Chapter 69: Please be my teacher

He first learned the sword at the Demonic Arts Academy.

There, they made students handle every weapon at least once, so he’d had the chance to try all the weapons that might appear in a martial arts setting: sword, spear, saber, bow, dagger, mace, and so on.

Blood Sky Dance was a martial art that worked well with any weapon, so he could handle them all passably, but wasn’t it natural to have weapons that felt more suited to one’s body?

Unarmed combat and spear techniques were particularly well-suited for him.

Still, unsure of what situations he might face, he had additionally trained in swordsmanship and assassination techniques.

And by fighting numerous masters in the Central Plains, he had witnessed their swordsmanship and perfected his own to a level close to the Transformation Realm.

He had further developed it in Estelle’s world by fighting sword users and absorbing swordsmanship specialized for fighting monsters.

However, the place where his swordsmanship had developed the most was undoubtedly Liera’s world.

‘A world of swords and magic.’

True to its name, no other weapons existed.

A world where everyone used only swords or magic, where knights and mages were the ruling class, a place with cities more splendid than those on Earth, where the Mado Empire existed.

He couldn’t run around with an unconventional weapon in such a world, so he too had wielded a sword and developed his swordsmanship.

As expected of a world where only swordsmanship among weapon techniques had developed, countless sword styles existed, and by experiencing them, he strived to meld all the swordsmanship he had experienced in the martial arts world and Estelle’s world.

Perhaps because he had experience learning the Universal Spear Technique, which compiled all the spear techniques of a single world, it was surprisingly smooth, but since spear techniques and sword techniques were distinctly different fields, there were quite a few difficult parts.

Since his cultivation technique was the Ink Lightning Divine Art, his foundation was in martial arts, and it took him five years to incorporate the characteristics of the sword techniques from the other two worlds and create his own style.

‘Yu-won Sword .’

A sword style named after himself.

A style that only Liera, besides himself, had learned. He drew it against Jin Soo-hyun.

It felt a bit awkward using a sword after a long time, but after a few swings, he quickly got the hang of it.

[Skill: Yu-won Sword acquired.]

“Shall we begin?”

Jin Soo-hyun also swung the unfamiliar sword a few times and soon began to wield it as if it were his own.

“There’s no need for restrictions this time, right?”

Last time, they had sparred with the restriction of not using Aura Blade.

It was due to annoyance and also his desire to hide his strength, but now it didn’t matter.

“Yes.”

The video of him smashing Nidhogg’s head was probably spreading worldwide, making it completely impossible to hide his strength anymore, so he planned to just go all out.

‘My future self will take care of it all.’

Besides his companions, there were many Hunters watching nearby, so Nidhogg’s level was already spreading, making it impossible for him to deny that he possessed S-rank power, and among the top tier at that.

It was something he could only achieve by risking death and forcibly drawing out the power of his Transcendent Realm days, but since he was alive and well now, no one would think that.

“Jin Soo-hyun, head of the Jin family, requests your guidance.”

“Kim Yu-won. I accept your challenge.”

Since this wasn’t a spar to determine a winner, he didn’t bother with psychological warfare by revealing his orphan status.

Jin Soo-hyun, completely unfamiliar with his swordsmanship, took a stance, preparing to react.

He certainly knew some of the Jin family’s swordsmanship, making it easier for him to react, so if Jin Soo-hyun moved first, it was highly probable that the fight would turn unfavorable for him.

It was the right judgment, but conversely, if he didn’t make a move, the spar would remain in a stalemate.

It would be fine to stay still, but since he was in a position to teach him, he decided to move first.

He used the footwork of Blood Sky Dance, dominated the surroundings, and swung his sword at Jin Soo-hyun.

Yu-won Sword was a style built upon the foundation of the Jongnam Sect’s Thirty-Six Swords of the Celestial River. It had forms covering all directions, allowing him to mix in the principles he desired.

He had imbued his sword with the principles of strength and speed, which the Namgung family valued, along with Ganggi, and Jin Soo-hyun met his strike by imbuing his sword with Aura Blade.

Clang-

The sound of swords clashing echoed through the training hall.

The Jin family’s swordsmanship also emphasized strength and speed, much like the Namgung family’s, so such a loud sound wasn’t unusual.

With swords of similar principles, similar armament levels, and imbued with similar levels of energy clashing, the outcome of the sword fight depended on physical ability and swordsmanship proficiency.

Since he surpassed Jin Soo-hyun in strength, the stamina supporting it, and even the duration he had wielded a sword, it was only natural for his sword to knock Jin Soo-hyun’s aside and head towards his neck.

“That’s one.”

He placed his sword on Jin Soo-hyun’s shoulder, signaling his first victory in the spar.

“You weren’t kidding…”

Jin Soo-hyun, having lost the initiative in a single blow, raised his hands.

While high physical ability helped in swordsmanship, if that were all, swordsmen would only focus on physical training all day.

Jin Soo-hyun fully understood that his defeat was due to an overwhelming difference in swordsmanship skill.

Physical ability was merely a supporting factor.

“First of all, there was nothing particularly wrong with your last strike. Thanks to your training, you managed to react immediately to a surprise attack and execute your swordsmanship flawlessly.”

“Still, I was defeated in a single blow without even a proper spar…”

That was because he was skilled, but Jin Soo-hyun also had a problem.

“Is it okay if I call you ‘Uncle’? It’s more comfortable.”

“Yes, any form of address is fine.”

Calling him “Family Head” every time was a bit inconvenient, so he asked, and he readily agreed.

“At your current level, Uncle, if an opponent with similar swordsmanship, armament, and physical ability surpasses you in even one of those three, you will definitely lose.”

“Isn’t that obvious…?”

Since monsters had appeared on Earth and the time spent accumulating skills wasn’t that long, many people thought that way.

They considered it natural to lose to a superior opponent.

“Is that really so? Then this time, I’ll use weaker physical abilities than yours, Uncle, and swordsmanship at a similar level. Shall we spar again?”

“Alright.”

They both distanced themselves again and readjusted their stances.

Jin Soo-hyun’s physical abilities were around the late 80s.

He deliberately limited his own physical abilities to the early 80s.

He had a good grasp of Jin Soo-hyun’s swordsmanship level, so he planned to use only that much.

This time, perhaps because he had the advantageous position, or perhaps because he had rushed in first in the previous spar, Jin Soo-hyun charged at him.

He flawlessly executed his family’s swordsmanship, honed over decades, and swung his sword at him.

Honestly, there were countless ways to respond here.

He could introduce unpredictability with a swordsmanship style that pursued illusion and change, or he could flow smoothly with a pliant sword style.

However, these weren’t viable methods for Jin Soo-hyun.

For someone who had trained only in swordsmanship imbued with strength and speed their entire life, trying to learn something new now would only be a detour.

So, he decided to show him within the realm of what he could do.

He removed strength and responded to his sword solely with speed.

With fewer things to focus on, his sword, despite being executed with the same level of swordsmanship skill, became faster.

His sword clashed with Jin Soo-hyun’s before it could gain full momentum, and no matter how much strength was imbued in the swordsmanship, it meant nothing without speed.

Still, since he was sparring with his physical abilities adjusted to be weaker than Jin Soo-hyun’s, he couldn’t incapacitate him in a single blow as before, but Jin Soo-hyun would have felt that he had a slight advantage.

After lightly deflecting his sword, he then swung his sword at him, imbued only with the principle of strength. Since speed wasn’t mixed in, it was quite a bit slower than before, but not entirely slow.

Jin Soo-hyun, having belatedly regained his stance, responded to that sword. His sword, which had gained full momentum during the time Jin Soo-hyun took to readjust his stance, clashed with his, and again, he gained the upper hand, his sword touching Jin Soo-hyun’s neck.

If he had swung like this earlier, he, with his slower sword, would have lost, but since it was a sword swung after first restricting the opponent’s movement, Jin Soo-hyun couldn’t parry the sword imbued with the full principle of strength.

“How can this be…”

“I kept my promise and moved only at a level you could manage, Uncle, didn’t I?”

“Yes… What you did were definitely things I could also do.”

There was no way he, who had reached the realm of Sword Master, wouldn’t recognize this.

“The Jin family’s swordsmanship is imbued with the principles of strength and speed, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Fast and strong. Very simple. And because that simplicity has been trained to the extreme, it can generate such strong power.”

Because it is straightforward and then straightforward again, one can reach a high level even if it’s not a complex sword style.

“If you are strong, you will inevitably be fast, and if you are fast, you will inevitably be strong. However, the two are distinctly different. As I just showed you, you can create significant unpredictability by focusing on only one, instead of both.”

Swinging the sword in the same way every time will only get you figured out by everyone.

If your opponent is weaker than you, you can win by pushing through with straightforwardness even if you’re figured out, but conversely, you will never be able to win against a stronger opponent.

“If you repeatedly alternate between using strength, speed, and both simultaneously with the same sword style, you’ll eventually be able to generate even stronger power when using both at the same time.”

If you repeatedly use only one, there will be additional enlightenment in that one, and that will naturally apply in a complex way when using both simultaneously.

With an expression of realization, he began to continuously swing the same sword style with different principles, just as he’d said.

Jin Soo-ho, swinging his sword in a state of near self-forgetfulness.

Perhaps because he was a genius like Jin Baek-ryong, even though he hadn’t swung that much, his swordsmanship skills were noticeably improving compared to before.

‘This is why geniuses are…’

After regaining his senses, Jin Soo-ho had definitely taken another step towards the realm.

The first thing he did was kneel on one knee before him and bow his head.

“Please become my master.”

Now, following his son, the father also asked him to accept him as a disciple.