Chapter 18: Spearmanship- 2

Professor Karia was able to see Gungnir after she infused her gaze with magic.

The barrier magic could even deceive the skills of EX-rank professors.

Of course, enhancing vision with magic could see through it, but… still, it was an incredible discovery.

In other words, unless you were on par with Eden’s professors in skill, you couldn’t help but fall victim to invisible weapon and attacks.

‘Whether it’s an insanely sharp intuition or born from observing mysterious phenomena, I’m not sure.’

Still, since such cases were a minority, there wasn’t much to worry about.

“I will teach you weapon skills, Seong Yujin. Among them, I will mainly teach spear techniques. Now that you have obtained the best spear, you should also learn how to wield it.”

Professor Karia’s clear voice rang out.

I focused on her words, pulling myself from my wandering thoughts.

The first thing she said as she opened her mouth was the reason for teaching me spear techniques.

Because I had obtained Gungnir.

To be able to handle it properly, I would be taught spear techniques.

That was roughly the meaning.

I had no complaints about her plan.

From the moment I got my hands on Gungnir, I had intended to learn spear techniques anyway.

It was a reasonable thing to do.

As I was convincing myself of that, Professor Karia called out to me.

“Seong Yujin. Have you ever held a spear before?”

“No. I haven’t.”

“Well then, I guess I’ll start by teaching you the grip of the spear.”

Grip.

The correct way to hold something with your hands.

When using an item, you first grasp the item with your hands.

It was such a natural thing to do that sometimes, stating it confidently could lead to being ignored.

But in martial arts, the grip was playing an irreplaceable role.

“Hold Gungnir in a familiar way and try thrusting and swinging.”

Following Professor Karia’s instructions, I grasped Gungnir with one hand and assumed a stance.

Then I forcefully thrust the spear forward to stab.

After thrusting, I swung it.

I repeated this motion several times while observing Professor Karia’s expression.

“Stop.”

I halted my stance, poised to thrust the spear.

With just one word, Professor Karia stopped me in my tracks and approached me.

“You have strength, but it’s leaking in the wrong direction. Insisting on swinging like that will only harm your body first.”

Her cold assessment of the spear technique I had just demonstrated in front of her was embarassing.

“I’ll show you the thrusting and swinging you just demonstrated.”

With those words, a spear appeared in Professor Karia’s hands.

Just like when she pulled out the chest containing the World Tree’s Grand Potion, a wooden practice spear emerged from her spatial pocket.

As she held the spear she pulled out from her spatial pocket, her body subtly leaned forward. With inherited insight, I focused on Professor Karia’s movements.

“This is how you thrust and swing, Seong Yujin.”

Hong! Whoosh!

Leaving an afterimage, the thrusting spear instantly cut through the air.

After demonstrating the thrust, Professor Karia immediately rotated the spearhead and transitioned into a swing.

However, there was something odd about her demonstration.

It was somewhat sloppy, to say the least.

There were subtle interruptions in her movements that were more apparent through the insight.

A faint smile graced Professor Karia’s lips as she glanced at me, as if pleased that I had noticed the flaw.

“And this is how you swing the spear properly.”

Professor Karia stopped her movement and adjusted the position of her hand and wrist.

The momentum felt different.

A gulp.

Swallowing saliva, I focused on Professor Karia’s body as she held the spear.

There was no gap to be found, not even the slightest, through the Insight.

In the next moment, the Insight lost track of her movements.

I couldn’t see her swing the spear or the spear piercing through the air.

At best, the detection barrier I had been maintaining vaguely provided me with information about the trajectory of her movements.

Swinging the spear around and planting the tip of the spear on the ground, Professor Karia looked at me and said.

“Holding it correctly, moving correctly. The difference lies only in those two things.”

While it might be hard to exclude differences in skill level and strength, it was certain that such a difference arose from the way the spear was held and swung.

Could I wield such spear techniques?

As such doubts slowly arose, Professor Karia readjusted her stance.

“Follow me, place your left hand forward, and hold both hands properly.”

I adjusted my grip as Professor Karia instructed.

I tried to mimic her posture as closely as possible, but it felt somewhat awkward because it was an unfamiliar style.

Looking at me, Professor Karia directly moved my hands, correcting any minor errors.

The awkwardness faded away.

“Now, extend your arm forward and try thrusting the spear.”

Professor Karia pushed my arm holding the spear forward, guiding its direction.

I extended the spear with all my strength along the path she directed.

“Well done.”

A much cleaner thrust than before.

The joints of the arm and shoulder, which naturally turned as the arm extended, transmitted the tight muscles and flexible wrist joints to the tip of the thrusting spear.

“How was that? It was much cleaner with less force than before, wasn’t it?”

With a smile on her lips, she approached me, and I could only nod in response.

“Now, I’ll teach you the next posture after the grip.”

Following Professor Karia’s instructions, I returned to the stance before thrusting the spear.

The hands and arms were in a poised position, but the torso and legs seemed awkward.

As I stood like that, Professor Karia lightly pressed the end of the spear with her finger.

The spear naturally lowered, but I exerted force with my arms to resist.

“You need to put more strength into your arms and pull inward towards your body. Since the spear has a long reach, it can be challenging to control your body against the impact on the blade or the end of the spear.”

As she said this, Professor Karia applied more pressure with her finger on the spear, then her hand moved to my shoulder.

She adjusted the distance between the hands holding the spear and the arm holding it.

“Typically, you hold the spear slightly behind the centre of the spearhead. The distance between your hands should be a bit wider than your shoulders.”

Even though it was a theoretical class, my body hurt more than my head.

Holding the spear in an awkward position made the weight of the spear feel heavier.

“When thrusting, grip with your left hand in normal position, and when swinging, switch your left hand to the reverse grip.”

Professor Karia corrected my posture one by one until finally nodding in approval.

My body, now corrected into the ‘ideal posture’ by her decisive touch, trembled.

“Now that you’ve got the posture, what should you do?”

She poked my collarbone with her finger.

It was a signal to stab and swing the spear again, just like I did at the beginning.

I looked at Professor Karia with a perplexed expression.

My body didn’t feel like my own in this first attempt at holding the spear.

Receiving my puzzled look, Professor Karia smiled and encouraged me.

Even though I had doubts, she was the one teaching, and I was the student receiving instruction.

If she asked for a correction, I should comply.

‘Still, I asked because it’s helpful…!’

I, an amateur who had just held a spear for the first time today, stood awkwardly while Professor Karia was an expert who had been handling spears on the battlefield for years.

With that thought, I moved my body, trying to correct myself.

With each thrust and swing, I sweated.

I practiced holding the spear at various angles to ensure the proper posture and grip stayed with me.

“You’re learning fast. Most of what I’ve taught seems to have sunk in.”

“Really?”

To be honest, I didn’t feel it sinking in completely.

Unless it’s like in a game where damage increases are shown numerically…

[Proficiency in spear skill increased by 11.7%.]

“What? It’s showing numbers?”

Although it wasn’t information quantifying damage, it was an important notification nonetheless.

My attention was drawn to the status window that appeared between Professor Karia and me.

The number, 11.7%, seemed neither high nor low, but significant nonetheless.

But before focusing on the number, another notification in the status window caught my eye.

[Achieved 10% proficiency, acquired Spear Technique (E).]

Acquiring a skill.

It was the first time I had acquired a skill through my own effort since the transmigration.

“If I reach 100% proficiency, what will happen?”

Having achieved E-rank Spear Technique at 10% proficiency, could I attain an S-rank Spear Technique at 100%?

Lost in such thoughts, I was brought back to reality by Professor Karia’s call.

“Seong Yujin, are you spacing out?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

I had completely lost track while looking at the status window.

“If you concentrate, time flies faster than you think.”

Nodding, I watched Professor Karia put the wooden spear back into her bag.

She then took out a bottle of water from her dimensional pocket and handed it to me.

Although I didn’t feel particularly thirsty, seeing the water made me realize how parched I actually was.

“For the next week, we’ll focus on intensive training in spear techniques.”

A week.

It was neither too long nor too short, just the right amount of time.

As I thought about it while drinking the water she handed me, Professor Karia dropped a bombshell.

“So, I’ll assign you a task! The deadline is tomorrow!”

Cough! Cough!

I was so startled that I accidentally sprayed the water I was drinking.

No, Professor.

An assignment due the very next day?

What on earth are you talking about?