Bloodshed (1)

The martial arts competition was originally filled with bloodshed.

Since the original purpose of the martial arts competition was to experience combat close to real battle, this was natural.

Rather, it was exceptional that Lee Dojin and Choi Bit-na had settled their matches without shedding a single drop of blood.

Most matches ended only after one side was injured, big or small, and red blood was seen.

Lee Dojin was witnessing this with his own eyes.

Ryu Jia, with her eyes closed, was moving her feet nobly. And around her.

Blood was being splattered.

“Will you continue?”

Ryu Jia’s young voice echoed in the arena.

“Do you want to?”

Those words were directed at the man in front of Ryu Jia herself.

The man’s condition was not good. His black suit had long since become rags. Deep wounds on his thighs and forearms.

Every time the man moved, blood dripped from those wounds.

The brown-haired man grinned.

He was a student named Kim Jehun from Combat Class 3.

“The blind swordswoman of Class 1. You’re indeed very strong as rumored. That’s true, but if you keep going easy like that, you might get badly hit.”

Kim Jehun was holding a small shield in his left hand and a sword in his right. He was one of the warriors trying to balance offense and defense.

Ryu Jia let her sword-holding arm droop. An ominous aura rose from Ryu Jia’s entire body.

“If you rush in ignoring the gap like that, I might really kill you.”

“You mean I should surrender while you’re still going easy? Is that it?”

Kim Jehun said with a snicker.

Ryu Jia slowly nodded as if she didn’t understand why he was laughing like that.

“Yes.”

At the firm answer without a hint of laughter, Kim Jehun burst into loud laughter.

“Well, I’ve got to hand it to you Class 1 guys for your extreme self-confidence. Right?”

Kim Jehun held his shield in front and stepped forward quickly.

Kim Jehun’s swordsmanship was not based on martial arts. What he seemed to be basing it on was Imperial swordsmanship.

Just as martial arts manuals were discovered in dungeons, swordsmanship manuals were also found in dungeons. Estimating the frequency, Imperial swordsmanship was more commonly learned than martial arts manuals.

The approach to Imperial swordsmanship and aura techniques also had a lower entry barrier than martial arts. Short-term achievement was faster with Imperial swordsmanship.

But the deeper one delved, the higher the ceiling was for martial arts. That’s why recently, many hunters and aspirants aiming to be close-combat awakened ones were trying to make martial arts their main skill to receive better treatment.

However, more than half of those who challenged martial arts felt the limits of their talent and turned their attention to swordsmanship and aura training manuals.

From the perspective of awakened ones who valued balance between offense and defense, the completeness of Imperial weaponry techniques was rather a suitable choice. Kim Jehun seemed to be that type.

Kim Jehun pushed his shield forward and advanced once more.

Towards Ryu Jia, who was calmly staring at him right in front.

“This time, I’d like you to face me head-on instead of dodging.”

Kim Jehun deliberately used a tone as if provoking Ryu Jia.

The characteristic of Ryu Jia’s swordsmanship, ‘Shadow Flashing Sword Style’, was swift swordsmanship and changing sword techniques. Like a snake, she confuses the opponent and then cuts off their breath in one swift stroke.

Kim Jehun was at a level where he could read Ryu Jia’s sword paths.

However, being able to read them didn’t mean he could avoid them.

That’s why blood was flowing from his thighs and forearms.

Ryu Jia raised her sword.

“Do you think you can block it if I approach head-on?”

Kim Jehun silently raised his shield and pressed it close to his body. Then he charged. Aura was drawn in concentric circles centered on the middle of the shield.

Haikar Shield Technique 4th Form

The shield extended forward. Aura swirled like a storm, drawing circles.

It was the moment the shield became a spear.

The air was swept up in the vortex. This was a technique that could be called Kim Jehun’s secret move. He was confident that this technique at least didn’t lose to the skills of Class 1 students.

The shield that had become a sharp spear and.

And beside it was a sword scattering literally chilling aura.

Both attacks aimed at Ryu Jia simultaneously.

Kim Jehun’s suit was shaken by the wind pressure of his own shield technique. His head was thrown back.

Pressure.

Everyone watching Kim Jehun’s attack felt the pressure. To the point of forgetting that Ryu Jia had been dominant until now.

Ryu Jia stood still.

The raging gale.

But she felt no impression.

Because this level of pressure was what she had been constantly feeling while sparring countless times with Lee Dojin.

“Head-on indeed.”

Ryu Jia’s words echoed in Kim Jehun’s ears.

No, they were heard in the ears of all spectators. That’s how much silence had consumed the stage. Because it looked like a situation that could explode at any moment.

In fact, Ryu Jia didn’t think so.

Ryu Jia sheathed her sword. She steps forward with her right foot. And then draws her sword.

Iaido.

Blue sword energy drew a concentric circle. It was a sword path she had practiced hundreds of times after seeing the Moon Cleaving technique Lee Dojin had shown a few times. Wishing to reach even the tip of Moon Cleaving.

The sword path accelerated from the sheath crossed the air in an instant.

So fast it couldn’t even be perceived.

The storm on the shield distorted. It was crushed in an instant to the point of losing its very existence.

Shrick!

A blue line was drawn on the shield as well. And with that, the shield was split in half.

“Crazy…!”

Stark astonishment burst from Kim Jehun’s mouth. Because it wasn’t just any shield.

It was a magic shield made using the special magic mineral ‘Ermeta’.

It was a top-grade shield he had received as a gift from his parents on the day he was accepted to the academy. And that shield had been split in half.

Kwaduduk!

Along with the burning pain felt in his chest, Kim Jehun heard something breaking in the sword held in his right hand as well.

The blade of the sword was completely shattered. To use it again, he’d have to pay a large sum to entrust it to a skilled blacksmith.

“Kuuuugh!”

After the astonishment, clear pain crushed his mind. On his chest was a wound that had torn through the suit and reached the skin, caused by a single strike.

Unable to endure the pain, Kim Jehun collapsed on the floor.

The judge’s decision was pronounced.

“Student Ryu Jia, victory.”

Ryu Jia, who had completely crushed Kim Jehun’s ultimate technique head-on, lightly walked down from the arena, still with her eyes closed.

Ryu Jia’s sword path, which had rendered the opponent’s shield and sword useless, remained clearly in the memory of everyone in the audience.

Ryu Jia’s footsteps heading towards the waiting room suddenly stopped. There was a presence too strong to ignore staring at her.

Comparable to the Ten Venerables in the audience. No, a man emitting a slightly brighter light was staring at her.

It was Lee Dojin.

Ryu Jia, smiling faintly, slowly entered the waiting room.

---

Lee Dojin passed by Ryu Jia and headed to Arena C. And once again he could see a familiar face.

It was Cha Dahye, one of his acquaintances from Athena High School and currently in Combat Class 2 at the academy.

The man standing in front of Cha Dahye was a familiar face he had seen a few times.

Jung Jiwoo from Class 1, the same as Lee Dojin.

He was a strange guy who often raised the corners of his mouth when seeing Lee Dojin.

While Kang Changhyung openly showed his fighting spirit, Jung Jiwoo was a bit ambiguous. He just grinned every time he saw Lee Dojin but didn’t rush at him. A somehow unpleasant guy.

Of course, if Lee Dojin had faced him during the mock dungeon exam, there was a high probability he would have rushed at him right then.

Jung Jiwoo saw Lee Dojin and opened his eyes wide.

And grinned again. Then he looked back at Cha Dahye in front of him.

“I was going to win moderately. But that won’t do. Since the first-year representative is watching. I’m sorry. Whoever you are.”

“What?”

Cha Dahye’s pretty face wrinkled up. From her perspective, it was baffling for a stranger to suddenly say such strange things.

“I thought it was about time to show my presence. To my idol.”

Jung Jiwoo kept saying things incomprehensible from Cha Dahye’s point of view. Cha Dahye stared at Lee Dojin, whom Jung Jiwoo had been glancing at since earlier.

‘Lee Dojin.’

This Jung Jiwoo guy in front of her now seemed to admire that Lee Dojin quite a bit.

‘…Presence?’

Cha Dahye unconsciously bit her lip hard. Presence. Her teeth clenched at those words.

While Lee Dojin’s presence in the Korean hunter world was soaring endlessly, Cha Dahye herself was probably being gradually forgotten in Lee Dojin’s mind.

Cha Dahye gripped her spear as if to crush it.

‘Presence, huh.’

If she knocked down this guy in front of her while Lee Dojin was watching. Then she wouldn’t disappear so easily from his memory, right?

Cha Dahye and Jung Jiwoo faced each other. Their fighting spirits filled the arena.

While Lee Dojin wasn’t having any special thoughts looking at the two, they pointed their weapons at each other to prove their presence to Lee Dojin.

“Match begin.”

The judge’s words echoed.

Kwaaang!

The two martial artists simultaneously trampled the arena and rushed at each other.