773 – 9. Not a single day goes by without this (22)
When I came down at sunset, I saw a familiar figure in the clearing.
There are numerous buildings gathered halfway up Cheongeomsan Mountain. Not only was the dining area here, but the training area was also located here, so it wouldn’t be strange if someone was seen.
The only thing that was surprising was its identity.
In the vacant lot, Shien, wearing bracelets on his arms and legs, was groaning and holding his posture. The slightly reddened whites of her eyes with veins bursting seemed to represent her pain.
So I had no choice but to stop for a moment, as if I had been struck by lightning.
Could it be that ‘Cien’? Are you faithfully attending to your training until sundown?
It’s not even magic!
I was so surprised that my complicated mind immediately turned white. It is also natural that my steps lead to the source of the mystery.
Then suddenly I noticed another presence.
She was a woman standing at a distance, silently looking at Shien.
“Instructor Mu?”
At my puzzled voice, the eyes of the woman with her bamboo lips pressed down glanced at me. No matter how many times I saw her, she was a mysterious person.
No matter how much you use bamboo sticks, it is difficult to deceive the spirit of an experienced swordsman. Since I depended not only on her eyesight but also on her various senses, it was normal for that face to also naturally appear in my mind.
But this woman could never know her bare face.
Has it been subjected to special magical treatment? Or, she may have actually melted horribly from the burns and turned into a flat face.
Either way, I thought it was rude, so I didn’t bother to say it.
“What’s going on? If you have anything to do with Sien…… ?”
“Shien.”
An unpleasant voice that seems to scratch the vocal cords again.
As the woman muttered, she quietly shifted her gaze again. Towards her Shien, who was sweating coldly and swinging her sword in a clumsy manner.
“That’s what we call it, between you two.”
“No, that’s right… ah.”
Only then did I come to my senses.
This is a fact that is often forgotten if you look at it for a long time, but Shien’s status was ‘royal family’. This meant that no matter how much an imperial master he was, it was normal to use an honorific title.
Still, you use an intimate title like ‘Shien’.
Honestly, considering our relationship, I think this was more appropriate. One way or another, they were lovers who spent one night together.
But it is awkward to even recite these circumstances in detail. It was a mistake she made because her mind was confused from ‘Tomb of the Sword’ and she was so surprised when she saw Shien.
A drop of cold sweat was forming on my forehead. While I was wondering whether I should make an excuse, the number I came up with was as follows.
“After all this, we have crossed the firing line together many times… Isn’t it too cumbersome to use honorifics on the battlefield? So the name we used to call each other by mutual agreement has stuck. hahahaha… ….”
Let’s move on with an awkward smile.
But Master Mu was still just staring at me. Because her eyes were invisible, it was impossible to know what she was thinking.
“Well, now that I think about it, I’m just coming down from the ‘Grave of the Sword’… “It wasn’t as easy to leave a sword mark as I thought.”
The next move I came up with was ‘turning the horse’.
Isn’t Master Mu also an ‘instructor’? As an actor, if I were to ask her something, it was a shallow tactic that she spewed out in hopes that she would focus on that topic first.
“Is there any secret? Last time I heard from Master Heo, she was a master of swordsmanship…….”
And silence.
Unlike Master Gong, whom I had known from the beginning, and Master Heo, who was wild and crazy about the sword, Master Mu was a quiet and unknown person. To put it bluntly, yes.
Should I say that he is a bit difficult to deal with?
In the end, the cold sweat that had formed on my forehead was on the verge of dripping down.
Sureuk.
Instructor Mu quietly pulled out his sword from the sheath on his belt.
“…… ?”
Until the tip of the sword was pointed at me, I had no choice but to make a stupid expression. It was because I had no idea what he was going to do.
The good news is that Master Mu is not completely dumb.
“Come.”
If you take the stance and say that, there is only one meaning that is commonly used among swordsmen.
I must say that I did well to bring the true sword for training from the ‘Grave of the Sword’.
To be honest, I felt dazed, but it had already happened. There was no way not to comply with this.
How long can you take that stance and look for an opening?
‘Huh?’
I had no choice but to ask such questions in my mind. That was because the momentum felt from Master Mu was unique.
It feels like looking at a toy where the light and color change depending on the direction you look.
Instructor Mu just stood still. However, every time I thought about exploiting that gap, the composition that came to mind was different.
Longitudinal, horizontal, diagonal lines. A subtle intuition that no matter which option you choose, a leap or a rush, it seems unlikely to work.
It was a fact that any martial artist who had reached the highest level could not help but feel.
“A prosecutor has infinite possibilities.”
Instructor Mu chanted in a tone that scraped metal.
“One posture can have hundreds or thousands of possibilities. Some may call the prosecution a simple trick, but…….”
Actually, it didn’t matter as long as I could use magical power. In that case, it would be enough to aim for a long-term war or simply break the deadlock itself through the power gap.
But this was a pure swordsmanship battle.
There was no way such an ignorant method would work. Nevertheless, if you don’t see the answer.
There is only one exit.
“The true intention of the prosecution is not ’emptiness.'”
First, let’s face each other.
With the sensation of hitting the ground with a thud, the space was torn in a straight line. The extremely compressed landscape split into solid lines, and my sword flew out, reaching right in front of the woman’s eyes.
Unification.
Instructor Mu moved as I expected. A highly difficult response that seems to parry my sword and flows into the air.
I didn’t plan on finishing it in one go anyway. Just as he was about to attempt another slash using Jeong Jeong-dong’s technique.
Quick!
My sword, which was soaring, made a semicircle and fell to the ground. Following Master Mu’s sword, literally in an instant. It felt like sliding on frictionless ice.
Immediately after, countless ghosts swirled before my eyes. Where will the tip of my sword, which is stuck on the ground, move?
The response was faster than the judgment.
The countless sword shadows overlapped little by little to form one shape, and a sharp wind passed over me with my upper body bent. I hit the sword on the ground with my toe and pulled it out.
Kagak!
The two swords met each other’s teeth and cried, spitting out flames. Just before I twisted the blade and shed the woman’s sword.
The woman squirmed and retreated gliding.
“All possibilities are concentrated, concentrated… A concrete reality. “That is the true fear of prosecutors.”
Saying so, Master Mu put away his sword. He still seemed calm.
I was the one who asked back as if I was dumbfounded.
“No, what did you do just before that?”
Anyway, the sparring was over. Since I had no reason to hold the sword, the blade soon slipped into the scabbard.
“The technique that drove my sword to the ground. It’s not like using your body like in Seongguk jujitsu, it’s like using a sword…….”
“It is ‘anti-heaven.'”
It was a surprisingly familiar sounding technique.
As my eyebrows narrowed, the woman let out a calm voice.
“Jeong Jung-dong’s techniques are not limited to his own sword. Of course, other people’s swords also have countless possibilities, and if we can guide them properly… “You can also use those little tricks.”
This is a method I have never used before.
It was a technology that even ‘I’ from the future did not use. After all, ‘Gwigeom’ must have also come from the government of Kwae (快).
“Contrary to our imagination, countless variables exist in reality. As those variables collide, they create literally endless possibilities… “The more you keep this in mind, the more effective options you will be able to choose.”
“I graduated from the Department of Swordsmanship, so I’m not good at calculations.”
“It can be replaced by intuition trained through repeated training. In other words…….”
Instructor Mu, who was speaking unexpectedly fluently, glanced behind his back.
“It means that it is possible even with a superhuman brain.”
“Isn’t that something that has nothing to do with me?”
There was no reply.
Instructor Mu, who had begun his silent practice again, simply left with a wordless greeting.
As if asking when we last had so much conversation.
She was truly an unpredictable woman, but I soon decided to get on her nerves.
It was to engrave in my mind the teachings given by Master Mu.
The more countless possibilities are considered, the more efficient a strike becomes possible.
If you don’t have magical power, you have no choice but to rely on strength and skills. Therefore, the issue of ‘efficiency’ was bound to become a major issue.
It was a topic I had never thought about until now.
It was a time when I only faced enemies that I had no idea whether or not I would win even if I put all my effort into it. Efficiency was more of a topic that I had to think about after saving my life first.
Thoughts like that were around the time when I walked up to where Master Mu was standing.
“Ah, Sir Ian!”
From far away, Shien noticed me and was waving her hand with a bright smile. I burst out laughing at that lovely appearance.
Let’s eat first.
Thinking like that, I asked Shien who came running from afar.
“Why are you alone? “What about Sir Irene?”
Then Shien responded with a brighter smile.
“I’m going to stop Delphine and Seria for a moment because they’re fighting… “Huh?!”
“No… “You should have gone to stop me too!”
In the end, he had to be punished by me having his soft cheeks pinched.
It was the moment when the ‘peaceful dinner’ schedule was canceled at once.