Chapter 43: Monsters

I’d heard of the martial art Seung-ah used before.

Was it called the Myriad Forms: Divine Will Martial Art? Befitting its name, which meant “the divine dance that controls all forms as one wills,” every one of her movements contained a mystical quality.

An incredibly practical close-combat martial art devoid of the inefficient movements often found in typical martial arts.

The fact that it still felt mystical meant the one who created it possessed an unfathomably high level of mastery.

‘He’s probably much stronger than the Demon King.’

The Demon King Estelle’s party had defeated in her world possessed terrifying power capable of destroying the world, but they had only managed to defeat him thanks to numerous fortuitous encounters, the Goddess’s holy spear, and the hero Ludric’s exceptional talent.

But if someone was stronger than that Demon King, they would have to be on a similar level to Ymir.

‘Well, it wouldn’t make sense otherwise.’

Seung-ah’s staff thrust towards me, aiming to pierce my skull, and I parried it using the Beggar’s Staff.

She attacked with practical moves, but at times, she would throw in unorthodox strikes that made me wonder, ‘Can you even attack from that position?’

‘To raise Seung-ah, who was practically a normal person, to this level in just four years…’

Four years.

In just four years, she had reached a level comparable to the children of the Top 10 Families, like Alice and Wang Wei.

No, if she unleashed her hidden power, she might even be stronger than them.

She might not be able to beat Jin Baek-ryong, but she could likely defeat everyone below him.

Considering the time she’d spent training, I even thought that in another four years, Seung-ah might be standing at the very top.

Her violently potent talent, which anyone would envy, was shining as she attacked me.

“Is that all you got?”

Despite that, there was still a vast difference between her current self and me.

The experience of reaching the Supernal Realm, stats that placed me among the top even among S-rank Hunters,  and one more thing…

‘The experience of killing.’

I could say with certainty that there was a huge difference between someone who had killed and someone who hadn’t.

One didn’t necessarily have to kill to reach a certain level, but I couldn’t deny that the experience of killing helped one understand the weight of life.

Her attacks were strong.

Powerful enough to be unmatched among her peers.

But… that was all.

Her attacks lacked killing intent.

They posed no real threat.

Of course, one might ask why she should have killing intent in a spar with a friend.

But true masters naturally exuded killing intent in their attacks, even without consciously trying.

Even though she increased her tempo and swung her staff, her attacks only became faster, not more threatening. That was the reason.

And that’s why I intended to teach her.

How to swing a staff, even if it was just once.

While dodging her staff, I recalled a certain man.

Gaegeolgae, the leader of the Beggars’ Sect.

A man who aspired to beat every “dog” in the world to death.

Of course, those “dogs” weren’t literal dogs.

He meant those who committed evil deeds, those who were worse than dogs.

I fought that man, and during the fight, we realized there was no reason to harm each other, but we couldn’t stop.

Because of the different paths we’d walked, the different burdens we carried, I had to kill him.

If we had been born in similar circumstances and met in similar positions, we might have become friends.

Instead, I inherited the path he had walked through this staff technique.

Beggar’s Staff – Pressing Shoulder, Dog’s Back.

I pressed down on her staff, which was aiming for my vital points,

Beggar’s Staff – Striking Dog Towards Heaven.

And struck the tip of her staff, sending it flying into the air.

Without using any further techniques, I thrust my staff towards her neck.

Seeing this, she shook her head, raised both hands, and said,

“I lost.”

A clean surrender after a clean defeat.

She could have continued the spar using celestial arts even after losing her staff.

However, she must have vaguely realized what she lacked through this spar, and she knew that prolonging the match wouldn’t be beneficial if she wanted to quickly internalize that lesson.

As soon as the spar ended, I heard applause from the side.

Instructor Oh Dong-seok was clapping for us.

“That was a great match, both of you. Yoo Seung-ah, for showing your skills without being intimidated by a stronger opponent, and Kim Yu-won, for drawing out your opponent’s strength and showing them the way forward, even though you could have ended it quickly. You seem to have a knack for teaching.”

I had indeed felt some aptitude for teaching while instructing Liera in my fourth life.

It had started with me giving unsolicited advice, “That’s not how you do it,” but I ended up teaching her wholeheartedly, pouring all my knowledge, except for martial arts, into her because she followed my teachings so well.

That’s how a genius who reached superhuman levels in two different fields was born.

“Yes.”

I was tired of making excuses, so I just agreed.

It was obvious he’d just praise me again if I tried to be humble, saying something like, “At your level, even humility becomes arrogance.”

“Yes, that suits you better. Anyway, you said you were also skilled in staff techniques, and you seem to be the best staff user among the Hunters I know… I’m curious about the master who taught you. They must be an incredible person.”

I couldn’t tell him that the one who taught me staff techniques was the friend I killed, so I was at a loss for words.

Just then, I saw Ha-yeon standing proudly in the distance.

She looked extremely pleased, having heard the praise for her “master.” Well, it was true that Ha-yeon had laid the foundation for me, so I couldn’t argue with that. Moreover…

‘She’s cute.’

Seeing her looking so proud in her school uniform made me laugh. And seeing me laugh, she smiled back.

“Seeing you smile at the mention of your master, they must be a wonderful person.”

The instructor beside me slightly misunderstood, but I simply nodded.

“Yes, she is. Dependable, always believing in me, the kind of person who would give up everything and rush to my side for my sake.”

He nodded.

‘You’ve already met her.’

The person blushing and lowering her head over there.

“Yes. I’ll introduce you sometime.”

When she fully regained her past strength and could confidently present herself as my master.

“I look forward to it. Ahem… Anyway, Practical Combat Training will proceed like this: two people will pair up and spar, then give each other feedback and helpful advice based on what they learned from the spar.”

Such a class would definitely be beneficial for the students’ growth.

They could spar with students of similar level and receive feedback from their opponents to correct their weaknesses.

“Since you two already knew each other well before sparring, you probably don’t need any advice, but I should still ask. Kim Yu-won, what did you think Yoo Seung-ah lacked?”

Her outstanding physical abilities and technique were both impeccable.

As I’d mentioned before, the only thing she lacked was killing intent.

But I couldn’t say that directly, so I phrased it differently.

“She lacks the intent to harm her opponent. Her attacks are too gentle.”

Sparring with her, I felt like her attacks were saying, “I’m going to attack like this, so you can dodge or block like this.”

Of course, even with such attacks, her speed and power were so overwhelming that she achieved the remarkable feat of ranking 6th among the incoming students.

But that was her limit.

There was a crucial difference between her and the students above her.

She could certainly overwhelm others with the uniqueness of her technique, but getting used to winning with mere tricks would make it harder for her to progress.

Because she would be helpless when she met an opponent against whom those tricks wouldn’t work.

‘Alice and Jin Baek-ryong must have killed many people.’

I could tell from their attacks.

That they had killed at least dozens of people.

Of course, compared to me, those numbers were like fireflies before the sun, but the number wasn’t important.

What mattered was whether they hesitated at the crucial moment.

The instructor nodded at my words.

“You’re right. Yoo Seung-ah’s attacks lack killing intent. But that’s a common issue among new students, so it’ll be resolved before graduation.”

‘I never said anything about killing intent, though?’

He was a true man who didn’t mince words. And “resolved before graduation” must have meant one thing.

‘There will be opportunities to kill during our time at the academy.’

Perhaps some kind of practical training like villain hunting.

It was terrifying to think that this school taught students how to kill.

My ordinary school in my first life never taught anything like that.

“Then Yoo Seung-ah, did Kim Yu-won have any shortcomings?”

She said firmly,

“No.”

“You’re right. Kim Yu-won had no shortcomings.”

And I’d already expected this conversation to end with me being praised.

Seriously.