Chapter 145: Sword Practice (2) (Mature Illustration)

68 losses, 2 wins, 1 draw.

Considering how boldly I challenged, it was a truly unbelievable, disastrous result.

When I scored my first point on the ninth match, I thought I’d pass the sparring session quickly and move on to the next stage of training.

The result, well, as you can see, was me, the fool, getting thoroughly dominated by Eunyoung Noona for the entire three hours.

Looking back, I think the last chance I had was up until scoring that one point in the ninth match.

The last opportunity I had to win before Eunyoung Noona regained her combat senses, you see.

Even when I took a match by exploiting her lack of warm-up, I thought it was a good start.

After that, it was a continuous streak of over twenty losses for nearly an hour straight.

Thinking about it, it was only natural.

No matter how long she rested, the position of an S-class hunter wasn’t something earned by rolling dice.

It would have been much easier for Eunyoung Noona than for me to regain her combat senses with just a few sword clashes.

After being thoroughly beaten like that, thinking this wouldn’t do, I deliberately conserved my internal energy instead of swinging my sword recklessly, and engaged in sword clashes mostly bare-handed.

As I conserved my energy, my sword strikes naturally weakened, and perhaps thinking I was exhausted, Eunyoung Noona’s strikes also became lighter, as if facing a weaker opponent.

When she grew accustomed to my weaker swordplay, I unleashed the accumulated internal energy all at once, deflected Eunyoung Noona’s sword, and thrust into the momentary opening-that was my second victory.

It was a feat achieved by exploiting the fact that my internal energy was invisible to the naked eye.

“…You used your head a little.”

After she said that, Eunyoung Noona’s subsequent attacks were on a completely different level.

Even though we were sparring with training greatswords, each strike carried a significant load on her arms, and much faster, heavier swords came targeting me.

I couldn’t even block Eunyoung Noona’s greatsword, which was now aggressively coming at me with purely offensive intent.

Not only did my grip weaken after just one or two clashes, but…

She even knocked my greatsword aside, sending it flying skyward, or once pushed my defensive greatsword, making me accidentally cut myself.

It was truly a moment where I faced the fragments of a berserker right before my eyes.

This time, I had to concede nearly 30 points before figuring out how to counter.

The matches were so fast, often lasting less than a minute each, and I was so exhausted that my brain wasn’t working quickly either.

Then, I received advice from a completely unexpected source.

‘Haa, I’m gonna die. How am I supposed to block that?’

“Considering Master’s physical abilities, avoiding it seems slightly more feasible than blocking it.”

‘……Ah.’

I wasn’t exactly expecting Esila’s advice, but nonetheless, her counsel became a ray of light in my desperate situation.

Also, it seemed Eunyoung Noona didn’t really want me to block her strikes by dividing them from the start.

When I gave up on blocking and dodged Eunyoung Noona’s sword for the first time, she showed a faint smile with a subtle change in her expression.

Indeed, focusing solely on evasion revealed a path.

No matter how heavy and powerful a strike is delivered, the moment it misses, the opponent creates a momentary opening.

Of course, even that opening was so brief, a gap of less than 0.5 seconds, making it difficult to attempt an attack.

Therefore, I minimized the time it took to reach Eunyoung Noona’s opening by swinging my sword simultaneously with the evasion.

In the final match, my attack and Eunyoung Noona’s attack landed simultaneously, resulting in a double-down ruling and barely securing me 1 draw.

Only after barely scraping together 3 points did the mock combat training, which felt like an eternity spanning three and a half hours, finally conclude.

The first point: how to exploit openings.

The second point: how to utilize internal energy.

The third point: how to analyze the situation.

During the three times I scored, I managed to gain at least three lessons from Eunyoung Noona.

More importantly, it wasn’t just through words or demonstrations, but by making me realize things myself, embedding them directly into my knowledge from the start.

Not to mention the techniques of sword movement or parrying with efficient force, the basics of handling a sword itself.

It was truly a teaching method far superior to any instructor at a hunter academy for one-on-one personalized training.

It wasn’t for nothing that Hye-eun rose to A-class hunter at an absurd speed.

If one received this kind of private tutoring, it would be more strange not to grow.

“Was the tutoring helpful, Ahjumma?”

“Yes. It was truly educational, to the point of being life-sustaining.”

“That’s good. Then let’s schedule the next session for about three weeks from now. Shall we raise the difficulty a bit and aim for about 5 points then?”

“Haha, ha….”

Eunyoung Noona’s nonchalant announcement of the next lesson left me with nothing but a hollow laugh as a response.

Meanwhile, on an island near New Guinea, Indonesia.

The Dokyung Group researchers began their full-scale research the day after arriving on the island.

“…Are you saying this monster was defeated by three A-class hunters, including the Young Lady and Miss Eunbyul?”

To senior researcher Yang Seolhwa’s words, Do Sihee quietly nodded.

“…That’s what happened.”

“It’s truly unbelievable, no matter how I look at it. Furthermore, seeing that five out of the six severed tentacles were torn by sword strikes suggests it was all done by the same person. And considering the final wound that pierced the eye, they must be an Awakened using a greatsword.”

“Yes, well. That’s right.”

“Are they really an A-class hunter? We estimate them to be at least A+ class, or perhaps S-class.”

To the researcher making such confident estimations, there was no way they would believe me if I told them the truth – that the hunter wasn’t even A-class, but C-class.

Do Sihee stuck to the lie she initially claimed: that the remaining hunter was A-class.

“I think so too, but what can I do if they insist they’re A-class? Unless the goal is to form a party, asking hunters about their ranks is rude, so I didn’t inquire further.”

“It seems the acquaintance who accompanied you was a solo hunter.”

“…Something like that.”

Whether he was truly a solo hunter or just happened to be acting alone that day she met him was unknown, but since she had decided to lie anyway, Do Sihee maintained her ignorance to the end.

Spreading information based on her own flimsy guesses might inadvertently lead to Kim Sungchul’s identity being pinpointed by others.

“Do you still intend not to reveal their identity?”

“I’m sorry, but I made a promise. You know how important trust is among hunters, right?”

“…Understood. If the Young Lady says so, I suppose there’s nothing else to be done.”

Having been asked by Kim Sungchul not to investigate him, she remained thoroughly tight-lipped about any information that could even slightly identify him.

As a result, the researchers concluded among themselves that the other hunter was ‘an A+, or S-class hunter belonging to the Foundation, wielding a greatsword.’

Do Sihee quietly breathed a sigh of relief inwardly at their speculations, which had strayed quite far from Kim Sungchul’s true identity.

“Master, considering your afternoon schedule, perhaps it’s time to move off the island?”

“Right. We can’t stay on this island forever. …Although I’ll have to return tomorrow morning for a progress report.”

“Which mode of transport shall we use: helicopter or sailing yacht?”

“Let’s go by sea. Relaxing with the sea breeze won’t be too bad.”

“…Understood.”

Eunbyul inwardly offered a small thanks to her Master for the subtle consideration.

Not long after, a small sailing yacht departed from the Dokyung Group’s island and slowly began heading towards New Guinea.

Seeing the yacht grow smaller and smaller until it became a mere speck, Do Sihee casually asked Eunbyul.

“Eunbyul.”

“Yes, Master.”

“You’ve been going through a lot because of me lately, haven’t you? You must be very stressed.”

“It’s nothing to complain about. It’s only natural for a servant to do their duty.”

“Don’t give me that. Do you think I don’t know your personality from before?”

“……”

Eunbyul responded with silence to Do Sihee’s words.

“Around here, there’s no one else watching besides me, so it’s okay to release your desires fully.”

“…When serving Master, I simply do my best to serve Master.”

“I’ve already confirmed via satellite camera that there are no ships or vessels passing through these waters. It’s just you and me, so you can rest assured.”

“……”

To Eunbyul, who maintained her silent demeanor, Do Sihee called out her former name.

“You weren’t originally like this. It’s a rare chance to relieve stress, so I don’t think you need to force yourself to hold back. Right, Miss Nari?”

“…Since Master has said so much, I shall impose upon your kindness and proceed.”

Saying so, Eunbyul, no, Geum Nari, brought her hands behind her back and untied the maid apron she wore over everything else.

Then, she unzipped the back of her maid dress, and the single-piece dress that enveloped her body slid down without hindrance.

Daggers and medicine bottles attached inside her skirt clattered as they hit the yacht deck.

“…Hngh.”

As the sea breeze swept over Eunbyul’s body, now clad only in her undergarments, Maid Eunbyul shivered slightly.

It wasn’t shivering from the cold, of course.

“…Can, can I do more?”

Geum Nari, whose speech had shifted from formal honorifics towards Do Sihee, asked cautiously.

“I said to release your desires fully, Miss Nari.”

“……Mm.”

As soon as those words ended, Geum Nari reached for the bra covering her body.

Soon, her slightly small, apple-sized breasts were revealed.

After removing the stockings, garter belt, and the final piece of underwear covering her lower body, Eunbyul’s body was now completely naked, not a thread in sight.

Except for the head dress she still wore on her head, which she hadn’t removed until the very end.

As soon as Geum Nari unfurled the sail again, the sailing yacht caught the wind and began moving forward once more.

Each time the sea breeze from behind touched Geum Nari’s bare skin, she let out intermittent moans of pleasure, seemingly enjoying it.

Geum Nari’s nipples, adorning her small breasts, hardened noticeably in the sea breeze.

Dark fluids, symbolizing sexual arousal, began to trickle down her thighs from between her legs as she stood completely nude.

“Hngh, hngh, hnggggh…!”

Geum Nari, the hunter heiress of the Geumhyang Group, who suddenly disappeared one day.

The only ones who knew about her secret fetish-feeling nature with her entire body in the wild-were Geum Nari herself and her closest friend, Do Sihee.

“Y-You bitch, Geum Taehyang!! I’ll never go back to that damned family again!! Come find me if you can, you fucking whore!!”

Furthermore, the fact that she was thoroughly concealing her identity while acting as Do Sihee’s personal maid.