Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Mastering the Thrust
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"Hahaha!"
Whoosh-!
Hae-jin practiced his thrusts without rest.
Recalling what Damian had said was necessary for him.
『I can't understand why someone wielding such a sword has developed the habit of swinging a two-handed blade, but I believe the Messiah needs to change his swordsmanship to make thrusting his instinct. In our spar just now, you reflexively tried to slash—if you'd thrust instead, I might have lost.』
Hae-jin had grown accustomed to swinging a greatsword over a long time.
He had no choice.
He had wielded it as a Berserker.
Even with Joo-hyuk's sudden twin swords, that combat habit emerged.
Afterward, following Damian's teachings, Hae-jin practiced thrusting.
To replace his ingrained slashing habit with thrusting.
Damian was astounded watching Hae-jin continue the thrust practice for hours without a break.
'Is that even possible for a human body?'
Right now, Hae-jin was faithfully carrying out exactly what Damian had instructed.
Training relentlessly to ingrain the thrust into his body.
What was astonishing was that it had already been over six hours.
An ordinary person would collapse from exhaustion after just one hour of nonstop thrust practice.
Yet Hae-jin had been going for over six hours without pause.
And it wasn't even basic thrusting.
Hae-jin had already mastered the basic thrust attacks Damian taught him to perfection.
So Damian taught him double and triple thrusts from various directions, and even more—and Hae-jin picked them up quickly.
After passing on all his thrust techniques, Damian left Hae-jin to train freely.
There was nothing more he could teach regarding thrusts.
So he left Hae-jin to train alone and focused mainly on Anna.
However.
His surprise didn't end there.
Damian, while teaching Anna, was quite shocked here too.
'Had Anna always moved her body this well?'
No.
The Anna Damian knew was a child with very frail health.
Yet now, she was undergoing training just as grueling as Hae-jin's.
Of course, that was just in words—their training intensities weren't equal.
Hae-jin clearly had experience handling a sword with utmost familiarity, while Anna was picking up even holding a weapon for the first time.
But even so, considering the Anna he knew, she could never have trained like this.
She was training nonstop for the same duration as Hae-jin—end of story.
Seeing that, Damian thought.
'Player awakening is something incredible.'
Watching Anna, he couldn't help but think so.
Moreover, while teaching her, he felt it.
A talent that absorbed everything he taught.
Of course, it was slower compared to Hae-jin.
Still, among all the Holy Knight candidates he'd trained so far, her learning speed was superior.
'Is this also due to Player awakening?'
No.
The reason Anna absorbed Damian's teachings so well was purely her brilliant mind.
Originally, Leader Joo-hyuk had planned to have her handle both priestess and knight roles in his absence for that very reason.
He knew Anna was the talent who could take in Damian's teachings better than anyone except Hae-jin.
In any case, Damian felt regret while teaching Hae-jin and Anna.
'If only I were a Player too...'
The two quickly taking in his teachings.
Especially seeing Anna's now-healthy body, he couldn't help but think it.
If he had awakened as a Player.
Watching them, it seemed that awakening as a Player manifested physical abilities purely based on stats, regardless of age.
So, if he had awakened as a Player... he might have become the prime Holy Knight Damian again.
A look of regret crossed his face.
But what could he do?
Only the chosen could awaken as Players.
All Damian could do was...
'Teach the Messiah and Anna everything I can, as much as possible.'
To ensure the Player-awakened Hae-jin and Anna survived the Survival Game to the end, he would impart everything he had.
That was the most Damian could do.
However, there was one ambiguous point.
'At this rate...'
Hae-jin and Anna learned too quickly.
Even Holy Knight candidates or Holy Knights receiving direct instruction from Damian himself needed at least three months to show this level of achievement.
What he taught couldn't be mastered in such a short time, in various ways.
Yet, setting aside Anna for now, looking at Hae-jin...
'The Messiah has already mastered in one day what normally takes a month to three...'
Yes.
When Damian taught thrusts, it normally took that long to integrate them into swordsmanship.
A minimum of one month, up to three or more.
But current Hae-jin had mastered it all in that short time.
Moreover, he was now training alone to ingrain what he'd learned into his hands.
Damian could instinctively tell.
'It's already ingrained in his hands. Just who is the Messiah?'
It made no sense.
An ordinary person could never handle a sword with such proficiency.
Had he been a mercenary in modern times?
Then he'd typically excel with guns, not blades, and in close combat, military daggers rather than knightly swords.
But Hae-jin?
He seemed strangely proficient with all weapons befitting medieval knights.
Damian thought.
'Do Players become proficient with cold weapons upon awakening?'
If his guess was right, it was enviable.
Truthfully, even if one was skilled in sword and shield, the only real use was formal sparring exhibitions for the faithful at the Papal Court.
Even that was deemed too dangerous, so eventually, they just performed scripted routines—that was the 'Holy Knight' position.
Thus, many in such positions thought, upon awakening as Players, not 'Why must we be forced into this Survival Game?' but rather 'Thank goodness we awakened.'
Of course, it was impossible for non-Player Damian, but anyway.
As training continued for a while, Damian moved to Hae-jin's side as soon as Anna had grasped what he'd taught her to some extent.
"Messiah."
"Yes?"
"I think you can stop the thrusts now."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Then what next?"
"Well... how about we end here for today?"
"Here?"
"Yes."
"But lunch isn't even yet?"
Training had started at 3:30 a.m.
From then, Hae-jin had trained nonstop for about eight hours.
So now it was 11:30 a.m.
In truth, Damian was like a demon instructor who would drill Holy Knight candidates or Holy Knights until dinner if he wasn't satisfied.
But with Hae-jin, he said to stop right here.
The reason was simple.
'If we go until dinner, I might not get to see the Messiah more.'
In any case, though retired from the Holy Knight role, Damian was one of the devout Catholic believers.
In such a position, he couldn't shake the desire to see the Messiah with his own eyes more, now that he could.
He'd see Yohan often because of Anna, but Damian himself would have no more chances after training ended.
So, he thought to teach the next things after thrusts starting tomorrow.
Truthfully, Hae-jin was so diligent that only one thing remained to teach.
Namely,
'Sword-and-shield defense techniques.'
Normally, he'd teach slashes after thrusts.
'But the Messiah is already more familiar with slashing than I am—nothing to teach there.'
He'd realized it from the spar and observing Hae-jin's slashes.
Nothing to teach regarding slash attacks.
So only shield techniques remained, but even that seemed like it'd be done before dinner if taught now.
Thus, to see Messiah Hae-jin one more day, Damian suggested ending training here.
To Hae-jin, who wanted to continue since lunch wasn't yet, Damian said.
"Messiah, rest is also part of training."
"Ah, true."
What Damian just said was something Leader Joo-hyuk, who trained him, had also said.
When Hae-jin couldn't beat Joo-hyuk no matter what and trained to surpass him, Joo-hyuk had said the same to the overly intense Hae-jin.
『Hae-jin, overworking isn't good. You might burn out and hinder the next training. So rest. Rest is part of training too.』
Though the tone differed from Damian's, the message was identical.
Suddenly recalling Joo-hyuk's words to him, Hae-jin nodded to Damian.
"Alright, rest then see you tomorrow."
"Yes, let's do that."
"Yes."
Thus, Damian's training ended.
Immediately, Yohan interjected.
"Messiah."
"Yes?"
"It's lunchtime now—would you join us for a meal?"
Yohan had suggested eating together before too, but Hae-jin had declined citing the Messiah's revelation.
That time wasn't mealtime, and seeing them force preparations, he'd used the revelation excuse.
But now was exactly lunchtime.
Hae-jin glanced at Yohan's expression.
An earnest look hoping to eat with him.
Seeing that expectant face, it was hard to refuse again.
In the end, Hae-jin accepted Yohan's proposal.
"Sure, let's have lunch together and call it."
"Ooh, great! I'll reserve my favorite restaurant right away."
"No, no need to reserve..."
"How could we serve the Messiah just any meal?"
"Ugh, fine. Let's go wherever you decide, Yohan."
"Yes!"
Afterward, Hae-jin went to the restaurant Yohan reserved and shared lunch with the group, then slipped away before it became more burdensome.
Returning home, Raffaello greeted him.
"Hey, bro. Back?"
"Yeah, I'm back."
"Wanna have lunch together?"
Hae-jin flinched!
For the first time since regressing, Hae-jin, who had never been startled, felt genuinely flustered.
He had no choice.
Sage Raffaello.
The guy in an absolute position where he could make anything.
But one thing.
The one thing the group absolutely never entrusted to Raffaello.
That was 'cooking.'
One might wonder what that meant.
With his brilliant intellect and dexterity.
It made no sense that someone with all that couldn't cook.
But it did make sense.
Raffa's cooking was 'the worst.'
There were full reasons why it had to be the worst.
'The problem is that damn creativity of his.'
Raffa's creativity.
It held something no ordinary person could replicate.
Applied to cooking, it produced flavors no ordinary person could replicate.
The problem was that those flavors were negative, not positive.
Everyone who'd eaten Raffa's cooking said the same.
『How can you make ingredients this inedible?』