The Weight of Fundamentals
The word terrible was far too horrifying for Yusoha to accept. She had always been better than everyone else. No matter what she did, she learned faster than others, and it never took long before she had completely mastered it. Perhaps that was why, from the very day Eclipse called her terrible, Yusoha had kept him by her side from dawn to dusk, demanding sword instruction.
He was a surprisingly excellent teacher. He must have taught quite a few people before, because Yusoha had no trouble accepting his guidance. He corrected her posture, showed her how to swing with more power—every fundamental adjusted perfectly to her physique. As a result, her swordsmanship improved at a staggering pace.
Yusoha deliberately set aside all the flashy sword techniques she had learned before. To her now, those techniques were nothing but poison. She focused solely on the basics. Nothing but the fundamentals. Once her posture became correct, power began to flow naturally into the tip of her blade. The sensation was completely different from when she used to swing before. There was no room for thoughts like This should be good enough.
Eclipse was a good teacher, but he was also a strict one. The man who usually praised her, saying she had many admirable qualities, offered not a single word of compliment when it came to the sword. The standard he held for swordsmanship deep inside him was impossibly high. There was no way he could call a complete beginner who had only just picked up a blade excellent.
Yusoha had noticed this and her pride was deeply wounded, but there was nothing she could do. Eclipse was simply stating facts.
“Still not enough. There’s no proper power behind it.”
“I know… I know that already…!”
While swinging her sword until she felt like she might die, Yusoha let out a pained groan. It was only natural. She had spent nearly thirteen hours out of every twenty-four swinging a blade. Yet not once had the words This is sufficient left Eclipse’s lips.
Just how perfect does it have to be…?
“You’re still far from it. Do you think the fundamentals are called fundamentals for no reason? Without a solid foundation, every weapon technique is nothing more than a simple swing. The basics are harder to master than anything else. If you perform the same motion ten thousand times, every single one must carry the exact same breath, the exact same power. That is what fundamentals mean. Your posture must not falter either. Just like yours right now, Soha.”
Yusoha felt her mind growing faint. The fundamentals she had once dismissed as nothing special were now tormenting her mercilessly.
“Hngh… ugh…”
She had already been pushed to her limit. Her brain understood what Eclipse was saying, but her body could no longer execute it perfectly. Her sword, flailing weakly, finally dropped to the ground and vanished with a soft shimmer.
“Looks like this is your limit for today. You worked hard.”
Eclipse spoke in his usual calm tone, offering only those simple words of acknowledgment. But to Yusoha, it felt infuriating. If only she had shown greater skill, praise would have come from those lips today.
“It’s… not over yet.”
She forced her trembling body upright and summoned her sword once more.
“Any more than this will only strain your body.”
“Shut up. I’m going to keep going until I hear something satisfying from your mouth.”
Obsession. It was pure obsession. The fierce power of her will lifted her crumbling body, forcing it back into proper stance.
Even in the world he came from, knights who had undergone formal training and endured all kinds of harsh regimens would collapse after thirteen straight hours of nothing but fundamentals. Yet she did not fall. In terms of sheer willpower, she surpassed anyone from his world.
Only then did Eclipse smile. Of course, she could not see it.
In truth, Eclipse had been itching to praise her. She was absorbing the fundamentals at an astonishing speed. The reason he had withheld his words was precisely to draw out this reaction from her. It was only possible because she was someone starved for recognition and obsessed with confirming her own superiority.
Had Yusoha not possessed such a temperament, Eclipse would have continued teaching her with generous praise. Most people would give up quickly if they received no encouragement at all.
For Yusoha, praise was not merely a means to learn swordsmanship or any other skill—it was the goal itself. Naturally, the stronger her craving for praise grew, the harder she worked. Eclipse, having realized this early on, was handling her with remarkable efficiency.
Though their time together had not been long, her attitude as a student earned a perfect score in his eyes. Effort and tenacity. Those were the virtues he, as a knight, valued most.
Yusoha continued swinging her sword. The strikes, now laced with raw obsession, were unmistakably different from before. Somehow, she realized the sensation of the blade in her hand felt completely transformed from just moments ago.
But that realization did not last long. Just as Eclipse was about to tell her that this was enough, the final swing drained the last of her strength. Her body gave out.
“Oh dear.”
He caught her swiftly.
“Are you alright?”
“……”
No answer. It seemed she had fainted from complete exhaustion.
He lifted his smartphone. Among the only two numbers saved in it, he pressed one.
Jeong Seyeon. His—and originally Yusoha’s—personal tutor.
…Hello? Eclipse?
“Mm.”
What’s going on?
“Soha collapsed. She overdid the training.”
Ah. Understood.
Seyeon sounded perfectly calm, as if this were nothing new. Not long after, Jeong Seyeon appeared in Yusoha’s training room.
“Looks like she worked hard again today.”
“Indeed.”
“Couldn’t you have gone a bit easier on her?”
“She insisted. There was nothing I could do. I was planning to stop at a reasonable point.”
“And you didn’t praise her again, did you?”
“If I did, she would lose her drive.”
“…That’s true, I suppose.”
Jeong Seyeon, who was currently serving as Eclipse’s daily tutor, had originally been Yusoha’s. Knowing the girl’s personality well, she simply nodded at his words.
“Anyway, I’ll take care of the young lady. You should go rest, Eclipse.”
“Understood.”
While Seyeon carried Yusoha away, Eclipse returned to the room assigned to him in the mansion. It was a stark, empty space containing only the bare minimum of furniture. He removed his helmet and released his armor.
Black hair and equally dark eyes were revealed, along with a face so devastatingly handsome that Yusoha or Seyeon would have lost their minds at the sight.
It feels strange to be without armor.
He studied his own reflection with a slightly awkward expression. In the world he came from, simply removing his helmet had been enough to captivate countless people. He had no choice but to keep his entire body sealed inside armor. Especially those of high status had often looked at his face and treated him like a plaything.
The memory made Eclipse frown in disgust.
Now somewhat familiar with smartphones, he knew exactly what kind of chaos his face would cause in this world. That was why he avoided exposing it as much as possible. He didn’t want it to distort the way Yusoha treated him.
Thinking of her, he smiled with genuine pleasure. How long had it been since he last smiled like this?
He was looking forward to it. His answer regarding Yusoha’s growth could be summed up in a single phrase: she was changing every day, displaying the exact attitude befitting a girl who hated to lose.
So this is what it feels like to raise a disciple. I think I can understand Master’s feelings a little now.
Unlike before, when he had mechanically taught swordsmanship to countless people simply to send them to the battlefield, teaching her one technique at a time was surprisingly enjoyable. Especially since his student was exceptionally talented, which only added to the fun.
I’ll have to teach her all kinds of weapon techniques. After all, Soha can use multiple weapons.
Eclipse intended to pass on every skill and art he had learned while fighting against Terror. The only price he asked was the attitude she displayed. Her arrogance. That arrogance would become the milestone of his life in this world.
The sight of Soha striving to imprint herself boldly upon the world was exactly the kind of figure he had once dreamed of.
The Hwanryeong Grand Tournament. I’m quite looking forward to it.
The thought came to him unbidden. He wondered what kind of mark he would leave upon this world.
Yusoha opened her eyes. She was in her own room. Seeing that someone had neatly changed her clothes, she let out a long sigh.
“Tsk.”
She clicked her tongue. That was all she had managed. She felt ashamed of herself for craving praise from Eclipse. Her sword had wavered. It had been unstable. Even though it had only been a few days, she had believed she could handle it perfectly. After all, she had always accomplished everything with ease.
But it had been an illusion.
Just how deep did it go? After the self-loathing came a complete shift in how she viewed the fundamentals. Being clever, she quickly realized that the fundamentals Eclipse emphasized were not limited to swordsmanship alone.
She pictured herself handling various weapons in her mind. Every single one of them had been just like her swordplay—fundamentals that were weak, but flashy on the surface.
“Ha… haha.”
Now she understood. Eclipse had wanted to teach her this very truth. Everything she thought she had perfected was nothing more than a sandcastle by the sea. One wave—not even a particularly strong one—would wash it all away. That sandcastle had been her so-called perfection.
How ridiculous.
She realized what she needed to do. Her perfectionist nature began to torment her with pathological intensity.
You are not perfect. You fool.
Self-loathing washed over her again. But at the same time, she felt as if her vision had cleared. To show a completely different version of herself at the Hwanryeong Grand Tournament.
She washed herself thoroughly, then headed straight back to the training room. She wanted to feel it again—that sensation she had sensed at the tip of her blade right before her body grew heavy and her mind screamed that she had reached her limit.