episode_0019

water lily (2)

Nearly six years have passed since Yuno learned martial arts from Catherine.

From the day he took Catherine as his teacher, Juno’s days were filled with repeated harsh training.

Every day, he attacked Catherine and sparred with her until her body was a mess, then he kicked the steel punching bag with his fists and feet with his injured body, and hit his body with an iron ball. Later, Yuno had to train his fingers by dipping them in hot sand.

The skin on his hands and feet peeled off every day, and the bones and muscles on his entire body were intact, but Yuno, who was a prince, treated the injuries by pouring the highest quality potion, and the internal injuries sustained on the inside of the body were completed with mana practice after all training. Every time I did it, Catherine helped me by moving my mana, so I came back to normal the next morning.

As a result of this difficult training, Yuno’s body became stronger and harder as the days passed, but Catherine increased the intensity of the training as Yuno became stronger, so the intensity of the training that Yuno felt remained the same.

Because of that, Yuno sometimes regretted choosing such difficult penance. However, every time he sparred with members of the Guard Knights, he could feel that he had become much stronger, and Yuno devoted himself even more to training.

Isabella asked as she looked at Yuno, who had been helping Isabella and Marie exercise with Eliza during their personal exercise session every morning, and had also been working out hard in the morning.

“Yuno! I heard that training with Catherine is very difficult… Why are you still working out so hard in the morning?”

Yuno, who had been helping Marie warm up for a moment, looked back at Isabella’s words.

“Hmm~ Thanks to the teacher’s teachings, it seems like the level of master is out of reach. I do it because I feel like I can catch it if I work harder. Well, it’s been almost a year, but”

“Still, take it easy. Today is your coming-of-age ceremony, so make sure to attend this evening”

“Yes. Okay, sister”

Yuno answered like that and headed to the backyard to relax again. Since they were all becoming adults now, from the age of 14 onwards, they stopped using the Knights’ Training Hall and instead created a private training hall at the back of the Empress’s palace, creating a space where servants and maids could not enter.

Because of that, Yuno freely threw off his backpack and started running.

Yuno’s body developed much better than when he was young through training with Catherine. He was close to 190cm tall, and his massively developed muscles were reminiscent of an ogre. Moreover, the scars covering her entire body gave an idea of how rough the training Yuno had been through so far had been.

And Isabella and Marie sighed together at that.

“Phew~ Look at the scars on Yuno’s body… Those scars on that beautiful skin… Are you so upset that you’re killing me? Mom also gets upset every time she sees Yuno. He doesn’t participate in any dance classes and just practices every day”

“Sure~ Sister. Mari will protect my brother even if he doesn’t become that strong… Why does he want to become that strong?”

“Hmm? Is it Marie? Yuno says this sister will protect her. So, Mari, we should think about getting married quickly, right?”

“What are you talking about? that? If it were a married couple, the older sister would be sold first in an arranged marriage. I will become a senior spiritist and not get married. I will stay by my brother’s side”

“Hmph! Senior Spiritualist? you? Hehe, with that personality, a superior spirit will most likely sign a contract with you. You can just watch your sister become a mage and live with Yuno”

The two sisters, who were looking at Yuno while taking a break after being exhausted from exercising, glared at each other and fought. Eliza smiled as she looked at her older sister and younger brother.

Eliza had an agreement to return to the Kingdom of Leon at the age of 20, so she was training with the goal of becoming a master before that, and she had the talent and passion certified by Liechtenauer to achieve that, so she He was thinking of gaining the freedom to marry and marry Yuno. In addition, Marie’s side had also secretly proposed the secret contract that Isabella had proposed when she was young, so she could be said to be in a firm position with the support of both sides.

Of course, Yuno did not know the inside story, but the three women were watching Yuno with different inner feelings.

It was the day of the coming-of-age ceremony, but Yuno was still training with Catherine today.

Training was usually difficult, but today Catherine pushed Juno particularly harshly from the beginning of class.

“Just don’t move quickly! I always say this, but if you don’t put force into your hitting, it’s useless!”

“What happens if you move like that and the opponent is holding a dagger?”

“Once upon a time, my teacher said that if you trained like this, you could ignore daggers… Wow!”

Yuno tried to protest by wiping her mouth for a moment, but after being struck in the abdomen with a hand blade, Yuno’s mouth quietly closed.

“If the opponent is at the master level, no matter how much it is my body, there is no choice but to break through. So, you too must become a master and know how to surround your body with mana”

‘Why are you making that assumption now? I’m not a master yet, damn it… I’ll quickly become stronger than you and train you… We’ll see then. Master~ Cough!’

Even while thinking about useless things, Yuno continued to move his hands and feet and continue sparring with Catherine.

As Yuno was out of breath after a particularly harsh sparring session today, unlike usual, without even giving him a moment’s rest, Catherine demanded that he hit the steel punching bag.

“Now, from now on, I will hit with my fists without stopping. There is absolutely no rest in between. Time until I tell you to stop!”

Yuno thought that today was particularly difficult, but since it was her teacher’s order, Yuno thought there must be some reason and pounded the steel punching bag.

Boom boom boom boom!

The calluses on Yuno’s fists had long since worn off, so there wasn’t much pain, but the impact was still being transmitted to the bones, and because he was putting all his effort into each punch, his stamina was quickly being used up.

However, instead of telling Catherine to stop, all that came out of her mouth was to switch to a kick, and Yuno continued hitting the punching bag even though all his hands and feet were in a mess.

Time passed like that, and even as dinner time came to a close, Juno was still hitting the steel punching bag with his fists, as instructed by Catherine.

Her fist was a complete mess, covered in blood with all the bones fractured, her leg bones were completely shattered, and her stamina was all gone, but Catherine was not letting Yuno stop.

“Keep going! If you continue to train hard, you will reach this limit. The brain is telling the body that it is dangerous to move any further. And that reminder is the pain you feel. If you were a normal person, you would have stopped it a long time ago… but your body and mana have already reached the master level. Let mana move your body naturally! Go with the flow!”

Catherine’s words seemed to finally explain the purpose of starting this training, but Yuno could not hear what she said.

Then, he fell into a trance and hit the steel sandbag, forgetting about his physical condition. However, instead of hitting the punching bag from exhaustion like before, I was walking along an artistic path that contained the movements that Catherine had taught me. At the same time, a clear blue light began to form on Yuno’s fist.

‘Yeah… that’s it. You can force it to transcend. Transcend human limitations! That’s how you become a master today.’

Coo! Coo! Coo!

Now, every time Yuno’s fist was stuck, the steel sandbag began to dent in the shape of the fist. The punching bag I used when I was young was hollow, but now, even though I am using one made entirely of metal, it is getting more and more distorted.

Moreover, the blue light on Yuno’s fist became darker and more destructive, and the punching bag lost its shape and was gradually turning into a lump of scrap metal.

“Quaaang!!”

With an extremely loud roar, Yuno’s fist finally shattered the punching bag made of solid steel. Now, the blue light on Yuno’s fist had formed a single shape that could be called a fist, so Yuno had to stare at her fist with blank eyes.

Clap clap clap clap

“Yuno. Congratulations on reaching the level of master!”

“Master… I… Have I become a master?”

“Okay, you guy. What do you think is on your hand? This is a method that Master Lee came up with with great effort to break through what has been blocked in your realm since last year”

Juno approached Catherine with an emotional face.

“Master~!!”

“Yes, yes, this guy! You guys may be the first in the history of the continent to become masters at the age of 19. I also reached that level when I was 26…”

Catherine hugged Yuno and congratulated her sincerely. He then forced Yuno to sit on the floor and cross-legged.

“Master? But this…?”

“You can say that you have now forcibly reached the level of a master by injecting the mana that was overflowing from the mana hole into your body. So you have to make the inside of your body know that too. Wouldn’t that be the only way to say you have become a true master?”

From Catherine’s explanation, Juno realized that he had not undergone body change, one of the Master’s symbols.

“Ah! Then?”

“From now on, I will slowly induce the mana in your body. Do it naturally as if you were practicing normally. And just like before, you have to go with the flow”

Yuno closed his eyes and focused his entire attention on the mana inside his body. I could feel the mana slowly flowing out of the mana hole. However, Yuno was embarrassed because the amount was several times more than what he usually practiced, but as Catherine’s mana slowly helped him, Yuno soon regained his composure.

Then Mana began to rapidly circulate inside Yuno’s body, and Yuno finally lost consciousness as she felt something breaking inside her head.

Pap-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tuk

When Juno’s body began to glow blue, Catherine took her hand away from Juno’s body. Then, he went up to the first floor and approached the guards guarding Yuno’s palace.

” Absolutely do not allow anyone to enter this building. Whether it is Liechtenauer, the Empress, or even the Emperor, they absolutely cannot be allowed to enter this place for one day from now”

“Catherine, what’s going on? What’s going on, even His Majesty the Emperor… And His Highness Yuno has to attend his coming-of-age ceremony today!”

“Yuno has just become a master. So, tell me that you will experience a body change for one day!”

The knight’s eyes widened after hearing Catherine’s words.

“Is that really true? His Highness Yuno is the Master?”

“Yes! Don’t make me explain again and again, convey it quickly!”

As soon as they heard Catherine’s words, two out of the four knights of the Royal Guard ran to the imperial palace and the headquarters of the Knights of the Imperial Guard respectively.

And after a while, the entire reserve unit of the Knights of the Guard, led by Viscount Speyer, came and began to thoroughly guard Juno’s palace, so Catherine, somewhat relieved, went back down to the basement and looked at Juno’s condition.

*Yuno’s scar-filled body before body change