Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
Sung Jinwoo.
Miyamura and I got into fighting stances and stared at each other for a few seconds. I scanned Miyamura carefully; he had taken off his school uniform blazer, so he was wearing only his rolled-up shirt sleeves and a gray vest.
His muscles were easily visible beneath his clothes; nothing bulky, he was lean, but still muscular. His muscles looked truly taut, full of strength and energy, but not oversized. He seemed to have the same build as me. He said his specialty was swords, so speed and mobility over strength.
Finally, I looked at Mai, the katana. It was completely black. It had no pattern or special shape; it looked like a plain, completely black katana. I frowned at that. Did it mean anything? The sword was Mai, the girl. The information I had about people capable of transforming into weapons was, at best, deficient, if not completely nonexistent.
So I didn't know if there was any difference in the forms people took when they transformed, or if it was simply aesthetic. It's best not to let our guard down, either way.
My body tensed completely and prepared to move. Miyamura just smiled broadly before lowering his sword and smiling more gently.
I frowned as I watched him start walking slowly. I blinked slightly before feeling something bump into my chest. I looked down to see Miyamura bumping into me.
Huh? When did he get so close?
I didn't have time to think when I saw Miyamura's katana about to strike my neck. I jerked my head back hard to dodge the attack, and I saw his katana graze my hair as Miyamura just kept smiling, only for his figure to vanish like a mist. My eyes darted around, and I drew my daggers behind my back, just in time to take Miyamura's blow.
Fast! And strong! Too strong! His attack pushed me forward; my poor defensive position caused the attack to push me much further than I expected, and the force behind his attacks was too strong, more than I anticipated.
I turned around only to see Miyamura's sword just inches from my neck. I raised my dagger and stopped the blow sharply. Then I used my other dagger to try and strike him, but he just jumped back. I looked at Miyamura, who still wore a wide smile on his face.
What a damned monster.
I could feel myself sweating as a shiver ran down my spine. Three exchanges—it only took three exchanges—and he already had me cornered. His lack of aura made me react more slowly.
My instincts, which had saved me and helped me avoid danger on multiple occasions, weren't activating. I couldn't sense anything coming from Miyamura.
My survival instincts didn't kick in because I felt like I was fighting something as harmless as a simple tree. My sense of danger didn't seem to activate during any of the three attacks either, as if he wasn't launching any attacks at all. I couldn't even sense his aura with my Observation Haki. He had no killing intent; I couldn't even feel the slightest fighting spirit coming from him.
Meanwhile, he could continue attacking without any problem while my instincts failed me. Especially that attack. A born killer. He had gotten so close as to touch me without me even noticing. I could only rely on my most basic senses. My eyes, hearing, smell, and touch—I had no other choice.
I readied myself once more and smiled broadly. This time, I lunged at him. Once he was within range, I unleashed hundreds of attacks at high speed. Miyamura moved and absorbed every blow with his sword with such ease that my eyes widened slightly.
His movements reminded me of the Huntress Chae Hae-In. His movements were quick and agile, elegant to watch, almost as if he were dancing. But even she paled in comparison to Miyamura's fighting style.
Not a single movement was wasted. His entire body moved like a well-oiled machine. He wasn't just 'good' with a sword; he was by far the best swordsman I had ever seen.
His technique alone was superior to anyone I knew, and when you added that to his speed and terrifying strength, you had a monster right in front of you. A damned, smiling monster capable of killing you before you even saw it coming.
I smiled broadly, tensing my body before pushing myself even harder. Miyamura easily matched my enthusiasm. We must have exchanged hundreds of blows in a few seconds before Miyamura was the first to move.
To my surprise, he dodged one of my attacks to the side for the first time, taking advantage of my confusion to launch a downward strike with his sword. I raised my dagger above my head to defend myself, only for my grip to nearly break.
I could feel my wrist tremble in protest; my guard broke easily.
Heavy! The attack was heavy! Her sword felt like it weighed tons, and the force and speed behind it only made things worse. I raised my second dagger and placed both above my head.
I blocked the blow, though I felt my body protest the tremendous impact. I grunted in annoyance before deflecting the punch to the side. Miyamura's attack continued its trajectory and slammed into the ground. I could practically see it in slow motion.
The sword bounced off the ground, as if it were completely harmless, with a dull thud. An instant later, the sand and everything around it collapsed into a huge crater due to the immense force. The ground cracked in all directions, and the two of us were left suspended in mid-air.
I stared in disbelief as Miyamura continued to grin broadly as we both fell. The moment we hit the ground, we lunged at each other. We began exchanging blows, this time without any sand to restrain us, moving around the gymnasium as we traded punches.
We bounced off the floor before hitting the ceiling and being launched into one of the walls, then jumped again. And then we started moving in all directions at a terrifying speed.
Sometimes, I would take the lead and go on the offensive, Miyamura would defend completely flawlessly before pressing and the roles would be reversed, leaving me in a defensive position.
Every punch, every clash, every exchange was a real struggle, each trying to gain the upper hand, and neither of us could definitively pull it off. We were just moving around the gym, destroying everything in our path.
The gym suffered all the collateral damage from our fight. Walls were destroyed, craters were everywhere, including in the ceiling, and cracks were starting to spread all over the place. And neither of us seemed interested in stopping; in fact, we increased the speed and force of our attacks.
Our speeds were almost evenly matched, though I had the upper hand in that department, but even so, it was infuriating that I couldn't land a single punch. He left no gaps in his defense; his fighting style was incredibly adaptable no matter what he did, and if he couldn't keep up with my attacks, he would simply dodge them with extreme ease without compromising his defense, as if he knew exactly where the attacks were coming from and found the most efficient way to evade them. And perhaps he did.
On the other hand, I lost decisively and almost humiliatingly in the strength department. His blows were heavy, terribly heavy and powerful. His brute strength was already immense, enough to numb my arms, but his sword was something else entirely.
I didn't know if it was another part of Mai's quirk, but I had no doubt that she was somehow increasing her weight to make her attacks more destructive. My bones creaked with every exchange.
Monster, he was a damned monster. His talent was insane, his skill was colossal, and his ability to use them to their fullest potential was definitely top-tier. How did Japan create someone like him? I had no idea, but he was dangerous.
As expected of Ryuma Shimotsuki's grandson, I suppose.
Even so… I was having the time of my life. At some point, my smile began to match his as we started exchanging blows.
I took the first hit. Miyamura vanished before multiple figures of him surrounded me, only to be attacked from my blind spot while I was distracted. So I immediately counterattacked.
I struck them all at once, but my attacks simply pierced through every trace of Miyamura. I spun around, searching for Miyamura, before finally looking up. He was staring at me with an upside-down grin, his feet in the air, his katana seemingly sheathed at his waist.
I braced myself for his attack, but I reacted too slowly. Miyamura's attack had already slipped past my guard, and his blow connected with my chest. I gritted my teeth as I was flung across the gym. I spun several times in the air before plunging my daggers into the ground and halting my momentum.
I stared, wide-eyed. Had I lost to him in speed? I saw Miyamura still smiling broadly. That damn smile that always lingered. As if he were having the time of his life. I just sighed before smiling back.
I saw Miyamura bend down once more, in the same position. I immediately activated my speed boost and prepared myself accordingly. We both moved explosively and met in the middle. I could see Miyamura's face just inches from mine, a huge smile on his face, and I smiled back.
With my new speed, I was once again ahead of him in terms of speed, enough to start hitting him solidly. He didn't seem worried in the slightest, he just kept attacking, his blows taking their toll even if I could partially block them.
"Mai! What if we try that?!" Miyamura shouted something in Japanese that I didn't understand; he was just grinning like crazy.
"Uh... I don't think that's a good idea." I heard the voice coming from the sword, still in Japanese.
"Come on! I'm having fun! This is the perfect time!" Miyamura laughed heartily. I could hear the sword sigh before it glowed, and to my surprise, the sword changed shape.
It was still mostly black, at least the hilt, but the blade had become lighter, seeming to emit a faint violet hue. But what stood out most was that it appeared fragmented. Hundreds of cobweb-like cracks covered the entire blade, making it look fragile, but I couldn't help but be on guard against that sword. I braced myself for the next clash.
"And the winner is the hunter Sung Jinwoo!" Chairwoman Go exclaimed loudly. Her voice stopped me in my tracks, just like it did Miyamura. We both stared at each other in confusion before looking up at the screens, now broken from our exchange but still functioning, displaying our aura meters. Mine was at 57%, while Miyamura's had dropped to 48%. I just blinked. How... had that happened? I was sure we were pretty evenly matched.
"Ah." Miyamura said foolishly.
"I told you so," the sword sighed dryly. I still didn't understand. To my surprise, Miyamura just burst out laughing.
"Good fight. I wasn't keeping an eye on my aura levels, and changing Mai's form consumes quite a bit of aura. I let my guard down," Miyamura said in Korean. I could only blink. Changing form… was that even possible? I really would have to find out everything I could about weapon quirks. But putting that aside, he'd lost because of his own carelessness?
"Likewise, good fight," he said playfully as I sheathed my daggers. I finally glanced at the others. I could see the shocked and surprised looks on the faces of all the S-rank hunters present, both Korean and Japanese. I could only manage a crooked smile.
I guess we'd gone too far. I went over to Dad, who just smiled happily and put his hand on my shoulder.
"Good fight, son!" Dad said cheerfully. I just nodded. Though I glanced at Miyamura, who seemed to be getting scolded by the other UA student, Taylor Miyamura, his wife. I couldn't understand what they were talking about. They were quickly interrupted by the huntress Tawata, who seemed just as furious with Miyamura, who only seemed amused by the reprimand.
My gaze fell on Goto, and to my surprise, she was cautiously eyeing Miyamura, her eyes slightly narrowed. I suppose Miyamura hadn't had the chance to prove his strength against the other S-ranks either.
Then all of us, including the Japanese, exchanged a few more words before the Japanese began to leave. I just hummed.
"By the way, thanks for destroying my gym," Chairwoman Go said dryly. I could only blink and look around; the entire gym was cracked, barely standing. I could only manage an awkward smile.
"I'll make sure to pay for it," I said with a tired sigh. Chairwoman Go just laughed amusedly.
"You'll do it yourself," Dad said playfully. I rolled my eyes as I quickly calculated how many dungeons I'd have to clear to pay for all the damage.
I sighed as I watched the Japanese hunters walk away toward the exit. It was a good fight; I was able to gauge Izumi Miyamura's level. He was a monster, no doubt about it. Just thinking about it made me want to fight him with all my might, but I was sure I wouldn't get another chance. This was probably the best I could get, but even so, I was quite satisfied with the result.
And what's more, I was able to find something out. None of the S-rank hunters in Korea were able to detect my shadow soldiers, who were hidden within their own shadows. And I was even surprised that not even Goto Ryuji was able to sense them…
I simply watched the shadows of the Japanese hunters as he retreated. None of them seemed to notice a thing. My soldier finally moved into Miyamura's shadow and concealed himself within it. I immediately sensed an immense murderous intent.
I looked up, confused, only to meet Miyamura's furious gaze. It was the first time I could sense his murderous intent and the first time I saw any expression on his face other than a smile. But most importantly, I could see Miyamura's sword imbued with haki, just centimeters from my neck, close enough to know I wouldn't be able to dodge it.
"Huh?" I mumbled foolishly.
Author's Notes: Yay, happy second publication anniversary to me! Whew, it's already been two years since I started writing and publishing Serena (September 16th), and a month later, Izumi (October 18th). A long time! Honestly, I didn't think it would last this long, but here I am, after almost 2 million words between both novels, and I'm still going! I'm really satisfied so far, and I hope to continue writing!
Now, there's really not much to say. I'm truly more than satisfied with the growth and visibility of my novels across all platforms, so all I can say is, thank you for everything so far! First, thank you to Scott Fellman and Vongrak, my editors, who have been a huge help so far. And also, but no less importantly, thank you all. Thank you for reading, thank you for the comments, and thank you for all the support these novels have received so far! Thank you.
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