was not the kind of performance that could be achieved without diligent, daily training.
'This is not something that can be achieved overnight. What a shame. If only the Fourth Young Lord were like the Great Young Lord.'
Black Tiger was a martial artist. Those who knew him all said that his passion for the martial arts and his will to learn were second to none. He was known for being just as single-minded.
So it was only natural for him to compare the Great Young Lord he was sparring with to the Fourth Young Lord, who always neglected his training yet hoped for good results.
"Black Tiger! What are you doing!"
Black Tiger couldn't help but sigh at the sight of the Fourth Young Lord watching him with frustration. He had volunteered to serve the Fourth Young Lord out of gratitude to the boy's mother, but he couldn't shake the feeling of suffocation.
And at the same time, he was startled. Had he ever expressed such regret before?
'I was so captivated by the Great Young Lord's swordsmanship that I lost focus.'
At the sight of himself comparing the Great Young Lord and the Fourth Young Lord.
Clack, clack, clack!
As if refusing to let Black Tiger's mind wander, the Great Young Lord intensified his assault.
The Iron Sword Ten Forms was the most orthodox of techniques, the most basic of the Namgung family's basic sword forms. Black Tiger, a man from a sword family to his very core, couldn't help but admire how fluidly he executed it.
But then.
"Hup!"
He inhaled sharply without realizing it.
The Great Young Lord's sword form changed in an instant. A change in itself was not surprising. Martial artists often developed their own variations of the same technique.
That was because it contained their own will and intent.
That alone was worthy of admiration, but...
"!"
It contained the forms of the Iron Sword Ten Forms, but the shape of the attacks was different.
Where the form Black Tiger knew would have been a slash to the waist, this was a diagonal cut aimed at a vital point.
A thrusting move, which should have been straightforward, instead used two pivots to close the distance and strike at his toes.
The forms had been transformed into something viciously practical. Black Tiger, who had dodged the first couple of forms, now had to use his hands to parry.
"Not easy, huh? You've already parried six times."
Black Tiger broke into a cold sweat as he watched the Great Young Lord grumble in disappointment, an incredulous look on his face. It was the first time he'd ever felt so flustered by a boy of only fourteen.
But the boy called the Great Young Lord showed no signs of stopping his attack, and Black Tiger's eyes darted around, trying to predict the next move.
But then.
"There's no such thing as cowardice in a fight, is there?"
What is he trying to say?
The moment he thought that, a spray of dirt and sand obscured his vision. He instinctively tilted his head back, barely managing to parry the wooden sword that closed in on him.
Just when he thought he'd avoided a clean hit, the Great Young Lord, his movements now even lighter, stuck close and swept at his legs with the wooden sword.
"In-internal energy?!"
"We never agreed not to use internal energy, did we?"
His suddenly lighter movements meant he could circulate his internal energy freely. This was different from simply accumulating internal energy.
If his movements were that light, it meant his internal energy might be flowing into the wooden sword as well.
A reinforced wooden sword could no longer be considered a mere wooden sword. On high alert, Black Tiger raised his internal energy and lifted his shin to block the wooden sword.
Thwack! The moment the impact sounded, the Great Young Lord curled his lips into a smirk.
"...This is the last one."
At that moment, Black Tiger's senses screamed, and he reacted instinctively.
Thwack