Chapter 44 - The Old Man of Muwon Sword Family (1)

There was one guy I had forgotten about.

Im Seong-jun, the son of the Moonlight Unit leader Im Moon-shik.

I had left his private training to Ho-joong and hadn't checked on him once, but today I planned to inspect him for the first time in a while.

It was a sort of after-service for the Moonlight Unit leader.

Im Seong-jun flinched and stepped back when he saw me appear in the training hall.

“Why are you so surprised? Did you think I would hit you without reason?”

“N-no, sir!”

“And you weren’t beaten enough to get traumatized by me, were you? Just continue with the training you were doing.”

“Yes, sir!”

I liked that his manners had improved since I last saw him.

In fact, although this guy was called a delinquent, I didn't think he was a delinquent to the bone.

He had just gone astray for a while due to an inferiority complex about his origins; his fundamental nature was far from that of a delinquent.

Swish!

Swishhh!

Im Seong-jun’s sword began to cut through the air vigorously.

I heard he had wandered for a considerable time, but the guy still had the basics down.

A sword, once mastered by the body, responds automatically even if picked up again after decades.

Although he was just an amateur who hadn't even gotten his license yet, with a little polishing, he seemed like he wouldn't be out of place in Chamryongdan.

“Stop. That’s enough.”

At my words, Im Seong-jun immediately stopped his sword.

Then, as silence persisted, tension crept into his face.

“Why the long face?”

“Because you weren’t saying anything.”

“Ah! I was thinking. About whether I should make you an offer if you get your license this time.”

At these words, Im Seong-jun’s eyes widened.

“Why? Are you going to refuse before I even make the offer? I guess you might want to work under your father rather than in Chamryongdan.”

“N-no, sir!”

“Then?”

“I definitely want to join Chamryongdan!”

“Why?”

“Because it was thanks to you, Unit Leader, that I came to my senses.”

Honestly, this was a part I didn't quite understand.

Because I hadn't done much.

I hadn't said anything that moved his heart, nor had I beaten him enough to knock some sense into him.

“Didn’t you just want to come to your senses on your own? Think about it. All I did to you back then was slap you a few times. If everyone in the world could come to their senses like this, I’d quit being the Chamryongdan leader right now and become a professional slapper. But that’s not the case, is it?”

Im Seong-jun hesitated and couldn't continue.

I had just said it for fun, but it seemed I had hit a nerve.

“Anyway, if you really want to join Chamryongdan, there’s one condition. I don’t just make offers to anyone.”

Of course, this was something I thought of on the spot.

Since, contrary to my expectation, this guy was positive about joining Chamryongdan.

“My condition is that you place within the top 5 in the license exam.”

“Top 5?”

“Why? Is that difficult?”

“It’s definitely not an easy condition.”

“What do you mean it’s not? I’m not asking you to be the top student or get a perfect score.”

“But the top 5 is a score that gets you scouted immediately by prestigious guilds.”

“Are you seriously saying the Haewon Sword Family is second to some guild? You said it yourself. You were unhappy that you could never become the Family Head no matter how good you were because of your background. This guy is completely crazy. A guy who doesn’t even have the confidence to place 5th in his class was spouting such nonsense?”

When I hit him with the facts, he couldn’t argue back and just stared at me blankly.

“If you’re not confident, go join the Moonlight Unit and live under your dad’s halo.”

“No, sir! I will try.”

“Good thinking. Then I can’t not look at your swordsmanship. Show me your swordsmanship once more.”

“Thank you, Unit Leader.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for. If it turns out you’ve wasted my precious time, things will get unpleasant.”

Im Seong-jun’s expression immediately hardened.

It was fine for this guy to be a little tense.

The problem was that he had been living too relaxed until now.

***

Today, as always, I treated my body in the Spring of Elixir.

Compared to when I first came to Earth, my current physical condition had improved to the level of a sea change.

The mana that was like a speck had now become the size of a grain of sand.

Moreover, the Guyeopcho necklace I obtained from the last Abyss helped me overcome a significant portion of my limitations.

I was now able to somewhat lessen the burden of mana depletion.

Of course, the road ahead was still long.

Besides, there was a difficult challenge right in front of me.

The Ujangsan Burning Dungeon, where I was to conduct a joint operation with Seo Ji-won.

Though it was called a joint operation, the dungeon raid was highly likely to become a competition.

As it was a Burning Dungeon, good rewards were practically guaranteed, but there would be a gap depending on who performed better.

For me and my members to get satisfactory results, it was necessary to press down Seo Ji-won’s Myeongundan.

‘The key will be how much more I can recover.’

With that in mind, I devoted myself to the treatment.

Eight hours had already passed in the spring.

As soon as I stepped out of the Abyss, my phone buzzed violently.

I thought it would be Choi Ho-joong without a doubt, but my prediction was wrong.

【3 Unread Messages】

The sender was Han Byeong-cheol of the Muwon Sword Family.

‘Why this old man all of a sudden?’

I scrolled up on my phone and checked the accumulated messages.

Hey there, Ji-han. Are you doing well?

What! I said hello but there's no reply for two hours.

I'll just leave my business then. I heard a rumor that you hunted a very unusual monster in the Abyss, would you care to visit the Muwon Sword Family once? Come and tell the tale. If it’s interesting, I’ll reward you properly.

I wondered what was up, but it seemed the old man was just very bored.

Of course, I had no intention of going all the way there to entertain him.

I was a person with a tight schedule to follow every day.

Just as I was about to reply that I was busy today, the message vibrated once more.

You’ve finally checked the message!

What the. This old man.

I suddenly felt a sense of dread.

I also happen to have an interesting tale to tell you. It's about the Ujangsan Burning Dungeon, so if you're curious, come on over.

A Burning Dungeon?

What kind of tale could it be?

With the old man coming out like this, I had no choice but to go.

As it happens, I have nothing to do today, so I will visit the Muwon Sword Family now.

After sending that message, I immediately headed to the Muwon Sword Family.

***

Contrary to my expectations, the conversation with Han Byeong-cheol was very straightforward.

He coolly skipped over the parts I was reluctant to reveal and showed pure interest only in Ralas.

“Anyway, it’s a pleasant thing. To think that the coin-throwing technique that got its inspiration from me helped in hunting that monster.”

It was a cheap trick that Johan Raven would not have even glanced at.

But being in Seo Ji-han’s body like this, I was able to broaden my perspective a little more.

I came to the realization that every technique has its own use, and that even the most trivial technique, if advanced to its ultimate level, would connect to the ultimate of martial arts.

I planned to develop this technique into the ultimate of martial arts.

Though it was just a coin now, if I could freely control a sword in the air in the future, it would become a tremendous technique.

“By the way, Family Head, besides coins, what other objects can you control?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if you can freely use larger objects as well.”

“Unfortunately, the only thing I can control perfectly is a coin. Larger objects are possible, but the mana loss happens too quickly.”

As expected, this was not an easy task.

A coin was small, but its constituent materials were uniform, and its round shape itself was easy to control.

If the coin were replaced with a blade of the same weight, the difficulty would become much higher.

“I was satisfied with coins, but it seems you were looking at something higher.”

“It would be a shame to end mana control in the air with just coins.”

“The thought is excellent, but it won’t be easy.”

“I’m currently practicing with a dagger as well.”

“What?”

Han Byeong-cheol wore an expression of disbelief.

Of course, what I could do was still at a very crude level.

It was because with my mana capacity, the amount of mana I could infuse into a dagger was limited, so I hadn’t been able to practice enough.

But after obtaining the Guyeopcho necklace, fast mana recovery became possible, so I was at least able to give it a try.

“That’s astounding. It’s surprising enough that you’re imitating me with a coin, but on top of that, you’re practicing with a dagger?”

“Ah! I’m still very lacking.”

It wasn’t just a matter of mana capacity, but also a matter of proficiency.

“Of course you have to be lacking! If you could do it skillfully, what would that make me!”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“I didn’t intend to, but how about a match with me? With daggers.”

“Here?”

“Yes. It’s a bit embarrassing to make such a request to someone your grandson’s age, but it seems like it would be fun. Of course, keep it a secret when you’re out and about.”

I came here to hear about the Burning Dungeon and ended up doing all sorts of things.

In fact, from Han Byeong-cheol’s perspective, he had made an absurd proposal.

For one of the top three practitioners in this country to request a match with a rookie who had just acquired his license was preposterous.

Even on the open-minded Kalia Continent, I had never seen a duel with such a mismatch in levels.

“Alright.”

My competitive spirit boiled, so I couldn't help but accept.

“Let’s set the rules for the duel like this. We’ll throw daggers at that wall. Of course, it would be a problem if the precious wallpaper gets damaged, so we’ll have to stop them right in front. The one who gets it closer to the wall wins. How about it?”

“Sounds good. Let’s do that.”

“Then I’ll go first, so if you have a dagger, please give it to me.”

“Here you go.”

When I took a dagger out of my inventory and handed it to him, Han Byeong-cheol gripped it with a serious expression.

The ‘Mana Eyes’ began to react immediately.

The mana operation that Han Byeong-cheol executed was materialized as a white light and formed on my retina.

I carefully stored this scene in my head.

It was surprising to myself that I was watching the technique of someone at a lower level than me with such concentration, but it was well worth it.

It was a clear fact that there was something to be gained.

Whoosh!

Han Byeong-cheol threw the dagger at the wall without delay.

He had whined that the mana loss was greater when the object was bigger than a coin, but the mana concentrated in the dagger began its flight with almost no dispersion.

Although the distance was short, this level of control was almost perfect.

In that case, the result was obvious without even looking.

Shuk!

The flying dagger stopped just before its tip touched the wall.

Truly a gap that a single sheet of paper could fit through.

“It seems I’m in good condition today.”

“It seems so.”

“Now! It’s your turn.”

Han Byeong-cheol looked at me with an interested expression.

“I’m really looking forward to it. For some reason, I feel like you’re going to surprise me.”

“But you’re still confident in your victory, aren’t you, sir?”

“That’s true.”

Han Byeong-cheol wore a sly smile and waited for my throw.